61 research outputs found
Attitudes towards artificial intelligence within dermatology: an international online survey.
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Has management accounting research been critical?
This paper examines the contributions Management Accounting Research (MAR) has (and has not) made to social and critical analyses of management accounting in the twenty-five years since its launch. It commences with a personalised account of the first named author’s experiences of behavioural, social and critical accounting in the twenty-five years before MAR appeared. This covers events in the UK, especially the Management Control Workshop, Management Accounting Research conferences at Aston, the Inter-disciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Conferences; key departments and professors; and elsewhere the formation of pan-European networks, and reflections on a years’ visit to the USA.
Papers published by MAR are analysed according to year of publication, country of author and research site, research method, research subject (type of organization or subject studied), data analysis method, topic, and theory. This revealed, after initial domination by UK academics, increasing Continental European influence; increasing use of qualitative methods over a wide range of topics, especially new costing methods, control system design, change and implementation, public sector transformation, and more recently risk management and creativity. Theoretical approaches have been diverse, often multi-disciplinary, and have employed surprisingly few economic theories relative to behavioural and social theories. The research spans mainly large public and private sector organisations especially in Europe. Seven themes perceived as of interest to a social and critical theory analysis are evaluated, namely: the search for ‘Relevance Lost’ and new costing; management control, the environment and the search for ‘fits’; reconstituting the public sector; change and institutional theory; post-structural, constructivist and critical contributions; social and environmental accounting; and the changing geography of time and space between European and American research. The paper concludes by assessing the contributions of MAR against the aspirations of groups identified in the opening personal historiography, which have been largely met. MAR has made substantial contributions to social and critical accounting (broadly defined) but not in critical areas endeavouring to give greater voice and influence to marginalised sectors of society worldwide. Third Sector organisations, politics, civil society involvement, development and developing countries, labour, the public interest, political economy, and until recently social and environmental accounting have been neglected
Methotrexate and Risk of Cutaneous Melanoma
Methotrexate (MTX) is an anti-inflammatory
and immunosuppressive drug commonly
used to treat psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis
and rheumatoid arthritis. Cutaneous
malignant melanoma (CMM) is a common
and dangerous type of skin cancer and in
recent decades a noteworthy increase in
incidence has been observed. In Sweden,
CMM is the fifth most common form of
cancer in both men and women. This type
of cancer is more frequent among patients
with an impaired immune system such as
organ transplant recipients (OTRs) who are
treated with immunosuppressive drugs to
prevent rejection of the transplanted organ.
The use of MTX, has previously been associated
with an increased risk of CMM in an
Australian investigation.
The purpose of this thesis was to study the
association between MTX and the risk of
CMM.
In Paper I, a retrospective comparative cohort
study was conducted, comprising all
Swedish individuals over 18 years with at
least one filled MTX prescription in the
time period 2005-2014 (MTX-exposed).
For each MTX-exposed patient, five ageand
sex-matched MTX-unexposed individuals
were selected (MTX-unexposed). The
risk of CMM was elevated among MTX-exposed
subjects, but this risk increase was
lower than previously observed and hardly
relevant in clinical practice.
To further investigate a possible association
between MTX and CMM, a dose-response
analysis was performed. Paper II used the cohort
above and analyzed whether increased
MTX doses elevated the risk. In summary,
no conclusive dose-response relationship
between MTX and CMM was observed.
Paper III investigated whether CMM that
occurred in MTX-exposed patients caused
an increased mortality compared to CMM
occurring among the MTX-unexposed individuals.
MTX-exposed patients had an
increased risk of melanoma mortality. This
observation was robust, after adjusting for
melanoma stage at diagnosis.
Paper IV investigated patients who had already
had CMM and exposed to MTX after
the first CMM diagnosis. The risk of a
new CMM among these patients was not
increased compared to a corresponding
MTX-unexposed group.
Paper V was performed using individuals
from a cohort of psoriasis patients. Previously
cancer-free psoriasis patients who
developed CMM and psoriasis patients who
had not developed CMM at the corresponding
date were compared. The proportion exposed to MTX in each group did not differ
significantly.
In Paper VI, the dermoscopic appearance of
CMM that occurred in OTRs was investigated.
The melanoma-specific features
in this group were compared to age- and
sex-matched controls. When analyzing the
results, no differences could be observed.
Nevertheless, these results are limited due
to a small sample size and should instead be
regarded as an invitation to more investigations.
In conclusion, this thesis has shown that
CMM is unlikely to be associated with the
use of MTX and the dermoscopic appearance
of CMM in immunosuppressed patients
does not seem to differ from those of
immunocompetent individuals
Reducing the use of resources in medium-sized Swedish construction enterprises: production managers’ views
What construction firms do—and do not do—to reduce the use of resources in construction projects is explored by adopting production managers’ views of their firms’ onsite activities. A literature review and empirical data are combined; 15 production managers have been asked how they perceived their company’s compliance with 31 recommendations to reduce the use of resources. The managers perceived their firms to primarily focus on identifying their customers’ real needs, stimulating employees to undertake further education, and striving for long-term customer–supplier relationships. In contrast, they perceived that less attention was directed to making use of all of the week’s hours, to supporting their main suppliers in their development, and planning feedback and training after project completion. The use of resources is examined by focusing on the perceived low priority given to gathering information and knowledge, as well as to reducing time and the need for long-term relationships with customers in contrast to short-term relationships with suppliers. The managers adopted a project-specific approach mainly to the use of material resources. A more holistic view of resources could enable the development of novel solutions in construction
Supplemental material - Psoriasis and risk of cutaneous melanoma: a retrospective comparative registry-based cohort study
Do patients with psoriasis have an increased risk of cutaneous melanoma?
Patients with psoriasis have an increased overall cancer risk. However, the association between psoriasis and cutaneous melanoma remains uncertain as results from different studies are heterogeneous. The aim of this Swedish comparative registry-based cohort study was to analyze such a link further.
The dataset presented here is the supplemental material of the letter: "Psoriasis and risk of cutaneous melanoma: a retrospective comparative registry-based cohort study" published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD)
Improving productivity in construction: a contractor perspective
Improving productivity in construction has been a lengthy battle. Several debates, articles, reports and books have acknowledged that productivity in construction must be improved. Numerous theoretical and practical solutions to improve productivity have been developed over time both in academia and in practise. A problem with developing theories on how to improve productivity is that there is no generally accepted definition of the term. Productivity has different meanings for different individuals, dependent on context, background and profession. It is therefore likely that suggestions on how to improve productivity will be interpreted differently. In order to improve productivity in construction, the concept itself must first be explored from a context specific perspective. Throughout this thesis it is the production managers’ views that are under scrutiny.
The aim of this thesis is to identify factors that influence productivity in construction and to explore the production managers’ views on potential improvements of productivity. Various aspects of productivity are presented and synthesised into a model where inputs are related to outputs through a transformation process. Resources, costs for the use of resources, and the value added in the process are factors in this model.
The thesis is based on three papers, each focusing on its own research question. Paper I presents the difficulties of evaluating productivity by exploring the multiple usages of the term in construction. Paper II further examines productivity by analysing what views production managers have concerning their firms’ productivity improvements by reducing the unnecessary use of resources. Paper III explores what views production managers have concerning their roles when productivity is improved through increasing standardisation by exploring the relationship between the production managers’ need for freedom in their construction projects and the firms’ need for standards that improve productivity.
The main findings confirm that resources, costs for the use of resources, and the value added are terms that need to be considered when productivity is to be improved from a production manager perspective. Conclusions are drawn that production managers are not averse to implementing standards or reducing the use of resources to improve productivity. Instead, the short-term cost focused approach prevailing in the construction industry hinders the managers from finding and establishing standards that can improve project productivity in their project organisations.
Keywords: construction industry, contractor organisations, production manager perspective, productivity, transformation process, use of resources, value adde
Improving productivity in construction: a contractor perspective
Improving productivity in construction has been a lengthy battle. Several debates, articles, reports and books have acknowledged that productivity in construction must be improved. Numerous theoretical and practical solutions to improve productivity have been developed over time both in academia and in practise. A problem with developing theories on how to improve productivity is that there is no generally accepted definition of the term. Productivity has different meanings for different individuals, dependent on context, background and profession. It is therefore likely that suggestions on how to improve productivity will be interpreted differently. In order to improve productivity in construction, the concept itself must first be explored from a context specific perspective. Throughout this thesis it is the production managers’ views that are under scrutiny.The aim of this thesis is to identify factors that influence productivity in construction and to explore the production managers’ views on potential improvements of productivity. Various aspects of productivity are presented and synthesised into a model where inputs are related to outputs through a transformation process. Resources, costs for the use of resources, and the value added in the process are factors in this model.The thesis is based on three papers, each focusing on its own research question. Paper I presents the difficulties of evaluating productivity by exploring the multiple usages of the term in construction. Paper II further examines productivity by analysing what views production managers have concerning their firms’ productivity improvements by reducing the unnecessary use of resources. Paper III explores what views production managers have concerning their roles when productivity is improved through increasing standardisation by exploring the relationship between the production managers’ need for freedom in their construction projects and the firms’ need for standards that improve productivity. The main findings confirm that resources, costs for the use of resources, and the value added are terms that need to be considered when productivity is to be improved from a production manager perspective. Conclusions are drawn that production managers are not averse to implementing standards or reducing the use of resources to improve productivity. Instead, the short-term cost focused approach prevailing in the construction industry hinders the managers from finding and establishing standards that can improve project productivity in their project organisations. Keywords: construction industry, contractor organisations, production manager perspective, productivity, transformation process, use of resources, value adde
The view of freedom and standardisation among managers in Swedish construction contractor projects
It has been suggested that standardisation improves productivity. Simultaneously, construction contractor project managers are given freedom to run projects as if they were independent firms. If this is a motivating factor for the managers, firms may have to find other ways to improve productivity than to increase standardisation to be able to stimulate their most skilled managers. It could prove important to recognise their need for freedom before they start looking for alternative places of employment.The purpose of this article is to inquire how standardisation may or may not conflict with contractor project managers\u27 sense of freedom.Interviews with 15 contractor project managers from Swedish medium-sized construction contractor enterprises indicate that standardised processes do not necessarily conflict with their sense of freedom and work motivation as long as their ability to overview the production process is preserved.Based on the findings it is argued that standardisation should be implemented and developed with respect from top managers using a bottom-up approach
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