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