Modeling the adoption and use of social media by nonprofit organizations

This study examines what drives organizational adoption and use of social media through a model built around four key factors - strategy, capacity, governance, and environment. Using Twitter, Facebook, and other data on 100 large US nonprofit organizations, the model is employed to examine the determinants of three key facets of social media utilization: 1) adoption, 2) frequency of use, and 3) dialogue. We find that organizational strategies, capacities, governance features, and external pressures all play a part in these social media adoption and utilization outcomes. Through its integrated, multi-disciplinary theoretical perspective, this study thus helps foster understanding of which types of organizations are able and willing to adopt and juggle multiple social media accounts, to use those accounts to communicate more frequently with their external publics, and to build relationships with those publics through the sending of dialogic messages.Comment: Seungahn Nah and Gregory D. Saxton. (in press). Modeling the adoption and use of social media by nonprofit organizations. New Media & Society, forthcomin

Porter's contribution to more general and dynamic strategy frameworks

Introduction. Understanding why firms are successful is a very basic question in strategy both from a practitioner and a research perspective. In the strategy and management literature, however, we are confronted with different analytical frameworks, applicable at different levels of analysis such as the industry and the national level, providing different answers! Needless to say there is a clear necessity to create more integrative strategy frameworks. This concluding chapter is devoted to this topic by briefly describing Porter's contribution to a more integrated and dynamic strategy framework

Exploring the use of strategic frameworks in dental practice

This paper explores the use of strategic frameworks in NHS and private dental practice. It reviews the policy context of dentistry and suggests the challenges in this context will require dental practices to prioritise understanding and engagement with a strategic approach. A strategic approach will be required in order to enhance and improve performance. Two specific strategic frameworks will be explored in terms of their relevance to NHS and private dental practic

Focusing of baroclinic tidal energy in a canyon

Strong three-dimensional focusing of internal tidal energy in the Petite Sole Canyon in the Celtic Sea is analyzed using observational data and numerical modeling. In a deep layer (500-800 m) in the center of the canyon, shear variance was elevated by an order of magnitude. Corresponding large vertical oscillations of deep isotherms and a local maximum of horizontal velocity were replicated numerically using the MITgcm. The elevated internal tidal activity in the deep part of the canyon is explained in terms of the downward propagation and focusing of multiple internal tidal beams generated at the shelf break. The near-circular shape of the canyon head and steep bottom topography throughout the canyon (steeper than the tidal beam) create favorable conditions for the lens-like focusing of tidal energy in the canyon\u27s center. Observations and modeling show that the energy focusing greatly intensifies local diapycnal mixing that leads to local formation of a baroclinic eddy

Use of Online Health Forums by Patients with Chronic Cough: Qualitative Study

Background: Online health discussion forums are used by different patient groups for sharing advice and information. Chronic cough is a common problem, and people with chronic cough use online health forums alongside formal medical therapies. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess how chronic cough sufferers use online health forums, including the treatment advice they share with one another and the possible clinical uses of online forums in chronic cough. Methods: Three open-access health forums were searched for threads related to chronic cough. Identified threads were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria adapted from the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Guidelines related to chronic cough diagnosis. Included data were subjected to qualitative thematic analysis. All study data were cross-validated by a second author and discrepancies were resolved. Results: In total, 96 threads were included in the analysis, consisting of posts by 223 forum users. Three main themes were identified: the effect of chronic cough on the lives of patients, the treatment advice shared between users, and the provision of support within forums. Conclusions: Chronic cough symptoms had impacts on multiple aspects of patients’ health and well-being. To try and combat these issues, forum users suggested a variety of treatments to one another, ranging from mainstream traditional therapies to odd alternative remedies. The provision of support and empathy were also prominent themes in discussion threads. Online forums themselves may provide increasing benefit to users through the addition of a moderator

Value-based analysis of routine pathologic septal and inferior turbinate specimens.

This article was presented at the 2012 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO; September 9-12, 2012; Washington, DC. Objective To determine the frequency and clinical relevance of unanticipated histopathologic results in routine sinonasal surgery and evaluate the necessity for histologic processing of nasal septal cartilage, bone, and inferior turbinate specimens. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary care academic medical center. Subjects and Methods A retrospective review of surgical pathology reports on adult patients undergoing sinonasal surgery during a 5-year period from 2005 to 2010 was performed. All cases with the preoperative diagnosis of sinonasal neoplasia, autoimmune disease, or directed septal biopsies were excluded from review. Results A total of 1194 pathology reports were reviewed from 1172 individual patients. This included histopathologic evaluation of 1194 septal cartilage and bone specimens and 714 inferior turbinate specimens. None of the patients had unanticipated histopathologic findings that were clinically significant. Conclusion Many surgeons obtain histopathologic diagnoses on all tissue removed from a patient. Based on our institutional case series, histopathology of the septum and inferior turbinates in routine sinonasal cases may not be necessary. A value-based approach to processing grossly unremarkable septal and turbinate tissue by waiving histologic processing and subsequent microscopic evaluation could provide significant cost savings

Distribution of the invasive bryozoan Schizoporella japonica in Great Britain and Ireland and a review of its European distribution

The bryozoan Schizoporella japonica Ortmann (1890) was first recorded in European waters in 2010 and has since been reported from further locations in Great Britain (GB) and Norway. This paper provides a new earliest European record for the species from 2009, a first record from Ireland and presence and absence records from a total of 231 marinas and harbours across GB, Ireland, the Isle of Man, France and Portugal. This species is typically associated with human activity, including commercial and recreational vessels, aquaculture equipment, and both wave and tidal energy devices. It has also been observed in the natural environment, fouling rocks and boulders. The species has an extensive but widely discontinuous distribution in GB and Ireland. Although found frequently in marinas and harbours in Scotland, it inhabits only a few sites in England, Wales and Ireland, interspersed with wide gaps that are well documented as genuine absences. This appears to be a rare example of a southward-spreading invasion in GB and Ireland. The species has been reported from the Isle of Man and Norway but has not been found in France or Portugal. In the future we expect S. japonica to spread into suitable sections of the English, Welsh and Irish coasts, and further within Europe. The species’ capability for long-distance saltatory spread and potential for negative impact on native ecosystems and economic activity suggests that S. japonica should now be considered invasive in GB and Ireland. As such, it is recommended that biosecurity procedures alongside effective surveillance and monitoring should be prioritised for regions outside the species’ current distribution