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The purpose of this study is to examine optical spatial frequency spectroscopy analysis (SFSA) combined with visible resonance Raman (VRR) spectroscopic method, for the first time, to discriminate human brain metastases of lung cancers adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from normal tissues. A total of 31 label-free micrographic images of three types of brain tissues were obtained using a confocal micro-Raman spectroscopic system. VRR spectra of the corresponding samples were synchronously collected using excitation wavelength of 532[Formula: see text]nm from the same sites of the tissues. Using SFSA method, the difference in the randomness of spatial frequency structures in the micrograph images was analyzed using Gaussian function fitting. The standard deviations, [Formula: see text] calculated from the spatial frequencies of the micrograph images were then analyzed using support vector machine (SVM) classifier. The key VRR biomolecular fingerprints of carotenoids, tryptophan, amide II, lipids and proteins (methylene/methyl groups) were also analyzed using SVM classifier. All three types of brain tissues were identified with high accuracy in the two approaches with high correlation. The results show that SFSA–VRR can potentially be a dual-modal method to provide new criteria for identifying the three types of human brain tissues, which are on-site, real-time and label-free and may improve the accuracy of brain biopsy.

This paper is a sequel to [8] where we introduced an invariant, called canonical degree, of Cohen–Macaulay local rings that admit a canonical ideal. Here to each such ring R with a canonical ideal, we attach a different invariant, called bi-canonical degree, which in dimension 1 appears also in [12] as the residue of R. The minimal values of these functions characterize specific classes of Cohen–Macaulay rings. We give a uniform presentation of such degrees and discuss some computational opportunities offered by the bi-canonical degree. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

The popular business media argues that the “fear of missing out” (FoMO) on work-related opportunities harms employees’ health and performance. Yet, these claims rely on the study of FoMO in college students in non-work contexts. Therefore, we explored workplace FoMO among employees across three studies. We first developed a measure and provided validation evidence for workplace FoMO among diverse employees (N = 324; Study 1) and MBA students (N = 223; Study 2). Using a third large employee sample (N = 300; Study 3), we tested whether workplace FoMO predicted health (i.e., work burnout and work well-being) and motivational outcomes (i.e., message-checking behaviors and work engagement). We also examined whether family-supportive organizational perceptions (FSOP) moderated these relationships. Results indicated that workplace FoMO is a distinct construct from other measures, including general FoMO. Workplace FoMO also predicted work burnout and message checking behavior, but not work well-being. Lower levels of FSOP strengthened the positive relationship between workplace FoMO and message checking behavior, but also produced a positive relationship between workplace FoMO and work well-being. Overall, FoMO appears to be relevant to the work context and predicts both employee well-being and behavior outcomes. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

In this study, we examine the intra-industry effect of proxy contests. Proxy contests convey the information of common industrial risks or expected competitive relationship change. We find significant negative abnormal returns in the group of competitors of target firms with negative abnormal returns, and such negative abnormal returns become larger for similar-size competitors. In contrast, there are no significant abnormal returns for competitors of target firms with positive abnormal returns. These findings are consistent with the information-based theory but not the competitive theory. © 2019, Academy of Economics and Finance.

Aim A benchmark of 4 has been determined for the reduction of self-reported stress by nursing students’ status post 5 weeks of holistic educational activities and interventions provided by a nurse educator. Design Provision 5 in the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements emphasizes the duty of the nurse to not only promote the health and safety of others, but to self as well (ANA, 2015, Code of ethics with interpretive statements, Nursebooks.org). A self-care for nurses’ pilot project was trialled with 25 accelerated nursing students over the course of 5 weeks. Holistic education programmes were facilitated by a nurse educator uninvolved in providing clinical or classroom education to the students. Methods The Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) guidelines are used in this pilot project as a framework to explore standardization of education of nursing students about self-care in nursing programmes and to promote positive health behaviours and student nurses’ insight into how nurses’ self-care can have an impact on patient outcomes. The self-care pilot project introduced the importance of self-care for the pre-licensure nursing student by teaching healthy eating, physical exercise, the value of sleep, use of positive affirmations and aromatherapy to a cohort of accelerated nursing students over the course of 5 weeks. The Star Model of Knowledge Transformation was the theoretical framework for the pilot study. Two questionnaires were used by the principal investigator to obtain participant data, the Project Participant Questionnaire and the Final-Year Group Questionnaire. Results On completion of the self-care for nurses’ pilot, the nursing students reported a reduction in stress and an increased ability to cope with stress after exposure to different holistic stress reduction strategies. An average benchmark of 4.36 was achieved indicating that the nursing students’ self-care had improved status post the interactive teaching intervention. Self-care taught to pre-licensure nursing students by nurse educators can enhance their self-awareness of the importance of stress reduction and care of themselves while enduring the academic rigour and simultaneous clinical practicum experiences in nursing programmes. Applying self-care behaviours to reduction of stress for nursing students may be of benefit to of students as they transition from the pre-licensure to graduate nurse roles. Hence, teaching health behaviours that are self-protective and contribute to maintaining safe clinical environments for nurses and the patients in their care.

Despite its importance as a core counselling competency, less attention is given to career counselling than to other counselling specialties and it is often dismissed as a non-essential category in the counselling field. Because students’ perceptions of career counselling are affected by peer and faculty attitudes it is important to examine the training needs and experiences of graduate counselling students. Therefore, in the current study we utilised a phenomenological approach to examine students’ perceptions of a career counselling curriculum, and its impact on overall views of career counselling. Analysis of in-depth interviews yielded five major themes: View of Career Counselling, Course Delivery, Theory, Application of Knowledge, and Connection between Career Counselling and Personal Counselling. © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

As consumers are moving away from mindless consumerism, a mindful consumption literature has emerged that is based on Buddhist and psychological perspectives of mindfulness. While the idea of mindful consumption has great potential, there is little empirical research to date that comprehensively examines the consumer perspective on the role of mindfulness on consumption. To provide a grounded consumer perspective, the authors segment mindful consumption views from open-end text using a mixed method of clustering and text mining. By analyzing the segmentation structure, the authors discover various consumer views of mindful consumption, such as careful economic based consumption, monitoring activities of firms, and being informed about the impact of consumption choices. The authors compare the empirical results with the academic literature to provide directions for future research. © 2019 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy

This article works to unsettle the use of transcription in qualitative inquiry by troubling the truth claims of transcribed text. Building on the hermeneutic phenomenology of Van Manen, it explores the way the researcher might “write through” transcribed text to return to the two-dimensional text space a more honest reading of lived experience. It also draws on Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizomatic thinking to explore the “gruesome multiplicities” present in reality—and the ways we might honor that multiplicity in research texts. Excerpts from an inquiry into the phenomenon of “reading as not a reader” are used to illustrate.

We investigate if CEO characteristics determine the choice of Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions by firms and if such participation leads to better firm performance. Using a unique, hand-collected database, we also focus on the identity of the politicians receiving PAC contributions to examine the impact of the value-relevance of such contributions. Examining data on corporate contributions made to candidates seeking federal office during the 2002, 2004, and 2006 election cycles, we find that CEO dominance and interest alignment influence strategic choices of firms with regards to establishing PACs. Our analysis of value-relevant contributions shows that firms prefer to donate to politicians representing the state of a firm's headquarters, validating the truth to the adage that all politics is local. However, these targeted political contributions do not have a discernible impact on firm performance.

Purpose: Austerity approaches in higher education require choosing the highest leverage strategies of increasing student satisfaction. Attending to student perceptions of program/service quality (SERVQUAL) is a means to identify areas that have the greatest return on investment. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: This study explores how a program has applied the SERVQUAL model and survey to identify areas for growth. Findings: The survey of 57 students in a cohort-based doctoral program demonstrated the smallest gaps (highest satisfaction) with the domains of empathy (1.33) and responsiveness (1.30) and the lowest with reliability (2.03), tangibles (1.97) and assurance (1.90). Practical implications: While not all of the five dimensions are within the purview of a program to address (some may require funding that is determined at a college or university level), many of the gaps can be addressed by adopting procedures and policies that increase transparency so that students can moderate their expectations and faculty and staff can provide reliable information. Additionally, the use of the SERVQUAL model provided this program with specific, actionable information that could be used to improve the program. Originality/value: The study includes a review of studies that have applied the SERVQUAL model in higher education. The application of SERVQUAL to a cohort-based doctoral program to identify program improvements and steward program image fits into a gap in the extant literature. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Heroin is a highly abused opioid that has reached epidemic status within the United States. Yet, existing therapies to treat addiction are inadequate and frequently result into rates of high recidivism. Vaccination against heroin offers a promising alternative therapeutic option but requires further development to enhance the vaccine’s performance. Hsp70 is a conserved protein with known immunomodulatory properties and is considered an excellent immunodominant antigen. Within an antidrug vaccine context, we envisioned Hsp70 as a potential dual carrier-adjuvant, wherein immunogenicity would be increased by co-localization of adjuvant and antigenic drug hapten. Recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Hsp70 was appended with heroin haptens and the resulting immunoconjugate granted anti-heroin antibody production and blunted heroin-induced antinociception. Moreover, Hsp70 as a carrier protein surpassed our benchmark Her-KLH cocktail through antibody-mediated blockade of 6-acetylmorphine, the main mediator of heroin’s psychoactivity. The work presents a new avenue for exploration in the use of hapten-Hsp70 conjugates to elicit anti-drug immune responses.

Swearing is prevalent in our society, but the influence of such language choices on judgments of others is not well understood. This study examines how the composition of conversational dyads, speaker's gender, and use of profanity influence impressions. Participants (N = 138) were randomly assigned to read two conversations and rate target speakers (one male, one female). The conversations had neither, one, or both speakers using profanity and consisted of same- or mixed-gender dyads. The result is a 2 (target speaker, male/female) x 2 (dyad composition) x 3 (profanity) mixed design with speaker gender as the repeated measure. Speakers using profanity had poorer impression ratings on several variables, including overall impression, intelligence, and trustworthiness. Speakers swearing in mixed-gender dyads were rated as less sociable, and males swearing in mixed-gender dyads were rated as more offensive. Language choices matter, and more research is needed to understand the unconscious biases held against those who use profanity.

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Background: Few studies have explored changing patterns of alcohol consumption among young females and differences based on race/ethnicity. Objective: This study examined differences in alcohol consumption between black and white undergraduate females and compared trends in three different measures of alcohol consumption over a 10-year period from 2004 to 2014. Methods: The CORE Alcohol and Drug Survey was used to collect data from female undergraduates attending a public university in the northeastern USA. Classes were randomly selected into the sample; class acceptance was 68% and student participation was 96%. The chi-square test examined differences between groups and the Cochrane Armitage Test for Trend assessed changes over time. Results: In 2014, for every measure of alcohol consumption examined, a significantly larger percentage of white females engaged in the behavior compared to black females. Trend analysis from 2004 to 2014 demonstrated a narrowing of this gap. Controlling for age, any alcohol use in past 30 days and binge drinking in the past 2 weeks increased significantly for black females 21 years or older. Any alcohol use in the past 30 days decreased significantly for white females under 21 years. Conclusion: These findings introduce many questions which should be explored through additional research.

Evolutionary biologists tend to approach the study of the natural world within a framework of adaptation, inspired perhaps by the power of natural selection to produce fitness advantages that drive population persistence and biological diversity. In contrast, evolution has rarely been studied through the lens of adaptation's complement, maladaptation. This contrast is surprising because maladaptation is a prevalent feature of evolution: population trait values are rarely distributed optimally; local populations often have lower fitness than imported ones; populations decline; and local and global extinctions are common. Yet we lack a general framework for understanding maladaptation; for instance in terms of distribution, severity, and dynamics. Similar uncertainties apply to the causes of maladaptation. We suggest that incorporating maladaptation-based perspectives into evolutionary biology would facilitate better understanding of the natural world. Approaches within a maladaptation framework might be especially profitable in applied evolution contexts - where reductions in fitness are common. Toward advancing a more balanced study of evolution, here we present a conceptual framework describing causes of maladaptation. As the introductory article for a Special Feature on maladaptation, we also summarize the studies in this Issue, highlighting the causes of maladaptation in each study. We hope that our framework and the papers in this Special Issue will help catalyze the study of maladaptation in applied evolution, supporting greater understanding of evolutionary dynamics in our rapidly changing world.