Qualitative Risk Assessment of the Acquisition of Meticillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pet Dogs

This article presents a qualitative risk assessment of the acquisition of meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in pet dogs, representing an important first step in the exploration of risk of bidirectional MRSA transfer between dogs and humans. A conceptual model of the seven potential pathways for MRSA acquisition in a dog in any given 24‐hour period was developed and the data available to populate that model were considered qualitatively. Humans were found to represent the most important source of MRSA for dogs in both community and veterinary hospital settings. The environment was found to be secondary to humans in terms of importance and other dogs less still. This study highlights some important methodological limitations of a technique that is heavily relied upon for qualitative risk assessments and applies a novel process, the use of relative risk ranking, to enable the generation of a defensible output using a matrix combination approach. Given the limitations of the prescribed methods as applied to the problem under consideration, further validation, or repudiation, of the findings contained herein is called for using a subsequent quantitative assessment.     

An empirical real-world study of losses disguised as wins in electronic gaming machines

Losses disguised as wins (LDWs) appear to reinforce gambling persistence. However, little research has examined this phenomenon with real gamblers in natural gambling settings. We aimed to examine the relationship between within-session outcome size and subsequent gambling persistence. Account-based gambling data of individuals playing LDW games over a randomly selected day (2,035,339 bets made by 8636 individuals) was examined. We used a logistic mixed effects model to examine the relationship between the outcome of the previous bet (loss, LDW and real wins) and the odds of continuing betting in a game session. The odds of continuing betting in a game session were positively associated with the outcome of the previous bet. Compared to LDWs, losses lowered the odds of continuing a game session. In contrast, real wins implied greater odds of continuing a game session compared to LDWs. It is concluded that LDWs increase the likelihood of continuing betting compared to losses, but decrease the likelihood of continuing to gamble compared to real wins. As LDWs increase the number of bets made within a gambling session, and hence within-session gambling persistence, LDWs may potentially play an etiological role in the development of gambling problems over time.     

A structural model of early indicators of school readiness among children of poverty

Factors that affect children’s school readiness potential are evident even from birth. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses that certain factors related to gender, approaches to learning, age at school entry, family income, and the health status of the child at birth have an effect on low-socioeconomic status (SES) children’s readiness for school. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) was used to test the hypotheses. Included in the sample were 1700 children of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. All the children were in the lowest SES quintile of the children making up the ECLS-B cohort. The hypothesized model suggested that there were both direct and indirect influences on children’s school readiness performance. Potential risk factors and implications for ameliorating negative influences were identified.     

Business Continuity Management: Time for a Strategic Role?

Against a background of increasing threats, business continuity management (BCM) has emerged in many industries as a systematic process to counter the effects of crises and interruptions, although its potential to play a more strategic role is still largely under-explored. This article examines the organisational antecedents of BCM and develops a conceptual approach to posit that BCM, in actively ensuring operational continuity, has a role in preserving competitive advantage. Such value preservation is central to the business continuity/business strategy relationship, and gives rise to the central purpose of the paper; to discuss whether firms’ BCM can be seen as strategic rather than purely functional.If so, what form does such provision take in terms of planning, organisation and culture? Evidence from six UK-based financial services firms illustrates differing approaches to business continuity, with two firms showing BCM provision more clearly aligned towards a mission-critical strategic role. Practical precepts for implementation are presented, together with a diagnostic drawing attention to the key determinants of enhanced value preservation.     

Non-proportional hazards in immuno-oncology: Is an old perspective needed?

A fundamental concept in two-arm non-parametric survival analysis is the comparison of observed versus expected numbers of events on one of the treatment arms (the choice of which arm is arbitrary), where the expectation is taken assuming that the true survival curves in the two arms are identical. This concept is at the heart of the counting-process theory that provides a rigorous basis for methods such as the log-rank test. It is natural, therefore, to maintain this perspective when extending the log-rank test to deal with non-proportional hazards, for example, by considering a weighted sum of the “observed - expected” terms, where larger weights are given to time periods where the hazard ratio is expected to favor the experimental treatment. In doing so, however, one may stumble across some rather subtle issues, related to difficulties in the interpretation of hazard ratios, that may lead to strange conclusions. An alternative approach is to view non-parametric survival comparisons as permutation tests. With this perspective, one can easily improve on the efficiency of the log-rank test, while thoroughly controlling the false positive rate. In particular, for the field of immuno-oncology, where researchers often anticipate a delayed treatment effect, sample sizes could be substantially reduced without loss of power.     

Toward a Multisited Ethnography of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in Britain

Classical diaspora scholars have constructed diasporic identities in essentialistic and unitary fashion, with phrases like the “Jewish identity,” “Palestinian identity,” and “Irish identity” denoting migrants as homogeneous ethnic communities. Using the author's multisited ethnographic research among Zimbabweans in Britain, the article explores the diverse ways in which diasporic identities are performed, expressed, and contested in Britain. On the basis of data from a pub, a gochi-gochi (barbecue) and the Zimbabwe Vigil, this article argues that the concept of diaspora, by emphasizing a static and singular conception of group identity, removes the particular ways in which diasporic life is experienced. The ethnographic “sites” were chosen to highlight different geographic settings to show the contrast between multicultural global cities and how different spaces of association attracted distinctive diasporic communities of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and legal status. The article identifies a pattern of diasporic identity development that largely uses the homeland as a frame of reference, and this is contrasted with alternative, hyphenated identities that challenge the fixation of identities to a specific place. It can be suggested that these diasporic identities are bottom-up forms of resistance to the institutionally ascribed refugee identity, perceptions of blocked social mobility, racism, and discrimination in the hostland.     

Young people's experience of social support during the process of leaving care: A review of the literature

This review gathers together and synthesises research relating to young people's experiences of social support during their transition from state care. A systematic approach was used to identify relevant studies published since 2001 and forty-seven were found which met the inclusion criteria. Relevant key themes were identified and consolidated under five overall thematic headings: The influence of past experiences on social support in the present, Supportive relationships during the transition from care, Relationships with birth families, The crucial role of practical support and The lived experience of leaving care. The results were considered using a number of interconnected psychological theories, and implications for policy, practice and future research are discussed with particular reference to the UK policy context.     

An Index of Child Well-being in the European Union

While the living conditions of children and young people in the European Union have gained increasing recognition across the EU, the well-being of children is not monitored on the European level. Based on a rights-based, multi-dimensional understanding of child well-being we analyse data already available for the EU 25, using series data as well as comparative surveys of children and young people. We compare the performance of EU Member States on eight clusters with 23 domains and 51 indicators and give a picture of children’s overall well-being in the European Union. The clusters are children’s material situation, housing, health, subjective well-being, education, children’s relationships, civic participation and risk and safety.