China has the world's highest nitrogen (N) application rate, and the lowest N use efficiency (NUE). With the crop yield increasing, serious N pollution is also caused. An in-situ field experiment ...(2011–2015) was conducted to examine the effects of three N levels, 0 (i.e., no fertilizer N addition to soil), 120, and 180 kg N ha−1 using integrated rice management (IRM). We investigated rice yield, aboveground N uptake, and soil surface N budget in a hilly region of Southwest China. Compared to traditional rice management (TRM), IRM integrated raised beds, plastic mulch, furrow irrigation, and triangular transplanting, which significantly improved rice grain yield, straw biomass, aboveground N uptake, and NUE. Integrated rice management significantly improved 15N recovery efficiency (by 10%) and significantly reduced the ratio of potential 15N loss (by 8%–12%). Among all treatments, the 120 kg N ha−1 level under IRM achieved the highest 15N recovery efficiency (32%) and 15N residual efficiency (29%), with the lowest 15N loss ratio (39%). After rice harvest, the residual N fertilizer did not achieve a full replenishment of soil N consumption, as the replenishing effect was insufficient (ranging from −31 to −49 kg N ha−1). Furthermore, soil surface N budget showed a surplus (69–146 kg N ha−1) under all treatments, and the N surplus was lower under IRM than TRM. These results indicate IRM as a reliable and stable method for high rice yield and high NUE, while exerting a minor risk of N loss. In the hilly area of Southwest China, the optimized N fertilizer application rate under IRM was found to be 100–150 kg N ha−1.
Purpose One of the most cited literature in SHRM is Schuler and Jackson’s (1987) behavioural model. This model proposes that organisational performance is dependent on the extent to which HRM ...practices can be effectively connected to competitive strategy and desired employee behaviours. Importantly, this model recognises the salient role of employee behaviour in performance outcomes and, moreover that different competitive strategies imply both promulgation and reinforcement of different sets of employee skills and behaviours. Surprisingly, despite its significant influence on SHRM, studies rarely examine this model in its entirety. Motivated by the need to better understand this model’s arguments in contemporary settings, our study uses a multi-actor design to explore the connections between competitive strategies (cost reduction and differentiation), employee behaviours, and HRM practices in service environments. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a multi-level, multi-actor survey design, our exploratory deductive study assesses the utility of strategic HRM’s (SHRM) behavioural model. Drawing on data from a sample of service organisations and using univariate analyses, we compare operationalised HRM practices and employee behaviours across different strategy types. Findings Results lend provisional support for the behavioural model, particularly in the case of a differentiation strategy where notable differences in HRM practices and employee behaviours were observed. Findings suggest growing levels of memetic and competitive isomorphism may be occurring, with this likely attributable to the increased incidence of idea generation and information sharing about best practices occurring amongst practitioners, as well as a growing nuance in operating markets, managerial preferences, employee expectations, stakeholder objectives, and the like. Research limitations/implications Our study suggests refinements to the behavioural model are needed. Some support for the model’s key tenets is found, but these appear context specific. Thus, the merit in developing a priori typologies linking strategy type to HRM practices and employee behaviours where organisations operate in environments which are particularised and tumultuous appears debatable. Practical implications This study highlights the behavioural model’s nuance to modern service organisations and, by doing so, practitioners are provided with a behavioural pathway for achieving competitive advantage through their HRM practices. Findings also suggest that increasingly competitive environments might be encouraging practitioners to engage in isomorphic behaviours. Originality/value The use of a comparative research design allowed our study to contribute much needed empiricism to the largely conceptually informed stylised typologies depicting the linkages between different competitive strategies, implied employee role behaviours and HRM practices, thereby supporting the need for model refinement.
Introduction:
Intensive treatments can often not be administered to elderly patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), leading to a poorer prognosis. This multi-center phase II trial ...aimed to determine the toxicity profile and efficiency of S-1–based simultaneous integrated boost radiotherapy (SIB-RT) followed by consolidation chemotherapy with S-1 in elderly ESCC patients and to evaluate the usefulness of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA).
Patients and Methods:
We prospectively enrolled 46 elderly patients (age ≥ 70 years) with histopathologically proven ESCC. The patients underwent pretreatment CGA followed by SIB-RT (dose, 59.92 Gy/50.4 Gy) in 28 daily fractions administered using intensity-modulated radiotherapy or volumetric-modulated arc therapy. S-1 was orally administered (40–60 mg/m
2
) concurrently with radiotherapy and 4–8 weeks later, for up to four 3-week cycles at the same dose.
Results:
The median survival time was 22.6 months. The 1- and 2-year overall survival rates were 80.4 and 47.8%, respectively. The overall response rate was 78.3% (36/46). The incidence of grade 3–4 toxicities was 28% (13/46). The most common grade 3–4 toxicities were radiation esophagitis (5/46, 10.9%), nausea (4/46, 8.7%), anorexia (3/46, 6.5%), and radiation pneumonitis (3/46, 6.5%). There were no grade 5 toxicities. CGA identified that 48.8% of patients were at risk for depression and 65.5% had malnutrition.
Conclusion:
Concurrent S-1 treatment with SIB-RT followed by 4 cycles of S-1 monotherapy yielded satisfactory tumor response rates and manageable toxicities in selected elderly patients with ESCC. Pretreatment CGA uncovered numerous health problems and allowed the provision of appropriate supportive care.
Clinical Trial Registration:
www.ClinicalTrials.gov
, identifier: NCT02979691.
Objective To evaluate whether waist circumference （WC） 〉85 cm is related to asymptomatic preclinical atherosclerosis in women from Shanghai, China. Methods A total of 2365 females aged 〉20 years ...recruited from 4 communities underwent physical examination and carotid artery scanning. Their carotid intima-media thickness （C-iMT） was measured. Results The C-IMT was significantly higher in overweight or obese women with their BMI 〉25.0 kg/m2 {P〈O.01） and in those with their WC _〉85 cm than in those with their WC 〈85 cm （P〈O.01）. Spearman and partial correlation analysis showed that the C-IMT was significantly correlated with WC which was independent of menopausal status. The C-IMT significantly increased with the increasing WC and reached to a platform in about 85 cm. An increment tendency was found in the subgroup with its WC 〈 85 cm （P〈O.01） while no significant tendency was found in the subgroup with its WC_〉85 cm （P=0.07）. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the WC was an independent risk factor for C-IMT. In logistic regression model, the odd ratio of WC _〉80 cm, _〉80 cm and 〈85 cm and 〉85 cm for evaluating the risk of C-IMT elevation was 2.632, 2.501, and 1.878, respectively. Conclusion WC is significantly correlated with C-IMT in women from Shanghai, China, and WC_〉85 cm may be used in identifying the risk of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis.
High soil salinity imposes osmotic stress and ion toxicity in plants, leading to substantial crop yield loss worldwide. Understanding of the quantitative and dynamic physiological responses to ...composite soil salt stress is limited and needs to be expanded. In this study, physiological, nutritional, and biomass yield parameters of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) grown in soil with five levels of composite soil salinity (CSS), basal CSS level (control, CK) and 3 (T1), 6 (T2), 9 (T3), and 12 (T4) times the basal CSS level, under greenhouse were determined at days 30, 60, and 90 after transplanting. Leaf dry biomass significantly (P < 0.05) increased at the low salinity levels applied (T1 and T2) at all three time points, whereas it progressively declined as the CSS level further increased. The leaf physiological and photosynthetic responses were more adversely affected by CSS at the early growth stage (day 30). A path coefficient analysis demonstrated that leaf proline content had the largest direct effect (−0.66), and leaf Cu content had the most significant indirect effect (0.49) on leaf dry biomass of plants. The results suggest that lower CSS levels (T1 and T2) could stimulate tobacco growth (leaf biomass yield, in particular), and higher leaf proline and Cu levels at the early growth stage may potentially increase the ability of tobacco plants to withstand the adverse effects of salinity, which could be considered for future research and development of salinity management strategies.
There is increasing pressure on academic scientists to acquire research funding and to produce impactful research that stakeholders external to the research can capture value from. However, our ...understanding of the mechanisms by which funded scientists do this remain unclear. We conceptualize a two stage process of value capture in publicly funded research, the first being resource exchange and knowledge exploration and the second, exploiting the funded research to expand its use. Based on this framing we ask, what are the mechanisms through which value in use is captured in publicly funded research? We draw on interviews with 41 health science principal investigators (PIs) in New Zealand along with related secondary material. Our findings identify two value capture in use mechanisms – boundary spanning and brokering – that PIs employ to extend the use of their funded research to a diverse range of ecosystem actors. While boundary spanning facilitates efficient and deep value capture with select ecosystem actors, brokering allows for wider value capture by identifying, combining and balancing multiple ecosystem interests simultaneously. Our research shows that PIs are not only at the nexus of science to business interactions, their influence surpasses industry to incorporate much broader ecosystem engagement.
•Conceptualize two stage process of value capture in funded research, knowledge exploration and exploitation to expand use.•Examine the enabling mechanisms of value capture in use through exploitation.•Identify two value capture mechanisms – boundary spanning and brokering – that extends use to ecosystem actors.•Boundary spanning facilitates efficient and deep value capture with select ecosystem actors.•Brokering allows wider value capture by identifying, combining and balancing multiple ecosystem interests simultaneously.•Principal investigators are at the nexus of science to business interactions, stimulating and synthesizing wide engagement.
Rice planting (RP) is significant to methane (CH4) emissions from paddy fields, but its effect on the relative contribution of the acetoclastic methanogenesis to total CH4 production (Fac) and the ...fraction of CH4 oxidized (Fox) is poorly understood. To quantify the responses of the Fac and Fox to RP, we investigated CH4 fluxes, CH4 production and oxidation potentials, dissolved CH4 concentrations, and their stable carbon isotopes in a flooded paddy soil. The mcrA and pmoA gene copies were also determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Compared with the unplanted soil (control, CK), the seasonal CH4 emissions from the planted soil were significantly enhanced, 13.6 times, resulting in large decreases in the CH4 concentrations in the soil solution. This indicated that much more CH4 was released into the atmosphere by the RP than was stored in the soils. Acetoclastic methanogenesis became more important from the tillering stage (TS) to the ripening stage (RS) for the CK, with Fac values increased from 17%–20% to 46%–55%. With RP, the Fac values were enhanced by 10%–20%, and it significantly increased the copy numbers of the mcrA gene at the four rice stages (TS, booting stage (BS), grain-filling stage (GS), and RS). Furthermore, the effect of the RP on the abundance of the mcrA gene was highly concurrent with the effect on the Fac values. At the TS, the Fox values at the soil-water interface were around 50%–75% for the CK, being 15%–20% lower than those of the RP in the rhizosphere. It increased to 65%–100% at the GS, but was reduced by 20%–30% after the RP. These differences might be because the copy numbers of the pmoA gene were significantly raised at the TS while lowered at the GS by the RP. This was further demonstrated by the strong correlations between the effect of the RP on the abundance of the pmoA gene and the effect on the Fox values. These findings suggest that RP markedly impacts on the abundances of the mcrA and pmoA genes, affecting the pathway of CH4 production and the fraction of CH4 oxidization, respectively.
Double-agent intravenous chemotherapy concurrent with radiotherapy is the standard of care for patients with inoperable esophageal cancer. However, patients tend to tolerate intravenous chemotherapy ...less well with age and comorbidities. It is essential to find a better treatment modality that improves survival outcomes without reducing the quality of life.
To evaluate the effectiveness of simultaneous integrated boost radiotherapy (SIB-RT) with concurrent and consolidated oral S-1 chemotherapy for patients aged 70 years and older with inoperable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
This multicenter, phase III randomized clinical trial was conducted between March 2017 and April 2020 in 10 centers in China. Patients with inoperable, locally advanced, clinical stage II to IV ESCC were enrolled and randomized to receive SIB-RT concurrent with and followed by oral S-1 chemotherapy (CRTCT group) or SIB-RT alone (RT group). Data analysis was completed on March 22, 2022.
In both groups, the planning gross tumor volume was administered with radiation dose of 59.92 Gy and the planning target volume was administered with radiation dose of 50.4 Gy, in 28 fractions each. In the CRTCT group, concurrent S-1 was administered on radiotherapy days, and consolidated S-1 was administered at 4 to 8 weeks after SIB-RT.
The primary end point was overall survival (OS) of the intent-to-treat population. Secondary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) and toxicity profile.
A total of 330 patients (median IQR age, 75.5 72-79 years; 220 66.7% male patients) were included, with 146 patients randomized to the RT group and 184 randomized to the CRTCT group. A total of 107 patients (73.3%) in the RT group and 121 patients (67.9%) in the CRTCT group were clinically diagnosed with stage III to IV disease. At the time of analysis of the 330 patients in the intent-to treat-population (March 22, 2022), OS was improved in the CRTCT group compared with the RT group at 1 year (72.2% vs 62.3%) and 3 years (46.2% vs 33.9%; log-rank P = .02). PFS was similarly improved in the CRTCT group compared with the RT group at 1 year (60.8% vs 49.3%) and 3 years (37.3% vs 27.9%; log-rank P = .04). There was no significant difference in the incidence of treatment-related toxic effects higher than grade 3 between the 2 groups. Grade 5 toxic effects occurred in each group, including 1 patient who experienced myelosuppression and 4 patients with pneumonitis in the RT group and 3 patients with pneumonitis and 2 patients with fever in the CRTCT group.
These findings suggest that oral S-1 chemotherapy administered with SIB-RT should be considered as an alternative treatment option for patients aged 70 years and older with inoperable ESCC, since it improved survival outcomes without additional treatment-related toxic effects compared with SIB-RT alone.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02979691.
: To analyze the current treatment for low-risk prostate cancer (LRPC) in China.
: A national questionnaire survey titled "A survey of current treatment of LRPC" was designed and released nationally ...through the network from July 16 to August 3, 2017.
: A total of 1,116 valid questionnaires were recovered. The percentages of preferred treatment by active surveillance (AS) or radical prostatectomy (RP) were 29.21% and 45.61%, respectively. A correspondence analysis showed that the physician in charge was more inclined to choose AS than RP. Respondents from different institution types, hospitals with different annual numbers of newly admitted patients with prostate cancer, and with different familiarity with the LRPC definition presented a significant difference in the preferred treatments (p < 0.05). Urologists chose AS or not for the following reasons: tumor progression (52.51%), potential medical disputes (42.56%) (i.e., medical disputes from patients or their relatives when urologists choose AS to treat patients with LRPC and the patient has a poor outcome), fear of cancer (41.94%), and surgical risk (39.07%). These reasons were ubiquitous, and there was no significant difference among urologists for these concerns (p > 0.05). Personal skills, surgical risk, and tumor progression were the most common factors that influenced whether AS or RP was preferred (p < 0.05). Concern about the medical disputes brought about by AS was a key factor for not choosing AS (p < 0.05).
: LRPC is still dominated by RP in China, followed by AS. Personal skills, surgical risk, and concern about tumor progression were the common factors influencing whether AS or RP was preferred. In addition, medical disputes brought by AS are another key factor for not choosing AS. There will be more Chinese data in the future to guide treatment of LRPC.
Drawing on the eco‐innovation and resource‐based view, this research attempts to contribute to the eco‐innovation‐performance debate by examining the effects of eco‐innovation on business ...performance. In particular, we propose that the eco‐innovation–performance relationship is contingent on environmental orientation and resources commitment. The analysis of 83 green‐oriented SMEs in New Zealand suggests that eco‐innovation has a positive effect on business performance. More interestingly, the findings show although environmental orientation does not directly influence business performance, it enhances the positive effect of eco‐innovation on business performance. The results further suggest that green‐oriented firms will reap more performance benefit of eco‐innovation when they commit more organizational resources.
PDF
