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In today’s global marketplace, management teams spend a significant amount of effort on managing their organizations’ image. Stellar reputations help to secure financing, attract business partners, and entice customers. Across two studies, we examine the extent to which a firm’s financial and sustainability reputations are influenced by two distinct organizational activities: its status as a first mover in the field of sustainability and its chief executive officer’s actions. We accomplish this by utilizing a basic semiotics framework to analyze the process by which a firm’s reputation is created between the object (the firm), different signs (organizational activities), and an interpretant (the firm’s reputation). Among other reported findings, we confirm that a firm’s first mover status significantly impacts its financial reputation. In addition, the first mover status and the actions of its CEO both significantly impact the firm’s sustainability reputation. In examining sustainability reputation more closely, we confirm a strong and significant effect of the firm’s sustainability reputation on consumer attitudes toward the firm, which is mediated by the attitude toward the CEO and attitude toward the firm’s first mover status. Do consumers care what organizations do? The answer is yes.

In an interview, Daniela Suter, head of sustainability for the non-food, Migros Corp, talked about her career. Migros had always been one of her favorite stores, one of her favorite companies. It was always a goal to one day work at Migros and when the option came open in 1994, she applied. Her background seemed to fit, so she went to Migros. She did replace someone in 1994; the position was there already. But, she came into the company with a very, very specific objective, which was to create and build up direct purchasing from producers in the Far East. Up until that time, they used to buy from agents, from importers. They had a collection to choose from, they made their choice and they paid their money. Sustainability comes at a price. It's sometimes easier to just negotiate the price than to negotiate the standards and the way things are done and the social issues.

The role of folate in pregnancy is well established, with most prenatal vitamins (PNVs) on the market containing at least 800 μg of folic acid. Folic acid must be converted in the body to L-methylfolate, the natural and biologically active form of folate. The role of vitamin B 12 in pregnancy is less characterized, and most PNV formulations contain only 0 to 12 μg. The present study was undertaken to evaluate whether taking a prenatal medical food containing L-methylfolate and much higher doses of vitamin B 12 results in higher hemoglobin levels and thus, a lower incidence of anemia during pregnancy. The objective of this exploratory study was to evaluate the effects of the prenatal medical food versus standard PNVs on hemoglobin levels and adverse outcomes throughout pregnancy. For this retrospective analysis, we reviewed the charts of female patients taking either a prenatal medical food or standard PNV during pregnancy. Hemoglobin levels measured at initiation of prenatal care, end of second trimester, and delivery were recorded. Patients who had received additional iron supplementation, beyond that contained in the prenatal medical food or PNV they were taking and before anemia screening at the end of the second trimester, were excluded from the study. Fisher exact test, χ 2 test, student t test, and ANOVA were used to evaluate differences between the treatment groups. Data were analyzed from 112 charts: 58 patients (51.8%) were taking the prenatal medical food; 54 patients (48.2%) were taking standard PNVs. Mean (SD) age at first prenatal visit was 27 (4.6) years in the medical food group and 28.8 (3.5) years in the PNV group ( P = 0.024). Mean (SD) body mass indices were 29.1 (6.5) and 31.7 (8.9) in the medical food and PNV groups, respectively ( P = NS). In the medical food group, 35 women (60.3%) were white/Caucasian, 17 (29.3%) were African American, and 6 (10.4%) were of other races. In the PNV group, 24 women (44.4%) were white/Caucasian, 25 (46.3%) were African American, and 5 (9.3%) were of other races. However, race was not significantly different between the two groups. At end of second trimester and at delivery, mean (SD) hemoglobin levels were higher in the prenatal medical food group (11.8 [1.1] g/dL and 11.8 [1.3] g/dL, respectively) than in the PNV group (11.3 [1.2] g/dL and 10.7 [1.2] g/dL, respectively) ( P = 0.011 and P = 0.001, respectively). Significantly fewer cases of anemia were reported at end of second trimester in the prenatal medical food group than in the PNV group (39.7% vs 74.1%; P = 0.001). In the present study, supplementation with a prenatal medical food containing L-methylfolate and high-dose vitamin B 12 may maintain hemoglobin levels and decrease rates of anemia in pregnancy more effectively than standard prenatal vitamins; however, prospective, controlled studies are warranted. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01193192.

Background Ixekizumab (IXE) is an interleukin (IL)-17A antagonist approved for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Objective The objective of this study was to determine if the immune response to tetanus and pneumococcal vaccines in healthy subjects administered IXE was noninferior to control. Methods In a randomized, open-label, parallel-group study, adult subjects received vaccinations alone ( N  = 42, control) or in combination with 160 mg IXE subcutaneously 2 weeks prior to vaccination and 80 mg IXE on the day of vaccination ( N  = 41, IXE). Response to tetanus vaccination was defined as anti-tetanus antibodies ≥ 1.0 IU and a ≥ 1.5-fold increase if baseline was ≤ 1.0 IU or a ≥ 2.5-fold increase if baseline was > 1.0 IU. Response to pneumococcal vaccination was defined as a ≥ 2-fold increase from baseline in anti-pneumococcal antibodies against > 50% of the 23 serotypes. The primary outcomes were the percentages of patients with a response to the tetanus and pneumococcal vaccines 4 weeks after vaccination. A noninferiority analysis of IXE to control using a 40% margin was evaluated for the primary outcomes. Safety and pharmacokinetics were also assessed. Results IXE (38 completers) was noninferior to control (41 completers) based on the difference in the proportion of responders to tetanus [1.4%; 90% confidence interval (CI) − 16.6 to 19.2] and pneumococcal (− 0.8%; 90% CI − 12.9 to 11.0) vaccines. Twenty subjects (14 IXE, six control) reported 43 mild treatment-emergent adverse events. Conclusion IXE does not suppress the humoral immune response to non-live vaccines and was well tolerated in healthy subjects. ClinicalTrial.gov identifier : NCT02543918.

This paper introduces social network analysis techniques to business logistics and transportation. The case study has two specific goals: 1. it introduces social network analysis techniques to the business logistics and transportation community as a useful tool with which to study the dynamic flows of communication between members of a social network, and 2. it describes a wide variety of techniques and then utilizes them to examine artifacts of scholarly communication - journal citations. In doing so, it tracks the changing communication patterns across two separate time periods to describe the evolution and maturation of the fields of business logistics and transportation. Over a period of ten years the flow of information between the journals in the area of business logistics and transportation has become more efficient and journals directly communicate with one another. Also, there is no longer a distinct break between logistics and transportation.

We report 2 studies that served to clarify the role of consumption emotions in the satisfaction response. In the 1st study, we examined the role of consumption emotions within the expectancy-disconfirmation model of consumer satisfaction and investigated whether consumption emotions are a result of product performance or disconfirmation. The findings show that both positive and negative emotions are primarily a function of product performance and influence satisfaction even when the effects of expectations, performance, and disconfirmation are controlled. In the 2nd study, we proposed and tested an alternative framework for understanding the role of consumption emotions in the satisfaction response for situations in which consumers use more of an experiential perspective to anticipate and experience consumption. According to this model, consumers form affective expectations about how consumption of the product will make them feel, experience positive or negative emotions as a result of these expectations and product consumption, and evaluate the discrepancy between experienced and anticipated emotions. All 3 variables, then, impact satisfaction. The results empirically support many of the relations in the new model of the experiential satisfaction response but also raise several interesting avenues for future research.

The disciplines of nursing and midwifery both uphold a powerful oral tradition that can impact upon student learning. Students enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Midwifery are supervised and assessed by midwives during their placements in midwifery practice settings by a program of Preceptorship' support and where conversations are innate. Positioning theory, developed by Harre and others, is a metaphorical concept in which an individual positions' herself/himself within entities of encompassing people, institutions and societies where conversations are conducted either privately or publicly. As construction sites of professional learning, conversations are underpinned by reflective practices. A model of professional identity formation in midwifery. In unravelling conversations, positioning may be applied as an analytical tool by educators to interpret the emerging meanings and themes in their discussions with students, reflective journals by students and in meetings with preceptors/midwives. [Author abstract]

Young entrepreneurs have a reputation for making high risk, high payoff decisions. Although they utilize a variety of governmental and social support systems (Laferte & Lorrain, 2006), they also utilize more business-oriented strategies such as developing business plans, seeking expert advice, using analytics, and connecting to consumers (Rexroad, 2010). We examined the decision making strategies of one type of young entrepreneur as they thought about and prepared for the future: young farmers. Ten key informant interviews and 306 surveys were conducted. We examined the extent to which they experienced economic success or difficulty as well as their business and managerial strategies. Among other findings, we discovered that a market orientation strategy mitigates the extent to which these individuals experienced some types of economic difficulties. Implications for young entrepreneurs are discussed. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Drug-drug interaction studies were used to estimate CYP3A4-dependent clearance of LY2623091. in a cross-over design, healthy adults received a single 6-mg dose of LY2623091 at baseline. Itraconazole (200 mg twice on day 1 then daily × 19 days; n = 16) and diltiazem (240 mg Extended Release daily × 13 days; n = 16) were given. On days 6 and 4, respectively, LY2623091 was dosed 1 h after itraconazole/diltiazem. Pharmacokinetic samples were obtained and static and dynamic models were used to assess interaction. Area under the concentration-time curve for LY2623091 increased 2.2-fold with itraconazole and 1.4-fold with diltiazem. Maximum plasma concentration did not change. The physiologically based pharmacokinetic model overpredicted itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole concentrations. Extraction by CYP3A4 was ∼0.5; gut wall extraction was negligible. Interaction risk requires early clinical assessment to quantify the candidate drug. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT02300259). Data deposition: deposition pending.