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Background: Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been widely applied and accepted in the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Despite numerous studies exploring the effects of DBS on the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), there is a limited number of articles summarizing this research. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current trends, hot topics, and potential in research surrounding DBS therapy for PD, as well as to anticipate the challenges of such research. Methods: We searched the Web of Science Core Collection database (WoSCC) for DBS research literature related to PD published from January 2014 to January 2024, utilized CiteSpace, VOS viewer, the bibliometric online analysis platform, Scimago Graphica, Microsoft Excel 2021, and R software version 4.2.3 for data analysis. And we conducted quantitative research on publications, citations, journals, authors, countries, institutions, keywords, and references, visualized the results in network graphs. Results: From 2014 to 2024, papers from 39 journals from 11 countries were among the top 100 cited. Most papers were published in Neurology, with the highest average citations per paper in Nature Neuroscience. The United States (US) contributed the most publications, followed by the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany. In terms of total publications, University College London (UCL) contributed the most papers. The primary classifications of articles were Clinical Neurology, Neurosciences, and Surgery. The top five keywords were subthalamic nucleus, DBS, PD, medical therapy, and basal ganglia. Cluster analysis indicates that DBS research focus on improving quality of life and applying computational models. Conclusion: Through bibliometric analysis, researchers could quickly and clearly understand the hotspots and boundaries of their research field, thus guiding their research direction and scope to improve research efficiency and the quality of outcomes. Although studies indicate that DBS is currently a crucial method for treating advanced PD, in the long run, creating a personalized, lowcost treatment regimen with precise targeting and long-term efficacy poses a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why you should read this article: • UK care homes are an important example of a complex environment where research is essential but faces multiple challenges in terms of rigour and methodology • This paper offers a variety of important methodological strategies to identify and address challenges that could impact findings and the ability to carry out research • It highlights the importance of taking a critical stance with all elements of the research process and illustrates the need to identify and mitigate challenges when conducting research in complex environments. Background: The evidence base for hydration practice in care homes is underdeveloped. High-quality research is therefore needed to determine what practices support older people with dementia in drinking sufficient fluid. However, methodological developments are needed to be able to do this. Aim: To highlight the methodological issues researchers encountered during a feasibility cluster, randomised controlled trial of ThinkDrink, a hydration care guide for people with dementia living in UK care homes. Discussion: This is a challenging area because of the complexity of recruitment, participation and data collection in care homes. Researchers must pay extra attention to rigour and quality in the design of their studies. There may be multiple challenges, so various strategies may be required. Conclusion: It is important that researchers continue to reflect on rigorous approaches to develop evidence in a crucial area of care, despite these challenges. Implications for practice: Researchers working in complex environments face a variety of challenges to complete methodologically rigorous research. It is important for researchers to be critical of research processes and data, to mitigate and overcome these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decarbonizing industrial sectors is a critical global challenge, involving the creation of new industrial spaces—'net zero industrial clusters'—co‐locating energy sectors and 'hard‐to‐abate' industries such as oil refining and steelmaking. This paper provides the first empirically grounded geographical investigation of these emerging spaces. It employs a place‐based research agenda to unpack how UK net zero industrial clusters (ICs) are imagined and emplaced in policy and industry discourses through place‐based naming, spatial configuring and mapping activities. By conducting document analysis, 33 in‐depth stakeholder interviews and five field trips to three UK case studies, we show how cluster imaginaries vary across cases and policy contexts in terms of constituents, focus and purpose. Ontological complexity is compounded by different rationales among stakeholders in configuring clusters and by contested cluster naming and boundary setting. This ambiguous, evolving spatiality raises important political and justice concerns over who and where is excluded in cluster building. These findings advance the geographies of low‐carbon transitions by showing: (1) ways that ICs' spatial embeddedness, which underlies cluster spatial configurations, helps increase industry actors' recognition of their economic, social and cultural ties with the places of their making, even if this risks path dependency; (2) how fluid cluster boundaries, reflected in cluster names and maps, emphasize the value of a network topology of scale to enable spatially inclusive, multi‐scalar climate mitigation. Finally, we argue that a place‐sensitive net zero policy mindset is vital for fulfilling ICs and the UK's decarbonization potential in a manner that is both fair and locally grounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of the rise in higher‐education participation rates, this paper examines the spatial redistribution of undergraduates across the United Kingdom resulting from moves to and from university. Drawing on the Graduate Outcomes Surveys of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, address data coded to 53 subregions (SRs) are used to track those enrolled on degree courses by age 20 from domicile to university and workplace 15 months after graduation. The paper begins by examining how university‐ward migration serves to concentrate this group geographically and the way in which subsequent job‐related moves tend to reinforce this process. Each person is then classified on the basis of their migration trajectories between domicile and workplace, enabling a set of migration accounts to be produced for each SR. Applying cluster analysis to these accounts, a six‐way grouping of SRs is used to gauge change between their domicile and workplace populations in both overall numbers and qualitative characteristics, the latter being measured in terms of educational qualifications preuniversity and occupational status 15 months after graduation. These analyses demonstrate how the different types of SRs fare in these exchanges of students/graduates, with more subregions suffering the 'double whammy' of losing out in both quantitative and qualitative terms than gaining from this process, with challenging implications for central government's current 'levelling‐up' agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In many Westernised countries, children do not consume a sufficient amount of vegetables for optimal health and development. Child-feeding guidelines have been produced to address this, but often only promote offering vegetables at midday/evening meals and snack times. With guidance having limited success in increasing children's vegetable intake at a population level, novel approaches to address this must be developed. Offering vegetables to children at breakfast time in nursery/kindergarten settings has the potential to increase children's overall daily vegetable consumption as children typically attend nursery/kindergarten and many routinely eat breakfast there. However, the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention (Veggie Brek) to children and nursery staff has not been investigated. Methods: A feasibility and acceptability cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken in eight UK nurseries. All nurseries engaged in one-week baseline and follow-up phases before and after an intervention/control period. Staff in intervention nurseries offered three raw carrot batons and three cucumber sticks alongside children's main breakfast food each day for three weeks. Control nurseries offered children their usual breakfast. Feasibility was assessed by recruitment data and nursery staff's ability to follow the trial protocol. Acceptability was assessed by children's willingness to eat the vegetables at breakfast time. All primary outcomes were assessed against traffic-light progression criteria. Staff preference for collecting data via photographs versus using paper was also assessed. Further views about the intervention were obtained through semi-structured interviews with nursery staff. Results: The recruitment of parents/caregivers willing to provide consent for eligible children was acceptable at 67.8% (within the amber stop–go criterion) with 351 children taking part across eight nurseries. Both the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention to nursery staff and the willingness of children to consume the vegetables met the green stop–go criteria, with children eating some part of the vegetables in 62.4% (745/1194) of instances where vegetables were offered. Additionally, staff preferred reporting data using paper compared to taking photographs. Conclusions: Offering vegetables to children at breakfast time in nursery/kindergarten settings is feasible and acceptable to children and nursery staff. A full intervention evaluation should be explored via a definitive RCT. Trial registration: NCT05217550. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic research's growing importance in understanding pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and developing effective treatments prompted the RAPID‐PAH study. This study sought feedback from stakeholders who participated in two genomic studies to enhance genetic study delivery and clinical integration. Stakeholders from nine UK PH centres, representing various roles, ages, genders, and mutation statuses, took part in 53 semi‐structured interviews and focus groups. Transcripts were thematically coded using inductive analysis. Clustering analysis was conducted to identify patient groups that shared attitudes. In this paper, we focus on patients', carers', and relatives' perspectives. The key interview themes revealed insights into participants' attitudes toward genetic research and testing more generally, expertise and knowledge of the disease itself, motivations and barriers to participating in genetic research, awareness of and interest in consent procedures and the use of personal and genetic data, as well as the process of communicating individual genetic results. Factors influencing genetic research participation included altruistic motives, personal diagnostic experiences, and family‐related hopes. Clustering analysis produced distinct clusters based on the presence of barriers and motivators for research participation; however, hardly any patients shared identical sets of attitudes, emphasising the need for personalised approaches to recruitment. Most patients reported poor engagement with study‐related materials. Patients who received individual genetic results expressed satisfaction with the process, whereas those who did not were disappointed with the lack of feedback. Reflecting on patient perspectives, we offer recommendations to improve the genetic study delivery process. Enhancing genetic research integration into clinical practice requires tailored engagement, clear communication, and support from healthcare stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (HDI) aggregates information on achievements in health, education and income. These achievements are given a weight of one-third each. These weights have been the subject of long-standing controversy, from the moment the HDI was released in 1990. Alternative weights reflecting stated citizen preferences are obtained in this paper using a discrete choice experiment involving a survey 2578 adult residents of the United Kingdom. Health is the most important achievement, with a mean weight of 0.428, followed by income and education, with mean weights of 0.292 and 0.280 respectively. Evidence in support of the view that HDI weights should vary among achievements and countries is provided, based on cluster and econometric analysis of the survey data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on theories of international regimes and game theoretical approaches this article analyzes the level of overlap in national security strategies, seeking to explore the potential of convergence in security and defense cooperation in Europe post Brexit. It investigates two research questions: 1. What is the potential for future security cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic space post-Brexit? and 2. What areas are more prone to collaboration? The paper applies cluster analysis and a comparative design, using national security strategies as units of study. It finds that there is potential for future convergence between EU27 and the UK at the industrial level, in internal security matters and EU missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the role of world countries in Library and Information Science research during 1963 to 2012 using scientometric and social network analysis (SNA) approaches. A total of 58757 papers which published by 83 Information Science and Library Science journals in JCR 2013 and indexed in the Web of Science were selected as the sample of the study. In this paper, the overall structure and evolution of the collaboration network of countries were investigated using macro-level SNA metrics. Additionally, scientometric and micro-level SNA metrics were adopted to analyze the performance of countries in the network. UCINET and VOSVIEWER software were utilized for data analysis and visualization. Findings of the study show that the co-authorship network of countries in LIS research contains 151 vertices which connected together through 3121 links (co-authorships). The collaboration network of countries seems to exhibit "scale-free" and "small world" network properties and the theory of "six degrees of separation" is valid in this network. Moreover, the results of clustering analysis show that this network comprises 39 clusters. Amongst them, the eleventh and ninth clusters which contain US and UK, have the highest density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational functions of digital games are often seen only in the light of the serious and purposeful activities that aim for learning outcomes, in contrast with noneducational games that are designed for entertainment. The focus of this paper is in studying players’ learning outcomes from playing non-educational games, and how these relate to wellbeing outcomes of playing, and gaming motivation. The data for this study was collected via a survey (N = 1,202) in the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey respondents answered the question regarding what players perceive they have learnt by playing digital games. A generic datadriven qualitative content analysis of the responses to this question yielded 11 categories representing different types of game-based learning outcomes. A consequent cluster analysis suggested three groups of informal game-based learning, which differed in their emphasis on (1) learning persistence, (2) learning practices and community, and (3) learning to perform. Our analyses indicated substantial connections between the learning outcomes and gameplay motives and gameplay activity preferences. Such connections point out how gameplay activity has an inherently close relationship with learning. Moreover, the results yielded significant association between learning outcomes, wellbeing measures, and eudaimonic motives to play digital games. These results indicate that playing games because gaming is aligned with players’ core values and need for self-realization are clear precedents for both wellbeing and learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal or shadow economy and its multiple determinants have gained the attention of economic research, benefitting from a vast body of literature in the field. Even so, the nexus between the expansion of the informal economic sector and institutions, perceived as good practices, has been less explored. If the formal institutional component is easier to quantify in terms of impact determined on the informal economy, things are totally different when emphasizing how the informal institutions cause the auspicious circumstances as to further escalate shadow practices. Starting from such premises, our paper investigates the nexus between informal institutions, traditions, culture, values, attitudes, beliefs, or mentality that define the basic identity of any society and the predisposition of those societies towards shadow economy, applied to the EU -28. In other words, by using a mixed methodological approach based on the cultural dimensions provided by Geert Hofstede and a unique dataset of variables representative for the shadow economy and quality of informal institutions, we employ a cluster analysis and panel data analysis for the EU countries, including the United Kingdom. As expected, the results have fully validated the imperceptible contribution of unofficial institutions to the amplitude and gravity of informal economy, thus affecting the long-term prosperity of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an in-depth study of intra-disability diversity in the digital realm and the related role of individuality and selectiveness in the digital choices and experiences of people with disabilities (PwD). The study adopts the interactionist model of disability and problematises conceptual uniformity in research that focuses on the medical and socially-constructed features of disability as those determining digital constraints and affordances for PwD. Through primary qualitative evidence, it argues that individuality and selectiveness shape a complex terrain of intra-disability diversity, which forms the nuances and experiences of digital inclusion for PwD. Thus, it invites researchers to move beyond disability-fixed categorisations and offers a 3-tier recommendation for future research to explain the range of PwD' perceptions and experiences in the digital realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers are generally most concerned about improving the lives of the worst-off members of society. Identifying these people can be challenging. We take various measures of subjective wellbeing (SWB) as indicators of the how well people are doing in life and employ Latent Class Analysis to identify those with greatest propensity to be among the worst-off in a nationally representative sample of over 215,000 people in the United Kingdom. Our results have important implications for how best to analyse data on SWB and who to target when looking to improve the lives of those with the lowest SWB (The authors owe a massive debt of gratitude to the Office for National Statistics for their support throughout this research. We are particularly grateful to Dawn Snape and Eleanor Rees for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper, to Salah Mehad for the thorough review of methodology, and to Vahe Nafilyan for advice on clustering analysis. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for the very helpful comments. Thank you all very much.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the continuous growth of online interaction, social media is becoming increasingly useful in understanding trends in human behavior both locally and globally. On average there are approximately 6,000 tweets posted on Twitter every second, equating to approximately 500 million tweets per day. This wealth of information shared publicly can be hugely beneficial in gaining insights into reactions and implications caused by social, environmental, or financial events. The information has the potential to be particularly useful to retailers in terms of market research and sales forecasting when used along with some of the latest data analysis and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. The goal of this study is to utilize data from the Twitter platform, shared by the public, to extract what benefits and insights can be gained by analyzing the correlation between external KPIs, extracted from non-UK based geographical social media data, and sales recorded in a UK based luxury retailer at the corresponding time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Branded convenience grocery stores have become commonplace in UK retailing, increasingly adopted by retailers traditionally associated with superstore retailing. This paper initially explores the conditions in which this shift has occurred, looking at supply-side changes, planning policy, and changing demographics and consumer behaviour. Subsequently, this paper quantifies the geographical market share of a number of prominent convenience grocery retailers at the postal area level across the UK in 2012. Finally, the paper offers a segmentation of the convenience market into a series of clusters by location type. By understanding the drivers of trade in different locations, through the cluster analysis outlined in this paper, a more powerful set of location strategies can be adopted by companies expanding in this market. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the support networks of older people in populations with a preponderance of multigenerational households and examines the most vulnerable network types in terms of loneliness and isolation. Current common typologies of support networks may not be sensitive to differences within and between different cultures. This paper uses cross-sectional data drawn from 590 elders (Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis) living in the United Kingdom and South Asia. Six variables were used in K-means cluster analysis to establish a new network typology. Two logistic regression models using loneliness and isolation as dependent variables assessed the contribution of the new network type to wellbeing. Four support networks were identified: ‘Multigenerational Households: Older Integrated Networks’, ‘Multigenerational Households: Younger Family Networks’, ‘Family and Friends Integrated Networks’ and ‘Non-kin Restricted Networks’. Older South Asians with ‘Non-kin Restricted Networks’ were more likely to be lonely and isolated compared to others. Using network typologies developed with individualistically oriented cultures, distributions are skewed towards more robust network types and could underestimate the support needs of older people from familistic cultures, who may be isolated and lonely and with limited informal sources of help. The new typology identifies different network types within multigenerational households, identifies a greater proportion of older people with vulnerable networks and could positively contribute to service planning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Neolithic stone axeheads from Britain provide an unusually rich, well-provenanced set of evidence with which to consider patterns of prehistoric production and exchange. It is no surprise then that these objects have often been subject to spatial analysis in terms of the relationship between particular stone source areas and the distribution of axeheads made from those stones. At stake in such analysis are important interpretative issues to do with how we view the role of material value, supply, exchange, and demand in prehistoric societies. This paper returns to some of these well-established debates in the light of accumulating British Neolithic evidence and via the greater analytical power and flexibility afforded by recent computational methods. Our analyses make a case that spatial distributions of prehistoric axeheads cannot be explained merely as the result of uneven resource availability in the landscape, but instead reflect the active favouring of particular sources over known alternatives. Above and beyond these patterns, we also demonstrate that more populated parts of Early Neolithic Britain were an increased pull factor affecting the longer-range distribution of these objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs the bibliometric analysis approach to examine research on ethical decision‐making (EDM) of accountants from 1987 to 2022. The study specifically examines the developments in EDM research and evaluates the intellectual structure of the research field. Employing citation, co‐authorship, co‐occurrence and bibliographic coupling analyses, bibliometric data on 908 publications from the Scopus database was analysed. The results indicate that there has been a significant increase in the rate of publication on EDM of accountants following the spate of ethical breaches in the early 2000s. Further, we find that a large proportion of EDM in accounting research originates from developed countries like USA, Australia and UK. Our cluster analysis suggests that two main research streams have evolved over the period. Prior to 2012, researchers in this field mainly focused on individual level issues, particularly, on the determinants of the EDM process of individuals. Research, post 2012, however, has focused on firm‐level EDM issues including organisational ethics, culture, and corporate governance. The study further discusses the themes in detail andproposes a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-adherence to assigned treatment is a common issue in cluster randomised trials. In these settings, the efficacy estimand may also be of interest. Many methodological contributions in recent years have advocated using instrumental variables to identify and estimate the local average treatment effect. However, the clustered nature of randomisation in cluster randomised trials adds to the complexity of such analyses. In this paper, we show that the local average treatment effect can be estimated via two-stage least squares regression using cluster-level summaries of the outcome and treatment received under certain assumptions. We propose the use of baseline variables to adjust the cluster-level summaries before performing two-stage least squares in order to improve efficiency. Implementation needs to account for the reduced sample size, as well as the possible heteroscedasticity, to obtain valid inferences. Simulations are used to assess the performance of two-stage least squares of cluster-level summaries under cluster-level or individual-level non-adherence, with and without weighting and robust standard errors. The impact of adjusting for baseline covariates and of appropriate degrees of freedom correction for inference is also explored. The methods are then illustrated by re-analysing a cluster randomised trial carried out in a specific UK primary care setting. Two-stage least squares estimation using cluster-level summaries provides estimates with small to negligible bias and coverage close to nominal level, provided the appropriate small sample degrees of freedom correction and robust standard errors are used for inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a culturalist interpretation of the outcome of the Brexit referendum. This interpretation is grounded on the analysis of the U.K.'s cultural milieu, which is part of a more general study of the cultural milieus of several European countries. Specific to the United Kingdom, our analysis is based on a questionnaire carried out on a representative sample of U.K. respondents stratified by sociodemographic variables and geographic region (NUTS1). Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis—a combination of multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. Findings about the multicountry analysis show how cultural milieus are characterized by five basic, embodied, affect‐laden, generalized worldviews (defined as "Symbolic Universes"). Four out of five symbolic universes consist of a way of interpreting reality by a specific anchorage (i.e., the ethical norm, the institutional order, the emotional experience interpersonal bond, and the belongingness). One symbolic universe can be viewed as the anomic reaction to the failure of those anchorages. Focusing on Brexit, by means of a discriminant analysis, it is showed how the incidence of the symbolic universes (and of the underpinning basic dimensions of meaning within the 12 U.K. macroregions') enables to identify differentially the macroregions with high proportion of "leave" at the Brexit referendum against those with low proportion. More specifically, the high "leave" macroregion are characterized by higher relevance of cultural forms anchored on local identity/belongingness. Findings are discussed within the wider aims of the project and its implications for a cultural psychology informed policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Research on ideological attitudes has identified two main dimensions that refer to two fundamental features of group organization: social solidarity and social control. In response to prior research that has studied their relationship mainly from a correlational perspective, this paper introduces a social reality model based on psychological functionality of ideological attitudes. Social position variables (education, income and material vulnerability) and insecurity variables (fear of crime and distrust) are used to predict the interplay between ideological attitudes towards social solidarity and social control. Using K-means cluster analysis, a typology with four patterns of support for solidarity and control ('socials', 'repressives', 'minimalists' and 'social-repressives') was created, on the basis of representative survey data for the UK, France and Germany ( N = 7034). Results from logistic regression analyses show that the proposed social reality model explains membership in typology categories, with similar results across the three countries. Overall, the model underscores the social origins of ideological attitudes as functional responses to perceived social reality. The paper illustrates how the social psychological study of ideological attitudes may be enriched by a typological approach that examines patterns of attitudes rather than single dimensions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of gender in global cross-generational consciousness must be urgently addressed. Gender equality (Sustainable Development Goal 5 or SDG5) should be the responsibility of all countries around the world. As a result, this study intends to draw a map of knowledge on gender issues in consciousness across generations to investigate the state of research and future possibilities. This study aims to build a knowledge map that provides a comprehensive understanding of gender issues in awareness across generations. Vosviewer was used to perform bibliometric techniques on 370 English articles from Scopus on cross-generational awareness and gender equality themes. The study emphasizes the continued focus and upward trend of publications after cluster analysis and time series analysis and outlines the important authors, and research countries on the issue. The US has made significant contributions and influenced the UK and Australia. Gender, generation, gender equality, awareness, generational differences, gender issues, culture, education, gender inequality, feminism, health equity, diversity, social psychology, policy, and sustainable development are some of the groups of terms generated by the author's collaboration. As a result, the conclusions propose that research on gender issues could be expanded to include more authors, fields, subjects, and other diverse cooperative sectors. The implications of this knowledge mapping go beyond academia, holding practical and policy relevance, especially regarding gender equality and cross-generational awareness. This study is critical to inform future policies and practices aimed at fostering inclusivity and equality across generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To address if the long-standing association between maternal infection, depression/anxiety in pregnancy, and offspring neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) is causal, we conducted two negative-control studies. Methods: Four primary care cohorts of UK children (pregnancy, 1 and 2 years prior to pregnancy, and siblings) born between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2017 were constructed. NDD included autism/autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. Maternal exposures included depression/anxiety and/or infection. Maternal (age, smoking status, comorbidities, body mass index, NDD); child (gender, ethnicity, birth year); and area-level (region and level of deprivation) confounders were captured. The NDD incidence rate among (1) children exposed during or outside of pregnancy and (2) siblings discordant for exposure in pregnancy was compared using Cox-regression models, unadjusted and adjusted for confounders. Results: The analysis included 410 461 children of 297 426 mothers and 2 793 018 person-years of follow-up with 8900 NDD cases (incidence rate = 3.2/1000 person years). After adjustments, depression and anxiety consistently associated with NDD (pregnancy-adjusted HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.46–1.72; 1-year adj. HR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.39–1.60; 2-year adj. HR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.50–1.74); and to a lesser extent, of infection (pregnancy adj. HR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.10–1.22; 1-year adj. HR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.14–1.27; 2-year adj. HR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.12–1.25). NDD risk did not differ among siblings discordant for pregnancy exposure to mental illness HR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.77–1.21 or infection HR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.90–1.08. Conclusions: Maternal risk appears to be unspecific to pregnancy: our study provided no evidence of a specific, and therefore causal, link between in-utero exposure to infection, common mental illness, and later development of NDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out a theoretical framework for analyzing board governance, and describes an empirical study of corporate governance practices in a subset of non-profit organizations (hospices in the UK). It examines how practices in hospice governance compare with what is known about effective board working. We found that key strengths of hospice boards included a strong focus on the mission and the finances of the organizations, and common weaknesses included a lack of involvement in strategic matters and a lack of confidence, and some nervousness about challenging the organization on the quality of clinical care. Finally, the paper offers suggestions for theoretical development particularly in relation to board governance in non-profit organizations. It develops an engagement theory for boards which comprises a triadic proposition of high challenge, high support and strong grip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent do European state topographic maps exhibit unique styles of cartography? This paper describes an investigation to classify and analyse stylistic diversity in the official 1 : 50 000 topographical mapping of 20 European countries. The method involves the construction of a typology of cartographic style, based upon the classification of distinct graphical legend symbols into mutually exclusive thematic categories. In order to identify stylistic similarities between national symbologies, hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to compare the relative proportions of symbols within each category. This was complemented by a qualitative analysis of various aspects of cartographic design: colour, 'white' space, visual hierarchy, and lettering. The results indicate a high degree of stylistic diversity throughout Europe, with the symbologies of Great Britain and Ireland demonstrating the strongest example of a supranational style. The typology of cartographic symbologies is shown to be an effective method for determining stylistic association among maps of differing geographical (and potentially historical) origins and it is suggested that the cartographic language paradigm should be revisited as a means for understanding why national differences persist in state cartography. A version of this paper was presented at the Twenty-third International Cartographic Conference in Moscow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — Cluster analysis provides a statistical method whereby unknown groupings of similar attributes can be identified from a mass of data and is well-known within marketing and a wide range of other disciplines. This paper seeks to describe the use of cluster analysis in an unusual setting to classify a large sample of dyadic, highly interdependent, supply chain relationships based upon the quality of their interactions. This paper aims to show how careful attention to the detail of research design and the use of combined methods leads to results that both are useful to managers and make a contribution to knowledge. Design/methodology/approach — Data relating to 55 monopolistic relationships in the UK defence procurement sector were collected. Hierarchical cluster analysis using Wards method was undertaken on scores from five dimensions measuring relationship satisfaction. The resulting clusters are described in terms of the scores on the dimensions and also in terms of their relationships with data, quantitative and qualitative, exogenous to the clusters. Findings — The analysis reveals five distinct clusters of relationships. Statistically significant differences are evident in the scores on the five dimensions of satisfaction with respect to these clusters. These scores lead to the labels "Poor 1" "Moderate 2" "Moderate 3" and "Good 4" being assigned to the clusters. The clusters display statistically significant relationships with a number of the exogenous variables including the value of the contract and the age of the technology involved. Relationships with the exogenous qualitative data are indicative of the validity of the clusters. Originality/value — This paper takes a novel approach to gaining an understanding of relationships through the use of hierarchical cluster analysis. This provides an elegant way of exposing the influences on relationship satisfaction at a disaggregate level which are not possible by taking an aggregate approach. This will be of particular interest to researchers who are seeking patterns in large data sets and practitioners who can identify better practice guidelines when working within supply chain relationships. The disaggregate approach using cluster analysis provides extraordinarily detailed insights into relationship patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose--The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues that impact negatively on e-cluster development in a low product complexity industry and identification of key factors to overcome the barriers. Design/methodology/approach--Structured interviews were used to identify perceived value and user expectations from e-clusters. Workshops involving assessment of a prototype e-cluster validated user expectations. A mapping study and best practice review provided a basis for e-cluster application development and assessing potential industry uptake. Findings--Interest and perceived value of e-clusters varied according to size of organisation with smaller organisations primarily interested in e-connectivity to retailers and e-business development. Organisations of all sizes, however, indicated a willingness to learn from each other and partner although level of e-connectivity was average and overall level of sophistication was low. Practical implications--Industrial review and acceptance of a prototype e-cluster that would enable organisations manage several critical aspects of their operations from a single interface. Originality/value--The paper provides new understanding of key issues that impact the operational benefits of e-clusters and, in particular, factors that would underpin the success of e-cluster success in a competitive, insular, low product complexity industry. This presents an informed basis for e-cluster managers and members to successfully manage their initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the question of the existence of corporate philanthropy. It proposes a framework for analysing corporate philanthropy along the dimensions of business/society interest and primary/ secondary stakeholder focus. The framework is then applied in order to understand business involvement with the arts in the U.K. A unique dataset of 60 texts which describe different firms' involvement with the Arts is analysed using formal content analysis to uncover the motivations for business involvement. Cluster analysis is then used in order to identify motivational groupings. Two broad types of involvement are identified -- advertisers and legitimators. Only in one case of the 60 is there the potential to observe pure altruism. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a clear framework to understand the motivations for corporate giving and applies this using empirical data. Secondly, this research finds little evidence, if at all, of corporate philanthropy in the context of firms giving to the Arts in the U.K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous paper (Moore, 2001), the headline findings from a study of social and financial performance over three years of eight firms in the UK supermarket industry were reported. These were based on the derivation of a 16-measure social performance index and a 4-measure financial performance index. This paper discusses the formulationof the indices and then reports on: discussions with two supermarket firms concerning the overall results; inter-relationships between individual financial performance measures; inter-relationships between individual social performance measures; stakeholder group analysis; and inter-relationships between turnover, age and gearing with social performance measures. The paper discusses these inter-relationships, incorporating comments from the interviews with the two supermarket firms, and reports on both factor and cluster analysis. The interviews lend support for Preston and O’Bannon’s (1997) Available Funding Hypothesis in both its positive and negative form. The findings show that there are individual or combinations of related measures that could be used as surrogate measures for social and financial performance, instead of deriving a full index. However, the recommendation is that a full index continues to be used until there is further corroboration of these results. The findings also provide statistically significant support for the Negative Synergy Hypothesis (Preston and O’Bannon, 1997), show a statistically significant association between pre-tax profits (both lagged and contemporaneous) with community contributions, and show that all statistically significant associations between individual social performance measures are positive – suggesting that they are mutually reinforcing. The association of size with social performance, noted in the previous paper, is also reinforced. Findings in relation to the proportion of women managers and the number of women on the Board and positive assoc... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from initial education to work has received a great amount of attention, but hardly any research treats this process holistically. This paper focuses on the serial succession of statuses instead of on single events in the early years after leaving full-time education. As a methodological tool sequence analysis will be applied. Optimal matching procedures allow for the direct comparison of entire career sequences taking into account the ordering of the events. The objective of applying this rather new tool is to empirically identify distinct patterns of transition into the labour market. The analysis covers the whole range of employment statuses including periods of unemployment and inactivity that individuals experience within the first five years following completion of education. A cross-national comparison between Great Britain and West Germany aims at investigating to what extent the observed patterns of transition processes are shaped by their institutional embeddedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between personality disorder (PD) treatment readiness and dropout from three community-based offending behaviour group programmes.Design/methodology/approach At the pre-programme stage, measures of PD and treatment readiness were administered to 186 offenders participating in either a cognitive skills programme, a general violence programme or a programme for domestically abusive men. Demographic and risk data were also obtained from the offender assessment system. At a one-year follow-up, comparisons were made between the risk, personality and treatment readiness profiles of programme completers and non-completers.Findings It was hypothesised that PD would be associated with low levels of treatment readiness at the pre-group stage and that both low levels of treatment readiness and PD would predict subsequent programme non-completion. Only antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) was associated with low overall treatment readiness, although antisocial, paranoid, schizoid, negativistic and borderline traits were associated with the facet of low self-efficacy. Non-completion was not predicted by younger age or recidivism risk scores and was most strongly predicted by the presence of a cluster A PD, as well as ASPD, low pre-group motivation and mixed race and white ethnicity.Research limitations/implications Paranoid and antisocial personality pathology present important obstacles to effective offending behaviour group work in the community. This illustrates that further consideration needs to be given to these important responsivity factors in future delivery and evaluation of these programmes.Originality/value The study provides a detailed analysis of factors associated with non-completion of three community-based offending behaviour programmes in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are notable differences in suicide methods between countries. The aim of this paper is to analyse and describe suicide methods in children and adolescents aged 10-19 years in different countries/territories worldwide. Suicide data by ICD-10 X codes were obtained from the WHO Mortality Database and population data from the World Bank. In total, 101 countries or territories, have data at least for 5 years in 2000-2009. Cluster analysis by suicide methods was performed for countries/territories with at least 10 suicide cases separately by gender (74 for males and 71 for females) in 2000-2009. The most frequent suicide method was hanging, followed by poisoning by pesticides for females and firearms for males. Cluster analyses of similarities in the country/territory level suicide method patterns by gender identified four clusters for both gender. Hanging and poisoning by pesticides defined the clusters of countries/territories by their suicide patterns in youth for both genders. In addition, a mixed method and a jumping from height cluster were identified for females and two mixed method clusters for males. A number of geographical similarities were observed. Overall, the patterns of suicide methods in children and adolescents reflect lethality, availability and acceptability of suicide means similarly to country specific patterns of all ages. Means restriction has very good potential in preventing youth suicides in different countries. It is also crucial to consider cognitive availability influenced by sensationalised media reporting and/or provision of technical details about specific methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1992 the binary divide between universities and polytechnics was dismantled to create a nominally unitary system of higher education for the UK. Just a year later, the first UK university league table was published, and the year after that saw the formation of the Russell Group of self-proclaimed ‘leading’ universities. This paper asks whether there are distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK, and, in particular, whether the Russell Group institutions can be said to constitute a distinctive elite tier. Cluster analysis of publicly available data on the research activity, teaching quality, economic resources, academic selectivity, and socioeconomic student mix of UK universities demonstrates that the former binary divide persists with Old (pre-1992) universities characterised by higher levels of research activity, greater wealth, more academically successful and socioeconomically advantaged student intakes, but similar levels of teaching quality, compared to New (post-1992) institutions. Among the Old universities, Oxford and Cambridge emerge as an elite tier, whereas the remaining 22 Russell Group universities appear to be undifferentiated from the majority of other Old universities. A division among the New universities is also evident, with around a quarter of New universities forming a distinctive lower tier. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of concern and practice of sustainability development and also policy failure in the fast food supply chain. Design/methodology/approach -- A questionnaire using Likert scoring recorded variations in current practice and attitudes toward sustainable business. A two-stage cluster analysis was conducted to analyze the multi-attribute ordinal data obtained from the questionnaire. Findings -- Significant differences were found among clusters of fast food businesses in terms of their sustainability concern and practice, which is of interest to policy makers, consumers and supply chain partners. Medium-sized fast food dealers emerge with high environmental and social concern, but poor practice; larger retailers and fast food chains appear to have both fair social and environmental awareness and practice; and there is a cluster of small takeaway-specific outlets that have particularly low levels of knowledge of sustainability or sustainable practices. Policy failure is prevalent amongst these businesses and without regulation this represents a possible threat to the sector. Research limitations/implications -- Reliance on stated rather than revealed preferences of the study may limit the implications of this analysis but it is a major step forward in understanding what has in the past been a very difficult sector to investigate due to data paucity. Practical implications -- Fast food is a sector with a lack of transparency which has attracted little academic attention to date, due to the difficulties of empirical analysis rather than lack of interest in a key food consumption sector. The message for the sector is to monitor its act, across all business types or face regulatory and policy intervention. Originality/value -- The research conducts a three-dimensional sustainability analysis of fast food supply chains to investigate the differences and trade-offs between different sustainability dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past months marked by the COVID-19 pandemic experiences proved to enterprises how important is their digitization, not only for improving their economic performance or accessing new digital markets but mostly for their future existence. The digitalization proved that it is no longer just an option. Managers, employers and employees, or even simple citizens understood that the digital revolution and digital technologies are already changing the interaction, communication, products and services consuming mode, our work, as a necessity. Anyway, in recent years, under a continuous change of market conditions, many organizations, specifically business, abandoned their traditional way of managing by adopting the new emerging Internet technologies and using information technology-based solutions. One of the first steps in transformation must be the usage of integrated software applications and integrated systems that combine the business management activities with digital technology, and whereby the various business processes (internal or external) are integrated into the computer system to achieve their specific business goals. Based on available data from the Eurostat online database, this paper aims to identify the groups of countries, European member states (excepting the United Kingdom), with similar (close) characteristics regarding the use of software solutions like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in 2019 by conducting an agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis. To classify the 27 countries into homogeneous groups in order to identify countries' disparities based on the clustering variables considered, was applied the hierarchical cluster procedure performed with IBM SPSS. In essence, the aim is to identify the relevant clusters, which assume the proximity (similarity) of countries regarding the CRM software-solutions usage by the enterprises as a part of the internal integration processes of their IT systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) play a critical role in enhancing the efficiency of mental health care delivery and promoting patient engagement. Transdiagnostic approaches that utilize raw psychological and biological data enable personalized patient profiling and treatment. This study introduces a CDSS incorporating symptom profiling and drug recommendation for mental health care. Among the UK Biobank cohort, we analyzed 157,348 participants for symptom profiling and 14,358 participants with a drug prescription history for drug recommendation. Among the 1307 patients in the Samsung Medical Center cohort, 842 were eligible for analysis. Symptom profiling utilized demographic and questionnaire data, employing conventional clustering and community detection methods. Identified clusters were explored using diagnostic mapping, feature importance, and scoring. For drug recommendation, we employed cluster- and network-based approaches. The analysis identified nine clusters using k-means clustering and ten clusters with the Louvain method. Clusters were annotated for distinct features related to depression, anxiety, psychosis, drug addiction, and self-harm. For drug recommendation, drug prescription probabilities were retrieved for each cluster. A recommended list of drugs, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and sedative–hypnotics, was provided to individual patients. This CDSS holds promise for efficient personalized mental health care and requires further validation and refinement with larger datasets, serving as a valuable tool for mental healthcare providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of studies comparing the status of dental specialties worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the differences and similarities between the number and types of dental specialties in 31 countries, including every continent, in the world. Materials and methods: Available official documents and webpages from regulatory bodies, official colleges and councils, and dental institutions were collected from 31 countries and analyzed to obtain reliable data on dental specialties. Differences were analyzed using the Lorentz curve and Gini test. Additionally, a cluster analysis was performed to obtain groups of countries with similar patterns in the number and types of dental specialties. Results: A total of 32 different specialties were officially recognized among all the analyzed countries. Orthodontics and oral surgery (100% and 93.1%, respectively) were the two most frequently officially recognized dental specialties worldwide. The total global degree of inequality in the 31 analyzed countries was 42.4%. The Anglo-Saxon countries showed the greatest similarity, approximately 15-fold higher than the European countries. Cluster analysis differentiated six main groups of countries according to the number and types of dental specialties. European countries formed one of the two largest clusters, and the other cluster was of Anglo-Saxon, Asian, African, and several Eastern European countries with a high number of specialties. Conclusions: Officially recognized dental specialties in the different continents and countries show an asymmetric organization. The number, names, and skills of officially recognized dental specialties exhibited significant differences, showing inequalities in their organization. The Anglo-Saxon pattern of dental specialties showed greater equality than the European pattern. Orthodontics was the only constant element among the different patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The implementation of a complex intervention is heavily influenced by individual context. Variation in implementation and tailoring of the intervention to the particular context will occur, even in a trial setting. It is recognised that in trials, evaluating the process of implementation of a complex intervention is important, yet process evaluation methods are rarely reported. The WAVES study is a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an obesity prevention intervention programme targeting children aged 6–7 years, delivered by teachers in primary schools across the West Midlands, UK. The intervention promoted activities encouraging physical activity and healthy eating. This paper presents the methods used to assess implementation of the intervention. Methods. Previous literature was used to identify the dimensions of intervention process and implementation to be assessed, including adherence, exposure, quality of delivery, participant responsiveness, context, and programme differentiation. Results. Multiple methods and tools were developed to capture information on all these dimensions. These included observations, logbooks, qualitative evaluation, questionnaires and research team reflection. Discussion. Data collection posed several challenges, predominantly when relying on teachers to complete paperwork, which they saw as burdensome on top of their teaching responsibilities. However, the use of multiple methods helped to ensure data on each dimension, where possible, was collected using more than one method. This also allowed for triangulation of the findings when several data sources on any one dimension were available. Conclusions. We have reported a comprehensive approach to the assessment of the implementation and processes of a complex childhood obesity prevention intervention within a cluster randomised controlled trial. These approaches can be transferred and adapted for use in other complex intervention trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a computational study of global characteristics of the US stock market using a network-based model referred to as the market graph. The market graph reflects similarity patterns between stock return fluctuations via linking pairs of stocks that exhibit 'coordinated' behavior over a specified period of time. We utilized Spearman rank correlation as a measure of similarity between stocks and considered the evolution of the market graph over the recent decade between 2001-2011. The observed market graph characteristics reveal interesting trends in the stock market over time, as well as allow one to use this model to identify cohesive clusters of stocks in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Both the process of carbon footprinting and carbon labelling of food products are currently voluntary in the UK. Both processes derive from the UK’s policy for sustainable development and in particular, the UK’s Framework for Environmental Behaviours that strongly advocates a social marketing approach towards behavioural change. This paper examines whether carbon footprinting and labelling food products, borne from an overarching policy imperative to decarbonise food systems, is a tool that will actively facilitate consumers to make ‘greener’ purchasing decisions and whether this is a sensible way of trying to achieve to a low carbon future. We do so by drawing from a survey exploring purchasing habits and perceptions in relation to various sustainability credentials of food products and particularly ‘carbon’, using a combination of descriptive and cluster analysis. The data, from 428 UK supermarket shoppers, reveals that whilst consumer demand is relatively strong for carbon labels with a stated preference rate of 72%, confusion in interpreting and understanding labels is correspondingly high at a total of 89%, primarily as a result of poor communication and market proliferation. Three statistically distinct clusters were produced from the cluster analysis, representing taxonomies of consumers with quite different attitudes to carbon and other wider sustainability issues. Whilst the majority of consumers are likely to react positively to further carbon labelling of food products, this in itself is unlikely to drive much change in food systems. As such, the data imply that a concerted policy drive to decarbonise food systems via voluntary carbon footprinting and labelling policy initiatives is limited by a fragmented and haphazard market approach where retailers are being careful not to disaffect certain products by labelling others within the same category. Consumers may want to make choices based on the carbon footprint of products but do not feel empowered to do so and relying on consumer guilt is inappropriate. The paper concludes that the establishment of effective linkages between food policy and food market actors to drive a targeted and coherent carbon labelling policy is needed. This would provide consumers with the opportunity to make informed choices, especially within food product categories and negate the need for retailers to depend on the demand side of the supply chain to achieve carbon reduction targets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper offers a comprehensive field analysis of the structure of British musical taste, drawing on the unusually detailed survey questions and qualitative interviews carried out as part of the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion project in 2003–04. We argue that concepts of the cultural omnivore, whilst recognising the importance of fluid and hybrid musical taste, can better be conceptualised as forms of ‘expert’ taste by those occupying dominant positions in the musical field. Using multiple correspondence, and cluster, analysis the paper demonstrates subtle differences between ‘classic fans’ and ‘classic omnivores’ and between ‘pop-oriented’ and ‘pop-voracious’ clusters. We thus provide a way of understanding musical taste in ways that go beyond genre labels. The paper concludes by emphasising the need to recognise the continued importance of powerful, contested musical enthusiasms in contemporary cultural life. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper considers the support networks of older people in populations with a preponderance of multigenerational households and examines the most vulnerable network types in terms of loneliness and isolation. Current common typologies of support networks may not be sensitive to differences within and between different cultures. This paper uses cross-sectional data drawn from 590 elders (Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis) living in the United Kingdom and South Asia. Six variables were used in K-means cluster analysis to establish a new network typology. Two logistic regression models using loneliness and isolation as dependent variables assessed the contribution of the new network type to wellbeing. Four support networks were identified: ‘Multigenerational Households: Older Integrated Networks’, ‘Multigenerational Households: Younger Family Networks’, ‘Family and Friends Integrated Networks’ and ‘Non-kin Restricted Networks’. Older South Asians with ‘Non-kin Restricted Networks’ were more likely to be lonely and isolated compared to others. Using network typologies developed with individualistically oriented cultures, distributions are skewed towards more robust network types and could underestimate the support needs of older people from familistic cultures, who may be isolated and lonely and with limited informal sources of help. The new typology identifies different network types within multigenerational households, identifies a greater proportion of older people with vulnerable networks and could positively contribute to service planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Given heightened concerns about climate and human impacts upon hydrology, there is a need to quantify temporal and spatial variability in water availability, and to establish climate–flow associations to predict future water stress. In the UK, most previous climate–river flow research: (1) used single sites or a network of basins with restricted geographical coverage and/or sparse density; (2) included river flow records impacted by anthropogenic influences; (3) generally recognised the importance of basin properties but did not advance beyond broad basin characterisation. This paper addresses these research gaps and aims to improve understanding of seasonal hydroclimatological associations across the UK by: (1) characterising spatial patterns in winter, spring, summer and autumn flows; (2) identifying regions for which atmospheric circulation (AC) and regional climate (RC) drivers exert strongest control on seasonal flows; and (3) identifying basin properties that have a significant influence on seasonal flows. 104 gauged basins covering mainland Great Britain and having near-natural flow records were used to derive four seasonal flow indices for 1975–2005. For each calendar season, cluster analysis was performed on these indices to group hydrologically similar basins. For each resultant class, climate–flow associations were assessed as well as the identification of influential basin physical properties. RC variables were found to have stronger association with seasonal flows than AC with the best RC predictors varying with season. Only winter and summer showed significant AC–flow correlations. Composition of seasonal flow classes reflected not only climatic input but also the physical nature of the basins. A given basin property may have influence for one season, but not for another; and many properties have only limited influence on modifying climate inputs. For both winter and summer seasons, it may be concluded generally that the higher elevation and more impermeable a basin, the stronger the RC–flow association. For AC–flow associations, regions of significant winter correlations match regions of stronger RC–flow association; summer correlations show an eastern shift. This paper illustrates the important (but variable) role of basin properties in modifying climate signals in river flow and the need to consider both sets of controls in evaluating hydrological sensitivity to climate change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The National Vegetation Classification (NVC) is a phytosociological treatment of the British vascular and non-vascular vegetation that has been adopted widely. Since its publication between 1991 and 2000 there have been no studies which have attempted to identify clusters of bryophyte species within a site and assess their distribution in relation to NVC communities. The aim of this paper is to undertake such an approach across a variety of sand dune habitats. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and cluster analysis utilizing percentage cover data from 97 relevés found seven bryophyte clusters distributed across the study area, which are described in terms of their bryophyte and vascular plant species composition, life-history strategies, life-forms, habitat and NVC communities. Some bryophyte clusters and NVC communities were associated strongly, while in other instances the relationships were less clear. The latter may be due to bryological gaps in the NVC data for sand dune communities and/or variation in bryophyte composition that is not correlated with changes in vascular plant communities. It is concluded that a comprehensive evaluation of the bryological quality of the NVC for habitats that are particularly important for bryophytes may be justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With few exceptions, spatial estimation of rainfall typically relies on information in the spatial domain only. In this paper, a method that utilizes information in time and space and provides an assessment of estimate uncertainty is used to create a gridded monthly rainfall dataset for the United Kingdom over the period 1980–87. Observed rainfall profiles within the region were regarded as the sum of a deterministic temporal trend and a stochastic residual component. The parameters of the temporal trend components established at the rain gauges were interpolated in space, accounting for their auto- and cross correlation, and for relationships with ancillary spatial variables. Stochastic Gaussian simulation was then employed to generate alternative realizations of the spatiotemporal residual component, which were added to the estimated trend component to yield realizations of rainfall (after distributional corrections). In total, 40 realizations of rainfall were generated for each month of the 8-yr period. The methodology resulted in reasonably accurate estimates of rainfall but underestimated in northwest and north Scotland and northwest England. The cause for the underestimation was identified as a weak relationship between local rainfall and the spatial area average rainfall, used to estimate the temporal trend model in these regions, and suggestions were made for improvement. The strengths of this method are the utilization of information from the time and space domain, and the assessment of spatial uncertainty in the estimated rainfall values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agility has been widely accepted in manufacturing industry as a new competitive concept. However, how to develop a manufacturing strategy based around agility is not fully understood. This paper proposes a framework for the implementation of agility as a manufacturing strategy and describes the development and analysis of a numerical taxonomy of agility strategies using the framework. The taxonomy was developed with cluster analysis based on the relative importance attached to seven agility capabilities by a number of U.K. manufacturing companies. Three distinct clusters of strategy groups were observed across the industry studied: Quick, Responsive and Proactive Players. Quick Players are oriented towards a strong customer focus and quickness. They do not emphasize flexibility and responsiveness to changes and they give low priority to proactiveness and partnership. Responsive Players are preoccupied with flexibility and responsiveness to changes. They do not emphasize proactiveness and partnerships and they attach low importance to quickness. Proactive Players are characterized by high priorities on proactiveness and customer focus, high values attached to all capabilities, and high importance given to partnerships. The underlying dimensions of agile capabilities along which the three strategy groups differ were investigated based on factor analysis and canonical discriminant analysis. Changes/uncertainties in the business environment experienced by members of different strategic groups were compared, and ‘manufacturing strategy choices,’ in terms of manufacturing practices for achieving agility, employed by members of different strategic groups were studied. Business characteristics and typical cases for each strategy group were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the creation of the Office for National Statistics 2001 output area classification, which was created in collaboration with the authors. The classification places each 2001 census output area into one of seven clusters based on the socio-economic attributes of the residents of each area. The classification uses cluster analysis to reduce 41 census variables to a single socio-economic indicator. The classification was made available with a host of supporting and descriptive information as a National Statistic via National Statistics on line. The classification forms part of a suite of area classifications that were produced by the Office for National Statistics from 2001 census data. Classifications of local authorities, statistical wards and health areas are also available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature on human resource systems is predominantly focused on their links with performance. In contrast, this study steps back from this vogue and addresses the conceptualization and measurement of human resource systems and examines the nature of the collective use of human resource practices in Britain. Drawing on Bailey's (1993) three dimensions of ‘high performance work systems’, this paper uses data from Britain's Workplace Employee Relations Survey of 1998 on a full range of human resource practices to examine whether a managerial orientation underlies the triad, and any association that may exist between them and total quality management (TQM). Managerial orientations are unveiled via latent variable analyses and similarities in the adoption of human resource practices are addressed via cluster analyses. The results suggest the presence of managerial orientations that are centred on high involvement and are either integrated or associated with TQM. Although clusters suggest some similarity in the use of Bailey's motivational practices, this reflects neither managerial orientations nor high involvement management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LSVD) is a heterogeneous condition with several factors influencing prognosis. Better phenotyping of asymptomatic individuals can inform preventative strategies. This study aims to explore the clinical phenotypes of LVSD in initially asymptomatic subjects and their association with clinical outcomes and cardiovascular abnormalities through multi-dimensional data clustering. Methods and results Clustering analysis was performed on 60 clinically available variables from 1563 UK Biobank participants without pre-existing heart failure (HF) and with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50% on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) assessment. Risks of developing HF, other cardiovascular events, death, and a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) associated with clusters were investigated. Cardiovascular imaging characteristics, not included in the clustering analysis, were also evaluated. Three distinct clusters were identified, differing considerably in lifestyle habits, cardiovascular risk factors, electrocardiographic parameters, and cardiometabolic profiles. A stepwise increase in risk profile was observed from Cluster 1 to Cluster 3, independent of traditional risk factors and LVEF. Compared with Cluster 1, the lowest risk subset, the risk of MACE ranged from 1.42 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03–1.96; P < 0.05] for Cluster 2 to 1.72 (95% CI: 1.36–2.35; P < 0.001) for Cluster 3. Cluster 3, the highest risk profile, had features of adverse cardiovascular imaging with the greatest LV re-modelling, myocardial dysfunction, and decrease in arterial compliance. Conclusions Clustering of clinical variables identified three distinct risk profiles and clinical trajectories of LVSD amongst initially asymptomatic subjects. Improved characterization may facilitate tailored interventions based on the LVSD sub-type and improve clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand levels of support for differences between families in terms of sexuality and mode of family formation across three countries.Background: Previous research has found that attitudes towards family diversity continue to improve over time, although differences remain.Methods: Subjects were 1605 people living in Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States who completed a questionnaire which sought to explore levels of support for a diverse range of family forms and modes of family formation.Results: Religiosity, political leanings and beliefs about the importance of genetic relatedness were all correlated with level of support. Gender of participant was a predictor of level of support. Cluster analysis indicated three clusters (unsupportive, neutral and supportive) for level of support, for which both sexuality and parent status were predictors.Conclusion: Findings highlight the normative status of reproductive heterosex, and demonstrate the considerable value accorded to genetic relatedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]