Search

Cardiovascular imaging is exponentially increasing in the diagnosis, risk stratification, and therapeutic management of patients with cardiovascular disease. The European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) is a non-profit scientific medical society dedicated to promoting and coordinating activities in cardiovascular imaging. The purpose of this paper, written by ESCR committees and Executive board members and approved by the ESCR Executive Board and Guidelines committee, is to codify a standardized approach to creating ESCR scientific documents. Indeed, consensus development methods must be adopted to ensure transparent decision-making that optimizes national and global health and reaches a certain scientific credibility. ESCR consensus documents developed based on a rigorous methodology will improve their scientific impact on the management of patients with cardiac involvement. Critical relevance statement: This document aims to codify the methodology for producing consensus documents of the ESCR. These ESCR indications will broaden the scientific quality and credibility of further publications and, consequently, the impact on the diagnostic management of patients with cardiac involvement. Key Points: Cardiovascular imaging is exponentially increasing for diagnosis, risk stratification, and therapeutic management. The ESCR is committed to promoting cardiovascular imaging. A rigorous methodology for ESCR consensus documents will improve their scientific impact.

The European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) is the European specialist society of cardiac and vascular imaging. This society's highest priority is the continuous improvement, development, and standardization of education, training, and best medical practice, based on experience and evidence. The present intra-society consensus is based on the existing scientific evidence and on the individual experience of the members of the ESCR writing group on carotid diseases, the members of the ESCR guidelines committee, and the members of the executive committee of the ESCR. The recommendations published herein reflect the evidence-based society opinion of ESCR. We have produced a twin-papers consensus, indicated through the documents as respectively "Part I" and "Part II." The first document (Part I) begins with a discussion of features, role, indications, and evidence for CT and MR imaging-based diagnosis of carotid artery disease for risk stratification and prediction of stroke (Section I). It then provides an extensive overview and insight into imaging-derived biomarkers and their potential use in risk stratification (Section II). Finally, detailed recommendations about optimized imaging technique and imaging strategies are summarized (Section III). The second part of this consensus paper (Part II) is focused on structured reporting of carotid imaging studies with CT/MR.

The European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) is the European specialist society of cardiac and vascular imaging. This society's highest priority is the continuous improvement, development, and standardization of education, training, and best medical practice, based on experience and evidence. The present intra-society consensus is based on the existing scientific evidence and on the individual experience of the members of the ESCR writing group on carotid diseases, the members of the ESCR guidelines committee, and the members of the executive committee of the ESCR. The recommendations published herein reflect the evidence-based society opinion of ESCR. The purpose of this second document is to discuss suggestions for standardized reporting based on the accompanying consensus document part I.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a serious cardiac condition, which includes a wide range of clinical presentations, with varying degrees of severity. The diagnosis is multifactorial and a proper characterization of disease requires the identification of the primary site of infection (usually the cardiac valve) and the search of secondary systemic complications. Early depiction of local complications or distant embolization has a great impact on patient management and prognosis, as it may induce to aggressive antibiotic treatment or, in more advanced cases, cardiac surgery. In this setting, the multimodality imaging has assumed a pivotal role in the clinical decision making and it requires the physician to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each imaging technique. Echocardiography is the first imaging test, but it has several limitations. Therefore, the integration with other imaging modalities (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear imaging) becomes often necessary. Different strategies should be applied depending on whether the infection is suspected or already ascertained, whether located in native or prosthetic valves, in the left or right chambers, or if it involves an implanted cardiac device. In addition, detection of extracardiac IE-related lesions is crucial for a correct management and treatment. The aim of this review is to illustrate strengths and weaknesses of the various methods in the most common clinical scenarios.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a migration of workforces to work from home. A key issue for academics was the implications for the ability to carve out ‘thinking time’ to engage in what we term sustained knowledge work, the type of work essential for producing research. We administered an employee survey to academics from seven Australian and seven Canadian Universities, receiving over 3000 responses. We report on both quantitative and qualitative findings from the survey, with a particular emphasis on the latter. The two countries displayed broadly similar patterns in responses, but these patterns were gendered in specific ways. We distinguished between episodic and sustained knowledge work and found the shift of the location for sustained knowledge work from the workplace to the home affected academics unevenly, with disproportionate negative impacts on women. There are implications for all knowledge workers: while gendered, domestic norms continue to exist, the sustained knowledge work that is critical to career advancement can become especially problematic for women knowledge workers.

The construction industry is known to be highly masculinised and to have work practices detrimental to employees’ wellbeing. Drawing on feminist institutional theory and a rapid ethnographic approach in two construction multinationals in Australia, we examine the relationship between the gendered nature of construction and workplace wellbeing for professional women and men employed in the industry. The findings reveal that adhering to the gendered ‘rules in use’ in the construction industry is negatively associated with wellbeing and is usually endured in silence. We also identify the ways in which the gendered rules have different effects on the wellbeing of men and women. We conclude that the construction industry is characterised by a set of ‘greedy’ gendered institutions that are inextricably linked to workplace wellbeing for both men and women and that these rules must be broken to improve worker wellbeing.

In Australia, it is standard practice for construction workers to work at least a half-day on Saturdays, meaning they miss out on leisure activities with their family and friends who work in other industries. This study, known as Project 5, examined whether giving a group of construction workers access to the regular weekend of Saturday and Sunday would improve their wellbeing. Project 5 also inquired into the effects of construction sector conditions on the community more broadly, by interviewing the next of kin of construction workers about how working hours and conditions impacted family life. An economic analysis was included to determine the costs or savings of shifting to a five-day work week.

Increasing women's representation in male‐dominated work sectors remains a persistent problem. This paper reorientates the focus from women's underrepresentation to male overrepresentation and privilege, to identify and compare the causal mechanisms between the overrepresentation of men in two traditionally male‐dominated work places in Australia: politics and construction. By applying feminist institutionalism, masculinities, and privilege, it argues the overrepresentation of men is linked to gendered rules that uphold hegemonic masculinities which produce masculine privilege and supports a gender hierarchy. Masculine privilege occurs via three mechanisms: (1) a culture of denial; (2) perceptions that rules are neutral, legitimate, and applied objectively; (3) through backlash and resistance to keep the gender status quo in place. We argue the effects of privilege combine to act as a barrier to the attraction, retention, and progression of women to both sectors and conclude that the masculine privilege provides a valuable lens to explore how male dominance operates within work sectors.

Background: The construction industry remains male dominated, despite the efforts of business and educational institutions to attract women into construction careers. Previous research has examined why female university students study construction management or engineering. To complement this knowledge, there is an opportunity to understand why so many Australian female high school students do not choose to pursue construction-related careers. Purpose: Framed in motivational theory, the purpose of the study was to understand why Australian female high school students do not choose a construction-related career by answering the question: How do the value beliefs of female high school students contribute to a rejection of the construction sector as a career choice?. Design/method: Applying a qualitative methodology, we report on semistructured interviews with a sample of 15 Australian female high school students. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed to reveal themes that were overlaid onto Eccles' expectancy–value theory to deepen our understanding of the values expressed by students when discussing their reasons for not wanting a career in construction. Results: Results revealed five themes: lack of awareness; lack of self-alignment; effect of male domination; sector esteem; and parental, teacher, and curriculum influence. Responses revealed the range of values contributing to the decision not to consider the construction industry. Conclusion: The paper concludes by suggesting that to increase the participation of young women in the Australian construction industry, the sector should respond to the value beliefs held by female high school students. It should transform the perception of construction into one of a profession that is relevant, valuable, and enjoyable for young women.

To date, research to understand the experiences of LGBT+ employees in the Australian construction industry has been scarce. This research set out to improve understanding of the barriers and opportunities that LGBT+ employees face at work and contribute to improving the design and implementation of strategies that promote diversity and inclusionand provide relevant support and protection of LGBT+ rights at work.

Increasing women's representation in male dominated work sectors remains a persistent problem. This paper reorientates the focus from women's underrepresentation to male overrepresentation and privilege, to identify and compare the causal mechanisms between the overrepresentation of men in two traditionally male dominated work places in Australia: politics and construction. By applying feminist institutionalism, masculinities and privilege, it argues the overrepresentation of men is linked to gendered rules that uphold hegemonic masculinities which produce masculine privilege and supports a gender hierarchy. Masculine privilege occurs via three mechanisms: 1. a culture of denial; 2. perceptions that rules are neutral, legitimate and applied objectively; 3. through backlash and resistance to keep the gender status quo in place. We argue the effects of privilege combine to act as a barrier to the attraction, retention and progression of women to both sectors and conclude that the masculine privilege provides a valuable lens to explore how male dominance operates within work sectors.

The construction industry is known to be highly masculinised and to have work practices detrimental to employees’ wellbeing. Drawing on feminist institutional theory and a rapid ethnographic approach in two construction multinationals in Australia, we examine the relationship between the gendered nature of construction and workplace wellbeing for professional women and men employed in the industry. The findings reveal that adhering to the gendered ‘rules in use’ in the construction industry is negatively associated with wellbeing and is usually endured in silence. We also identify the ways in which the gendered rules have different effects on the wellbeing of men and women. We conclude that the construction industry is characterised by a set of ‘greedy’ gendered institutions that are inextricably linked to workplace wellbeing for both men and women and that these rules must be broken to improve worker wellbeing.

Background: Delivering consistent levels of training in cardiac imaging to radiologist is of pivotal importance because of the increasing clinical indications to coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Our study sought to capture the heterogeneity of cardiac imaging training programs and to explore residents’ vision on cardiac imaging both in the present and in the future. Methods: Two web-based surveys were created. The first was administered to all chief residents from the 42 University Hospitals within Italy, aiming to explore the local educational offer in cardiac imaging. The second was administered via social media to all Italian residents, including questions about their overall vision regarding cardiac imaging. Results: 42/42 University Hospitals responded to the first survey and 235 residents to the second. There was at least a 64-slice CT scanner and a 1.5 T MR scanner per center. In the majority of sites, the weekly routine consisted of more than 10 CCTA and more than 5 CMR. Approximately, half of the centers used advanced CCTA and CMR techniques. The majority of the interviewed resident (94%) perceived cardiac imaging training to be moderately to very important, while requirement for external educational resources was advocated in 25% of the cases. Conclusion: Our survey highlighted a significant awareness of radiology residents regarding the importance of cardiac imaging in their training curriculum. All centers met the technical requirements for cardiac imaging, limiting its use to basic applications in around half of cases. Implementation of an educational network might be the key for supporting the growth of this subspecialty field.

Project 5 examined whether changing construction workers’ schedules to include a full weekend would make a positive difference to their wellbeing in a sector characterised by long and unpredictable working hours, which have an impact on physical and mental health. An economic analysis was included to determine the costs or savings of shifting to a five-day work week. This full report presents the findings of surveys and interviews with the workers who participated, the next of kin who participated, and construction industry stakeholders who were interviewed for their views on the five-day work week. Project 5 also inquired into the effects of construction sector conditions on the community more broadly, by interviewing the next of kin of construction workers about how working hours and conditions impacted family life. Project 5 contributes a much-needed contemporary case study of how a work schedule modification can change work-life balance and the flow-on effects to wellbeing, not only for workers but for their partners.

Background The construction industry remains male dominated, despite the efforts of business and educational institutions to attract women into construction careers. Previous research has examined why female university students study construction management or engineering. To complement this knowledge, there is an opportunity to understand why so many Australian female high school students do not choose to pursue construction‐related careers. Purpose Framed in motivational theory, the purpose of the study was to understand why Australian female high school students do not choose a construction‐related career by answering the question: How do the value beliefs of female high school students contribute to a rejection of the construction sector as a career choice? Design/method Applying a qualitative methodology, we report on semistructured interviews with a sample of 15 Australian female high school students. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed to reveal themes that were overlaid onto Eccles' expectancy–value theory to deepen our understanding of the values expressed by students when discussing their reasons for not wanting a career in construction. Results Results revealed five themes: lack of awareness; lack of self‐alignment; effect of male domination; sector esteem; and parental, teacher, and curriculum influence. Responses revealed the range of values contributing to the decision not to consider the construction industry. Conclusion The paper concludes by suggesting that to increase the participation of young women in the Australian construction industry, the sector should respond to the value beliefs held by female high school students. It should transform the perception of construction into one of a profession that is relevant, valuable, and enjoyable for young women.

The construction industry is the most male-dominated in Australia, despite companies implementing formal policies and initiatives to address this. While previous research has examined the role of workplace culture as a barrier to women in the industry, our research investigates the role informal institutions play in obstructing gender equity in construction. We examine the gendered dimension of informal institutions (practices, narratives and norms) in two multinational Australian construction companies using feminist institutional (FI) theory and rapid ethnography. The findings show that informal gendered institutions obstruct women’s recruitment, retention and progression in construction. Recruitment into and within the industry is framed by male sponsorship, cultural fit and traditional education pipelines. Retention is compromised by poor parental leave practices and norms, which tolerate sexism and gender stereotypes, as well as unsustainable work practices. Progression is impaired by the need for strategic alliances with powerful men and a lack of transparency around promotion opportunities.

© 2020 The Authors. Gender, Work & Organization published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd The construction industry is the most male-dominated in Australia, despite companies implementing formal policies and initiatives to address this. While previous research has examined the role of workplace culture as a barrier to women in the industry, our research investigates the role informal institutions play in obstructing gender equity in construction. We examine the gendered dimension of informal institutions (practices, narratives and norms) in two multinational Australian construction companies using feminist institutional (FI) theory and rapid ethnography. The findings show that informal gendered institutions obstruct women’s recruitment, retention and progression in construction. Recruitment into and within the industry is framed by male sponsorship, cultural fit and traditional education pipelines. Retention is compromised by poor parental leave practices and norms, which tolerate sexism and gender stereotypes, as well as unsustainable work practices. Progression is impaired by the need for strategic alliances with powerful men and a lack of transparency around promotion opportunities.

Aims: In ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) holds the potentiality to improve risk stratification in addition to Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score. Nevertheless, the optimal timing for CMR after STEMI remains poorly defined. We aim at comparing the prognostic performance of three stratification strategies according to the timing of CMR after STEMI. Methods and results: The population of this prospective registry-based study included 492 reperfused STEMI patients. All patients underwent post-reperfusion (median: 4 days post-STEMI) and follow-up (median: 4.8 months post-STEMI) CMR. Left ventricular (LV) volumes, function, infarct size, and microvascular obstruction extent were quantified. Primary endpoint was a composite of all-death and heart failure (HF) hospitalization. Baseline-to-follow-up percentage increase of LV end-diastolic (EDV; DLV-EDV) =20% or end-systolic volumes (ESV; DLV-ESV) =15% were tested against outcome. Three multivariate models were developed including TIMI risk score plus early post-STEMI (early-CMR) or follow-up CMR (deferred-CMR) or both CMRs parameters along with adverse LV remodelling (paired-CMRs). During a median follow-up of 8.3 years, the primary endpoint occurred in 84 patients (47 deaths; 37 HF hospitalizations). Early-CMR, deferred-CMR, and paired-CMR demonstrated similar predictive value for the primary endpoint (C-statistic: 0.726, 0.728, and 0.738, respectively; P = 0.663). DLV-EDV =20% or DLV-ESV =15% were unadjusted outcome predictors (hazard ratio: 2.020 and 2.032, respectively; P = 0.002 for both) but lost their predictive value when corrected for other covariates in paired-CMR model. Conclusion: In STEMI patients, early-, deferred-, or paired-CMR were equivalent stratification strategies for outcome prediction. Adverse LV remodelling parameters were not independent prognosticators.

This report presents findings from recent research investigating why policies and strategies to attract, retain and support the progression of women professionals in large construction companies have, for the most part, failed.

Men are overrepresented in most legislatures of the world. However, in parliaments in which women reach a “critical mass” or even approach parity with men in terms of numbers, they still must contend with and adapt to the symbolic representation of men. Using the cases of the Australian and Polish parliaments, we point to the need to deconstruct the parliamentary standard by shifting the theoretical and empirical focus from women's disadvantage in politics to problematizing men's advantage and power (Eveline 1994, 1998; Murray 2014). Rather than placing the problem and solution with women, we address the practices that maintain men's unearned power, or privilege. Privilege is the “systematically conferred advantages” that individuals enjoy by virtue of their membership of a dominant social group (Bailey 1998, 109). Institutions in the form of taken-for-granted practices and gendered discourses embed a “masculine blueprint” in political institutions that legitimizes men's place as parliamentarians and privileges men, enhancing their power and advantage in the election process. By focusing on men's dominance, it becomes evident that sustaining gender inequality through practices and discourse advantages men as a group.

Taken-for-granted rules are difficult to change. The Australian construction industry is one example, where despite considerable attempts at regulating gender equality by government and others, the industry remains steadfastly male dominated. This article investigates the drivers (i.e. why) and processes (i.e. how) of change with regard to gender equality in the workplace. Using institutional entrepreneurship, we provide insight into the change towards gender equality in the Australian construction industry. We collect data from two Australian construction companies and, drawing on interviews conducted with business leaders, look at how new meanings around gender equality and diversity are negotiated. We find that while gender equality is an important point of focus for both companies, discrepancies remain between perceptions and reality as well as people’s level of readiness. We conclude with implications for theory and future research.

RESCUR Surfing the Waves is a recently developed resilience curriculum for early years and primary schools in Europe. It seeks to develop in marginalized young learners the requisite competences needed to overcome the various challenges in their lives to achieve academic success and social and emotional wellbeing. The competences include developing a growth mindset, making use of one’s strengths, self-determination, effective communication skills and healthy relationships, and overcoming challenges and obstacles. This paper presents the findings of a study on the implementation of the programme in five kindergarten centres in Malta over a 1-year period. A pre- and post-intervention study in 20 classrooms (97 children) showed an improvement in resilience skills, prosocial behavior and learning engagement, but not in internalized and externalized problem behaviors. A small scale study in two nurture classes at two of the schools found similar findings. The findings suggest that there are indications that the programme as a proportionate universal intervention for early years leads to an improvement in social and academic behaviours, but more rigorous research is needed to substantiate these findings.

In advancing the intellectual debate in gender equity and diversity in the construction industry, feminist institutionalism is being used as a new lens to understand the failure of formal policies to shift the intransigent gender imbalance. Feminist institutionalism allows new insights into how hidden informal organisational rules, practices and narratives operate in conjunction with formal rules in achieving gender diversity and equity. However, the adoption of feminist institutionalism as a conceptual framework raises new methodological questions. While formal rules are created, communicated and enforced through official and highly visible channels, informal rules, norms and procedures are created, communicated, and enforced outside officially sanctioned channels and are often 'hidden' from view. The power of ethnographic methods to reveal such 'under-the-surface' institutions is well established in the social and political sciences but not in construction. This paper makes a methodological contribution in response to the practical constraints of doing ethnography in the construction industry, by describing the merits of rapid ethnography within the context of feminist institutionalism. It concludes that while rapid ethnography has its limitations, it has significant potential as an unexplored methodology to tackle the persistent problem of gender equality in the construction industry and other social issues in construction management research.

The construction industry remains the most male dominated sector in Australia. Several decades of formal gender equality initiatives by government and business have failed to bring about any meaningful change to the hierarchical and numerical representation of women in the sector. Drawing on new institutionalism, particularly the concepts of ‘robustness’ and ‘revisability’, the nature and intent of formal policies and programs that impact on gender equality are analysed in two large Australian multinational construction firms. Through in-depth interviews with senior management and a document analysis of formal policies, it is concluded that gender equality initiatives and broader policies are primarily focused on increasing the numbers of women in construction rather than addressing gender practices and outcomes. These policies lack many of the qualities of robustness and revisability, which impacts on their capacity to genuinely challenge the gendered norms, practices and narratives of the sector.