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Article
Publication date: 24 November 2022

Ruben Quirinus Vrolijk, Fiona Measham, Adrià Quesada, Anton Luf, Dominique Schori, Sarah Radley, Dean Acreman, Josie Smith, Marko Verdenik, Daniel Martins, Mar Cunha, Carlos J. Paulos, Ilaria Fineschi Piccinin, Enrico Gerace, Alexandra Karden, Raoul Pieter Joost Koning, Laura Alexandra Smit-Rigter and Mireia Ventura

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this…

449

Abstract

Purpose

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this is caused by the production of “stronger” tablets (more mg MDMA per mg of tablet), or if tablets have simply been getting larger and heavier (more mg of tablet in total).

Design/methodology/approach

A data set of 31,716 ecstasy tablets obtained in 2012–2021 by 10 members of the Trans European Drug Information (TEDI) network was analysed.

Findings

The MDMA mass fraction in ecstasy tablets has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years, with increased MDMA contents being attributed almost exclusively to increased tablet weight. These trends seem to be uniform across Europe, despite varying sampling and analytical techniques being used by the TEDI participants. The study also shows that while tablet weight correlates perfectly with MDMA content on a yearly basis, wide variations in the MDMA mass fraction make such relations irrelevant for determining the MDMA content of individual tablets.

Research limitations/implications

These results provide new opportunities for harm reduction, given that size is a tangible and apparently accurate characteristic to emphasise that one tablet does not simply equate to one dose. This is particularly useful for harm reduction services without the resources for in-house quantification of large numbers of ecstasy tablets, although the results of this study also show that chemical analysis remains crucial for accurate personalised harm reduction.

Originality/value

The findings are both new and pertinent, providing a novel insight into the market dynamics of ecstasy tablet production at a transnational level.

Details

Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2752-6739

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Article
Publication date: 13 August 2010

João Vieira da Cunha and Miguel Pina e Cunha

Some studies show that improvisation is a source of change, whereas others show that it is a source of stability. The purpose of this paper is to specify the factors which set the…

1292

Abstract

Purpose

Some studies show that improvisation is a source of change, whereas others show that it is a source of stability. The purpose of this paper is to specify the factors which set the boundary between improvised change and improvised stability.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on two published studies and contrasts their findings to analyze the extent to which improvisation leads to organizational change or organizational stability.

Findings

The paper suggests that the most innovative instances of improvisation reproduce some features of everyday experience. The extent to which an improvisation is a source of stability or a source of change depends on the dynamics of variation, selection and retention therein.

Research limitations/implications

Future research needs to add empirical flesh to this theoretical skeleton to push research on organizational improvisation beyond the study of its causes and into further research on its consequences.

Originality/value

The paper deals with the paradox of making sense about two apparently opposing streams of research on improvisation.

Details

Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1536-5433

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Abstract

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on the Work of François Perroux
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-715-5

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Executive summary
Publication date: 17 June 2016

BRAZIL: Petrobras ripples mar consolidation efforts

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES211832

ISSN: 2633-304X

Keywords

Geographic
Topical
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Book part
Publication date: 25 November 2019

Filomena Santos and Rita Dias

In the twenty-first century, the family has been turning towards a greater plurality of training paths, situations, family and parental arrangements. However, despite changes in…

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, the family has been turning towards a greater plurality of training paths, situations, family and parental arrangements. However, despite changes in legislation, values, representations and practices, the word family remains inexorably associated with the heterosexual bi-parental model. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of the family dynamics of non-heterosexual people, mainly concerning the process of transition to parenting, in relation to family changes in Portuguese society. To do so this study aims to analyze four in-depth interviews1 with young adults, women and men who have a homoconjugality relationship and a project of parenting in mind.

Based on a qualitative methodology the study intends to discuss issues related to the challenge of heteronormativity, equality within the couple, projects and gender representations of parenthood and in particular what it means for the men and women interviewed, to be a father and to be a mother in a same sex couple and how they project themselves as fathers and mothers.

The study discusses all these issues always in relation to the biographical trajectories, the history and life as a couple and the structural and individual resources, such as school and professional qualifications. It also analyzes the main difficulties experienced in revealing their sexuality to the significant others and the difficulties / strategies they anticipate in relation to the parenting project.

The authors conclude that female interviewees show greater independence of a male figure in relation to their parental projects and anticipate less difficulty in their parental skills compared with the gay man interviewed.

To analyze the dynamics of parenting in same-sex couples, this study also points out to the need to construct a model of analysis capable of articulating structural factors, such as job insecurity and heteronormativity, biographies and individual resources and profiles of conjugal interactions.

Details

Childbearing and the Changing Nature of Parenthood: The Contexts, Actors, and Experiences of Having Children
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-067-2

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

Carlos Cabral‐Cardoso

Although the gap between rhetoric and reality is not a specific human resource management (HRM) feature, the disconnection between discourse and action seems to have reached…

551

Abstract

Although the gap between rhetoric and reality is not a specific human resource management (HRM) feature, the disconnection between discourse and action seems to have reached unusual stages in this case. Not much is known about HRM in Portugal, but it is clear that Portuguese academics and practitioners have extensively adopted the global HRM rhetoric. With an environment apparently unfavorable to the HRM normative model, this paper examines the ways in which global HRM rhetoric meets Portuguese reality.

Details

Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1536-5433

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Book part
Publication date: 26 October 2021

Yanfei Hu and Claus Rerup

James March argued that irrational approaches to problem solving and foolishness can be useful for addressing complex problems. Grand challenges are complex problems that often…

Abstract

James March argued that irrational approaches to problem solving and foolishness can be useful for addressing complex problems. Grand challenges are complex problems that often involve “guarded societal institutions” – societal beliefs and practices guarded by political or commercial powers. To explain how organizations with impossible goals dismantle such institutions by mobilizing irrationality and foolishness, we develop a process model which is illustrated with the case of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Our main contribution is to expand James March’s ideas on logics of action and organizational intelligence to advance a novel perspective for tackling big societal problems. We argue that foolishness is not only a means for finding distant solutions to complex problems but also a means for generating sustained motivation, well-being, and ideas that spark debate and lead to the questioning of taken-for-granted societal beliefs.

Details

Carnegie goes to California: Advancing and Celebrating the Work of James G. March
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-979-5

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 November 2024

María Luisa Ruiz Fernández, Luis-Javier Márquez-Álvarez, Estíbaliz Jiménez-Arberas and Isabel Fernández Méndez

This study aims to evaluate the usability and effectiveness of a mobile application, ValTO, designed to enhance communication and professional reasoning skills in occupational…

96

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the usability and effectiveness of a mobile application, ValTO, designed to enhance communication and professional reasoning skills in occupational therapy students through a case-based learning approach.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive exploratory study was conducted with 32 second-year occupational therapy students. The usability of the app was assessed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale and the System Usability Scale, complemented by the University of Oviedo’s Learning Satisfaction Survey.

Findings

The majority of students (77.8%) rated the app above average on the System Usability Scale, with 50% scoring it as excellent. Mobile Application Rating Scale scores revealed high ratings across functionality, aesthetics and information quality, with a significant correlation between app usability and user satisfaction. Increased student satisfaction was also observed in the Learning Satisfaction Survey compared to previous years.

Originality/value

ValTO integrates modern mobile health tools into occupational therapy education, enhancing students’ decision-making skills in an innovative, real-world context. This study contributes to the growing body of research on mobile health applications in educational settings, demonstrating their potential to improve both student engagement and learning outcomes.

Details

Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 52 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0791-8437

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

Rita Campos e Cunha, Miguel Pina e Cunha‐Kintana, António Morgado and Chris Brewster

This study uses structural equation modeling to test a model of the impact of human resources management practices on perceived organizational performance, on a large sample of…

1406

Abstract

This study uses structural equation modeling to test a model of the impact of human resources management practices on perceived organizational performance, on a large sample of European companies. The influences of competitive intensity, industry attractiveness, and strategic management are considered in the model, and their direct and indirect influence on organizational performance is assessed. The model produced an adequate fit, and results show that strategic management does influence human resource practices. Human resource flexibility practices and performance management have a positive impact on organizational performance, while training was not found to have a significant impact. A direct positive impact of competitive intensity and industry attractiveness on strategic management was supported by the data, as well as a direct positive effect of industry attractiveness on perceived organizational performance.

Details

Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1536-5433

Keywords

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