The role of sales has evolved over the last decade, mostly driven by technological and social changes. One major shift is the growth in importance and in size of the inside sales function. Inside sales are sales that are conducted remotely or virtually using one or more Information Technology (IT) tools without the traditional in-person interaction. Despite the growing importance of inside sales, studies that show the key determinants and practices that can improve inside sales success are rare and have tended to focus on determinants affecting individual salesperson performance. Moreover, existing approaches to customer acquisition in inside sales often rely on subjective intuition, expert suggestions and gut feeling, which often hurts the chances of qualifying and converting leads to sales, and eventually diminishes inside sales success. This research aims to address such shortcomings by: 1) investigating the key dimensions and determinants of inside sales success by summarizing the existing body of knowledge using a systematic review and meta-analysis; and 2) develop comprehensible lead conversion models that integrate the interplay of relevant determinants in the lead conversion process. This doctoral research aims to: (1) Synthesize the literature and draw a big picture of B2B sales success by providing practitioners and scholars with a comprehensive state-of-the-art understanding of the determinants of B2B sales success and their significance in inside sales. (2) Identify and validate several key lead engagement factors crucial for inside sales success. (3) Demonstrate the potential of data-driven analytics by collecting multiple historical datasets from several companies representing different industries. This includes investigating and discovering new insights that will improve lead conversion outcomes, which contributes to the literature on the ongoing discussion of effective sales pipeline management. (4) Provide sales practitioners with comprehensible lead conversion models that integrate industry specific behavior and performance of salespeople, characteristics of leads and/or prospects, and workflow strategy aspects. This will help sales practitioners to better understand problems and opportunities in lead management, take proactive actions, and improve their sales success.

Objective: To evaluate the association between preeclampsia (PE) and eclampsia (E) on subsequent metabolic and biochemical outcomes. Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. We searched five engines until November 2018 for studies evaluating the effects of PE/E on metabolic and biochemical outcomes after delivery. PE was defined as presence of hypertension and proteinuria at >20 weeks of pregnancy; controls did not have PE/E. Primary outcomes were blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome (MetS), blood lipids and glucose levels. Random effects models were used for meta-analyses, and effects reported as risk difference (RD) or mean difference (MD) and their 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analyses by time of follow up, publication year, and confounder adjustment were performed. Results: We evaluated 41 cohorts including 3300 PE/E and 13,967 normotensive controls. Women were followed up from 3 months after delivery up to 32 years postpartum. In comparison to controls, PE/E significantly increased systolic BP (MD = 8.3 mmHg, 95%CI 6.8 to 9.7), diastolic BP (MD = 6.8 mmHg, 95%CI 5.6 to 8.0), BMI (MD = 2.0 kg/m2; 95%CI 1.6 to 2.4), waist (MD = 4.3 cm, 95%CI 3.1 to 5.5), waist-to-hip ratio (MD = 0.02, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.03), weight (MD = 5.1 kg, 95%CI 2.2 to 7.9), total cholesterol (MD = 4.6 mg/dL, CI 1.5 to 7.7), LDL (MD = 4.6 mg/dL; 95%CI 0.2 to 8.9), triglycerides (MD = 7.7 mg/dL, 95%CI 3.6 to 11.7), glucose (MD = 2.6 mg/dL, 95%CI 1.2 to 4.0), insulin (MD = 19.1 pmol/L, 95%CI 11.9 to 26.2), HOMA-IR index (MD = 0.7, 95%CI 0.2 to 1.2), C reactive protein (MD = 0.05 mg/dL, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.09), and the risks of hypertension (RD = 0.24, 95%CI 0.15 to 0.33) and MetS (RD = 0.11, 95%CI 0.08 to 0.15). Also, PE/E reduced HDL levels (MD = –2.15 mg/dL, 95%CI –3.46 to −0.85). Heterogeneity of effects was high for most outcomes. Risk of bias was moderate across studies. Subgroup analyses showed similar effects as main analyses. Conclusion: Women who had PE/E have worse metabolic and biochemical profile than those without PE/E in an intermediate to long term follow up period. © / Revisión por pares

The secondary analysis undertaken for this MPH dissertation examines the global prevalence of trichiasis in relation to gender in trachoma endemic countries. Part A is the research protocol which outlines the background and the process of this research. This study is a population-based analytical study using data from the Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP). GTMP was a standardized population-based trachoma prevalence survey undertaken to provide trachoma prevalence estimates. GTMP data was collected using the World Health Organisation–recommended population based prevalence survey methodology. Trachoma suspect district were identified for inclusion and multistage random sampling was used to sample households for examination of residents for clinical trachoma. Part B presents the background and highlights the importance of this research by exploring the existing theoretical and empirical literature relevant to the topic. It describes how trachoma is transmitted, its clinical manifestations, and the way it can lead to blindness. Results from previous studies on gender and trichiasis are presented. Part C presents the research project in a format suitable for journal submission. The background of this research project is summarized and the meta-analysis is conducted at the global level, at the country level, the regional level, the state level and at the EU level but all in accordance to prevalence of trichiasis in the EUs. The implications of the findings are discussed and limitations in interpretation presented.

Police leadership has traditionally been dominated by the commander style, yet the more recent generation of police officers reject this style of leadership. Little, however, is known about whether the different leadership styles of the full range of leadership model result in positive outcomes in policing organizations. The purpose of this quantitative meta-analysis study was to examine the relationship between transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles and the leadership outcomes in a policing context, such as subordinate satisfaction, perception of leadership effectiveness, and exerting extra effort. Data for this research synthesis derived from primary research studies, which included 9 U.S. and international correlational policing studies that together comprised 1,939 police officers who completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) instrument. The meta-analysis provided effect size estimates on the relationship between transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles and perception of leadership effectiveness, extra effort, and subordinate satisfaction. The results of this meta-analysis indicate the transformational style has a stronger positive relationship with perception of leadership effectiveness, extra effort, and subordinate satisfaction, than the other 2 leadership styles. The positive social change implications of this study provide recommendations to police executives to include transformational leadership with contemporary law enforcement practices. The transformational style may result in improvements to police officer motivation, performance, and job satisfaction, thus offering opportunities to improve public safety outcomes.

The decline in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) populations across western North America has been primarily attributed to loss and fragmentation of their sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats. This habitat loss is largely the result of increased human activities, with grazing by domestic livestock as the most predominant land use across the sagebrush ecosystem in North America. The goal of my research was to increase our understanding of the effects of livestock on sage-grouse populations. I reviewed the peer-reviewed literature for all published studies that reported potential effects of grazing on grouse species worldwide. I found that there was an overall negative effect of domestic livestock grazing on grouse populations in general. I compared sage-grouse nest success on two study sites managed under differing prescribed livestock grazing practices to determine their relative effects on sage-grouse nest survival. I found that nest survival was slightly higher in areas managed under high-intensity low-frequency rest-rotation practices. The difference was not statistically significant (P < 0.05). However, these areas received lower precipitation and were grazed at a higher stocking rate (AUM · ha-1) without negatively affecting nest survival compared to areas of that were mostly grazed as single pastures from May-September. Because livestock grazing in the sagebrush ecosystem has been historically facilitated with sagebrush reduction treatments to increase forage for livestock, I compared the relative effects of these treatments with the more direct effect from livestock grazing. Sagebrush treatments were found to have a greater effect on female sage-grouse survival than livestock grazing. This understanding can be useful for land managers looking to attenuate the effects of management decisions related to livestock grazing systems in the sagebrush ecosystem.

Chronic low-back pain is a prevalent and costly problem for many adults in the United States. Currently, multidisciplinary treatment approaches are the treatment of choice for this problem. A meta-analysis was conducted on 43 published studies to describe the nature of these programs, the patients involved in them, treatment efficacy at discharge and follow-up, and possible relationships between these characteristics and outcome. Results show that these programs were often in university medical settings, with an emphasis on active patient participation. Common treatment approaches included physical therapy, skills training, medication management, supportive therapy, and behavior modification. Patients involved in these programs tended to be middle-aged, married, unemployed, and high-school educated, with an average pain duration of about five years. It was concluded that patients do show improvement at treatment completion (at least one-half standard deviation change) in physical fitness, reported distress levels, daily activity, and medication usage. At follow-up improvement over pre-treatment levels was still evidenced in reported distress levels, medication usage, mood, fitness levels, daily activities, and health perceptions. Results of correlational analyses suggest that the more impaired patients in these studies tended to show greater improvement. Data also suggest that patient dropouts rates were negatively correlated to medication usage and mood over time. Thus, improvements in these areas may be artifacts due to patient drop-out rates. Multidisciplinary treatment programs were found to be generally effective in promoting more adaptive functioning in their patients . However, it is recommended that closer attention be given to attrition rates and other potential sources of bias to maximize confidence in treatment effectiveness.

An analysis of previous reviews of the parent education literature revealed that few reviewers have incorporated sound methodological practice in their review process. Most reviewers included too few studies and ignored important information about the primary research studies that they reviewed. The Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) program has received less attention from reviewers than any of the other popular programs and information about its effectiveness is lacking. Forty primary research studies, addressing the effectiveness of the STEP program, were located and analyzed using the meta-analytic method of review. Research questions for this study addressed the issues of effectiveness in terms of parent and child attitude change, behavioral change, psychological functioning, changes in self-esteem, changes in the family environment, and changes in parent/child interactions. The variables that were coded and analyzed included the quality of the study, the publication source, socioeconomic status of the family, special parent characteristics (e.g., drug-addicted, abusive, Chicano, foreign), any children's handicaps (e.g . , learning disabled, Title I), type of group leader (professional or nonprofessional), type of tapes used (audiotape or videotape), design methodology, type of program participants (e.g., only mothers, couples, mixed parent groups), age of parents, education of parents, and age of child(ren). The dependent variables were coded and categorized into nine categories for parent measures and five categories for child measures . Effect sizes were computed for both immediate effects (immediately following treatment) and follow-up effects (after a designated elapsed time). Moderate effect sizes were found which diminished with the passage of time. The STEP program was found to be more effective with couples than with mothers or with mixed parent groups. In addition, the program was found to be more effective with younger, less educated parents with younger children. Also, although representing only a few studies, it was found that exposure to the STEP program was associated with larger effect sizes for abusive and drug-addicted parents. Regression analyses were conducted for selected dependent measures, and raw score prediction formulas were constructed using the age of parents, age of children, and education of parents as predictor variables. Suggestions are made for future research directions in the area of parent education and, specifically, changes in the STEP program that might add to its effectiveness.

La composition du lait en acides gras (AG) chez la vache laitière est la résultante du métabolisme lipidique au niveau du rumen et au niveau de la glande mammaire. Dans le cadre du renouvellement des systèmes d’unités d’alimentation INRA, l’objectif de ce travail est de prédire par une approche quantitative utilisant la méta-analyse de bases de données, les flux duodénaux d’AG chez les ruminants, le transfert des AG de l’intestin à la glande mammaire, et les flux d’AG sécrétés dans le lait.Des équations de prédiction des flux duodénaux et absorbés des AG saturés, des AG impairs et ramifiés, et d’un grand nombre d’isomères des AG insaturés ont été obtenues en intégrant les effets de facteurs expérimentaux tels que la nature du fourrage, le pourcentage de concentré, la supplémentation en huiles, graines végétales, et en produits marins, et leurs interactions. Ces équations sont fonction des AG ingérés et des facteurs interférents (mode de conservation et familles botaniques des fourrages, composition du régime alimentaire, caractéristiques des animaux).Pour le transfert des AG du duodénum à la glande mammaire, les équations privilégient comme prédicteur leur flux duodénal respectif, mais utilisent aussi des paramètres digestifs ruminaux (pH, acétate, butyrate) ou des caractéristiques des rations pour les AG impairs et ramifiés, ou les AG synthétisés de novo (C4:0 à C14:0).La validation de ces modèles a été faite à partir d’une base de données externe qui a permis de coupler les deux modèles et d’évaluer leur précision. Finalement, nous proposons des équations de prédiction des AG spécifiques ainsi que des groupes d’AG présentant un intérêt nutritionnel et qui peuvent fournir une approche aux systèmes d'unités d'alimentation pour prédire leurs réponses à différents types de rations. / Milk fatty acids (FA) composition in dairy cows results from lipid metabolism in rumen and mammary gland. In the context of renewing the INRA feed unit system, the objective of this work is to predict, by a quantitative approach using metaanalysis, duodenal flows of FA in ruminants, FA transfer from the intestine to the mammary gland, and the secreted FA flows in the milk. Predictive equations for duodenal and absorbed saturated FA, odd and branched FA, and a large number of unsaturated FA isomers were obtained by integrating the effects of experimental factors such as the nature of the forage, the concentrate percentage, supplementation with oleaginous oils and seeds, and marine products, and their interactions.These equations are function of ingested FA and their interfering factors (forage conservation mode and botanical family, diet composition, animal factors).For the transfer of FA from duodenum to the mammary gland, the equations favor the prediction of their respective duodenal flows, but they also use ruminal digestive parameters (pH, acetate, butyrate) or dietary characteristics for odd and branched FA, or de novo synthesized FA (C4 :0 to C14 :0).Models validation was done with an external database, which allowed coupling the two models and evaluate their accuracy. Finally, we propose predictive equations for specific FA as well as FA groups of nutritional interest that can provide an approach to the INRA feed unit system to predict their milk yield responses according to different types of rations.

Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) is a major inflammatory complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Such transplantations are lifesaving in treating certain conditions, such as acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, aplastic anemia, and thalassemia. However, the subsequent presentation of GVHD can pose a lethal threat, placing the patient’s life at risk, once again. The inflammatory response of the graft’s adaptive immunity towards the host’s native cells in GVHD is said to trigger a cytokine storm. Despite its widespread use both colloquially and in the medical field, criteria for “cytokine storms” do not exist. For this reason, a meta-analysis is being conducted that examines various cytokine levels of several different disease conditions, including acute respiratory distress syndrome, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, Crohn’s disease, SARS CoV-2, rheumatoid arthritis, sepsis, and graft versus host disease. The purpose of this study is to analyze a subset of data within this larger meta-analysis, specifically interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in GVHD. Herein, I discuss the role of IL-6 in the pathogenesis of GVHD, examine the levels of IL-6 in varying stages of GVHD, and propose future directions for using IL-6 inhibition as a treatment for GVHD.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(社会健康医学) / 甲第20289号 / 社医博第78号 / 社新制||医||9(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科社会健康医学系専攻 / (主査)教授 山田 亮, 教授 中山 健夫, 教授 古川 壽亮 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Public Health / Kyoto University / DFAM