This dissertation serves three major purposes: (1) to create new knowledge in the domain of franc... more This dissertation serves three major purposes: (1) to create new knowledge in the domain of franchising research, (2) to assist future academic inquiry by advancing agency theoretical understanding, and (3) to serve members of the franchising community by developing a framework for building franchisee trust. It is proposed that trust within the franchising relationship is important for overall franchisee performance, as well as necessary for uniting the franchisee and the franchisor in their mutually beneficial endeavours. Franchisee trust and franchisor trustworthiness are considered to have a central function within the franchising relationship and through empirical examination, both qualitative and quantitative data provided confirmation of this proposition. 30 interviews were conducted with franchising experts, franchisees, and franchisors, until data saturation was achieved. The interviews were audio recorded, with the permission of the interviewee, then transcribed. Analysis o...
This paper contributes to existing franchising thought in three major ways. Firstly, synergy betw... more This paper contributes to existing franchising thought in three major ways. Firstly, synergy between the franchisee and the franchisor is achievable. Synergy occurs when the output of a group is greater than the sum of the individual effort. Secondly, the research reveals initial insight into how synergy can be achieved; synergy requires the essential elements of trust and good faith. Finally, the construct of good faith is compared with the construct of bad faith, compounded by the franchise culture. At one polar extreme, trust and good faith produce synergy. However, at the polar opposite, distrust and actions of bad faith result in dysfunction. Many authors have researched problems such as trust and distrust through the lens of agency theory (Jensen and Meckling, 1976) with the findings of this research building on existing thought. Qualitative data in the form of in-depth interviews with franchising experts. The overarching goal of this research is to gain further understanding ...
Dysfunction within the dopamine system has been the predominant hypothesized cause of schizophren... more Dysfunction within the dopamine system has been the predominant hypothesized cause of schizophrenia for some time; however, there is little anatomical or postmortem evidence showing that the roots of this disorder are to be found within the dopaminergic neurons. Instead, the dopamine system appears to be dysregulated due to pathological influences from other structures. Recent postmortem and imaging studies have looked to the hippocampus as a potential site of this pathology. Our studies using a developmental animal model of schizophrenia found hyperactivity in the hippocampus likely drives the disruption in dopamine system function. This overactivity appears to be due to the functional loss of short axon interneurons that control the activity of the primary output neurons of the hippocampus. These data suggest that a more effective treatment of schizophrenia may be to normalize hippocampal function rather than block dopamine receptors. Moreover, given the high sensitivity of the hi...
This paper provides an in-depth qualitative investigation into the nature of the franchisee/franc... more This paper provides an in-depth qualitative investigation into the nature of the franchisee/franchiser relationship. The view that stable franchising relationships are formulated with the presence of trust and commitment is further enhanced and developed upon Morgan & Hunt's (1994) foundational commitment-trust theory. Primary research in the form of face-to-face interviews with franchisees from four franchise systems was conducted using within and across case analysis. This exploratory research attempts to enhance franchising knowledge by shifting traditional transactional marketing (TM) focus toward relationship marketing (RM). The emphasis on relationships as apposed to transactional exchanges within franchising not only extends existing franchising literature but provides practical insight into the importance of stable personal relationships between franchisers and franchisees.
Antipsychotic drugs are known to block dopamine receptors soon after their administration, result... more Antipsychotic drugs are known to block dopamine receptors soon after their administration, resulting in an increase in dopamine neuron firing and dopamine turnover. Nonetheless, antipsychotic drugs must be administered repeatedly to schizophrenics before therapeutic benefits are produced. Recordings from dopamine neurons in rats have revealed that chronic antipsychotic drug treatment results in the time-dependent inactivation of dopamine neuron firing via over-excitation, or depolarization block. Furthermore, the clinical profile of the response to antipsychotic drugs appears to correspond to the dopamine system affected: antipsychotic drugs that exert therapeutic actions in schizophrenics inactivate dopamine neuron firing in the limbic-related ventral tegmental area, whereas drugs that precipitate extrapyramidal side effects cause depolarization block of the motor-related substantia nigra dopamine cells. One factor that remains unresolved with regard to the actions of antipsychotic drugs is the relationship between dopamine turnover and depolarization block--i.e., why does a significant level of dopamine release or turnover remain after antipsychotic drug treatment if dopamine cells are no longer firing? We addressed this question using an acute model of neuroleptic-induced depolarization block. In this model, dopamine cells recorded in rats one month after partial dopamine lesions could be driven into depolarization block by the acute administration of moderate doses of haloperidol. However, similar doses of haloperidol, which were effective at increasing dopamine levels in the striatum of intact rats, failed to change dopamine levels in lesioned rats. This is consistent with a model in which neuroleptic drugs exert their therapeutic effects in schizophrenics by causing depolarization block in DA cells, thereby preventing further activation of dopamine neuron firing in response to external stimuli. Thus, attenuating the responsivity of the dopamine system to stimuli may be more relevant to the therapeutic actions of antipsychotic drugs than receptor blockade or decreases in absolute levels of dopamine, which could presumably be circumvented by homeostatic adaptations in this highly plastic system.
ABSTRACT Introduction: Antipsychotic drugs are central to the treatment of schizophrenia, but the... more ABSTRACT Introduction: Antipsychotic drugs are central to the treatment of schizophrenia, but their limitations necessitate improved treatment strategies. Multiple lines of research have implicated glutamatergic dysfunction in the hippocampus as an early source of pathophysiology in schizophrenia. Novel compounds have been designed to treat glutamatergic dysfunction, but they have produced inconsistent results in clinical trials. Areas covered: This review discusses how the hippocampus is thought to drive psychotic symptoms through its influence on the dopamine system. It offers the reader an evaluation of proposed treatment strategies including direct modulation of GABA or glutamate neurotransmission or reducing the deleterious impact of stress on circuit development. Finally, we offer a perspective on aspects of future research that will advance our knowledge and may create new therapeutic opportunities. PubMed was searched for relevant literature between 2010 and 2020 and related studies. Expert opinion: Targeting aberrant excitatory-inhibitory neurotransmission in the hippocampus and its related circuits has the potential to alleviate symptoms and reduce the risk of transition to psychosis if implemented as an early intervention. Longitudinal multimodal brain imaging combined with mechanistic theories generated from animal models can be used to better understand the progression of hippocampal-dopamine circuit dysfunction and heterogeneity in treatment response.
Treatment of schizophrenia (SCZ) historically relies on the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat p... more Treatment of schizophrenia (SCZ) historically relies on the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat psychosis, with all of the currently available antipsychotics acting through the antagonism of dopamine D2 receptors. Although antipsychotics reduce psychotic symptoms in many patients, they induce numerous undesirable effects and are not effective against negative and cognitive symptoms. These highlight the need to develop new drugs to treat SCZ. An advanced understanding of the circuitry of SCZ has pointed to pathological origins in the excitation/inhibition balance in regions such as the hippocampus, and restoring function in this region, particularly as a means to compensate for parvalbumin (PV) interneuron loss and resultant hippocampal hyperactivity, may be a more efficacious approach to relieve a broad range of SCZ symptoms. Other targets, such as cholinergic receptors and the trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1), have also shown some promise for the treatment of SCZ. Importan...
Drawing on the four dimensions of justice: distributive, procedural, interactional, and informati... more Drawing on the four dimensions of justice: distributive, procedural, interactional, and informational justice, this research examines justice as an antecedent of franchisee performance. Empirical r...
This dissertation serves three major purposes: (1) to create new knowledge in the domain of franc... more This dissertation serves three major purposes: (1) to create new knowledge in the domain of franchising research, (2) to assist future academic inquiry by advancing agency theoretical understanding, and (3) to serve members of the franchising community by developing a framework for building franchisee trust. It is proposed that trust within the franchising relationship is important for overall franchisee performance, as well as necessary for uniting the franchisee and the franchisor in their mutually beneficial endeavours. Franchisee trust and franchisor trustworthiness are considered to have a central function within the franchising relationship and through empirical examination, both qualitative and quantitative data provided confirmation of this proposition. 30 interviews were conducted with franchising experts, franchisees, and franchisors, until data saturation was achieved. The interviews were audio recorded, with the permission of the interviewee, then transcribed. Analysis o...
This paper contributes to existing franchising thought in three major ways. Firstly, synergy betw... more This paper contributes to existing franchising thought in three major ways. Firstly, synergy between the franchisee and the franchisor is achievable. Synergy occurs when the output of a group is greater than the sum of the individual effort. Secondly, the research reveals initial insight into how synergy can be achieved; synergy requires the essential elements of trust and good faith. Finally, the construct of good faith is compared with the construct of bad faith, compounded by the franchise culture. At one polar extreme, trust and good faith produce synergy. However, at the polar opposite, distrust and actions of bad faith result in dysfunction. Many authors have researched problems such as trust and distrust through the lens of agency theory (Jensen and Meckling, 1976) with the findings of this research building on existing thought. Qualitative data in the form of in-depth interviews with franchising experts. The overarching goal of this research is to gain further understanding ...
Dysfunction within the dopamine system has been the predominant hypothesized cause of schizophren... more Dysfunction within the dopamine system has been the predominant hypothesized cause of schizophrenia for some time; however, there is little anatomical or postmortem evidence showing that the roots of this disorder are to be found within the dopaminergic neurons. Instead, the dopamine system appears to be dysregulated due to pathological influences from other structures. Recent postmortem and imaging studies have looked to the hippocampus as a potential site of this pathology. Our studies using a developmental animal model of schizophrenia found hyperactivity in the hippocampus likely drives the disruption in dopamine system function. This overactivity appears to be due to the functional loss of short axon interneurons that control the activity of the primary output neurons of the hippocampus. These data suggest that a more effective treatment of schizophrenia may be to normalize hippocampal function rather than block dopamine receptors. Moreover, given the high sensitivity of the hi...
This paper provides an in-depth qualitative investigation into the nature of the franchisee/franc... more This paper provides an in-depth qualitative investigation into the nature of the franchisee/franchiser relationship. The view that stable franchising relationships are formulated with the presence of trust and commitment is further enhanced and developed upon Morgan & Hunt's (1994) foundational commitment-trust theory. Primary research in the form of face-to-face interviews with franchisees from four franchise systems was conducted using within and across case analysis. This exploratory research attempts to enhance franchising knowledge by shifting traditional transactional marketing (TM) focus toward relationship marketing (RM). The emphasis on relationships as apposed to transactional exchanges within franchising not only extends existing franchising literature but provides practical insight into the importance of stable personal relationships between franchisers and franchisees.
Antipsychotic drugs are known to block dopamine receptors soon after their administration, result... more Antipsychotic drugs are known to block dopamine receptors soon after their administration, resulting in an increase in dopamine neuron firing and dopamine turnover. Nonetheless, antipsychotic drugs must be administered repeatedly to schizophrenics before therapeutic benefits are produced. Recordings from dopamine neurons in rats have revealed that chronic antipsychotic drug treatment results in the time-dependent inactivation of dopamine neuron firing via over-excitation, or depolarization block. Furthermore, the clinical profile of the response to antipsychotic drugs appears to correspond to the dopamine system affected: antipsychotic drugs that exert therapeutic actions in schizophrenics inactivate dopamine neuron firing in the limbic-related ventral tegmental area, whereas drugs that precipitate extrapyramidal side effects cause depolarization block of the motor-related substantia nigra dopamine cells. One factor that remains unresolved with regard to the actions of antipsychotic drugs is the relationship between dopamine turnover and depolarization block--i.e., why does a significant level of dopamine release or turnover remain after antipsychotic drug treatment if dopamine cells are no longer firing? We addressed this question using an acute model of neuroleptic-induced depolarization block. In this model, dopamine cells recorded in rats one month after partial dopamine lesions could be driven into depolarization block by the acute administration of moderate doses of haloperidol. However, similar doses of haloperidol, which were effective at increasing dopamine levels in the striatum of intact rats, failed to change dopamine levels in lesioned rats. This is consistent with a model in which neuroleptic drugs exert their therapeutic effects in schizophrenics by causing depolarization block in DA cells, thereby preventing further activation of dopamine neuron firing in response to external stimuli. Thus, attenuating the responsivity of the dopamine system to stimuli may be more relevant to the therapeutic actions of antipsychotic drugs than receptor blockade or decreases in absolute levels of dopamine, which could presumably be circumvented by homeostatic adaptations in this highly plastic system.
ABSTRACT Introduction: Antipsychotic drugs are central to the treatment of schizophrenia, but the... more ABSTRACT Introduction: Antipsychotic drugs are central to the treatment of schizophrenia, but their limitations necessitate improved treatment strategies. Multiple lines of research have implicated glutamatergic dysfunction in the hippocampus as an early source of pathophysiology in schizophrenia. Novel compounds have been designed to treat glutamatergic dysfunction, but they have produced inconsistent results in clinical trials. Areas covered: This review discusses how the hippocampus is thought to drive psychotic symptoms through its influence on the dopamine system. It offers the reader an evaluation of proposed treatment strategies including direct modulation of GABA or glutamate neurotransmission or reducing the deleterious impact of stress on circuit development. Finally, we offer a perspective on aspects of future research that will advance our knowledge and may create new therapeutic opportunities. PubMed was searched for relevant literature between 2010 and 2020 and related studies. Expert opinion: Targeting aberrant excitatory-inhibitory neurotransmission in the hippocampus and its related circuits has the potential to alleviate symptoms and reduce the risk of transition to psychosis if implemented as an early intervention. Longitudinal multimodal brain imaging combined with mechanistic theories generated from animal models can be used to better understand the progression of hippocampal-dopamine circuit dysfunction and heterogeneity in treatment response.
Treatment of schizophrenia (SCZ) historically relies on the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat p... more Treatment of schizophrenia (SCZ) historically relies on the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat psychosis, with all of the currently available antipsychotics acting through the antagonism of dopamine D2 receptors. Although antipsychotics reduce psychotic symptoms in many patients, they induce numerous undesirable effects and are not effective against negative and cognitive symptoms. These highlight the need to develop new drugs to treat SCZ. An advanced understanding of the circuitry of SCZ has pointed to pathological origins in the excitation/inhibition balance in regions such as the hippocampus, and restoring function in this region, particularly as a means to compensate for parvalbumin (PV) interneuron loss and resultant hippocampal hyperactivity, may be a more efficacious approach to relieve a broad range of SCZ symptoms. Other targets, such as cholinergic receptors and the trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1), have also shown some promise for the treatment of SCZ. Importan...
Drawing on the four dimensions of justice: distributive, procedural, interactional, and informati... more Drawing on the four dimensions of justice: distributive, procedural, interactional, and informational justice, this research examines justice as an antecedent of franchisee performance. Empirical r...
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