bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vying for and forgoing visibility: female next gen leaders in family business with male successors
Authors: Brophy Martina , McAdam Maura , Clinton Eric
Published: August 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the identity work undertaken by female next generation to navigate (in)visibility in family businesses with male successors. To enhance understanding of gendered identity work in family businesses, the authors offer important insights into how female next generation use (in)visibility to establish legitimacy and exercise power and humility in partnership with male next generation in their family business.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical qualitative paper draws upon in-depth interviews with 14 next generation female leaders.

Findings

This study offers a model to show how female next generation establish their legitimacy amongst male next generation in power via a careful balancing act between vying for visibility (trouble) and forgoing visibility (exclusion). These female next generation gained acceptance by endorsing their own leadership identity and exercising humility in partnership or by endorsing their brother's leadership identity and exercising power in partnership.

Practical implications

This study highlights the need for the incumbent generation to prepare successors, regardless of gender, via equal opportunities for business exposure and leadership preparation. This study also shows that vocalizing female-centric issues and highlighting hidden power imbalances should be led by the entire management team and not simply delegated to a “family woman” in the management team to spearhead.

Originality/value

This study advances understanding of gender dynamics and identity in the family business literature by identifying specific strategies utilized by female next generation to navigate (in)visibility in family businesses with male successors.
Exploring key themes and trends in international student mobility research —A systematic literature review
Authors: Gutema Dandi Merga , Pant Sukrit , Nikou Shahrokh
Published: August 2023

Purpose

The global landscape of higher education has witnessed a steady increase in the mobility of international students, as more individuals seek diverse academic experiences and cross-cultural learning opportunities. This paper conducts a systematic literature review to investigate trends, research directions and key themes in the literature. By utilising the push–pull factor model the aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing international students' choices to pursue higher education and future career opportunities abroad.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review approach was applied. The selection was made using PRISMA framework-based inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review includes 43 publications from 2010 to 2022.

Findings

The review results revealed five themes of scholarly conversations labelled as (1) betterment of life, (2) policy of the host country, (3) role of institutions, (4) return to home country and (5) social, economic, environmental, individual and cultural factors. The findings emphasise on the significance of factors such as the quality of education, visa requirements, academic reputation, tuition fees, availability of scholarships, job opportunities, social, economic, environmental, individual and cultural factors. The paper also identifies language barriers, visa policies and social integration difficulties as major barriers to international students' stay in the host country after graduation.

Originality/value

This research enhances the current body of literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the empirical evidence available in literature that investigates the mobility of international students. The outcomes of this study will make a valuable contribution towards developing a more profound comprehension of the primary factors that influence international students' decision to pursue their education abroad.
Analyzing the customer brand engagement model from the perspective of sellers and buyers in the B2B context
Authors: Susanti Vonny , Samudro Andreas
Published: August 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the influential aspects of industrial branding in building customer brand engagement from the buyer’s and the seller’s points of view. Collecting buyer and seller information is essential to understand business-to-business interaction better. Buyer’s and seller’s perspective integration is significant for stakeholders to develop proper strategies to achieve customer brand engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a structural equation model to examine the antecedents of customer brand engagement from the buyer’s perspective; then, the result is compared with the seller’s view by conducting an analytical hierarchy process. The authors exercise 140 valid data from the buyer’s industry and 9 experts from the seller’s industry.

Findings

This study finds that in developing customer brand engagement, rational brand quality is the most influential from the buyer’s view and top priority from the seller’s view. Surprisingly, both parties have different perspectives about the second and third priorities. The buyers put emotional brand associations as a second priority; perceived value is meaningless and insignificant. On the contrary, the sellers set the perceived value as the second priority and emotional brand associations as the last.

Research limitations/implications

The respondents from the buyer industry cover various industries, and the research is limited to the buyer and the seller in the chemical polymer emulsion market, a market where product quality and application quality on the buyers’ side are essential and where the buyer–seller interaction is intense. Replicating the study in other industries and cultural backgrounds is recommended for generalization.

Originality/value

The paper’s novelty is that there are different priorities and perspectives from the buyer’s and the seller’s views. This study contributes to industrial brand engagement research studies. Investigation of the buyer’s and the seller’s perspectives in industrial brand engagement research studies is still limited.
The effectiveness and functioning of air cavities on architectural heritage with pathology caused by rising damp
Authors: Gil-Muñoz M.Teresa , Lasheras-Merino Félix
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Rising damp affects the deterioration and conservation of architectural heritage. Air cavities built next to the base of these buildings on an unsaturated floor can reduce the damage to foundations and walls due to this. These are passive systems, which are usually designed with no objective data to show their functioning and effectiveness. This is why the authors are presenting this study.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is presented starting with simple field equipment for representative types for a previous cataloguing of cases in Spain. The physical parameters of the air in this research are air speed and evaporation in the cavities and the base, taking the local climate and the particular formal and construction characteristics of each case study as a reference.

Findings

The results of the analysis validate the method and the efficiency of such cavities, whose performance is greater in systems with a variety of features, that is to say, those which work by thermal or wind flow rather than those which only use hygric flow.

Originality/value

This work is novel because there are not in situ experimental works which prove the functioning and effectiveness of these systems.
Evolutionary motives in employees’ knowledge behavior when being envied at work
Authors: David Timea , Shih Hsi-An
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Knowledge transfer is a crucial ingredient of employee innovation, yet affective work events may disrupt knowledge flow among employees. This study aims to investigate a previously overlooked, yet frequently occurring affective work experience, namely, that of being envied, and examine how perceptions of being envied may drive contrastive knowledge behaviors of sharing and hiding, which subsequently impact employee innovation. The study further examines how the zero-sum game beliefs of the envied individual may moderate these mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study builds on territorial and belongingness theories to delineate the contrastive motivations for knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing. This study tests a moderated mediation model through a multisource survey design involving 225 employees.

Findings

The results support the notion that perceptions of being envied are linked to both knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing; however, the indirect effect of being envied on innovation is observed only through knowledge sharing. The indirect positive link between perceptions of being envied and innovation via knowledge sharing is weakened when the envied employee holds high zero-sum game beliefs.

Originality/value

This study advances knowledge scholarship by identifying and testing the organizationally relevant but largely overlooked antecedent of being envied at work. The results provide useful insights to practitioners on how sharing or hiding knowledge serves as a strategic asset in response to being envied at work and how this may in turn impact employee innovation.
Design optimization and comparative analysis of hypoallergenic muffins to wheat muffins and nutritive improvement using Moringa leaves powder
Authors: Rustagi Shivani , Khan Sheeba , Jain Tanu , Singh Ranjana , Modi Vinod Kumar
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Gluten is a triggering factor for gluten-related disorders. However, the present market provides expensive, less varied and poor nutritional products. Therefore, this study aims to develop gluten-free muffins and improve their nutritional profile, as well as evaluate the physical, chemical and sensorial aspects of them.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of pearl millet, buckwheat and amaranth was used to formulate gluten-free muffin using central composite rotatable design of response surface methodology for optimization of selected parameters (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose [HPMC], baking temperature and baking time). The optimized muffins were incorporated with Moringa leaves powder. Finally, the final products were compared with the wheat muffins.

Findings

The optimization range of selected variables was 1% HPMC, 170°C baking temperature and 30.33 min baking time with a desirability function of 0.75. The incorporation of 5% Moringa leaves powder enhanced the nutritional profile of gluten-free muffins – increased protein (38%), fiber (208%), iron (224%) and calcium (25%) values. However, the overall acceptability reduced due to decrease in flavor and odor.

Originality/value

Nonetheless, the ease of accessibility of these convenience gluten-free muffins as well as the nutritional density can help the food research and nutritionists to bridge the gap in current gluten-free market. This puts focus on the use of underutilized crops such as millets and buckwheat which are nutritionally dense.
Auditors’ response to earnings management after split-share structure reform in China
Authors: Bu Alfred , Azizkhani Masoud , Jiang Alicia
Published: August 2023

Purpose

This study aims to investigate whether and how auditors responded to the documented increases in earnings management after split-share structure reform (SSSR) in China, as manifested in auditors’ propensity to issue modified audit opinions (MAOs) after the SSSR. This study further investigates how client importance and auditor size influence auditors’ response to earnings management after the SSSR.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts logit regression models to investigate auditors’ propensity to issue MAOs to their clients that appear to manage earnings after the SSSR. Initially, including all Chinese publicly listed firms from the CSMAR database, the sample for final analyses consists of 21,904 firm-year observations for 1,290 unique listed firms during the period 2001–2020. The sample period surrounds the implementation of the SSSR, which started in 2005, allowing the examination of auditors’ propensity to issue MAOs after vis-à-vis before the SSSR.

Findings

The authors find that non-Big10 auditors in China were less likely to issue MAOs to their economically important clients who appear to manage earnings after SSSR. However, in the years of non-tradeable shares being released to the markets, both Big10 and non-Big10 auditors were less likely to issue MAOs to their economically important clients who appear to manage earnings. The findings suggest that auditors may have compromised auditor independence in response to earnings management after the SSSR, likely due to the pressure from their economically important clients.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature, specifically the practice and theory in auditing, by shedding light on ever-changing auditors’ reporting behaviour, especially with regard to auditor independence. It also adds to the growing body of literature on the impact of institutional changes on auditing practices worldwide. The findings of this study further suggest that the recently documented declining demand for high-quality audits after the SSSR may be motivated by the clients’ intention to manage earnings after the SSSR.
Dividend policies and stock volatility-empirical evidence from Middle Eastern stock markets
Authors: Syed Ali Murad , Bawazir Hana Saeed , AlSidrah Ibrahim Tawfeeq
Published: August 2023

Purpose

The study aims to explore the relation between dividend policy of any company and its stock volatility.

Design/methodology/approach

Companies listed on six GCC stock markets are used in the analysis and the data ranges from 2006 to 2020. Fixed effect and random effect panel data analysis is used to explore the association between stock volatility and the dividend policies.

Findings

A significant negative relation is observed between dividend payout and stock volatility. Also, significant negative relation between stock volatility and equity is found, whereas insignificant positive relation is observed between asset growth and stock volatility.

Research limitations/implications

The data of all listed companies on six GCC markets were not available.

Practical implications

The question of raising dividend or maintaining at the current level is of utmost importance for the managers of any company before making any investment decisions. Also, the investors look at the dividend announcements as a sort of signal about the future prospect of the company. A stable or fluctuating dividends may be preferred by the investors that ultimately changes the stock price of any company.

Social implications

The relationship between dividend policy and the volatility of stock price is explored for emerging GCC markets which is the major significance of this paper which will have many social impacts on various stakeholders of any company including investors, regulators and employees, etc.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study for GCC markets is done to establish a relation between stock volatility and the dividend policies which is needed by the academicians to further explore the behavior of these markets.
Determination of cell size/structures and mechanical properties of additively manufactured metallic components using X-ray technique
Authors: Moj Kevin , Owsiński Robert , Robak Grzegorz , Gupta Munish Kumar
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Additive manufacturing (AM), a rapidly evolving paradigm, has shown significant advantages over traditional subtractive processing routines by allowing for the custom creation of structural components with enhanced performance. Numerous studies have shown that the technical qualities of AM components are profoundly affected by the discovery of novel metastable substructures in diverse alloys. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the effect of cell structure parameters on its mechanical response.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, a methodology was suggested for testing porous materials, focusing on static tensile testing. For a qualitative evaluation of the cellular structures produced, computed tomography (CT) was used. Then, the CT scanner was used to analyze a sample and determine its actual relative density, as well as perform a detailed geometric analysis.

Findings

The experimental research demonstrates that the mechanical properties of a cell’s structure are significantly influenced by its shape during formation. It was also determined that using selective laser melting to produce cell structures with a minimum single-cell size of approximately 2 mm would be the most appropriate method.

Research limitations/implications

Further studies of cellular structures for testing their static tensile strength are planned for the future. The study will be carried out for a larger number of samples, taking into account a wider range of cellular structure parameters. An important step will also be the verification of the results of the static tensile test using numerical analysis for the model obtained by CT scanning.

Originality/value

The fabrication of metallic parts with different cellular structures is very important with a selective laser melted machine. However, the determination of cell size and structure with mechanical properties is quiet novel in this current investigation.
Toward good governance in water resources management in Ghana
Authors: Eduful Michael
Published: August 2023

In the global water policy literature, integrating governance principles into water resources management is projected as the best approach to overcome the crisis in water resources management. Therefore, since 1990, many countries, including Ghana, have introduced various changes in their water sector to encourage good governance in the management of the resource. Using interviews and a review of policy and regulatory documents, this study examines recent changes in the water sector in Ghana to identify challenges for good governance in water resources management. The results suggest that the introduction of a new institutional framework and several regulatory mechanisms, including policies, rules, regulations, and laws, has decentralized water management system, increased stakeholder participation, granted voice to marginalized stakeholders, and brought government and communities together in the decision‐making process. However, the results further reveal that several challenges, including institutional barriers, exclusion or underrepresentation of key stakeholders, corruption, multisectoral conflict, collaboration preferences, and others continue to frustrate good governance in water resources management. Deliberately committing to the principles of good governance, amending ineffective regulatory mechanisms, and adequately resourcing regulatory institutions can help avoid many of the challenges in the water sector and propel the country toward sustainable water resources management.
Role of 6‐phosphogluconate dehydrogenase enzyme 1 in growth and virulence of Toxoplasma gondii and development of attenuated live vaccine
Authors: Guo Qinghong , Guo Xuefang , Ji Nuo , Shen Bang , Zhong Xinhua , Xiao Lihua , Feng Yaoyu , Xia Ningbo
Published: August 2023

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous pathogen that infects all warm‐blooded animals, including humans, causing substantial socioeconomic and healthcare burdens. However, there is no ideal vaccine for toxoplasmosis. As metabolism is important in the growth and virulence of Toxoplasma, some key pathways are promising antiparasitic targets. Here, we identified 6‐phosphogluconate dehydrogenase 1 (Tg6PGDH1) in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway as a cytoplasmic protein that is dispensable for tachyzoite growth of T. gondii in vitro but critical for virulence and cyst formation in vivo. The depletion of Tg6PGDH1 causes decreased gene transcription involved in signal transduction, transcriptional regulation and virulence. Furthermore, we analysed the protective effect of the ME49Δ6pgdh1 mutant as an attenuated vaccine and found that ME49Δ6pgdh1 immunization stimulated strong protective immunity against lethal challenges and blocked cyst formation caused by reinfection. Furthermore, we showed that ME49Δ6pgdh1 immunization stimulated increased levels of interferon‐gamma, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha and Toxoplasma‐specific IgG antibodies. These data highlight the role of Tg6PGDH1 in the growth and virulence of T. gondii and its potential as a target for the development of a live‐attenuated vaccine.
Prey ration, temperature, and predator species influence digestion rates of prey DNA inferred from qPCR and metabarcoding
Authors: Dick Cory , Larson Wesley A. , Karpan Kirby , Baetscher Diana S. , Shi Yue , Sethi Suresh , Fangue Nann A. , Henderson Mark J.
Published: August 2023

Diet analysis is a vital tool for understanding trophic interactions and is frequently used to inform conservation and management. Molecular approaches can identify diet items that are impossible to distinguish using more traditional visual‐based methods. Yet, our understanding of how different variables, such as predator species or prey ration size, influence molecular diet analysis is still incomplete. Here, we conducted a large feeding trial to assess the impact that ration size, predator species, and temperature had on digestion rates estimated with visual identification, qPCR, and metabarcoding. Our trial was conducted by feeding two rations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to two piscivorous fish species (largemouth bass [Micropterus salmoides] and channel catfish [Ictalurus punctatus]) held at two different temperatures (15.5 and 18.5°C) and sacrificed at regular intervals up to 120 h from the time of ingestion to quantify the prey contents remaining in the digestive tract. We found that ration size, temperature, and predator species all influenced digestion rate, with some indication that ration size had the largest influence. DNA‐based analyses were able to identify salmon smolt prey in predator gut samples for much longer than visual analysis (~12 h for visual analysis vs. ~72 h for molecular analyses). Our study provides evidence that modelling the persistence of prey DNA in predator guts for molecular diet analyses may be feasible using a small set of controlling variables for many fish systems.
The World Economic Forum: An unaccountable force in global health governance?
Authors: McNeill Desmond
Published: August 2023

The World Economic Forum is a major player in global health governance, promoting the role of the private sector and specific public–private partnerships (PPPs). It exerts influence in three main ways: by exercising convening power, most notably in Davos where the most powerful representatives of the private sector meet with heads of governments and international organisations; by shaping ideas through its role as a think tank; by its engagement in PPPs, most recently as a founder member of CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations). But its organisational status is ambiguous, and it appears to lack accountability—even to its own members, which casts doubt on the legitimacy of such an influential organisation.
myClim: Microclimate data handling and standardised analyses in R
Authors: Man Matěj , Kalčík Vojtěch , Macek Martin , Brůna Josef , Hederová Lucia , Wild Jan , Kopecký Martin
Published: August 2023

Microclimates have been recognised as one of the key drivers in global change biology. Durable microclimate loggers, detailed in‐situ measurements and sophisticated modelling tools are increasingly available, but a lack of standardised workflows for microclimate data handling hinders synthesis across the studies and thus progress in the global change biology. To overcome these limitations, we developed an R package myClim for microclimate data processing, storage and analyses. The myClim package supports complete workflow for microclimate data handling, including reading raw logger data files, their preprocessing and cleaning, time‐series' aggregation, calculation of ecologically relevant microclimatic variables, data export and storage.

The myClim package stores data in a size‐efficient, hierarchical structure which respects the hierarchy of field microclimate measurement (locality > loggers > sensors). For imported microclimatic data, myClim provides an informative summary and automatically detects and corrects common issues like duplicated and wrongly ordered measurements. The myClim package also provides advanced functions for microclimate data aggregation to various timescales (e.g. days, months, years or growing seasons) as well as tools for sensor calibration, data conversion and joining of multiple microclimatic time series.

The myClim package provides advanced functions for standardised calculation of ecologically relevant microclimatic variables like freezing and growing degree days, snow cover period, soil volumetric water content and atmospheric vapour pressure deficit. Calculated microclimatic variables are stored efficiently in myClim data format and can be easily exported to long or wide tables for further analyses and visualisations.

Adopting myClim can facilitate large‐scale syntheses, boost data sharing and increase the comparability and reproducibility of microclimatic studies. The stable version of myClim is available on CRAN (https://cran.r‐project.org/web/packages/myClim) and the development version is available on GitHub (https://github.com/ibot‐geoecology/myClim).
Current and future potential geographical distribution of Bactericera cockerelli: an invasive pest of increasing global importance
Authors: Suwandharathne Nimali I. , Holwell Gregory I. , Avila Gonzalo A.
Published: August 2023

Due to ongoing climate change and the spread of invasive pests, understanding and predicting climatic suitability for invasive insect species has shown growing demand from government and industry biosecurity managers. The invasive pest Bactericera cockerelli, (Šulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae), commonly known as tomato potato psyllid (TPP), is native to North America and has recently invaded Australasia. TPP is also the vector of the bacterial plant pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso), which has caused severe economic losses for potato growers worldwide. We used the niche modelling software CLIMEX to predict the potential geographical distribution of TPP in Australasia and worldwide under current and future climatic scenarios. Our model prediction of the current climate conditions closely agrees with all the known distributions of TPP. In its native range (North America), TPP is predicted to expand its current geographical range in semi‐arid, temperate, and continental climates. Within Australia, along with the known occurrence of TPP in Western Australia, potential expansion into South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland is predicted. The predicted distribution closely matches all the known records with higher climatic suitability in New Zealand. Globally, the model projected that the pest‐free countries in Europe and East Asia are climatically more suitable for TPP. Predictions under the future climate change scenarios (A1B, CSIRO Mk 3.0 for 2090) showed a significant reduction of the known geographical range of TPP with a possible expansion towards higher latitudes. Areas in North America and Australia are projected to be less climatically suitable for the survival of TPP in future climates. However, our model suggested that Europe and New Zealand will remain unchanged or will become more favourable in the future. These CLIMEX projections for current and future climatic distribution provide valuable information for existing and future biosecurity preparedness and management programmes, which may prove helpful in risk assessments and identifying potential areas that are likely to be susceptible to a TPP invasion.
Deficiency of hydrogen sulfide production and pregnancy rate in an experimental model: Association with preterm delivery
Authors: Panagiotopoulos Dimitrios , Andriopoulou Theano , Spanou Victoria‐Marina , Droggiti Dionysia‐Irene , Gkavogianni Theologia , Giamarellos‐Bourboulis Evangelos J. , Panagopoulos Periklis
Published: August 2023

Problem

Pro‐inflammatory phenomena drive preterm delivery (PTD). Hydrogen sulfide is a gasotransmitter with anti‐inflammatory properties produced through the activity of the enzyme cystathionine‐γ‐lyase (CSE), and its impact was studied in models of normal delivery and PTD in mice.

Method of study

Female CSE+/+ and CSE−/− mice were mated with male CSE+/+ mice; mating was done with drinking water unsupplemented and supplemented with cysteine. The pregnancy rate was monitored. PTD was induced by the intraperitoneal injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on day 14.5 of pregnancy. Mice were sacrificed for tissue collection and splenocyte isolation after 6 and 12 h. Isolated splenocytes were stimulated for the production of tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNFα), interleukin (IL)‐10 and interferon‐gamma (IFNγ); TNFα and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured in the fetuses and the placenta.

Results

The successful pregnancy rate was lower in CSE−/− mice and it was restored with cysteine supplementation. CSE deficiency was associated with higher tissue concentrations of TNFα in the fetuses, attenuated IL‐10 responses and higher IFNγ production from splenocytes. CSE deficiency was not associated with PTD. Following PTD induction, CSE−/− mice did not show attenuated IL‐10 responses but the production of TNFα and IFNγ was lowered over‐time; placental VEGF was also increased over‐time.

Conclusions

CSE deficiency has an unfavorable impact on pregnancy. H2S deficiency through CSE does not drive PTD but mediates pro‐inflammatory phenomena in fetuses.
There is room for everyone: Invasion credit cannot be inferred from the species–area relationship in fragmented forests
Authors: Trotta Giacomo , Boscutti Francesco , Jamoneau Aurélien , Decocq Guillaume , Chiarucci Alessandro
Published: August 2023

Questions

Land use change, habitat fragmentation and biological invasion represent major drivers of global change that strongly interact to alter ecosystems. Following the breaking apart of forests into smaller fragments or the afforestation of former agricultural lands, biodiversity experiences drastic changes due to species loss and turnover over time. This leads to two important outcomes, namely extinction debt and invasion (colonization) credit, which both reflect the inertia of the system's response to environmental changes. Our study investigated the following questions:

Is it possible to infer invasion credit from species–area relationship (SAR) residuals both for native and alien plants?

Is there any trend linked with the degree of habitat fragmentation through time?

Location

Somme, Oise and Aisne departments, northern France.

Methods

We analyzed the pattern of SARs' residuals for native and alien vascular plant species separately across nine sets of forest fragments that differ by the landscape matrix they are embedded in (i.e., open field, bocage, forest), while considering plant richness, area and age of the 355 forest patches.

Results

The relationship between alien and native SARs’ residuals is positive across all landscapes, suggesting a lack of invasion credit. Instead, these results support the “rich get richer” hypothesis, that is a high environmental heterogeneity allows colonization by new species, be they native or alien. Interestingly, the relationship between alien and native residuals depends upon fragment age (i.e., time since patch creation) in the most intensively managed landscapes (i.e., open fields). In the latter, recent forest patches are more prone to alien invasion, as a likely consequence of increased alien propagule pressure (i.e., more sources and vectors for alien plants), increased forest invasibility (i.e., disturbance‐induced environmental heterogeneity), and decreased matrix permeability (i.e., natives are more dispersal‐limited than aliens).

Conclusions

Our study provides new insights into alien species ecology, by showing that (i) it is not possible to infer “invasion credit” from the SAR's residuals; (ii) the invasion rate by alien species in forest fragments increases with their native species richness, and (iii) this relationship depends upon patch age in intensively managed landscapes.
Bayesian Causal Inference for Observational Studies with Missingness in Covariates and Outcomes
Authors: Zang Huaiyu , Kim Hang J. , Huang Bin , Szczesniak Rhonda
Published: August 2023

Missing data are a pervasive issue in observational studies using electronic health records or patient registries. It presents unique challenges for statistical inference, especially causal inference. Inappropriately handling missing data in causal inference could potentially bias causal estimation. Besides missing data problems, observational health data structures typically have mixed-type variables - continuous and categorical covariates - whose joint distribution is often too complex to be modeled by simple parametric models. The existence of missing values in covariates and outcomes makes the causal inference even more challenging, while most standard causal inference approaches assume fully observed data or start their works after imputing missing values in a separate preprocessing stage. To address these problems, we introduce a Bayesian nonparametric causal model to estimate causal effects with missing data. The proposed approach can simultaneously impute missing values, account for multiple outcomes, and estimate causal effects under the potential outcomes framework. We provide three simulation studies to show the performance of our proposed method under complicated data settings whose features are similar to our case studies. For example, Simulation Study 3 assumes the case where missing values exist in both outcomes and covariates. Two case studies were conducted applying our method to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of treatments for chronic disease management in juvenile idiopathic arthritis and cystic fibrosis.
Human's moral judgements towards different social actors: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Zhou Ke , Lan Luo , Yan Zhiqiang
Published: August 2023

The proliferation of artificial intelligence may pose new challenges to people's moral judgements. We examined moral judgements towards different social actors and their influencing factors in children, adolescents and adults. Moral judgements were measured with ship problems which will ask participants whether they would choose to save humans, dogs, humanoid robots or animaloid robots. Results showed that (1) both adolescents and adults considered humans morally most important, followed by dogs, humanoid robots and animaloid robots. Children have not yet developed the tendency to morally prioritize humanoid robots over animaloid robots; (2) Individuals' moral judgements are influenced by their age, anthropomorphism and animacy of social actors; (3) With the development of individuals, animacy of social actors always have a greater impact on individuals' moral judgements than anthropomorphism of social actors. Findings indicated that the concept of moral judgement is more complex in the era of artificial intelligence and requires more attention from developmental psychology researchers.
Hydrogen sulfide: Recent development of its dual donors and hybrid drugs
Authors: Xu Shi , Shieh Meg , Paul Bindu D. , Xian Ming
Published: August 2023

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an important gaseous signalling molecule known to be critically involved in regulating cellular redox homeostasis. As the beneficial and therapeutic effects of H2S in pathophysiology, such as in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, have emerged, so too has the drive for the development of H2S‐releasing compounds (aka donors) and their therapeutic applications. Most reported donor compounds singularly release H2S through biocompatible triggers. An emerging area in the field is the development of compounds that can co‐deliver H2S with other drugs or biologically relevant species, such as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS, respectively). These H2S‐based dual donors and hybrid drugs are expected to offset negative side effects from individual treatments or achieve synergistic effects rendering them more clinically effective. Additionally, considering that molecules exist and interact physiologically, dual donors may more accurately mimic biological systems as compared to single donors and allow for the elucidation of fundamental chemistry and biology. This review focuses on the recent advances in the development of H2S‐based dual donors and hybrid drugs along with their design principles and synergistic effects.
Prophylactic antibiotics has no benefit for outcome in clean myringoplasty—A register‐based cohort study from SwedEar
Authors: Westman Eva , Höglund Maria , Nilsson Frida Brännström , Bonnard Åsa , Englund Erling , Eriksson Per Olof
Published: August 2023

Objectives

To investigate if prophylactic antibiotics (PA) in conjunction with myringoplasty of clean and uninfected ears entails a reduction of postoperative infections within 6 weeks after surgery, and whether it affects the healing rate of the tympanic membrane (TM) at follow‐up, 6–24 months after surgery.

Design

A retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected data.

Setting

Data extracted from The Swedish Quality Register for Ear Surgery (SwedEar), the years 2013–2019.

Participants

All patients in SwedEar with a registered clean conventional myringoplasty (tympanoplasty type I) including a follow‐up visit.

Main Outcome Measures

The effect of PA use on TM healing rate at follow‐up and postoperative infection within 6 weeks of surgery.

Results

In the study group (n = 1665) 86.2% had a healed TM at follow‐up. There was no significant difference between the groups that had PA administered (87.2%) or not (86.1%). A total of 8.0% had a postoperative infection within 6 weeks. Postoperative infection occurred in 10.2% of the group that received PA (n = 187) compared with 7.7% of the group that did not receive PA. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Postoperative infection within 6 weeks significantly lowered the frequency of healed TMs.

Conclusion

PA administered during clean conventional myringoplasty does not improve the chance of having a healed TM at follow up, nor decrease the risk of having a postoperative infection within 6 weeks after surgery.
Apoptotic bodies inhibit inflammation by PDL1–PD1‐mediated macrophage metabolic reprogramming
Authors: Jiang Tao , Xia Yanmin , Wang Wenzhe , Zhao Jinbo , Liu Wenhao , Liu Shiyu , Shi Songtao , Li Bei , He Xiaoning , Jin Yan
Published: August 2023

Apoptosis triggers immunoregulation to prevent and suppress inflammation and autoimmunity. However, the mechanism by which apoptotic cells modulate immune responses remains largely elusive. In the context of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation, long‐term immunoregulation is observed in the host despite the short survive of the injected MSCs. In this study, utilizing a mouse model of acute lung injury (ALI), we demonstrate that apoptotic bodies (ABs) released by transplanted human umbilical cord MSCs (UC‐MSCs) convert the macrophages from a pro‐inflammatory to an anti‐inflammatory state, thereby ameliorating the disease. Mechanistically, we identify the expression of programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PDL1) on the membrane of UC‐MSCs‐derived ABs, which interacts with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) on host macrophages. This interaction leads to the reprogramming of macrophage metabolism, shifting from glycolysis to mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation via the Erk‐dependent pathway in ALI. Importantly, we have reproduced the PDL1–PD1 effects of ABs on metabolic switch using alveolar macrophages from patients with ALI, suggesting the potential clinical implications of developing therapeutic strategies for the patients.
Current practices and attitudes of dental practitioners regarding the provision of dental treatment for patients with solid organ transplants
Authors: O'Leary Fiona , Coffey Niamh , Burke Francis M. , Roberts Anthony , Plant Barry , Hayes Martina
Published: August 2023

Background

Solid organ transplant provides a lifeline for people with end stage organ failure. Each year the number of individuals in receipt of a solid organ transplant is increasing. Prevention of post‐transplant sepsis and infection are critical for transplant success. The oral cavity contains more than 700 different species of bacteria and is a potential reservoir for disease causing pathogens. Prior to undergoing solid organ transplant, individuals must receive a certification of dental health from a dental practitioner. There are currently no guidelines or protocols for dental practitioners to follow when certifying a patient as dentally fit. This allows for a wide variation of the term ‘dentally fit’. This survey was conducted as part of a larger study assessing the oral health of adults with cystic fibrosis ongoing in Cork University Dental School and Hospital. The aim of the study was to ascertain current practices and attitudes of dental practitioners regarding the provision of dental treatment pre and post solid organ transplantation.

Methods

An anonymous cross sectional survey of dental practitioners in Ireland was conducted.

Results

The data collected showed a wide variation in the provision of treatment for patient undergoing or in receipt of a solid organ transplant.

Conclusion

It demonstrates a need for further research to be conducted to ascertain the full impact solid organ transplant has on oral health, so that guidelines can be developed to aid both dental and medical professionals in the treatment of this vulnerable cohort.
Double traction technique for endoscopic ultrasound‐guided drainage of small postoperative pancreatic fistula
Authors: Ohno Akihisa , Fujimori Nao , Nakata Kohei
Published: August 2023

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Oocyte cryopreservation for non‐medical reasons: Ethical and regulatory concerns in China
Authors: Lanyi Yu , Xiaomei Zhai
Published: August 2023

Assisted reproductive technology is a complex medical intervention with many potential social sensitivities. Within this domain, oocyte cryopreservation has emerged as an important research area for preserving female fertility. Against the backdrop of the hotly debated first legal case in China of a single woman wishing to freeze her eggs, and the implementation of the ‘three‐child policy’ in China, there is an urgent need to evaluate policies and address ethical considerations surrounding oocyte cryopreservation for non‐medical reasons. This review examines current policies, explores China's practices and research, and examines the latest ethical challenges surrounding non‐medical oocyte cryopreservation. It develops strategies and recommendations that will be relevant in China and other developing countries seeking to navigate this complex landscape.
Animal and plant space‐use drive plant diversity–productivity relationships
Authors: Albert Georg , Gauzens Benoit , Ryser Remo , Thébault Elisa , Wang Shaopeng , Brose Ulrich
Published: August 2023

Plant community productivity generally increases with biodiversity, but the strength of this relationship exhibits strong empirical variation. In meta‐food‐web simulations, we addressed if the spatial overlap in plants' resource access and animal space‐use can explain such variability. We found that spatial overlap of plant resource access is a prerequisite for positive diversity–productivity relationships, but causes exploitative competition that can lead to competitive exclusion. Space‐use of herbivores causes apparent competition among plants, resulting in negative relationships. However, space‐use of larger top predators integrates sub‐food webs composed of smaller species, offsetting the negative effects of exploitative and apparent competition and leading to strongly positive diversity–productivity relationships. Overall, our results show that spatial overlap of plants' resource access and animal space‐use can greatly alter the strength and sign of such relationships. In particular, the scaling of animal space‐use effects opens new perspectives for linking landscape processes without effects on biodiversity to productivity patterns.
Effect of basal texture on small crack behavior of magnesium alloy in very high cycle fatigue regime
Authors: Liu Chang , Dai Yajun , Wang Xiangyu , Chen Yao , Li Lang , Liu Yongjie , Wang Qingyuan , He Chao
Published: August 2023

The behavior of small cracks in magnesium alloy is key to understanding very high cycle fatigue (VHCF), which is influenced by microstructure and deformation mechanism. This study explores how basal texture affects VHCF failure mechanisms in extruded magnesium alloys. Findings reveal that faceted and rough morphologies characterize fracture surfaces during crack initiation and early propagation, respectively. Basal texturing inhibits basal slipping during faceted‐like crack initiation while compression twinning dominates deformation during early propagation, contributing to rough zones. Stress intensity factor and plastic zone size analysis indicates significant influence of basal texture on VHCF failure mechanisms but with limited effect on stable propagation.
Identifying the Impacts of Land‐Use Spatial Patterns on Street‐Network Accessibility Using Geospatial Methods
Authors: Fan Ping Yu , Chun Kwok Pan , Mijic Ana , Tan Mou Leong , Zhai Wei , Yetemen Omer
Published: August 2023

While the land use‐street network nexus is well acknowledged, evidence for the one‐way impacts of land‐use patterns on street accessibility is still inadequate. The measurements of land‐use patterns and street accessibility lack systematic knowledge. Their empirical correlations also lack geographical variability, constraining site‐specific land‐use practices. Therefore, this study overcame the aforementioned limitations by examining the two‐level spatial models to formulate accessibility‐oriented land plans, using a well‐developed Chinese city as an example. Firstly, two landscape metrics—Euclidean Nearest‐Neighbor Distance (ENN) and Similarity Index (SIMI)—were used to quantify the intra‐ and inter‐land‐use configurations, respectively. Both city‐level and local accessibility were measured using spatial design network analysis. Performing both ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models, results identified the statistically significant effects of inter‐land‐use patterns on two‐level street accessibility. An exception was that land‐use configurations within residential and industrial regions were irrelevant to street accessibility. We also found GWR was a better‐fitting model than OLS when estimating locally‐varied accessibility, suggesting hierarchical multiscale land‐use planning. Overall, locally heterogeneous evidence in this study can substantialize land use‐street network interactions and support the decision‐making and implementation of place‐specific accessibility‐oriented land use.
Informal training and learning in Australian firms: The need for a new perspective
Authors: Smith Erica , Smith Andrew
Published: August 2023

This paper examines the use of informal training for workers, by Australian companies and other organisations. Using survey data, it reports the prevalence of informal training and also the utilisation of different types of informal training. Differences are found by employer size, particularly for the different types. By examining qualitative responses, it is found that employers' perceptions of informal training are often not those reflected in existing literature. The paper therefore argues for a new definition of informal training which is comprehensible to employers and workers alike, so that more, and more reliable, research can be undertaken.