bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Big data analytics of corporate internet disclosures
Authors: Basuony Mohamed A.K. , Mohamed Ehab K.A. , Elragal Ahmed , Hussainey Khaled
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the extent and characteristics of corporate internet disclosure via companies’ websites as well via social media and networks sites in the four leading English-speaking stock markets, namely, Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

A disclosure index comprising a set of items that encompasses two facets of online disclosure, namely, company websites and social media sites, is used. This paper adopts a data science approach to investigate corporate internet disclosure practices among top listed firms in Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA.

Findings

The results reveal the underlying relations between the determining factors of corporate disclosure, i.e. profitability, leverage, liquidity and firm size. Profitability in its own has no great effect on the degree of corporate internet disclosure whether via company websites or social media sites. Liquidity has an impact on the degree of disclosure. Firm size and leverage appear to be the most important factors driving better disclosure via social media. American companies tend to be on the cutting edge of technology when it comes to corporate disclosure.

Practical implications

This paper provides new insights into corporate internet disclosure that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting. Social media is an influential means of communication that can enable corporate office to get instant feedback enhancing their decision-making process.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is amongst few studies of corporate disclosure via social media platforms. This study has adopted disclosure index incorporating social media as well as applying data science approach in disclosure in an attempt to unfold how accounting could benefit from data science techniques.
Antecedents of company secretaries’ behaviour and their relationship and effect on intended whistleblowing
Authors: May-Amy Yeo Chu , Han-Rashwin Loke Yew , Carter Steve
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This study aims to examine the antecedents of company secretaries’ behaviour and their relationship and effect on intended whistleblowing with the role of neutralisation as a moderating factor on an individual’s ethical decision-making in whistleblowing.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a modified version of the theory of planned behaviour as a framework and a quantitative research approach, a Likert-type scaled, self-administered questionnaire was conducted on a non-probability sample, totalling 208 company secretaries, currently working for various consultancy, audit and secretarial firms in Malaysia. The data obtained were analysed through structural equation modelling.

Findings

Findings indicated that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation as well as self-identity were found to be predictors in a company secretary’s intended behaviour to whistle-blow. However, neutralisation was proved not to be a contributing factor in whistleblowing between intention and behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The quantitative measures of intention and behaviour are incompatible based on their levels of specificity or generality. Also, there may be an existence of social desirability bias among the respondents, indicating the need for a wider sample.

Practical implications

The study offers valuable knowledge by providing organisations and regulators with several insights into improving the company secretaries’ whistleblowing behaviour, including the need to strengthen whistleblowers’ support and alleged malpractice investigation and analysis systems. It also enables company directors and regulators to implement whistleblowing policies as an internal control mechanism, thus realising an individual’s intention to highly engage in whistleblowing.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first research that has empirically tested the relationship and effect of antecedents of company secretaries’ whistleblowing intention and behaviour using a modified version of the theory of planned behaviour, thus adding to the stock of literature on this topic and showing that “neutralisation” had an insignificant effect on the possibility of fraudulent reporting.
Service delivery system design for risk management in sharing-based product service systems: a customer-oriented approach
Authors: Hazée Simon , Van Vaerenbergh Yves , Delcourt Cécile , Kabadayi Sertan
Published: May 2020

Purpose

Organizations increasingly develop and offer sharing services enabled by means of product-service systems (PSS). However, organizations offering sharing-based PSS face a unique set of design challenges and operational risks. The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners with customer-based insights into service delivery system design and risk management for sharing-based PSS operational success.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study combines in-depth interviews with supplementary, multidisciplinary literature and secondary firm data. In total, the authors conducted 56 semi-structured interviews with diverse customers across different business-to-customer (B2C) PSS settings.

Findings

First, the authors develop an integrative conceptual framework that reveals what structural and infrastructural design choices customer expect organizations to make for mitigating risks and enhancing customer-perceived value in the sharing economy. These design choices may influence customers' trust and control perceptions in all actors involved in the service delivery system. Second, the results suggest that sharing value proposition, customer-perceived level of consequentiality and level of customer-supplied resources are contingency factors that need to be considered when making design decisions for risk management in the sharing economy.

Originality/value

This study extends Sampson's Unified Service Theory by proposing that, with sharing-based PSS, production flows from customers to customers. This situation creates unique challenges for operations management. This paper extends current understanding of the role, characteristics and contingencies of service delivery system design for risk management in the sharing economy. In doing so, authors challenge common wisdom and suggest understanding both the organizational and customers' individual contexts is critical for (contingency) theory and practice.
Microeconomics of corruption based on behavioural economics
Authors: Monteverde Vicente Humberto
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish a microeconomics model of corruption based on the behavioural sciences.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is a practical exploration, first in the convergence of the economics of corruption and the behavioural sciences; based on these conclusions, the microeconomic model of corruption is formulated.

Findings

The paper concludes in a model of the microeconomics of corruption.

Research limitations/implications

There are no limitations in the model.

Practical implications

The practical implications are calculating the rent for corruption in the different scenarios.

Social implications

The social implications are knowing the income from corruption.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is original, and there is no microeconomics model of corruption formulated in the academic field, only in this work.
Investigating the antecedents of halal brand product purchase intention: an empirical investigation
Authors: Ali Afzaal , Sherwani Mehkar , Ali Adnan , Ali Zeeshan , Sherwani Mariam
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to apply the concept of traditional branding constructs, i.e. brand image, brand perceived quality, brand satisfaction, brand trust and brand loyalty to a less explored field of halal brand products – halal brand image, halal brand perceived quality, halal brand satisfaction, halal brand trust and halal brand loyalty. Second, the present research is an effort to empirically validate the interrelationships among branding constructs such as brand image, brand perceived quality, brand satisfaction, brand trust and brand loyalty in a holistic framework to confirm whether these branding constructs also work for the halal brand in the same way to gauge Chinese Muslims consumers’ purchasing intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

This research used cross-sectional data from 481 Chinese Muslim students at 9 universities located in 3 cities of China through face-to-face and online survey methods. Data were collected from the consumers of halal milk brand. A theoretical model with the hypothesized relationships was tested with the help of the structural equation modelling procedure.

Findings

The results suggest that halal brand image has a significant and positive influence on the halal brand perceived quality, halal brand satisfaction, halal brand trust and halal brand loyalty. Similarly, the halal brand perceived quality, halal brand satisfaction, halal brand trust and halal brand loyalty significantly influence consumer halal brand purchase intention.

Research limitations/implications

This study is conducted in the halal food sector of China and specific religious and migration contexts. Further investigations of the halal food purchasing behaviour of local Muslims, as well as international Muslim students in those Western countries which are famous destinations for international students for education, could yield varying results.

Practical implications

The outcomes achieved are helpful for commerce and government organizations for policy development to better meet the burgeoning demand for halal products by Chinese Muslims. These are also very helpful for producers and exporters who intend to penetrate the halal market in non-Muslim-dominant countries such as China.

Originality/value

Studies on understanding Muslim consumers’ purchasing behaviours in non-Muslim countries are limited. Given the fact, numbers of Muslims seem a smaller amount of China’s total population, but their total numbers are large compared with total numbers in many Muslim countries. Therefore, understanding their purchasing behaviours for halal products and influential determinants concerning such purchasing behaviours adds to the literature and helps the industry to better serve and capitalise on the growing market.
Failure to unify Australia’s leading accounting professional bodies
Authors: Sidhu Jasvinder , Stevenson-Clarke Peta , Joshi Mahesh , Halabi Abdel
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical account of four unsuccessful merger attempts between Australia’s two major professional accounting bodies over a 30-year period (1969 to 1998), each of which ultimately failed. An analysis of the commonalities and differences across the four attempts is provided and social identity theory is used to explain the differences between members level of support for these merger bids.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a qualitative approach using a historical research methodology to source surviving business records from public archives and other data gathered from oral history interviews.

Findings

The study found that, across all four merger attempts between Australia’s two professional accounting bodies, there was strong support from society members (the perceived lower-status group) and opposition exhibited by institute members (the perceived higher-status group). This study also found that the perceived higher-status organisation always initiated merger discussions, while its members rejected the proposals in the members’ vote.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focusses on the Australian accounting profession, considering a historical account of merger attempts. Further research is required that includes interviews and surveys of those involved in making decisions regarding merger attempts.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to examine in detail these four unsuccessful merger attempts between the largest accounting organisations in Australia.
Can digital technologies speed up real estate transactions?
Authors: Saull Andrew , Baum Andrew , Braesemann Fabian
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This study presents a structured investigation of the most important causes for delay in commercial real estate transactions. It assesses the potential of digital technologies such as “Blockchain”, “Property Passports” or “Automated Valuation Models” to make transactions faster and cheaper.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct a focus group interview to identify the individual steps and the parties involved in real estate transactions. Subsequently, the authors discuss the prospects of digital technologies based on semi-structured interviews with real estate professionals and PropTech executives, and a comprehensive screening of technological solutions offered by PropTech firms.

Findings

The lack of an up-to-date, single pool of standardised property information turns out to be the most critical cause for delay in real estate transactions. However, the most promising technologies to mitigate this problem, in particular digital property passports summarising all relevant building information, face substantial barriers to adoption. The real estate industry has so far not been willing to more openly share data, which is a pre-requiste for the successful introduction of property passports. In addition, the principle of caveat emptor makes a lengthy due diligence process essential for buyers.

Practical implications

The authors conclude that industry-wide collaborations are necessary to help major efficiency gaining technologies to break through. Insurance products should accompany property data log books to guarantee the quality of data provided.

Originality/value

This study considers the potential impact of technologies in the wider context of the complete real estate transaction process. It identifies the major phases of that process and the associated bottlenecks. The authors gather evidence both from industry experts and PropTech executives and contrast their views regarding the potential of digital technologies to remove those bottlenecks.
The sourcing for collaborative knowledge translation in distributed R&D processes: a cross-regional study
Authors: Serino Luana , Papa Armando , Campanella Francesco , Di Gioia Leonardo
Published: May 2020

Purpose

We explore the impact of a specific knowledge management framework on the quality of innovation, the geographic distribution of R&D and the cross-regional integration. We use directly observed indicators of cross-regional knowledge application within the firm as well as examine collaborative mechanisms that firms may use to promote such knowledge translation.

Design/methodology/approach

Our analysis is based upon successful patents in biotechnology sector applied for during 2011–2014. The empirical assessment follows a mixed method approach. The sample used for testing the empirical hypotheses is composed of 130,720 patents from 860 large US firms. The sample of patents was obtained from USPTO and NBER dataset.

Findings

The idea of this paper was to introduce a model specifically developed for the process of knowledge translation. This research contributes to the literature related to the emergent and new issue namely collaborative knowledge translation (CKT), especially emphasizing the key role of the knowledge translation practices and tools for the internationalization of R&D teams and supporting the quality of innovations in different ways.

Originality/value

This research is conceptually based on the broader concepts of spiral of knowledge of Nonaka and Takeuchi. In spite of the increasing research in innovation, few studies have been done about the diverse contexts' role in the knowledge flows supporting the innovation development. In the attempt to cover this gap, the objective of this research is to answer the following main research question: How to support and manage the process of knowledge translation in innovation processes occurring in collaborative teams?
Andrea Handley in conversation with Jerome Carson
Authors: Handley Andrea , Carson Jerome
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Andrea Handley.

Design/methodology/approach

In this case study, Andrea gives a short account of her background and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Findings

Andrea outlines a number of issues from her childhood that led to her later mental health problems.

Research limitations/implications

Individual case studies are of course just the story of one person’s difficulties. For too long in psychiatry, case studies were written by professionals about their lives and problems. First person accounts allow the individual to tell their own narrative.

Practical implications

Andrea is not the first person to talk about the delay in access to mental health services. As she notes, 16 years on, she is still waiting for that referral! She notes that a friend of her could not wait even the three months that she had been and tragically took her own life.

Social implications

So much of Andrea’s story is overshadowed by loss, especially the death of her brother when she was a teenager. As a society, we are no as well “prepared” for death, as older generations. The coronavirus pandemic is bringing our mortality home to all of us.

Originality/value

Patricia Deegan once asked, “How much loss could a human heart hold?” In this moving account Andrea lets us see the huge losses she has sustained and yet she is still determined to try and help others who are suffering. Hers is truly a remarkable life.
Memory-dependent derivative under generalized three-phase-lag thermoelasticity model with a heat source
Authors: Singh Biswajit , Pal (Sarkar) Smita , Barman Krishnendu
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This study aims to attempt to construct a new mathematical model of the generalized thermoelasiticity theory based on the memory-dependent derivative (MDD) considering three-phase-lag effects. The governing equations of the problem associated with kernel function and time delay are illustrated in the form of vector matrix differential equations. Implementing Laplace and Fourier transform tools, the problem is sorted out analytically by an eigenvalue approach method. The inversion of Laplace and Fourier transforms are executed, incorporating series expansion procedures. Displacement component, temperature and stress distributions are obtained numerically and illustrated graphically and compared with the existing literature.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is to analyze the influence of MDD of three-phase-lag heat conduction interaction in an isotropic semi-infinite medium. The current model has been connected to generalize two-dimensional (2D) thermoelasticity problem. The governing equations are shown in vector matrix form of differential equation concerning Laplace-transformed domain and solved by using the eigenvalue technique. The combined Laplace Fourier transform is applied to find the analytical interpretations of temperature, stresses, displacement for silicon material in a non-dimensional form. Inverse Laplace transform has been found by applying Fourier series expansion techniques introduced by Honig and Hirdes (1984) after performing the inverse Fourier transform.

Findings

The main conclusion of this current study is to demonstrate an innovative generalized concept for heat conducting Fourier’s law associated with moderation of time parameter, time delay variable and kernel function by applying the MDDs. However, an important role is played by the time delay parameter to characterize the behavioral patterns of the physical field variables. Further, a new categorization for materials may be created rendering to this new idea along MDD for the time delay variables to develop a new measure of its potential to regulate heat in the medium.

Originality/value

Generalized thermoelasticity is hastily undergoing modification day-by-day from basic thermoelasticity. It has been progressed to get over from the limitations of fundamental thermoelasticity, for instance, infinite velocity components of thermoelasticity interference, in the adequate thermoelastic response of a solid to short laser pulses and deprived illustrations of thermoelastic performance at low temperature. In the past few decades, the fractional calculus is used to change numerous existing models of physical procedure, and its applications are used in various fields of physics, continuum mechanics, fluid mechanics, biology, viscoelasticity, biophysics, signal and image processing, control theory, engineering fields, etc.
Investor and market overreaction: a retrospective
Authors: De Bondt Werner
Published: May 2020

Purpose

Are the capital markets of leading industrialized nations rational and efficient? This powerful hypothesis was badly dented by the work of De Bondt and Thaler (1985) on stock market overreaction and by subsequent research on momentum and reversals in prices and earnings.

Design/methodology/approach

Human psychology, at times predictably irrational, drives the markets. This paper investigates this issue.

Findings

The author reviews the origins of the idea of overreaction, how behavioral insights modify standard asset pricing theory and how they contribute to our understanding of the world of finance.

Originality/value

The paper reveals the origins of the idea of overreaction, how behavioral insights modify standard asset pricing theory and how they contribute to our understanding of the world of finance.
Spatial accessibility measures to educational facilities from public transit: a case of Indian cities
Authors: Yenisetty Pavan Teja , Bahadure Pankaj
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate accessibility using spatial assessment techniques, wherein it identifies how educational facilities are connected to public transit (PT) in Indian cities. A new accessibility index is formulated for various ranges of distances which is suitable for Indian cities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study developed a new method by comparing Euclidean (near) and network distances, uses Google API and other mobile applications for mapping of PT and educational facilities. The study uses built land cover of the city retrieved from Landsat 8 data with a spatial resolution of 30 m.

Findings

The study attempts to compare the reach to educational facilities from PT in five different cities of India using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, connectivity and detour indices. The results help in identifying local barriers and network issues that influence accessibility from public transit to educational facilities.

Originality/value

The study is conducted entirely using spatial techniques, and the data used are collected from various government organizations. The results are useful for improving overall accessibility and developing a framework which can be included in urban development policies.
Perceiving North Korea through Chinese tourists’ eyes
Authors: Li Zhiyong , Li Fangxuan (Sam) , Ryan Chris
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to present a case study investigating Chinese tourists’ perceptions of North Korea which is regarded one of the most unique tourism destinations in the world.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory study reports findings based on semi-structured interviews with 30 Chinese tourists. This study uses the cognitive-affective model to categorise destination image proposed by respondents. Data were analysed using content analysis.

Findings

The study found that the cognitive image focusses on attributes such as the country’s unique economic/political situation, unspoiled natural environment and poor infrastructure construction. Affective components centre on the friendly relationship between China and North Korea, and a comparison between North Korea’s current situation and that of China during the period of the cultural revolution.

Research limitations/implications

Given the qualitative approach and exploratory nature, the results may not be generalised to the wider literature of the Chinese outbound market. This article’s theoretical contribution to destination image may be limited to Chinese cultural contexts. This study provides practical implications for promoting North Korea’s images to attract more Chinese visitors.

Originality/value

Cognitive-affective model, as one of the most commonly used models, was used to explore North Korea’s destination image in Chinese tourists’ eyes. In addition, this study highlights the importance of politics in influencing a country’s destination image.
Large Infrastructure Investments: Financing Mechanisms and Incentives in Decentralised Countries*
Authors: Valido Jorge
Published: May 2020

Infrastructure services crucially affect competitiveness and efficiency. They are essential but they usually require important amounts of public funds. In decentralised countries, regional governments cannot usually afford large infrastructure projects, so co‐financing with the central government is required.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of the central government financing mechanisms on the contract offered by the regional government for the construction, maintenance and operation of the infrastructure. We prove that if the central government uses certain financing mechanisms (total cost coverage), the regional government may have no incentives to offer an efficient contract to the firm.
Failure to follow medication changes made at hospital discharge is associated with adverse events in 30 days
Authors: Weir Daniala L. , Motulsky Aude , Abrahamowicz Michal , Lee Todd C. , Morgan Steven , Buckeridge David L. , Tamblyn Robyn
Published: May 2020

Objective

To evaluate the hypothesis that nonadherence to medication changes made at hospital discharge is associated with an increased risk of adverse events in the 30 days postdischarge.

Study Setting

Patients admitted to hospitals in Montreal, Quebec, between 2014 and 2016.

Study Design

Prospective cohort study.

Data Collection

Nonadherence to medication changes was measured by comparing medications dispensed in the community with those prescribed at hospital discharge. Patient, health system, and drug regimen‐level covariates were measured using medical services and pharmacy claims data as well as data abstracted from the patient's hospital chart. Multivariable Cox models were used to determine the association between nonadherence to medication changes and the risk of adverse events.

Principal Findings

Among 2655 patients who met our inclusion criteria, mean age was 69.5 years (SD 14.7) and 1581 (60%) were males. Almost half of patients (n = 1161, 44%) were nonadherent to at least one medication change, and 860 (32%) were readmitted to hospital, visited the emergency department, or died in the 30 days postdischarge. Patients who were not adherent to any of their medication changes had a 35% higher risk of adverse events compared to those who were adherent to all medication changes (1.41 vs 1.27 events/100 person‐days, adjusted hazard ratio: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.06‐1.71).

Conclusions

Almost half of all patients were not adherent to some or all changes made to their medications at hospital discharge. Nonadherence to all changes was associated with an increased risk of adverse events. Interventions addressing barriers to adherence should be considered moving forward.
Long‐term temporal patterns in flight activities of a migrant diurnal butterfly
Authors: Juhász Edit , Gór Ádám , Bali Daniella , Kerékgyártó Fanni , Katona Gergely , Végvári Zsolt
Published: May 2020

Recent studies demonstrated that the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), a cosmopolitan diurnal butterfly performs long‐range migration between subtropical Africa and north‐western Europe, covered by individuals belonging to up to six generations. Here we analyze temporal patterns of complete annual migratory activity of the Painted Lady in Hungary, located in its Central European migratory route, almost completely unstudied before. To do so, we used field occurrence data collected between 2000 and 2019 and estimated temporal patterns in migratory activity by fitting kernel density functions on the daily mean number of individuals and observation frequency. The temporal distributions of kernel density estimates were analyzed as a function of time and key climatic predictors of the study area. We found that (i) the timing of spring arrivals has been advancing; (ii) the relative intensity of the first and last migratory peaks of the Painted Lady significantly increased during the past decades; and (iii) intensity of the last migratory peak is related to the mean temperature of the previous month, inferring that the migration is shifting to earlier dates and their volume of the migration has substantially intensified, evoking mutually nonexclusive, competing hypotheses. Our study indicates the strengthening migration activities of a southerly distributed, long‐distance migrant diurnal butterfly, most probably linked to the northward shift of wintering areas induced by warming trends of the southern parts of Europe. However, the complexity of the likely processes leading to changing migratory strategies calls up for further research in both breeding and wintering areas.
An Experimental Field Study on the Effects of Coaching: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital
Authors: Fontes Andrea , Dello Russo Silvia
Published: May 2020

Coaching is a developmental intervention implemented in organisations to improve individual attitudes and behaviours. Few studies, however, have tested these assumptions and explained the mechanisms involved. We propose psychological capital (PsyCap), a set of positive individual resources, as a possible mediator. We investigated whether coaching framed in goal setting and conservation of resources theories is effective in improving PsyCap and, through this, individual attitudes and performance, and whether its effects maintain over time. We conducted an experiment with 56 employees in a marketing company, who were either randomly assigned to a coaching intervention or a wait‐list control group. Measures of interest were collected before the programme started (T1), and after the programme, which lasted 4 months (T2). A follow‐up measure for the experimental group was collected after a further 4 months (T3). ANOVAs showed coaching was associated with increases in PsyCap, job attitudes, and one dimension of job performance. The mediating role of PsyCap was supported for job attitudes. The effects on PsyCap and job attitudes lasted over time, as revealed by within‐subjects repeated measures analyses. This study fills a gap in our knowledge of the explanatory processes of coaching effectiveness by building on solid research design features.
Systematic review with meta‐analysis: IBD‐associated colonic dysplasia prognosis in the videoendoscopic era (1990 to present)
Authors: Kabir Misha , Fofaria Rishi , Arebi Naila , Bassett Paul , Tozer Phil J , Hart Ailsa L , Thomas‐Gibson Siwan , Humphries Adam , Suzuki Noriko , Saunders Brian , Warusavitarne Janindra , Faiz Omar , Wilson Ana
Published: May 2020

Background

Introduction

The prognosis of dysplasia in patients with IBD is largely determined from observational studies from the pre‐videoendoscopic era (pre‐1990s) that does not reflect recent advances in endoscopic imaging and resection.

Aims

To better understand the risk of synchronous colorectal cancer and metachronous advanced neoplasia (ie high‐grade dysplasia or cancer) associated with dysplasia diagnosed in the videoendoscopic era, and to stratify risk according to a lesion's morphology, endoscopic resection status or whether it was incidentally detected on biopsy of macroscopically normal colonic mucosa (ie invisible).

Methods

A systematic search of original articles published between 1990 and February 2020 was performed. Eligible studies reported on incidence of advanced neoplasia at follow‐up colectomy or colonoscopy for IBD‐dysplasia patients. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed.

Results

Thirty‐three studies were eligible for qualitative analysis (five for the meta‐analysis). Pooled estimated proportions of incidental synchronous cancers found at colectomy performed for a pre‐operative diagnosis of visible high‐grade dysplasia, invisible high‐grade dysplasia, visible low‐grade dysplasia and invisible low‐grade dysplasia were 13.7% (95% CI 0.0‐54.1), 11.4% (95% CI 4.6‐20.3), 2.7% (95% CI 0.0‐7.1) and 2.4% (95% CI 0.0‐8.5) respectively. The lowest incidences of metachronous advanced neoplasia, for dysplasia not managed with immediate colectomy but followed up with surveillance, tended to be reported by the studies where high definition imaging and/or chromoendoscopy was used and endoscopic resection of visible dysplasia was histologically confirmed.

Conclusions

The prognosis of IBD‐dysplasia diagnosed in the videoendoscopic era appears to have been improved but the quality of evidence remains low. Larger, prospective studies are needed to guide management.

PROSPERO registration no: CRD42019105736.
Sequential systemic treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Kirstein Martha M. , Scheiner Bernhard , Marwede Tristan , Wolf Caroline , Voigtländer Torsten , Semmler Georg , Wacker Frank , Manns Michael P. , Hinrichs Jan B. , Pinter Matthias , Vogel Arndt
Published: May 2020

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal cancers. After many years of stagnation, there are now several systemic treatments available for patients with HCC.

Aim

To analyse the feasibility and efficacy of sequential systemic treatments in patients with HCC in clinical practice.

Methods

In this multicentre study, patients who were treated with novel systemic therapies for HCC between 2014 and 2019 at two referral centres, Hannover Medical School, Germany, and Medical University of Vienna, Austria, were included.

Results

Overall, 85 patients were included of which 76 patients (89.4%) received more than one and a maximum of five systemic treatment lines. The most common therapy sequence was sorafenib (n = 72; 84.7%) followed by regorafenib (n = 37; 48.7%), whereas 11 patients were initially treated with lenvatinib (12.9%). Other second‐line treatments included pembrolizumab, nivolumab, cabozantinib and ramucirumab. Hepatic function deteriorated during sequential systemic treatment in 48.6% of the patients as defined by an increase in at least one Child‐Pugh point. Median overall survival (mOS) from the start of first systemic treatment was 35 months for patients with sequential systemic treatment compared to 9 months for patients with one systemic treatment line (P < 0.001). Patients previously treated with surgical/locoregional therapies had a longer mOS compared to patients with initial systemic treatment (66 vs 25 months; P = 0.020).

Conclusions

Sequential systemic treatment is feasible and effective in selected patients with HCC in clinical practice. Our study underlines the critical importance of well‐preserved liver function for successful administration of sequential systemic therapy.
Barriers and opportunities for the clinical implementation of therapeutic drug monitoring in oncology
Authors: Menz Bradley D. , Stocker Sophie L. , Verougstraete Nick , Kocic Danijela , Galettis Peter , Stove Christophe P. , Reuter Stephanie E.
Published: May 2020

There are few fields of medicine in which the individualisation of medicines is more important than in the area of oncology. Under‐dosing can have significant ramifications due to the potential for therapeutic failure and cancer progression; by contrast, over‐dosing may lead to severe treatment‐limiting side effects, such as agranulocytosis and neutropenia. Both circumstances lead to poor patient prognosis and contribute to the high mortality rates still seen in oncology. The concept of dose individualisation tailors dosing for each individual patient to ensure optimal drug exposure and best clinical outcomes. While the value of this strategy is well recognised, it has seen little translation to clinical application. However, it is important to recognise that the clinical setting of oncology is unlike that for which therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is currently the cornerstone of therapy (e.g. antimicrobials). Whilst there is much to learn from these established TDM settings, the challenges presented in the treatment of cancer must be considered to ensure the implementation of TDM in clinical practice. Recent advancements in a range of scientific disciplines have the capacity to address the current system limitations and significantly enhance the use of anticancer medicines to improve patient health. This review examines opportunities presented by these innovative scientific methodologies, specifically sampling strategies, bioanalytics and dosing decision support, to enable optimal practice and facilitate the clinical implementation of TDM in oncology.
Utilitarianism and the pandemic
Authors: Savulescu Julian , Persson Ingmar , Wilkinson Dominic
Published: May 2020

There are no egalitarians in a pandemic. The scale of the challenge for health systems and public policy means that there is an ineluctable need to prioritize the needs of the many. It is impossible to treat all citizens equally, and a failure to carefully consider the consequences of actions could lead to massive preventable loss of life. In a pandemic there is a strong ethical need to consider how to do most good overall. Utilitarianism is an influential moral theory that states that the right action is the action that is expected to produce the greatest good. It offers clear operationalizable principles. In this paper we provide a summary of how utilitarianism could inform two challenging questions that have been important in the early phase of the pandemic: (a) Triage: which patients should receive access to a ventilator if there is overwhelming demand outstripping supply? (b) Lockdown: how should countries decide when to implement stringent social restrictions, balancing preventing deaths from COVID‐19 with causing deaths and reductions in well‐being from other causes? Our aim is not to argue that utilitarianism is the only relevant ethical theory, or in favour of a purely utilitarian approach. However, clearly considering which options will do the most good overall will help societies identify and consider the necessary cost of other values. Societies may choose either to embrace or not to embrace the utilitarian course, but with a clear understanding of the values involved and the price they are willing to pay.
Collagen fingerprinting for the species identification of archaeological amphibian remains
Authors: Buckley Michael , Cheylan Marc
Published: May 2020

Amphibians are well known as being one of the main groups of animals today most threatened by environmental changes but they are also some of the least well understood of all terrestrial vertebrates. This gap in knowledge is much greater as we look further back into the relatively recent past, despite representing an invaluable resources in archaeological and palaeontological assemblages that are more indicative of palaeoclimate conditions than most other vertebrate taxa. This in part stems from their remains being typically much less studied, partly due to the less common forms of expertise required for identifications based on skeletal morphology – the most frequently observed tissue that remains in ancient assemblages. Here we apply a method of biomolecular species identification by collagen peptide mass fingerprinting to the British Late Pleistocene assemblage of Pin Hole Cave (Creswell Crags, UK) as well as a range of relevant extant taxa for comparison. Our results demonstrate the ability to separate at the species level with all modern taxa investigated, allowing for the identification of these archaeological remains to the amphibian taxa known to exist in Late Pleistocene Britain. Analyses of the Pin Hole assemblage found a dominance of the two species previously known from the site (common frogs and toads: Rana temporaria and Bufo bufo, respectively) and also a small number of the rarer natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) not previously identified in the Creswell Crags region but known from other sites in the UK; additionally, one specimen appeared to yield the fingerprint of the moor frog (R. arvalis), now extinct in the UK. As such, collagen fingerprinting is here shown to widen the known palaeobiodiversity of taxa, and highlights the further potential to enhance our understanding of climate change in the past.
ZerNet: Convolutional Neural Networks on Arbitrary Surfaces Via Zernike Local Tangent Space Estimation
Authors: Sun Zhiyu , Rooke Ethan , Charton Jerome , He Yusen , Lu Jia , Baek Stephen
Published: May 2020

In this paper, we propose a novel formulation extending convolutional neural networks (CNN) to arbitrary two‐dimensional manifolds using orthogonal basis functions called Zernike polynomials. In many areas, geometric features play a key role in understanding scientific trends and phenomena, where accurate numerical quantification of geometric features is critical. Recently, CNNs have demonstrated a substantial improvement in extracting and codifying geometric features. However, the progress is mostly centred around computer vision and its applications where an inherent grid‐like data representation is naturally present. In contrast, many geometry processing problems deal with curved surfaces and the application of CNNs is not trivial due to the lack of canonical grid‐like representation, the absence of globally consistent orientation and the incompatible local discretizations. In this paper, we show that the Zernike polynomials allow rigourous yet practical mathematical generalization of CNNs to arbitrary surfaces. We prove that the convolution of two functions can be represented as a simple dot product between Zernike coefficients and the rotation of a convolution kernel is essentially a set of 2 × 2 rotation matrices applied to the coefficients. The key contribution of this work is in such a computationally efficient but rigorous generalization of the major CNN building blocks.
Betting on Potatoes: Accumulation in Times of Agrarian Crisis in Punjab, India
Authors: Sinha Shreya
Published: May 2020

Despite the widespread consensus that neoliberal India is reeling under an overarching agrarian crisis, this article argues that at least some capitalist farmers are continuing to accumulate and are thereby contributing to the process of class differentiation. Through a study of potato‐growing capitalist farmers in Punjab, the archetypal Green Revolution state of India, the author shows that such farmers can navigate complex production and market processes to make profits. However, risks of volatile prices and land and credit markets have made capital accumulation more uncertain. While potato is a minor crop in Punjab and the case cannot be generalized, it brings into focus both under‐explored non‐state actors and processes in the state, and important tendencies of change since the plateauing of Green Revolution technologies. The analysis also highlights the agency of such farmers in negotiating a transformed political economy context, including the presence of corporate agribusinesses.
Risk factors of delayed bleeding after endoscopic resection of superficial non‐ampullary duodenal epithelial tumors and prevention by over‐the‐scope and conventional clipping
Authors: Ohata Ken , Sakai Eiji , Suzuki Yuichiro , Takayanagi Shunya , Kurebayashi Marie , Kimoto Yoshiaki , Ishii Rindo , Konishi Takafumi , Ono Kohei , Hirata Tomoya , Kanda Keisuke , Takita Maiko , Negishi Ryoju , Minato Yohei , Muramoto Takashi , Satodate Hitoshi , Taguri Masataka , Matsuhashi Nobuyuki
Published: May 2020

Objectives

This study was aimed to reveal risk factors for delayed bleeding after endoscopic resection (ER) of superficial non‐ampullary duodenal epithelial tumors (SNADETs) and at exploring measures to prevent this complication.

Methods

A total of 235 consecutive patients with 249 SNADETs who had undergone ER were enrolled in this study. They were divided into two groups: OTSC group, consisting of the initial 114 cases in which the defects were closed only using OTSCs; and OTSC‐c group, consisting of the later 135 cases in which conventional clips were additionally used to cover the inverted submucosa after post‐procedure defect closure using OTSCs. The therapeutic outcomes were then compared between the OTSC and OTSC‐c groups.

Results

All lesions were successfully resected en‐bloc, and the R0 resection rate was 92.4%. The complete defect closure rate was 90.0% and no delayed perforation occurred when successful defect closure was achieved. The rate of delayed bleeding was significantly higher in the OTSC group than in OTSC‐c group (11.4% vs. 1.5%, P = 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that tumor location distal to the ampulla (OR 10.0; 95% CI 1.24–81.0, P = 0.03) and use of a DOAC (OR 8.83; 95% CI 1.13–68.7, P = 0.04) were significant independent predictors of delayed bleeding. Propensity score‐matching analysis revealed that additional use of conventional clips was associated with a significantly reduced risk of delayed bleeding (P = 0.003).

Conclusions

Additional use of conventional clips after prophylactic defect closure using OTSCs appears to be useful to reduce the risk of delayed bleeding after ER of SNADETs.

UMIN Clinical Trials (No. 000035478).
Foliar nematode, Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii, population dynamics in leaves and buds of beech leaf disease‐affected trees in Canada and the US
Authors: Reed Sharon E. , Greifenhagen Sylvia , Yu Qing , Hoke Adam , Burke David J. , Carta Lynn K. , Handoo Zafar A. , Kantor Mihail R. , Koch Jennifer
Published: May 2020

A foliar nematode, Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii, is associated with beech leaf disease (BLD) symptoms. Information about the types of tissues parasitized and how nematode populations fluctuate in these tissues over time is needed to improve surveys as well as understand the nematodes role in BLD. During this study, the nematode was detected throughout the known range of BLD by researchers at both Canadian and US institutions using a modified pan method to extract nematodes. Monthly collections of symptomatic and asymptomatic leaves during the growing season (May–October), and leaves and buds between growing seasons (November–March), revealed that nematodes were present in all tissue types. Progressively larger numbers of nematodes were detected in symptomatic leaves from Ohio and Ontario, with the greatest detections at the end of the growing season. Smaller numbers of nematodes were detected in asymptomatic leaves from BLD‐infected trees, typically at the end of the growing season. The nematode was detected overwintering in buds and detached leaves. The discovery of small numbers of nematodes in detached leaves at one location before BLD was detected indicates that nematodes may have been present before disease symptoms were expressed. Other nematodes, Plectus and Aphelenchoides spp., were infrequently detected in small numbers. Our findings support the involvement of the nematode in BLD and indicate that symptoms develop only when certain requirements, such as infection of buds, are met. We also found that the nematode can be reliably detected in buds and leaves using the modified pan extraction method.