bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Liquid Biopsy at Home: Delivering Precision Medicine for Patients with Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Napolitano Stefania , Caputo Vincenza , Ventriglia Anna , Martini Giulia , Della Corte Carminia Maria , De Falco Vincenzo , Ferretti Stefano , Martinelli Erika , Morgillo Floriana , Ciardiello Davide , De Vita Ferdinando , Orditura Michele , Fasano Morena , Ciardiello Fortunato , Troiani Teresa
Published: March 2022

CoronaVirus disease-2019 has changed the delivery of health care worldwide and the pandemic has challenged oncologists to reorganize cancer care. Recently, progress has been made in the field of precision medicine to provide to patients with cancer the best therapeutic choice for their individual needs. In this context, the Foundation Medicine (FMI)-Liquid@Home project has emerged as a key weapon to deal with the new pandemic situation. FoundationOne Liquid Assay (F1L) is a next-generation sequences-based liquid biopsy service, able to detect 324 molecular alterations and genomic signatures, from May 2020 available at patients’ home (FMI-Liquid@Home). We analyzed time and costs saving for patients with cancer, their caregivers and National Healthcare System (NHS) with FMI-Liquid@Home versus F1L performed at our Department. Different variables have been evaluated. Between May 2020 and August 2021, 218 FMI-Liquid@Home were performed for patients with cancer in Italy. Among these, our Department performed 153 FMI-Liquid@Home with the success rate of 98% (vs. 95% for F1L in the hospital). Time saving for patients and their caregivers was 494.86 and 427.36 hours, respectively, and costs saving was 13 548.70€. Moreover, for working people these savings were 1084.71 hours and 31 239.65€, respectively. In addition, the total gain for the hospital was 163.5 hours and 6785€, whereas for NHS was 1084.71 hours and 51 573.60€, respectively. FMI-Liquid@Home service appears to be useful and convenient allowing time and costs saving for patients, caregivers, and NHS. Born during the COVID-19 pandemic, it could be integrated in oncological daily routine in the future. Therefore, additional studies are needed to better understand the overall gain and how to integrate this service in different countries.
Energy quality and energy grade: concepts, applications and prospects
Authors: Chen Ruihua , Xu Weicong , Deng Shuai , Zhao Li , Zhao Ruikai , Yin Wei , Jiao Ligang , Liu Zhengang
Published: March 2022

A more comprehensive view on the energy properties could contribute to the deepening of thermodynamic theories and efficient utilization of energy, which has both theoretical and practical significance. As derivative concepts of exergy, energy quality and energy grade, which characterize the quality of energy, have been fully applied in the field of engineering thermophysics during the past four decades. However, their concepts and calculations have not been fully clarified, and summaries of related applications are very rare in the literature. This has led to a considerable degree of ambiguity and confusion in the utilization of these concepts, which is not conducive to the application and promotion of the concepts, and would also hinder the process of the cognition for energy properties. Based on literature research, this paper explains the history of the energy quality and energy grade concepts and expands the calculations and related benchmark issues (environmental reference states) in detail. Moreover, in order to better understand the functions of energy quality and energy grade, analysis methods derived from the concepts and their applications are reviewed. Through summarizing existing research, future research needs on energy quality and energy grade is elaborated. This paper will help to clarify the physical meanings and calculations of energy quality and energy grade, as well as contribute to in-depth thinking on the energy quality and energy grade and other potential energy properties.
Extracellular ATP plays an important role in systemic wound response activation
Authors: Myers Ronald J , Fichman Yosef , Stacey Gary , Mittler Ron
Published: March 2022

Mechanical wounding occurs in plants during biotic or abiotic stresses and is associated with the activation of long-distance signaling pathways that trigger wound responses in systemic tissues. Among the different systemic signals activated by wounding are electric signals, calcium, hydraulic, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) waves. The release of glutamate (Glu) from cells at the wounded tissues was recently proposed to trigger systemic signal transduction pathways via GLU-LIKE RECEPTORs (GLRs). However, the role of another important compound released from cells during wounding (extracellular ATP [eATP]) in triggering systemic responses is not clear. Here, we show in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) that wounding results in the accumulation of nanomolar levels of eATP and that these levels are sufficient to trigger the systemic ROS wave. We further show that the triggering of the ROS wave by eATP during wounding requires the PURINORECEPTOR 2 KINASE (P2K) receptor. Application of eATP to unwounded leaves triggered the ROS wave, and the activation of the ROS wave by wounding or eATP application was suppressed in mutants deficient in P2Ks (e.g. p2k1-3, p2k2, and p2k1-3p2k2). In addition, expression of systemic wound response (SWR) transcripts was suppressed in mutants deficient in P2Ks during wounding. Interestingly, the effect of Glu and eATP application on ROS wave activation was not additive, suggesting that these two compounds function in the same pathway to trigger the ROS wave. Our findings reveal that in addition to sensing Glu via GLRs, eATP sensed by P2Ks plays a key role in the triggering of SWRs in plants.
Deep-seated psychological histories of COVID-19 vaccine hesitance and resistance
Authors: Moffitt Terrie E , Caspi Avshalom , Ambler Antony , Bourassa Kyle , Harrington HonaLee , Hogan Sean , Houts Renate , Ramrakha Sandhya , Wood Stacy L , Poulton Richie
Published: March 2022

To design effective provaccination messaging, it is important to know “where people are coming from”—the personal experiences and long-standing values, motives, lifestyles, preferences, emotional tendencies, and information-processing capacities of people who end up resistant or hesitant toward vaccination. We used prospective data from a 5-decade cohort study, spanning childhood to midlife, to construct comprehensive early-life psychological histories of groups who differed in their vaccine intentions in months just before COVID vaccines became available in their country. Vaccine-resistant and vaccine-hesitant participants had histories of adverse childhood experiences that foster mistrust, longstanding mental-health problems that foster misinterpretation of messaging, and early-emerging personality traits including tendencies toward extreme negative emotions, shutting down mentally under stress, nonconformism, and fatalism about health. Many vaccine-resistant and -hesitant participants had cognitive difficulties in comprehending health information. Findings held after control for socioeconomic origins. Vaccine intentions are not short-term isolated misunderstandings. They are part of a person's style of interpreting information and making decisions that is laid down before secondary school age. Findings suggest ways to tailor vaccine messaging for hesitant and resistant groups. To prepare for future pandemics, education about viruses and vaccines before or during secondary schooling could reduce citizens’ level of uncertainty during a pandemic, and provide people with pre-existing knowledge frameworks that prevent extreme emotional distress reactions and enhance receptivity to health messages. Enhanced medical technology and economic resilience are important for pandemic preparedness, but a prepared public who understands the need to mask, social distance, and vaccinate will also be important.
Statin-associated immune-mediated necrotizing myositis in Native Americans
Authors: Muruganandam Maheswari , Iqbal Ahsan , Akpan Eyerusalem B , Dolomisiewicz Anthony C , Waters Yvonne M , Emil N Suzanne , Nunez Sharon E , McElwee Matthew K , O’Sullivan Frank X , Fields Roderick A , Sibbitt Wilmer L
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Statin-associated immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) and idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM) are myopathies with overlapping features. This study compared the manifestations of IMNM to IIM in Native Americans.

Method

Twenty-one Native American patients with inflammatory myopathy (IM) were characterized as to diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia, statin exposure, myopathy diagnosis, muscle histology, autoimmune and myositis-specific autoantibodies, therapy and outcome.

Results

IM consisted of 52.4% IMNM, 42.9% IIM and 4.8% metabolic myopathy. IMNM vs IIM patients were older [61.6 years (s.d. 9.8) vs 39.8 (14.3)], diabetes mellitus (100% vs 55.6%), hyperlipidaemia (100% vs 33.3%), statin-exposure (100% vs 22.2%), creatine kinase [CK; 11 780 IU (s.d. 7064) vs 1707 (1658)], anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) antibodies (85.7% vs 11.1%) and necrotizing IM (81.8% vs 11.1%), but shorter disease duration [26.2 months (s.d. 395) vs 78.4 (47.9)], RP (9.1% vs 55.6%), cutaneous manifestations (0% vs 55.6%), ANA (18.2% vs 66.7%) or any autoantibody (18.2% vs 88.9%) (all P < 0.05). MRI abnormalities, histologic IM, myositis-specific autoantibodies, pulmonary hypertension, oesophageal dysfunction, interstitial lung disease, disability and persistently elevated CK were similar. IMNM vs IIM was treated more with IVIG (72.7% vs 11.1%; P = 0.009) and less with antimetabolites (45.5% vs 88.9%; P = 0.05) and rituximab (18.2% vs 55.6%; P = 0.09).

Conclusions

IMNM may occur in Native Americans and is associated with diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia, statin use and older age and is characterized by marked CK elevation, necrotizing myopathy and anti-HMGCR antibodies with few cutaneous or vascular manifestations.
Clinical manifestation of patients with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder after modest-to-long disease duration
Authors: Hong Jung Kyung , Kim Jong-Min , Kim Ki-woong , Han Ji Won , Ahn Soyeon , Yoon In-Young
Published: March 2022

Study Objectives

Patients with isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) are known to be at risk of neurodegenerative diseases but the time process of neurodegeneration remains unclear and its ethnic difference is rarely discussed. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical manifestation of iRBD according to disease duration in a Korean cohort.

Methods

Patients who had been diagnosed with iRBD for at least 5 years were tracked and those currently remaining as iRBD were invited for motor, autonomic, olfactory, color discrimination, and cognitive tests. Cross-sectional comparison between patients with iRBD with modest disease duration (5–9.9 years) and long disease duration (≥10 years) was conducted.

Results

There were total of 198 patients with iRBD (135 males, 68.2%) tracked, whose average age at diagnosis was 65.9 years. Thirty-three had developed parkinsonism and 17 had developed dementia, resulting in a phenoconversion risk of 35.7% at 10 years. Hazard rate showed a gradually increasing trend over time, beginning from 2.1 conversions per year to 8.5 at 10 years. Patients with iRBD with a long disease duration (n = 19) had slightly higher motor scores than those with a modest duration (n = 82). However, they showed no difference in the frequency of motor abnormality or other clinical markers.

Conclusions

There is a possible racial or geographical difference of phenoconversion risk. The progression of neurodegeneration might be very subtle in that patients with iRBD with longer disease duration do not necessarily show higher frequency of neurodegeneration markers.
IMAGING THE VITREOUS WITH A NOVEL BOOSTED OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE
Authors: Spaide Richard F. , Valmaggia Philippe , Maloca Peter M. , Scholl Hendrik P. N. , Otto Tilman P. , Caujolle Sophie
Published: March 2022

Purpose:

To evaluate the degenerative findings including cistern formation in the premacular vitreous using optical coherence tomography.

Methods:

A novel enhanced vitreous imaging method by which four A-scans at each position were averaged before the Fourier transform increased the image quality per frame so that subsequent image registration for averaging could occur. Analysis of B-scans and volume-rendered images of eyes in subjects of various ages was performed.

Results:

There were 43 eyes of 23 subjects ranging in age from 23 to 68 years. The texture in the vitreous images suggests specific orientations of the vitreous fibers in the macular region; there were fibers circumferential to the retina immediately anterior to the premacular bursa. The pattern of the vitreous fibers seemed less well-defined internal to the zone of circumferential fibers. In younger eyes, there were striations oriented in a roughly inferior to superior direction in this zone. In older eyes, there were striations in the same orientation but actually were alternating zones of vitreous synchysis and syneresis. In these same eyes, numerous cisterns appeared at various levels in the vitreous gel. With extensive vitreous condensation and synchysis, definition of the premacular bursa was lost.

Conclusion:

With this novel method of enhanced vitreous imaging, the vitreous seemed to have stereotypic patterns of degeneration. The formation of vitreous syneresis and synchysis may be related to organization architecture of the vitreous, including the pattern of vitreous collagen deposition, and the effects of eye motion through decades of time.
Enhancing Hepatic MBOAT7 Expression Does Not Improve Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Mice
Authors: Sharpe Martin C. , Pyles Kelly D. , Hallcox Taylor , Kamm Dakota R. , Piechowski Michaela , Fisk Bryan , Albert Carolyn J. , Carpenter Danielle H. , Ulmasov Barbara , Ford David A. , Neuschwander-Tetri Brent A. , McCommis Kyle S.
Published: March 2022

Background & Aims

Genetic analyses of human NASH have revealed polymorphisms near the membrane bound O-acyl transferase domain containing 7 (MBOAT7) gene associated with worsened liver injury. NAFLD/NASH also appears to decrease MBOAT7 expression or activity independent of these polymorphisms. Thus, we hypothesized that enhancing MBOAT7 function in NASH would improve pathology.

Approach & Results

Male C57BL6/J mice were infected with adeno-associated virus 8 (AAV8) expressing MBOAT7 under control of the hepatocyte-specific thyroid hormone-binding globulin promoter, or control virus expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). Mice were infected after NASH induction with either choline-deficient high-fat diet or Gubra Amylin NASH diet and compared to low-fat fed control mice. Both NASH diets increased liver weights, liver triglycerides, and plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase (ALT and AST) markers of liver injury, which were modestly yet significantly improved by MBOAT7 overexpression. However, NASH liver histology assessed by categorical scoring was not substantially improved by MBOAT7 overexpression. MBOAT7 regulates the formation of phosphatidylinositol (PI) predominantly by arachidonoylation of lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI). Shotgun lipidomics of NASH GFP-control livers suggested decreased MBOAT7 activity in that LPI content was elevated, and both total and arachidonoylated-PI were reduced. Surprisingly, MBOAT7 overexpression did not rescue the content of most arachidonoylated PI species but did normalize or increase the abundance of several oleate and linoleate-containing PI species. Free arachidonic acid was elevated but the MBOAT7 substrate arachidonoyl-CoA was found to be low in all NASH livers compared to low-fat fed mice, likely due to decreased expression of both long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL) 1 and 4 in NASH livers compared to controls.

Conclusions

These results suggest MBOAT7 overexpression fails to measurably improve NASH pathology potentially due to insufficient abundance of its arachidonoyl-CoA substrate in fatty livers.
Adaptations of endolithic communities to abrupt environmental changes in a hyper-arid desert
Authors: Perez-Fernandez Cesar A. , Wilburn Paul , Davila Alfonso , DiRuggiero Jocelyne
Published: March 2022

The adaptation mechanisms of microbial communities to natural perturbations remain relatively unexplored, particularly in extreme environments. The extremophilic communities of halite (NaCl) nodules from the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert are self-sustained and represent a unique opportunity to study functional adaptations and community dynamics with changing environmental conditions. We transplanted halite nodules to different sites in the desert and investigated how their taxonomic, cellular, and biochemical changes correlated with water availability, using environmental data modeling and metagenomic analyses. Salt-in strategists, mainly represented by haloarchaea, significantly increased in relative abundance at sites characterized by extreme dryness, multiple wet/dry cycles, and colder conditions. The functional analysis of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) revealed site-specific enrichments in archaeal MAGs encoding for the uptake of various compatible solutes and for glycerol utilization. These findings suggest that opportunistic salt-in strategists took over the halite communities at the driest sites. They most likely benefited from metabolites newly released in the environment by the death of microorganisms least adapted to the new conditions. The observed changes were consistent with the need to maximize cellular bioenergetics when confronted with lower water availability and higher salinity, providing valuable information on microbial community adaptations and resilience to climate change.
Structure evolution of nanodiamond aggregates: a SANS and USANS study
Authors: Kabir Imrana I. , Osborn John C. , Lu Weijian , Mata Jitendra P. , Rehm Christine , Yeoh Guan H. , Ersez Tunay
Published: March 2022

Ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements, covering length scales from micrometres to nanometres, were made to investigate the structure of nanodiamonds (NDs) and their suspensions. These nanodiamonds were produced by two different techniques, namely by the detonation method and by the laser ablation of a carbon–hydrocarbon mixture. The (U)SANS results indicated the presence of structures four orders of magnitude larger than the dimensions of a single ND particle, consisting of aggregations of ND particles. This aggregation of the ND particles was studied by employing the contrast variation technique. Two different solvents, namely H2O and dimethyl sulfoxide (and their deuterated counterparts), were used to understand the role of hydrogen in the shape and size of the aggregates. The analysis of experimental data from SANS measurements also reveals the ND particles to have an ellipsoidal structure. Using a defined shape model and the SANS contrast variation technique, it was possible to characterize the non-diamond outer shell of the particles and determine the outer layer thickness. This clarification of the structure of the NDs will allow better preparation of suspensions/samples for various applications. Understanding the structure of NDs at multiple length scales also provides crucial knowledge of particle–particle interaction and its effect on the aggregation structures.
Structural studies of various olmesartan solvates
Authors: Grosu Ioana Georgeta , Martin Flavia , Turza Alexandru , Miclaus Maria , Kacso Irina , Borodi Gheorghe
Published: March 2022

Seven solvates of the angiotensin II receptor blocker agent olmesartan (C24H26N6O3), namely, the methanol (C24H26N6O3·CH4O), ethanol (C24H26N6O3·C2H6O), isopropanol (C24H26N6O3·C3H8O), isobutanol (C24H26N6O3·C4H10O), 2-ethoxyethanol (C24H26N6O3·C4H10O2), chloroform (C24H26N6O3·CHCl3) and acetonitrile (C24H26N6O3·C2H3N) solvates, were successfully obtained. The crystal structures were determined using the single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique and the structural features are described, each solvate containing one molecule of olmesartan and one of solvent in the asymmetric unit. The samples were also analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction. Total lattice energies and binding energies between the olmesartan and solvent molecules were evaluated, which can be partitioned into electrostatic, polarization, dispersion and repulsion components. Hirshfeld and fingerprint plot analysis was performed to highlight the intermolecular contacts. Hydrogen bonding and supramolecular arrangements were comparatively studied for the seven solvates.
Information disclosure quality and firm value: empirical evidence for an emerging integrated market
Authors: Restrepo Luisa Fernanda , Tellez-Falla Diego , Godoy-Bejarano Jesús
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of information disclosure on firm value for firms in the Integrated Latin American Market (MILA) over the period 2011–2017.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses structural equation modeling (SEM), where the latent variable “Disclosure Quality” is measured using five textual analysis variables as indicators. The final sample is composed of 1,412 observations representing 198 firms from which we were able to collect annual reports and financial information required.

Findings

The authors find a positive and statistically significant effect of “Disclosure Quality” on firm value. The indirect effect of language on firm value is also captured. Text similarity, negative tone, readability and text length in corporate disclosure are negatively related to firm value while using positive tone is positively related. In the exploratory analysis, the authors have significant effects of textual measures on disclosure quality.

Originality/value

The research is original and unique as it approaches the relation between disclosure quality and market valuation of the firm using SEM for firms participating in the MILA.
Management or market variables in the assessment of corporate performance? Evidence on a bank-based system
Authors: Neves Maria Elisabete , Vieira Elisabete , Serrasqueiro Zélia
Published: March 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to study the influence of some company-specific characteristics, corporate governance factors and macroeconomic factors on the Portuguese companies’ performance.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this aim, the authors have used data from 39 Euronext Lisbon companies for the period between 2014 and 2019. The authors used panel data methodology, specifically the generalized method of moments estimation method by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998).

Findings

The results point out that the sign and significance of the determinants of corporate performance change depending on the variable used to measure performance. The Tobin’s Q variable, as a market variable and variable of interest to potential investors, is explained by some corporate governance variables and company-specific factors. Specifically, potential investors are confident in the leadership power of the chief executive office (CEO) and the members of the Board of Directors, which contributes positively to corporate performance. However, the firms’ age has a negative impact on Tobin’s Q. Considering an accounting variable managed internally by the organizations, the results show that return on assets is negatively influenced by leverage, and positively affected by CEO duality, which the manager believes is decisive to maintain performance levels.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze specific characteristics of companies and corporate governance factors, in a specific macroeconomic environment of high dependence on banking, considering the nonlinear effect of company age on company performance.
Creativity and innovation in rapidly developing Qatar: the impact of leadership and the mediation of psychological empowerment amidst rapid growth
Authors: Gelaidan Hamid Mahmood , Houtgraaf Glenn , Al-kwifi Osama Sam
Published: March 2022

Purpose

This study examines the effects of perceived leadership styles on the perceived creativity and innovation of public servants working in a rapidly developing country while shedding light on the internal causal dynamics of these effects.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data are collected from 568 Qatari public servants working in a variety of public sector organizations. Data are analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) employing SmartPLS.

Findings

A significant relationship between perceived leadership styles and public servants' self-perceived creativity is found, with psychological empowerment as a mediating variable. Public servants that perceive their leaders as conveying transformational, transactional and servant leadership styles are found to have significantly higher self-perceived creativity, whereas authentic leadership does not have a significant positive effect. This finding indicates that transformational, transactional and servant leadership styles appear to impact public servants' creativity. This impact corresponds with findings from research on the relationship between leadership styles and creativity in the private sector. The results of this study confirmed the mediating effect of psychological empowerment, apart from authentic leadership.

Originality/value

The findings shed light on the relationship between perceived leadership styles and the self-perceived creativity of public servants working in a rapidly developing country, its causal dynamics and how these effects relate to corresponding findings in the private sector. The ensuing practical implications offer guidelines on how to organize leadership to maximize creativity and innovation in the public sector, especially in rapidly developing countries.
Design of the participatory budget: how to turn citizens into process protagonists
Authors: Mattei Giorgia , Santolamazza Valentina , Grandis Fabio Giulio
Published: March 2022

Purpose

In the New Public Governance (NPG) paradigm, citizens play a vital role in the decision-making of public organisations and are fundamental to aligning their expectations with service delivery. Citizen engagement could be realised in the budgeting process by adopting participatory budgeting (PB) even if previous literature on PB does not focus on this tool design issue. Therefore, this study aims to understand which PB institutional design arrangements help enhance citizen participation.

Design/methodology/approach

A deductive content analysis and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis were carried out on the PB regulations of 100 Italian municipalities.

Findings

The results suggest that the PB design can be elaborated in different ways that do not always guarantee the involvement of citizens. Virtuous municipalities engage citizens from the start of the process and in the most relevant discussion and deliberation phases. A simple legislative provision does not guarantee a real introduction of participatory governance.

Originality/value

This study theorises citizen participation in PB and examines it through empirical evidence to define relationships between PB design arrangements and citizen engagement.
Immersive netnography: a novel method for service experience research in virtual reality, augmented reality and metaverse contexts
Authors: Kozinets Robert V.
Published: March 2022

Purpose

As immersive technologies gain wider adoption, contemporary service researchers are tasked with studying their service experiences in ways that preserve and attend to their holistic and human characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to provide service researchers with a new qualitative approach to studying immersive technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

Using logic and following established methodological rules, this article develops the scope, definition and set of procedures for a novel form of netnography specifically adapted for the study of immersive technologies: immersive netnography. The research question is “How might netnography be adapted to research service experiences in virtual and augmented environments, which include and overlap with the notion of a Metaverse?”

Findings

Immersive netnography should be at the vanguard of phenomenological service experience studies of augmented reality, virtual reality and the Metaverse. A set of data collection, analysis, ethical and representational research practices, immersive netnography is adapted to digital media phenomena (customer and employee) that include immersive technology experiences. Developed through logical argumentation after analyzing key differences between social media and immersive technology, immersive netnography is procedurally customized for experience research in immersive technology environments.

Research limitations/implications

Three of the most significant practical limitations to producing high-quality netnography are rapidly changing contexts, scarce time resources and narrow researcher skillsets.

Practical implications

Industries and organizations may benefit from a new, holistically focused, ethically robust and culturally attuned market research method for understanding service experience in immersive technology contexts.

Originality/value

There have been no prior studies that develop netnography for the service research opportunities presented by immersive technologies. By applying the rigorous methodological guidance provided in this paper, future service researchers may find value in using specifically adapted qualitative research methods to study immersive technology experiences.
Modeling the volatilities of globally listed private equity markets
Authors: Tegtmeier Lars
Published: March 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of stochastic volatility processes in globally listed private equity (LPE) markets, which are represented by nine global, regional and style indices, and reveals transmissions in the conditional variances between the different markets, based on weekly data covering the period January 2011 to December 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity [GARCH(p, q)] model and its exponential GARCH (EGARCH) and GARCH-in-mean extensions.

Findings

The estimates of the volatility models GARCH, EGARCH and GARCH-in-mean GARCH-M for testing the stylized properties persistence, asymmetry, mean reversion and risk premium lead to very different results, depending on the respective LPE index.

Practical implications

The knowledge of conditional volatilities of LPE returns as well as the detection of volatility transmissions between the different LPE markets under investigation serve to support asset allocation decisions with respect to risk management or portfolio allocation. Hence, the findings are important for all kinds of investors and asset managers who consider investments in LPE.

Originality/value

The authors present a novel study that examines the conditional variance for globally LPE markets by using LPX indices, offering valuable insight into this growing asset class.
Climate change affects bird nesting phenology: Comparing contemporary field and historical museum nesting records
Authors: Bates John M. , Fidino Mason , Nowak‐Boyd Laurel , Strausberger Bill M. , Schmidt Kenneth A. , Whelan Christopher J.
Published: March 2022

Global climate change impacts species and ecosystems in potentially harmful ways. For migratory bird species, earlier spring warm‐up could lead to a mismatch between nesting activities and food availability. CO2provides a useful proxy for temperature and an environmental indicator of climate change when temperature data are not available for an entire time series.

Our objectives were to (a) examine nesting phenology over time; (b) determine how nesting phenology relates to changes in atmospheric CO2concentration; and (c) demonstrate the usefulness of historical museum collections combined with modern observations for trend analyses.

We assessed changes in nesting dates of 72 bird species in the Upper Midwest of the United States by comparing contemporary lay dates with those obtained from archived, historical museum nest records over a 143‐year period (1872–2015).

Species‐specific changes in lay date per one unit change in the CO2residual ranged from −0.75 (95% CI: −1.57 to −0.10) to 0.45 (95% CI: −0.29 to 1.43). Overall, lay dates advanced ~10 days over the 143‐year period. Resident, short‐distance migrants and long‐distance migrants lay dates advanced by ~15, 18 and 16 days on average respectively. Twenty‐four species (33.3%) significantly advanced, one (1.4%) significantly delayed and we failed to detect an advance or delay in lay date for 47 species (65.3%). Overall mean advance in first lay date (for the species that have significantly advanced laying date) was 25.1 days (min: 10.7, max: 49.9).

Our study highlights the scientific importance of both data gathering and archiving through time to understand phenological change. The detailed archived information reported by egg collectors provide the early data of our study. As with studies of egg‐shell thinning and pesticide exposure, our use of these data illustrates another scientific utility of egg collections that these pioneer naturalists never imagined. As museums archive historical data, these locations are also ideal candidates to store contemporary field data as it is collected. Together, such information will provide the ability to track, understand and perhaps predict responses to human‐driven environmental change.
The significance of building behavior in the evolution of animal architecture
Authors: Sugasawa Shoko , Pritchard David J.
Published: March 2022

Animals make a diverse array of architectures including nests, bowers, roosts, traps, and tools. Much of the research into animal architecture has focused on the analysis of physical properties such as the dimensions and material of the architectures, rather than the behavior responsible for creating these architectures. However, the relationship between the architecture itself and the construction behavior that built it is not straightforward, and overlooking behavior risks obtaining an incomplete or even misleading picture of how animal architecture evolves. Here we review data about animal architectures broadly, with a particular focus on building by birds and social insects. We then highlight three ways in which a better understanding of building behavior could benefit the study of animal architecture: by clarifying how behavior leads to physical properties; by examining the costs and benefits of building behavior; and by determining the role of learning and how this interacts with selection on behavior. To integrate questions about building behavior alongside those about architectures, we propose a framework inspired by Niko Tinbergen's four questions, examining the mechanistic, ontogenetic, phylogenetic, and functional basis of animal building. By integrating the study of behavior and architecture across levels of analysis, we can gain a more holistic view of the behavior‐architecture interactions, and a better understanding of how behavior, cognition, and evolution interact to produce the diversity seen in animal architecture.
The Face of the Firm: The Impact of Employer Branding on Diversity
Authors: Kele Juliet E. , Cassell Catherine M.
Published: March 2022

Drawing upon an employer branding lens to help explore and inform our understanding of the marketing of workforce diversity, here we argue that diversity is understood and used in an aesthetic and commercialized way, rather than with a focus upon the inclusion of disadvantaged groups. Our analysis of the marketing and diversity practices of four small and medium‐sized law firms demonstrates a continued access‐and‐legitimacy approach to diversity: that a desire for successful employer branding still supersedes organizational commitment to equal opportunities and diversity management in practice. We argue that this commercialized approach leads to several contradictions, which in turn reproduce the market‐based perspective of diversity, relegating employees primarily to the aesthetics of race and gender and the affiliated skills and resources. In theorizing the processes by which diversity is undermined and functions solely to enhance business image and increase organizational performance, we highlight how an employer branding lens enables us to identify and understand contradictions between diversity policy and practice in a different way, by linking aesthetics with the marketing of the brand.
Revisiting the World Order Models Project: A Case for Renewal?
Authors: McKeil Aaron
Published: March 2022

In a context of crisis in global order today, this article proposes revisiting the World Order Models Project (WOMP), towards an evaluation of its relevance and potential contributions to contemporary debates and challenges. From this revisiting, this article argues that WOMP suffered from problematic methodological limitations and does not constitute a substitute for conventional contemporary approaches to global order today, but some of its proposals nevertheless retain relevance, and as a mode of global order research it still offers the potential for providing an important supplement to contemporary approaches, if sufficiently modified to address its methodological limitations. The knowledge this kind of project produces is argued to offer integrative alternative non‐great power‐centric global order policy options that are increasingly in demand, especially from the Global South, as well as from Europe. This article proceeds to revisit WOMP’s research design and outputs, evaluates the arguments of its critics, and outlines the modifying methodological options for a World Order Models Project 2.0.
An Evaluation of the Financial Sustainability of Remote Australian Local Councils*
Authors: Fellows Caillan , Dollery Brian , Marques Rui
Published: March 2022

Spatial remoteness in the sense of great distances between population centres and limited access to public services is an on‐going problem in Australian local government, where there exist large, sparsely populated regions dominated by the 'tyranny of distance'. From a public policy perspective, it is important to understand the impact of remoteness on local authorities. Accordingly, in this paper, we estimate the relationship between remoteness and financial sustainability using a 2014–2018 sample of Australian local governments. In general, we find only limited empirical evidence for a relationship between geographical remoteness and financial sustainability as we have proxied it.
The Karolinska NeuroCOVID study protocol: Neurocognitive impairment, biomarkers and advanced imaging in critical care survivors
Authors: Nelson David W. , Granberg Tobias , Andersen Pia , Jokhadar Elias , Kåhlin Jessica , Granström Anna , Hallinder Helena , Schening Anna , Thunborg Charlotta , Walles Håkan , Hagman Göran , Shams‐Latifi Roya , Yu Jimmy , Petersson Sven , Tzortzakakis Antonios , Levak Nicholas , Aspö Malin , Piehl Fredrik , Zetterberg Henrik , Kivipelto Miia , Eriksson Lars I.
Published: March 2022

Background

This is the study plan of the Karolinska NeuroCOVID study, a study of neurocognitive impairment after severe COVID‐19, relating post‐intensive care unit (ICU) cognitive and neurological deficits to biofluid markers and MRI. The COVID‐19 pandemic has posed enormous health challenges to individuals and health‐care systems worldwide. An emerging feature of severe COVID‐19 is that of temporary and extended neurocognitive impairment, exhibiting a myriad of symptoms and signs. The causes of this symptomatology have not yet been fully elucidated.

Methods

In this study, we aim to investigate patients treated for severe COVID‐19 in the ICU, as to describe and relate serum‐, plasma‐ and cerebrospinal fluid‐borne molecular and cellular biomarkers of immune activity, coagulopathy, cerebral damage, neuronal inflammation, and degeneration, to the temporal development of structural and functional changes within the brain as evident by serial MRI and extensive cognitive assessments at 3–12 months after ICU discharge.

Results

To date, we have performed 51 3‐month follow‐up MRIs in the ICU survivors. Of these, two patients (~4%) have had incidental findings on brain MRI findings requiring activation of the Incidental Findings Management Plan. Furthermore, the neuropsychological and neurological examinations have so far revealed varying and mixed patterns. Several patients expressed cognitive and/or mental concerns and fatigue, complaints closely related to brain fog.

Conclusion

The study goal is to gain a better understanding of the pathological mechanisms and neurological consequences of this new disease, with a special emphasis on neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory processes, in order to identify targets of intervention and rehabilitation.
Combining offtake and participatory data to assess the sustainability of a hunting system in northern Congo
Authors: Riddell Michael , Maisels Fiona , Lawrence Anna , Stokes Emma , Schulte‐Herbrüggen Björn , Ingram Daniel J.
Published: March 2022

Research suggests that bushmeat is hunted at unsustainable rates throughout much of the Congo basin, although accurately measuring hunting sustainability is challenging. Offtake data can contribute towards sustainability assessments, and when incorporated with information on hunters' strategies, can be used to monitor changes in hunting dynamics. We used a combination of (1) a long‐term, quantitative yet low‐resolution hunting offtake data set, (2) qualitative data acquired through participatory methods, and (3) a high‐resolution offtake survey, to examine the changes in a hunting system undergoing change due to new roads and associated socio‐economic developments in northern Republic of the Congo. Our results indicated that while the conclusions drawn from the different data sets were broadly the same (indicating wildlife depletion, particularly in one hunting zone), the results of the analysis of the participatory and the high‐resolution offtake data set provided an explanation for trends in the long‐term low‐resolution offtake data set, including the degree to which long‐term trends are due to changes in hunting strategy, or in underlying wildlife populations. We discuss how participatory hunter surveys can be used to distinguish between changes in prey populations and changes in hunting strategy in long‐term low‐resolution hunting offtake data sets, therefore, improving the effectiveness of long‐term offtake data sets to assess sustainability of hunting.
Longitudinal follow‐up of a novel classification system for irritable bowel syndrome: natural history and prognostic value
Authors: Black Christopher J. , Yiannakou Yan , Guthrie Elspeth , West Robert , Houghton Lesley A. , Ford Alexander C.
Published: March 2022

Background

Conventionally, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is subgrouped using predominant stool form, yet it is a complex disorder, with multiple biopsychosocial contributors. We previously derived and validated a latent class model subgrouping people with IBS into seven clusters based on gastrointestinal and extraintestinal symptoms and psychological profile.

Aims

To conduct longitudinal follow‐up examining the natural history and prognostic value of these clusters.

Methods

Participants completed a 12‐month follow‐up questionnaire. We applied our model to these data, comparing cluster membership between the two time points in those still meeting Rome IV criteria at follow‐up, including stratifying the analysis by predominant stool pattern, and level of psychological burden, at baseline. We examined whether baseline cluster predicted the course of IBS, and whether starting new treatment was associated with changing cluster.

Results

Eight hundred and eleven participants met Rome IV criteria for IBS at baseline, of whom 452 (55.7%) responded, and 319 (70.6%) still met Rome IV criteria for IBS at follow‐up. Of these, 172 (53.9%) remained in the same IBS cluster as at baseline and 147 changed cluster. Cluster membership stratified according to psychological comorbidity was more stable; 84% of those in a cluster with high psychological burden at baseline remained in such a cluster at follow‐up. People in clusters with high psychological burden at baseline had more severe symptoms (P < 0.001), received a higher mean number of subsequent treatments (P < 0.001), and were more likely to consult a doctor than people in clusters with low psychological burden (P < 0.001). There was no significant association between starting a new treatment and changing cluster at follow‐up.

Conclusions

Longitudinal follow‐up demonstrated little transition between clusters with respect to psychological burden, and these appeared to predict disease course. Directing treatment according to cluster, including earlier use of psychological therapies, and exploring how this approach influences outcomes in IBS, should be examined.
Case series: Computed tomography (CT) demonstrates lacrimal canal involvement in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) with maxillary incisor dental disease
Authors: Bryce AJ , Milne ME , Tyrrell D , Bodley K
Published: March 2022

Dental disease is common in wild and captive koalas. Effective treatments are limited and dental disease may not be recognised until it is quite severe. We describe the appearance of varying severities of dental disease on computed tomography (CT) images in a case series of six koalas. This case series demonstrates the use of CT to detect both mild and severe dental disease in koalas. The study also documents the normal CT appearance of the nasolacrimal duct in the koala. The only clinical abnormality in koalas with the mildest dental disease was ocular discharge. Computed tomography findings associated with ocular discharge were periapical lysis of first maxillary incisors, lacrimal canal remodelling and subsequent nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Dental disease should be a differential diagnosis for ocular discharge in koalas and CT examination enables visualisation of early stages of dental disease.