bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The association between stock price volatility and financial news – a sentiment analysis approach
Authors: Seng Jia-Lang , Yang Hsiao-Fang
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop the dictionary with grammar and multiword structure has to be used in conjunction with sentiment analysis to investigate the relationship between financial news and stock market volatility.

Design/methodology/approach

An algorithm has been developed for calculating the sentiment orientation and score of data with added information, and the results of calculation have been integrated to construct an empirical model for calculating stock market volatility.

Findings

The experimental results reveal a statistically significant relationship between financial news and stock market volatility. Moreover, positive (negative) news is found to be positively (negatively) correlated with positive stock returns, and the score of added information of the news is positively correlated with stock returns. Model verification and stock market volatility predictions are verified over four time periods (monthly, quarterly, semiannually and annually). The results show that the prediction accuracy of the models approaches 66% and stock market volatility with a particular trend-predicting effect in specific periods by using moving window evaluation.

Research limitations/implications

Only one news source is used and the research period is only two years; thus, future studies should incorporate several data sources and use a longer period to conduct a more in-depth analysis.

Practical implications

Understanding trends in stock market volatility can decrease risk and increase profit from investment. Therefore, individuals or businesses can feasibly engage in investment activities for profit by understanding volatility trends in capital markets.

Originality/value

The ability to exploit textual information could potentially increase the quality of the data. Few scholars have applied sentiment analysis in investigating interdisciplinary topics that cover information management technology, accounting and finance. Furthermore, few studies have provided support for structured and unstructured data. In this paper, the efficiency of providing the algorithm, the model and the trend in stock market volatility has been demonstrated.
Infographics: tools for designing, visualizing data and storytelling in libraries
Authors: Yuvaraj Mayank
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the potential of infographics, its application in libraries, various tools and the steps to create infographics.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a literature review.

Findings

An infographic design framework is proposed.

Originality/value

The paper makes first observation toward the concept of infographics with a slant toward library practices.
Understanding librarians’ experiences of copyright
Authors: Morrison Chris , Secker Jane
Published: July 2017

Purpose

Librarians and information professionals increasingly need to deal with copyright issues in their work, however evidence suggests that they can lack confidence and often refer queries to a dedicated copyright specialist. The purpose of this paper is to explore the professional experiences of copyright of a group of academic librarians in the UK, with a view to devising appropriate copyright education strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted using phenomenography, which is a qualitative approach from education. Data were collected though group interviews to explore the variation of experience. Four categories of description were devised which are placed in an outcome space.

Findings

There were four qualitatively distinct ways that librarians experience copyright in their professional lives, including viewing it as a problem, as complicated, as a known entity and as an opportunity. The variations in experience relate to a variety of factors such as the librarians’ role, ideology, level of experience, context and with whom they might be dealing.

Originality/value

This is the first study of this nature, building on quantitative findings from a multinational survey. It concludes that librarians need to be taught about copyright in a way that acknowledges and addresses the challenges so that they can view it as empowering and as part of wider information literacy initiatives.
Charting a multi-dimensional role of future librarians
Authors: Roy Loriene , Hallmark Elizabeth Kennedy
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to involve readers in an exercise in conceptualizing the library workplace of the future and how to prepare librarians to be successful in these future scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces a visualization exercise that invites readers to contemplate the likelihood and desirability of five scenarios for libraries of the future. Readers are also invited to create a new scenario. Readers then can reflect on the skills and aptitudes librarians would need to have or acquire in order to succeed in one of the scenarios. The method involves visualization, reflection, and self-assessment.

Findings

The authors have tested this exercise in in-service training with public, academic, and special librarians as well as with students in graduate library and information science courses. The end result is deep conversation, engagement, and sharing.

Research limitations/implications

The authors have observations on the effectiveness of this future exercise with students and practicing librarians but did not structure its use as a research project. In years of attending conferences and delivering over 600 conference presentations, the authors have yet to observe a similar future exercise being employed.

Practical implications

This exercise promotes reflection and discussion. It enables librarians to consider these scenarios on their own or in groups of varying sizes. It has application in understanding the complexity of futurism and how it might impact their future lives. And it emphases that individual librarians have some degree of independence in how they respond to change and, ultimately, a future much different from the present.

Social implications

Libraries are social institutions and their services reflect and respond to changes in society. Recent changes in governance around the world, warfare, the refugee crisis, and episodes of violence have contributed to tension. These are the times when librarians are called on more than ever to respond. Considering possible and improbable futures and one’s response to those futures are helpful in preparing one’s professional response in these difficult times.

Originality/value

This paper introduces an original model for discussing many possible futures for libraries and for librarians to consider their roles in those futures.
Academic librarians as change champions: a framework for managing change
Authors: Knight Jennine A.
Published: July 2017

Purpose

As is the case of all organizations, the academic library is a body reflecting the contribution of its core employees. As such, the roles performed by academic librarians are crucial to its development and existence. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of academic librarians as change champions in an information age that has been, still is, and is expected to be continuously pervaded by varying and widespread changes in librarianship and scholarship coupled with the ever changing and expanding user needs and expectations. The paper also identifies a framework to perform this role.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is informed by opinion and draws on relevant literature to highlight the current climate and what is being perceived as valuable to the future direction of academic libraries in order to bring credence to its trajectory.

Findings

Academic librarians must readily accept, be responsive to, and anticipate change to maintain and justify their relevance to stakeholders. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that not all librarians are prepared to embrace change.

Practical implications

Academic librarians must understand how their roles influence the decision-making processes of the stakeholders and vice versa.

Originality/value

The paper advances five principles or 5As to guide the change process in academic libraries: alignment, accountability, agility, accessibility, and assessment. Very briefly, it discusses the relevance of a concept referred to as the competition-collaboration continuum to further academic librarianship. These notions serve to assist academic librarians in determining the appropriate actions to be taken now.
The chief learning officer
Authors: Farrell Robert
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to put forward the position of chief learning officer (CLO) as a potential new role or models for new roles in libraries wishing to integrate human resources, strategic planning, and budgeting.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the history and present functions of the CLO role in the corporate world, correlating work within the library field with key aspects of the position as way by which to conceptualize the integration of disparate library operations.

Findings

The position of CLO has not yet entered the library and information science (LIS) discourse.

Practical implications

Libraries that do not have CLO-like positions in their organizations may benefit from adopting or adapting the position to their libraries.

Originality/value

The paper introduces the CLO position to the field of LIS.
Research 2.0 and Research Data Services in academic and research libraries: priority issues
Authors: Koltay Tibor
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of Research Data Services (RDSs), consisting of research data management, data curation and data stewardship, and data literacy education in supporting Research 2.0. Besides this, theory and principles, as well as selected examples of best practices in the relevant fields are presented.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature-based overview of actual insights on tasks and roles that academic and research libraries have to fulfil in order to react to the developments generated by the appearance and growing importance of Research 2.0 is provided. Taking the wide spectre of related issues into account, the discussion is limited to RDSs.

Findings

Even though Research 2.0 is evolving in different countries and some local environments in dissimilar ways, its data-intensive nature requires the helping presence of academic libraries and librarians. Being an emerging phenomenon, it will undoubtedly take several different shapes as it works itself out in time, but librarians should try to discover service niches, which may not be covered by other academic organisations, or their coverage is only partial or even unsatisfactory.

Research limitations/implications

Taking the wide spectre of issues into account, the review of literature is limited to the period between 2014 and 2016.

Originality/value

The paper intends to add to the body of knowledge about the relationship between RDSs and Research 2.0, as well as about the association between the components of the former.
Food pyramid intake and nutrient profiles of Brazilian girls
Authors: Barco Leme Ana Carolina , Philippi Sonia Tucunduva
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the groups from the Brazilian Food Pyramid on macro and micronutrient content of food consumed by adolescent girls from a school-based study.

Design/methodology/approach

Baseline data from “Healthy Habits, Healthy Girls” school-based randomized control trial was used for this study. A sample of the girls aged 14 to 18 years old (n = 253) from ten schools in Brazil was evaluated. Participants completed validated food frequency questionnaire, from which, the total kilocalories and/or grams from each food groups were calculated. Descriptive statistics, t-student test and linear regression were used for the analysis with a significant level of p < 0.05.

Findings

Mean daily intake of the girls was 2,887.09 (standard error 91.50) kcal/day. There was a positive significant association between relative intake of the “Oil and Fats” group and protein (ranged from 24.95 to 96.12 kcal/d), fats (48.36 to 192.62 kcal/d), iron (56.93 to 162.85 kcal/d) and sodium (208.08 to 699.69 kcal/d) contents. In regards to the intake of “Sugars and Sweets” group, there was a positive significant association for carbohydrates (97.53 to 491.70 kcal/day), total fiber (0.56 to 2.64 kcal/d), iron (0.85 to 4.40 kcal/d) and sodium (175.59 to 838.48 kcal/d) content.

Originality/value

Findings demonstrate that girls over consumed the “Oils and Fats” and “Sugars and Sweets” groups reflecting on increased of important macro and micronutrients of their diet. Therefore, consuming up to 1 serving size of these groups is a good way to promote healthy eating among this population.
Effect of incorporation of functional ingredients on quality of low fat restructured goat meat product
Authors: Gadekar Yogesh P. , Sharma B.D. , Shinde Ajay Kr. , Das Arun Kr. , Mendiratta S.K.
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of inulin (3 per cent), chitosan (1 per cent) and carrageenan (0.5 per cent) addition on the physico-chemical, sensory and textural attributes of restructured goat meat products. Health conscious consumers are much more interested in product with added health benefit. Keeping this in mind, this study was undertaken to find out effective ingredient for low fat restructured goat meat product.

Design/methodology/approach

Formulation for restructured goat meat blocks was optimized and four different formulation containing different ingredients, namely, control, inulin (3 per cent), chitosan (1 per cent) and carrageenan (0.5 per cent), were used to find out best ingredient for healthier goat meat product and various physicochemical and sensory properties of the product were evaluated.

Findings

Results showed that addition of carrageenan improved (p < 0.01) the product yield (86.0 per cent) significantly. The proximate composition, expressible water and water activity were similar. The moisture retention percentage was significantly (p < 0.01) reduced (86.0 per cent) due to addition of inulin. Carrageenan significantly (p < 0.05) increased the lightness (42.4) and yellowness (10) values. Significantly (p < 0.05) lower shear force values were observed in inulin (0.5) and chitosan (0.4) containing samples than control (0.7 kg/1.5 cm2). Hardness values were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in restructured product containing chitosan (56.1 N/cm2) and carrageenan (59.4 N/cm2). Similarly, springiness values were significantly (p < 0.05) lower (0.7 vs 0.8 cm) in carrageenan containing product. Inulin, chitosan and carrageenan did not significantly influence the sensory attributes of restructured goat meat product. It is concluded that inulin, chitosan and carrageenan could be used to improve technological and functional attributes of the healthier restructured goat meat product.

Research limitations/implications

Future research may benefit from efforts to modify shelf life of the product by modifying packaging condition.

Originality/value

The healthier meat-based restructured goat meat product has been developed, and the effect on its quality characteristics have been extensively examined, limited research has focused on this aspect.
Benefits of dietary fibre to human health: study from a multi-country platform
Authors: Guiné Raquel , Duarte João , Ferreira Manuela , Correia Paula , Leal Marcela , Rumbak Ivana , Baric Irena , Komes Drazenka , Satalic Zvonimir , Saric Marijana Matek , Tarcea Monica , Fazakas Zita , Jovanoska Dijana , Vanevski Dragoljub , Vittadini Elena , Pellegrini Nicoletta , Szucs Viktória , Harangozó Júlia , EL-Kenawy Ayman , EL-Shenawy Omnia , Yalçin Erkan , Kösemeci Cem , Klava Dace , Straumite Evita
Published: July 2017

Purpose

Because dietary fibre has been recognized as a major ally to the maintenance of a healthy body as well as to help against the development of some chronic diseases, this paper aims to study the level of knowledge of a relatively wide range of people about the health effects related to the ingestion of dietary fibre in appropriate dosages.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6,010 participants. The data were collected from 10 countries in three different continents (Europe, Africa and America) and measured the level of knowledge regarding different health benefits from dietary fibre. The questionnaires were applied by direct interview after verbal informed consent.

Findings

The results obtained considering the general level of knowledge revealed a considerable degree of information about the benefits of fibre (average score of 3.54 ± 0.5, on a scale from 1 to 5). There were significant differences between genders (p < 0.001), with higher average score for women, and also for level of education (p < 0.001), with higher score for university level. The living environment also showed significant differences (p < 0.001), with people living in urban areas showing a higher degree of knowledge. Also for countries the differences were significant (p < 0.001), with the highest score obtained for Portugal (3.7), and the lowest for Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania (3.5). However, despite these differences, the results showed that for all the countries the degree of knowledge was good (above 3.5), corresponding to a minimum level of knowledge of 70 per cent.

Originality/value

This work is considered important due to the wide coverage, including so many countries inclusive with different social and cultural settings. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the participants in the study were quite well informed about the benefits of dietary fibre for the improvement of human health, regardless of gender, level of education, living environment or country. This finding is very relevant considering the diversity of people that composed the sample and reinforces the necessity of continuing with educational policies aimed at providing the general population with the knowledge that might help them make appropriate food choices.
Recollection-as-method in social welfare practice: dirty work, shame and resistance
Authors: Dobson Rachael
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a methodology for critical welfare practice research, “recollection-as-method”, and to use this to demonstrate the social relations of social welfare institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses a series of personal recollections from the author’s experiences of academic life and welfare work to establish a methodology for critical welfare practice research. This uses concepts memory, dirty work, shame and complicity, and is grounded in critical feminist and critical race work, and psychosocial and socio-cultural approaches to governance.

Findings

The paper establishes a methodology for critical welfare practice research by demonstrating the significance of using an ontologically driven approach to governance, to achieve a realistic and complex understanding of statutory welfare work.

Research limitations/implications

Recollections are post hoc narrations, written in the present day. The ethics and robustness of this approach are deliberated in the paper.

Practical implications

The focus of the paper is on statutory welfare practice that involves the assessment and regulation of homeless people. Principles and arguments developed in this paper contribute to reflective and reflexive debates across “front-line” social welfare practice fields in and beyond homelessness. Examples include assessment of social groups such as unemployed people, refugees and asylum seekers. Arguments also have application for criminal justice settings such as for prison work.

Social implications

This foregrounds practitioner ambivalence and resistance in order to theorise the social relations of social welfare institutions.

Originality/value

The recollection-as-method approach provides a methodology for critical practice research by demonstrating an alternative way to understand the realities of welfare work. It argues that understanding how resistance and complicity operate in less conscious and more structural ways is important for understanding the social relations of social welfare institutions and the role of good/bad feeling for these processes. This is important for understanding interventions required for anti-oppressive social change across the social worlds of policy-practice life.
Borders and margins: debates on intersectionality for critical research
Authors: Mountian Ilana
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to debate intersectionality as a key methodological aspect for critical research. While intersectionality is a consensus for critical studies, it is important to highlight the challenges that a perspective that consider power relations across social categories put forward. For this, I examine how these relations are seen in research, and highlight the risks of hierarchical views on social categories, or the invisibilization of those same categories.

Design/methodology/approach

These reflections will be primarily based on previous research on immigration in São Paulo and on older transsexual women in Brazil, studies that required a multi-faceted analysis. The studies were based on critical feminist, post-colonial studies and psychoanalysis to examine discourses and to unravel the social imaginaries on the immigrant and on transsexual women in Brazil. For this, I bring forth the notion of the other as a discursive space often placed on these groups, and how the discursive position also reflect views on gender, race, sexuality and class as structural discursive boundaries in Brazil.

Findings

Taking the border as a metaphor to read everyday encounters, the body becomes a mark of difference, where subjects are placed at specific discursive (and also geographical) positions – at the center or at the margins. Taking this into account, the paper highlights two main aspects: first, a debate on the importance of intersectionality for critical methodological frameworks, and second, how critical discourse analysis allow us to defy the taken-for-granted binary constructions of other-us, that are continuously re-evoked and reified in discourse.

Originality/value

This debate is important as there are innumerous ways of approaching intersectionality, hence a critical analysis into current debates and methodological standpoints become central.
Implications of plant functional traits and drought survival strategies for ecological restoration
Authors: Balachowski Jennifer A. , Volaire Florence A.
Published: July 2017

Restoration of degraded grasslands through active revegetation often involves re‐establishing populations of native grasses, which must withstand increasing drought stress to persist beyond initial establishment. In perennial species, superior dehydration tolerance is expected to result in more conservative growth, but this trade‐off has seldom been studied among populations of herbaceous species.

We measured seasonal growth and foliar and root functional traits under non‐limiting water conditions, followed by recovery after severe drought in four populations of Elymus glaucus, a perennial grass from California's Mediterranean‐climate region. We hypothesized that populations from harsher sites would be more dehydration tolerant, summer dormant and resource‐conservative.

Dehydration tolerance and summer dormancy were associated with a more conservative strategy (lower productivity, lower specific leaf area and specific root length), as well as earlier reproductive phenology.

Multivariate trait variation was associated with water availability in both the growing season and summer, while greater dehydration tolerance and summer dormancy were associated with increasing summer climatic water deficit.

Synthesis and applications. Our study provides evidence of an intraspecific trade‐off between dehydration tolerance and rapid resource acquisition. We discuss the implication that restored populations with superior drought survival may therefore be less competitive, and recommend further investigation to inform plant materials selection protocols and management practices.
South Korean Presidential Politics Turns Liberal: Transformative Change or Business as Usual?
Authors: Dostal Jörg Michael
Published: July 2017

The impeachment of President Park Gyeun‐hye on 10 March 2017 saw South Korean politics enter a period of crisis. Her removal from office, the result of an unprecedented mass movement of citizen protests, provided a springboard for the subsequent success of the liberal candidate, Moon Jae‐in, in the presidential election of 9 May 2017. This article suggests that political change in South Korea is only possible if actors move beyond the politics of personality, and tackle the structural reasons for the policy failures of recent times. Further, if democracy, a humane economic system and responsive political institutions are going to be developed and nourished, the country's ‘imperial presidency’ needs to be reformed. In particular, the current ‘winner‐takes‐all’ politics, with the presidency as the main locus of power, needs to be reformed in ways that promote a more balanced political system, increasing the influence of other actors and institutions.
Hung Parliaments and the Need for Clearer Rules of Government Formation
Authors: Schleiter Petra , Belu Valerie , Hazell Robert
Published: July 2017

The general elections of 2017 and 2010 produced hung parliaments in which no single party could command an overall majority; in May 2015 the UK only narrowly avoided that outcome. When a parliament is hung, more than one potential government can be viable, and the constitutional rules that determine who has the first right to form the government can thus have a decisive influence on which government forms. In the past, the UK has applied several potentially contradictory rules (based on conventions and principles), which do not all follow an equally democratic logic. This status quo is problematic because it can generate political controversy and uncertainty, in addition to jeopardising the Monarch's role in the government formation process. A reform that enables parliament to elect the leader who will be tasked with the formation of the next government would resolve these problems and provide constitutional clarity.
The 2017 General Election, Brexit and the Return to Two‐Party Politics: An Aggregate‐Level Analysis of the Result
Authors: Heath Oliver , Goodwin Matthew
Published: July 2017

The outcome of the 2017 general election—a hung parliament—defied most predictions. In this article, we draw on aggregate‐level data to conduct an initial exploration of the vote. What was the impact of Brexit on the 2017 general election result? What difference did the collapse of UKIP make? And what was the relative importance of factors such as turnout, education, age and ethnic diversity on support for the two main parties? First, we find that turnout was generally higher in more pro‐remain areas, and places with high concentrations of young people, ethnic minorities and university graduates. Second, we find that the Conservatives made gains in the sort of places that had previously backed Brexit and previously voted for UKIP. But, third, we find that the gains the Conservatives made from the electoral decline of UKIP were offset by losses in the sort of places that had previously supported the Conservatives, particularly areas in southern England with larger numbers of graduates. The implication of these findings is that while a Brexit effect contributed to a ‘realignment on the right’, with the Conservative strategy appealing to people in places that had previously voted for UKIP, this strategy was not without an electoral cost, and appears to have hurt the party in more middle class areas.
How do parents acquire information to support their child with a disability and navigate individualised funding schemes?
Authors: Tracey Danielle , Johnston Christine , Papps Fiona Ann , Mahmic Sylvana
Published: July 2017

With the international trend towards individualised funding packages that allocate funds to individuals to spend on disability support needs, the challenge of ensuring parents can readily access useful information to make decisions becomes paramount. The present research used a two stage, mixed method sequential approach (with 291 parents surveyed and 56 parents participating in focus groups) to determine how parents acquire information to enhance their understanding of their child's disability and determine how to use an individualised funding scheme to benefit their child and family. Parents attested to the importance of person‐to‐person communication and valued information that originated from other parents of a child with a disability, and from professionals who knew their child. Parents also spoke about the limitations of the internet, noting that reliance on the internet could cause confusion as the validity of information could not be assured. Early childhood intervention services emerged as a key instrument in developing the capacity of families to make informed choices. Understanding families'’ perspectives on the utility of information sources is critical and timely as policy‐makers and service providers within the disability sector shift practice to meet the rise of individualised funding internationally.
Practical Ways to Achieve Targets in Diabetes Care 2017
Authors: Carracher Ann M. , Marathe Payal H. , Close Kelly L.
Published: July 2017

Ann M. Carracher, Payal H. Marathe, and Kelly L. Close are of Close Concerns (http://www.closeconcerns.com), a healthcare information company focused exclusively on diabetes and obesity care. Close Concerns publishes Closer Look, a periodical that brings together news and insights in these areas. Each month, the Journal of Diabetes includes this News feature, in which Carracher, Marathe, and Close review the latest developments relevant to researchers and clinicians.
Population genetic evaluations within a co‐distributed taxonomic group: a multi‐species approach to conservation planning
Authors: Anthonysamy W. J. B. , Dreslik M. J. , Douglas M. R. , Thompson D. , Klut G. M. , Kuhns A. R. , Mauger D. , Kirk D. , Glowacki G. A. , Douglas M. E. , Phillips C. A.
Published: July 2017

Multi‐species approaches provide valuable insight for conservation planning, yet most studies focus on only one species while generalizing across taxa. Here, we employed 5–14 microsatellite DNA loci to evaluate population genetic patterns and future vulnerability for a freshwater turtle assemblage distributed across north‐eastern Illinois. Focal species (Emydoidea blandingii, Clemmys guttata, Chrysemys picta and Chelydra serpentina) differ in conservation status as well as in ecological and life‐history traits, which modulate gene flow across heterogeneous landscapes. We hypothesized (1) common and more ubiquitous species (C. picta and C. serpentina) would exhibit higher levels of genetic connectivity compared to species more restricted in distributions and with an elevated conservation status (E. blandingii and C. guttata) and (2) endangered species exhibit a greater loss of future genetic diversity. We found that genetic patterns varied considerably among co‐distributed species. Endangered species had lower levels of genetic diversity and gene flow, more pronounced genetic structure and a higher risk of genetic drift compared to common species, thus supporting our hypotheses. The observed patterns are potentially attributable to life‐history and ecological traits and will affect the long‐term viability of the four species within a modified north‐eastern Illinois landscape. Our study is an important first step for understanding how landscape features and species‐specific traits interact to affect gene flow and population genetic structure within altered landscapes. It also underscores how multi‐species approaches can be informative for conservation actions.
Performance of the Index of Dental Anxiety and Fear in a population‐based sample of adults
Authors: Ibrahim H , Lyons KM , Armfield JM , Thomson WM
Published: July 2017

Background

The Index of Dental Anxiety and Fear (IDAF‐4C) was introduced to overcome the theoretical and practical shortcomings of previously developed dental fear measures. This new scale has not been tested on population samples other than in its country of origin, Australia. The aim of this study was to validate the IDAF‐4C in a different cultural setting and to determine the prevalence and sociodemographic associations of dental anxiety.

Methods

A cross sectional study of a representative New Zealand adult population sample was undertaken. The questionnaire was mailed to 523 randomly‐selected participants. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, oral and general health care, and dental anxiety using both the IDAF‐4C and the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS).

Results

The response rate was 51.8%. The factor structure of the IDAF‐4C was confirmed. The prevalence estimates for high dental anxiety and fear were 18.6% using the DAS and 13.0% using the IDAF‐4C. Mean scores for the IDAF‐4C and DAS were higher among episodic dental visitors and those without a recent dental visit.

Conclusions

The performance of the IDAF‐4C in this New Zealand community sample supports its use for dental anxiety measurement.
Insect community response to switchgrass intercropping and stand age of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations
Authors: Lee Myung‐Bok , Campbell Joshua W. , Miller Darren A. , Martin James A.
Published: July 2017

Intercropping switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) between rows in managed pine stands is a potential, emerging method for biofuel feedstock production in forestry systems. Switchgrass intercropping likely alters vegetation characteristics within a stand by increasing herbaceous vegetation cover and thus influences insect communities positively. However, its effect may vary with stand age, which often determines canopy closure and vegetation structure within a stand: effects of switchgrass intercropping may be stronger in old pine stands with a closed canopy than in young pine stands with an open canopy.

We examined how switchgrass intercropping and stand age, namely 3–4‐year‐old pine (YPine) and 8–9‐year‐old pine (OPine), influenced insect abundance and diversity in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands inMississippi,U.S.A.,duringMay toAugust 2013–2014. We captured insects at 36 locations throughout 12 stands (three stands per each of four treatments; intercropping and non‐intercropping treatment inYPine andOPine stands), using pan traps.

Abundance and family level richness were greater inYPine stands andShannon–Wiener diversity and evenness at family level was higher inOPine stands both years. However, insect abundance and diversity did not differ between intercropping and non‐intercropping treatments. Community composition was also influenced by stand age, which explained > 90% of constrained inertia, rather than switchgrass intercropping.

Our findings suggest that switchgrass intercropping is unlikely to significantly affect insect communities in managed pine stands, whereas stand age, as well as associated successional changes, can be a main factor affecting insects, as often observed in other animal taxa in managed pine landscapes.
Breeding experiments and genome‐wide association analysis elucidate two genetically different forms of non‐syndromic congenital cleft lip and jaw in Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle
Authors: Reinartz S. , Distl O.
Published: July 2017

Non‐syndromic congenital cleft lip and jaw (CLJ) is a condition reported in Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle. The objective of the present study was to perform a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) for 10 CLJ‐affected and 50 unaffected Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle using the bovine Illumina high density bead chip to identify loci for this condition. Phenotypic classification of CLJ was based on a detailed recording of orofacial structures using computed tomography. A breeding experiment among CLJ‐affected Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle and CLJ‐affected Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle with unaffected Holsteins confirmed recessive inheritance and different loci for bilateral or left‐sided versus right‐sided CLJ. The GWAS for the five cases with right‐sided CLJ gave a genome‐wide signal on bovine chromosome (BTA) 29 at 16 Mb. For the four left‐sided and one bilateral CLJ case, a genome‐wide significant association was identified on BTA4 at 32 Mb. Two different loci are very likely to be involved in CLJ in Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle because experimental matings among affected cows and bulls with different types of CLJ did not result in CLJ‐affected progeny, and in addition, two different loci were also found through GWAS and mapped on two different bovine chromosomes. Validation in 346 Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle for the highly associated SNPs on BTA4 and 29 gave ratios of 33/346 (0.095, BTA4) and 6/346 (0.017, BTA29) homozygous mutant genotypes. Further studies should elucidate the responsible mutations underlying the different types of CLJ in Vorderwald × Montbéliarde cattle.
Testing for high‐risk HPV in cervical and tonsillar paraffin‐embedded tissue using a cartridge‐based assay
Authors: Virtanen Elina , Laurila Pekka , Hagström Jaana , Nieminen Pekka , Auvinen Eeva
Published: July 2017

This study evaluates the suitability of Xpert HPV (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) test for cervical and tonsillar formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded (FFPE) tissue samples as compared to the tests currently used in diagnostics. Cervical biopsies and liquid cytology (LC) samples were collected from 48 women attending colposcopy. Biopsies were processed for histology and tested for hrHPV using Xpert HPV. LC samples were tested using Xpert and Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2; Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) tests. Also 29 archived tonsillar carcinoma samples were tested using Xpert, and the results were compared with histology and immunohistochemical p16INK4a (p16) staining. Among valid cervical LC samples 46.8% were hrHPV positive using Xpert test and 55.3% with HC2. The sensitivity of Xpert was 84.6% as compared to HC2, and overall test concordance was 91.5%. Test concordance between valid Xpert results from biopsies and LC samples was 84.6%. Among valid tonsillar samples 70.4% were hrHPV positive, and concordance of 96.3% was found between Xpert and p16 staining. To conclude, Xpert HPV test cartridge provides a convenient platform to test individual samples, including FFPE samples. Further studies are needed to establish whether test sensitivity is sufficient to reliably differentiate between hrHPV positive and hrHPV negative head and neck carcinomas.
No associations established between single nucleotide polymorphisms in human Toll‐like receptor 2 and Toll‐interacting protein and Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections
Authors: Smeland Tom Eirik , Müller Fredrik , Blomfeldt Anita , Stavem Knut , Aamot Hege Vangstein
Published: July 2017

Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections (SABSI) are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR2) and Toll‐interacting protein (TOLLIP) are important in recognition and regulation of human innate immunity response to S. aureus. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TLR2 and TOLLIP encoding genes have been associated with disease, including BSI. The aim of this study was to examine potential associations between a selection of SNPs in the genes encoding TLR2 and TOLLIP, and predisposition, severity, and outcome of SABSI. All patients ≥18 years of age with at least one S. aureus positive blood culture collected from March 2011 through February 2014 at Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway, were considered for inclusion. Patients attending elective orthopaedic surgery (total hip and knee replacements, lumbar surgery) served as a control group. The TLR2 Arg753Gln, TLR2 Pro631His, TOLLIP rs5743942, and rs5743867 polymorphisms were analysed using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays. A total of 209 SABSI patients and 295 controls were included. The TLR2 Arg753Gln and TLR2 Pro631His polymorphisms were infrequent with no homozygotes and <10% heterozygotes. The included TLR2 and TOLLIP polymorphisms were not associated with susceptibility to SABSI, severity, 30‐day all‐cause mortality, or SABSI caused by the clonal complex 30 (CC30) genotype.
Review article: the many potential roles of intestinal serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamine, 5‐HT) signalling in inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: Coates M. D. , Tekin I. , Vrana K. E. , Mawe G. M.
Published: July 2017

Background

Serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamine, 5‐HT) is an important mediator of every major gut‐related function. Recent investigations also suggest that 5‐HT can influence the development and severity of inflammation within the gut, particularly in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Aim

To review the roles that the intestinal serotonin signalling system plays in gut function, with a specific focus on IBD.

Methods

We reviewed manuscripts from 1952 to 2017 that investigated and discussed roles for 5‐HT signalling in gastrointestinal function and IBD, as well as the influence of inflammation on 5‐HT signalling elements within the gut.

Results

Inflammation appears to affect every major element of intestinal 5‐HT signalling, including 5‐HT synthesis, release, receptor expression and reuptake capacity. Importantly, many studies (most utilising animal models) also demonstrate that modulation of selective serotonergic receptors (via agonism of 5‐HT4R and antagonism of 5‐HT3R) or 5‐HT signal termination (via serotonin reuptake inhibitors) can alter the likelihood and severity of intestinal inflammation and/or its complicating symptoms. However, there are few human studies that have studied these relationships in a targeted manner.

Conclusions

Insights discussed in this review have strong potential to lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic tools to improve the management of IBD and other related disorders. Specifically, strategies that focus on modifying the activity of selective serotonin receptors and reuptake transporters in the gut could be effective for controlling disease activity and/or its associated symptoms. Further studies in humans are required, however, to more completely understand the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the roles of 5‐HT in this setting.
Short‐term acipimox treatment is associated with decreased cardiac parasympathetic modulation
Authors: Vestergaard Esben Thyssen , Cichosz Simon Lebech , Møller Niels , Jørgensen Jens Otto Lunde , Fleischer Jesper
Published: July 2017

Aims

The nicotinic acid analogue acipimox is an antilipolytic agent, which acutely inhibits lipolysis and suppresses systemic levels of free fatty acids (FFA) and improves insulin sensitivity in obese patients. These effects of acipimox are transient due to a counter‐regulatory increase in growth hormone levels that reverse the antilipolytic effect of acipimox. Hypopituitary patients constitute a viable model to study the growth hormone‐independent effects of acipimox and the impact of isolated changes in FFA concentrations and insulin sensitivity on parasympathetic nervous activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate if pharmacological antilipolysis with acipimox acutely affects autonomic tone.

Methods

We studied heart rate variability as a measure of autonomic tone in eight hypopituitary men with and without acipimox treatment. The standard deviation of normal‐to‐normal intervals, root mean square of successive differences and high frequency were measured as heart rate variability parameters. The patients were studied in the basal and insulin‐stimulated state with clamped plasma glucose on two occasions in a randomized, double‐blind and placebo‐controlled crossover study.

Results

Plasma glucose (4.7 vs. 4.9 mmol l–1, P = 0.02) and serum FFA (0.05 vs. 0.41 mmol l–1, P < 0.001) were significantly decreased during acipimox treatment. Acipimox had an inhibitory effect on standard deviation of normal‐to‐normal intervals (41.3 vs. 45.3 ms, P = 0.01), root mean square of successive differences (23.2 vs. 11 ms, P = 0.03) and high frequency (3.79 vs 3.60 ln (ms2), P = 0.02) and these effects were reversed during clamping.

Conclusions

Short‐term inhibition of lipolysis by acipimox treatment lowered circulating FFA levels, improved insulin sensitivity, and was accompanied by reduced parasympathetic tone. The effect of acipimox on the parasympathetic modulation was reversed by hyperinsulinaemia.
Formula supplementation in hospital and subsequent feeding at discharge among women who intended to exclusively breastfeed: An administrative data retrospective cohort study
Authors: Bentley Jason P. , Nassar Natasha , Porter Maree , de Vroome Michelle , Yip Elizabeth , Ampt Amanda J.
Published: July 2017

Background

Among women who intend to exclusively breastfeed, it is important to identify mothers and their infants who have a greater risk of formula supplementation in hospital, and are unlikely to recover exclusive breastfeeding at discharge. We investigated factors associated with in‐hospital formula feeding among healthy term infants born to women who intended to exclusively breastfeed, and among this group, predictors of infant feeding at discharge.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study utilizing routinely collected clinical data for women who intended to exclusively breastfeed and gave birth to healthy term infants in five hospitals in New South Wales, Australia, 2010‐2013. Robust Poisson regression was used to obtain adjusted relative risks (aRR) for the associations between formula feeding in hospital, feeding at discharge, and associated factors.

Results

Of 24 713 mother‐infant dyads in the study population, 16.5% received formula in hospital. After adjustment, the strongest predictors of formula supplementation were breastfeeding difficulties (aRR 2.90 [95% confidence interval {CI} 2.74‐3.07]), Asian born mother (aRR 2.07 [95% CI 1.92‐2.23]), and neonatal conditions (aRR 2.00 [95% CI 1.89‐2.13]). Among infants who received formula (n=3998), 49.3% were fully breastfeeding at discharge, 33.1% partially breastfeeding, and 17.5% formula‐only feeding. Compared with formula‐only feeding, special care nursery admission (aRR 1.23 [95% CI 1.17‐1.30]) and ≥1 neonatal conditions (compared with none) were most strongly associated with fully breastfeeding at discharge (aRR 1.21 [95% CI 1.16‐2.16]).

Conclusion

Women and their infants who receive formula in hospital need additional support to attain exclusive breastfeeding by hospital discharge. Such support is especially needed for younger women, smokers, and women with breastfeeding difficulties.