bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Climate vulnerability as a catalyst for early stadium replacement
Authors: Kellison Timothy , Orr Madeleine
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Severe hazards associated with climate change are threatening human settlements, thereby requiring global cities to implement comprehensive climate adaptation strategies. For sports organizations, adaptive measures may include designing and constructing new stadiums. In this study, the authors explore climate change as a vehicle for urban transformation, particularly as it relates to the replacement of existing stadiums with new, more sustainable and resilient venues.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a collective case study approach focusing on three recent cases of stadium replacement: Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas; Oakland Ballpark in Oakland, California; and Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. These cases were selected because an official representative of each team made explicit references to some form of climate adaptation, though each ballpark faces a distinctive climate-related threat.

Findings

Each of the cases illustrates the various ways in which climate vulnerability may be deployed by teams and policymakers to replace professional sports stadiums. Although all three examples involved the replacement of an existing ballpark, only in the Texas case was climate adaptation openly cited as the primary reason for stadium replacement. Still, ballpark replacement plans in Oakland and Miami included significant and costly design features to protect the stadiums from extreme weather events.

Originality/value

This study applies the concept of climate vulnerability to illustrate a potential strategy to justify stadium replacement. As cities and metropolitan regions continue to grapple with the grand challenge of climate change, the associated vulnerability of large public assembly facilities such as major sports stadiums – particularly those prominently situated in urban centers – can no longer be ignored.
The role of co-creation experience in engaging customers with service brands
Authors: Hussain Khalid , Jing Fengjie , Junaid Muhammad , Zaman Qamar Uz , Shi Huayu
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the outcomes of customers’ co-creation experience in a realistic and routinely performed co-creation setting, a restaurant. To fulfill this purpose, the current study links the branding literature to hospitality research and offers a novel framework by incorporating customers’ co-creation experience, customer brand engagement, emotional brand attachment and customer satisfaction in an integrated research model.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 421 diners at Chinese hotpot restaurants via a self-administered questionnaire. The reliability and convergent and discriminant validities were established through confirmatory factor analysis, and then hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling.

Findings

This study demonstrates that customers’ co-creation experience with a restaurant brand positively impacts customer brand engagement, emotional brand attachment and customer satisfaction. In addition, current study examines these relational paths at the dimensional level by taking the co-creation experience and customer brand engagement as multidimensional constructs. The resulting in-depth investigation reveals that the hedonic, social and economic experience dimensions of co-creation experience positively influence customer satisfaction, emotional brand attachment and customer brand engagement’s buying, referring, influencing and feedback dimensions.

Practical implications

This study helps relationship and brand managers better understand customer experience in co-creation settings and paves the way for managers to devise engagement strategies.

Originality/value

The current study marks an initial attempt to delineate the outcomes of customers’ co-creation experience in a realistic co-creation setting. Furthermore, the study is first of its kind that investigates the relationship of co-creation experience and customer brand engagement at the dimensional level.
Ethical leadership and newcomer adjustment: examining a moderated mediation model
Authors: Kang Fei , Zhang Han
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Substantial research has examined the pivotal role of ethical leadership in generating employee outcomes. To date, though, little is known about the relationship between ethical leadership and newcomers' adjustment. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this gap by examining the effect of ethical leadership on newcomers' adjustment. In doing so, the authors highlighted positive emotions of newcomers as a mediating mechanism that explains the aforementioned association.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were drawn from a two-wave sample of 271 newcomers. The hypotheses were tested by using hierarchical regression analyses and Hayes' PROCESS macro.

Findings

The results demonstrated that ethical leadership affects employees' positive emotions which, in turn, positively relates to newcomers' adjustment. Additionally, newcomers' social comparison orientation moderated the effect of ethical leadership on newcomers' positive emotions.

Research limitations/implications

The research uses a correlational research design, making it difficult to derive causal inferences from the data. Moreover, the data we obtained on the variables were all based on employees' self-reports, which might inflate the relationship between some of the variables.

Originality/value

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that illustrates the role of ethical leadership in enhancing both newcomers’ positive emotions and adjustment.
Loyalty layers, expectations and the role of knowledge
Authors: Quach Sara , Thaichon Park , Roberts Robin E. , Weaven Scott
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Adopting exchange theory and social orientation of loyalty, this research investigates the antecedents of customer loyalty consisting of (1) loyalty layers (i.e. personal loyalty, relationship with consumption communities and local network effects) and (2) loyalty expectations (i.e. service quality, reciprocity and firm innovativeness) and how these relationships are moderated by customer knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 4,208 customers in the mobile services industry using mall intercept technique.

Findings

The findings reveal that loyalty layers, including personal loyalty and relationship with consumption communities, can influence customers' expectations of service providers. The degree to which the firm is able to handle and meet customers' expectations over time would result in the strength of customer loyalty. Customer expectations also mediate the relationships between different loyalty layers and customer loyalty. In addition, customer knowledge significantly moderates the effects of loyalty layers and expectations on both attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty.

Originality/value

The study extends the current body of knowledge by incorporating a sociological perspective to examine the relationships between loyalty layers and customer expectations and customer loyalty. This research enables service operators to establish strategies to sustain customer loyalty across different customer segments with various levels of knowledge.
Help or resistance? Product market competition and water information disclosure: evidence from China
Authors: Zhou Zhifang , Zhang Tao , Chen Jiachun , Zeng Huixiang , Chen Xiaohong
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This paper investigates the relationship between product market competition and firms’ water information disclosure and how firms’ ownership type can affect this relationship in China, offering new insights into corporate water management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigated 303 Chinese listed companies in highly water-sensitive industries to examine how product market competition influences corporate water information disclosure by subdividing the product market competition into market competition at the firm level and the industry competition intensity at the industry level.

Findings

The results show that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between industry competition and water information disclosure; enterprises with the highest market power in a mildly competitive industry are more willing to voluntarily disclose water information and play an industry benchmarking role. Further tests demonstrate that the relationship between industry competition intensity and water information disclosure is stronger for state-owned enterprises than for private enterprises.

Research limitations/implications

The current water resources regulations in China are relatively lax and the water risk awareness of firms is weak, which may affect the applicability of the results. In addition, water information disclosure research is a relatively new field and a quantitative index system for water information disclosure is still in the exploratory stage. Further developments, including the selection, definition and measuring methods of a water index are required.

Practical implications

The authors developed a new direction of enterprise water management activities from the perspective of market competition. Based on the market conditions in China, the authors also investigated the impact of the ownership type of the enterprises on the relationship between market competition and water information disclosure.

Social implications

The authors suggested that the government should improve laws and regulations and adopt incentive mechanisms to encourage enterprises to implement water resource management. In addition, the government should encourage high market status enterprises to actively fulfill their environmental responsibilities so that the entire industry is encouraged to follow suit.

Originality/value

This study represents an important development in the field of environmental accounting and is the first research on corporate water information disclosure; it also extends the research on the influence mechanisms of market competition on the environmental management practices of enterprises.
Infrastructures éducatives et achèvement des études en contexte camerounais de décentralisation
Authors: Fouelefack Perrier Carmelle , Nembot Ndeffo Luc , Maiga Windkouni Haoua Eugenie
Published: September 2020

The objective of the article is to measure the impact in 2014 of school infrastructures on school completion in Cameroon's rural milieu. They are provided between 2002 and 2012 through a participatory development model that the National Community‐Driven Development Programme (NCDDP) is implementing in local governments to fight against school drop‐out, a major obstacle to education‐for‐all in Cameroon. Applying a triple difference to data from The fourth Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM4), it emerges that with a classroom built or equipped, the number of years of completed schooling by children aged 2 to 6 in 2004 has increased on average by 0.004 compared to that of those aged 12 to 16 in 2004 who dropped out of school in the same year. This leads to recommendations to consolidate the participatory development model to ensure better results from the decentralization of education.
Resource Extraction, Economic Growth, and the Climate Dilemma in Canada and Australia
Authors: MacDonald Connor , Sloman Peter
Published: September 2020

Canada and Australia are two of the economic success stories of the last thirty years, enjoying rapid growth during the 1990s and 2000s and (unlike the UK and US) escaping the worst effects of the 2008 financial crisis. In both countries, however, economic growth has become highly dependent on commodities extraction, leaving them vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices, and imposing political constraints on tackling climate change. This article explores the economic and political challenges which the role of the natural resource sector has posed in Australia and Canada in recent years, and examines the contrasting ways in which Scott Morrison and Justin Trudeau’s governments deployed the climate issue in the two countries’ 2019 federal elections.
The Italian State, its Regions and the Virus
Authors: Rubinelli Lucia
Published: September 2020

Italian politics has always been characterised by deep regional divides. While the north and centre are well integrated into the European economy, southern regions struggle to keep up their productivity and employment levels. Although this divide has a long history, the Covid‐19 crisis is set to worsen the inequality separating the two parts of the country. This article looks at how the coronavirus pandemic immediately assumed a regional dimension, which was reflected not only in the geography of the contagion, but also in how the central state struggled to manage the contrasting demands coming from northern and southern regions. Although the north has been the epicentre of the health crisis, the south is set to pay the highest economic and social price for the lockdown measures. The conclusion suggests that, while the Covid crisis has confirmed the salience of regional divides for Italian politics, it might also strengthen autonomist forces.
Sustaining What is Valuable: Contours of an Educational Language About Values
Authors: Bergdahl Lovisa , Langmann Elisabet
Published: September 2020

Making liberal democratic values meaningful to study in schools is a more complex issue than being a question of turning values into explicit educational goals (Schleicher) or of curing a motivational deficit (Critchley). Since values seem to play an important role in the practices and commitments of people's everyday lives, values are calling for a continual refinement of our words in relation to the world (Laverty). The purpose of this article is to offer contours of an educational language about values that acknowledges this refinement and the pedagogical work that teachers might do—by way of language—in order to sustain the living-on of what is valued and valuable to us as individuals and as societies. To this end, the article is divided into two parts. The first part takes the temperature of the current political and educational debates, offering thereby a sociopolitical background to the need of a renewed language about values. Drawing on ordinary language philosophy (Moi, Murdoch and Forsberg) and the idea that there is an intimate relationship between how we look at the world (attention) and the words we use in describing it (language). The second part of the article places the emergence of values in a particular time in history before suggesting a more existential vocabulary about values for the purpose of teaching values in schools.
Association of smoke‐free laws with preterm or low birth weight deliveries—A multistate analysis
Authors: Ji Xu , Cox Shanna , Grosse Scott D. , Barfield Wanda D. , Armour Brian S. , Courtney‐Long Elizabeth A. , Li Rui
Published: September 2020

Objective

To assess the association between the change in statewide smoke‐free laws and the rate of preterm or low birth weight delivery hospitalizations.

Data Source

2002‐2013 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases.

Study Design

Quasi‐experimental difference‐in‐differences design. We used multivariate logistic models to estimate the association between the change in state smoke‐free laws and preterm or low birth weight delivery hospitalizations. The analyses were also stratified by maternal race/ethnicity to examine the differential effects by racial/ethnic groups.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Delivery hospitalizations among women aged 15‐49 years were extracted using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, and Diagnosis‐Related Group codes.

Principal Findings

Non‐Hispanic black mothers had a higher rate of preterm or low birth weight delivery hospitalization than other racial/ethnic groups. Overall, there was no association between the change in smoke‐free laws and preterm or low birth weight delivery rate. Among non‐Hispanic black mothers, the change in statewide smoke‐free laws was associated with a 0.9‐1.9 percentage point (P < .05) reduction in preterm or low birth weight delivery rate beginning in the third year after the laws took effect. There was no association among non‐Hispanic white mothers. A decline in the black‐white disparity of 0.6‐1.6 percentage points (P < .05) in preterm or low birth weight delivery rates was associated with the change in state smoke‐free laws.

Conclusion

The change in state smoke‐free laws was associated with a reduction in racial/ethnic disparities in preterm or low birth weight delivery hospitalizations in selected US states.
Untangling ITS2 genotypes of algal symbionts in zooxanthellate corals
Authors: Shi Tuo , Niu Gaofeng , Kvitt Hagit , Zheng Xinqing , Qin Qiaoyun , Sun Danye , Ji Zhiliang , Tchernov Dan
Published: September 2020

Collectively called zooxanthellae, photosynthetic dinoflagellates in the family Symbiodiniaceae are typical endosymbionts that unequivocally mediate coral responses to environmental changes. Symbiodiniaceae are genetically diverse, encompassing at least nine phylogenetically distinct genera (clades A–I). The ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region is commonly utilized for determining Symbiodiniaceae diversity within clades. However, ITS2 is often inadvertently interpreted together with the tailing part of the ribosomal RNA genes (5.8S and 28S or equivalent), leading to unresolved taxonomy and equivocal annotations. To overcome this hurdle, we mined in GenBank and expert reference databases for ITS2 sequences of Symbiodiniaceae having explicit boundaries with adjacent rRNAs. We profiled a Hidden Markov Model of the ITS2‐proximal 5.8S‐28S rRNA interaction, which was shown to facilitate the delimitation of Symbiodiniaceae ITS2 from GenBank, while considerably reducing sequence ambiguity and redundancy in reference databases. The delineation of ITS2 sequences unveiled intra‐clade sequence diversity and inter‐clade secondary structure conservation. We compiled the clean data into a non‐redundant database that archives the largest number of Symbiodiniaceae ITS2 sequences known to date with definite genotype/subclade representations and well‐defined secondary structures. This database provides a fundamental reference catalog for consistent and precise genotyping of Symbiodiniaceae and a tool for automated annotation of user‐supplied sequences.
A discovery of screening markers for rheumatoid arthritis by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry: A metabolomic approach
Authors: Lee Yoo‐Jin , Mun Sora , Lee You‐Rim , Lee Seungyeon , Kwon Sohyen , Kim Doojin , Lim Mi‐Kyoung , Kang Hee‐Gyoo , Lee Jiyeong
Published: September 2020

Aim

This study aimed to discover serum metabolite biomarkers for potential use in screening for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

The sera from 43 healthy controls (HCs) and 49 RA patients were globally analyzed using high‐performance liquid chromatography‐ tandem mass spectrometry. Molecular features (MFs) from samples were analyzed using volcano plots, partial least squares discriminant analysis, and variable importance in projection scores to select candidates. The spectra of candidate MFs were matched with the METLIN database. We confirmed the association between candidates and RA and analyzed the receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results

We selected a total of 57 candidate MFs that had a fold change ≥1.5, P value ≤.05, and over 80% of frequency. Among them, 18 MFs were identified as metabolites with the METLIN database. Six metabolites (dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, androsterone sulfate, γ‐linolenic acid, 9[E],11[E]‐conjugated linoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and docosapentaenoic acid [22n‐3]) out of the 18 were associated with mechanisms of RA and were selected as final candidates. ROC curve analysis revealed their area under the curve (AUC) values were all above 0.75 and the combined AUC of the six candidates was 0.89.

Conclusion

Using six candidates as a marker set showed potential in distinguishing RA patients from HCs, based on high AUC values. Therefore, we propose that a marker set of these six candidates has potential clinical application in RA screening.
The Diagnostic Accuracy of Delayed Development in Adolescents
Authors: Nogueira Isadora Lorenna Alves , Tinôco Jéssica Dantas de Sá , Fernandes Maria Isabel da Conceição Dias , Delgado Milena Freire , Lisboa Isabel Neves Duarte , Lopes Marcos Venícius de Oliveira , Lira Ana Luisa Brandão de Carvalho
Published: September 2020

INTRODUCTION

The early identification of developmental delay in adolescents by health professionals is relevant for a good prognosis. However, the clinical indicators of development delay are unclear in nursing science.

PURPOSE

To analyze the clinical indicators of delayed development in school adolescents.

METHODS

A diagnostic accuracy study that investigated delayed development among 385 adolescents in public schools between July and September of 2017. The accuracy measures were analyzed using a latent class analysis based on sensitivity and specificity values.

FINDINGS

The delayed development is present in 18.26% of school adolescents. The best accuracy values were as follows: low self‐esteem (0.9838), dissatisfaction with own image (0.8400), impaired daily activities (0.9815), internalization behavior (0.8304), outsourcing behavior (0.6367), eating disorders (1.0000), emotional insecurity (0.7093), dependent behavior (0.9836), and altered sexual maturation (0.6085).

CONCLUSION

Thus, this set of nine clinical indicators can be used by nurse practitioners to confirm delayed development in school adolescents.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

This research contributes by providing accurate clinical indicators of delayed development in adolescents. Thus, nurses should recognize delayed development in adolescents through accurate clinical indicators and propose nursing interventions that have positive health results.
Perceived Substance Use Norms Among Jailed Women with Alcohol Use Disorders
Authors: Timko Christine , Chatav Schonbrun Yael , Anderson Bradley , Johnson Jennifer E. , Stein Michael
Published: September 2020

Background

Social norms regarding substance use predict substance use behaviors. In a sample of jailed women with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), we compared (i) jailed women’s perceptions of the US women population’s rates of substance use, with US women’s actual rates of substance use; (ii) jailed women’s perceived rates of substance use by US women, with their perceptions of use by their own friends; and (iii) US women’s actual rates of substance use, with observed sample substance use rates.

Methods

Participants were 205 jailed women who met criteria for an AUD. We used the 1‐sample or dependent‐samples t‐test to make the comparisons.

Results

Participants overestimated US women’s rates of substance use and incarceration rates. They perceived their friends’ substance use as less common than US women’s. The jailed women reported higher rates of their own substance use than actual rates by US women. In addition, jailed women self‐reported less cannabis use, but more alcohol and cocaine use and cigarette smoking, than they perceived their friends to have used. The more women perceived their friends as drinking, the less they had a goal to drink less or abstain from drinking postincarceration; in contrast, perceptions of US women’s drinking were not related to personal goals for drinking.

Conclusions

Interventions that correct misperceptions about substance use norms may have utility for jailed women with AUDs.
Why introducing a parasitoid of Paropsis charybdis Stål, 1860 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larvae is expected to enhance biological control of this Eucalyptus pest in New Zealand
Authors: Pugh Andrew R , Withers Toni M , Peters Elise M , Allen Geoff R , Phillips Craig B
Published: September 2020

Paropsis charybdis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has been a major pest of Eucalyptus spp. since invading New Zealand from Australia over 100 years ago. Here, we report on the phenology, egg parasitism and defoliation levels of P. charybdis at two Eucalyptus nitens plantations in the central North Island of New Zealand and assess the establishment prospects and potential impact of a new biological control agent, the larval parasitoid Eadya daenerys. Field monitoring found that 90–100% of first generation P. charybdis eggs emerged, showing that the existing egg parasitoids Enoggera nassaui (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Neopolycystus insectifurax (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) are ineffective at controlling this generation. Further field monitoring revealed effective control of second generation eggs by E. nassaui and N. insectifurax despite the presence of Baeoanusia albifunicle (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), a hyperparasitoid of E. nassaui. Phenology data show that first generation P. charybdis larvae will likely be synchronous with the adult emergence of E. daenerys (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) the new larval endoparasitoid proposed to be introduced from Australia. Climate matching predicts E. daenerys could establish in all areas of New Zealand where P. charybdisimpacted Eucalyptus spp. plantations are grown. The addition of a larval endoparasitoid could significantly contribute to the suppression of P. charybdis by decreasing first generation larval survival.
Real‐world efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Experience of a tertiary Asian Center
Authors: Ng Kennedy Yao Yi , Wong Lawrence Wen Jun , Ang Andrea Jing Shi , Tan Sze Huey , Choo Su Pin , Tai David Wai‐Meng , Lee Joycelyn Jie Xin
Published: September 2020

Introduction

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) use in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing. Real‐world data on efficacy and safety, however, are lacking.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective review of all patients with advanced HCC seen at our center who received at least one dose of an ICI between May 2015 and June 2018. Data cutoff was December 31, 2018. Responses were evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 criteria.

Results

Of 114 patients, 88.6% were male. Median age was 66 years, 96.5% had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group of 0–1. 62.3% received monotherapy ICI. 18.4% of patients had Child‐Pugh (CP) B disease on initiation of ICI, and 69.3% had an ALBI grade of 2. 54.4% were known to have chronic hepatitis B (HBV) or were previously infected, and 11.4% had hepatitis C. Baseline HBV viral load (VL) ranged from undetectable to 8 210 000 IU/mL. 35.1% received prior systemic treatment. 28.9% received prior sorafenib. Over a median follow‐up duration of 13.8 months (10.4–15.8), ORR was 18.4%, and DCR was 50.9%. Median progression‐free survival was 2.7 months (1.3–4.0), and median overall survival (OS) was 13.9 months (6.9–16.2). Thirty‐one patients (27.2%) received further systemic therapy after ICI discontinuation. On multivariable analyses, lower albumin level, higher bilirubin level, diuretic‐refractory ascites, and HBV‐associated HCC were associated with poorer OS. 69.3% of patients experienced adverse events (AE) of any grade, 14.9% of these being grade 3–4. No grade 5 AE were observed. Use of antiviral therapy was associated with a lower risk of grade 3 or above hepatic AEs (P = 0.048), whereas high baseline HBV VL was not associated with an increased risk of reactivation or hepatic AE.

Discussion

We have demonstrated that the real‐world performance of ICIs in advanced HCC appears comparable to that observed in clinical trials for HCC patients with CP A cirrhosis. While prognosis of patients with advanced HCC and CP B cirrhosis remains poor even with ICI, usage of ICI is likely to be safe. Patients with HBV with a baseline HBV VL ≥100 IU/mL may receive ICI safely, especially if they are on antiviral treatment.
The emerging role of exosomes as novel therapeutics: Biology, technologies, clinical applications, and the next
Authors: Song Yonghee , Kim Youngeun , Ha Sunhyung , Sheller‐Miller Samantha , Yoo Jaekwang , Choi Chulhee , Park Cheol Hyoung
Published: September 2020

The extracellular vesicles (EVs) research area has grown rapidly because of their pivotal roles in intercellular communications and maintaining homeostasis of individual organism. As a subtype of EVs, exosomes are made via unique biogenesis pathway and exhibit disparate functional and phenotypic characteristics. Functionally, exosomes transfer biological messages from donor cell to recipient cell, which makes exosomes as a novel therapeutic platform delivering therapeutic materials to the target tissue/cell. Currently, both academia and industry try to develop exosome platform‐based therapeutics for disease management, some of which are already in clinical trials. In this review, we will discuss focusing on therapeutic values of exosomes, recent advances in therapeutic exosome platform development, and late development of exosome therapeutics in diverse therapeutic areas.
Improving Mental Health and Well‐Being through Informal Mindfulness Practices: An Intervention Study
Authors: Shankland Rebecca , Tessier Damien , Strub Lionel , Gauchet Aurélie , Baeyens Céline
Published: September 2020

Background

Mindfulness‐based programs have been shown to be effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms, and enhancing well‐being. However, it remains unclear whether longer formal mindfulness practices are necessary to obtain such results. We therefore aimed to assess the effectiveness of a program (FOVEA, 8 weeks, 2h/week) which was only based on brief and informal practices.

Methods

Using a switching replication design, participants (N = 139) were assigned to a FOVEA or a wait‐list group, and completed the following self‐report questionnaires online at three time points: perceived stress, anxiety, depression, satisfaction with life (dependent variables), and mindfulness (mediating variable). They also completed a daily practice diary.

Results

Relative to the wait‐list group, FOVEA participants showed significantly reduced perceived stress, anxiety, and depression, and increased satisfaction with life. These changes were completely mediated by increased mindfulness, and were maintained 2.5 months after the end of the program. The effect sizes were moderate to large.

Conclusions

These results underline the potential benefits of a mindfulness informal practices program for the general population. This type of program could constitute a first step towards more formal practices once the motivation to practice has been enhanced by the perceived benefits of brief practices.
Heterogeneous Risk Perception amid the Outbreak of COVID‐19 in China: Implications for Economic Confidence
Authors: Yang Zhixu , Xin Ziqiang
Published: September 2020

Background

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak has elicited concerns about public fear and economic fallout. The current study takes a person‐oriented approach to identify the unique response patterns that underlie three risk perception components (likelihood, severity, and protection efficacy) of COVID‐19, with information sources as precursors and economic confidence as outcomes.

Methods

A total of 1,074 Chinese citizens participated in a national online survey in early February 2020.

Results

A latent profile analysis showed that participants exhibited one of three classes: Risk Neutrals (49.9%; moderate in all components), Risk Deniers (14.3%; low likelihood, low severity, and high protection efficacy), or Risk Exaggerators (35.8%; high likelihood, high severity, and low protection efficacy). Subsequent analyses showed that reliance on unofficial sources (gossip and news spread among friends; WeChat) positively correlated with membership in the Risk Exaggerators class. In turn, belonging in the Risk Exaggerators class correlated with the lowest short‐term (but not long‐term) economic confidence.

Conclusions

This study suggests that exploring the heterogeneity of the public risk perception might help the government to design differentiated risk communication strategies during the COVID‐19 outbreak.
Robotic‐assisted total gastrectomy in a patient with gastric cancer associated with situs inversus totalis: With video
Authors: Yoshimoto Toshiaki , Yoshikawa Kozo , Tokunaga Takuya , Nishi Masaaki , Takasu Chie , Kashihara Hideya , Nakasu Chiharu , Shimada Mitsuo
Published: September 2020

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) refers to an inverted position of the major visceral organ as a “mirror image” of the regular location. We present a video of a robotic‐assisted total gastrectomy in a 84‐year‐old man with SIT. The patient was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer in the U region. The port placement was done as mirror images of our usual settings. Lymph node dissection was performed with a completely reverse approach to the usual procedure. After total gastrectomy, an intracorporal esophagojejunostomy was performed by circular method. All procedures were performed safely with no intraoperative complications and the patient was discharged uneventfully. Pathological diagnosis confirmed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and the depth of invasion was to the subserosa; there were five metastatic lymph nodes. In patients who have gastric cancer with SIT, a robotic‐assisted total gastrectomy can be performed safely without surgical complication. Robots are useful for performing a total gastrectomy in SIT.
Laparoscopic ureterolithotomy for large proximal ureteric stones: Surgical technique, outcomes and literature review
Authors: Abdel Raheem Ali , Alowidah Ibrahim , Hagras Ayman , Gameel Tarek , Ghaith Ahmed , Elghiaty Ahmed , Althakafi Sultan , Al‐Mousa Mohammed , Alturki Mohammed
Published: September 2020

Introduction

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic ureterolithotomy (LPU) for the treatment of large proximal ureteric stone.

Methods

A retrospective multicenter analysis for patients with solitary impacted proximal ureteric stone ≥15 mm who underwent LPU from 2016 to 2019 was performed. Primary outcome was to estimate the stone‐free rate (SFR). SFR was defined as absence of residual stones on postoperative computed tomography scan. Secondary outcome was to assess the perioperative outcomes, as well as to review literature data of randomized controlled trials and meta‐analyses comparing LPU to other treatment options.

Results

Forty‐four patients were included in our study. Mean stone size was 22.9 ± 5.8 mm and median follow‐up was 14 months. Three patients had previous abdominal surgery, one patient had severe degree of scoliosis and six patients failed primary therapy. All stones were extracted successfully (SFR = 100%) without need of auxiliary treatments. Mean operative time and estimated blood loss were 86.6 ± 14.1 minutes. and 11.9 ± 14.7 mL, respectively. No intraoperative complications or conversion to open surgery were reported. No major postoperative complications (≥grade 3) were reported. Mean length of hospital stay was 2 ± 0.8 days.

Conclusions

For treatment of large ureteric stones, our study showed that LPU achieves 100% stone‐free status. When performed by well‐trained laparoscopic surgeons, it is safe and has no major perioperative complications. According to our results and literature data, when counseling patients with large impacted proximal ureteral stones, LPU should be advised as the procedure that has the higher SFR, lower auxiliary treatments, and comparable complication rates to other treatments.
Nonlinear relationships between inflation, output growth and uncertainty in India: New evidence from a bivariate threshold model
Authors: Chowdhury Kushal Banik , Sarkar Kaustav Kanti , Kundu Srikanta
Published: September 2020

This study examines the relationships between inflation, output growth and their uncertainties for India over the period from 1971 to 2015. The paper extends the existing empirical literature by employing a regime switching model to understand the dynamics of the above linkages in different inflation and output growth regimes of India. Our estimated results indicate that inflation is a positive determinant of output growth in the low‐growth regime. Furthermore, output growth significantly boosts inflation during low‐inflation regime. Thus in a situation, when both inflation and output growth are low, moderate inflation is helpful to growth as well as rise in growth feeds back into inflation. On the other hand, during high‐inflation regime, nominal uncertainty significantly reduces inflation, thus providing evidence in support of the price “stabilization” motive of the monetary authority.
(±)VK4‐40, a novel dopamine D3 receptor partial agonist, attenuates cocaine reward and relapse in rodents
Authors: Jordan Chloe J. , He Yi , Bi Guo‐Hua , You Zhi‐Bing , Cao Jianjing , Xi Zheng‐Xiong , Newman Amy Hauck
Published: September 2020

Background and Purpose

Despite widespread abuse of cocaine, there are no approved treatments for cocaine use disorder. Chronic cocaine use is associated with up‐regulated dopamine D3 receptor expression in the brain. Therefore, most D3‐based medication development has focused on D3 antagonists. However, D3 antagonists do not attenuate cocaine intake under “easy” self‐administration conditions, when response requirements are low. We evaluated a novel, highly selective and metabolically stable D3 partial agonist, (±)VK4‐40, for its efficacy in reducing cocaine intake and relapse to drug seeking.

Experimental Approach

The impact of (±)VK4‐40 on cocaine intake and relapse was evaluated using intravenous self‐administration procedures under a fixed‐ratio 2 reinforcement schedule and cocaine‐primed reinstatement conditions in rats. Optogenetic brain‐stimulation reward procedures were used to evaluate the interaction of (±)VK4‐40 and cocaine in the mesolimbic dopamine system in mice. Sucrose self‐administration in rats and a conditioned place preference paradigm in mice were used to evaluate the abuse potential of (±)VK4‐40 alone and other unwanted effects.

Key Results

(±)VK4‐40 dose‐dependently reduced cocaine self‐administration and cocaine‐primed reinstatement of drug‐seeking behaviour. (±)VK4‐40 also inhibited cocaine‐enhanced brain‐stimulation reward caused by optogenetic stimulation of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area. (±)VK4‐40 alone decreased brain‐stimulation reward but produced neither conditioned place preference nor place aversion. This new D3 partial agonist also failed to alter oral sucrose self‐administration.

Conclusion and Implications

The novel D3 partial agonist, (±)VK4‐40 attenuates cocaine reward and relapse in rodents, without significant unwanted effects. These findings support further investigation of D3 partial agonists as putative treatments for cocaine use disorder.
Biological Embedding of Chronic Stress Across Two Generations Within Marginalized Communities
Authors: Conradt Elisabeth , Carter Sierra E. , Crowell Sheila E.
Published: September 2020

Significant racial health disparities in infant mortality, preterm birth, and infant neurodevelopment exist in the United States. These disparities highlight a critical public health problem: Children of color are at a developmental disadvantage before birth. In this article, we describe how pregnant women from marginalized communities are disproportionately more likely to experience chronic stress in the form of discrimination, historical trauma, and acculturation. We integrate these understudied forms of chronic stress into allostatic load and prenatal programming models to describe how they can affect the health of two generations: the pregnant woman and her child. We describe psychophysiological ramifications of this early‐life stress in infants of color. The prenatal programming field has largely ignored the experiences of women of color, and we highlight the need for researchers to include, or focus exclusively on, diverse samples in their research to reduce disparities that are evident at birth.
Deciding What to Do: Developments in Children’s Spontaneous Monitoring of Cognitive Demands
Authors: Niebaum Jesse , Munakata Yuko
Published: September 2020

How do children decide which tasks to take on? Understanding whether and when children begin to monitor cognitive demands to guide task selection is important as children gain increasing independence from adults in deciding which tasks to attempt themselves. In this article, we review evidence suggesting a developmental transition in children’s consideration of cognitive demands when making choices about tasks: Although younger children are capable of monitoring cognitive demands to guide task selection, spontaneous monitoring of cognitive demands begins to emerge around 5–7 years. We describe frameworks for understanding when and why children begin to monitor cognitive demands, and propose additional factors that likely influence children’s decisions to pursue or avoid cognitively demanding tasks.
Topographic screening reveals keratoconus to be extremely common in Down syndrome
Authors: Mathan Joyce J. , Gokul Akilesh , Simkin Samantha K. , Meyer Jay J. , Patel Dipika V. , McGhee Charles N. J.
Published: September 2020

Importance

Keratoconus disproportionately affects people with Down syndrome (DS). This is the first study of its kind in Australasia.

Background

To investigate the prevalence of keratoconus in DS.

Design

Cross‐sectional study.

Participants

Athletes with DS attending 2017 New Zealand Special Olympics National Summer Games.

Methods

Keratoconus was identified using corneal topography (TMS‐4N, Tomey). Topography from both eyes was required to be included. Two independent quantitative criteria were used to indicate keratoconus. The first was keratoconus severity index ≥ 30%. The second, adapted from the literature, required at least four of eight topographic parameters to be abnormal. Data from the worse eye were analysed. Diagnosis in each group was subsequently confirmed qualitatively by three corneal fellowship‐trained ophthalmologists. Those with a definitive diagnosis were grouped into Keratoconus Confirmed Group 1 (KCC1) and Keratoconus Confirmed Group 2 (KCC2), respectively.

Main Outcome Measures

Keratoconus prevalence, severity, demographics.

Results

Of 110 athletes screened, N = 98 were included, mean age 30.0 ± 9.7 years. Using only topographic data, keratoconus was identified in 39 (39.8%) athletes by quantitative topographic criteria 1, and in 63 (64.3%) athletes by criteria 2. Keratoconus was confirmed by qualitative sub‐specialist review in 30 (30.6%) (KCC1) and 38 (38.8%) (KCC2) athletes, respectively. Mean keratometry in groups KCC1 and KCC2 were 48.4 ± 3.2D and 48.2 ± 2.9D, respectively. Most were male (KCC1 63.3%, KCC2 76.3%) and of European ethnicity (KCC1 80%, KCC2 78.9%).

Conclusions and Relevance

We report keratoconus in 30.6% to 38.8% of athletes with DS; therefore, we believe keratoconus screening is indicated in DS for early management.
Impact of bile acids on the severity of laryngo‐pharyngeal reflux
Authors: De Corso Eugenio , Baroni Silvia , Salonna Giampiero , Marchese Michele , Graziadio Marilena , Di Cintio GIovanni , Paludetti Gaetano , Costamagna Guido , Galli Jacopo
Published: September 2020

Objectives

The primary end point of this study was to evaluate the impact of bile acids on severity of laryngo‐pharyngeal reflux (LPR) and the possible correlation with esophagitis and upper airway malignancies. The second end point was to evaluate if salivary bile acids and molecules other than pepsin might serve as diagnostic biomarkers of LPR.

Design

Observational prospective comparative study.

Setting

Otorhinolaryngology unit of a tertiary hospital.

Participants

Sixty‐two consecutive adult outpatients suspected of LPR.

Main outcome measures

Bile acids, bilirubin and pepsinogen I‐II were measured in saliva. Patients underwent pH metry and based on the results of bile acids were subdivided as acid, mixed and alkaline LPR.

Results

Significantly higher Reflux Findings Score (RFS) and Reflux Symptoms Index (RSI) were seen in patients with alkaline and mixed LPR compared to acid LPR. Salivary bile acids >1 µmol/L seem to be a reliable indicator of the severity of LPR. Compared to those without, patients with esophagitis or a history of upper airway malignancy have high concentrations of bile acids in saliva. Among the molecules studied, bile acids were the most suitable for diagnosis of LPR, with a sensitivity of 86% and a positive predictive value of 80.7%.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that high concentrations of bile acids are associated with higher values of RSI and RFS in LPR as well as a higher risk of esophagitis and history of upper airway malignancies. We finally observed that bile acids provided the best biometric parameters for diagnosis of LPR among the molecules tested.
Nocturnal eating but not binge eating disorder is related to less 12 months' weight loss in men and women with severe obesity: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Björkman Sofia , Wallengren Ola , Laurenius Anna , Eliasson Björn , Larsson Ingrid
Published: September 2020

There is a paucity of studies on the frequency of binge‐eating disorder (BED) and nocturnal eating (NE) and their potential role as barriers in non‐surgical weight loss treatment in subjects with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥35 kg m2). The aim was to identify BED and NE, and their effect on weight loss treatment. In total, 1132 (727 women, 405 men), BMI ~41 kg/m2 were patients in a 12‐month weight loss programme at a specialist clinic. The questionnaire for eating and weight patterns‐revised was completed by the patients before start of treatment. BED was diagnosed in 5.1% of men and 12.4% of women. NE prevalence was 13.5% and 12.7%, respectively. Mean (±SEM) 12‐month weight loss was less in patients with NE compared to those without (−11.0 ± 1.5 vs –14.6 ± 0.7 kg, P = .008) but did not differ in patients with and without BED, (−12.3 ± 1.9 vs –14.2 ± 0.6 kg, P = .24). Factors associated with dropout were BED (odds ratio, OR 1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14‐2.17; P = .006) and previous weight loss attempts (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.0‐1.7; P = .02). BED did not seem to hinder weight loss whereas NE resulted in less weight loss in patients with severe obesity who completed a 12‐month treatment programme. Previous weight loss attempts affect both dropout and ability to lose weight.