bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Double Power Law for COVID-19: Prediction of New Cases and Death Rates in Italy and Spain
Authors: Osherovich Vladimir A. , Fainberg Joseph , Osherovich Lev Z.
Published: May 2020

1.

The novel corona virus SARS-CoV-2 appeared at the end of 2019, spreading rapidly and causing a severe respiratory syndrome (COVID-19) with high mortality (2-5%). Until a vaccine or therapy is found, the most effective method of prophylaxis has been to minimize transmission via rigorous social distancing and seclusion of all but essential workers. Such measures, implemented at different times and to varying degrees world-wide, have reduced the rate of transmission compared with early phases of the pandemic, resulting in “flattening of the curve” followed by a gradual reduction in mortality after >6 weeks of rigorous social distancing measures. The cost of rigorous social distancing has been seen in radically reduced economic activity, job losses, disruption of schooling and social institutions. A key question facing policy makers and individuals is when to resume normal economic and social activity in the face of persistent community transmission of SARS-CoV-2. To help address this question, we have developed a model that accurately describes the entire transmission and mortality curves in Italy and Spain, two hard-hit countries that have maintained severe social distancing measures for over 2 months. Our model quantitatively describes the rapid rise and slow decay of new cases and deaths observed under stringent social distancing (the “long tail” effect). We predict that even when social distancing is rigorously maintained, the number of COVID-19 deaths after peak mortality may be 2 – 3 times larger than the total number of deaths up to the peak. Our model has important policy implications for countries currently debating how to ease social distancing measures.
Quantitatively Modeling Factors that Influence the Therapeutic Doses of Antibodies
Authors: Tang Yu , Li Xiaobing , Cao Yanguang
Published: May 2020

Dose selection and confirmation are critical tasks in the development of therapeutic antibodies. These tasks could become particularly challenging in the absence of robust pharmacodynamics biomarkers or at very flat dose-response curves. Although much knowledge has been acquired in the past decade, it remains uncertain which factors are relevant and how to select doses more rationally. In this study, we developed a quantitative metric, Therapeutic Exposure Affinity Ratio (TEAR), to retrospectively evaluate up to 60 approved antibodies and their therapeutic doses (TDs), and systematically assessed the factors that are relevant to antibody TDs and dose selection patterns. This metric supported us to analyze many factors that are beyond antibody pharmacokinetics and target binding affinity. Our results challenged the traditional perceptions about the importance of target turnovers and target anatomical locations in the selection of TDs, highlighted the relevance of an overlooked factor, antibody mechanisms of action. Overall, this study provided insights into antibody dose selection and confirmation in the development of therapeutic antibodies.
Morphological and Phylogenetic Resolution ofDiplodia corticolaandD. quercivora, Emerging Canker Pathogens of Oak (Quercusspp.), in the United States
Authors: Ferreira Savannah L. , Stauder Cameron M. , Martin Danielle K.H. , Kasson Matt T.
Published: May 2020

In Mediterranean Europe and the United States, oak species (Quercusspp.) have been in various states of decline for the past several decades. Several insect pests and pathogens contribute to this decline to varying degrees includingPhytophthora cinnamomi, Armillariaspp., various insect defoliators, and additionally in the U.S., the oak wilt pathogen,Bretziella fagacearum. More recently, two emerging canker pathogens,Diplodia corticola(Dc) andDiplodia quercivora(Dq) have been implicated in causing dieback and mortality of oak species in Europe and in several regions in the United States. In 2019, a fungal survey was conducted in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern U.S., including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia to determine the range and impact ofDcandDqon forest health within the U.S. A total of 563 oak trees between red and white oak family members were evaluated across 33 forests spanning 18 counties. A total of 32Diplodiaisolates encompassing threeDiplodiaspp. were recovered from 5,335 total plugs collected from the 13 of 18 sampled counties. RecoveredDiplodiaspecies includedDc, Dq, andD. sapinea(Ds), as well asBotryosphaeria dothidea(Bd), a closely related canker pathogen in theBotryosphaeriaceae. BothDcandDswere recovered from red and white oak family members, whereasDqwas exclusive to white oak family members andBdto red oak family members. Of these species,Dcwas most frequently isolated followed byDq, Ds, andBd. Overall, mortality was relatively low across all sampled counties, indicating that these fungi, at the levels that were detected, are not widely inciting oak decline across the region, but more likely are acting opportunistically when the environment is conducive for disease. In an attempt to better understand the relationships amongDcand potentially their geographic origin(s), a multi-gene phylogenetic study and corresponding morphological study were conducted. A total of 49Diplodiaisolates from Spain, France, Italy, and the U.S. were assessed. Across all isolates and geographic regions,Dcformed a strongly supported monophyletic clade sister toDqand included two strongly supported subclades, one that included isolates from Spain and California and a second that included isolates from Italy, Maryland, and West Virginia. Both subclades also exhibited overlapping spore measurements. These results supportDcas a cosmopolitan pathogen, native to both Europe and the U.S. with the possibility of secondary introductions.
Calculating effect sizes in animal social network analysis
Authors: Franks Daniel W. , Weiss Michael N. , Silk Matthew J. , Perryman Robert J. Y. , Croft Darren. P.
Published: May 2020

Because of the nature of social interaction or association data, when testing hypotheses using social network data it is common for network studies to rely on permutations to control for confounding variables, and to not also control for them in the fitted statistical model. This can be a problem because it does not adjust for any bias in effect sizes generated by these confounding effects, and thus the effect sizes are not informative in the presence of counfouding variables.

We implemented two network simulation examples and analysed an empirical data set to demonstrate how relying solely on permutations to control for confounding variables can result in highly biased effect size estimates of animal social preferences that are uninformative when quantifying differences in behaviour.

Using these simulations, we show that this can sometimes even lead to effect sizes that have the wrong sign and are thus the effect size is not biologically interpretable. We demonstrate how this problem can be addressed by controlling for confounding variables in the statistical dyadic or nodal model.

We recommend this approach should be adopted as standard practice in the statistical analysis of animal social network data.
A general inverse problem approach to neural function modeling inDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Stucchi Marco
Published: May 2020

The development of models of brain function remains a complex problem given the difficulty of extracting organizational principles from observations on a variety of morphologically and physiologically different neurons. State of the art results in this modeling research have been obtained by a different route, by leveraging the power of deep learning. However, this approach takes advantage of neuroscientific knowledge only to a limited extent. Here, I adopt a perspective that aims at combining experimental data and optimization algorithms by framing this modeling research as an inverse problem. To illustrate the method, I collected calcium imaging data from the first two regions of the olfactory processing pathway of the fruit flyDrosophila melanogaster, the antennal lobe and the calix of the mushroom bodies. In each case, our method gives accurate predictions for large fractions of recorded glomeruli and neurons, and the inferred networks recover known features of the biological counterpart.
The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Regulates Anxiety-Like Behavior in Mice
Authors: Vadnie Chelsea A. , Eberhardt Lauren A. , Hildebrand Mariah A. , Zhang Hui , Becker-Krail Darius , DePoy Lauren M. , Logan Ryan W. , McClung Colleen A.
Published: May 2020

Circadian rhythms are commonly disrupted in individuals with depression and/or anxiety disorders. Animal studies indicate that circadian rhythm disruption can cause increased depressive and anxiety-like behavior, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Currently, there is conflicting evidence as to whether the master pacemaker in the brain, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), plays a key role in regulating psychiatric-related behavior. To investigate the role of the SCN in regulating depressive and anxiety-like behavior in mice, we directly manipulated the neural activity of the SCN using two chronic optogenetic stimulation paradigms. Repeated stimulation of the SCN late in the active phase (circadian time 21, CT21) shortened the period and dampened the amplitude of homecage activity rhythms. Repeated stimulation of the SCN at unpredictable times during the dark phase dampened, fragmented and reduced the stability of homecage activity rhythms. In both SCN optogenetic stimulation paradigms, dampened homecage activity rhythms (decreased amplitude) was associated with increased measures of anxiety-like behavior, but not in control mice. Increased fragmentation and decreased day-to-day stability of homecage activity also correlated with increased anxiety-like behavior. Unexpectedly the change in period of homecage activity rhythms was not directly associated with any psychiatric-related behavior. Furthermore, we did not observe consistent correlations between homecage activity amplitude and depressive-like behavior in stimulated mice. Taken together, these results indicate that SCN-mediated dampening of rhythms is directly correlated with increased anxiety-like, but not depressive-like behavior in mice. This work is an important step in understanding how specific SCN neural activity disruptions affect mood and anxiety-related behavior.
Genomic analysis of worldwide sheep breeds revealsPDGFDa major target of fat-tail selection in sheep
Authors: Dong Kunzhe , Yang Min , Han Jiangang , Ma Qing , Han Jilong , Song Ziyi , Luosang Cuicheng , Gorkhali Neena Amatya , Yang Bohui , He Xiaohong , Ma Yuehui , Jiang Lin
Published: May 2020

Fat tail is a special trait in sheep acquired during sheep domestication. Several genomic analyses have been conducted in sheep breeds from limited geographic origins to identify the genetic factors underlying this trait. Nevertheless, these studies obtained different candidates. The results of these regional studies were easily biased by the breed structures. To minimize the bias and distinguish the true candidates, we used an extended data set of 968 sheep representing 18 fat-tailed breeds and 14 thin-tailed breeds from around the world, and integrated two statistic tests to detect selection signatures, including Genetic Fixation Index (FST) and difference of derived allele frequency (ΔDAF). The results showed thatplatelet derived growth factor D (PDGFD)exhibited the highest genetic differentiation between fat- and thin-tailed sheep breeds. Further analysis of sequence variation identified that a 6.8-kb region within the first intron ofPDGFDis likely the target of positive selection and contains regulatory mutation(s) in fat-tailed sheep. Histological analysis and gene expression analysis demonstrated thatPDGFDexpression is associated with maturation and hemostasis of adipocytes. Luciferase reporter assays showed that a segment of conserved sequence surrounding the orthologous site of one sheep mutation is functional in regulatingPDGFDexpression in human. These results reveal thatPDGFDis the predominant factor for the fat tail phenotype in sheep by contributing to adiopogenesis and maintaining the hemostasis of mature adipocytes. This study provides insights into the evolution of fat-tailed sheep and has important application to animal breeding, as well as obesity-related human diseases.
Mapping glycan-mediated galectin-3 interactions by live cell proximity labeling
Authors: Joeh Eugene , O’Leary Timothy , Li Weichao , Hawkins Richard , Hung Jonathan R. , Parker Christopher G. , Huang Mia L.
Published: May 2020

Galectin-3 is a glycan-binding protein (GBP) that binds β-galactoside glycan structures to orchestrate a variety of important biological events, including the activation of hepatic stellate cells to cause hepatic fibrosis. While the requisite glycan epitopes needed to bind galectin-3 have long been elucidated, the cellular glycoproteins that bear these glycan signatures remain unknown. Given the importance of the three-dimensional arrangement of glycans in dictating GBP interactions, strategies that allow the identification of GBP receptors in live cells, where the native glycan presentation and glycoprotein expression are preserved, possess significant advantages over static and artificial systems. Here, we describe the integration of a proximity labeling method and quantitative mass spectrometry to map the glycan and glycoprotein interactors for galectin-3 in live hepatic stellate cells. Understanding the identity of the glycoproteins and defining the structures of the glycans required for galectin-3 mediated hepatic stellate cell activation will empower efforts to design and develop selective therapeutics to mitigate hepatic fibrosis.

Significance

Because of the weak interactions between individual glycan-binding proteins (GBP), such as galectin-3, and glycans, strategies that allow the direct interrogation of these interactions in living cells remain limited. Thus, the glycan and glycoprotein ligands that are physiologically relevant for galectin-3 binding are insufficiently described. Here, we used a proximity labeling approach that catalytically tags interactors for galectin-3 and identified its pertinent glycan and glycoprotein counter-receptors in live hepatic stellate cells. This study demonstrates that proximity labeling is a powerful tool for mapping GBP complexes in living cells, and when coupled with chemical inhibitors, it can discriminate between protein-protein and protein-glycan interactions.

Graphical Abstract
Multiple origins of insular woodiness on the Canary Islands are consistent with palaeoclimatic aridification
Authors: van Huysduynen Alexander Hooft , Janssens Steven , Merckx Vincent , Vos Rutger , Valente Luis , Zizka Alexander , Larter Maximilian , Karabayir Betül , Maaskant Daphne , Witmer Youri , Fernández-Palacios José Maria , de Nascimento Lea , Jaén Ruth Molina , Castells Juli Caujapé , Marrero-Rodríguez Águedo , del Arco Marcelino , Lens Frederic
Published: May 2020

Aim

Insular woodiness, referring to the evolutionary transition from herbaceousness towards woodiness on islands, has arisen at least 38 times on the Canary Islands. Distribution patterns and physiological experiments have suggested a link between insular woodiness and increased drought stress resistance in current-day species, but we do not know in which palaeoclimatic conditions these insular woody lineages originated. Therefore, we estimated the timing of colonisation events and origin of woodiness of multiple Canary Island lineages and reviewed the palaeoclimate based on literature.

Location

Canary Islands (Spain).

Taxon

37 lineages, including 24 insular woody and 13 non-insular woody (i.e. herbaceous, ancestrally woody, and derived woody).

Methods

To enable a simultaneous dating analysis for all 37 lineages, two chloroplast markers (matKandrbcL) for 135 Canary Island species and 103 closely related continental relatives were sequenced and aligned to an existingmatK-rbcLdataset including ca 24,000 species that was calibrated with 42 fossils from outside the Canaries. After constraining the species to the family level, 200 RAxML runs were performed and dated with TreePL.

Results

Woodiness in 80-90% of the insular woody lineages originated within the last 7 Myr, coinciding with the onset of major aridification events nearby the Canaries (start of north African desertification, followed by Messinian salinity crisis); in ca 55-65% of the insular woody lineages studied, woodiness developed within the last 3.2 Myr during which Mediterranean seasonality (yearly summer droughts) became established on the Canaries, followed by dry Pleistocene glacial fluctuations.

Main conclusions

Although details of the initial colonisation and settlement of many island plant lineages remain elusive, our results are consistent with palaeodrought as a potential driver for woodiness in most of the insular woody Canary Island lineages studied.
Kappa-opioid receptor-dependent changes in dopamine and affective behavior occur differentially across the nucleus accumbens shell rostro-caudal axis
Authors: Pirino Breanne E. , Spodnick Mary B. , Gargiulo Andrew T. , Curtis Genevieve R. , Barson Jessica R. , Karkhanis Anushree N.
Published: May 2020

Neural circuit engagement within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell is implicated in the regulation of both negative and positive affect. Classically, the dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor (KOR) system in the NAc was believed to promote dysphoric behavior, while dopamine was viewed as interacting with reward behavior, and KOR activation was known to inhibit dopamine release. Recently, however, both the KOR and dopamine systems have, separately, been shown to have differential effects across the rostro-caudal axis of the NAc shell on hedonic responses. Whether or not this is due to interactions between KORs and dopamine, and if it extends to other affective behaviors, remains to be determined. In this study, we examined in rats the relationship between the KOR and dopamine systems in both the rostral and caudal NAc shell usingex vivofast scan cyclic voltammetry and the impact of KOR activation on affective behavior using approach-avoidance assays. We report here that activation of KORs in the caudal NAc shell significantly inhibits dopamine release, stimulates novelty-induced rearing behavior, increases avoidance behavior, and reduces locomotor activity. In contrast, activation of KORs in the rostral NAc shell inhibits dopamine release to a lesser extent and instead increases approach behavior. Taken together, these results indicate that there is heterogeneity across the rostro-caudal axis of the NAc shell in the effects of KOR stimulation on affective behaviors, and they suggest that this might be due to differences in KOR control over dopamine release.
Haptic-enabled virtual planning and assessment of product assembly
Authors: Gallegos-Nieto Enrique , Medellin-Castillo Hugo I. , Xiu-Tian Yan , Corney Jonathan
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This study aims to present a new haptic-enabled virtual assembly system for the automatic generation and objective assessment of assembly plans. The system is intended to be used as an assembly planning tool along the product development process.

Design/methodology/approach

The generation of product assembly plans is based on the analysis of the assembly movements and operations performed by the user during the virtual assembly execution, and the objective assessment of product assembly is based on the definition and computation of new proposed assembly metrics.

Findings

To evaluate the system, a case study corresponding to the assembly of a mechanical component is presented and analyzed. The results demonstrate that the proposed system is an effective tool to plan and evaluate different product assembly strategies in a more practical and objective approach than existing assembly planning methods.

Research limitations/implications

Although the virtual assembly execution time is larger than the real assembly execution time, the assembly planning and evaluation results provided by the system are valid. However, the development of higher performance collision detection algorithms is needed to reduce the simulation time.

Originality/value

The proposed virtual assembly system is able to not only simulate and automatically generate assembly plans but also objectively assess them from the virtual assembly task execution. The introduction and use of several assembly performance metrics to objectively evaluate assembly strategies in virtual assembly also represents a novel contribution.
What does “gender equality” mean? Social representations of gender equality in the workplace among French workers
Authors: Coron Clotilde
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This work deals with social representations of gender equality in the workplace. Little academic work deals with the way workers define gender equality. My research also deals with the implications of this definition in terms of policy implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

This work is based on a mixed-method approach. A quantitative study based on an online survey conducted in 2015 at a French company is mobilized to identify and measure the main representations of gender equality among the workers. Then, a qualitative study is used to explore these representations in depth and to examine how they influence the implementation of policy on gender equality.

Findings

This work shows that for French workers, equal pay and equal access to responsibilities are the most important dimensions of gender equality, while gender diversity and work-life balance seem less important. The representation of gender equality varies according to gender, professional field and managerial status. These variations help to understand the difficulty of implementing such policy.

Practical implications

Managerially, these results would strongly indicate that companies in France, but also in other developed countries, should consider carrying out awareness campaigns aimed at employees in order to promote a common culture and definition of gender equality. Indeed, the coexistence of various representations of gender equality partly explains the insufficient implementation—and thus the poor performance and general effectiveness of gender equality policies, both in theoretical and practical terms. Companies should also consider introducing awareness campaigns that specifically target men, who grant less importance to gender equality than women.

Originality/value

This study deals with social representations of gender equality in France, a subject which has been largely neglected or overlooked in existing fields of gender research. The international literature on gender equality shows that variations in representations of gender equality constitute a major subject for research and policies about gender, whatever the country. However, this topic still remains inadequately addressed. This research aims to strengthen such research literature dedicated to the issue of gender equality.
Gaston Acurio: business model innovation and creation of a Peruvian gastronomic brand
Authors: Ontaneda Elizabeth , Quiroga Guillermo
Published: May 2020

Learning outcomes

Identify the types of innovation that Gastón Acurio’s proposal has created. Understand the key strategies developed to grown and consolidate Peruvian food as a category internationally and as part of Acurio’s business. Identify elements of the business model using the business model canvas. Explain how elements of a business model are related, reinforce each other and drive results. Evaluate strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats to a business model. Analyze changes to the model that can capitalize upon or mitigate these factors based on evidence.

Case overview/synopsis

Gastón Acurio is a successful Peruvian chef and restauranteur who was key in shaping the country’s gastronomic industry. His innovative business model distinguished him from other Peruvian restauranteurs and allowed him to grow and take advantage of opportunities in Peru and internationally. His success and growth attracted US$52m in investment funding. However, his model’s challenges surfaced during a difficult restaurant launch exacerbated by a harsh review in the New York Times. Students must identify and analyze the key elements of Acurio’s business model to evaluate and propose changes to better take advantage of its strengths and opportunities, as well as to mitigate weaknesses and threats.

Complexity academic level

Master’s or MBA.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 12: Tourism and hospitality.
SABlockFL: a blockchain-based smart agent system architecture and its application in federated learning
Authors: Zhang Zhizhao , Yang Tianzhi , Liu Yuan
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this work is to bridge FL and blockchain technology through designing a blockchain-based smart agent system architecture and applying in FL. and blockchain technology through designing a blockchain-based smart agent system architecture and applying in FL. FL is an emerging collaborative machine learning technique that trains a model across multiple devices or servers holding private data samples without exchanging their data. The locally trained results are aggregated by a centralized server in a privacy-preserving way. However, there is an assumption where the centralized server is trustworthy, which is impractical. Fortunately, blockchain technology has opened a new era of data exchange among trustless strangers because of its decentralized architecture and cryptography-supported techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the author proposes a novel design of a smart agent inspired by the smart contract concept. Specifically, based on the proposed smart agent, a fully decentralized, privacy-preserving and fair deep learning blockchain-FL framework is designed, where the agent network is consistent with the blockchain network and each smart agent is a participant in the FL task. During the whole training process, both the data and the model are not at the risk of leakage.

Findings

A demonstration of the proposed architecture is designed to train a neural network. Finally, the implementation of the proposed architecture is conducted in the Ethereum development, showing the effectiveness and applicability of the design.

Originality/value

The author aims to investigate the feasibility and practicality of linking the three areas together, namely, multi-agent system, FL and blockchain. A blockchain-FL framework, which is based on a smart agent system, has been proposed. The author has made several contributions to the state-of-the-art. First of all, a concrete design of a smart agent model is proposed, inspired by the smart contract concept in blockchain. The smart agent is autonomous and is able to disseminate, verify the information and execute the supported protocols. Based on the proposed smart agent model, a new architecture composed by these agents is formed, which is a blockchain network. Then, a fully decentralized, privacy-preserving and smart agent blockchain-FL framework has been proposed, where a smart agent acts as both a peer in a blockchain network and a participant in a FL task at the same time. Finally, a demonstration to train an artificial neural network is implemented to prove the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
Examining the effect of personality traits on workplace spirituality
Authors: Tutar Hasan , Oruç Emre
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between five-factor personality traits and workplace spirituality.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design of the study is prediction design, one of the quantitative research designs. The participants included 408 people working in a public university in Turkey as an academic or administrative staff. Five-factor personality traits and workplace spirituality scales were used to collect data.

Findings

Extraversion and conscientiousness have a positive effect on workplace spirituality. Openness, agreeableness and neuroticism have no significant effect on workplace spirituality.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to the relationship between “five-factor personality traits” and “workplace spirituality”. As the participants of the study were chosen among those who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study, the generalizability of the results is limited. The results are limited to explaining the questions such as “what”, “how much” and “who”.

Practical implications

The conclusions of the study are important in terms of showing the managers that everyone cannot be motivated and satisfied by the same motivators and therefore her or his perception of workplace spirituality will not be the same. Managers can improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness by raising employees’ workplace spirituality. It shows that employees attach importance to workplace spirituality, especially since Turkish culture has a conservative structure. In this way, motivation and job satisfaction of employees will increase and negative behaviors in the organization will decrease.

Originality/value

It can be argued that this study makes a significant theoretical contribution to research on the effect of workplace spirituality on the employee.
Comparing tagging suggestion models on discrete corpora
Authors: Bozic Bojan , Rios Andre , Delany Sarah Jane
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the methods for the prediction of tags on a textual corpus that describes diverse data sets based on short messages; as an example, the authors demonstrate the usage of methods based on hotel staff inputs in a ticketing system as well as the publicly available StackOverflow corpus. The aim is to improve the tagging process and find the most suitable method for suggesting tags for a new text entry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper consists of two parts: exploration of existing sample data, which includes statistical analysis and visualisation of the data to provide an overview, and evaluation of tag prediction approaches. The authors have included different approaches from different research fields to cover a broad spectrum of possible solutions. As a result, the authors have tested a machine learning model for multi-label classification (using gradient boosting), a statistical approach (using frequency heuristics) and three similarity-based classification approaches (nearest centroid, k-nearest neighbours (k-NN) and naive Bayes). The experiment that compares the approaches uses recall to measure the quality of results. Finally, the authors provide a recommendation of the modelling approach that produces the best accuracy in terms of tag prediction on the sample data.

Findings

The authors have calculated the performance of each method against the test data set by measuring recall. The authors show recall for each method with different features (except for frequency heuristics, which does not provide the option to add additional features) for the dmbook pro and StackOverflow data sets. k-NN clearly provides the best recall. As k-NN turned out to provide the best results, the authors have performed further experiments with values of k from 1–10. This helped us to observe the impact of the number of neighbours used on the performance and to identify the best value for k.

Originality/value

The value and originality of the paper are given by extensive experiments with several methods from different domains. The authors have used probabilistic methods, such as naive Bayes, statistical methods, such as frequency heuristics, and similarity approaches, such as k-NN. Furthermore, the authors have produced results on an industrial-scale data set that has been provided by a company and used directly in their project, as well as a community-based data set with a large amount of data and dimensionality. The study results can be used to select a model based on diverse corpora for a specific use case, taking into account advantages and disadvantages when applying the model to your data.
Credit derivatives design to facilitate loan purchase agreements in the secondary loan market in Thailand
Authors: Charoontham Kittiphod , Kanchanapoom Kessara
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to study a strategic decision of banks in Thailand to signal their types to the market and derive the optimal credit derivatives contract to guarantee their loans and credibly signal their quality under different economic determinants, namely, the maximum credit risk investment constraint, opportunity cost and opaqueness of the credit derivative market.

Design/methodology/approach

Contract theory is deployed to derive the expected payoff of different bank types under different economic and financial constraints. Hence, different bank types offer derivatives contracts to signal their loan quality and resell their loans in the secondary loan markets of Thailand.

Findings

The optimal derivatives contract is constructed on a basis of asymmetric information when banks have more private information concerning quality of their loans. A digital credit default swap is an optimal derivatives contract to send credible signal when banks are restricted to the maximum investment constraint. Moreover, profit of banks is reduced, as the optimal derivatives contract is more costly when banks are subjected to positive opportunity cost and opacity of the credit derivatives market. These results depict impact of changes of the maximum credit risk investment constraint on Thai credit derivatives market.

Originality/value

The optimal credit derivatives design that signifies bank types and facilitates loan purchase agreement has not been studied in Thai secondary loan markets before. In addition, this study provides insights of banks' strategic decisions to signal their types and transfer risk to risk buyers in Thai markets.
Changes within activity patterns through network tensions
Authors: Butler Bella , Purchase Sharon
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate business network activity patterns and how they change when actors experience tensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Four tensions, developed from previous literature, are considered in relation to how they influence activity patterns. A longitudinal case study focusing on the modernization of an international airport illustrates how tensions experienced by actors influence changes in activity patterns.

Findings

Results highlight that when tensions in relation to network position are experienced activity patterns are more likely to break and form new patterns. When multiple tensions are experienced within the same period, an old activity pattern is more likely to be broken and the new activity pattern develop.

Research limitations/implications

Contributions in relation to interdependencies between activities heighten the impact of changes leading to the breaking of existing patterns, particularly the importance of coordination activities. These findings are context specific because activity patterns vary according to the industry.

Practical implications

Practical implications indicate that understanding network interdependences within the change process is important, particularly for co-ordination activities. The study informs practitioners about possible outcomes while tensions are experienced. This study found that when actors are experiencing multiple tensions, breaking of activity patterns is more likely to occur while experience less tensions extending existing activity patterns becoming more likely.

Originality/value

Contributions are made in relation to gaps in investigating the business network activity layer and their changes in relation to tensions.
Demographic and attitudinal antecedents of consumers' use and self-investment trajectories over time in an online TV content platform
Authors: Van der Linden Sam , Nimmegeers Stef , Geskens Kristof , Weijters Bert
Published: May 2020

Purpose

To investigate if online TV content platforms create value for consumers (and increase use) by offering its users the possibility to self-invest in the service (by giving personal content preferences). We link demographic and attitudinal antecedents to the relation between self-investment and use.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected together with a Belgian media company (N = 4,136). To test the effects a latent growth model was composed in a multigroup setting with gender as the grouping variable. The model is analyzed through structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.0.

Findings

In general, strong relations between self-investment and increased use were found, although the effect of self-investment on use was stronger for female consumers. Furthermore, we established strong hedonic effects on using and investing in the service. For men, easy to use platforms lead to less self-investment.

Research limitations/implications

Our findings are restricted to free services. Furthermore, attitudinal variables are antecedents of behaviors. However, a more complex interplay between behavioral and attitudinal variables is possible. Further research could use repeatedly measured attitudinal measures and link these to behaviors over time.

Practical implications

Service developers could offer different platform interactions to different segments to create consumer value. Women seem more receptive for extra functionalities, such as the possibility to indicate preferences. Men mainly focus on the content offered.

Originality/value

This study focuses on a new form of media distribution, online TV content platforms, where we investigate two related behaviors of users over time (self-investment and use) instead of a general approximation of use. Multi-source data were used.
Determinants of agricultural insurance adoption: evidence from farmers in the state of São Paulo, Brazil
Authors: Carrer Marcelo José , Silveira Rodrigo Lanna Franco da , Vinholis Marcela de Mello Brandão , De Souza Filho Hildo Meirelles
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of agricultural insurance adoption by farmers of the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data from the 2015/2016 crop season was collected from a sample of 175 farmers. Logit econometric models were applied to identify the variables that affect the probability of agricultural insurance adoption.

Findings

The empirical results show that the education level, access to technical assistance, use of management tools and farm size positively affect the probability of adopting agricultural insurance. In addition, farmers who produce soybean and/or corn are more likely to use insurance. On the other hand, the higher the farmers’ propensity to take risk the lower the likelihood of using insurance.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical analysis is based on cross-sectional data of a sample of 175 farmers of the state of São Paulo. The use of panel data with a larger sample of farmers, considering a period of years, could provide additional information.

Originality/value

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first empirical analysis about determinants of agricultural insurance adoption by Brazilian farmers, considering behavioral factors. The findings provide useful insights for policymakers in formulating risk management programs in the Brazilian agricultural markets. A better understanding about the determinants of insurance adoption is also relevant for private companies that sell insurance to farmers. Therefore, the paper may contribute with the diffusion of rural insurance as risk management tool in Brazilian agriculture.
Latitudinal cline of larval growth rate and its proximate mechanisms in a rhinoceros beetle
Authors: Kojima Wataru , Nakakura Tatsunori , Fukuda Ayumi , Lin Chung‐Ping , Harada Masahiro , Hashimoto Yuki , Kawachi Aika , Suhama Shiho , Yamamoto Ryo
Published: May 2020

Juvenile growth rate is a key life‐history trait with a major effect on various fitness components. Duration of the growing season changes with latitude, often resulting in latitudinal variations in growth rate. While many studies have shown a latitudinal cline of growth rate, most have used linear measurements of growth rate without considering the nonlinear nature of growth trajectories. Furthermore, elucidation of the proximate mechanisms causing increased growth rates would provide a fundamental understanding of the evolutionary process of the latitudinal cline of growth rates, which are largely unknown.

We used common garden experiments to examine the latitudinal variation of growth rate. We analysed the larval growth curve of 14 populations of the univoltine Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) found along a 2,000‐km latitudinal gradient. To clarify the mechanisms responsible for the latitudinal cline of growth rate, we compared food consumption and growth efficiency (i.e. the capacity to convert food into biomass) using three populations at high, middle and low latitudes.

There was a strong positive correlation between growth rate and latitude and a strong negative correlation between age at the inflexion point of the growth curve and latitude, indicating that larvae from northern populations grew more rapidly and reached the inflexion point earlier than those from southern populations.

The food intake increased linearly towards higher latitude. The growth efficiency of larvae from middle latitude was greater than that of larvae from low latitude, but there was no difference in the growth efficiency between high‐ and middle‐latitude populations.

The increased growth rate at higher latitude is probably a local adaptation to complete development and growth during the short growth season. The rapid growth rate at higher latitudes could be explained by both the increased food consumption and the growth efficiency. However, the growth efficiency is probably maximized in the middle‐latitude population, suggesting that some physiological costs prevent further increase in growth efficiency at higher latitudes. This study provides compelling evidence for latitudinal cline of juvenile growth rate and disentangles the contributions of food intake and growth efficiency to the cline.

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Global Regulations for a Digital Economy: Between New and Old Challenges
Authors: Beaumier Guillaume , Kalomeni Kevin , Campbell‐Verduyn Malcolm , Lenglet Marc , Natile Serena , Papin Marielle , Rodima‐Taylor Daivi , Silve Arthur , Zhang Falin
Published: May 2020

Digital technologies are often described as posing unique challenges for public regulators worldwide. Their fast‐pace and technical nature are viewed as being incompatible with the relatively slow and territorially bounded public regulatory processes. In this paper, we argue that not all digital technologies pose the same challenges for public regulators. We more precisely maintain that the digital technologies’ label can be quite misleading as it actually represents a wide variety of technical artifacts. Based on two dimensions, the level of centralization and (im)material nature, we provide a typology of digital technologies that importantly highlights how different technical artifacts affect differently local, national, regional and global distributions of power. While some empower transnational businesses, others can notably reinforce states’ power. By emphasizing this, our typology contributes to ongoing discussions about the global regulation of a digital economy and helps us identify the various challenges that it might present for public regulators globally. At the same time, it allows us to reinforce previous claims that these are importantly, not all new and that they often require us to solve traditional cooperation problems.
Multimorbidity, health‐related quality of life and health service use among individuals with mental health problems: Urban‐rural differences in South Australia
Authors: Gonzalez‐Chica David Alejandro , Hoon Elizabeth , Stocks Nigel
Published: May 2020

Objective

To investigate urban‐rural differences in the relationship between the coexistence of multiple physical health conditions, health‐related quality of life and health service use among individuals with mental health problems.

Design

Cross‐sectional.

Setting

Population‐based.

Participants

Random sample of 2977 South Australians aged 15+ years. Analyses restricted to 535 individuals self‐reporting a “current” mental health problem (anxiety, depression, another mental condition).

Exposure

Number of physical health conditions (none, 1‐2, 3+ conditions) based on a list of 16 self‐reported chronic diseases.

Main outcome measures

Physical and mental health‐related quality of life, frequently visited a GP (3+ times), visited a mental health specialist, visited an emergency department, was hospitalised in the last 3 months.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 57.3 ± 13.9 years (51.9% females) with 10.6% of them living in inner regional and 14.9% in outer/remote locations. Mental health problems had similar prevalence in major cities (15.4%; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 13.5‐17.4), inner regional (19.3%; 95% CI: 14.8‐24.7) and outer/remote areas (16.8%; 95% CI: 14.4‐17.7). The remoteness of residence did not affect the relationship between the number of physical health conditions with health‐related quality of life or visits to the emergency department/hospitalisations. Individuals without a physical health condition living in major cities were five times more likely to have frequently visited a GP than their counterparts in outer/remote South Australia (35% and 7%, respectively), but these differences were less marked among those with multiple co‐morbidities.

Conclusion

The coexistence of multiple physical health conditions among patients with a mental health problem is associated with less urban‐rural disparities in terms of visiting a GP.
Early parenting intervention promotes 24‐month psychomotor development in preterm children
Authors: Pisoni Camilla , Provenzi Livio , Moncecchi Michela , Caporali Camilla , Naboni Cecilia , Stronati Mauro , Montirosso Rosario , Borgatti Renato , Orcesi Simona
Published: May 2020

Aim

Although parenting is key to promoting healthy development of at‐risk preterm infants, parents have often restricted access to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). This study aimed to assess the effect of an early parenting intervention on the psychomotor outcome in preterm children at 24 months of corrected age.

Methods

Forty‐two preterm children and their parents were consecutively recruited at a level III NICU in Northern Italy and randomly allocated to early intervention (two educational peer‐group sessions and four individual infant observation sessions) or care as usual (no educational or infant observation sessions). During NICU stay, parents provided information on daily holding and skin‐to‐skin. Psychomotor development was measured at 24 months of corrected age using the Griffith Mental Development Scales.

Results

There were no significant differences in socio‐demographic and clinical variables between early intervention (n = 21; 13 females) and care as usual (n = 21; 12 females) groups. At 24 months of corrected age, children in the early intervention arm had greater scores for global psychomotor development as well as for Hearing‐Speech and Personal‐Social sub‐scales, compared to those in the care as usual group.

Conclusion

The present NICU parenting intervention was found to be associated with better psychomotor outcomes in preterm children at 24‐month age. The effects were especially evident for domains related to language and socio‐emotional functioning. Results are promising and should be retested with more heterogeneous and representative preterm sample.