bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modern slavery and international business scholarship: the governance nexus
Authors: Burmester Brent , Michailova Snejina , Stringer Christina
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Modern slavery is a problem that international business (IB) research can no longer ignore. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are often contributors to the persistence of modern slavery, by virtue of the regulatory challenge they pose to states and their insufficient oversight of supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to show that governance inadequacies with respect to modern slavery will be lessened if IB scholars give more attention to MNEs’ governing role within and beyond global value chains.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of arguments is presented in support of intensified effort in IB research with respect to studying the role of MNEs in transnational labour governance. The paper draws inspiration from IB theory and the conceptualisation of the MNE in neighbouring disciplines that regard it as a bearer of duties toward labour, consistent with its role in multilevel governance. Insights from the literature on global and multi-level governance are utilised.

Findings

The paper construes modern slavery as a multi-level governance challenge and argues that MNE capabilities and responsibilities with respect to labour governance and the deterrence of slavery exceed those identified on the margins of IB literature. MNEs are underappreciated as governors within the multilevel transnational labour governance system. The IB discipline is in a strong position to develop our understanding of the MNE’s different roles in governance and thereby contribute to the reduced incidence of modern slavery.

Originality/value

This paper represents an attempt to mobilise the IB academy to help eliminate slavery from workplaces that rely on MNE patronage or where labour rights abuses are made possible by MNE diversion of governance resources. It places particular emphasis on the use and abuse of MNEs’ governance capabilities in the sphere of international relations and calls attention to over-simplification of the MNE, IB’s primary unit of analysis.
Critical and mainstream international business research
Authors: Dörrenbächer Christoph , Gammelgaard Jens
Published: June 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to address the relationship between critical and mainstream international business (IB) research and discuss the ways forward for the former.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper empirically maps critical IB scholarship by analysing more than 250 academic articles published in critical perspectives on international business (cpoib) from 2005 to 2017. The paper also includes a citation analysis that uncovers how critical IB research is recognized and discussed in mainstream IB studies.

Findings

The extant critical IB research can be broken into five main topical clusters: positioning critical IB research, postcolonial IB studies, effects of international business activities, financialization and the global financial crisis and “Black IB” and corporate social responsibility. The citation analysis demonstrates that critical IB research is rarely recognized in mainstream IB academic outlets.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to empirically map critical IB research and to measure its impact on mainstream IB research. Based on these insights, as well as discussions of the more critical voices within mainstream IB studies and the debate over critical performativity in critical management studies, ways of developing critical IB research are examined.
Global health and international business: new frontiers of international business research
Authors: Ahen Frederick
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to revisit the interdisciplinary roots of international business (IB) by challenging the compartmentalized and obscured nature of certain major themes in current IB research. Here, the author broadens IB’s natural scope by introducing the links with global health while preemptively removing the existing limits of critical perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The study synthesizes ignored common insights from IB and global health governance. It supplies a select composite of emerging themes mostly at the interface of IB and global health as foundational proposals for reengaging IB for radical social change. This is in response to the urgent calls for inquiries into the “extra dimensions” of IB in answering wicked questions of global sustainability, injustice and inequality and other emergent grand challenges whilst embracing novel conceptual, theoretical and empirical opportunities.

Findings

This study demonstrates that IB research in its current form is reductive, quintessentially compartmentalized and evidently weak in responding to the emergent wicked problems of global scale. This is because several layers of complex, burning interconnected questions with roots in IB hardly receive exposure in research although they are the very existential and emerging issues with massive impacts on populations both in home and host countries.

Practical implications

This study sets new research agendas for critically studying IB and global health topics of vital relevance to reflect the changing frontiers of knowledge production in the fourth industrial revolution.

Originality/value

This study calls for deeper and broader discussions about the limitless opportunities of cross-fertilization of IB and other disciplines whilst highlighting the heretofore-overlooked connections between IB and environmental and medico-techno-scientific disciplines.
Housing attributes and relative house prices in Ghana
Authors: Owusu-Manu De-Graft , Edwards David John , Donkor-Hyiaman Ken A. , Asiedu Richard Ohene , Hosseini M. Reza , Obiri-Yeboah E.
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The study of house prices has become more relevant in recent times after the global financial crisis. Using a housing data set from three regions of Ghana (collated from real estate agents), the purpose of this paper is to estimate the relative importance of housing attributes to house prices.

Design/methodology/approach

The hedonic regression analysis conducted indicates that location is the most powerful determinant of house prices. Other relevant factors are the number of bedrooms, the number of floors, the total floor area, land size, age of the house and luxury finishing.

Findings

The implications of these results are many. Policy wise, the study provides an evidence-based empirical study that supports the need for better urban planning to improve communities, which in turn is associated with house price appreciations. Homeowners, investors and creditors, particularly mortgage lenders could be the immediate beneficiaries. Drawing on this, improved urban planning could mitigate strategic defaults that results from house prices falling below mortgage loan balances. This is important for financial market stability.

Originality/value

The paper provides a comprehensive and unique understanding of the hedonic determinants of house prices in Ghana. Future studies could examine the effect of location upon mortgage lending in Ghana.
Operational competencies and relational resources: a multiple case study
Authors: Zatta Fernando Nascimento , Filho Elmo Tambosi , de Campos Fernando Celso , Freitas Rodrigo Randow
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to use relational vision as a theoretical support for an investigation of how operational competencies are developed from the interaction of shared relational resources in the supply chain and to verify how these competencies allow the resources to be able to function, unity, integration and direction.

Design/methodology/approach

This multihull study was based on semi-structured interviews with 13 representatives of four dyads from companies in the steel, automotive and industrial applications, pulp processing and manufacturing and application of flexible tubes.

Findings

The results indicate that information, knowledge and learning are significant constructs to influence the development of operational skills in the supply chain because they represent the ability of the company to promote skills to efficiently use resources and create a barrier to imitation.

Research limitations/implications

There are limitations in the use of four companies from different industrial segments because it is possible to generalize the results. However, given the cross-sectional nature of the research, new studies may adopt a longitudinal approach to verify the evolution in the area of operations. Future studies may also expand the unit of analysis to understand the role of the relationship between the focus business and its strategic suppliers from the viewpoint of the suppliers. Thus, new research can be expanded to dyads, triads and business networks by investigating the various stages in the supply chain.

Practical implications

This study contributes to the literature and adds the dimension of relational operational skills, which is hitherto little explored in previous studies.

Social implications

This study contributes to the literature in the area of operations management, in collaborative relationships between buyers and sellers, focusing on the relational view of competitiveness.

Originality/value

The growing importance of organizations and the role of collaboration, based on mutual benefits and grouping of skills, tend to increase the competitive benefits of companies operating in this context. The management of this type of arrangement becomes a challenge for researchers, reinforcing the originality of this study.
Source‐independent waveform inversion for attenuation estimation in anisotropic media
Authors: Bai Tong , Tsvankin Ilya
Published: June 2019

In previous publications, we presented a waveform‐inversion algorithm for attenuation analysis in heterogeneous anisotropic media. However, waveform inversion requires an accurate estimate of the source wavelet, which is often difficult to obtain from field data. To address this problem, here we adopt a source‐independent waveform‐inversion algorithm that obviates the need for joint estimation of the source signal and attenuation coefficients. The key operations in that algorithm are the convolutions (1) of the observed wavefield with a reference trace from the modelled data and (2) of the modelled wavefield with a reference trace from the observed data. The influence of the source signature on attenuation estimation is mitigated by defining the objective function as the ℓ2‐norm of the difference between the two convolved data sets. The inversion gradients for the medium parameters are similar to those for conventional waveform‐inversion techniques, with the exception of the adjoint sources computed by convolution and cross‐correlation operations. To make the source‐independent inversion methodology more stable in the presence of velocity errors, we combine it with the local‐similarity technique. The proposed algorithm is validated using transmission tests for a homogeneous transversely isotropic model with a vertical symmetry axis that contains a Gaussian anomaly in the shear‐wave vertical attenuation coefficient. Then the method is applied to the inversion of reflection data for a modified transversely isotropic model from Hess. It should be noted that due to the increased nonlinearity of the inverse problem, the source‐independent algorithm requires a more accurate initial model to obtain inversion results comparable to those produced by conventional waveform inversion with the actual wavelet.
A novel plasmid‐transcribed regulatory sRNA, QfsR, controls chromosomal polycistronic gene expression in Agrobacterium fabrum
Authors: Diel Benjamin , Dequivre Magali , Wisniewski‐Dyé Florence , Vial Ludovic , Hommais Florence
Published: June 2019

Plasmids are mobile DNAs that can adjust host cell functions for their own amplification and dissemination. We identified Quorum sensing flagella small RNA regulator (QfsR), a small RNA, transcribed from the virulence tumour‐inducing (Ti) plasmid in the phytopathogen Agrobacterium fabrum. QfsR is widely conserved throughout RepABC plasmids carried by Rhizobiaceae. Target prediction, expression analysis and site‐direct mutagenesis experiments showed that QfsR directly pairs within polycistronic mRNAs transcribed from chromosome (genes involved in flagella apparatus) and Ti plasmid (genes involved in conjugative transfer). QfsR leads to a coordinated expression of whole polycistronic mRNA molecules. Whereas a lack of QfsR represses motility, its overproduction increases the quorum sensing signal accumulation and the Ti plasmid conjugative transfer. Based on these observations, we propose QfsR as a hub connecting regulatory networks of motility and plasmid conjugative transfer. To our knowledge, QfsR is the first example of a plasmid‐encoded sRNA that controls chromosomal polycistronic gene expression.
Longevity‐related molecular pathways are subject to midlife “switch” in humans
Authors: Timmons James A. , Volmar Claude‐Henry , Crossland Hannah , Phillips Bethan E. , Sood Sanjana , Janczura Karolina J. , Törmäkangas Timo , Kujala Urho M. , Kraus William E. , Atherton Philip J. , Wahlestedt Claes
Published: June 2019

Emerging evidence indicates that molecular aging may follow nonlinear or discontinuous trajectories. Whether this occurs in human neuromuscular tissue, particularly for the noncoding transcriptome, and independent of metabolic and aerobic capacities, is unknown. Applying our novel RNA method to quantify tissue coding and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), we identified ~800 transcripts tracking with age up to ~60 years in human muscle and brain. In silico analysis demonstrated that this temporary linear “signature” was regulated by drugs, which reduce mortality or extend life span in model organisms, including 24 inhibitors of the IGF‐1/PI3K/mTOR pathway that mimicked, and 5 activators that opposed, the signature. We profiled Rapamycin in nondividing primary human myotubes (n = 32 HTA 2.0 arrays) and determined the transcript signature for reactive oxygen species in neurons, confirming that our age signature was largely regulated in the “pro‐longevity” direction. Quantitative network modeling demonstrated that age‐regulated ncRNA equaled the contribution of protein‐coding RNA within structures, but tended to have a lower heritability, implying lncRNA may better reflect environmental influences. Genes ECSIT, UNC13, and SKAP2 contributed to a network that did not respond to Rapamycin, and was associated with “neuron apoptotic processes” in protein–protein interaction analysis (FDR = 2.4%). ECSIT links inflammation with the continued age‐related downwards trajectory of mitochondrial complex I gene expression (FDR < 0.01%), implying that sustained inhibition of ECSIT may be maladaptive. The present observations link, for the first time, model organism longevity programs with the endogenous but temporary genome‐wide responses to aging in humans, revealing a pattern that may ultimately underpin personalized rates of health span.
Carbon disclosure, emission intensity and cost of equity capital: multi‐country evidence
Authors: Bui Binh , Moses Olayinka , Houqe Muhammad N.
Published: June 2019

This study examines the joint effect of carbon disclosure and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on firms’ implied cost of equity capital (COC). Based on 4655 firm‐year observations across 34 countries, we find firms’ GHG emission intensity to be positively associated with COC. However, we find also that the penalty linked with higher COC is moderated by extensive carbon disclosure. We provide evidence that the extent of carbon disclosure helps reduce the premium required by investors to compensate for poor carbon performance. Our study provides insights to policymakers, investors and managers on the combined effect of carbon disclosure, and emission intensity.
Synthesis and biological evaluation of morpholines linked coumarin–triazole hybrids as anticancer agents
Authors: Goud Nerella Sridhar , Pooladanda Venkatesh , Mahammad Ghouse S. , Jakkula Pranay , Gatreddi Santhosh , Qureshi Insaf A. , Alvala Ravi , Godugu Chandraiah , Alvala Mallika
Published: June 2019

A series of novel morpholines linked coumarin–triazole hybrids (6a–6v) has been synthesized and evaluated for their anti‐proliferative potential on a panel of five human cancer cell lines, namely bone (MG‐63), lung (A549), breast (MDA‐MB‐231), colon (HCT‐15) and liver (HepG2), using MTT assay. Among all, the compound 6n {7‐((1‐(2,4‐dichlorobenzyl)‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl) methoxy)‐4‐((2,6‐dimethylmorpholino) methyl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one} showed significant growth inhibition against MG‐63 cells with an IC50 value of 0.80 ± 0.22 μM. Further, induction of apoptosis by 6n of MG‐63 cells confirmed as a result of morphological changes, the sub‐G1 phase arrest, increased percentage of apoptotic cells, and decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and increase in reactive oxygen species levels. The in vitro Gal‐1 expression in cell culture supernatant of MG‐63 cells treated with compound 6n showed dose‐dependent reduction. The binding constant (Ka) of 6n with Gal‐1 was calculated from the intercept value which was observed as 3.0 × 105 M−1 by fluorescence spectroscopy. Surface plasmon resonance showed that 6n binds to Gal‐1 with binding constant (Ka) of 1.29E+04 1/Ms and equilibrium constant KD value of 7.54E−07 M, respectively. Molecular docking studies revealed the binding interactions of 6n with Gal‐1.
Qualitative research in childhood neurodisability
Authors: Goodwin Jane
Published: June 2019

This commentary is on the original article by Cleary et al. on pages 1408–1415 of this issue.
Incorporating and interpreting regulatory guidance on estimands in diabetes clinical trials: The PIONEER 1 randomized clinical trial as an example
Authors: Aroda Vanita R. , Saugstrup Trine , Buse John B. , Donsmark Morten , Zacho Jeppe , Davies Melanie J.
Published: June 2019

Regulatory guidelines describe the use of estimands in designing and conducting clinical trials. Estimands ensure alignment of the objectives with the design, conduct and analysis of a trial. An estimand is defined by four inter‐related attributes: the population of interest, the variable (endpoint) of interest, the way intercurrent events are handled and the population level summary. A trial may employ multiple estimands to evaluate treatment effects from different perspectives in order to address different scientific questions. As estimands may be an unfamiliar concept for many clinicians treating diabetes, this paper reviews the estimand concept and uses the PIONEER 1 phase 3a clinical trial, which investigated the efficacy and safety of oral semaglutide vs placebo, as an example of the way in which estimands can be implemented and interpreted. In the PIONEER 1 trial, two estimands were employed for each efficacy endpoint and were labelled as: (a) the treatment policy estimand, used to assess the treatment effect regardless of use of rescue medication or discontinuation of trial product, and provides a broad perspective of the treatment effect in the population of patients with type 2 diabetes in clinical practice; and (b) the trial product estimand, used to assess the treatment effect if all patients had continued to use trial product for the planned duration of the trial without rescue medication, thereby providing information on the anticipated treatment effect of the medication. Both approaches are complementary to understanding the effect of the studied treatments.
Riverine distribution of mussel environmental DNA reflects a balance among density, transport, and removal processes
Authors: Shogren Arial J. , Tank Jennifer L. , Egan Scott P. , Bolster Diogo , Riis Tenna
Published: June 2019

Sampling water for environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging tool for documenting species presence without direct observation, allowing for earlier detection and faster response than conventional sampling methods in aquatic ecosystems.

However, current understanding of how eDNA is transported in streams and rivers remains imprecise, with uncertainty of how the unique transport properties of eDNA may influence the interpretation of a positive detection. To test the utility of eDNA sensing in flowing waters, we compared quantitative eDNA analyses to zebra mussel density surveys in a Danish river.

Although flowing water complicates the relationships between eDNA production, transport, and removal, we found weak but positive relationships between eDNA concentration, zebra mussels, and biophysical parameters. For example, while zebra mussel densities were only moderately predicted by eDNA concentrations, eDNA was most strongly influenced by nutrient concentrations and water velocity. These results may be used to inform future sampling strategies, where hydrological variables could better constrain eDNA fate.

We also modelled estimates for net eDNA transport, retention, and degradation to estimate the relative importance of these processes for removing eDNA from the water column. In our study system, physical retention accounted for c. 70% of removal when compared to degradation alone, making it an important process to consider when assessing downstream eDNA transport.
Extinction debt and delayed colonization have had comparable but unique effects on plant community–climate lags since the Last Glacial Maximum
Authors: Butterfield Bradley J. , Anderson R. Scott , Holmgren Camille A. , Betancourt Julio L.
Published: June 2019

Aim

Plant communities typically exhibit lagged responses to climate change due to poorly understood effects of colonization and local extinction. Here, we quantify rates of change in mean cold tolerances, and contributions of colonization and local extinction to those rates, recorded in plant macrofossil assemblages from North American hot deserts over the last 30,000 years.

Location

Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.

Time period

30–0 thousand years before present (kybp).

Major taxa studied

Vascular plants.

Methods

Colonization and local extinction dates for 269 plant species were approximated from macrofossils in 15 packrat (Neotoma) midden series. Cold tolerances estimated from contemporary climate were used to quantify assemblage‐mean cold tolerances through time. Rates of colonization and local extinction, and their effects on rates of change in assemblage‐mean cold tolerances, were estimated for 30–20 kybp (Late Pleistocene, no directional warming), 20–10 kybp (deglaciation, rapid warming) and 10–0 kybp (Holocene, no directional warming).

Results

Rates of change in all metrics were negligible during the Late Pleistocene. Rates of change in assemblage‐mean cold tolerances (mean 1.0°C × 10−4/yr) lagged behind warming during deglaciation, and continued at similar rates (1.2°C × 10−4/yr) throughout the Holocene. Colonization and local extinction contributed equally to delayed responses to warming, but their dynamics differed through time: Colonization by warm‐adapted species predominated during deglaciation, while the most heat‐adapted species exhibited long delays in colonization. Only the most cold‐adapted species went locally extinct during deglaciation, followed by slow repayment of the extinction debt of cool‐adapted species during the Holocene.

Main conclusions

Responses to rapid warming can persist for millennia, even after cessation of warming. Consistent patterns from different midden series across the region support a metacommunity model in which dispersal interacts with environmental filters and buffers against local extinction to drive community–climate disequilibrium during and after periods of warming.
The global geography of fish diadromy modes
Authors: Chalant Anaïs , Jézéquel Céline , Keith Philippe , Hugueny Bernard
Published: June 2019

Aim

Geographical gradients in resource production are likely to translate into macroecological patterns in the biodiversity of migratory organisms, but few studies have addressed this question at a global scale. Here, we tested a hypothesis based on uncoupled latitudinal gradients in marine and freshwater primary productivities aimed at explaining where (e.g., at which latitude) and at which stage of the life cycle (larvae, amphidromy; juvenile, catadromy; or adult, anadromy) migration from ocean to freshwater occurs (diadromy).

Location

Global.

Time period

Current.

Major taxa studied

Fishes.

Methods

We modelled, using multinomial regressions, the proportion of catadromous, anadromous and amphidromous species in 994 river basins as a function of freshwater and marine net primary productivities (NPP; in milligrams of carbon per square metre per day) and additional biotic and abiotic variables. Using data extracted from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database, we tested whether diadromous, catadromous and amphidromous species differed with respect to the NPP of their marine and freshwater occurrences.

Results

Among diadromous species, anadromous species are present in higher proportions when conditions for growth are more favourable in the sea (higher productivity, higher temperature and lower number of competitors) than in freshwaters. The model reconstructs the latitudinal pattern observed in the proportion of anadromous species, including an asymmetry between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. According to GBIF occurrences, the ratio of marine over freshwater productivity is higher for anadromous species compared with catadromous and amphidromous species.

Main conclusions

Our results support the hypothesis stating that migration between ocean and freshwater occurs by choosing the biome that optimizes pre‐reproductive growth and is one more example of the importance of primary productivity in shaping large‐scale community patterns. This result suggests that some diadromous fish populations and species may suffer from anticipated climate change if interbiome productivity gradients are affected.
Modifiable factors affecting inpatient violence in an acute child and adolescent psychiatric unit: A 16‐year retrospective study
Authors: Panagiotou Aspasia , Mafreda Chrysoula , Moustikiadis Anastasios , Prezerakos Panagiotis
Published: June 2019

Violent incidents in acute inpatient units for children and adolescents are a major and persistent problem. The demographic, clinical, and modifiable (environmental–organizational) risk factors that affect inpatient violence in an Acute Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit were investigated via a retrospective study. Data were collected from nursing and medical reports and the unit's census and included 100 days per year for 16 years. Incidents of violence and assault types were recorded, and variables such as the diagnostic category of assailants, total number of patients, and staffing factors during the incident were examined. Of the 2390 violent incidents recorded, 50% were attributed to cases of physical violence towards another patient, 17% to physical violence towards nursing staff, 19% to physical violence towards self and 14% to destruction of property. According to the final multivariable model, for each additional patient in the unit, the risk of a violent event increased by 9.51%; for each additional offender patient, the risk increased by 14.06%; the number of assistant nurses was associated with a 25.03% increased risk; and, after 2006, the risk increased by 68.99%. The most significant factor associated with a 59.98% decreased risk was the total number of nursing staff. All variables significantly and independently contributed to the model. Acute inpatient psychiatric units with a small number of hospitalized patients, adequate, well‐trained and specialized nursing staff, and the hospitalization of different types of patients in separate wards or units are expected to facilitate a reduction in the frequency of violent incidents.
Partnering for enhanced digital surveillance of influenza‐like disease and the effect of antivirals and vaccines (PEDSIDEA)
Authors: Rath Barbara , Maltezou Helena C. , Papaevangelou Vassiliki , Papagrigoriou‐Theodoridou Maria‐Alexandra , Alchikh Maren , Myles Puja , Schweiger Brunhilde ,   the PEDSIDEA Network
Published: June 2019

Background

Standardised clinical outcome measures are urgently needed for the surveillance of influenza and influenza‐like illness (ILI) based on individual patient data (IPD).

Objectives

We report a multicentre prospective cohort using a predefined disease severity score in routine care.

Patients/Methods

The Vienna Vaccine Safety initiative (ViVI) Disease Severity Score (“ViVI Score”) was made available as an android‐based mobile application to three paediatric hospitals in Berlin and Athens between 2013 and 2016. Healthcare professionals assessed ILI patients at the point of care including severity, risk factors and use of antibiotics/antivirals/vaccines. RT‐PCR for influenza A/B viruses was performed at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute and the Robert Koch Institute. PCR testing was blinded to severity scoring and vice versa.

Results

A total of 1615 children aged 0‐5 years (54.4% males) were assessed at the three sites. The mean age was 1.7 years (SD 1.5; range 0‐5.9). The success rate (completion of the scoring without disruption to the ER workflow) was 100%. ViVI Disease Severity Scores ranged from 0 to 35 (mean 13.72). Disease severity in the Berlin Cohort was slightly higher (mean 15.26) compared to the Athens Cohorts (mean 10.86 and 11.13). The administration of antibiotics was most prevalent in the Berlin Cohort, with 41.2% on antibiotics (predominantly cefuroxime) as opposed to only 0.5% on neuraminidase inhibitors. Overall, Risk‐adjusted ViVI Scores were significantly linked to the prescription of both, antibiotics and antivirals.

Conclusions

The Risk‐adjusted ViVI Score enables a precision medicine approach to managing ILI in multicentre settings. Using mobile applications, severity data will be obtained in real time with important implications for the evaluation of antiviral/vaccine use.
Unravelling the history of biodiversity in mountain ranges through integrating geology and biogeography
Authors: Huang Shan , Meijers Maud J. M. , Eyres Alison , Mulch Andreas , Fritz Susanne A.
Published: June 2019

Aim

We advocate an interdisciplinary approach to biogeography, integrating geology and paleobiology to examine how biodiversity dynamics evolved as mountain ranges formed through (geological) time.

Location

Global; case study: Anatolia (Turkey).

Methods

We discuss the links between surface uplift and biodiversity dynamics and review recent developments for reconstructing the history of geography and biodiversity. To illustrate an integrative approach to biogeography, we present a case study of Neogene Anatolia. In particular, we reconstruct Anatolian paleogeography based on a synthesis of both quantitative and qualitative evidence, and review the fossil record of the regional flora and fauna, to identify changes in compositions that might be induced by surface uplift and associated environmental changes.

Results

The Central Anatolian Plateau and its mountainous margins display different histories of surface uplift during the late Miocene to Pliocene, which are detectable in the regional fossil record of large mammals. Overall changes in vegetation and climatic conditions for the whole region also align with the general time frame of surface uplift.

Main conclusions

Our discussion and case study highlight the value of an integrative biogeographic framework, by combining knowledge and techniques from geology and paleobiology to simultaneously consider the biotic and environmental dynamics in space and time. Neogene surface uplift in Anatolia has affected the regional biota, particularly the diversity of plants and large mammals, along with well‐known global and regional changes in climate and other environmental factors. To disentangle the effects of different, but most likely interactive environmental changes at various scales, we call for rigorous examination of the geological record in a biogeographic framework, using innovative methods to uncover how environmental and biotic processes have shaped mountain biodiversity.
Clinical performance of pressable glass‐ceramic veneers after 5, 10, 15, and 20 years: A retrospective case series study
Authors: Aslan Yılmaz Umut , Uludamar Altay , Özkan Yasemin
Published: June 2019

Objectives

To evaluate the long‐term clinical performance and survival rate of pressable lithium‐disilicate glass‐ceramic veneers (LDSVs).

Materials and Methods

A total of 413 LDSVs were bonded to anterior and posterior teeth by three experienced clinicians between 1998 and 2012. The LDSVs were examined for color/ esthetic match of the glass‐ceramic surface (esthetic evaluation), fracture rate, marginal discoloration (staining of the luting cement), and marginal integrity (including caries, clinical evaluation). For clinical and esthetic evaluations, the modified United States Public Health Services (USPHS) score was used in this study. The success rate was determined with a Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis.

Results

The mean observation time was 11.33 ± 4.85 years. There was no loss to follow‐up, all restorations were accounted for in the final analysis. The probability of survival of the 413 veneers was 98% after 5 years, 95% at 10 years, 91% at 15, and 87% at 20 years, indicating a very low clinical failure rate. Of the 413 restorations, complications were occurred in 15 (3.63%) of all restorations, and fractures and debonding in 6 (1.45%) and 9 (2.18%), respectively.

Conclusions

The LDSVs showed high survival rate and very good results for color match and anatomic form and marginal integrity in the long‐term analysis.

Clinical Significance

The long‐term performance of LDSVs can be considered as highly favorable when carefully planned.
Population history of European mountain pines Pinus mugo and Pinus uncinata revealed by mitochondrial DNA markers
Authors: Zaborowska Julia , Łabiszak Bartosz , Wachowiak Witold
Published: June 2019

The dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and the Pyrenean pine (P. uncinata) constitute a pair of closely related coniferous taxa of poorly resolved evolutionary history and affinity, which inhabit numerous stands scattered over subalpine environments of European mountain ranges. The aim of the study was to investigate their phylogeography and mutual relationships, shedding new light on their taxonomy and the past of the alpine flora. Previous evolutionary reconstructions of the mountain pines relied mainly on bi‐parentally or paternally inherited markers that quickly homogenize between populations, showing rather shallow and recent differentiation of gene pools. Therefore, to contrast these pictures, we analyzed diversity and differentiation within a large set of new mitochondrial loci, inherited in maternal line and distributed by seeds at short geographical distances. Samples of the taxa were taken from 27 natural populations representing their range‐wide distributions—17 populations of P. mugo and 10 of P. uncinata. All markers appeared polymorphic, providing a total of 31 multilocus haplotypes. Two of the loci proved to be species‐diagnostic and nearly fixed between analyzed samples. Distribution of mitotypes indicate that allopatric populations of the taxa constitute separate mitochondrial haplogroups, and the two mountain pines have independent evolutionary history. However, introgression of P. mugo mitotypes by P. uncinata specimens revealed in the species contact zone in Western Alps shows that their speciation is not fully completed.
Convolutional sparse coding‐based deep random vector functional link network for distress classification of road structures
Authors: Maeda Keisuke , Takahashi Sho , Ogawa Takahiro , Haseyama Miki
Published: June 2019

This paper presents a convolutional sparse coding (CSC)‐based deep random vector functional link network (CSDRN) for distress classification of road structures. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of CSC into a feature extraction scheme in the distress classification. CSC can extract visual features representing characteristics of target images because it can successfully estimate optimal convolutional dictionary filters and sparse features as visual features by training from a small number of distress images. The optimal dictionaries trained from distress images have basic components of visual characteristics such as edge and line information of distress images. Furthermore, sparse feature maps estimated on the basis of the dictionaries represent both strength of the basic components and location information of regions having their components, and these maps can represent distress images. That is, sparse feature maps can extract key components from distress images that have diverse visual characteristics. Therefore, CSC‐based feature extraction is effective for training from a limited number of distress images that have diverse visual characteristics. The construction of a novel neural network, CSDRN, by the use of a combination of CSC‐based feature extraction and the DRN classifier, which can also be trained from a small dataset, is shown in this paper. Accurate distress classification is realized via the CSDRN.
Exposure to sewage water and the development of allergic manifestations in Finnish children
Authors: Kujansuu Eila , Kujansuu Leena , Paassilta Marita , Mustonen Jukka , Vaarala Outi
Published: June 2019

Background

The hygiene hypothesis suggests that a decreased microbial load contributes to an increased risk of allergies. In the Finnish municipality of Nokia, sewage water was accidentally mixed with drinking water for 2 days. We studied the association between exposure and the emergence of allergies in children.

Methods

Children aged 2‐5 years living in the accident area and an age‐matched cohort from the control municipality were recruited. Based on the questionnaires, we identified 139 children exposed to the contaminated water and selected age‐ and sex‐matched controls for them (mean age 16.59 months at the time of the accident). Allergic symptoms and diseases were recorded by ISAAC questionnaires and skin prick tests (SPTs) performed 2 and 5 years after the accident.

Results

SPT positivity at 5 years of follow‐up was decreased in the children exposed to the sewage water below 1 year of age (OR 0.311, 95% CI 0.118‐0.820; P = 0.019), particularly in children who did not develop gastroenteritis at exposure. In contrast, the children over 1 year of age at the exposure tended more likely to be SPT‐positive at 5 years of follow‐up (OR 1.997, 95% CI 0.963‐4.143; P = 0.070).

Conclusions

Sewage water exposure during the first year of life, but not later, decreased the risk of IgE sensitization emphasizing the importance of age as a modulator. The modulation of IgE sensitization by the presence of clinical gastroenteritis at the exposure suggests that the nature of microbial load may have importance or alternatively shared host defense mechanisms protect from infection and atopic sensitization.
Comparison of inhospital outcomes of pediatric heart transplantation between single ventricle congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathy
Authors: Bradford Tamara T. , Daily Joshua A. , Lang Sean M. , Gossett Jeffrey M. , Tang Xinyu , Collins R. Thomas
Published: June 2019

Data investigating the impact of household income and other factors on SV patient status‐post‐Fontan palliation after heart transplantation are lacking. We aim to evaluate factors affecting outcomes after OHT in this population. The PHIS database was interrogated for either SV or myocarditis/primary CM who were 4 years or older who underwent a single OHT. There were 1599 patients with a median age of 13.2 years (IQR: 9.3‐16.1). Total hospital costs were significantly higher in the SV group ($408 000 vs $294 000, P < 0.0001), but as median household income increased, the risk of inhospital mortality, post‐transplant LOS, and LOS‐adjusted total hospital costs all decreased. The risk of inhospital mortality increased 6.5% per 1 year of age increase at the time of transplant. Patients in the SV group had significantly more diagnoses than those in the CM group (21 vs 15, P < 0.0001) and had longer total hospital LOSs as a result of longer post‐transplant courses (25 days vs 15, P < 0.0001). Increased median household income and younger age are associated with decreased resource utilization and improved inhospital mortality in SV CHD patients who undergo OHT. In conclusion, earlier consideration of OHT in this population, coupled with improved selection criteria, may increase survival in this population.
Evidence for long‐term prevalence of cucumber vein yellowing virus in Sudan and genetic variation of the virus in Sudan and the Mediterranean Basin
Authors: Desbiez C. , Caciagli P. , Wipf‐Scheibel C. , Millot P. , Ruiz L. , Marian D. , Dafalla G. , Lecoq H.
Published: June 2019

Cucumber vein yellowing virus (CVYV) is emerging throughout the Mediterranean Basin, where it causes significant damage to cucumber and melon crops. It has been suggested that CVYV originated from the Middle East and has spread only recently to other areas. In this work, an isolate from Sudan was characterized, and surveys performed in that country between 1992 and 2012 revealed a long‐term presence of CVYV with a high molecular variability, showing that the virus has long been endemic in sub‐Saharan Africa. Comparison of the full‐length sequences of 11 CVYV isolates from different geographic origins revealed recombination events in CVYV populations from the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East, and evidence for different selection pressures along the genome. These results shed a new light on the evolution of CVYV.
Effects of concurrent exercise training on muscle dysfunction and systemic oxidative stress in older people with COPD
Authors: Alcazar Julian , Losa‐Reyna Jose , Rodriguez‐Lopez Carlos , Navarro‐Cruz Roberto , Alfaro‐Acha Ana , Ara Ignacio , García‐García Francisco J. , Alegre Luis M. , Guadalupe‐Grau Amelia
Published: June 2019

Oxidative stress is associated with disease severity and limb muscle dysfunction in COPD. Our main goal was to assess the effects of exercise training on systemic oxidative stress and limb muscle dysfunction in older people with COPD. Twenty‐nine outpatients with COPD (66‐90 years) were randomly assigned to a 12‐week exercise training (ET; high‐intensity interval training (HIIT) plus power training) or a control (CT; usual care) group. We evaluated mid‐thigh muscle cross‐sectional area (CSA; computed tomography); vastus lateralis (VL) muscle thickness, pennation angle, and fascicle length (ultrasonography); peak VO2 uptake (VO2peak) and work rate (Wpeak) (incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test); rate of force development (RFD); maximal muscle power (Pmax; force‐velocity testing); systemic oxidative stress (plasma protein carbonylation); and physical performance and quality of life. ET subjects experienced changes in mid‐thigh muscle CSA (+4%), VL muscle thickness (+11%) and pennation angle (+19%), VO2peak (+14%), Wpeak (+37%), RFD (+32% to 65%), Pmax (+38% to 51%), sit‐to‐stand time (−24%), and self‐reported health status (+20%) (all P < 0.05). No changes were noted in the CT group (P > 0.05). Protein carbonylation decreased among ET subjects (−27%; P < 0.05), but not in the CT group (P > 0.05). Changes in protein carbonylation were associated with changes in muscle size and pennation angle (r = −0.44 to −0.57), exercise capacity (r = −0.46), muscle strength (r = −0.45), and sit‐to‐stand performance (r = 0.60) (all P < 0.05). The combination of HIIT and power training improved systemic oxidative stress and limb muscle dysfunction in older people with COPD. Changes in oxidative stress were associated with exercise‐induced structural and functional adaptations.
Buildings in GI: How to deal with building models in the GIS domain
Authors: Knoth Laura , Mittlböck Manfred , Vockner Bernhard , Andorfer Michael , Atzl Caroline
Published: June 2019

Digital building information is important during a building's lifecycle, it is needed from first design until demolition. The two domains that mainly contribute are AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) during design, construction, and operation, and GIS as a supporting discipline for analysis and further integration of the building's environment. However, there is a challenge in information exchange between the two domains, resulting in the remodeling of digital building information in GIS. In this article, we identify three major data sources from the AEC domain and show transformation processes to enable the integration of such models into the geographical environment in the form of one transition model. Furthermore, we show that this model can either be used directly or exported in the form of de facto standards that allow for further analysis.
Prior blood donations do not affect efficacy of G‐CSF mobilization nor outcomes of haematopoietic stem cell collection in healthy donors
Authors: Pruszczyk Katarzyna , Bartnik Krzysztof , Bogusz Krzysztof , Farhan Roiya , Cwil Dominika , Jastrzębska Aleksandra , Moskowicz Albert , Płachta Milena , Chmiel Adam , Skwierawska Kamila , Urbanowska Elżbieta , Jędrzejczak Wiesław Wiktor , Snarski Emilian
Published: June 2019

Background and Objectives

Many consider volunteer blood donors as ideal candidates for unrelated haematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) donation. However, frequent blood donations could influence the results of HPC mobilization. To our best knowledge, there are no data on the possible impact of repeated blood donation on efficiency of subsequent HPC mobilization by granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF).

Materials and Methods

We compared outcomes of HPC mobilization in unrelated donors with and without a history of blood donation. We conducted a prospective study on 287 consecutive donors admitted to the Department of Hematology since January 2016. The final analysis included 153 donors who agreed to take part in the study and had undergone stem cell mobilization with G‐CSF.

Results

History of blood donations prior to haematopoietic stem cell mobilization with G‐CSF does not have a significant impact on the number of collected CD34+ cells in the first leucocytapheresis (516.2 x 106 (170–1148) in blood donors vs 490.5 x 106 (101–1154) in non‐donors) (P = 0.32). In all donors, in this study mobilization of HPC was successful: 87.5% of blood donors and 85.6% of non‐donors collected the required cell number in a single apheresis. In blood donors, a higher number of blood donations within 2 and 5 years prior to HPC mobilization correlated significantly with successful donation within one leucocytapheresis (P = 0.014 and P = 0.024, respectively).

Conclusion

Multiple blood donations do not significantly influence the outcome of HPC collection in unrelated donors. Blood donors and non‐donors have similar results of HPC collection, so there is no reason to favour either group.