bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The function of food refusal in male prisons and custodial environments. A rapid evidence assessment (REA)
Authors: Adlam Jessica , Powell Gemma
Published: October 2023

Purpose

This rapid evidence assessment (REA) study aims to synthesise what is known about food refusal within male prison populations to aid a better understanding of why this occurs. By looking at the various functions of food refusal for this population, it is hoped that professionals can better support prisoners’ needs in this area.

Design/methodology/approach

A rapid review of available data within the published literature was completed. Searches were conducted on two databases (PsychInfo and MedLine), and a total of 328 articles were screened using a three-stage process. This resulted in 13 articles being identified for the final sample, which were reviewed and synthesised into themes by looking for commonalities.

Findings

Five themes were identified: “to protest”, “to achieve goals or demands”, “to manage interpersonal difficulties with prison/custodial staff”, “to end life” and “mental health and personality disorder”. The findings appear to suggest that food refusal in this context may be predominantly driven by a need to communicate or gain control.

Practical implications

To help prevent and cease food refusal, it will be beneficial for prison staff to use approaches that support prisoners feeling a sense of fairness, transparency, control and autonomy, as well as problem-solving skills and establishing a sense of purpose and motivation.

Originality/value

This REA confirmed there is a lack of good-quality research into the functions of food refusal among prisoners in the UK. Future research should involve contact with prisoners who have engaged in food refusal to understand motivations firsthand.
Intellectual capital and bank’s performance: a cross-national approach
Authors: Chinnasamy Gopalakrishnan , Madbouly Araby , Vinoth S. , Chandran Preetha
Published: October 2023

Purpose

This study aims to identify the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the bank’s performance using a cross-country approach with India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using the Skandia navigator model (SNM).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a mixed-methods research approach by taking financial and non-financial measures to assess the impact of the IC on the bank’s performance using the SNM. The study implies an analysis of the data from the top ten banks in India and twenty banks in GCC countries. The selection was done based on the volume of the bank’s business for three years (2019–2020, 2020–2021 and 2021–2022).

Findings

The research has three main findings: there is a positive impact of IC on the bank’s performance; amongst the factors of SNM, there is a direct impact of human capital and customer focus on the performance of the selected banks in both India and GCC countries; and the other factors of SNM such as structural capital and process focus, renewal and development focus also affect the selected banks.

Research limitations/implications

The outcomes of the research may be useful for policymakers in India and GCC countries, as it identifies IC components that have a significant impact on the bank’s performance. This might enable them to develop policies that foster such factors, which, consequently, will improve the performance of the banks in the selected countries.

Originality/value

This study is an attempt to fill the gap in the existing literature on IC and bank’s performance for two different types of countries using the SNM.
Special libraries’ odyssey into the 3D realm
Authors: Adewojo Akinade Adebowale , Dunmade Aderinola Ololade
Published: October 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the dynamic evolution of the integration of three-dimensional (3D) technologies into special libraries. This analysis examines the difficulties and advantages that emerge from this significant shift and emphasises the possibilities for improving research, education and preservation in these specific environments.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a comprehensive approach, synthesising existing literature and case studies to gain insights into the adoption of 3D technology in special libraries. It also explores the synergy between 3D technology and artificial intelligence (AI) within library services.

Findings

This research uncovers a dynamic landscape in special libraries, marked by a growing embrace of 3D technology. Specialised industries and organisations increasingly use this technology to enrich their services, from crafting physical models for in-depth research to safeguarding precious artifacts through digital replication. Challenges include the need for specialised expertise, financial constraints and limitations in access. Notably, the integration of AI enhances user experiences by streamlining search and discovery.

Originality/value

This study adds value to the field by shedding light on the transformative potential of 3D technology and AI in special libraries. It underscores the significance of strategic planning, collaboration, staff training and tailored needs assessments to ensure successful technology integration. This paper’s originality lies in its exploration of emerging trends and the outlook for technology-driven innovation and collaborative endeavours shaping the future of special libraries.
Environmental, social and governance controversies: the role of European bank boards
Authors: Agnese Paolo , Cerciello Massimiliano , Giacomini Emanuela , Taddeo Simone
Published: October 2023

Purpose

In recent years, European banks have been required to integrate environmental and social objectives into their business practices. At the same time, they have become increasingly exposed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) controversies. This paper empirically examines the relationship between the board characteristics of banks (i.e. size, gender diversity, meeting frequency, sustainability compensation incentives and the presence of a sustainability committee) and exposure to ESG-related controversies.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical analysis focuses on a sample of 61 European banks between 2012 and 2021. Employing generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation, the authors examine the relationship between board characteristics and ESG controversies.

Findings

The results of the study indicate that banks featuring certain board characteristics (i.e. larger and more gender-diverse boards, facing sustainability compensation provisions and having sustainability committees) experience lesser exposure to ESG controversies. Additionally, the authors ascertain that prior instances of ESG controversies play a role in influencing current levels of such controversies. This result highlights the relevance of a bank's historical trajectory.

Research limitations/implications

The authors' sample contains banks based in the European Union (EU). Future research should broaden the analysis to encompass banks operating in other advanced countries, as well as in emerging countries. This expansion would offer more insights into the relationship between board characteristics and ESG controversies under different regulatory frameworks.

Practical implications

The authors' findings provide relevant implications for several stakeholders, including shareholders, regulators and supervisors. Certain board characteristics should be taken into consideration to limit exposure to ESG controversies.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper represents the first attempt to provide evidence of the link between strong corporate governance standards and reduced exposure to ESG controversies.
Language, educational inequalities and epistemic access: crafting alternative pathways for Fiji
Authors: Goundar Prashneel Ravisan
Published: October 2023

Purpose

The goal of this article is two-fold. The first is to contribute new insights to inform education policies for addressing the underlying educational inequalities and injustices that are caused by lack of epistemic access in the context of Fiji higher education. The second is to explore how the Grounded Theory Methodology can be applied to longitudinal language testing research that seeks to reverse epistemic injustices and educational inequalities in Fiji and other comparable multilingual countries.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore how the Grounded Theory Methodology can be applied to longitudinal language testing research that seeks to reverse epistemic injustices and educational inequalities in Fiji and other comparable multilingual countries. The study was conducted at a university in Fiji where 120 students were sampled at the beginning of the first year and at the end of their first year of university programme. The same cohort was tracked throughout the project, out of which 30 students were interviewed at the end of the first year.

Findings

The four indicators include: (1) lack of teaching and learning resources, (2) language barriers, (3) problems with the medium of instruction and (4) shortage of experienced teachers.

Originality/value

Although widely acknowledged in previous studies from elsewhere, the indicators of educational inequalities identified in this study are worth reporting on due to the unique socio-cultural and linguistic context of Fiji.
Analysing the lobbying behaviour of experts during the due process of the International Integrated Reporting Framework
Authors: Rivera Yaismir Adriana
Published: October 2023

Purpose

Drawing on Suchman’s conception of cognitive legitimacy and Boswell’s account of the political functions of expert knowledge, this paper aims to study the due process followed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) prior to the publication of the first version of the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF). Specifically, the author analyses the lobbying strategies used in the comment letters sent by a subset of lobbyists, “the experts”, represented by accounting bodies and firms, regulators and academics.

Design/methodology/approach

From both a form- and meaning-oriented analysis, this paper focuses on how the experts resorted to the functions of knowledge when they took part in the IIRF’s public consultation. The author first carries out a quantitative content analysis of the responses to the 2013 Consultation Draft submitted by those constituents considered as accounting expert lobbyists. Then, the author analyse how these actors framed their comments under expert knowledge to legitimise the IIRC, the IIRF and the accounting profession itself.

Findings

The findings suggest that the expert groups welcomed the opportunity, not simply to legitimise the IIRC through their democratic support, but to provide a technocratic settlement that ensures the due process is based on the mobilisation of expert knowledge as a legitimate source. By drawing on the cognitive legitimacy of expert lobbyists, the IIRC drew on the political functions of expert knowledge to reduce uncertainty and gain stability.

Practical implications

Analysis of the lobbying strategies used by the accounting experts whose position could make a difference and receive more attention from the IIRC makes this contribution of particular interest, especially since the first version of the IIRF sought to guide disclosure and sustainable business practices around the world.

Social implications

Experts as political actors play a legitimising role since they are capable of producing relevant knowledge that, due to its nature and scope, certainly affects policymaking and sustainable development.

Originality/value

This research provides a sociopolitical perspective to comprehend how some lobbying strategies, in this case, of expert actors, contribute to legitimising a standard-setter body and its endeavours in the context of voluntary standards.
Asymmetric effects of wellness destination and wellness facility attributes on tourist satisfaction
Authors: Mikulić Josip , Šerić Maja , Krešić Damir
Published: October 2023

Purpose

This study aims to provide insight into the determinants of wellness tourism satisfaction, thereby taking a nonlinear approach regarding the relationships between attribute-level performance of wellness facility attributes, on the one hand, and wellness destination attributes, on the other hand, and global wellness tourist satisfaction. In addition, scores of impact range are calculated to reveal the potentially most determinant wellness facility and destination attributes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from a survey-based study conducted among 1,331 wellness tourists who have engaged in wellness tourism activities at one of 28 hotels with wellness offerings and 10 spas in Croatia. Impact-asymmetry analysis and impact-range analysis are used to quantify the potential of individual wellness attributes to generate satisfaction and dissatisfaction among wellness tourists and to perform a classification of wellness attributes according to the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction.

Findings

Operators of wellness tourism facilities, as well as managers of wellness destinations, must not make any compromises in quality levels because most wellness attributes have significantly higher potential to frustrate than please tourists. Basic factors such as cleanliness, punctuality or safety turned out to have the strongest influence on global satisfaction levels. Moreover, in line with previous research, wellness tourists have large expectations from destinations to have a preserved and beautiful nature, which is by far the most influential destination attribute. In addition to a safe environment and high-quality accommodation, wellness tourists further prefer rich cultural offerings.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to apply a nonlinear analysis approach to the quality–satisfaction relationship in a wellness tourism setting. Moreover, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the only study that used separate attribute models for wellness facilities, on the one hand, and wellness destinations, on the other hand, based on a nation-wide sample that covers multiple cases (i.e. multiple facilities and destinations).
For me, for you, or for the environment? Explaining young consumers’ motives for adopting electric cars based on the fundamental motive framework
Authors: Paramita Widya , Rostiani Rokhima , Hidayat Rahmadi , Nugroho Sahid Susilo , Junarsin Eddy
Published: October 2023

Purpose

Electric cars (EC) adoption represents a strategic action aimed at promoting environmental sustainability. Although Millennials and Gen Z represent the greatest potential market for EC, their adoption remains low; thus, this study focused on examining the role of motive in predicting EC adoption intention within these two generations’ population. Built upon the fundamental motive framework, this research explores the motives that lead to EC adoption intention. Subsequently, this study aims to examine the role of performance expectancy as the mediating variable and EC attributes beliefs as the moderating variable that can promote EC adoption intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Both exploratory and confirmatory methods were used in this investigation. Using an exploratory approach, this research explores the fundamental motives and the attributes of EC that influence EC adoption intention. Using a confirmatory approach, this research tests the mediating role of performance expectancy. To collect the data, an online survey was administered to 260 young consumers in Indonesia.

Findings

The results of PLS-SEM analysis from the data revealed that self-protection, kin-care, status and affiliative motives influence EC adoption. Furthermore, performance expectancy mediates the relationship between self-protection, mate acquisition, affiliative motives and EC adoption intention. Among EC attributes, the short-haul performance strengthens the indirect relationship between affiliative motive and EC adoption intention.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study is that it only focuses on the practical attributes of EC, whereas psychological attributes that were found to be more influential in consumer’s purchase decisions were not examined.

Practical implications

Marketers need to explore EC attributes that can strengthen the relationship between consumers’ motives and EC adoption intention by increasing consumers’ evaluation of performance expectancy. In this study, marketers can promote short-haul performance, as it will lead to EC adoption for consumers with affiliative motives.

Originality/value

This study ties together two lines of research on the adoption of EC, exploring EC attributes and examining consumers’ motivation to choose EC, especially Millennials and Gen Z. In this way, EC attributes facilitate the fulfillment of consumers’ needs and promote EC adoption intention.
Photodegradation modifies microplastic effects on soil properties and plant performance
Authors: Lozano Y. M. , Gordillo‐Rocha H. , Waldman W. R. , Rillig M. C.
Published: October 2023

Microplastics (MPs) in soil affect plant–soil systems depending on their shape and polymer type. However, previous research has not yet considered the effects of degraded plastics, which are the plastic materials actually present in the environment.

We selected eight MPs representing different shapes (fibres, films and foams) and polymer types, and exposed them to UV‐C degradation. Each MP was mixed with soil at a concentration of 0.4% (w/w). The phytometer Daucus carota grew in each pot. At harvest, soil properties and plant biomass were measured.

Photodegradation altered MP physical and chemical properties, impacting plant–soil systems. MP degradation effects on plant and soil were observed with fibres and foams, but there were negligible effects with films. The latter could be explained by the polymer structure of films and manufacturer's additives, potentially delaying their degradation.

Degraded fibres increased soil respiration more than their non‐degraded counterparts, as photodegradation increased the positive effects of fibres on soil water retention. The emergence of oxygenated groups during degradation may have increased the hydrophilicity of fibres, enhancing their ability to retain water. Degraded foams increased soil respiration, which could be related to the possible leaching of organic substances with lower partition coefficients, which may promote soil microbial activity.

In contrast, degraded foams decreased soil aggregation, likely as degradation produced larger holes increasing their permeability. Also, the increase in hydrophilic molecules could have decreased soil particle cohesiveness. Degraded fibres and foams increased shoot and root mass as a result of MP effects on soil properties. Photodegraded MPs affected root traits, which could be linked to MP effects on soil water status and plant coping strategies.

Synthesis and applications. Photodegradation can intensify the effects that microplastics (MPs) have on plant–soil systems, which would have frequently been underestimated had we only worked with pristine MPs. Plastic companies, agricultural practitioners and researchers should consider that plastics are being degraded as they enter the soil. Policies should promote practices to minimize MP accumulation in soils and ensure their proper disposal.
Information provision by non‐government actors in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme: A key market stewardship function in social care quasi‐markets
Authors: Green Celia , Malbon Eleanor , Carey Gemma
Published: October 2023

The use of quasi‐markets for the delivery of social care continues to grow internationally. This has presented considerable challenges regarding governance and stewardship of these markets, to ensure they meet policy goals. To date, both scholarship and practice on quasi‐market stewardship have mainly focused on the role of government. However, non‐government actors can also play important stewardship roles. For effective stewardship, there needs to be integration between government and non‐government actors in the system, not just a top‐down approach. This paper explores the stewardship role of non‐government actors in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) with a focus on the role of information provision as a key market stewardship function. Findings show non‐government information providers play important stewardship roles that increase choice and control for citizens, enhance market sufficiency, diversity, and innovation, and support other actors in the system. We argue for a shift in the conception of market stewardship as primarily a government activity and recommend the market stewardship actions of non‐government actors be better acknowledged, funded, and ‘joined up’ with the market stewardship role of government to enable social care quasi‐markets to operate more effectively.

Points for practitioners

Information provision by non‐government actors is a key market stewardship function in social care quasi‐markets.

Market stewardship needs to be the responsibility of a much greater range of actors than government alone.

A framework for ‘distributed stewardship’ can help join up the stewardship actions of non‐government actors with those of government to support information flows for more effective stewardship.
What roles might automation play in the future of public administration journal peer review processes?
Authors: Dickinson Helen , Smith Catherine
Published: October 2023

Publishing in journals is crucial in the creation of knowledge within the public administration field and the career advancements of individuals. Each year, more articles enter journal publishing systems, and it is becoming more difficult and time consuming for editors to secure reviewers. A range of technological applications have been developed that apply automation techniques to various aspects of the peer review process and these are explored in this paper. We find some potentially promising applications in terms of assessing aspects of quality and in identifying potential reviewers. The replacement of humans in review processes is less clear cut and there are dangers in exacerbating inequities within the field. The value of peer review is particularly important for early career researchers and building a community of scholarship in the public administration field. It is crucial we recognise this and do not lose positives of peer review processes to address some of the issues currently experienced.

Points for practitioners

Academic journals help create knowledge within the field of public administration and play a role in career advancement of individual academics. Yet, there are a number of well‐established challenges with peer review processes.

Recent advancements in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence offer the potential to automate some processes associated with peer review.

Several automation processes are already available and in use around some areas of peer review processes and these are explored in this paper.

But it is unlikely that automation will replace humans in peer review processes, and it is important that the public administration community revisits the importance of these processes and considers how these are valued and rewarded.
Brexit with a little ‘b’: navigating belonging, ordinary Brexits, and emotional relations
Authors: Degnen Cathrine , Tyler Katharine , Blamire Joshua
Published: October 2023

This article analyses senses of belonging and belonging disrupted via the lens of Brexit with a little ‘b’: namely at the level of ordinary experiences in the flow of daily lives. Our interlocutors recount these as deeply emotionally charged experiences. Their accounts supplement and help nuance more widespread popular explanatory models of the referendum vote and its outcomes. Examining brexit through the intersection of belonging and emotion permits new insights into how place became linked in social imaginaries with Leave and Remain. It also permits closer analysis of how senses of belonging are relationally and differentially mediated by other identities, including class, race, ethnicity, and migration status, and how these intersect unevenly with and have a consequence for people's senses of belonging. This includes demonstrating how the privileged sense of belonging of many white middle‐class Britons (both Leave‐ and Remain‐supporting) was disrupted and their sense of ontological security jarred, as well as how people navigated the multiple social and cultural outcomes of the referendum in their daily lives, networks of intimate social relations, and local places.
Authors of misfortune: interpretation and expertise in a model disaster
Authors: Özden‐Schilling Tom
Published: October 2023

Since 2001, beetles have killed two‐thirds of the pine trees in British Columbia, Canada, decimating the predominant commercial tree species in one of the world's largest timber economies. Attempts to construct and circulate computer models of the infestation and its aftermaths, however, have obscured destabilizing changes across state institutions for environmental research. Juxtaposing literary conceptualizations of distributed authorship with ethnographic critiques of technoscientific bureaucracy, this article examines how the proliferation of computer models in contemporary resource planning institutions has altered the ways experts participate in and sanction interpretive communities. The dynamic conceptualizations of authorship produced through these exchanges challenge existing portraits of anticipatory governance, an emergent mode of administration that often relies on models for procedural implementation and narrative framing even as it circumscribes modellers’ voices to specific moments of interpretation and critique. While modellers make claims on distant futures to provoke discussion among diverse actors, later interpreters may highlight a model's apparent precision or its radical uncertainties to defer criticisms of problematic interventions and government restructuring. Such modes of attribution have deepened many scientists’ sense of estrangement from the interpretive communities their models help to engender.
Life funds, urban development, and the experimental practices of financial sociology
Authors: McFall Liz
Published: October 2023

How did the Norwich Union, a life and general insurance company, come to see itself as a ‘local developer with people always at the centre of our planning’? This article explores how a small number of insurance companies, capitalising on their long history of property investment, used their investment funds, or ‘life funds’, to transform the built environment of UK in the twentieth century. In the postwar period life funds were contracted by local governments to finance, plan and develop solutions to urban issues that paralleled those targeted by post‐war welfare reforms. This involved companies in developing expertise, working practices, instruments and collaborative arrangements that are not adequately represented as financial investment. Ventures into development on this scale had also to be ventures in futures planning, calculated bets on how people would – and how they should – live, work and spend. These are enterprises that I characterise as ‘experimental practices of financial sociology’ as a provocation that acknowledges first, that non‐sociologists sometimes devise huge sociological experiments and second, that the separation of economics from sociology, and of finance from society, is a disciplinary move that is far less strictly enacted outside the academy.
Association between adverse pregnancy outcome and placental biomarkers in the first trimester: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Sovio Ulla , Gaccioli Francesca , Cook Emma , Charnock‐Jones D. Stephen , Smith Gordon C. S.
Published: October 2023

Objective

To determine the inter‐relationships between five first‐trimester biomarkers (pregnancy associated plasma protein A [PAPP‐A], alpha‐fetoprotein [AFP], beta human chorionic gonadotrophin [beta‐hCG], placenta growth factor [PlGF] and soluble fms‐like tyrosine kinase receptor‐1 [sFlt‐1]) and a range of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs).

Design

Prospective cohort study of nulliparous singleton pregnancy.

Setting

Cambridge, UK.

Population or Sample

4056 pregnancy outcome prediction study participants.

Methods

The biomarker concentrations were measured in maternal serum at ~12 weeks of gestation. Univariable analysis of APOs was performed using logistic regression. Multivariable analysis used best subsets logistic regression with cross‐validation.

Main outcome measures

Pre‐eclampsia (PE), small for gestational age (SGA), including severe SGA (birthweight <3rd), fetal growth restriction (FGR), preterm birth (PTB, both induced and spontaneous [iPTB and sPTB, respectively]), pre‐viable loss and stillbirth, plus combinations of outcomes.

Results

Lower values of PAPP‐A, PlGF and sFlt‐1 and higher values of AFP were associated with FGR (OR for 1 SD higher value 0.59 [95% CI 0.48–0.74], OR 0.56 [95% CI 0.44–0.70], OR 0.68 [95% CI 0.54–0.87] and OR 1.53 [95% CI 1.25–1.88]), severe SGA (OR 0.59 [95% CI 0.49–0.72], OR 0.71 [95% CI 0.57–0.87], OR 0.74 [95% CI 0.60–0.91] and OR 1.41 [95% CI 1.17–1.71]), sPTB (OR  0.61 [95% CI 0.50–0.73], OR 0.79 [95% CI 0.66–0.96], OR 0.57 [95% CI 0.47–0.70] and OR 1.41 [95% CI 1.18–1.67]) and iPTB (OR  0.72 [95% CI 0.57–0.91], OR 0.62 [95% CI 0.49–0.78], OR 0.71 [95% CI 0.56–0.90] and OR 1.44 [95% CI 1.16–1.78]), respectively. When combinations of biomarkers were assessed, PAPP‐A and AFP were independently associated with severe SGA; PAPP‐A alone with PE + PTB; PlGF alone with severe PE; PlGF, beta‐hCG, AFP and PAPP‐A with the combination of PE and SGA; AFP and sFlt‐1 with sPTB; and AFP and PlGF with iPTB.

Conclusions

Combinations of first‐trimester placental biomarkers are associated with APOs. However, the patterns vary for different types of APO, indicating heterogeneity in the underlying pathophysiological pathways.
Fight or flight: How access barriers and interest disruption affect the activities of interest organizations
Authors: JUNK WIEBKE MARIE , CREPAZ MICHELE , AIZENBERG ELLIS
Published: October 2023

Central theories of public policy imply that lobbying is demand‐driven, meaning highly responsive to the levels of access that political gatekeepers offer to interest organizations. Others stress drivers at the supply side, especially the severity of disturbances which affect an organization's constituency. We test these central arguments explaining lobbying activities in a comparative survey experiment conducted in 10 polities in Europe. Our treatments vary the severity of two types of external threats faced by interest organizations: (1) barriers that restrict their access to decision‐makers and (2) disturbances that compromise an organization's interests. We operationalize these threats at the demand and supply side of lobbying based on an (at that point) hypothetical second wave of COVID‐19. Our findings show that while severe access barriers trigger a flight response, whereby groups suspend their lobbying activities and divert to protest actions, higher disturbances mobilize groups into a fight mode, in which organizations spend more lobbying resources and intensify different outside lobbying activities. Our study serves novel causal evidence on the important dynamic relationship between policy disturbances, political access and lobbying strategies.
Acute health care utilization in the first 24 months postpartum by rurality and pregnancy complications: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Ahrens Katherine A. , Palmsten Kristin , Grantham Charlie O. , Lipkind Heather S. , Ackerman‐Banks Christina M.
Published: October 2023

Objective

To estimate the rate of acute health care use (hospitalizations and emergency department [ED] visits) among postpartum persons by rurality of residence and pregnancy complications.

Data Sources and Study Setting

2006–2021 data from the Maine Health Data Organization's All Payer Claims Data.

Study Design

We estimated the rates of hospitalizations and ED visits during the first 24 months postpartum, separately, overall and by four‐level rurality of residence (urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural) and by pregnancy complications (prenatal depression, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [HDP], and gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM]). We used Poisson regression models, adjusting for potential confounders. Data were weighted to account for censoring before 24 months postpartum.

Data Extraction Methods

Deliveries during 2007–2019 (n = 122,412).

Principal Findings

Approximately 4% of persons had at least one hospitalization within 24 months postpartum (mean monthly rate per 100 deliveries = 0.35). Adjusted rates were not different by rurality. Persons with prenatal depression (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–2.5), HDP (aRR = 1.4; 1.0–2.0), and GDM (aRR = 1.4; 0.9–2.0) had higher hospitalization rates than those without these conditions. Approximately 44% of persons had at least one ED visit within 24 months postpartum (mean monthly rate per 100 deliveries = 5.4). Adjusted ED rates were higher for persons living in small rural areas as compared with urban areas (aRR = 1.3; 1.2–1.4). Persons with prenatal depression (aRR = 1.8; 1.7–1.9), HDP (aRR = 1.1; 1.0–1.2), and GDM (aRR = 1.3; 1.2–1.4) had higher ED rates than those without these conditions; ED rates were highest among those living in small rural areas.

Conclusion

New policies and care practices may be needed to prevent acute health care encounters in the first 24 months after delivery for persons with common pregnancy conditions. Efforts to identify why postpartum people living in small rural areas have higher rates of ED visits are warranted.
Cytoplasmic FKBPs are involved in molting and metamorphosis through regulating the nuclear localization of EcR
Authors: Zhang Xian , Wang Qiao‐Ran , Wu Qian , Gu Jun , Huang Li‐Hua
Published: October 2023

Molting and metamorphosis are important physiological processes in insects that are tightly controlled by ecdysone receptor (EcR) through the 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20E) signaling pathway. EcR is a steroid nuclear receptor (SR). Several FK506‐binding proteins (FKBPs) have been identified from the mammal SR complex, and are thought to be involved in the subcellular trafficking of SR. However, their roles in insects are poorly understood. To explore whether FKBPs are involved in insect molting or metamorphosis, we injected an FKBP inhibitor (FK506) into a lepidopteran insect, Spodoptera litura, and found that molting was inhibited in 61.11% of the larvae, and that the time for larvae to pupate was significantly extended. A total of 10 FKBP genes were identified from the genome of S. litura and were clustered into 2 distinct groups, according to their subcellular localization, with FKBP13 and FKBP14 belonging to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) group and with the other members belonging to the cytoplasmic (Cy) group. All the CyFKBPs were significantly upregulated in the prepupal or pupal stages, with the opposite being observed for the ER group members. FK506 completely blocked the transfer of EcR to the nucleus under 20E induction, and significantly downregulated the transcriptional expression of many 20E signaling genes. A similar phenomenon was observed after RNA interference of 2 CyFKBPs (FKBP45 and FKBP12b), but not for FKBP13. Taken together, our data indicate that the cytoplasmic FKBPs, especially FKBP45 and FKBP12b, mediate the nuclear localization of EcR, thereby regulating the 20E signaling and ultimately affecting molting and metamorphosis in insects.
Why do young people start and continue with ethical hacking? A qualitative study on individual and social aspects in the lives of ethical hackers
Authors: Noordegraaf Judith E. , Weulen Kranenbarg Marleen
Published: October 2023

Research Summary

This qualitative interview study examined individual and social aspects in the lives of 15 hackers who started with ethical hacking before the age of 18. We examined what motivated and stimulated them to start with ethical hacking and how and why they continued. Results show that individual aspects, such as an early interest in ICT (Information and Communication Technology), the motivation to make systems more secure, and thinking of reporting vulnerabilities as a moral duty, contribute to the initiation of ethical hacking. Social aspects, such as role models, mainly play a role in the further development of the ethical hacking career. For example, peers, parents, friends, and hacker communities have a motivating and stimulating effect on young ethical hackers. Similarly, positive reactions from public and private system owners can further stimulate the development and self‐image of ethical hackers.

Policy Implications

In contrast to criminal hackers, ethical hackers improve cybersecurity, for example, by reporting weaknesses or errors in computer systems. Nowadays, an increasing number of public and private organizations around the world are creating cybersecurity policies and practices around ethical hacking. The interest in hacking usually arises at an early age, making it important to gain knowledge about what stimulates and motivates young people to start and continue with ethical hacking, to inform these policies and practices. Our results show that recognition and reactions from system owners are important in the ethical hacking career. Our recommendations based on these results could stimulate more young people to take the ethical path. Simultaneously, this increases the security of public and private organizations, reducing opportunities for criminal hackers.
Comparative analysis of trophic niche using stable isotopes provides insight into resource use of giant pandas
Authors: LEI Wanxin , WEI Wei , PU Dan , QUBI Shibu , ZHOU Hong , HONG Mingsheng , TANG Junfeng , HAN Han
Published: October 2023

Trophic niche is the result of the long‐term evolution of species and can reflect the pressures they experience in habitats. The whole‐genome sequencing of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) has indicated that populations distributed in Qinling (QIN) and non‐QIN probably diverged 300 ky ago. Although many studies regarding foraging strategy, habitat preference, and niche partition have been conducted on these populations, there is still a lack of precise quantification of trophic niches. Here, we calculated and compared isotopic trophic niche widths of giant pandas from Sichuan (SC) and QIN populations by measuring carbon and nitrogen isotopes of their hairs; combined with data from sympatric mammals, we explored the relative trophic positions of giant pandas in the ecosystem, respectively. The Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses in R (SIBER) model results showed the trophic niche width of QIN pandas was 3.44‰2, which was significantly bigger than those of the SC population (2.03‰2), with an overlapping about 1.45‰2; and they both occupied a unique position in the context, almost one trophic level lower than herbivores. Then, we determined the isotopic ratios of the main foods from the habitats of these pandas; the results suggested that the isotopic difference between bamboo shoots and other parts plus the various feeding selections of pandas on them accounted for pandas’ trophic niche widths. We considered the higher nutrition availability and digestible food resources giving QIN pandas a wider trophic niche than pandas from SC. This conclusion provides a new insight into the resource use and trophic ecology of giant pandas and is important to develop refined management plans for the two populations.
Ethylene production and antioxidant potential of five peach cultivars during maturation
Authors: Guizani Monia , Maatallah Samira , Dabbou Samia , Montevecchi Giuseppe , Antonelli Andrea , Serrano Maria , Hajlaoui Hichem , Kilani‐Jaziri Soumaya
Published: October 2023

Numerous biochemical processes are involved in fruit maturation, such as ethylene production, phenolic compounds accumulation, and antioxidant enzymes production. Therefore, the aim of the present work was the evaluation of ethylene production, and the bioactive compounds change in the exocarp and mesocarp of five peach [Prunus persica (L.)] cultivars during three ripening stages, (1) early ripening (ER), (2) commercial maturation, and (3) full ripening (FR) in order to establish the best stage to harvest each peach variety. The experiment was applied to five peach cultivars growing within an arid bioclimatic environment covering the whole peach production season: two early cultivars, Flordastar and Early Maycrest; one variety of mid‐season Rubirich; and two late cultivars, Sweet Cap and O'Henry. Ethylene production, phenolic compounds, and oxidative stress through antioxidant enzyme activities (catalase, peroxidases [PODs] Class III, and ascorbate‐POD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production were determined in the exocarp and mesocarp of peach fruits. The results showed a significant increase in ethylene production during fruit ripening. However, a parallel decrease in the level of phenolic compounds as well as in antioxidant enzyme activities was observed. The FR stage was also characterized by an important accumulation of MDA and H2O2. In conclusion, important changes in fruit quality associated with the production level of ethylene were observed. Fruits harvested during the ER stage would be more suitable for delivering to distant markets and more appreciated by the peach industries due to their highest phenolic acid content, best antioxidant enzyme activities, and lowest oxidative stress indicator.
Dual cryoprotective and antioxidant effects of young apple polyphenols on myofibrillar protein degradation and gelation properties of bighead carp mince during frozen storage
Authors: Zhang Yihan , Yu Qinye , Liu Yueyue , Sun Xiaoyue , Li Qing , Fan Hongbing , Benjakul Soottawat , Tan Yuqing , Luo Yongkang , Hong Hui
Published: October 2023

Commercial cryoprotectants can delay quality loss in frozen fish mince, but they are associated with a sweet taste and high calorie content. Young apple polyphenols (YAP), extracted from unripe apples, show potential as an alternative cryoprotectant. This study evaluated the cryoprotective effect of YAP at varying levels (0.3%, 0.7%, and 1%) in unwashed bighead carp mince. The changes in sulfhydryl content, carbonyl content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, intrinsic fluorescence intensity, and Fourier transform infrared spectrum indicated that YAP retarded oxidation and structural changes in myofibrillar proteins during the first 8 weeks of frozen storage, as well as lipid oxidation, which protected the structure of myofibrillar protein. At higher concentrations (0.7% and 1%), YAP maintained gel properties, gel springiness, and water‐holding capacity of the gel prepared from frozen fish mince, potentially through the promotion of cross‐linking of myofibrillar proteins. Overall, YAP can be used as a cryoprotectant and antioxidant in fish mince.

Practical Application

Our research found that young apple polyphenols have the potential to be an alternative to commercial cryoprotectants. Young apple polyphenols may be used as a sugar‐free and healthy cryoprotectant for frozen fish mince production in the future.
Bioactive potential of ripened white cheeses manufactured in different geographical regions of Turkey
Authors: Keyf Pelin , Uğurlu Özlem , Erkin Özgür Cem , Aydemir Levent Yurdaer , Erbay Zafer
Published: October 2023

This study investigated the potential bioactive properties of white cheeses produced in different regions of Turkey, including their potential antioxidant, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities. The cheese samples were analyzed both before and after in vitro digestion. The study found that all cheese samples exhibited significant angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibition activity both before (45.5%–70.1% for 0.03 g cheese/mL) and after in vitro digestion (25.5%–63.5% for 0.0167 g cheese/mL), whereas α‐amylase inhibition activity was present in all samples (in the range of 5.1%–50.0% for 3.0 × 10−5 g cheese/mL) but disappeared after digestion, and α‐glucosidase inhibition activity was only detected after in vitro digestion (from 20.5% to 60.4% for 5.6 × 10−5 g cheese/mL), indicating potential antidiabetic properties. However, antimicrobial and anticancer activities were not observed in any of the samples. The results also suggest that the bioactivity potential of white cheese may vary depending on the region of production, as cheeses from the Marmara region exhibited high α‐glucosidase inhibition activity after digestion. In conclusion, while white cheese is a valuable addition to the diet due to its high nutritional value and potential health benefits. This study revealed the bioactive potential of ripened white cheese and in vivo investigations of the cheese components would better show their possible benefits.

Practical Application

Although the bioactivity potentials varied among the ripened white cheese samples produced in different regions of Turkey, a consistent trend was observed in terms of their presence or absence. Our research revealed that all ripened cheese samples demonstrated significant potential antioxidant and antihypertensive activities, as well as potential antidiabetic properties. Moreover, it can be interpreted that ripened white cheese has the potential to reduce the digestion of carbohydrates when consumed with carbohydrate‐rich foods. Although the present results provide limited practical findings directly applicable to the industry, if the data and information obtained from this study are further explored and further studies delving into specific mechanisms of bioactive components could emerge.
The seed microbiomes of staple food crops
Authors: Sun Zhongke , Adeleke Bartholomew Saanu , Shi Yini , Li Chengwei
Published: October 2023

The scientific community increasingly recognized that seed microbiomes are important for plant growth and nutrition. The versatile roles and modulating properties that microbiomes hold in the context of seeds seem to be an inherited approach to avert adverse conditions. These discoveries attracted extensive interest, especially in staple food crops (SFCs) where grain was consumed as food. Along with the rapid expansion of population and industrialization that posed a severe challenge to the yield of SFCs, microbiologists and botanists began to explore and engineer seed microbiomes, for safer and more fruitful grain production. To utilize seed microbiomes, we present an overall review of the most updated scientific literature on three representative SFCs (wheat, rice and maize) using the 5W1H (Which, Where, What, Why, When and How) method that provides a comprehensive understanding of the issue. These include which factors determine the composition of seed microbiomes? Where do seed microbiomes come from? What are these seed microbes? Why do these microbes choose seeds as their destination and when do microbes settle down and become seed communists? In addition, how do seed microbiomes work and can be manipulated effectively? Therefore, answering the aforementioned questions regarding SFCs seed microbiomes remain fundamental in bridging endophytic research gaps and harnessing their ecological services.