bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The impact of external factors on housing prices in Lithuania
Authors: Stundziene Alina , Pilinkienė Vaida , Grybauskas Andrius
Published: July 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the external factors that have the greatest impact on housing prices in Lithuania.

Design/methodology/approach

The econometric analysis includes stationarity test, Granger causality test, correlation analysis, linear and non-linear regression modes, threshold regression and autoregressive distributed lag models. The analysis is performed based on 137 external factors that can be grouped into macroeconomic, business, financial, real estate market, labour market indicators and expectations.

Findings

The research reveals that housing price largely depends on macroeconomic indicators such as gross domestic product growth and consumer spending. Cash and deposits of households are the most important indicators from the group of financial indicators. The impact of financial, business and labour market indicators on housing price varies depending on the stage of the economic cycle.

Practical implications

Real estate market experts and policymakers can monitor the changes in external factors that have been identified as key indicators of housing prices. Based on that, they can prepare for the changes in the real estate market better and take the necessary decisions in a timely manner, if necessary.

Originality/value

This study considerably adds to the existing literature by providing a better understanding of external factors that affect the housing price in Lithuania and let predict the changes in the real estate market. It is beneficial for policymakers as it lets them choose reasonable decisions aiming to stabilize the real estate market.
Does the choice of stock selection criteria affect the performance of Sharīʿah-compliant equity portfolios?
Authors: Raza Muhammad Wajid
Published: July 2021

Purpose

There are a number of differences in the current Sharīʿah screening guidelines formulated by Sharīʿah scholars associated with world-renowned index providers and financial institutions. The purpose of this study is to highlight the consequences of such differences on the portfolio level outcomes for Sharīʿah-compliant investors. This study also investigates the cost of adopting an alternative stock selection methodology.

Design/methodology/approach

Seven Sharīʿah-compliant equity portfolios (SCEPs) are created from the active constituents of the S&P 500. Size, sector allocation and financial performance of the resulting seven portfolios are evaluated for the period 1984–2019. Style analysis is performed to attribute the difference in financial performance caused by the choice of selection criteria to different risk factors. The cost of switching the selection criteria is evaluated with turnover analysis and break-even transaction cost.

Findings

The choice of stock selection criteria has a significant effect on the size, sector bets and financial performance of the portfolios. Those portfolios which are constructed with market capitalization-based screens outperform portfolios constructed with total assets-based screens. The turnover analysis revealed that SCEPs are relatively costly in practice.

Originality/value

This study investigates the performance of Sharīʿah-compliant portfolios in the context of seven different screening guidelines. The effects of transaction cost and performance attribution to different risk factors represent the key contributions of this study.
Significance of migration to the COVID 19 outbreaks in major states in India
Authors: Sarkar Sanjit
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The spread of COVID-19 from Wuhan to the global countries has a direct association with human mobility. Perhaps, human mobility increases the hazards of COVID-19 due to its communicable characteristic of human-to-human transmission. Thus, the volume of migrants and migration may have a significant role in the outbreaks of COVID-19 in any country. Given that India homes more than 45 crores of migrants, the present study aims to examine the linkages between migration flows and COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study has used secondary sources such as data sharing portals, census, news and media reports and Web sources. The updated COVID-19 data was retrieved from the www.covid19india.org, whereas migration rates were analysed from the D-series of census 2011.

Findings

Nearly 23% of total inter-state migration occurred for the livelihood only. The numbers of cases have raised much earlier and faster in migrant's destination states than in migrant's origin states. Further, as shown in the scatterplots, that positive association between “COVID-19 and in-migration” is found to be more robust than “COVID-19 and gross-migration”. On the other hand, the migrant's origin states are also experiencing a rapid increase of COVID-19 cases due to large numbers of returning migrants. These return-migration flows have created major administrative, social and public health challenges, particularly in the origin states, and as a whole in India.

Originality/value

This paper has potential to help policy planners to identify the COVID-19 vulnerability of various states in respect to the migration perspectives. Moreover, it also enhances the understanding to establish the linkage between COVID-19 outbreaks and migration.
Mindfully performed organisational routines: reconciling the stability and change duality view
Authors: Shaik Rihana , Nambudiri Ranjeet , Yadav Manoj Kumar
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a process model on how mindfully performed organisational routines can simultaneously enable organisational stability and organisational change.

Design/methodology/approach

Via conceptual analysis, the authors develop several propositions and a process model integrating the theory of mindfulness and performative aspects of organisational routines with organisational stability and change. To do so, the authors review the literature on organisational routines, mindfulness, stability, inertia and change.

Findings

First, the authors demonstrate that, based on levels of mindfulness employed, performative aspects of organisational routines can be categorised as mindless, mindful and collectively mindful (meta-routines). Second, in the process model, the authors position the mindless performance of routines as enabling organisational stability, mediated through inertial pressure and disabling change, mediated through constrained change capacities. Finally, the authors state that engaging routines with mindfulness at an individual (mindful routines) or collective (meta-routines) level reduces inertia and facilitates change. Such simultaneous engagement leads to either sustaining stability when required or implementing continuous organisational change.

Research limitations/implications

The framework uses continuous, versus episodic, change; future research can consider the model’s workability with episodic change. Future research can also seek to empirically validate the model. The authors hope that this model informs research in organisational change and provides guidance on addressing organisational inertia.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to categorise the performative aspects of organisational routine based on the extent of mindfulness employed and propose that mindfulness-based practice of routines stimulates either inertia-induced or inertia-free stability and continuous change.
Sustainability in the mission and vision statements of Colombian Universities
Authors: Bedoya-Dorado Cristian , Murillo-Vargas Guillermo , Gonzalez-Campo Carlos Hernan
Published: July 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze how Colombian Universities have incorporated the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development goals (SDGs) into their missions and visions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a documentary design to analyze the content of the missions and visions of the 86 Colombian Universities registered with the Ministry of National Education (MEN).

Findings

The study shows that universities are primarily aligned with Goal 13 as follows: climate action and this alignment is carried out to a great extent by the university’s governance, culture and activities. In contrast, there was a predominance of intentions to address the social dimension of sustainable development (SD).

Research limitations/implications

The study focused on examining universities’ missions and visions, which leaves out other sources of information that could account for university practices linked to the SDGs and sustainability.

Practical implications

The study’s results reveal the degree to which the universities are aligned with the SDGs in Colombia, which serves as a basis for the formulation of guidelines by the MEN and other organizations to strengthen the processes that contribute to the 2030 Agenda.

Originality/value

Research on how universities align with the SDGs is not a new topic, but it is scarce in the Colombian context. This research contributes to this gap by addressing the topic from a holistic and comparative perspective of SD education.
The impact of peer learning on student performance in an architectural sustainability course
Authors: Núñez-Andrés M. Amparo , Martinez-Molina Antonio , Casquero-Modrego Núria , Suk Jae Yong
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The importance of sustainability in architecture currently necessitates the integration of innovative teaching strategies on the subject into architecture programs. This study aims to introduce and examine peer learning pedagogy by peer tutoring to educate architecture students in sustainable design.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on class assignments proposed in two different architecture sustainability-focused courses in the second and fourth years of the Bachelor of Science in architecture program, a total of 103 students assessed the proposed peer learning experience and its impact on their sustainability mindsets and education. Subjective surveys for evaluating the peer learning experience were designed and delivered at different stages of the course sequences. A total of 502 survey responses were obtained in the study.

Findings

The qualitative and quantitative data analysis confirms that the proposed peer learning by peer tutoring increased students’ knowledge, motivation and commitment to sustainable design. In addition, participants became more confident in applying sustainable design skills and their academic grades improved more than 25% compared to previous courses using traditional teaching methods.

Originality/value

Traditional architecture education has long been criticized for their pedagogical methodologies based primarily on passive learning. Recently, these programs have begun to prepare students to become active learners and communicators in collaborative and multidisciplinary environments. A mixed-method approach of combining pre-/post-experience surveys and analysis of final grades was used to determine the level of success and the quantifiable behavior change delivered by students involved in this peer learning experience.
The effect of shopping channel (online vs offline) on consumer decision process and firm's marketing strategy
Authors: Xu Cheng , Park Jooyoung , Lee Jacob C.
Published: July 2021

Purpose

This research investigates the novel questions of whether and how specific forms of shopping channels (online vs offline) influence consumers' decision-making. Moreover, this research investigates marketing firms' proper marketing strategies across different shipping channels.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted three studies using a large sample (N = 703) recruited from a diverse pool (students and adults) that examined multiple products (camera and car) across different shopping channels (online vs offline). Study 1a (n = 251) and Study 1b (n = 252) examined the effect of an online versus offline channel on consumers' decision-making using a one-factor (shopping channel: online vs offline) between-subjects design. Meanwhile, Study 2 (n = 200) investigated the effective strategies that firms should employ across different shopping channels using a 2 (shopping channel: online vs offline) × 2 (mental simulation: outcome vs process) between-subjects design. Participants in the online condition evaluated the product on a computer screen, whereas participants in the offline condition evaluated the real product assuming a real-world retail store setting.

Findings

The three studies supported the predictions that shopping channels (online vs offline) affect consumers' psychological distance and, in turn, affect their decision process. Specifically, results reveal that the online (offline) channel increases (decreases) psychological distance and leads consumers to pay more attention to a product's desirability (feasibility) aspects.

Originality/value

Given that many firms sell the same products through multiple channels, the findings of this research offer insightful theoretical and practical implications.
Robots poised to transform agriculture
Authors: Bogue Rob
Published: July 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to illustrate the growing importance of agricultural robots by providing details of recent product developments and their applications.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a short introduction, this first discusses a range of agricultural applications of drones. It then provides details of a selection of mobile field robots and their applications. Finally, concluding comments are drawn.

Findings

Commercially available aerial and terrestrial robots are playing a rapidly growing role in a diversity of agricultural practices. Key capabilities and benefits include detecting crop stress and disease, predicting crop yields, reducing agrochemical use, overcoming manpower shortages and reducing labour costs and facilitating precision agricultural practices such as highly localised pesticide and herbicide application and the replacement of large, heavy agricultural machines by fleets of small, lightweight robots.

Originality/value

This provides a detailed insight into the many ways in which robots are transforming agricultural practices.
Detecting financial statement fraud through new fraud diamond model: the case of Indonesia
Authors: Khamainy Arief Hidayatullah , Ali Mahrus , Setiawan M. Arif
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the new fraud diamond model in explaining financial statement fraud.

Design/methodology/approach

The variables used to examine the factors consist of motivation, opportunity, personal integrity and capability. This research used manufactured companies listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange of the 2015–2019 period as the population.

Findings

There has been a positive influence between personal financial need (OSHIP), nature of the industry (RECEIVABLE) and history of sale (SG) toward financial statement fraud, while the negative effect is found only in the effective monitoring (IND).

Research limitations/implications

The new fraud diamond model theory which is used as a reference in this study is a new and under-developed theory. So the author suggests that further research on this theory be carried out to strengthen the new fraud diamond model theory and ensure whether it can be used as a reference to find out the causes of financial statement fraud. In addition, the object used in this study is limited to manufacturing companies, so the author suggests that further research combine several types of companies.

Originality/value

The research finding supports the new fraud diamond model theory in elaborating the financial statement fraud phenomenon.
A spline hazard model for current expected credit losses
Authors: Parnes Dror
Published: July 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive framework for assisting lending banks in their current expected credit losses (CECL) forthcoming computations.

Design/methodology/approach

The bottom-up approach requires multiple steps including the spline method for identifying optimal segments in the lifetimes of loans, Poisson regressions for evaluating the explanatory variables and hazard rate probes for gaining inferences toward the expected credit losses and their projected schedule.

Findings

The CECL paradigm has both advantages and disadvantages, as discussed hereafter.

Practical implications

The model is practical, accurate in the sense that provisions are properly and timely allocated, it can be programmed and it relies on merely a few mild assumptions, thus it can be conveniently calibrated to fit broad macroeconomic scenarios.

Originality/value

This study provides background on the subject, motivate each module, construct the advised model, assemble a pseudo-database, demonstrate the functionality of the procedures and further draw conclusions on the effectiveness of the current strategy.
Trainers’ pedagogical competencies and trainees’ assimilation of training content
Authors: Andoh Raphael Papa Kweku , Mensah Daniel Yeboah , Owusu Emmanuel Afreh
Published: July 2021

Purpose

Training cannot be effective if trainers are not pedagogically competent. However, the influence of trainers’ pedagogical competencies on employees’ knowledge and skill acquisition during training is not given the needed attention in the training literature. This study aims to examine the influence of trainers’ pedagogical competencies such as delivery, trainees’ involvement, use of visual aids and body language on trainees’ assimilation of training content.

Design/methodology/approach

The data are analyzed from 425 respondents in an online survey. This study uses structural equation modeling in testing the hypotheses following validity and reliability tests.

Findings

This study finds that trainers’ pedagogical competencies such as trainee involvement and body language have a significant influence on trainees’ assimilation of training content, but others such as the trainers’ delivery and use of visual aids do not have a significant influence on assimilation of training content.

Practical implications

Professionals responsible for training should endeavor to use trainers who have been proven to be pedagogically competent, especially involving trainees during training and use of body language and not just experts in the topics/areas they provide training. Trainers themselves should on their part do well to acquire pedagogical skills in addition to the content knowledge they possess to enhance their training effectiveness particularly, trainees’ assimilation of training content.

Originality/value

As a phenomenon rarely given attention, this study urges learning and development researchers and practitioners as well as human resource management professionals to give attention to the pedagogical competencies of trainers during training and trainees’ learning.
“Eyes for eyes, teeth for teeth”: positive and negative reciprocity in NPOs
Authors: Zollo Lamberto , Faldetta Guglielmo , Pellegrini Massimiliano Matteo , Ciappei Cristiano
Published: July 2021

Purpose

Management scholars investigated the motivational aspects of volunteers, mainly focusing on their positive reciprocity – individuals feel obligated to reciprocate whenever they receive benefits from others – but neglected the possible role of negative reciprocity, the tendency to retaliate in case of mistreatments. Based on motivational functions theory and the norm of reciprocity, this paper proposes a framework assessing other-oriented and self-oriented motives as the main antecedents of volunteers’ intention to stay in non-profit organizations (NPOs).

Design/methodology/approach

Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and the PROCESS macro were used to empirically validate and test the hypothesized conceptual model on a sample of 379 volunteers actively involved in Italian NPOs.

Findings

Positive reciprocity partially mediated the relationships between volunteers’ other-oriented motives and self-oriented motives and their intention to stay. Instead, negative reciprocity fully mediated the relationship between self-oriented motives and intention to stay but not the relationship between other-oriented motives and intention to stay.

Practical implications

Managers and marketers of NPOs should pay more attention to volunteers’ attitudinal and behavioral signals to encourage within-organization positive reciprocal attitudes and discourage negative reciprocal attitudes. This represents a strategic lever to prevent volunteers from quitting the organization – which is one of the most critical challenges for NPOs’ management – and improve their intention to stay.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies that simultaneously investigate the mediating role of both positive and negative reciprocity of volunteers actively involved in NPOs. Moreover, the constructs of other-oriented and self-oriented motivations are statistically validated as two separate psychological dimensions impacting on volunteers’ turnover. Finally, the study has been conducted in the Region of Tuscany (Italy) which, despite its centuries-old tradition of volunteerism, has received scant attention by non-profit scholars.
Role of COVIDsafe app and control measures in Australia in combating COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Abbas Hafiz Syed Mohsin , Xu Xiaodong , Sun Chunxia
Published: July 2021

Purpose

COVID-19 (C19) has been destroying the world's health and emergency response system for almost the past year. Policymakers and health practitioners are trying their best to save the public through various policy development and initiatives in this regard. This study aims to examine the containment measures and their impacts on Australia's C19 situation in Australia's COVIDsafe app background.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the role of the Australian Government's (AG) Health Containment (HC) and Stringency response (SR) in combating the C19 situation in Australia. The time horizon has been taken from January to October 2020 and applied Linear Regression with graphical demonstration analysis by STATA-18 version and MS Word chart features.

Findings

By applying linear regression and graphical demonstration, statistics revealed that AG made various policy developments during the C19 pandemic. However, due to inconsistent and unsustainable measures, the second C19 wave hit Australia much harder than the first wave. COVIDsafe app has been a vital AG in this regard; however, it did not show its progress during the second wave due to privacy issues. After the more focused and aggressive research and development measures, AG overcame the App drawbacks and controlled the situation, demonstrating 92% recovered statistics from C19.

Practical implications

The study concludes that AG should enforce many prudent policy measures and distinct E-government features in the COVIDsafe app and make it secure so people will use it in probable forthcoming C19 waves.

Originality/value

This study has examined the Government of Australia's containment measures in the background discussion of the COVIDsafe app.
Re‐emphasizing mechanism in the community ecology of disease
Authors: Shaw Kelsey E. , Civitello David J.
Published: July 2021

Hosts and their parasites exist within complex ecological communities. However, the role that non‐focal community members, species which cannot be infected by a focal pathogen, may play in altering parasite transmission is often only studied in the lens of the ‘diversity‐disease’ relationship by focusing on species richness. This approach largely ignores mechanistic species interactions and risks collapsing our understanding of the community ecology of disease down to defining the prominence of ‘amplification’ versus ‘dilution’ effects.

However, non‐focal species vary in their traits, densities and types of interactions with focal hosts and parasites. Therefore, a community ecology approach based on the mechanisms underlying parasite transmission, host harm and dynamic species interactions may better advance our understanding of parasite transmission in complex communities.

Using the concept of the parasite's basic reproductive ratio,R0, as a generalizable framework, we examine several critical mechanisms by which interactions among hosts, parasites and non‐focal species modulate transmission and provide examples from relevant literature.

By focusing on the mechanism by which non‐focal species impact transmission, we can emphasize the similarities among classic paradigms in the community ecology of disease, gain new insights into parasite invasion and persistence, better predict community traits correlated with disease dilution or amplification, and gauge the feasibility of biocontrol for parasites of conservation, agricultural or human health concern.

A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Managing biotic interactions during early seagrass life stages to improve seed‐based restoration
Authors: Balestri Elena , Menicagli Virginia , Lardicci Claudio
Published: July 2021

Seagrasses are declining globally, and effective restoration actions to promote the recovery of degraded meadows are urgently needed. Harnessing positive plant interactions during early life stages is considered a valuable strategy to improve terrestrial and coastal habitat restoration. Yet, its application to seagrass restoration is still in infancy, and very little is known on the role played by biotic interactions in shaping newly established populations.

We assessed the feasibility of manipulating intraspecific and interspecific plant interactions to enhance seed‐based restoration success using the seagrass Posidonia oceanica as a model. Specifically, we investigated in mesocosm whether seed germination increased with increasing seed density and whether increasing seedling density and planting a pioneer seagrass promoted facilitation among seedlings. To do this, seedlings were grown either as a single individual or in clumps of medium and high density, with and without Cymodocea nodosa, for 2 years encompassing their most critical growth stage.

Germination of P. oceanica seeds was not affected by seed density. Posidonia oceanica seedlings planted at medium and high density showed higher survival than those planted individually but only in the presence of C. nodosa. Seedlings planted at medium and at high density with C. nodosa performed better than those grown at low density or without C. nodosa due to a positive joint effect of intraspecific and interspecific interaction. Cymodocea nodosa plants grown with P. oceanica seedlings at high density were larger than those grown alone, indicating a mutualistic relationship.

Synthesis and applications. Our results show that in seagrasses positive interactions during early life stages can be promoted by planting seedlings in dense clumps in association with an early successional species. The incorporation of this novel nature‐based approach in seed‐based restoration could accelerate the recolonization of degraded seagrass habitats. In planning future seed‐based restoration interventions, managers should assess both intraspecific and interspecific interactions established by seedlings of target species for identifying proper planting density/spatial configuration and potential benefactor species promoting facilitative mechanisms to maximize seedling planting success.
Predicting the outcomes of management strategies for controlling invasive river fishes using individual‐based models
Authors: Dominguez Almela Victoria , Palmer Stephen C. F. , Andreou Demetra , Gillingham Phillipa K. , Travis Justin M. J. , Britton J. Robert
Published: July 2021

The effects of biological invasions on native biodiversity have resulted in a range of policy and management initiatives to minimize their impacts. Although management options for invasive species include eradication and population control, empirical knowledge is limited on how different management strategies affect invasion outcomes.

An individual‐based model (IBM) was developed to predict how different removal (‘culling’) strategies affected the abundance and spatial distribution of a virtual, small‐bodied, r‐selected alien fish (based on bitterling, Rhodeus sericeus) across three types of virtual river catchments (low/intermediate/high branching tributary configurations). It was then applied to nine virtual species of varying life‐history traits (r‐ to K‐selected) and dispersal abilities (slow/intermediate/fast) to identify trade‐offs between the management effort applied in the strategies (as culling rate and the number of patches it was applied to) and their predicted effects. It was also applied to a real‐world example, bitterling in the River Great Ouse, England.

The IBM predicted that removal efforts were more effective when applied to recently colonized patches. Increasing the cull rate (proportion of individuals removed per patch), and its spatial extent was effective at controlling the invasive population; when both were relatively high, population eradication was predicted.

The characteristics of the nine virtual species were the main source of variation in their predicted abundance and spatial distribution. No species were eradicated at cull rates below 70%. Eradication at higher cull rates depended on dispersal ability; slow dispersers required lower rates than fast dispersers, and the latter rapidly recolonized at low cull rates. The trade‐offs between management effort and the outcomes of the invasion were, generally, optimal when intermediate effort was applied to intermediate numbers of patches. In the Great Ouse, model predictions were that management interventions could restrict bitterling distribution by 2045 to 21% of the catchment (versus 90% occupancy without management).

Synthesis and application. This IBM predicted how management efforts can be optimized against invasive fishes, providing a strong complement to risk assessments. We demonstrated that for a range of species' characteristics, culling can control and even eradicate invasive fish, but only if consistent and relatively high effort is applied.
The role of thymoquinone, a major constituent of Nigella sativa, in the treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases
Authors: Fatima Shad Kaneez , Soubra Wissam , Cordato Dennis John
Published: July 2021

Nigella sativa (N. sativa) is an annual flowering plant that has been used as a traditional remedy for many centuries. The seed possesses a large variety of compounds with thymoquinone (TQ) considered its major but not sole bioactive constituent. Supercritical fluid extraction, geographical location, and oxidative status of N. sativa produces the highest yield of essential oil content including TQ. Thymoquinone is lipophilic, heat and light sensitive with low oral bioavailability and rapid elimination that have significantly inhibited its pharmacological development. Novel developments in nanoparticulate‐based oral administration, nasal spray and transdermal delivery may allow the clinical development of N. sativa and TQ as therapeutic agents. Animal and human studies indicate a potential role of N. sativa seed oil and TQ for a diverse range of disease processes including hypertension, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, arthritis, asthma, bacterial and viral infections, neurological and dermatological disorders, as it belongs to the group of pan‐assay interference compounds. This review outlines the pharmacological properties of N. sativa and TQ and their potential wide application for a large variety of human diseases. The paper will focus on recent studies of the anti‐inflammatory and antiviral properties that make N. sativa and TQ promising therapeutic agents targeting contemporary inflammatory and infectious diseases including Covid 19.
Diversification of Bacillus subtilis during experimental evolution on Arabidopsis thaliana and the complementarity in root colonization of evolved subpopulations
Authors: Blake Christopher , Nordgaard Mathilde , Maróti Gergely , Kovács Ákos T.
Published: July 2021

The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis is known to suppress pathogens as well as promote plant growth. However, in order to fully exploit the potential as natural fertilizer, we need a better understanding of the interactions between B. subtilis and plants. Here, B. subtilis was examined for root colonization through experimental evolution on Arabidopsis thaliana. The populations evolved rapidly, improved in root colonization and diversified into three distinct morphotypes. In order to better understand the adaptation that had taken place, single evolved isolates from the final transfer were randomly selected for further characterization, revealing changes in growth and pellicle formation in medium supplemented with plant polysaccharides. Intriguingly, certain evolved isolates showed improved root colonization only on the plant species they evolved on, but not on another plant species, namely tomato, suggesting A. thaliana specific adaption paths. Finally, the mix performed better than the sum of its constituents in monoculture, which was demonstrated to be caused by complementarity effects. Our results suggest that genetic diversification occurs in an ecological relevant setting on plant roots and proves to be a stable strategy for root colonization.
Are continued policies of prioritizing native vascular access in patients on hemodialysis programs useful?
Authors: Ibáñez Pallarès Sara , Esteve Simó Vicent , Velescu Alina , Tapia González Irati , Collado Nieto Silvia , Clara Velasco Albert
Published: July 2021

The guidelines recommend establishing native vascular access as opposed to prosthetic or catheter‐based access despite information relating to its effectiveness being scarce from a patient‐orientated perspective. We analyzed the effectiveness of a continued policy of native vascular access (CPNVA) in patients undergoing hemodialysis. A retrospective, observational study, including 150 patients undergoing hemodialysis between 2006 and 2012 at our center, and who underwent a CPNVA. Statistical analysis was based on treatment intention. In 138 patients (92%), the first useful access (FUA) was native, and in 12 patients (8%), it was prosthetic. In 50 patients (33.3%), more than one procedure had to be carried out in to order to achieve FUA. The probability of dialysis occurring via a FUA was 67.1% and 45.3% at 1 and 5 years respectively. Over the follow‐up period (mean time = 30 months), 84 patients (56%) required repairs or new access, extending the effectiveness of the CPNVA to 88.3% and 73.2% at 1 and 5 years respectively. The effectiveness of the CPNVA was reduced if the patient: required a catheter initially (HR: 3.6, p = 0.007); in cases of initially elevated glomerular filtration rate (HR: 1.1, p = 0.040); in cases of history of previous access failure before FUA (HR: 3.9, p = 0.001); and in female patients (HR: 2.4, p = 0.031). The long‐term effectiveness of a CPNVA is high. However, the percentage of patients requiring diverse procedures in order to achieve FUA and the need for re‐interventions yield the necessity to optimize preoperative evaluation and postoperative follow‐up.
Incidence and risk factors of colorectal delayed post‐polypectomy bleeding in patients taking antithrombotics
Authors: Yan Zhen , Gao Feng , Xie Jiang , Zhang Jie
Published: July 2021

Objective

In this study we aimed to investigate the incidence and risk factors for delayed post‐polypectomy bleeding (DPPB) in Chinese patients taking antithrombotics including antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted in patients who underwent colorectal polypectomy from January 2017 to May 2020. Their demographic characteristics, features of the polyps including number, size, morphology, and location, and use of antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants were collected. The incidence and risk factors for DPPB were compared between the patients with and without antithrombotic use.

Results

A total of 5152 polyps from 2267 patients were resected under endoscopy. Of these patients, 35 (1.54%) experienced DPPB. Compared with the control group who did not take antithrombotics (1.18%), the incidence of DPPB was significantly higher in patients treated with heparin bridge (HB) therapy (17.39%; P < 0.001) and clopidogrel (4.88%; P = 0.022), but did not differ in patients taking aspirin (1.28%), dual antiplatelet therapy (3.70%), warfarin alone (0%), or direct oral anticoagulants (3.85%). Using the multivariate analysis, HB therapy (odds ratio [OR] 16.735, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.320‐64.834, P < 0.001), male sex (OR 3.825, 95% CI 1.298‐11.265, P = 0.015), polyps >1 cm (OR 4.584, 95% CI 1.782‐11.794, P = 0.002) and rectal polyps (OR 8.820, 95% CI 3.968‐19.602, P < 0.001) were independently associated with a high risk of DPPB.

Conclusions

HB and clopidogrel therapies significantly increase the incidence of DPPB. HB therapy, male sex, polyp size and polyps located in the rectum are significant risk factors for DPPB.
Protecting Third Parties in Contracts
Authors: Parella Kishanthi
Published: July 2021

Corporations routinely impose externalities on a broad range of non‐shareholders, as illustrated by several unsuccessful lawsuits against corporations involving forced labor, human trafficking, child labor, and environmental harms in global supply chains. Lack of legal accountability subsequently translates into low legal risk for corporate misconduct, which reduces the likelihood of prevention. Corporate misconduct toward non‐shareholders arises from a fundamental inconsistency within contract law regarding the status of third parties: On the one hand, we know that it takes a community to contract. Contracting parties often rely on multiple third parties—not signatories to the contract—to play important roles in facilitating exchange, such as reducing market transaction costs, improving information flows, and decreasing the risk of opportunism. On the other hand, we deny this community protection from the externalities that contracting parties impose on them. This article examines a corporation's duties to others in its role as a contracting party. Normatively, this article proposes an alternative view of contracts as an ecosystem with three attendant principles that result from this view: (a) third‐party protections from negative externalities, (b) contract design obligations of contracting parties, and (c) recourse to legal remedies for third parties. On a policy level, this article proposes the following duty to contract in order to translate theory into practice: Contracting parties are required to take into account negative externalities to third parties when the contracting parties could reasonably foresee that performance of the contract would create a risk of physical harm to these third parties.
How do trees survive a cyclone? The relative role of individual and site characteristics over mortality
Authors: Liebsch Dieter , Marcilio‐Silva Vinicius , Marcon Amanda K. , GalvÃo Franklin , Mikich Sandra Bos , Marques MÁrcia Cristina Mendes
Published: July 2021

Cyclones are an increasing disturbance in the subtropical region of South America, but their impacts over the forests are still poorly documented. Here, we evaluate the effects of an extratropical cyclone over tree mortality in Araucaria Forest remnants in southern Brazil. We surveyed 116 sites (10 × 20 m each) and collected data on all tree individuals presenting DBH ≥ 4.8 cm before (2009) and after (2014) the occurrence of an extratropical cyclone. Using GLM models, we checked how the cyclone occurrence, different plant traits (DBH, trunk branching, wood density, successional group and evolutionary distinctiveness) and site characteristics (basal area, exposure, landscape protection, nearest border distance, cyclone border distance and the presence of native bamboo species) could impact tree mortality. The GLM model selection shows that the lowest AIC model considers all predictors separately and their interaction with the cyclone. The results showed that the cyclone occurrence and some site characteristics (bamboo presence, site exposure, landscape protection, nearest border distance and cyclone border distance) and plant traits (successional group and evolutionary distinctiveness) are related to tree mortality. The intense deforestation and fragmentation of the Araucaria Forest coupled with the increase in cyclone frequency expected for the region due to climate change may increase mortality rates of these forests, affecting their resilience and phylogenetic structure. Further biodiversity conservation efforts in the Araucaria Forest need to consider the characteristics of sites for enabling the protection of forest remnants in areas under different exposures to cyclone impacts.
Clinical use of hyaluronic acid in andrology: A review
Authors: Zucchi Alessandro , Scroppo Fabrizio Ildefonso , Capogrosso Paolo , Salonia Andrea , Durante Jacopo , Bini Vittorio , Liguori Giovanni , Bartoletti Riccardo
Published: July 2021

Background

Hyaluronic acid is a glycosaminoglycan widely used in the fields of orthopedics, ophthalmology, and aesthetic medicine due to its significant ability to reduce the synthesis of pro‐inflammatory proteins and its activity against oxidative stress, a feature of many degenerative illnesses.

Objectives

The objective of the present review is to provide a comprehensive narrative review of the most recent literature on the use of hyaluronic acid in andrology in order to facilitate the use of this therapeutic device in the common clinical practice of many physicians. Specific conditions covered in the review are Peyronie's disease, premature ejaculation, and penile enlargement.

Materials and methods

A broad and comprehensive literature search included Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Libraries, with no time restriction up to December 2020 and restricted to English language publications. Unpublished studies were not included. The study was registered as “The role of hyaluronic acid in andrology: A systematic review and meta‐analysis” in PROSPERO with the ID CRD42021223416.

Discussion and conclusion

Hyaluronic acid is a valid choice for the treatment of Peyronie's disease in terms of the resolution of the acute phase of the disease and of contributing to stabilizing the disease as a bridge to potential surgery. Data, furthermore, suggest that hyaluronic acid is frequently associated with an overall clinical improvement, allowing the patient to resume normal sexual activity.

With regard to premature ejaculation, data suggests hyaluronic acid‐based treatments were effective in prolonging intra‐vaginal ejaculation time. Furthermore, hyaluronic acid was found to be safe and well‐tolerated, with main adverse events limited to local discomfort, ecchymosis, papule formation, and glans numbness, all of which were reported to resolve spontaneously.

Last, with regard to penile enlargement, the overall perception of experts is that hyaluronic acid may be an extremely well‐tolerated compound with potential for application in specific areas of male sexual health that are often neglected as compared to more common, and relatively simpler to treat, conditions.
Gender incongruence in Denmark, a quantitative assessment
Authors: Hilden Malene , Glintborg Dorte , Andersen Marianne Skovsager , Kyster Natacha , Rasmussen Steen Christian , Tolstrup Anders , Lidegaard Øjvind
Published: July 2021

Introduction

The number of persons with gender incongruence referred to health care is increasing, but national data on the incidence of gender incongruence are lacking. The aim of this study was to quantify the development in number of individuals with gender incongruence over time and to estimate the national incidence in Denmark.

Material and methods

Historical descriptive cohort study. Individuals older than 18 years with legal sex‐change in their person registration number were achieved from Statistics Denmark, and the National Health Register provided data on contact diagnoses related to gender‐identity conditions. By combining these two data sources, we made estimates on incidence and incidence rates for individuals with gender incongruence in Denmark through a 41‐year period 1980–2020.

Results

Through 1980–2020, the annual number of legal sex‐changes increased in individuals assigned female at birth from 5 to approximately 170 and among individuals assigned male at birth from 10 to approximately 150. The cumulative number of legal sex‐changes at the end of 2019 was 1275 assigned female at birth and 1422 assigned male at birth and 66% of the legal sex‐changes were in individuals below 30 years. Correspondingly, the annual number of contacts with the healthcare system due for gender‐identity‐related conditions increased from 30 during 1990–1999 to around 500 in 2017 (both genders combined), with a 10‐fold increase from 2010 to 2017.

Conclusions

The number of legal sex‐changes and healthcare contacts due to gender‐identity‐related diagnoses increased substantially over the last 40 years with a more than 10‐fold increase during the last decade. This calls for research on possible explanations for this increase, for research on the short‐term and long‐term health consequences of hormonal and surgical treatment regimens and for ensuring adequate healthcare facilities.
Child health professionals' experiences of the introduction and successful implementation of rotavirus vaccination in Sweden
Authors: Stenmarker Margaretha , Oldin Carin , Golsäter Marie , Blennow Margareta , Enskär Karin , Nilsson Mats P. , Schollin Ask Lina
Published: July 2021

Aim

To explore child health professionals' experiences of the early implementation of the rotavirus vaccination in the two regions that first introduced this vaccination in Sweden.

Methods

A descriptive and repeated cross‐sectional study based on a digital study‐specific questionnaire with a baseline in 2014 and with a 2‐year follow‐up in 2016. The study population consisted of nurses and doctors working in child health centres in the health care regions of Stockholm and Jönköping.

Results

In Stockholm, a larger proportion of the respondents (n = 355) had concerns in 2014, in comparison with the respondents in Jönköping (n = 101), mostly about the vaccination being a new and time‐consuming task (60% versus 23%). In 2016, the overall attitude to vaccination was more positive in both regions and the levels of concern about increased workload were reduced (Stockholm, n = 519, 39%, versus Jönköping, n = 96, 10%). Challenges before and after the introduction in both regions were particularly related to how to give information about the vaccine's potential increased risk of intussusception.

Conclusion

The gap between respondents' knowledge, attitudes and concerns pre‐ and post‐vaccination introduction was larger in Stockholm compared to Jönköping. In both regions, overall, the implementation of the rotavirus vaccination was perceived as being easier than expected.
Review article: distinctions between ileal and colonic Crohn's disease: from physiology to pathology
Authors: Pierre Nicolas , Salée Catherine , Vieujean Sophie , Bequet Emeline , Merli Angela‐Maria , Siegmund Britta , Meuwis Marie‑Alice , Louis Edouard
Published: July 2021

Background

Ileal and colonic Crohn's disease seem to be two separate entities.

Aims

To describe the main physiological distinctions between the small and the large intestine and to analyse the differences between ileal and colonic Crohn's disease.

Methods

The relevant literature was critically examined and synthesised.

Results

The small and large intestine have fundamental distinctions (anatomy, cellular populations, immune defence, microbiota). The differences between ileal and colonic Crohn's disease are highlighted by a heterogeneous body of evidence including clinical features (natural history of the disease, efficacy of treatments, and monitoring), epidemiological data (smoking status, age, gender) and biological data (genetics, microbiota, immunity, mesenteric fat). However, the contribution of these factors to disease location remains poorly understood.

Conclusion

The classification of ileal and colonic Crohn's disease as distinct subphenotypes is well supported by the literature. Understanding of these differences could be exploited to develop more individualised patient care.