bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Laser-induced porous graphene electrodes from polyketimine membranes for paracetamol sensing
Authors: Baachaoui Sabrine , Mabrouk Walid , Charradi Khaled , Slimi Bechir , Ramadan Ahmed M. , Elsamra Rehab M. I. , Alhussein Akram , Keshk Sherif M. A. S. , Raouafi Noureddine
Published: August 2023

The development of cost-effective materials for fabricating electrodes is crucial for drug, pharmaceutical and environmental applications. This paper presents the synthesis and characterization of a novel polyketimine (PKI) membrane obtained by condensing partially of different weight percentages of oxidized polyvinyl alcohol and aminated polyether sulfone. Using the PKI membrane as a scaffold, we introduced laser-induced graphene electrodes (LIGEs) for the efficient electrochemical sensing of paracetamol (PCM), which serves as a model drug. Electrochemical measurements were conducted to assess the physico-chemical properties, including laser-induced porous graphene features, such as the heterogeneous electron transfer (HET) rate and electrochemically active surface area (ECSA). The obtained results demonstrate that the LIGEs exhibit excellent performance in PCM sensing, showing a linear detection range of 50–600 µM with a detection limit (LOD) as low as 14.3 µM and a good selectivity toward uric acid. Furthermore, the functionalization of the electrode surface with AuNPs improved the electrode physico-chemical properties (HET and ECSA) and lowered the detection limit down to 1.1 µM. Consequently, these affordable electrodes hold great potential for analysing other drugs and detecting heavy metal cations in various applications.
An algebraic formula, deep learning and a novel SEIR-type model for the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Fokas A. S. , Dikaios N. , Yortsos Y. C.
Published: August 2023

The most extensively used mathematical models in epidemiology are the susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) type models with constant coefficients. For the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, such models predict that at large times equilibrium is reached
exponentially
. However, epidemiological data from Europe suggest that this approach is
algebraic
. Indeed, accurate long-term predictions have been obtained via a forecasting model only if it uses an algebraic as opposed to the standard exponential formula. In this work, by allowing those parameters of the SEIR model that reflect behavioural aspects (e.g. spatial distancing) to vary nonlinearly with the extent of the epidemic, we construct a model which exhibits asymptoticly
algebraic
behaviour. Interestingly, the emerging power law is consistent with the typical dynamics observed in various social settings. In addition, using reliable epidemiological data, we solve in a numerically robust way the
inverse problem
of determining all model parameters characterizing our novel model. Finally, using deep learning, we demonstrate that the algebraic forecasting model used earlier is optimal.
Exact solutions for diffusive transport on heterogeneous growing domains
Authors: Johnston Stuart T. , Simpson Matthew J.
Published: August 2023

From the smallest biological systems to the largest cosmological structures, spatial domains undergo expansion and contraction. Within these growing domains, diffusive transport is a common phenomenon. Mathematical models have been widely employed to investigate diffusive processes on growing domains. However, a standard assumption is that the domain growth is spatially uniform. There are many relevant examples where this is not the case, such as the colonization of growing gut tissue by neural crest cells. As such, it is not straightforward to disentangle the individual roles of heterogeneous growth and diffusive transport. Here we present exact solutions to models of diffusive transport on domains undergoing spatially non-uniform growth. The exact solutions are obtained via a combination of transformation, convolution and superposition techniques. We verify the accuracy of these solutions via comparison with simulations of a corresponding lattice-based random walk. We explore various domain evolution functions, including linear growth, exponential growth and contraction, and oscillatory evolution. Provided the domain size remains positive, we find that the derived solutions are valid. The exact solutions reveal the relationship between model parameters, such as the diffusivity and the type and rate of domain evolution, and key statistics, such as the survival and splitting probabilities.
Paternity data reveal high MHC diversity among sires in a polygynandrous, egalitarian primate
Authors: Chaves Paulo B. , Strier Karen B. , Di Fiore Anthony
Published: August 2023

Evidence from human and nonhuman primates suggests that females avoid breeding with close kin and may choose mates based on MHC diversity, which can improve offspring survival. In despotic societies, female mate choice may be hindered by male sexual coercion, but in egalitarian societies, females may be less constrained. Among northern muriquis—an egalitarian, polygynandrous primate with male philopatry—analyses of new data on paternity and variation at microsatellite and MHC loci, combined with behavioural and life-history data, revealed that sires showed higher MHC diversity than expected by chance and were never close kin of dams, consistent with predictions of female mate choice and close inbreeding avoidance. However, females did not differentially reproduce with males who were more distantly related to them or more dissimilar at the MHC than expected by chance, nor with those who had more MHC alleles distinct from their own. The lack of male dominance may permit females to identify and reproduce preferentially with non-offspring males and with males who are more diverse at the MHC. Nonetheless, the absence of disassortative mating at the MHC and neutral loci suggests that female mate choice may be limited by other factors impacting male fertilization success.
Inhibition of salt inducible kinases reduces rhythmic HIV-1 replication and reactivation from latency
Authors: Borrmann Helene , Ismed Dini , Kliszczak Anna E. , Borrow Persephone , Vasudevan Sridhar , Jagannath Aarti , Zhuang Xiaodong , McKeating Jane A.
Published: August 2023

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) causes a major burden on global health, and eradication of latent virus infection is one of the biggest challenges in the field. The circadian clock is an endogenous timing system that oscillates with a ~24 h period regulating multiple physiological processes and cellular functions, and we recently reported that the cell intrinsic clock regulates rhythmic HIV-1 replication. Salt inducible kinases (SIK) contribute to circadian regulatory networks, however, there is limited evidence for SIKs regulating HIV-1 infection. Here, we show that pharmacological inhibition of SIKs perturbed the cellular clock and reduced rhythmic HIV-1 replication in circadian synchronised cells. Further, SIK inhibitors or genetic silencing of Sik expression inhibited viral replication in primary cells and in a latency model, respectively. Overall, this study demonstrates a role for salt inducible kinases in regulating HIV-1 replication and latency reactivation, which can provide innovative routes to better understand and target latent HIV-1 infection.
Combined, yet Separate: cocktails of carriers (not drugs) for α-particle therapy of solid tumors expressing moderate-to-low levels of targetable markers
Authors: Nair Rajiv Ranjit , Prasad Aprameya , Bhatavdekar Omkar , Sarkar Aira , Gabrielson Kathleen L. , Sofou Stavroula
Published: August 2023

Alpha-particle radionuclide-antibody conjugates are being clinically evaluated against solid cancers expressing moderate levels of the targeted markers, with promising results. These findings are attributed to the high killing power of alpha-particles in spite of the expected decrease in antibody tumor uptake, that reduces tumor absorbed doses. However, when tumor absorbed doses are reduced, addressing the heterogeneities in delivery of alpha-particles within solid tumors (i.e. enabling uniform irradiation patterns) becomes critical: to maintain efficacy, the fewer alpha-particles delivered within tumors need to traverse/hit as many different cancer cells as possible. This proof-of-concept study describes an approach to complement the antibody- targeted radiotherapy by using a separate carrier to deliver a fraction of the injected radioactivity to tumor regions geographically different than those affected by the antibody; collectively, the two carriers should distribute the alpha-particle emitters, Actinium-225 in particular, more uniformly within tumors maintaining efficacy.

Methods

We monitored the extent(s) of tumor growth inhibition, onset delay of spontaneous metastases and/or survival on orthotopic MDA-MB-213 and MDA-MB-436 triple negative breast cancer mouse models and on an ectopic BxPC3 pancreatic cancer mouse model, treated systemically with the two separate carriers. Tumors were chosen to express different (but low) levels of HER1, utilized as a model antibody-targeted marker.

Results

Independent of tumor origin and/or resistance to chemotherapy, the two separate carriers: (a) improved the ‘primary’ tumor growth inhibition, (b) eliminated the formation of spontaneous metastases, and/or (c) prolonged survival, at lower or comparable tumor delivered doses relative to the antibody alone, without noticeable off-target toxicities.

Conclusion

This tumor-agnostic strategy is timely and could be used to enhance the efficacy of existing alpha-particle radionuclide-antibody treatments without increasing, possibly even reducing, the total administered radioactivity.
Multi-omic temporal landscape of plasma and synovial fluid-derived extracellular vesicles using an experimental model of equine osteoarthritis
Authors: Anderson James R , Johnson Emily , Jenkins Rosalind , Jacobsen Stine , Green Daniel , Walters Marie , Bundgaard Louise , Hausmans Bas A C , van den Akker Guus , Welting Tim J M , Chabronova Alzbeta , Kharaz Yalda A , Clarke Emily J , James Victoria , Peffers Mandy J
Published: August 2023

Extracellular vesicles contribute to osteoarthritis pathogenesis through their release into joint tissues and synovial fluid. Limited studies have profiled extracellular vesicles in osteoarthritic biofluids, such as plasma and synovial fluid. Due to the potential involvement in osteoarthritis pathogenesis, synovial fluid-derived extracellular vesicles have the potential to be ‘direct’ biomarkers in the causal pathway of disease but also enable understanding of their role in disease progression.

Utilizing a temporal model of early osteoarthritis, we defined the changes in matched synovial fluid and plasma-derived extracellular vesicle small non-coding RNA and protein cargo using small RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry proteomics. We explored the data with a multi-omic approach including time series clustering, factor analysis and gene enrichment interrogation. Chondrocyte signalling induced by temporal synovial fluid-derived extracellular vesicles derived from the model were analysed using luciferase-based transcription factor activity assays.

Extracellular vesicle protein cargo appears to be more important during osteoarthritis progression than small non-coding RNA cargo. Cluster analysis revealed plasma-extracellular vesicles represented a time-dependant response to osteoarthritis induction, were principally derived from protein cargo and were associated with supramolecular complexes. Clusters for synovial fluid-derived extracellular vesicles were associated with an initial osteoarthritis response and represented immune/inflammatory pathways. Factor analysis revealed that plasma-derived extracellular vesicles correlated with day post induction and were primarily composed of proteins which may modulate lipid metabolism in osteoarthritis. Synovial fluid-derived extracellular vesicles significant factors represented intermediate filament and supramolecular complexes reflecting tissue repair responses to osteoarthritis induction. There was a significant interaction between time and osteoarthritis for cAMP response element, Nuclear factor-kappa B response element, serum response element and serum response factor response element reporters with a trend for osteoarthritis synovial fluid-derived EVs at later time points to have a more pronounced effect.

Local and systemic osteoarthritis-associated changes in extracellular vesicle cargo profiles in thisin vivomodel provided a unique opportunity to understand their role in disease propagation and progression and may represent novel biomarkers to stage osteoarthritis.
Genetic inhibitors of APOBEC3B-induced mutagenesis
Authors: Mertz Tony M. , Rice-Reynolds Elizabeth , Nguyen Ly , Wood Anna , Cordero Cameron , Bray Nicholas , Harcy Victoria , Vyas Rudri K. , Mitchell Debra , Lobachev Kirill , Roberts Steven A.
Published: August 2023

The cytidine deaminases APOBEC3A (A3A) and APOBEC3B (A3B) are prominent mutators of human cancer genomes. However, tumor-specific genetic modulators of APOBEC-induced mutagenesis are poorly defined. Here, we used a screen to identify 61 gene deletions that increase A3B-induced mutations in yeast. We also determined whether each deletion was epistatic with Ung1 loss, which indicated whether the encoded factors participate in the homologous recombination (HR)–dependent bypass of A3B/Ung1-dependent abasic sites or suppress A3B-catalyzed deamination by protecting against aberrant formation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). We found that the mutation spectra of A3B-induced mutations revealed genotype-specific patterns of strand-specific ssDNA formation and nucleotide incorporation across APOBEC-induced lesions. Combining these three metrics, we were able to establish a multifactorial signature of APOBEC-induced mutations specific to (1) failure to remove H3K56 acetylation, (2) defective CTF18–RFC complex function, and (3) defective HR-mediated bypass of APOBEC-induced lesions. We extended these results by analyzing mutation data for human tumors and found BRCA1/2-deficient breast cancers display three- to fourfold more APOBEC-induced mutations. Mirroring our results in yeast, Rev1-mediated C-to-G substitutions are mainly responsible for increased APOBEC-signature mutations in BRCA1/2-deficient tumors, and these mutations associate with lagging strand synthesis during replication. These results identify important factors that influence DNA replication dynamics and likely the abundance of APOBEC-induced mutation during tumor progression. They also highlight a novel role for BRCA1/2 during HR-dependent lesion bypass of APOBEC-induced lesions during cancer cell replication.
The influence of board size and board independence on triple bottom line reporting
Authors: Tajuddin Ahmad Hakimi , Akter Shabiha , Mohd-Rashid Rasidah , Mehmood Waqas
Published: August 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between board size, board independence and triple bottom line (TBL) reporting. The TBL report consists of three components, namely, environmental, social and economic indices.

Design/methodology/approach

This study’s sample consists of top 50 listed companies from the year 2017 to 2019 on Tadawul Stock Exchange. Ordinary least squares, quantile least squares and robust least squares are used to investigate the associations between board characteristics and TBL reporting, including its separate components.

Findings

The authors find a significant negative association between TBL reporting and board independence. Social bottom line is significantly and negatively related to board size and board independence. Results indicate that board independence negatively influences the TBL disclosure of companies. Therefore, companies are encouraged to embrace TBL reporting. This suggests that businesses should improve the quality of their reporting while ensuring that voluntary disclosures reflect an accurate and fair view in order to preserve a positive relationship with stakeholders.

Originality/value

The present study explains the evidence for the determinants of the TBL in Saudi Arabia.
Financing strategy of the capital-constrained supply chain under uncertainty: the impact of blockchain technology on the credit period
Authors: An Simin , Li Bo , Wang Minxue , Zheng Wei
Published: August 2023

Purpose

This paper explores the effectiveness of using blockchain technology to solve financial constraints faced by small- and medium-sized suppliers in a capital-constrained supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

To characterize the impact of blockchain on credit period and enterprise credit level, the study formulates a newsvendor model to analyze a supply chain in which a financially constrained supplier sells products to a financially sound manufacturer, subject to uncertain demand. The study investigates three repayment methods: the benchmark case without blockchain and two blockchain-enabled cases with the hybrid repayment mode and single repayment mode (SRM), respectively. The study derives and compares the equilibria under each repayment method to characterize their impact.

Findings

When the bank interest rate is low and the carbon cap is also low, choosing to implement blockchain technology leads to higher profitability for the manufacturer than not utilizing it. Within the framework of blockchain technology, when comparing the two repayment models, the manufacturer exhibits a preference for SRM. Furthermore, under specific conditions of the bank interest rate, blockchain technology can effectively facilitate consensus among supply chain members in terms of channel selection.

Practical implications

The results derived in this paper provide novel managerial implications to the capital-constrained members in terms of pricing decisions and order quantity under demand uncertainty considering blockchain technology, which transfers the creditor's rights to the bank and shortens the collection time. In addition, blockchain technology enables efficient and intelligent collaborative development of supply chains, which can reduce carbon emissions during the transportation of goods.

Originality/value

Few studies incorporate blockchain technology into supply chain finance, and this paper considers the credit period and capital's time value for a capital-constrained supplier facing the adoption of blockchain technology within a stochastic demand environment.
Exploring the role of innovation attributes on mobile payment adoption
Authors: Arli Denni , Bakpayev Marat
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Consumers worldwide are increasingly adopting mobile payments. However, despite its global popularity, this innovation did not diffuse among American consumers extensively. As of 2019, less than 30% of smartphone users in the USA engaged in mobile payments. The purpose of this paper is to investigate drivers of mobile payment adoption in the USA and to explore the mediating factors of consumers’ attitudes toward mobile payments.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through Amazon M-Turk in the USA with 222 final respondents. Participants received an incentive to participate in this study. The measurement and structural models were evaluated by the component-based partial least squares (PLS) approach using Smart-PLS 3 software.

Findings

The study shows several factors affecting consumers’ attitudes toward mobile payments. Specifically, relative advantage, compatibility, observability, perceived security and convenience influence attitudes toward mobile payments and, consequently, behavioral intent to use mobile payment technology. This investigation contributes to the ongoing inquiry on the adoption of mobile payment technology in the USA. It offers specific insights for managers on how to increase mobile payment adoption. The study establishes a modified diffusion of innovations (DOI) model of consumer attitudes toward the use of mobile payments.

Research limitations/implications

The objective of this study is to focus mainly on consumers in the USA, and it limits the generalizability of this study.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the current research on mobile payment adoption. Based on theoretical considerations, the authors derived a research model specifying critical drivers of an individual’s intentions to use mobile payments. Specifically, we establish a modified DOI-based model of consumer attitudes towards mobile payments. It shows several contributing factors affecting consumers’ attitudes toward mobile payments. The paper has important managerial implications aimed at the increase of the diffusion of mobile payments in the USA.
Consensus study on factors influencing the academic entrepreneur in a middle-income country’s university enterprise
Authors: Farrell Alfred Austin , Ashton James , Mapanga Witness , Joffe Maureen , Chitha Nombulelo , Beksinska Mags , Chitha Wezile , Coovadia Ashraf , Cutland Clare L. , Drennan Robin L. , Kahn Kathleen , Koekemoer Lizette L. , Micklesfield Lisa K. , Miot Jacqui , Naidoo Julian , Papathanasopoulos Maria , Sive Warrick , Smit Jenni , Tollman Stephen M. , Veller Martin G. , Ware Lisa J. , Wing Jeffrey , Norris Shane A.
Published: August 2023

Purpose

This study aims to ascertain the personal characteristics of a group of successful academic entrepreneurs in a South African university enterprise and the prevalent barriers and enablers to their entrepreneurial endeavour.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a Delphi process to identify and rank the characteristics, enablers, barriers and behaviours of entrepreneurial academics, with a Nominal Group Technique applied to establish challenges they encounter managing their enterprise and to propose solutions.

Findings

Perseverance, resilience and innovation are critical personal characteristics, while collaborative networks, efficient research infrastructure and established research competence are essential for success. The university’s support for entrepreneurship is a significant enabler, with unnecessary bureaucracy and poor access to project and general enterprise funding an impediment. Successful academic entrepreneurs have strong leadership, and effective management and communication skills.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is the small study participant group drawn from a single university enterprise, which complicates generalisability. The study supported the use of Krueger’s (2009) entrepreneurial intentions model for low- and middle-income country (LMIC) academic entrepreneur investigation but proposed the inclusion of mitigators to entrepreneurial activation to recognise contextual deficiencies and challenges.

Practical implications

Skills-deficient LMIC universities should extensively and directly support their entrepreneurial academics to overcome their contextual deficiencies and challenging environment.

Originality/value

This study contributes to addressing the paucity of academic entrepreneur research in LMIC contexts by identifying LMIC-specific factors that inhibit the entrepreneur’s movement from entrepreneurial intention to entrepreneurial action.
Extending the research frontiers of employee mental health through contextualisation: China as an example with implications for human resource management research and practice
Authors: Cooke Fang Lee , Xu Wenqiong
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Impoverished employee mental health is harmful to employees and organisational performance. There is emerging interest in employee mental health in the human resource management (HRM) field. The majority of these studies mainly focus on the organisational and individual levels from the psychological and managerial perspectives without considering the sectoral characteristics and societal context.

Design/methodology/approach

This perspective paper draws on extant literature as well as 10 informal interviews with medical professionals, organisational leaders in the public sector, teachers and HR professionals to shed light on employee mental health research, practice and challenges in the Chinese context.

Findings

This paper reveals national, sectoral, occupational and individual factors that shape mental health problems, individual coping mechanisms and organisational interventions. It also shows international influence on employee mental health in the form of institutional pressure and knowledge transfer.

Research limitations/implications

There is limited research on employee mental health and HRM in the Chinese context, which restricts the scope of discussion in this paper, but at the same time presents rich future research opportunities that may be relevant to other national settings.

Practical implications

Managing the mental health of the workforce is part of the mental health management of the population, which means a holistic approach to building a mental health eco-system needs to be adopted. The authors call for more research on employee mental health in the Chinese context to provide evidence to support policy development and organisational efforts to scale up mental health services at the national and organisational levels. The authors also provide practical recommendations for policymakers and employing organisations.

Originality/value

The authors present a multi-level and multi-factor overview related to employee mental health in the Chinese context. The authors argue for a resource-based and multi-stakeholder approach, which will help inform and improve mental health policy and practice. The authors present several avenues for future scholarship and research. The authors extend the research frontiers of employee mental health issues by calling for the inclusion of a broader range of theoretical lenses including institutional theory, cultural and spiritual perspective and critical sociology to understand more fully how employee mental health conditions may be undermined or improved.
Exploring the use of powered mobility devices and occupational participation for people with obesity
Authors: Kemmis Emma , Ashby Samantha , MacDonald‐Wicks Lesley
Published: August 2023

Background

The increasing prevalence of obesity is a global issue with the World Health Organization estimating that more than 650 million adults are impacted by obesity. Those living with obesity are impacted by both physical and psychological issues. The physical consequences of living with obesity can lead to decreased mobility and reduced occupational participation. The aim of this research is to understand how the use of a powered mobility device influences occupational participation and quality of life from the perspective of people with obesity.

Method

Semi‐structured qualitative interviews (n = 7) were undertaken with a phenomenological approach to gain an understanding of the lived experience of using a powered mobility device.

Results

Thematic analysis occurred resulting in inter‐connected themes that describe the positive experiences associated with using a powered mobility device: (1) autonomous mobility; (2) enhanced occupational participation; and (3) improved self‐efficacy creates increased confidence in relation to participation. In addition, two themes emerged that were barriers to usage of powered mobility devices: (4) physical environmental barriers and (5) difficulty transporting the powered mobility device.

Conclusion

For those with obesity, a powered mobility device provided autonomous mobility allowing them to engage in an increased range of activities. This was hampered by physical environmental barriers and difficulties transporting the powered mobility device. Further research is required to verify the results of this study with a wider population and to explore the benefits and barriers to use of a powered mobility device in the home and community.
Maternal gestational iron status and infant haematological and neurodevelopmental outcomes
Authors: Georgieff Michael K.
Published: August 2023

Prevention of iron deficiency (ID), the most common micronutrient deficiency in infants and children, begins prenatally by ensuring adequate fetal loading. Adequate intrauterine iron status is crucial for normal fetal brain development, postnatal brain performance and prevention of early postnatal iron deficiency, particularly in infants fed exclusively human milk. Adequate fetal loading may be achieved in some cases through adequate maternal iron levels prior to pregnancy and oral iron supplementation during pregnancy. However, because so many women are iron‐deficient leading up to pregnancy, coupled with the negative iron balance induced by pregnancy, a large number of women remain iron‐deficient during pregnancy. More consistent iron‐specific early screening and more effective iron delivery approaches are needed to solve this global problem.
Estimating the Effects of Monetary Policy in Australia Using Sign‐restricted Structural Vector Autoregressions*
Authors: Read Matthew
Published: August 2023

I estimate the effects of Australian monetary policy using a structural vector autoregression identified using a variety of sign restrictions and a prior‐robust approach to Bayesian inference. Some identifying restrictions are not particularly informative. However, combining the restrictions allows us to draw useful inferences. The estimates suggest that an increase in the cash rate lowers output and consumer prices at horizons beyond a year or so. The results are consistent with the output response to a 100 basis point increase in the cash rate lying towards the upper end of the range of existing estimates.
The rise and rise of fentanyl in postmortem casework
Authors: Cooper Gail
Published: August 2023

Forensic toxicology laboratories are navigating a period of time with increasing drug overdose deaths, an opioid epidemic, the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic, and the illicit drug market flooded with novel psychoactive substances. In New York City, the Department of Forensic Toxicology has experienced a 56% increase in postmortem casework in the past decade with fentanyl detected in 80% of all overdose deaths. Over a period of 2.5 years, 15,638 postmortem cases were tested for the presence of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs using liquid‐chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LCMSMS). Fentanyl was detected in approximately one third of cases and of these 4447 cases with femoral blood. A twofold increase in cases with high concentrations of fentanyl (>100 ng/mL) was observed between 2021 and 2022. The minor metabolite and precursor chemical, 4‐ANPP (4‐anilino‐N‐phenethylpiperidine) may help differentiate between illicit and licit fentanyl. 4‐ANPP blood concentrations were <10 ng/mL in 98% of the cases and the 4‐ANPP:fentanyl ratio was <0.67 for 99.1% of blood specimens. Only six cases had 4‐ANPP concentrations higher than the corresponding fentanyl blood concentration. This study also highlights, the changing fentanyl analogs found in postmortem cases since 2016 in NYC with the emergence of fluorofentanyl initially identified in 2020 and continuing to dominate in comparison with the prevalence of other analogs, many of which are no longer detected in casework. The detection of one of the latest drugs to be mixed with fentanyl, namely xylazine, has also increased in prevalence by 36.7% in 2022 compared with 2021.
Discrimination and characterization of different coconut water (CW) by their phenolic composition and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using LC‐MS/MS, HS‐SPME‐GC‐MS, and HS‐GC‐IMS
Authors: Zhang Wende , Chen Yang , Yun Yonghuan , Li Congfa , Fang Yajing , Zhang Weimin
Published: August 2023

Three varieties of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) water (CW) at two maturity stages were investigated for physicochemical and nutritional properties. The profile of phenolic compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was determined by liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS), headspace solid‐phase microextraction‐gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (HS‐SPME‐GC‐MS), and headspace‐gas chromatography‐ion mobility spectrometry (HS‐GC‐IMS). Most of the properties of CW changed significantly with maturity rather than variety. The five most relevant phenolic compounds in CW were chlorogenic acid, 4‐hydroxy‐3,5‐dimethoxycinnamic acid, L‐epicatechin, and procyanidins B2 and B1. Variety played a more important role in phenolic composition than maturity, and Wenye No. 4 can be distinguished from other two varieties. Alcohols and esters were the main VOCs in CW identified by HS‐GC‐IMS and HS‐SPME‐GC‐MS, respectively. Five and four compounds (VIP scores > 1) were characteristic compounds for CW by HS‐GC‐IMS and HS‐SPME‐GC‐MS, respectively. The VOCs of Wenye Nos. 2 and 3 were more similar than those of Wenye No. 4. These findings could provide useful information for the selection of raw materials of CW used for different industrial purposes.
Effect of dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitor on the progression of coronary artery disease evaluated by computed tomography in patients receiving insulin therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Choi Young , Ko Seung‐Hyun , Chang Kiyuk , Yoo Ki Dong , Ihm Sang‐Hyun
Published: August 2023

Background

We evaluated the effect of a dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitor (DPP‐4i) on the progression of obstructive coronary artery disease (OCAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) receiving insulin therapy.

Methods

Using a multicenter clinical data warehouse, we analyzed the patients receiving insulin therapy for T2DM who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) for ≥2 times. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of DPP‐4i prescription between the two CCTA examinations. The prevalence of OCAD (>50% stenosis on CCTA), new revascularization rates, and changes in the coronary calcium score (CCS) were analyzed.

Results

A total of 623 patients were included, and a DPP‐4i was prescribed to 380 (60.9%) patients. The median time difference between the two CCTAs was 39.0 (17.0–61.4) months. Newly developed OCAD at the follow‐up CCTA was detected in 62 (16.3%) patients in the DPP‐4i group and 76 (31.3%) patients in the no DPP‐4i group (p < 0.001). The risk of new OCAD or new revascularization was lower in the DPP‐4i group (19.7% vs. 38.7%; p < 0.001). After propensity score matching, the prevalence of new OCAD (15.9% vs. 29.5%; p = 0.001) and the composite rate of new OCAD or new revascularization (18.7% vs. 37.3%; p < 0.001) were lower in the DPP‐4i group. The change in CCS per year did not differ significantly between the two groups (9.1 [0.1–56.8] vs. 13.5 [0.0–78.6]; p = 0.715).

Conclusions

Add‐on DPP‐4i therapy would be beneficial in preventing coronary artery disease progression in patients with T2DM receiving insulin therapy.
Pay‐for‐delay with settlement externalities
Authors: Palikot Emil , Pietola Matias
Published: August 2023

Pay‐for‐delay patent settlements, in which the incumbent patentee pays a potential entrant to withdraw a patent challenge and stay out of the market, cost patients and taxpayers billions of dollars in higher pharmaceutical prices. We show that in markets with one incumbent and several entrants, the possibility of conditioning such settlements on litigation outcomes against other entrants results in the exclusion of all entrants from the market. When conditional contracts are infeasible, the incumbent licenses the patent or fights entry in court: the resulting competition benefiting consumers. Prohibiting all pay‐for‐delay settlements increases litigation and may harm consumers by reducing licensing.
Institutional isomorphism in corporate Twitter discourse on citizenship and immigration in India and the United States
Authors: Shora Shehla Rashid , Arya Arshia , Pal Joyojeet
Published: August 2023

High net‐worth individuals (HNIs) play important roles in influencing policy through their voices. Technology‐mediated means of addressing issues, such as social media activism, have become a central part of such policy advocacy. We examined the Twitter engagement of the 50 wealthiest individuals and their ‘networks’ in India and the United States, specifically their engagement with citizens' movements and policy issues related to citizenship and immigration, with a focus on debates triggered by the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), respectively. We quantified the level of engagement of ‘HNI networks’ with these debates through a textual analysis of their tweets using computational methods combined with manual annotation, followed by qualitative analysis and comparison of subjective meanings attached by actors to key terms. We found that American HNIs leveraged their social media presence to advocate for inclusive immigration and naturalisation policies, their model of advocacy characterised by confrontation, collective action and ownership by key actors, thus exhibiting mimetic isomorphism. Indian HNIs' tweets on CAA were few and far between, with no call for change and no evidence of either collective action or individual ownership, and a hesitation to challenge the central government, thus exhibiting coercive isomorphism.
CEO power and the strategic selection of accounting financial experts to the audit committee
Authors: Bedford Anna , Ghannam Samir , Grosse Matthew , Ma Nelson
Published: August 2023

We examine the role of CEO power in the appointment of accounting financial experts (AFEs) to firm audit committees. Our results show that firms with powerful CEOs have a lower likelihood of appointing AFEs to their audit committees. In addition, effective AFEs—those characterized by experience, high status, and social independence from the CEO—are less likely to be appointed in firms with powerful CEOs. In the presence of powerful CEOs, effective AFEs are also less likely to be designated audit committee chair. The absence of effective AFEs is associated with the use of accounting discretion by powerful CEOs to meet or just beat analyst earnings forecasts. We find no evidence that AFEs choose to avoid serving on the boards of firms with powerful CEOs. Our findings are consistent with powerful CEOs influencing board appointments post‐Sarbanes‐Oxley Act through informal channels, including through their social ties with nominating committees. Our results suggest that current regulations prohibiting CEO involvement in the director nomination process and specifying who qualifies as a financial expert may be insufficient to ensure audit committee effectiveness and financial reporting quality.
Cost uniqueness and information uncertainty
Authors: Anderson Mark , Mashruwala Raj , Wang Ye , Zhao Rong
Published: August 2023

Prior literature has studied firm uniqueness and its implications for capital market participants by investigating earnings uniqueness. We recognize that cost and revenue uniqueness provide separate insights about firm uniqueness because different forces drive firm‐specific revenues and costs. Cost uniqueness is of special interest because costs are opaque to investors and more complex than revenues. Therefore, we examine how cost uniqueness affects information uncertainty from the perspective of external participants. We find that idiosyncratic stock return volatility increases with cost uniqueness independently and incrementally from revenue uniqueness. We validate these results with several cross‐sectional tests that provide insights into the forces that drive the association between information uncertainty and cost uniqueness. In addition, we find that higher cost uniqueness is associated with finer cost disclosure. Overall, we show that cost uniqueness is an important dimension of cost behavior that is linked to strategic decision‐making and affects uncertainty surrounding firm valuation.
Caring labor and the affective economy in the making of the Caribbean
Authors: Samson Alice V. M. , Cooper Jago , Martínez Milantchi María de las Mercedes , Puigdoller Victor Serrano , Nieves Miguel A.
Published: August 2023

This article is a reflection on early colonial industries as caring labor rather than just commodity production or resistance. We draw on Indigenous philosophies of relations and Amazonian ontologies to foreground care and frame the Caribbean material record. We investigate how traditional things such as hammocks and cassava bread produced by a sixteenth‐century encomienda population on Mona Island, part of the Puerto Rican archipelago, quickly became part and parcel of free and unfree contexts, extending sensory environments and shaping conditions of interaction throughout the Caribbean. Consideration of traditional things and ways they are incorporated within new assemblages of people and places reveals alternative world‐making projects, a speculative rejoinder to singular narratives of exploitation.
Evangelical transformation: Learning the three‐dimensional perception of reality
Authors: Liutkevičius Eugenijus
Published: August 2023

In this article, I analyze the particular perception of the world Baptists start to learn during their conversion which I call the three‐dimensional perception of reality. This concept refers to the ability to incorporate narratives from the Bible into everyday life events and interpret both personal stories and world events accordingly, thereby making the Bible ever relevant. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, I show how events from the believers' daily lives are perceived and explained in the light of biblical stories. Regardless of the fact that the two are separated in time and in space, the biblical story is still seen as a proto‐event to the current one. No matter how diverse the believers' experiences, they are capable of finding an equivalent episode in the Bible. The scripture, therefore, is ever present in the believers' lives, as a source of meaning and interpretation.
Accuracy of pre‐operative 18‐fluoride fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET) in predicting lymph node involvement in colon cancer
Authors: Gauci Chahaya Marc , Kim Tae Jun , Gao Yijun , Perera Dayashan S.
Published: August 2023

Background

Accurate staging of colon cancer is imperative in directing treatment and prognostication. Existing literature on pre‐operative accuracy of FDG‐PET/CT in detecting lymph node disease often combines colon and rectal cancer, examines rectal cancers alone, and rarely assesses colon cancer in isolation. Our aim was to assess pre‐operative utility of FDG‐PET/CT in detecting lymph node disease in colon cancer.

Methods

A retrospective cohort analysis was performed at a single Australian institution between 2017 and 2022 to identify treatment naive primary colonic tumours. Primary outcome was sensitivity and specificity using formal surgical histopathology as gold standard. Secondary outcomes were patient and tumour factors predictive of FDG‐PET/CT positive disease including pre‐operative CEA, mismatch repair status, duration to surgery, and tumour T‐stage.

Results

Three hundred and thirty‐nine patients were identified. Thirty‐four had pre‐operative FDG‐PET/CT without neoadjuvant therapy. The mean surgical lymph node harvest was 18 nodes. Twenty‐five patients had moderately differentiated tumours. The median duration between FDG‐PET/CT and operation was 17 days. Pre‐operative FDG‐PET/CT suggested positive lymph node involvement in 12 patients. Compared to final lymph node histopathology, FDG‐PET/CT had a sensitivity of 53%, specificity of 82%, positive predictive value of 75%, negative predictive value of 64% and accuracy of 68%. There was no significant difference between groups for secondary outcomes.

Conclusion

FDG‐PET/CT has moderate specificity but poor sensitivity in the detection of lymph node involvement in colon cancer. Its utility should likely remain isolated to investigating equivocal lesions or follow up of known PET avid disease.
Short‐term forecasting with a computationally efficient nonparametric transfer function model
Authors: Liu Jun. M.
Published: August 2023

In this paper a semi‐parametric approach is developed to model non‐linear relationships in time series data using polynomial splines. Polynomial splines require very little assumption about the functional form of the underlying relationship, so they are very flexible and can be used to model highly non‐linear relationships. Polynomial splines are also computationally very efficient. The serial correlation in the data is accounted for by modelling the noise as an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) process, by doing so, the efficiency in nonparametric estimation is improved and correct inferences can be obtained. The explicit structure of the ARIMA model allows the correlation information to be used to improve forecasting performance. An algorithm is developed to automatically select and estimate the polynomial spline model and the ARIMA model through backfitting. This method is applied on a real‐life data set to forecast hourly electricity usage. The non‐linear effect of temperature on hourly electricity usage is allowed to be different at different hours of the day and days of the week. The forecasting performance of the developed method is evaluated in post‐sample forecasting and compared with several well‐accepted models. The results show the performance of the proposed model is comparable with a long short‐term memory deep learning model.
Nutritional quality and organic acid profile of rice bran fermented with lactic acid bacteria isolated from horse feces
Authors: Manlapig Jamal James D. , Ban‐Tokuda Tomomi , Matsui Hiroki
Published: August 2023

The study aimed to determine the effect of Limosilactobacillus equigenerosi and Ligilactobacillus equi as inoculants for solid‐state fermentation (SSF) in the proximate composition of nutrients and organic acid profile of rice bran (RB). The RB was treated with distilled water (DW) without inoculant (control), L. equigenerosi (T1), L. equi (T2), and L. equigenerosi and L. equi 1:1 (v:v) (T3). For the treatments, 90 mL of culture was pelleted and suspended with DW. Each treatment was replicated three times and incubated for 4, 7, and 10 days at 37°C. The crude protein, ether extract, crude ash, crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were increased (P < 0.05) in fermented RB. The lactate and total organic acid produced were increased by the addition of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (P < 0.01), and the highest concentrations were recorded in treatments containing L. equi (T2 and T3). Acetate production in T1 was highest than in control, T2, and T3 (P < 0.01). The results showed that LAB isolated from horse feces in combination with SSF can improve the quality of RB as an ingredient for animal feed based on the higher concentrations of protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and organic acids.