bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The relationship between developmental HRM practices and voluntary intention to leave among IT professionals in India: the mediating role of affective commitment
Authors: Srirangam Ramaprasad Badrinarayan , Lakshminarayanan Sethumadhavan , Pai Yogesh P.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance the research on the relationship between developmental human resource management (HRM) practices and voluntary intention to leave among information technology (IT) professionals from the Indian IT sector by investigating the mediating role of affective commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a cross-sectional design at the individual-level of analysis. Data on the study constructs (i.e. developmental HRM practices, affective commitment, and voluntary intention to leave) were collected from 752 IT professionals from 17 Indian IT organizations from the city of Bengaluru through a web-based survey between February 2016 and March 2017. Further, this study used the confirmatory factor analysis technique to establish reliability and construct validity for the study constructs. Furthermore, this study tested the research hypotheses empirically through mediated multiple-regression analysis using the bootstrap procedure.

Findings

Empirical results of the present study suggest that espousal of robust developmental HRM interventions enhances affective commitment and significantly attenuates the voluntary intention to leave among employees. Further, the results of this study have indicated that the relationship between developmental HRM practices and voluntary intention to leave was partially mediated by affective commitment.

Originality/value

Past empirical studies on HRM – turnover discourse, in the IT sector, have predominantly examined the direct influence of HRM systems and/or internal labor market strategies on turnover intentions and actual turnover behavior. Rarely have the past studies in the IT domain attempted to examine the intervening role of employee attitudes in the relationship between HRM practices and employee-level outcomes. Addressing this gap, the present study enunciates the critical role of affective commitment and situates it as an important variable that mediates the relationship between developmental HRM practices and voluntary intention to leave among IT professionals in India.
Implementing social customer relationship management
Authors: Sigala Marianna
Published: August 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to debate the technology-driven transformation of customer relationship management (CRM) into social CRM, which entails a shift from a transactional and automational solution to a customer experience management philosophy, reflecting high levels of customer empowerment.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review provides a critical analysis of the concept, tenets, aims and implementation approaches of social CRM. Arguments are summarised by developing a process-based framework for implementing social CRM.

Findings

By adopting a value co-creation approach that recognises the technology-fostered customer empowerment, the social CRM highlights the need to immigrate from relationship management to relationship stewardship. In this vein, social CRM implementation should support and foster dialogue facilitation and customer engagement in co-creating customer experiences. To achieve these, five approaches for implementing social CRM are proposed: collecting, analysing and interpreting customer insight; monitoring and improving the performance of CRM; developing holistic and seamless personalised customer experiences; gamifying CRM and loyalty programmes; and nurturing community relationship management.

Research limitations/implications

The five approaches to social CRM implementation are identified and validated based on current industry practices, theoretical arguments and anecdotal evidence of professionals’ perceptions about their outcomes. Future research is required to collect hard evidence showing the business and customer impacts of these approaches.

Practical implications

Social CRM immigrates relationship management from a transactional to a customer experience mindset that treats customers as co-creators of value and demands the tourism and hospitality firms to exploit the affordances of information and communication technologies to collect and analyse customer data for better understanding the customer; develop customer touch points that do not only aim to sell but also primarily aim to enhance the customer interactions and experiences; consider and treat the customers and the customer communities as co-creators, brand ambassadors and stewards of relations; and motivate and enable customer participation into value co-creation processes for developing customer experiences and building relationships.

Originality/value

Research in social CRM is emerging, but it mainly focusses on defining its scope and identifying the functionality and adoption of social CRM technology. The paper contributes to the literature by proposing five specific approaches and a process framework for implementing social CRM. Various directions for future research are also provided.
Child labour, future earnings and occupation choice: evidence from Ghana
Authors: Lambon-Quayefio Monica Puoma , Owoo Nkechi Srodah
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The prevalence of child labour continues to feature prominently on the agenda of many sub-Saharan African countries. The problem remains critical despite existing laws and other legislative instruments that have been put in place to address the situation. The purpose of this paper is to examine a critical consequence of child labour, that is, its effect on future earnings and occupational choice.

Design/methodology/approach

The most recent round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey is used for this purpose. In addition to the Heckman model, the study employs propensity score and nearest neighbour matching techniques to account for the possible self-selection in engaging in child labour activities. Also, the multinomial logit model was employed to determine the choice of occupations of people who were engaged in child labour.

Findings

Results indicate that early labour market entry significantly reduces future earnings, possibly due to lower human capital accumulation. These results remain robust with different estimators. Additionally, results from the second objective show that child labour increases the odds of choosing low-skilled occupations.

Originality/value

In Ghana, the negative consequences of child labour on educational attainment have been well documented. Less, if at all, studied are the long-term consequences of child labour, particularly on future economic status.
Excessive social media use at work
Authors: Yu Lingling , Cao Xiongfei , Liu Zhiying , Wang Junkai
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of excessive social media use on individual job performance and its exact mechanism. An extended stressor–strain–outcome research model is proposed to explain how excessive social media use at work influences individual job performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The research model was empirically tested with an online survey study of 230 working professionals who use social media in organizations.

Findings

The results revealed that excessive social media use was a determinant of three types of social media overload (i.e. information, communication and social overload). Information and communication overload were significant stressors that influence social media exhaustion, while social overload was not a significant predictor of exhaustion. Furthermore, social media exhaustion significantly reduces individual job performance.

Originality/value

Theory-driven investigation of the effects of excessive social media use on individual job performance is still relatively scarce, underscoring the need for theoretically-based research of excessive social media use at work. This paper enriches social media research by presenting an extended stressor–strain–outcome model to explore the exact mechanism of excessive use of social media at work, and identifying three components of social media-related overload, including information, communication and social overload. It is an initial attempt to systematically validate the casual relationships among excessive usage experience, overload, exhaustion and individual job performance based on the transactional theory of stress and coping.
Using electronic information resources to solve cultural translation problems
Authors: Olalla-Soler Christian
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of electronic information resources to solve cultural translation problems at different stages of acquisition of the translator’s cultural competence.

Design/methodology/approach

A process and product-oriented, cross-sectional, quasi-experimental study was conducted with 38 students with German as a second foreign language from the four years of the Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and ten professional translators.

Findings

Translation students use a wider variety of resources, perform more queries and spend more time on queries than translators when solving cultural translation problems. The students’ information-seeking process is generally less efficient than that of the translators. Training has little impact on the students’ use of electronic information resources for this specific purpose, since all students use them similarly regardless of the year they are in.

Research limitations/implications

The study has been conducted with a small sample and only one language pair from a single pedagogical context. The tendencies observed cannot be generalised to the whole population of translation students.

Practical implications

This paper has implications for translator training, as it encourages the development of efficient information-seeking processes for the resolution of cultural translation problems.

Originality/value

Unlike other studies, this paper focusses on a specific translation problem type. It provides information related to the students’ information-seeking strategies for the resolution of cultural translation problems, which can be useful for translation training.
Student voice in secondary schools: the possibility for deeper change
Authors: Mitra Dana
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of student voice in secondary school reform.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a literature review, it defines the concept of student voice within bodies of research on youth participation internationally.

Findings

It notes the ways the USA is distinct and lagging behind. It then looks at the broadening scope of ways that young people have become involved in change efforts. It considers ways that student voice can deepen implementation efforts and strengthen classroom practice. It breaks this discussion into: outcomes for classroom instruction, organizational change, and the relationship between student voice and power. The paper ends with a discussion of the importance of attending to issues of power in youth–adult relationships, including ways to avoid the co-optation of young people.

Originality/value

This paper reviews the most recent work showing how student voice can impact change, with a particular focus when possible on urban secondary schools to fit with this special issue. It updates a previous review of the field conducted ten years ago (Mitra, 2006). Before beginning this review, however, it is important to understand how student voice varies across global contexts.
The ethical challenges of researching refugee education
Authors: Bailey Lucy , Williams Simon John
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the authors’ experiences of conducting research with refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia over multiple research projects in order to identify limitations to current procedures for receiving ethical approval for a study. It argues that the moral complexity of working with marginalized and excluded groups is not reflected in existing approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

Ensuring that research is ethical is integral to any empirical study, using any research design. Procedures for ensuring ethics have been developed by professional bodies across many academic fields, predominantly drawing on western legal frameworks and conceptions of agency. However, these procedures may not have applicability to certain cultural, social and political settings. The discussion in this paper focuses on devising ethical approaches for research participants from marginalized and excluded communities in diverse parts of the world, including those with no possibility of legal recourse.

Findings

Problems with the use of established procedures for four aspects of ethical research are identified, namely, access and gatekeepers; consent; reciprocity; and confidentiality.

Originality/value

The paper develops a framework for continuous ethical reflexivity. It argues that this framework should replace the established procedural approach to ethics, approved by an Institutional Review Board or ethics committee. Instead, the IRB should assign an ethical mentor who is jointly responsible with the researcher for ensuring research ethics through the use of the framework.
Nutrition in extreme food specialists: An illustration using termites
Authors: Poissonnier Laure‐Anne , Arganda Sara , Simpson Stephen J. , Dussutour Audrey , Buhl Camille
Published: August 2018

Recent nutritional ecology theories predict that an organism feeding on a single, highly predictable food should lack the typical active regulation of nutrient balance observed in all other organisms studied so far. It could instead limit itself to controlling the amount of food eaten alone. Such an animal would, however, be strongly affected by nutrient imbalances.

Termites are an ideal model animal to test those predictions, because they are extreme food specialists.

We investigated how the nutritional content of food affected termites’ intake and performance by constraining groups of Nasutitermes exitiosus to artificial diets varying in their macronutrient ratios.

We showed that (a) termites, contrary to other insects, did not compensate for nutrient imbalance by adjusting food collection; (b) longevity in workers was strongly influenced by carbohydrate intake, while in soldiers it depended almost entirely on the number of workers remaining to feed them; (c) tunnelling activity increased with the quantity of food collected; and (d) intake had very little influence on lipid and protein termite body contents.

We provide evidence that extreme food specialists might have lost the ability to regulate macronutrient intake. Our results highlight the importance of life history and ecology in the evolution of nutrient balancing strategies.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Phenology and the physiological niche are co‐adapted in a desert‐dwelling lizard
Authors: Sun Bao‐Jun , Ma Liang , Li Shu‐Ran , Williams Caroline M. , Wang Yang , Hao Xin , Du Wei‐Guo
Published: August 2018

A major goal of seasonal biology is to understand how selection on phenology and the physiological niche interact. In oviparous species, fitness variation across the growing season suggests that phenological shifts will alter selective environments experienced by embryos. We hypothesize that physiology could become co‐adapted with phenology; such that embryos perform better in the environmental conditions they are adapted to compared to embryos adapted to other environments (temporal matching).

Here, we tested for temporal matching to seasonal changes in the environmental temperatures with toad‐headed lizard, Phrynocephalus przewalskii, which inhabits the temperate desert steppe of China. We used a split‐clutch reciprocal experiment, by incubating eggs from early‐ and late‐breeding females at rising and falling temperature regimes, respectively, to separate the influence of intrinsic (genetic and parental) vs. extrinsic factors (developmental plasticity or acclimatization) on the performance and fitness of offspring.

Eggs from early‐breeding females were with higher quality than those from late‐breeding females, likely due to better maternal provisioning. Offspring from early‐breeding females had higher selected body temperatures and metabolic rates than those from late‐breeding females.

Falling temperatures that may indicate the end of the growing season, reduced incubation duration and increased metabolic rates for both early and late eggs, compared to rising temperatures. Late hatchlings had higher growth rates when incubated at falling compared to rising temperatures, while growth rates of early hatchlings were not sensitive to incubation temperature. Thus, growth and survival rates of late embryos were similar to early embryos under falling temperatures, despite early embryos being of generally higher quality.

Overall, our study confirms that “early is higher quality.” Intrinsic factors dominate offspring performance and fitness, with a general advantage for early embryos throughout the season. We found some support for temporal matching, demonstrating that late embryos with lower quality have physiological strategies that are specialized to late‐season environments, allowing them to attain similar fitness in late‐season environments to that of early embryos.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
An eco‐evolutionary feedback loop between population dynamics and fighter expression affects the evolution of alternative reproductive tactics
Authors: Croll Jasper C. , Egas Martijn , Smallegange Isabel M.
Published: August 2018

Surprisingly, little is known about how eco‐evolutionary feedback loops affect trait dynamics within a single population. Polymorphisms of discrete alternative phenotypes present ideal test beds to investigate this, as the alternative phenotypes typically exhibit contrasting demographic rates mediated through frequency or density dependence, and are thus differentially affected by selection.

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs), like male fighters and sneakers, are an extreme form of discrete phenotype expression and occur across many taxa. Fighters possess weapons for male–male competition over access to mates, whereas sneakers are defenceless but adopt tactics like female‐mimicking. Because fighters in some species mortally injure conspecifics, this raises the question whether fighter expression can feed back to affect population size and structure, thereby altering the selection gradient and evolutionary dynamics of ART expression in an eco‐evolutionary feedback loop.

Here, we investigated how the eco‐evolutionary feedback loop between fighter expression and population size and structure affects the evolution and maintenance of ARTs. We introduced intraspecific killing by fighters in a two‐sex, two‐ART population model parameterized for the male dimorphic bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini) that includes life‐history differences between the ARTs and a mating‐probability matrix analogous to the classic hawk–dove game.

Using adaptive dynamics, we found that the intraspecific killing by fighters can extend the range of life‐history parameter values under which ARTs evolve, because fighters that kill other fighters decrease fighter fitness. This effect can be nullified when benefits from killing are incorporated, like increased reproduction through increased energy uptake.

The eco‐evolutionary feedback effects found here for a dimorphic trait likely also occur in other fitness‐related traits, such as behavioural syndromes, parental care and niche construction traits. Current theoretical advances to model eco‐evolutionary processes, and empirical steps towards unravelling the underlying drivers, pave the way for understanding how selection affects trait evolution in an eco‐evolutionary feedback loop.
Fully Symmetric Federalism—a Bold Idea, but One that's not Demanded: A Response to Bruce Ackerman
Authors: Matthews Felicity
Published: August 2018

Britain, Bruce Ackerman argues, has ‘muddled its way into a curious arrangement’ of asymmetric devolution, which has dis‐united the Kingdom, disempowered a significant proportion of the populace, and disregarded the risks of what he describes as ‘mono‐cultural rivalry’. However, whilst Ackerman's diagnosis is correct, his prescription of ‘fully symmetric’ federalism is unlikely to remedy this democratic malaise. As this response shows, there is limited political consensus as to where regional boundaries should fall and there is little public appetite for an additional layer of regional governance. Therefore, rather than bolting another layer of governance onto a flawed substructure, we should instead focus on its repair by reforming Westminster's electoral system and revitalising local government. These two proposals may be more modest than Ackerman's bold vision, but if implemented they would provide solid foundations for the development of a more deliberative and consensual way of doing politics that UK so sorely lacks.
Presence of few PD‐1‐expressing tumor‐infiltrating immune cells is a potential predictor of improved response to salvage chemotherapy following nivolumab for non‐small cell lung cancer: An exploratory case series
Authors: Ogawara Daiki , Soda Hiroshi , Tomono Hiromi , Iwasaki Keisuke , Hara Takuya , Jinnai Saeko , Funayama Takatomo , Okuno Daisuke , Taniguchi Hirokazu , Yoshida Masataka , Harada Tatsuhiko , Umemura Asuka , Fukuda Yuichi , Yamaguchi Hiroyuki , Mukae Hiroshi
Published: August 2018

Background

The combination of PD‐1 inhibitors and cytotoxic drugs is reported to enhance anti‐tumor activity in non‐small cell lung cancer; however, the underlying synergistic mechanisms remain uncertain. This retrospective case series was designed to investigate objective response and survival rates of salvage chemotherapy following nivolumab and explore the immunohistochemical profiles of tumor‐infiltrating immune cells.

Methods

The medical records of 37 patients administered nivolumab were retrospectively reviewed. Overall response rate and progression‐free survival were compared among three groups: salvage chemotherapy following nivolumab, nivolumab therapy alone, and chemotherapy preceding nivolumab.

Results

Eight cases met the study criteria. Salvage chemotherapy following nivolumab improved the overall response rate to 62.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 34.4–90.6%; P = 0.004) and median progression‐free survival to six months (95% CI 4.6–7.4; P = 0.016), compared to nivolumab alone and preceding chemotherapy. The response to salvage chemotherapy was not associated with tumor PD‐L1 expression. A partial response was achieved in four cases with ≤ 5% and ≤ 2.9 cells/mm2 of PD‐1+ immune cells, whereas stable disease and progressive disease were observed in three cases with ≥ 30% and ≥ 12.7 cells/mm2. Responders had fewer PD‐1+ immune cells than non‐responders (percentage P = 0.028; density P = 0.034).

Conclusion

Salvage chemotherapy following nivolumab improved anti‐tumor activity regardless of tumor PD‐L1 status, but nivolumab following chemotherapy did not. The presence of few PD‐1+ tumor‐infiltrating immune cells may serve as a potential predictor of response to salvage chemotherapy. Further studies involving a large cohort are needed to clarify how nivolumab re‐sensitizes the tumor immune microenvironment to chemotherapy.
Wheat's wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone
Authors: Brewster C. , Stevens C. , McAinsh M.
Published: August 2018

The wild relatives of bread wheat (
Triticum aestivum
) are valued by plant breeders for their genetic diversity. However, increasing levels of nitrogen (N) deposition and ground‐level ozone (O3) threaten plant biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Near‐East, a hotspot for many crop wild relatives. Knowledge of the effect of these air pollutants in combination is still limited, but early indications are that effects vary depending on the level of pollutants, and on the sensitivity of the species to N and O3. This study examined the responses of four important wheat wild relatives (
Aegilops tauschii
,
Aegilops speltoides
, Triticum dicoccoides and
Triticum monococcum
) and one modern wheat cultivar (
T. aestivum
‘Cadenza’) to treatments of N (equivalent to 50 kg ha−1 year−1 ammonium nitrate) and O3 (100 ppb for 21 days), alone and in combination. Measurements included root, shoot and seed biomass, and electrolyte ratios. The O3 sensitivity of A. tauschii and T.
aestivum
‘Cadenza’ were exacerbated by the addition of N, while A. speltoides was found to be nitrophilous, with N ameliorating the negative effect of O3. Both T.
aestivum
‘Cadenza’ and
T. dicoccoides
produced immature seed heads, with the cultivar's seed head biomass reduced in response to O3 and N + O3 while that of
T. dicoccoides
was largely unaffected. These data suggest that all four wild relatives are likely to be affected when N and O3 air pollutants co‐occur, and there in situ populations may therefore be at risk. Equally, the results of this study can inform use of their beneficial traits by wheat breeders, and alert them to the inadvertent inclusion of N and O3 sensitivity.
Cobomarsen, an oligonucleotide inhibitor of miR‐155, co‐ordinately regulates multiple survival pathways to reduce cellular proliferation and survival in cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma
Authors: Seto Anita G. , Beatty Xuan , Lynch Joshua M. , Hermreck Melanie , Tetzlaff Michael , Duvic Madeleine , Jackson Aimee L.
Published: August 2018

miR‐155, a microRNA associated with poor prognosis in lymphoma and leukaemia, has been implicated in the progression of mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL). In this study, we developed and tested cobomarsen (MRG‐106), a locked nucleic acid‐modified oligonucleotide inhibitor of miR‐155. In MF and human lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV‐1+) CTCL cell lines in vitro, inhibition of miR‐155 with cobomarsen de‐repressed direct miR‐155 targets, decreased expression of multiple gene pathways associated with cell survival, reduced survival signalling, decreased cell proliferation and activated apoptosis. We identified a set of genes that are significantly regulated by cobomarsen, including direct and downstream targets of miR‐155. Using clinical biopsies from MF patients, we demonstrated that expression of these pharmacodynamic biomarkers is dysregulated in MF and associated with miR‐155 expression level and MF lesion severity. Further, we demonstrated that miR‐155 simultaneously regulates multiple parallel survival pathways (including JAK/STAT, MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT) previously associated with the pathogenesis of MF, and that these survival pathways are inhibited by cobomarsen in vitro. A first‐in‐human phase 1 clinical trial of cobomarsen in patients with CTCL is currently underway, in which the panel of proposed biomarkers will be leveraged to assess pharmacodynamic response to cobomarsen therapy.
The impacts of metabolic syndrome and lifestyle on the prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia requiring treatment: historical cohort study of 130 454 men
Authors: Yoo Sangjun , Oh Sohee , Park Juhyun , Cho Sung Yong , Cho Min Chul , Jeong Hyeon , Son Hwancheol
Published: August 2018

Objective

To investigate the influences of lifestyle and metabolic syndrome (MetS) on the prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) requiring treatment using a large historical cohort.

Patients and methods

This study included 130 454 men selected from the National Health Information Database of the National Health Insurance Service in South Korea. Men were divided into the two groups according to the presence of MetS. A generalised estimating equation was used to assess the predictors of BPH requiring treatment after adjusting for other variables.

Results

The prevalence of BPH requiring treatment was significantly higher in men with MetS, except in men aged <50 years. Multivariable analysis showed that MetS was associated with higher prevalence of BPH requiring treatment regardless of age, and that a low income was associated with a lower prevalence in men aged ≥60 years. Alcohol consumption was negatively associated with the prevalence of BPH requiring treatment in all age groups, except in men aged <50 years. Amongst the MetS components, low high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) levels showed the strongest association with the prevalence of BPH requiring treatment in all age categories, although all MetS components were correlated with an increased prevalence of BPH requiring treatment, particularly in men aged ≥50 years.

Conclusion

MetS and its components, particularly low HDL‐C levels, were strongly correlated with an increased prevalence of BPH requiring treatment. In addition, moderate alcohol intake and elderly men from lower socioeconomic strata were associated with a decreased prevalence of BPH requiring treatment in our cohort.
Incorporating basic needs to reconcile poverty and ecosystem services
Authors: Chaigneau Tomas , Coulthard Sarah , Brown Katrina , Daw Tim M. , Schulte‐Herbrüggen Björn
Published: August 2018

Conservation managers frequently face the challenge of protecting and sustaining biodiversity without producing detrimental outcomes for (often poor) human populations that depend on ecosystem services for their well‐being. However, mutually beneficial solutions are often elusive and can mask trade‐offs and negative outcomes for people. To deal with such trade‐offs, ecological and social thresholds need to be identified to determine the acceptable solution space for conservation. Although human well‐being as a concept has recently gained prominence, conservationists still lack tools to evaluate how their actions affect it in a given context. We applied the theory of human needs to conservation by building on an extensive historical application of need approaches in international development. In an innovative participatory method that included focus groups and household surveys, we evaluated how human needs are met based on locally relevant thresholds. We then established connections between human needs and ecosystem services through key‐informant focus groups. We applied our method in coastal East Africa to identify households that would not be able to meet their basic needs and to uncover the role of ecosystem services in meeting these. This enabled us to identify how benefits derived from the environment were contributing to meeting basic needs and to consider potential repercussions that could arise through changes to ecosystem service provision. We suggest our approach can help conservationists and planners balance poverty alleviation and biodiversity protection and ensure conservation measures do not, at the very least, cause serious harm to individuals. We further argue it can be used as a basis for monitoring the impacts of conservation on multidimensional poverty.
FROM HONEYMOON TO DIVORCE: INSTITUTION QUALITY AND FOREIGN INVESTORS' OWNERSHIP CONSOLIDATION IN CHINA
Authors: Bao Qun , Wang Yanling , Xie Hongjun
Published: August 2018

In China, joint ventures (JVs) between foreign investors and Chinese local firms were the most popular form of foreign affiliates before 2001. Over time, with policy space to operate as foreign wholly owned (WOs), many foreign investors in JVs chose to consolidate ownership and turned JVs into their WOs. Here, we examine how institution quality affects foreign investors' JV‐to‐WO ownership consolidation odds. For each province‐year, we construct an institution quality index from the business and judicial quality indicators, and further compute a relative quality index to highlight provincial variations. Using more than 43,000 JVs operating in China's 30 provinces over 1998–2007, we find that increases in institution quality decrease the odds of foreign investors to divorce their Chinese local partners. The odds for foreign investors in JVs to consolidate ownerships are significantly higher if they operate in provinces with relatively weaker institution quality. The odds of foreign investors' JV‐to‐WO decision vary with JVs' local firms being state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and non‐SOEs, with foreign investors' origins from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan (HMT) and other regions (Foreign), and with foreign investors' initial equity positions. Our results are not driven by foreign direct investment policy shocks, and are robust to alternative measures of institution quality. (JEL F23, L23)
Eosinophils of the horse: Part I: Development, distribution, structure and biochemical mediators
Authors: Brosnahan M. M.
Published: August 2018

Eosinophils are becoming the target of increasing research interest as recent studies suggest that their role in immune homoeostasis and the immune response to disease is far more complex than previously understood. Historically, the horse eosinophil has been used to study basic eosinophil biology because of the considerable volume of blood required to obtain enough viable cells for reliable, repeatable experiments. This resulted in a large but disseminated body of literature pertaining to the structure and function of the horse eosinophil. More recently, equine clinicians have produced case reports and clinical studies in an effort to define the role of the eosinophil in diseases of the horse. A thorough review of the equine eosinophil incorporating both bench research and clinical reports does not exist. The objective of this two‐part review is to fill this need by integrating the basic science and clinical research into a comprehensive body of work on what is known specifically about the horse eosinophil, and its role in equine health and disease. Part I summarises the development and tissue distribution of eosinophils in the normal horse, and presents what is known about the cell structure, migration and biochemical mediators of the horse eosinophil. Part II reviews the role of the eosinophil in diseases of the horse, and concludes with a summary of knowledge gaps and open research questions to benefit both those who wish to use the equine eosinophil as a model for basic science research, and those whose primary interest lies with diseases of horse.
The decline of fisheries on the Madeira River, Brazil: The high cost of the hydroelectric dams in the Amazon Basin
Authors: Santos Rangel E. , Pinto‐Coelho Ricardo M. , Fonseca Rogério , Simões Nadson R. , Zanchi Fabrício B.
Published: August 2018

Despite being considered beneficial by providing a clean and renewable source of energy, the construction of hydroelectric dams has extremely negative implications for Amazonian fisheries. This study investigated the impacts of the Santo Antônio and Jirau hydroelectric dams on the fishery stocks of the Madeira River. This investigation was based on fish catch data from the Z‐31 fishing colony, located in the municipality of Humaitá, in Amazonas State, Northern Brazil. Data were collected daily and provided information on the date of return from each trip, the fish species targeted, and the total catch (kg) between January 2002 and September 2017. The results indicated reductions of 39% in the mean annual catch and 34% in the mean monthly catches. These results highlight the high price paid by local fish communities for the development of hydroelectric power in the Amazon basin.
Predatory Short Sales and Bailouts
Authors: Kranz Sebastian , Löffler Gunter , Posch Peter N.
Published: August 2018

This paper extends the literature on predatory short selling and bailouts through a joint analysis of the two. We consider a model with informed short sales, as well as uninformed predatory short sales, which can trigger the inefficient liquidation of a firm. We obtain several novel results: A government commitment to bail out insolvent firms with positive probability can increase welfare because it selectively deters predatory short selling without hampering desirable informed short sales. Contrasting a common view, bailouts can be optimal ex ante but undesirable ex post. Furthermore, bailouts in our model are a better policy tool than short selling restrictions. Welfare gains from the bailout policy are unevenly distributed: shareholders gain while taxpayers lose. Bailout taxes allow ex ante Pareto improvements.
Protective effect of angiotensin II receptor blocker against oxidative stress and inflammation in an oral mucositis experimental model
Authors: Araújo Aurigena Antunes de , Araújo Lorena de Souza , Medeiros Caroline Addison Carvalho Xavier de , Leitão Renata Ferreira de Carvalho , Brito Gerly Anne de Castro , Costa Deiziane Viana da Silva , Guerra Gerlane Coelho Bernardo , Garcia Vinicius Barreto , Lima Maria Laura de Souza , Araújo Junior Raimundo Fernandes de
Published: August 2018

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of olmesartan medoxomil (Olme), an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, on oral mucositis (OM) experimental model.

Methods

Oral mucositis was induced in hamsters with 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU; 60 mg/kg day 1 and 40 mg/kg day 2). Animals (n = 10/group) were pretreated with oral Olme (1, 5, or 10 mg/kg) or vehicle 30 minutes before 5‐FU injection and daily, until day 10. Cheek pouch samples were subjected to histopathological and immunostaining analysis of IL‐1β, TNF‐α, IL‐10, TGF‐β, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), SOD, MMP‐2 and FGF‐2. In addition, IL‐1β and TNF‐α levels were evaluated by ELISA. Myeloperoxidase activity (MPO), glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were investigated by spectroscopic UV/VIS analysis. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactions (RT‐PCRs) were used to quantify the expression of IL‐1β, TNF‐α, NF‐κBp65, MKP1 and ACE2. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and extracellular regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 protein levels were analysed by Western blot.

Results

Treatment with 10 mg/kg Olme reduced ulceration, inflammatory cell infiltration, MPO activity, MDA levels, iNOS and ERK1/2 proteins levels, MIF expression and TNF‐α and IL‐1β of levels and gene expression. These findings were associated with a significant increase in the immunostaining of IL‐10, FGF‐2 and TGF‐β. In addition, gene expression of IL‐1β, TNF‐α, NF‐κBp65 MKP1 and ACE2 was decreased.

Conclusion

Olmesartan at a dose of 10 mg/kg prevented the mucosal damage and inflammation associated with 5‐FU‐induced OM, increasing granulation and tissue repair.
Regulating Spousal Migration through Canada's Multiple Border Strategy: The Gendered and Racialized Effects of Structurally Embedded Borders
Authors: Bhuyan Rupaleem , Korteweg Anna C. , Baqi Karin
Published: August 2018

As part of emerging scholarship on border governance, this article examines how discourses of “fraud” in Canada merge with public management techniques to produce structurally embedded borders. We focus on regulatory changes introduced between 2010 and 2014 that aimed to deter and punish people who participate in “marriage fraud.” We then present the gendered and racialized impact of antifraud regulations through a case analysis of the implementation of Conditional Permanent Resident status (PR) from 2012 to 2017, which required some newly sponsored spouses and partners to remain in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor for two years after immigration. Our analysis of parliamentary proceedings illustrates how public management logics and the use of new digital technologies are mobilized to expand border enforcement practices internally and outside the territorial boundaries of the nation. We argue that despite the repeal of conditional PR in 2017, the deterrence of marriage fraud through structurally embedded borders continues to regulate racialized immigrants in exclusionary ways that disproportionately impact women.
Metformin exacerbates and simvastatin attenuates myelin damage in high fat diet‐fed C57BL/6 J mice
Authors: Ciric Darko , Martinovic Tamara , Petricevic Sasa , Trajkovic Vladimir , Bumbasirevic Vladimir , Kravic‐Stevovic Tamara
Published: August 2018

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most deleterious complications of diabetes mellitus in humans. High fat diet (HFD)‐fed C57BL/6 J mice are a widely used animal model for type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. We investigated the effects of metformin and simvastatin on the ultrastructural characteristics of sciatic nerve fibers in these mice. Metformin treatment increased the number of structural defects of the myelin sheet surrounding these fibers in already affected nerves of HFD fed mice, and simvastatin treatment reduced these numbers to the levels seen in control mice. These results warrant further research on the effects of metformin and statins in patients developing diabetic neuropathy and advise caution when deciding about optimal treatment modalities in these patients.
Better Hearing is Better Seeing: Molecular Photoacoustic Contrast Agents
Authors: Brückner Christian
Published: August 2018

The photoacoustic effect—the generation of a sound wave upon absorption of light by a sample—was developed over the past decades into photoacoustic imaging (PAI), and related technologies. These imaging modalities combine the advantages of optical imaging techniques (high resolution) with those of ultrasonic imaging (deep imaging depth). The light absorption by a tissue sample can be because of endogenous absorbers (such as hemoglobin or melanins). Alternatively—and most advantageously—is the use of exogenous dyes as contrast agents. Borg and Rochford present in this Journal (Photochem. Photobiol., 2018, https://doi.org/10.1111/php.12967) a comprehensive review of molecular dyes reported as contrast agents for PAI, referred to as molecular photoacoustic contrast agents (MPACs). Highlighted here is PAI as a most promising biomedical imaging modality and the importance of the rational development of novel, high‐efficiency MPACs, an endeavor for which Borg and Rochford provided an excellent resource for novices and experts in the field, and anyone else interested in bioimaging or the interaction of light with chromophores.
Nanolipid Formulations of Benzoporphyrin Derivative: Exploring the Dependence of Nanoconstruct Photophysics and Photochemistry on Their Therapeutic Index in Ovarian Cancer Cells
Authors: Obaid Girgis , Jin Wendong , Bano Shazia , Kessel David , Hasan Tayyaba
Published: August 2018

With the rapidly emerging designs and applications of light‐activated, photodynamic therapy (PDT)‐based nanoconstructs, photonanomedicines (PNMs), an unmet need exists to establish whether conventional methods of photochemical and photophysical characterization of photosensitizers are relevant for evaluating new PNMs in order to intelligently guide their design. As a model system, we build on the clinical formulation of benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD), Visudyne®, by developing a panel of nanolipid formulations entrapping new lipidated chemical variants of BPD with differing chemical, photochemical and photophysical properties. These are 16:0 and 20:0 lysophosphocholine‐BPD (16:0/20:0 BPD‐PC), DSPE‐PEG‐BPD and BPD‐cholesterol. We show that Visudyne® was the most phototoxic formulation to OVCAR‐5 cells, and the least effective was liposomal DSPE‐PEG‐BPD. However, these differences did not match their optical, photophysical and photochemical properties, as the static BPD quenching was highest in Visudyne, which also exhibited the lowest generation of singlet oxygen. Furthermore, we establish that OVCAR‐5 cell phototoxicity also does not correlate with rates of photosensitizer photobleaching and fluorescence quantum yields in any nanolipid formulations. These findings warrant critical future studies into subcellular targets and molecular mechanisms of phototoxicity of photodynamic nanoconstructs, as more reliable prognostic surrogates for predicting efficacy to appropriately and intelligently guide their design.
‘Tossing and turning your booke upside downe’: The Trimming of Thomas Nashe, Cambridge, and Scholarly Reading
Authors: Hasler Rebecca
Published: August 2018

This article explores the distinctive culture of critical reading based around the University of Cambridge in the 1590s. Drawing upon new evidence that The Trimming of Thomas Nashe (1597) was produced by a Cambridge stationer for an audience of Cambridge scholars, it reconstructs the literary values of this community. The Trimming parodies Nashe's Have With You to Saffron‐Walden (1596). Its purported author – Richard Lichfield – draws upon his close reading of Have With You to attack Nashe by imitating his style. Similarly, the Parnassus Plays – which were performed at St John's College, Cambridge, between 1598 and 1601 – allude to the works of Nashe and Lichfield, and offer a comparable appraisal of contemporary literature. By unravelling the connections between Nashe, Lichfield, and the Parnassus Plays, this article demonstrates that some writers and stationers marketed their works to a specifically scholarly audience. These scholars used critical reading to reinforce a sense of community that was characterized by their perceived social and educational superiority to other readers, and that responded to their insecurities regarding the role of professional writers in the Elizabethan book trade.
Patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest show decreased human leucocyte antigen‐DR expression on monocytes and B and T lymphocytes after return of spontaneous circulation
Authors: Qi Zhijiang , An Le , Liu Bo , Zhang Qiang , Yin Wenpeng , Yu Han , Li Chunsheng
Published: August 2018

Immune disorders are an important feature of patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). However, the precise immune alterations in patients with OHCA that occur immediately after ROSC are unclear. In this study, we investigated human leucocyte antigen‐DR (HLA‐DR) expression on circulatory monocytes and B and T lymphocytes. Sixty‐eight consecutive patients with OHCA with ROSC >12 hours were enrolled. Clinical data and 28‐day survival were recorded. Peripheral blood samples after ROSC days 1 and 3 were analysed to evaluate HLA‐DR expression. Fifty healthy individuals were enrolled as controls. Compared with levels in healthy individuals, HLA‐DR expression on monocytes and B lymphocytes, but not on T lymphocytes, decreased on days 1 and 3 after ROSC. No significant difference in HLA‐DR expression was detected between survivors and non‐survivors on day 1. For 41 patients with expression data for days 1 and 3, HLA‐DR expression on monocytes and B lymphocytes in non‐survivors was lower than that in survivors on day 3. In non‐survivors, the mean fluorescence intensities of HLA‐DR on B lymphocytes and percentages of HLA‐DR+ T lymphocytes were lower on day 3 than on day 1. On days 1 and 3, there were significant correlations between HLA‐DR expression on monocytes and B lymphocytes and clinical indicators, such as time to ROSC, adrenaline dose, acute physiology, chronic health evaluation II and the sequential organ failure assessment. The decreases in HLA‐DR expression on circulatory monocytes and B and T lymphocytes after ROSC may be involved in the observed immunosuppression in patients with OHCA.