bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The psychological and functional factors driving metaverse resistance
Authors: Lee Michael S.W. , Chaney Damien
Published: September 2023

Purpose

While the metaverse is promised to be the next big step for the Internet, this new technology may also bear negative impacts on individuals and society. Drawing on innovation resistance literature, this article explores the reasons for metaverse resistance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on 66 semi-structured interviews, and the subsequent data were analysed thematically.

Findings

The findings revealed 11 reasons for metaverse resistance: lack of understanding, lack of regulation, addiction avoidance, claustrophobia, loss of social ties, disconnection from reality, privacy concerns, extreme consumer society, unseen benefits, infeasibility and nausea.

Practical implications

By understanding the various reasons for metaverse resistance managers and policymakers can make better decisions to overcome the challenges facing this innovation, rather than adopting a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Originality/value

While the literature has mainly adopted a positive perspective on the metaverse, this research offers a more nuanced view by identifying the reasons why consumers may resist the metaverse. Furthermore, this study introduces for the first-time “addiction-driven-innovation-resistance (ADIR)” as a potential reason for metaverse resistance, which may also apply to other cases of innovation resistance, when new innovations are perceived as being “too good” and therefore potentially addictive.
Healthcare employment landscape: comparing job markets for professionals in developed and developing countries
Authors: Butt Salman , Raza Ahmed , Siddiqui Rabia , Saleem Yasir , Cook Bill , Khan Habib
Published: September 2023

Purpose

This literature review aims to assess the current research on healthcare job availability and skilled professionals. The objective of this research is to identify challenges caused by the imbalance between healthcare service demand and qualified professionals and propose potential solutions and future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was employed as the guiding framework for conducting this review. A qualitative research design analyzed 38 peer-reviewed, evidence-based research works from 50 journal publications. Inclusion criteria focused on empirical studies, observational research and comprehensive reviews published within the last ten years. Thematic and discourse analysis categorized themes and factors explored in selected publications.

Findings

The findings highlight significant challenges in the healthcare sector regarding job availability and skilled professionals. Developed countries face understaffed healthcare facilities, resulting in increased workloads and compromised care. Developing countries experience high rates of unemployment among healthcare graduates due to limited resources and mentorship.

Practical implications

Improving educational infrastructure, expanding training opportunities and increasing healthcare investments are crucial for nurturing a skilled workforce. Implementing effective retention policies, fostering international collaborations and addressing socioeconomic determinants can create a sustainable job market.

Originality/value

The healthcare sector faces critical challenges in balancing job availability and skilled professionals. Strategic solutions are proposed to create a sustainable and equitable healthcare workforce. By implementing recommendations and conducting further research, access to quality healthcare and global public health outcomes can be improved.
Examining the effect of knowledge hiding towards individual task performance: the moderating role of transformational leadership
Authors: Kurniawanti Ika Atma , Zain Djumilah , Thoyib Armanu , Rahayu Mintarti
Published: September 2023

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effect of knowledge hiding on individual task performance and examine the moderating influence of transformational leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

This study included 256 participants employed by financing companies in Indonesia. In addition, to analyze the data, descriptive statistics were computed using SPSS 25, and the structural equation model-partial least square (SEM-PLS) was used for hypothesis testing.

Findings

The findings revealed the negative effects of knowledge hiding on individual task performance and its potential consequences for individuals and organizations. However, it also suggested that transformational leadership may not be sufficient to reduce the negative effects of knowledge hiding on individual task performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study only focused on the context of a specific industry or country, which limited the generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications

This study enriches the understanding of the importance of addressing knowledge-hiding behaviors and investigating additional factors that can enhance task performance in organizations.

Originality/value

This study adds value to the existing literature by emphasizing the importance of investigating supplementary factors other than transformational leadership that have the potential to reduce the negative effects of knowledge hiding on organizational performance.
CEO vigilance and hypercompetition: CEO attention in resource utilization and firm competitive aggressiveness
Authors: Li Mengge , Yang Jinxin
Published: September 2023

Purpose

By integrating perspectives from the resource-based view, attention-based view, upper echelon theory and competitive dynamics (CD), the authors seek to understand how chief executive officer (CEO) vigilance influences the way resources are utilized in relation to competitive behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This study's empirical analysis is conducted using a longitudinal design in the US software and IT services industry with a final sample consisting of 44 publicly traded firms and 471 firm-year observations from 1995 to 2009. The authors respectively use the fixed-effects negative binomial model and generalized estimating equation (GEE) model to test the effects of technology resource breadth on competitive intensity and competitive deviance and the interacting effects with CEO attention broadness and uniqueness.

Findings

This study's results show that CEO vigilance (attention broadness and uniqueness) interacts with technology resource breadth to jointly influence competitive intensity and deviance. Firms with vigilant CEOs utilize firm resources to compete less intensively but in an unconventional way.

Practical implications

This study reveals that when CEOs have a broader focus and attend to a wide range of information, their ability to quickly utilize firm resources for formulating competitive actions decreases. Consequently, it is crucial for CEOs to acknowledge the limitations of their attentional capacity. They need to understand that the allocation of their attention and information processing capacity has significant implications for the speed and quality of their decision-making processes.

Originality/value

The authors conceptualize and operationalize CEO vigilance, which is a novel construct that has not been studied. The authors show that CEO vigilance plays critical roles in utilizing resources to compete. This study offers significant research implications for attention-based view, upper-echelons theory, CD perspective and resource-based view.
Plant neighbourhood diversity effects on leaf traits: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Felix Juri A. , Stevenson Philip C. , Koricheva Julia
Published: September 2023

Leaf traits often vary with plant neighbourhood composition, which in turn may mediate plant susceptibility to herbivory. However, it is unknown whether there are any common patterns of change in leaf trait expression in response to neighbourhood diversity, and whether these responses confer increased resistance or susceptibility to herbivores.

We used meta‐analysis to combine data from 43 studies that examined the influence of neighbourhood diversity on eight physical and chemical leaf traits that could affect herbivory. All leaf traits apart from leaf thickness were highly plastic and exhibited significant differences between plant monocultures and species mixtures, but the direction of effect was variable. Leaf toughness was the only trait that displayed a significant decrease with plant diversity, whereas specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nitrogen were both marginally increased in species mixtures.

The magnitude and direction of leaf trait responses to neighbourhood diversity were independent of plant density and phylogenetic diversity, but changes in SLA correlated positively with plant species richness. SLA was also significantly increased in experimental studies, but not in observational studies, while neighbourhoods containing nitrogen‐fixers were associated with increased leaf nitrogen and reduced phenolics. When studies on the over‐represented species Betula pendula were removed from the analysis, the effect of neighbourhood diversity on leaf toughness became nonsignificant, but phenolics were significantly reduced in diverse neighbourhoods composed of mature trees, and marginally reduced in species mixtures across all studies.

Increases in plant neighbourhood diversity are often associated with reductions of herbivory, although in some cases, the reverse occurs, and plants growing in species mixtures are found to suffer greater herbivory than those in monocultures. This study offers a potential explanation for the latter phenomenon, as our results show that leaf trait expression is highly plastic in response to neighbourhood diversity, and in certain cases could lead to increased leaf quality, which in turn could promote greater rates of herbivory.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Revised models for evaluating hydrocarbon saturation of tight sandstone formations based on dielectric dispersion logs
Authors: Wang Xiaoyu , Liao Guangzhi , Zhao Peiqiang , Mao Zhiqiang
Published: September 2023

Accurate estimation of hydrocarbon saturation is significant for log interpreters to evaluate tight sandstone formations. It is difficult to use conventional wireline logs to calculate hydrocarbon saturation in complex reservoirs. Dielectric dispersion logs are processed using dielectric models to obtain accurate saturation assessment, especially in high salinity shaly sand formations. However, the dielectric models consist of complex refractive index method model and shaly sand model ignore the impact of clay effects on complex refractive index method model, and the dielectric dispersion logs generated by them appear several unphysical phenomena in the clay‐bearing formations, such as the permittivity data at the highest frequency are greater than those at the second highest frequency and the conductivity data at the highest frequency are lower than those at the second highest frequency. This paper modifies the dielectric models by introducing a combined conductive phase in complex refractive index method model to correct the unphysical behaviours. Revised models are combined with four permittivity and four conductivity logs acquired by dielectric scanner at 24, 102, 360 and 960 MHz to inverse the water saturation, water salinity, textural index for water‐bearing pore and fraction of clay‐related phase. The complex refractive index method model interprets the logs measured at 960 MHz and shaly‐sand model interprets other dielectric dispersion logs. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to search inversion parameters. The results of forward simulation show that the revised models can correct unphysical behaviours of dielectric dispersion logs generated by the original models. Moreover, we apply original models and revised models to laboratory core data. The results of experiments show that the mean relative error values of the original models are 19.38% and 23.60% and of the revised models are 5.54% and 6.28% in two cases. It shows that the revised models are more accurate than the original models to interpret dielectric dispersion logs of tight sandstone reservoirs.
Geography and environmental pressure are predictive of class‐specific radioresistance in black fungi
Authors: Aureli Lorenzo , Coleine Claudia , Delgado‐Baquerizo Manuel , Ahren Dag , Cemmi Alessia , Di Sarcina Ilaria , Onofri Silvano , Selbmann Laura
Published: September 2023

Black fungi are among the most resistant organisms to ionizing radiation on Earth. However, our current knowledge is based on studies on a few isolates, while the overall radioresistance limits across this microbial group and the relationship with local environmental conditions remain largely undetermined. To address this knowledge gap, we assessed the survival of 101 strains of black fungi isolated across a worldwide spatial distribution to gamma radiation doses up to 100 kGy. We found that intra and inter‐specific taxonomy, UV radiation, and precipitation levels primarily influence the radioresistance in black fungi. Altogether, this study provides insights into the adaptive mechanisms of black fungi to extreme environments and highlights the role of local adaptation in shaping the survival capabilities of these extreme‐tolerant organisms.
Workplace democracy in action? Assessing employee board representation in Australian government agencies
Authors: Clark Benjamin
Published: September 2023

Various scholars and political actors advocate workplace democratisation to give employees greater influence over decision‐making. Many suggest employee board representation (EBR) as a mechanism to facilitate this, but some question how influential employee board representatives (EBRs) are and whether they represent their colleagues’ views. This study investigates the extent to which EBR contributes to workplace democratisation, via a comparison of three Australian public sector organisations. The study found EBRs exerted significantly more influence at the Australian National University than at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Film Television and Radio School. Most EBRs wanted to draw upon staff experiences but their communication with colleagues was often constrained. Variances of influence were explained by the number of EBRs, the actions of the Chair, chief executive officer, government, and other board members. Two findings stand out as unique contributions: the importance of appointment powers to EBR influence in the public sector, and EBRs’ limited influence on labour issues in the Anglosphere due to the adversarial system of labour bargaining being positioned largely outside the boardroom. The study concludes that EBR is a non‐tokenistic form of workplace democratisation, albeit with a specific scope, which has utility within a mix of democratising mechanisms.

Points for practitioners

Most EBRs exerted a limited or moderate influence on decision‐making, but others exerted more significant influence. They were most influential on matters related to their experience and expertise and were largely unable to influence workers’ pay, conditions, and other labour issues.

Most EBRs did not represent their colleagues in a transactional or direct sense, but drew upon their experiences as staff members when making decisions. However, EBRs had fluctuating issues communicating with their fellow employees, largely due to managerial direction around confidentiality.

The number of SEDs on the board and the actions of other board members, the Chair, chief executive officer, and the government explained the variances in SEDs’ influence between agencies.

This study's findings regarding EBR influence were middling compared to European research, but appointment powers were found to be particularly important in the public sector context. EBRs’ influence was found to be limited on labour issues, suggesting a potential clash between the corporatist inclination of EBR and the adversarial system of labour bargaining prevalent in the Anglosphere.

Elected EBRs offer employees a non‐tokenistic form of representation but within a limited scope of strategy and oversight. Given factors that constrain SEDs’ influence and representativeness can be at least partly countered by policy design and political leadership, these findings bolster the policy case for extending EBR throughout the public sector.
Founder's Financial Knowledge and the New Firm's Ability to Obtain Debt Financing
Authors: Rijssegem Laurence , Paeleman Ine , Hünermund Egle (Vaznyte) , Andries Petra
Published: September 2023

How does a founder's knowledge of debt financing influence his/her new firm's ability to obtain the amount of debt financing it desires? Building on the cognitive psychology literature, we propose that the depth of a founder's debt financing knowledge is positively associated with the new firm's ability to obtain debt financing as he/she will be better at selecting and acquiring relevant sources of debt financing. Integrating insights on entrepreneurial growth‐oriented strategies, we further argue that this relationship will be more pronounced when the new firm internationalizes and innovates more. Using a Heckman full information maximum likelihood model, we analyse survey data on 1845 Flemish new firms. The first stage of the model estimates the new firm's probability of raising debt financing. The second stage tests the relationship between the founder's knowledge depth of debt financing and the new firm's debt financing ability, conditional on the decision to raise debt financing. We find that the founder's knowledge depth of debt financing is positively associated with the new firm's ability to obtain debt financing. This association becomes even more pronounced when the new firm internationalizes more. These findings extend the entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurial strategy and cognitive psychology literature.
Fibroblast‐specific adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 is a potential pathological trigger and prognostic marker for liver fibrosis independent of etiology
Authors: Zhang Wen , Li Yu Jia , Zhang Ning , Chen Shu Yan , Tong Xiao Fei , Wang Bing Qiong , Huang Tao , You Hong , Chen Wei
Published: September 2023

Objectives

Aortic carboxypeptidase‐like protein (ACLP) is an extracellular protein involved in adipogenesis, epithelial‐mesenchymal transition, epithelial cell hyperplasia, and collagen fibrogenesis. This study mainly aimed to analyze the potential role of adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 (AEBP1), the ACLP‐encoding gene, as a pathological target or prognostic marker for liver fibrosis regardless of etiology.

Methods

Dysregulation pattern, clinical relevance, and biological significance of AEBP1 gene in liver fibrosis were analyzed using publicly available transcriptomic profiles, different liver fibrosis mouse models, biological databases, and AEBP1 gene silencing followed by RNA sequencing in human hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).

Results

AEBP1 gene expression was upregulated and positively correlated with liver fibrogenesis independent of etiology, the protein of which was further verified in liver fibrosis mouse models induced by different pathogenic factors. A higher expression of liver AEBP1 gene had the potential to predict poor prognosis in liver fibrosis. Systematic bioinformatic analyses revealed that AEBP1 expression was HSCs‐specific and associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and its downstream mechanical–chemical signaling transition. AEBP1 knockdown by specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in HSCs inhibited ECM‐receptor interaction and immune‐related pathways as well as HSC proliferation or activation.

Conclusion

A high expression of AEBP1 was specifically associated with liver fibrosis and was related to a poor prognosis and predicted the role of AEBP1 in HSCs, providing a new insight for understanding AEBP1 in liver fibrosis.
Rapid detection of Salmonella enterica in primary production samples by eliminating DNA amplification inhibitors using an improved sample pre‐treatment method
Authors: Vinayaka Aaydha Chidambara , Quyen Than Linh , Huynh Van Ngoc , Madsen Mogens , Bang Dang Duong , Wolff Anders
Published: September 2023

Sensitive detection of pathogens in livestock farms is an integral part of the One Health Action Plan of the European Union (EU). Ensuring this requires on‐site testing devices that are compatible with complex matrices such as primary production samples. Among all, faeces are considered the most challenging matrix type that makes it difficult to identify pathogens because of complexity in sample preparation for molecular testing. We have developed a loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) based veterinary point‐of‐care (POC) device (VETPOD) and adapted it to detect Salmonella enterica in primary production samples. Three different sampling methods (semi‐wet chicken faeces, boot socks collection and dust samples from poultry shed) were iteratively tested to assess their nature of complexity and possibility for adapting them as suitable sampling methods for on‐site testing. During the study, the sample preparation method that included a two‐step centrifugation combined with washing of the enriched Salmonella cells was found crucial in eliminating amplification inhibitors originating from the faecal matrices. A total of 90 samples were tested that included 60 samples for sensitivity study and 30 samples for relative level of detection (RLOD, a level of detection in comparison to ISO 6579:1 reference method). Overall, the VETPOD had a sensitivity of 90%, 84.62% and 81.82% for boot sock, faecal and dust samples, respectively. The RLOD was 2.23 CFU/25 g which was found to be 1.33 times higher than the ISO 6579:1. Performing with an excellent agreement with ISO 6579:1, the VETPOD proved as a promising alternative to detect Salmonella spp. in primary production and animal husbandry samples.
Stock Pledge by Controlling Shareholder and Corporate Social Responsibility*
Authors: Wen Wen , Tong Lijing , Xie Lu , Zhang Siting
Published: September 2023

We examine the influence of stock pledge by controlling shareholders on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Results show that firms exhibit poorer CSR performance when the controlling shareholders have more shares under pledge to financial institutions. Further analyses suggest that the negative relation between stock pledge and CSR only exists in financially constrained firms and non‐state‐owned firms, in which the pledging controlling shareholders have greater incentive to increase stock price and maintain their control rights. Our findings support a margin call hypothesis that firms tend to cut off CSR spending to improve short‐term financial performance and reduce the risk of losing control rights.
Placental cord drainage vs delayed cord clamping at elective caesarean section: A randomised controlled trial
Authors: Fahy Michael James , Ko Christy , Maynard Matilda , Kalian Kiran N.
Published: September 2023

Background

Placental cord drainage (PCD) after vaginal birth accelerates placental delivery by 2.85 minutes, but reduces blood loss by only 77 mL.

Aims

To determine if PCD at elective caesarean section accelerates placental delivery, compared to delayed cord clamping (DCC).

Materials and Methods

This randomised controlled trial randomised 100 women undergoing elective caesarean sections to receive either PCD for 60 sec after birth, or DCC for 60 sec. The primary outcome was time from birth until placental delivery. Secondary outcomes included estimated blood loss (EBL), postoperative haemoglobin drop, rates of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), manual removal of placenta and blood transfusion.

Results

There was no significant difference in timing of placental delivery (PCD 122 sec vs DCC 123.5 sec, P = 0.717). There were no significant differences in EBL (PCD 425 mL vs DCC 400 mL, P = 0.858), postoperative haemoglobin drop (PCD 12 g/L vs DCC 15 g/L, P = 0.297), PPH rate (PCD 45.8% vs DCC 44.4%, P = 0.893, relative risk (RR) 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66–1.62), manual removal rate (PCD 2.1% vs DCC 4.4%, P = 0.609, RR 0.47, 95% CI 0.04–4.99) or transfusion rate (PCD 4.2% vs DCC 0%, P = 0.495).

Conclusions

PCD did not accelerate placental delivery at caesarean compared with DCC. Given that both PCD and DCC groups had faster placental deliveries than quoted in the literature at caesarean (200 sec), it could be postulated that DCC is mimicking the effect of PCD through passive transfusion to the neonate. This supports routine use of DCC at elective caesarean section.
Accommodative–vergence disorders in a paediatric ophthalmology clinical setting in Argentina
Authors: Iurescia Alejandra , Iribarren Rafael , Lanca Carla , Grzybowski Andrzej
Published: September 2023

Purpose

To determine the frequency of potential non‐strabismic accommodative–vergence anomalies (NSAVA) and investigate associations between NSAVA, refractive errors and age among children attending a paediatric ophthalmology clinic.

Methods

This study included children and adolescents aged 5–19 years attending an ophthalmology clinic with at least two follow‐up visits. At their first visit, children had a comprehensive ophthalmic examination, including refractive error measurement by cycloplegic autorefraction and spectacles were prescribed if necessary. At the second visit, children had an examination of best‐corrected visual acuity, convergence and accommodation to identify potential NSAVA. The relationship between age, sex, heterophoria and refractive error and potential NSAVA was assessed by a multivariable logistic regression model.

Results

A total of 384 children and adolescents were evaluated. Their mean age was 10.97 ± 3.07 years and 58.9% were females. Forty‐two per cent of children failed the NSAVA tests and 34.1% had myopia (≤−0.50 D). Children who failed NSAVA tests self‐reported a higher proportion of reading problems (73.7%) compared to those who passed the tests (26.3%; p < 0.001). Children with self‐reported reading problems were more likely to have accommodative infacility (57.9%) compared with children without (42.1%; p < 0.001). Refractive error and age were not associated with failure in NSAVA tests (p > 0.05).

Conclusions

NSAVA was a frequent cause of vision problems found in a sample of children from an ophthalmology paediatric clinic. Thus, further research is necessary to understand the potential of public health policies to prevent, refer, diagnose and treat those conditions.
The spatial development of peripheralisation: The case of smart city projects in Romania
Authors: Dragan Alexandru , Creţan Remus , Bulzan Raluca Denisa
Published: September 2023

This article addresses the uneven territorial growth of the smart city phenomenon and how the national and local spatial politics of urban smart projects work out in practice. While in previous decades the concept of smart city referred mainly to the digital and technological realm as an indicator of the performance of cities, today it is taking on a broader range of meanings, so as to also cover such areas as governance, environment, housing and people. However, the critical literature on smart cities highlights two potential disadvantages: firstly, that urban planners who decide to pursue a smart city vision run the risk of creating a kind of power and control over residents; and secondly that there appears to be an incompatibility between smart cities and the informal. Moreover, the spatial and the critical dimensions of the governance of urban smart projects are still insufficiently researched. By using a comparative and developmental quantitative methodology for the urban smart projects of Romania and taking the city of Timisoara as a case study, this study highlights the fact that large cities are not always the best represented; our findings show that peripheral small cities and towns may enjoy a more balanced distribution of smart projects. Furthermore, our evaluation of the spatial distribution (centre–periphery) of smart city projects in Timişoara—a European Capital of Culture in 2023—reveals a higher level of investment in smart projects in its urban periphery. By presenting new critical understandings of the spatial interrelationships of smart city development, the study contributes to the geography of smart cities.
Results of the first international quality control programme for oral targeted oncolytics
Authors: Giraud Eline L. , te Brake Lindsey M. H. , van den Hombergh Erik C. A. , Desar Ingrid M. E. , Kweekel Dina M. , van Erp Nielka P.
Published: September 2023

Aims

With the rising number of oral targeted oncolytics and growing awareness of the benefits of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) within the field of oncology, it is expected that the requests for quantifying concentrations of these drugs will increase. It is important to (cross‐)validate available assays and ensure its quality, as results may lead to altered dosing recommendations. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the performance of laboratories measuring concentrations of targeted oral oncolytics in a one‐time international quality control (QC) programme.

Methods

Participating laboratories received a set of plasma samples containing low, medium and high concentrations of imatinib, sunitinib, desethylsunitinib, pazopanib, cabozantinib, olaparib, enzalutamide, desmethylenzalutamide and abiraterone, with the request to report their results back within five weeks after shipment. Accuracy was defined acceptable if measurements where within 85%–115% from the weighed‐in reference concentrations. Besides descriptive statistics, an exploratory ANOVA was performed.

Results

Seventeen laboratories from six countries reported 243 results. Overall, 80.7% of all measurements were within the predefined range of acceptable accuracy. Laboratories performed best in quantifying imatinib and poorest in quantifying desethylsunitinib (median absolute inaccuracy respectively 4.0% (interquartile range (IQR) 1.8%–6.5%) and 15.5% (IQR 8.8%–34.9%)). The poorest performance of desethylsunitinib might be caused by using the stable‐isotope‐labelled sunitinib instead of desethylsunitinib as an internal standard, or due to the light‐induced cis(Z)/trans(E) isomerization of (desethyl)sunitinib. Overall, drug substance and performing laboratory seemed to influence the absolute inaccuracy (F = 16.4; p < 0.001 and F = 35.5; p < 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion

Considering this is the first evaluation of an international QC programme for oral targeted oncolytics, an impressive high percentage of measurements were within the predefined range of accuracy. Cross‐validation of assays that are used for dose optimization of oncolytics will secure the performance and will protect patients from incorrect advices.
DYRK2 promotes chemosensitivity via p53‐mediated apoptosis after DNA damage in colorectal cancer
Authors: Takano Yasuhiro , Yogosawa Satomi , Imaizumi Yuta , Kamioka Hiroshi , Kanegae Yumi , Eto Ken , Yoshida Kiyotsugu
Published: September 2023

Dual‐specificity tyrosine‐regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) is a protein kinase that phosphorylates p53‐Ser46 and induces apoptosis in response to DNA damage. However, the relationship between DYRK2 expression and chemosensitivity after DNA damage in colorectal cancer has not been well investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine whether DYRK2 could be a novel marker for predicting chemosensitivity after 5‐fluorouracil‐ and oxaliplatin‐induced DNA damage in colorectal cancer. Here we showed that DYRK2 knockout decreased the chemosensitivity to 5‐fluorouracil and oxaliplatin in p53 wild‐type colorectal cancer cells, whereas the chemosensitivity remained unchanged in p53‐deficient/mutated colorectal cancer cells. In addition, no significant differences in chemosensitivity to 5‐fluorouracil and oxaliplatin between scramble and siDYRK2 p53(−/−) colorectal cancer cells were observed. Conversely, the combination of adenovirus‐mediated overexpression of DYRK2 with 5‐fluorouracil or oxaliplatin enhanced apoptosis and chemosensitivity through p53‐Ser46 phosphorylation in p53 wild‐type colorectal cancer cells. Furthermore, DYRK2 knockout decreased chemosensitivity to 5‐fluorouracil and oxaliplatin in p53 wild‐type xenograft mouse models. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that DYRK2 expression was associated with chemosensitivity to 5‐fluorouracil and oxaliplatin in p53 wild‐type colorectal cancer, suggesting the importance of evaluating the p53 status and DYRK2 expression as a novel marker in therapeutic strategies for colorectal cancer.
A newly synthesized thiosemicarbazide derivative trigger apoptosis rather than necroptosis on HEPG2 cell line
Authors: Başoğlu‐Ünal Faika , Becer Eda , Ensarioğlu Hilal Kabadayı , ‐Güzeldemirci Nuray Ulusoy , Kuran Ebru Didem , Vatansever H. Seda
Published: September 2023

Thiosemicarbazide derivatives have been the focus of scientists owing to their broad biological activities such as anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti‐inflammatory. Herein, we designed and synthesized a new thiosemicarbazide derivative (TS‐1) and evaluated its antiproliferative potential against the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HEPG2) and human umbilical vein endothelial cell line (ECV‐304). Also, it was aimed to investigate the necroptotic and apoptotic cell death effects of TS‐1 in HEPG2 cells, and these effects were supported by molecular docking. The new synthesized compound structure was characterized using various spectroscopic methods such as FT‐IR, 1H‐NMR, 13C‐NMR, and elemental analysis. The cytotoxic activity of the tested compound was measured by the MTT assay. Apoptotic and necroptotic properties of the TS‐1 were evaluated by indirect immunoperoxidase method using antibodies against Ki‐67, Bax, Bcl‐2, caspase‐3, caspase‐8, caspase‐9, RIP3, and RIPK1. Apoptotic and necroptotic effects of TS‐1 were supported by molecular docking. Compound TS‐1 was synthesized as a pure compound with a high yield. The effective value of TS‐1 was 10 μM in HEPG2 cells. TS‐1 did not show any cytotoxic effect on ECV‐304. Caspase‐3 and RIPK1 immunoreactivities were significantly increased in HEPG2 cells after being treated with TS‐1. As the results of the molecular docking studies, the molecular docking showed that the TS‐1 exhibits H‐bond interaction with various significant amino acid residues in the active site of both RIPK1. It could be concluded that TS‐1 could be a promising novel therapeutic agent by inducing apoptosis rather than necroptosis in HEPG2 cells.
Young children intuitively organize numbers on straight, horizontal lines from left to right before the onset of formal instruction
Authors: Nuraydin Sevim , Stricker Johannes , Schneider Michael
Published: September 2023

The number line estimation task is frequently used to measure children's numerical magnitude understanding. It is unclear whether the resulting straight, horizontal, left‐to‐right‐oriented estimate patterns indicate task constraints or children's intuitive number–space mapping. Three‐ to six‐year‐old children (N = 72, Mage = 4.89, 56% girls, 94% German citizenship) were asked to explain the meaning of numbers to a teddy by laying out a rope and attaching cards showing non‐symbolic numerosities (dots) to it. Most children intuitively created straight, horizontal, and left‐to‐right‐oriented representations. Characteristics of the line correlated with age, mathematical competencies, and home numeracy. This demonstrates the usefulness of the number line estimation task for assessing how children intuitively map numbers onto space.
Cryptocurrency and African fiat currencies: A peaceful coexistence?
Authors: Kumah Seyram P.
Published: September 2023

This study examines the asymmetric behaviour of Bitcoin relative to six major African fiat currencies (Egyptian Pound, Cedi, ZAR, Naira, Rupee and Dinar) for the period 10 August 2015 to 31 December 2022. The time and frequency information in the time series of the currencies were captured applying the ensemble empirical mode decomposition. The quantile regression (QR) and quantile‐in‐quantile regression (QQR) were applied on the decomposed series to examine the connections among the currencies at different currency regimes across time. The empirical results show that both QR and QQR can adequately capture the time‐varying asymmetric behaviour of the currencies across time. The results range from weak to very strong dependencies albeit both negative and positive across different quantiles. Our findings suggest that except for ZAR, Bitcoin is a viable alternative currency to African reserve currencies from the medium‐term since it can hedge depreciation and forex risk of the fiat currencies. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that forex traders and policymakers in Africa should adopt Bitcoin as an alternative currency to African currencies in the medium‐term to mitigate currency crises in the continent.
Direct reciprocity among humans
Authors: Rossetti Charlotte S. L. , Hilbe Christian
Published: September 2023

Direct reciprocity is the tendency to repay others' cooperation. This tendency can be crucial to maintain cooperation in evolving populations. Once direct reciprocity evolves, individuals have a long‐run interest to cooperate, even if it is costly in the short run. The major theoretical framework to describe reciprocal behavior is the repeated prisoner's dilemma. Over the past decades, this game has been the major workhorse to predict when reciprocal cooperation ought to evolve, and which strategies individuals are supposed to adopt. Herein, we compare these predictions with the empirical evidence from experiments with human subjects. From a theory‐driven perspective, humans represent an ideal test case, because they give researchers the most flexibility to tailor the experimental design to the assumptions of a model. Overall, we find that theoretical models describe well in which situations people cooperate. However, in the important case of “indefinitely repeated games,” they have difficulties to predict which strategies people use.
SDbQfSum: Query‐focused summarization framework based on diversity and text semantic analysis
Authors: Mohamed Muhidin , Oussalah Mourad , Chang Victor
Published: September 2023

Query‐focused multi‐document summarization (Qf‐MDS) is a sub‐task of automatic text summarization that aims to extract a substitute summary from a document cluster of the same topic and based on a user query. Unlike other summarization tasks, Qf‐MDS has specific research challenges including the differences and similarities across related document sets, the high degree of redundancy inherent in the summaries created from multiple related sources, relevance to the given query, topic diversity in the produced summary and the small source‐to‐summary compression ratio. In this work, we propose a semantic diversity feature based query‐focused extractive summarizer (SDbQfSum) built on powerful text semantic representation techniques underpinned with Wikipedia commonsense knowledge in order to address the query‐relevance, centrality, redundancy and diversity challenges. Specifically, a semantically parsed document text is combined with knowledge‐based vectorial representation to extract effective sentence importance and query‐relevance features. The proposed monolingual summarizer is evaluated on a standard English dataset for automatic query‐focused summarization tasks, that is, the DUC2006 dataset. The obtained results show that our summarizer outperforms most state‐of‐the‐art related approaches on one or more ROUGE measures achieving 0.418, 0.092 and 0.152 in ROUGE‐1, ROUGE‐2, and ROUGE‐SU4 respectively. It also attains competitive performance with the slightly outperforming system(s), for example, the difference between our system's result and best system in ROUGE‐1 is just 0.006. We also found through the conducted experiments that our proposed custom cluster merging algorithm significantly reduces information redundancy while maintaining topic diversity across documents.
Patterns and drivers of prokaryotic communities in thermokarst lake water across Northern Hemisphere
Authors: Kang Luyao , Chen Leiyi , Li Ziliang , Wang Jianjun , Xue Kai , Deng Ye , Delgado‐Baquerizo Manuel , Song Yutong , Zhang Dianye , Yang Guibiao , Zhou Wei , Liu Xuning , Liu Futing , Yang Yuanhe
Published: September 2023

Aim

The formation of thermokarst lakes could make a large amount of carbon accessible to microbial degradation, potentially intensifying the permafrost carbon‐climate feedback via carbon dioxide/methane emissions. Because of their diverse functional roles, prokaryotes could strongly mediate biogeochemical cycles in thermokarst lakes. However, little is known about the large‐scale patterns and drivers of these communities.

Location

Permafrost regions in the Northern Hemisphere.

Time period

Present day.

Major taxa studied

Prokaryotes.

Methods

Based on a combination of large‐scale measurements on the Tibetan Plateau and data syntheses in pan‐Arctic regions, we constructed a comprehensive dataset of 16S rRNA sequences from 258 thermokarst lakes across Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions. We also used the local contributions to beta diversity (LCBD) to characterize the variance of prokaryotic species composition and screened underlying drivers by conducting a random forest modelling analysis.

Results

Prokaryotes in thermokarst lake water were dominated by the orders Burkholderiales, Micrococcales, Flavobacteriales and Frankiales. The relative abundance of dominant taxa was positively associated with dissolved organic matter (DOM) properties, especially for the chromophoric/aromatic compounds. Microbial structure differed between high‐altitude and high‐latitude thermokarst lakes, with the dominance of Flavobacterium in high‐altitude lakes, and the enrichment of Polynucleobacter in high‐latitude lakes. More importantly, climatic variables were among the main drivers shaping the large‐scale variation of prokaryotic communities. Specifically, mean annual precipitation was the best predictor for prokaryotic beta diversity across the Northern Hemisphere, as well as in the high‐altitude permafrost regions, while mean annual air temperature played a key role in the high‐latitude thermokarst lakes.

Main conclusions

Our findings demonstrate significant associations between dominant taxa and DOM properties, as well as the important role of climatic factors in affecting prokaryotic communities. These findings suggest that climatic change may alter DOM conditions and induce dynamics in prokaryotic communities of thermokarst lake water in the Northern Hemisphere.
Reshaping gendered norms in entrepreneurship: Incorporating gender identity and entrepreneurial practice
Authors: Boddington Monique Ingrid
Published: September 2023

This paper presents a practice theoretical conception of gender in entrepreneurship, emphasizing the potential of reflexivity and collective agency to reshape gendered norms. While the literature recognizes the fluidity of gender and its intersectional nature, it often overlooks how social phenomena are produced and relate to each other. The main aim of this is to show, not just how, gendered norms of entrepreneurial practice inhibit practice (which has been extensively covered) but how identity and the individualized practice of entrepreneurship, can shift gendered norms of entrepreneurial practice. Drawing upon the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Margaret Archer, this paper proposes a more integrative approach to identity and gendered norms, embedded within a social realist approach. The author highlights the need for structural renegotiation in entrepreneurship through reflexivity. Given how norms self‐naturalize, individual practice of diverse gendered practices in entrepreneurship is not enough to create long‐term sustainable change and support for diverse gendered practices. Instead, this paper proposes an integrative approach to identity and gendered norms, emphasizing the potential of individuals to shift structural norms, through collective action. This study suggests that a more balanced understanding of the interplay between context and identity can assist in the design of support for non‐traditional gendered practices and provide new insights into how gendered norms impact entrepreneurial activity.
Heterogeneities of the impact of public health policies on HIV/AIDS indicators in Brazil according to sociodemographic factors: A real‐life study
Authors: Sudovec‐Somogyi Julie V. , Krakauer Felipe , Ferreira Alexandre A. , Stabellini Nickolas , Rick Fernanda , Avelino‐Silva Vivian I.
Published: September 2023

Introduction

The impact of specific policies on HIV care has been scarcely investigated. In this study we aimed to analyze the impact of the Treatment For All policy (TFA‐2013) and the adoption of integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs‐2017) as first‐line therapy on clinical indicators of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Brazil.

Methods

We assessed the public database of Brazil's Ministry of Health and extracted data from 2009 to 2019. We investigated the impact of TFA and INSTIs with a time‐series analysis of four health indicators in PLHIV: antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation with a CD4+ count >500/mm3; ART initiation <1 month after the first CD4+ measurement; viral load suppression (VLS); and treatment adherence. We explored trends over time by gender, age, macroregion of residency and municipal‐level social vulnerability index.

Results

We included 753 316 PLHIV in 2019. Most were males (64.81%) in the 30–49 years age category (50.86%). We observed an overall improvement in all HIV clinical indicators, with notable impact of TFA on timely ART initiation and VLS, and mild impact of INSTIs on treatment adherence. Such improvements were heterogeneous, with remarkable gaps in gender, age and socioeconomic groups that have persisted over time. Indicators point to inferior outcomes among children, older adults, women and people living in socially vulnerable locations.

Conclusions

Recent Brazilian public policies have had positive impacts on key HIV clinical indicators. However, our results highlight the need for specific policies to improve HIV care for children, older adults, women and socially vulnerable groups.
Comparative analysis in diagnosis by real‐time polymerase chain reaction versus direct microscopy, culture, and histology in fungal infections of the nails, scalp, and skin
Authors: Vazheva Gergana , Zisova Liliya , Miteva‐Katrandzhieva Tsonka , Dichev Valentin , Chonov Veselin
Published: September 2023

Background

The diagnosis of superficial fungal infections is the subject of intensive research in many countries around the world. The diagnostic methods used are diverse, including both conventional and innovative techniques.

Methods

This study evaluates the sensitivity, specificity, and efficacy of the real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methodology and compares them with those of the conventional methods – direct microscopic, cultural, and histological examinations of materials from hair, skin, and nails – in order to demonstrate the benefits and significance of real‐time PCR for the diagnosis of dermatophytic infections.

Results

The values obtained for the sensitivity, specificity, and efficacy of direct microscopic, cultural, histological, and real‐time PCR studies are as follows: 63.71, 88.89, and 72.96% (P < 0.001); 58.06, 100, and 73.47% (P < 0.001); 85.96, 100, and 90.70% (P < 0.001); 88.52, 100, and 92.63% (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The use of real‐time PCR in the diagnosis of dermatophytic infections is a relatively new approach in mycology and is subject to testing and experience from its use. The results are promising, but the method has not yet established itself as a new gold standard in the diagnosis of superficial fungal infections caused by dermatophytes, though its application would be very useful in identifying isolates without conidiogenesis or absence of growth.