bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contribution of informal and institutional skills provisions on business inception and growth: evidence from manufacturing and service industries
Authors: Alam Gazi Mahabubul , Parvin Morsheda , Rahman Md. Mahfuzur
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Criteria of skills and their schemata have evolved out of historical social practices. Interpretation of social events is guided and constrained by the prevailing rationality which itself reflects the dominant constellation of power. Hence, some argued that informal provision of skills delivery is the base of business growth. Upon the success of informal provision, institutional counterpart unethically grabs the market, kicking off the earlier. Evidences arguably confirmed that the institutional provision of skills delivery contributes to rapid business growth. Business growth is indeed important but not at the cost of exploitation of ethics which is the central focus of this study.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the differentiated nature of research questions, multiple techniques are used to collect the data. However, this research adopts the norms of qualitative methods. Both secondary and primary data are used. While secondary data are collected through document reviews, primary data are collected via interviews. In total, 12 industries are sampled and equally distributed into two sectors (manufacturing and services).

Findings

Findings show that the professional positions in the manufacturing industries at their inception phase were occupied by non-university graduates who received neither informal trainings nor on-the-job trainings. Over the time, university graduates started capturing the market. This has forced the non-university graduates to accrue a diploma from the universities in order to retain. Those who failed to obtain a university diploma are compelled to leave the sector. In fact, professional positions in service industries at the inception phase were mainly occupied by the university graduates who did not study the relevant subjects from the universities but received training from the informal provision. Later, universities started offering these programmes.

Originality/value

A few studies have been published in the area of manufacturing industries especially on garments sector. None covers the paradigm transformation of skills (human capital theory) in garments. The authors also failed to locate a comparative study that maps the contribution of different provisions of skills providers and their paradigm transformations occurred within manufacturing and service industries. Therefore, this project explores the contribution of informal and institutional provisions of skills delivery for the inception and growth of industries by comparing between manufacturing and service industries.
A 4:1 multiplexer using low-power high-speed domino technique for large fan-in gates using FinFET
Authors: Garg Sandeep , Gupta Tarun Kumar
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a new fin field-effect transistor (FinFET)-based domino technique low-power series connected foot-driven transistors logic in 32 nm technology and examine its performance parameters by performing transient analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed technique, the leakage current is reduced at footer node by a division of current to improve the performance of the circuit in terms of average power consumption, propagation delay and noise margin. Simulation of existing and proposed techniques are carried out in FinFET and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology at FinFET 32 nm technology for 2-, 4-, 8- and 16-input domino OR gates on a supply voltage of 0.9 V using HSPICE.

Findings

The proposed technique shows maximum power reduction of 77.74% in FinFET short gate (SG) mode in comparison with current-mirror-based process variation tolerant (CPVT) technique and maximum delay reduction of 51.34% in low power (LP) mode in comparison with CPVT technique at a frequency of 100 MHz. The unity noise gain of the proposed circuit is 1.10× to 1.54× higher in comparison with different existing techniques in FinFET SG mode and 1.11× to 1.71× higher in FinFET LP mode. The figure of merit of the proposed circuit is up to 15.77× higher in comparison with existing domino techniques.

Originality/value

The research proposes a new FinFET-based domino technique and shows improvement in power, delay, area and noise performance. The proposed design can be used for implementing high-speed digital circuits such as microprocessors and memories.
Is it worth relying on potential overeducation?
Authors: Vermeylen Guillaume , Waroquier Alexandre
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The authors provide first evidence regarding the direct effect of a hiring policy oriented through higher (over) education on firm productivity. Moreover, the authors shine light on the moderating role of the working environment of the firm, qualified as (1) high-tech/knowledge-intensive and (2) knowledge-intensive activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a detailed Belgian firm panel data and compute a measure of high-education hiring policy robust to sectorial bias.

Findings

The authors show that firms that decide to increase their hiring standards with a higher risk to hire overeducated workers are found to be more productive than others which follow the hiring norms in terms of educational levels. Concerning the role of the technological environment, the authors show that high-tech firms may take advantage of additional skills provided by highly educated workers to a bigger extent, such hiring policy leading to even higher productivity improvements.

Originality/value

Unlike much of the earlier literature (still essentially focussed on workers' wages, job satisfaction and related attitudes and behaviours), the authors’ econometric estimates are based on direct measures of productivity. They are also robust to a range of measurement issues, such as time-invariant labour heterogeneity and firm characteristics.
A new simulation framework for crowd collaborations
Authors: Yang Rui , Sun Hongbo
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Collaboration is a common phenomenon in human society. The best way of collaborations can make the group achieve the best interests. Because of the low cost and high repeatability of simulation, it is a good method to explore the best way of collaborations by means of simulation. The traditional simulation is difficult to adapt to the crowd intelligence network simulation, so the crowd collaborations simulation is proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the atomic swarm intelligence unit and collective swarm intelligence unit are proposed to represent the behavior of individuals and groups in physical space and the interaction between them.

Findings

To explore the best collaboration mode of the group, a framework of crowd collaborations simulation is proposed, which decomposes the big goal into the small goals by constructing the cooperation chain and analyzes the cooperation results and feeds them back to the next simulation.

Originality/value

Two kinds of swarm intelligence units are used to represent the simulated individuals in the group, and the pattern is used to represent individual behavior. It is suitable for the simulation of collaboration problems in various types and situations.
What determines renewable energy consumption? Startling evidence from Ghana
Authors: Kwakwa Paul Adjei
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Owing to the adverse effect of carbon dioxide emission, there have been calls for economies to rely on (cleaner) renewable energy. Although empirical studies on the subject matter abound the conflicting outcome, the less attention paid to combustible renewable and waste, and the little empirical evidence of the effect of financial development and industrialization on renewable energy consumption necessitate further studies. This study aims to examine the drivers of renewable energy consumption for Ghana whose share of renewable energy consumption in the total energy consumption has been reducing over the past decade, with fossil fuel consumption remaining high.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the demand theory and empirical studies, the paper models total renewable energy consumption and combustible renewables and waste as a function of income, price, financial development and industrialization. Regression and variance decomposition techniques were used to analyze the data.

Findings

Ghana’s renewable energy consumption is positively influenced by industrialization, but negatively influenced by price, income and financial development in the long run, while in the short run, industrialization and financial development affect renewable energy consumption.

Research limitations/implications

The findings imply that the transition to cleaner energy is not a matter of income level alone. Future research should investigate the drivers of other renewable energy consumption and the possible challenges to green finance in Ghana’s financial sector.

Originality/value

The effect of financial development and industrialization on renewable energy consumption is examined. Previous econometric analyses have also focused on total renewable energy, but this study adds combustible renewable and waste to the analysis.
Achieving value for money in waste management projects: determining the effectiveness of public–private partnership in Ghana
Authors: Ishawu Mumuni , Guangyu Chen , Adzimah Emelia Darko , Mohammed Aminu Aliu
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Governments all over the world are increasingly entering into partnership agreement with the private sector through public–private partnership (PPP) models for the development and management of public projects and services. Thus, the purpose of this study is to first examine the factors that enter into government's attitude, value for money (VFM) and PPP-based waste management projects (WMPs) in Ghana. Further, this study examines the relationship between PPP-based waste management and VFM, along with the mediating role of government's attitude.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through a survey questionnaire from four metropolitan municipal assemblies of Ghana. This study’s sample consisted of 230 respondents, and structural equation modeling was employed to conduct an empirical analysis.The structured model had evaluated the critical success factors (CSFs). Subsequently, the measurement model helped in the path analysis of the proposed model.

Findings

The authors found a nonpositive relationship between PPP-based WMPs and VFM; however, government's attitude will influence the achievement of VFM. Reliance on quality targets is ranked as the highest CSF in PPP-based WMPs in Ghana. Also, incentives for private sector participation and effective private sector participation are ranked as the least CSFs.

Limitations

Most of the questionnaire's items were self -rated by employees of municipal assemblies who were not policymakers. This must have increased the possibility of common method bias. In addition, the study was limited to Ghana (a developing economy); therefore, the generalization of the results should be done with much caution.

Practical implications

This study suggests to develop a network of private sector consortiums considering international and national participants who are engaged in PPPs in order to ensure successful delivery and hence valuing for money.

Originality/value

This study offers a novel perspective to investigate the relationship of PPP-based WMPs and VFM and shows how the government's attitude mediates this relationship.
Single-loop sigma delta modulator design and verification for cognitive IoT applications
Authors: S. Vamsee Krishna , Reddy P. Sudhakara , Reddy S. Chandra Mohan
Published: July 2020

Purpose

A third-order discrete time sigma delta modulator (SDM) is proposed with optimum performance by addressing instability and power dissipations issues, and a novel SDM architecture is designed and verified in behavioural modelling in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. Simulation results show that performance parameters of proposed modulator achieved SNR of 105.41 dB, SNDR of 101.96 dB and DR of 17 bits for the signal bandwidth of 20 kHz.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper describes single-loop SDM design with optimum selection of integrator weights for physiological signal processing in IoT applications.

Findings

The proposed discrete time modulator designed with 1-bit quantizer and optimum oversampling ratio proved as power efficient. Integrator scaling coefficients are generated in LabVIEW environment for pure third-order noise shaping.

Originality/value

This paper contains the novelty in the work, and it is suitable for cognitive Internet of Things applications.
Striving for sustainable value chain establishment: a multiple feasibility analysis approach
Authors: Herman Marie Ingrid , Thai Minh Thi
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Over the last decade, value chain for development has shown its bias towards global value chain approaches. This article proposes a holistic framework to carry out feasibility analysis for the establishment of a value chain.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative research approach was used to collect and analyse data from a wide range of stakeholders potentially involved in establishment of a global cut-foliage value chain based on wild harvesting of ornamental ferns in New Caledonia.

Findings

Multiple feasibility analyses revealed issues that need to be addressed, priorities for different stakeholders and possible ways forward in the establishment of a value chain.

Research limitations/implications

The framework supports businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, donors and governments in proceeding with value chain establishment with significant consideration of social, economic and environmental drivers for sustainability.

Originality/value

Relevant concepts in several fields are integrated into a single framework that can guide feasibility analysis of value chain establishment.
Carbon risk real estate monitor: making decarbonisation in the real estate sector measurable
Authors: Spanner Maximilian M. , Wein Julia
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the functionality and effectiveness of the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM tool). The aim of the project, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, was to develop a broadly accepted tool that provides investors and other stakeholders with a sound basis for the assessment of stranding risks.

Design/methodology/approach

The tool calculates the annual carbon emissions (baseline emissions) of a given asset or portfolio and assesses the stranding risks, by making use of science-based decarbonisation pathways. To account for ongoing climate change, the tool considers the effects of grid decarbonisation, as well as the development of heating and cooling-degree days.

Findings

The paper provides property-specific carbon emission pathways, as well as valuable insight into state-of-the-art carbon risk assessment and management measures and thereby paves the way towards a low-carbon building stock. Further selected risk indicators at the asset (e.g. costs of greenhouse gas emissions) and aggregated levels (e.g. Carbon Value at Risk) are considered.

Research limitations/implications

The approach described in this paper can serve as a model for the realisation of an enhanced tool with respect to other countries, leading to a globally applicable instrument for assessing stranding risks in the commercial real estate sector.

Practical implications

The real estate industry is endangered by the downside risks of climate change, leading to potential monetary losses and write-downs. Accordingly, this approach enables stakeholders to assess the exposure of their assets to stranding risks, based on energy and emission data.

Social implications

The CRREM tool reduces investor uncertainty and offers a viable basis for investment decision-making with regard to stranding risks and retrofit planning.

Originality/value

The approach pioneers a way to provide investors with a profound stranding risk assessment based on science-based decarbonisation pathways.
Keywords and collocations in US presidential discourse since 1993: a corpus-assisted analysis
Authors: Hamed Dalia
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to apply a corpus-assisted analysis of keywords and their collocations in the US presidential discourse from Clinton to Trump to discover the meanings of these words and the collocates they have. Keywords are salient words in a corpus whose frequency is unusually high (positive keywords) or low (negative keywords) in comparison with a reference corpus. Collocation is the co-occurrence of words.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this purpose, the investigation of keywords and collocations is generated by AntConc, a corpus processing software.

Findings

This analysis leads to shed light on the similarities and/or differences amongst the past four American presidents concerning their key topics. Keyword analysis through keyness makes it evident that Clinton and Obama, being Democrats, demonstrate a clear tendency to improve Americans’ life inside their social sphere. Obama surpasses Clinton as regard foreign affairs. Clinton and Obama’s infrequent subjects have to do with terrorism and immigration. This complies with their condensed focus on social and economic improvements. Bush, a republican, concentrates only on external issues. This is proven by his keywords signifying war against terrorism. Bush’s negative use of words marking cooperative actions conforms to his positive use of words indicating external war. Trump’s positive keywords are about exaggerated descriptions without a defined target. He also shows an unusual frequency in referring to his name and position. His words used with negative keyness refer to reforming programs and external issues. Collocations around each top content keyword clarify the word and harmonize with the presidential orientation negotiated by the keywords.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations have to do with the issue of the accurate representation of the samples.

Originality/value

This research is original in its methodology of applying corpus linguistics tools in the analysis of presidential discourses.
Evaluating fashion retailers' intellectual capital: key money as a part of customer capital
Authors: Fiano Fabio , Mueller Jens , Paoloni Niccolò , Farina Briamonte Massimiliano , Magni Domitilla
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to enrich the scientific and managerial debate on intangibles by placing the concept of key money within the broader concept of Intellectual Capital, and by proposing an evaluation approach for a portion of the latter, focusing the analysis on fashion retailers.

Design/methodology/approach

This research focuses on the fashion industry, given that key money gains particular significance and accounted for in fashion retailers' financial statements. A comparative case study is presented with regard to the application of two evaluation methods proposed to some fashion retailers operating in Italy.

Findings

This paper defines a suitable placement for key money within the vast structure of intellectual capital. The research shows that the two methods give “very close” key money values, thus laying the foundations for a theoretical articulation of interest to be further explored in future researches.

Originality/value

The document represents a first in-depth examination regarding the evaluation and inclusion of key money in the intellectual capital. A further element of originality lies in having interpreted the key money in a perspective closer to the world of intangibles and competitive strategies, to the detriment of the previous (meagre) settings that placed it within the real estate branches of study.
Parents' burdens of service for children with ASD – implications for service providers
Authors: Helkkula Anu , Buoye Alexander John , Choi Hyeyoon , Lee Min Kyung , Liu Stephanie Q. , Keiningham Timothy Lee
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this investigation is to gain insight into parents' perceptions of benefits vs burdens (value) of educational and healthcare service received for their child with ASD. Parents are the main integrators of long-term educational and healthcare service for their child with ASD.

Design/methodology/approach

Design/methodology/approach included (1) a sentiment analysis of discussion forum posts from an autism message board using a rule-based sentiment analysis tool that is specifically attuned to sentiments expressed in social media and (2) a qualitative content analysis of one-on-one interviews with parents of children diagnosed with ASD, complemented with interviews with experienced educators and clinicians.

Findings

Findings reveal the link between customized service integration and long-term benefits. Both parents and service providers emphasize the need to integrate healthcare and educational service to create holistic long-term care for a child with ASD. Parents highlight the benefits of varied services, but availability or cost are burdens if the service is not publicly provided, or covered by insurance. Service providers' lack of experience with ASD and people's ignorance of the challenges of ASD are burdens.

Practical implications

Ensuring health outcomes for a child with ASD requires an integrated service system and long-term, customer-centric service process because the scope of service covers the child's entire childhood. Customized educational and healthcare service must be allocated and budgeted early in order to reach the goal of a satisfactory service output for each child.

Originality/value

This is the first service research to focus on parents' challenges with obtaining services for their child with ASD. This paper provides service researchers and managers insight into parents' perceptions of educational and healthcare service value (i.e. benefits vs. burdens) received for their child with ASD. These insights into customer-centric perceptions of value may be useful to research and may help service providers to innovate and provide integrated service directly to parents, or indirectly to service providers, who serve children with ASD.
COVID-19 – school leadership in crisis?
Authors: Harris Alma
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This article explores how school leaders are responding during COVID-19 and what forms of leadership practice are emerging.

Design/methodology/approach

This article draws upon the contemporary leadership literature and scholarly work.

Findings

This article proposes that the current crisis has shifted school leadership dramatically towards distributed, collaborative and network practices.

Originality/value

This article offers a commentary about the changing role of school leaders and their changing leadership practice during this pandemic.
Quality assurance dimensions for e-learning institutions in Gulf countries
Authors: Anwar Syed Aziz , Sohail M. Sadiq , Al-Marri Meera
Published: July 2020

Purpose

It has been argued in the literature that quality assurance is a relative concept. In view of the new challenges (and opportunities) created by e-learning institutions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, this paper aims to explore the dimensions of quality assurance in e-learning and test the psychometric properties of the underlying dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

A sequential mixed methods approach was applied in this study. In the qualitative phase, items were generated using the inductive and deductive approaches. This was then followed by the quantitative phase where data was collected from 275 senior academics, scholars and administrators associated with e-learning institutions in Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Findings

The findings of this study revealed that e-learning quality assurance is a multidimensional construct. The dimensions of accreditation, assessment, accountability and benchmarking were identified. Further, the model demonstrated adequacy in its validity and reliability.

Practical implications

In the light of proliferation of e-learning courses in GCC countries, the results of this are invaluable to enable administrators and instructors to design strategy and foster innovation in the domain of quality assurance. E-learning institutions operating in a competitive environment have to design and implement an effective strategy to achieve innovation, uniqueness and diversity in the educational sector of their countries.

Originality/value

This paper has successfully validated an e-learning quality assurance questionnaire, which can be used effectively for evaluating e-learning programmes.
Do lump-sum investing strategies really outperform dollar-cost averaging strategies?
Authors: Lu Richard , Hoang Vu Tran , Wong Wing-Keung
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The literature has demonstrated that lump-sum (LS) outperforms dollar-cost averaging (DCA) in uptrend markets while DCA outperforms LS only when the asset price is mean-reverted or downtrend. To bridge the gap in the literature, this study aims to use both Sharpe ratio (SR) and economic performance measure (EPM) to compare the performance of DCA and LS under both accumulative and disaccumulative approaches when the asset price is simulated to be uptrend.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses both disaccumulative and accumulative approaches to compare DCA with LS and uses both SR and EPM to evaluate their performance when the asset price is simulated to be uptrend. Instead of using the annualized returns that are commonly used by other DCA studies, we compute the holding-period returns in the comparison in this paper.

Findings

The simulation shows that no matter which approach is used, DCA outperforms LS in nearly all the cases in the less uptrend markets while DCA still performs better than LS in many cases of the uptrend markets, especially when the market is more volatile and investment horizon is long, regardless which approach the authors used. The authors also find more evidence supporting DCA over LS by using EPM, which is more suitable in the analysis because the returns generated by DCA are positive skewed and flat-tailed that are ignored when SR is used.

Research limitations/implications

The authors conclude that DCA is a better trading strategy than LS for investment even in the uptrend market, especially on high risky assets.

Practical implications

Investors could consider choosing DCA instead of LS as their trading strategy, especially when they prefer long term investment and investing in high-risk assets.

Social implications

Fund managers could consider recommending DCA to their customers, especially when they prefer long term investment and investing in high-risk assets.

Originality/value

This is the own study and, as far as the authors know, this is the first study in the literature uses both SR and EPM to compare the performance of DCA and LS under both accumulative and disaccumulative approaches when the asset price is simulated to be uptrend.
Benefits at the nanoscale: a review of nanoparticle‐enabled processes favouring microbial growth and functionality
Authors: Mansor Muammar , Xu Jie
Published: July 2020

Nanoparticles are ubiquitous and co‐occur with microbial life in every environment on Earth. Interactions between microbes and nanoparticles impact the biogeochemical cycles via accelerating various reaction rates and enabling biological processes at the smallest scales. Distinct from microbe‐mineral interactions at large, microbe‐nanoparticle interactions may involve higher levels of active recognition and utilization of the reactive, changeable, and thereby 'moldable' nano‐sized inorganic phases by microbes, which has been given minimal attention in previous reviews. Here we have compiled the various cases of microbe‐nanoparticle interactions with clear and potential benefits to the microbial cells and communities. Specifically, we discussed (i) the high bioavailabilities of nanoparticles due to increased specific surface areas and size‐dependent solubility, with a focus on environmentally‐relevant iron(III) (oxyhydr)oxides and pyrite, (ii) microbial utilization of nanoparticles as 'nano‐tools' for electron transfer, chemotaxis, and storage units, and (iii) speculated benefits of precipitating 'moldable' nanoparticles in extracellular biomineralization. We further discussed emergent questions concerning cellular level responses to nanoparticle‐associated cues, and the factors that affect nanoparticles' bioavailabilities beyond size‐dependent effects. We end the review by proposing a framework towards more quantitative approaches and by highlighting promising techniques to guide future research in this exciting field.
Is there a connection between immunohistochemical markers and grading of lung cancer with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and standardised uptake values (SUV) of hybrid 18F‐FDG‐PET/MRI?
Authors: Martin Ole , Bruckmann Nils‐Martin , Kirchner Julian , Ullrich Tim , Ingenwerth Marc , Bogner Simon , Eze Chukwuka , Nensa Felix , Herrmann Ken , Umutlu Lale , Antoch Gerald , Sawicki Lino M
Published: July 2020

Introduction

To correlate tumour grading and prognostic immunohistochemical markers of lung cancer with simultaneously acquired standardised uptake values (SUV) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) derived from hybrid PET/MRI.

Methods

In this retrospective study, 55 consecutive patients (mean age 62.5 ± 9.2 years) with therapy‐naïve, histologically proven lung cancer were included. All patients underwent whole‐body PET/MRI using 18F‐flourdeoxyglucose (18F‐FDG) as a radiotracer. Diffusion‐weighted imaging of the chest (DWI, b‐values: 0, 500, 1000 s/mm2) was performed simultaneously with PET acquisition. Histopathological tumour grading was available in 43/55 patients. In 15/55 patients, immunohistochemical markers, that is, phospho‐AKT Ser473 (pAKTS473), phosphorylated extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (pERK), phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (erbB2) were available.

Results

The average SUVmax, SUVmean, ADCmin and ADCmean in lung cancer primaries were 12.6 ± 5.9, 7.7 ± 4.6, 569.9 ± 96.1 s/mm2 and 825.8 ± 93.2 s/mm2, respectively. We found a significant inverse correlation between the ADCmin and SUVmax (r = −0.58, P < 0.001) as well as between the ADCmin and SUVmean (r = −0.44, P < 0.001). Tumour grading showed a significant positive correlation with SUVmax and SUVmean (R = 0.34 and R = 0.31, both P < 0.05) and a significant inverse correlation with ADCmin and ADCmean (r = −0.30 and r = −0.40, both P < 0.05). In addition, erbB2 showed a significant inverse correlation with SUVmax and SUVmean (r = −0.50 and r = −0.49, both P < 0.05). The other immunohistochemical markers did not show any significant correlation.

Conclusion

18F‐FDG‐PET/MRI showed weak to moderate correlations between SUV, ADC, tumour grading and erbB2‐expression of lung cancer. Hence, 18F‐FDG‐PET/MRI may, to some extent, offer complementary information to the histopathology of lung cancer, for the evaluation of tumour aggressiveness and treatment response.
Prediction of tumor doubling time of lung adenocarcinoma using radiomic margin characteristics
Authors: Yoon Hyun Jung , Park Hyunjin , Lee Ho Yun , Sohn Insuk , Ahn Joonghyun , Lee Seung‐Hak
Published: July 2020

Background

Because shape or irregularity along the tumor perimeter can result from interactions between the tumor and the surrounding parenchyma, there could be a difference in tumor growth rate according to tumor margin or shape. However, no attempt has been made to evaluate the correlation between margin or shape features and tumor growth.

Methods

We evaluated 52 lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) patients who had at least two computed tomographic (CT) examinations before curative resection. Volume‐based doubling times (DTs) were calculated based on CT scans, and patients were divided into two groups according to the growth pattern (GP) of their ADCs (gradually growing tumors [GP I] vs. growing tumors with a temporary decrease in DT [GP II]). CT radiomic features reflecting margin characteristics were extracted, and radiomic features reflective of tumor DT were selected.

Results

Among the 52 patients, 41 (78.8%) were assigned to GP I and 11 (21.2%) to GP II. Of the 94 radiomic features extracted, eccentricity, surface‐to‐volume ratio, LoG uniformity (σ = 3.5), and LoG skewness (σ = 0.5) were ultimately selected for tumor DT prediction. Selected radiomic features in GP I were surface‐to‐volume ratio, contrast, LoG uniformity (σ = 3.5), and LoG skewness (σ = 0.5), similar to those for total subjects, whereas the radiomic features in GP II were solidity, energy, and busyness.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated the potential of margin‐related radiomic features to predict tumor DT in lung ADCs.

Key points

Significant findings of the study

We found a relationship between margin‐related radiomic features and tumor doubling time.

What this study adds

Margin‐related radiomic features can potentially be used as noninvasive biomarkers to predict tumor doubling time in lung adenocarcinoma and inform treatment strategies.
Incidence and Prediction of Unstable Blood Glucose Level among Critically Ill Patients: A Cohort Study
Authors: Brinati Lídia Miranda , de Fátima Januário Carla , Balbino Paula Coelho , Gonçalves Rezende Macieira Tamara , Cardoso Silvia Almeida , Moreira Tiago Ricardo , de Oliveira Salgado Patrícia
Published: July 2020

PURPOSE

To evaluate the incidence and the prediction of unstable blood glucose level among critically ill patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit.

METHODS

A cohort study was conducted with 62 adult patients hospitalized at an intensive care unit of a hospital located in Minas Gerais, Brazil, between March and July of 2017. Patient's demographic information, along with scores for Simplified Acute Physiology Score III, primary medical diagnosis, discharge status, diagnosis of diabetes and/or sepsis, length of stay, glycemic variability, type of nutrition, types of medications and treatments, and oxygen therapy were collected daily. A daily venous blood sample was collected to measure blood glucose levels during the patient's hospitalization period. Bivariate analysis was used to explore the association among the potential diagnostic indicators and the outcome of unstable blood glucose levels. Multivariate Cox regression was used to identify the potential predictors for the outcome.

FINDINGS

Of the total of 62 participants, 45.1% (n=28) had unstable blood glucose level. Among the 28 patients with unstable blood glucose levels, half of them (n=14, 50%) had hypoglycemia and the other half had hyperglycemia (n=14, 50%). Decreased number of days hospitalized and the use of intensive glucose control with regular insulin were associated with decreased odds of developing hyperglycemia. The presence of mechanical ventilation was associated with a higher risk for the development of hypoglycemia.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides knowledge and evidence of diagnostic indicators for unstable blood glucose levels that are not currently included in the NANDA‐International terminology for the nursing diagnosis Risk for unstable blood glucose level (00179).

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

This study identified important diagnostic indicators that nurses can observe during the assessment to identify patients that are at risk for developing unstable blood glucose level and provide the appropriate care.
Integrative transcriptome analysis deciphers mechanisms of nickel contact dermatitis
Authors: Wisgrill Lukas , Werner Paulina , Jalonen Erja , Berger Angelika , Lauerma Antti , Alenius Harri , Fyhrquist Nanna
Published: July 2020

Background

Nickel‐induced allergic contact dermatitis (nACD) remains a major occupational skin disorder, significantly impacting the quality of life of suffering patients. Complex cellular compositional changes and associated immunological pathways are partly resolved in humans; thus, the impact of nACD on human skin needs to be further elucidated.

Methods

To decipher involved immunological players and pathways, human skin biopsies were taken at 0, 2, 48, and 96 hours after nickel patch test in six nickel‐allergic patients. Gene expression profiles were analyzed via microarray.

Results

Leukocyte deconvolution of nACD‐affected skin identified major leukocyte compositional changes at 48 and 96 hours, including natural killer (NK) cells, macrophage polarization, and T‐cell immunity. Gene set enrichment analysis mirrored cellular‐linked functional pathways enriched over time. NK cell infiltration and cytotoxic pathways were uniquely found in nACD‐affected skin compared to sodium lauryl sulfate–induced irritant skin reactions.

Conclusion

These results highlight key immunological leukocyte subsets as well as associated pathways in nACD, providing insights into pathophysiology with the potential to unravel novel therapeutic targets.
IMPROVING EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY: NEW INSIGHTS FROM BIG DATA
Authors: Chetty Raj
Published: July 2020

Children's chances of earning more than their parents have fallen from 90% to 50% over the past half century in America. How can we restore the American Dream of upward mobility for our children? In this talk, Raj Chetty discusses recent work that he and his colleagues at Opportunity Insights have done addressing this question. Among other topics, Professor Chetty covers how and why children's chances of climbing the income ladder vary across neighborhoods, how race still matters for economic mobility in the U.S. today, and the relationship between equality of opportunity, innovation, and growth. (JEL I3, H4, D9)
Supervised shift k‐means based machine learning approach for link prediction using inherent structural properties of large online social network
Authors: Bhanodia Praveen Kumar , Khamparia Aditya , Pandey Babita
Published: July 2020

Social network analysis can be used to address the challenges of link prediction in a social network through the measuring and processing of the inherent structural properties of the network. By developing relationships between the anonymous types on networks such as Facebook and Twitter, social network analysis can determine the prediction of future and missing links among the nodes, as well as assist in developing a predictive system. Various techniques have been discussed with proposals for network link prediction methodologies. The scaling of social networks, differences in local and global features, and efficient and precise prediction of links are issues for further study. We propose a collaborative model for link prediction that offers the benefit of structural‐based and machine learning techniques. The model produces meaningful results for the prediction of strong and weak links. In this study, we consider node‐based feature parameters for the clustering of the social network.
How does chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affect the survival of patients with stage 4 lung cancer?
Authors: Cireli Emel , Balcı Günseli , Mertoğlu Aydan
Published: July 2020

Background

Lung cancer risk is increased in COPD. However, it is not clear how COPD affects the course of lung cancer.

Aim

To determine whether the overall survival of stage 4 lung cancer patients differ in various COPD stages. Study design: A cross‐sectional retrospective study.

Methods

We screened lung cancer patients with ICD code: C34 and included stage 4 lung cancer patients with histological diagnosis and pulmonary function tests at admission in the study. Demographic data, stages, metastasis sites and number of metastases, performance status, pulmonary function tests, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages, arterial blood gasses and treatment methods were recorded on a standardised database. We checked their dates of death from national database. Data were evaluated with SPSS programme version 18. Results: Out of 900 patients, 146 patients had stage 4 disease at the time of diagnosis and, 127 patients had COPD. There was a significant difference between survivals of stage 4 cancer patients with different COPD stages. As COPD stage increased, overall survival worsened (P = 0.037). Factors affecting survival were bone metastasis (P = 0.01, OR = 1.72), liver metastasis (P = 0.04, OR = 1.87), brain metastasis (P = 0.001, OR = 2.6), having N 2‐3 disease (P = 0.01, OR = 1.79) and GOLD 4 COPD (P = 0.01, OR = 2.28).

Conclusion

As COPD becomes more severe, overall survival rates of stage 4 patients worsen. Bone metastasis, liver metastasis, brain metastasis, having N2‐3 disease and GOLD 4 COPD worsen the overall survival.
The role of breast fine needle aspiration during and post‐COVID‐19 pandemic: A fast and safe alternative to needle core biopsy
Authors: Pinto Daniel , Schmitt Fernando
Published: July 2020

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) may be used to study breast lesions in patients that do not have access to more complex procedures during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Furthermore, FNA can be a helpful screening method in the post‐pandemic era when a greater number of patients than usual with delayed treatment can overburden clinics and hospitals.
Facilitating personal development for public involvement in health‐care education and research: A co‐produced pilot study in one UK higher education institute
Authors: Read Sue , Aries Alison M. , Ashby Sue M. , Bambrick Val , Blackburn Steven J. , Clifford Helen , Rhodes Carol , Thirlwall Sarah , Watkins Carole A.
Published: July 2020

Background

Public involvement in the education of students enrolled on higher education programmes has gained impetus. For students enrolled on professional health‐care programmes and health‐related modules in the UK, there is also a requirement by professional bodies to include “service user” involvement in preparation for entry to a professional health‐care register and continuing professional development. Actively involving patients and members of the public in research is also a requirement by many research funders. In this article, the term Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) will be used throughout to include lay members, volunteers, user and carers.

Objectives

A unique pilot study was introduced across a health faculty to integrate PPI in a deliberate way. It aimed to provide an educational, focused programme of events that was meaningful to develop and inform peoples’ knowledge, skills and confidence for their involvement in the health faculty.

Design

PPI members volunteered to sit on a steering group to determine the educational journey; the outcomes of three focus groups with PPI members (N = 32) and academics informed the programme content which included a range of workshops covering the exploration of public roles and barriers to involvement, introduction to research and interviewing skills.

Results

The workshops were well attended, and outcomes indicated the importance of co‐production when designing, delivering and evaluating programmes.

Discussion

Co‐production underpinned this pilot study, resulting in a programme which was meaningfully received by public contributors.

Recommendations

Co‐production was seen as integral to this research to ensure that outcomes were indeed “fit for purpose”.
Perianal Paget’s disease as spread from non‐invasive colorectal adenomas
Authors: Hutchings Danielle , Windon Annika , Assarzadegan Naziheh , Salimian Kevan J , Voltaggio Lysandra , Montgomery Elizabeth A
Published: July 2020

Aims

Paget’s disease of the perianal skin is a rare form of extramammary Paget’s disease, and may be a primary intraepithelial adnexal neoplasm or secondary due to spread from an underlying colorectal lesion, nearly always colorectal adenocarcinoma. Secondary perianal Paget’s disease associated with non‐invasive colorectal adenomas is exceedingly uncommon, with only a few reported cases.

Methods and results

Herein, we present the clinical and pathological features of the largest series of secondary perianal Paget’s disease arising in association with colorectal adenomas. There was gender parity and the median age was 72 years (range = 68–76 years). In all cases, perianal Paget’s disease was associated with colorectal adenomas, including three (75%) conventional tubular adenomas and one (25%) tubulovillous adenoma with serrated foci. All adenomas had high‐grade dysplasia and one had intramucosal adenocarcinoma (lamina propria invasion; Tis), but all lacked submucosal invasion. The intraepithelial Paget’s cells showed a colorectal phenotype by immunohistochemistry in all cases. At follow‐up, two patients had no evidence of disease at 6 and 87 months, one had residual perianal Paget’s disease at 8 months and one developed invasive adenocarcinoma of the perianal tissue at 36 months.

Conclusions

Similar to its mammary analogue, secondary perianal Paget’s disease may arise in association with invasive and/or in‐situ colorectal lesions. Although the latter is an uncommon presentation of a recognised rare disease, knowledge of this phenomenon is important to forestall overdiagnosis of invasion and potential overtreatment. The clinical course is variable, such that close follow‐up is required.
Development of DNA controls for detection of β‐thalassemia mutations commonly found in Asian
Authors: Munkongdee Thongperm , Nualkaew Tiwaporn , Buasuwan Nattrika , Hinna Nurmeeha , Paiboonsukwong Kittiphong , Sripichai Orapan , Svasti Saovaros , Winichagoon Pranee , Fucharoen Suthat , Jearawiriyapaisarn Natee
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Several DNA‐based approaches including a reverse dot‐blot hybridization (RDB) have been established for detection of β‐thalassemia genotypes to provide accurate genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for prevention and control of severe β‐thalassemia. However, one of major concerns of these techniques is a risk of misdiagnosis due to a lack of DNA controls. Here, we constructed positive DNA controls for β‐thalassemia genotyping in order to ensure that all steps in the analysis are performed properly.

Methods

Four recombinant β‐globin plasmids, including a normal sequence and three different mutant panels covering 10 common β‐thalassemia mutations in Asia, were constructed by a conventional cloning method followed by sequential rounds of site‐directed mutagenesis. These positive DNA controls were further validated by RDB analysis.

Results

We demonstrated the applicability of established positive DNA controls for β‐thalassemia genotyping in terms of accuracy and reproducibility by RDB analysis. We further combined three mutant β‐globin plasmids into a single positive control, which showed positive signals for both normal and mutant probes of all tested mutations. Therefore, only two positive DNA controls, normal and combined mutant β‐globin plasmids, are required for detecting 10 common β‐thalassemia mutations by RDB, reducing the cost, time, and efforts in the routine diagnosis.

Conclusion

The β‐globin DNA controls established here provide efficient alternatives to a conventional DNA source from peripheral blood, which is more difficult to obtain. They also provide a platform for future development of β‐globin plasmid controls with other mutations, which can also be suitable for other DNA‐based approaches.