bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Documents as weapons: secret police files in Communist and post-Communist Romania
Authors: Vamanu Iulian
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study examined dossiers of informative pursual (DIPs), a particular type of secret police files, before and after the fall of Communism in Romania. These DIPs were often weaponized against citizens perceived to be anti-government.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on Buckland's (2017) concept of a document as an object with physical, mental and social parts, the study used thematic analysis to examine volumes of DIPs from 1945 to 1989 Communist Romania as well as several recorded reactions to the DIPs by the victims who were targeted by the Communist secret police.

Findings

Four themes were revealed by the study's findings and discussed within the manuscript: DIPs as unreliable epistemic tools, DIPs as tools to construct the identity of the “People's Enemy,” DIPs as weapons to fight the “People's Enemy” and DIPs as tools that could be used in counterattacks during post-Communism, including in political-economic blackmailing.

Research limitations/implications

There are two major limitations to research of DIPs. First, since many DIPs have been stolen, copied illicitly or even destroyed, it is difficult to articulate precisely their actual or potential social and political effects. Researchers may often detect these effects only indirectly, based on information leaks in the news. Second, many victims of surveillance practices during the Communist period have chosen not to leave records of their reactions to reading the DIPs that targeted them.

Social implications

Current and future comprehensive studies of DIPs can reveal possible parallels between surveillance by the Communist regime and the massive data-collection that occurs in democratic societies, particularly given the increased technical capabilities for processing data in these democratic societies.

Originality/value

Within documentation studies, secret police files and document weaponization have been particularly under-researched, therefore this study contributes to a small body of literature.
The use of alternative building technologies as a sustainable affordable housing solution: perspectives from South Africa
Authors: Adetooto Johnson , Windapo Abimbola , Pomponi Francesco
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the perception of the local experts and end users on the drivers, barriers and strategies to the use of alternative building technologies (ABTs), with a focus on sandbag building technologies (SBTs) in the provision of sustainable housing in South Africa towards improving the public's understanding of SBTs.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopted a qualitative approach that used focus group meetings as the primary data collection method for this study. This study's focus group participants comprised ABT experts and end users of ABT houses in South Africa who were selected using a convenient sampling technique. The data were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using NVivo 11 software.

Findings

This study found that the perceived drivers to using ABTs such as SBT comprise sustainability, affordability, job creation potentials, fire-resistant and earthquake resistance. This study revealed strategies for the SBTs, including awareness, building sandbag prototypes across cities and training.

Practical implications

This study's findings have practical implications for the practice and praxis of ABT implementation and uptake in South Africa. This study provides a framework for broadening the worldwide understanding of use and uptake of SBTs to provide sustainable and affordable housing.

Originality/value

This study adds significantly to the limited body of knowledge on ABTs, focusing on sandbag houses. Consequently, the findings provide policymakers with information on the expert and end-user perspectives on the barriers and strategies to using ABTs.
Media synchronicity implications for Indian white-collar employees’ work-from-home wellbeing and preference, mediated by psychological needs satisfaction
Authors: Kumar Navya , Alok Swati
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Work-from-home (WFH) gained ground with COVID and will now continue to be a part of India’s future of work. Under WFH information and communication technologies (ICT) media become the primary/sole mode of communication for employees, which holds several implications for employers and employees. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of ICT media characteristics and usage frequency on multiple WFH outcomes. Specifically studied was ICT media’s ability to support synchronicity or coordinated behaviours of individuals working together.

Design/methodology/approach

This work examined the effect of ICT media’s synchronicity-supporting ability and usage frequency on WFH employees’ need for competence and relatedness satisfaction, thereby wellbeing and preference to WFH. Data from 301 white-collar employees of varied manufacturing and services organizations of India was analysed via partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings

Achieving more synchronicity by frequently using ICT media that can better facilitate coordinated behaviours did not directly influence WFH employees’ feeling of belongingness (need for relatedness) or wellbeing. It did, however, positively affect their feeling of effectance (need for competence) and thereby wellbeing. However, unexpectedly, it negatively influenced preference to WFH more often.

Originality/value

This study has uniquely combined media synchronicity and self-determination theories to investigate the implications of a work practice on employee wellbeing and preferences. Also, an extensible media evaluation parameter was created that encompasses the characteristics and usage frequency of a set of ICT media.
Story-making to nurture change: creating a journey to make transformation happen
Authors: Trabucchi Daniel , Buganza Tommaso , Bellis Paola , Magnanini Silvia , Press Joseph , Verganti Roberto , Zasa Federico Paolo
Published: November 2022

Purpose

To overcome change management challenges, organizations often rely on stories as means of communication. Storytelling has emerged as a leading change management tool to influence and bring people on sharing knowledge. Nevertheless, this study aims to suggest stories of change as a more effective tool that helps people in taking action toward transformation processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors apply design science research to develop and evaluate how writing a prospective story engages organizational actors in the transformation process. The authors test the story-making artifact in a field study with five companies and 115 employees who participated in 75 workshops.

Findings

Using the findings to discuss the role of story-making in facilitating the emergence of new behaviors in transformation processes, the authors link story-making with the opportunity to make change happen through knowledge dissemination rather than merely understanding it.

Research limitations/implications

The authors illustrate the role of iterations, peers and self-criticism that help story-makers embrace sensemaking, developing a shared knowledge based that influence individual actions.

Practical implications

The authors propose the story-making approach that organizations can follow to nurture change to make transformation happen through knowledge cocreation.

Originality/value

The research explores story-making as an individual act of writing prospective stories to facilitate the emergence of new behaviors through shared knowledge.
Sports nutrition knowledge translates to enhanced athletic performance: a cross-sectional study among Lebanese university athletes
Authors: Serhan Mireille H. , Yakan Mira , Serhan Carole
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Adequate nutrition knowledge forms the foundation for optimal physical health and performance. In Lebanon, there are limited studies on the effect of nutrition knowledge on the athletes’ performance. This study aims to evaluate university athletes’ nutrition knowledge status and to identify the factors predicting athletes’ performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 384 university student-athletes, using a validated tool with modifications (Furber et al., 2017) to assess nutrition knowledge. The modified questionnaire includes seven subsections (vitamins and minerals, general nutrition, fluid, fat, carbohydrate, protein and sporting performance). Further, anthropometric measurements were taken; body composition was determined by the bioelectrical impedance analysis method. Handgrip strength, as an indirect measure of athlete performance, was assessed with the hand dynamometer. To measure the existence and degree of significance among different variables, Pearson correlation coefficients, χ2 and linear regression were used.

Findings

The health group had a higher level of nutritional knowledge, compared with the non-health group. The overall mean sports nutrition knowledge score for the student-athletes was 63.54%, which was considered inadequate sports nutrition knowledge (mean < 75%). Further, athletes’ performance was significantly predicted by the resting metabolic rate, lean muscle mass and weight.

Originality/value

The findings may help the university administration to implement a nutrition education program for athletes enrolled in non-health majors. Information gained serve to help dietetics professionals in Lebanon refine education strategies and sports clubs in universities to start to budget for hiring dietitians.
Graphene-infused nylon fleece versus standard polyester fleece as a wetsuit liner: comparison of skin temperatures during a recreational surf session
Authors: Denny April , Moore Bruce , Newcomer Sean , Nessler Jeff
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are differences in skin temperature under graphene-infused fleece and traditional polyester fleece materials in the interior of a wetsuit.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 48 participants surfed for a minimum of 40 min in a custom wetsuit with a torso lined with graphene-infused fleece on one half and traditional polyester fleece on the other. Eight iButton thermistors were used to record skin temperatures bilaterally at the upper back, chest, abdomen and lower back every minute for the entire surf session. After surfing, participants responded to questions associated with their perception of warmth and comfort and their knowledge of fleece materials.

Findings

Skin temperatures did not differ between the two types of fleece at the upper back, chest and abdomen locations. Skin temperatures in the lower back were significantly warmer under the traditional polyester fleece compared to graphene-infused fleece. Participant responses associated with warmth were consistent with skin temperature measurements.

Practical implications

The results of this study indicate that a graphene-infused nylon fleece interior does not clearly influence skin temperature in surfers when compared to a traditional polyester fleece interior. While skin temperatures were significantly lower under the graphene-infused nylon fleece at the low back, the other three anatomical locations did not exhibit significant differences.

Originality/value

Thermoregulation is an important consideration for the safety and performance of surfers in the ocean. Evidence suggests that the inner lining of a wetsuit may impact thermoregulation while surfing; however, no prior studies have compared interior materials.
Body shape and mode of propulsion do not constrain routine swimming in coral reef fishes
Authors: Satterfield Darien R. , Claverie Thomas , Wainwright Peter C.
Published: November 2022

It is widely believed that because of biomechanical trade‐offs, fish body shape and the mode of propulsion are strong predictors of swimming performance, with the best cruisers, maneuverers and accelerators having different body forms and emphasizing different propulsion mechanisms. This paradigm is regularly projected onto routine swimming behaviour and dominates the ecomorphological literature, despite the paucity of field measurements.

In this study, we measured variation in swimming behaviour among 48 species of Indian Ocean coral reef fishes using recordings from a remote stereo video system. We measured average swimming speed, average swimming bout distance, frequency of turns and percent of time spent station‐holding and looked for the predicted trade‐offs between them.

We find little evidence of the expected relationships between swimming behaviours across species, little evidence that body shape affects swimming and few differences between species that swim by undulating the body and those that emphasize the use of median and paired fins. Taxa widely thought of as archetypical maneuverers (Chaetodon) and cruisers (Caranx) were not outliers in any behaviours.

Our results indicate that swimming behaviour is not easily predicted from simple measures of body shape and that alternative swimming modes can produce comparable behavioural profiles.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Communication competence and disability secondary to laryngectomy and tracheoesophageal puncture voice restoration
Authors: Doyle Philip C. , Baker Adrienne M. H. , Evitts Paul M.
Published: November 2022

Background

There is a large body of research showing the negative impact of a total laryngectomy on the resultant voice signal across multiple outcomes (e.g., speech intelligibility/acceptability, listener comprehension, voice quality). However, there is limited information on the effects of laryngectomy on broader communication acts, particularly in the area of pragmatics, commonly referred to as the social use of language. Considering that individuals with a laryngectomy (IWL) frequently report reduced quality of life as well as reduced communicative competency, expanding the current research to include pragmatics is warranted.

Aim

To explore the pragmatic changes in communication experienced by tracheoesophageal speakers.

Methods & Procedures

The current study adapted an existing 17‐item measure to assess verbal, non‐verbal, paralinguistic and receptive communication competence via self‐report. This adapted measure was then distributed to 65 tracheoesophageal speakers (52 males, 13 females, mean age = 63.4 ± 8.5 years).

Outcomes & Results

Both negative and positive pragmatic changes to communication were reported by participants secondary to laryngectomy. This included changes in verbal (negative –37.5%, positive –15.15%); non‐verbal (negative –9.54%, positive –35.45%; and paralinguistic acts (negative –29.55%, positive –34.09%). Changes to receptive communication were also noted (negative –14.78%, positive –43.19%).

Conclusions & Implications

The overall results suggest that communication changes post‐laryngectomy exist well beyond the paralinguistic areas (e.g., intelligibility, voice quality) and that males and females may approach or respond to changes in communication differently. Results are discussed specific to clinical intervention and the importance of including assessment of pragmatic function post‐laryngectomy.

WHat this paper adds

What is already known on this subject

While there is a large body of research on the changes to the speaker and listener following laryngectomy, there is minimal information on how the use of alaryngeal speech affects overall communication, specifically in the area of pragmatics or the social use of language.

What this paper adds to existing knowledge

This study used an adapted version of the widely used Pragmatic Protocol to delineate changes in pragmatic components of communication for tracheoesophageal speakers.

What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?

Clinically, this information can be used by healthcare professionals to educate and prepare IWL on potential changes in the underrecognized area of pragmatics.
Telehealth consultation before inter‐hospital transfer after falls in a subacute hospital (the PREVENT‐2 study)
Authors: Mitra Biswadev , Law Amelia , Mathew Joseph , Crabtree Amelia , Mertin Helen , Underhill Andrew , Noonan Michael , Hunter Peter , Smit De Villiers
Published: November 2022

Objective

Inter‐hospital transfers are increasingly common due to the regionalisation of healthcare, but are associated with patient discomfort, high costs and adverse events. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a trauma outreach service for preventing inter‐hospital transfers to a major trauma centre.

Methods

This was an observational pre‐ and post‐intervention study over a 12‐month period from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021. Eligible patients sustained a fall at Caulfield Hospital, a subacute care hospital specialising in community services, rehabilitation, geriatric medicine and aged mental health. The intervention was delivery of site‐specific education at Caulfield Hospital and a trauma outreach service by specialist trauma clinicians at The Alfred Hospital who provided remote assessment, assisted with clinical management decisions and advised on appropriateness of transfer.

Results

The present study included 160 patients in the pre‐intervention phase and 203 after the intervention. The primary outcome of transfer occurred in 19 (11.9%) patients in the pre‐intervention phase and 4 (2.0%) in the post‐intervention phase (P < 0.001). In the subgroup of patients without pelvis or long bone fractures, pre‐intervention transfer occurred for 17 (10.9%) patients and post‐intervention transfer occurred for 4 (2.0%) patients (P < 0.001). CT imaging was performed for 54 (33.8%) patients in the pre‐intervention and 45 (22.2%) patients in the post‐intervention group (P = 0.014).

Conclusions

Telehealth consultation with a trauma specialist was associated with significant reduction of inter‐hospital transfers, and significant reduction of CT imaging. This supports continuation of the service with scope for expansion and evaluation of patient‐centred outcomes.
Ethnography and quantification: Insights from epidemiology for Indigenous health equity
Authors: Prussing Erica
Published: November 2022

A growing body of critical ethnography compellingly demonstrates how “evidence‐based” trends are further privileging narrowly construed quantitative statistics, indicators, and metrics in ways that build on widespread cultural assumptions about the alleged objectivity of numerical data. In working to challenge these uncritical and positivist illusions, these studies provide more contextualized understandings and often also advocate for more pluralistic approaches that make use of multiple ways of knowing. Drawing examples from a transnational ethnographic project with epidemiologists who work to promote Indigenous health equity, I call attention here to how postpositivist approaches are already active in quantitative professions, galvanized in part by growing intersections between evidence‐based trends and rights/justice advocacy. Closer attention to such pro‐equity quantitative work highlights the need to expand the ethnographic questions that anthropologists ask about the relationships between quantification, positivism, and privilege. Such expansion stands to benefit anthropological understandings of knowledge politics in the “evidence‐based” era and contributes to ongoing conversations about how to de‐center and decolonize ethnographic inquiry.
Returning‐home fieldwork in China with a dear friend: Friendship, personal safety, and diversity
Authors: Xu Liling
Published: November 2022

Drawing on my accompanied returning‐home fieldwork in China with a dear friend, Yun, this paper critically reflects on the ideas of friendship in fieldwork and its enabling and enhancing role in managing safety concerns and negotiating data collection. The contribution is two‐fold. First, it advances current fieldwork scholarship in Humanities and Social Sciences that predominantly focuses on the researcher–informant friendship formed in the field by engaging with the companionship of pre‐existing friends. This diversifies our understandings of fieldwork friendship in individually, socially and culturally unsettling ways. Second, this study furthers ongoing conversations calling for greater visibility and support of different forms of accompanied fieldwork by focusing on the accompaniment of pre‐existing friends. Three potential directions are outlined to normalise the model of accompanied fieldwork in efforts to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in geography fieldwork.
Of precarity and conspiracy: Introducing a socio‐functional model of conspiracy beliefs
Authors: Adam‐Troian Jais , Chayinska Maria , Paladino Maria Paola , Uluğ Özden Melis , Vaes Jeroen , Wagner‐Egger Pascal
Published: November 2022

Conspiracy Beliefs (CB) are a key vector of violent extremism, radicalism and unconventional political events. So far, social‐psychological research has extensively documented how cognitive, emotional and intergroup factors can promote CB. Evidence also suggests that adherence to CB moves along social class lines: low‐income and low‐education are among the most robust predictors of CB. Yet, the potential role of precarity—the subjective experience of permanent insecurity stemming from objective material strain—in shaping CB remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we propose for the first time a socio‐functional model of CB. We test the hypothesis that precarity could foster increased CB because it undermines trust in government and the broader political ‘elites’. Data from the World Value Survey (n = 21,650; Study 1, electoral CB) and from representative samples from polls conducted in France (n = 1760, Study 2a, conspiracy mentality) and Italy (n = 2196, Study 2b, COVID‐19 CB), corroborate a mediation model whereby precarity is directly and indirectly associated with lower trust in authorities and higher CB. In addition, these links are robust to adjustment on income, self‐reported SES and education. Considering precarity allows for a truly social‐psychological understanding of CB as the by‐product of structural issues (e.g. growing inequalities). Results from our socio‐functional model suggest that implementing solutions at the socio‐economic level could prove efficient in fighting CB.
Long‐term effects of primary aldosteronism treatment on patients with primary aldosteronism and chronic kidney disease
Authors: Nakano Yujiro , Murakami Masanori , Hara Kazunari , Fukuda Tatsuya , Horino Masato , Takeuchi Akira , Niitsu Yoshihiro , Shiba Kumiko , Tsujimoto Kazutaka , Komiya Chikara , Yokoyama Minato , Ikeda Kenji , Yoshimoto Takanobu , Fujii Yasuhisa , Yamada Tetsuya
Published: November 2022

Objective

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a major cause of secondary hypertension and is associated with chronic renal injury. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in PA rapidly decreases after the removal of glomerular hyperfiltration due to aldosterone excess by adrenalectomy (ADX) or mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) treatment and is stable in the long term. However, the effects of these treatments on the long‐term renal function of PA patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not well understood.

Design and Patients

In this single‐center, retrospective study, acute and chronic changes in the estimated GFR (eGFR) were examined in 107 patients with PA, including 49 patients with post‐treatment CKD　defined as eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2.

Results

The reduction in eGFR observed 1 month after ADX in the CKD group (N = 31) was −20.1 ± 8.2 ml/min/1.73 m2. Multivariate analysis showed that pre‐treatment eGFR and plasma aldosterone concentration were independent predictive factors of the acute reduction in eGFR after ADX. The reduction of eGFR observed 1 month after MRA administration in the post‐treatment CKD group (N = 18) was −9.2 ± 5.9 ml/min/1.73 m2. Multivariate analysis showed that the duration of hypertension and pre‐treatment eGFR were independent predictive factors of the acute reduction in eGFR after ADX administration. In 20 patients with CKD (N = 12 ADX and N = 8 MRA) followed for more than 5 years post‐treatment, there was no further significant decline in eGFR over a follow‐up period of 7 (6, 8) years nor any difference between the two treatment modalities.

Conclusions

Our study suggests that treatment of PA in stage 3 CKD is safe and useful in preventing renal injury.
White matter microstructure predicts individual differences in infant fear (But not anger and sadness)
Authors: Planalp Elizabeth M. , Dowe Kristin N. , Alexander Andrew L. , Goldsmith H. Hill , Davidson Richard J. , Dean Douglas C.
Published: November 2022

We examine neural correlates of discrete expressions of negative emotionality in infants to determine whether the microstructure of white matter tracts at 1 month of age foreshadows the expression of specific negative emotions later in infancy. Infants (n = 103) underwent neuroimaging at 1‐month, and mothers reported on infant fear, sadness, and anger at 6, 12, and 18 months using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire‐Revised. Levels and developmental change in fear, sadness, and anger were estimated from mother reports. Relations between MRI and infant emotion indicated that 1‐month white matter microstructure was differentially associated with level and change in infant fear, but not anger or sadness, in the left stria terminalis (p < 0.05, corrected), a tract that connects frontal and tempo‐parietal regions and has been implicated in emerging psychopathology in adults. More relaxed constraints on significance (p < 0.10, corrected) revealed that fear was associated with lower white matter microstructure bilaterally in the inferior portion of the stria terminalis and regions within the sagittal stratum. Results suggest the neurobehavioral uniqueness of fear as early as 1 month of age in regions that are associated with potential longer‐term outcomes. This work highlights the early neural precursors of fearfulness, adding to literature explaining the psychobiological accounts of affective development.

Highlights

Expressions of infant fear and anger, but not sadness, increase from 6 to 18 months of age.

Early neural architecture in the stria terminalis is related to higher initial levels and increasing fear in infancy.

After accounting for fear, anger and sadness do not appear to be associated with differences in early white matter microstructure.

This work identifies early neural precursors of fearfulness as early as 1‐month of age.
Does natural and hybrid immunity obviate the need for frequent vaccine boosters against SARS‐CoV‐2 in the endemic phase?
Authors: Pilz Stefan , Ioannidis John P. A.
Published: November 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has entered its endemic phase and we observe significantly declining infection fatality rates due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). On this background, it is crucial but challenging to define current and future vaccine policy in a population with a high immunity against SARS‐CoV‐2 conferred by previous infections and/or vaccinations. Vaccine policy must consider the magnitude of the risks conferred by new infection(s) with current and evolving SARS‐CoV‐2 variants, how these risks vary in different groups of individuals, how to balance these risks against the apparently small, but existent, risks of harms of vaccination, and the cost–benefit of different options. More evidence from randomized controlled trials and continuously accumulating national health data is required to inform shared decision‐making with people who consider vaccination options. Vaccine policy makers should cautiously weight what vaccination schedules are needed, and refrain from urging frequent vaccine boosters unless supported by sufficient evidence.
Evaluation of fracture toughness properties of polymer concrete composite using deep learning approach
Authors: Niaki Mostafa Hassani , Ahangari Morteza Ghorbanzadeh , Izadi Milad , Pashaian Matin
Published: November 2022

Using artificial intelligence‐based methods in predicting material properties, in addition to high accuracy, saves time and money. This paper models and predicts the fracture toughness properties of polymer concrete (PC) composites using the deep learning method. After preparing a database consisting of 209 experimental data from 19 relevant studies, the effect of seven important variables on critical stress intensity factor (KIc) and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) is considered. Then, the deep neural network (DNN) model is developed and trained using the prepared database. The accuracy of the DNN model is examined by implementing four statistical criteria, MSE, R2, RMSE, and MAE. Finally, the sensitivity of the KIc and CTOD to each input variable is evaluated using a partial dependence plot (PDP) analysis. While aggregate size, nanofiller content, and a/R ratio have the most positive effect on KIc, aggregates and nanofiller content have the most positive influence on CTOD.
Frailty index and ten oral conditions in the Coyoacan cohort study: A cross‐sectional analysis
Authors: Castrejón‐Pérez Roberto Carlos , Wanyonyi Kristina L. , García‐Vázquez Paola E. , Cruz‐Hervert Luis Pablo , Ramírez‐Aldana Ricardo , Borges‐Yáñez S. Aída
Published: November 2022

Objectives

To analyse the relationship between the Frailty Index and 10 oral conditions controlling for nutritional status among Mexican community‐dwelling older people.

Background

Studies suggest that the association between frailty and oral conditions are mediated by nutrition.

Materials and methods

This cross‐sectional analysis includes 487 community‐dwelling men and women aged ≥70 years old. Interview and clinical examinations were performed at participants' homes. Objective (number of natural teeth, root remnants, dental condition, utilisation and functionality of removable dental prostheses and periodontitis) and subjective (utilisation of dental services, self‐rated oral health, chewing difficulties and xerostomia) oral variables were collected by trained personnel. The Frailty Index was calculated considering 35 deficits. Nutritional status measured with the Mini‐Nutritional assessment (MNA), age, sex, education, and marital status were included as covariates. We fitted 11 multivariate generalised linear models (one for each oral condition), assuming gamma distribution for Frailty Index as the outcome.

Results

Participants average age was 78.1 years, 52.1% were women. We observed a higher Frailty Index among those rating their oral health as worse than others their age (5.1%), reporting chewing difficulties often (4.9%) and fairly and very often (7.0%), and xerostomia (4.8%). Age, gender and MNA were consistently associated with the Frailty Index.

Conclusion

Subjective oral conditions are compatible with the Frailty Index after controlling for older people's nutritional status and covariates.
Antibacterial activity and mechanism of a novel bacteriocin produced by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Xu Zhiqiang , Wang Jungong , Zheng Wenbin , Zhao Shang , Yang Qingli , Yu Dongxing , Zhu Yinglian
Published: November 2022

The purpose of the study was to explore the antibacterial effect and mechanism of a novel bacteriocin of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The antibacterial activity was determined by the Oxford cup method, and the dynamic growth curves were conducted with continuous shaking incubation. The result showed that the bacteriocin was a protein or protein‐like antibacterial substance susceptible to pepsin and trypsin. And it had good antibacterial activity, pH stability, thermostability and enzyme treatment stability against E. coli and S. aureus. The SEM, flow cytometry and nucleic acid leakage showed that the bacteriocin disrupted the cell structures of the two bacteria by damaging cell walls and cell membranes. An agarose gel electrophoresis and SDS‐PAGE analysis showed that the bacteriocin inhibited DNA replication and interfered with the protein formation, which resulted in the inhibition of the two bacteria's growth. Therefore, the use of the L. plantarum bacteriocin might be a promising biocontrol strategy to inhibit the pollution of E. coli and S. aureus simultaneously in foods.
The effect of popping, soaking, boiling and roasting processes on antinutritional factors in chickpeas and red kidney beans
Authors: Godrich Joseph , Rose Peter , Muleya Molly , Gould Joanne
Published: November 2022

This study was conducted to determine the effect that a popping head (like a rice cake machine), a low‐shear and low‐water processing technology, has on the concentration of antinutritional factors in chickpeas and red kidney beans. Seeds were popped under several parameters (popping time, sample format and equipment type) and analysed against soaking (1:5 w/v in reverse osmosis water for 24 h), roasting (100 g at 180 °C for 20 min) and boiling (1:5 w/v in reverse osmosis water at 100 ± 1 °C for 1 h) processes. Popping and roasting significantly reduced phytic acid content in chickpeas (6%–22%) and red kidney beans (16%–39%). In contrast, phytic acid content after soaking and boiling was not significantly different to raw seeds. Condensed tannins were significantly reduced in red kidney beans after soaking (74%), boiling (100%) and 4 s popping (28%–42%) treatments and increased in both pulses after roasting (137%) and 8 s popping (21%–47%). Further analysis showed that the soluble phenolic content increased with popping, but total and bound phenolic content was reduced. These results demonstrate that the high temperatures and pressures applied during the popping process effectively reduce antinutritional factors in pulses, compared to conventional processing methods.
Zinc deficiency associated with cutaneous toxicities induced by epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in patients with lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Lu Chun‐Wei , Pang Jong‐Hwei Su , Ko Yu‐Shien , Chang Chih‐Jung , Wang Chuang‐Wei , Chen Wei‐Ti , Chen Chun‐Bing , Hui Rosaline Chung‐yee , Hung Shuen‐Iu , Lu Lai‐Ying , Lu Kun Lin , Wang Chih‐Liang , Wu Chiao‐En , Hsu Ping‐Chih , Fang Yueh‐Fu , Li Shih‐Hong , Ko How‐Wen , Tseng Li‐Chuan , Shih Feng‐Ya , Chen Mei‐Jun , Chung Wen‐Hung
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Cutaneous toxicities are common adverse effects following epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR‐TKI) therapy. Zinc deficiency causes diverse diseases, including skin toxicities. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the role of zinc deficiency in patients with EGFR‐TKI‐induced skin toxicities.

Experimental Design

This retrospective study enrolled 269 patients with diverse skin disorders who visited our hospital between January 2016 and December 2017. The skin toxicity severities and plasma zinc levels of 101 EGFR‐TKI‐treated cancer patients were analysed and compared with those of 43 non‐EGFR‐TKI‐treated cancer patients and 125 patients without cancer but presenting cutaneous manifestations. Additionally, the role of zinc in erlotinib‐induced skin eruptions was established in a 14‐day‐murine model. Clinical features were further evaluated following systemic zinc supplementation in EGFR‐TKI‐treated cancer patients.

Results

EGFR‐TKI‐treated patients demonstrated severe cutaneous manifestations and a significant decrease in plasma zinc levels than those of the control groups. The serum zinc level and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) 5.0 grading of EGFR‐TKI‐induced skin toxicities showed a significant negative correlation (r = −0.29; p < 0.0001). Moreover, erlotinib treatment decreased the plasma zinc levels and induced periorificial dermatitis in rats confirming zinc deficiency following EGFR‐TKI treatment. Zinc supplementation to the EGFR‐TKI‐treated cancer patients showed a significant decrease in the CTCEA grading (p < 0.0005 for mucositis and p < 0.0.0001 for all other cases) after 8 weeks.

Conclusions

Skin impairment following EGFR‐TKI therapy could be ameliorated through zinc supplementation. Thus, zinc supplementation should be considered for cancer patients undergoing EGFR‐TKI therapy.
Adolescent sleep duration: associations with social‐cognitive determinants and the mediating role of sleep hygiene practices
Authors: Inhulsen Maj‐Britt M. R. , Busch Vincent , Kalk Rianne , van Stralen Maartje M.
Published: November 2022

Insufficient sleep duration among adolescents is a widespread public health problem. Gaining better insight into social‐cognitive determinants associated with adolescent sleep duration is necessary for developing effective preventive interventions to support healthy sleep. This study aimed to explore whether social‐cognitive determinants regarding sufficient sleep duration were associated with sleep duration, and if these associations were mediated by collective sleep hygiene practices. Furthermore, we examined these associations for social‐cognitive determinants related to not using media before bedtime and doing relaxing activities and considered whether these associations were mediated by specific sleep hygiene practices. Data were collected amongst second‐ and third‐grade adolescents from 10 Dutch high schools. A total of 878 adolescents (mean [SD] age 13.3 [0.71] years) completed data on sleep duration, social‐cognitive determinants of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (i.e., attitude, subjective norms from parents, subjective norms from peers, perceived behavioural control, intention), and sleep hygiene practices. Single‐ and multivariable path models were constructed and mediation by sleep hygiene practices was analysed by Monte Carlo simulation. All social‐cognitive determinants except for subjective norms from peers were associated with longer sleep duration (p < 0.01). Sleep hygiene practices mediated all associations between social‐cognitive determinants and sleep duration (mediation ranging from 16% to 72%). Although some of the significant associations and mediation disappeared in the multivariable model, behavioural arousal was the strongest mediator, but collective sleep hygiene practices and cognitive/emotional arousal also explained parts of the associations. The findings indicate that social‐cognitive factors should not be overlooked when targeting adolescent sleep duration.
An event study analysis of the effects of collective bargaining legislation on strike outcomes
Authors: Campolieti Michele
Published: November 2022

I consider the effects of legislation for conciliation and cooling‐off periods, which were introduced in the Canadian Industrial Disputes and Investigation Act of 1907, on strike duration and person‐days lost to strikes. I estimate the effects of this legislation on strike duration and persons‐days lost to strikes using bargaining pair level data from 1901 to 1915 with a differences‐in‐difference model as well as an event study methodology. Both of these methodologies exploit variation in legislative coverage because there were some industries that were not covered by the legislation, and so were untreated.
Lessons Learned during the Development and Validation of an Intensive Evidence‐Based Reading Intervention for Secondary Students
Authors: Schumaker Jean B.
Published: November 2022

The purpose of this article is to describe a 40+ year journey during which researchers have endeavored to design and evaluate an integrated, empirically based reading intervention for secondary students and to chronicle the lessons learned as well as suggest future directions for this type of work. Initial development of the intervention began in the 1980s with individual studies, each focused on one part of the reading process (e.g., decoding, vocabulary, comprehension). The quantitative results of these studies showed significant differences between the experimental and the control group or between baseline and after‐instruction conditions. In 2004, an opportunity arose to integrate the empirically validated components within a whole reading program and to have that program independently evaluated. Several scaling‐up efforts have resulted. The lessons learned and the challenges inherent in scaling up an intervention are shared. Recommendations for future efforts related to putting research into practice are made.
Transdisciplinarity, neuro‐techno‐philosophy, and the future of philosophy
Authors: Al‐Rodhan Nayef
Published: November 2022

Philosophy and science have always striven to make sense of the world, continuously influencing each other in the process. Their interplay paved the way for neurophilosophy, which harnesses neuroscientific insights to address traditionally philosophical questions. Given the rapid neuroscientific and technological advances in recent years, this paper argues that philosophers who wish to tackle intractable philosophical problems and influence public discourse and policies should engage inneuro‐techno‐philosophy. This novel type of inquiry describes the transdisciplinary endeavor of philosophers, (neuro)scientists, and others to anticipate the societal implications of the impending transformations of subjects and theorizers. While human enhancement is likely to irreversibly change what it means to be human, disruptive technologies might lead to the emergence of artificial intelligent agents and human‐machine hybrids. The paper predicts that neuro‐techno‐philosophy will be indispensable to understanding and engaging with these game‐changing innovations and thus play a pivotal role in the future of philosophy.
Plant hydraulic modelling of leaf and canopy fuel moisture content reveals increasing vulnerability of a Mediterranean forest to wildfires under extreme drought
Authors: Ruffault Julien , Limousin Jean‐Marc , Pimont François , Dupuy Jean‐Luc , De Càceres Miquel , Cochard Hervé , Mouillot Florent , Blackman Chris J. , Torres‐Ruiz José M. , Parsons Russell A. , Moreno Myriam , Delzon Sylvain , Jansen Steven , Olioso Albert , Choat Brendan , Martin‐StPaul Nicolas
Published: November 2022

Fuel moisture content (FMC) is a crucial driver of forest fires in many regions world‐wide. Yet, the dynamics of FMC in forest canopies as well as their physiological and environmental determinants remain poorly understood, especially under extreme drought.

We embedded a FMC module in the trait‐based, plant‐hydraulic SurEau‐Ecos model to provide innovative process‐based predictions of leaf live fuel moisture content (LFMC) and canopy fuel moisture content (CFMC) based on leaf water potential (). SurEau‐Ecos‐FMC relies on pressure–volume (p‐v) curves to simulate LFMC and vulnerability curves to cavitation to simulate foliage mortality.

SurEau‐Ecos‐FMC accurately reproduced and LFMC dynamics as well as the occurrence of foliage mortality in a Mediterranean Quercus ilex forest. Several traits related to water use (leaf area index, available soil water, and transpiration regulation), vulnerability to cavitation, and p‐v curves (full turgor osmotic potential) had the greatest influence on LFMC and CFMC dynamics. As the climate gets drier, our results showed that drought‐induced foliage mortality is expected to increase, thereby significantly decreasing CFMC.

Our results represent an important advance in our capacity to understand and predict the sensitivity of forests to wildfires.
Leaf, plant, to canopy: A mechanistic study on aboveground plasticity and plant density within a maize–soybean intercrop system for the Midwest, USA
Authors: Pelech Elena A. , Evers Jochem B. , Pederson Taylor L. , Drag David W. , Fu Peng , Bernacchi Carl J.
Published: November 2022

Plants have evolved to adapt to their neighbours through plastic trait responses. In intercrop systems, plant growth occurs at different spatial and temporal dimensions, creating a competitive light environment where aboveground plasticity may support complementarity in light‐use efficiency, realizing yield gains per unit area compared with monoculture systems. Physiological and architectural plasticity including the consequences for light‐use efficiency and yield in a maize‐soybean solar corridor intercrop system was compared, empirically, with the standard monoculture systems of the Midwest, USA. The impact of reducing maize plant density on yield was investigated in the following year. Intercropped maize favoured physiological plasticity over architectural plasticity, which maintained harvest index (HI) but reduced light interception efficiency (ɛi) and conversion efficiency (ɛc). Intercropped soybean invested in both plasticity responses, which maintained ɛi, but HI and ɛc decreased. Reducing maize plant density within the solar corridor rows did not improve yields under monoculture and intercrop systems. Overall, the intercrop decreased land‐use efficiency by 9%–19% and uncoordinated investment in aboveground plasticity by each crop under high maize plant density does not support complementarity in light‐use efficiency. Nonetheless, the mechanistic understanding gained from this study may improve crop cultivars and intercrop designs for the Midwest to increase yield.
Wisdom from the crowd: Can recommender systems predict employee turnover and its destinations?
Authors: Min Hanyi , Yang Baojiang , Allen David G. , Grandey Alicia A. , Liu Mengqiao
Published: November 2022

Can algorithms that predict customer movie and shopping preferences also predict which employees are likely to leave and where they are likely to go, thus helping to retain talent? This study applies a type of machine learning (ML) technique, collaborative filtering (CF) recommender system algorithms, to investigate the comparison between satisfaction with the current job and potential satisfaction with job alternatives, which is inherent in theorizing about individual turnover decisions. The comparison of those anticipated ratings along with employee's current job satisfaction creates two operationalizations: the quantity of more desirable job alternatives and the quality (or extent of desirability) of job alternatives. To test the effectiveness of this novel approach, we applied recommender system algorithms to a longitudinal archival dataset of employees and had three main findings. First, the recommender system algorithms efficiently predicted job satisfaction based on just two sources of information (i.e., work history and job satisfaction in previous jobs), providing construct validity evidence for recommender systems. Second, both the quantity and the quality of more desirable job alternatives compared to the current job positively correlated with employees’ future turnover behavior. Finally, our CF recommender system algorithms predicted where employees moved to, and even more effectively if constraining the alternative jobs to the same occupation. We conclude with implications how recommender system algorithms can help scholars effectively test theoretical ideas and practitioners predict and reduce turnover.