bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Budgeting and advocacy to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities: a case study in Nepal
Authors: Chettry Laxman Kharal , Bohara Prakash , Bohara Ramesh C. , Jajal Ram Hari , Khadha Sarad , Subedi Hari , Giri Debesh , Sharma Sarbesh , Dhungana Upendra , van der Valen Matteus Thijs , Brogan John , Anderson Darcy M.
Published: January 2024

Barriers to achieving and sustaining access to water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management (collectively, “WASH”) in healthcare facilities include a supportive policy environment and adequate funding. While guidelines exist for assessing needs and making initial infrastructure improvements, there is little guidance on how to develop budgets and policies to sustain WASH services in the long-term. We conducted costing and advocacy activities in Thakurbaba municipality, Nepal, with the aim of developing a budget and operations and maintenance policy for WASH in healthcare facilities in partnership with the municipal government. Our objectives for this study are to (1) describe the process and methods used for costing and advocacy, (2) report the costs to achieve and maintain basic WASH services in the eight healthcare facilities of Thakurbaba municipality, and (3) report the outcomes of advocacy activities and policy development. We applied bottom-up costing to enumerate the resources necessary to achieve and maintain basic WASH services and their costs. The annual costs of WASH services ranged from USD 4,881 to 9,527 (including operations and maintenance and annualized capital investments). Cost findings were used to prepare annual budgets recommended to achieve and maintain basic access, which were presented to municipal government and incorporated into an operations and maintenance policy. To-date, the municipality has adopted the policy and established a recovery fund of USD 3,831 for repair and maintenance of infrastructure, and an additional USD 192 per facility for discretionary WASH spending. Advocacy at the national level for WASH in healthcare facilities is currently being championed by the municipality, and findings from this project are being used to inform development of a nationally costed plan for universal access. This study is intended to provide a roadmap for how cost data can be collected and applied to inform policy.
Clinical Impact of Contouring Variability for Prostate Cancer Tumor Boost
Authors: Zhong Allison Y. , Lui Asona J. , Kuznetsova Svetlana , Kallis Karoline , Conlin Christopher , Do Deondre D. , Domingo Mariluz Rojo , Manger Ryan , Hua Patricia , Karunamuni Roshan , Kuperman Joshua , Dale Anders M. , Rakow-Penner Rebecca , Hahn Michael E. , van der Heide Uulke A. , Ray Xenia , Seibert Tyler M.
Published: January 2024

Purpose

The focal radiotherapy (RT) boost technique was shown in the FLAME trial to improve prostate cancer outcomes without increasing toxicity. This technique relies on the accurate delineation of prostate tumors on MRI. The ReIGNITE RT Boost study evaluated radiation oncologists’ accuracy when asked to delineate prostate tumors on MRI and demonstrated high variability in tumor contours. We sought to evaluate the impact of contour variability and inaccuracy on predicted clinical outcomes. We hypothesized that radiation oncologists’ contour inaccuracies would yield meaningfully worse clinical outcomes.

Materials & Methods

44 radiation oncologists and 2 expert radiologists contoured prostate tumors on 30 patient cases. Of these cases, those with CT simulation or diagnostic CT available were selected for analysis. A knowledge-based planning model was developed to generate focal RT boost plans for each contour per the FLAME trial protocol. Probability of biochemical failure (BF) was determined using a model from the FLAME trial. The primary metric evaluated was delta BF (ΔBF=Participant BF – Expert BF). An absolute increase in BF ≥5% was considered clinically meaningful.

Results

8 patient cases and 394 target volumes for focal RT boost planning were included in this analysis. In general, participant plans were associated with worse predicted clinical outcomes compared to the expert plan, with an average absolute increase in BF of 4.3%. 37% of participant plans were noted to have an absolute increase in BF of 5% or more.

Conclusion

Radiation oncologists’ attempts to contour tumor targets for focal RT boost are frequently inaccurate enough to yield meaningfully inferior clinical outcomes for patients.
Benefits of Aeroallergen Testing on Oral Corticosteroid Bursts in Adults with Asthma
Authors: Gleeson Patrick K. , Morales Knashawn H. , Buckey Timothy M. , Fadugba Olajumoke O. , Apter Andrea J. , Christie Jason D. , Himes Blanca E.
Published: January 2024

BACKGROUND

Aeroallergen testing can improve precision care for persistent asthma and is recommended by the U.S. clinical guidelines. How testing benefits diverse populations of adults with asthma, and the importance of the testing modality used, are not fully understood.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to evaluate whether receipt of aeroallergen testing was associated with a reduction in oral corticosteroid (OCS) bursts.

METHODS

We used electronic health record data to conduct a retrospective, observational cohort study of adults with asthma who were prescribed an inhaled corticosteroid and had an Allergy/Immunology visit in a large health system between 1/1/2017-6/30/2022. Negative binomial regression models were used to evaluate whether OCS bursts in the 12-month period after an initial visit were reduced for patients who received aeroallergen testing. We also measured differences in benefit after excluding patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and smoking histories, and whether testing receipt was via skin prick or serum.

RESULTS

668/1,383 (48.3%) patients received testing. Receipt of testing was not associated with fewer bursts in all patients (incidence rate ratio (IRR)=0.83 versus no testing, p=0.059), but it was among never smokers without COPD (417/844 tested, IRR=0.68, p=0.004). The receipt ofskintesting was associated with fewer bursts in all patients (418/1,383 tested, IRR=0.77, p=0.02) and among never smokers without COPD (283/844 tested, IRR=0.59 versus no testing, p=0.001).

CONCLUSION

Guideline-concordant aeroallergen testing in the context of Allergy/Immunology care was associated with clinical benefit in a real-life, diverse cohort of adults with asthma. This benefit varied according to patient comorbidities and the testing modality.
Spike transmission failures in axons from mouse cortical pyramidal neurons in vivo
Authors: Ofer Netanel , Cornejo Victor Hugo , Yuste Rafael
Published: January 2024

The propagation of action potentials along axons is traditionally considered to be reliable, as a consequence of the high safety factor of action potential propagation. However, numerical simulations have suggested that, at high frequencies, spikes could fail to invade distal axonal branches. Given the complex morphologies of axonal trees, with extensive branching and long-distance projections, spike propagation failures could be functionally important. To explore this experimentallyin vivo, we used an axonal-targeted calcium indicator to image action potentials at axonal terminal branches in superficial layers from mouse somatosensory cortical pyramidal neurons. We activated axons with an extracellular electrode, varying stimulation frequencies, and computationally extracted axonal morphologies and associated calcium responses. We find that axonal boutons have higher calcium accumulations than their parent axons, as was reportedin vitro. But, contrary to previousin vitroresults, our data reveal spike failures in a significant subset of branches, as a function of branching geometry and spike frequency. The filtering is correlated with the geometric ratio of the branch diameters, as expected by cable theory. These findings suggest that axonal morphologies contribute to signal processing in the cortex.
Brain-wide impacts of sedation on spontaneous activity and auditory processing in larval zebrafish
Authors: Favre-Bulle Itia A. , Muller Eli , Lee Conrad , Scholz Leandro A. , Arnold Joshua , Munn Brandon , Wainstein Gabriel , Shine James M. , Scott Ethan K.
Published: January 2024

Despite their widespread use, we have limited knowledge of the mechanisms by which sedatives mediate their effects on brain-wide networks. This is, in part, due to the technical challenge of observing activity across large populations of neurons in normal and sedated brains. In this study, we examined the effects of the sedative dexmedetomidine, and its antagonist atipamezole, on spontaneous brain dynamics and auditory processing in zebrafish larvae. Our brain-wide, cellular-resolution calcium imaging reveals, for the first time, the brain regions involved in these network-scale dynamics and the individual neurons that are affected within those regions. Further analysis reveals a variety of dynamic changes in the brain at baseline, including marked reductions in spontaneous activity, correlation, and variance. The reductions in activity and variance represent a “quieter” brain state during sedation, an effect that causes highly correlated evoked activity in the auditory system to stand out more than it does in un-sedated brains. We also observe a reduction in auditory response latencies across the brain during sedation, suggesting that the removal of spontaneous activity leaves the core auditory pathway free of impingement from other non-auditory information. Finally, we describe a less dynamic brain-wide network during sedation, with a higher energy barrier and a lower probability of brain state transitions during sedation. In total, our brain-wide, cellular-resolution analysis shows that sedation leads to quieter, more stable, and less dynamic brain, and that against this background, responses across the auditory processing pathway become sharper and more prominent.

Significance Statement

Animals’ brain states constantly fluctuate in response to their environment and context, leading to changes in perception and behavioral choices. Alterations in perception, sensorimotor gating, and behavioral selection are hallmarks of numerous neuropsychiatric disorders, but the circuit- and network-level underpinnings of these alterations are poorly understood.

Pharmacological sedation alters perception and responsiveness and provides a controlled and repeatable manipulation for studying brain states and their underlying circuitry. Here, we show that sedation of larval zebrafish with dexmedetomidine reduces brain-wide spontaneous activity and locomotion but leaves portions of brain-wide auditory processing and behavior intact. We describe and computationally model changes at the levels of individual neurons, local circuits, and brain-wide networks that lead to altered brain states and sensory processing during sedation.
A statistical learning method for simultaneous copy number estimation and subclone clustering with single-cell sequencing data
Authors: Qin Fei , Cai Guoshuai , Amos Christopher I. , Xiao Feifei
Published: January 2024

The availability of single-cell sequencing (SCS) enables us to assess intra-tumor heterogeneity and identify cellular subclones without the confounding effect of mixed cells. Copy number aberrations (CNAs) have been commonly used to identify subclones in SCS data using various clustering methods, as cells comprising a subpopulation are found to share a genetic profile. However, currently available methods may generate spurious results (e.g., falsely identified variants) in the procedure of CNA detection, thereby diminishing the accuracy of subclone identification within a large, complex cell population. In this study, we developed a subclone clustering method based on a fused lasso model, referred to as FLCNA, which can simultaneously detect CNAs in single-cell DNA sequencing (scDNA-seq) data. Spike-in simulations were conducted to evaluate the clustering and CNA detection performance of FLCNA, benchmarking it against existing copy number estimation methods (SCOPE, HMMcopy) in combination with commonly used clustering methods. Application of FLCNA to a scDNA-seq data set of breast cancer revealed different genomic variation patterns in neoadjuvant chemotherapy-treated samples and pretreated samples. We show that FLCNA is a practical and powerful method for subclone identification and CNA detection with scDNA-seq data.
Oxidative stress accelerates intestinal tumorigenesis by enhancing 8-oxoguanine-mediated mutagenesis in MUTYH-deficient mice
Authors: Ohno Mizuki , Takano Noriko , Hidaka Kyoko , Sasaki Fumiko , Yamauchi Kazumi , Aoki Yasunobu , Nohmi Takehiko , Nakabeppu Yusaku , Nakatsu Yoshimichi , Tsuzuki Teruhisa
Published: January 2024

Oxidative stress–induced DNA damage and its repair systems are related to cancer etiology; however, the molecular basis triggering tumorigenesis is not well understood. Here, we aimed to explore the causal relationship between oxidative stress, somatic mutations in pre-tumor-initiated normal tissues, and tumor incidence in the small intestines of MUTYH-proficient and MUTYH-deficient mice. MUTYH is a base excision repair enzyme associated with human colorectal cancer. Mice were administered different concentrations of potassium bromate (KBrO3; an oxidizing agent)–containing water for 4 wk for mutagenesis studies or 16 wk for tumorigenesis studies. AllMutyh−/−mice treated with >0.1% KBrO3developed multiple tumors, and the average tumor number increased dose dependently. Somatic mutation analysis ofMutyh−/−/rpsLtransgenic mice revealed that G:C  > T:A transversion was the only mutation type correlated positively with KBrO3dose and tumor incidence. These mutations preferentially occurred at 5′G in GG and GAA sequences inrpsL. This characteristic mutation pattern was also observed in the genomic region ofMutyh−/−tumors using whole-exome sequencing. It closely corresponded to signature 18 and SBS36, typically caused by 8-oxo-guanine (8-oxoG). 8-oxoG-induced mutations were sequence context dependent, yielding a biased amino acid change leading to missense and stop-gain mutations. These mutations frequently occurred in critical amino acid codons of known cancer drivers,ApcorCtnnb1, known for activating Wnt signal pathway. Our results indicate that oxidative stress contributes to increased tumor incidence by elevating the likelihood of gaining driver mutations by increasing 8-oxoG-mediated mutagenesis, particularly under MUTYH-deficient conditions.
Dynamically massive linear covariant gauges: Setup and first results
Authors: Comitini Giorgio , De Meerleer Tim , Dudal David , Sorella Silvio Paolo
Published: January 2024

We discuss the possibility to obtain a massive Landau gauge, based on the local composite operator effective action framework combined with the Zimmermann reduction of couplings prescription. As a way to deal with the gauge ambiguity, we check that the ghost propagator remains positive, a necessary condition for gluon field configurations beyond the Gribov region to be negligible. We pay attention to the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin invariance of the construction, allowing for a future generalization to a class of massive linear covariant gauges. As a litmus test, we compare our predictions to the lattice data for the two-point functions in Landau gauge introducing the “dynamically infrared-safe” renormalization scheme, including the renormalization group optimization of both the gap equation and the two-point functions. We also discuss the relation to and differences with the Curci-Ferrari model, the usefulness of which in providing an effective perturbative description of nonperturbative Yang-Mills theories became clear during recent years.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Predicting
sin(2ϕ−ϕs)
azimuthal asymmetry in pion-proton induced Drell-Yan process using holographic light-front QCD
Authors: Gurjar Bheemsehan , Mondal Chandan
Published: January 2024

We compute the sin(2ϕ−ϕS) azimuthal asymmetry in the pion-nucleon induced Drell-Yan process within transverse momentum dependent factorization. We employ the holographic light-front pion wave functions to calculate its leading-twist transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDs). The Boer-Mulders TMD of the pion is then convoluted with the transversity TMD of the proton evaluated in a light-front quark-diquark model constructed with the wave functions predicted by the soft-wall AdS/QCD to obtain the azimuthal asymmetry in the Drell-Yan process. The gluon rescattering is pivotal to predict nonzero pion Boer-Mulders TMD. We investigate the utility of a nonperturbative SU(3) gluon rescattering kernel going beyond the usual approximation of perturbative U(1) gluons. The holographic light-front QCD approach provides a powerful tool for exploring the role of nonperturbative QCD effects in the Drell-Yan process and may help to guide future experimental measurements.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Anomalous dimensions of partially conserved higher-spin currents from conformal field theory: Bosonic
ϕ2n
theories
Authors: Guo Yongwei , Li Wenliang
Published: January 2024

In the free □k scalar conformal field theory, there exist conserved and partially conserved higher-spin currents. We study their anomalous dimensions associated with ϕ2n interaction in the ε expansion. We derive general formulas for the leading corrections from the conformal multiplet recombination, and verify their consistency with crossing symmetry using the Lorentzian inversion formula. The results are further extended to the O(N) models.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Nip risks in the bud: research data ethics governance framework and collaborative network from the perspective of UK policy
Authors: Si Li , Liu Xianrui
Published: January 2024

Purpose

This research aims to explore the research data ethics governance framework and collaborative network to optimize research data ethics governance practices, to balance the relationship between data development and utilization, open sharing, data security and to reduce the ethical risks that may arise from data sharing and utilization.

Design/methodology/approach

This study explores the framework and collaborative network of research data ethics policies by using the UK as an example. 78 policies from the UK government, university, research institution, funding agency, publisher, database, library and third-party organization are obtained. Adopting grounded theory (GT) and social network analysis (SNA), Nvivo12 is used to analyze these samples and summarize the research data ethics governance framework. Ucinet and Netdraw are used to reveal collaborative networks in policy.

Findings

Results indicate that the framework covers governance context, subject and measure. The content of governance context contains context description and data ethics issues analysis. Governance subject consists of defining subjects and facilitating their collaboration. Governance measure includes governance guidance and ethics governance initiatives in the data lifecycle. The collaborative network indicates that research institution plays a central role in ethics governance. The core of the governance content are ethics governance initiatives, governance guidance and governance context description.

Research limitations/implications

This research provides new insights for policy analysis by combining GT and SNA methods. Research data ethics and its governance are conceptualized to complete data governance and research ethics theory.

Practical implications

A research data ethics governance framework and collaborative network are revealed, and actionable guidance for addressing essential aspects of research data ethics and multiple subjects to confer their functions in collaborative governance is provided.

Originality/value

This study analyzes policy text using qualitative and quantitative methods, ensuring fine-grained content profiling and improving policy research. A typical research data ethics governance framework is revealed. Various stakeholders' roles and priorities in collaborative governance are explored. These contribute to improving governance policies and governance levels in both theory and practice.
Life cycle sustainability tracker: a dynamic approach
Authors: Tokede Olubukola , Globa Anastasia
Published: January 2024

Purpose

This paper bridges the gap between the theory and practice by developing a life cycle sustainability tracker (LCST). The study is seeking to proffer solutions to an observed shortcoming of conventional life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) communication platforms. Notably, the static nature of the information provided on such platforms has made it difficult for them to be used for real-time decision-making and predictions. The main aim of this paper is to develop a LCST that facilitates a dynamic visualisation of life cycle sustainability results and allows for an integrated benchmark across the dimensions of sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The study leverages the model development capabilities of the design science research strategy in accomplishing a dynamic and novel communication platform. A life cycle thinking methodology and appropriate multicriteria decision approach (MCDA) is applied to accomplish a comprehensive, streamlined and replicable approach in mapping and tracking the progress of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) projects in India.

Findings

It was found that: (1) The use of the LCST tracker provides a dynamic and holistic insight into the key LCSA indicators with clearly defined benchmarks to assess the impact on the SDG 11, (2) The NIP projects achieve an upward trend across all the regions, and the percentage of opportunities ranges from 11 to 24%, with the South experiencing the highest growth and the North having the minimal increase in percentage and (3) The assessment score (52–58%) provides performance metrics that align well with the LCST – which ranges between “Fair” and “Average” for all the regions in India.

Originality/value

The novelty of this research is that the LCST provides a transparent and harmonised approach to reporting on the LCSA results. The LCST utilises heat maps and radial mapping to achieve an intuitive display of large amounts of highly heterogeneous data, thus allowing the synthesis of large sets of information compactly and with coherence. Progress towards the SDGs change on a yearly basis; hence, a dynamic LCSA tool provides a timely and the valuable context to map and track performance across different regions and contexts.
How is geopolitical risk associated with food prices?
Authors: Sun Ting-Ting , Su Chi Wei
Published: January 2024

Purpose

The study investigates the inter-linkages between geopolitical risk (GPR) and food price (FP).

Design/methodology/approach

By employing the bootstrap full- and sub-sample rolling-window Granger causality tests.

Findings

The empirical results show that there is a time-varying bidirectional causality between GPR and FP. High GPR leads to a rise in FP, suggesting that geopolitical events usually may disrupt supply and demand conditions in food markets, and even trigger global food crises. However, the negative effect of GPR on FP does not support this view in certain periods. This is mainly because GPR is also related to the global economic situation and oil price, which together have impacts on the food market. These results cannot always be supported by the inter-temporal capital asset pricing model, which states that GPR affects FP in a positive manner. Conversely, there is a positive impact of FP on GPR, indicating that the food market is an effective tool that can reflect global geopolitical environment.

Originality/value

In the context of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, these analyses can assist investors and policymakers to understand the sensitivity of FP to GPR. Also, it will provide significant revelations for governments to attach importance to the role of food price information in predicting geopolitical events, thus contributing to a more stable international environment.
Interactive spatiotemporal LSTM approach for enhanced industrial fault diagnosis
Authors: Zhang Tan , Huang Zhanying , Lu Ming , Gu Jiawei , Wang Yanxue
Published: January 2024

Purpose

Rotating machinery is a crucial component of large equipment, and detecting faults in it accurately is critical for reliable operation. Although fault diagnosis methods based on deep learning have been significantly developed, the existing methods model spatial and temporal features separately and then weigh them, resulting in the decoupling of spatiotemporal features.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a spatiotemporal long short-term memory (ST-LSTM) method for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. The authors collected vibration signals from real rolling bearing and gearing test rigs for verification.

Findings

Through these two experiments, the authors demonstrate that machine learning methods still have advantages on small-scale data sets, but our proposed method exhibits a significant advantage due to the simultaneous modeling of the time domain and space domain. These results indicate the potential of the interactive spatiotemporal modeling method for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery.

Originality/value

The authors propose a ST-LSTM method for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. The authors collected vibration signals from real rolling bearing and gearing test rigs for verification.
Effect of pocket orientation on four pocket hybrid journal bearing operating with piezo-viscous polar lubricant
Authors: Singh Vishal , Rajput Arvind K.
Published: January 2024

Purpose

The present paper aims to analyse the synergistic effect of pocket orientation and piezo-viscous-polar (PVP) lubrication on the performance of multi-recessed hybrid journal bearing (MHJB) system.

Design/methodology/approach

To simulate the behaviour of PVP lubricant in clearance space of the MHJB system, the modified form of Reynolds equation is numerically solved by using finite element method. Galerkin’s method is used to obtain the weak form of the governing equation. The system equation is solved by Gauss–Seidal iterative method to compute the unknown values of nodal oil film pressure. Subsequently, performance characteristics of bearing system are computed.

Findings

The simulated results reveal that the location of pressurised lubricant inlets significantly affects the oil film pressure distribution and may cause a significant effect on the characteristics of bearing system. Further, the use of PVP lubricant may significantly enhances the performance of the bearing system, namely.

Originality/value

The present work examines the influence of pocket orientation with respect to loading direction on the characteristics of PVP fluid lubricated MHJB system and provides vital information regarding the design of journal bearing system.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2023-0241/
Robotic arm tracking control through smooth switching LPV controller based on LPV modeling and torque approximation
Authors: Fazli Ali , Kazemi Mohammad Hosein
Published: January 2024

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a new linear parameter varying (LPV) controller for the robot tracking control problem. Using the identification of the robot dynamics in different work space points about modeling trajectory based on the least square of error algorithm, an LPV model for the robotic arm is extracted.

Design/methodology/approach

Parameter set mapping based on parameter component analysis results in a reduced polytopic LPV model that reduces the complexity of the implementation. An approximation of the required torque is computed based on the reduced LPV models. The state-feedback gain of each zone is computed by solving some linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) to sufficiently decrease the time derivative of a Lyapunov function. A novel smoothing method is used for the proposed controller to switch properly in the borders of the zones.

Findings

The polytopic set of the resulting gains creates the smooth switching polytopic LPV (SS-LPV) controller which is applied to the trajectory tracking problem of the six-degree-of-freedom PUMA 560 robotic arm. A sufficient condition ensures that the proposed controller stabilizes the polytopic LPV system against the torque estimation error.

Practical implications

Smoothing of the switching LPV controller is performed by defining some tolerances and creating some quasi-zones in the borders of the main zones leading to the compressed main zones. The proposed torque estimation is not a model-based technique; so the model variation and other disturbances cannot destroy the performance of the suggested controller. The proposed control scheme does not have any considerable computational load, because the control gains are obtained offline by solving some LMIs, and the torque computation is done online by a simple polytopic-based equation.

Originality/value

In this paper, a new SS-LPV controller is addressed for the trajectory tracking problem of robotic arms. Robot workspace is zoned into some main zones in such a way that the number of models in each zone is almost equal. Data obtained from the modeling trajectory is used to design the state-feedback control gain.
Does employee envy drive service sabotage? Evidence from hotel organizations
Authors: Shoukat Muhammad Haroon , Elgammal Islam , Khan Mukaram Ali , Selem Kareem M.
Published: January 2024

Purpose

Using the theoretical framework of social comparison theory (SCT), this study investigates the effects of employee envy on service sabotage behaviors in the hospitality industry. It further examines the complex dynamics of self-performance and job dissatisfaction in this context. Notably, this paper seeks to determine the potential moderating role of perceived employability in the interactions between service sabotage, employee envy, job dissatisfaction and self-performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Our research structure was divided into four distinct models. The findings of Model 1 highlight the significant impact of employee envy on service sabotage. The analysis in Model 2a shows that job dissatisfaction acts as a partial mediator in the employee envy and service sabotage linkage. On the other hand, Model 2b reveals self-performance as yet another partial mediator between envy-service sabotage relationships. In turn, Model 3 demonstrates that job dissatisfaction and self-performance play a serial mediation role in the envy-service sabotage relationship. In addition, our research shows that perceived employability effectively moderates the three proposed paths within these relationships.

Findings

Our research structure was divided into four distinct models. The findings of Model 1 highlight the significant impact of employee envy on service sabotage. The analysis in Model 2a shows that job dissatisfaction acts as a partial mediator in the employee envy and service sabotage linkage. On the other hand, Model 2b reveals self-performance as yet another partial mediator between envy-service sabotage relationships. In turn, Model 3 demonstrates that job dissatisfaction and self-performance play a serial mediation role in the envy-service sabotage relationship. In addition, our research shows that perceived employability effectively moderates the three proposed paths within these relationships.

Research limitations/implications

Hotel managers must keep a close eye on their front-of-house staff to avoid any unintentional or direct interactions with customers. Equally important is the consistent and impartial treatment of all employees, which is an important consideration for managers to consider because it can help mitigate employee envy and job dissatisfaction.

Originality/value

This study seeks to enhance understanding of SCT by emphasizing perceived employability as a boundary influencing the relationships between these factors and desired outcomes in the hotel industry, such as job dissatisfaction, self-performance and service sabotage. This paper is an initial attempt to investigate the underlying mechanisms in the relationship between envy and service sabotage.
Size-dependent vibration analysis of the simply supported functionally graded porous material Al-Al2O3 rectangle microplates based on the modified couple stress theory with innovative consideration of neutral plane and scale distribution
Authors: Shi Shaonan , Tang Feixiang , Yu Yongqiang , Guo Yuzheng , Dong Fang , Liu Sheng
Published: January 2024

Purpose

Hoping to uncover the physical principles of the vibration of the functionally graded material (FGM) microplate, by which the authors can make contributions to the design and manufacturing process in factories like micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) and other industries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors design a method by establishing a reasonable mathematical model of the physical microplate composed of a porous FGM.

Findings

The authors discover that the porosity, the distributions of porosity, the power law of the FGM and the length-to-thickness ratio all affect the natural frequency of the vibration of the microplate, but in different ways.

Originality/value

Originally proposed a model of the micro FGM plate considering the different distributions of the porosity and scale effect and analyzed the vibration frequency of it.
Transcriptome analysis of the response of Lactiplantibacillus plantarumIMAU10120 to infection by phage P2
Authors: Wen Qiannan , Lv Ruirui , Zhang Can , Lian Weiqi , Liu Runze , Chen Xia
Published: January 2024

Bacteriophage infection of lactic acid bacteria remains a significant problem in the food fermentation industry. To improve understanding about the underlying mechanism of phage–host infection, we used RNA sequencing technology to investigate the effect of phage infection on the expression of host genes based on the one‐step growth curve. Results identified a total of 3207 genes, of which 178 showed a significant differential expression in phage‐infected host. Moreover, bioinformatic analyses unravelled that these genes regulated many processes in host bacteria, including ribosome, RNA polymerase, DNA replication and metabolic pathways. This study further elucidates the response of host bacteria to phage infection. These results provide valuable data for developing effective phage control measures and improving the success rate of fermentation in the dairy industry.
Exposure to microplastics and human reproductive outcomes: A systematic review
Authors: Hunt Kathryn , Davies Anna , Fraser Abigail , Burden Christy , Howell Amy , Buckley Kirsten , Harding Sam , Bakhbakhi Danya
Published: January 2024

Background

Microplastics, produced through degradation of environmental plastic pollution, have been detected in human tissues including placenta and fetal meconium. Cell culture and animal studies have demonstrated potential reproductive toxicity of these particles; however, their association with adverse fertility or pregnancy outcomes in humans is not known.

Objectives

To synthesise evidence for the presence of microplastics in human reproductive tissue and their associations with environmental exposures and reproductive outcomes.

Search Strategy

MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov and ICTRP were searched from inception to 03/02/2023.

Selection Criteria

Studies of human participants, assessing presence of microplastics in reproductive tissues, environmental exposures to microplastics, and fertility‐ or pregnancy‐related outcomes.

Data Collection and Analysis

Two independent reviewers selected studies and extracted data on study characteristics, microplastics detected, environmental exposures and reproductive outcomes. Narrative synthesis was performed due to methodological heterogeneity.

Main Results

Of 1094 citations, seven studies were included, covering 96 participants. Microplastics composed of 16 different polymer types were detected in both placental and meconium samples. Two studies reported associations between lifestyle factors (daily water intake, use of scrub cleanser or toothpaste, bottled water and takeaway food) and placental microplastics. One study reported associations between meconium microplastics and reduced microbiota diversity. One reported placental microplastic levels correlated with reduced birthweights and 1‐minute Apgar scores.

Conclusions

There is a need for high‐quality observational studies to assess the effects of microplastics on human reproductive health.
Developing the emotion regulation skills of autistic pupils in educational settings: A systematic literature review
Authors: Bennett Joanne , Parsons Sarah , Kovshoff Hanna
Published: January 2024

Moderating the intensity and expression of our emotions is necessary for successful engagement in learning. This systematic review explored, “what are schools doing to support autistic children and young people to develop their emotion regulation skills?” Critical analyses considered the inclusiveness of interventions and whether/how autistic pupils were asked about their participation. PsycINFO, Web of Science (Core Collection) and ERIC were searched on 18 July 2022. Eight studies were included, incorporating 419 autistic pupils, aged three to 17, from at least 955 schools in the USA, Australia and France. A narrative synthesis was used to provide an overview of the literature. Seven different approaches to emotion regulation were utilised, and only one was used in the school prior to the research. Forty out of 419 autistic pupils were asked for their views of the intervention they received. There is a lack of research considering school‐led approaches to embedding emotion regulation skill development in everyday school practices and a lack of involvement of autistic pupil's views about emotion‐regulation interventions. More research is needed to enable educational professionals to provide evidence‐informed support for autistic pupils to develop their emotion regulation skills.
Local information advantage and stock returns: Evidence from social media
Authors: Huang Yuqin , Li Feng , Li Tong , Lin Tse‐Chun
Published: January 2024

We examine the information asymmetry between local and nonlocal investors with a large dataset of stock message board postings. We document that abnormal relative postings of a firm, that is, unusual changes in the volume of postings from local versus nonlocal investors, capture locals' information advantage. This measure positively predicts firms' short‐term stock returns as well as those of peer firms in the same city. Sentiment analysis shows that posting activities primarily reflect good news, potentially due to social transmission bias and short‐sales constraints. We identify the information driving return predictability through content‐based analysis. Abnormal relative postings also lead analysts' forecast revisions. Overall, investors' interactions on social media contain valuable geography‐based private information.
On the diversity‐based measures of equalness and evenness
Authors: Gregorius Hans‐Rolf , Gillet Elizabeth M.
Published: January 2024

While the notion of evenness is generally undisputed, its opposite, unevenness, is vague. Conventionally, evenness is understood to decrease, and thus unevenness to increase, as the effective number of types of positive frequency tends towards one while the number of types is held constant. Complete unevenness can thus be approached but never realized for more than one type. In order to arrive at explicit states of minimum evenness for any number of types, equalness is introduced as a complementary concept of evenness.

Realization of the new concept turns out to require a change in orientation from unevenness to unequalness. Decreasing evenness in the sense of increasing unequalness entails an increase in inequality among type frequencies. Unequalness can effectively be envisioned as the diversity in the distribution of step‐heights in a frequency distribution ranked in decreasing order (frequency profile).

Application of appropriate measures of diversity reveals that maximum unequalness (minimum equalness) is assumed for linearly decreasing frequency profiles (stepladders). A consistent diversity‐based measure of equalness is obtained by normalizing the step‐height diversity with respect to the number of types, with the result that this measure equals one for complete equalness/evenness (uniformity) and zero for complete unequalness (as in stepladders).

It turns out that the new equalness measure is highly sensitive to characteristics of frequency profiles that are commonly associated with the evenness notion but are poorly reflected by the conventional evenness measures as a consequence of the realization of their minimum for monomorphism.
Spatially coordinated conservation auctions: A framed field experiment focusing on farmland wildlife conservation in China
Authors: Liu Zhaoyang , Banerjee Simanti , Cason Timothy N. , Hanley Nick , Liu Qi , Xu Jintao , Kontoleon Andreas
Published: January 2024

How best to incentivize land managers to achieve conservation goals in an economically and ecologically effective manner is a key policy question that has gained increased relevance from the setting of ambitious new global targets for biodiversity conservation. Conservation (reverse) auctions are a policy tool for improving the environmental performance of agriculture, which has become well‐established in the academic literature and in policy making in the US and Australia. However, little is known about the likely response of farmers to incentives within such an auction to (1) increase spatial connectivity and (2) encourage collective participation. This paper presents the first framed field experiment with farmers as participants that examines the effects of two features of conservation policy design: joint (collective) participation by farmers and the incentivization of spatial connectivity. The experiment employs farmers in China, a country making increasing use of payments for ecosystem services to achieve a range of environmental objectives. We investigate whether auction performance—both economic and ecological—can be improved by the introduction of agglomeration bonus and joint bidding bonus mechanisms. Our empirical results suggest that, compared to a baseline spatially coordinated conservation auction, the performance of an auction with an agglomeration bonus, a joint bidding bonus, or both, is inferior on two key metrics—the environmental benefits generated and cost effectiveness realized.
Functional evaluation of physical performance, gait, balance and activities of daily living in older individuals with long COVID syndrome
Authors: Kosel Izzettin , Aydin Gamze , Taşcilar Uyanik Laçin Naz
Published: January 2024

Objective

The aim of our study was to evaluate the physical performance, balance, gait and activities of daily living (ADL) of older individuals with long COVID syndrome (LCS).

Methods

A total of 124 individuals (49% women) with a mean age of 71.8 ± 5.8 years were included in the study. Participants were divided into two groups, older individuals with LCS in the LCS group and older individuals who were not diagnosed with COVID‐19 in the CON (control) group. Physical performance of participants was evaluated with the Alusti Test, balance and gait assessment was evaluated with the Tinetti Balance and Gait Assessment (TBGA), and ADL were evaluated with the Barthel Index (BI).

Results

In the evaluations between groups, the mean score of active muscular mobility of right and left upper extremities, transfer supine position to sitting, trunk in sitting position and standing, which are among the subparameters of the Alusti Test, were statistically significantly lower in LCS compared to CON (p < .05). TBGA total score and gait section mean score of TBGA were statistically significantly lower in LCS than in CON (p < .05). There was no significant difference between the groups in the balance section of the TBGA and the mean BI scores (p > .05).

Conclusions

It was concluded that physical performance parameters related to active muscular mobility of the upper extremity, transfer supine position to sitting, trunk in sitting position and walking in LCS were negatively affected by the disease, but this did not affect the level of balance and independence in ADL.
Clinical implications of AGR2 in primary prostate cancer: Results from a large‐scale study
Authors: Wambach Moritz , Montani Matteo , Runz Josefine , Stephan Carsten , Jung Klaus , Moch Holger , Eberli Daniel , Bernhardt Marit , Hommerding Oliver , Kreft Tobias , Cronauer Marcus V. , Kremer Anika , Mayr Thomas , Hauser Stefan , Kristiansen Glen
Published: January 2024

Human anterior gradient‐2 (AGR2) has been implicated in carcinogenesis of various solid tumours, but the expression data in prostate cancer are contradictory regarding its prognostic value. The objective of this study is to evaluate the expression of AGR2 in a large prostate cancer cohort and to correlate it with clinicopathological data. AGR2 protein expression was analysed immunohistochemically in 1023 well‐characterized prostate cancer samples with a validated antibody. AGR2 expression levels in carcinomas were compared with matched tissue samples of adjacent normal glands. AGR2 expression levels were dichotomized and tested for statistical significance. Increased AGR2 expression was found in 93.5% of prostate cancer cases. AGR2 levels were significantly higher in prostate cancer compared with normal prostate tissue. A gradual loss of AGR2 expression was associated with increasing tumour grade (ISUP), and AGR2 expression is inversely related to patient survival, however, multivariable significance is not achieved. AGR2 is clearly upregulated in the majority of prostate cancer cases, yet a true diagnostic value appears unlikely. In spite of the negative correlation of AGR2 expression with increasing tumour grade, no independent prognostic significance was found in this large‐scale study.