bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TGF-β Mediated Cell Adhesion Dynamics and Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in 3D and 2D Ovarian Cancer Models
Authors: Ameri Wafa Al , Ahmed Ikhlak , Al-Dasim Fatima M. , Mohamoud Yasmin Ali , AlAzwani Iman K. , Malek Joel A. , Karedath Thasni
Published: November 2018

Background

Three-dimensional (3D) tumor cultures in vitro have recently regained attention as they have been acclaimed to have higher similarity to in vivo tumors than cells grown in conventional monolayers (2D). Cancer cells in 2D monolayers fail to mimic the exact tumor microenvironment existing in the real clinical samples. The 3D anchorage-independent cancer models can better explain the cell adhesion properties in ovarian cancer cells.

Results

Transcriptome profiling of 3D models compared to 2D models in various cancer cell lines shows differential expression of TGF-β-mediated and cell adhesion pathways. Presence of TGF-β in these cell lines shows an increased invasion potential which is specific to cell type. We decided to choose two ovarian cancer cell lines as model systems to study Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and cancer invasion based on their invasion potential and ability to switch the cadherins expression. TGF-β modulation in EMT and cancer invasion was successfully depicted in both 2D and 3D models of SKOV3 and CAOV3 cell lines. Functional evaluations in 3D and 2D models demonstrate that the addition of the exogenous TGF-β can induce EMT and invasion in cancer cells by turning them into aggressive phenotypes. TGF-β receptor kinase I inhibitor (LY364947) can revert TGF-β effect in these cells.

Conclusions

In a nutshell, TGF-β can induce EMT and migration, increase aggressiveness, increase cell survival, alter cell characteristics, remodel the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) and increase cell metabolism favorable for tumor invasion and metastasis.
Cross-cultural evaluation of consumer’s dynamic multisensory and emotional experience
Authors: Zhang Lekai , Wu Jianfeng , Zhang Kejun , Wolterink Kevin , Xing Baixi
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The acceleration of globalization is causing global trade transactions to become increasingly frequent, which leads to the internationalized design of consumer products. However, due to cultural differences, the user experience in different parts of the world with the same product may be different. In addition, the user experience is not static, but changes over the different usage stages for a product since the role of our senses may vary and different emotions may be elicited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the interaction between the user and the product influences cross-cultural sensory modalities and emotional responses to products.

Design/methodology/approach

Due to the fact that drinking tea can provide dynamic feedback of users’ sensory experiences including all five senses, two kinds of tea products from two considerably different cultures (China and the Netherlands) were chosen for the study. The experiment was conducted in five stages corresponding to different levels of interaction with two tea products. Measurements for both Chinese and Dutch participants were conducted by means of collecting subjective data for sensory modalities and emotions related to product experiences throughout the five stages.

Findings

Results showed that tea experience tends to be dynamic between the two different countries over different usage periods, including sensory modalities and the emotional responses.

Practical implications

The findings and design & market implications can be applied to optimize the design or market of international tea products or consumer products in other categories. They will be helpful for the international marketing of tea, especially for those who are interested in breaking into the Chinese tea market and those who are interested in promoting Chinese tea in new markets. In addition, the authors’ methods to evaluate the dynamics of the importance of sensory modalities and emotions could be used to test the user experience in the product lifecycle to help develop a successful international product.

Originality/value

The findings and the linked design implications could be important not only for a theoretical understanding of cross-cultural sensory and emotional feedback from a product experience, but also for the optimization of product design for the international market.
Exploratory factor analysis of skills requirement for PPP contract governance
Authors: Umar Abdullahi Ahmed , Zawawi Noor Amila Wan Abdullah , Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Rashid
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the skills required for effective contract management of public–private partnership (PPP) projects over their contract duration. The growing body of literature indicating the lack of expertise in managing PPP-related projects within the public sector prompted this study.

Design/methodology/approach

The study, being an exploratory one, relied on a survey of 207 survey responses from a sample of PPP experts across the globe. The data from the survey are a rich mix of responses from public policy experts, construction professionals, project finance experts, lawyers and academic researchers in PPP.

Findings

It was found through exploratory factor analysis that project management, financial engineering, negotiations, risk management, forecasting, stakeholder management and technical skills were very critical for successful contract management of PPP projects. It was also found that regional characteristics influence skills prioritisation.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study can be validated on larger data sets in specific countries and across regions, sectors and variety of PPP projects. Currently, the authors conducted a general survey using convenience sampling.

Practical implications

The results send a clear signal to practitioners that infrastructure regulation training programs cannot be generalised. Training should be tailored to reflect regional and country-specific characteristics.

Originality/value

The increasing failures and remunicipalisations of privately financed infrastructures is a cause for concern. Little attention has been given to the complicity of PPP regulatory institutions responsible for contract governance of such projects. Studies are increasingly pointing to the absence of critical PPP skills among institutions responsible for managing PPP contracts. This lack of capacity has resulted in poor oversight of private companies providing public services resulting in poor services, and financial recklessness which threaten the sustainability of service provision.
Inequality in the labor market: lower perceived returns among marginalized youths and girls
Authors: Banerji Manjistha , Deshpande Ashwini
Published: November 2018

Purpose

This paper examines perceived labor market earnings among adolescents and their parents by gender and caste. Previous research has established that lower subjective expectations of labor market returns among parents affect educational investment. Likewise, subjective expectations of adolescents about labor market returns are likely to affect their commitment to their education. In the labor market, gender and caste biases manifest itself in terms of lower wages for women and persons from marginalized communities. The authors ask if perceived earnings among adolescents and their parents vary by caste and gender over and above their intrinsic ability.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a unique dataset on adolescents that has been recently collected (2013-2015) by ASER Centre, the research and assessment wing of Pratham Education Foundation for the analysis. To answer the research question posed in the paper, they use standard OLS and quantile regression techniques.

Findings

Results confirm that girls have lower expected earnings than boys. Caste differences appear more rigid in Bihar.

Research limitations/implications

The authors recognize that the results presented do not take into consideration the issue of selection bias. Hence, they are applicable not to the average adolescents in the study districts, but only to those who reported expected earnings. That said, they do not think that this technical limitation dilutes the broad policy conclusions emerging from the study.

Originality/value

The paper uses cognition as a measure of an adolescent’s intrinsic ability. Therein lays the uniqueness of the paper. It brings into the discussion on expected earnings test scores as a measure of an adolescent’s cognitive ability. It is also unique in that it focuses on adolescents in the age group of 11-16 years who are likely to join the labor force in few years. Previous discussion of subjective expectations in India did not include any measure to capture cognitive ability and did not focus exclusively on adolescents.
Antibiotic-related meanings, experiences and information sources of women in the economic margins of urban Manila
Authors: Bernadas Jan Michael Alexandre Cortez
Published: November 2018

Purpose

Drawing insights from the culture-centered approach (Dutta-Bergman, 2004; Dutta, 2007), the purpose of this paper is to explore the meanings of, experiences with, and information sources for antibiotics among at-risk yet understudied populations in urban and economic margins in the Global South.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the exploratory purpose of this paper, it used qualitative approach specifically focus group discussions with mothers, guardians and female senior citizens from Manila, Philippines.

Findings

Antibiotics had multiple meanings – from purposes and modes of acquisition to side-effects. Experiences with antibiotics were not only tied to financial difficulties, but also in administering antibiotics to children or wards and managing side-effects. Furthermore, medical doctors were the most accessed and preferred sources of antibiotics-related information.

Originality/value

To date, this paper is one of the few to argue that knowing the conditions into which antibiotics are situated in the Global South is critical for strengthening global public health campaigns and policies against antimicrobial resistance a and reducing global health inequity.
Minimum quality standard regulation and entrepreneurial innovation
Authors: McCannon Bryan C.
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that minimum quality standards have on product quality when entrepreneurial innovation is considered.

Design/methodology/approach

The author develops a game-theoretic model. It is a standard vertical product differentiation model, but incorporates a minimum quality standard and uncertain entrepreneurial innovation.

Findings

While the minimum quality standard increases the expected quality of the low-quality product, under reasonable circumstances the expected quality of the high-quality good decreases. Thus, average quality can decrease with regulation intended to increase product quality.

Research limitations/implications

Past research on minimum quality standards does not consider its impact on entrepreneurial effort when their innovation investments lead to uncertain outcomes.

Practical implications

Minimum quality standard regulation can have counterproductive impacts if the impact on entrepreneurs is not considered. The regulation can disincentivize entrepreneurs leading to lower quality products.

Social implications

Regulation can be welfare reducing.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to incorporate entrepreneurial innovation into a product quality model to explore the impact of minimum quality standard regulation.
An intelligent video-monitoring system to detect falls: a proof of concept
Authors: Lapierre Nolwenn , Meunier Jean , St-Arnaud Alain , Rousseau Jacqueline
Published: November 2018

Purpose

To face the challenges raised by the high incidence of falls among older adults, the intelligent video-monitoring system (IVS), a fall detection system that respects privacy, was developed. Most fall detection systems are tested only in laboratories. The purpose of this paper is to test the IVS in a simulation context (apartment-laboratory), then at home.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a proof of concept including two phases: a simulation study to test the IVS in an apartment-laboratory (29 scenarios of activities including falls); and a 28-day pre-test at home with two young occupants. The IVS’s sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), accuracy (A) and error rate (E) in the apartment-laboratory were calculated, and functioning at home was documented in a logbook.

Findings

For phase 1, results are: Se =91.67 per cent, Sp =99.02 per cent, A=98.25 per cent, E=1.75. For phase 2, the IVS triggered four false alarms and some technical dysfunctions appeared (e.g. computer screen never turning off) that are easily overcome.

Practical implications

Results show the IVS’s efficacy at automatically detecting falls at home. Potential issues related to future installation in older adults’ homes were identified. This proof of concept led to recommendations about the installation and calibration of a camera-based fall detection system.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the potentialities of a camera-based fall detection system in real-world contexts and supports the use of the IVS to help older adults age in place.
Sleep quality among industrial workers: related factors and impact
Authors: Songkham Wanpen , Deeluea Jirawan , Suksatit Benjamas , Chaiard Jindarat
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prevalence and determinants of poor sleep quality among industrial workers in Thailand. Additionally, the authors assess the risk of work-related injuries associated with poor sleep quality.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive correlational research was implemented. A total of 472 workers from the northern region of Thailand contributed to this study. Sleep quality was assessed by the Thai version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Thai-PSQI). The score of more than five indicated poor sleep quality. Participants completed self-administered demographic, work characteristics and work-related injury questionnaires. Data were analyzed by applying descriptive and logistic regression statistical techniques.

Findings

More than one-third of the workers had reported poor sleep quality. Results from multivariable logistic regression analysis yielded male gender (OR = 2.74, 95% CI 1.46–5.17), alcohol drinking (OR=2.1, 95% CI 1.24–3.35), pain (OR=2.05, 95% CI 1.32–3.17) and rotating shift work (OR=1.94, 95% CI 1.23–3.05) increased the risk of poor sleep quality. Furthermore, poor sleep quality was statistically significantly associated with the risk of work-related injuries (OR = 3.98, 95% CI = 2.39–6.66).

Originality/value

Findings of this study indicate that the prevalence of poor sleep quality is high among industrial workers. Work characteristics and health behaviors were associated with poor sleep quality which increases the risk of work-related injuries. Modification of work environment and personal life style choices can improve quality of sleep among workers and consequently lower incidence of work-related injuries.
Multi-objective particle swarm optimisation approach for production-inventory control systems
Authors: AL-Khazraji Huthaifa , Cole Colin , Guo William
Published: November 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to optimise the dynamic performance of production–inventory control systems in terms of minimisation variance ratio between the order rate and the consumption, and minimisation the integral of absolute error between the actual and the target level of inventory by incorporating the Pareto optimality into particle swarm optimisation (PSO).

Design/method/approach

The production–inventory control system is modelled and optimised via control theory and simulations. The dynamics of a production–inventory control system are modelled through continuous time differential equations and Laplace transformations. The simulation design is conducted by using the state–space model of the system. The results of multi-objective particle swarm optimisation (MOPSO) are compared with published results obtained from weighted genetic algorithm (WGA) optimisation.

Findings

The results obtained from the MOPSO optimisation process ensure that the performance is systematically better than the WGA in terms of reducing the order variability (bullwhip effect) and improving the inventory responsiveness (customer service level) under the same operational conditions.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited to optimising the dynamics of a single product, single-retailer single-manufacturer process with zero desired inventory level.

Originality/value

PSO is widely used and popular in many industrial applications. This research shows a unique application of PSO in optimising the dynamic performance of production–inventory control systems.
Transformational leadership and four-dimensional commitment
Authors: Islam Talat , Tariq Jawad , Usman Bushra
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanism between transformational leadership (TL) and organizational commitment (OC) using job characteristics as a mediator and participative and directive leadership (DL) as moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a questionnaire-based survey to collect data from 563 employees working in the banking industry.

Findings

The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings confirmed the mediating role of job characteristics and moderating role of both participative and DL styles between TL and OC.

Research limitations/implications

The data for this study were collected at one point of time and it has implications for the policymakers and bankers.

Originality/value

The study is novel as it highlights the importance of job characteristics, participative and DL styles in understanding the relationship between TL and OC.
Lessons for commissioning and health outcomes from Her Majesty’s Prison Birmingham
Authors: Cassidy Jan , Caan Woody
Published: November 2018

Purpose

This study of HMP Birmingham was part of a much larger investigation of health needs assessment (HNA), in the context of a new “HNA Toolkit” developed by Public Health England for use in the prison service. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In 2015, details of prison healthcare in HMP Birmingham had figured in the authors’ analysis of documents. In 2018, a crisis in Birmingham typified problems developing more widely in England and Wales. Was the crisis predictable from the initial HNA?

Findings

Recommendations embodied in the 2015 HNA were not acted upon; the eventual problems that combined to overwhelm the running of HMP Birmingham were predictable.

Originality/value

Lessons from this case study could inform more coherent commissioning of prison health services. This in turn could promote timely developments for improved health and morale in the prison, amongst prisoners and staff. Longer term, this might help to avoid future crises.
A review of value drivers in service settings
Authors: Ruiz-Molina Maria-Eugenia , Gallarza Martina , Gil-Saura Irene
Published: November 2018

Purpose

Perceived value and customer loyalty have been studied jointly in most of services literature but mainly through SEM models. This paper aims to draw on the literature on the multidimensional richness of perceived value, to adopt a segmentation approach and explore segments of loyal consumers towards the service provider based on their value perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted among 460 Spanish consumers interviewed at the store exit of seven retail chains in two sectors (grocery and home furnishing). A CHAID analysis was performed on loyalty responses, through nine value dimensions (efficiency, service quality, product quality, emotional value, value for money, social value, aesthetic value, escapism and ethics).

Findings

Results show the existence of different groups of loyal customers based on the nine value types. Efficiency is prioritised by the most loyal customers in grocery but not for home furnishing. Emotional value and aesthetics, along with product quality determine the most loyal segments.

Practical implications

Retailers should focus on enhancing those value dimensions that better explain customer loyalty towards retail stores in their area of specialisation, combining not only tangible and intangible elements but also functional and emotional elements.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the prolific research on perceived value in services with a diachronic graphical review of value dimensions in retailing; furthermore, the range of value dimensions studied here is wider than most of previous works using dimensions of value in services.
Event news detection and citizens community structure for disaster management in social networks
Authors: Toujani Radhia , Akaichi Jalel
Published: November 2018

Purpose

Nowadays, the event detection is so important in gathering news from social media. Indeed, it is widely employed by journalists to generate early alerts of reported stories. In order to incorporate available data on social media into a news story, journalists must manually process, compile and verify the news content within a very short time span. Despite its utility and importance, this process is time-consuming and labor-intensive for media organizations. Because of the afore-mentioned reason and as social media provides an essential source of data used as a support for professional journalists, the purpose of this paper is to propose the citizen clustering technique which allows the community of journalists and media professionals to document news during crises.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop, in this study, an approach for natural hazard events news detection and danger citizen’ groups clustering based on three major steps. In the first stage, the authors present a pipeline of several natural language processing tasks: event trigger detection, applied to recuperate potential event triggers; named entity recognition, used for the detection and recognition of event participants related to the extracted event triggers; and, ultimately, a dependency analysis between all the extracted data. Analyzing the ambiguity and the vagueness of similarity of news plays a key role in event detection. This issue was ignored in traditional event detection techniques. To this end, in the second step of our approach, the authors apply fuzzy sets techniques on these extracted events to enhance the clustering quality and remove the vagueness of the extracted information. Then, the defined degree of citizens’ danger is injected as input to the introduced citizens clustering method in order to detect citizens’ communities with close disaster degrees.

Findings

Empirical results indicate that homogeneous and compact citizen’ clusters can be detected using the suggested event detection method. It can also be observed that event news can be analyzed efficiently using the fuzzy theory. In addition, the proposed visualization process plays a crucial role in data journalism, as it is used to analyze event news, as well as in the final presentation of detected danger citizens’ clusters.

Originality/value

The introduced citizens clustering method is profitable for journalists and editors to better judge the veracity of social media content, navigate the overwhelming, identify eyewitnesses and contextualize the event. The empirical analysis results illustrate the efficiency of the developed method for both real and artificial networks.
How to establish a good government? Lessons from Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore and Deng Xiaoping in China
Authors: Choi Franky K.H.
Published: November 2018

Purpose

Outside the US and Europe, to establish a good government requires more than Western-style democracy. Adopting universal suffrage fully from the Western model is no longer a panacea to reach the ultimate goal of good governance in the East, i.e., to keep promoting socio-economic renovation can be noted as a prerequisite to have further meaningful political advancement in an Asian polity. The purpose of this paper is to explain how to establish a good but authoritarian government in the East.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the good of comparative historical analysis, Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore and Deng Xiaoping in China are selected as both cases for “method of agreement.” Further including “argument based on the contrary” to form a context for macro-historical analysis, this paper outlines two characteristics of the duo’s authoritarian leadership, namely, Ideologies and Policy-making; and Political Modernization, and hence provides a more balanced reevaluation of their governance.

Findings

Apart from noting how these two Asian giants more or less contributed to their good but authoritarian governments for long in the twentieth century, such a word of authoritarianism to the duo was quite positive to help legitimize their governance, which was far different from many negative views of the Western world.

Originality/value

As theories put forward by Western academics could not entirely justify modernization among Asian societies in the twentieth century, this paper attempts to answer one question: Does the meaning of authoritarianism remain unchanged in the discourse of the East and the West?
A case study of the critical success factors for organizational change of a public listed corporation
Authors: Li Earnest
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain how an organization can achieve successful change implementation with Kotter’s eight-step organizational change model and 3-H (heart–head–hand) theory.

Design/methodology/approach

With the case study approach, the author recollects his career experience in Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited from 2007 to 2011 to find out why and how the top management can balance 3-H factor to bridge the “knowing” and “doing” gap to engage right talents and motivate them to achieve peak performance and company goal.

Findings

To create talent culture, the company implemented two policies including Mini-CEO management and Talent Engagement Department. The former is a vertical management model to empower and enable department heads. The latter is a way to change the role of human resources department from passive to proactive.

Originality/value

The implications of this case study are to encourage public and private organizations to rethink the factors including talent development and empowerment that can have a positive impact on innovative work behavior. Moreover, organizations can rediscover the value of “unique” talent culture as a sustainable competitive advantage.
Impact of financial leverage on profitability of listed manufacturing firms in China
Authors: Dalci Ilhan
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to explore how financial leverage influences profitability of 1,503 listed manufacturing firms in China.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample of the study is composed of the listed manufacturing firms in China. For the manufacturing firms, the annual financial information from 2008 to 2016 is obtained from the ORBIS database. In this study, initially a simultaneous equation approach is used to control for potential endogeneity. Then, additional regression analyses are conducted with panel data over the period of 2008-2016 using OLS, Fixed-effects, First-difference, Random-effects and Arellano and Bond’s (1991) two-step Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methods.

Findings

The results reveal that the impact of leverage on profitability is inverted U-shaped. In this inverted U-shaped relationship, the positive impact of financial leverage on profitability could be attributed to tax shield, whereas the negative impact might be because of bankruptcy cost, financial distress, severe agency problems and information asymmetry that the listed Chinese firms suffer from because of some institutional characteristics of China.

Research limitations/implications

First, this study focuses on only listed manufacturing firms in China. Second, ownership types are not taken into account in this study.

Practical implications

First, the Chinese government should direct its efforts toward developing the bond markets and promoting alternative privately owned loan creditors to state-owned banks. Parallel to this, the transformation process toward market economy should be accelerated to facilitate the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In addition to this, development of the bond market and privatization of SOEs will also mitigate the agency conflict between creditors and managers and between shareholders and managers.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study which investigates the impact of capital structure on profitability of the listed firms in China.
“Decent work” in the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh
Authors: Khan Sardana Islam , Bartram Timothy , Cavanagh Jillian , Hossain Md Sajjad , Akter Silvia
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspectives of 26 business owners, managers and supervisors on “decent work” (DW) in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative study draws on a framework of ethical human resource management and situated moral agency to establish the ways in which RMG workers are afforded DW. This study uses semi-structured interviews to assess the prospect of DW through applying the ILO’s four-pillar framework of DW.

Findings

Findings indicate there is a concern among owners and managers of the need to reconcile internal and external pressures to maintain and improve DW. It is evident that ethical practices and moral agency are not self-initiated but in response to mounting political and legal pressures and those of external stakeholders. Employers favour the concept of workers’ participation committees as one means to communicate and negotiate with workers rather than recognise trade unions.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to six organisations in the RMG sector in Bangladesh, but there are implications for all RMG sector organisations to promote reform and DW for all workers.

Practical implications

DW necessitates major national and international stakeholders to negotiate and cooperate to ensure the long-term competitiveness and survival of the Bangladeshi RMG sector.

Originality/value

The study calls for reform in a developing country where many workers are denied DW.
Typologies of internationalisation pathways of SMEs: what is new?
Authors: Coudounaris Dafnis N.
Published: November 2018

Purpose

This study aims to examine internationalisation pathways of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based on a sample from Manchester, UK, and it provides an exercise theory testing of the Uppsala model with data from SMEs from Manchester. It investigates the existence of new internationalisation pathways and the parallel use of four dimensions, namely, export intensity, export destination, time dimension and number of export markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The suggested model of international pathways is developed based on a survey of 110 firms located in the Greater Manchester area. The study of the population was based on a stratified sample of firms included in the KOMPASS directory in the Greater Manchester area. t-Test analysis was performed on combinations of the six pathways.

Findings

The results reveal that SMEs follow a pattern of internationalisation pathways consisting of non-exporters, traditional small exporters, traditional medium exporters, accelerated medium exporters, born globals and declining exporters. The paper concludes that the Uppsala model does not apply in this study.

Originality/value

There is evidence of a new pathway, i.e. accelerated medium exporters and the CEOs of Manchester SMEs, and governmental authorities in the UK should consider targeting this group or developing appropriate export promotion programmes.
Periphytic algae decouple fungal activity from leaf litter decomposition via negative priming
Authors: Halvorson Halvor M. , Barry Jacob R. , Lodato Matthew B. , Findlay Robert H. , Francoeur Steven N. , Kuehn Kevin A.
Published: November 2018

Well‐documented in terrestrial settings, priming effects describe stimulated heterotrophic microbial activity and decomposition of recalcitrant carbon by additions of labile carbon. In aquatic settings, algae produce labile exudates which may elicit priming during organic matter decomposition, yet the directions and mechanisms of aquatic priming effects remain poorly tested.

We tested algal‐induced priming during decomposition of two leaf species of contrasting recalcitrance, Liriodendron tulipifera and Quercus nigra, in experimental streams under light or dark conditions. We measured litter‐associated algal, bacterial, and fungal biomass and activity, stoichiometry, and litter decomposition rates over 43 days.

Light increased algal biomass and production rates, in turn increasing bacterial abundance 141%–733% and fungal production rates 20%–157%. Incubations with a photosynthesis inhibitor established that algal activity directly stimulated fungal production rates in the short term.

Algal‐stimulated fungal production rates on both leaf species were not coupled to long‐term increases in fungal biomass accrual or litter decomposition rates, which were 154%–157% and 164%–455% greater in the dark, respectively. The similar patterns on fast‐ vs. slow‐decomposing L. tulipifera and Q. nigra, respectively, indicated that substrate recalcitrance may not mediate priming strength or direction.

In this example of negative priming, periphytic algae decoupled fungal activity from decomposition, likely by providing labile carbon invested towards greater fungal growth and reproduction instead of recalcitrant carbon degradation. If common, algal‐induced negative priming could stimulate heterotrophy reliant on labile carbon yet suppress decomposition of recalcitrant carbon, modifying energy and nutrients available to upper trophic levels and enhancing organic carbon storage or export in well‐lit aquatic habitats.

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Effect of three semi‐occluded vocal tract therapy programmes on the phonation of patients with dysphonia: lip trill, water‐resistance therapy and straw phonation
Authors: Meerschman Iris , Van Lierde Kristiane , Ketels Julie , Coppieters Charlotte , Claeys Sofie , D'haeseleer Evelien
Published: November 2018

Background

To date, the immediate effects of a semi‐occluded vocal tract (SOVT) configuration have been thoroughly demonstrated. However, it is not yet sufficiently confirmed whether a therapy programme (i.e. longer than one session) using SOVT exercises leads to an enhanced phonation and improved vocal quality.

Aims

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of three SOVT therapy programmes: lip trill, water‐resistance therapy (WRT) and straw phonation, on the vocal quality, vocal capacities, psychosocial impact and vocal tract discomfort of patients with dysphonia.

Methods & Procedures

A blocked‐randomized sham‐controlled trial was used. Thirty‐five patients with dysphonia (mean age = 21 years; 33 women, two men) were assigned to either a lip trill group, a WRT group, a straw phonation group or a control group using blocked randomization. The lip trill, WRT and straw phonation groups practised their respective SOVT exercise across 3 weeks, whereas the control group received a sham treatment across the same time span. A multidimensional voice assessment consisting of both objective (multiparametric indices: Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI), Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI)) and subjective (subject's self‐report, auditory–perceptual evaluation) vocal outcomes was performed by a blinded assessor pre‐ and post‐therapy.

Outcomes & Results

Lip trill and straw phonation therapy led to a significant improvement in DSI. Auditory–perceptual grade and roughness significantly decreased after straw phonation. Lip trill and WRT both led to a significant decrease in Voice Handicap Index. Subjects reported a better self‐perceived vocal quality and a more comfortable voice production after WRT. No changes were found after the sham treatment in the control group.

Conclusions & Implications

Results suggest that SOVT therapy programmes including lip trill or straw phonation can improve the objective vocal quality in patients with dysphonia. Auditory–perceptual improvements were found after straw phonation therapy, whereas psychosocial improvements were found after lip trill and WRT. Patients seem to experience more comfort and a better self‐perceived vocal quality after WRT. This study supports the use of the three SOVT therapy programmes in clinical practice. They all had a positive impact on one or more outcomes of the multidimensional voice assessment. Strikingly, vocal quality outcomes were not in line with the subject's opinion. Larger‐scale investigation is needed to support these preliminary findings.
Does money have a role in the inflation process? Evidence from Australia
Authors: Hossain Akhand Akhtar
Published: November 2018

Inflation, defined as a sustained increase in the price level, is considered a monetary phenomenon, as it can be explained within the framework of money‐demand and money‐supply relationships. In the extant literature, money growth is shown to remain causally related to inflation across countries and over time, irrespective of the exchange rate regime and stability of the money‐demand function. Nevertheless, emerging literature suggests a diminishing role of money in the conduct of monetary policy for price stability, especially under inflation targeting. Monetary policy in Australia under inflation targeting since 1993 is an example of policy that denies a relationship between money growth and inflation. The proposition that money does not matter insofar as inflation is concerned seems odd in both theory and the best‐practice monetary policy for price stability. This paper uses annual data for the period 1970–2017 and quarterly data for the period 1970Q1–2015Q1. It deploys both the Johansen cointegration approach and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration approach to investigate for Australia whether money, real output, prices and the exchange rate (non‐stationary variables) maintain the long‐run price‐level relationship that the classical monetary theory suggests in the presence of such stationary variables as the domestic and foreign interest rates. As expected, the empirical findings for Australia are consistent with the classical long‐run price‐level relationship between money, real output, prices and the exchange rate. The error‐correction model of inflation confirms the presence of a cointegral relationship among these variables; it also provides strong evidence of a short‐run causal relationship between money supply growth and inflation. On the basis of a priori theoretical predictions and empirical findings, the paper draws the conclusion that the monetary aggregate and its growth rate matter insofar as inflation is concerned, irrespective of the strategy of monetary policy for price stability.
From Camp Town to International City: Us Military Base Expansion and Local Development in Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Authors: Martin Bridget
Published: November 2018

In Pyeongtaek, South Korea, the US military is currently completing construction of its largest overseas base, and tens of thousands of American troops, civilian workers and accompanying family members are relocating to the city. Activist and civil society groups fiercely opposed base expansion in Pyeongtaek, leading to violent confrontations with police in 2006. As many scholars have pointed out, the country's 1980s democratization and 1990s decentralization created the conditions in which such vocal anti‐US and anti‐base politics became possible. Yet it was under the very same conditions that South Korea's central government harnessed local aspirations for urban growth to counter the anti‐base protests. By deregulating land use in Pyeongtaek and promising support for a number of major urban projects, the central government sought to build support for US expansion in the city and re‐cast militarization as a desirable form of ‘international city’ development. Haunted by the specter of gritty soldier‐entertainment ‘camp town’ areas and eager to see urban growth, the city government joined with the central government in constructing Pyeongtaek's new urban vision. However, new projects intended as a form of collective compensation displaced thousands and sparked new protest movements.
Patterns of weight loss and their determinants in a sample of adults with overweight and obesity intending to lose weight
Authors: Eykelenboom Michelle , van Stralen Maartje M. , Poelman Maartje P. , Steenhuis Ingrid H.M.
Published: November 2018

Aim

Weight loss success is highly variable among individuals. Cluster analysis contributes to future intervention development by recognising this individual variability and identifying different weight loss patterns. Identifying determinants that differentiate between these patterns would explain the source of variability. Thus, we aimed to identify weight loss patterns and their determinants in adults with overweight and obesity.

Methods

The present study is a secondary analysis of data from the PortionControl@HOME study. The weight of 175 adults was measured at 0, 3 and 12 months and potential determinants were self‐reported using validated questionnaires at 0 and 3 months. Weight loss patterns were identified based on percent weight change during Phase 1 (0–3 months) and Phase 2 (3–12 months) using cluster analysis. Determinants were assessed using multinomial logistic regression.

Results

We identified three weight loss patterns: (i) low success, demonstrating low weight loss achievement, (ii) moderate success, demonstrating successful weight loss in Phase 1 followed by partial regain in Phase 2 and (iii) high success, demonstrating weight loss in Phase 1 followed by continued weight loss in Phase 2. Compared to the moderate success pattern, the low success pattern was negatively associated with power of food at baseline (i.e. the appetitive drive to consume highly palatable food) (odds ratio, OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.21–0.86) and change in portion control behaviour (i.e. the use of behavioural strategies to control the amount of food consumed) (OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.10–0.78).

Conclusions

Three weight loss patterns were identified in adults with overweight and obesity. Adults with greater power of food and increased portion control behaviour were less likely to exhibit an unsuccessful weight loss pattern.
Computer vs human: Deep learning versus perceptual training for the detection of neck of femur fractures
Authors: Adams Matthew , Chen Weijia , Holcdorf David , McCusker Mark W , Howe Piers DL , Gaillard Frank
Published: November 2018

Introduction

To evaluate the accuracy of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) for detecting neck of femur (NoF) fractures on radiographs, in comparison with perceptual training in medically‐naïve individuals.

Methods

This study extends a previous study that conducted perceptual training in medically‐naïve individuals for the detection of NoF fractures on a variety of dataset sizes. The same anteroposterior hip radiograph dataset was used to train two DCNNs (AlexNet and GoogLeNet) to detect NoF fractures. For direct comparison with perceptual training results, deep learning was completed across a variety of dataset sizes (200, 320 and 640 images) with images split into training (80%) and validation (20%). An additional 160 images were used as the final test set. Multiple pre‐processing and augmentation techniques were utilised.

Results

AlexNet and GoogLeNet DCNNs NoF fracture detection accuracy increased with larger training dataset sizes and mildly with augmentation. Accuracy increased from 81.9% and 88.1% to 89.4% and 94.4% for AlexNet and GoogLeNet respectively. Similarly, the test accuracy for the perceptual training in top‐performing medically‐naïve individuals increased from 87.6% to 90.5% when trained on 640 images compared with 200 images.

Conclusions

Single detection tasks in radiology are commonly used in DCNN research with their results often used to make broader claims about machine learning being able to perform as well as subspecialty radiologists. This study suggests that as impressive as recognising fractures is for a DCNN, similar learning can be achieved by top‐performing medically‐naïve humans with less than 1 hour of perceptual training.
The Toll‐Like Receptor 3 Agonist Poly(I:C) Induces Rapid and Lasting Changes in Gene Expression Related to Glutamatergic Function and Increases Ethanol Self‐Administration in Rats
Authors: Randall Patrick A. , Vetreno Ryan P. , Makhijani Viren H. , Crews Fulton T. , Besheer Joyce
Published: November 2018

Background

Growing evidence suggests that neuroimmune signaling via Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) alters brain circuitry related to alcohol use disorders. Both ethanol (EtOH) exposure and the TLR3 agonist, poly(I:C), increase brain TLR3 expression in neurons and glia. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that cortical TLR3 expression is correlated with lifetime EtOH intake in humans.

Methods

The current experiments investigated the consequences of poly(I:C) treatment on gene expression in 2 brain regions contributing to alcohol reinforcement, the insular cortex (IC) and nucleus accumbens (Acb) and on operant EtOH self‐administration, in Long Evans rats.

Results

TLR3 activation increased mRNA levels of neuroimmune genes (TLR3, COX2), glutamatergic genes (mGluR2, mGluR3, GLT1), and the trophic factor BDNF in Acb and IC. Furthermore, increases in each of these genes were correlated with increases in TLR3 mRNA, suggesting that TLR3 induction of these genes may impact excitatory transmission in IC and Acb. TLR3 activation also increased EtOH self‐administration 18 days postinjection and enhanced the effects of the mGluR2/3 agonist LY379268 to reduce EtOH self‐administration following poly(I:C).

Conclusions

Together, these findings suggest lasting consequences of TLR3 activation on gene expression including increases in Group II mGluRs in the Acb. Furthermore, we show an important role for TLR3 signaling in EtOH intake, and a functional involvement of Group II mGluRs.