bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Consumer demand for sustainability benchmarks in tourism and hospitality
Authors: D.A. Tasci Asli
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the potential influence of sociodemographic characteristics on consumers’ stated importance for sustainability benchmarks for satisfaction, the importance of different areas for benchmarks and the importance of different organizations having benchmarks.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative methods with a structured survey was applied on an online survey platform called Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, or MTurk. A total of 417 completed surveys were collected from residents in the USA; however, missing values reduced the sample size to 410 and 411 for some variables. The data were analyzed using descriptives, frequencies,t-test and one-way ANOVA test using SPSS version 24.

Findings

The results revealed consumers’ short-term focus on self-related benefits, rather than long-term-oriented sustainability concerns, and thus a lack of awareness and demand for sustainability-related benchmarks. Only gender showed a strong explanatory power in explaining the demand for all benchmarks, including those related to sustainability.

Research limitations/implications

The study was conducted online with volunteer participants, regarding their general attitudes rather than a specific consumption experience. On-site studies of consumers of organizations applying or not applying sustainability benchmarks could enable the identification of fresh attitudes and opinions as consumers experience the products and services of the organizations.

Practical implications

Organizations advocating sustainability may need to step up in increasing consumer awareness and attention. None of the formal sustainability-related certificates were mentioned by respondents. The burden of this education should perhaps also be placed on the organizations providing these certificates; they may need to start following the marketing approach, investigating consumers when formulating and promoting these certificates.

Social implications

In light of the socially desirable tendencies of human beings, marketing communication messages that relate ethics and moral development to sustainable behavior may be more compelling for both suppliers and consumers. Consumers with different ethical views may require different motivation for demanding sustainability benchmarks.

Originality/value

Although much attention has been focused on sustainable development, and many standardization tools and benchmarks have been developed to ensure sustainable tourism and hospitality practices, there is a lack of attention concerning consumers’ awareness of, demand for and especially, consumer characteristics that determine their demand for such benchmarks. The current study is one of the few that fill this void in literature.
Trends that are changing travel and tourism
Authors: Bowen John , Whalen Elizabeth
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to identify trends changing travel and tourism to help managers and researchers better understand these trends. This understanding will help organizations remain competitive in today’s dynamic environment. The rapid advance of technology is changing how consumers evaluate, use and discuss hospitality and tourism products. The common theme among the four trends in this paper is technology. The authors identified four trends related to technology and discuss the impact of these trends on hospitality and tourism. The paper provides implications for mangers and researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviewed both academic and trade literature to provide an overview of trends that are changing travel and tourism.

Findings

The author identified four trends: technology with a focus on robotics and artificial intelligence, big data analytics, social media and online communities and the sharing economy. The findings provide valuable insights for practitioners and researchers.

Originality/value

This paper provides a current view of how the advances in technology have evolved into four separate trends that are effecting both management and consumers. The current implications of these four trends are discussed as well as implications for the future.
Are millennials transforming global tourism? Challenges for destinations and companies
Authors: Veiga Célia , Santos Margarida Custódio , Águas Paulo , Santos José António C.
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of the millennials segment that is most likely to cause a significant disruption in the way the tourism sector is currently structured. A profile of this segment has been developed along with an analysis of the marketing implications for destinations and tourism providers.

Design/methodology/approach

The research involved examining academic, institutional and trade literature to provide an overview of the millennials profile and the related developments causing disruptive changes in the tourism sector.

Findings

The characteristics of the millennials with the greatest potential to disrupt the tourism sector are their strong digital skills, high degree of permanent connectivity, search for outstanding experiences and altruistic behaviours. The results already present from these characteristics – with a high probability of intensifying in the future – are the practice of volunteer tourism, search for places not connected with tourism and adoption of new, disruptive technologies. Even though volunteer tourism is an act of altruism, it can have harmful implications for tourist destinations in which it occurs. In addition, tourist invasions of places traditionally occupied only by residents can lead to the removal of locals from these places, manifestations of “tourismphobia” and ultimately degradation of these tourists’ experiences. Finally, the adoption of disruptive technologies by tourism agents to fulfil the millennials’ demands for immediate responses reduces human interactions highly valued by millennials and, therefore, requires close monitoring.

Originality/value

This study’s value arises from its systematic identification of the millennials characteristics that are most likely to disrupt the tourism sector’s functioning, allowing the relevant stakeholders to adopt proactive strategies, minimise potential negative impacts and maximise opportunities.
Madeira tourism strategy: how to re-qualify a destination
Authors: Jesus Eduardo
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The Regional Government of Madeira has developed a re-qualification plan for the tourism sector to guide implementation of the recently launched tourism strategy for the destination.

Design/methodology/approach

The plan identifies the areas for intervention and the respective measures and actions to implement.

Findings

Human relations, resource management and training are among the main components that contribute to the success of a tourism value chain. It is also true that innovation and modernization in all aspects of energy efficiency, the digital economy, the environment and internationalization, should be a priority.

Originality/value

Any experience that stands because it is authentic is likely to attract tourists and affirm the destination. The implication is that it is essential that destinations know how to assert its uniqueness locally, via a strategy for innovation and creativity, without losing sight of its history and its essence.
Trends in wine tourism: the Fladgate group perspective
Authors: Bridge Adrian
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the enotourism sector, which is likely to continue to accelerate. As a product, it is well aligned with the hospitality and tourism industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on information drawn from official sources.

Findings

In Porto, the Fladgate Partnership is currently developing a World of Wine concept which will bring together a number of attractions inside the old Port lodges in the centre of the city.

Originality/value

In a world looking for new experiences, enotourism is one of the few types of tourism that can literally touch all the senses.
How technology is successfully transforming travel to better serve the ever–connected digital consumer
Authors: Loureiro António
Published: October 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to explain how Travelport has responded to the trends and challenges of the travel industry. The travel platform by Travelport facilitates travel commerce by connecting the world’s leading travel providers with online and offline travel buyers in a proprietary business-to-business travel marketplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on information drawn from official information sources and relevant data from Travelport.

Findings

The key technology in play is the application programming interface (API). Driving travel performance is at the heart of Travelport’s mission, and the mobile-centric API encompasses the speed of search, relevancy of response and accuracy of data.

Originality/value

This paper presents the perspective of a global distribution system (GDS) operator regarding trends and challenges affecting the travel industry and the transformation of traditional GDS to travel commerce platforms.
Risk factors of lymph node metastasis in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer ≤ 2 cm in size: A monocentric population‐based analysis
Authors: Yu Xiyan , Li Yanwen , Shi Chunlei , Han Baohui
Published: October 2017

Aim

This study was designed to determine the risk factors of lymph node metastasis in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with tumors ≤ 2 cm, using the Shanghai Chest Hospital Lung Cancer Database.

Methods

Five hundred and eighteen patients with NSCLC ≤ 2 cm were included in this study, and were classified into lymph node‐positive and lymph node‐negative groups. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to select the independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis in NSCLC patients.

Results

No evidence of metastasis was found in tumors ≤ 1 cm, all positive results were in tumors sized 1–2 cm. Imaging characteristics, including solid and part‐solid nodules, were strongly associated with lymph node metastasis (odds ratio [OR] 24.959, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.999–103.835, P < 0.001; OR 12.559, 95% CI 3.564–44.259, P < 0.001) and subgroup logistic analysis (OR 21.384, 95% CI 5.058–90.407, P < 0.001; OR 11.632, 95% CI 3.290–41.126, P < 0.001). Greater lymph node metastasis was observed in non‐adeno non‐squamous carcinoma. The presence of pleural invasion and carcinoembryonic antigen levels indicated lymph node dissection. Similar results were revealed in subgroup analysis in tumors ≤ 2 to > 1 cm.

Conclusion

Size had a great impact on lymph node metastasis, especially tumors of 1–2 cm. Preoperative imaging, non‐adeno non‐squamous carcinoma, pleural invasion, and carcinoembryonic antigen all indicated lymph node dissection. There was no discrepancy between N1 and N2 positive lymph nodes.
Quantifying the strength of migratory connectivity
Authors: Cohen Emily B. , Hostetler Jeffrey A. , Hallworth Michael T. , Rushing Clark S. , Sillett T. Scott , Marra Peter P.
Published: October 2017

Technological advancements have spurred rapid growth in the study of migratory connectivity, the linkage of individuals and populations between seasons of the annual cycle. The strength of migratory connectivity is a measure of the co‐occurrence of populations throughout the annual cycle and can be represented by a correlation of the distances between individuals during one season and another (Mantel correlation, rM). However, measurement of seasonal distributions most often involves incomplete sampling and use of technologies that vary in accuracy and precision. For these reasons, we expanded rM to measure the strength of migratory connectivity (MC) with population‐specific transition probabilities that can be derived from many data types and uneven sampling.

We explore the sensitivity of MC to possible real‐world variation in input parameters: transition probabilities, abundance among regions, spatial arrangement of regions, and sample sizes. We compare MC to rM, present a series of resampling approaches for propagating uncertainty in input values into estimation of MC and rM, and validate the method with bird tracking data.

Migratory connectivity was negative when populations are further apart between seasons, positive when populations remain together between seasons, and zero when populations have no patterns in distribution between seasons. MC is most sensitive to transition probabilities and spatial arrangement of regions and performs better than rM when sampling effort is not proportional to true abundance, and when the strength of migratory connectivity varies across the range of the species. Our estimators for MC and rM performed well across several data types.

We hope that these methods and the MigConnectivity r package will facilitate quantitative comparisons of migratory connectivity across studies, data types, and taxa to better understand the causes and consequences of the seasonal distributions of populations. Several study design recommendations emerge from our simulations: (1) incorporate abundance among regions when sampling is not proportional; (2) measure transition probabilities across as much of the range as logistically possible; (3) define study regions with either biological information about population delineation, or use discrete study locations as centroids of regions; and (4) estimate and report uncertainty from appropriate sources of sampling and process errors.
Why character education?
Authors: Curren Randall
Published: October 2017

Character education in schools has been high on the UK political agenda for the last few years. The government has invested millions in grants to support character education projects and declared its intention to make Britain a global leader in teaching character and resilience. But the policy has many critics: some question whether schools should be involved in the formation of character at all; others worry that the traits schools are being asked to cultivate are excessively competitive or military.

In this pamphlet Randall Curren sets out a robust defence of character education. He welcomes the political support it presently enjoys, but contends that greater clarity about the nature, benefits and acquisition of good character is essential. In particular, he argues that too narrow a focus on traits like perseverance and resilience is a serious mistake: these traits are only virtues when they are part of a wider set of moral and intellectual qualities, and when their exercise is guided by good judgment.

Curren offers us a compelling and coherent account of what good character is and how it might be cultivated in schools. He explains why schools must be needs‐supporting environments that provide students with opportunities to engage in rewarding activity, and why cultivating good character implies promoting the ‘fundamental British values’ of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance. His groundbreaking pamphlet promises to expand the scope and strengthen the foundations of character education in British schools, and should go a long way towards allaying the fears of its detractors.
Hot Off the Press: Prehospital Advanced Cardiac Life Support for Out‐of‐hospital Cardiac Arrest
Authors: Morgenstern Justin , Heitz Corey , Milne William K.
Published: October 2017

This retrospective cohort study examined the rate of survival to hospital discharge among adult patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest, comparing patients who received care only from basic cardiac life support (BCLS)‐trained emergency medical service (EMS) crews to patients who had an advanced cardiac life support (ACLS)‐trained EMS crew on scene at some point during the resuscitation. There was no difference in the primary outcome of rate of survival to hospital discharge (10.9% with ACLS care and 10.6% with BCLS care, p = 0.67).
Transcriptome analyses reveal genes and pathways associated with fatty acid composition traits in pigs
Authors: Zhang J. , Cui L. , Ma J. , Chen C. , Yang B. , Huang L.
Published: October 2017

Fatty acid composition is associated with meat quality in pigs as well as with obesity‐ and diabetes‐related traits in humans. Liver and muscle are important tissues for fatty acid metabolism. In this study, we evaluated correlations between liver and muscle transcriptomes and fatty acid composition traits in muscle and abdominal fat tissues in 335 F2 pigs from a White Duroc × Erhualian F2 pig resource population. Transcripts significantly correlated with fatty acid composition traits were enriched for genes involved in the categories of triglyceride catabolic process, mitochondrial function, hematological and immune system, and disease such as Type II diabetes. Gene co‐expression network analysis further identified liver network modules relevant to fatty acid unsaturation index that were enriched in platelet activation and the type I interferon signaling pathway and highlighted the connections between variations in fatty acid composition and genes involved in hematological and immune system. Integrative analysis of the expression QTL identified ELOVL6 and SCD as plausible candidate genes underlying the loci for muscle C18:1n‐9/C16:1n‐7 values on chromosome 8 and the loci for muscle C18:1n‐9/C18:0 contents on chromosome 14 respectively.
Nitrous oxide‐based vs. nitrous oxide‐free general anaesthesia and accidental awareness in surgical patients: an abridged Cochrane systematic review
Authors: Hounsome J. , Greenhalgh J. , Schofield‐Robinson O. J. , Lewis S. R. , Cook T. M. , Smith A. F.
Published: October 2017

Accidental awareness during general anaesthesia can arise from a failure to deliver sufficient anaesthetic agent, or from a patient's resistance to an expected sufficient dose of such an agent. Awareness is ‘explicit’ if the patient is subsequently able to recall the event. We conducted a systematic review into the effect of nitrous oxide used as part of a general anaesthetic on the risk of accidental awareness in people over the age of five years undergoing general anaesthesia for surgery. We included 15 randomised controlled trials, 14 of which, representing a total of 3439 participants, were included in our primary analysis of the frequency of accidental awareness events. The awareness incidence rate was rare within these studies, and all were considered underpowered with respect to this outcome. The risk of bias across all studies was judged to be high, and 76% of studies failed adequately to conceal participant allocation. We considered the available evidence to be of very poor quality. There were a total of three accidental awareness events reported in two studies, one of which reported that the awareness was the result of a kink in a propofol intravenous line. There were insufficient data to conduct a meta‐ or sub‐group analysis and there was insufficient evidence to draw outcome‐related conclusions. We can, however, recommend that future studies focus on potentially high‐risk groups such as obstetric or cardiac surgery patients, or those receiving neuromuscular blocking drugs or total intravenous anaesthesia.
Knockout of histamine receptor H3 alters adaptation to sudden darkness and monoamine levels in the zebrafish
Authors: Puttonen H. A. J. , Sundvik M. , Semenova S. , Shirai Y. , Chen Y‐C. , Panula P.
Published: October 2017

Aim

Histamine receptor H3 (HRH3) has substantial neuropharmacological potential. Currently, knockout models of this receptor have been investigated only in mice. We characterized the expression of this receptor in the zebrafish and generated a zebrafish HRH3 knockout line. Using this model, we studied the role of HRH3 in important behaviours. We also analysed the effect of HRH3 knockout on monoaminergic systems, which has not been thoroughly studied in any animal model.

Methods

Generation of a mutant zebrafish line using the CRISPR‐Cas9 system. Analysis of locomotor and social behaviour. Expression of HRH3 was characterized using in situ hybridization. Analysis of monoamine networks using HPLC, immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR.

Results

We found that HRH3 knockout zebrafish larvae showed a shorter period of increased locomotion after a sudden onset of darkness, while the knockout larvae had a wild‐type‐like acute response to sudden darkness. Adult knockout fish showed decreased swimming velocity, although locomotor activity of knockout larvae was unaltered. Additionally, levels of dopamine and serotonin were significantly decreased in the knockout fish, while monoamine‐related gene expression and immunohistochemistry patterns were unchanged.

Conclusions

Our results show that HRH3 knockout larvae adapt faster to sudden darkness, suggesting a role for this receptor in regulating responses to changes in the environment. The decreased levels of dopamine and serotonin provide the first direct evidence that knockout of HRH3 alters these systems.
On Food, Faith, and Psychoanalysis: Isak Dinesen'sBabette's Feast
Authors: Rizq Rosemary
Published: October 2017

Isak Dinesen's novellaBabette's Feasttells the story of how a small, quarrelsome Lutheran community in Norway comes to be transformed by the arrival of a stranger, the French cook Babette. In her deceptively simple tale, Dinesen adopts explicitly Eucharistic language and imagery to convey the connection between eating and faith, exploring via rich use of metaphor the way in which we come to be inhabited and nourished by the other. In this paper, I follow Dinesen's sacramental perspective by offering the Catholic notion of transubstantiation as a model for furthering psychoanalytic theorizing about the presence of the other within. Following an outline of Dinesen's story, I draw on work by Freud, Abraham and Torok, and Kristeva to explore differing notions of unconscious identification, incorporation and the metaphorical basis of subjectivity. I develop these ideas through a discussion of the central celebratory dinner given by Babette and conclude by considering some of the implications of the story for psychoanalytic practice.
Reading Beckett in the Context of Psychoanalysis: A Literary Bridge between One‐Person and Two‐Person Psychology
Authors: Miller Ian S.
Published: October 2017

The present paper constructs a practical conceptual bridge between reading and psychoanalysis across the divide of one‐ and two‐person psychologies. Using literary examples from the writings of Samuel Beckett that correspond to the working through of internalized traumatic experience, the paper links contemporary psychoanalytic concepts including Bion's container<>contained and Bollas’ evocative object, with the small grained ‘d’ arrivals embedded within the larger movements of the psychological shuttle between P/S<>D. These clarifications of meaning are discernible both within psychoanalysis and in evocative reading.
Inter‐group variability in seed dispersal by white‐handed gibbons in mosaic forest
Authors: Phiphatsuwannachai Suchada , Westcott David A. , McKeown Adam , Savini Tommaso
Published: October 2017

Seed dispersers, like white‐handed gibbons (Hylobates lar), can display wide inter‐group variability in response to distribution and abundance of resources in their habitat. In different home ranges, they can modify their movement patterns along with the shape and scale of seed shadow produced. However, the effect of inter‐group variability on the destination of dispersed seeds is still poorly explained. In this study, we evaluate how seed dispersal patterns of this arboreal territorial frugivore varies between two neighboring groups, one inhabiting high quality evergreen forest and one inhabiting low quality mosaic forest. We predicted a difference in seed dispersal distance between the two groups (longer in the poor quality forest). We hypothesized that this difference would be explained by differences in home range size, daily path length, and ranging tortuosity. After 6 months of data collection, the evergreen group had a smaller home range (12.4 ha) than the mosaic group (20.9 ha), significantly longer daily path lengths (1507 m vs. 1114 m respectively) and greater tortuosity (39.1 vs. 16.1 respectively). Using gut passage times and displacement rates, we estimated the median seed dispersal distance as 163 m for the evergreen group (high quality forest) and of 116 m for the mosaic group (low quality forest). This contradiction with our initial prediction can be explained in term of social context, resource distribution, and habitat quality. Our results indicate that gibbons are dispersers of seeds between habitats and that dispersal distances provided by gibbons are influenced by a range of factors, including habitat and social context.
Identification of the first homozygous 1‐bp deletion in GDF9 gene leading to primary ovarian insufficiency by using targeted massively parallel sequencing
Authors: França M.M. , Funari M.F.A. , Nishi M.Y. , Narcizo A.M. , Domenice S. , Costa E.M.F. , Lerario A.M. , Mendonca B.B.
Published: October 2017

Targeted massively parallel sequencing (TMPS) has been used in genetic diagnosis for Mendelian disorders. In the past few years, the TMPS has identified new and already described genes associated with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) phenotype. Here, we performed a targeted gene sequencing to find a genetic diagnosis in idiopathic cases of Brazilian POI cohort. A custom SureSelectXT DNA target enrichment panel was designed and the sequencing was performed on Illumina NextSeq sequencer. We identified 1 homozygous 1‐bp deletion variant (c.783delC) in the GDF9 gene in 1 patient with POI. The variant was confirmed and segregated using Sanger sequencing. The c.783delC GDF9 variant changed an amino acid creating a premature termination codon (p.Ser262Hisfs*2). This variant was not present in all public databases (ExAC/gnomAD, NHLBI/EVS and 1000Genomes). Moreover, it was absent in 400 alleles from fertile Brazilian women screened by Sanger sequencing. The patient's mother and her unaffected sister carried the c.783delC variant in a heterozygous state, as expected for an autosomal recessive inheritance. Here, the TMPS identified the first homozygous 1‐bp deletion variant in GDF9. This finding reveals a novel inheritance pattern of pathogenic variant in GDF9 associated with POI, thus improving the genetic diagnosis of this disorder.
A prospective randomized controlled trial of the two‐window technique without membrane versus the solo‐window technique with membrane over the osteotomy window for maxillary sinus augmentation
Authors: Yu Huajie , He Danqing , Qiu Lixin
Published: October 2017

Background

Maturation of the grafted volume after lateral sinus elevation is crucial for the long‐term survival of dental implants.

Purpose

To compare endo‐sinus histomorphometric bone formation between the solo‐ and two‐window maxillary sinus augmentation techniques with or without membrane coverage for the rehabilitation of multiple missing posterior teeth.

Materials and Methods

Patients with severely atrophic posterior maxillae were randomized to receive lateral sinus floor elevation via the solo‐window technique with membrane coverage (Control Group) or the two‐window technique without coverage (Test Group). Six months after surgery, bone core specimens harvested from the lateral aspect were histomorphometrically analyzed.

Results

Ten patients in each group underwent 21 maxillary sinus augmentations. Histomorphometric analysis revealed mean newly formed bone values of 26.08 ± 16.23% and 27.14 ± 18.11%, mean connective tissue values of 59.34 ± 12.42% and 50.03 ± 17.13%, and mean residual graft material values of 14.6 ± 14.56% and 22.78 ± 10.83% in the Test and Control Groups, respectively, with no significant differences.

Conclusions

The two‐window technique obtained comparative maturation of the grafted volume even without membrane coverage, and is a viable alternative for the rehabilitation of severely atrophic posterior maxillae with multiple missing posterior teeth.
DYNAMIC TREATMENT EFFECTS OF TEACHER'S AIDES IN AN EXPERIMENT WITH MULTIPLE RANDOMIZATIONS
Authors: Penney Jeffrey
Published: October 2017

Using data from a large‐scale two‐stage experiment wherein students and teachers were randomized at both kindergarten entry and first grade to be sorted into classes either with or without full‐time teacher's aides, I estimate an econometric model that is uniquely suited to take advantage of this design to determine their effect on academic achievement. The identification strategy produces fully nonparametric dynamic average treatment effects for every treatment path. I find that the use of full‐time teacher's aides increases student achievement, but the benefits appear to accrue mostly to those of higher socioeconomic status and to White students. A cost‐benefit analysis shows that full‐time teacher's aides may be a competitive alternative to class size reductions in terms of net social benefits. (JEL I21, I28)
Clinical and demographic differences between patients with manic, depressive and schizophrenia‐spectrum psychoses presenting to Early Intervention Services in London
Authors: Kapila Adisha , Fisher Helen L. , Johnson Sonia , Major Barnaby , Rahaman Nikola , Joyce John , Chamberlain‐Kent Nick , Lawrence Jo , Young Allan H. , Stone James M.
Published: October 2017

Aim

To investigate the relationship between the presenting clinical and demographic characteristics in first‐episode psychosis (FEP) patients with their clinical diagnostic grouping 1 year later.

Methods

Data from 1014 first‐presentation psychosis patients from seven London‐based Early Intervention Services were extracted from the MiData audit database. Associations between clinical and demographic measures at presentation and clinical diagnosis made at 1 year were assessed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi‐square tests.

Results

The sample comprised 76% of patients with schizophrenia‐spectrum diagnoses, 9% with manic psychoses (MP) and 6% with depressive psychoses. Compared to the other 2 groups, patients who were diagnosed as having MP were younger, with higher education and shorter duration of untreated psychosis, and had higher Young Mania Rating Scale scores at presentation and lower Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) negative scores. Patients diagnosed at 1 year as having depressive psychosis were older and more likely to be white, with the lowest PANSS positive scores at baseline. Patients diagnosed at 1 year as having schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses were more likely to be males. Patients in the 3 diagnostic subgroups of psychosis differed on both clinical and demographic characteristics at presentation.

Conclusions

There were significant clinical and demographic differences at presentation between FEP patients who received different clinical diagnoses at 1 year. Future work should determine the extent to which these differences can be used to guide clinical care.
Statin treatment may lower the risk of postradiation epilepsy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Authors: Rong Xiaoming , Yin Jing , Wang Hongxuan , Zhang Xiaoni , Peng Ying
Published: October 2017

Objective

This study aimed to clarify the effect of statins on preventing the risk of postradiation epilepsy.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of neurological nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with a history of radiotherapy. Patients with a history of epilepsy before radiation and those who received prophylactically antiepileptic treatment were excluded. The demographic and clinical data of these patients were collected through chart review. We used Kaplan–Meier analysis (log‐rank test) to examine the effect of statins on epilepsy‐free survival. Cox regression analysis was utilized to identify independent predictive variables.

Results

Our study included 532 patients (405 males and 127 females) with a mean follow‐up of 28.1 months. During follow‐up, 471 (88.5%) patients developed radiation‐induced brain necrosis (RN). Within a mean latency of 24.1 months, 88 (16.5%) patients experienced epilepsy, of whom 27 (27 of 88, 30.7%) patients suffered from epilepsy before the diagnosis of RN. Thirty‐six (36 of 88, 40.9%) cases of epilepsy occurred after RN onset, and in 22 cases (22 of 88, 25.0%) epilepsy was the first presentation of RN. Three patients suffered from epilepsy but did not have RN. Eighty‐eight patients in our cohort were treated with statins because of hyperlipidemia or prevention of cardiocerebrovascular diseases, of whom six (6.8%) developed epilepsy, whereas in those without statin, the epileptic rate was 18.5%. Log‐rank test found that there was a significant difference in epilepsy‐free survival between patients who used statins and those who did not (p = 0.016). After adjusting for confounding variables, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that statin use could still significantly reduce the risk of epilepsy after radiation (hazard ratio = 0.36, 95% confidence interval = 0.15–0.82, p = 0.015). However, for the patients who already suffered from RN, statin treatment did not lower the risk of post‐RN epilepsy.

Significance

Early statin use may reduce the risk of postradiotherapy epilepsy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Cortical light scattering during interictal epileptic spikes in frontal lobe epilepsy in children: A fast optical signal and electroencephalographic study
Authors: Manoochehri Mana , Mahmoudzadeh Mahdi , Bourel‐Ponchel Emilie , Wallois Fabrice
Published: October 2017

Objective

Interictal epileptic spikes (IES) represent a signature of the transient synchronous and excessive discharge of a large ensemble of cortical heterogeneous neurons. Epilepsy cannot be reduced to a hypersynchronous activation of neurons whose functioning is impaired, resulting on electroencephalogram (EEG) in epileptic seizures or IES. The complex pathophysiological mechanisms require a global approach to the interactions between neural synaptic and nonsynaptic, vascular, and metabolic systems. In the present study, we focused on the interaction between synaptic and nonsynaptic mechanisms through the simultaneous noninvasive multimodal multiscale recording of high‐density EEG (HD‐EEG; synaptic) and fast optical signal (FOS; nonsynaptic), which evaluate rapid changes in light scattering related to changes in membrane configuration occurring during neuronal activation of IES.

Methods

To evaluate changes in light scattering occurring around IES, three children with frontal IES were simultaneously recorded with HD‐EEG and FOS. To evaluate change in synchronization, time–frequency representation analysis of the HD‐EEG was performed simultaneously around the IES. To independently evaluate our multimodal method, a control experiment with somatosensory stimuli was designed and applied to five healthy volunteers.

Results

Alternating increase–decrease–increase in optical signals occurred 200 ms before to 180 ms after the IES peak. These changes started before any changes in EEG signal. In addition, time–frequency domain EEG analysis revealed alternating decrease–increase–decrease in the EEG spectral power concomitantly with changes in the optical signal during IES. These results suggest a relationship between (de)synchronization and neuronal volume changes in frontal lobe epilepsy during IES.

Significance

These changes in the neuronal environment around IES in frontal lobe epilepsy observed in children, as they have been in rats, raise new questions about the synaptic/nonsynaptic mechanisms that propel the neurons to hypersynchronization, as occurs during IES. We further demonstrate that this noninvasive multiscale multimodal approach is suitable for studying the pathophysiology of the IES in patients.
Microbial communities and organic biomarkers in a Proterozoic‐analog sinkhole
Authors: Hamilton T. L. , Welander P. V. , Albrecht H. L. , Fulton J. M. , Schaperdoth I. , Bird L. R. , Summons R. E. , Freeman K. H. , Macalady J. L.
Published: October 2017

Little Salt Spring (Sarasota County, FL, USA) is a sinkhole with groundwater vents at ~77 m depth. The entire water column experiences sulfidic (~50 μM) conditions seasonally, resulting in a system poised between oxic and sulfidic conditions. Red pinnacle mats occupy the sediment–water interface in the sunlit upper basin of the sinkhole, and yielded 16S rRNA gene clones affiliated with Cyanobacteria, Chlorobi, and sulfate‐reducing clades of Deltaproteobacteria. Nine bacteriochlorophyll e homologues and isorenieratene indicate contributions from Chlorobi, and abundant chlorophyll a and pheophytin a are consistent with the presence of Cyanobacteria. The red pinnacle mat contains hopanoids, including 2‐methyl structures that have been interpreted as biomarkers for Cyanobacteria. A single sequence of hpnP, the gene required for methylation of hopanoids at the C‐2 position, was recovered in both DNA and cDNA libraries from the red pinnacle mat. The hpnP sequence was most closely related to cyanobacterial hpnP sequences, implying that Cyanobacteria are a source of 2‐methyl hopanoids present in the mat. The mats are capable of light‐dependent primary productivity as evidenced by 13C‐bicarbonate photoassimilation. We also observed 13C‐bicarbonate photoassimilation in the presence of DCMU, an inhibitor of electron transfer to Photosystem II. Our results indicate that the mats carry out light‐driven primary production in the absence of oxygen production—a mechanism that may have delayed the oxygenation of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere during the Proterozoic Eon. Furthermore, our observations of the production of 2‐methyl hopanoids by Cyanobacteria under conditions of low oxygen and low light are consistent with the recovery of these structures from ancient black shales as well as their paucity in modern marine environments.
Targeted subfield switchgrass integration could improve the farm economy, water quality, and bioenergy feedstock production
Authors: Brandes Elke , McNunn Gabe S. , Schulte Lisa A. , Muth David J. , VanLoocke Andy , Heaton Emily A
Published: October 2017

Progress on reducing nutrient loss from annual croplands has been hampered by perceived conflicts between short‐term profitability and long‐term stewardship, but these may be overcome through strategic integration of perennial crops. Perennial biomass crops like switchgrass can mitigate nitrate‐nitrogen (NO3‐N) leaching, address bioenergy feedstock targets, and – as a lower‐cost management alternative to annual crops (i.e., corn, soybeans) – may also improve farm profitability. We analyzed publicly available environmental, agronomic, and economic data with two integrated models: a subfield agroecosystem management model, Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF), and a process‐based biogeochemical model, DeNitrification‐DeComposition (DNDC). We constructed a factorial combination of profitability and NO3‐N leaching thresholds and simulated targeted switchgrass integration into corn/soybean cropland in the agricultural state of Iowa, USA. For each combination, we modeled (i) area converted to switchgrass, (ii) switchgrass biomass production, and (iii) NO3‐N leaching reduction. We spatially analyzed two scenarios: converting to switchgrass corn/soybean cropland losing >US$ 100 ha−1 and leaching >50 kg ha−1 (‘conservative’ scenario) or losing >US$ 0 ha−1 and leaching >20 kg ha−1 (‘nutrient reduction’ scenario). Compared to baseline, the ‘conservative’ scenario resulted in 12% of cropland converted to switchgrass, which produced 11 million Mg of biomass and reduced leached NO3‐N 18% statewide. The ‘nutrient reduction’ scenario converted 37% of cropland to switchgrass, producing 34 million Mg biomass and reducing leached NO3‐N 38% statewide. The opportunity to meet joint goals was greatest within watersheds with undulating topography and lower corn/soybean productivity. Our approach bridges the scales at which NO3‐N loss and profitability are usually considered, and is informed by both mechanistic and empirical understanding. Though approximated, our analysis supports development of farm‐level tools that can identify locations where both farm profitability and water quality improvement can be achieved through the strategic integration of perennial vegetation.
Structural Changes in the Labor Market and the Rise of Early Retirement in France and Germany
Authors: Batyra Anna , Pierrard Olivier , Croix David de la , Sneessens Henri R.
Published: October 2017

The rise of early retirement in Europe is typically attributed to the European system of taxes and transfers. A model with an imperfectly competitive labor market allows us to consider also the effects of bargaining power and of matching efficiency on pre-retirement. We find that lower bargaining power of workers and declining matching efficiency have been important determinants of early retirement in France and Germany. These structural changes, combined with early retirement transfers and population aging, are also consistent with the employment and unemployment rates, labor share and seniority premia.
Low‐temperature sintering of ceramic proppants by adding solid wastes
Authors: Hao Jianying , Ma Haiqiang , Feng Xin , Gao Yunfeng , Wang Kaiyue , Tian Yuming
Published: October 2017

Low‐density bauxite‐based ceramic proppants were prepared at sintering temperatures below 1300°C by adding solid wastes coal gangue and magnesium slag. The addition of solid wastes greatly decreases sintering temperature and preparation cost. The density and strength of ceramic proppants were tested according to the standard, and the morphology and phase composition were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the main crystal phases are corundum and mullite, and the most suitable sintering temperature is 1250°C. At the sintering temperature apparent density is 2.84 g/cm3, and breakage ratio is 7.16% under 52 MPa closed pressure. Magnesium slag will react with some oxides of raw material at high temperature and form liquid phase, making the structure of ceramic more compact. The prepared ceramic proppants meet China industrial standard requirements SY/T5108‐2014.
Recognition and gendered identity constructions in labour activation
Authors: Hansen Helle Cathrine
Published: October 2017

Few studies have considered how labour activation programmes affect participants’ identity construction, particularly from a gender comparison perspective. Using qualitative data and recognition theories, this exploratory study of the Norwegian Qualification Program examined how gender may affect labour activation recipients’ identity construction and sense of social value. The findings suggest that women experience labour activation as an enabling process, facilitating an enhanced sense of social value and status. In contrast, men experience either no such change or a diminution of their sense of worth and status. The study shows how cultural values regarding gender, work and employment are embedded in social work practice and activation policy implementation. Underscoring how activation may be intertwined in such cultural values and norms, the study calls for further research to understand these processes, as they may affect outcomes in labour activation policy.
“Now I am also Israeli”: From Illegality to Legality ‐ Life experiences and identities of migrant workers’ children after receiving civil status in Israel
Authors: Babis Deby , Lifszyc‐Friedlander Anabel , Sabar Galia
Published: October 2017

In 2006 and 2010, following demands from local and international civil society organizations, Israel granted civil status to approximately 1500 undocumented migrant workers’ children. This was considered a “one time humanitarian gesture,” not to be repeated. Thousands of other children, who did not fulfill the required criteria, were left without civil status. Within the context of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, this mixed‐methods study explored how the children's life experiences have been constructed and reconstructed since the inception of their new civil status. According to the findings, 80 per cent of migrant workers’ children reveal a high degree of belonging to Israeli society, defining themselves as Israelis. For them, receiving civil status has four practical implications: being able to serve in the Israeli army; the ability to travel abroad; better access to the job market; and freedom from fear of deportation. Our study also revealed difficulties due to their religious and ethnic identities, reflected in the children's understandings of what it means to be Israeli. The complex manifestations of their newly acquired civil status is embedded in the concept of “freedom,” i.e. to do and to be what they really want to be.
Book Review
Authors: Ammer Dean S.
Published: October 2017

STEEL DECISIONS AND THE NATIONAL ECONOMY, By HENRY W. BROUDE, (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1963. 332 pages. $7.50)
Book Review
Authors: Farris Martin T.
Published: October 2017

AIR FREIGHT: KEY TO GREATER PROFIT, BY ADRIANUS D. GROENEWEGE AND RODERICK HEITMEYER, (Southall, Middlesex, England: Aerad Printers and Publishers, 1964. 147 pages. 15s)
Book Review
Authors: Hahn James D.
Published: October 2017

GUIDE TO GOVERNMENTAL PURCHASING, By JOSEPH W. NICHOLSON, THOMAS J. NAMMACHER, AND KEITH L. SMITH, (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lakewood Publications, 1965. 450 pages. $15.00)
Book Review
Authors: Phillips Marion C.
Published: October 2017

LEASING OF INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT, (Washington, D. C: Machinery and Allied Products Institute and Council for Technological Advancement, 1965. 160 pages. $4, members; $6, nonmembers)
Customer‐oriented employees: Blessing or curse for firms?
Authors: Manna Ester
Published: October 2017

I investigate whether the presence of customer‐oriented employees benefits firms in a competitive environment. Employees are defined as customer‐oriented if they are interested not only in their wage but also in the well‐being of their customers. I find that firms may obtain higher profits by hiring self‐interested rather than customer‐oriented employees. This is because the employees' customer orientation has opposing effects on the profits obtained by the firms. On the one hand, customer‐oriented employees provide a given level of quality for a lower wage. On the other hand, the employees' customer orientation increases competition reducing prices. If the second effect dominates, firms find themselves trapped in a prisoners' dilemma as the strategy of hiring self‐interested employees is strictly dominated by that of hiring customer‐oriented employees. Hence, the very presence of customer‐oriented employees may hurt firms. If motivated employees are merely interested in the quality of the good provided, the effect on the price outlined before disappears.
Biological observations on the broadfin shark Lamiopsis temminckii (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae)
Authors: Akhilesh K. V. , Purushottama G. B. , Thakurdas  , Kizhakudan S. J.
Published: October 2017

Biological information was collected from 214 individuals of the broadfin shark Lamiopsis temminckii measuring 418 to 1782 mm total length, LT. Size at maturity (L50) for females and males was estimated at 1430 and 1368 mm LT, respectively, while mature and gravid females were observed from 1350 mm LT with litter sizes 2–8 and size at birth 418–650 mm LT. Analysis of stomach contents revealed a variety of prey, primarily crustaceans (54·0%), teleosts (42·7%) and cephalopods.