bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
National Utilization of Glaucoma Laser and Surgical Management in Medicare Beneficiaries: Disparities and Accessibility
Authors: Gold Fradah E. , Yadollahikhales Mojdeh , Dersu Inci I.
Published: July 2023

Précis:

In this population-based, cross-sectional study of Medicare beneficiaries, there were lower odds of national glaucoma surgery among ages older than 85, female sex, Hispanic ethnicity, and diabetic comorbidity. Glaucoma surgery rates were independent of ophthalmologist distribution.

Purpose:

With an increasing prevalence of glaucoma in the United States, it is crucial to elucidate surgical procedure accessibility to deliver quality care. The objective of this study was to estimate national access to surgical glaucoma care by (1) comparing diagnostic and surgical management Medicare insurance claims followed by (2) correlating Medicare treatment claims with regional ophthalmologist availability.

Patients and Methods:

This cross-sectional study included Medicare claims from the 2017 Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System and workforce data from the 2017 Area Health Resource Files, both public domain databases. A total of 25,443,400 beneficiaries fully enrolled in Medicare Part B Fee-for-Service with glaucoma diagnosis claims were included. Rates of US MD ophthalmologists were determined by Area Health Resource Files distribution densities. Surgical glaucoma management rates included Medicare service utilization claims for drain, laser, and incisional glaucoma surgery.

Results:

While Black, non-Hispanic Americans had the highest prevalence of glaucoma, Hispanic beneficiaries had the highest odds of surgery. Older age (85+ vs. 65–84 y; Odds Ratio [OR]=0.864; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 0.854–0.874), female sex (OR=0.923; 95% CI, 0.914–0.932), and having diabetes (OR=0.944; 95% CI, 0.936–0.953) was associated with lower odds of having a surgical glaucoma intervention. Glaucoma surgery rates were not associated with ophthalmologist density by state.

Conclusions:

Glaucoma surgery utilization differences by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and systemic comorbidities warrant further investigation. Glaucoma surgery rates are independent of ophthalmologist distribution by state.
The Incidence of Lyme Borreliosis Among Children
Authors: Shafquat Madiha , Angulo Frederick J. , Pilz Andreas , Moïsi Jennifer C. , Stark James H.
Published: July 2023

Background:

First recognized in children in the United States, Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most prevalent tickborne illness in North America and Europe. However, the incidence of LB in children, including geographic variation and difference from that in adults, is incompletely described.

Methods:

We compiled surveillance data from public health agency websites reporting age-stratified LB case data, which was combined with census data to derive incidence estimates. Additional incidence estimates were obtained through a systematic literature review.

Results:

We identified 18 surveillance systems and 15 published studies for derivation of LB incidence in children. National incidence of >10 cases in children per 100,000 per year were estimated for the United States and parts of Eastern, Western and Northern Europe. However, there was substantial variation in incidence among countries in some European regions. National incidence estimates from the literature largely aligned with estimates from surveillance. Surveillance-reported pediatric incidence was lower than adult incidence in adults in 8 countries, similar to adult incidence in 3 countries, and higher than adult incidence in 1 country. Among all pediatric age strata, the 5–9 years of age stratum had the highest proportion of pediatric cases in most countries.

Conclusions:

As pediatric LB represents a substantial proportion of overall LB incidence across countries in Europe and North America, LB prevention and control efforts should target pediatric as well as adult populations. However, better data are needed to fully characterize the difference in incidence across geographic regions.
Long-Term Surgical Outcome for Orbital Solitary Fibrous Tumors
Authors: Vahdani Kaveh , Rose Geoffrey E. , Verity David H.
Published: July 2023

Purpose:

To report long-term outcomes after surgery for orbital solitary fibrous tumors.

Methods:

Retrospective review of patients with orbital solitary fibrous tumor, first seen between 1971 and 2022. Primary excisions were grouped as (A) surgically intact, (B) macroscopic, but with cell spillage, or (C) known incomplete excision.

Results:

Fifty-nine patients (31 female; 53%) presented at a mean age of 43.0 years (19–82 years), with 5 patients (8.5%) having malignant solitary fibrous tumors. Average follow up was 11.4 years (median 7.8; range 1–43 years). There were 28 of 59 (47%) group A patients with 1 of 28 (3%) having recurrence, 20 of 59 (34%) group B having 6 of 20 (30%) recurrences, and 11 of 59 (19%) group C with 9 of 11 (82%) recurrence (p < 0.001 for recurrence rate). At a mean of 8.9 (range 1–23.6) years after initial treatment, continued local tumor growth was evident in 16 (27%) patients, with higher-grade recurrence in 3 of 14 (21%) cases. No patient had systemic disease at presentation, but 2 of 59 patients (3%) developed metastases at 22 and 30 years after first treatment. The 10-year progression-free survival was 94% (group A), 60% (group B), and 36% (group C). Tumor disruption or incomplete excision (groups B + C) carries the highest risk of tumor recurrence (hazard ratio 15.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.98–114; p = 0.009), with no correlation to tumor size or histology.

Conclusions:

Orbital solitary fibrous tumors have a low recurrence rate with surgically intact excision; piecemeal excision, capsular disruption, or known incomplete resection have a high recurrence rate, which can occur decades later. Baseline postoperative scans is recommended, together with long-term clinical and interval imaging.
HER2 Status Assessment in Endometrial Serous Carcinoma: Comparative Analysis of Two Proposed Testing and Interpretation Algorithms
Authors: Hashem Sherin , Zare Somaye Y. , Fadare Oluwole
Published: July 2023

HER2 status is now routinely assessed in endometrial serous carcinoma (ESC) due to the reported predictive value of HER2 protein overexpression and/or gene amplification. Herein the authors compare 2 proposed testing and interpretation guidelines for HER2 in ESC. Forty-three consecutive cases of ESC that had been dually tested by both HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were interpreted using 2 sets of guidelines. Guideline set 1 (GS1) is the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists guidelines for breast cancer. Guideline set 2 (GS2) is a recent proposal that is a slight modification of the enrollment criteria for the clinical trial (NCT01367002) that demonstrated a survival benefit for anti-HER2 therapy in ESC. By IHC, GS1 and GS2, respectively classified 39.5% (17/43) and 28% (12/43) of ESC as HER2-negative, 37.2% (16/43) and 53.4% (23/43) as HER2 equivocal, and 23.2% (10/43) and 18.6% (8/43) as HER2-positive (P > 0.05 for all). IHC and FISH were highly concordant at the extremes using either set of guidelines, as no cases were found to be IHC3+/FISH-negative or IHC 0-1+/FISH-positive. GS1 and GS2 were comparable regarding the proportion of IHC equivocal cases that were HER2 amplified by FISH (19% vs 23% respectively; [P = 0.71]). GS1 and GS2 displayed 98% (42/43) concordance regarding the final (IHC and/or FISH-based) classification of tumors as being HER2-positive or negative, and the same 13 cases were ultimately classified as HER2 amplified using either GS1 or GS2. One “discordant” case was classified as HER2-positive using GS2 but HER2-negative using GS1 (HER2 IHC score 2+ using both guidelines, HER2:CEP17 signal ratio of 3, HER2 signal number of 3.4). Six (14%) of the 43 cases (FISH Groups: 2, 3, and 4) would require IHC results to interpret the FISH findings using GS1. Because GS1 requires that the HER2 IHC staining be observed within a homogeneous and contiguous invasive cell population, and this is not a requirement in GS2, GS2 may be better suited for ESC given its frequently heterogeneous staining pattern. Additional studies may be required on the optimal interpretation of problematic dual-probe FISH scenarios in GS2 and the necessity for IHC correlation in such scenarios. Using either set of guidelines, our findings support a reflex testing strategy of restricting FISH testing to cases that are IHC equivocal.
Free energy dissipation enhances spatial accuracy and robustness of self-positioned Turing pattern in small biochemical systems
Authors: Zhang Dongliang , Zhang Chenghao , Ouyang Qi , Tu Yuhai
Published: July 2023

Accurate and robust spatial orders are ubiquitous in living systems. In 1952, Turing proposed a general mechanism for pattern formation exemplified by a reaction–diffusion model with two chemical species in a large system. However, in small biological systems such as a cell, the existence of multiple Turing patterns and strong noise can lower the spatial order. Recently, a modified reaction–diffusion model with an additional chemical species is shown to stabilize the Turing pattern. Here, we study non-equilibrium thermodynamics of this three-species reaction–diffusion model to understand the relationship between energy cost and the performance of self-positioning. By using computational and analytical approaches, we show that beyond the onset of pattern formation the positioning error decreases as energy dissipation increases. In a finite system, we find that a specific Turing pattern exists only within a finite range of total molecule number. Energy dissipation broadens this range, which enhances the robustness of Turing pattern against molecule number fluctuations in living cells. The generality of these results is verified in a realistic model of the Muk system underlying DNA segregation in
Escherichia coli
, and testable predictions are made for the dependence of the accuracy and robustness of the spatial pattern on the ATP/ADP ratio.
A pro-BMP function exerted by
Rhodnius prolixus
short gastrulation reveals great diversity in the role of BMP modulators during embryonic patterning
Authors: Berni M. , Mota J. , Bressan D. , Ribeiro L. , Martins G. , Pereira J. , Ramos I. , Nunes-da-Fonseca R. , Araujo H.
Published: July 2023

Dorsal–ventral (DV) patterning is regulated by the bone morphogenetic pathway (BMP) in Bilateria. In insect DV patterning, the Toll pathway also plays a role, in addition to BMPs. Variations in the relative importance of each pathway for DV patterning have been reported using single species of coleopteran, hymenopteran, hemipteran and orthopteran insects. To investigate if the molecular control of DV patterning is conserved inside an insect order, the emergent model hemiptera species
Rhodnius prolixus
was studied. We found that
R. prolixus
BMP pathway controls the entire DV axis, with a broader effect respective to Toll, as shown for the hemiptera
Oncopeltus fasciatus.
Different from
O. fasciatus
, the unique
R. prolixus short gastrulation
(
sog
) and the
twisted gastrulation
(
tsg
) orthologues do not antagonize, but rather favour embryonic BMP signalling. Our results reinforce the hypothesis that hemiptera rely preferentially on BMPs for DV patterning but that, surprisingly, in
R. prolixus
Sog and Tsg proteins exert only a positive role to establish a dorsal-to-ventral BMP gradient. Since
sog
has been reported to be lost from orthopteran and hymenopteran genomes, our results indicate that Sog's role to modify BMP activity varies greatly in different insect species.
Development and Validation of a New Clinical Diagnostic Screening Model for Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women
Authors: Leeyaphan Jirapong , Rojjananukulpong Karn , Intarasompun Piyapong , Peerakul Yuthasak
Published: July 2023

Background: Age and weight are not only strong predictive parameters for osteoporosis diagnosis but can also be easily acquired from patients. This study aimed to develop and validate a new diagnostic screening model for postmenopausal osteoporosis that uses only 2 parameters, viz., age and weight. The discriminative ability of the model was analyzed and compared with that of the osteoporosis self-assessment tool for Asians (OSTA) index.Methods: The age–weight diagnostic screening model was developed using a retrospective chart review of postmenopausal women aged ≥50 years who underwent dual energy X-ray absorptiometry at a tertiary hospital from November 2017 to April 2022. Logistic regression analysis was used to derive a diagnostic screening model for osteoporosis.Results: A total of 533 postmenopausal women were included in the study. According to the highest Youden index value, a probability cut-off value of 0.298 was used in the diagnosis screening model at any site, which yielded a sensitivity of 84.3% and a specificity of 53.8%. For increased sensitivity as a screening tool, a cut-off value of 0.254 was proposed to obtain a sensitivity of 90.2% and a specificity of 42.2%. The area under receiver operating characteristic curves from all screening models were significantly higher than those from the OSTA index model (p<0.05).Conclusions: This study showed the feasibility of a postmenopausal osteoporosis diagnostic screening model that uses 2 strong predictors for osteoporosis diagnosis: age and weight. This age–weight diagnostic model is a simple, effective option in postmenopausal osteoporosis screening.
Antibiotic usage and susceptibility patterns in Uncomplicated UTI in a Tertiary Hospital in South India
Authors: John Christy , Chowta Nithyananda , Rao Sathish
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are common infections in otherwise healthy young women and there is considerable heterogeneity in antibiotic prescribing practices contributing to increased health expenditure, hospitalization, and ‘collateral damage’ with the unprecedented use of fluoroquinolones and beta-lactams leading to the increase in MRSA strains and gram-negative bacilli. This study was designed to study the appropriateness of empirical antimicrobial therapy with clinical outcomes among outpatients and analyze antibiotic susceptibility patterns.

Methods

A longitudinal study involving women clinically diagnosed with uncomplicated UTI as per IDSA guidelines across a study period of 18 months was conducted from 2008-2020. Antibiotic appropriateness was analyzed with respect to IDSA guidelines with subgroup analysis of culture-proven UTI.

Results

Among 105 cases of uncomplicated UTI, fluoroquinolones were prescribed the most (41%) followed by Beta-Lactams (30.5%). Choice of antimicrobial agent was appropriate in 60 (57%) cases and duration in 30 (28.5%) cases. Subgroup Analysis of 25 culture-proven cases revealed most common organism isolated was E. coli (60%) with prevalence of MDR organisms being 36%. The susceptibility pattern revealed similar levels of resistance between fluoroquinolones (38%), beta-lactams (36%), Nitrofurantoin(32%), Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (32%), and Fosfomycin (20%) with clinical cure rates non-inferior among those prescribed the latter group of antibiotics (84.2% vs 96.6%)

Conclusion

The spectrum of uropathogens in our clinical setting is evolving with a substantial rise in MDR pathogens due to inappropriate antibiotic prescribing practices. The use of antibiotics such as Nitrofurantoin, Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and Fosfomycin in accordance with local antibiograms must be encouraged as empirical therapy for uncomplicated UTI.
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled decentralized trial to assess sleep, health outcomes, and overall well-being in healthy adults reporting disturbed sleep, taking a melatonin-free supplement
Authors: Kolobaric Antonija , Hewlings Susan J , Bryant Corey , Colwell Chris , D’Adamo Chris , Rosner Bernard , Chen Jeff , Pauli Emily K
Published: July 2023

Inadequate sleep is a global health concern. Sleep is multidimensional and complex; new multi-ingredient agents are needed. This study assessed the comparative effects of two multi-ingredient supplements on sleep relative to placebo. Adults (N=620) seeking better sleep were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 study products (Sleep A, Sleep B or placebo) for 4 weeks. Both active products contained federally legal hemp-derived cannabinoids, botanical oils, GABA and L-theanine. Sleep disturbance was assessed at baseline and weekly using NIH’s Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS™) Sleep Disturbance SF 8A survey. Anxiety, stress, pain, and well-being were assessed using validated measures at baseline and weekly. A linear mixed-effects regression model was used to assess the change in health outcome score between active product groups and the placebo. There was a significant difference in sleep disturbance, anxiety, stress, and well-being between Sleep A and placebo. There was no significant difference in any health parameter between Sleep B and placebo. Side effects were mild or moderate. There were no significant differences in the frequency of side effects between the study groups. A botanical blend containing a low concentration of THC improved sleep disturbance, anxiety, stress, and well-being in healthy individuals that reported better sleep as a primary health concern.
Barriers and Facilitators to the Delivery of Age-friendly Health Services in Primary Health Care Centres in Southwest, Nigeria: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Ogunyemi AO , Balogun MR , Ojo AE , Welch SB , Onasanya OO , Yesufu VO , Omotayo AT , Hirschhorn LR
Published: July 2023

Background

With the rapid growth of Nigeria’s older population, it has become important to establish age-friendly healthcare systems that support care for older people. This study aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to the delivery of age-friendly health services from the perspectives of primary healthcare managers in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Method

We conducted 13 key informant interviews including medical officers of health, principal officers of the PHC Board and board members at the state level. Using a grounded theory approach, qualitative data analysis was initially done by rapid thematic analysis followed by constant comparative analysis using Dedoose software to create a codebook. Three teams of two coders each blind-coded the interviews, resolved coding discrepancies, and reviewed excerpts by code to extract themes.

Results

The main barriers to the delivery of age-friendly services included the lack of recognition of older adults as a priority population group; absence of PHC policies targeted to serve older adults specifically; limited training in care of older adults; lack of dedicated funding for care services for older adults and data disaggregated by age to drive decision-making. Key facilitators included an acknowledged mission of the PHCs to provide services for all ages; opportunities for the enhancement of older adult care; availability of a new building template that supports facility design which is more age-friendly; access to basic health care funds; and a positive attitude towards capacity building for existing workforce.

Conclusion

While we identified a number of challenges, these offer opportunities to strengthen and prioritize services for older adults in PHCs and build on existing facilitators. Work is needed to identify and test interventions to overcome these challenges and improve the responsiveness of the PHC system to older adults through the delivery of age-friendly health services in PHCs in Lagos, Nigeria.
Machine learning algorithms in spatiotemporal gait analysis can identify patients with Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Fernando P. Vinuja R. , Pannu Marcus , Natarajan Pragadesh , Fonseka R. Dineth , Singh Naman , Jayalath Shivanthika , Maharaj Monish M. , Mobbs Ralph J.
Published: July 2023

Changes to spatiotemporal gait metrics in gait-altering conditions are characteristic of the pathology. This data can be interpreted by machine learning (ML) models which have recently emerged as an adjunct to clinical medicine. However, the literature is undecided regarding its utility in diagnosing pathological gait and is heterogeneous in its approach to applying ML techniques. This study aims to address these gaps in knowledge. This was a prospective observational study involving 32 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 88 ‘normative’ subjects. Spatiotemporal gait metrics were gathered from all subjects using the MetaMotionC inertial measurement unit and data obtained were used to train and evaluate the performance of 10 machine learning models. Principal component analysis and Genetic Algorithm were amongst the feature selection techniques used. Classification models included Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, Naïve – Bayes, Random Forest, and Artificial Neural Networks. ML algorithms can accurately distinguish pathological gait in Parkinson’s disease from that of normative controls. Two models which used the Random Forest classifier with Principal Component analysis and Genetic Algorithm feature selection techniques separately, were 100% accurate in its predictions and had anF1score of 1. A third model using principal component analysis and Artificial neural networks was equally as successful (100% accuracy,F1= 1). We conclude that ML algorithms can accurately distinguish pathological gait from normative controls in Parkinson’s Disease. Random Forest classifiers, with Genetic Algorithm feature selection are the preferred ML techniques for this purpose as they produce the highest performing model.

Author summary

The way humans walk, are emblematic of their overall health status. These walking patterns, otherwise, can be captured as gait metrics from small and portable wearable sensors. Data gathered from these sensors can be interpreted by machine learning algorithms which can then be used to accurately distinguish healthy and non-healthy patients based on their gait or walking pattern. The applications of this technology are many and varied. Firstly, it can be used to simply aid in diagnosis as explored in this paper. In future, researchers may use their understanding of normal and pathological gait, and their differences to quantify how severely one’s gait is affected in a disease state. This data can be used to track, and quantify, improvements or further deteriorations post treatment, whether these be medication-based or interventions like surgery. Retrospective analyses on data such as this can be used to judge the value of an intervention in reducing a patient’s disability, and advise health related expenditure.
Mathematical model for the distribution of DNA replication origins
Authors: de Moura Alessandro , Karschau Jens
Published: July 2023

DNA replication in yeast and in many other organisms starts from well-defined locations on the DNA known as replication origins. The spatial distribution of these origins in the genome is particularly important in ensuring that replication is completed quickly. Cells are more vulnerable to DNA damage and other forms of stress while they are replicating their genome. This raises the possibility that the spatial distribution of origins is under selection pressure. In this work we investigate the hypothesis that natural selection favours origin distributions leading to shorter replication times. Using a simple mathematical model, we show that this hypothesis leads to two main predictions about the origin distributions: that neighbouring origins that are inefficient (less likely to fire) are more likely to be close to each other than efficient origins; and that neighbouring origins with larger differences in firing times are more likely to be close to each other than origins with similar firing times. We test these predictions using next-generation sequencing data, and show that they are both supported by the data.
Inhibition of excitatory synaptic transmission alters functional organization and efficiency in cortical neural networks
Authors: Weir Janelle S. , Huse Ramstad Ola , Sandvig Axel , Sandvig Ioanna
Published: July 2023

Fundamental neural mechanisms such as activity dependent Hebbian and homeostatic neuroplasticity are driven by balanced excitatory – inhibitory synaptic transmission, and work in tandem to coordinate and regulate complex neural network dynamics in both healthy and perturbed conditions. These neuroplasticity processes shape neural network activity, as well as structural and functional aspects of network organization, information transmission and processing. While crucial for all aspects of network function, understanding how the brain utilizes plasticity mechanisms to retain or regain function during and after perturbation is often challenging. This is because these processes occur at varying spatiotemporal scales simultaneously across diverse circuits and brain regions and are thus highly complicated to distinguish from other underlying mechanisms. However, neuroplasticity and self-organizing properties of the brain are largely conserved inin vitrobiological neural networks, and as such, these networks enable us to investigate both structural and functional plasticity responses to perturbation networks at the micro and mesoscale level. In this study, we selectively silenced excitatory synaptic transmission inin vitroneural networks to investigate the impact of the perturbation on structural and functional network organization and resilience. Our results demonstrate that selective inhibition of excitatory transmission leads to transient de-clustering of modular structure, increased path length and degree in perturbed networks. These changes indicate a transient loss of network efficiency; with the network subsequently reorganizing to a state of increased clustering and short path lengths following recovery. These findings highlight the remarkable capacity of neural networks to reconfigure their functional organization following perturbation. The ability to detect and decode such processes as they evolve highlights the robustness of our models to investigate certain dynamic network properties that are often not accessible byin vivomethods.
ABDS: tool suite for analyzing biologically diverse samples
Authors: Du Dongping , Bhardwaj Saurabh , Parker Sarah J. , Cheng Zuolin , Zhang Zhen , Lu Yingzhou , Van Eyk Jennifer E. , Yu Guoqiang , Clarke Robert , Herrington David M. , Wang Yue
Published: July 2023

Motivation

Analytics tools are essential to identify informative molecular features about different phenotypic groups. Among the most fundamental tasks are missing value imputation, signature gene detection, and expression pattern visualization. However, most commonly used analytics tools may be problematic for characterizing biologically diverse samples when either signature genes possess uneven missing rates across different groups yet involving complex missing mechanisms, or multiple biological groups are simultaneously compared and visualized.

Results

We develop ABDS tool suite tailored specifically to analyzing biologically diverse samples. Mechanism-integrated group-wise imputation is developed to recruit signature genes involving informative missingness, cosine-based one-sample test is extended to detect enumerated signature genes, and unified heatmap is designed to comparably display complex expression patterns. We discuss the methodological principles and demonstrate the conceptual advantages of the three software tools. We also showcase the biomedical applications of these individual tools. Implemented in open-source R scripts, ABDS tool suite complements rather than replaces the existing tools and will allow biologists to more accurately detect interpretable molecular signals among diverse phenotypic samples.

Availability and implementation

The R Scripts of ABDS tool suite is freely available athttps://github.com/niccolodpdu/ABDS.

Contact

yuewang@vt.edu

Supplementary information

Supplementary materials are available atBioinformatics Advancesonline.
Mosquito Larval Bioassays
Authors: Wang Yifan , Li Ting , Liu Nannan
Published: July 2023

Insecticide bioassays are frequently used to measure levels of insecticide resistance in mosquito populations, examining the ability of mosquitoes to survive exposure to insecticides. Laboratory bioassays measure insects’ responses to insecticides in resistant (field) populations and laboratory susceptible strains using serial doses or concentrations across the range of >0 and <100% mortality. This protocol measures the toxicity of insecticides to mosquito larvae and determines the level of insecticide resistance. Generally, laboratory-reared mosquito larvae of known age or instar are exposed to H2O containing various concentrations of an insecticide, and the response (mortality) is recorded 24 h after the test. Larval bioassay tests can (1) identify the lethal concentrations of larvicide that cause 50% and 90% mortality (LC50and LC90, respectively); (2) determine the diagnostic concentration needed to monitor susceptibility in mosquito larvae in the field; and (3) investigate the resistance status and the mechanisms governing insecticide resistance to a specific insecticide.
Characterizing Mosquito Biting Behavior at High Resolution
Authors: Murray Gregory P.D. , Giraud Emilie , Hol Felix J.H.
Published: July 2023

Blood feeding is a critical event in the life cycle of female mosquitoes. In addition to providing nutrients to the mosquito, blood feeding facilitates the transmission of parasites and viruses to hosts, potentially having devastating health consequences. Our understanding of these short, yet important, bouts of behavior is incomplete. How and where a mosquito decides to bite and the success of feeding can influence the transmission of pathogens. A more thorough understanding of these processes may allow the development of interventions that reduce or prevent infections. Here, we present an overview of strategies for studying mosquito biting behavior and introduce the biteOscope, which provides an opportunity to observe and understand this behavior at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution under tightly controlled conditions. The biteOscope combines recent advances in computer vision and automated tracking with designs for behavioral arenas and controllable artificial host cues that use low-cost and readily available materials.
The spread of sportswashing within top-flight football: a discussion of its underpinnings, mechanisms and probable consequences
Authors: Roslender Robin
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The paper discusses a range of aspects of the spread of sportswashing within top-flight football, identifies the motivations of its proponents, what is on offer to football clubs, their followers and local communities and the ways in which it coheres with the nature of the modern game.

Design/methodology/approach

A range of disparate literature, both academic and non-academic, is synthesised to provide a broad-ranging introduction to the spread of sportswashing within top-flight football.

Findings

Sportswashing is likely to increase within top-flight football in future years as a result of its resonance with aspects of the game's evolving nature. Resistance to its continuing spread presently appears improbable.

Originality/value

As relatively recent development within football, the sportswashing topic has produced a limited literature to which this paper contributes.
The final frontier? Mechanisms to stimulate investment in the commercial space travel industry
Authors: King Robyn , Smith David , Williams Grace
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The paper’s purpose is to consider, using a transaction cost economics (TCE) framework, the mechanisms used by space agencies to encourage private investment in the commercial spaceflight sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a content analysis of 554 pages of news articles, relating to issues pertaining to partnerships between national government-based space agencies and private space travel providers, published over a 20-year period. Leximancer was used to initially screen the data and then the authors manually analysed the content to identify themes.

Findings

The data analysis revealed three themes, relating to: the uncertainty of space travel; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) stimulating innovation in the private sector; and risk, insurance and regulation. These themes informed by TCE reveal the “hierarchical” organisational forms used to achieve human spaceflight and then the “hybrids”, insurance and regulations used to stimulate private sector investment and innovation.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the accounting literature by answering the calls of Alewine (2020) and Tucker and Alewine (2022a, b) for more research into accounting in the space context. Specifically, the paper contributes by identifying mechanisms used by NASA to stimulate private investment in the space travel sector, as well as issues that have affected the implementation of these mechanisms. The paper also contributes to the literature by, based on the analysis, identifying a series of reflections designed to stimulate further management accounting research in the space context.
Push it real good: the effects of push notifications promoting motivational affordances on consumer behavior in a gamified mobile app
Authors: Kunkel Thilo , Hayduk Ted , Lock Daniel
Published: July 2023

Purpose

There is clear benefit in designing and sending notifications to users that persuade them to interact with an app and marketer goals. The purpose of this study is to examine how different motivational affordances in notifications affects subsequent app use.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors designed three studies to address the purpose: (1) an online experiment to test how individuals perceived notifications, which contained social affordances, progression-based affordances, and a combination of social and progression affordances; (2) a survey to gain a deeper understanding of why certain notification characteristics were effective and to unearth factors that jointly affected notification effectiveness; and (3) an in-app field experiment to test if the findings from studies 1 and 2 held up in a “real world” setting.

Findings

The analysis revealed that progression incentives yielded the greatest increases in user behavior. Neither a social incentive, nor a combination of social and progression affordances was more effective than one progression affordance. This effect was heightened by consumers’ involvement with the focal brand.

Research limitations/implications

The contribution extends knowledge about the use of motivational affordances to gamify push notifications in high-involvement contexts. This implies that greater attention should be paid to how the: length of push notifications, affordances communicated and degree of consumers’ relationship with a focal brand (i.e. involvement) impact notification effectiveness. These findings set out new avenues to investigate the uses of gamification and services marketing in future research.

Practical implications

The authors provide marketers with insights into the most effective ways to gamify, structure and time the delivery of notifications. In high-involvement contexts where consumers decide whether to act on a gamified marketing affordance quickly, it pays to use push notifications that feature visible, immediate and tangible rewards. Understanding consumers’ involvement with the brand allows marketers to turn notifications from a potential annoyance into a viable conduit for engagement.

Originality/value

This research extends knowledge on gamification to the domain of push notifications. In doing so, the authors have demonstrated the communicated affordances and wording of the push notifications organizations send affect user behavior. The authors further expand knowledge of the role of consumer involvement on push notification effectiveness while controlling for app usage patterns.
Performance of double skin steel tube columns filled with self-compacted concrete containing nanoclay
Authors: Al-Hassoun Ala'aldin , Allouzi Rabab
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Concrete-filled double skin steel tubes (CFDST) columns are taken more attention due to their ability to withstand high structural loads in structures such as high-rise buildings, bridges' piers, offshore and marine structures. This paper is intended to improve the CFDST column's capacity without the need to increase the column's size to maintain its lightweight by filling it with self-compacted concrete (SCC) containing nanoclay (NC).

Design/methodology/approach

First, experimental investigation is conducted to select the optimal NC percentage that improves the mechanical properties. Different mixing method, mixture ingredients, cement content, and NC percentage are considered. Then, slender and short CFDST columns are tested for axial capacity to investigate the effect of adding the optimum NC percentage on column's capacity and failure mode.

Findings

The test results show that adding 3% NC by cement weight using dry mixing method to SCC is the optimum ratio. It is concluded that adding 3% NC by cement weight increased the CFDST column's capacity, especially the specimens with higher slenderness ratio. Moreover, it is concluded that more specimens should be tested under various geometric and reinforcement details.

Originality/value

Recently, CFDST tube columns solve many structural and architectural problems that engineers have encountered in traditional systems. Therefore, more studies are required to design high-performance columns capable of carrying complex loads with high efficiency since the traditional design could not achieve the required performance. Since concrete contributes to a large portion in the axial capacity of the CFDST columns, it is proposed to improve the CFDST column's capacity without the need to increase the column's size to maintain its lightweight by filling it with (SCC containing NC. Previous research has affirmed the effectiveness of employing nanoclay in the concrete's workability, durability, microstructures, and mechanical properties.
“Going the extra mile”: an integrative model of customer delight
Authors: Kim Soyeon , Kim MiRan , Choi Laee
Published: July 2023

Purpose

This study aims to develop and test an integrative model that examines the effects of customization and perceived employee authenticity on customer delight, which in turn influences customers’ willingness to recommend (WTR) and willingness to pay a premium (WTPP) as outcomes in a hotel context. The moderating role of online review valence in this process is also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a 2 (customization: low vs high) × 2 (perceived employee authenticity: low vs high) × 2 (online review valence: negative vs positive) experimental design. A total of 409 US consumers were recruited and randomly assigned to a hotel check-in scenario. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Findings confirmed the role of customer delight in mediating customization and employee authenticity on WTR and WTPP. In addition, perceived employee authenticity was a stronger driver of customer delight for consumers exposed to negative online reviews than for those exposed to positive reviews.

Practical implications

The findings provide useful guidance in designing efficient service strategies for generating a delightful customer experience. Hotel practitioners should provide customized services and manage employees in a way that helps them deliver authentic services that achieve customer delight. Understanding that customer expectations formed through online reviews play a significant role in service evaluations, hotel managers make an extra effort to monitor online reviews and manage customer expectations.

Originality/value

Although existing research suggests that customer delight plays an important role in positive consumer outcomes, there is still potential space to explore the theoretical mediational mechanisms underlying this effect and the moderating effect on this relationship between customer delight and consumer responses. This study contributes by testing the moderating impact of online review valence and the mediating impact of customer delight.
Exploring the measurements of COVID-19-induced supply chain disruptions and their implications on the economic vulnerability of small-scale farmers
Authors: Karunarathna Navodika , Siriwardhane Dinesha , Jayarathne Amila
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The main aim of this study is to explore the appropriate factors in measuring COVID-19-induced supply chain disruptions and the impact of these disruptions on the economic vulnerability of small-scale farmers in Sri Lanka.

Findings

The findings revealed that most of the farmers have continued to cultivate even during the pandemic despite several challenges which affected their economic status. Therefore, it is concluded that COVID-19-induced transportation and demand disruptions exacerbated the economic vulnerability of small-scale farmers over the disruptions in supply and production.

Practical implications

The findings of this study are crucial for formulating novel policies to improve the sustainability of the Sri Lankan agricultural sector and alleviate the poverty level of Agri-communities in the countryside. As farming is a vital sector in the economy, increased attention ought to be given on facilitating farmers with government-encouraged loans or allowances for their financial stability. Further, the respective government authorities should develop programs for importing and distributing adequate quantities of fertilizers among all the farmers at controlled prices so that they can continue their operations without any interruption. Moreover, the government could engage in collaboratively work with private organizations to streamline the Agri-input supply process. There should be a government initiative for critical consideration of the issues of farming families and their continued motivation to engage in agriculture. Thus, farmers' livelihoods and agricultural prosperity could be upgraded through alternative Agri-inputs and marketing strategies, providing financial assistance, encouraging innovative technology, etc.

Originality/value

Despite the significance and vulnerability of the vegetable and fruit sector in Sri Lanka, there is a limitation in the empirical studies conducted on the supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 measures and their implications on the farmers' livelihood. Furthermore, previous empirical research has not employed adequate quantitative tools to analyze the situation or appropriate variables in evaluating COVID-19-induced disruptions. Hence, the current study explored the appropriate factors for measuring COVID-19-induced supply chain disruption using exploratory factor analysis. Then, the impact of those factors on the economic vulnerability of the small scale farmers was revealed through the ordinal logistics regression analysis.
Examine the level of environmental, social and governance disclosure in sustainability report – a study of the Indian banking sector
Authors: Mishra Pooja , Sant Tatavarty Guru
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Sustainable development (SD) is widely acknowledged as the center around which all development efforts should revolve. Banking is a crucial component of SD, and the adoption of sustainable banking practices by various banking institutions is a powerful catalyst for its achievement. This paper aims to investigate the level of adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators in India and the extent to which financial institutions use these strategies. In addition, the banks have been classified according to their sustainable banking performance and showing a relationship between ESG and sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

An ESG framework has been developed for the Indian banking system that focuses on the behavior of banks. The evaluation of literature helps to identify the gaps in particular frameworks for analyzing sustainable banking practices in developing nations because of the variation in economic criteria between developed and developing countries. An attempt to construct a common framework for measuring the banking sector’s sustainable efforts has been done in the past. Specifically in India, where the social and environmental dimensions of sustainability are of equal importance to governance indicators, these studies fall short of providing relevant indicators. Multiple financial reports, nonfinancial reports, corporate social responsibility reports and business responsibility reports of this sector were analyzed using content analysis techniques against ESG indicators for sustainability attainment.

Findings

The result of this study shows that both the sectors are disclosing their environmental indicators more as compared to other dimensions. While the analysis says that private companies are going better than public companies in terms of disclosing their ESG indicators. As compared to the international banking sector, adoption of Global Reporting Initiatives standards, United Nations Environment Programme Financial Initiatives (UNEP FI), Green Credit Policy and Equator Principles (EP) is near to the ground in India. IDFC bank is the only entity that started implementing EP practices and Yes bank also is doing a wonderful implementation of the green policies and is the signatory to UNEP FI.

Practical implications

The current state of sustainable banking in India is reflected in the implementation of the proposed framework. To better integrate sustainability problems into banking, this study provides helpful information for banks and other stakeholders. In addition, this study corrects the lack of research in the Indian context on sustainable banking.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge by far, this is one of the prime studies to inspect the degree of ESG disclosure by the Indian banking sector in their sustainability report.
Financial literacy and its determinants among the schedule tribes: evidences from India
Authors: Singh Bhushan , Singh Mohinder
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Despite a lot of developments in the financial markets, financial illiteracy is a main concern across the world and is directly associated with faulty financial decisions making. The situation is very alarming among a socially or economically marginalized section of society as they cannot afford to pay finance professionals for their wealth management. The objective of the study is to understand the level of financial literacy as well as its determinants among the marginalized section of society living in hilly areas.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is descriptive as well as empirical in design and based on primary data collected from the 300 scheduled tribe households of Himachal Pradesh a hilly state of India.

Findings

The study observed that financial literacy is very low among the scheduled tribes living, and their level of education, income, family system and Internet accessibility have a significant impact on their financial scores.

Practical implications

The outcome of the paper may be useful to design customized awareness programs, and financial products focusing on scheduled tribes living in far-flung areas so that they can get the benefits of market-driven financial products.

Social implications

Financial awareness can help scheduled tribes in their financial inclusion thereby reducing poverty and inequality through informed financial decisions. Thus, the outcome if implemented can help in achieving the objective of inclusive growth.

Originality/value

No specific work has been done to explore the level as well as the determinants of financial literacy among the scheduled tribe households living in hill areas. This paper will fill this gap and contributes to the existing work on financial literacy and inclusion.

Peer review

The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0008