bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Magna-Lok rivet joint and the stiffness-equivalent FE model
Authors: Šedek Jakub , Růžek Roman
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for the determination of the stiffness when using simplified substitutive model of the joint. The usage of detailed finite element (FE) model of the joint in complex assemblies is not convenient; therefore, the substitutive model of the joint is used in FE models.

Design/methodology/approach

The detailed and simplified FE model of the joint is created in ABAQUS software and the analysis as well. The results of displacements are used for the determination of the stiffness of connecting element in simplified substitutive FE model. The approach is presented based on the general view on the different regions in the joint.

Findings

A simple FE modelling approach for the joint including the equivalent stiffness is presented. The particular solution is performed for Magna-Lok type of the rivet. The results show the same displacement for the detailed and simplified FE models. The analytical formula for stiffness determination in the load case with minimal secondary bending is introduced.

Practical implications

The approach for stiffness determination is straightforward and so no stiffness “tuning” is necessary in the simplified FE model.

Originality/value

The new approach for definition of simple FE model of the joint is introduced. It is not necessary to model a complex structure with detailed joints. The equivalent stiffness can be determined by presented procedure for every joint without limitation of the type.
Establishment of the Swedish Aeronautical Research Center (SARC)
Authors: Staack Ingo
Published: March 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to present the newly founded Swedish Aeronautical Research Center (SARC), based on the triple helix theory, to foster the seamless Swedish aerospace research interplay between academia, research organizations and industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a technical paper, mainly relating and explaining sources and concepts for research planning and organization. Used concepts are the triple helix approach (for socioeconomic effects), the role of academia and industry interplay for education and the technology readiness level (TRL) concept for strategic research planning. Focusing on the establishment of a graduate school, lessons learned from previous national research schools are also presented.

Findings

The paper gives an overview of and explains the interplay between politics, social welfare and industrial R&D needs, with the academic viewpoint of aeronautical research and education. Shortcomings in both the use of TRL for research program planning and the Swedish competence cluster system are identified and remedies suggested. The main findings are suggestions for future actions to be conducted by SARC in the fields of research and education.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the seamless interplay between academia, research organizations and industry.

Originality/value

So far, no publication about the newly founded SARC has been made yet. It is unique in the way that it makes substantial use of national technical documents so that this information becomes available for non-Swedish speakers. Additionally, the perhaps-unique system of industrial competence clusters is presented.
Corporate cash holding during crisis and beyond: what matters the most
Authors: Ranajee Ranajee , Pathak Rajesh
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cash holding of firms during a crisis and test the widely accepted determinants of corporate cash holding (CCH) for their consistency across periods of crisis, stability and recovery, and across firm categories, in the emerging market context of India.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs panel data and Fama–Macbeth regression techniques on publicly listed ﬁrms during 2001–2015, amid controls for idiosyncratic factors. Further empirical analysis is carried out through the disaggregation of ﬁrms based on group affiliation, controlling stake of promoters, financial constraints and firm size.

Findings

The study reports that cash levels are significantly higher during crisis periods for Indian firms. Moreover, promoter holding is observed to be a strong predictor of CCH, which is an addition to the list of predictors in existing literature. Additionally, most of the predictors of cash holding turn out to be consistent through periods of financial crisis, stability and recovery. A firm’s age and growth prospects do not determine cash levels for Indian firms; however, cash-flow volatility, firm size, leverage and non-cash working capital requirements help to determine the cash levels of the firm consistently through different periods. Group-affiliated firms are less likely to engage in cash accumulation as opposed to firms that are large and financially constrained and have high promoter stakes.

Originality/value

The study is unique because it examines the consistency of determinants of cash holding across good and turbulent times and across firm classifications. Moreover, the study uses a broad sample of firms and investigates the topic for a relatively long period in an emerging market setup.
Exploring project managers’ accountability
Authors: Rezania Davar , Baker Ron , Nixon Andrew
Published: March 2019

Purpose

Despite the importance of accountability for the oversight of projects, few studies have directly examined accountability mechanisms at the project level. While the literature already provides descriptions of governance and mechanisms of accountability, the purpose of this paper is to examine how project managers view their accountability relationships within their organizational context.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is guided by critical realism as a philosophy of science. The authors interviewed 15 project managers from 12 organizations and analyzed the transcripts in the light of existing project management accountability literature.

Findings

The authors observe the practice of socializing accountability through face-to-face negotiation and symmetries of power due to interdependencies happen to some extent in management of projects. This suggests ambidexterity in accountability in project-based organizations. Therefore, the current models of project accountability and governance that are solely based on the agency theory are not sufficient to explain the accountability relationships in such organizations.

Practical implications

Accountability arrangements happen within a system for steering projects. Managers should be aware of how project managers view their accountability and how socializing practices of accountability can help the project’s management and the organization’s management interact in order to transform organizational systems by regulating issues of project concern and defining the process and direction of how project deliverables are produced, introduced, absorbed and used within the organization.

Originality/value

“Theory driven” interviews and analysis are used to confirm or refine conceptualization of accountability in management of projects. Most models of project governance are based on the agency theory or governability theory. The authors have demonstrated that socializing practices of accountability should be included in investigating project governance. The authors observe that project managers are often concerned with the interdependence with their principals and the socializing processes of accountability that arise from this interdependence.
US Supreme court rules SEC administrative law judges are subject to the appointments clause
Authors: Roth Joshua D. , Santolli Justin J.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 138 S.Ct. 2044 (June 21, 2018).

Design/methodology/approach

The approach of this paper is to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) use of Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”), and the litigation challenging the appointment of those ALJs, culminating in the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia.

Findings

In Lucia, the Court held that SEC ALJs are “officers of the United States,” and thus subject to the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which limits the power to appoint “officers” to the President, “Courts of Law” or “Heads of Departments.” Because the ALJ who presided over Lucia’s administrative proceeding was not appointed by the SEC itself, the Court held that the ALJ’s appointment was unconstitutional and ordered the SEC to provide Lucia with a new hearing in front of a new (constitutionally appointed) ALJ.

Practical implications

The Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia provides defense counsel with new ammunition to challenge SEC administrative proceedings. It will likely have a significant effect on many pending and already-concluded SEC administrative proceedings but also leaves open a number of important questions for further litigation.

Originality/value

This paper provides expert analysis and guidance from experienced securities litigators.
Greenwashing effect, attitudes, and beliefs in green consumption
Authors: Braga Junior Sergio , Martínez Marta Pagán , Correa Caroline Miranda , Moura-Leite Rosamaria Cox , Da Silva Dirceu
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the perception of the influence of greenwashing and of attitudes and beliefs in the decisions of purchase of green products in the retail.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research was carried out by means of a survey with a sample of 880 consumers living in São Paulo city, Brazil, who buy in supermarkets weekly or biweekly.

Findings

It was possible to evaluate a model that analyzed the aspects that greenwashing carries and the aspects that the attitudes and beliefs of the consumer present. As a result, it is inferred that when greenwashing is identified in the product, it loses the aspects of loyalty, satisfaction and benefits, as well as becoming a product that causes confusion of consumption. Further, consumer attitudes and beliefs show that they are guided by the aspects of perceived loyalty, satisfaction and benefits and that the perceived risk aspect is practically ignored.

Originality/value

The originality of this study is in evaluating consumer perception focusing on several aspects of purchase intention simultaneously, considering perception and behavior of consumer before greenwashing and green consumption and using all aspects together (satisfaction, loyalty, subjective and control forces, risk and benefits perception). Besides complementing with other determinants like consumer attitudes and beliefs, confusion of green consumption, behavior controlled in relation to green consumption and greenwashing. Thus, it contributes with an interdisciplinary study whose scale and methodology can be used by analogous studies.
The importance of secondary growth to plant responses to snow in the arctic
Authors: Addis Claire E. , Bret‐Harte Marion S.
Published: March 2019

In arctic environments, drifting snow around large shrub patches during winter may enhance growth by insulating the soil and facilitating overwinter nutrient turnover, leading to increased summer plant growth and potentially widespread increases in shrub cover.

To determine whether snow enhances growth of arctic plants, we examined the effect of 6 years of added snow on plant biomass allocation and growth of nine common vascular plant species collected in 2010 and 2011 on either side of snowfences established in 2005 across a gradient of shrub biomass and productivity near Toolik Lake, Alaska.

The deciduous shrub Salix pulchra responded most positively to added snow showing an 88% increase in total ramet biomass, because increased secondary growth allowed plants to support more branches and leaves. Some graminoid species also showed growth increases, especially where they were more abundant and larger than nearby shrub species.

Species sharing the same growth strategy (deciduous shrubs, evergreen shrubs and graminoids) responded differently to increased snow, with some showing increased growth, others showing decreased growth, and some showing no effects. We found that relative biomass per ramet in combination with growth strategy is a better predictor of species’ growth responses to added snow than growth strategy alone.

Our research shows that a primary mechanism for enhanced growth of shrubs in response to deeper snow is increased secondary growth. Improved growth may be an important way in which arctic plants spread, since they are often long‐lived and clonal, and this may help explain the increase in shrub cover observed across northern latitudes. As shrub patches continue to expand and increase surrounding snow depths during winter, secondary growth of fast‐growing deciduous shrub species may play an important role in defining future landscape community composition and ecosystem processes.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
A new chromosomal rearrangement improves the adaptation of wine yeasts to sulfite
Authors: García‐Ríos Estéfani , Nuévalos Marcos , Barrio Eladio , Puig Sergi , Guillamón José M.
Published: March 2019

Sulfite‐generating compounds are widely used during winemaking as preservatives because of its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Thus, wine yeast strains have developed different genetic strategies to increase its sulfite resistance. The most efficient sulfite detoxification mechanism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae uses a plasma membrane protein called Ssu1 to efflux sulfite. In wine yeast strains, two chromosomal translocations (VIIItXVI and XVtXVI) involving the SSU1 promoter region have been shown to upregulate SSU1 expression and, as a result, increase sulfite tolerance. In this study, we have identified a novel chromosomal rearrangement that triggers wine yeast sulfite adaptation. An inversion in chromosome XVI (inv‐XVI) probably due to sequence microhomology, which involves SSU1 and GCR1 regulatory regions, increases the expression of SSU1 and the sulfite resistance of a commercial wine yeast strain. A detailed dissection of this chimeric SSU1 promoter indicates that both the removed SSU1 promoter sequence and the relocated GCR1 sequence contribute to SSU1 upregulation and sulfite tolerance. However, no relevant function has been attributed to the SSU1‐promoter‐binding transcription factor Fzf1. These results unveil a new genomic event that confers an evolutive advantage to wine yeast strains.
Doctrine and Decision: Navigating Labour's New Constitutional Position in the Lords
Authors: Robinson Emily , Watts Jake
Published: March 2019

The 2015–17 Parliament was the first time in history that the Conservatives were in government with no easily assembled majority in the House of Lords. This has fundamentally altered the role that Labour is able to play in the Lords and, conversely, that peers are able to play in the Labour party. Yet the political significance of this situation has not yet been fully appreciated by a party which remains culturally antagonistic and constitutionally wary of the Lords. In this paper, we draw on interviews with Labour peers, particularly the late Baroness Hollis of Heigham, who have been able to use the essentially conservative powers of the Lords for social democratic ends. We suggest that the Labour party needs to incorporate the second chamber into both its practical and symbolic politics, and to find ways to use this new source of constitutional power without accommodating to it.
Orphaned wells, oil assets, and debt: the competing ethics of value creation and care within petrocapitalist projects of return
Authors: Wood Caura
Published: March 2019

This essay explores the phenomenon known as ‘orphaned wells’, meaning unprofitable oil and gas wells (‘legacy wells’) that have become disentangled from their corporate owners owing to insolvency, or owing to a failure to comply with local regulations. Drawing from an ethnographic example of a near‐insolvent oil and gas corporation in Alberta, Canada, and its strategies of refinancing, the essay explores how value creation and the moral force of the obligation to create a financial return give rise to a ‘durational ethics’ that shapes corporate and financial performativities and prolongs the ‘life’ of legacy oil and gas assets. Legacy assets, understood as potential orphans, are thus caught up in a lively corporate practice of asset circulation and recombination often deployed by producers for the moral work of ‘cleaning balance sheets’. This essay calls for ‘thinking with orphans’ to recognize the competing ethical registers which produce them in addition to the growing need for responsibility and corporate care for legacy oil and gas assets.
Greater goods: ethics, energy, and other‐than‐human speech
Authors: Howe Cymene
Published: March 2019

Renewable energy projects are ethically laudable for their cleansing intentions, but they also produce effects upon other‐than‐human beings in their orbit. Taking the case of Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which is home to the densest concentration of on‐shore wind parks anywhere in the world, and following Foucault's reading of the speech form ‘parrhesia’, this essay argues that the bodies of affected nonhuman beings, particularly those whose existence is actively balanced against a ‘greater good’ for humanity, enact a form of other‐than‐human speech, first in their threatened status and, secondly, through environmental management regimes that seek to synchronize human and nonhuman lives in settings of both local and global ecological failures.
Milk MicroRNAs in Health and Disease
Authors: Benmoussa Abderrahim , Provost Patrick
Published: March 2019

MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs responsible for regulating 40% to 60% of gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. The discovery of circulating microRNAs in several biological fluids opened the path for their study as biomarkers and long‐range cell‐to‐cell communication mediators. Their transfer between individuals in the case of blood transfusion, for example, and their high enrichment in milk have sparked the interest for microRNA transfer through diet, especially from mothers to infants during breastfeeding. The extension of such paradigm led to the study of milk microRNAs in the case of cow or goat milk consumption in adults. Here we provide a comprehensive critical review of the key findings surrounding milk microRNAs in human, cow, and goat milk among other species. We discuss the data on their biological properties, their use as disease biomarkers, their transfer between individuals or species, and their putative or verified functions in health and disease of infants and adult consumers. This work is based on all the literature available and integrates all the results, theories, debates, and validation studies available so far on milk microRNAs and related areas of investigations. We critically discuss the limitations and outline future aspects and avenues to explore in this rapidly growing field of research that could impact public health through infant milk formulations or new therapies. We hope that this comprehensive review of the literature will provide insight for all teams investigating milk RNAs’ biological activities and help ensure the quality of future reports.
Does Wetland Location Matter When Managing Wetlands for Watershed‐Scale Flood and Drought Resilience?
Authors: Ameli Ali A. , Creed Irena F.
Published: March 2019

Wetland protection and restoration strategies that are designed to promote hydrologic resilience do not incorporate the location of wetlands relative to the main stream network. This is primarily attributed to the lack of knowledge on the effects of wetland location on wetland hydrologic function (e.g., flood and drought mitigation). Here, we combined a watershed‐scale, surface–subsurface, fully distributed, physically based hydrologic model with historical, existing, and lost (drained) wetland maps in the Nose Creek watershed in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America to (1) estimate the hydrologic functions of lost wetlands and (2) estimate the hydrologic functions of wetlands located at different distances from the main stream network. Modeling results showed wetland loss altered streamflow, decreasing baseflow and increasing stream peakflow during the period of the precipitation events that led to major flooding in the watershed and downstream cities. In addition, we found that wetlands closer to the main stream network played a disproportionately important role in attenuating peakflow, while wetland location was not important for regulating baseflow. The findings of this study provide information for watershed managers that can help to prioritize wetland restoration efforts for flood or drought risk mitigation.
Characteristics and Formation Mechanism of Giant Long‐Runout Landslide: A Case Study of the Gamisi Ancient Landslide in the Upper Minjiang River, China
Authors: GUO Changbao , WU Ruian , ZHANG Yongshuang , REN Sanshao , YANG Zhihua , LI Xue
Published: March 2019

The upper reaches of the Minjiang River are in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, where active faults are well developed and earthquakes frequently occur. Anomalous climate change and the extremely complex geomechanical properties of rock and soil have resulted in a number of geohazards. Based on the analysis of remote sensing interpretations, geological field surveys, geophysical prospecting and geological dating results, this paper discusses the developmental characteristics of the Gamisi ancient landslide in Songpan County, Sichuan Province, and investigates its geological age and formation mechanism. This study finds that the Gamisi ancient landslide is in the periglacial region of the Minshan Mountain and formed approximately 25 ka BP. The landslide initiation zone has a collapse and slide zone of approximately 22.65×106–31.7×106 m3 and shows a maximum sliding distance of approximately 1.42 km, with an elevation difference of approximately 310 m between the back wall of the landslide and the leading edge of the accumulation area. The landslide movement was characterized by a high speed and long runout. During the sliding process, the landslide body eroded and dammed the ancient Minjiang River valley. The ancient river channel was buried 30‐60 m below the surface of the landslide accumulation area. Geophysical prospecting and drilling observations revealed that the ancient riverbed was approximately 80‐100 m thick. After the dam broke, the Minjiang River was migrated to the current channel at the leading edge of the landslide. The Gamisi ancient landslide was greatly affected by the regional crustal uplift, topography, geomorphology and paleoclimatic change. The combined action of periglacial karstification and climate change caused the limestone at the rear edge of the landslide fractured, thus providing a lithological foundation for landslide occurrence. Intense tectonic activity along the Minjiang Fault, which runs through the middle and trailing parts of the Gamisi ancient landslide, may have been the main factor inducing landsliding. Studying the Gamisi ancient landslide is of great significance for investigating the regional response to paleoclimatic change and geomorphologic evolution of the Minjiang Fault since the late Pleistocene and for disaster prevention and mitigation.
The Petrological and Geochemical Evolution of Ediacaran Rare‐Metal Bearing A‐type Granites from the Jabal Aja Complex, Northern Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia
Authors: ABDALLAH Shehta E. , AZER Mokhles K. , SHAMMARI Abdullah S. AL
Published: March 2019

New fieldwork, mineralogical and geochemical data and interpretations are presented for the rare‐metal bearing A‐type granites of the Aja intrusive complex (AIC) in the northern segment of the Arabian Shield. This complex is characterized by discontinuous ring‐shaped outcrops cut by later faulting. The A‐type rocks of the AIC are late Neoproterozoic post‐collisional granites, including alkali feldspar granite, alkaline granite and peralkaline granite. They represent the outer zones of the AIC, surrounding a core of older rocks including monzogranite, syenogranite and granophyre granite. The sharp contacts between A‐type granites of the outer zone and the different granitic rocks of the inner zone suggest that the AIC was emplaced as different phases over a time interval, following complete crystallization of earlier batches. The A‐type granites represent the late intrusive phases of the AIC, which were emplaced during tectonic extension, as shown by the emplacement of dykes synchronous with the granite emplacement and the presence of cataclastic features. The A‐type granites consist of K‐feldspars, quartz, albite, amphiboles and sodic pyroxene with a wide variety of accessory minerals, including Fe‐Ti oxides, zircon, allanite, fluorite, monazite, titanite, apatite, columbite, xenotime and epidote. They are highly evolved (71.3–75.8 wt% SiO2) and display the typical geochemical characteristics of post‐collisional, within‐plate granites. They are rare‐metal granites enriched in total alkalis, Nb, Zr, Y, Ga, Ta, REE with low CaO, MgO, Ba, and Sr. Eu‐negative anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.17–0.37) of the A‐type granites reflect extreme magmatic fractionation and perhaps the effects of late fluid‐rock interactions. The chemical characteristics indicate that the A‐type granites of the AIC represent products of extreme fractional crystallization involving alkali feldspar, quartz and, to a lesser extent, ferromagnesian minerals. The parent magma was derived from the partial melting of a juvenile crustal protolith with a mantle contribution. Accumulation of residual volatile‐rich melt and exsolved fluids in the late stage of the magma evolution produced pegmatite and quartz veins that cut the peripheries of the AIC. Post‐magmatic alteration related to the final stages of the evolution of the A‐type granitic magma, indicated by alterations of sodic amphibole and sodic pyroxene, hematitization and partial albitization.
The Political Economy of ‘Tax Spillover’: A New Multilateral Framework
Authors: Baker Andrew , Murphy Richard
Published: March 2019

Tax spillovers are the effects one country's tax rules and practices have on other countries. They have been assessed in aggregate terms by the IMF using econometric models, and were found to have a ‘significant and sizable’ impact in reducing corporate tax bases and rates in ‘developing countries. However, a widely accepted form of country level spillover analysis remains elusive, despite demands from non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) and international organisations (IOs). We present the first framework for conducting comprehensive national level spillover analyses using a qualitative evaluation framework in three steps. First we identify the importance of the normative underpinnings of multilateral evaluation frameworks. We make the case for an international moral harm convention that discourages states from doing harm to other states through their tax policies. Second we illustrate some of the difficulties in conducting country level spillover analyses using econometric methods, while advancing a broader conception of spillover, based on the defensive purpose of corporation tax. Third we present a new framework for conducting spillover analysis, that assesses relationships between four direct taxes and a number of administrative and institutional features of tax systems. Finally, we present initial pilot qualitative assessments for the UK and Denmark, involving scores, risk dashboards and visualisations.
Clinical significance of primary prophylactic pegylated‐granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor after the administration of ramucirumab plus docetaxel in patients with previously treated non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: Mouri Atsuto , Kaira Kyoichi , Shiono Ayako , Yamaguchi Ou , Murayama Yoshitake , Kobayashi Kunihiko , Kagamu Hiroshi
Published: March 2019

Whether primary prophylactic pegylated‐granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (PEG‐G‐CSF) should be administered immediately after the initiation of ramucirumab plus docetaxel (DR) to prevent the occurrence of febrile neutropenia (FN) is unclear. Our retrospective study aimed to elucidate whether PEG‐G‐CSF could control the occurrence of FN as a result of DR in patients with previously treated non‐small‐cell lung cancer. Thirty‐three patients with previously treated non‐small‐cell lung cancer who had received DR were eligible for our analysis. Of the 33 patients, 29 received prophylactic PEG‐G‐CSF immediately after DR, but none developed FN. However, FN was observed in 2 (50%) of the 4 patients that were not administered PEG‐CSF. The overall response and disease control rates in the 29 patients with prophylactic PEG‐GSF were 31% and 62%, respectively. The median progression‐free and overall survival rates of the patients with and without prophylactic PEG‐GSF were 177 and 163 days (P = 0.20), and 628 and 274 days (P = 0.13), respectively. Primary prophylactic PEG‐G‐CSF suppressed the occurrence of FN secondary to the administration of DR.
Thoracoscopic completion right lower lobectomy after anteromedial basilar segmentectomy in early‐stage lung cancer
Authors: Liu Yu‐Wei , Chou Shah‐Hwa , Hung Jen‐Yu , Kao Chieh‐Ni , Chang Po‐Chih
Published: March 2019

This report describes the surgical management of a male patient with early‐stage lung cancer who underwent thoracoscopic completion right lower lobectomy after previously undergoing sublobar resection for multifocal ground glass nodules of the lung. Perioperative considerations associated with the management of dense pulmonary hilar adhesions and the techniques used are discussed.
Tenants’ land access in the rental market: evidence from northern Ethiopia
Authors: Gebru Menasbo , Holden Stein T. , Tilahun Mesfin
Published: March 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the allocation efficiency in the tenancy market, and thereby the potential of the market to facilitate operational farm size adjustment that can help land‐poor tenant households to transform into smallholder commercial farms. We analyzed three rounds of balanced panel data for the production seasons 2005–2006, 2009–2010, and 2014–2015 collected from 320 smallholder farms in Tigrai region in northern Ethiopia. Random effects dynamic probit and tobit models are used to assess how land‐poor tenants’ access and extent of access to land are affected by state dependency (earlier participation in the market), kinship ties, climate shocks, and legal restrictions. The results indicate that state dependency and kinship ties with the landholder had strong positive effects on participation and intensity of participation. Climate shocks significantly affected the intensity of participation of tenants already in the rental market. Tenants’ overall access to rented land had not improved from 2005–2006 to 2014–2015. The amount of land accessed by those already in the market was insufficient for them to become commercial farmers. The important policy implication is that orchestrated interventions at community level are needed to reduce transaction costs and thereby improve land access of entrepreneurial tenants.
Amphiregulin and ocular axial length
Authors: Dong Li , Shi Xu Han , Kang Yi Kun , Wei Wen Bin , Wang Ya Xing , Xu Xiao Lin , Gao Fei , Yuan Lin Hong , Zhen Jie , Jiang Wen Jun , Jonas Jost B.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

To assess the potential role of amphiregulin as messenger molecule in ocular axial elongation.

Methods

The experimental study included guinea pigs (total n = 78) (age: 3–4 weeks) which underwent bilateral lens‐induced myopization and received 15 days later three intraocular injections in weekly intervals of amphiregulin antibody (doses:5 μg, 10 μg, 20 μg) into their right eyes, and three phosphate‐buffered saline injections into their left eyes; and guinea pigs without lens‐induced myopization and which received three unilateral intraocular injections of amphiregulin antibody (dose: 20 μg) or amphiregulin (doses: 1 ng; 10 ng; 20 ng) into their right eyes, and three phosphate‐buffered saline injections into their left eyes. Seven days later, the animals were sacrificed. Intravitally, we performed biometry, and histology and immunohistochemistry post‐mortem.

Results

In animals with bilateral lens‐induced myopization, the right eyes receiving amphiregulin antibody showed reduced axial elongation in a dose‐dependent manner (dose: 5 μg: side difference: 0.14 ± 0.05 mm;10 μg: 0.22 ± 0.06 mm; 20 μg: 0.32 ± 0.06 mm; p < 0.001), thicker sclera (all p < 0.05) and higher cell density in the retinal nuclear layers and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) (all p < 0.05). In animals without lens‐induced myopia, the right eyes with amphiregulin antibody application (20 μg) showed reduced axial elongation (p = 0.04), and the right eyes with amphiregulin injections experienced increased (p = 0.02) axial elongation in a dose‐dependent manner (1 ng: 0.04 ± 0.06 mm; 10 ng: 0.10 ± 0.05 mm; 20 ng: 0.11 ± 0.06 mm). Eyes with lens‐induced axial elongation as compared to eyes without lens‐induced axial elongation revealed an increased visualization of amphiregulin upon immunohistochemistry and higher expression of mRNA of endogenous amphiregulin and epidermal growth factor receptor, in particular in the outer part of the retinal inner nuclear layer and in the RPE.

Conclusion

Amphiregulin may be associated with axial elongation in young guinea pigs.
Causal Inference With Interfering Units for Cluster and Population Level Treatment Allocation Programs
Authors: Papadogeorgou Georgia , Mealli Fabrizia , Zigler Corwin M.
Published: March 2019

Interference arises when an individual's potential outcome depends on the individual treatment level, but also on the treatment level of others. A common assumption in the causal inference literature in the presence of interference is partial interference, implying that the population can be partitioned in clusters of individuals whose potential outcomes only depend on the treatment of units within the same cluster. Previous literature has defined average potential outcomes under counterfactual scenarios where treatments are randomly allocated to units within a cluster. However, within clusters there may be units that are more or less likely to receive treatment based on covariates or neighbors’ treatment. We define new estimands that describe average potential outcomes for realistic counterfactual treatment allocation programs, extending existing estimands to take into consideration the units’ covariates and dependence between units’ treatment assignment. We further propose entirely new estimands for population-level interventions over the collection of clusters, which correspond in the motivating setting to regulations at the federal (vs. cluster or regional) level. We discuss these estimands, propose unbiased estimators and derive asymptotic results as the number of clusters grows. For a small number of observed clusters, a bootstrap approach for confidence intervals is proposed. Finally, we estimate effects in a comparative effectiveness study of power plant emission reduction technologies on ambient ozone pollution.
Couple‐focused interventions for men with localized prostate cancer and their spouses: A randomized clinical trial
Authors: Manne Sharon L. , Kashy Deborah A. , Zaider Talia , Kissane David , Lee David , Kim Isaac Y. , Heckman Carolyn J. , Penedo Frank J. , Murphy Evangelynn , Virtue Shannon Myers
Published: March 2019

Objectives

Few couple‐focused interventions have improved psychological and relationship functioning among men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and their spouses. This study compared the impact of intimacy‐enhancing therapy (IET), a general health and wellness intervention (GHW), and usual care (UC) on the psychological and relationship functioning of localized prostate cancer patients and their partners. Relationship length, relationship satisfaction, and patient masculinity were evaluated as moderators.

Design

This study was a randomized clinical trial with three study arms and four assessment time points.

Methods

A total of 237 patients and partners were randomly assigned to receive IET, GHW, or UC. Participants completed measures of psychological functioning and relationship satisfaction at baseline, 5 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months post‐baseline. Primary outcomes were psychological adjustment, depression, cancer‐specific distress, cancer concerns, and relationship satisfaction.

Results

Spouses in IET showed greater increases in relationship satisfaction than spouses in GHW and UC between the baseline and 5‐week follow‐up. Among patients in longer relationships, significant increases in psychological adjustment were found in both treatments compared to UC. Among spouses in longer relationships, psychological adjustment increased in both IET and UC but declined in GHW.

Conclusions

Intimacy‐enhancing therapy did not show an impact on general or cancer‐specific distress, but did show an early impact on relationship satisfaction among spouses. IET was superior to UC for patients in longer relationships. It will be important for researchers to understand which couple‐focused interventions benefits both patients and spouses and to identify characteristics of patients, partners, and couples who may not benefit from psychological treatments.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject?

Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer report lower health‐related quality of life and both patients and spouses report elevated distress.

Relationship communication plays a role in couples’ psychological adaptation to prostate cancer.

Couple‐focused interventions have illustrated an impact on relationship communication.

There are no studies comparing different couple‐focused interventions.

What does this study add?

Intimacy‐enhancing therapy was not superior to no treatment or a comparison treatment for the broad range of psychological and relationship outcomes.

Intimacy‐enhancing therapy was superior to no treatment for patients in longer‐term relationship.

The general health and wellness intervention was not beneficial for men in shorter relationships and for men who did not endorse traditional masculine norms.
Neuropathological lesions in the very old: results from a large Brazilian autopsy study
Authors: Suemoto Claudia K. , Leite Renata E.P. , Ferretti‐Rebustini Renata E.L. , Rodriguez Roberta D. , Nitrini Ricardo , Pasqualucci Carlos A. , Jacob‐Filho Wilson , Grinberg Lea T.
Published: March 2019

Objective

To compare neuropathological correlates of cognitive impairment between very old and younger individuals from a Brazilian clinicopathological study.

Methods

We assessed the frequency of neuropathological lesions and their association with cognitive impairment (Clinical Dementia Rating scale ≥0.5) in the 80 or over age group compared to younger participants, using logistic regression models adjusted for sex, race and education.

Results

Except for infarcts and siderocalcinosis, all neuropathological lesions were more common in the 80 or over age group (n = 412) compared to 50–79 year olds (n = 677). Very old participants had more than twice the likelihood of having ≥2 neuropathological diagnoses than younger participants (OR = 2.66, 95% CI = 2.03–3.50). Neurofibrillary tangles, infarcts and hyaline arteriolosclerosis were associated with cognitive impairment in the two age groups. Siderocalcinosis was associated with cognitive impairment in the younger participants only, while Lewy body disease was associated with cognitive impairment in the very old only. In addition, we found that the association of infarcts and multiple pathologies with cognitive impairment was attenuated in very old adults (Infarcts: P for interaction = 0.04; and multiple pathologies: P = 0.05). However, the predictive value for the aggregate model with all neuropathological lesions showed similar discrimination in both age groups [Area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUROC) = 0.778 in younger participants and AUROC = 0.765 in the very old].

Conclusion and relevance

Despite a higher frequency of neuropathological findings in the very old group, as found in studies with high‐income populations, we found attenuation of the effect of infarcts rather than neurofibrillary tangles and plaques as reported previously.
Reconciling the concepts and measures of diversity, rarity and originality in ecology and evolution
Authors: Kondratyeva Anna , Grandcolas Philippe , Pavoine Sandrine
Published: March 2019

The concept of biological diversity, or biodiversity, is at the core of evolutionary and ecological studies. Many indices of biodiversity have been developed in the last four decades, with species being one of the central units of these indices. However, evolutionary and ecological studies need a precise description of species' characteristics to best quantify inter‐species diversity, as species are not equivalent and exchangeable. One of the first concepts characterizing species in biodiversity studies was abundance‐based rarity. Abundance‐based rarity was then complemented by trait‐ and phylo‐based rarity, called species' trait‐based and phylogenetic originalities, respectively. Originality, which is a property of an individual species, represents a species' contribution to the overall diversity of a reference set of species. Originality can also be defined as the rarity of a species' characteristics such as the state of a functional trait, which is often assumed to be represented by the position of the species on a phylogenetic tree. We review and compare various approaches for measuring originality, rarity and diversity and demonstrate that (i) even if attempts to bridge these concepts do exist, only a few ecological and evolutionary studies have tried to combine them all in the past two decades; (ii) phylo‐ and trait‐based diversity indices can be written as a function of species rarity and originality measures in several ways; and (iii) there is a need for the joint use of these three types of indices to understand community assembly processes and species' roles in ecosystem functioning in order to protect biodiversity efficiently.
Early postoperative reactions following lateral sinus floor elevation using piezosurgery: A radiographic study
Authors: Makary Christian , Menhall Abdallah , Rebaudi Alberto
Published: March 2019

Background and purpose

Early postoperative reactions occur following lateral sinus floor elevation (LSFE). This article radiographically describes, quantifies, and measures these early postoperative changes inside grafted maxillary sinus area.

Materials and Methods

In 24 patients, 31 maxillary sinuses were performed using piezosurgery and grafted by bioceramic materials. Cone beam computed tomography was done preoperatively and then postoperatively, randomly, at either day 1 (n = 6), 2 (n = 11), 3 (n = 8), or 7 (n = 6) and at 6 months for all patients. Membrane thickening and subsequent swelling ratio, submucosal edema, and air bubbles inside grafted area were noted and measured. Inflammation was classified as mild, moderate, or severe.

Results

Preoperative mean membrane thickness was 0.75 mm then following LSFE it significantly increased at days 1, 2, 3, and 7 and was respectively 2.36, 4.14, 6.05, and 6.63 mm. Mean swelling ratio significantly increased over time and was 11.37, 13.73, 16.34 and 35.78 at days 1, 2, 3, and 7, respectively. Submucosal edema height was noted in 24 cases. It had a mean value of 3.35 mm and increased significantly with time. Inflammation inside grafted area was mild in 7, moderate in 15, and severe in 9 of the cases. It significantly increased with time. Apical air bubble was present in 19 cases and had mean dimensions of 6.6 × 4.6 mm. No inflammatory signs were noted at 6 months.

Conclusions

Inflammatory reactions are always noted following LSFE and tend to increase with time reaching peak values at 7 days. All inflammatory changes significantly subsided at 6 months.
Monitoring mosaic biotopes in a marine conservation zone by autonomous underwater vehicle
Authors: Benoist Noëlie M.A. , Morris Kirsty J. , Bett Brian J. , Durden Jennifer M. , Huvenne Veerle A.I. , Le Bas Tim P. , Wynn Russell B. , Ware Suzanne J. , Ruhl Henry A.
Published: March 2019

The number of marine protected areas (MPAs) has increased dramatically in the last decade and poses a major logistic challenge for conservation practitioners in terms of spatial extent and the multiplicity of habitats and biotopes that now require assessment. Photographic assessment by autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) enables the consistent description of multiple habitats, in our case including mosaics of rock and sediment. As a case study, we used this method to survey the Greater Haig Fras marine conservation zone (Celtic Sea, northeast Atlantic). We distinguished 7 biotopes, detected statistically significant variations in standing stocks, species density, species diversity, and faunal composition, and identified significant indicator species for each habitat. Our results demonstrate that AUV‐based photography can produce robust data for ecological research and practical marine conservation. Standardizing to a minimum number of individuals per sampling unit, rather than to a fixed seafloor area, may be a valuable means of defining an ecologically appropriate sampling unit. Although composite sampling represents a change in standard practice, other users should consider the potential benefits of this approach in conservation studies. It is broadly applicable in the marine environment and has been successfully implemented in deep‐sea conservation and environmental impact studies. Without a cost‐effective method, applicable across habitats, it will be difficult to further a coherent classification of biotopes or to routinely assess their conservation status in the rapidly expanding global extent of MPAs.
Adenovirus in solid organ transplant recipients: Guidelines from the American Society of Transplantation Infectious Diseases Community of Practice
Authors: Florescu Diana F. , Schaenman Joanna M. ,   on behalf of the AST Infectious Diseases Community of Practice
Published: March 2019

These updated guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Community of Practice of the American Society of Transplantation review the diagnosis, prevention, and management of adenovirus infections after solid organ transplantation. Adenovirus is an important cause of infectious complications in both stem cell transplant and SOT patients, causing a range of clinical syndromes including pneumonitis, colitis, and disseminated disease. The current update of the guidelines highlights that adenovirus surveillance testing should not be performed in asymptomatic recipients. Serial quantitative PCR might play a role in the decision to initiate or assess response to therapy in a symptomatic patient. The initial and most important components of therapy remain supportive care and decrease in immunosuppression. The use of antiviral therapy is not supported by prospective randomized clinical trials. However, intravenous cidofovir is considered the standard practice for treatment of severe, progressive, or disseminated adenovirus disease in most transplant centers. Intravenous immunoglobulin may be beneficial, primarily in a select group of patients with hypogammaglobulinemia. Future approaches to treatment of adenovirus disease may include administration of adenovirus‐specific T‐cell therapy.