bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training alleviate β-amyloid deposition by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice
Authors: Liang Fei , Huang Tao , Li Baixia , Zhao Yongcai , Zhang Xianliang , Xu Bo
Published: March 2020

Recent study has demonstrated that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) have the same effect to alleviate β-amyloid pathology in the hippocampus of APPswe/PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice. Activation of nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is pivotal and has been demonstrated to accelerate β-amyloid accumulation. The present study aimed to examine whether the exercise-induced β-amyloid reduction was associated with changes in NLRP3 inflammasome activation. APP/PS1 transgenic mice were randomly assigned to a transgenic sedentary group, HIIT group and MICT group. Nontransgenic littermates were used as wild-type sedentary group. Mice in HIIT and MICT groups were subjected to treadmill exercise for 12 weeks, 5 days/week. The results showed that compared with transgenic sedentary group, β-amyloid deposition in the hippocampus of HIIT and MICT groups were significantly reduced. Moreover, both HIIT and MICT groups displayed significant increases in the expression of microglial phagocytic receptors triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, CD36 and scavenger receptor class A compared with transgenic sedentary group. In addition, HIIT and MICT had the same effect to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation, as evidenced by significant reduction in IL-1β, active caspase-1p20, NLRP3 and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase activating and recruitment domain (ASC) levels as well as decreased NLRP3/ASC colocalization. These findings indicate that HIIT appears to be an effective intervention as MICT to reduced β-amyloid deposition by regulating NLRP3 inflammasome-controlled microglial phagocytosis.
FOOTFIT Physical Activity mHealth Intervention for Minimally Ambulatory Individuals With Venous Leg Ulcers
Authors: Kelechi Teresa J. , Madisetti Mohan , Prentice Margie , Mueller Martina
Published: March 2020

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of an mHealth application (app), self-management physical activity intervention FOOTFIT with an added patient-provider connectivity feature (FOOTFIT+), that was designed to strengthen the lower extremities of minimally ambulatory individuals with venous leg ulcers (VLUs).

DESIGN:

Randomized controlled trial.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING:

Twenty-four adults 18 years and older with VLUs being treated in 2 wound clinics in the Southeastern United States participated in this study.

METHODS:

Preliminary estimates and 95% confidence intervals for the medians of short-term functional impacts on foot function, strength, ankle range of motion, walking capacity, depression, and physical functioning were obtained pre- and postassessment after the 6-week intervention trial.

RESULTS:

There were negligible changes in either group for foot function. It is noted that both groups experienced substantial foot and ankle impairment at baseline. The greatest improvement in range of motion was noted in the FOOTFIT group for dorsiflexion of the right ankle (4.6 ± 5.22 lb/in2 over baseline) whereas strength decreased in both ankles for dorsiflexion and plantar flexion in the FOOTFIT+ group. No improvements were noted in walking distance or physical health for FOOTFIT (slight decrease −2.9 ± 5.6) and FOOTFIT+ (slight increase 3.0 ± 6.6) during the 6-week study period.

CONCLUSIONS:

In a minimally ambulatory population with VLUs, our mHealth FOOTFIT intervention composed of progressive exercise “boosts” demonstrated minimal short-term effects. We recommend engagement with the app for a longer period to determine longer-term outcomes of lower extremity function.
The gene's eye view, the Gouldian knot, Fisherian swords and the causes of selection
Authors: Queller David C.
Published: March 2020

The biological units-of-selection debate has centred on questions of which units experience selection and adaptation. Here, I use a causal framework and the Price equation to develop the gene's eye perspective. Genes are causally special in being both replicators and interactors. Gene effects are tied together in a complex Gouldian knot of interactions, but Fisher deployed three swords to try to cut the knot. The first, Fisher's average excess, is non-causal, so not fully satisfactory in that respect. The Price equation highlights Fisher's other two swords, choosing to model only selection, and only the part that is transmissible across generations. The models developed here show that many causes of organismal fitness do not cause Gouldian complications. Only two kinds of elements must be added to the focal gene for a causal explanation of its selective change: co-replicators that are associated with the focal gene and co-interactors that interact non-additively with the focal gene. Identical equations for co-replication and co-interaction describe interactions between gene copies at a single locus or at separate loci, and also for genes situated within the same individual or in different individuals. These results resolve some of the objections to the gene's eye view.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of the Price equation’.
The problem with the Price equation
Authors: van Veelen Matthijs
Published: March 2020

In this paper, I will argue that the generality of the Price equation comes at a cost, and that is that the terms in it become meaningless. There are simple linear models that can be written in a Price equation-like form, and for those the terms in them have a meaningful interpretation. There are also models for which that is not the case, and in general, when no assumptions on the shape of the fitness function are made, and all possible models are allowed for, the regression coefficients in the Price equation do not allow for a meaningful interpretation. The failure to recognize that the Price equation, although general, only has a meaningful interpretation under restrictive assumptions, has done real damage to the field of social evolution, as will be illustrated by looking at an application of the Price equation to group selection.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of the Price equation’.
The ‘algebra of evolution’: the Robertson–Price identity and viability selection for body mass in a wild bird population
Authors: Hajduk G. K. , Walling C. A. , Cockburn A. , Kruuk L. E. B.
Published: March 2020

By the Robertson–Price identity, the change in a quantitative trait owing to selection, is equal to the trait's covariance with relative fitness. In this study, we applied the identity to long-term data on superb fairy-wrens
Malurus cyaneus
, to estimate phenotypic and genetic change owing to juvenile viability selection. Mortality in the four-week period between fledging and independence was 40%, and heavier nestlings were more likely to survive, but why? There was additive genetic variance for both nestling mass and survival, and a positive phenotypic covariance between the traits, but no evidence of additive genetic covariance. Comparing standardized gradients, the phenotypic selection gradient was positive,
β
P
= 0.108 (0.036, 0.187 95% CI), whereas the genetic gradient was not different from zero,
β
A
= −0.025 (−0.19, 0.107 95% CI). This suggests that factors other than nestling mass were the cause of variation in survival. In particular, there were temporal correlations between mass and survival both within and between years. We suggest that use of the Price equation to describe cross-generational change in the wild may be challenging, but a more modest aim of estimating its first term, the Robertson–Price identity, to assess within-generation change can provide valuable insights into the processes shaping phenotypic diversity in natural populations.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of the Price equation’.
Group and individual selection during evolutionary transitions in individuality: meanings and partitions
Authors: Shelton Deborah E. , Michod Richard E.
Published: March 2020

The Price equation embodies the ‘conditions approach’ to evolution in which the Darwinian conditions of heritable variation in fitness are represented in equation form. The equation can be applied recursively, leading to a partition of selection at the group and individual levels. After reviewing the well-known issues with the Price partition, as well as issues with a partition based on contextual analysis, we summarize a partition of group and individual selection based on counterfactual fitness, the fitness that grouped cells would have were they solitary. To understand ‘group selection’ in multi-level selection models, we assume that only group selection can make cells suboptimal when they are removed from the group. Our analyses suggest that there are at least three kinds of selection that can be occurring at the same time: group-specific selection along with two kinds of individual selection, within-group selection and global individual selection. Analyses based on counterfactual fitness allow us to specify how close a group is to being a pseudo-group, and this can be a basis for quantifying progression through an evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI). During an ETI, fitnesses at the two levels, group and individual, become decoupled, in the sense that fitness in a group may be quite high, even as counterfactual fitness goes to zero.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of the Price equation’.
Comparison of core-genome MLST, coreSNP and PFGE methods for Klebsiella pneumoniae cluster analysis
Authors: Gona Floriana , Comandatore Francesco , Battaglia Simone , Piazza Aurora , Trovato Alberto , Lorenzin Giovanni , Cichero Paola , Biancardi Anna , Nizzero Paola , Moro Matteo , Cirillo Daniela Maria
Published: March 2020

In this work we compared the most frequently used

Klebsiella pneumoniae

typing methods: PFGE, cgMLST and coreSNP. We evaluated the discriminatory power of the three methods to confirm or exclude nosocomial transmission on

K. pneumoniae

strains isolated from January to December 2017, in the framework of the routine surveillance for multidrug-resistant organisms at the San Raffaele Hospital, in Milan. We compared the results of the different methods to the results of epidemiological investigation. Our results showed that cgMLST and coreSNP are more discriminant than PFGE, and that both approaches are suitable for transmission analyses. cgMLST appeared to be inferior to coreSNP in the

K. pneumoniae

CG258 phylogenetic reconstruction. Indeed, we found that the phylogenetic reconstruction based on cgMLST genes wrongly clustered ST258 clade1 and clade2 strains, conversely properly assigned by coreSNP approach. In conclusion, this study provides evidences supporting the reliability of both cgMLST and coreSNP for hospital surveillance programs and highlights the limits of cgMLST scheme genes for phylogenetic reconstructions.
The circulatory physiopathology of human red blood cells investigated with a multiplatform model of cellular homeostasis. II. Capillary transits and the role of PIEZO1
Authors: Rogers Simon , Lew Virgilio L.
Published: March 2020

In this and the next paper of this series we apply the red cell model introduced in the previous paper to investigate the changes in RBC homeostasis during capillary transits and over the full circulatory lifespan of the cells. These are topics inaccessible to direct experimentation but rendered mature for a modelling approach by recent findings and by a large body of apparently unrelated early results which robustly constrain the parameter space offering the opportunity for an in depth study of the mechanisms involved. Capillary transit times vary between 0.5 and 1.5s during which the red blood cells squeeze and deform in the capillary stream transiently opening stress-gated PIEZO1 channels, creating minuscule quantal changes in RBC ion contents and volume. Widely accepted early views originally based on results from experimentally shear-stressed red cells suggested that quantal changes generated during capillary transits add up over time to generate the documented changes in RBC density during their long circulatory lifespan, the quantal hypothesis. Applying the new PIEZO1 extension of the RBC model (RCM) introduced in the previous paper we investigated in detail the changes in homeostatic variables that may be expected during single capillary transits resulting from transient PIEZO1 channel activation. The predicted quantal volume changes were infinitesimal in magnitude, biphasic in nature, and essentially irreversible within inter-transit periods. A sub-second transient PIEZO1 activation triggered a sharp swelling peak followed by a much slower recovery period towards lower-than-baseline volumes. The peak response was caused by net CaCl2and fluid gain via PIEZO1 channels driven by the steep electrochemical inward Ca2+gradient. The ensuing dehydration followed a complex time-course with sequential, but partially overlapping contributions by KCl loss via Ca2+-activated Gardos channels, PMCA mediated calcium extrusion and chloride efflux by the Jacobs-Steward mechanism. The change in relative cell volume predicted for single capillary transits was below 10−4, an infinitesimal volume change incompatible with a functional role in capillary flow. The biphasic response predicted by the RCM appears to conform to the quantal hypothesis, but whether its cumulative effects could account for the documented changes in density during RBC senescence required an investigation of the effects of myriad transits over the full period of circulatory lifespan, the subject of the next paper of this series.
African swine fever virus-like integrated elements in a soft tick genome – an ancient virus vector arms race?
Authors: Forth Jan H. , Forth Leonie F. , Lycett Samantha , Bell-Sakyi Lesley , Keil Günther M. , Blome Sandra , Calvignac-Spencer Sébastien , Wissgott Antje , Krause Johannes , Höper Dirk , Kampen Helge , Beer Martin
Published: March 2020

Background

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the only known DNA-arbovirus and a most devastating suid pathogen that, originating from a sylvatic cycle in Africa, has spread to eastern Europe and recently reached western Europe and Asia, leading to a socio-economic crisis of global proportion. However, since neither closely related viruses nor integrated viral elements have yet been identified, ASFV evolution remains a mystery.

Results

Here, we show that soft ticks of theOrnithodoros moubatagroup, the natural arthropod vector of ASFV, harbour African swine fever virus-like integrated (ASFLI)-elements corresponding to up to 10% (over 20 kb) of the ASFV genome. Through orthologous dating and molecular clock analyses, we provide data suggesting that integration occurred over 1.47 million years ago. Furthermore, our data indicate that these elements, showing high sequence identities to modern ASFV, are maintained in the tick genome to protect the tick from infection with specific ASFV-strains through RNA interference.

Conclusion

We suggest that this mechanism of protection, shaped through many years of co-evolution, is part of an evolutionary virus-vector “arms race”, a finding that has not only high impact on our understanding of the co-evolution of viruses with their hosts but also provides a glimpse into the evolution of ASFV.
Anti-microbial activity of potential probiotic lactic acid bacteria against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
Authors: Essayas Alazar , Pandit Sujata , Taneja Pankaj
Published: March 2020

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB)are the essential ingredients in probiotic foods, intestinal microflora, and dairy products able to cope up and exist in diverse environmental ranges. Samples were collected using sterile test tubes and transported to a laboratory in the icebox for further biochemical characterization. Gram test and catalase activity were examined after microscopically distinct colonies were sub-cultured to pure colonies based on standard gram and catalase test protocols. Subsequently, these bacteria were characterized for their ability to grow at various salt concentrations (5%,10%, and15%) and temperature gradients (15°C, 30°C, 45°C). Acid-tolerance was analyzed by growing the colonies in MRS broth adjusted to acidic pH (pH 3) and pH 7.2 (control). Bile tolerance of LAB isolates was assayed by growing in 0.3% bile-supplemented MRS agar. Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity was studied by growing 10 μl of the prepared overnight culture on BSH screening media containing MRS agar plate supplemented with bile salts. The LAB isolates were checked for antimicrobial activity by agar well diffusion assay. All isolates found gram-positive, catalase-negative and non-motile, convex elevation and entire margin. All LAB isolates were able to grow at 5-10% Nacl concentration, whereas moderately grow at 10% concentration but rarely grow at 15% Nacl concentration. BCM2, BBM3 and BGM1 record the highest acidic resistance viability percentage 94.9%, 92.7%, and 91.8% respectively. BCM3 has the lowest acidic resistance with a viable percentage of 87.4%. BBM1 records the highest bile tolerance activity whereas BCM2 has the lowest bile tolerance. All isolates were found BSH positive. The study reveals LAB isolates showed a putative probiotic potential.

Article highlights

LAB are the main ingredients of probiotic products commercially available in the market nowadays. To effectively functioning the host gastrointestinal tract probiotics, need to have certain criteria like acid and bile tolerance this study reveals

Acid tolerance activity of LAB isolated from bovine milk

Bile tolerance activity of LAB isolated from bovine milk

Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity of LAB isolates

Antimicrobial activity of LAB against MRSA
Evolutionary Distance of Gene-Gene Interactions: Estimation under Statistical Uncertainty
Authors: Gu Xun
Published: March 2020

Consider the functional interaction of geneAto an interaction subjectX; for instance, it is the gene-gene interaction if X represents for a gene, or gene-tissue interaction (expression status) if X for a tissue. In the simplest case, the status of thisA-Xinteraction isr=1 if they are interacted, orr=0 otherwise. A fundamental problem in molecular evolution is, given two homologous (orthologous or paralogous) genesAandB, to what extent their functional overlapping could be by the means of interaction networks. Given a set of interaction subjects (X1, …XN), it is straightforward to calculate the interaction distance (IAB) between genesAandB, by a Markov-chain model. However, since the high throughput interaction data always involve a high level of noises, reliable inference ofr=1 orr=0 for each gene remains a big challenge. Consequently, the estimated interaction distance (IAB) is highly sensitive to the cutoff of interaction inference which is subject to some arbitrary. In this paper we will address this issue by developing a statistical method for estimatingIABbased on thep-values (significant levels). Computer simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of differentp-value transformations against the uncertainty of interaction networks.
Public goods production and value creation in wineries: a structural equation modelling
Authors: Marotta Giuseppe , Nazzaro Concetta
Published: March 2020

Purpose

The aim of the study is to analyse the value creation processes in multifunctional wineries. Specifically, the paper poses the following research questions: can the creation of public goods (i.e. multifunctionality) open up new paths of value creation for wineries? And if so, can multifunctionality be only compensated through policy instruments? Or, is there a form of market compensation?

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical analysis was carried out on selected wineries that sell directly. The study implemented the “value portfolio” model that identifies specific variables, both internal and external to the farm, which contribute to the value creation. The methodology adopted is a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach that offers a theoretical basis for developing an understanding of the relationships between group of variables.

Findings

The empirical analysis confirms the assumptions developed. Indeed, the localized public goods generated by multifunctional farms can benefit from compensation on the market through the direct sale of products and services.

Originality/value

The study’s findings are quite innovative in the field of agricultural economics and open the way for interesting policy implications.
Output additionality of R&D subsidy on manufacturing venture firms in Korea
Authors: Kim KonShik
Published: March 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which R&D subsidy can affect the innovation process of manufacturing venture firms by examining the output additionality measured as both proximal indicators of innovation and distal indicators of growth. Further, the differences in output additionality between the clusters in the subcontracting regime were examined to investigate whether the effect of R&D subsidy can vary depending on subcontracting practices and structure among large enterprises and venture firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses survey data of the Korea Venture Business Association conducted in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively, which selects a random sample from venture firms by stratified random sampling method based on the industry sector, size and location for each survey year. This study analyzed the data using an endogenous treatment effects model to estimate the average treatment effect of R&D subsidy, yielding more accurate estimates than a traditional treatment effects model by controlling the unobserved endogenous components.

Findings

This research found that R&D subsidy may not facilitate the process of transformation of innovation into financial growth even though R&D subsidy can facilitate the innovation process and contribute to producing new and improved products. This research also reveals that the relationship between R&D subsidy and innovation performance for firms heavily dependent on subcontracting is generally much weaker than those for independent subcontractors. Further, the present study exhibits that public R&D subsidy for independently subcontracting venture firms is more effective for the growth in both employment and sales than those for subcontracting with large enterprises or other subcontractors.

Research limitations/implications

R&D subsidy for venture firms does not relieve the burden of liability of newness and smallness of venture firms, especially the disadvantage in market penetration and competition. In addition, venture firms subcontracting with large enterprises or other prime subcontractors tend to achieve incremental innovation with the help of the technology and competence of large companies and run stable businesses through a predetermined market.

Practical implications

R&D subsidy for venture firms does not relieve the burden of liability of newness and smallness of venture firms, especially the disadvantage in market penetration and competition. Further policy measures should be implemented so as to identify and eliminate barriers to market acceptance for new products of venture firms.

Originality/value

This research verifies that the effect of R&D subsidy may harmful to the sales growth of venture firms and the output additionality differs with the degree of dependency on subcontracting practices and structure.
The relationship between leadership styles and organisational innovation
Authors: Alblooshi Mohamed , Shamsuzzaman Mohammad , Haridy Salah
Published: March 2020

Purpose

This study explores the role of leadership in organisational innovation by reviewing several publications that discuss the relationship between various leadership styles and innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study followed a descriptive research methodology by reviewing 64 journal articles on the relationship between various leadership styles and innovation. The articles were analysed descriptively and then reviewed based on the leadership style it discusses to derive meaningful findings on the relationship between leadership and innovation.

Findings

Various leadership styles had a positive impact on organisational innovation either directly or indirectly, by influencing the organisational climate, employees' and leaders' behaviours or other organisational variables such as learning and knowledge sharing. Some leadership styles had both direct and indirect impacts on organisational innovation.

Research limitations/implications

This study collected journal articles published in almost all major electronic databases such as Emerald, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis and Scopus. However, the review is limited to journal articles in which the title, abstract or author-specified keywords contain the search terms “leadership” and “innovation,” and published between 2000 and 2019. Therefore, this review may miss some relevant research insights mentioned in the literature that discussed innovation or leadership separately not combined.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing body of research on leadership and innovation by extensively discussing the role of various leadership styles in determining organisational innovation. The analysis reveals that prior studies had many limitations and focused on specific leadership styles only. The study goes a step further by explaining how the leadership and innovation aspects are related, and classifying various leadership styles according to their impact on organisational innovation being direct, indirect or both.
Line management involvement in performance appraisal work
Authors: Tyskbo Daniel
Published: March 2020

Purpose

Two research questions are asked in this paper: RQ1. How does line management involvement in PA work unfold in practice? RQ2. How does line management involvement contribute toward any divergence arising between intended and implemented PA work?

Design/methodology/approach

An in-depth case study from a multi-actor perspective based on interviews with HR managers, line managers and employees, and organizational documents.

Findings

The findings illustrate how line managers faced three types of complexities during implementation, i.e. dilemmas, understandings, and local adaptations. These jointly contributed to a divergence arising between the PA as intended and the PA as implemented. This divergence became associated with how line management involvement was restricted to the local context and the initial stages of the PA process, highlighting how HR practices can contain both devolved and non-devolved elements.

Originality/value

We respond to calls for more in-depth qualitative studies of how line managers are involved in HR work; this is done specifically by conceptualizing the complexities line managers face in practice when implementing HR practices. As such, we add to the understanding of HR practices as relational and social in nature. We also contribute to the processual understanding of HRM by highlighting how HR practices can contain both devolved and non-devolved elements. By stressing the limitations of binary conceptualizations of HR devolution, we add to the understanding of HR devolution as more complex and multifaceted than traditionally assumed.
The dynamic role of rapport on satisfaction–commitment relationship
Authors: Fatima Johra Kayeser , Mascio Rita Di , Quazi Ali , Johns Raechel
Published: March 2020

Purpose

This study aims to capture the mediation role of customer–frontline employee rapport on customer satisfaction and affective, calculative and normative commitment by using three alternative models. It also verifies the moderation effect of relationship age on the rapport-satisfaction link in each alternative model.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey data collected from bank customers were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the partial least square (PLS) method.

Findings

Results confirmed rapport as a significant mediator between satisfaction and each of the three types of commitment. Relationship age significantly moderates the links between rapport to affective and normative commitment but not to calculative commitment.

Research limitations/implications

Additional findings from “importance–performance analysis” suggest that satisfaction is more import to customers than rapport for developing commitment, so further investigations can reveal the underlying reasons. Also, complementary mediation shows one or more missing mediators, which calls for future research.

Practical implications

Managers need to use rapport strategically with customers in different relationship ages to build different types of commitment. Specific tactics to build rapport and possible long run implications for developing affective, calculative and normative commitment have been discussed in the “note to practitioner” section.

Originality/value

Using “broaden-and-build” theory, the study extends the literature by confirming the mediation influence of rapport on satisfaction and three types of commitment relationships.
The impacts of relational capital on self-disclosure in virtual communities
Authors: Lee Yi-Hsuan , Hsiao Chan , Weng Jingjing , Chen Yi-Hsuan
Published: March 2020

Purpose

This study examines whether relational capital influences self-disclosure behavior through the mechanism of needs-based motivation in virtual communities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts hierarchical linear model (HLM) to differentiate between the relationships at different levels, with 378 online questionnaires recovered from 42 virtual communities.

Findings

The results show that group-level relational capital is positively related to self-disclosure and affects it through the partially mediating mechanism of motivation. Relational capital also strengthens the positive influence of the need to be on trend on individual self-disclosure behavior.

Originality/value

This study makes four research contributions. Firstly, we identify the means by which relational capital established within a virtual community influences user disclosure behavior. This focus differs from those of previous studies, which have emphasized privacy and security of information systems, cost–benefit considerations, and/or adopted personality traits as the research basis. Secondly, this study examines and verifies the mediating mechanism of motivation, establishing an alternative perspective for theoretical studies, and providing future studies with a reference for investigating the self-disclosure behavior of members. Thirdly, this research introduces and verifies the moderating effects of relational capital based on member relationships, thus making further theoretical and empirical contributions. Finally, we adopt HLM to conduct our analyses, thereby ensuring higher precision regarding the explanatory power of group-level explanatory variables for individual-level dependent variables.
Ex-post effects of circuit breakers in crisis and calm markets
Authors: Sifat Imtiaz , Mohamad Azhar
Published: March 2020

Purpose

Despite regulatory claims of straitening volatility and preventing crashes, evidences on circuit breakers' ability to achieve so are nonconclusive. While previous scholars studies general performances of circuit breakers, the authors examine whether Malaysian price limits aggravate volatility, impede price discovery, and interfere with trading activities in both tranquil and stressful periods.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a combination of parametric and nonparametric techniques consistent with Kim and Rhee (1997) to examine the major ex-post hypotheses in circuit breaker research.

Findings

For calm markets, the authors find significant success of upper limits in tempering volatility with low trading interference. Lower limits show mixed results. Conversely, in crisis markets limits fare poorly in nearly all aspects, particularly for lower limits.

Practical implications

Ramifications of the paper's findings are discussed through highlighting the asymmetric nature of price limits' ex-post effects. The paper also contributes to regulatory debate surrounding the quest for an optimal price limit.

Originality/value

The paper is the first of its kind in documenting long-horizon evidence of ex-post effects of a wide-band price limit. Moreover, the paper is unique in its approach in bifurcating circuit breaker performance along the line of market stability periods.
The sixth estate: tech media corruption in the age of information
Authors: Spence Edward Howlett
Published: March 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how some of the information and communication practices of the Tech Media and specifically of Facebook, constitute media corruption. The paper will examine what the professional role of Facebook is regarding its information/communication practices and then demonstrate that Facebook is essentially a media company and not merely a “platform,” therefore liable to the same normative responsibilities as other media companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying the dual obligation information theory (DOIT), a normative information and communication theory that applies generally to all media companies that disseminate and share information, the paper demonstrates that Facebook’s role of mediating and curating the information of its users places upon it a normative editing responsibility, to ensure both the preventive detection and corrective editing of fake news, as well as other forms of misinformation disseminated on its platform. Finally, applying a philosophical model of media corruption the paper will demonstrate that Facebook’s role in the Cambridge Analytica case was not only unethical but moreover, constituted media corruption.

Findings

The paper concludes that Facebook’s media corruption illustrated in the Cambridge Analytica case is not a one-off case but the result of a systemic and inherent conflict of interest between its business model of selling users’ information to advertisers and its normative media role rendering the conflict of interest between those two roles conducive to media corruption.

Originality/value

The paper's originality is twofold. It demonstrates that Facebook is a media company normatively accountable on the basis of an original theory the DOIT and moreover, on the basis of an original media corruption theory its actions in the Cambridge Analytica case constituted media corruption.
How does concrete strength affect the fire resistance?
Authors: Lubloy Eva
Published: March 2020

Purpose

The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of concrete strength on the fire resistance of structures. At first, it may seem contradictory that higher concrete strengths can decrease the fire resistance of building structures. However, if the strength of the concrete exceeds a maximum value, the risk of spalling (the detachment of the concrete surface) significantly.

Design/methodology/approach

Prefabricated structural elements are often produced with higher strength. The higher concrete strengths generally do not cause a reduction in the load bearing capacity, but it can have serious consequences in case of structural fire design. Results of two prefabricated elements, namely, one slab (TT shaped panel) and one single layer wall panel, were examined. Results of the specimen with the originally designed composition and a specimen with modified concrete composition were examined, were polymer fibres were added to prevent spalling.

Findings

As a result of the experiments, more strict regulations in the standards the author is suggested including more strict regulations in the standards. It has been proved that to ensure the fire safety of the reinforced concrete structures, it is required after polymer fibres even in lower concrete strength class than prescribed by the standard. In addition, during the classification and evaluation of structures, it is advisable to introduce an upper limit of allowed concrete strength for fire safety reasons.

Originality/value

As a result of the experiments, the author suggests including more strict regulations in the standards. It has been proved that to ensure the fire safety of the reinforced concrete structures, it is necessary to require the addition of polymer fibres even in lower concrete strength class than prescribed by the standard. In addition, during the classification and evaluation of structures, it is advisable to introduce an upper limit of allowed concrete strength for fire safety reasons.
Understanding online health information consumers' search as a learning process
Authors: Chen Yijin , Zhao Yiming , Wang Ziyun
Published: March 2020

Purpose

This study considers online searching by health information consumers as a learning process. We focus on search sequences, query reformulation, and conceptual changes.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative user study (30 participants; three health information seeking tasks) investigated mobile searching behavior. Recorded screen activity, questionnaires, and in-depth personal interview data were collected and analyzed.

Findings

(1) Search platform sequences of health information consumers in search as a learning process were exacted and their features were highlighted. (2) Query sequence and reformulation pattern of health information consumers were exacted and discussed. (3) The types and degree of conceptual changes of health consumers were reflected by their query reformulation behavior and differ from different health information search tasks. (4) Characteristics of health consumers' search as learning process were revealed.

Research limitations/implications

(1) A novel perspective of consumer health information studies was proposed by exacting search platform sequence, query sequence and linking them with conceptual changes during the search as learning process. (2) Conceptual changes in the searching as a learning process are regarded as a measure of search outcome in this study, in which terms extracted from queries were used to reflect conceptual changes in consumers' mind. (3) Our findings provide evidences that types of health information seeking tasks do have significant influences on the search as a learning process.

Practical Implications

The findings of this study can lead to the fit-to-needs of the search platforms, provide advice for information architecture of search list of search platforms, and guide the design of knowledge graph of health information systems.

Originality/value

Potential relationships between information-seeking behavior and conceptual changes in search as a learning process relative to health information were revealed.
Board characteristics and life insurance efficiency in South Africa
Authors: Alhassan Abdul Latif , Boakye Mary-Ann Afua
Published: March 2020

Purpose

In their role as monitors and advisors, boards are expected to address agency conflicts associated with the separation of ownership from control in large corporations. The ability to effectively perform these functions and enhance corporate outcomes largely depends on their influence in decision-making. This paper aims to examine the effect of corporate governance attributes, in the form of board characteristics, on technical efficiency in the South African life insurance industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the two-stage data envelopment analysis technique, bootstrapped efficiency scores are estimated for 73 insurers from 2007 to 2014 in Stage 1. The truncated bootstrapping procedure of Simar and Wilson (2007) and the tobit estimation techniques are used to examine the effect of corporate governance characteristics and other insurer level attributes on technical efficiency scores in Stage 2 analysis.

Findings

The findings suggest that life insurers operate with high levels of inefficiency within a highly independent governance structure. The results from Stage 2 analysis identifies audit committee size and independence to improve efficiency while board independence is found to be detrimental to efficiency.

Practical implications

The findings provide a useful reference point for insurance regulators in developing economies in the formulation of an effective governance mechanism for the efficient operation of the insurance industry.

Originality/value

As far as the authors are concerned, the analysis contained in this paper presents the first empirical assessment of the corporate governance structure and its effects on corporate outcomes in an African insurance market.
Unravelling the encumbrances in the low-cost housing computerised open registration system in Malaysia's major cities
Authors: Ebekozien Andrew , Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Rashid , Jaafar Mastura
Published: March 2020

Purpose

Malaysia's open registration system (ORS) scheme, which began in 1997, was established as part of prevention mechanism by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to plug the leakage in the low-cost housing (LCH) allocation process. After two decades, ineligible persons still secure LCH to the detriment of the Malaysian low-income earners (LIEs) house-buyers/rentals. This paper explored the LCH computerised ORS for LIEs and proffered policy solutions to improve the scheme.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected via unexplored exploratory sequential mixed methods approach that engaged 25 well-informed participants and the ‘quantilised findings’, validated by the Malaysian LCH policymakers.

Findings

This paper found that there is weak compliance to computerised ORS, which is pronounced in states with relaxed eligibility clearance. Also, it was found that under-declaration of income evident in states where there is relaxed verification and lack of data sharing between states and with federal governments, among others, are the root cause of weak compliance to computerised ORS.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to unravelling the encumbrances in the low-cost housing computerised open registration system in Malaysia's major cities. Future research is needed to use relevant information to access the level of enforcement of the computerised open registration system across the states of Malaysia.

Practical implications

This paper recommended that LCH computerised ORS should be devoid of party favouritism, state government should establish functional LCH computerised ORS, and the state and federal governments, should embrace cooperative federalism. Also, applicants should be subjected to the Central Credit Reference Information System check, and culprits should be referred to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. This paper provides salutary lessons on how to improve the scheme with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals regarding housing in 2030.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates that the low-cost housing computerised open registration system in Malaysia is yet to be implemented across the states.
Soil extracellular enzyme activity and stoichiometry in China's forests
Authors: Zhou Luhong , Liu Shangshi , Shen Haihua , Zhao Mengying , Xu Longchao , Xing Aijun , Fang Jingyun
Published: March 2020

Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry links microbial decomposition with nutrient mineralization and improves our understanding of nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Microbial C:N:P acquisition in the topsoil converged at a ratio of 1:1:1 in global ecosystems. However, whether the ratio of microbial acquisition is stable in forest soils, and is applicable among different soil depths remain unknown.

Based on large‐scale soil sampling in China's forests, we examined the patterns and environmental drivers of the eight most‐widely measured enzyme activities and the relevant stoichiometry.

We found that the ratio of C:N:P acquisition significantly deviated from 1:1:1. The specific enzyme activities (normalized by SOC) did not change significantly with latitude except those for xylosidase and acid phosphatase. Similarly, only the C:P acquisition ratio increased with latitude. Vertically, the specific activities of C‐acquiring enzymes mainly increased, N‐acquiring enzymes decreased and P‐acquiring enzymes did not change with soil depth. Moreover, all ratios of microbial acquisition decreased, and the percentage of recalcitrant C increased significantly with increasing depth. Our study also showed that temperature and soil C:N ratio were the important factors in explaining the variations in specific enzyme activities and microbial nutrient acquisition, respectively.

Our results indicated that no constant microbial C:N:P acquisition ratio can be widely recognized, and that SOC quality changed from labile to recalcitrant with depth. We highlight that depth‐dependent enzymatic processes should be considered in future SOC dynamic models.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Morphological transitions of Bacillus subtilis in the presence of food‐grade lipidic nanoemulsions
Authors: Singh Neeru , Hussain Afzal , Kumar Singh Sandeep
Published: March 2020

The present study aims to study the antibacterial activity of food‐grade lipidic nanoemulsion (noncationized/cationized) against Bacillus subtilis (BS). Bactericidal activity was ascertained by studying the morphological transitions on BS using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Morphological changes were witnessed by cell wall breakage, oozing out of cellular contents, loss of cell turgidity and contour. Furthermore, aggregation of cationic nanoemulsion (CaNM) was preferentially observed at apical side of BS construing comparatively more electrostatic attraction between electronegative apical side and CaNM. Resistance response of BS exhibited by apical cell‐wall thickening was not able to protect the bacteria due to leakage of cellular content. AFM corroborated its importance in bacteriology, wherein the fragmented cell wall can be “piece‐by‐piece” identified and sutured back to its appropriate vacant places, thereby, completing the cell wall contour of the ghost cell. Such postmortem analysis of bacterial cell using AFM studies can throw light toward mechanism of cell fragmentation of bacterial cells. SEM study also demonstrated the deformed, fragmented, and amorphous nature of BS construing the bactericidal effect of prepared nanoemulsion.
Magnetic solid‐phase extraction based on magnetic carbon particles from coffee grounds for determining phthalic acid esters in plastic bottled water
Authors: Song Nho‐Eul , Lim Min‐Cheol , Choi Sung‐Wook , Kim Dae‐Ok , Nam Tae Gyu
Published: March 2020

Newly developed magnetic carbon particles prepared from coffee grounds were used as the sorbent for the magnetic solid‐phase extraction of eight phthalic acid esters (PAEs) from plastic bottled water prior to their analysis by GC‐MS. The method, which uses coffee‐ground particles coated with iron oxide, was validated, and exhibited linearities for the eight PAEs, with coefficients of determination above 0.998 in the 0.005 to 0.1 mg/L concentration range. Limits of detection and limits of quantification of 0.00003 to 0.002 mg/L and 0.0001 to 0.005 mg/L, respectively, were achieved, with recoveries (%) ranging between 77% and 120%, and relative standard deviations for intra‐ and interday precisions below 16.3% at three fortification levels. No PAE residues were detected when the developed and validated method was applied to 10 real plastic bottled water samples. Taken together, the developed magnetic solid‐phase extraction method is a useful tool for monitoring phthalate esters in aqueous samples.

Practical Application

The development of a new, inexpensive, and efficient magnetic sorption material derived from spent coffee grounds, and its ability to determine phthalate esters in aqueous solutions was described by GC‐MS/MS. The developed magnetic solid‐phase extraction method is a useful tool for monitoring phthalate esters in aqueous samples.