bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modelling research productivity of university researchers using research incentives to crowd-in motivation
Authors: Masinde Muthoni , Coetzee Johan
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The overall aim of this research is to propose a research incentive framework for academic staff members at the South African universities of technology (UoTs).

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study methodology was applied, while a questionnaire was used to (1) identify the factors that stimulated staff members' research activities; (2) assess what was considered an appropriate way of measuring research productivity and (3) identify appropriate research awards, recognition and rewards. Working from the self-determination theory (SDT), the results of the data analysis were used to develop a framework for ensuring crowding-in of research incentives into intrinsic motivation. This framework is anchored on the three main components (competence, autonomy and social relatedness) of the cognitive evaluation theory (CET) that provides guidelines for the design of a research incentive system.

Findings

Intrinsically motivated researchers tend to conduct research for their inherent satisfaction because it meets their basic individual psychological need for competence. Existing research incentives and productivity systems fail to provide intrinsic motivation for researchers. Recommendation for a framework for designing research incentive systems is centred on the researchers themselves. This approach contributes to a research environment that provides space for autonomy, creativity, flexibility and innovation and consequently a successful research output that is hinged on the ability to keep researchers intrinsically motivated.

Originality/value

A conceptual framework is proposed specifically for technically focused UoT suggesting that crowding-in the motivation of researcher incentives results in improved intrinsic-based motivation. The autonomy of researchers in particular is regarded as the most important driver of such motivation, with the availability of resources, collegiality and research skills and development ranking as the most important aspects specifically driving intrinsic motivation. The framework not only provides a tool for institutions of higher education focused on developing the technical skills, but also offers management at any type of university challenged with low research outputs and a poor research ethos with an alternative method to improve both the quantity and quality of research outputs.
Microfinance institutions' risk and governance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Tadele Haileslasie , Roberts Helen , Whiting Rosalind
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of MFI-level governance on microfinance institutions' (MFIs’) risk in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses data from a sample of 151 MFIs operating in 21 SSA countries during 2005–2014. The Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) regression model is applied to investigate the relationship between MFI level governance mechanisms and risk.

Findings

The study provides new evidence that board characteristics have differential effects on for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit (NFP) MFI risk. Board independence reduces credit risk of NFP MFIs. Foreign director presence increases MFI failure risk. Furthermore, greater female director representation reduces (increases) FP (NFP) financial risk whereas female CEOs are associated with higher (lower) FP (NFP) financial risk.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to existing literature on microfinance governance and risk, by exploring the impact of governance on MFI risk based on MFIs profit orientation. In addition, the study uses three different risk measures unlike previous microfinance studies.
Child sexual exploitation, poly-victimisation and resilience
Authors: Alderson Kirsty , Ireland Carol A. , Khan Roxanne , Ireland Jane L. , Lewis Michael
Published: December 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the prevalence of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and factors connected in a young adult population, through a series of connected studies. Each study considered exposure to poly-victimisation. The series of studies focussed on a number of factors felt to impact vulnerability and protective factors towards CSE. Specifically caregiver bonds, resilience and attachment style, adolescent risk-taking, quality of caregiver bonds, level/type of supportive relationships and positive schemas, as well as the impact of CSE disclosure and links to attachment style and maladaptive schemas.

Design/methodology/approach

These studies looked at a young adult population, mainly women. Study one (n = 263), study two (n = 138) and study three (n = 211), predominantly collected via a series of online measures.

Findings

Findings demonstrated that around half of children under 16 years had been approached sexually by an adult, with approximately one in four children subsequently exploited. Various results were noted, such as experiencing a primary caregiver as lacking in warmth and affection was associated with those reporting CSE, with further exposure to poly-victimisation contributing to a less functional coping style and insecure attachments. CSE was not associated with higher levels of adolescent risk-taking, poor bonds with the primary caregiver, fewer important childhood relationships and positive schemas.

Practical implications

This paper notes the importance of addressing the functions of behaviours for victims, to reduce re-victimisation risk. It noted the importance of applying theory when working with this population. It introduced the protect and vulnerability model against CSE and has practical applications for professionals working with victims of CSE. This paper argues the importance of individualised assessments for children who are deemed to be “at-risk” of CSE.

Originality/value

Findings were combined to propose the protection against the CSE model and the application of this to intervention and future research is acknowledged.
Choice between rights issue and private placements of equity and the role of information asymmetry
Authors: Sony Bipin , Bhaduri Saumitra
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of information asymmetry in the equity selling mechanisms chosen by the firms from an important emerging market, India. Specifically, the authors look into the choice between the two most popular mechanisms of equity issues – rights issue and private placement of equity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study introduces three analyst specific variables as proxies of information asymmetry as the conventional proxies are fraught with several disadvantages. First, the paper tests the choice between rights issue and private placement using a binary logistic model. In the second approach the authors use rights issue and segregate the private placements into preferential allotments and qualified institutional placements and test the impact of information asymmetry using a multinomial logistic regression.

Findings

The outcome of this empirical exercise shows that only those firms facing lesser information problems choose rights issue of equity. Private placements are chosen by firms facing higher information problems to circumvent information costs. The results remain invariant even after segregating the qualified institutional placements from private equity placement as the firms with information disadvantage choose to place equity privately.

Originality/value

In contrast to the conventional studies that focus on the debt-equity framework, the authors argue that the impact of information asymmetry is applicable even at disaggregated levels of equity selling mechanism.
Corporate social responsibility and SME performance: a meta-analysis
Authors: Oduro Stephen , Adhal Nguar Kot David , De Nisco Alessandro , Alharthi Rami Hashem E. , Maccario Guglielmo , Bruno Lara
Published: December 2021

Purpose

This study aims to draw on instrumental and ethical theories to offer a quantitative review of the extant literature on the corporate social responsibility (CSR)–small-medium enterprises (SMEs) performance relationship through a meta-analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical studies from 57 independent peer-reviewed articles, including 66,741 firms, were sampled and analysed. Both subgroup and meta-regression analyses (MARA) were used to test the hypotheses of the study.

Findings

The authors' results demonstrated that social-oriented, economic-oriented and environment-oriented CSR activities have a positive, significant influence on overall, financial and non-financial performance of SMEs; however, the effect of social-oriented CSR activities is the strongest. Moreover, the impact CSR dimensions have on non-financial performance is stronger than on financial performance. Additionally, findings showed that the association between CSR and SME performance is positively and significantly influenced by contextual factors (i.e. sector and region of study) and methodological factors (i.e. performance measurement, study type, theory usage, sampling size and operationalisation of constructs).

Originality/value

The study is the pioneering meta-analytic review on the CSR–SME performance relationship, thereby clarifying the anecdotal results, synthesising the fragmented empirical studies and exploring the contextual and methodological factors that may account for between-study variance. Following the study's findings, the authors delineate insightful suggestions for future scholarship and fine-grained managerial implications for practitioners.
Effects of garlic supplementation and its derivatives on body weight and composition in adults: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Panbehkar-Jouybari Monireh , Mollahosseini Mehdi , Panjeshahin Asieh , Hosseinzadeh Mahdieh
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Garlic supplementation may be inversely contributed to body weight and composition; however, previous results have been inconsistent. This study aims to evaluate the effect of garlic supplementation on body weight and composition using a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

Online databases of PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched up to January 2020. The random-effects model was used to calculate the effect sizes of the included studies. The risk of bias of included studies was assessed using the Cochrane collaboration’s tool. Besides, the NutriGrade scoring system was applied to judge the credibility of the evidence.

Findings

In total, 18 studies (with 1,250 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled analysis revealed that garlic supplementation has a significant increase in body weight [weighted mean difference (WMD) = 0.31 Kg, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.53 Kg, P = 0.005, n = 12 effect sizes]. Waist circumference (WC) does remarkably reduce [WMD = −1.28 cm, 95% CI: −2.08, −0.47 cm, P = 0.002, n = 4 effect size]. However, body mass index, body fat percent and fat-free mass do not dramatically change (P > 0.05). Notably, the pooled analyses on body weight and WC were sensitive to two included studies. NutriGrade’s score was rated low for this meta-analysis.

Originality/value

Although garlic supplementation could slightly increase weight and simultaneously might decrease WC, these associations were not strong enough to corroborate the findings. Also, other anthropometric indices do not significantly change. Further well-designed randomized clinical trial studies are needed to confirm the results.
Willingness of the owners in the integrated development to establish the subsidiary management corporation
Authors: Liat Choon Tan , Wee Vern Tan , Kam Seng Looi , Liang Toh Ming , Bin Ujang Muhamad Uznir , Azri Suhaibah binti , Ai Chin Thoo , Kathitasapathy Shanmugapathy A.L.
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The increasing number of strata property in Malaysia promotes the different usages of development under the integrated development, which comprise the different usages of owner groups. These owner groups may not enjoy all the common properties in the integrated development. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the important to designate the limited common property for the owners who have the exclusive benefit on it. However, the establishment of the subsidiary management corporation and limited common property is less popular in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

Hence, research should be carried out to identify the importance of the establishment of the subsidiary management corporation and enhancement for the establishment of subsidiary management corporation to increase the willingness of the owner to establish the subsidiary management corporation. Collective Action Theory likewise assists to increase the willingness of the owner in the establishment of the subsidiary management corporation. A sum of 100 owners in the integrated development and 187 stratified property professionals are the respondents in this research, by applying the random sampling method.

Findings

Results indicate the problems that occur in the integrated development is the complexity management in integrated development, followed by the usages of the common property. Therefore, Collective Action Theory could ensure the effectiveness of the establishment of the subsidiary management corporation in the aspect of social rights, resources, governance groups and participants.

Originality/value

This paper provided an overview of the management circumstance in the integrated development of Malaysia and discussed some effective enhancements to promote the sustainable formation of the subsidiary management corporation or two-tier management corporations.
Beyond the police: libraries as locations of carceral care
Authors: Moreno Teresa Helena
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to make visible the connections libraries have to carceral systems and how library workers replicate carceral behavior through care.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses interdisciplinary research methods in the fields of library science, criminology, feminist studies, Black studies and abolition to examine the role of libraries as locations of carceral care.

Findings

Libraries, through their history and funding as well as their roles within society as educators and social service providers, have the components necessary to act out carceral care; libraries by extension can and do participate in forms of carceral care.

Originality/value

There has been much work on carceral care in the fields of social work and education, but to date, there has been little to no scholarship on how libraries work within the landscape of carceral care. This article builds upon the work of others to help understand how it applies to libraries.
Ophthalmic artery Doppler in hypertensive pregnancies
Authors: Gonser Markus , Vonzun Ladina , Ochsenbein‐Kölble Nicole
Published: December 2021

Linked article: This is a mini commentary on Katherine GY Lau et al., pp. 1394–1395 in this issue. To view this article visit https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.17061.
AES presidential address, 2021: Policy analysis for rural resilience—Expanding the toolkit
Authors: Dwyer Janet
Published: December 2021

I reflect on the progress of policy analysis for sustainable rural development over my professional lifetime, and the implications for the future. In so doing, I emphasise the distinction between policy analysis and policy evaluation, and the importance of enabling and facilitating transformation to improve resilience in a time of climate crisis; both of which highlight the need for more inclusive analytical tools, concepts and approaches. The central focus is on the development of a conceptual framework which is dynamic, interactive and holistically systemic, elucidated through, especially, comparative case studies and social‐ecological concepts. Recognition of the diversity of contexts and the heterogeneity of individual characters embedded in institutional cultures, which are of our own making, leads to a much richer and more resilient conceptual framework for analysis and effective diagnosis than the abstract and severely reductive textbook economic tradition. Future research priorities for agricultural economists are suggested: in new rural governance, mapping food systems, and enhanced performance assessment for farming businesses. In that context, a call is made for increased labour and skills in future UK farming.
Employee regret and disappointment: Creation of a scale and foundational application of the approach/avoidance framework
Authors: Howard Matt C. , Smith Mickey B.
Published: December 2021

A growing number of calls have been made for a discrete‐emotions approach in organisational research, and we answer these calls by theoretically and empirically distinguishing the effects of regret and disappointment by applying the approach/avoidance framework. We predict that regret positively relates to avoidance motivation, whereas disappointment both positively relates to avoidance motivation and negatively relates to approach motivation. We also predict that approach and avoidance motivations mediate the effects of regret and disappointment on employee outcomes, including job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviors, voice, counterproductive work behaviors, withdrawal, and turnover intentions. To test these predictions, we conduct five studies to develop theoretically driven and psychometrically sound scales to measure both emotions—the Employee Regret and Disappointment Scales (ERDS). The results of two final studies support the distinct effects of regret and disappointment on important employee outcomes and the mediating effects of approach/avoidance motivations in these relations. We close by discussing the theoretical and practical implications with suggestions for future research.
Choice of oral anticoagulant prescribed by general practices in Wales: Application of Dirichlet regression and linked data
Authors: Hill‐McManus Daniel , Hughes Dyfrig A.
Published: December 2021

Aims

There has been sustained growth in the prescribing of direct oral anticoagulants (OACs) in primary care in the UK. Given the different indications, properties and prices of OACs, variation between prescribers is expected; however, a high level of variation may be evidence of inappropriate or suboptimal prescribing. This study examined the variation in the relative use of OACs in primary care in Wales.

Methods

Data on total defined daily doses of all community‐dispensed OACs in 2019 were linked at the GP practice level with disease registers, patient demographic data and GP and patient numbers. The relative use of each OAC, as a fraction of all OACs prescribed, was analysed using Dirichlet regression to quantify the association between prescribing patterns and practice and area‐level characteristics.

Results

Across 417 GP practices, the mean (range) in the relative prescribing of warfarin was 37% (6%–64%), apixaban was 32% (2%–65%), rivaroxaban 23% (0%–66%), dabigatran 3% (0%–23%) and edoxaban 6% (0%–59%). Statistical modelling provided strong evidence that prescribing patterns are associated with a GP practice's health board and also their nearest major hospital. Compared to the null model, a model including health board resulted in a 15% fall in Akaike information criterion, increasing to 20% with the addition of nearest major hospital and 27% including further covariates.

Conclusion

Systematic variation in OAC prescribing, by health board and based on nearest hospital, indicates that factors other than patient clinical characteristics and preferences may be influencing prescribing decisions.
Estimating the impacts of payroll taxes: Evidence from Canadian employer–employee tax data
Authors: Deslauriers Jonathan , Dostie Benoit , Gagné Robert , Paré Jonathan
Published: December 2021

In this paper, we use linked employer–employee administrative tax data from Canada to estimate the impact of payroll taxes on a variety of firms’ and workers’ outcomes. For one province, we are able to exploit a policy change in the payroll tax rate to estimate its impact on the firm's level of employment, average wage and average sales, with difference‐in‐differences models, taking into account firm‐level unobserved heterogeneity. Additionally, taking advantage of the nature of linked data, we estimate wage equations with both fixed worker and firm fixed effects. We find no impact on employment and average sales, but significant impacts on wages, implying that payroll taxes are passed almost entirely to workers in the form of lower wages.
Hypoglycemia associated with direct‐acting anti‐hepatitis C virus drugs: An epidemiologic surveillance study of the FDA adverse event reporting system (FAERS)
Authors: Zhou Yu , Xie Wenhuo , Zheng Chenhua , Liu Libin , Chen Zhou , Wang Xiaolu
Published: December 2021

Background and Objective

Hypoglycemia induced by direct‐acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a rare but potentially life‐threatening adverse reaction, which led to warnings by competent authorities. We therefore aimed to examine the hypoglycemic safety signal for DAAs.

Methods

Reports to the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 1 October 2012 to 31 March 2020 were analyzed. The Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities was used to identify hypoglycemia cases. A case by non‐case disproportionality approach was used whereby reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.

Results

In HCV infection with diabetes patients, the cumulative frequency of hypoglycemic ADRs was 21.85/1000 for reports involving DAAs versus 13.50/1000 for reports involving other medications; For DAAs as a class drug, a nearly double increased reporting odds for hypoglycemia was observed (ROR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.11–2.41). However, in DAAs subgroup analysis, only telaprevir (ROR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.01–2.74) and elbasvir/grazoprevir (ROR: 2.25, 95% CI: 1.05–4.83) were associated with increased reporting risk of hypoglycemia during corresponding marketing period; when combined with insulins and sulfonylureas, DAAs were associated with increased reporting risk for hypoglycemia (ROR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.36–2.88; ROR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.06–2.48), but concomitant biguanides, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP‐4) inhibitors or glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1RAs) were not significant.

Conclusions

This study supports the current recommendation for cautious about hypoglycemic risk relating to the use of DAAs. Treatment with DAAs and antidabetic agents (especially insulins and sulfonylureas) will increase hypoglycemia reporting risk. Physicians and pharmacists should be aware of this risk when prescribing DAAs for patients suffering from diabetes, advanced age or liver decompensation.
Donor‐derived cell‐free DNA and renal allograft rejection in surveillance biopsies and indication biopsies
Authors: Chang Jae‐Hyung , Alvarado Verduzco Hector , Toma Katherine , Sritharan Sharlinee , Mohan Sumit , Husain Syed Ali
Published: December 2021

To evaluate the role of circulating dd‐cfDNA in allograft surveillance in immunologically high‐risk patients, a retrospective cross‐sectional study of 261 kidney transplant recipients who underwent outpatient allograft biopsy at our center between September 2020 and August 2021 was performed. Of the 236 dd‐cfDNA results included, 37 samples were obtained at the time of a surveillance biopsy in sensitized recipients and 199 at the time of a clinically indicated biopsy. The median serum creatinine at the time of the biopsy was 1.3 mg/dl and 2.1 mg/dl for surveillance biopsies and clinically indicated biopsies, respectively (P < .001). Rejection was diagnosed in 27% of surveillance biopsies and 29% of clinically indicated biopsies. Among surveillance biopsies, sensitivity and specificity to detect rejection were 0% and 89%, respectively, and among clinically indicated biopsies they were 28% and 96%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity to detect antibody‐mediated rejection were 0% and 91% among surveillance biopsies and 50% and 94% among clinically indicated biopsies. Nine biopsies without rejection findings had corresponding dd‐cfDNA of ≥1%. Our data does not support dd‐cfDNA as a biomarker for kidney allograft rejection, even in immunologically high‐risk patients in the absence of graft dysfunction.
Target to treatment: A charge to develop biomarkers of response and tolerability in child and adolescent psychiatry
Authors: Stancil Stephani L. , Tumberger John , Strawn Jeffrey R.
Published: December 2021

The current pediatric mental health crisis is characterized by staggering rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Beyond this, first‐line pharmacologic interventions for depressive and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents produce variable responses with two in five youths failing to respond. Given the heterogeneity of treatment response in pediatric depressive and anxiety disorders, pharmacodynamic biomarkers are necessary to develop precision therapeutics by identifying clear targets to guide treatment. This mini‐review summarizes candidate biomarkers and their development in pediatric mental health conditions. A framework for how these biomarkers may relate to safety, efficacy (e.g., surrogates for clinical endpoints), tolerability or target engagement (i.e., drug action) in children and adolescents is also presented. Taken together, accumulating data suggest that, in children and adolescents with myriad psychiatric disorders, pharmacodynamic biomarkers could facilitate developing drugs with well‐defined targets in specific populations, could inform treatment decisions, and hasten patients’ recovery.
A quantitative analysis of MDMA seized at New South Wales music festivals over the 2019/2020 season: Form, purity, dose and adulterants
Authors: O'Reilly Matthew J. A. , Harvey Christine A. , Auld Robin , Cretikos Michelle , Francis Catherine , Todd Stephanie , Barry Daniel , Cullinan Una , Symonds Michael
Published: December 2021

Introduction

This research aims to understand the content and nature, and to explore the harm potential, of suspected 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) substances circulating at music festivals in New South Wales.

Methods

Across 19 music festivals held between October 2019 and March 2020, 302 substances detected and suspected by police to contain MDMA were selected for quantitative analysis.

Results

Five percent of substances contained a drug other than MDMA (n = 13) or no drug (n = 2). The remaining 95.0% (n = 287) contained MDMA. Of this sub‐sample, capsule was the commonest form (83.3%), followed by tablet (7.7%), crystal (6.3%) and powder (2.8%). The median MDMA base‐purity of non‐tablet forms ranged between 73.5% and 75.0%. The median MDMA base‐dose per tablet (116 mg) was higher than per capsule (68 mg). The dose range varied substantially for capsules (14–146 mg) and tablets (24–201 mg). A higher dose (130 mg or greater) was found in 3.5% of MDMA tablets or capsules. Adulterants were identified in 14.1% of MDMA substances but only 1.6% contained a psychoactive adulterant and none presented as dangerous due to their nature or low concentration.

Discussion and Conclusions

Dangerous MDMA adulterants or new psychoactive substances in tablet, capsule, powder or crystal forms (whether misrepresented as MDMA or not) were unlikely to be in circulation during the study period. Harm reduction messaging should inform that a key risk‐factor for MDMA‐related harm is the high and wide variation of purity and dose across forms. Market changes may have occurred since COVID‐19, but continued monitoring will ensure messaging remains current.
A presystolic wave could easily detect subclinical left ventricular dysfunction in prediabetic patients with no history of hypertension
Authors: Şaylık Faysal , Akbulut Tayyar
Published: December 2021

Background

Prediabetes is associated with left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction. A presystolic wave (PSW) is detected on late diastole from the Doppler examination of the LV outflow tract and is related to LV dysfunction. LV dysfunction could be detected with different echocardiographic methods, including conventional Doppler and Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), 2D speckle tracking echocardiography, and myocardial performance index (MPI). In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of the presence of PSW with LV dysfunction assessed by different echocardiographic methods.

Methods

A total of 137 prediabetic normotensive patients were enrolled in this study. Eighty‐one (59.1%) patients had a PSW and 36 (40.9%) patients had not PSW on the Doppler examinations. Echocardiographic features were compared between these groups. LV dysfunction was determined based on MPI, LV global longitudinal strain (LVGLS), and conventional Doppler and TDI measurements.

Results

There were no differences between groups regarding clinical and laboratory parameters, except LDL, which was significantly higher in the PSW‐positive group. The PSW‐positive group had lower E, Em, Ea, E/A, Em/Am, Ea/Aa, LVGLS and higher A, Am, Aa, E/e’, isovolumetric relaxation time, and MPI than PSW‐negatives. PSW velocity was moderately correlated with MPI (R = .33, p = .003) and LVGLS (R = .35, p = .001). The presence of PSW was independently associated with LV dysfunction assessed by MPI (OR = 3.87, p < .001), LVGLS (OR = 10.29, p < .001), and conventional Doppler and TDI parameters (OR = 8.87, p < .001).

Conclusion

PSW was significantly associated with subclinical LV dysfunction in prediabetic normotensive patients assessed with three echocardiographic methods.
Early alterations of the neuronal network processing whisker‐related sensory signal during absence epileptogenesis
Authors: Laghouati Emel , Studer Florian , Depaulis Antoine , Guillemain Isabelle
Published: December 2021

Objective

Epileptogenesis is the particular process during which the epileptic network builds up progressively before the onset of the first seizures. Whether physiological functions are impacted by this development of epilepsy remains unclear. To explore this question, we used Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats From Strasbourg (GAERS), in which spike‐and‐wave discharges are initiated in the whisker primary somatosensory cortex (wS1) and first occur during cortical maturation. We studied the development of both the epileptic and the physiological wS1 circuits during cortical maturation to understand the interactions between them and the consequences for the animals' behavior.

Methods

In sedated and immobilized rat pups, we recorded in vivo epileptic and whisker sensory evoked activities across the wS1 and thalamus using multicontact electrodes. We compared sensory evoked potentials based on current source density analysis. We then analyzed the multiunit activities evoked by whisker stimulation in GAERS and control rats. Finally, we evaluated behavioral performance dependent on the functionality of the wS1 cortex using the gap‐crossing task.

Results

We showed that the epileptic circuit changed during the epileptogenesis period in GAERS, by involving different cortical layers of wS1. Neuronal activities evoked by whisker stimulation were reduced in the wS1 cortex at P15 and P30 in GAERS but increased in the ventral posteromedial nucleus of the thalamus at P15 and in the posterior medial nucleus at P30, when compared to control rats. Finally, we observed lower performance in GAERS versus controls, at both P15 and P30, in a whisker‐mediated behavioral task.

Significance

Our data show that the functionality of wS1 cortex and thalamus is altered early during absence epileptogenesis in GAERS and then evolves before spike‐and‐wave discharges are fully expressed. They suggest that the development of the pathological circuit disturbs the physiological one and may be responsible for both the emergence of seizures and associated comorbidities.
The Cenozoic history of palms: Global diversification, biogeography and the decline of megathermal forests
Authors: Lim Jun Ying , Huang Huasheng , Farnsworth Alexander , Lunt Daniel J. , Baker William J. , Morley Robert J. , Kissling W. Daniel , Hoorn Carina
Published: December 2021

Aim

Megathermal rain forests and mangroves are much smaller in extent today than in the early Cenozoic, primarily owing to global cooling and drying trends since the Eocene–Oligocene transition (c. 34 Ma). The general reduction of these biomes is hypothesized to shape the diversity and biogeographical history of tropical plant clades. However, this has rarely been examined owing to a paucity of good fossil records of tropical taxa and the difficulty in assigning them to modern clades. Here, we evaluate the role that Cenozoic climate change might have played in shaping the diversity and biogeography of tropical plants through time.

Location

Global.

Time period

Cenozoic, 66 Ma to present.

Major taxa studied

Four palm clades (Calaminae, Eugeissoneae, Mauritiinae and Nypoideae) and their fossil pollen record.

Methods

We compiled fossil pollen occurrence records for each focal palm lineage to reconstruct their diversity and biogeographical distribution throughout the Cenozoic. We use climatic niche models to project the distribution of climatically suitable areas for each lineage in the past, using palaeoclimatic data for the Cenozoic.

Results

For most palm lineages examined, global pollen taxonomic diversity declined throughout the Cenozoic. Geographical ranges for each focal lineage contracted globally and experienced regional‐scale extinctions (e.g., Afrotropics), particularly after the Miocene. However, climatic niche models trained on extant species of these focal lineages often predict the presence of climatically suitable habitat in areas where these lineages went extinct.

Main conclusions

Globally, the decline in megathermal rain forest and mangrove extent might have led to declines in diversity and range contractions in some megathermal plant taxa throughout the Cenozoic. Although global climatic trends are an important backdrop for the biogeography and diversity of tropical groups at global scales, their continental‐ or regional‐scale biogeographical trajectories might be more dependent on regional abiotic and biotic contexts.
Media use, positive and negative emotions, and stress levels of adults during COVID‐19 pandemic in Turkey: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Akca Ayşegül , Ayaz‐Alkaya Sultan
Published: December 2021

Aim

This study was conducted to determine media use, positive and negative emotions, and stress levels of adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Background

Using media tools in the pandemic process has impacted the mental health of individuals. As the COVID‐19 outbreak is a new disease fear, anxiety and stress about this situation can cause strong emotions in adults.

Methods

The research was carried out using a cross‐sectional design. The sample consisted of 1541 adults. The Positive and Negative Emotion Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale were used to collect the data.

Results

The Positive Emotion Scale mean scores were lower (p < 0.05) for those people whose daily media use time was more than 4 h and who followed the developments about COVID‐19 through the media once a day. It was found that those with daily media use of more than 4 h/day had higher Perceived Stress Scale scores than those with lower use (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

This study concluded that the use of media in adults increased during the COVID‐19 outbreak and that media use was associated with positive and negative emotions and stress levels. Health professionals should assess the effect of the COVID‐19 outbreak on mental health in various community groups and develop interventions to prevent negative consequences of increased media use.
Perceptions of accountability for the transfer of training by leadership trainers
Authors: Wisshak Susanne , Barth Dorothee
Published: December 2021

Schlenker’s model of responsibility was used in this study to investigate to what extent leadership trainers consider themselves accountable for the transfer of training. We conducted 15 semi‐structured interviews and evaluated the answers using qualitative content analysis. With respect to the responsibility links of Schlenker’s model, the trainers described two out of three links as being rather strong. The interview data suggest that transfer‐enhancing strategies were mostly clear to the trainers. They also reported feeling personally obliged to support trainees in their transfer efforts. Regarding the third link, the trainers perceived limited control over several transfer determinants. They explained that they could facilitate transfer but not produce it. The trainers identified the trainees, their supervisors, and the organisations as other responsible parties. The concept of trainers as transfer managers was scarcely reported among the data. Our findings suggest that client organisations could strengthen accountability by setting adequate and feasible training objectives and by monitoring their achievement. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications with regard to the promotion of transfer.
Delayed respiratory syncytial virus outbreak in 2020 in Taiwan was correlated with two novel RSV‐A genotype ON1 variants
Authors: Lee Chun Yi , Wu Tsung Hua , Fang Yu Ping , Chang Jih Chin , Wang Hung Chun , Lin Shou Ju , Mai Chen Hao , Chang Yu Chuan , Chou Teh Ying
Published: December 2021

Background

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading pathogen of acute respiratory tract disease among infants and young children. Compared with previous seasons, RSV outbreaks in Taiwan during the 2020–2021 season were delayed because of COVID‐19 mitigation measures. We conducted this study to determine the association of viral factors with clinical characteristics of preschool children with RSV infection.

Methods

We performed a molecular epidemiology analysis of RSV among inpatient preschool children in Taiwan. In 80 nasopharyngeal samples positive for RSV, we sequenced and analyzed viral genotypes according to patient data. Patients' clinical data were obtained from medical files, and their clinical profiles were compared with those of RSV cases recorded during the 2014–2017 seasons.

Results

Phylogenetic analysis revealed that among the RSV‐positive samples, all RSV strains identified during the 2020–2021 season belonged to the ON1 genotype. Most of the Taiwan ON1 strains were categorized into two well‐supported clusters with distinct G protein amino acid substitution patterns that had never been demonstrated previously. Furthermore, the proportion of cases among children aged >24 months increased (P < 0.001). Compared with patients infected during the 2014–2017 seasons, patients infected during the 2020–2021 season were hospitalized for shorter days from hospital admission to dereference (P = 0.004) and had a greater need for oxygen supplements (P = 0.021) and systemic steroid therapy (P = 0.026).

Conclusion

The delayed 2020–2021 RSV outbreak in Taiwan was caused by two novel RSV ON1.1 variants. How the change in RSV epidemiology affects future RSV outbreaks warrants exploration.
What are the experiences of clinical psychologists working with people with intellectual disabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic?
Authors: Chemerynska Nataliya , Marczak Magda , Kucharska Jo
Published: December 2021

Background

People with intellectual disabilities are a particularly vulnerable group, at an increased risk of mortality from COVID‐19 and of poor mental health. Psychologists providing mental health support to people with intellectual disabilities report poorer mental wellbeing and higher occupational stress. Moreover, they raise concerns about the ability of people with intellectual disabilities to engage with digital technologies for mental health support in the context of reduced face‐to‐face psychological provision.

Aims

The study aimed to understand psychologists’ experiences of working with people with intellectual disabilities during the pandemic.

Materials & Methods

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 11 psychologists from community intellectual disabilities services. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results

Two superordinate themes emerged. Survive or Thrive highlighted the challenges and successes clinical psychologists experienced while working during the pandemic. ‘Left to Their Own Devices’ described psychologists' experiences of their clients as forgotten within society.

Conclusion

The current study demonstrates psychologists' ability to adapt to extremely challenging circumstances, exposes the vulnerabilities of people with intellectual disabilities and highlights the gaps in service provision.
Growth estimates of young‐of‐the‐year broadnose sevengill shark, Notorynchus cepedianus, a top predator with poorly calcified vertebrae
Authors: Jaureguizar Andrés Javier , Cortés Federico , Braccini J. Matias , Wiff Rodrigo , Milessi Andrés C.
Published: December 2021

The broadnose sevengill shark, Notorynchus cepedianus (Péron, 1807), is a large marine top predator in temperate coastal ecosystems. Some aspects of its life history have been determined, but its growth pattern is yet to be fully understood. The authors used a multi‐modelling approach and a sensitivity test to estimate growth parameters from young‐of‐year (YOY) length data collected off San Antonio Cape (SAC), Argentina, a critical habitat in the Southwest Atlantic Coastal Zone (SACZ). The best selected model, a sex‐combined logistic growth model, estimated an asymptotic length (L∞) of 92.58 cm TL (95% C.I.: 86.48–105.89 cm), a growth coefficient (K) of 0.006818 days −1 (95% C.I.: 0.004948–0.008777) and a size at birth (L0) of 40.73 cm. The predicted annual growth (i.e., L1 – L0) was 43.2 cm TL. Males had smaller L0, higher K and achieved larger sizes after 1 year. The YOY in SAC attained a larger L1 and grew faster than their Australian and South African wild counterparts. The consistent year‐round presence of YOY in the SAC highlights the importance of this area as a pupping ground and potential nursery for N. cepedianus; this has direct implications for the allocation of research and management effort for the conservation of this species in the Southwest Atlantic.
Can we cure diabetic kidney disease? Present and future perspectives from a nephrologist's point of view
Authors: Guedes Murilo , Pecoits‐Filho Roberto
Published: December 2021

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) worldwide, contributing to a great burden across a variety of patient‐reported and clinical outcomes. New interventions for DKD management have been established in recent years, unleashing a novel paradigm, in which kidney‐dedicated trials yield informative and robust data to guide optimal clinical management. After unprecedented results from groundbreaking randomized controlled trials were released, a new scenario of evidence‐based recommendations has evolved for the management of diabetic patients with CKD. The current guidelines place great emphasis on multidimensional and interdisciplinary approaches, but the challenges of implementation are just starting and will be pivotal to optimize clinical results and to understand the new threshold for residual risk in DKD. We thereby provide an updated review on recent advances in DKD management based on new guideline recommendations, summarizing recent evidence while projecting the landscape for innovative ongoing initiatives in the field. Specifically, we review current insights on the natural history, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutics of DKD, mapping the new scientific information into the recently released Kidney Disease – Improving Global Outcomes Guidelines translating results from major novel randomized controlled trials to the clinical practice. Additionally, we approach the landscape of new therapeutics in the field, summarizing ongoing phase IIb and III trials focused on DKD. Finally, reflecting on the past and looking into the future, we highlight unmet needs in the current DKD management based on real‐world evidence and offer a nephrologist's perspective into the challenge of fostering continuous improvement on clinical and patient‐reported outcomes for individuals living with DKD.
Journeying the everyday of civic space: movement as method in socio‐legal studies
Authors: SMITH JESSICA
Published: December 2021

Arising from the spatial turn in the social sciences, metaphors and material practices of movement have developed into methodological tools for studying the transitory moments of everyday life. This article explores how socio‐legal scholars can use movement as method to trace law in the everyday of civic space. The research draws upon a project that explored how bodies, materials, concepts, and administrative processes are set in motion in the Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury, England, where births and deaths are registered on the mezzanine floor of the municipal library, museum, and art gallery. The article teases out some of the challenges of journeying with law, in architectural settings where legal activity has not been explicitly designed for, but where it nonetheless surfaces in fleeting moments. Movement as method, I argue, expands the socio‐legal toolkit for examining spaces of law and bureaucracy while challenging assumptions made in socio‐legal studies about the buildings typically inhabited by lawyers in the Global North.
Disrupting ripples: Methods, results, and caveats in closed‐loop approaches in rodents
Authors: Aleman‐Zapata Adrian , van der Meij Jacqueline , Genzel Lisa
Published: December 2021

Hippocampal ripple oscillations have been associated with memory reactivations during wake and sleep. These reactivations should contribute to working memory and memory consolidation respectively. In the past decade studies have moved from being observational to actively disrupting ripple‐related activity in closed‐loop approaches to enable causal investigations into their function. All together these studies have been able to provide evidence that wake, task‐related ripple activity is important for working memory and planning but less important for stabilisation of spatial representations. Rest and sleep‐related ripple activity, in contrast, is important for long‐term memory performance and thus memory consolidation. In this review, we summarise results from different closed‐loop approaches in rodents. Further, we highlight differences in detection and stimulation methods as well as controls and discuss how these differences could influence outcomes.
Members of the ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) family act as pro‐viral factor for tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus infectivity in Nicotiana benthamiana
Authors: Helderman Tieme A. , Deurhof Laurens , Bertran André , Richard Manon M. S. , Kormelink Richard , Prins Marcel , Joosten Matthieu H. A. J. , van den Burg Harrold A.
Published: December 2021

To identify host factors for tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV), a virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) screen using tobacco rattle virus (TRV) was performed on Nicotiana benthamiana for TSWV susceptibility. To rule out any negative effect on the plants’ performance due to a double viral infection, the method was optimized to allow screening of hundreds of clones in a standardized fashion. To normalize the results obtained in and between experiments, a set of controls was developed to evaluate in a consist manner both VIGS efficacy and the level of TSWV resistance. Using this method, 4532 random clones of an N. benthamiana cDNA library were tested, resulting in five TRV clones that provided nearly complete resistance against TSWV. Here we report on one of these clones, of which the insert targets a small gene family coding for the ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) that is part of the 40S ribosomal subunit. This RPS6 family is represented by three gene clades in the genome of Solanaceae family members, which were jointly important for TSWV susceptibility. Interestingly, RPS6 is a known host factor implicated in the replication of different plant RNA viruses, including the negative‐stranded TSWV and the positive‐stranded potato virus X.