bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Delivering societal impact through supply chain design: insights from B Corps
Authors: Rosca Eugenia , Taylor Kelsey M.
Published: June 2023

Purpose

This paper examines how different configurations of societal impact are pursued by purpose-driven organizations (PDOs) and how these configurations align with the application of varying supply chain design (SCD) practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This multi-method study uses quantitative data from 1588 B Corps and qualitative data from 316 B Corps to examine how PDOs align SCD with the pursuit of diverse types of societal impact. The authors first conduct a cluster analysis to group organizations based on the impact they create. Second, qualitative content analysis connects impact with enabling SCD elements.

Findings

The analysis of the five identified clusters provides detailed empirical insights on influencers, design decisions and building blocks adopted by PDOs to drive a range of societal impacts. Specifically, the nature of the impact pursued affects (1) whether a PDO will be more influenced by a need in the political environment or an opportunity in the industry environment, (2) the relative importance of the design of social flows versus material flows and (3) the need to develop new relational resources with beneficiaries versus leveraging existing capabilities to manage inter-firm processes.

Originality/value

This study responds to calls to disaggregate different dimensions of societal impact and examines the relationship between SCD and a breadth of sustainability impacts for different stakeholders. In doing so, the authors identify four SCD pathways organizations can follow to achieve specific societal impacts. This study is also the first to employ a supply chain perspective in the study of certified B Corps.
Why is India a popular destination for Bangladeshi medical tourists? A study based on perceived justice by Bangladeshi patients
Authors: Nabi Md. Noor Un , Khan Sarif Mohammad , Misbauddin S.M. , Fatema Kaniz
Published: June 2023

Purpose

There is evidence of Bangladeshi citizens travelling to India to receive medical treatments, known as medical tourism. This study aims to explore the perceived justice dimensions of Bangladeshi patients towards domestic health care and the effects of these dimensions on their intention for outbound tourism to India.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 307 Bangladeshi medical tourists were collected to test the proposed model. The data has been interpreted through the proposed model with covariance-based structural equation modelling in AMOS. To produce the results, the measurement model and structural model were examined.

Findings

The analysis confirmed the significant impact of procedural, informational and interpersonal justice dimensions on patients’ health-care experiences. However, the effect of distributive justice on patient experience has been found insignificant. The study also revealed a significant negative impact of patient satisfaction on outbound medical tourism intention. Thus, it raises concerns for the local medical service providers about improving patient satisfaction.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper can be applicable for health-care practitioners and policymakers in emerging countries to improve the bottlenecks of the health-care system for increasing patients’ service experiences and reducing the intention of patients for outbound medical tourism.

Originality/value

The research on perceived justice theory regarding the intention of medical tourism is limited. This research is one of the few studies to combine perceived justice theory with trust and medical tourism decision-making. Using the lens of perceived justice, this research argues that the decrease in perceived justice negatively affects the patients’ service experience, trust and loyalty to the service provider.
Exploring young consumer's adoption of secondhand luxury: insights from a qualitative study
Authors: Rathi Rubal , Jain Sheetal , Garg Ruchi
Published: June 2023

Purpose

This study explores reasons for and against secondhand luxury (SHL) fashion adoption among young consumers in an emerging nation, India. As a trend, SHL has witnessed tremendous growth in the past few years, but scholarly interest remains scant.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from an interpretivist paradigm, this study uses an exploratory qualitative approach with 26 semi-structured interviews with SHL buyers, analyzed using NVivo software.

Findings

The findings shed significant light on value drivers and find support for status value, uniqueness value, quality value and monetary value, while adding the role of emotional value in reasons for SHL adoption. The results reveal an interesting trait of Indian consumers: price, fashion and celebrity association outweigh sustainability concerns, where an attitude–behavior gap is observed. Also, the findings add depth to risk perceptions as a major reason against SHL adoption.

Originality/value

While most existing studies have only focused on the motivational drivers, this study offers in-depth insights into the growing SHL literature by drawing attention to the enablers and equally important inhibitors by applying the novel Behavioral Reasoning Theory. It also intends to enhance practitioner knowledge in understanding a culturally diverse market and developing strategies relevant to a new set of consumers. The study calls for SHL retailers to sensitize young consumers in India about the sustainability aspect of SHL consumption, which is currently less appreciated.
Investigating the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on Kuwait stock return: (A) symmetric time-varying evaluation
Authors: Kisswani Khalid M.
Published: June 2023

Purpose

This study aims to explore the long- and short-run effects of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 (Ct) on daily stock returns (Rt) for Kuwait. This is the first study that was applied to the case of Kuwait.

Design/methodology/approach

We employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model of Pesaranet al.(2001) and the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model of Shinet al.(2001) for daily data over the period March 2020 to August 2021.

Findings

The findings first document the existence of a long-run relationship (cointegration). Second, the findings of the ARDL model show a significant positive long-run effect of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 (Ct) on daily stock returns (Rt) but a significant negative short-run effect. As for the NARDL model, the findings showed that the increase and decrease of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19(Ct−1+,Ct−1−)have symmetric long-run effects on daily stock returns but asymmetric short-run effects. Finally, the vector error correction model causality test shows significant long- and short-run unidirectional causality running from daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 (Ct) to daily stock returns (Rt).

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that was applied to the case of Kuwait.
Audit partner industry specialization and audit report lag: does changing in the audit reporting requirements matter?
Authors: Mnif Yosra , Cherif Imen
Published: June 2023

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationship between the individual auditor’s industry specialization and the audit report lag (hereafter ARD). Further, it explores whether changing in the audit reporting requirement (i.e. the adoption of ISA701) influences the auditor’s industry specialization effect on the ARD.

Design/methodology/approach

A large data set of companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm over the period 2010–2019 has been analyzed. Least squares regressions have been estimated to provide empirical evidence for the researched hypotheses.

Findings

The research findings indicate that the ARD is shorter for client firms audited by an industry specialist audit partner. Testing for the moderating role of changing in the auditing reporting regulation on the relation between the audit partner’s industry specialization and the ARD, the authors reveal that all client firms (except client firms with industry specialist audit partners) experienced an increase in the ARD. Overall, the baseline regression findings are found to be robust to the endogenous auditor choice and multiple measures of both the ARD and the auditor’s industry specialization.

Originality/value

This paper provides novel evidence on the relationship between the audit reporting lag and industry specialization from the individual auditor perspective, an issue that has hitherto been unexplored. The regression results further contribute to the upsurge debate about the consequences of changing in the audit reporting model by providing consistent support for the importance of industry specialization of the audit partner in minimizing costs derived from the former requirement.
Exploring folk songs to educate for resilience
Authors: Albacete-Maza Juan , Fernández-Cano Antonio , Callejas Zoraida
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Covid-19 pandemic, war, climate emergency and other recent challenges are inflicting tremendous stress to youth. However, death and tragedy are nowadays considered taboo, as there is generally no standardized nor naturalized discussion on the subject, especially with young people. The current multi-crisis scenario is intensifying the need to incorporate an education on tragedy and resilience in our learning systems. In this context, it is necessary to find suitable teaching resources for this educational challenge that are attractive, entertaining and suitable for children and youth. A resource that meets all these requirements are children’s folk songs (CFSs). Apart from the intrinsic educational potential of music, folk songs have a simplicity and musicality that make them an ideal teaching resource. Considering their oral historical transmission, their survival confirms the attraction that this type of composition causes on children. However, to consider CFSs as an adequate resource to carry out an education for death and tragedy, it is necessary to study whether they present a non-negligible proportion of tragic passages and with enough variety of themes. This paper aims to address the study of the presence of explicit tragic content in Spanish CFSs and thus could be considered a cultural resource with transformative educational potential to develop resilience capabilities on the face of tragedy.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis of lyrics of 2,558 Spanish CFSs is presented, using a manual content analysis as well as a computerized content analysis with the aim of identifying the tragic component of these songs and, thereby, assessing their pedagogical potential as a transformative educational resource.

Findings

The results obtained show a considerable presence of death and tragedy (19.78%) and a variety of tragedy dimensions. CFSs have been transmitted orally not only as a ludic resource, but also to prepare children for life (and death). The results show the complementarity of both analyses to avoid subjectivity while considering the underlying meanings of the songs.

Originality/value

This task had previously not been approached in an automated manner in the literature, nor there had been a similar study with a sample of this magnitude. The outcomes obtained show the considerable presence of tragedy in Spanish CFSs and emphasize the interest of this currently undervalued didactic resource.
Design optimization of 3D printed flow path plates in high-performance bioethanol fuel cells
Authors: T.S. Manikandamaharaj , B.M. Jaffar Ali
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Effective performance of a direct ethanol fuel cell (FC) stack depends on the satisfactory operation of its individual cells where it is always challenging to manage the temperature gradient, water flow and distribution of reactants. In that, the design of the bipolar fuel flow path plate plays a vital role in achieving the aforementioned parameters. Further, the bipolar plates contribute 80% of the weight and 30%–40% of its total cost. Aim of this study is to enhance the efficiency of fuel to energy conversion and to minimize the overall cost of production.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have specifically designed, simulated and fabricated a standard 2.5 × 2.5 cm2 active area proton exchange membrane (PEM) FC flow path plate to study the performance by varying the flow fields in a single ladder, double ladder and interdigitated and varying channel geometries, namely, half curve, triangle and rectangle.

Findings

Using the 3D PEMFC model and visualizing the physical and electrochemical processes occurring during the operation of the FCs resulted in a better-performing flow path plate design. It is fabricated by using additive manufacturing technology. In addition, the assembly of the full cell with the designed flow path plate shows about an 11.44% reduction in total weight, which has a significant bearing on its total cost as well as specific energy density in the stack cell.

Originality/value

Simultaneous optimization of multiple flow path parameters being carried out for better performance is the hallmark of this study which resulted in enhanced energy density and reduced cost of device production.
Efficient toolpath planning for collaborative material extrusion machines
Authors: Bacciaglia Antonio , Ceruti Alessandro
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Timing constraints affect the manufacturing of traditional large-scale components through the material extrusion technique. Thus, researchers are exploring using many independent and collaborative heads that may work on the same part simultaneously while still producing an appealing final product. The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple and repeatable approach for toolpath planning for gantry-based n independent extrusion heads with effective collision avoidance management.

Design/methodology/approach

This research presents an original toolpath planner based on existing slicing software and the traditional structure of G-code files. While the computationally demanding component subdivision task is assigned to computer-aided design and slicing software to build a standard G-code, the proposed algorithm scans the conventional toolpath data file, quickly isolates the instructions of a single extruder and inserts brief pauses between the instructions if the non-priority extruder conflicts with the priority one.

Findings

The methodology is validated on two real-life industrial large-scale components using architectures with two and four extruders. The case studies demonstrate the method's effectiveness, reducing printing time considerably without affecting the part quality. A static priority strategy is implemented, where one extruder gets priority over the other using a cascade process. The results of this paper demonstrate that different priority strategies reflect on the printing efficiency by a factor equal to the number of extrusion heads.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to produce an original methodology to efficiently plan the extrusion heads' trajectories for a collaborative material extrusion architecture.
Dedication to the craft: developing pre-service teachers into social justice advocates through PDS and poetry
Authors: Cormier Kerry
Published: June 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this poetic inquiry was to understand how the professional development school (PDS) model can help pre-service teachers (PSTs) develop an inclusive philosophy of teaching while positioning themselves as social justice advocates. Four clinical interns collaborated in the research process guided by the university professor-in-residence (PIR).

Design/methodology/approach

To conduct this poetic inquiry the interns kept journals, participated in individual interviews and weekly book club discussions to help us understand how education is situated within a broader social justice framework. Transcription poems were created from discussion and interview transcripts to capture the interns' perspectives and experiences in developing their philosophies.

Findings

The findings, shared through transcription poems, indicate that the interns established inclusive beliefs, experienced tensions between their beliefs and practices and emphasize the importance of community in developing as social justice advocates.

Originality/value

By sharing the findings through poetry, this study invites a more focused look into the nuances of PST’s emerging beliefs on inclusive education in a PDS.
Critical ontologies: rethinking relations to other‐than‐humans from the Bolivian Andes
Authors: Winchell Mareike
Published: June 2023

Drawing from fieldwork and archival research carried out in Bolivia between 2010 and 2017, this article undertakes a rethinking of Indigenous ontologies in light of Bolivian interlocutors’ efforts to navigate deeply precarious ties to named places and saints. Attention to such instabilities challenges romantic accounts of ontology that presume a stable domain of materiality or religiosity outside of practice. During fieldwork in central Bolivia, I learned about the ways that Quechua farmers negotiated the relational and ecological effects of a divisive history of indentured labour and sexual violence through acts of devotion includingparaman purina(‘walking for rain’), feasting, flute‐play, dance, and chapel prayer each February for the Patron Saint La Virgen de la Candelaria, named places, and the Pachamama. These practices sought to rebuild ties to named places that were interrupted by the forbidding of offerings by the prior hacienda master and reshaped by state projects of Indigenous revivalism. These devotional practices, and participants’ narrations of them, offer insight into the political workings of Indigenous ontologies in twenty‐first‐century Bolivia. I proposecritical ontologiesas a scholarly lens that insists upon placing relations with other‐than‐humans within broader fields of legal and political contestation over rights, nature, and Indigeneity.
RETRACTED: Management of Impacted Fetal Head at Caesarean Birth
Authors: Cornthwaite Katie , Bahl Rachna , Winter Cathy , Wright Alison , Kingdom John , Walker Kate F. , Tydeman Graham , Briley Annette , Schmidt‐Hansen Mia , Draycott Tim ,   the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists
Published: June 2023

Plain language summary

Over one‐quarter of women in the UK have a caesarean birth (CB). More than one in 20 of these births occurs near the end of labour, when the cervix is fully dilated (second stage). In these circumstances, and when labour has been prolonged, the baby’s head can become lodged deep in the maternal pelvis making it challenging to deliver the baby. During the caesarean birth, difficulty in delivery of the baby’s head may result – this emergency is known as impacted fetal head (IFH). These are technically challenging births that pose significant risks to both the woman and baby. Complications for the woman include tears in the womb, serious bleeding and longer hospital stay. Babies are at increased risk of injury including damage to the head and face, lack of oxygen to the brain, nerve damage, and in rare cases, the baby may die from these complications.

Maternity staff are increasingly encountering IFH at CB, and reports of associated injuries have risen dramatically in recent years. The latest UK studies suggest that IFH may complicate as many as one in 10 unplanned CBs (1.5% of all births) and that two in 100 babies affected by IFH die or are seriously injured. Moreover, there has been a sharp increase in reports of babies having brain injuries when their birth was complicated by IFH.

When an IFH occurs, the maternity team can use different approaches to help deliver the baby’s head at CB. These include: an assistant (another obstetrician or midwife) pushing the head up from the vagina; delivering the baby feet first; using a specially designed inflatable balloon device to elevate the baby’s head and/or giving the mother a medicine to relax the womb. However, there is currently no consensus for how best to manage these births. This has resulted in a lack of confidence among maternity staff, variable practice and potentially avoidable harm in some circumstances.

This paper reviews the current evidence regarding the prediction, prevention and management of IFH at CB, integrating findings from a systematic review commissioned from the National Guideline Alliance.
Why intrauterine device (IUD) utilization is low in southwestern Ethiopia. A mixed‐method study
Authors: Amenu Demisew , Wakjira Tekle , Tadele Afework , Kebede Alemi , Asefa Zerihun
Published: June 2023

Introduction

An intrauterine device (IUD) is a highly effective long‐acting and reversible contraceptive method widely available around the world. However, only a small proportion of women in developing countries, including Ethiopia, are currently using the method. Therefore, this study aimed to identify why IUD utilization is low in southwestern Ethiopia.

Material and methods

A mixed‐method study involving health facilities and communities was conducted. The focus group discussions and key informant interviewees for the qualitative study were selected purposively, whereas 844 women family planning users were selected using systematic random sampling from November 1–30, 2020. Quantitative data was collected using Open Data Kit and analyzed using Stata version 16.0. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify significant factors influencing IUD use. The qualitative data were tape‐recorded, transcribed, and finally, thematic analyses were done.

Results

A total of 784 participants were involved in the study yielding a response rate of 92.9%. Among all respondents, only 1.3%, 2.4%, and 30.0% had been using an IUD, preferred an IUD, and had the intention to use an IUD, respectively. The main reported barriers to use an IUD among qualitative participants were fear of side‐effects, religious prohibitions of contraception use, husband disapproval, lack of training by health workers, misconceptions, and longer duration of use. IUD information (AOR = 2.19 [CI: 1.56–3.08]), and rich wealth status (AOR = 1.70 [CI: 1.13–2.56]) were associated with the intention to continue or start to use an IUD.

Conclusions

IUD use and information on IUDs in the study area was very low. Information about IUDs, wealth status, and partner disapproval were determinant factors for intention to use an IUD. Thus, a regular awareness creation program using accessible media platforms by the government and stakeholders on IUD use is necessary to provide reliable information to the community and resolve misconceptions. In addition, women's empowerment to balance partner dominance on decision‐making of contraception use and health care worker training on long‐acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) to increase access to LARC services are necessary to increase uptake of LARCs in general and of IUDs, in particular in the study regions.
Les géographes du Québec et la question professionnelle : essai d'interprétation sociohistorique, 1945–2000
Authors: Pelletier Raphaël
Published: June 2023

L'étude de l'histoire contemporaine de la géographie au prisme de la sociologie des professions permet de s'intéresser aux « trajectoires professionnelles », et ce, à titre d'objets. Par l'analyse de documents d'archives, trois périodes ont pu être établies, montrant ainsi les particularités contextuelles des débats entourant la présence des géographes dans le milieu professionnel. De 1945 à 1962, on observe la tripartition graduelle de la géographie dans trois catégories d'espaces sociaux distincts, soit les écoles, l'université et le milieu professionnel. De 1963 à 1978, on constate la naissance et le déclin d'un projet collectif équivoque, à savoir celui de la création d'une corporation des géographes du Québec. De 1979 à la fin du 20esiècle, on remarque une valorisation de l'Association des géographes du Québec (AGQ), devenue l'Association professionnelle des géographes du Québec (APGQ) en 1985, à titre de lieu de représentation démocratique et de défense des intérêts professionnels des géographes.
WDR54 exerts oncogenic roles in T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Li Huan , Zhang Danlan , Fu Qiuxia , Wang Shang , Zhang Xin , Lin Zhixian , Wang Zhongyuan , Song Jiaxing , Su Zijie , Xue VivianWeiwen , Liu Shanshan , Chen Yun , Zhou Liang , Zhao Na , Lu Desheng
Published: June 2023

WDR54 has been recently identified as a novel oncogene in colorectal and bladder cancers. However, the expression and function of WDR54 in T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T‐ALL) were not reported. In this study, we investigated the expression of WDR54 in T‐ALL, as well as its function in T‐ALL pathogenesis using cell lines and T‐ALL xenograft. Bioinformatics analysis indicated high mRNA expression of WDR54 in T‐ALL. We further confirmed that the expression of WDR54 was significantly elevated in T‐ALL. Depletion of WDR54 dramatically inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at S phase in T‐ALL cells in vitro. Moreover, knockdown of WDR54 impeded the process of leukemogenesis in a Jurkat xenograft model in vivo. Mechanistically, the expression of PDPK1, phospho‐AKT (p‐AKT), total AKT, phospho‐ERK (p‐ERK), Bcl‐2 and Bcl‐xL were downregulated, while cleaved caspase‐3 and cleaved caspase‐9 were upregulated in T‐ALL cells with WDR54 knockdown. Additionally, RNA‐seq analysis indicated that WDR54 might regulate the expression of some oncogenic genes involved in multiple signaling pathways. Taken together, these findings suggest that WDR54 may be involved in the pathogenesis of T‐ALL and serve as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of T‐ALL.
FABP5 regulates lipid metabolism to facilitate pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms progression via FASN mediated Wnt/β‐catenin pathway
Authors: Lu Feiyu , Ye Mujie , Hu Chunhua , Chen Jinhao , Yan Lijun , Gu Danyang , Xu Lin , Tian Ye , Bai Jianan , Tang Qiyun
Published: June 2023

Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNENs) are among the most frequently occurring neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) and require targeted therapy. High levels of fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5) are involved in tumor progression, but its role in pNENs remains unclear. We investigated the mRNA and protein levels of FABP5 in pNEN tissues and cell lines and found them to be upregulated. We evaluated changes in cell proliferation using CCK‐8, colony formation, and 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine assays and examined the effects on cell migration and invasion using transwell assays. We found that knockdown of FABP5 suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of pNEN cell lines, while overexpression of FABP5 had the opposite effect. Co‐immunoprecipitation experiments were performed to clarify the interaction between FABP5 and fatty acid synthase (FASN). We further showed that FABP5 regulates the expression of FASN via the ubiquitin proteasome pathway and both proteins facilitate the progression of pNENs. Our study demonstrated that FABP5 acts as an oncogene by promoting lipid droplet deposition and activating the WNT/β‐catenin signaling pathway. Moreover, the carcinogenic effects of FABP5 can be reversed by orlistat, providing a novel therapeutic intervention option.
Regional anesthesia for transplantation surgery – A white paper part 1: Thoracic transplantation surgery
Authors: Ander Michael , Mugve Neal , Crouch Cara , Kassel Cale , Fukazawa Kyota , Izaak Robert , Deshpande Ranjit , McLendon Charles , Huang Jiapeng
Published: June 2023

Transplantation surgery continues to evolve and improve through advancements in transplant technique and technology. With the increased availability of ultrasound machines as well as the continued development of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols, regional anesthesia has become an essential component of providing analgesia and minimizing opioid use perioperatively. Many centers currently utilize peripheral and neuraxial blocks during transplantation surgery, but these techniques are far from standardized practices. The utilization of these procedures is often dependent on transplantation centers’ historical methods and perioperative cultures. To date, no formal guidelines or recommendations exist which address the use of regional anesthesia in transplantation surgery. In response, the Society for the Advancement of Transplant Anesthesia (SATA) identified experts in both transplantation surgery and regional anesthesia to review available literature concerning these topics. The goal of this task force was to provide an overview of these publications to help guide transplantation anesthesiologists in utilizing regional anesthesia. The literature search encompassed most transplantation surgeries currently performed and the multitude of associated regional anesthetic techniques. Outcomes analyzed included analgesic effectiveness of the blocks, reduction in other analgesic modalities—particularly opioid use, improvement in patient hemodynamics, as well as associated complications. The findings summarized in this systemic review support the use of regional anesthesia for postoperative pain control after transplantation surgeries. Part 1 of the manuscript focuses on regional anesthesia performed in thoracic transplantation surgeries, and part 2 in abdominal transplantations.
Mortality and neurodevelopmental outcome after invasive group B streptococcal infection in infants
Authors: Mynarek Maren , Vik Torstein , Andersen Guro L. , Brigtsen Anne K. , Hollung Sandra Julsen , Larose Tricia L. , Lydersen Stian , Olsen Lene C. , Strøm Marianne S. , Afset Jan E.
Published: June 2023

Aim

To assess case fatality rate (CFR), infant mortality, and long‐term neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) after invasive group B streptococcal (GBS; Streptococcus agalactiae) infection in infants.

Method

Children born in Norway between 1996 and 2019 were included. Data on pregnancies/deliveries, GBS infection, NDDs, and causes of death were retrieved from five national registries. The exposure was culture‐confirmed invasive GBS infection during infancy. Outcomes were mortality and NDDs, the latter at a mean age of 12 years 10 months.

Results

Among 1 415 625 live‐born children, 866 (87%) of 1007 infants diagnosed with GBS infection (prevalence 0.71 per 1000) were included. The CFR was 5.0% (n = 43). GBS infection was associated with higher infant mortality (relative risk 19.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] 14.79–25.36) than the general population. Among survivors, 169 (20.7%) children were diagnosed with any NDD (relative risk 3.49; 95% CI 3.05–3.98). In particular, GBS meningitis was associated with high risks of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing impairment, and pervasive and specific developmental disorder.

Interpretation

The burden of invasive GBS infection during infancy is considerable and continues to affect children beyond infancy. These findings emphasize the need for new preventive strategies for disease reduction, and the need for survivors to be directly included into early detection pathways to access early intervention if required.

What this paper adds

The burden of invasive group B streptococcal (GBS) infection in Norway is considerable.

Of GBS infection survivors, 20.7% were diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) at mean age 12 years 10 months.

Infants with GBS meningitis were more often diagnosed with NDDs.

Absolute risks associated with GBS infections were highest for pervasive and specific developmental disorder, cerebral palsy, and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Refining estimates of neurodevelopmental impairment after group B streptococcal sepsis and meningitis in infancy
Authors: Le Doare Kirsty
Published: June 2023

This commentary is on the original article by Mynarek et al. on pages 125–133 of this issue.
Is diabetic retinopathy screening worthwhile among people first diagnosed with diabetes at older ages? A cohort study of Norfolk diabetic retinopathy screening programme
Authors: Brodie James , Misra Aseema , Jones Colin D. , Jenkins Christel , Bachmann Max O.
Published: June 2023

Aims

England's Diabetic Eye Disease Screening Programme offers screening to every resident over age 12 with diabetes, starting as soon as possible after diagnosis and repeated annually. People first diagnosed with diabetes at older ages have shorter life expectancy and therefore may be less likely to benefit from screening and treatment. To inform decisions about whether diabetic eye screening policy should be stratified by age, we investigated the probability of receiving treatment according to age at first screening episode.

Methods

This was a cohort study of participants in the Norfolk Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme from 2006 to 2017, with individuals' programme data linked to hospital treatment and death data recorded up to 2021. We estimated and compared the probability, annual incidence and screening costs of receiving retinal laser photocoagulation or intravitreal injection and of death, in age groups defined by age at first screening episode.

Results

The probability of death increased with increasing age at diagnosis, while the probability of receiving either treatment decreased with increasing age. The estimated cost of screening per person who received either or both treatments was £18,608 among all participants, increasing with age up to £21,721 in those aged 70–79 and £26,214 in those aged 80–89.

Conclusions

Diabetic retinopathy screening is less effective and less cost‐effective with increasing age at diagnosis of diabetes, because of the increasing probability of death before participants develop sight‐threatening diabetic retinopathy and can benefit from treatment. Upper age limits on entry into screening programmes or risk stratification in older age groups may, therefore, be justifiable.
Managerial turnover in primary care clinics
Authors: Cole Samuel , Altindag Duha T.
Published: June 2023

We investigate the relationship between primary care clinic performance and managerial turnover. Results show that profit in a year is a strong indicator of whether the administrator will keep their job in the next year, although the clinics are certified as non‐profits. The effect is asymmetric. Positive profits contribute more to an administrator's chance of keeping their job than negative profits reduce it. In an extension analysis, we provide evidence that suggests new clinic managers improve their community's health by increasing access to their clinics and improving the quality of healthcare provision.
Do local expenditures on sports facilities affect sports participation?
Authors: Steckenleiter Carina , Lechner Michael , Pawlowski Tim , Schüttoff Ute
Published: June 2023

This paper contributes to the literature evaluating the performance of local governments by analyzing the effect of local public expenditures on sports facilities on sports participation in Germany. To this end, we use a new data base containing public expenditures at the municipality level and link this information with individual level data. We form locally weighted averages of expenditures based on geographic distances and analyze how effects of sports facility expenditures change with different expenditures levels (“dose‐response relationship”). We find no effect of sports facility expenditures on individual sports participation. These findings are robust across age groups and municipality sizes.
Mutualisms in a warming world
Authors: Cruz Austin R. , Davidowitz Goggy , Moore Christopher M. , Bronstein Judith L.
Published: June 2023

Predicting the impacts of global warming on mutualisms poses a significant challenge given the functional and life history differences that usually exist among interacting species. However, this is a critical endeavour since virtually all species on Earth depend on other species for survival and/or reproduction. The field of thermal ecology can provide physiological and mechanistic insights, as well as quantitative tools, for addressing this challenge. Here, we develop a conceptual and quantitative framework that connects thermal physiology to species' traits, species' traits to interacting mutualists' traits and interacting traits to the mutualism. We first identify the functioning of reciprocal mutualism‐relevant traits in diverse systems as the key temperature‐dependent mechanisms driving the interaction. We then develop metrics that measure the thermal performance of interacting mutualists' traits and that approximate the thermal performance of the mutualism itself. This integrated approach allows us to additionally examine how warming might interact with resource/nutrient availability and affect mutualistic species' associations across space and time. We offer this framework as a synthesis of convergent and critical issues in mutualism science in a changing world, and as a baseline to which other ecological complexities and scales might be added.
Risk of a first clinical diagnosis of central nervous system demyelination in relation to human herpesviruses in the context of Epstein–Barr virus
Authors: Lucas Robyn M. , Lay Meav‐Lang J. , Grant James , Cherbuin Nicolas , Toi Cheryl S. , Dear Keith , Taylor Bruce V. , Dwyer Dominic E. ,   Ausimmune Investigator Group, Ponsonby Anne‐Louise
Published: June 2023

Background and purpose

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) risk; evidence for other herpesviruses is inconsistent. Here, we test blood markers of infection with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV‐6), varicella zoster virus (VZV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) as risk factors for a first clinical diagnosis of central nervous system demyelination (FCD) in the context of markers of EBV infection.

Methods

In the Ausimmune case–control study, cases had an FCD, and population controls were matched on age, sex, and study region. We quantified HHV‐6‐ and VZV‐DNA load in whole blood and HHV‐6, VZV, and CMV antibodies in serum. Conditional logistic regression tested associations with FCD risk, adjusting for Epstein–Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA) IgG, EBV‐DNA load, and other covariates.

Results

In 204 FCD cases and 215 matched controls, only HHV‐6‐DNA load (positive vs. negative) was associated with FCD risk (adjusted odds ratio = 2.20, 95% confidence interval = 1.08–4.46, p = 0.03). Only EBNA IgG and HHV‐6‐DNA positivity were retained in a predictive model of FCD risk; the combination had a stronger association than either alone. CMV‐specific IgG concentration modified the association between an MS risk‐related human leucocyte antigen gene and FCD risk. Six cases and one control had very high HHV‐6‐DNA load (>1.0 × 106 copies/mL).

Conclusions

HHV‐6‐DNA positivity and high load (possibly due to inherited HHV‐6 chromosomal integration) were associated with increased FCD risk, particularly in association with markers of EBV infection. With growing interest in prevention/management of MS through EBV‐related pathways, there should be additional consideration of the role of HHV‐6 infection.
Genetic differentiation following recent domestication events: A study of farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) populations
Authors: Barría Agustin , Peñaloza Carolina , Papadopoulou Athina , Mahmuddin Mahirah , Doeschl‐Wilson Andrea , Benzie John A. H. , Houston Ross D. , Wiener Pamela
Published: June 2023

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is among the most farmed finfish worldwide, distributed across different environmental conditions. Its wide distribution has mainly been facilitated by several breeding programs and widespread dissemination of genetically improved strains. In the first Nile tilapia study exploiting a whole‐genome pooled sequencing (Poolseq) approach, we identified the genetic structure and signatures of selection in diverse, farmed Nile tilapia populations, with a particular focus on the GIFT strain, developed in the 1980s, and currently managed by WorldFish (GIFTw). We also investigated important farmed strains from The Philippines and Africa. Using both SNP array data and Poolseq SNPs, we characterized the population structure of these samples. We observed the greatest separation between the Asian and African populations and greater admixture in the Asian populations than in the African ones. We also established that the SNP array data were able to successfully resolve relationships between these diverse Nile tilapia populations. The Poolseq data identified genomic regions with high levels of differentiation (FST) between GIFTw and the other populations. Gene ontology terms associated with mesoderm development were significantly enriched in the genes located in these regions. A region on chromosome Oni06 was genetically differentiated in pairwise comparisons between GIFTw and all other populations. This region contains genes associated with muscle‐related traits and overlaps with a previously published QTL for fillet yield, suggesting that these traits may have been direct targets for selection on GIFT. A nearby region was also identified using XP‐EHH to detect genomic differentiation using the SNP array data. Genomic regions with high or extended homozygosity within each population were also identified. This study provides putative genomic landmarks associated with the recent domestication process in several Nile tilapia populations, which could help to inform their genetic management and improvement.
Federated learning‐based private medical knowledge graph for epidemic surveillance in internet of things
Authors: Wu Xiaotong , Gao Jiaquan , Bilal Muhammad , Dai Fei , Xu Xiaolong , Qi Lianyong , Dou Wanchun
Published: June 2023

With the explosive development of the Internet of Things (IoT), it is convenient and important to collect health data from medical sensors and smart devices and construct medical knowledge graph. The knowledge graph contributes to investigating the connection between patient and disease, especially for epidemic surveillance. However, it is possible to cause the leakage of sensitive health information due to the untrusted data collector or various malicious attackers. In this paper, we attempt to utilise federated learning to construct a special knowledge graph, that is, individual‐symptom relationship diagram with local differential privacy (LDP‐ISRD), for epidemic risk surveillance, which presents the underlying infectious relationship among individuals. At first, we propose a federated learning‐based framework of LDP‐ISRD by utilising individuals' smart devices in IoT. Then, we leverage locations to determine the connection among individuals in terms of physical contact. Next, we propose a randomised algorithm PrivISRD to implement federated learning‐based LDP‐ISRD, which consists of symptom perturbation and aggregation. Finally, extensive experiments evaluate the impact of various parameters and results demonstrate that LDP‐ISRD has good performance.
A boosted co‐training method for class‐imbalanced learning
Authors: Jiang Zhen , Zhao Lingyun , Zhan Yongzhao
Published: June 2023

Class imbalance learning (CIL) has become one of the most challenging research topics. In this article, we propose a Boosted co‐training method to modify the class distribution so that traditional classifiers can be readily adapted to imbalanced datasets. This article is among the first to utilize pseudo‐labelled data of co‐training to enlarge the training set of minority classes. Compared with existing oversampling methods which generate minority samples based on labelled data, the proposed method has the ability to learn from unlabelled data and then decrease the risk of overfitting. Furthermore, we propose a boosting‐style technique which implicitly modifies the class distribution and combines it with co‐training to alleviate the bias towards majority classes. Finally, we collect two series of classifiers generated during Boosted co‐training to build an ensemble for the classification. It further improves the CIL performance by leveraging the strength of ensemble learning. By taking advantage of the diversity of co‐training, we also contribute a new approach to generating base classifiers for ensemble learning. The proposed method is compared with eight state‐of‐the‐art CIL methods on a variety of benchmark datasets. Measured by G‐Mean, F‐Measure, and AUC, Boosted co‐training achieves the best performances and average ranks on 18 benchmark datasets. The experimental results demonstrate the significant superiority of Boosted co‐training over other CIL methods.
Giant pandas are losing their edge: Population trend and distribution dynamic drivers of the giant panda
Authors: Li Yuhang , Rao Tong , Gai Luo , Price Megan L. , Yuxin Liu , Jianghong Ran
Published: June 2023

Comprehending the population trend and understanding the distribution range dynamics of species are necessary for global species protection. Recognizing what causes dynamic distribution change is crucial for identifying species' environmental preferences and formulating protection policies. Here, we studied the rear‐edge population of the flagship species, giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), to (1) assess their population trend using their distribution patterns, (2) evaluate their distribution dynamics change from the second (1988) to the third (2001) survey (2–3 Interval) and third to the fourth (2013) survey (3–4 Interval) using a machine learning algorithm (eXtremely Gradient Boosting), and (3) decode model results to identify driver factors in the first known use of SHapley Additive exPlanations. Our results showed that the population trends in Liangshan Mountains were worst in the second survey (k = 1.050), improved by the third survey (k = 0.97), but deteriorated by the fourth survey (k = 0.996), which indicates a worrying population future. We found that precipitation had the most significant influence on distribution dynamics among several potential environmental factors, showing a negative correlation between precipitation and giant panda expansion. We recommend that further research is needed to understand the microenvironment and animal distribution dynamics. We provide a fresh perspective on the dynamics of giant panda distribution, highlighting novel focal points for ecological research on this species. Our study offers theoretical underpinnings that could inform the formulation of more effective conservation policies. Also, we emphasize the uniqueness and importance of the Liangshan Mountains giant pandas as the rear‐edge population, which is at a high risk of population extinction.
The exclusive countryside post‐pandemic
Authors: Shucksmith Mark
Published: June 2023

The processes through which the British countryside has become increasingly socially exclusive have been a theme of rural scholars' research since the 1970s, and these social changes are reflected in experiences of the pandemic. This paper begins by observing the central importance of power relations, and then discusses the pivotal role of housing as a motor of rural social change and exclusivity. Notwithstanding these processes, and indeed largely because of these asymmetric power relations, rural poverty remains. This paper summarises experiences of social exclusion in rural areas during the pandemic and reflects on the social redistribution of risk and the need to rebuild social protection in a continuing ‘permacrisis’. The emergence of the concept of the permacrisis indicates a recognition that the Covid‐19 pandemic is only one of a series of continuing or recurring challenges or potential ‘shocks’ that we face, and this paper concludes by suggesting a research agenda for rural scholars as well as a potential rural policy agenda.