bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High-speed raster-scanning synchrotron serial microcrystallography with a high-precision piezo-scanner
Authors: Gao Yuan , Xu Weihe , Shi Wuxian , Soares Alexei , Jakoncic Jean , Myers Stuart , Martins Bruno , Skinner John , Liu Qun , Bernstein Herbert , McSweeney Sean , Nazaretski Evgeny , Fuchs Martin R.
Published: August 2018

The Frontier Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography (FMX) beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source II with its 1 µm beam size and photon flux of 3 × 1012 photons s−1 at a photon energy of 12.66 keV has reached unprecedented dose rates for a structural biology beamline. The high dose rate presents a great advantage for serial microcrystallography in cutting measurement time from hours to minutes. To provide the instrumentation basis for such measurements at the full flux of the FMX beamline, a high-speed, high-precision goniometer based on a unique XYZ piezo positioner has been designed and constructed. The piezo-based goniometer is able to achieve sub-100 nm raster-scanning precision at over 10 grid-linepairs s−1 frequency for fly scans of a 200 µm-wide raster. The performance of the scanner in both laboratory and serial crystallography measurements up to the maximum frame rate of 750 Hz of the Eiger 16M's 4M region-of-interest mode has been verified in this work. This unprecedented experimental speed significantly reduces serial-crystallography data collection time at synchrotrons, allowing utilization of the full brightness of the emerging synchrotron radiation facilities.
Company responses to demands for annual report changes
Authors: Johansen Thomas Riise , Plenborg Thomas
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how and the extent to which barriers to change inhibit new ideas about note disclosures to manifest themselves in annual reports.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs regulation theory and draws on case studies in Denmark and the UK to understand compliance motivations and, on that basis, to identify the barriers to and enablers of changes to note disclosures in annual reports.

Findings

It is demonstrated how certain characteristics of the annual report preparation process can dampen the potential for change. It is also shown how preparer perceptions of oversight agents (auditors, enforcers, audit committees) have effects on disclosure behaviour. These characteristics appear to cause defensiveness among the actors involved in the process, inhibiting changes. In contrast, enablers are related to trust in regulatory enforcement, facilitation from enforcers, user orientation and shared understanding among functional groups involved in the preparation process.

Practical implications

The preparation of notes is susceptible to the influence of a range of factors, such as company politics, perceptions of enforcement styles and actors’ concerns about being blamed for inappropriate responses to regulation. These findings could be considered by regulators, auditors and preparers in enhancing understanding of their respective roles in the annual report preparation process.

Originality/value

This study illuminates the conditions that facilitate change when new ideas are introduced to a highly normative and detailed field. The study contributes to previous research by providing a fieldwork-based analysis of the practices, judgements, discussions and actors involved in the preparation of note disclosures.
Determination of histamine levels in commonly consumed fish in the region of Fez
Authors: Mejrhit Najlae , Azdad Yousra , Azdad Ouarda , Aarab Lotfi
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is, first, to evaluate the quality of commonly consumed fish species in Fez region (Morocco) by quantifying the levels of histamine in fresh fish samples using competitive enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA), and then to study the effect of heating and enzymatic digestion on the level of fish-histamine.

Design/methodology/approach

Histamine content was tested on 80 fresh fish samples of 11 species collected from various local stores in Fez region, from February to March 2016. The analyses were performed using a competitive ELISA assay to measure histamine in fish samples.

Findings

ELISA results showed that 80 percent of 80 fish samples analyzed was found to contain much lower levels of histamine (<1 mg/kg) and can be considered to be safe for human consumption. However, 20 percent of the samples (16/80) had histamine level higher than the tolerance limit of 200 mg/kg established by Moroccan and International regulations, which the maximum level reached up to 7,331 mg/kg in horse mackerel. Concerning the effect of heating and enzymatic treatments on fish-histamine levels, results have shown a low reduction in histamine contents in the majority of fish samples under these treatments.

Originality/value

In conclusion, good quality of the fish product, demonstrated by histamine levels, was found in the most of fish samples analyzed, while 20 percent of the samples are non-compliant and exceed the tolerance limit established by the national and international regulatory limit.
Digital Empowerment Foundation’s Chanderiyaan Project: linking the poor producers with the market using ICT
Authors: Singh Ramendra , Modi Pratik , Gupta Vaibhav , Sur Arindam
Published: August 2018

Subject area

Non-governmental organization (NGO) intervention in poor communities using information and communication technology (ICT).

Study level/applicability

BBA, MBA courses on marketing management, social entrepreneurship, rural marketing, marketing to bottom of pyramid.

Case overview

In 2009, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) along with Media Labs Asia and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) established the Chanderi Weavers ICT Resource Centre (CWIRC) as a self-sufficient community information resource center involved in skills’ enhancement of weavers at Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh. The next three years of CWIRC resulted in an overall growth of the project with progress in the various domains of handloom industry through ICT-enabled development of weavers and weaving. The project not only aimed at the handloom industry revival and development, but also advanced in other sectors such as education, health and tourism. Osama Manzar, the DEF founder, is in a dilemma as to whether the local community of weavers in Chanderi would be able to continue with the sustainable ecosystem created in Chanderi. Is it the right time to exit Chanderi?

Expected learning outcomes

Issues related to the market development at the bottom of the pyramid; managing local communities and building their capabilities for marketing; marketing strategies of community marketing efforts; and key success factors for ensuring successful completion of any developmental project.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS 8: Marketing.
Employee engagement: finding a generally accepted measurement scale
Authors: Khodakarami Nima , Dirani Khalil , Rezaei Fatemeh
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a method to find a generally accepted employee engagement scale, particularly in the presence of various alternatives and objectives.

Design/methodology/approach

To find the measurement scales, seminal works encapsulating organizational engagement, job engagement and work engagement in Cinhal, PsycINFO and ABI/INFORM database have been reviewed. For finding the optimal choice from available scales, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method was used.

Findings

An agreed-upon measurement scale is achievable through the knowledge of alternatives and consequences, as well as consistent preference ordering and a decision rule. However, choice of the most effective scale varies according to the preference of decision makers.

Practical implications

This study proposes MCDM method as an intervention for practitioners who aim to assess the level of employee engagement in their organizations. It also provides a decision-making method to scholars to surmount conflicting objectives in their measurement.

Originality/value

While previous studies have developed manifold measurement scales, there is no study to indicate which scale best measures employee engagement. This paper attempts to define how to choose one scale among the various existing gauges of engagement.
European football supporter attitudes toward ambush marketing
Authors: Burton Nick , Chadwick Simon
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes towards ambush marketing at the 2016 Union of European Football Associations European Championships, seeking to examine fan affect towards ambush marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

A 24-item survey questionnaire was constructed, exploring consumers’ general cognition and affection of ambush marketing; following Dickson et al.’s (2015) design, industry-specific attitudes were canvassed, assessing supporters’ views of beer and gambling industry ambush marketers.

Findings

Results indicate that fans appear to be marginally more forgiving of ambush practices from beer or gambling brands than across ambushing more generally, yet a prevailing antipathy towards ambush marketing from an ethical perspective was observed. Importantly, however, the study’s findings suggest that industry-specific advertising regulations bear little impact on fan perspectives.

Practical implications

The study’s results bear notable implications for marketing theory and practice: for ambushing brands, this suggests that they are rather less likely to be have a disruptive effect on events and their official sponsors. For official sponsors, a level of threat from ambushers nevertheless remains as it would appear consumers do not have strong views about the practice of ambushing.

Originality/value

The study’s methods build upon and extend previous studies into consumer attitudes towards ambush marketing, specifically focusing on the perceptions and affect of fans in lieu of more empirically generalisable consumer populations. Given the target audiences of sponsors and ambush marketers, this emphasis on fan attitudes represents an important direction in ambush affect research.
Identifying target audience on enterprise social network
Authors: Luo Jianhong , Pan Xuwei , Wang Shixiong , Huang Yujing
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Delivering messages and information to potentially interested users is one of the distinguishing applications of online enterprise social network (ESN). The purpose of this paper is to provide insights to better understand the repost preferences of users and provide personalized information service in enterprise social media marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

It is accomplished by constructing a target audience identification framework. Repost preference latent Dirichlet allocation (RPLDA) topic model topic model is proposed to understand the mass user online repost preferences toward different contents. A topic-oriented preference metric is proposed to measure the preference degree of individual users. And the function of reposting forecasting is formulated to identify target audience.

Findings

The empirical research shows the following: a total of 20 percent of the repost users in ESN represent the key active users who are particularly interested in the latent topic of messages in ESN and fits Pareto distribution; and the target audience identification framework can successfully identify different target key users for messages with different latent topics.

Practical implications

The findings should motivate marketing managers to improve enterprise brand by identifying key target audience in ESN and marketing in a way that truthfully reflects personalized preferences.

Originality/value

This study runs counter to most current business practices, which tend to use simple popularity to seek important users. Adaptively and dynamically identifying target audience appears to have considerable potential, especially in the rapidly growing area of enterprise social media information service.
Improving sentiment scoring mechanism: a case study on airline services
Authors: Kaur Wandeep , Balakrishnan Vimala
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of including letter repetition commonly found within social media text and its impact in determining the sentiment scores for two major airlines in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

A Sentiment Intensity Calculator (SentI-Cal) was developed by assigning individual weights to each letter repetition, and tested it using data collected from official Facebook pages of the airlines.

Findings

Evaluation metrics indicate that SentI-Cal outperforms the baseline tool Semantic Orientation Calculator (SO-CAL), with an accuracy of 90.7 percent compared to 58.33 percent for SO-CAL.

Practical implications

A more accurate sentiment score allows airline services to easily obtain a better understanding of the sentiments of their customers, hence providing opportunities in improving their airline services.

Originality/value

Proposed mechanism calculates sentiment intensity of social media text by assigning individual weightage to each repeated letter and exclamation mark thus producing a more accurate sentiment score.
A comparative data analytic approach to construct a risk trade-off for cardiac patients’ re-admissions
Authors: Nasir Murtaza , South-Winter Carole , Ragothaman Srini , Dag Ali
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a framework to construct a patient-specific risk score and therefore to classify these patients into various risk groups that can be used as a decision support mechanism by the medical decision makers to augment their decision-making process, allowing them to optimally use the limited resources available.

Design/methodology/approach

A conventional statistical model (logistic regression) and two machine learning-based (i.e. artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector machines) data mining models were employed by also using five-fold cross-validation in the classification phase. In order to overcome the data imbalance problem, random undersampling technique was utilized. After constructing the patient-specific risk score, k-means clustering algorithm was employed to group these patients into risk groups.

Findings

Results showed that the ANN model achieved the best results with an area under the curve score of 0.867, while the sensitivity and specificity were 0.715 and 0.892, respectively. Also, the construction of patient-specific risk scores offer useful insights to the medical experts, by helping them find a trade-off between risks, costs and resources.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by constructing a framework that can be utilized to determine the risk level of the targeted patient, by employing data mining-based predictive approach.
Analyzing Workforce 4.0 in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and proposing a road map from operations management perspective with fuzzy DEMATEL
Authors: Kazancoglu Yigit , Ozkan-Ozen Yesim Deniz
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to present a structural competency model; second, to remark new criteria for personnel selection in Industry 4.0 environment; and third, to contribute to the operations management literature by focusing on recruitment process in Industry 4.0 environment and supporting human resources activities with Industry 4.0 related criteria and point out a new research field in Industry 4.0.

Design/methodology/approach

Fuzzy DEMATEL has been used in the implementation. The study is conducted in a high-tech firm, which has started to modify its processes according to Industry 4.0, and introduces a new specific department that is responsible of this transformation. In total, 11 personnel selection criteria were presented and then assessed by experts through a fuzzy linguistic scale. Both importance order and causal relation between criteria are presented at the end of the study.

Findings

According to the results, the most important criteria in the selected firm are the ability of dealing with complexity and problem solving, thinking in overlapping process, and flexibility to adapt new roles and work environments. While cause group includes criteria such as knowledge on IT and production technologies, awareness of IT security and data protection, and ability of fault and error recovery, effect group includes flexibility to adapt new roles and work environments, organizational and processual understanding, and the ability to interact with modern interfaces.

Practical implications

Analytical thinking and system approach are the key topics for new supporting personnel selection criteria, which lead to the need for the skills and qualifications in decision making and process management. Results of the cause group criteria also indicate the importance of technical abilities such as coding, IT security and human-machine interfaces. On the other hand, effect group of the study emphasizes on the flexibility and interdisciplinary working structure that suggests the suitability of matrix organization in the companies which follow the Industry 4.0 trends. Moreover, team work comes forward as another key concept for organizations transforming to Industry 4.0.

Originality/value

The originality of this study appears on modeling of a competency structural model for Workforce 4.0 which is proposed as a road map, including the suggested set of related criteria and the fuzzy MCDM-based methodology for companies which alter their organizations according to Industry 4.0.
The current innovation status of university libraries in Pakistan
Authors: Awais Sania , Ameen Kanwal
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current status of innovations in the university libraries of Pakistan because desire for reshaping the university libraries is now the necessity for full filling the mission of higher education, i.e. to be competitive and compatible in international market.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative method is adopted for measuring the occurrence of innovations. The content is based on the literature, the researchers’ 20 years’ experience and the websites of all the 183 universities of Pakistan have been reviewed for this purpose. A checklist of 40 innovation used in ACRL libraries and prepared by a researcher, Jantz (2013) is used as a yard stick.

Findings

The findings indicate that a large majority (85%) of university libraries, have not adopted these innovations. Only 15 percent of university libraries all over Pakistan are relatively better on the innovation adoption scale.

Originality/value

The aspects discussed in the context of Pakistan may catch the attentions for improvement of university libraries, and growth of respective professional. It is assumed that the situation is similar to other type of libraries (college and public) and also in neighboring developing countries. So, the work will raise the awareness among professionals of other countries as well.
The effects of congruency of environmental issue and product category and green reputation on consumer responses toward green advertising
Authors: Shin Sumin , Ki Eyun-Jung
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the congruence effect of the product and claimed environmental issue on green advertising on consumer responses as well as the moderation effect of the perceived green reputation of the product on the congruence effect.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-by-two designed experiment (high/low congruence × high/low green reputation) with a covariate (ad skepticism) was conducted via online survey recruiting 179 college students.

Findings

High congruence of green issue and product category generated positive ad attitude, sponsor attitude, behavioral intention (BI), sponsor credibility and message credibility. Low green reputation positively affected ad attitude and BI. An interaction effect of congruence and green reputation on BI occurred.

Originality/value

This study contributes to suggest a new approach to green reputation by examining a perception of a product category in terms of green reputation. The study findings recommend marketing communication managers to keep high congruence of their product category and claimed environmental issue to maximize communication effectiveness.
Mental toughness and perceived stress in police and fire officers
Authors: Ward Fiona , St Clair-Thompson Helen , Postlethwaite Alex
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Mental toughness describes a set of attributes relating to how individuals deal with challenges, stressors, and pressure. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between mental toughness and perceived stress in police and fire officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants were 247 police officers and 130 fire fighters. Participants completed questionnaire measures of mental toughness and perceived stress, and provided information about their age, rank, and length of service within the force.

Findings

Mental toughness was found to be significantly related to perceived stress, with control of emotion, control of life, and confidence in abilities being particularly important. There was no consistent relationship of age, rank, or length of service with mental toughness and perceived stress. However, police officers reported lower levels of mental toughness and higher levels of perceived stress than fire officers.

Practical implications

The results suggest that assessing police and fire officers on a measure of mental toughness could provide a means of identifying individuals more likely to suffer from stress and stress-related physical and psychological illness. In addition, interventions that may enhance mental toughness could have beneficial effects within this population.

Originality/value

This is the first study to examine mental toughness and perceived stress within this population, and the findings have important implications for the management of stress.
Law enforcement suicide: a review
Authors: Violanti John M. , Owens Sherry L. , McCanlies Erin , Fekedulegn Desta , Andrew Michael E.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of law enforcement suicide research from 1997 to 2016.

Design/methodology/approach

The PRISMA systematic review methodology was implemented. A SCOPUS search identified a total of 97 documents. After applying all exclusion criteria, the results included a list of 44 articles in the review.

Findings

Overall, studies investigating law enforcement suicide rates show conflicting results, with some studies showing lower suicide rates among law enforcement, some showing higher rates, and some showing no difference to comparison populations. Recurring research themes were lack of an appropriate comparison group, and small statistical power, particularly for minority and female officers. Stressors related to suicide among police included lack of organizational support, traumatic events, shift work, stigma associated with asking for help, or problems associated with fitting in with the police culture. Problems associated with domestic relationships and alcohol use were commonly mentioned as precursors to suicide or as correlates of suicidal ideation and were hypothesized to arise from stressful working conditions.

Research limitations/implications

Some limitations in law enforcement suicide research include the lack of theory, under-reporting of suicides, and guarded survey responses from police officers. Future directions in police suicide research include investigating etiological factors such as past adverse life and family experiences, social-ecological variation in suicide, or differences in suicide rates within the law enforcement occupation.

Practical implications

Police work, given chronic and traumatic stress, lack of support, danger, and close public scrutiny is a fertile occupation for increased suicide risk. Awareness of the scope of the problem and associated risk factors can help to initiate prevention programs.

Originality/value

This paper provides a long-term review of literature regarding police suicidality, with suggestions for research and prevention.
Fear, victimization, and community characteristics on citizen satisfaction with the police
Authors: Circo Giovanni , Melde Chris , Mcgarrell Edmund F.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between fear of victimization, actual victimization, and community-level characteristics on citizen satisfaction with police. This study attempts to clarify important factors in how citizens view the police, while accounting for contextual, neighborhood-level variables.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized a representative victimization survey conducted in Saginaw, MI in 2015. Utilizing a sample of 824 individuals, an ordinary least-squares model was fit in order to determine the effects of reported victimization, fear of victimization, and neighborhood characteristics on satisfaction with police. The authors utilized interaction terms to model varying effects between the East and West sides of the city.

Findings

The study found that fear of victimization was related to lower satisfaction with police, while actual victimization had an inconsistent effect when community satisfaction and collective efficacy were accounted for. The authors found the effect was present only in the more affluent western portion of the city. Furthermore, the authors found that non-white residents reported much lower satisfaction with police than white residents.

Research limitations/implications

The authors were unable to disaggregate respondents to smaller geographical units than an East\West measure, which limits the authors’ ability to discuss small-scale contexts at the block, or block-group level.

Practical implications

This study suggests that concerted efforts to reduce fear of crime may increase satisfaction with police, but this effect may be based on neighborhood context. Improving collective efficacy and community satisfaction may provide additional ways to improve citizen satisfaction with police.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the literature examining the relationship between victimization, fear of crime, and satisfaction with police.
Ecological response of nitrification to oil spills and its impact on the nitrogen cycle
Authors: Urakawa Hidetoshi , Rajan Suja , Feeney Megan E. , Sobecky Patricia A. , Mortazavi Behzad
Published: August 2018

Marine oil spills are catastrophic events that cause massive damage to ecosystems at all trophic levels. While most of the research has focused on carbon‐degrading microorganisms, the potential impacts of hydrocarbons on microbes responsible for nitrification have received far less attention. Nitrifiers are sensitive to hydrocarbon toxicity: ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria and archaea being 100 and 1000 times more sensitive than typical heterotrophs respectively. Field studies have demonstrated the response of nitrifiers to hydrocarbons is highly variable and the loss of nitrification activity in coastal ecosystems can be restored within 1–2 years, which is much shorter than the typical recovery time of whole ecosystems (e.g., up to 20 years). Since the denitrification process is mainly driven by heterotrophs, which are more resistant to hydrocarbon toxicity than nitrifiers, the inhibition of nitrification may slow down the nitrogen turnover and increase ammonia availability, which supports the growth of oil‐degrading heterotrophs and possibly various phototrophs. A better understanding of the ecological response of nitrification is paramount in predicting impacts of oil spills on the nitrogen cycle under oil spill conditions, and in improving current bioremediation practices.
Comparison of Approaches for Aggregating Quality Measures in Population‐based Payment Models
Authors: McDowell Alex , Nguyen Christina A. , Chernew Michael E. , Tran Kevin N. , McWilliams J. Michael , Landon Bruce E. , Landrum Mary Beth
Published: August 2018

Objective

To assess the impact of alternative methods of aggregating individual quality measures on Accountable Care Organization (ACO) overall scores.

Data Source

2014 quality scores for Medicare ACOs.

Study Design

We compare ACO overall scores derived using CMS’ aggregation approach to those derived using alternative approaches to grouping and weighting measures.

Principal Findings

Alternative grouping and weighting methods based on statistical criteria produced overall quality scores similar to those produced using CMS’ approach (κ = 0.80 to 0.95). Scores derived from giving specific domains greater weight were less similar (κ = 0.51 to 0.93).

Conclusions

How measures are grouped into domains and how these domains are weighted to generate overall scores can have important implications for ACO's shared savings payments.
Functional analysis of UGT201D3 associated with abamectin resistance in Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval)
Authors: Wang Meng‐Yao , Liu Xin‐Yang , Shi Li , Liu Jia‐Lu , Shen Guang‐Mao , Zhang Ping , Lu Wen‐Cai , He Lin
Published: August 2018

Uridine diphosphate (UDP)‐glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are widely distributed within living organisms and share roles in biotransformation of various lipophilic endo‐ and xenobiotics with activated UDP sugars. In this study, it was found that the activity of UGTs in abamectin‐resistant (AbR) strain was significantly higher (2.35‐fold) than that in susceptible strain (SS) of Tetranychus cinnabarinus. Further analysis showed that 5‐nitrouracil, the inhibitor of UGTs, could enhance the lethal effect of abamectin on mites. From the previous microarray results, we found an UGT gene (UGT201D3) overexpressed in AbR strain. Quantitative PCR analysis showed that UGT201D3 was highly expressed and more inducible with abamectin exposure in the AbR strain. After silencing the transcription of UGT201D3, the activity of UGTs was decreased and the susceptibility to abamectin was increased in AbR strain whereas it was not in SS. Furthermore, UGT201D3 gene was then successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant UGT201D3 exhibited α‐naphthol activity (2.81 ± 0.43 nmol/mg protein/min), and the enzyme activity could be inhibited by abamectin (inhibitory concentration at 50%: 57.50 ± 3.54 μmol/L). High‐performance liquid chromatography analysis demonstrated that the recombinant UGT201D3 could effectively deplete abamectin (15.77% ± 3.72%) incubating with 150 μg protein for 6 h. These results provided direct evidence that UGT201D3 was involved in abamectin resistance in T. cinnabarinus.
Exercise training ameliorates bleomycin‐induced epithelial mesenchymal transition and lung fibrosis through restoration of H2S synthesis
Authors: Du Shu‐Fang , Wang Xiu‐Li , Ye Chang‐Lin , He Ze‐Jia , Li Dong‐Xia , Du Bai‐Ren , Liu Yu‐Jian , Zhu Xiao‐Yan
Published: August 2018

Aims

Clinical trials have shown the beneficial effects of exercise training against pulmonary fibrosis. This study aimed to investigate whether prophylactic intervention with exercise training attenuates lung fibrosis via modulating endogenous hydrogen sulphde (H2S) generation.

Methods

First, ICR mice were allocated to Control, Bleomycin, Exercise, and Bleomycin + Exercise groups. Treadmill exercise began on day 1 and continued for 4 weeks. A single intratracheal dose of bleomycin (3 mg/kg) was administered on day 15. Second, ICR mice were allocated to Control, Bleomycin, H2S, and Bleomycin + H2S groups. H2S donor NaHS (28 μmol/kg) was intraperitoneally injected once daily for 2 weeks.

Results

Bleomycin‐treated mice exhibited increased levels of collagen deposition, hydroxyproline, collagen I, transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1, Smad2/Smad3/low‐density lipoprotein receptor‐related proteins (LRP‐6)/glycogen synthase kinase‐3β (GSK‐3β) phosphorylation, and Smad4/β‐catenin expression in lung tissues (P < 0.01), which was alleviated by exercise training (P < 0.01 except for Smad4 and phosphorylated GSK‐3β: P < 0.05). Bleomycin‐induced lung fibrosis was associated with increased α smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) and decreased E‐cadherin expression (P < 0.01). Double immunofluorescence staining showed the co‐localization of E‐cadherin/α‐SMA, indicating epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) formation, which was ameliorated by exercise training. Moreover, exercise training restored bleomycin‐induced downregulation of cystathionine‐β‐synthase (CBS) and cystathionine‐γ‐lyase (CSE) expression, as well as H2S generation in lung tissue (P < 0.01). NaHS treatment attenuated bleomycin‐induced TGF‐β1 production, activation of LRP‐6/β‐catenin signalling, EMT and lung fibrosis (P < 0.01 except for β‐catenin: P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Exercise training restores bleomycin‐induced downregulation of pulmonary CBS/CSE expression, thus contributing to the increased H2S generation and suppression of TGF‐β1/Smad and LRP‐6/β‐catenin signalling pathways, EMT and lung fibrosis.
Social Interaction and Internet‐Based Surveys: Examining the Effects of Virtual and In‐Person Proctors on Careless Response
Authors: Francavilla Nicole M. , Meade Adam W. , Young Amanda L.
Published: August 2018

A lack of human interaction and environmental control in Internet‐based data collection have been suggested as possible antecedents of careless responding, which occurs when participants respond to survey items without regard for item content. To address these possible antecedents, this study investigated whether survey proctoring deterred careless response in an undergraduate sample by reducing environmental distractions. The study randomly assigned respondents to one of three proctoring conditions: remote online un‐proctored, remote online virtually proctored, and in‐person classroom proctored. Data quality was examined via nine careless response indicators. Analyses indicated that proctor presence had effects on a small number of careless response indicators. Virtually proctored participants performed better than un‐proctored participants on one of nine careless response indicators, and in‐person proctored participants performed better on two careless response indicators compared to un‐proctored participants. Environmental distraction fully mediated the relationship between in‐person proctor presence and self‐reported diligence. Implications for survey administration are discussed.
The Unabomber’s ethics
Authors: Moen Ole Martin
Published: August 2018

In this paper, I present and criticize Ted Kaczynski’s (“The Unabomber”) theory that industrialization has been terrible for humanity, and that we should use any means necessary, including violent means, to induce a return to pre‐industrial ways of living. Although Kaczynski’s manifesto, Industrial society and its future, has become widely known, his ideas have never before been subject to careful philosophical criticism. In this paper I show how Kaczynski’s arguments rely on a number of highly implausible philosophical premises. I further make the case that, although his theory as a whole should be rejected, Kaczynski raises a number of worries about technological development that ought to receive serious attention. Some of these worries have recently come to be shared by prominent defenders of human enhancement, including Nick Bostrom and Julian Savulescu. In the last section I indicate why I believe it is important that academic philosophers scrutinize ideas that motivate acts of violence.
Infection and wound breakdown in spontaneous second‐degree perineal tears: An exploratory mixed methods study
Authors: Wiseman Octavia , Rafferty Anne M. , Stockley Jane , Murrells Trevor , Bick Debra
Published: August 2018

Background

Perineal trauma affects large numbers of women who have a vaginal birth. This study explores the incidence, etiology and women's experiences of wound infection/breakdown associated with spontaneous second degree tears.

Methods

This was an exploratory mixed methods study set in an urban tertiary National Health Service hospital in 2014‐2015. The study included a prospective observational study of second‐degree tears using electronic patient records. Infection was defined using criteria adapted from Public Health England's Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Service. We also did a case‐control study of maternity records to explore factors associated with perineal infection/wound breakdown, and semi‐structured interviews with a purposeful sample of women who experienced wound infection/breakdown.

Results

Of 2892 vaginal births during the study period, 76.8% sustained perineal trauma, with second‐degree tears most commonly recorded (n = 828/28.6%). Sixteen (1.9%) had a documented infection/wound breakdown which were associated with “compromised wound status” (increased severity of wound/poor suturing; P = 0.033) Women complained of a lack of information about their perineum and poor postnatal surveillance by midwives and physicians. Diagnosis and treatment were often delayed by clinicians’ reliance on external signs of wound infection. Although the sample size was small, there were no differences in rates of infection between sutured and unsutured second‐degree tears.

Conclusions

Although second‐degree tears were common after vaginal birth, wound infection/breakdown was relatively uncommon. Women who report feeling unwell or develop pyrexia postnatally should be assessed urgently. A prospective longitudinal study exploring the long‐term sequelae of second‐degree tears is needed.
The Effects of Occupational Licensing: Evidence from Business‐Level Data
Authors: Zapletal Marek
Published: August 2018

Occupational licensing currently affects more than 1,000 occupations in the United States. I use confidential US Census Bureau business micro‐data to shed light on the effect of occupational licensing in cosmetology on key market outcomes and study its effect on the providers of occupational training. Occupational licensing regulation does not seem to affect the equilibrium number of practitioners or prices of services to consumers, but is associated with significantly lower practitioner entry and exit rates. I further find states with more stringent licensing requirements to have more instructors and a larger median size of training facilities, suggesting possible barriers to entry for the training schools. Instructors, however, do not earn more in such states.
Climate‐driven ecological stability as a globally shared cause of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions: the Plaids and Stripes Hypothesis
Authors: Mann Daniel H. , Groves Pamela , Gaglioti Benjamin V. , Shapiro Beth A.
Published: August 2018

Controversy persists about why so many large‐bodied mammal species went extinct around the end of the last ice age. Resolving this is important for understanding extinction processes in general, for assessing the ecological roles of humans, and for conserving remaining megafaunal species, many of which are endangered today. Here we explore an integrative hypothesis that asserts that an underlying cause of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions was a fundamental shift in the spatio‐temporal fabric of ecosystems worldwide. This shift was triggered by the loss of the millennial‐scale climate fluctuations that were characteristic of the ice age but ceased approximately 11700 years ago on most continents. Under ice‐age conditions, which prevailed for much of the preceding 2.6 Ma, these radical and rapid climate changes prevented many ecosystems from fully equilibrating with their contemporary climates. Instead of today's ‘striped’ world in which species' ranges have equilibrated with gradients of temperature, moisture, and seasonality, the ice‐age world was a disequilibrial ‘plaid’ in which species' ranges shifted rapidly and repeatedly over time and space, rarely catching up with contemporary climate. In the transient ecosystems that resulted, certain physiological, anatomical, and ecological attributes shared by megafaunal species pre‐adapted them for success. These traits included greater metabolic and locomotory efficiency, increased resistance to starvation, longer life spans, greater sensory ranges, and the ability to be nomadic or migratory. When the plaid world of the ice age ended, many of the advantages of being large were either lost or became disadvantages. For instance in a striped world, the low population densities and slow reproductive rates associated with large body size reduced the resiliency of megafaunal species to population bottlenecks. As the ice age ended, the downsides of being large in striped environments lowered the extinction thresholds of megafauna worldwide, which then increased the vulnerability of individual species to a variety of proximate threats they had previously tolerated, such as human predation, competition with other species, and habitat loss. For many megafaunal species, the plaid‐to‐stripes transition may have been near the base of a hierarchy of extinction causes whose relative importances varied geographically, temporally, and taxonomically.
Comparison of maternal beliefs about causes of autism spectrum disorder and association with utilization of services and treatments
Authors: Chaidez Virginia , Fernandez y Garcia Erik , Wang Lulu W. , Angkustsiri Kathleen , Krakowiak Paula , Hertz‐Picciotto Irva , Hansen Robin L.
Published: August 2018

Background

This study aimed to describe parental perceptions of the causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in an ethnically diverse sample and explore whether these perceptions relate to treatment choices.

Methods

The sample consisted of White (n = 224), Hispanic (n = 85), and Asian (n = 21) mothers of a child with ASD. A mixed methods approach was used in this secondary analysis focusing on parental perceptions about the causes of ASD and the relationship of these to utilization of services and treatment.

Results

Environmental and genetic factors were most often believed to be the cause or one of the causes of ASD by mothers across all ethnic groups studied. Asian mothers were more likely to cite multiple causes. Environmental causes were associated with receiving 20 or more hours of autism‐related services per week, whereas belief in environmental exposures and vaccines and medications as causes were associated with complementary–alternative medicine (CAM) use.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that ethnic differences in autism causal beliefs and treatment choices may exist. Future research should be conducted to specifically confirm the findings, to understand parental motivation behind their service and treatment choices, and to gain more insight into the types, usage, and sources of CAM treatments. Clinicians can use parental autism causal beliefs in discussions about treatment recommendations.
Large divergence in testosterone concentrations between men and women: Frame of reference for elite athletes in sex‐specific competition in sports, a narrative review
Authors: Clark Richard V. , Wald Jeffrey A. , Swerdloff Ronald S. , Wang Christina , Wu Frederick C. W. , Bowers Larry D. , Matsumoto Alvin M.
Published: August 2018

Objective

The purpose of this narrative review was to summarize available data on testosterone levels in normal, healthy adult males and females, to provide a physiologic reference framework to evaluate testosterone levels reported in males and females with conditions that elevate androgens, such as disorders of sex development (DSD), and to determine the separation or overlap of testosterone levels between normal and affected males and females.

Methods

A literature review was conducted for published papers, from peer reviewed journals, reporting testosterone levels in healthy males and females, males with 46XY DSD, and females with hyperandrogenism due to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Papers were selected that had adequate characterization of participants, and description of the methodology for measurement of serum testosterone and reporting of results.

Results

In the healthy, normal males and females, there was a clear bimodal distribution of testosterone levels, with the lower end of the male range being four‐ to fivefold higher than the upper end of the female range(males 8.8‐30.9 nmol/L, females 0.4‐2.0 nmol/L). Individuals with 46XY DSD, specifically those with 5‐alpha reductase deficiency, type 2 and androgen insensitivity syndrome testosterone levels that were within normal male range. Females with PCOS or congenital adrenal hyperplasia were above the normal female range but still below the normal male range.

Conclusions

Existing studies strongly support a bimodal distribution of serum testosterone levels in females compared to males. These data should be considered in the discussion of female competition eligibility in individuals with possible DSD or hyperandrogenism.
Comprehensive screening shows that mutations in the known syndromic genes are rare in infants presenting with hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia
Authors: Laver Thomas W. , Wakeling Matthew N. , Hua Janet Hong Yeow , Houghton Jayne A. L. , Hussain Khalid , Ellard Sian , Flanagan Sarah E.
Published: August 2018

Objective

Hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia (HH) can occur in isolation or more rarely feature as part of a syndrome. Screening for mutations in the “syndromic” HH genes is guided by phenotype with genetic testing used to confirm the clinical diagnosis. As HH can be the presenting feature of a syndrome, it is possible that mutations will be missed as these genes are not routinely screened in all newly diagnosed individuals. We investigated the frequency of pathogenic variants in syndromic genes in infants with HH who had not been clinically diagnosed with a syndromic disorder at referral for genetic testing.

Design

We used genome sequencing data to assess the prevalence of mutations in syndromic HH genes in an international cohort of patients with HH of unknown genetic cause.

Patients

We undertook genome sequencing in 82 infants with HH without a clinical diagnosis of a known syndrome at referral for genetic testing.

Measurements

Within this cohort, we searched for the genetic aetiologies causing 20 different syndromes where HH had been reported as a feature.

Results

We identified a pathogenic KMT2D variant in a patient with HH diagnosed at birth, confirming a genetic diagnosis of Kabuki syndrome. Clinical data received following the identification of the mutation highlighted additional features consistent with the genetic diagnosis. Pathogenic variants were not identified in the remainder of the cohort.

Conclusions

Pathogenic variants in the syndromic HH genes are rare; thus, routine testing of these genes by molecular genetics laboratories is unlikely to be justified in patients without syndromic phenotypes.