bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Does intellectual capital efficiency improve the corporate social responsibility of Egyptian firms?
Authors: Awad Bakry Ahmed Elsayed
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been one of the main subjects for companies’ sustainability in contemporary years. Engaging in CSR practices has been recognized to be beneficial for firms since it might create value for firm in the market. The process of creating value in recent era has been controlled by firms’ hidden resources and simultaneously the concept of value added intellectual capital (VAIC). This paper aims to determine whether intellectual capital (IC) and each of its three constituents (human capital efficiency [HCE], capital employed efficiency [CEE] and structural capital efficiency [SCE]) can generate improvements in CSR in an emerging market.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the Egyptian Corporate Responsibility (S&P/EGX ESG) index and extracting accounting data from the annual reports of companies listed on this index, an empirical analysis that considers VAIC and its elements was accomplished on a sample of 267 firm-year observations for a nine-year period beginning in 2010.

Findings

The empirical results of the multivariate regression indicated that Egyptian companies active in using IC have more tendency to engage in CSR practices. In addition, it is shown that HCE positively influences CSR practices, while SCE has a negative association with such social activities, and CEE has no significant relationship with CSR activities.

Practical implications

The results of the research have some implications through offering an enhanced understanding of using IC and CSR practices that might be in favor of several investors, regulatory bodies and scholars concerned with firms’ social activities. Besides, it provides empirical evidence that the efficient use of IC provides advantages not only for the stockholders but also for the community.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to investigate Egyptian firms for IC and CSR topics. In addition, this study provides empirical evidence on this relationship from the Egyptian environment that is different from other cultural and institutional environments in which previous studies were conducted.
Unveiling the role of knowledge management capabilities in strategic emergency response: insights from the impact of COVID-19 on China’s new economy firms
Authors: Li Bin , Wan Jiayu , Qi Lin , Hang Jianping
Published: May 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to unveil the importance of knowledge management on a firm’s strategic emergency response during the great negative shock from global public health threats. Through analyzing how representative firms in China’s new economy industries dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic before, during and after the crisis, the significant problems confronted by these firms are pointed out, and the important role knowledge management capabilities played in solving these problems is proven.

Design/methodology/approach

The open data of listed companies regarding the important role knowledge management played in firms’ strategic emergency response during the COVID-19 pandemic are qualitatively analyzed. Based on theoretical sampling, this paper selects representative samples of enterprises and analyzes the positive response measures they took after being hit by this public health event to gain qualitative insight into the importance of knowledge management capabilities in strategic emergency response.

Findings

Three aspects of the important role of knowledge management capabilities in a firm’s strategic emergency response during the COVID-19 pandemic are introduced: before the crisis, firms should strengthen the acquisition, sharing and integration of knowledge so that they can intensify their monitoring for uncertain risks; during the crisis, firms should boost the transmission, transformation and diffusion of knowledge to improve emergency cooperation; and after the crisis, companies should reinforce knowledge evaluation, creation and application to enhance “immunity” in similar emergencies.

Research limitations/implications

This paper has important implications for bolstering strategic emergency management practice and knowledge management capability among firms. Future research must focus on the following two aspects for further investigation: the dynamic relationship between firm knowledge management capability and strategic emergency response ability; and the collaboration system between firm knowledge management and strategic emergency response behaviors.

Originality/value

This paper discusses the important role knowledge management capabilities play in firms’ strategic emergency responses based on insights gained from the significant changes that the COVID-19 pandemic caused to representative Chinese new economy firms. By analyzing the three stages of before, during and after the emergency, this paper proposes the exact efforts that new economy companies should make in improving knowledge management capability.
Age, job involvement and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance among local government employees in Uganda
Authors: Matagi Leonsio , Baguma Peter , Baluku Martin Mabunda
Published: May 2022

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to establish the relationship between age, job involvement, job satisfaction and job performance of sub-county chiefs in the Ugandan local government.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey design was used to obtain a total sample of 320 sub-county chiefs who were selected to participate in the study using multi-stage stratified random sampling. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data that were entered into the computer using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 23 (IBM SPSS-AMOS). Path analysis results were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results indicated significant positive relationships between: age and job involvement, job involvement and job satisfaction, and job involvement and job performance. Non-significant relationships were between age and job satisfaction, age and job performance, and job satisfaction and job performance. A reconstructed model was presented.

Practical implications

Employees’ participation in decisions that affect their work brings positive behavioral outcomes. Job involvement makes workers feel as part of the organization and contributes significantly to organizational effectiveness and morale of workers. Managers are encouraged to pay much attention to the requirements of their staff so as to increase their job involvement, which can ultimately lead to high levels of job satisfaction and improved job performance.

Originality/value

This study proposes that older employees who highly participate in organizational activities are likely to be satisfied and outstanding performers. Strategic recruitment agencies are very important in ensuring “quality at the gate” because they focus on the work attitudes and can attract and retain a satisfied and competent workforce.
Managerial hubristic-behavioral strategy: how to cope with chaotic and uncertain contexts
Authors: Loia Francesca , de Gennaro Davide , Adinolfi Paola
Published: May 2022

Purpose

How can a manager lead an organization or a team in a particularly turbulent time? How can management cope with chaos and uncertainty? Drawing on behavioral strategy theory, this study aims at investigating how hubristic managers can enable organizations to thrive, even over small time periods, in chaotic and uncertain contexts and settings.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a qualitative methodology to explore the possible positive effects of hubris in a behavioral strategy. In particular, 45 interviews with leaders and followers of particularly high-performing secondary schools have been administered to try to fully understand the origin, process and performance evolution of organizations led by hubristic managers.

Findings

The results showed that, in chaotic and uncertain times, hubris can prove to be a trump card for managers in dealing with the pitfalls and uncertainties of the context in which the organization operates. Three major attributes were identified – overconfidence and over-persistence, recklessness and contempt for critical feedback – defining the positive behavioral strategies implemented by hubristic managers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to highlight, by means of qualitative methodologies, the positive managerial hubristic-behavioral strategy during turbulent times in the school sector.
Examining the effect of emotional branding in building brand equity of social marketing campaigns: a case on Swachh Bharat, India
Authors: Manohar Sridhar , Kumar Ramesh , Saha Raiswa , Mittal Amit
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Intervention strategies are designed by policymakers to impact people by effectively changing the environment in which people make decisions. Many government-led agencies and nongovernmental organizations promote behavioral change by adopting social marketing strategies. Social marketing uses the application of commercial ideas to influence the voluntary behavior of individuals. Under these circumstances, this study aims to examine the effect of these emerging brand-building techniques social marketing especially in public campaign.

Design/methodology/approach

This descriptive study collected opinions related to the constructs from 324 respondents across India. This study used statistical package for the social science and Smart partial leased square software to test the validity of the hypotheses.

Findings

The results of this study indicate that when the campaigns target the emotional state of the consumer, he or she crosses all boundaries like physical attributes, service parameter or even any form of assessment and provides incremental value to the campaign, thus forming a favorable behavior.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides insights on how emotional branding can be used for better involvement and relationship building, which leads to long-term engagement with the customers. The marketers can also get facilitated through this study by developing a new perspective of creating their advertisements through emotional branding techniques, especially with a focus on corporate social responsibility in the global environment.

Originality/value

In recent times, marketers have adopted a new communication strategy to build their brand through promotions that might appeal directly to customer’s emotional state, popularly termed as “emotional branding.” This new communication strategy aims at creating and nurturing a relationship between the consumer and the brand by accumulating memories, emotions, personal narratives and expectations.
Food web consequences of thermal asymmetries
Authors: Gibert Jean P. , Grady John M. , Dell Anthony I.
Published: May 2022

Understanding how food webs will respond to globally rising temperatures is a pressing issue. Temperature effects on food webs are likely underpinned by differences in the thermal sensitivity of consumers and resources, or thermal asymmetries. We identify three sources of asymmetry in the rising portion of thermal performance curves: inter‐thermy variation across thermoregulatory groups, intra‐thermy variation within a thermoregulatory group and rate‐dependent variation in how different ecological rates respond to temperature.

We use a large empirical dataset on thermal sensitivities across thermoregulatory groups to explore how prevalent thermal asymmetries are in real consumer–resource interactions. We then develop theory to illustrate how food web temperature responses are mediated by the magnitude and direction of these thermal asymmetries. We use this model to show possible conditions under which food webs could respond to warming as currently expected, and when that may not be the case.

Our results suggest that inter‐thermy, intra‐thermy and rate‐dependent asymmetries are likely common in natural food webs. We show how all thermal asymmetries have important effects on species abundances across trophic levels as well as the maximum trophic position in the food web. Both the direction of the asymmetries (i.e. which species respond more strongly) and their magnitude (the difference in thermal responses) determine the temperature response of the food web and, consistent with current expectations, top predator abundance almost always declines with temperature, even though maximum trophic position may increase.

While our model shows that food web temperature responses can be varied, much of this variation can be explained by considering thermal asymmetries. Our study provides new data and theoretical insights into the widely varying food web effects of warming observed in laboratory, experimental and observational settings, and clarifies how predator and prey thermal ecology may influence overall food web responses in a changing world.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Differential associations of homelessness with emergency department visits and hospitalizations by race, ethnicity, and gender
Authors: Yue Dahai , Pourat Nadereh , Essien Elsie A. , Chen Xiao , Zhou Weihao , O'Masta Brenna
Published: May 2022

Objective

To investigate the differential associations of homelessness with emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations by race, ethnicity, and gender.

Data Sources

California Medicaid enrollment and claims.

Study Design

We identified beneficiaries experiencing homelessness (BEH) and those who did not (NBEH) using diagnosis and place of service codes and residential addresses. Outcomes include four ED visit measures and four hospitalization measures. We compared the use of these services by BEH to NBEH overall and by race, ethnicity, and gender groups in regression models controlling for covariates.

Data Collection

We used a sample of Medicaid beneficiaries who met eligibility criteria for a California Medicaid demonstration program in 2017 and 2018 but were not enrolled in the program. We identified 473,069 BEH, and the rest (1,948,422) were considered NBEH. We used the 2018 data for utilization analyses and most covariates. We constructed lagged measures of health conditions using 2017 data.

Principal Findings

We found that homelessness was significantly associated with 0.34 more ED visits (p < 0.01) and a higher likelihood of frequent ED visits (2.77 percentage points [pp], p < 0.01), any ED visits due to mental health conditions (0.79 pp, p < 0.01), and any ED visits due to substance use disorders (1.47 pp, p < 0.01). Experiencing homelessness was also significantly associated with 0.03 more hospitalizations (p < 0.01), a higher likelihood of frequent hospitalizations (0.68 pp, p < 0.01) and high frequent hospitalizations (0.28 pp, p < 0.01), and a longer length of stay (0.53 days, p < 0.01). We found a larger association for American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, Native Hawaii or Pacific Islander, and White populations than that for Asian and Hispanic populations. The associations are larger for males than females.

Conclusions

Our findings identified distinct utilization patterns by race, ethnicity, and gender. They indicated the need for developing race, ethnicity, and gender‐specific strategies to reduce ED visits and hospitalizations of BEH.
High pressure processing improves the texture quality of fermented minced pepper by maintaining pectin characteristics during storage
Authors: Chen Fei , Chen Yuyu , Wang Yingrui , Ding Shenghua , Qin Yeyou , Jiang Liwen , Wang Rongrong
Published: May 2022

Texture quality affects the sensory and market acceptance of fermentation minced pepper (FMP), but it will deteriorate during storage. Thus, high pressure processing (HPP) and thermal pasteurization (TP) were used to improve the texture quality of FMP during storage. The results showed that variations in texture quality and pectin characteristics under HPP and TP treatments were similar during storage. The hardness, cell wall material (CWM) and sodium carbonate‐soluble pectin (SSP) content, water‐soluble pectin (WSP) molecular weight (Mw) decreased, while WSP content and sodium chelate‐soluble pectin (CSP) Mw increased after storage. HPP‐treated FMP showed higher hardness (66.64–85.95 N) than that in TP‐treated one (57.23–62.72 N) during storage. Rhamnose (Rha), arabinose, mannose, and glucose were the crucial compositions in three pectins, and their total molar ratios, respectively, reached 89.19% and 87.97% after HPP and TP treatment. However, the molar ratio of most monosaccharide in three pectins decreased after storage. Atomic force microscope images indicated the short chains and branch structures increased but aggregates decreased in most pectin components during storage. Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated FMP hardness was extremely (p < 0.01) positively correlated with CWM and SSP content, and extremely (p < 0.01) negatively correlated with WSP content. Compared to TP treatment, HPP presented higher hardness, SSP content and Mw, Rha content, CSP Mw, and lower WSP content during storage. Hence, HPP was an effective method to improve the texture quality of FMP by maintaining pectin characteristics during storage.

Practical Application

Softening is one of the main factors affecting market value and consumer preferences for FMP, and it is closely related to the modification and depolymerization of pectin. Changes of texture quality and pectin properties in HPP‐ and TP‐treated FMP during storage were assessed, including hardness, the content, monosaccharide compositions, Mw distribution, and nanostructure of WSP, SSP, and CSP. Compared to TP treatment, HPP could effectively improve the texture quality of FMP by inhibiting pectin degradation during storage. All the findings presented in this study would help to provide new insights into regulating the texture quality of FMP.
Commonly used Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium filtering schemes impact population structure inferences using RADseq data
Authors: Pearman William S. , Urban Lara , Alexander Alana
Published: May 2022

Reduced representation sequencing (RRS) is a widely used method to assay the diversity of genetic loci across the genome of an organism. The dominant class of RRS approaches assay loci associated with restriction sites within the genome (restriction site associated DNA sequencing, or RADseq). RADseq is frequently applied to non‐model organisms since it enables population genetic studies without relying on well‐characterized reference genomes. However, RADseq requires the use of many bioinformatic filters to ensure the quality of genotyping calls. These filters can have direct impacts on population genetic inference, and therefore require careful consideration. One widely used filtering approach is the removal of loci that do not conform to expectations of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Despite being widely used, we show that this filtering approach is rarely described in sufficient detail to enable replication. Furthermore, through analyses of in silico and empirical data sets we show that some of the most widely used HWE filtering approaches dramatically impact inference of population structure. In particular, the removal of loci exhibiting departures from HWE after pooling across samples significantly reduces the degree of inferred population structure within a data set (despite this approach being widely used). Based on these results, we provide recommendations for best practice regarding the implementation of HWE filtering for RADseq data sets.
The economics of social data
Authors: Bergemann Dirk , Bonatti Alessandro , Gan Tan
Published: May 2022

A data intermediary acquires signals from individual consumers regarding their preferences. The intermediary resells the information in a product market wherein firms and consumers tailor their choices to the demand data. The social dimension of the individual data—whereby a consumer's data are predictive of others' behavior—generates a data externality that can reduce the intermediary's cost of acquiring the information. The intermediary optimally preserves the privacy of consumers' identities if and only if doing so increases social surplus. This policy enables the intermediary to capture the total value of the information as the number of consumers becomes large.
Is Institutional Research on Management Accounting Degenerating or Progressing? A Lakatosian Analysis*
Authors: Modell Sven
Published: May 2022

Adopting a Lakatosian perspective, this paper asks whether management accounting (MA) research using institutional theory can be described as a degenerative or progressive research program. Motivated by similar critical debates about the larger institutional research program in organization studies, I map the evolution of institutional research on MA with an eye to its theoretical contributions to the accounting literature as well as this larger research program. I conclude that this body of research has offered important, progressive extensions to the accounting literature and, to a lesser extent, the larger institutional research program. However, there is also evidence of many MA scholars using institutional theory in ways that produce degenerative tendencies. These degenerative tendencies are, in large part, due to the persistent proclivity of researchers to place overly one‐sided emphasis on the role of either human agency or preexisting institutions in explaining the process of (de‐)institutionalization and may, at worst, cause functionalist assumptions to be smuggled back into institutional analyses in ways that threaten the hard core of the institutional research program. I discuss how these tendencies can be rectified in future research and how institutional research on MA can be further developed.
Telling the truth to seriously ill children: Considering children's interests when parents veto telling the truth
Authors: Gillam Lynn , Spriggs Merle , McCarthy Maria , Delany Clare
Published: May 2022

How should clinicians respond when parents will not allow their child to know the truth about their medical condition and treatment? There is wide consensus amongst clinicians and ethicists that children should be given “honest” information delivered in a developmentally appropriate manner. However, the basis in ethical theory is not clear, especially for pre‐adolescents. These children are old enough to understand some information, but are not yet “mature minors” capable of making their own health care decisions. We take the position that thinking in terms of a child's “right to know” is not the most helpful in dealing with the ethical complexity of these situations. We propose that questions of truth‐telling are best addressed in terms of how a child's interests are promoted or set back by being told the truth. Our first step is to give an account of the concept of children's interests in general. Then we relate that account specifically to truth‐telling. In doing so, we use a relatively straightforward hypothetical but realistic case, in order to illustrate how ethical deliberation using interests would proceed. The case is not intended to be particularly contentious or difficult, so that the focus is on the nature of the ethical reasoning, rather than any complexities of the case.
Gene therapy with B‐cell maturation antigen/CD3 bispecific antibody encoding plasmid DNA for treating multiple myeloma
Authors: Peng Fengping , Wang Yuan , Zhao Jiliang , Liu Hui , Liu Zhaoyun , Ding Kai , Zhang Hongkai , Fu Rong
Published: May 2022

The delivery of bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) targeting B‐cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and CD3 using the gene therapy approach is a promising alternative for BsAb administration in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of this approach using a xenograft model. Tumour growth was significantly delayed in mice treated with single electroporation‐enhanced intramuscular injection of plasmid DNA encoding BCMA/CD3 BsAb in contrast to the vehicle control‐treated group. Limited toxicity was observed following treatment. This study demonstrates that the gene therapy‐based approach for the delivery of BCMA/CD3 BsAb is effective and safe for the treatment of MM.
Cognitive empathy across the lifespan
Authors: Dorris Liam , Young David , Barlow Jill , Byrne Karl , Hoyle Robin
Published: May 2022

Aim

To describe the development of cognitive empathy across the lifespan from a very large cohort using a standardized measure of cognitive empathy ability.

Method

Participants (n=4545, age bands <5y to >75y, 60% female) were a convenience sample recruited voluntarily from visitors to the Glasgow Science Centre in the UK, who completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test.

Results

When compared to preceding age groups, we found significant developmental gains in empathy ability in children aged 6 to 7 years (p=0.048, d=0.45) and again at 10 to 12 years (p=0.042, d=0.23), followed by a slight reduction in ability during adolescence (p=0.087, d=–0.18), and functional maturity in those aged 19 to 25 years (p=0.001, d=0.76). Cognitive empathy abilities remained relatively stable across adulthood but gradually declined in people over 65 years, with notable decline in males over 75 years (p=0.001, d=–0.98). Females performed better than males at all ages.

Interpretation

Understanding developmental issues in cognitive empathy could influence approaches to moral and social education for children, and health and social care support for older people. Standardized cognitive empathy tests could also provide novel approaches in the early detection of developmental vulnerabilities in a range of neurological conditions, and within neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders in which cognitive empathy is known to be impaired.

What this paper adds

Cognitive empathy is a late‐developing ability and changes across the lifespan.

Cognitive empathy increases during childhood but with potentially altered abilities during adolescence.

Cognitive empathy matures during early adulthood and gradually declines in older age.

There is a female advantage in cognitive empathy abilities.
What is the value of faster acting prandial insulin? Focus on ultra rapid lispro
Authors: Heise Tim , Piras de Oliveira Carolina , Juneja Rattan , Ribeiro Anderson , Chigutsa Farai , Blevins Thomas
Published: May 2022

Rapid‐acting insulins (RAIs) have been instrumental in the management of diabetes because of their improved postprandial glucose (PPG) control compared with regular human insulin. However, their absorption rate and time action following subcutaneous administration still falls short of the normal physiological response to meal consumption, increasing the risk of early postmeal hyperglycaemia and late postmeal hypoglycaemia. Increased demand for faster acting insulins, which can quickly control PPG excursions without increasing the risk of late hypoglycaemia, led to the development of ultra‐rapid–acting insulins, including ultra‐rapid lispro (URLi). URLi is a novel formulation of insulin lispro with accelerated absorption driven by two excipients: treprostinil, which increases local vasodilation, and citrate, which increases local vascular permeability. Clinical pharmacology studies consistently showed an earlier onset and shorter duration of action with URLi compared with Lispro. In a head‐to‐head study with Faster aspart, Aspart and Lispro, URLi was absorbed faster, provided earlier insulin action, and more closely matched physiological glucose response than the other insulins tested. URLi's unique pharmacokinetic properties increase its potential for improved PPG control beyond that achieved with RAIs. Indeed, in pivotal phase 3 trials, URLi was superior to Lispro for PPG control both at 1 and 2 hours after a meal in type 1 and type 2 diabetes with multiple daily injections, and in type 1 diabetes with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. This was achieved without increasing the risk of hypoglycaemia. In this review, we focus on the clinical and pharmacological evidence for URLi in the treatment of diabetes and discuss the potential benefits and considerations with URLi compared with RAIs.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and osteoporosis: A potential association with therapeutic implications
Authors: Vachliotis Ilias D. , Anastasilakis Athanasios D. , Goulas Antonis , Goulis Dimitrios G. , Polyzos Stergios A.
Published: May 2022

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and osteoporosis are two highly prevalent metabolic diseases. Increasing experimental evidence supports a pathophysiological link between NAFLD and osteoporosis. A key feature could be chronic, low‐grade inflammation, which characterizes NAFLD and possibly affects bone metabolism. In this context, several factors, including but not limited to receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa‐B ligand, osteoprotegerin, osteopontin and osteocalcin, may serve as mediators. In the clinical setting, most but not all epidemiological evidence indicates that NAFLD is associated with lower bone mineral density or osteoporosis in adults. Although an association between NAFLD and osteoporosis has not yet been established, and thus remains speculative, pharmacological considerations already exist. Some of the current and emerging pharmacological options for NAFLD have shown possible anti‐osteoporotic properties (eg, vitamin E, obeticholic acid, semaglutide), while others (eg, pioglitazone, canagliflozin) have been associated with increased risk of fractures and may be avoided in patients with NAFLD and concomitant osteoporosis, especially those at high fracture risk. Conversely, some anti‐osteoporotic medications (denosumab) might benefit NAFLD, while others (raloxifene) might adversely affect it and, consequently, may be avoided in patients with osteoporosis and NAFLD. If an association between NAFLD and osteoporosis is established, a medication that could target both diseases would be a great advancement. This review summarizes the main experimental and clinical evidence on the potential association between NAFLD and osteoporosis and focuses on treatment considerations derived from this potential association.
Effect of glucagon‐like peptide 1 receptor agonists on albuminuria in adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Yuan Daniel , Sharma Harman , Krishnan Anirudh , Vangaveti Venkat N. , Malabu Usman H.
Published: May 2022

Aims

To determine the effect of glucagon‐like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1RAs) on albuminuria in adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods

Medline Ovid, Scopus, Web of Science, EMCARE and CINAHL databases from database inception until 27 January 2022. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were randomized controlled trials that involved treatment with a GLP‐1RA in adult patients with T2DM and assessed the effect on albuminuria in each treatment arm. Data extraction was conducted independently by three individual reviewers. The PRISMA guidelines were followed regarding data extraction and quality assessment. Data were pooled using a random effects inverse variance model and all analysis was carried out with RevMan 5.4 software. The Jadad scoring tool was employed to assess the quality of evidence and risk of bias in the randomized controlled trials.

Results

The initial search revealed 2419 articles, of which 19 were included in this study. An additional three articles were identified from hand‐searching references of included reviews. Therefore, in total, 22 articles comprising 39 714 patients were included. Meta‐analysis suggested that use of GLP1‐RAs was associated with a reduction in albuminuria in patients with T2DM (weighted mean difference −16.14%, 95% CI −18.42 to −13.86%; p < .0001) compared with controls.

Conclusions

This meta‐analysis indicates that GLP‐1RAs are associated with a significant reduction in albuminuria in adult patients with T2DM when compared with placebo.
Financing public education when agents have retirement concerns
Authors: Montolio Daniel , Piolatto Amedeo , Salvadori Luca
Published: May 2022

We study, theoretically and empirically, the link between voters' support for public education and pensions. We show that the (inter‐generational) redistributive component of the retirement system creates a link between current spending on education and future pensions. Specifically, investments in education increase the young's productivity and, hence, future tax proceeds that will finance the current workers' pension. Consequently, the support for publicly financed education grows together with the generosity and degree of redistribution of the retirement system. The empirical analysis uses repeated cross‐country surveys to confirm the model predictions.
Whole exome sequencing and co‐expression analysis identify an SCN1A variant that modifies pathogenicity in a family with genetic epilepsy and febrile seizures plus
Authors: Hammer Michael F. , Pan Yanling , Cumbay Medhane , Pendziwiat Manuela , Afawi Zaid , Goldberg‐Stern Hadassah , Johnstone Laurel , Helbig Ingo , Cummins Theodore R.
Published: May 2022

Objective

Family members carrying the same SCN1A variant often exhibit differences in the clinical severity of epilepsy. This variable expressivity suggests that other factors aside from the primary sodium channel variant influence the clinical manifestation. However, identifying such factors has proven challenging in humans.

Methods

We perform whole exome sequencing (WES) in a large family in which an SCN1A variant (p.K1372E) is segregating that is associated with a broad spectrum of phenotypes ranging from lack of epilepsy, to febrile seizures and absence seizures, to Dravet syndrome. We assessed the hypothesis that the severity of the SCN1A‐related phenotype was affected by alternate alleles at a modifier locus (or loci).

Results

One of our top candidates identified by WES was a second variant in the SCN1A gene (p.L375S) that was shared exclusively by unaffected carriers of the K1372E allele. To test the hypothesized that L375S variant nullifies the loss‐of‐function effect of K1372E, we transiently expressed Nav1.1 carrying the two variants in HEK293T cells and compared their biophysical properties with the wild‐type (WT) variant, and then co‐expressed WT with K1372E or L375S with K1372E in equal quantity and tested the functional consequence. The data demonstrated that co‐expression of the L375S and K1372E alleles reversed the loss‐of‐function property brought by the K1372E variant, whereas WT‐K1372E co‐expression remained partial loss‐of‐function.

Significance

These results support the hypothesis that L375S counteracts the loss‐of‐function effect of K1372E such that individuals carrying both alleles in trans do not present epilepsy‐related symptoms. We demonstrate that monogenic epilepsies with wide expressivity can be modified by additional variants in the disease gene, providing a novel framework for the gene‐phenotype relationship in genetic epilepsies.
Analysis and design of financial data mining system based on fuzzy clustering
Authors: Li Huwei
Published: May 2022

With the rapid development of the economy, a large amount of financial data will be generated during the continuous growth of enterprises. However, due to the explosive growth of the financial data range index, the use of machine learning methods to mine and analyse financial data is extremely important. Among them, accurate financial risk evaluation is an effective measure to prevent and resolve corporate financial crises. In this article, we use fuzzy clustering method to establish a financial risk early warning and evaluation model. Specifically, we use fuzzy C‐mean (FCM), half‐suppressed FCM, and interval FCM clustering algorithms‐based state construction financial risk early warning and evaluation models, to give an evaluation from two aspects of corporate financial indicators and non‐financial indicators system. In order to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the fuzzy clustering algorithms used in financial data mining, we conducted experiments in financial data mining and early warning in real estate companies and ST companies. The experimental results show that the fuzzy clustering algorithms represented by the FCM clustering algorithm has achieved good results in financial data mining, and can achieve good results in financial risk analysis and financial risk early warning.
Reciprocal effects between young children's negative emotions and mothers' mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Authors: Wei Yonggang , Wang Lu , Zhou Qiao , Tan Li , Xiao Yao
Published: May 2022

Objective

To investigate the relations between young children's negative emotions and their mothers' mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Background

The COVID‐19 pandemic caused the public a certain degree of psychological symptoms, and family environments and relations have been changed dramatically as a result. The relations between young children's negative emotions and their mothers' mental health have not been sufficiently determined for the context of a pandemic or other large‐scale crises.

Method

A survey was administrated on 8119 Chinese mothers of 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children with the Symptom Checklist 90 and the Child Negative Emotion Questionnaire.

Results

The canonical correlation results indicated that there were covariation trends between young children's anger and their mother's obsessive–compulsive symptoms and hostility, children's fear and mothers' phobic anxiety, and children's tension and mothers' interpersonal sensitivity and depression. These correlations were all positively significant.

Conclusion

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, the predictive power of young children's negative emotions to their mothers' mental health was greater than that of the reverse.

Implications

This study provides a scientific guidance on the regulation of young children's negative emotions and the improvement of mothers' mental health during the pandemic as well as potential emergencies in the future.
Dissolved organic carbon affects the occurrence of deep chlorophyll peaks and zooplankton resource use and biomass
Authors: Tonin Joseph , Sherbo Bryanna , Higgins Scott N. , Schiff Sherry L. , Paterson Michael J.
Published: May 2022

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are increasing in many parts of the world and vary considerably among lakes. As a result, it is important to understand the effects of DOC on zooplankton, which are a key component of freshwater food webs. Deep chlorophyll maxima (DCMs) also are common in many lakes and numerous studies suggest that they may be an important resource for zooplankton.

In a survey of eight boreal lakes spanning a gradient of DOC (3.5–9.2 mg/L), we assessed variations in the occurrence of DCMs, zooplankton biomass and their use of basal resources using stable isotopes of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and hydrogen (H).

DCMs occurred only in lakes with lower DOC concentrations and Bayesian stable isotope mixing models indicated that they contributed between 22% and 72% of the assimilated diet of zooplankton. Food quality as indicated by C:P and chlorophyll a: C ratios increased with depth and in DCMs.

The proportion of C ultimately derived by zooplankton from terrestrial sources increased from 6% to 27% with DOC. Zooplankton biomass among lakes declined with increasing DOC concentrations, the absence of DCMs and with increasing allochthony.

Our results suggest that increasing inputs of DOC may suppress zooplankton in many lakes by affecting both resource quality and the availability of metalimnetic phytoplankton resources. Because zooplankton occupy a central position in freshwater food webs, declines in their biomass may further affect phytoplankton dynamics and fish productivity.
Coral reefs: The good and not so good news with future bright and dark spots for coral reefs through climate change
Authors: Devlin Michelle J.
Published: May 2022

COMMENTARY ON Present and future bright and dark spots for coral reefs through climate change.

This is a commentary on Sully et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16083
Diagnostic criteria for acute‐on‐chronic liver failure and related disease conditions in Japan
Authors: Mochida Satoshi , Nakayama Nobuaki , Terai Shuji , Yoshiji Hitoshi , Shimizu Masahito , Ido Akio , Inoue Kazuaki , Genda Takuya , Takikawa Yasuhiro , Takami Taro , Kato Naoya , Abe Masanori , Abe Ryuzo , Inui Ayano , Ohira Hiromasa , Kasahara Mureo , Chayama Kazuaki , Hasegawa Kiyoshi , Tanaka Atsushi
Published: May 2022

The Intractable Hepato‐Biliary Disease Study Group of Japan, sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Wealth, proposed in 2018 that patients with cirrhosis and a Child‐Pugh score of 5–9 should be diagnosed as having acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) when a deterioration of liver function (“serum bilirubin level of 5.0 mg/dl or more” and “prothrombin time value of 40% or less of the standardized values and/or international normalization rates of 1.5 or more”) caused by severe liver damage develops within 28 days after an acute insult, including alcohol abuse, bacterial infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, and the exacerbation of underlying liver diseases. Disease severity can be classified into 4 grades depending on the extent of the deterioration in organ functions, including liver, kidney, cerebral, blood coagulation, circulatory and respiratory functions. The Study Group has since performed an annual nationwide survey of patients with ACLF diagnosed according to the proposed diagnostic criteria as well as those with disease conditions related to ACLF. A total of 501 patients, including 183 patients diagnosed as having ACLF, seen between 2017 and 2019 were enrolled, and univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the proposed diagnostic criteria were useful for identifying cirrhotic patients with an unfavorable outcome following an acute insult. Consequently, the Study Group determined that the proposed diagnostic criteria should be used in both clinical practice and clinical research as formal diagnostic criteria.
Using the Nominal Group Technique to determine a nursing framework for a forensic mental health service: A discussion paper
Authors: Maguire Tessa , Garvey Loretta , Ryan Jo , Olasoji Michael , Willets Georgina
Published: May 2022

The Nominal Group Technique is a method used to explore issues, generate ideas, and reach consensus on a topic. The Nominal Group Technique includes individual and group work and is designed to ensure participants have the same opportunity to engage and provide their opinions. While the technique has been used for around six decades to assist groups, in industry, and government organizations to examine issues and make decisions, this technique has received limited attention in nursing research, particularly in mental health. This discussion paper describes the use of a modified Nominal Group Technique for a study designed to determine a nursing decision‐making framework for a state‐wide forensic mental health service. Modifications were made to the traditional technique, to enable participants to make an informed and collective decision about a suitable framework for the novice to expert nurses, across secure inpatient, prison, and community forensic mental health settings. The Nominal Group Technique generated rich data and offered a structured approach to the process. We argue that the Nominal Group Technique offers an exciting and interactive method for nursing research and can increase opportunity for minority group members to participate. This technique also offers a time efficient way to engage busy clinical nurses to participate in research, with the advantage of members knowing the decision on the day of the group. Consideration, however, needs to be given to the duration and effect on participant concentration, and if not actively managed by facilitators, the possible emergence of group dynamics affecting individuals' decisions.
Flash sintering of ultra‐high pure alumina ceramics with fine microstructure
Authors: Yang Shoulei , Zhu Yinxiao , Yang Sirui , Fu Xinxin , Wei Pengfei , Fan Lei , Zhang Mengwen , An Linan
Published: May 2022

The nearly fully dense ultra‐high pure (>99.99%) α‐Al2O3 ceramics were prepared by flash sintering at the furnace temperature of 1300°C. Compared with the samples sintered at 1300 and 1650°C without electrical field, the flash‐sintered samples exhibited remarkably improved density and finer grains. The flash‐sintered samples also exhibited high hardness, which is even higher than that of the hot‐pressed sample. Therefore, it is believed that flash sintering could be an effective technique for the preparation of ultra‐high pure alumina ceramics.
Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation in the elderly >75 years old: Systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Prasitlumkum Narut , Tokavanich Nithi , Trongtorsak Angkawipa , Cheungpasitporn Wisit , Kewcharoen Jakrin , Chokesuwattanaskul Ronpichai , Akoum Nazem , Jared Bunch Thomas , Navaravong Leenhapong
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation is increasingly performed worldwide. As comfort with AF ablation increases, the procedure is increasingly used in patients that are older and in those with more comorbidities. However, it is not well established whether AF ablation in the elderly, especially those >75 years old, has comparable safety and efficacy to younger populations.

Objective

To compare the efficacy and safety profiles in patients older than 75 years undergoing AF ablation with younger patients.

Methods

Databases from EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane, were searched from inception through September 2021. Studies that compared the success rates in AF catheter ablation and all complications rates between patients who were older vs under 75 years were included. Effect estimates from the individual studies were extracted and combined using random effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird.

Results

Twenty‐seven observational studies were included in the analysis consisting of 363,542 patients who underwent AF ablation. Comparing patients older than 75 years old to younger patients, there was no difference in the success of ablation rates between elderly and younger patients (pooled OR 0.85: 95% CI:0.69–1.05, p = .131). On the other hand, AF ablation in the elderly was associated with higher complication rates (pooled OR 1.42: 95% CI:1.21–1.68, p < .001).

Conclusion

As AF ablation is expanded to elderly populations, our study found that AF ablation success rates were similar in both elderly and younger patients. However, older patients experience higher rates of complications that should be considered when offering the procedure and as a means to improve outcomes with future innovations.