bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A socio-technical analysis of internet of things development: an interplay of technologies, tasks, structures and actors
Authors: Ghaffari Kimia , Lagzian Mohammad , Kazemi Mostafa , Malekzadeh Gholamreza
Published: August 2019

Purpose

Prior research on the area of internet of things (IoT) development has primarily emphasized the overview descriptions and rarely investigated this area from a socio-technical standpoint. However, IoT development is a socio-technical ensemble, which requires analysis with a simultaneous focus on both technical and non-technical issues. Hence, this paper aims to analyze the development of IoT through the lens of the socio-technical system (STS) theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Having reviewed the STS theory, the key components of the IoT development are identified using prior literature review and semi-structured interviews with experts involved in the Iranian IoT development effort.

Findings

As a result, this paper provides insight into the key socio-technical issues in the IoT development classified under technology, tasks, structure and actors as four components of STS. Moreover, the close connections between the components are clarified.

Originality/value

This research is among the earliest studies, which use the STS theory to investigate the IoT development. The conducted socio-technical analysis of this study may assist the governments, industries and entrepreneurs as the chief stakeholders of IoT development to better align their actions with each other and achieve a balance between both technical and social sides.
Double-faced shading effect based on two wefts full-backed structure for traditional weft-backed woven fabrics
Authors: Bai Linlin , Zhou Jiu
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper, on innovative design of traditional weft-backed woven fabric, is to investigate a design principle and method for full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect to realize two types of double-faced shading effects for traditional weft-backed fabric that are impossible to be realized under plane design mode. In addition, the study on the color rendering law is conducive to the design application, and the effectiveness of the design method has been verified by the design practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a design method for full-backed structure with two shaded weave databases (SWDs) by selecting two primary weaves (PWs), establishing the corresponding SWDs, selecting the proper compound structures for database of full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect. Color card fabric with 544 specimens is produced and their color values are measured, their color difference and variance are analyzed to evaluate the color rendering characteristics. Finally, double-faced weft-backed fabrics are produced under layered-combination design mode to verify the practicality of full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect.

Findings

Weft-backed woven fabrics with “SPDC” (same pattern and different color) and “DPDC” (different pattern and different color) shading effects can be produced using full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect. The color expression is extremely enhanced (136 compound structures on one side for one color weft). In the shading process, two sets of wefts do not affect each other, and stable and ideal color shading effect with high color purity can be expressed according to the analyses on the L* (lightness) values, color purity, color differences (0.47–3.20) and variance (0.25–1.21) of the color card fabric.

Originality/value

Breaking through the structural limitations and achieving the double-faced shading effects that cannot be expressed in plane design mode. The research on two weft-backed fabric with the most basic weft-backed structure provides not only a theoretical base for further study on weft-backed structures, but also some references for structure innovation design of traditional weft-backed woven fabrics.
Constrained choice in supply chain relationships: the effects of regulatory institutions
Authors: Davis Donna F. , Davis-Sramek Beth , Golicic Susan L. , McCarthy-Byrne Teresa M.
Published: August 2019

Purpose

Utilizing a top-down approach of middle-range theorizing (MRT), the purpose of this paper is to integrate relational exchange with institutional theory to examine how companies manage supply chain relationships to achieve desired supply chain outcomes in industries characterized by varying degrees of regulatory mandates that restrict the choice of supply chain partners. The authors identify this supply chain relationship dynamic as constrained choice.

Design/methodology/approach

A moderated mediation model is tested using survey data from producers in the US wine industry to investigate the effects of regulatory pressure on the ability of wine producers to achieve operational coordination when responding to relational behaviors through either trust or calculative commitment.

Findings

Results find that relational behaviors can improve operational coordination through two distinct paths: trust or calculative commitment. With the moderating effect of regulatory pressure, relational behaviors more effectively facilitate operational coordination through trust. Alternately, regulatory pressure attenuates the mediated relationship through calculative commitment.

Research limitations/implications

The research introduces constrained choice dynamics into the supply chain relationship literature via MRT. Integrating generative mechanisms from relational exchange and institutional theories provides theoretical depth and context-specific knowledge about relationships that operate in constrained choice situations.

Practical implications

Managers impacted by constrained choice should recognize that mechanisms typically resulting in positive relationship outcomes may respond differently in the presence of regulatory constraints. With greater regulatory pressure, efforts to enhance operational coordination are more effective using relational mechanisms to build trust. When trust is diminished, calculative commitment can be effective in achieving operational coordination, although extensive regulations make it more difficult.

Originality/value

Previous research traditionally assumes that managers are free to select suitable trading partners that ensure mutually beneficial relationships. The research develops a middle-range theory examining the constrained choice dynamic in relationships that are impacted to varying degrees by regulatory institutions.
Fraud risk factors and tendency to commit fraud: analysis of employees’ perceptions
Authors: Anindya Jesi Rizky , Adhariani Desi
Published: August 2019

Purpose

This study aims to determine the fraud risk factors perceived by employees to have the greatest influence on individuals committing fraud as an unethical conduct, as well as to analyze employees’ opinions on fraud prevention program.

Design/methodology/approach

The fraud risk factors in this study are based on the concept of the fraud triangle as developed by Donald Cressey, as well as examples of situations set out in SAS No. 99. The samples used in this study are company employees who have been selected using the convenience sampling method.

Findings

A survey of 109 employees reports that none of the three factors (pressure, opportunity and rationalization) has a significant influence on fraud. However, when comparing the factors, the pressure is considered to have the highest impact. In terms of fraud prevention, the employees suggest that it is extremely important to implement all prevention tools, especially with regard to the adequate segregation of duties.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of this study in terms of method and small samples are expected to inform future studies to overcome the limitations by using other methods such as interview and by collecting more respondents to gather their perceptions and opinions.

Originality/value

This study contributed to the literature in confirming the pressure as the dominant factor and in confirming the importance of anti-fraud programs as suggested by the agency theory.
Efficacy of weather index insurance for mitigation of weather risks in agriculture
Authors: Singh Pankaj , Agrawal Gaurav
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review research on weather index insurance (WII) for mitigating the weather risk in agriculture and to identify research gaps in current available literature through integrative review.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on the integrative review method as proposed by Whittemore and Knafl. QualSysts tool was adopted for assessing the quality appraisal of articles. Reporting followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Findings

Detailed critical analysis of content reveals that WII studies are growing and shifting from traditional to the newest themes. Efficacy of WII is significantly influenced by the impacts of climate change. This paper generates a conceptual framework by synthesizing the published literature on WII.

Research limitations/implications

This paper will be used to improve the WII practices and influence public policy. It is also beneficial in research by contributing to the systematic body of knowledge and useful for researchers to analyze the past and present status with future prospects of further studies on WII.

Originality/value

The paper is the original work of the author. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper on integrative review on the efficacy of WII. An attempt has been made in the current paper to critically examine the studies of WII.
Building legitimacy for European public sector accounting standards (EPSAS)
Authors: Dabbicco Giovanna , Steccolini Ileana
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to look at the European public sector accounting standards (EPSAS) project development path to explore how governance and legitimacy issues intertwine when a new standard-setting system is developed.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative interpretative multimethod approach is adopted, which encompasses document analysis and participative observations.

Findings

The analysis shows the role of governance dimensions, including institutional participation and consensus, in the process for securing the legitimacy of accounting standards and the related setting processes, pointing to the critical issues emerging throughout the development of the EPSAS project.

Originality/value

The definition of public sector accounting standards poses significant challenges to the accounting profession and regulators alike. A paradigmatic case of such challenges is represented by the decisions to develop harmonised EPSAS. A key contribution of this paper is to connect legitimacy dimensions with network governance, offering a view of the input, output and procedural dimensions associated with decisions to legitimise EPSAS and how these may be affected by network governance.
From West to East: British sojourners’ acculturation in China
Authors: Yu Qionglei , Yen Dorothy A. , Cappellini Benedetta , Wang Cheng Lu
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The previous literature has often focussed on Asian migrants’ acculturation to western cultures with data collected in the western contexts. The purpose of this paper is to explore western consumers’ acculturation to East Asian cultures and their consumption behaviour, which fulfils the research scarcity in this area.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted via carrying out in-depth interviews with 18 British sojourners in China, exploring how they acculturated to Chinese culture, with a particular focus on their food and media consumption choices. This study applied inductive qualitative data analysis to build on but explore beyond existing theory.

Findings

The findings show that British consumers display a diversified acculturation strategy towards different products. They present an integrative approach to food consumption with a negotiable identity to host culture value whilst they adopt a separated approach relating to traditional media consumption, showing a non-negotiable consumption stance. They apply an assimilated approach for pragmatic reasons in terms of social media adoption.

Originality/value

British sojourners in China hold a different cultural stance in different areas of consumption. The study contributes to existing theory by arguing the complexity of a continuous negotiation process between different value systems in sojourning consumers’ consumption choices, which existing acculturation models have not yet examined. By emphasising the context speciality, the findings give marketers clear marketing implications when targeting sojourning consumers who declare their value stance via consumption practice.
“How to use it more?” Self-efficacy and its sources in the use of social media for knowledge sharing
Authors: Alshahrani Hussain , Rasmussen Pennington Diane
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate sources of self-efficacy for researchers and the sources’ impact on the researchers’ use of social media for knowledge sharing. It is a continuation of a larger study (Alshahrani and Rasmussen Pennington, 2018).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors distributed an online questionnaire to researchers at the University of Strathclyde (n=144) and analysed the responses using descriptive statistics.

Findings

Participants relied on personal mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and emotional arousal for social media use. These elements of self-efficacy mostly led them to use it effectively, with a few exceptions.

Research limitations/implications

The convenience sample utilised for this study, which included academic staff, researchers and PhD students at one university, is small and may not be entirely representative of the larger population.

Practical implications

This study contributes to the existing literature on social media and knowledge sharing. It can help researchers understand how they can develop their self-efficacy and its sources in order to enhance their online professional presence. Additionally, academic institutions can use these results to inform how they can best encourage and support their researchers in improving their professional social media use.

Originality/value

Researchers do rely on their self-efficacy and its sources to use social media for knowledge sharing. These results can help researchers and their institutions eliminate barriers and improve online engagement with colleagues, students, the public and other relevant research stakeholders.
Export marketing in higher education: an international comparison
Authors: James Melissa , Derrick Gemma
Published: August 2019

Purpose

How higher education institutions (HEIs) approach the recruitment of international students is an area of global interest (James-MacEachern, 2018, Ross et al., 2013), but there is limited focus on how institutions in different parts of the world approach international student recruitment as an export marketing orientation (EMO). The purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences of export marketing orientation amongst three higher education institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses export marketing concepts to compare three universities from Canada, Hong Kong and the UK to explore how institutions use international student recruitment as export marketing in international markets.

Findings

The study finds a number of similarities and differences in how HEIs react and respond to market and global environments, and responses impact the level of EMO. It argues that institutions rely differently on export marketing in their approach international students and highlights the need to understand how various factors such as national policy and institutional strategy impacts institutional adoption of an EMO in higher education.

Originality/value

By comparing HEIs from different parts of the world, this paper shows differences in export marketing orientation that are shaped by national policy frameworks and organizational culture. This is the first time three institutions from Canada, Hong Kong and the UK have been compared for EMO, and this study provides new insights into the factors that contribute or hinder EMO for HEIs.
Assessing students’ mental health crisis skills via consumers with lived experience: a qualitative evaluation
Authors: O’Reilly Claire L. , Moles Rebekah J. , Boukouvalas Evelyn , El-Den Sarira
Published: August 2019

Purpose

Suicide is a major cause of preventable mortality and primary healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, require appropriate training to communicate with and support people at risk of suicide. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training teaches participants how to communicate with and support people experiencing suicidal thoughts. The purpose of this paper is to use a novel MHFA assessment approach involving simulated role-plays enacted by people with a lived experience of mental illness and explore MHFA participants’ and simulated patients’ views of participating in simulated role-plays of mental health crises.

Design/methodology/approach

MHFA is embedded into the Sydney School of Pharmacy curriculum. Post-MHFA training, pharmacy students were randomly allocated to participate in or observe a simulated role-play of one of three suicide crisis scenarios, with a person with a lived experience of mental illness. Two purpose-designed, semi-structured interview guides were used to conduct student focus groups and interviews with simulated patients to explore their views. Focus groups and interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically content analysed using a constant comparison approach.

Findings

In total, 22 pharmacy students participated in two focus groups and three simulated patients participated in interviews. Five themes emerged including: the benefits of participating; the value of having a lived experience; challenges with suicide assessment; communication; and the value of immediate feedback and debrief.

Originality/value

Students and simulated patients both benefited from participating in the role-plays. Students valued practicing their MHFA skills post-training with simulated patients with lived experiences. This unique approach to post-training assessment provides an opportunity to practice skills realistically and authentically, in a safe, learning environment.
Bouncer service work: emotional labour and flexible masculinity
Authors: Søgaard Thomas Friis , Krause-Jensen Jakob
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how new policies and standards to professionalise nightclub bouncing along with customer-oriented service imperatives affect bouncers’ work practices and identities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on 13 months of ethnographic fieldwork among Danish bouncers and uses the concept of “emotional labour” and related ideas of “interactive service work” to explore how service imperatives play out at political/commercial and organisational levels and how such initiatives are negotiated by bouncers in their work practices.

Findings

Until recently, the nocturnal work of bouncers had been relatively unaffected by labour market service paradigms. This is now changing, as policy initiatives and the capitalist service economy colonise ever greater domains of the urban night and the work conducted here. We argue that trends towards professionalisation have landed bouncers in a double-bind situation, in which they are increasingly faced with competing and sometimes contradictory occupational imperatives requiring them both to “front up” effectively to unruly patrons and to project a service-oriented persona. We show how bouncers seek to cope with this precarious position by adopting a variety of strategies, such as resistance, partial acceptance and cultural re-interpretations of service roles.

Originality/value

While existing research on nightclub bouncers has primarily focussed on bouncers’ physical regulation of unruly guests, this paper provides a theoretical framework for understanding current policy ambitions to “domesticate” bouncers and shows how attempts to construct bouncers as civilised “service workers” is fraught with paradoxes and ambiguities.
Responding to service failures with prevention framed donations
Authors: Alhouti Sarah , Wright Scott A. , Baker Thomas L.
Published: August 2019

Purpose

Service failures are common and companies must decide how best to respond to these incidents. The purpose of this study is to examine service recovery efforts that incorporate a donation component, in addition to financial compensation. More specifically, the relative effectiveness of these recovery efforts was explored according to the regulatory focus framing (i.e. prevention- or promotion-focused) of the donation message.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experiments are conducted to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Drawing from regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997), the authors determined that prevention framing (e.g. highlighting the negative outcomes avoided by a donation) leads to better service recovery outcomes compared to promotion framing (e.g. highlighting the positive outcomes of a donation) the donation message. Furthermore, warmth (e.g. perceptions of caring and helpfulness) and competence (e.g. perceptions of capability and usefulness) underlie this effect and message trust moderates the effect of regulatory framing on warmth.

Research limitations/implications

This study offers several theoretical and managerial implications. First, a novel recovery approach that benefits multiple stakeholders was illustrated, particularly when the donation message is prevention (vs promotion) framed. The authors focused on donations in particular, but future researchers should explore other corporate social responsibility activities such as those pertaining to sustainability, ethical labor practices or educational training.

Practical implications

Companies should consider incorporating donations into service recovery efforts. Moreover, companies should use prevention as opposed to promotion frames in their donation messages. Using a prevention frame enhances perceptions of company warmth and competence.

Originality/value

Very little research has explored the effectiveness of donations following service failures despite evidence that companies use donations in this context. This research highlights the importance of regulatory focus framing and demonstrates how a donation, paired with financial compensation, is more/less effective according to the framing of the communication. Thus, this research demonstrates a novel effect, identifies its underlying mechanism through warmth and competence and establishes an important boundary condition according to message trust.
Addressing vulnerability: what role does marketing play?
Authors: Cheung Lilliemay , McColl-Kennedy Janet R.
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the connection between social marketing and transformative service research (TSR), providing a conceptual framework and implications for both theory and practice. The research explores the role marketing plays in a political deterrence campaign and its impact on service systems in meeting the needs of refugees and asylum seekers.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research is based on 24 in-depth interviews with service providers, and refugees and asylum seekers and a critical discourse analysis examining campaign materials including political press statements, news media articles and government policy documents.

Findings

This paper explores where social marketing and TSR intersect in their aims to promote social change. TSR calls on marketers to address vulnerability related to social issues such as poverty, forced migration and discrimination. The research provides evidence that service systems actors use practices of resistance to challenge dominant discourses in attempts to relieve suffering for refugees and asylum seekers.

Research limitations/implications

The authors contribute by extending the body of work that investigates how service systems can relieve suffering. The study also examines how marketing tactics and strategies underpin a political campaign designed to deter asylum seekers crossing sovereign borders. The research makes three important contributions. First, the research focuses on a significant international problem of better understanding how service systems can relieve suffering for refugees and asylum seekers. Second, it examines how oppositional discourses impact on service systems’ ability to create and sustain social change. Third, it investigates how service systems actors deploy practices of resistance to enact social change.

Originality/value

This research highlights the important role of engaging as consumer-citizens to address social change, particularly for vulnerable groups, such as refugees and asylum seekers.
Online relationship marketing: evolution and theoretical insights into online relationship marketing
Authors: Thaichon Park , Liyanaarachchi Gajendra , Quach Sara , Weaven Scott , Bu Yi
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the past, current and future trends in empirical research and theoretical insights into online relationship marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

Review over 100 empirical and theoretical studies in the online relationship marketing from top marketing and management journals.

Findings

This paper examined three areas pertinent to online relationship marketing: first, the evolution of online relationship marketing from pre-1990s to the present, which offers a temporal snapshot of changes in and an overview of the critical components that make up the structure of online relationship marketing; second, key theoretical perspectives are underlying the development of online relationship marketing; and third, empirical insights into online relationship marketing. In general, online relationship marketing has evolved from customers being passive receivers of online information and services to active co-producers and value co-creators.

Research limitations/implications

The paper identifies future research areas, including multiple layers of interactions, use of new technologies and platforms and the dark side of online communications.

Originality/value

The authors dedicated summary tables for each area, highlighting key findings, which in turn suggest a series of managerial recommendations for facilitating efficient, effective buyer–seller interactions and maximising firm performance in relation to online relationship marketing.
SNS eWOM sentiment: impacts on brand value co-creation and trust
Authors: Seifert Christin , Kwon Wi-Suk
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the sentiment of social networking site (SNS)-based brand-related electronic word-of-mouths (eWOMs) influences consumers’ engagement in brand value co-creation and brand trust change, thereby influencing their purchase intention for the brand; and explores a potential moderating effect of mavenism.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 237 college students participated in an online survey to report brand-related eWOM stories to which they were exposed and the brand trust change, brand value co-creation behavior and attitude and purchase intention in response to this exposure. The eWOM stories were content analyzed into positive vs negative eWOM. Structural equation modeling was used to test all hypotheses.

Findings

Participants reported a significantly higher level of brand value co-creation engagement behavior and more positive brand value co-creation engagement attitude and brand trust change after seeing a positive (vs negative) brand-related eWOM on SNSs. Brand trust change and value co-creation engagement attitude positively influenced purchase intention. The moderating effect of mavenism was not significant.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that brand marketers should actively monitor and respond to the sentiment of SNS-based eWOMs and establish strategies to encourage consumers to create and share positive eWOMs on SNSs.

Originality/value

This study contributes to closing the empirical gap in SNS-based eWOM research by providing support for brand-related eWOM sentiment as a significant motivational factor triggering consumers’ engagement in brand value co-creation and brand trust change on SNSs as well as purchase intention.
Improvement in fasting blood sugar, anthropometric measurement and hs-CRP after consumption of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Hadi Said , Alipour Meysam , Aghamohammadi Vahideh , Shahemi Sahar , Ghafouri-Taleghani Fatemeh , Pourjavidi Niloufar , Foroughi Mona , Chraqipoor Mackaan
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) effect in diabetes has been investigated in animal studies, but results of clinical trials are inconsistent. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effects of EGCG supplementation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 50 patients with T2DM were recruited in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The eligible participants were randomly allocated to EGCG (n = 25) and placebo (n = 25) groups. The EGCG group received two capsules of EGCG (each capsule contained 150 mg; Shari Made®, Iran) and placebo group was administered two capsules of placebo (starch) for eight weeks. A three-day 24-h dietary recall and anthropometric and laboratory measurements were carried out at the beginning and the end of the study.

Findings

At the end of the trial, weight and body mass index (BMI) were decreased significantly in both groups, but the reduction was not statistically significant between the two groups. Fasting blood sugar decreased significantly in EGCG group. No significant between-group and within-group differences were found in insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index values. The high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was significantly reduced in the EGCG group (4.13 ± 0.48-3.93 ± 0.50, p = 0.003) compared to baseline.

Originality/value

This study showed that consuming 300 mg/day of EGCG for eight weeks in patients with T2DM caused a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose, body weight, BMI and hs-CRP compared to baseline. Therefore, the EGCG supplementation may improve glycemic control, anthropometric and inflammation status in T2DM.
Corporate Tax Planning and Financial Performance in Nigerian Non‐Financial Quoted Companies
Authors: Olarewaju Odunayo Magret , Olayiwola John Ayobamibo
Published: August 2019

This study investigates the relationship between corporate tax planning and financial performance of quoted non‐financial companies. The secondary yearly data used were gathered from 47 sampled non‐financial companies from 2007 to 2016. A panel vector autoregressive approach with structural analysis such as variance decomposition and impulse response function was adopted. The results of the study revealed that tax saving had a direct relationship with financial performance, while tax avoidance had an inverse relationship with financial performance. The financial variables under consideration mainly contributed to their own shocks or forecast errors. The responses of the financial performance to shocks in tax avoidance had an expansionary effect which could hinder the performance of the companies, while financial performance response to shocks in tax savings had a contractionary effect and as such, could lead to better performance of the companies. Thus, corporate tax planning that enhances tax savings greatly contributes to the performance of non‐financial companies. They should therefore not only engage in tax planning, but also ensure that their tax planning is legal, and leads to tax saving for the companies, such that no excessive or multiple tax will be paid and hence, better financial performance will be achieved.
MistNet: Measuring historical bird migration in the US using archived weather radar data and convolutional neural networks
Authors: Lin Tsung‐Yu , Winner Kevin , Bernstein Garrett , Mittal Abhay , Dokter Adriaan M. , Horton Kyle G. , Nilsson Cecilia , Van Doren Benjamin M. , Farnsworth Andrew , La Sorte Frank A. , Maji Subhransu , Sheldon Daniel
Published: August 2019

Large networks of weather radars are comprehensive instruments for studying bird migration. For example, the US WSR‐88D network covers the entire continental US and has archived data since the 1990s. The data can quantify both broad and fine‐scale bird movements to address a range of migration ecology questions. However, the problem of automatically discriminating precipitation from biology has significantly limited the ability to conduct biological analyses with historical radar data.

We develop MistNet, a deep convolutional neural network to discriminate precipitation from biology in radar scans. Unlike prior machine learning approaches, MistNet makes fine‐scaled predictions and can collect biological information from radar scans that also contain precipitation. MistNet is based on neural networks for images, and includes several architecture components tailored to the unique characteristics of radar data. To avoid a massive human labelling effort, we train MistNet using abundant noisy labels obtained from dual polarization radar data.

In historical and contemporary WSR‐88D data, MistNet identifies at least 95.9% of all biomass with a false discovery rate of 1.3%. Dual polarization training data and our radar‐specific architecture components are effective. By retaining biomass that co‐occurs with precipitation in a single radar scan, MistNet retains 15% more biomass than traditional whole‐scan approaches to screening. MistNet is fully automated and can be applied to datasets of millions of radar scans to produce fine‐grained predictions that enable a range of applications, from continent‐scale mapping to local analysis of airspace usage.

Radar ornithology is advancing rapidly and leading to significant discoveries about continent‐scale patterns of bird movements. General‐purpose and empirically validated methods to quantify biological signals in radar data are essential to the future development of this field. MistNet can enable large‐scale, long‐term, and reproducible measurements of whole migration systems.
Ownership Concentration and Institutional Quality: Do They Affect Corporate Bankruptcy Risk?
Authors: Kim Jounghyeon
Published: August 2019

Using the Worldwide Governance Indicators and enterprise survey data from the World Bank in 41 countries, this paper explores the relationship between ownership concentration and institutional quality and their association with corporate bankruptcy risk. The analytical results indicate an inverse relationship, suggesting that concentrated ownership is higher in countries with lower governance quality. This paper also finds that ownership concentration and institutional quality reduce bankruptcy risk and that in countries with stronger institutional quality, concentrated ownership has a weaker effect on bankruptcy risk. This implies that ownership concentration as a corporate governance mechanism can play a substituting role for weak governance quality and that such a role is more significant in countries with weaker institutional quality.
Crashing the Party? Elites, Outsiders, and Elections
Authors: Buisseret Peter , Van Weelden Richard
Published: August 2019

We consider an election between two parties that nominate candidates for office. The parties are polarized along a traditional cleavage, but they are also internally divided along a second issue dimension. We introduce a threat of entry from Outsider candidates, who have the prominence and resources to bypass party elites. We consider when voters will turn to Outsiders, and identify the conditions under which Outsiders will enter the election through an established party's nomination process, as opposed to circumventing established parties via a third‐party challenge. We further explore when the elites will fail to respond to the threat of Outsider candidates. Our framework highlights how established parties will be especially vulnerable to Outsider primary entry in periods of intense ideological polarization between the parties, and that this vulnerability is especially heightened for the majority party.
Premature birth was not associated with increased body fatness in four‐year‐old boys and girls
Authors: Forsum Elisabet Katarina , Flinke Eva , Olhager Elisabeth ,   The body composition study group
Published: August 2019

Aim

Premature birth is a worldwide problem and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life. Prematurely born infants may have a high percentage of body fat at term‐equivalent age, but it is unclear if this characteristic is maintained in childhood. Therefore, we compared the size and body composition of four‐year‐old prematurely born children to such values of full‐term controls.

Methods

Between 2013 and 2015, we assessed weight, height, fat mass and fat‐free mass, using air displacement plethysmography in 188 reasonably healthy prematurely born four‐year‐olds (98 boys).

Results

At four years of age, prematurely born children (gestational weeks at birth: 23.3‐36.9) tended to be lighter and shorter and to contain less fat mass and fat‐free mass than did full‐term controls. The gestational age at birth of the prematurely born children correlated positively and significantly (P < .05) with height, weight, body mass index, fat mass (kg, %), fat mass index and fat‐free mass (kg) in girls but not in boys.

Conclusion

Prematurity was not associated with increased body fatness in our four‐year‐olds. Our findings are relevant in relation to previously published results showing that premature birth is associated with chronic disease later in life.
Editorial: tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and prevention of mother‐to‐child transmission of hepatitis B virus
Authors: Han Zhenyan , Hou Hongying
Published: August 2019

LINKED CONTENT

This article is linked to Chang et al papers. To view these articles, visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.15321 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.15404.
From engineer to taxi driver? Language proficiency and the occupational skills of immigrants
Authors: Imai Susumu , Stacey Derek , Warman Casey
Published: August 2019

We examine the ability of immigrants to transfer the occupational human capital they acquired prior to immigration. We first augment a model of occupational choice to study the implications of language proficiency on the cross‐border transferability of occupational human capital. We then explore the empirical predictions using information about the skill requirements from O*NET and a unique dataset that includes both the last source country occupation and the first four years of occupations in Canada. We supplement the analysis using Census estimates for the same cohort with source country occupational skill requirements predicted using detailed human capital related information such as field of study. We find that male immigrants to Canada were employed in source country occupations that typically require high levels of cognitive skills, but rely less intently on manual skills. Following immigration, they find initial employment in occupations that require the opposite. Consistent with the hypothesized asymmetric role of language in the transferability of previously acquired cognitive and manual skills, these discrepancies are larger among immigrants with limited language fluency.
Plasma levels of soluble membrane attack complex are elevated despite viral suppression in HIV patients with poor immune reconstitution
Authors: Schein T N , Blackburn T E , Heath S L , Barnum S R
Published: August 2019

The complement system is now a therapeutic target for the management of serious and life-threatening conditions such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, glomerulonephritis and other diseases caused by complement deficiencies or genetic variants. As complement therapeutics expand into more clinical conditions, monitoring complement activation is increasingly important, as is the baseline levels of complement activation fragments in blood or other body fluid levels. Although baseline complement levels have been reported in the literature, the majority of these data were generated using non-standard assays and with variable sample handling, potentially skewing results. In this study, we examined the plasma and serum levels of the soluble membrane attack complex of complement (sMAC). sMAC is formed in the fluid phase when complement is activated through the terminal pathway. It binds the regulatory proteins vitronectin and/or clusterin and cannot insert into cell membranes, and can serve as a soluble diagnostic marker in infectious disease settings, as previously shown for intraventricular shunt infections. Here we show that in healthy adults, serum sMAC levels were significantly higher than those in plasma, that plasma sMAC levels were similar between in African Americans and Caucasians and that plasma sMAC levels increase with age. Plasma sMAC levels were significantly higher in virally suppressed people living with HIV (PLWH) compared to non-HIV infected healthy donors. More specifically, PLWH with CD4+ T cell counts below 200 had even greater sMAC levels, suggesting diagnostic value in monitoring sMAC levels in this group.
The biodiversity benefit of native forests and mixed‐species plantations over monoculture plantations
Authors: Wang Xiaoyang , Hua Fangyuan , Wang Lin , Wilcove David S. , Yu Douglas W.
Published: August 2019

Aim

China's Grain for Green Program (GFGP) is the largest reforestation programme in the world and has been operating since 1999. The GFGP has promoted the establishment of tree plantations over the restoration of diverse native forests. In a previous study, we showed that native forests support a higher species richness and abundance of birds and bees than do GFGP plantations and that mixed‐species GFGP plantations support a higher level of bird (but not bee) diversity than do any individual GFGP monocultures (although still below that of native forests). Here, we use metabarcoding of arthropod diversity to test the generality of these results.

Location

Sichuan, China.

Methods

We sampled arthropod communities using pan traps in the land cover types concerned under the GFGP. These land use types include croplands (the land cover being reforested under the GFGP), native forests (the reference ecosystem as the benchmark for the GFGP’s biodiversity effects) and the dominant GFGP reforestation outcomes: monoculture and mixed‐species plantations. We used COI‐amplicon sequencing (“metabarcoding”) of the arthropod samples to quantify and assess the arthropod community profiles associated with each land cover type.

Results

Native forests support the highest overall levels of arthropod species diversity, followed by mixed‐species plantations, followed by bamboo and other monocultures. Also, the arthropod community in native forests shares more species with mixed‐species plantations than it does with any of the monocultures. Together, these results broadly corroborate our previous conclusions on birds and bees but show a higher arthropod biodiversity value of mixed‐species plantations than previously indicated by bees alone.

Main conclusion

In our previous study, we recommended that GFGP should prioritize the conservation and restoration of native forests. Also, where plantations are to be used, we recommended that the GFGP should promote mixed‐species arrangements over monocultures. Both these recommendations should result in more effective protection of terrestrial biodiversity, which is an important objective of China's land‐sustainability spending. The results of this study strengthen these recommendations because our policy prescriptions are now also based on a dataset that includes over 500 species‐resolution taxa, ranging across the Arthropoda.
Stable isotopes are quantitative indicators of trophic niche
Authors: Marshall Harry H. , Inger Richard , Jackson Andrew L. , McDonald Robbie A. , Thompson Faye J. , Cant Michael A.
Published: August 2019

Hette‐Tronquart (2019, Ecol. Lett.) raises three concerns about our interpretation of stable isotope data in Sheppard et al. (2018, Ecol. Lett., 21, 665). We feel that these concerns are based on comparisons that are unreasonable or ignore the ecological context from which the data were collected. Stable isotope ratios provide a quantitative indication of, rather than being exactly equivalent to, trophic niche.
The safety and efficacy of neuromodulation using percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for the management of trigeminal‐mediated headshaking in 168 horses
Authors: Roberts V. L. H. , Bailey M. ,   The Equipens™ group, Patel N. K.
Published: August 2019

Background

Early results from the use of neuromodulation by percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for the management of trigeminal‐mediated headshaking in horses were promising but lacked sufficient case numbers and long‐term follow‐up. The neuromodulatory procedure has since been established as EquiPENS™.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to report long‐term results from a larger number of cases and to investigate for predictors of outcome.

Study design

Prospective case series using international, multi‐centre data.

Methods

Eligible cases were horses with a veterinary diagnosis of trigeminal‐mediated headshaking, which received EquiPENS™ neuromodulation at trained centres between August 2013 and November 2017. The standard protocol was an initial three‐procedure course, with additional procedures should a horse go into remission but then relapse. Data collected included signalment, history, diagnostic tests performed, details of any complications, whether horses had gone into remission and the length of remission.

Results

Results were obtained from 168 horses, with 530 procedures. The complication rate was 8.8% of procedures. In all but one case, complications were mild and transient, without self‐trauma. Remission of headshaking following the initial course occurred in 53% (72/136) of horses. Median length of time recorded in remission was 9.5 weeks (range 2 days to 156 weeks ongoing). Where signs recurred, most horses went back into remission following additional procedures, usually for longer than from the previous procedure. No predictors for outcome were determined.

Main limitations

No placebo or control group, owner‐assessed results.

Conclusions

EquiPENS™ neuromodulation can be an effective and safe treatment for the management of trigeminal‐mediated headshaking in some horses. An increased understanding of neuromodulation could help optimise the technique. Advances in treatment for trigeminal‐mediated headshaking will remain limited until there is a greater understanding of the aetiopathogenesis of the condition.
Parameterizing neural networks for disease classification
Authors: Bahra Guryash , Wiese Lena
Published: August 2019

Neural networks are one option to implement decision support systems for health care applications. In this paper, we identify optimal settings of neural networks for medical diagnoses: The study involves the application of supervised machine learning using an artificial neural network to distinguish between gout and leukaemia patients. With the objective to improve the base accuracy (calculated from the initial set‐up of the neural network model), several enhancements are analysed, such as the use of hyperbolic tangent activation function instead of the sigmoid function, the use of two hidden layers instead of one, and transforming the measurements with linear regression to obtain a smoothened data set. Another setting we study is the impact on the accuracy when using a data set of reduced size but with higher data quality. We also discuss the tradeoff between accuracy and runtime efficiency.