bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and internet financial reporting in Iran
Authors: Nassir Zadeh Farzaneh , Salehi Mahdi , Shabestari Haneyeh
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the ownership of institutional shareholders, the proportion of non-executive members, the percentage of ownership of major shareholders, the duality of the tasks of chief executive officer and chairman of the board of director, financial leverage, the amount of the remuneration of the board of director, the company’s life and the amount of export on internet financial reporting.

Design/methodology/approach

For this purpose, the authors surveyed the 301 listed companies on Tehran Stock Exchange in 2015. The statistical method used to test the hypothesis of the study was cross-sectional data.

Findings

The results indicate the negative impact of ratio of non-executive members and the positive impact of financial leverage, size, liquidity and the life of the company in stock, over internet financial reporting.

Originality/value

The current study is almost the first study which is conducted in a developing country, and the results may helpful to the other developing nations.
Evaluating the effect of motivational dimensions on the construction project managers in Jordan
Authors: Shurrab Mohammed , Abbasi Ghaleb , Al Khazaleh Razan
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Construction organizations and companies are concerned with the motivational factors of the project managers that influence the project success. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to use a questionnaire based on five Likert-scales to identify and investigate the importance of the motivational dimensions on the construction project managers in Jordan

Design/methodology/approach

Therefore, this study aims at using a questionnaire based on five Likert-scales to identify and investigate the importance of the motivational dimensions on the construction project managers in Jordan. The six motivational dimensions were interpersonal interaction, task, general working conditions, empowerment, personal development, and compensation. Hypotheses testing were also developed to study the influence of both the characteristics of the project manager and the characteristic of the project on the motivational dimensions.

Findings

The results showed that the construction project managers in Jordan were motivated more by compensation and personal development. Moreover, the level of education for the project manager was positively related to the motivation by task. It was also noticed that the project manager, who had higher experience, was motivated more by empowerment. The study is valuable in providing important information for the construction organizations in Jordan to actively influence the construction project managers’ motivation.

Originality/value

The urgent needs for increasing project managers’ motivation is the major concern for organizations and companies. Increasing the project managers’ motivation has a major influence on increasing the project success rate and productivity. Construction sector is typically country’s most important asset economically and socially. Currently, no studies were shown to investigate the construction project manager’s motivation in Jordan. This study is, therefore, aims to evaluate the factors that influence the construction project manager’s motivation in Jordan based on content and process motivational theories’ perspectives. This research also utilizes the motivational factors instrument to test its validity in Jordan construction sector.
Let’s change tack, not wind direction: a response to Kog and Yaman (2016)
Authors: Holt Gary D.
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to field a critical response to Kog and Yaman (2016) specifically; and more widely, to strengthen debate on contractor selection (CS) research.

Design/methodology/approach

Critical narrative and opinion based on personal worldview, experiential knowledge and future insight/vision.

Findings

It is argued that enduring CS research has become somewhat stagnated. It has over-emphasised selection process models vis-à-vis the reliability and currency of their processing components, and has inadequately focused on achieving real-life impact.

Research limitations/implications

The principal implication is to engender constructive debate in the field and encourage a change of direction in CS research. The limitation is that this response reflects a personal view and so will be open to “challenge”.

Practical implications

Potential to encourage increased practicability, accessibility and generalisability of CS research products, leading to their increased real-life take-up and improved impact on practice.

Social implications

For society, the optimal implications would be improved project outcomes; healthier stakeholders’ financial interests; and an enhanced constructed environment.

Originality/value

The content is entirely original insofar as it comprises a personal viewpoint.
Lonmin Plc: mining and responsible investment – dangerous liaisons?
Authors: Giamporcaro Stephanie , Putter Marilize
Published: May 2018

Subject area

The case presents a responsible investment dilemma case. Swedish institutional responsible investors have to make a choice about their investment in Lonmin, a platinum mining company whose operation are located in South Africa and has been the theatre of workers’ killings.

Study level/applicability

The case targets MBA students and can be taught in a corporate finance course, a corporate governance course, a business ethics course or on sustainable and responsible investment.

Case overview

The teaching case follows the journey of Hilde Svensson, the head of equities for a Swedish responsible investor. She has been tasked to visit the site of Lonmin in South Africa which is the theatre of a tragic workers’ unrest that led to the killings of 44 workers in August 2012. She must decide what the best responsible investment strategy is to adopt with Lonmin for the future.

Expected learning outcomes

The students are expected to learn about what responsible investment entails and the dilemmas that can be faced by responsible investors. The case also gives insight to business students and the complexities of environment, social and governance (ESG) analysis and how to integrate financial and ESG analysis when you are a responsible investor.

Supplementary materials

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

Subject code

CCS 1: Accounting and Finance
Using sociocultural insights to enhance work-integrated learning
Authors: Fleming Jenny , Haigh Neil J.
Published: May 2018

Purpose

When learning in the workplace is conceptualised as a social process, different social or cultural features of workplaces may enable or constrain students’ learning. The purpose of this paper is to understand the views of students, workplace supervisors and university academics concerning sociocultural features that influenced work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretive case-study methodology, incorporating questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was used to determine the views of stakeholders involved in WIL experiences in a sport undergraduate degree.

Findings

Students’ learning was enhanced when they participated in authentic activities, worked alongside colleagues and could assume increasing responsibility for roles they were given. Social experiences, interactions and activities provided them with opportunities to access individual, shared and tacit knowledge, to learn about language, processes and protocols for interacting and communicating with others, and to become aware of the culture of the workplace. When students successfully acquired this knowledge they were able to “take-on” the accepted characteristics and practices of the workplace community – an outcome that further enhanced their learning.

Practical implications

Students need to understand the social and cultural dimensions of how the work community practices before they begin WIL experiences. Practical ways of addressing this are suggested.

Originality/value

This paper conceptualises WIL as learning through the “practice of work communities” whereby through the activities of the community students can access knowledge in a way that may differ from what they are familiar with from their experiences within the university environment.
Empirical investigation on the predictors of career satisfaction
Authors: Park Yongho
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find the effects of boundaryless career, organizational commitment, and external support seeking on career satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 271 South Korean financial company employees through the survey method. Descriptive analysis was conducted, followed by the correlation and multiple regression analyses.

Findings

The study results showed that organizational mobility preference has a negative effect on career satisfaction. The results also showed that boundaryless mindset and external support seeking have positive effects on career satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

This study showed theoretically that an individual’s specific career related behaviors and attitudes have a positive influence on career satisfaction.

Practical implications

Practically, this study results showed some suggestion for enhancing the employee’s career satisfaction by constructing a career support system.

Originality/value

This paper provides a better understanding of the influences of boundaryless career, organizational commitment, and external support seeking on career satisfaction with an HRD perspective.
Learning from appropriation practices
Authors: Al Zubaidi-Polli Anna Maria , Verdezoto Nervo
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Public participation is an important – if not the most important – pillar of democracy. When designing new e-participation environments, it is advisable to consider previous appropriation practices of deliberative community networks to encourage broad participation. This can be achieved by sharing appropriation practices and by supporting the situated development of use, which may not only increase user participation but also decrease user frustration.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper addresses previously analyzed e-participation appropriation practices and technological limitations that participants faced when using the e-participation environment from the Aarhus’s Artwork design experiment. The lessons learned from these limitations and the appropriation practices identified help us in designing the next generation of e-participation environments and in counteracting their unsuccessful appropriation.

Findings

Potential design improvements for future collaborative writing e-environments that facilitate location-agnostic participation, and improvements that enable successful technology appropriation are presented.

Originality/value

These improvements are important to future research to inform a hybrid of in situ and ex situ technologies that enable collaborative writing to increase public participation in leisure spaces, engage a broader range of citizens and thus also encourage less motivated people.
What is your tweet worldview? Mapping the topic structure of tweets on the Wikipedia
Authors: Suzuki Yu , Ohara Hiromitsu , Nadamoto Akiyo
Published: May 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a method for summarizing the topics of tweets using the Wikipedia category structure as common knowledge for supplementing the understanding of the Twitter user’s interests. There are many topics in the tweets, and the topics can be treated as a tree structure. However, when the topic hierarchy is constructed using existing hierarchal clustering approach, the granularity of tweet groups differs for each user. For summarizing the topics, identification of the topics which are heterogeneous and which are not is necessary because it is easy to understand if several groups are categorized into parent groups. However, if the group units are different for each user, a number of users’ interests cannot be summarized. If some tweets are grouped into the presidential election, and the others are into Donald Trump, there cannot be a count of how many users are interested in Donald Trump.

Design/methodology/approach

One solution of this issue is to construct topic structures by mapping one common tree structure. In this paper, a method is proposed for constructing the topic structure using the Wikipedia category tree similar to a common tree structure. The tweets are categorized, mapped to titles of articles in the Wikipedia category tree and then visualized as the hierarchal structure to the users.

Findings

The effectiveness of the proposed hierarchal topic structure is confirmed. In theme “politics”, the proposed method works well. The main reason is that there are many technical terms about politics in the Wikipedia categories and articles. It was found that a number of the terms of politics do not have multiple meanings, multiple semantics. However, in theme “sports”, the proposed method does not perform well. The main reason for this case is that there are a number of names of people present as topic names.

Originality/value

One important feature of the proposed method is that it is easy to grasp not only about the topics which are heterogeneous or homogeneous with each other but also consider the missing time when extracting topics. Another feature is that the topic structures for multiple users are easy to compare with each other.
Automatic categorization of Web service elements
Authors: Mavridou Efthimia , Giannoutakis Konstantinos M. , Kehagias Dionysios , Tzovaras Dimitrios , Hassapis George
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Semantic categorization of Web services comprises a fundamental requirement for enabling more efficient and accurate search and discovery of services in the semantic Web era. However, to efficiently deal with the growing presence of Web services, more automated mechanisms are required. This paper aims to introduce an automatic Web service categorization mechanism, by exploiting various techniques that aim to increase the overall prediction accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes the use of Error Correcting Output Codes on top of a Logistic Model Trees-based classifier, in conjunction with a data pre-processing technique that reduces the original feature-space dimension without affecting data integrity. The proposed technique is generalized so as to adhere to all Web services with a description file. A semantic matchmaking scheme is also proposed for enabling the semantic annotation of the input and output parameters of each operation.

Findings

The proposed Web service categorization framework was tested with the OWLS-TC v4.0, as well as a synthetic data set with a systematic evaluation procedure that enables comparison with well-known approaches. After conducting exhaustive evaluation experiments, categorization efficiency in terms of accuracy, precision, recall and F-measure was measured. The presented Web service categorization framework outperformed the other benchmark techniques, which comprise different variations of it and also third-party implementations.

Originality/value

The proposed three-level categorization approach is a significant contribution to the Web service community, as it allows the automatic semantic categorization of all functional elements of Web services that are equipped with a service description file.
Exploring stickiness intention of B2C online shopping malls
Authors: Bao Zheshi , Huang Taozhen
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of flow experience and e-trust in online consumers’ stickiness intentions from a perspective of information quality and discuss how to retain these consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors proposed a research model by integrating three dimensions of information quality, flow experience and e-trust. These factors were analyzed to explore the direct and indirect effects on consumers’ stickiness intention. Online questionnaires were adopted to collect data and 259 valid samples were analyzed by structural equation modeling approach.

Findings

The findings show that information quality provided by B2C online shopping malls can indirectly affect consumers’ stickiness intention through the mediation effects of flow experience and e-trust. Besides, flow experience can also significantly affect e-trust and then indirectly influence stickiness intention.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that information quality can trigger the effects of flow experience and e-trust to keep stickiness of online consumers. Besides, in the context of online shopping, flow experience would promote consumers’ trust toward e-retailers. Some other theoretical and practical implications are also provided.

Originality/value

This study indicates the effects of flow experience and e-trust on stickiness intention from an information quality perspective. Meanwhile, the authors also intend to discuss the relationship between consumers’ flow experience and e-trust in the context of B2C online shopping.
Export and growth in ASEAN: does export destination matter?
Authors: Pan Mingming , Nguyen Hien
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The association between export destinations and economic growth remains under-researched, despite the large literature on export-led growth. This paper aims to fill in the gap of the literature. It analyzes the effects of exporting on economic growth in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and further explores which export destinations are most desirable in terms of promoting economic growth.

Design/methodology/approach

With panel data for ASEAN countries from 1986 to 2013, this paper performs both fixed effects estimation and Arellano–Bond GMM estimation.

Findings

Robust findings reveal that to promote economic growth, it is most beneficial for ASEAN countries to export to the Western industrial countries, followed by exporting to Japan, Korea and China. Exporting to the rest of the world does not appear to generate significantly positive effect on economic growth.

Originality/value

The findings have important policy implications for ASEANs to further develop their trade policy.
Financial difficulties and psychosis risk in British undergraduate students: a longitudinal analysis
Authors: Richardson Thomas , Yeebo Mma , Jansen Megan , Elliott Peter , Roberts Ron
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether financial variables impact psychosis risk over time in students.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 408 first-year British undergraduate students completed measures assessing psychosis risk and finances at three time points.

Findings

Greater financial difficulties increased psychosis risk cross sectionally both in terms of symptoms and distress. Other financial variables such as student loan amount were not significant. In longitudinal analysis financial difficulties increase psychotic symptoms and distress over time, but there was no impact of psychotic symptoms on later financial difficulties.

Research limitations/implications

The study used a relatively small and heavily female sample. Future research is needed to confirm the findings.

Practical implications

Whilst amount of debt does not appear to impact psychotic symptoms in students, greater financial difficulties appear to increase the risk of psychosis over time. Professionals working with students should be aware of this potential link.

Originality/value

This is the first time a longitudinal study has examined the effect of finances on psychosis symptoms.
How humble leadership fosters employee innovation behavior
Authors: Zhou Fei , Wu Yenchun Jim
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between humble leadership and employee innovation behavior and to investigate the mediating effects of core self-evaluation (CSE) and the moderating effects of leader political skill in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire data from a sample of 169 employee-leader dyads from technology enterprises in China were employed in this research.

Findings

The results show that humble leadership positively affects employee innovation behavior; moreover, employee CSE and leader political skills play partial mediating and moderating roles, respectively, in the relationship between humble leadership and employee innovation behavior.

Research limitations/implications

This study considered only the positive role of humble leadership and not its negative effects in extreme cases, such as the perceived weakness and inferiority of a humble leader, which may inhibit leadership effectiveness. Future research may examine the excessive and/or negative effects of humble leadership in an organization.

Practical implications

The findings of this study suggest that leaders should maintain humility, develop certain political skills, and enhance employee CSE to stimulate employee innovation behavior.

Originality/value

Although humility has been understood as the core trait of servant leadership, level-five leadership and participative leadership, humble leadership as a new type of independent leadership style has yet to be thoroughly investigated. In particular, there is limited empirical research examining the link between humble leadership and employee innovation behavior.
Comparing convenience and probability sampling for urban ecology applications
Authors: Speak Andrew , Escobedo Francisco J. , Russo Alessio , Zerbe Stefan
Published: May 2018

Urban forest ecosystems confer multiple ecosystem services. There is therefore a need to quantify ecological characteristics in terms of community structure and composition so that benefits can be better understood in ecosystem service models. Efficient sampling and monitoring methods are crucial in this process.

Full tree inventories are scarce due to time and financial constraints, thus a variety of sampling methods exist. Modern vegetation surveys increasingly use a stratified‐random plot‐based sampling to reduce the bias associated with convenience sampling, even though the latter can save time and increase species richness scores. The urban landscape, with a high degree of conspecific clustering and high species diversity, provides a unique biogeographical case for comparing these two methodological approaches.

We use two spatially extensive convenience samples of the urban forest of Meran (Italy), and compare the community structure, tree characteristics and ecosystem service provision with 200 random circular plots.

The convenience sampling resulted in a higher species diversity, incorporating more rare species. This is a result of covering more area per unit sampling time. Pseudorandom subplots were compared to the random plots revealing similar Shannon diversity and sampling comparability indices. Measured tree variables (diameter at breast height, height, tree‐crown width, height to crown base) were similar between the two methods, as were ecosystem service model outputs.

Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that convenience sampling may be a time and money saving alternative to random sampling as long as stratification by land‐use type is incorporated into the design. The higher species richness can potentially improve the accuracy of urban ecological models, which rely on species‐specific functional traits.
Agricultural pastures challenge the attractiveness of natural saltmarsh for a migratory goose
Authors: Dokter Adriaan M. , Fokkema Wimke , Ebbinge Barwolt S. , Olff Han , van der Jeugd Henk P. , Nolet Bart A.
Published: May 2018

Broad‐scale land conversions and fertilizer use have dramatically altered the available staging area for herbivorous long‐distance migrants. Instead of natural land, these birds rely increasingly on pastures for migratory fuelling and stopover, often conflicting with farming practices. To predict and manage birds’ future habitat use, the relative advantages and disadvantages of natural (e.g. saltmarsh, intertidal) versus anthropogenic staging sites for foraging need to be understood.

We compared the migratory staging of brent geese on saltmarsh and pasture sites in spring. Food quality (nitrogen and fibre content), antagonistic behaviour, and body weight were quantified at nearby sites in simultaneous seasons. Individuals were tracked with high‐resolution GPS and accelerometers to compare timing of migration and time budgets during fuelling.

On pastures, birds rested more and experienced higher ingestion rates, similar or superior food quality and reduced antagonistic interactions than on saltmarsh.

Brent geese using fertilized grasslands advanced their fuelling and migration schedules compared to those using saltmarsh. Pasture birds reached heavy weights earlier, departed sooner, and arrived in the Arctic earlier.

Intertidal mudflats were frequently visited by saltmarsh birds during the day, and available food there (algae, some seagrass) was of higher quality than terrestrial resources. Availability of intertidal resources was an important factor balancing the otherwise more favourable conditions on pastures relative to saltmarsh.

Synthesis and applications. Disadvantages of longer foraging effort, more antagonistic interactions and delayed fuelling schedules on traditional saltmarshes may cause geese to exchange this traditional niche in favour of pastures, especially in a warming climate that requires advancement of migratory schedules. However, due to its high quality, intertidal forage can complement terrestrial foraging, potentially removing the incentive for habitat switches to pastures. The relatively high quality of green algae and seagrass, and birds’ remarkable preference for these resources when available, provides a key for managers to create landscapes that can sustain this specialist’s intertidal lifestyle. To keep natural habitats attractive to staging geese with the purpose of preventing conflicts with farming practices, management actions should focus on conservation and restoration of saltmarsh and especially intertidal habitat.
At the external boundary of a disaster response operation: The dynamics of volunteer inclusion
Authors: Johansson Roine , Danielsson Erna , Kvarnlöf Linda , Eriksson Kerstin , Karlsson Robin
Published: May 2018

In the present article, practices of inclusion of different types of volunteers in the response to a large‐scale forest fire in Sweden are studied. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with three types of voluntary actors. The volunteers were organized to different degrees, from members of organizations and participants in emergent groups to organizationally unaffiliated individuals. Organized volunteers were the most easily included, particularly if they were members of voluntary emergency organizations. It was difficult for volunteers lacking relevant organizational affiliation to be included. Disaster response operations are dynamic, conditions change over time, and tensions between different modes, degrees, and levels of inclusion may arise. However, irrespective of changing conditions, practices of inclusion of highly organized volunteers work best.
Optimising motivation and reducing burnout for radiation oncology trainees: A framework using self‐determination theory
Authors: Poulsen Michael , Poulsen Anne A
Published: May 2018

Radiation oncology trainees in Australia and New Zealand have relatively high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation which are core components of burnout. The stresses of a demanding clinical load, studying for exams as well as family commitments are all contributing factors. Self‐Deter mination Theory (SDT) provides a framework for optimising motivation which may be intrinsic or extrinsic. The three core components of SDT are competence, relatedness and autonomy. These factors should be addressed at a college level, Institutional and a personal level if the best outcomes are to be achieved. An environment that supports the individual's experience of competency, relatedness and autonomy will foster motivation and work engagement which in turn will improve performance, energy, resilience and creativity and reduce levels of burnout.
Usefulness of dual‐phase cone‐beam computed tomography during arteriography and automated tumour‐feeder detection software in transarterial embolization for obscure arterial bleeding in the abdomen
Authors: Miyayama Shiro , Yamashiro Masashi , Nagai Keiichi , Sugimori Natsuki , Iwata Koji , Sakuragawa Naoko
Published: May 2018

We report the usefulness of dual‐phase cone‐beam computed tomography during angiography (CBCTA) and automated tumour‐feeder detection software (AFD) in transarterial embolization (TAE) for three consecutive cases of obscure arterial bleeding in the abdomen. Two patients presented with lower gastrointestinal bleeding and one showed bleeding into the pancreatic pseudocyst. Superior mesenteric or common hepatic angiography did not demonstrate extravasation, but dual‐phase CBCTA and AFD could identify extravasation and an access route to the bleeding point. TAE with gelatin sponge particles and a microcoil was successfully performed under AFD guidance in all patients without any complication, and haemostasis could be achieved.
Subsidizing research programs with “if” and “when” uncertainty in the face of severe informational constraints
Authors: Besanko David , Tong Jian , Wu Jason Jianjun
Published: May 2018

We study subsidy policies for research programs when firms have private information about the likelihood of project viability, but the government cannot form a unique prior about this likelihood. When the shadow cost of public funds is zero, first‐best welfare can be attained as a (belief‐free) ex post equilibrium under both monopoly and competition, but it cannot be attained when the shadow cost is positive. However, max‐min subsidy policies exist under monopoly and competition and consist of pure matching subsidies. Under a Research and Development (R&D) consortium, the highest max‐min matching rate is lower than under competition, and R&D investment intensity is higher.
A practice theoretical analysis of the irrelevance of integrated reporting to mainstream sell‐side analysts
Authors: Abhayawansa Subhash , Elijido‐Ten Evangeline , Dumay John
Published: May 2018

This study investigates whether integrated reporting (IR) is achieving its intended purpose by focusing on its usefulness as perceived by sell‐side analysts. The main data come from 23 analysts who covered companies participating in the Pilot Programme Business Network of the International Integrated Reporting Council as of 2013. We find that IR has not connected with analysts’ practice of firm assessment. The improvements resulting from the adoption of integrated reporting are not relevant to analysts, as the reports do not provide the information required by analysts in sufficient detail or preferred format.
Obesity, gestational diabetes and macrosomia are associated with increasing rates of early‐term induction of labour at The Canberra Hospital
Authors: McGuane Jonathan T. , Grlj Lori , Peek Michael J.
Published: May 2018

Background

Early‐term delivery is an important cause of short‐term neonatal morbidity and associated high healthcare costs, with possible additional long‐term developmental ramifications. As a form of ‘iatrogenic’ delivery, induction of labour (IOL) is a potentially modifiable contributor to this burden.

Aims

To determine patterns of, and primary indication for, early‐term IOL, as well as temporal trends in this primary indication and differences from other modes of delivery with respect to maternal factors and maternal/neonatal outcomes.

Materials and Methods

The Canberra Hospital births database (2012–2016) was queried; patients who underwent IOL were included in the analysis.

Results

Total deliveries and the proportion of early‐term IOL procedures rose markedly over the time period. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was the most frequent and an increasing main indication for IOL. GDM was associated with significantly higher body mass index, an increased proportion of obesity, and a greater incidence of labour complications related to macrosomia. Birthweight of neonates of diabetic mothers was significantly higher, which was associated with decreased rates of admission to the special care nursery/neonatal intensive care unit (SCN/NICU) compared to all other babies. GDM increased relative risk of early‐term IOL in obese women by 1.8 times.

Conclusions

The burden of GDM and early‐term IOL have increased at The Canberra Hospital although adverse short‐term neonatal outcomes have not, possibly suggesting appropriate management of these patients. Nonetheless, effort should be made to identify patients who can safely continue pregnancy to full term, given the higher proportion of SCN/NICU admissions among early‐term neonates.
Thermoregulatory profile of neurodegeneration‐induced dementia of the Alzheimer's type using intracerebroventricular streptozotocin in rats
Authors: Motzko‐Soares A. C. P. , Vizin R. C. L. , Martins T. M. S. , Hungaro A. R. O. , Sato J. R. , Almeida M. C. , Carrettiero D. C.
Published: May 2018

Aim

Here, we have extensively investigated the relationship between thermoregulation and neurodegeneration‐induced dementia of the Alzheimer's type using intracerebroventricular injections of streptozotocin (icv‐STZ).

Methods

Male Wistar rats were treated with bilateral injections of icv‐STZ, and their thermoregulatory profiles (core body temperature, tail‐skin temperature, cold and heat defence responses and thermal place preference) were evaluated. Spatial memory, locomotor activity, social interaction, brain ventricular volume, and Aβ1‐42 and tau protein levels in the brain were analysed to characterize the effects of STZ on the brain and behaviour.

Results

In addition to deficits in spatial memory, reduced social interaction and an increased brain ventricular volume, icv‐STZ rats presented a pattern of hyperthermia, as demonstrated by an increased core body temperature. Hyperthermia was due to the activation of both autonomic heat conservation and behavioural cold avoidance, as STZ‐treated rats presented tail‐cutaneous vasoconstriction and an altered thermal preference. They also showed a distinct cold defence response when exposed to cold.

Conclusion

Our data bring evidence that icv‐STZ in rats causes hyperthermia, with activation of both autonomic and behavioural thermoregulatory defence responses when challenged at colder temperatures, leading us to hypothesize that they are more efficient in preventing hypothermia. These data are relevant for a better understanding of neurodegenerative disease mechanisms.
Decreased levels of keratin 8 sensitize mice to streptozotocin‐induced diabetes
Authors: Alam C. M. , Silvander J. S. G. , Helenius T. O. , Toivola D. M.
Published: May 2018

Aim

Diabetes is a result of an interplay between genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Keratin intermediate filaments are stress proteins in epithelial cells, and keratin mutations predispose to several human diseases. However, the involvement of keratins in diabetes is not well known. K8 and its partner K18 are the main β‐cell keratins, and knockout of K8 (K8−/−) in mice causes mislocalization of glucose transporter 2, mitochondrial defects, reduced insulin content and altered systemic glucose/insulin control. We hypothesize that K8/K18 offer protection during β‐cell stress and that decreased K8 levels contribute to diabetes susceptibility.

Methods

K8‐heterozygous knockout (K8+/−) and wild‐type (K8+/+) mice were used to evaluate the influence of keratin levels on endocrine pancreatic function and diabetes development under basal conditions and after T1D streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced β‐cell stress and T2D high‐fat diet (HFD).

Results

Murine K8+/− endocrine islets express ~50% less K8/K18 compared with K8+/+. The decreased keratin levels have little impact on basal systemic glucose/insulin regulation, β‐cell health or insulin levels. Diabetes incidence and blood glucose levels are significantly higher in K8+/− mice after low‐dose/chronic STZ treatment, and STZ causes more β‐cell damage and polyuria in K8+/− compared with K8+/+. K8 appears upregulated 5 weeks after STZ treatment in K8+/+ islets but not in K8+/−. K8+/− mice showed no major susceptibility risk to HFD compared to K8+/+.

Conclusion

Partial K8 deficiency reduces β‐cell stress tolerance and aggravates diabetes development in response to STZ, while there is no major susceptibility to HFD.
Community resources for energy transition: Implementing bioenergy villages in Germany
Authors: Roesler Tim
Published: May 2018

Innovations in energy transitions are diverse. Community‐led innovations have only recently gained more attention. In the German energy transition, the community‐led approach has resulted in a growing number of innovative renewable energy projects, with prominent examples including bioenergy villages. Although community‐led innovations only constitute a niche within the German energy regime, through the example of bioenergy villages we can see how this approach is able to significantly change the energy regime on a local scale. This paper explores the role of community‐led actions and resources in the implementation process of bioenergy villages in Germany, using the example of the county of Marburg‐Biedenkopf in Hesse. The conceptual background of this paper is based on the analytical frameworks of the multi‐level perspective and strategic niche management. Specifically, it addresses the two recent critiques on the neglect of space and place as well as the neglect of the analysis of community‐based actions. Using this perspective, the paper analyses the spatial and scalar linkages between local community‐driven actions and extra‐local resources.
Murrayanine Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide‐induced Inflammation and Protects Mice from Sepsis‐associated Organ Failure
Authors: Gupta Shilpa , Khajuria Vidushi , wani Abubakar , Nalli Yedukondalu , Bhagat Asha , Ali Asif , Ahmed Zabeer
Published: May 2018

Murrayanine (MK) is the main compound isolated fromMurraya koenigii,an aromatic plant belonging to the Rutaceae family, also known as curry leaf tree. Murrayanine was reported to possess potential antioxidant, antimycobacterial and antifungal effects. However, its effect in sepsis remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the anti‐inflammatory effect ofMKusing bothin vitroandin vivoassay. Results of this study indicated thatMKdecreasedNO,TNF‐α andIL‐6 production in both lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐stimulatedRAW264.7 cells and murine peritoneal macrophages. Moreover,iNOSandCOX‐2 protein expression as well as their downstream product,PGE2, was also decreased effectively inRAW264.7 cells. Furthermore,MKdecreased the phosphorylation ofIKBand repressedNF‐kBactivity inLPS‐activatedRAW264.7 cells. Additionally, we evaluatedMKefficacyin vivousingLPS‐induced sepsis, a systemic inflammation model in mice. Administration ofMKinhibits pro‐inflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α andIL‐6) secretion; decreasesAST,ALT,BUNandCRElevel in mouse sera; mitigates lung, liver and kidney injuries; and also increasesLPS‐challenged mice survival rate. Collectively, our results suggest thatMKexerts potential as a new anti‐inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug in sepsis treatment.
Neurocognitive functioning over the course of trauma‐focused psychotherapy for PTSD: Changes in verbal memory and executive functioning
Authors: Nijdam Mirjam J. , Martens Irene J. M. , Reitsma Johannes B. , Gersons Berthold P. R. , Olff Miranda
Published: May 2018

Objectives

Individuals with post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have neurocognitive deficits in verbal memory and executive functioning. In this study, we examined whether memory and executive functioning changed over the course of treatment and which clinical variables were associated with change.

Design

Neuropsychological assessments were administered at baseline and endpoint of a randomized controlled trial as secondary outcome.

Methods

Trauma survivors (n = 88) diagnosed with PTSD received trauma‐focused psychotherapy within a 17‐week randomized controlled trial. Neuropsychological tests were the California Verbal Learning Test, Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test, Stroop Color Word Test, and Trail Making Test.

Results

Significant, small‐ to medium‐sized improvements in verbal memory, information processing speed, and executive functioning were found after trauma‐focused psychotherapy (Cohen's d 0.16–0.68). Greater PTSD symptom decrease was significantly related to better post‐treatment neurocognitive performance (all p < .005). Patients with comorbid depression improved more than patients with PTSD alone on interference tasks (p < .01). No differences emerged between treatment conditions and between patients on serotonergic antidepressants and those who were not.

Conclusions

This study suggests that neurocognitive deficits in PTSD can improve over the course of trauma‐focused psychotherapy and are therefore at least partly reversible. Improvements over treatment are in line with previous neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies and effect sizes exceed those of practice effects. Future research should determine whether these changes translate into improved functioning in the daily lives of the patients.

Practitioner points

Patients with PTSD have difficulties performing verbal memory tasks (e.g., remembering a grocery list, recall of a story) and executive functioning tasks (e.g., shifting attention between two tasks, ignoring irrelevant information to complete a task).

Verbal memory, information processing speed, and executive functioning significantly improved in patients with post‐traumatic stress disorder over the course of trauma‐focused psychotherapy.

Improvements were equal in size for two different trauma‐focused psychotherapies (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy and brief eclectic psychotherapy for PTSD).

Medium‐sized effects were found for recall of a story, whereas effects in other aspects of verbal memory, information processing speed, and executive functioning were small‐sized.

No causal attributions can be made because we could not include a control group without treatment for ethical reasons.

Findings may be more reflective of patients who completed treatment than patients who prematurely dropped out as completers were overrepresented in our sample.
Negativity bias in infants’ expectations about agents’ dispositions
Authors: Chae Joanna Joo Kyung , Song Hyun‐joo
Published: May 2018

This study investigated 6‐ and 10‐month‐old infants’ abilities to infer others’ preferences based on social interactions using looking time and choice measures. Infants were randomly assigned to either a helping/neutral or hindering/neutral condition. Those in the helping/neutral condition were first familiarized with a helping event, in which an agent helped a circle climb a hill, and a neutral event, in which another agent followed the same path as the helping agent but had no interaction with the circle. During the test phase, the circle approached either the helper or the neutral agent. In the hindering/neutral condition, the infants were familiarized with a hindering event, in which an agent hindered the circle from reaching the top of the hill, and a neutral event, in which another agent followed the same path as the hindering agent but had no interaction with the circle. During the test phase, the circle approached either the hinderer or the neutral agent. For the looking‐time measure, infants in the hindering/neutral condition looked reliably longer at the approach‐hinderer than at the approach‐neutral agent event, whereas those in the helping/neutral condition looked for equal amounts of time at both test events. These results suggest that the infants expected the circle to avoid the hinderer but did not expect it to approach the helper. In the choice task, infants chose the helper more often than the neutral agent and the neutral agent more often than the hinderer, suggesting an ability to generate their own preferences for a particular agent based on the valence of helping and hindering actions. This research demonstrates infants’ sensitivity to the moral valence of agents’ social interactions, which may serve as a foundation for advanced socio‐moral reasoning.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject?

Research on infants’ ability in social evaluation has established that even preverbal infants can distinguish between positive and negative social interactions.

Infants as young as 6 months of age can distinguish between helping and hindering actions and can generate their own preference towards helpful agents.

What does this study add?

The present study sheds light on infants’ ability to infer a third‐party's preference, which is a more challenging task for the infants than generating their own preference.

Specifically, 6‐ and 10‐month‐old infants could infer others’ preference for the neutral agent over the hinderer.

Such results demonstrate infants’ sensitivity to the moral valence of agents’ social interactions and provide an evidence of negativity bias in social evaluation.
Improving socio‐emotional health for pupils in early secondary education with Pyramid: A school‐based, early intervention model
Authors: Jayman Michelle , Ohl Maddie , Hughes Bronach , Fox Pauline
Published: May 2018

Background

Policymakers are focusing increased attention on the role of schools to promote and support children's mental health, and evidence‐based models of good practice are in demand. Pyramid Club is a school‐based, socio‐emotional intervention, demonstrably effective with primary‐aged pupils.

Aims

This study extends previous Pyramid Club evaluations by examining effectiveness with pupils in early secondary education; service users’ perceptions and experiences were investigated to increase understanding of Pyramid's impact, thus supporting enhanced practice.

Sample

Participants (n = 126) comprised selected pupils, aged 11–14 (52 males; 74 females), who completed the 10 week programme (Pyramid group) and a non‐intervention comparison group. Club leaders (n = 23) were trained, Pyramid volunteers.

Methods

A mixed‐methods design was implemented. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), informant‐rated version (Goodman, 1997, J Child Psychol Psychiat, 38, 581) and self‐report version (Goodman, Meltzer, & Bailey, 1998, Europ Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 7, 125), was used to measure socio‐emotional well‐being: pre‐club (baseline assessment), post‐test (within 2 weeks of programme completion), and at 12‐month follow‐up (informant‐rated version only). Focus groups were conducted separately with Pyramid pupils and Club leaders.

Results

Findings from informants and self‐reports identified significant improvements for the Pyramid group in total difficulties and on pertinent SDQ subscales (e.g., emotional symptoms and peer relationship problems) at post‐test. Improvements were sustained at 12‐month follow‐up. Comparison pupils demonstrated minimal change over time. Thematic analysis of qualitative data supported the quantitative findings and provided valuable insights into the Pyramid Club experience.

Conclusions

Findings contribute to evidence‐based, preventative models for the early adolescent population and support the social validity of Pyramid Club.