bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Corporate green innovation and stock liquidity in China
Authors: Chen Zhongfei , Xiao Yu , Jiang Kangqi
Published: November 2022

Utilising data from listed companies in China from 2007 to 2020, we first examine whether and how corporate green innovation affects stock liquidity. We demonstrate that corporate green innovation, especially green invention innovation, significantly increases stock liquidity. This promotion effect is stronger in small enterprises, enterprises in cities with serious air pollution, and enterprises in regions with strict environmental regulations. The mechanism analysis suggests that green innovation reduces information asymmetry and improves the financial performance of enterprises. Finally, we explore what types of investors prefer green innovation, and confirm that corporate green innovation is favoured by green investors.
Democratising Collective Memory Through Forensic Exhumations in Spain
Authors: Maystorovich Chulio Natalia
Published: November 2022

Following the close of Spanish Civil War (1936–39) a dictatorship was installed by Francisco Franco which saw his narrative of the conflict embedded in the landscape of an ideologically divided nation through monuments and mass graves. The dictatorship was followed by the period of Transition (1975–81) whereby amnesty was negotiated leaving the crimes of the past ensconced in private memory. The recent wave of exhumations of mass graves aim to shed light on the hidden buried world containing legacies of Spain's recent past. This paper examines the experiences of participants in exhumations with expertise in the disciplines of history, archaeology, forensics, and psychology. It contrasts their narratives of silence and lack of awareness about Spain's mass graves with the work of exhuming the Disappeared, understood by members of the exhumation movement as a pedagogical mechanism of social memory that operates through the resignification of the dead as a counternarrative of the past.
Polyvinyl alcohol, but not bovine serum albumin, promotes the induction of full‐type hyperactivation in boar cyclic AMP analog‐treated spermatozoa
Authors: Sai Seiken , Harayama Hiroshi
Published: November 2022

This study aimed to verify the effects of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) on the induction of full‐type hyperactivation in boar spermatozoa treated with a cyclic AMP analog (cBiMPS). Washed spermatozoa were treated with cBiMPS (100 μM) for 180 min. As shown in the assessment of sperm motility, PVA (0.05%–0.4%) significantly promoted the induction of full‐type hyperactivation, whereas BSA (0.025%–0.4%) did not affect the induction. In comparative experiments, BSA (0.4%) effectively promoted the induction of full‐type hyperactivation in bovine spermatozoa treated with cBiMPS, calyculin A (a protein phosphatase inhibitor), and digoxin (a Na+/K+‐ATPase inhibitor), while PVA (0.1%) did not affect the induction. Western blotting showed that protein tyrosine phosphorylation states of >50 kDa sperm proteins were effectively enhanced by treatment with cBiMPS in the PVA/BSA‐free medium and not affected by the addition of PVA (0.1%). The assessment of plasma membrane integrity indicated that BSA (0.4%) significantly decreased spermatozoa with intact plasma membranes. These results indicate that PVA (0.1%) promotes the induction of full‐type hyperactivation and does not influence the protein tyrosine phosphorylation states in boar cBiMPS‐treated spermatozoa. They also suggest that BSA should not be added to medium containing cBiMPS for boar spermatozoa.
“Everyone Wants to Feel Like a Movie Star”: Aesthetics, Work, Pleasure, and Caste in India
Authors: Malik Lakshita
Published: November 2022

This article explores the social category of work as it intersects with pleasure (mazaa). Through an ethnography of beauty workers in urban New Delhi, in interwoven digital and non‐digital spaces, I interrogate how certain forms of work are valued at the expense of others. Beauty work refers to the broad category of work that enhances the physical appearance of oneself or others. It is a part of the new categories of entrepreneurial work that have emerged in post‐liberalization India, where demands for consumer goods and services have escalated. I focus on makeup artists and beauticians: two categories of relationally produced beauty workers. While the former are popularly constructed as creative workers, the latter are viewed as providing mundane and dull forms of labor pertaining to bodily cleanliness, like body‐hair removal. Pleasure, through creativity, sutures practices of work in relation to categories of class, capital, labor, caste, gender, and aesthetics. Creativity and pleasure, then, emerge as sites of articulating caste‐based immunocapital (Olivarius 2019). I argue that mazaa becomes a negotiated and historically situated site for negotiating caste‐based immaterial (immuno)capital.
Effects of soothing images and soothing sounds on mood and well‐being
Authors: Witten Emily , Ryynanen Jasmiina , Wisdom Stella , Tipp Cheryl , Chan Stella W. Y.
Published: November 2022

Objectives

Mental health problems are increasing at an alarming rate, calling for the need for more cost‐effective and easily accessible interventions. Visual images and sounds depicting nature have been found to have positive effects on individuals' mood and well‐being; however, the combined effects of images and sounds have been scarcely investigated. This study therefore aimed to compare the mood effects of viewing nature‐related soothing images versus listening to soothing sounds versus a combination of both.

Methods

In this study, 149 participants aged 18–83 years old (M = 35.88, SD = 15.63; 72.5% female, male 26.8%, .7% transgender) were randomised into three intervention conditions: images only, sounds only or combined (images and sounds). Baseline depressive and anxiety symptoms were indexed, and four outcome variables (positive affect, negative affect, serenity affect and depressive mood states) were measured pre‐ and post‐intervention.

Results

Findings showed that all participants, regardless of group, reported a decrease in negative affect, positive affect and depressive mood as well as an increase in serenity affect (including feelings of soothe). However, there were no group differences. Exploratory analyses found that individuals with higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms at baseline experienced greater reduction in negative affect and depressive mood state, as well as a larger increase in serenity affect.

Conclusions

These findings therefore provide preliminary evidence that, upon further research and development, images and sounds depicting nature can potentially be developed for use as an effective tool to improve mood and well‐being.
Cause of death and excess mortality in patients with lower‐risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS): A report from the European MDS registry
Authors: Mądry Krzysztof , Lis Karol , Fenaux Pierre , Bowen David , Symeonidis Argiris , Mittelman Moshe , Stauder Reinhard , Čermák Jaroslav , Sanz Guillermo , Hellström‐Lindberg Eva , Langemeijer Saskia , Malcovati Luca , Germing Ulrich , Holm Mette Skov , Guerci‐Bresler Agnes , Culligan Dominic , Sanhes Laurence , Kotsianidis Ioannis , van Marrewijk Corine , Crouch Simon , de Witte Theo , Smith Alex ,   the EUMDS Registry Participants
Published: November 2022

Information on causes of death (CoDs) and the impact of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) on survival in patients with lower‐risk MDS (LR‐MDS) is limited. A better understanding of the relationship between disease characteristics, clinical interventions and CoDs may improve outcomes of patients with LR‐MDS. We prospectively collected data on patients with LR‐MDS in the European MDS registry from 2008 to 2019. Clinical, laboratory and CoDs data were obtained. To examine MDS‐specific survival, relative survival (RS) was estimated using national life tables. Of 2396 evaluated subjects, 900 died (median overall survival [OS]: 4.7 years; median follow‐up: 3.5 years). The most common CoDs were acute myeloid leukaemia/MDS (20.1%), infection (17.8%) and cardiovascular disease (CVD; 9.8%). Patients with isolated del(5q) and with red cell transfusion needed during the disease course, had a higher risk of fatal CVD. The 5‐year OS was 47.3% and the 5‐year RS was 59.6%, indicating that most patients died due to their underlying MDS. Older patients (aged >80 years) and the lowest‐risk patients were more likely to die from competing causes. This study shows that MDS and its related complications play crucial role in the outcome of patients with LR‐MDS.
Proteolytic cleavage of membrane proteins by membrane type‐1 MMP regulates cancer malignant progression
Authors: Ikeda Kazuki , Kaneko Ryo , Tsukamoto Eiki , Funahashi Nobuaki , Koshikawa Naohiko
Published: November 2022

Strategies to develop cancer therapies using inhibitors that target matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), particularly membrane type‐1 MMP (MT1‐MMP), have failed. This is predominantly attributed to the specificity of MMP inhibitors and numerous functions of MMPs; therefore, targeting substrates with such broad specificity can lead to off‐target effects. Thus, new drug development for cancer therapeutics should focus on the ability of MT1‐MMP to break down substrates, such as functional cell membrane proteins, to regulate the functions of these proteins that promote tumor malignancy. In this review, we discuss the mechanism by which proteolysis of cell surface proteins by MT1‐MMP promotes progression of malignant tumor cells. In addition, we discuss the two protein fragments generated by limited cleavage of erythropoietin‐producing hepatoma receptor tyrosine kinase A2 (EphA2‐NF, ‐CF), which represent a promising basis for developing new cancer therapies and diagnostic techniques.
Targeted advertising and costly consumer search
Authors: Burguet Roberto , Petrikaitė Vaiva
Published: November 2022

We study targeting of advertising based on information about the consumer's likely ranking of products. Firms send ads to more promising consumers. Thus, targeting increases the expected willingness to pay for the product the consumer learns about but also reduces the expected differentiation of these products. The two effects push search, and so prices, in opposite direction. The first effect is more important for lower search costs. The second is stronger the larger the number of products. The improved selection under targeting increases firms' profitability and so advertising effort.
Virtual and augmented reality in dental education: The good, the bad and the better
Authors: Dzyuba Nikita , Jandu Jai , Yates Julian , Kushnerev Evgeny
Published: November 2022

Introduction

Virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) are becoming established technologies with a wide range of possibilities in various academic fields, including dentistry. The practice of dentistry encompasses a spectrum of skills and knowledge of anatomy, complex technical and clinical skills and sound academic understanding. This review aims to scope the current use of these technologies in dental education, explore their impact on teaching and learning and envisage their potential in this field.

Materials and Methods

The Cochrane Library, PubMed and EMBASE were searched. Cochrane Handbook was used to conduct this systematic review. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied; randomised control trials published in English in the last 10 years (2010–2020) were considered and screened independently by two authors.

Results

Fourteen of 524 studies were included and assessed. The majority of articles describing the use of VR/AR focused on an Undergraduate/General Dental Practitioner audience. Its use in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Endodontics and Restorative dentistry was also described. There is evidence of motor skill acquisition using these systems which is comparative to that of traditional methods.

Conclusion

The use of VR/AR is well established in dental education; most applications relate to undergraduate education as a useful adjunct to dental training. In this article, the breadth of learning in dental education using VR/AR was exploited providing an overview to aid dental education. VR/AR is a useful adjunct to conventional learning in dentistry. However, there are limitations preventing VR/AR widespread use and applications, such as lack of trials, standardisation and accreditation of systems/content.
Ceci n'est pas une école: Discourses of artificial intelligence in education through the lens of semiotic analytics
Authors: Blikstein Paulo , Zheng Yipu , Zhou Karen Zhuqian
Published: November 2022

New ideas and technologies enable new ways of doing as well as new forms of language. The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no exception. The implications of changing activity and language take on new gravity in certain fields to which AI is applied, such as education (AIEd). Terms like smart, intelligence, and learning, which had certain meanings when describing human cognition, take on new meanings in the context of computational systems, with the potential for polysemy when the human and computational meanings meet. This article unpacks what AIEd companies mean when they use these terms. Drawing on findings from a mixed‐methods study, we first describe how AIEd companies used these terms on two websites. Then, using Natural Language Processing techniques, we quantitatively analyse a corpus of over 65,000 words scraped from 26 AIEd company websites. Our analyses suggest that commonly promoted narratives around student learning and 21st Century skill‐building are not supported by the language on AIEd company websites, which focus instead on mass customization, efficiency, and monitoring—all tasks at which computers excel. Also, notably scarce in the corpus were extensive articulations on ethics. Given these findings we propose that although AIEd companies create powerful new technical possibilities, they must also be evaluated for the powerful ways in which they shape narratives around the use of technology in education and the behaviours and capabilities that constitute education.
Beyond ANOVA and MANOVA for repeated measures: Advantages of generalized estimated equations and generalized linear mixed models and its use in neuroscience research
Authors: de Melo Márcio Braga , Daldegan‐Bueno Dimitri , Menezes Oliveira Maria Gabriela , de Souza Altay Lino
Published: November 2022

In neuroscience research, longitudinal data are often analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) for repeated measures (rmANOVA/rmMANOVA). However, these analyses have special requirements: The variances of the differences between all possible pairs of within‐subject conditions (i.e., levels of the independent variable) must be equal. They are also limited to fixed repeated time intervals and are sensitive to missing data. In contrast, other models, such as the generalized estimating equations (GEE) and the generalized linear mixed models (GLMM), suggest another way to think about the data and the studied phenomenon. Instead of forcing the data into the ANOVAs assumptions, it is possible to design a flexible/personalized model according to the nature of the dependent variable. We discuss some advantages of GEE and GLMM as alternatives to rmANOVA and rmMANOVA in neuroscience research, including the possibility of using different distributions for the parameters of the dependent variable, a better approach for different time length points, and better adjustment to missing data. We illustrate these advantages by showing a comparison between rmANOVA and GEE in a real example and providing the data and a tutorial code to reproduce these analyses in R. We conclude that GEE and GLMM may provide more reliable results when compared to rmANOVA and rmMANOVA in neuroscience research, especially in small sample sizes with unbalanced longitudinal designs with or without missing data.
The European Union and the re‐establishment of democratic authority
Authors: Chalmers Damian
Published: November 2022

The European Union is blighted by a style of governance, EU police, which holds that the Union better balances different interests and values than other arenas but which is, in practice, distorted by anti‐redistribution and status quo biases. To combat it, this article proposes a principle of European democratic authority that would found EU legal authority and condition domestic legal authority. This principle holds that, to warrant authority, measures should satisfy the values, goods and processes associated with liberal social democracies and the particular democratic commitments Union membership requires: democratic imagination, political belonging and mutual betterment. This principle would be institutionalised by two further principles. Justified disobedience would set out the conditions when EU laws without European democratic authority could be disobeyed. Democratic regard would require all domestic actors to be guided by the European democratic authority principle and to disregard domestic obligations that had failed to address it.
Application of choice models in tourism recommender systems
Authors: Almomani Ameed , Saavedra Paula , Barreiro Pablo , Durán Roi , Crujeiras Rosa , Loureiro María , Sánchez Eduardo
Published: November 2022

Choice models (CM) are proposed in the field of tourism recommender systems (TRS) with the aim of providing algorithms with both a theoretical understanding of tourist's motivations and a certain degree of transparency. The goal of this work is to overcome some of the limitations of current state‐of‐art algorithms used in TRSs by providing: (1) accurate preferences, which are learnt from user choices rather than from ratings, and (2) interpretable coefficients, which are achieved by means of the set of estimated parameters of CM. The study was carried out with a gastronomic data set generated in an ecological experiment in the tourism domain. The performance of CM has been compared with a set of baseline algorithms (rating‐based and ensembles) by using two evaluation metrics: precision and DCG. The CM outperformed the baseline algorithms when the size of the choice set was limited. The findings suggest that CM may provide an optimal trade‐off between theoretical soundness, interpretability and performance in the field of TRS.
The Chihuahua and the Space Princess writing in the margins: Antenarratives of two (older) women early career academics
Authors: van Hilten Adriana , Ruel Stefanie
Published: November 2022

In asking “why is it so bloody hard for older women, with years of professional experience in industry and graduate degree holders, to create a career in the Academy?,” the authors co‐examine the challenges they experience in their careers and in their transition into academia. Framed within intersectionality scholarship, specifically anchor points, the authors' nonnormative positioning as older ciswomen, early career academics, who are attempting to find tenured positions, showcase their fluid living stories of sexism and ageism while trying to negotiate a career transition. Using a duoethnographic methodology, the authors share and then analyze their embodied, fragile antenarratives as they understand them at this point in time. In the process of writing differently, literally at the left and right margins of content and style, and in the analysis of these writings, they discover that they can begin to resist the gendered ageism from the margins and that they are no longer alone. They navigate a path of resistance, laboring against the norms that try to relegate two older women, early career academics' stories to silence, inviting others into their living story network.
Troubling gender norms on Mumsnet: Working from home and parenting during the UK's first COVID lockdown
Authors: Handley Karen Maria
Published: November 2022

This article examines the troubling of gender norms that unfolded on the social networking site, Mumsnet, at the beginning of the UK's first lockdown response to the COVID pandemic. Using an analysis of 7144 contributions which included the acronym ‘WFH’ (=working from home), posted from March 1, 2020 to April 5, 2020, the article examines how Mumsnet members talked about working from home while caring for toddlers and home‐schooled children. Mumsnet discussions about everyday moral dilemmas create a discursive space for examining the situated rationalities and normative judgments that shape expectations of how to behave as a working parent. Drawing on post‐structuralist discourse theory, the article shows how Mumsnet contributors generated alternative sub‐categorizations of ‘good mums’, and destabilized discourse assumptions of intensive motherhood, such as always ‘being there’ for their children, thereby ‘working the weakness in the norms’ (Butler, 1993) and creating potential for change.
Cyclin D1 expression, cell proliferation, and clonal persistence characterize primary cutaneous CD4+ small or medium T‐cell lymphoproliferative disorder
Authors: Oschlies Ilske , Kock Katharina , Wüseke Thomas , Richter Julia , Koch Karoline , Wehkamp Ulrike , Klapper Wolfram
Published: November 2022

Aims

The aim was to gain insight into the biology of primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T‐cell lymphoproliferative disorder (PCSM‐LPD).

Methods

We describe the histopathological and clinical characteristics of 177 PCSM‐LPD diagnosed at our consultation centre. We performed immunohistochemical multistaining in a subset of cases (n = 46) including PD1, Cyclin D1, and multiple markers of proliferation. We evaluated clonal T‐cell‐receptor‐(TCR) rearrangements and used tissue microdissection to analyse TCR‐clonality of PD1(+) cells.

Results

The cohort of n = 177 PCSM‐LPD included 84 males and 93 females (median age 57, range 13–85). Clinical presentation was as a solitary nodule or plaque (head and neck > trunk > extremities). Most patients were treated by local excision or steroids (96%, 69/72); relapses occurred in 12/65 (18%) of patients with follow up. Histopathology revealed the predominance of a nodular pattern (75%, 134/177) and frequent clustering of PD1(+) large cells (70%, 103/147). We detected Cyclin D1 and PD1 coexpression (>10% of PD1(+)‐cells) in 26/46 (57%), which was not associated with CCND1 breaks or amplifications. PD1(+)‐cells in PCSM‐LPDs showed a significantly higher expression of proliferation‐associated proteins compared to PD1(−)‐cells. A clonal TCR‐rearrangement was present in 176/177 (99%), with a clonal persistence in 7/8 patients at relapse including distant sites. Tissue‐microdissection revealed PD1(+)‐cells as the source of clonality, whilst PD1(−)‐cells remained polyclonal.

Conclusion

PCSM‐LPD is a clinically indolent, albeit neoplastic, disease driven by clonal expansion of PD1(+)‐cells. We demonstrate Cyclin D1‐expression associated with accelerated proliferation as a surprising new biological feature of the disease.
Uric acid and gamma‐glutamyl‐transferase in children and adolescents with obesity: Association to anthropometric measures and cardiometabolic risk markers depending on pubertal stage, sex, degree of weight loss and type of patient care: Evaluation of the adiposity patient follow‐up registry
Authors: Weihrauch‐Blüher Susann , Wiegand Susanna , Weihe Paul , Prinz Nicole , Weghuber Daniel , Leipold Georg , Dannemann Almut , Bergjohann Lara , Reinehr Thomas , Holl Reinhard W. ,   for the APV study group
Published: November 2022

Objectives

Associations between body mass index (BMI)‐ standard deviation score (SDS)/waist‐to‐height ratio (WHtR) were studied with (i) serum uric acid (sUA)/gamma‐glutamyl‐transferase (GGT) and (ii) cardiometabolic risk markers in children with obesity, considering sex, pubertal development, and degree of weight loss/type of patient care.

Methods

102 936 children from the Adiposity‐Follow‐up registry (APV; 47% boys) were included. Associations were analysed between sUA/GGT and anthropometrics, transaminases, lipids, fasting insulin (FI), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), triglycerides to HDL‐cholesterol (TG/HDL)‐ratio.

Follow‐up analyses (3–24 months after baseline) considered a BMI‐SDS reduction ≥0.2 (n = 11 096) or ≥0.5 (n = 3728). Partialized correlation analyses for sex and BMI‐SDS were performed, taking pubertal development into consideration.

Results

At baseline, BMI‐SDS showed the strongest correlations to sUA (r = 0.35; n = 26 529), HOMA‐IR/FI (r = 0.30; n = 5513 /n = 5880), TG/HDL‐ratio (r = 0.23; n = 24 501), and WHtR to sUA (r = 0.32; n = 10 805), GGT (r = 0.34; n = 11 862) and Alanine‐aminotransferase (ALAT) (r = 0.33; n = 11 821), with stronger correlations in boys (WHtR and GGT: r = 0.36, n = 5793) and prepubertal children (r = 0.36; n = 2216). GGT and sUA (after partializing effects of age, sex, BMI‐SDS) showed a correlation to TG/HDL‐ratio (r = 0.27; n = 24 501).

Following a BMI‐SDS reduction ≥0.2 or ≥0.5, GGT was most strongly related to Aspartate‐aminotransferase (ASAT)/ ALAT, most evident in prepuberty and with increasing weight loss, and also to TG/HDL‐ratio (r = 0.22; n = 1528). Prepubertal children showed strongest correlations between BMI‐SDS/WHtR and GGT. ΔBMI‐SDS was strongly correlated to ΔsUA (r = 0.30; n = 4160) and ΔGGT (r = 0.28; n = 3562), and ΔWHtR to ΔGGT (r = 0.28; n = 3562) (all p < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Abdominal obesity may trigger hyperuricemia and hepatic involvement already in prepuberty. This may be stronger in infancy than anticipated to date. Even moderate weight loss has favourable effects on cardiometabolic risk profile and glucose homeostasis.
Alternative pathway amplification and infections
Authors: Shaughnessy Jutamas , Chabeda Aleyo , Lewis Lisa A. , Ram Sanjay
Published: November 2022

The alternative pathway (AP) is the phylogenetically oldest arm of the complement system and may have evolved to mark pathogens for elimination by phagocytes. Studies using purified AP proteins or AP‐specific serum showed that C3b amplification on bacteria commenced following a lag phase of about 5 min and was highly dependent on the concentration of complement. Most pathogens have evolved several elegant mechanisms to evade complement, including expressing proteases that degrade AP proteins and secreting proteins that block function of C3 convertases. In an example of convergent evolution, many microbes recruit the AP inhibitor factor H (FH) using molecular mechanisms that mimic FH interactions with host cells. In most instances, the AP serves to amplify C3b deposited on microbes by the classical pathway (CP). The role of properdin on microbes appears to be restricted to stabilization of C3 convertases; scant evidence exists for its role as an initiator of the AP on pathogens in the context of serum. Therapeutic complement inhibition carries with it an increased risk of infection. Antibody (Ab)‐dependent AP activation may be critical for complement activation by vaccine‐elicited Ab when the CP is blocked, and its molecular mechanism is discussed.
Adults with intellectual disabilities and third‐wave therapies: A systematic review and meta‐ethnography
Authors: Patterson Christopher Wynne , Golightly Mark
Published: November 2022

Background

In recent years, third‐wave therapies have risen to prominence. Research into adapting and evaluating third‐wave therapies for adults with intellectual disabilities has identified that third‐wave therapies are accessible, acceptable, and effective (improving a range of symptoms and skills).

Method

This meta‐ethnography followed Noblit and Hare's approach to synthesising findings from qualitative studies to examine how adults with intellectual disabilities experience third‐wave therapy groups. A systematic review of three databases identified 13 studies that met our inclusion criteria.

Results

We identified that third‐wave therapy groups can be a ‘Transformational’ process for adults with intellectual disabilities that involves three stages: ‘Concealment’, ‘Opening up’ and ‘Flourishing’.

Conclusion

Findings highlight the importance of therapeutic processes; especially, working with defences, and developing and maintaining safety/trust. Recommendations include the development of an objective measure of group safety/trust.
A loop‐mediated isothermal amplification‐based microfluidic chip for triplex detection of shrimp pathogens
Authors: Hu Keshun , Li Ye , Wang Feng , Liu Jianying , Li Yuanyuan , Zhao Qian , Zheng Xiaoye , Zhu Ningyu , Yu Xiaoping , Fang Shaohua , Huang Jun
Published: November 2022

Decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1), White spot syndrome virus (WSSV), and Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) pose serious threats to the shrimp farming. To date, early detection remains an important way to control the occurrence and diffusion of these pathogens. Here, we developed for the first time, a loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)‐based microfluidic chip detection system, which could detect DIV1, WSSV, and EHP simultaneously. The limits of detection (LoD) of the system were 10 copies/reaction for EHP and DIV1, and 102 copies/reaction for WSSV. The entire detection procedure could be completed rapidly in 40 min at 63°C with 100% specificity and had no cross‐reaction with other common shrimp pathogens. This newly established method was further validated using 94 Penaeus vannamei clinical samples, which were comparable to a typical qPCR assay and revealed good stability and reproducibility. These results illustrate that this LAMP microfluidic chip detection system allows rapid triplex pathogen analysis and could satisfy the demands of the field and routine diagnoses in aquaculture.
Sheep and goats are reservoirs of colistin resistant Escherichia coli that co‐resist critically important antimicrobials: First study from Jordan
Authors: Obaidat Mohammad M. , Tarazi Yaser H. , AlSmadi Walaa M.
Published: November 2022

There is a knowledge gap on colistin‐resistant and mobilized colistin‐resistant (mcr) Escherichia coli in sheep and goats worldwide. This study determined the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of mobilized colistin‐resistant (mcr) E. coli in dairy sheep and goat flocks in Jordan. A total of 948 milk samples were collected from 155 flocks across Jordan. The milk samples were pre‐enriched in MacConkey broth and then plated on MacConkey agar supplemented with 8 mg/l colistin and the presence of mcr‐1 gene in the isolates was tested by polymerase chain reaction. In total, 1,158 E. coli isolates were colistin resistant, with 74.8% herd‐level prevalence and 39.5% individual animal prevalence. Sixty‐one (5.3%) of 1,158 phenotypically colistin‐resistant E. coli harbored mcr‐1, with 23.9% herd‐level prevalence and 6.6% individual animal prevalence. About 77.1% of the mcr‐1 E. coli resisted one or more antimicrobial classes and 37.7% were multidrug resistant. More than 30% of the mcr‐1 positive E. coli isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid, tetracycline, ceftazidime, cefpodoxime and ampicillin, whereas 8–20% of the isolates were resistant to cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, tobramycin, sulfamethoxazole‐trimethoprim, and amoxicillin‐clavulanic acid. This study indicates that small ruminants are reservoirs of colistin‐resistant and mcr‐1 positive E. coli that exhibit co‐resistance to critically important antimicrobials which would pose public health issue and calls for the necessary banning of the use of colistin in small ruminants.
Efficacy and safety of micro‐needling combined with topical 5‐fluorouracil and excimer light vs. excimer light alone in treatment of non‐segmental vitiligo: A comparative study
Authors: Saad Mohammad A. , Tawfik Khaled Mohamed , Abdelaleem Hazem L.
Published: November 2022

Background/Purpose

Vitiligo is one of the most challenging dermatological diseases with little improvement promises. Various modalities of treatment both medical and surgical have been used in the treatment of vitiligo. Some proved to be effective, others with controversial results and the rest were effective less. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the additional effect of topical 5‐fluorouracil after micro‐needling to excimer light (308 nm) in treatment of non‐segmental vitiligo.

Methods

Fifty patients were included in the present study, only 33 patients continued the treatment for 6 months. Two patches were selected in every patient to be treated, one patch with micro‐needling then application of 5 FU and excimer (Group A), and the other with excimer only (Group B).

Results

The treatment with the combination of micro‐needling then application of 5 FU and excimer showed significant earlier response versus excimer alone. Also, the percentage of re‐pigmentation was higher in the patches treated with the combination especially in the face and trunk. The combination of 5 FU after micro‐needling and Excimer is more suitable for localized and focal vitiligo.

Conclusion

Topical 5 FU after micro‐needling is a promising, rapid, and cost‐effective therapeutic strategy for treatment of non‐segmental vitiligo It had limited side effects, and the best response was reported for lesions affecting face and trunk.
An exploration of women's knowledge and experience of perimenopause and menopause: An integrative literature review
Authors: O'Reilly Kate , McDermid Fiona , McInnes Susan , Peters Kath
Published: November 2022

Aim

To explore the international literature related to women's knowledge and experience of perimenopause and menopause and to inform future directions for research and individualised healthcare delivery.

Background

Menopause is a normal physiological process experienced by most women. Despite this, care and support is fragmented and the implication on women's long‐term health is not sufficiently understood.

Design

An integrative review of primary research on women's knowledge and experience of perimenopause and menopause.

Method

CINAHL, Medline, Wiley Online Library, SCOPUS, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched from 2011 to 2021.Quantitative and qualitative studies written in English exploring women's knowledge and experience of menopause were included. The search strategy for the review complied with PRISMA guidelines. The mixed methods appraisal tool was used to assess quality. Thematic analysis was employed to present a narrative synthesis of the data.

Results

A total of 17 studies, comprising 10 quantitative, and seven qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. The four themes regarding women's knowledge and experience of perimenopause and menopause identified in the literature were as follows: (1) Symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause; (2) Strategies to manage symptoms; (3) Support and information (4) Attitudes, education and health literacy.

Conclusion

This integrative review of the international literature highlights that women's knowledge of perimenopause and menopause varies significantly globally and within countries. The experience of perimenopause and menopause for women is heterogenous and influenced by deeply embedded sociocultural patterns.

Relevance for Clinical Practice

This integrative review has shown that individualised support for women during perimenopause and menopause is critical to ensure the diverse needs of women are suitably addressed.

No Patient or Public Contribution

As this was a review of the literature, no patients, service users, caregivers or members of the public were involved in this review.
Optimal Financial Transaction Taxes
Authors: DÁVILA EDUARDO
Published: November 2022

This paper characterizes the optimal transaction tax in an equilibrium model of financial markets. If investors hold heterogeneous beliefs unrelated to their fundamental trading motives and the planner calculates welfare using any single belief, a positive tax is optimal, regardless of the magnitude of fundamental trading. Under some conditions, the optimal tax is independent of the planner's belief. The optimal tax can be implemented by adjusting its value until total volume equals fundamental volume. Knowledge of (i) the share of nonfundamental trading volume and (ii) the semielasticity of trading volume to tax changes is sufficient to quantify the optimal tax.
Impact of Changing School Start Times on Teacher Sleep Health and Daytime Functioning
Authors: Wahlstrom Kyla L. , Plog Amy E. , McNally Janise , Meltzer Lisa J.
Published: November 2022

BACKGROUND

The benefits of delaying school start times for secondary students are well‐established. However, no previous study has considered how changing school start times impacts sleep and daytime functioning for K‐12 teachers.

METHODS

Teachers in a large suburban school district completed 3 annual surveys (pre‐change n = 1687, post‐change n = 1857, follow‐up n = 1812) assessing sleep and daytime functioning.

RESULTS

With delayed start times, high school teachers had later rise times (high school [HS]: 28 minutes, middle school [MS]: 14 minutes), increased sleep duration (HS: 22 minutes, MS: 13 minutes), and improved daytime functioning. Improvements for middle school teachers were noted but were not statistically significant. With earlier start times, elementary teachers reported earlier bedtimes (9 minutes) and wake times (9 minutes), with no changes in sleep duration or daytime functioning.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY

Today's school health policies often focus on wellness. Findings from this study reveal that the policy of healthy school start times can have a significant, positive impact on adults who teach in later‐starting secondary schools. Later school start times for secondary teachers provide greater parity with their elementary colleagues in terms of sleep opportunity.

CONCLUSIONS

This study extends previous findings on how the policy of later secondary school start times improves the health and well‐being of adolescents, highlighting that healthy start times contribute to increased sleep opportunity for MS and HS teachers and improved daytime functioning for HS teachers, with changed start times having no significant negative effect on elementary school teachers.
Impact of higher payments for rural home health episodes on rehospitalizations
Authors: Loomer Lacey , Rahman Momotazur , Mroz Tracy M. , Gozalo Pedro L. , Mor Vincent
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Home health agencies delivering care in rural counties face unique challenges when providing care to older adults; long travel times between each visit can limit the number of patients seen each day. In 2010, Medicare began paying home health (HH) providers 3% more to serve rural beneficiaries without evaluating the policy's impact on patient outcomes.

Methods

Using 100% Medicare data on postacute HH episodes from 2007 to 2014, we estimated the impact of higher payments on beneficiaries outcomes using difference‐in‐differences analysis, comparing rehospitalizations between rural and urban postacute HH episodes before and after 2010.

Findings

Our sample included 5.6 million postacute HH episodes (18% rural). In the preperiod, the 30‐ and 60‐day rehospitalization rates for urban HH episodes were 11.30% and 18.23% compared to 11.38% and 18.39% for rural HH episodes. After 2010, 30‐ and 60‐day rehospitalization rates declined, 10.08% and 16.49% for urban HH episodes and 9.87% and 16.08% for rural HH episodes, respectively. The difference‐in‐difference estimate was 0.29 percentage points (P = .005) and 0.57 percentage points (P < .001) for 30‐ and 60‐day rehospitalization, respectively.

Conclusions

Increasing payments resulted in a statistically significant reduction in rehospitalizations for rural postacute HH episodes. The add‐on payment is set to sunset in 2022 and its impact on access and quality to HH for rural older adults should be reconsidered.
Making activation for young welfare recipients mandatory
Authors: Dahl Espen S. , Hernaes Øystein
Published: November 2022

Activation policies to promote self‐sufficiency among recipients of welfare and other types of benefits are becoming more common in many welfare states. We evaluate a law change in Norway making welfare receipt conditional on participation in an activation program for all welfare recipients below the age of 30. Analysing the program's staggered implementation across municipalities with several modern event study estimators, we estimate that the law change had quite precise 0‐effects on benefit receipt, work and education. We also do not find any effects on the probability of being out of work or of being in employment, education or labour market programs. Qualitative evidence suggests that the zero effect may be due to the law change only impacting the participation of recipients with low expected gain from activation.
A Good and Holy Death: Ars Moriendi and the Battle of Wit versus Truth
Authors: Rentfro Daniel
Published: November 2022

There is an ancient Christian tradition of a ‘good and holy death’. That tradition has largely been forgotten in the medicalization of death, which regards death solely as an enemy to be defeated at all costs. This paper examines the tradition of a holy death through the lens of Margaret Edson's play W;t, with particular attention paid to the use of John Donne's poetry in the play. The paper then uses theologian Allen Verhey's writings on the Christian art of dying as a means to understand the play in a Christian context, with special attention paid to the way in which it portrays Vivian Bearing, the play's protagonist, as a victim as much as a beneficiary of modern medicine.
Possible association of limbic tau pathology with psychosis or behavioral disturbances: Studies of two autopsied psychiatric patients
Authors: Kawakami Ito , Arai Tetsuaki , Ikeda Kenji , Niizato Kazuhiro , Oshima Kenichi , Akiyama Haruhiko
Published: November 2022

Tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease and primary age‐related tauopathy (PART), present heterogeneous clinico‐pathological phenotypes that include dementia, aphasia, motor neuron diseases, and psychiatric symptoms. PART is neuropathologically characterized by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles in limbic regions without significant Aβ deposition, but its clinical features have not yet been fully established. Here, we present two patients with distinct psychosis and behavioral symptoms. At autopsy, these patients showed tau pathologies that could not be classified as typical PART, although PART‐like neurofibrillary tangles were present in limbic regions. Clinically, both patients were admitted to mental hospitals due to severe delusions or other neuropsychiatric/behavioral symptoms. The first case presented with hallucination, delusion, and apathy at age 70, and died of pancreatic cancer at age 75. He had neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions with selective accumulation of 3Rtau in the striatum and thorn‐shaped astrocytes in the amygdala. The second case, who presented with abnormal behaviors such as wandering, agitation and disinhibition, exhibited limbic neurodegeneration with massive 4R tau‐positive oligodendroglial inclusions in the medial temporal white matter. His age at onset was 73, and the duration of disease was 15 years. These findings support the notion that distinct limbic tau pathology with concomitant degeneration of the related neural circuits might induce specific psychosis and behavioral symptoms. This underlines the importance of neuropathological evaluation for both clinical education and practice in the fields of neuropathology and neuropsychiatry.
Nursing workload assessment in an intensive care unit: A retrospective observational study using the Nursing Activities Score
Authors: Sardo Pedro Miguel Garcez , Macedo Rui Pedro Antunes , Alvarelhão José Joaquim Marques , Simões João Filipe Lindo , Guedes Jenifer Adriana Domingues , Simões Carlos Jorge , Príncipe Fernanda
Published: November 2022

Background

Nursing Activities Score (NAS) is a promising tool for calculating the nursing workload in intensive care units (ICU). However, data on intensive care nursing activities in Portugal are practically non‐existent.

Aim

To assess the nursing workload in a Portuguese ICU using the NAS.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study developed throughout the analysis of the electronic health record database from 56 adult patients admitted to a six‐bed Portuguese ICU between 1 June–31 August 2020. The nursing workload was assessed by the Portuguese version of the NAS. The study was approved by the Hospital Council Board and Ethics Committee. The study report followed the STROBE guidelines.

Results

The average occupancy rate was 73.55% (±16.60%). The average nursing workload per participant was 67.52 (±10.91) points. There was a correlation between the occupancy rate and the nursing workload. In 35.78% of the days, the nursing workload was higher than the available human resources, overloading nurse staffing/team.

Conclusions

The nursing workload reported follows the trend of the international studies and the results reinforce the importance of adjusting the nursing staffing to the complexity of nursing care in this ICU. This study highlighted periods of nursing workload that could compromise patient safety.

Relevance to Clinical Practice

This was one of the first studies carried out with the NAS after its cross‐cultural adaptation and validation for the Portuguese population. The nursing workload at the patient level was higher in the first 24 h of ICU stays. Because of the ‘administrative and management activities’ related to the ‘patient discharge procedures’, the last 24 h of ICU stays also presented high levels of nursing workload. The implementation of a nurse‐to‐patient ratio of 1:1 may contribute to safer nurse staffing and to improve patient safety in this Tertiary (level 3) ICU.
Soilborne bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae promotes cluster root formation in white lupin through ethylene mediation
Authors: Zhang Qian , Yang Jinyong , Zhou Xiangxue , Ding Yexin , Wang Yue , Zhu Xiaoqi , Xu Feiyun , Liu Jianping , Wang Zhengrui , Zhang Jianhuan , Xu Weifeng
Published: November 2022

Cluster roots of white lupin are induced by low phosphorus (LP) to efficiently access unavailable P, but how soilborne microbes are associated with cluster root formation (CRF) is unclear.

We investigated the roles of soilborne bacteria in CRF response to LP by high‐throughput sequencing and root–bacteria interactions.

Cluster root number was significantly decreased in plants grown in sterilized soil compared with nonsterilized soil. Proteobacteria was enriched in CR, as shown by microbiome analysis of soil (bulk, rhizosphere, and rhizosheath) and roots (main, lateral, and CR). Large‐scale gene expression level implicated ethylene mediation in CRF. Klebsiella pneumoniae (P7), a soilborne bacterium belonging to Proteobacteria, was isolated from CR. Among 11 isolated strains, P7 exhibited the highest 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylate deaminase (ACCD) activity; this enzyme inhibits the biosynthesis of ethylene in plants by the cleavage of the ethylene precursor 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid and promotes CRF under LP. We constructed an ACCD‐deficit mutant accd in the P7 genetic background. The loss‐of‐function mutation failed to promote CRF under LP conditions. Also, auxin responses may be involved in K. pneumoniae‐ethylene‐mediated CRF.

Overall, we propose that the soilborne bacterium K. pneumoniae promotes CRF of white lupin in response to LP by ethylene mediation.