bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impacts of agrochemical intensification on the assembly and reassembly of a mainland-island model metacommunity
Authors: Pelinson Rodolfo Mei , Strecht Bianca Rodrigues , Shimabukuro Erika Mayumi , Schiesari Luis Cesar
Published: February 2021

Many lentic aquatic environments are found embedded in agricultural fields, forming complex metacommunity structures. These habitats are vulnerable to contamination by agrochemicals, which can differentially affect local communities depending on the intensity and variability of species dispersal rates. We conducted a field experiment to assess how agrochemical intensification simulating the conversion of savannas into managed pastures and sugarcane fields affects freshwater community structure at different levels of spatial isolation. We constructed forty-five 1,200-L artificial ponds in a savanna landscape at three distances from a source wetland (30 m, 120 m, and 480 m). Ponds were spontaneously colonized by aquatic insects and amphibians and treated with no agrochemicals (‘savanna’ treatment), fertilizers (‘pasture’ treatment), or fertilizers and a single pulse of the insecticide fipronil and the herbicide 2,4-D (‘sugar cane’ treatment) following realistic dosages and application schedules. The experiment encompassed the entire rainy season. ‘Pasture’ communities were only slightly different from controls largely because two predatory insect taxa were more abundant in ‘pasture’ ponds. ‘Sugarcane’ communities strongly diverged from other treatments after the insecticide application, when a decrease in insect abundance indirectly benefitted amphibian populations. However, this effect had nearly disappeared by the end of the rainy season. The herbicide pulse had no effect on community structure. Spatial isolation changed community structure by increasing the abundance of non-predatory insects. However, it did not affect all predatory insects nor, surprisingly, amphibians. Therefore, spatial isolation did not change the effects of agrochemicals on community structure. Because agrochemical application frequently overlaps with the rainy season in many monocultures, it can strongly affect temporary pond communities. Ponds embedded in pastures might suffer mild consequences of fertilization by favoring the abundance of few predators throughbottom-upeffects. Ponds in sugarcane fields, however, might experience a decline in the insect population, followed by an increase in the abundance of amphibians tolerant to environmental degradation. Furthermore, we found no evidence that isolation by distance can change the general effects of chemical intensification, but future experiments should consider using real crop fields as the terrestrial matrix since they can represent different dispersal barriers.
Expression of recombinant cardosin B in tobacco BY2 cells: an alternative system for the production of active milk clotting enzymes
Authors: Folgado André , Abranches Rita
Published: February 2021

Cynara cardunculusL. or cardoon is a plant that is used as a source of milk clotting enzymes during traditional cheese manufacturing. This clotting activity is due to aspartic proteases (APs) found in the cardoon flower, named cyprosins and cardosins. APs from cardoon flowers display a great degree of heterogeneity, resulting in variable milk clotting activities and directly influencing the final product. Producing these APs using alternative platforms such as bacteria or yeast has proven challenging, which is hampering their implementation on an industrial scale. We have developed tobacco BY2 cell lines as an alternative plant-based platform for the production of cardosin B. These cultures successfully produced active cardosin B and a purification pipeline was developed to obtain isolated cardosin B. The enzyme displayed proteolytic activity towards milk caseins and milk clotting activity under standard cheese manufacturing conditions. We also identified an unprocessed form of cardosin B and further investigated its activation process. The use of protease-specific inhibitors suggested a possible role for a cysteine protease in cardosin B processing. Mass spectrometry analysis identified three cysteine proteases containing a granulin-domain as candidates for cardosin B processing. These findings suggest an interaction between these two groups of proteases and contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms behind the regulation and processing of plant APs. This work also paves the way for the use of tobacco BY2 cells as an alternative production system for active cardosins and represents an important advancement towards the industrial production of cardoon APs.
A plant-like mechanism coupling m6A reading to polyadenylation safeguards transcriptome integrity and developmental genes partitioning inToxoplasma
Authors: Farhat Dayana C. , Bowler Matthew , Communie Guillaume , Pontier Dominique , Belmudes Lucid , Mas Caroline , Corrao Charlotte , Couté Yohann , Bougdour Alexandre , Lagrange Thierry , Hakimi Mohamed-Ali , Swale Christopher
Published: February 2021

Correct 3’end processing of mRNAs is regarded as one of the regulatory cornerstones of gene expression. In a parasite that must answer to the high regulatory requirements of its multi-host life style, there is a great need to adopt additional means to partition the distinct transcriptional signatures of the closely and tandemly-arranged stage specific genes. In this study, we report on our findings inT. gondiiof an m6A-dependent 3’end polyadenylation serving as a transcriptional barrier at theseloci. We identify the core polyadenylation complex withinT. gondiiand establish CPSF4 as a reader for m6A-modified mRNAs, via a YTH domain within its C-terminus, a feature which is shared with plants. We bring evidence of the specificity of this interaction both biochemically, and by determining the crystal structure at high resolution of theT. gondiiCPSF4-YTH in complex with an m6A modified RNA. We show that the loss of m6A, both at the level of its deposition or its recognition was associated with an increase in aberrantly elongated chimeric mRNAs emanating from impaired transcriptional termination, a phenotype previously noticed in the plant modelArabidopsis thaliana. We bring Nanopore direct RNA sequencing-based evidence of the occurrence of transcriptional read-through breaching into downstream repressed stage-specific genes, in the absence of either CPSF4 or the m6A RNA methylase components in bothT. gondiiandA. thaliana. Taken together, our results shed light on an essential regulatory mechanism coupling the pathways of m6A metabolism directly to the cleavage and polyadenylation processes, one that interestingly seem to serve, in bothT. gondiiandA. thaliana, as a guardian against aberrant transcriptional read-throughs.

Highlights

m6A is recognized in apicomplexan and plants by CPSF4, a member of the cleavage and polyadenylation complex machinery.

The structural insight behind the specificity of the binding of m6A by the CPSF4 YTH subunit are solved by high resolution crystal structures.

The m6A-driven 3’end polyadenylation pathway protects transcriptome integrity by restricting transcriptional read-throughs and RNA chimera formation in apicomplexan parasites and plants.
Migration Restores Hybrid Incompatibility Driven By Mitochondrial-Nuclear Sexual Conflict
Authors: Munasinghe Manisha , Haller Benjamin C. , Clark Andrew G.
Published: February 2021

In the mitochondrial genome, sexual asymmetry in transmission allows the accumulation of male-harming mutations since selection acts only on the effect of the mutation in females. Called the “Mother’s Curse”, this phenomenon induces a selective pressure for nuclear variants that compensate for this reduction in male fitness. Previous work has demonstrated the existence of these interactions and their potential to act as Dobzhansky–Muller incompatibilities, contributing to reproductive isolation between populations. However, it is not clear how readily they would give rise to and sustain hybrid incompatibilities. Here, we use computer simulations in SLiM 3 to investigate the consequences of sexually antagonistic mitochondrial-nuclear interactions in a subdivided population. We consider distinct migration schemes and vary the chromosomal location, and consequently the transmission pattern, of nuclear restorers. Disrupting these co-evolved interactions results in less-fit males, skewing the sex ratio toward females. Restoration of male fitness depends on both the chromosomal location of nuclear restorer loci and the migration scheme. Our results show that these interactions may act as Dobzhansky–Muller incompatibilities, but their strength is not enough to drive population isolation. Overall, this model shows the varied ways in which populations can respond to migration’s disruption of co-evolved mitochondrial-nuclear interactions.
A tale of two gradients: Differences between the left and right hemispheres predict semantic cognition and visual reasoning
Authors: del Jesus Gonzalez Alam Tirso Rene , Mckeown Brontë L. A. , Gao Zhiyao , Bernhardt Boris , de Wael Reinder Vos , Margulies Daniel S. , Smallwood Jonathan , Jefferies Elizabeth
Published: February 2021

Decomposition of whole-brain functional connectivity patterns reveals a principal gradient that captures the separation of sensorimotor cortex from heteromodal regions in the default mode network (DMN); this gradient captures the systematic order of networks on the cortical surface. Functional homotopy is strongest in sensorimotor areas, and weakest in heteromodal cortices, suggesting there may be differences between the left and right hemispheres (LH/RH) in the principal gradient, especially towards its apex. This study characterised hemispheric differences in the position of large-scale cortical networks along the principal gradient, and their functional significance. We collected resting-state fMRI and semantic and non-verbal reasoning task performance in 175+ healthy volunteers. We then extracted the principal gradient of connectivity for each participant and tested which networks showed significant hemispheric differences in gradient value. We investigated the functional associations of these differences by regressing participants’ behavioural efficiency in tasks outside the scanner against their interhemispheric gradient difference for each network. LH showed a higher overall principal gradient value, consistent with its role in heteromodal semantic cognition. One frontotemporal control subnetwork was linked to individual differences in semantic cognition: when it was nearer heteromodal DMN on the principal gradient in LH, participants showed more efficient semantic retrieval. In contrast, when a dorsal attention subnetwork was closer to the heteromodal end of the principal gradient in RH, participants showed better visual reasoning. Lateralization of function may reflect differences in connectivity between control and heteromodal regions in LH, and attention and visual regions in RH.
Protein Friction and Filament Bending Facilitate Contraction of Disordered Actomyosin Networks
Authors: Tam Alexander K. Y. , Mogilner Alex , Oelz Dietmar B.
Published: February 2021

We use mathematical modelling and computation to investigate how protein friction facilitates contraction of disordered actomyosin networks. We simulate two-dimensional networks using an agent-based model, consisting of a system of force-balance equations for myosin motor proteins and semi-flexible actin filaments. A major advantage of our approach is that it enables direct calculation of the network stress tensor, which provides a quantitative measure of contractility. Exploiting this, we use repeated simulations of disordered networks to confirm that both protein friction and actin filament bending are required for contraction. We then use simulations of elementary two-filament assemblies to show that filament bending flexibility can generate contraction on the microscopic scale. Finally, we show that actin filament turnover is necessary to sustain contraction and prevent pattern formation. Simulations with and without turnover also exhibit contractile pulses. However, these pulses are aperiodic, suggesting that periodic pulsation can only be achieved by additional regulatory mechanisms.
Chemoenzymatic labeling of DNA methylation patterns for single-molecule epigenetic mapping
Authors: Gabrieli Tslil , Michaeli Yael , Avraham Sigal , Torchinsky Dmitry , Juhasz Matyas , Coruh Ceyda , Arbib Nissim , Zhou Zhaohui Sunny , Law Julie A. , Weinhold Elmar , Ebenstein Yuval
Published: February 2021

DNA methylation, specifically, methylation of cytosine (C) nucleotides at the 5-carbon position (5-mC), is the most studied and among the most significant epigenetic modifications. Here we developed a chemoenzymatic procedure to fluorescently label non-methylated cytosines in the CpG context allowing epigenetic profiling of single DNA molecules spanning hundreds of thousands of base pairs. For this method, a CpG methyltransferase was used to transfer an azide to cytosines from a syntheticS-adenosyl-l-methionine cofactor analog. A fluorophore was then clicked onto the DNA, reporting on the amount and position of non-methylated CpGs. We found that labeling efficiency was increased two-fold by the addition of a nucleosidase that degrades the inactive by-product of the azide-cofactor after labeling, and prevents its inhibitory effect. We first used the method to determine the decline in global DNA methylation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients and then performed whole genome methylation mapping of the model plantArabidopsis thaliana.Our genome maps show high concordance with published methylation maps produced by bisulfite sequencing. Although mapping resolution is limited by optical detection to 500-1000 base pairs, the labeled DNA molecules produced by this approach are hundreds of thousands of base pairs long, allowing access to long repetitive and structurally variable genomic regions.
Chromatin accessibility changes at intergenic regions associates with ovarian cancer drug resistance
Authors: Gallon John , Loomis Erick , Curry Edward , Martin Nicholas , Brody Leigh , Garner Ian , Brown Robert , Flanagan James M.
Published: February 2021

We have investigated how genomic distribution of chromatin accessibilities alter during acquisition of resistance to carboplatin-based chemotherapy using matched ovarian cell lines from high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patients before and after becoming clinically resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy. Resistant lines show altered chromatin accessibility at intergenic regions, but less so at gene promoters. Super-enhancers, as defined by clusters of cis-regulatory elements, at these intergenic regions show chromatin changes that are associated with altered expression of linked genes, with enrichment for genes involved in the Fanconi anemia/BRCA DNA damage response pathway. Further, genome-wide distribution of platinum adducts associates with the chromatin changes observed and distinguish sensitive from resistant lines. In the resistant line, we observe fewer adducts around gene promoters and more adducts at intergenic regions. Thus, chromatin changes at intergenic regulators of gene expression are associated within vivoderived drug resistance and Pt-adduct distribution in patient-derived HGSOC drug resistance models.
Modeling of DNA binding to the condensin hinge domain using molecular dynamics simulations guided by atomic force microscopy
Authors: Koide Hiroki , Kodera Noriyuki , Bisht Shveta , Takada Shoji , Terakawa Tsuyoshi
Published: February 2021

The condensin protein complex compacts chromatin during mitosis using its DNA-loop extrusion activity. Previous studies proposed scrunching and loop-capture models as molecular mechanisms for the loop extrusion process, both of which assume the binding of double-strand (ds) DNA to the so-called hinge domain formed at the interface of the condensin subunits Smc2 and Smc4. However, how the hinge domain contacts dsDNA has remained unknown, potentially due to its conformational plasticity. Here, we conducted atomic force microscopy imaging of the budding yeast condensin holo-complex and used this data as basis for coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to model the hinge structure in a transient open conformation. We then simulated the dsDNA binding to open and closed hinge conformations, predicting that dsDNA binds to the outside surface when closed and to the outside and inside surfaces when open. Our simulations also suggested that the hinge can close around dsDNA bound to the inside surface. The conformational change of the hinge domain might be essential for the dsDNA binding regulation and play important roles in condensin-mediated DNA-loop extrusion.
An anaphase surveillance mechanism prevents micronuclei formation from mitotic errors
Authors: Orr Bernardo , Sousa Filipe De , Gomes Ana Margarida , Ferreira Luísa T. , Figueiredo Ana C. , Maiato Helder
Published: February 2021

Micronuclei are a hallmark of cancer and other human disorders and have recently been implicated in chromothripsis, a series of massive genomic rearrangements that may drive tumor evolution and progression. Here we show that Aurora B kinase mediates a surveillance mechanism that integrates error correction during anaphase with spatial control of nuclear envelope reformation to protect against micronuclei formation during human cell division. Using high-resolution live-cell imaging of human cancer and non-cancer cells we found that anaphase lagging chromosomes are often transient and rarely formed micronuclei. This strong bias against micronuclei formation relied on a midzone-based Aurora B phosphorylation gradient that assisted the mechanical transduction of spindle forces at the kinetochore-microtubule interface required for anaphase error correction, while delaying nuclear envelope reformation on lagging chromosomes, independently of microtubules. Our results uncover a new layer of protection against genomic instability and provide a strategy for the rational design of micronuclei-targeting therapies.
HPWSs and employee performance in KIBS companies: a mediating–moderating analysis
Authors: Wojtczuk-Turek Agnieszka , Turek Dariusz
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWSs) and productive/counterproductive behaviours initiated and performed by employees. Using the ability, motivation and opportunities (AMO) theoretical framework, the authors described how an HPWS influences employee behaviours. The authors suggest that HPWSs could increase productive work behaviour and decrease counterproductive behaviours by mediating employees' affective commitment and moderating their self-efficacy.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on data from 563 questionnaires, which were completed using the computer-assisted telephone interview method. The respondents were knowledge workers, representing companies of various sizes in the Knowledge-Intensive Business Service (KIBS) sector in Poland. Statistical verification of the mediation and moderation analyses was conducted with macro PROCESS (ver. 3.3).

Findings

This research confirmed a significant statistical relationship between all examined variables. It has been shown that HPWSs influence productive and counterproductive behaviours both directly and indirectly through mediation of affective commitment. The statistical analysis also confirmed the study’s hypothesis that self-efficacy moderates relationships between an HPWS and employee behaviours.

Research limitations/implications

This study has two limitations: its cross-sectional design and the use of self-reported questionnaire data.

Originality/value

This study is the first to explore mediating mechanisms between HPWSs and employee performance in the context of the KIBS companies in Poland. The results indicate that HPWSs are important antecedents of productive and counterproductive behaviours among knowledge workers.
The roles of whistleblowing system and fraud awareness as financial statement fraud deterrent
Authors: Shonhadji Nanang , Maulidi Ach
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to provide new theoretical discussion about the role of whistleblowing system and fraud awareness as an effective deterrent for financial statement fraud.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted surveys to 13 reputable public accounting firms in East Java, Indonesia.

Findings

It is well acknowledged, as fraud attacks grow more sophisticated, whistleblowing system and fraud awareness can be possible deterrents. By increasing employees’ fraud awareness, they do not only recognise fraud symptoms and typologies but also support to raise concerns in good faith and on reasonable grounds. This study also suggests the role of fraud awareness as a human capital investment that increase sensitivity on identifying fraud symptoms and discouraging participation in crimes.

Originality/value

This study produces new theoretical discussion about fraud prevention. Then this study also offers several aspects that can help organisation to establish effective whistleblowing systems and reporting mechanisms. Those aspects identified can encourage an individual to report malpractice or wrongdoing. This study also offers how fraud awareness can support the implementation of whistleblowing system in preventing fraudulent financial statements and other irregularities.
A typology of emerging farmers in three rural provinces of South Africa: what are the implications for the land redistribution policy?
Authors: Zantsi Siphe , Pienaar Louw Petrus , Greyling Jan C.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Understanding diversity amongst potential beneficiaries of land redistribution is of critical importance for both design and planning of successful land reform interventions. This study seeks to add to the existing literature on farming types, with specific emphasis on understanding diversity within a sub-group of commercially oriented or emerging smallholders.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a multivariate statistical analysis – principal component and cluster analyses applied to a sample of 442 commercially-oriented smallholders – five distinct clusters of emerging farmers are identified, using variables related to farmers' characteristics, income and expenditure and farm production indicators and willingness to participate in land redistribution. The five clusters are discussed in light of a predefined selection criteria that is based on the current policies and scholarly thinking.

Findings

The results suggest that there are distinct differences in farming types, and each identified cluster of farmers requires tailored support for the effective implementation of land reform. The identified homogenous sub-groups of smallholders, allows us to understand which farmers could be a better target for a successful land redistribution policy.

Originality/value

Most of the existing typology studies in South Africa tend to focus on general smallholders and in the Eastern Cape province; this study extends the literature by focussing on specific prime beneficiaries of land reform in three provinces. This study uses a more detailed dataset than the Statistics general and agricultural household surveys.
On the relation between purchasing manager’s index and trade policy uncertainty: evidence from China, Japan and the USA
Authors: Shaikh Imlak
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Trade uncertainty does influence the firm’s new investment, profitability and supply chain finance. Consequently, it results in decreased consumption and low consumer confidence and eventually disrupts global economic activity. This paper aims to propose a model to uncover the effects of trade policy uncertainty (TPU) on the real economic activity and economy’s health measured in terms of the purchasing manager’s index (PMI).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the PMI, trade policy uncertainty index, economic policy uncertainty index and short-term interest rate. The relation between economic activity and uncertainty was studied using nested regression and vector autoregressive model.

Findings

The empirical results show that PMI of China and Japan were more responsive to the TPU of the USA and remained more fluctuating during the year 2018–2019. Importantly, this paper notices that the US’s PMI reached a low historically subject to its own trade policy and tension with China. Overall, TPU has shown more pronounced effects on PMI across China, Japan and the USA, followed by important economic and political events and major trade tariff uncertainty deals.

Practical implications

The empirical outcome holds some practical implications trade uncertainty affects not only the economic health of the economy but also market participants, global investors and international political environment, recent trade barriers, tariff wars and ambiguity raise question about free and fair global trade and competitiveness of the member country of the world trade organization.

Originality/value

The work is a novel that attempts to explain economic activity and supply chain through PMI. Unlike conventional economic indicators, e.g. gross domestic product, producer price index, consumer price index, employment, etc. PMI measures manufacturing industries’ overall status concerning the number of orders, inventory levels, productions, supplier deliveries and employment.
CEO gender, power and bank performance: evidence from Chinese banks
Authors: Ting Hsiu-I
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the relations between CEO gender, power and bank performance. First, this study examines the relation between CEO gender and power. Do female CEOs possess less power than male CEOs? As women reach the top, do they hold similar or even higher levels of power as men? Second, this study investigates the relation between the CEO gender and bank performance. How do female CEOs perform? Is the relation between gender and performance subject to CEO power?

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the following three performance measures: ROA, pre-tax ROA and pre-provision profit over assets. This study follows Finkelstein’s (1992) classifications and adopt five variables to measure the four dimensions of CEO power: duality and compensation share measure structural power; ownership captures ownership power; number of functional areas measures the power of expertise; and elite education captures prestige power. Logit model, ordinary least squares regression and quantile regression methods are used in the analysis.

Findings

In a sample of Chinese banks, female CEOs are found to have similar power and performance as male CEOs. As women reach the top, they hold higher ownership and greater prestige power than men. Female CEOs even outperform male CEOs in non-state dominated banks. Female CEOs show their impact through their power: those with higher compensation shares or greater power are positively related to bank performance.

Originality/value

Overall, the results show that as women reach the top, they hold a higher level of power than men. As females break through the glass ceiling, they perform better than males. Moreover, female CEOs show their impact through their power. Female CEOs who overcome the barriers are less traditional and more self-directed than their peers.
Assessing the role of managerial feedback in changing routines in small and medium enterprises
Authors: Blakçori Feim , Aroles Jeremy
Published: February 2021

Purpose

In an ever-complexifying business context, organizations need to continuously adapt, adjust and change their routines in order to remain competitive. Drawing upon a qualitative study focusing on three Southeastern European countries (Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia), this paper explores the role played by managerial feedback on routine change within small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw from an in-depth qualitative study of six manufacturing SMEs located in three Southeastern European countries: Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. The process of data collection, which spanned over a period of fifteen months, was centred around both interviews and observations.

Findings

The authors argue that feedback is a powerful and constructive managerial practice that sets to initiate changes in routines through three different means: (1) making sense of the changes required (by channelling information), (2) rationalizing the decision for changing the unproductive routines and (3) reviewing the process of change through the legitimization of situational routines. In addition to this, the authors found that managers perceive that routines need to change for four main reasons: inability to meet targets (e.g. performance); too cumbersome to deal with complex environments; inflexibility and failing to provide control; obsolete in terms of providing a sense of confidence.

Practical implications

This research provides evidence that feedback is an important managerial means of changing routines in informal, less bureaucratic and less formalized workplaces such as SMEs. Managers might embrace deformalized approaches to feedback when dealing with routines in SMEs. Working within a very sensitive structure where the majority of changes on routines need to be operationalized through their hands, managers and practitioners should deploy feedback in order to highlight the importance of routines as sources of guiding actions, activities and operations occurring in SMEs that create better internal challenges and processes.

Originality/value

The authors’ research suggests that routines are subject of change in dynamic and turbulent situations. Perceiving routines as antithetical to change fails to capture the distinctive features of change such as its fluidity, open-endedness, and inseparability. Likewise, the authors claim that routines are socially constructed organizational phenomena that can be modulated in different ways in SMEs.
Impact of the liability of foreignness, domicile of incorporation and an institutional change on reverse merger firms’ capital-raising performance
Authors: Shin Ho Wook , Lee Seung-Hyun (Sean) , Lee Min-Jung
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how the liability of foreignness (LOF), choice of incorporation and an institutional change independently and jointly affect a reverse merger (RM) firm’s capital-raising performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on the data of shell reverse merger transactions in the USA from 2007 to 2016.

Findings

This paper finds that LOF and the choice of incorporation as a signal have a significant effect on RM firms’ capital-raising performance. In addition, this study finds that the effectiveness of the signaling can be affected by LOF. Finally, this paper finds that an institutional change that lowers the entry barrier to the initial public offering (which is a superior alternate to an RM) affects the impacts of LOF and signaling on RM firms’ capital-raising performance.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the international business literature by examining the RM (which has been an under-researched topic in the literature) by drawing on the LOF framework. The study finds that LOF and the choice of state for incorporation affect RM firms’ capital-raising performance; moreover, these relationships are affected by an institutional change.
Delayed blockage of prostaglandin EP4 receptors can reduce dedifferentiation, epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition and fibrosis following acute kidney injury
Authors: Abouelkheir Mohamed , Shabaan Dalia A. , Shahien Mohamed Awad
Published: February 2021

Dedifferentiation of tubular epithelial cells is involved in both regeneration and fibrosis following acute kidney injury (AKI). Prostaglandin E2 receptor 4 (EP4) antagonist can inhibit the dedifferentiation of renal tubular cells. The present study investigated whether the time of blockage of EP4 receptors, using grapiprant, could affect the tubular regeneration or interstitial fibrosis in AKI. Cisplatin was used to induce AKI in 72 C57BL/6 adult female mice. Animals were assigned to four groups; control, cisplatin‐treated, cisplatin‐treated with early grapiprant intervention and cisplatin‐treated with late grapiprant intervention. AKI was assessed by kidney function tests and histopathology. Fibrosis was evaluated by Masson’s trichrome and alpha smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) expression. Markers of dedifferentiation, CD133, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), vimentin were assessed. Early intervention with grapiprant significantly ameliorated AKI more efficiently than late intervention. However, even late intervention was useful in reducing the overall fibrosis as demonstrated by Masson’s trichrome and α‐SMA expression. In both grapiprant‐treated groups, a parallel reduction of dedifferentiation (CD133) and EMT (vimentin) was evident. It seems that the progressive fibrotic changes that follow AKI could still be reduced possibly by targeting dedifferentiation and/or EMT.
A social network analysis of the structure and evolution of intra‐African trade
Authors: Zhang Qiaowen , Batinge Benjamin
Published: February 2021

We used social network analysis to examine the country attributes and patterns of intra‐African trade between 2002 and 2017. The results showed that, generally, trade networks in Africa have become denser, and have the characteristics of the core‐periphery structure and small world phenomenon. Trade imbalances are widely found among African countries with the evidence that structure holes exist in intra‐African trade networks highlighted by the motif detectors. Using Quadratic Assignment Procedure, we found that countries that possess closer economic, geographic and cultural distance, but longer institutional distance, are more likely to form trade networks. However, many countries and the regional economic communities on the continent, have not adequately manifested these favourable characteristics for enhancing intra‐African trade. The implications are proposed that countries should develop their strategies, expedite structural adjustment, and foster competitive industries to cope with the external competition and seize opportunities of regional integration brought by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. It is also critical to efficiently address the overlapping problems of regional economic communities and intensify their coordination with AfCFTA.
Why Firm's Reactive Eco‐innovation May Lead to Consumers’ Boycott
Authors: Liao Zhongju , Liu Yan
Published: February 2021

Firms that have implemented eco‐innovation are facing negative responses in the form of consumer boycotts. The intrinsic mechanism behind this phenomenon is worth studying. Based on psychological contract violation theory and attribution theory, and using psychological contract violation as the mediator variable and environmental concern as the moderator variable, this study constructs a relational model to explain why and how reactive eco‐innovation leads to consumer boycotts. The results indicate that firms’ reactive eco‐innovation positively correlates with consumers’ propensity to boycott consumer goods; reactive eco‐innovation can trigger consumers’ boycott willingness through psychological contract violation, and consumer environmental concerns reduce the impact of psychological contract violation on consumer boycotts.
The influence of the inclusion of visually impaired pupils on teachers’ conceptualisations of inclusion and SEND
Authors: Martin Clare
Published: February 2021

Despite progression in policy towards greater inclusion over the last four decades, teacher insecurities regarding a lack of expertise in special educational needs and disability (SEND) remain. This qualitative case study research investigated the influence of the inclusion of visually impaired pupils on teachers’ conceptualisations of inclusion and SEND. Baseline and end‐of‐study surveys were undertaken with teachers (n = 13) and support staff (n = 8) who would be working with a visually impaired pupil for the first time. Classroom observations and end‐of‐study interviews were undertaken with teachers in Key Stage 2 (n = 2) and Key Stage 3 (n = 5). Addressing VI inclusion did not require significant acquisition of specialist knowledge but could be managed successfully through ongoing, small‐scale changes. These changes were sufficient to trigger reflection on the choice of pedagogical approaches and challenge teachers’ conceptions of inclusion through changed knowledge and understandings of how some children learn. Findings support the view that what constitutes special in addressing SEND is less a need for specific pedagogical strategies but rather teacher capacity for reflection and reappraisal such that they deepen their understanding of inclusive practice.
It all starts at home: ‘Home reading environment and reading outcomes in rural China’
Authors: Gao Qiufeng , Zhang Yang , Nie Wei , Liu Han , Wang Huan , Shi Yaojiang
Published: February 2021

Background

The educational resources that parents provide at home are crucial to their children's development. In this study, we focused on home reading environment, a key contributor to success rates regarding the mastery of reading skills. We aimed to investigate students' home reading environments and examine its effect on the reading development of primary school students in rural China.

Methods

We draw on a dataset composed of 10,740 randomly selected primary school students and their households in rural areas of Jiangxi province in China. Surveys were administered by trained enumerators in May 2015.

Results

The results show that students exhibited quite poor reading environments and reading outcomes. Specifically, we found the majority of the rural students lacked reading and learning resources in the context of their families and their parents did not enjoy reading or support their children's reading. Moreover, our regression analysis documented students with poorer home reading environments are more likely to have worse reading performance.

Conclusion

Our study supports the significance of the home reading environment in the reading development of students in the upper elementary grades in rural China. Furthermore, the results suggest that the home reading environments of rural Chinese students must be improved.
Evaluation of an augmented emergency department electronic medical record‐based sepsis alert
Authors: Shetty Amith , Murphy Margaret , Middleton‐Rennie Catriona , Lancuba Angelo , Green Malcolm , Lander Harvey , Fullick Mary , Li Ling , Iredell Jonathan , Gunja Naren
Published: February 2021

Objective

Electronic medical records‐based alerts have shown mixed results in identifying ED sepsis. Augmenting clinical patient‐flagging with automated alert systems may improve sepsis screening. We evaluate the performance of a hybrid alert to identify patients in ED with sepsis or in‐hospital secondary outcomes from infection.

Methods

We extracted a dataset of all patients with sepsis during the study period at five participating Western Sydney EDs. We evaluated the hybrid alert's performance for identifying patients with a discharge diagnosis related to infection and modified sequential sepsis‐related organ functional assessment (mSOFA) score ≥2 in ED and also compared the alert to rapid bedside screening tools to identify patients with infection for secondary outcomes of all‐cause in‐hospital death and/or intensive care unit admission.

Results

A total of 118 178 adult patients presented to participating EDs during study period with 1546 patients meeting ED sepsis criteria. The hybrid alert had a sensitivity – 71.2% (95% confidence interval 68.8–73.4), specificity – 96.4% (95% confidence interval 96.3–96.5) for identifying ED sepsis. Clinician flagging identified additional alert‐negative 232 ED sepsis and 63 patients with secondary outcomes and 112 alert‐positive patients with infection and ED mSOFA score <2 went on to die in hospital.

Conclusion

The hybrid alert performed modestly in identifying ED sepsis and secondary outcomes from infection. Not all infected patients with a secondary outcome were identified by the alert or mSOFA score ≥2 threshold. Augmenting clinical practice with auto‐alerts rather than pure automation should be considered as a potential for sepsis alerting until more reliable algorithms are available for safe use in clinical practice.
Pathological complete response after neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma does not equal cure
Authors: Zhou Yanming , Liao Shan , You Jun
Published: February 2021

Background

There is a scarcity of data about patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who received neoadjuvant therapy before radical resection and achieved a pathological complete response (pCR). The aim of this study was to describe the recurrence and survival in this subset of patients.

Methods

The Embase, Web of Science and PubMed databases were systematically searched for eligible studies published between January 2000 and August 2020. Clinicopathological data of individual patients with pCR after neoadjuvant therapy for PDAC were extracted, pooled and analysed.

Results

A total of 87 patients were subject to analysis. The majority of patients were female (61.5%) with a median age of 64 (range 43–75) years. Among reported, 41.9% of patients received gemcitabine‐based neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 33.7% received FOLFIRINOX (5‐fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, irinotecan and leucovorin)‐based regimen and 24.4% received fluoropyrimidine drugs‐based regimen. Preoperative radiation was administered to 78.8% of the patients. Twenty‐nine (33.3%) patients developed disease recurrence during a median follow‐up period of 22.4 (range 2–194) months. The median, 1‐, 3‐ and 5‐year overall survival rates were 105 months, 93.6%, 70.3% and 70.3%, respectively.

Conclusion

Despite the excellent long‐term outcomes, a pCR does not equal cure because this cohort of patients still has a significant risk of recurrence.
The health belief model predicts vaccination intentions against COVID‐19: A survey experiment approach
Authors: Zampetakis Leonidas A. , Melas Christos
Published: February 2021

With the COVID‐19 pandemic recognized as a major threat to human health is of paramount importance to improve the vaccination uptake of the future COVID‐19 vaccine. The study extended the health belief model (HBM) using insights from trait theory and events systems theory, to examine the role of beliefs in predicting intentions to be vaccinated against COVID‐19, when a vaccine becomes available. Employees from Greece (N = 1006) participated from October 1 to November 5, 2020, in an anonymous online factorial survey experiment. Measures of dispositional optimism, faith in intuition, risk‐taking propensity, and acquiring resources mindset were included as individual difference variables. Multilevel modeling techniques were used for data analyses. Components of HBM had significant effects on intentions to vaccinate. Two‐way interactions between severity and susceptibility beliefs and three‐way interaction among perceived severity, susceptibility, and perceived benefits were detected. In line with the events systems theory, a critical event moderated beliefs' effects on intention to vaccinate. Acquiring resources mindset emerged as important individual difference that positively related to intentions. The model explained 59 per cent of the variance in vaccination intentions. The study highlighted interaction effects among the HBM components and how critical events may moderate belief effects.
Subcutaneous adipose tissue composition and function are unaffected by liraglutide‐induced weight loss in adults with type 1 diabetes
Authors: Wegeberg Anne‐Marie , Meldgaard Theresa , Bæk Amanda , Drewes Asbjørn Mohr , Vyberg Mogens , Jessen Niels , Brock Birgitte , Brock Christina
Published: February 2021

Adipose tissue is the primary energy reservoir of the human body, which also possesses endocrine functions. The glucagon‐like peptide agonist liraglutide produces weight loss, although the specific effects on adipose tissue are unknown. We aimed to characterize the white adipose tissue composition and pericellular fibrosis of subcutaneous adipose tissue in response to liraglutide treatment. Furthermore, we explored the level of circulating free fatty acids, cluster of differentiation 163 (CD163) macrophage marker, leptin and adiponectin. Thirty‐nine adults with type 1 diabetes and polyneuropathy were randomly assigned to 26 weeks of liraglutide or placebo treatment. Biopsies of subcutaneous tissue were formalin‐fixed stained with picrosirius red to visualize collagen or immunohistochemically stained for CD163. Serum concentrations of free fatty acids, CD163, leptin and adiponectin were assessed with immunoassays or multiplex panels. In comparison with placebo, liraglutide induced weight loss (3.38 kg, 95% CI −5.29; −1.48, P < 0.001), but did not cause any differences in cell size, distribution of CD163‐positive cells, pericellular fibrosis and serum levels of free fatty acids, CD163, leptin or adiponectin (all P < 0.1). Additionally, no associations between weight loss, cell size and serum markers were found (all P > 0.08). In conclusion, despite liraglutide's effect on weight loss, sustained alterations in subcutaneous adipose tissue did not seem to appear.
Bilateral transcranial magnetic stimulation of the supplementary motor area in children with Tourette syndrome
Authors: Kahl Cynthia K , Kirton Adam , Pringsheim Tamara , Croarkin Paul E , Zewdie Ephrem , Swansburg Rose , Wrightson James , Langevin Lisa Marie , Macmaster Frank P
Published: February 2021

Aim

To explore the feasibility and possible effects of low‐frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) delivered to the supplementary motor area (SMA) on tic severity and motor system neurophysiology in children with Tourette syndrome.

Method

Ten children with Tourette syndrome (eight males, two females; 9–15y) participated in this open‐label, phase 1 clinical trial. Treatment consisted of 1800 low‐frequency (1Hz) neuronavigated robotic rTMS (100% resting motor threshold) to the SMA, bilaterally for 15 sessions. The primary outcome was a change in Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) total score from baseline to posttreatment. Secondary outcome measures included changes in magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolite concentrations, TMS neurophysiology measures, TMS motor maps, and clinical assessments (anxiety, depression) from baseline to the end of treatment.

Results

The YGTSS score decreased from baseline after treatment (p<0.001; Cohen's d=2.9). All procedures were well‐tolerated.

Interpretation

Robot‐driven, neuronavigated bilateral rTMS of the SMA is feasible in children with Tourette syndrome and appears to reduce tic severity.

What this paper adds

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is feasible to use in children with Tourette syndrome.

rTMS is tolerated by children with Tourette syndrome.

Precise targeting of the supplementary motor area using functional magnetic resonance imaging is also feasible in these children.
God So Loved the World
Authors: Amos Clare
Published: February 2021

The account of the near sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22, often referred to as the Aqedah, has been profoundly influential, both directly and indirectly, in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theological reflection. This article seeks to explore some Christian insights into the use of the motif of the sacrifice of Isaac, suggesting that its use is fundamental to understanding the theme of Christ’s love in the Gospel of John, in particular the link between love, sacrifice, and unity. With a brief exploration of two artworks by Marc Chagall, The Sacrifice of Isaac and the White Crucifixion, it will also raise questions as to what this might mean for the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.