bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
BatchDTA: Implicit batch alignment enhances deep learning-based drug-target affinity estimation
Authors: Luo Hongyu , Xiang Yingfei , Fang Xiaomin , Lin Wei , Wang Fan , Wu Hua , Wang Haifeng
Published: November 2021

Candidate compounds with high binding affinities toward a target protein are likely to be developed as drugs. Deep neural networks (DNNs) have attracted increasing attention for drug-target affinity (DTA) estimation owning to their efficiency. However, the negative impact of batch effects caused by measure metrics, system technologies, and other assay information is seldom discussed when training a DNN model for DTA. Suffering from the data deviation caused by batch effects, the DNN models can only be trained on a small amount of “clean” data. Thus, it is challenging for them to provide precise and consistent estimations. We design a batch-sensitive training framework, namely BatchDTA, to train the DNN models. BatchDTA implicitly aligns multiple batches toward the same protein, alleviating the impact of the batch effects on the DNN models. Extensive experiments demonstrate that BatchDTA facilitates four mainstream DNN models to enhance the ability and robustness on multiple DTA datasets. The average concordance index (CI) of the DNN models achieves a relative improvement of 4.0%. BatchDTA can also be applied to the fused data collected from multiple sources to achieve further improvement.
Accurate MHC Motif Deconvolution of Immunopeptidomics Data Reveals a Significant Contribution of DRB3, 4 and 5 to the Total DR Immunopeptidome
Authors: Kaabinejadian Saghar , Barra Carolina , Alvarez Bruno , Yari Hooman , Hildebrand William H , Nielsen Morten
Published: November 2021

Mass spectrometry (MS) based immunopeptidomics is used in several biomedical applications including neo-epitope discovery in oncology and next-generation vaccine development. Immunopeptidome data are highly complex given the expression of multiple HLA alleles on the cell membrane and presence of co-immunoprecipitated contaminants. The absence of tools that accurately deal with these challenges is currently a major bottleneck for the large-scale application of this technique. Here, we present the MHCMotifDecon that benefits from state-of-the-art HLA class-I and class-II predictions to accurately deconvolute immunopeptidome datasets and assign individual ligands to the most likely HLA allele while discarding co-purified contaminants. We have benchmarked the tool against other state-of-the-art methods and illustrated its application on experimental datasets for HLA-DR demonstrating a previously underappreciated role for HLA-DRB3/4/5 molecules in defining HLA class II immune repertoires. With its ease of use MHCMotifDecon can efficiently guide interpretation of immunopeptidome datasets, serving the discovery of novel T cell targets.
Human and rat skeletal muscle single-nuclei multi-omic integrative analyses nominate causal cell types, regulatory elements, and SNPs for complex traits
Authors: Orchard Peter , Manickam Nandini , Ventresca Christa , Vadlamudi Swarooparani , Varshney Arushi , Rai Vivek , Kaplan Jeremy , Lalancette Claudia , Mohlke Karen L. , Gallagher Katherine , Burant Charles F. , Parker Stephen C.J.
Published: November 2021

Skeletal muscle accounts for the largest proportion of human body mass, on average, and is a key tissue in complex diseases and mobility. It is composed of several different cell and muscle fiber types. Here, we optimize single-nucleus ATAC-seq (snATAC-seq) to map skeletal muscle cell–specific chromatin accessibility landscapes in frozen human and rat samples, and single-nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) to map cell-specific transcriptomes in human. We additionally perform multi-omics profiling (gene expression and chromatin accessibility) on human and rat muscle samples. We capture type I and type II muscle fiber signatures, which are generally missed by existing single-cell RNA-seq methods. We perform cross-modality and cross-species integrative analyses on 33,862 nuclei and identify seven cell types ranging in abundance from 59.6% to 1.0% of all nuclei. We introduce a regression-based approach to infer cell types by comparing transcription start site–distal ATAC-seq peaks to reference enhancer maps and show consistency with RNA-based marker gene cell type assignments. We find heterogeneity in enrichment of genetic variants linked to complex phenotypes from the UK Biobank and diabetes genome-wide association studies in cell-specific ATAC-seq peaks, with the most striking enrichment patterns in muscle mesenchymal stem cells (∼3.5% of nuclei). Finally, we overlay these chromatin accessibility maps on GWAS data to nominate causal cell types, SNPs, transcription factor motifs, and target genes for type 2 diabetes signals. These chromatin accessibility profiles for human and rat skeletal muscle cell types are a useful resource for nominating causal GWAS SNPs and cell types.
rmc-discord: reverse Monte Carlo refinement of diffuse scattering and correlated disorder from single crystals
Authors: Morgan Zachary J. , Zhou Haidong D. , Chakoumakos Bryan C. , Ye Feng
Published: November 2021

A user-friendly program has been developed to analyze diffuse scattering from single crystals with the reverse Monte Carlo method. The approach allows for refinement of correlated disorder from atomistic supercells with magnetic or structural (occupational and/or displacive) disorder. The program is written in Python and optimized for performance and efficiency. Refinements of two user cases obtained with legacy neutron-scattering data demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach and the developed program. It is shown with bixbyite, a naturally occurring magnetic mineral, that the calculated three-dimensional spin-pair correlations are resolved with finer real-space resolution compared with the pair distribution function calculated directly from the reciprocal-space pattern. With the triangular lattice Ba3Co2O6(CO3)0.7, refinements of occupational and displacive disorder are combined to extract the one-dimensional intra-chain correlations of carbonate molecules that move toward neighboring vacant sites to accommodate strain induced by electrostatic interactions. The program is packaged with a graphical user interface and extensible to serve the needs of single-crystal diffractometer instruments that collect diffuse-scattering data.
Magnetic field simulations using explicit time integration with higher order schemes
Authors: Kähne Bernhard , Clemens Markus , Schöps Sebastian
Published: November 2021

Purpose

A transient magneto-quasistatic vector potential formulation involving nonlinear material is spatially discretized using the finite element method of first and second polynomial order. By applying a generalized Schur complement the resulting system of differential algebraic equations is reformulated into a system of ordinary differential equations (ODE). The ODE system is integrated in time by using explicit time integration schemes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate explicit time integration for eddy current problems with respect to the performance of the first-order explicit Euler scheme and the Runge-Kutta-Chebyshev (RKC) method of higher order.

Design/methodology/approach

The ODE system is integrated in time using the explicit Euler scheme, which is conditionally stable by a maximum time step size. To overcome this limit, an explicit multistage RKC time integration method of higher order is used to enlarge the maximum stable time step size. Both time integration methods are compared regarding the overall computational effort.

Findings

The numerical simulations show that a finer spatial discretization forces smaller time step sizes. In comparison to the explicit Euler time integration scheme, the multistage RKC method provides larger stable time step sizes to diminish the overall computation time.

Originality/value

The explicit time integration of the Schur complement vector potential formulation of eddy current problems is accelerated by a multistage RKC method.
The misuse of drugs act – a user perspective
Authors: Southwell Mat
Published: November 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate the ways in which the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) militates against the interests and situations of people who use drugs. The author reflects on the author’s journey as a drug user, drugs workers and drug user organiser to critique the MDA. The author describes the impact of the MDA on the author’s early experimentation with substances and highlights the limitations of simplistic drugs prevention. The author describes how the MDA maximises drug-related risks and undermines the creation of healthy cultural norms and community learning among people who use drugs. The author talks about the author’s work as a drugs practitioner and mourns the vandalism of the UK’s harm reduction and drug treatment system. This paper describes the opportunity to use drug policy reform as a progressive electoral agenda to begin the journey towards racial and social justice. This paper calls for the rejection of the Big Drugs Lie and the repeal of the failed MDA.

Design/methodology/approach

Personal reflection based on experience as drug user, drugs worker and drug user organiser.

Findings

Successive UK Governments have used the MDA as a tool of social control and racial discrimination. The Big Drugs Lie undermines science-based and rights-compliant drug policy and drug services and criminalises and puts young people at risk. There is the potential to build a progressive political alliance to remove the impediment of the MDA and use drug policy reform as tools for racial and social justice.

Practical implications

The MDA maximises the harms faced by people who use drugs, stokes stigma and discrimination and has undermined the quality of drug services. The MDA needs to be exposed and challenged as a tool for social control and racial discrimination. Delivering drug policy reform as a progressive electoral strategy could maximise its potential to improve social and racial justice.

Originality/value

This paper represents the view of people who use drugs by a drug user, a view which is seldom expressed in the length and level of argument shown here.
Library and information science research in the Arab World: a bibliometric analysis 1951–2021
Authors: Siddique Nadeem , Ur Rehman Shafiq , Ahmad Shakil , Abbas Akhtar , Khan Muhammad Ajmal
Published: November 2021

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the research productivity of library and information science (LIS) authors affiliated with the 22 countries of the Arab League. It also identifies the top countries, organizations, authors, journals, natures of collaboration, and frequently used keywords in LIS research in the Arab world.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric methods were used to evaluate the research performance of the authors affiliated with library organizations in the Arab region. The Elsevier Scopus database was selected for data retrieval. A comprehensive search strategy was adopted to retrieve 863 publications contributed by LIS authors affiliated with the Arab countries. VOS viewer, Biblioshiny, BiblioAnalyitics, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel were used for data visualization and analysis.

Findings

This paper presents the dynamics and the state of the LIS research in the Arab region published between 1951 and 2021. The results of the study have highlighted an upward trend in the growth of the publications, especially in the past four years. The largest number of studies were published in the year 2020. The country-wise analysis ranked Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as the top LIS research producing countries with five and four researchers, respectively. The Kuwait University, the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University were the three most productive organizations. Academic libraries, social media, bibliometrics, information-seeking behavior, information literacy and knowledge management were identified as the major areas of interest for the researchers. Internet and open access were topics that had gained recent popularity, while the digital library, research data management, green librarianship, link data, cloud computing, library leadership, library automation and artificial intelligence were identified as areas requiring further attention. Furthermore, the single-author pattern was found to be the most preferred pattern.

Practical implications

The findings of this study would help prospective researchers in choosing the neglected areas of research that require further investigation. They would also help policymakers in identifying factors that need more attention and allocation of research funds.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric study that presents a holistic picture of the LIS research in the Arab region.
Human resource developments with the touch of artificial intelligence: a scale development study
Authors: Kambur Emine , Akar Cüneyt
Published: November 2021

Purpose

The aim of this study is to develop a reliable and valid scale. At the same time, it is to reveal the perceptions of HR employees towards artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, examining the change made by AI in the HR department is another purpose of the study.

Design/methodology/approach

A scale was developed in this study. A total of 821 observation out of the samples from the human resource managers and employees of the Turkey's largest organizations in terms of capital were analyzed by applying all scientific steps of scale development process. Using appropriate statistical criteria, scale was showed to be valid and reliable. General condition was demonstrated in the human resource departments of large companies in Turkey as a result of these tests.

Findings

Human resource employees and managers could have the perception that this technology will save the work done from monotony, reduce the stress experienced to find the suitable candidate and access more candidates with the desired qualifications. It was found that when AI technology was included in training and development process, human resource managers and employees could have a perception that the time spent for training and the lack of attention in training will decrease compared to the traditional method.

Originality/value

The contribution of this study to the literature is the development of a valid and reliable scale. Data collected with the developed scale were evaluated in Turkey.
Career patterns of marketing managers in top European football clubs
Authors: Nessel Karolina
Published: November 2021

Purpose

The goal of this research was to explore career patterns of senior marketing managers in the best European football clubs (SMMEFCs).

Design/methodology/approach

The data came from the LinkedIn profiles of current and past SMMEFCs. Firstly, the optimal matching algorithm was used to determine clusters of pathways leading to a first SMMEFC position based on the main activity of the employing organisation. Secondly, these patterns were compared in terms of variables depicting the career paths, clubs and managers. Finally, the evolution of the post-SMMEFC careers was analysed.

Findings

People in their first SMMEFC positions are mainly male with a university degree in business and marketing, and with a predominantly functional experience in marketing. There are five ways to become an SMMEFC: through business (40% of the sample), football (32%), other sports (11%), marketing and communication (11%), and media (6%). As the majority of SMMEFCs come to their positions from outside the sporting world, the specificity of the football industry is not a serious obstacle. Instead, the careers are bounded by functional marketing experience. Among the individual sequences leading to a first SMMEFC position, only around half of the football cluster may be considered traditional careers. Football, and sports in general, seem attractive for post-SMMEFC career development for the majority of managers coming from all pathways.

Originality/value

The study is the first one to quantify career patterns in professional sports management. It provides new insights about marketing careers and practice in European club football.
Teaching diversity in North American higher education master's programs: curricula and rationales
Authors: Walpole MaryBeth , Crockett Felicia , Lezotte Stephanie
Published: November 2021

Purpose

This study aims to examine North American master's programs in higher education administration, leadership and student affairs; the extent to which these programs incorporate diversity coursework; and their reasons for doing so. Graduate programs must prepare practitioners who are able to work effectively with multiple groups of students, ameliorate persistence and graduation gaps, and create more socially just campuses.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an open-ended questionnaire and document analysis, the authors analyzed the extent to which and why these master's programs incorporate courses and course material on diversity.

Findings

Exactly half of higher education leadership (50%) and a small majority of student affairs (52%) programs require some type of diversity course, while only 42% of higher education administration programs do so. Reported reasons for including such coursework include students' demand for such courses, the centrality of diversity to university missions and standards in the field.

Research limitations/implications

Research on faculty perceptions regarding the need for diversity courses with a focus on interest convergence may be productive.

Practical implications

Program directors should ensure that coursework on diversity is required, and that faculty teaching these courses are comfortable discussing these topics to prepare students to work with diverse groups in multiple contexts.

Originality/value

This study uses multiple methods (document analysis, open-ended questionnaire of program directors) to analyze programs and program design intentions. The authors use the critical race theory framework's tenet of interest convergence to understand program rationales.
Senior financial exploitation through wills, trusts, and guardianship: basics, red flags and prevention measures
Authors: Schmidt Martina Kirsten , Stowell Nicole Forbes , Pacini Carl , Patterson Gary
Published: November 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss financial fraud and exploitation against seniors relating to wills, trusts and guardianship. The paper describes how this fraud affects its victims, points out red flags and makes recommendations that may help control this pervasive type of fraud.

Design/methodology/approach

Information from a range of different sources, such as journal publications, law textbooks, law enforcement websites and estate planning cases are used as a basis to provide information about how fraudsters are committing this type of fraud, which red flags to watch out for and how to prevent this fraud from occurring.

Findings

Fraud relating to wills, trusts and guardianship is oftentimes difficult to detect and continues to be a grave threat to its victims. While this fraud will likely never be eradicated, specific efforts have been put into place to track financial exploitation. Further steps presented in this paper can be deployed to help rein in these fraud schemes.

Practical implications

The paper provides useful information about frauds related to wills, trusts and guardianship for stakeholders. This includes, but is not limited to, anyone whose work is related to seniors, such as accountants, lawyers, regulators, bankers, financial planners, law enforcement personnel, academics, medical professionals, caregivers, family members and ethicists. These stakeholders can use this information to help combat this fraud and prevent not only financial losses of seniors but physical harm as well.

Social implications

Decreasing financial exploitation of seniors will not only improve their financial position and may reduce their reliance on Medicaid but will also improve their mental and physical well-being and save lives.

Originality/value

Research in the area of maltreatment and exploitation of older adults is still in its early stages, as knowledge of effective prevention, intervention and remediation practices are limited. This paper adds to the research in this arena by drawing on a unique set of resources that shed light on financial fraud commonly committed against seniors. This study also makes much needed recommendations that are aimed to prevent this threat related to wills, trusts and guardianship.
What drives inter-organisational knowledge management? The cause and effect analysis using a multi-layer multi-criteria decision-making framework
Authors: Amoozad Mahdiraji Hannan , Beheshti Moein , Jafari-Sadeghi Vahid , Garcia-Perez Alexeis
Published: November 2021

Purpose

Knowledge management seeks collaborative practices among organisations to generate technical, adapt and share knowledge to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage in cross-border business activities. This paper aims to disentangle the crucial determinants of knowledge management in inter-organisational arrangements settings.

Design/methodology/approach

In the first stage, after an in-depth literature review, the main knowledge management drivers are identified. In the second stage, based on the identified drivers, the importance and relationship between the drivers are evaluated by expert opinions from academic and executive activists. Eventually, in the last stage, a multi-layer decision-making approach has been proposed and used to determine the relationship and the importance of the drivers.

Findings

The findings of this paper assess the ranking of the different elements from experts’ opinions and discuss important theoretical and managerial implications. The influential factors were identified through an extensive literature review, which combined with the views of experts from academia and industry (international firms). Furthermore, the ranking of factors based on the experts’ overall opinion was used to discuss theoretical and managerial contributions.

Originality/value

This research provides a better understanding of the interrelationships between the key drivers of knowledge management, which helps management draw more effective strategies to address the cultural differences between firms. Moreover, understanding of the importance of the systems and structures that define the nature of the collaboration in inter-organisational settings, as well as the risks related to those are presented in this research.
Non-work-related instant messaging in the workplace and daily task performance: complementarity between social and cognitive resources
Authors: Du Jing , Fan Wei , Choi Jin Nam
Published: November 2021

Purpose

The ubiquity of smartphones has changed how people communicate, work and entertain. In view of conservation of resources theory and the positive spillover effect, this study explores the effect of non-work-related instant messaging (IM) in the workplace on daily task performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the experience sampling method to collect day-level data from 75 employees over a period of 10 workdays. Multilevel path analysis is used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Non-work-related IM exerts a significant negative indirect effect on daily task performance through diminished cognitive engagement. This negative indirect effect disappears when social support is high, thereby showing the function of social support as a neutralizer of the detriment of non-work-related IM on daily task performance.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that organizations can neutralize the harm of non-work-related IM in the workplace by promoting social support perceived by employees.

Originality/value

This study advances the technology and management literature by developing and testing a balanced perspective on the ambivalent effect of workplace smartphone use that considers social and cognitive resource implications.
Finite element analysis on the thermal fatigue life of full vs peripheral array packages
Authors: Gharaibeh Mohammad A.
Published: November 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the thermal cycling fatigue life performance of two-common solder array configurations, full and peripheral, using three-dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The finite element simulations were used to identify the location of the critical solder interconnect, and using Darveaux's model, solder thermal fatigue life was computed.

Findings

The results showed that the solder array type does not significantly influence thermal fatigue life of the interconnect. However, smaller size packages result in improved life by almost 45% compared to larger package designs. Additionally, this paper provided an engineered study on the effect of the number of rows available in a perimeter array component on solder thermal fatigue performance.

Originality/value

General design recommendations for reliable electronic assemblies under thermal cycling loaded were offered in this research.
Exploring trade‐offs in mixed fisheries by integrating fleet dynamics into multispecies size‐spectrum models
Authors: Novaglio Camilla , Blanchard Julia L. , Plank Michael J. , van Putten Elizabeth I. , Audzijonyte Asta , Porobic Javier , Fulton Elizabeth A.
Published: November 2021

Ecosystem‐based fisheries management aims to ensure ecologically sustainable fishing while maximising socio‐economic benefits. Achieving this goal for mixed fisheries requires better understanding of the effects of competing fishing fleets on shared resources and economic performance. Proposed management strategies that promote either specialisation or diversification of catches may result in unintended consequences for ecosystem‐based management. Here, we ask the following questions: does increased or decreased competition among fleets lead to better ecological and socio‐economic fishery outcomes? How effective are currently proposed management strategies for achieving these outcomes?

We integrated fleet dynamics into a multispecies size‐spectrum model and parameterised this model to represent Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Mixed Fishery. We compared the fishery status quo to two extreme scenarios: no competition, where each species is fished only by one fleet (specialisation); and maximal competition, where all fleets catch all species (diversification). To answer our second question, we considered three more plausible scenarios resulting from proposed management strategies: decreased competition due to reduced bycatch, and increased competition due to increased catches of under‐utilised or valuable species. We used indicators to explore scenarios' outcomes.

Our model reproduced observed trends in fishing effort and yield. Extreme scenarios showed that a fishery dependent on single species management structures is more likely to achieve ecosystem‐based management objectives if fleets do not compete, while maximal competition can lead to socio‐economic loss as management buffers the ecological impact of diversifying. The more plausible scenarios showed little improvement over the status quo, with mixed ecological and negative economic effects.

Synthesis and applications. Our model can be applied to assess mixed fisheries ecosystem‐based management strategies. Our results show that, under single species management approaches, greatest outcomes can be achieved when fleets are specialised, whereas managing fleets that catch similar species is unlikely to be successful. They question the effectiveness of these management approaches in providing resilience for mixed fisheries facing changes and highlight the need to account for fleet interactions in the evaluation of management strategies to avert unintended risks.
Phylogenetic organization in the assimilation of chemically distinct substrates by soil bacteria
Authors: Dang Chansotheary , Walkup Jeth G.V. , Hungate Bruce A. , Franklin Rima B. , Schwartz Egbert , Morrissey Ember M.
Published: November 2021

Soils are among the most biodiverse habitats on earth and while the species composition of microbial communities can influence decomposition rates and pathways, the functional significance of many microbial species and phylogenetic groups remains unknown. If bacteria exhibit phylogenetic organization in their function, this could enable ecologically meaningful classification of bacterial clades. Here, we show non‐random phylogenetic organization in the rates of relative carbon assimilation for both rapidly mineralized substrates (amino acids and glucose) assimilated by many microbial taxa and slowly mineralized substrates (lipids and cellulose) assimilated by relatively few microbial taxa. When mapped onto bacterial phylogeny using ancestral character estimation this phylogenetic organization enabled the identification of clades involved in the decomposition of specific soil organic matter substrates. Phylogenetic organization in substrate assimilation could provide a basis for predicting the functional attributes of uncharacterized microbial taxa and understanding the significance of microbial community composition for soil organic matter decomposition.
Public management in turbulent times: COVID‐19 as an ecosystem disruptor
Authors: Eriksson Erik , Gadolin Christian , Lindahl Göran , Alexandersson Patrik , Eriksson Johanna
Published: November 2021

The decentralisation of Swedish healthcare closer to citizens has been slow. Drawing from empirical material of the reform prior and amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic, this paper argues that the pandemic has disrupted the healthcare ecosystem. Consequently, citizen‐centred collaborations have accelerated integration of resources (such as knowledge and skills) across organisational, hierarchical and professional borders. However, collaborations have been delimited to traditional healthcare providers, neglecting the resources of citizens and other actors to be used to improve service delivery. The pandemic has revealed strengths and weaknesses with the prevailing healthcare ecosystem that post‐COVID‐19 public management must address, both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, the paper contributes to the development of a public service logic, addressing both strengths and difficulties with the logic in turbulent times. Practically, the empirical descriptions contribute to improved understanding of public service delivery reform and how it is impacted during the pandemic.
A US State Index of Successful Aging: Differences Between States and Over Time
Authors: REHKOPF DAVID H. , FURSTENBERG FRANK F. , ELSER HOLLY , JACKSON CHRISTIAN , LEVY NICOLE , ROWE JOHN W. ,   THE AGING SOCIETY RESEARCH NETWORK
Published: November 2021

Policy Points

The focus of successful aging is on the social contexts that enable individuals to be productively engaged and secure, with an emphasis on equity. There is currently no index to measure progress towards this goal at the US state level.

We developed an empirical index for the evaluation of US state adaptation to societal aging across five critical domains that support successful population aging: (1) productivity and engagement, (2) security, (3) equity, (4) cohesion, and (5) well‐being.

Our index shows substantial variability over time and is not overly influenced by the performance of an individual domain. This suggests that it can be used to monitor state progress over time toward the goal of supporting successful aging.

Rather than a major national trend, there are large between‐state differences and changes in our index over time. This suggests individual US state policies and programs, as well as local economic conditions, may have a substantial impact on adaptations to societal aging.

Context

Although it is recognized that aspects of US state environments impact the likelihood that older adults age successfully, there is currently no reliable and comprehensive measure of contexts that best support successful aging at a state level. The current project adapts a multidimensional index previously used to assess adaptation to successful aging in developed countries and applies it to the 50 US states and the District of Columbia.

Methods

We obtained data from multiple sources for all 50 US states and the District of Columbia from 2003 to 2017 in order to measure five distinct domains that define successful population aging: (1) productivity and engagement, (2) security, (3) equity, (4) cohesion, and (5) well‐being. We created a ranking of states for the year 2017 based on these domains, and also examined how individual US state rankings changed over time from 2003 to 2017.

Findings

The level of adaptation to successful aging varied substantially between states and over time. The highest‐ranked states in 2017 were Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, Colorado, and New Hampshire, and the lowest‐ranked states were Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Mississippi. Mississippi, South Carolina, Iowa, Arizona, and Delaware had the greatest improvement in their ranking over the period of 2003 to 2017. Our findings were generally robust to the weighting scheme used and were not overly influenced by any particular domain.

Conclusions

The US State Index of Successful Aging can be used to monitor US state progress in promoting the well‐being and health of aging populations. Factors driving the changes in the index remain to be elucidated.
First Things First: How to Elicit the Initial Program Theory for a Realist Evaluation of Complex Integrated Care Programs
Authors: SMEETS ROWAN G. M. , HERTROIJS DORIJN F. L. , MUKUMBANG FERDINAND C. , KROESE MARIËLLE E. A. L. , RUWAARD DIRK , ELISSEN ARIANNE M. J.
Published: November 2021

Policy Points

Realist evaluation (RE) is an emerging and promising research approach for evaluating integrated care, addressing what works, how, for whom, and in what circumstances.

The rich philosophical foundation of RE, critical realism, can help to systematically unravel an integrated care program's initial theory prior to implementation, as a first step within RE.

RE can be considered a robust methodological asset in integrated care research by facilitating a deeper level of insight into program functioning than traditional forms of evaluation do and by shaping a realist‐informed monitoring and evaluation process.

Context

The complexity of integrated care and the need for transferable evaluation insights ask for a suitable evaluation paradigm. Realist evaluation (RE), underpinned by the philosophy of critical realism, is a theory‐driven approach that addresses what works, how, for whom, and in what circumstances. The current study illustrates the process needed for RE's first step: eliciting the initial program theory (IPT). The TARGET program, a Dutch primary care initiative to facilitate more integrated care for chronically ill patients, i.e., care that is efficient, tailored, and holistic,  was taken as a real‐world case.

Methods

An RE approach informed the phased IPT elicitation: (1) identifying an abstract theory framework; (2) formulating the preliminary IPT, building on the abstract theory and informed by previous scientific studies that underpin TARGET; and (3) refining the preliminary IPT, informed by RE expert interviews (n = 7). An RE heuristic tool, specifying the interplay between intervention‐context‐actors‐mechanisms‐outcomes (ICAMO) and retroductive reasoning, was applied to synthesize the underlying theory of individual TARGET components into TARGET's IPT.

Findings

Separate but related IPTs were identified for the two main types of actors involved in TARGET: primary care professionals (PCPs) and patients. For both actors, two sorts of mechanisms are assumed to be activated by TARGET, which—via instrumental outcomes—contribute to long‐term quadruple aim targets. The first is confidence to enhance PCPs’ person‐centered conversational skills and to increase patients’ active engagement in TARGET. The second is mutual trust, between PCPs and patients and between PCPs and their network partners. A supportive context is assumed crucial for activating these mechanisms—for example, sufficient resources to invest in integrated care.

Conclusions

Although the IPT elicitation process is time intensive and requires a mind shift, it facilitates a deeper insight into program functioning than accommodated by the prevailing experimental designs in integrated care. Furthermore, the design of a realist‐informed evaluation process can be informed by the IPT.
Refugees’ caring and commoning practices against marginalisation under COVID‐19 in Greece
Authors: Tsavdaroglou Charalampos , Kaika Maria
Published: November 2021

This article documents and juxtaposes two side effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on refugee health, housing, and living conditions in Greece. First is the intensification of state‐led practices of what is increasingly known as “campisation,” hyper‐isolation, and ultimately the stigmatisation of refugee populations. Second is the intensification of refugee‐led “commoning” practices of self‐ and community care and the creation of “caringscapes” inside and outside the camps, which has produced new sociospatial connections that have challenged isolation. Documenting these interrelated processes side by side, we draw attention to two important insights. First is that the proliferation of caringscapes acts as an important, but ultimately insufficient, antidote against increased exclusion marginalisation and stigmatisation of refugees. Second is that new ethics and new forms of collective care that have emerged alongside repeated mantras about individual responsibility and social distancing can become levers to imagine a less individualistic, less divisive, and less isolated world.
Postoperative pain treatment after lumbar discectomy. A protocol for a systematic review with meta‐analysis and trial sequential analysis
Authors: Zachodnik Josephine , Bech‐Azeddine Rachid , Udby Peter M. , Sandberg Magnus , Thybo Kasper H. , Geisler Anja
Published: November 2021

Background

Patients undergoing lumbar discectomy usually suffer from moderate to severe pain during the postoperative period. Multimodal, or balanced analgesia, is the leading treatment principle for managing postoperative pain. The rationale is to achieve optimal pain treatment through additive or synergistic effects of several non‐opioid analgesics, and thereby, reducing the need for postoperative opioids, facilitating early mobilization and functional rehabilitation. For discectomy surgery, evidence of both the benefit and harm of different analgesic interventions is unclear.

Objectives

This systematic review aims to investigate the benefits and harms of analgesic interventions in adult patients after lumbar discectomy.

Methods

This protocol for a systematic review is written according to The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis Protocols guidelines. We will search The Cochrane Library's CENTRAL, PubMed, EMBASE, and ClinicalTrails.gov for published and ongoing trials. All randomized clinical trials assessing the postoperative analgesics effect of an intervention with a control or no‐intervention group undergoing lumbar discectomy will be included. Two authors will independently screen trials for inclusion using Covidence, extract data and assess the risk of bias using Cochrane's risk‐of‐bias 2 tool. We will analyse the data using Review Manager and Trial Sequential Analysis. Meta‐analysis will be performed according to the Cochrane guidelines. We will present our primary findings in a ‘summary of findings’ table and evaluate the overall certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach.

Discussion

This systematic review will assess the benefits and harms of analgesic interventions after lumbar discectomy and have the potential to improve best practices and advance research.
Health‐related quality of life and days alive without life support or out of hospital: Protocol
Authors: Granholm Anders , Schjørring Olav Lilleholt , Jensen Aksel Karl Georg , Kaas‐Hansen Benjamin Skov , Munch Marie Warrer , Klitgaard Thomas Lass , Crescioli Elena , Kjær Maj‐Brit Nørregaard , Strøm Thomas , Perner Anders , Rasmussen Bodil Steen , Møller Morten Hylander
Published: November 2021

Background

Mortality is often the primary outcome in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) conducted in critically ill patients. Due to increased awareness on survivors after critical illness and outcomes other than mortality, health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) and days alive without life support (DAWOLS) or days alive and out of hospital (DAAOOH) are increasingly being used. DAWOLS and DAAOOH convey more information than mortality, are easier to collect than HRQoL, and are usually assessed at earlier time points, which may be preferable in some situations. However, the associations between DAWOLS–DAAOOH and HRQoL are uncertain.

Methods

We will assess associations between DAWOLS–DAAOOH at day 28 and 90 (independent variables/predictors) and HRQoL assessed using the EuroQol EQ‐5D‐5L questionnaire (EQ‐VAS and EQ‐5D‐5L index values) at 6 or 12 months (dependent variables) in two RCTs: the COVID STEROID 2 RCT conducted in adult patients with COVID‐19 and severe hypoxaemia and the Handling Oxygenation Targets in the Intensive Care Unit (HOT‐ICU) RCT conducted in adult intensive care patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure. We will describe associations using best‐fitting fractional polynomial transformations separately in each dataset, with the resulting models presented and assessed in both datasets graphically and using measures of fit and prediction adequacy (i.e., internal performance and external validation). We will use multiple imputation if missingness exceeds 5%.

Discussion

The outlined study will provide important knowledge on the associations between DAWOLS–DAAOOH and HRQoL in adult critically ill patients, which may help researchers and clinical trialists prioritise and select outcomes in future RCTs conducted in this population.
Gelatin and the risk of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery
Authors: Koponen Timo , Musialowicz Tadeusz , Lahtinen Pasi
Published: November 2021

Background

Gelatin has been used as a plasma volume expander because of its ability to preserve intravascular volume more effectively than crystalloids. However, gelatin may have detrimental effects on kidney function and increase the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI).

Method

We investigated by retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data whether the administration of 4% succinyl gelatin is associated with an increased risk of AKI after cardiac surgery. We compared two propensity score‐matched groups of 1,187 patients (crystalloid group and gelatin group).

Results

The incidence of AKI was similar in both groups (gelatin 21% and crystalloid 20%) (p = 0.414). The incidence of moderate AKI (8% vs. 6%) was higher in the gelatin group, but there was no difference in mild or severe AKI. Postoperative serum creatine on the first (70 vs. 70 μmol L−1, p = 0.689) or fourth (71 vs. 70, p = 0.313) postoperative day was similar between groups and there was no difference in the need for new renal replacement therapy (p = 0.999). Patients in the gelatin group received less crystalloids (2080 ml vs. 4130 ml, p = 0.001) and total fluids (3760 ml vs. 4180 ml, p = 0.001), their fluid balance was less positive (p = 0.001) and they required less vasoactive and inotropic medication (p = 0.001). Gelatin was not associated with increased mortality compared to the crystalloid group.

Conclusion

Gelatin was not associated with AKI after cardiac surgery.
The Effect of Dialect Sharing on Corporate Cash Holdings in China
Authors: Hu Guoqiang , Xiao Jason Zezhong , Zhen Yuhan
Published: November 2021

Language is an important dimension of culture. Dialect diversity is a prevalent phenomenon in many countries. This paper examines whether dialect sharing between the chairperson and the CEO (CCDS) affects corporate cash holdings and, if so, through which channels. We obtain robust evidence that CCDS has a negative and significant effect on the level of corporate cash holdings, and this effect remains after controlling for home‐town sharing. Moreover, this negative effect occurs by mitigating the company's agency motive and precautionary motive for cash holdings. We further demonstrate an information mechanism, a reputation mechanism, a CEO risk‐incentive mechanism, and a cooperation mechanism through which CCDS reduces cash holdings. The negative effect of CCDS on cash holdings is more pronounced among firms whose chairperson and CEO both work outside their home towns, but the difference is insignificant between state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and non‐SOEs. Finally, we find that CCDS improves the optimal level of cash holdings by reducing excess cash. These results indicate that this cultural connection can be a substitute for formal corporate governance mechanisms when corporate governance is weak. It can also be used as a useful financial risk management tool in dealing with firms’ uncertainty.
Induction of somatopause in adult mice compromises bone morphology and exacerbates bone loss during aging
Authors: Dixit Manisha , Duran‐Ortiz Silvana , Yildirim Godze , Poudel Sher Bahadur , Louis Leeann D. , Bartke Andrzej , Schaffler Mitchell B. , Kopchick John J. , Yakar Shoshana
Published: November 2021

Somatopause refers to the gradual declines in growth hormone (GH) and insulin‐like growth factor‐1 throughout aging. To define how induced somatopause affects skeletal integrity, we used an inducible GH receptor knockout (iGHRKO) mouse model. Somatopause, induced globally at 6 months of age, resulted in significantly more slender bones in both male and female iGHRKO mice. In males, induced somatopause was associated with progressive expansion of the marrow cavity leading to significant thinning of the cortices, which compromised bone strength. We report progressive declines in osteocyte lacunar number, and increases in lacunar volume, in iGHRKO males, and reductions in lacunar number accompanied by ~20% loss of overall canalicular connectivity in iGHRKO females by 30 months of age. Induced somatopause did not affect mineral/matrix ratio assessed by Raman microspectroscopy. We found significant increases in bone marrow adiposity and high levels of sclerostin, a negative regulator of bone formation in iGHRKO mice. Surprisingly, however, despite compromised bone morphology, osteocyte senescence was reduced in the iGHRKO mice. In this study, we avoided the confounded effects of constitutive deficiency in the GH/IGF‐1 axis on the skeleton during growth, and specifically dissected its effects on the aging skeleton. We show here, for the first time, that induced somatopause compromises bone morphology and the bone marrow environment.