bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Overreaction effect: evidence from an emerging market (Shanghai stock market)
Authors: Reddy Krishna , Qamar Muhammad Ali Jibran , Mirza Nawazish , Shi Fangwei
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to examine overreaction effect in the Chinese stock market after the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007 for all the stocks listed in Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Composite 50 index.

Design/methodology/approach

To capture overreaction effect in the stock listed at SSE 50 Index, a time series analysis of average cumulative abnormal return within a unified framework is applied for the period of January 2009 to December 2015. From these loser and winner portfolios, contrarian strategy is applied to build arbitrage portfolio, which is the difference of mean reversions between loser and winner portfolios. The portfolio construction is based on a 12-month formation period and 6-month testing period for intermediate-term analysis and. for short-term analysis, 6 month formation and 3 month testing periods. The authors also applied regression analysis to test a return reversal effect for the sampled period.

Findings

Results show that contrarian strategy yields positive excess returns for the arbitrage portfolio for most of the testing periods. The intermediate baseline case shows the arbitrage portfolio producing an average excess return of 14.1%, while even the short-term one produces 4%, which is statistically significant at the 5% level. The study finds asymmetrical overreactions in the SSE especially for loser portfolios. The biggest winner and loser portfolios follow the mean reversal effect. Moreover, before-after test for the biggest winner and loser portfolios shows that the losers recovered and beat the market immediately.

Practical implications

The study could benefit government, policy makers and regulators by studying how presence of more individual investors than institutional investors of China stock market leads to more irrational decisions giving rise to volatility. The regulators could build favourable policies for institutional investors to give them incentive to invest more than individual investors through which market volatility could be controlled.

Originality/value

This research contributes to market behaviour research, showing how working under hypotheses of overreaction; gains can be made with contrarian investment strategy through arbitrage portfolios. The authors provide specific additional support for the short and medium-term overreaction in the SSE for the period 2009–2015 using regression analysis.

Contribution to Impact

This research contributes to market behaviour research, showing how working under hypotheses of overreaction; gains can be made with contrarian investment strategy through arbitrage portfolios. We provide specific additional support for the short and medium-term overreaction in the SSE for the period 2009–2015 using regression analysis.
A study of job involvement prediction using machine learning technique
Authors: Choi Youngkeun , Choi Jae Won
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Job involvement can be linked with important work outcomes. One way for organizations to increase job involvement is to use machine learning technology to predict employees’ job involvement, so that their leaders of human resource (HR) management can take proactive measures or plan succession for preservation. This paper aims to develop a reliable job involvement prediction model using machine learning technique.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used the data set, which is available at International Business Machines (IBM) Watson Analytics in IBM community and applied a generalized linear model (GLM) including linear regression and binomial classification. This study essentially had two primary approaches. First, this paper intends to understand the role of variables in job involvement prediction modeling better. Second, the study seeks to evaluate the predictive performance of GLM including linear regression and binomial classification.

Findings

In these results, first, employees’ job involvement with a lot of individual factors can be predicted. Second, for each model, this model showed the outstanding predictive performance.

Practical implications

The pre-access and modeling methodology used in this paper can be viewed as a roadmap for the reader to follow the steps taken in this study and to apply procedures to identify the causes of many other HR management problems.

Originality/value

This paper is the first one to attempt to come up with the best-performing model for predicting job involvement based on a limited set of features including employees’ demographics using machine learning technique.
Deformation prediction based on an adaptive GA-BPNN and the online compensation of a 5-DOF hybrid robot
Authors: Sun YuBo , Xiao Juliang , Liu Haitao , Huang Tian , Wang Guodong
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to accurately obtain the deformation of a hybrid robot and rapidly enable real-time compensation in friction stir welding (FSW). In this paper, a prediction algorithm based on the back-propagation neural network (BPNN) optimized by the adaptive genetic algorithm (GA) is presented.

Design/methodology/approach

Via the algorithm, the deformations of a five-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) hybrid robot TriMule800 at a limited number of positions are taken as the training set. The current position of the robot and the axial force it is subjected to are used as the input; the deformation of the robot is taken as the output to construct a BPNN; and an adaptive GA is adopted to optimize the weights and thresholds of the BPNN.

Findings

This algorithm can quickly predict the deformation of a robot at any point in the workspace. In this study, a force-deformation experiment bench is built, and the experiment proves that the correspondence between the simulated and actual deformations is as high as 98%; therefore, the simulation data can be used as the actual deformation. Finally, 40 sets of data are taken as examples for the prediction, the errors of predicted and simulated deformations are calculated and the accuracy of the prediction algorithm is verified.

Practical implications

The entire algorithm is verified by the laboratory-developed 5-DOF hybrid robot, and it can be applied to other hybrid robots as well.

Originality/value

Robots have been widely used in FSW. Traditional series robots cannot bear the large axial force during welding, and the deformation of the robot will affect the machining quality. In some research studies, hybrid robots have been used in FSW. However, the deformation of a hybrid robot in thick-plate welding applications cannot be ignored. Presently, there is no research on the deformation of hybrid robots in FSW, let alone the analysis and prediction of their deformation. This research provides a feasible methodology for analysing the deformation and compensation of hybrid robots in FSW. This makes it possible to calculate the deformation of the hybrid robot in FSW without external sensors.
An empirical examination of elder abuse through the lens of mens rea
Authors: Bajpai Naval , Sharma Gunjan , Dubey Prince , Kulshreshtha Kushagra
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine elder abuse (EA) tendency in the context of social integration and caregiver stress (CGS). Afterward, the attempt has been made to examine the role of mens rea or intention in the incidence of EA.

Design/methodology/approach

For examining the opinion on EA through the perspective of the elderly and caregiver, a questionnaire was developed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Afterward, a z-test was used for analyzing the results obtained from the elderly and caregivers.

Findings

The results showed that in the context of EA, the opinion of caregivers differs from the elderly. This finding was attributed to the theory of ignorance. Based on this, the legal action for every incidence of EA was discouraged by seeking endorsement from the attachment theory especially for the EA incidences arising due to factors such as social isolation or CGS.

Research limitations/implications

This research addresses the presence and non-presence of mens rea or intention in the incidence of EA. Future studies may be conducted by taking a sample from two more developed and developing economies. Moreover, based on the findings the recommended framework can be empirically examined by future researchers.

Practical implications

Understanding the study through the perspective of the caregiver may facilitate the academicians and practitioners in keeping the fabric of relationships stronger among the elderly and caregiver.

Originality/value

Based on the results obtained from the elderly and caregiver, this study proposes a conceptual framework for examining the EA through the lens of mens rea/intention of the caregiver. It is recommended that initiating legal action for every incidence of EA must be discouraged. However, the incidences such as physical abuse (assault), financial abuse, sexual abuse and alike for which the law itself assumes the presence of intention must not be exempted.
The sociocultural impact of adaptive reuse of immovable cultural heritage from the perspective of direct users and the local community
Authors: Niemczewska Zdzisława Elżbieta
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose is to show the results of research on sociocultural impact – as one of the pillars of sustainable local development which can be stimulated among others by immovable cultural heritage. The research concerned two groups of respondents: the local community, which does not directly use heritage re-adopted to commercial functions and the community using the heritage in a direct way.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys and in-depth interviews were used for the study. Two groups of respondents were surveyed: direct users of immovable re-adopted heritage who have the possibility to use it directly by buying services offered in the studied heritage and the local community representatives for which access to the re-adopted heritage is limited.

Findings

In the case of heritage re-adopted to commercial functions, there are differences in sociocultural impact. The very presence of heritage and only awareness of its existence in a given area is not enough for creating a sociocultural function by it in some aspects. Such heritage does not use its potential fully.

Practical implications

Results of the study may be taken into account by some stakeholders in the case of giving heritage resources contemporary functions especially commercial ones (owners of re-used cultural heritage resources, representatives of local authorities as well as entities responsible for the protection, appropriate use of cultural heritage resources and decision-making processes) to eliminate negative or insufficient effects in creating the sociocultural function of heritage in sustainable local development.

Social implications

Suggested actions undertaken on the basis of this research can increase the impact of immovable cultural heritage adapted for commercial purposes on a larger range of beneficiaries especially the local community. Hence, the extent of such heritage's impact on the sociocultural pillar of sustainable development would increase.

Originality/value

So far, studies on the differences in the sociocultural impact of immovable cultural heritage adapted to commercial, contemporary functions on direct users and no-direct users have not been conducted. Results obtained by this study supplement a certain gap regarding the sociocultural impact of heritage resources on this two groups of stakeholders: groups that have direct access to the heritage resource and groups that have no access to them or this access is limited.
A bibliometric analysis and visualization of the Journal of Documentation: 1945–2018
Authors: Mokhtari Heidar , Barkhan Sana , Haseli Davoud , Saberi Mohammad Karim
Published: August 2020

Purpose

As a pioneering and influential journal in the field of library and information science (LIS), the Journal of Documentation (JDoc) needs to be evaluated from a bibliometric perspective. This study aimed at conducting a bibliometric overview and visualization of the scientific output of JDoc from its inception in 1945–2018.

Design/methodology/approach

In this bibliometric study, 2056 papers published in JDoc were analyzed. All needed data were extracted from Scopus in 9 July 2019 in CSV format. Bibliometric analyses were done in Microsoft Excel. Visualization was done by Vosviewer software and applying techniques such as co-citation, co-authorship and co-occurrence. As a limited altmetric study, JDoc highly mentioned papers and the rate of their presence in social media were extracted from Altmetric LLP, too.

Findings

There was an increasing trend in published papers and received citations. Highly cited and most influential authors in JDoc are well-known in the field. However, the contributions of developing countries and their affiliated institutions to the journal were relatively low. This is true in case of author, country and institute co-authorship patterns. Highly frequent keywords and keyword co-occurrence patterns showed that the journal considered most topics related to LIS, including newly emerged ones. The authors and sources (generally journals) cited by JDoc are all prolific and influential ones.

Originality/value

The results of this study can be beneficial to JDoc editorial team for decision making on its further development as well as helpful for researchers and practitioners interesting in LIS field to have better contact with and contributions to the journal.
Comparison of SME stock portfolio and manufacturing company performance in the Indonesian, Indian and Chinese stock markets
Authors: Sri Artini Luh Gede , Sandhi Ni Luh Putu Sri
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine and compare the performance of small and medium enterprises (SME) and manufacturing company stock portfolios in the Indonesian, Chinese and Indian capital markets by the Sharpe Index and the significance of differences in average performance in the capital market.

Design/methodology/approach

This is comparative research that compared the performances of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Indonesian, Chinese and Indian capital markets. The hypothesis examination of comparative test used one-way ANOVA technique on the performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Indonesian, Chinese and Indian capital markets. One-way ANOVA test was used in the analysis to test the average difference of performance indices of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios is in Indonesian, Chinese and Indian capital markets.

Findings

The performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Indonesian capital market was not better than the performances of IHSG and LQ45 Index, the performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Chinese capital market (SZSE) was better than the performance of Shenzhen Composite Index and the performance of Shenzhen A-Share Stock Price Index. The comparison of the performances of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Indonesian, Chinese and Indian capital markets showed that the performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Chinese capital market was the best and the performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Indonesian capital market was the lowest.

Practical implications

The implication of this study was that SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios had relatively better performances in China and India, so investors should consider investing in SME and manufacturing company stocks. The performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolios in Indonesia was not able to exceed market and LQ45 portfolios, so the authority in Indonesia financial market should consider developing a special market for SME and manufacturing company to support the development of SME and manufacturing company in Indonesia and solve the problem of lack of funding source for SME and manufacturing company.

Originality/value

The originality of the present study is in the measurement of the performance of SME and manufacturing company stock portfolio by risk-adjusted return which returns per risk unit measured by Sharpe Index as a more beneficial measurement in measuring stock portfolio performance than average return. Comparative study of the stock portfolio performances of small medium enterprises and manufacturing company In Indonesian, Chinese and Indian stock markets, and object studies conducted in Indonesia, China and India.
Mobile logistics hubs prepositioning for emergency preparedness and response in Nepal
Authors: Maharjan Rajali , Shrestha Yashaswi , Rakhal Biplob , Suman Saurav , Hulst Jurgen , Hanaoka Shinya
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology which amalgamates quantitative and qualitative approaches to determine the best placement of mobile logistics hubs (MLH) to be established in different parts of Nepal as a part of real-life project, “Augmentation of National and Local-Level Emergency Logistics Preparedness in Nepal” (2017–2020), implemented by the World Food Programme in cooperation with the Government of Nepal.

Design/methodology/approach

The study develops a methodology using a combination of a modified version of the maximal covering location problem (MCLP) and focus group discussion. The MCLP model is used to determine the optimal number and spatial location of MLHs, and focus group discussion is used to identify the five first-priority strategic MLH locations using expert knowledge.

Findings

The authors identify the five first-priority locations for establishing MLHs using an amalgamation of quantitative approach (mathematical model) and qualitative approach (focus group discussion). By amalgamating mathematical model with expert knowledge, findings acceptable to a wide range of stakeholders are obtained. The focus group discussion helps to pinpoint the location of MLHs to city-level granularity which is otherwise impossible with data available on hand.

Research limitations/implications

Although multiple experts’ judgements were obtained via focus group discussion, subjectivity and possible bias is inevitable. Overall, the quantitative results of the study are purely based on the data available during the study period; therefore, having updated data could possibly improve the quality of the results.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind that uses an amalgamation of mathematical model and expert knowledge to determine the strategic locations of MLHs and has been successful to an extent that the selected locations have been vetted by the government of Nepal for establishing MLHs and are undergoing implementation in real life. This study also considers multiple disaster scenarios and employs the concepts of human development, disaster risk and transportation accessibility to reflect Nepal's socioeconomic, geo-climatic and topographical features.
Managing intellectual capital in healthcare organizations. A conceptual proposal to promote innovation
Authors: Huang Hui , Leone Daniele , Caporuscio Andrea , Kraus Sascha
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The present article aims at rising stream of literature about intellectual capital in healthcare organizations, by exploring how knowledge-based activities are designed to promote innovation and create value. This process concerns not only buyers and sellers of industrial products/services but, more widely, larger networks of healthcare actors which include patients, payers and health institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

To answer the research question, we adopted a conceptual approach aimed at reaching overall comprehension of healthcare innovation mechanisms. We have tracked the pivotal extant studies for catching the roots and dynamics at the base of diffusion of healthcare innovation. This article demonstrates, based on previous literature and theoretical speculations, the contribution that innovative knowledge-based activities (e.g. market access approach) make to intellectual capital in healthcare organizations to promote innovation and create value.

Findings

The results show that three knowledge-based activities of the healthcare ecosystem shape the basis of the proposed conceptual framework. First, a value co-creation strategy to develop capabilities for each health stakeholder is intended as human capital. Second, the market access approach to promote innovation is reported to the relational capital. Third, a digital servitization strategy is referred to the structural capital.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides implications for the stream of literature about intellectual capital in healthcare organizations. It aims at exploring three knowledge-based activities as value co-creation, market access and digital servitization that respond to different intellectual capital levels components (human, relational, structural).

Originality/value

This article provides a conceptual framework based on the linkage of two fundamental streams of management studies, which correspond to innovation diffusion and intellectual capital management. This offers a more solid conceptualization for managing intellectual capital in healthcare organizations with respect to previous studies and creates value in the ecosystem.
The contribution of intellectual capital to financial stability in Indian pharmaceutical companies
Authors: Festa Giuseppe , Rossi Matteo , Kolte Ashutosh , Marinelli Luca
Published: August 2020

Purpose

This research investigates the top five pharmaceutical companies in India to determine whether their financial structures are sound and if they face the risk of bankruptcy, highlighting the potential contribution of intellectual capital (IC) to financial stability.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis outlines operating ratios, profitability ratios, possibility of bankruptcy (through Z-scores) and attractiveness of the financial structure (through the F-score), with consequent focus on (IC).

Findings

The financial structure of the selected companies seems stable. Changes in the Indian pharmaceutical scenario, above all, regarding the patent system, will force the companies to consider the impact of IC carefully.

Practical implications

Indian pharmaceutical companies need sustainability and development, with increasing focus on patent issues. To enhance innovation capabilities and overcome international competition, they should redesign their business orientation towards IC, mainly when impacting patents.

Originality/value

Using established approaches for predicting potential bankruptcy, this study focuses on the financial performance of top Indian pharmaceutical companies. IC can support financial stability, and this study provides further perspectives for managing their financial structure, both statically and dynamically.
The role of instructor experiential values in shaping students’ course experiences, attitudes and behavioral intentions
Authors: Mishra Abhishek , Jha Shweta , Nargundkar Rajendra
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Students’ experiences with instructors and courses determine an institute’s identity. With the instructor analogous to a brand spokesperson and the course to a brand, this study aims to examine the impact of the instructor experiential values on the student’s course experiences, as well as their attitudes and behavioral intentions towards the instructor.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a mixed-method approach that combines literature review and qualitative research, with two stages of empirical validation using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The instructor experiential values comprise appearance, entertainment, escapism, intrinsic enjoyment, efficiency and service excellence. The course experiences are composed of sensory, sentimental, behavioral and intellectual experiences. Strong effects of the instructor experiential values on the course experiences and, in turn, on the students’ attitudes and behavioral intentions are found.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to higher education literature by leveraging the theories of meanings transfer, experiential value and brand experience for a unique perspective to the students’ interactions with higher education institute instructors and courses.

Originality/value

The paper’s analogy of an instructor as a brand spokesperson endorsing the course brand is an original contribution to this domain.
Creating brand confidence to gastronomic consumers through social networks – a report from Novi Sad
Authors: Gajic Tamara , Radovanovic Milan , Tretiakova Tatiana , Syromiatnikova Julia
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Novi Sad, as the second largest city in Serbia, is nominated for the European Capital of Culture for 2021. In addition, the city has a rich traditional gastronomic resource base, belonging to over 16 nationalities living in the Vojvodina area (Autonomous Province of Serbia). This study aims to analyze the impact of Instagram, on the choice of catering facility and type of food, and to discover the extent to which it creates confidence to gastronomic consumers and the brand of the product or service.

Design/methodology/approach

The study presents a survey, which involves sharing survey questionnaires and gathering information from research participants. The sample of the survey included only the local population during 2019 year, on a random sample of 155 participants.

Findings

Of the total number of respondents, the highest percentage of them follow Instagram posts related to gastronomic objects, compared to other social networks. The results of this study undoubtedly show that consumers have great confidence in this social network and that it creates a certain brand and attitude on the basis of which consumers will choose a catering facility or food.

Practical implications

The process of interviewing people in gastronomy, regarding the impact of social networks on brand, attitude and consumer confidence, can provide an excellent insight into the current situation as well as influence changes that would contribute to better business of restaurant facilities in Serbia.

Social implications

Doing survey research is much more significant in the field of tourism and gastronomy, as these are industries that are primarily the human sector. The personal attitude of the direct users of the services in the restaurant facilities can contribute to the overall picture of the state of gastronomy in this area.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the development of contemporary gastronomy, which is on the rise compared to many other branches of the economy in Serbia. Researching the impact of service providers, through social networks, on consumers is a way of reaching out to learn about the level of service quality and customer satisfaction achieved, as well as creating loyal consumers and better position in the market.
A test of the association between the initial surge in COVID-19 cases and subsequent changes in financial risk tolerance
Authors: Heo Wookjae , Grable John E. , Rabbani Abed G.
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an estimate of the degree to which financial risk tolerance changed in relation to the initial surge of COVID-19 cases in the US.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from a large sample of investors and other consumers covering the period beginning April 2019 and ending in early May 2020 were used to estimate aggregate levels of financial risk tolerance and to determine if the willingness to take financial risk changed across five distinct periods in relation to the spread of COVID-19.

Findings

A general reduction in aggregate levels of financial risk tolerance was observed during the initial peak of COVID-19 period and the subsequent declaration of a pandemic, with the most significant drop in risk tolerance being exhibited by those who were 25 years of age or younger.

Practical implications

The findings from this study – primarily that in terms of FRT, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted young people disproportionately – suggest that in addition to helping young people feel comfortable in terms of their personal health situation and access to employment and health insurance, policy makers, financial service firms and financial literacy educators should provide information and guidance to young people regarding why being willing to take financial risks is important and how FRT corresponds to the proper functioning of the investment markets.

Originality/value

A data-drive methodology was utilized in this study to define the periods. This approach was taken due to the lack of defined and published pandemic interval periods specific to COVID19. However, the findings based on the data-driven methodology bring practical implications such as young people are sincerely considered in the catastrophic situation.
A freshwater radiation of diplonemids
Authors: Mukherjee Indranil , Salcher Michaela M. , Andrei Adrian‐Ştefan , Kavagutti Vinicius Silva , Shabarova Tanja , Grujčić Vesna , Haber Markus , Layoun Paul , Hodoki Yoshikuni , Nakano Shin‐ichi , Šimek Karel , Ghai Rohit
Published: August 2020

Diplonemids are considered marine protists and have been reported among the most abundant and diverse eukaryotes in the world oceans. Recently we detected the presence of freshwater diplonemids in Japanese deep freshwater lakes. However, their distribution and abundances in freshwater ecosystems remain unknown. We assessed abundance and diversity of diplonemids from several geographically distant deep freshwater lakes of the world by amplicon‐sequencing, shotgun metagenomics and catalysed reporter deposition‐fluorescent in situ hybridization (CARD‐FISH). We found diplonemids in all the studied lakes, albeit with low abundances and diversity. We assembled long 18S rRNA sequences from freshwater diplonemids and showed that they form a new lineage distinct from the diverse marine clades. Freshwater diplonemids are a sister‐group to a marine clade, which are mainly isolates from coastal and bay areas, suggesting a recent habitat transition from marine to freshwater habitats. Images of CARD‐FISH targeted freshwater diplonemids suggest they feed on bacteria. Our analyses of 18S rRNA sequences retrieved from single‐cell genomes of marine diplonemids show they encode multiple rRNA copies that may be very divergent from each other, suggesting that marine diplonemid abundance and diversity both have been overestimated. These results have wider implications on assessing eukaryotic abundances in natural habitats by using amplicon‐sequencing alone.
Impact of financial development on economic growth: Evidence fromSub‐SaharanAfrica
Authors: An Hui , Zou Qianmiao , Kargbo Mohamed
Published: August 2020

Many African countries have experienced episodes of weak growth since 1970 through the 2000s. A fundamental intermediation gap in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) is the extremely limited financing for medium to long term lending facilities to promote growth. Thus, given the importance of financial development on economic growth, this study investigates the impact of financial development on economic growth in SSA, which is sub‐divided into low‐, middle‐ and upper‐income groupings to ascertain whether differences in income levels across countries affect the relative impact of finance on growth. The study adopts the dynamic and static panel data model to analyse 30 SSA countries using annual data over the 1985–2015 period. The findings indicate that financial depth and financial intermediation reduce per capita income growth in low‐ and middle‐income countries. However, it increases growth in upper‐income and the overall sample of SSA countries. Credit supply positively impacts growth in low‐income countries but exerts a significantly negative impact on growth in middle‐income and the overall sample of SSA countries. Financial liberalisation promotes growth in upper‐income and the overall SSA. However, it reduces growth in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Financial development and financial liberalisation are important factors that affect economic growth given different income levels.
Analyst coverage and corporate misconduct
Authors: Yang Jiefei , Wang Ruohan , Xue Yi
Published: August 2020

This paper examines the causal effects of the coverage by financial analysts of the incidence of corporate misconduct in China. Using a unique dataset consisting of Chinese listed companies that committed misconduct in information disclosure and were consequently fined by the regulatory bodies, we show that firms covered by a larger number of financial analysts are less likely to engage in corporate misconduct. This could be explained by the information production role of analyst, which is especially important in emerging markets. We show that the presence of more covering analysts helps provide quality information and reduce information asymmetry regarding the firms. Because of information production by analysts, a firm could employ more intensive policies: increasing executive pay–performance sensitivity and executive turnover‐to‐performance sensitivity, which promote managerial incentives in improving corporate governance, thus leading to less corporate misconduct.
Postbiotics produced by lactic acid bacteria: The next frontier in food safety
Authors: Moradi Mehran , Kousheh Seyedeh Alaleh , Almasi Hadi , Alizadeh Arash , Guimarães Jonas T. , Yılmaz Nurten , Lotfi Anita
Published: August 2020

There are many critical challenges in the use of primary and secondary cultures and their biological compounds in food commodities. An alternative is the application of postbiotics from the starter and protective lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The concept of postbiotics is relatively new and there is still not a recognized definition for this term. The word “postbiotics” is currently used to refer to bioactive compounds, which did not fit to the traditional definitions of probiotics, prebiotics, and paraprobiotics. Therefore, the postbiotics may be presently defined as bioactive soluble factors (products or metabolic byproducts), produced by some food‐grade microorganisms during the growth and fermentation in complex microbiological culture (in this case named cell‐free supernatant), food, or gut, which exert some benefits to the food or the consumer. Many LAB are considered probiotic and their postbiotic compounds present similar or additional health benefits to the consumer; however, this review aimed to address the most recent applications of the postbiotics with food safety purposes. The potential applications of postbiotics in food biopreservation, food packaging, and biofilm control were reviewed. The current uses of postbiotics in the reduction and biodegradation of some food safety‐related chemical contaminants (e.g., biogenic amines) were considered. We also discussed the safety aspects, the obstacles, and future perspectives of using postbiotics in the food industry. This work will open up new insights for food applications of postbiotics prepared from LAB.
CRISPR/Cas9‐based knockout reveals that the clock gene timeless is indispensable for regulating circadian behavioral rhythms in Bombyx mori
Authors: Nartey Moses Addo , Sun Xia , Qin Sheng , Hou Cheng‐Xiang , Li Mu‐Wang
Published: August 2020

Circadian rhythms, which are ubiquitous and adaptive, occur across all species, from microbes to humans, in which they organize and modify behavior and physiology. timeless (tim) is a canonical clock gene. The core composition of the Drosophila melanogaster endogenous circadian clock has been extensively investigated; however, in lepidopteran insects, including Bombyx mori, the mechanism is complicated and little is known regarding the participation of tim in the negative feedback loop responsible for behavioral activities. To arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the role of tim in the B. mori endogenous circadian clock, we exploited the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated protein 9 gene editing system. We attempted to elucidate the functions of tim in the circadian clock of B. mori using Bmtim mutants. The knockouts affected two circadian behavioral activities: adult emergence and embryo hatching rhythms. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction results confirmed that tim‐knockouts induced relative reductions in the expression levels, and thereby the oscillation amplitudes, of Bmper and Bmclk messenger RNAs during both the photophase and scotophase. Additionally, the daily rhythmic expression of Bmdbt was upregulated in the photophase and downregulated in the scotophase in a tim‐knockout. Our study reveals that tim is integral to the B. mori circadian clock and may be involved in regulating eclosion and hatching rhythms.
The demand‐boost theory of exclusive dealing
Authors: Calzolari Giacomo , Denicolò Vincenzo , Zanchettin Piercarlo
Published: August 2020

This article unifies various approaches to the analysis of exclusive dealing that so far have been regarded as distinct. The common element of these approaches is that firms depart from efficient pricing, raising marginal prices above marginal costs. We show that with distorted prices, exclusive dealing can be directly profitable and anticompetitive provided that the dominant firm enjoys a competitive advantage over rivals. The dominant firm gains directly, rather than in the future, or in adjacent markets, thanks to the boost in demand it enjoys when buyers sign exclusive contracts. We discuss the implication of the theory for antitrust policy.
Modified Collardversusend‐to‐side hand‐sewn anastomosis for cervical anastomosis afterMcKeownesophagectomy
Authors: Li Xiao‐Kun , Xu Yang , Cong Zhuang‐Zhuang , Luo Jing , Zhou Hai , Ji Sai‐Guang , Diao Yi‐Fei , Wu Wen‐Jie , Qiang Yong , Qian Jian‐Jun , Shen Yi
Published: August 2020

Background

According to previously published studies, esophagectomy with modified Collard anastomosis has been reported to have low incidences of anastomotic leak and stricture. However, the optional anastomotic method after esophagectomy is still controversial. We conducted this study to compare the incidence of postoperative anastomotic stricture formation and dysphagia over three years after an esophagectomy with modified Collard anastomosis (MC) or end‐to‐side (ETS) hand‐sewn anastomosis. Meanwhile, the early postoperative anastomotic leakage and other complications, hospital stay and 30‐ and 90‐day mortality were also evaluated.

Methods

The clinical data of 905 patients undergoing McKeown esophagectomy were retrospectively reviewed. The rate of postoperative stricture formation after three years was demonstrated by stricture‐free survival which is the primary end‐point of this study. The incidence of dysphagia, first time of onset of stricture and number of dilatations were also recorded during follow‐up.

Results

The incidence of anastomotic leak tended to be higher in the MC group compared with that in the ETS group (13.0% vs. 8.7%,P= 0.064). The rates of anastomotic stricture in the MC group were significantly less than in the ETS group (P= 0.004). The number of dilatations in the MC group were significantly greater than those in the ETS group (2.34 vs.2.46,P= 0.011).

Conclusions

A modified Collard cervical esophagogastric anastomosis was associated with lower rates of anastomotic stricture and dysphagia, compared with ETS hand‐sewn anastomosis. However, the modified Collard anastomosis is accompanied by an increased anastomotic leakage rate.
Locomotor sensitization modulates voluntary self‐administration of methamphetamine inDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Rigo Franka , Filošević Ana , Petrović Milan , Jović Katarina , Andretić Waldowski Rozi
Published: August 2020

As complexities of addictive behaviors cannot be fully captured in laboratory studies, scientists use simple addiction‐associated phenotypes and measure them in laboratory animals. Locomotor sensitization, characterized by an increased behavioral response to the same dose of the drug, has been extensively used to elucidate the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of neuronal plasticity. However, to what extent it contributes to the development of addiction is not completely clear. We tested if the development of locomotor sensitization to methamphetamine affects voluntary self‐administration, and vice versa, in order to investigate how two drug‐associated phenotypes influence one another. In our study, we used the genetically tractable model organism,Drosophila melanogaster, and quantified locomotor sensitization and voluntary self‐administration to methamphetamine using behavioral tests that were developed and adapted in our laboratory. We show that flies express robust locomotor sensitization to the second dose of volatilized methamphetamine, which significantly lowers preferential self‐administration of methamphetamine. Naive flies preferentially self‐administer food with methamphetamine over plain food. Exposing flies to volatilized methamphetamine after voluntary self‐administration abolishes locomotor sensitization. We testedperiodnull (per01) mutant flies and showed that they do not develop locomotor sensitization, nor do they show preferential self‐administration of methamphetamine. Our results suggest that there may be partially overlapping neural circuitry that regulates the expression of locomotor sensitization and preferential self‐administration to methamphetamine and that this circuitry requires a functionalpergene.
Rainfall Variability, Child Labor, and Human Capital Accumulation in Rural Ethiopia
Authors: Colmer Jonathan
Published: August 2020

How does income uncertainty affect human capital investments in agrarian economies? Using child‐level panel data, I exploit a medium‐run change in mean‐preserving rainfall variability to identify the effects of income uncertainty on the child labor decisions and human capital investments of smallholder farmers in rural Ethiopia. I estimate that increased rainfall variability is associated with less child labor and more schooling, consistent with a diversification mechanism. These findings highlight the empirical relevance of income uncertainty for decision making and household investment in rural economies. I find no evidence that rainfall variability is associated with past, present, or future rainfall, nor with income, wealth, and agricultural outcomes. As such, residual variation in realized income shocks—the main confounding interpretation—does not appear to explain the results.
Adjudicating Indigeneity: Anthropological Testimony in the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights
Authors: Loperena Christopher A.
Published: August 2020

In 2014, the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights heard two cases concerning the alleged complicity of Honduran state institutions in the violation of Garifuna communal property rights. Garifuna, a people of mixed Arawak, Carib, and African descent, are one of nine officially recognized “ethnic groups” in Honduras. Yet the state has repeatedly denied their status as a pueblo originario—a people native to Honduras—thus calling into question the lawfulness of their claims to national territory. I draw on my experience serving as an expert witness to analyze the role of cultural evidence in the legitimization of Garifuna rights claims, and how specifically ethnographic treatments of Indigenous cultural practices are circumscribed within dominant juridical interpretive frameworks and modes of recognition. The judgment, issued in October 2015, repeatedly deployed anthropological concepts and insights to bind Indigenous subjectivity to the land, thereby deepening essentialized notions of Garifuna ethnic and racial difference. This article probes the challenges of presenting cultural evidence in a court of law and the limited political potential of witnessing, which, I argue, stem from the ways in which anthropological and legal ways of knowing coarticulate.
Using and Refusing the Law: Indigenous Struggles and Legal Strategies after Neoliberal Multiculturalism
Authors: Hale Charles R.
Published: August 2020

This article begins with the contention that the three‐decade era of neoliberal multiculturalism is coming to an end. During that time, Indigenous peoples in Latin America gained a wide array of rights grounded in cultural difference by occupying spaces opened through the multicultural turn and using counterhegemonic strategies to push beyond their intended limits. Struggles in the judicial arena, and the accompanying work of the anthropological expert witness, played a crucial role in these strategies. I argue that the emerging era of racial retrenchment requires recalibration, starting with critical reflection on the counterhegemonic, and probing of alternative strategies, one of which I summarize with the phraseusing and refusing the law. I draw on my participation in two moments of activist research in the legal arena—the 2003 landmark caseAwas Tingni v. the State of Nicaragua, and a recent study of the relationship between Mapuche Indigenous people and the forest industry in southern Chile—as grounding. I conclude that while these two strategies and their associated sensibilities do stand in tension, they will need one another, as we seek effective means to contest the fierce onslaught of violence, marginalization, and roll‐back of rights for Indigenous peoples, and more broadly. [judicial pluralism, autonomy, Indigenous rights]
Reconstruction of the aorto‐iliac segment in occlusive disease using the AFX unibody graft
Authors: Arnold Angie , Delaney Christopher L. , Wong Yew T. , Wise Nadia , Puckridge Phillip J.
Published: August 2020

Background

The endovascular era has evolved the treatment of aorto‐iliac occlusive disease (AIOD). Many institutions now use minimally invasive techniques including kissing iliac stents and covered endovascular reconstruction of the aortic bifurcation. These negate the high morbidity of open surgical reconstruction but do not allow for a crossover approach to treat infra‐inguinal disease. The AFX stent does both by anatomically reconstructing the bifurcation in AIOD despite being marketed for aneurysmal aortic disease. This large, single‐centre case series assesses the outcomes of treatment of AIOD using the AFX stent.

Methods

Patients with AIOD who presented to our institution between September 2016 and August 2018 were considered for AFX stenting if kissing iliac stents extending into the aorta or aortobifemoral bypass was required. Patient, treatment and outcome data were recorded with a primary outcome of primary patency at 12 months.

Results

AFX stenting was performed in 29 patients, with an average age of 69 years, 52% (15/29) patients had critical limb ischaemia. Technical success occurred in 100% of patients with clinical success in 96% (28/29). There were no cases of 30 day and 3 (10%) cases of 12 month mortality, 2 (7%) major and 7 (24%) minor complications arose. Median length of stay was 3 days. Primary patency at 12 months was 100% (n = 24).

Conclusion

AFX stenting is a safe with satisfactory early results for the treatment of AIOD. The minimally invasive technique and preservation of cross‐over approach makes AFX stenting a considered option for the treatment of AIOD.