bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Alternative splice variants of the mitochondrial fission proteinDNM1L/Drp1 regulate mitochondrial dynamics and tumor progression in ovarian cancer
Authors: Javed Zaineb , Shin Dong Hui , Pan Weihua , White Sierra R. , Kim Yeon Soo , Elhaw Amal Taher , Kamlapurkar Shriya , Cheng Ya-Yun , Benson J Cory , Abdelnaby Ahmed Emam , Phaëton Rébécca , Wang Hong-Gang , Yang Shengyu , Sullivan Mara L.G. , St.Croix Claudette M. , Watkins Simon C. , Mullett Steven J. , Gelhaus Stacy L. , Lee Nam , Coffman Lan G. , Aird Katherine M. , Trebak Mohamed , Mythreye Karthikeyan , Walter Vonn , Hempel Nadine
Published: September 2023

Aberrant mitochondrial fission/fusion dynamics have been reported in cancer cells. While post translational modifications are known regulators of the mitochondrial fission/fusion machinery, we show that alternative splice variants of the fission protein Drp1 (DNM1L) have specific and unique roles in cancer, adding to the complexity of mitochondrial fission/fusion regulation in tumor cells. Ovarian cancer specimens express an alternative splice transcript variant of Drp1 lacking exon 16 of the variable domain, and high expression of this splice variant relative to other transcripts is associated with poor patient outcome. Unlike the full-length variant, expression of Drp1 lacking exon 16 leads to decreased association of Drp1 to mitochondrial fission sites, more fused mitochondrial networks, enhanced respiration, and TCA cycle metabolites, and is associated with a more metastatic phenotypein vitroandin vivo. These pro-tumorigenic effects can also be inhibited by specific siRNA-mediated inhibition of the endogenously expressed transcript lacking exon 16. Moreover, lack of exon 16 abrogates mitochondrial fission in response to pro-apoptotic stimuli and leads to decreased sensitivity to chemotherapeutics. These data emphasize the significance of the pathophysiological consequences of Drp1 alternative splicing and divergent functions of Drp1 splice variants, and strongly warrant consideration of Drp1 splicing in future studies.
The secreted midbody remnants, MBsomes, as a new class of mRNA nanocarrier applicable to diverse medical fields
Authors: Kim Jae Hyun , Park Sungjin , Seok Ji-Young , Cho Myung-Haing , Hwang Soon-Kyung
Published: September 2023

The midbodysome (MBsome), a secreted remnant of midbody during cell division, is now known to play a key role in cytokinesis. It was thought that the MBsome is either released into the extracellular space or autophagically degraded by one of its daughter cells. However, recent studies have revealed that MBsomes can be maintained by cells even after cell division is complete, and that they accumulate in the cytoplasm and regulate cell proliferation and survival through integrin and epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent pathways. Here, we examined the ability of MBsomes to act as carriers of mRNAs, a novel function that has not been studied. We found that MBsomes isolated from human lung cancer and stem cells via sucrose cushion ultracentrifugation were 300–400 nm in size and stable for up to 4 days when stored at 4°C. In addition, we confirmed successful expression of the EGFP protein following incubation of the isolated MBsomes with theEGFPmRNA at room temperature. These results suggest that MBsomes have the potential to serve as mRNA carriers and therapeutic agents capable of delivering a gene-of-interest.
ASK1 promotes inflammation in senescence and aging
Authors: Odawara Takeru , Yamauchi Shota , Ichijo Hidenori
Published: September 2023

Cellular senescence is a stress-induced, permanent cell cycle arrest involved in tumor suppression and aging. Senescent cells secrete bioactive molecules such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) has been implicated in immune-mediated elimination of senescent cells and age-associated chronic inflammation. However, the mechanisms regulating the SASP are incompletely understood. Here, we show that the stress-responsive kinase ASK1 promotes inflammation in senescence and aging. ASK1 is activated during senescence and increases the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines by activating p38, a kinase critical for the SASP. ASK1-deficient mice show impaired elimination of oncogene-induced senescent cells and an increased rate of tumorigenesis. Furthermore, ASK1 deficiency prevents age-associated p38 activation and inflammation and attenuates glomerulosclerosis. Our results suggest that ASK1 is a driver of the SASP and age-associated chronic inflammation and represents a potential therapeutic target for age-related diseases.
An algorithmic historiography of biodiversity accounting literature
Authors: Maione Gennaro , Cuccurullo Corrado , Tommasetti Aurelio
Published: September 2023

Purpose

The study aims to shed light on the historical and contemporary trends of biodiversity accounting literature, while simultaneously offering insights into the future of research in this sector. The paper also aims to raise awareness among accounting researchers about their role in preserving biodiversity and informing improvements in policy and practice in this area.

Design/methodology/approach

The Bibliometrix R-package is used to carry out an algorithmic historiography. The reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS) methodology is implemented. It is a unique approach to bibliometric analysis that allows researchers to identify and examine historical patterns in scientific literature.

Findings

The work provides a distinct and comprehensive discussion of the four distinct periods demarcating the progression of scientific discourse regarding biodiversity accounting. These periods are identified as Origins (1767–1864), Awareness (1865–1961), Consolidation (1962–1995) and Acceleration (1996–2021). The study offers an insightful analysis of the main thematic advancements, interpretative paradigm shifts and theoretical developments that occurred during these periods.

Research limitations/implications

The paper offers a significant contribution to the existing academic debate on the prospects for accounting scholars to concentrate their research efforts on biodiversity and thereby promote advancements in policy and practice in this sector.

Originality/value

The article represents the first example of using an algorithmic historiography approach to examine the corpus of literature dealing with biodiversity accounting. The value of this study comes from the fusion of historical methodology and perspective. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is also the first scientific investigation applying RPYS in the accounting sector.
Mitigating the impact of a pandemic: a time-varying-parameter structural VAR (TVP-SVAR) and time-varying granger causality estimations
Authors: Olaoye Olumide O. , Zerihun Mulatu F.
Published: September 2023

Purpose

The study investigates the effectiveness of government policies to mitigate the impact of a pandemic. The study adopts the small open economy of Nigeria for the following reasons. First, Nigeria is the largest economy in SSA. Second, Nigeria was also significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed the time-varying structural autoregressive (TVSVAR) model to control for the potential asymmetry in fiscal variables and to control for the shift in the structural shift, following a macroeconomic shock. As a form of robustness, the study also implements the time-varying Granger causality to formally assess the temporal instability of the variable of interest.

Findings

The results show that an oil price shock is an important source of macroeconomic instability in Nigeria. Importantly, the results indicate that the effects of fiscal policy are strongly time varying. Specifically, the results show that fiscal policy helps to stabilize the economy, (i.e. they help to reduce inflation and spur output growth) following macroeconomic shock. Further, the Granger test shows that fiscal policy helped to spur growth in Nigeria. The research and policy implications are discussed.

Originality/value

The study accounts for the time-varying effects of fiscal policy.
Selection ability and market timing skills of mutual fund and unit trust managers in a developing economy: evidence from Ghana
Authors: Danquah Richard , Yu Baorong
Published: September 2023

Purpose

The study assess the selection ability and market timing skills of mutual fund and unit trust managers in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses an improved survivorship bias-free dataset of yearly after-fee returns of all mutual funds and unit trusts operating in Ghana from January 2011 to December 2019, cumulating in nine years of quantitative fund data. The authors assess Mutual funds and Unit trusts that ever existed, “alive” or “dead,” over the sample period in the study. The authors construct factor loadings to enable the application of multifactor models in the analysis. The authors apply the unconditional versions of the Jensen alpha, Fama-French three-factor, and Carhart four-factor models to determine the selection ability and market timing skills of 32 mutual funds and 17 unit trusts. The authors deploy HAC-consistent robust standard errors to the OLS estimations to subdue the effect of heterogeneity and autocorrelation.

Findings

The results indicate that, on average, mutual funds and unit trust managers possess market timing skills but no selection ability. When the results are decomposed into fund types, fixed-income and balanced mutual fund managers possess selection ability and market timing skills.

Originality/value

To the authors' best knowledge, this study is the earliest to examine the selection ability and market timing skills of both mutual fund and unit trust managers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is also the earliest to construct factor loadings for the Ghana stock market.
Relationships among supervisors’ socialization behaviors, newcomers’ socialization outcomes, organizational commitment, and work outcomes
Authors: Lee Andrew Sanghyun , Jacobs Ronald Lynn
Published: September 2023

Purpose

This study aims to explore relationships among supervisors’ socialization behaviors, newcomers’ socialization outcomes, organizational commitment, and work outcomes in three large companies in Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted via an online survey in three large firms in Korea. The sample comprised newcomers who had worked for more than six months but less than one year in these firms. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

Derived from SEM, the study’s results confirmed a causal relationship between supervisor’s socialization behaviors and newcomer’s work outcomes, which was fully mediated by newcomer’s socialization outcomes. However, organizational commitment was observed as a mediating variable, not a moderating variable. All types of supervisors’ socialization behaviors were related to newcomers’ socialization outcomes. Providing appropriate feedback, supporting newcomers’ development and improving social relationships were most strongly related to newcomers’ socialization outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

This study proposed a rationale for the potential effectiveness of supervisor socialization behavior training. Related variables such as supervisor training aspects and the effectiveness of supervisor training for newcomers’ organizational socialization could be examined further.

Practical implications

The study offers critical areas to consider when designing training programs focused on supervisors’ socialization behaviors. Human resource development practitioners should be aware of the importance of supervisors’ socialization behaviors for newcomers’ organizational socialization and develop a program to improve all types of supervisors’ socialization behaviors.

Originality/value

New areas of training and development for supervisors can be proposed to improve newcomer organizational socialization and, eventually, to enhance the work outcomes of newcomers.
Female consumer entrepreneurship in Asia: capabilities for micro-entrepreneurial success and the role of coaching and training
Authors: Arshad Darwina , Hodgkinson Ian R. , Hughes Paul , Khamarudin Munirah , Arshad Muhammad Zulqarnain , Bari Adibah
Published: September 2023

Purpose

The direct selling model adopted in the beauty and cosmetics industry puts female consumer entrepreneurs at the heart of the business model. A neglected phenomenon in female entrepreneurship, this study aims to focus on female sales agents’ capabilities that are linked to sales performance and examine which capabilities might be shaped and enhanced through coaching and training in an emerging economy context.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were generated from a sample of 249 female sales agents who agreed to participate in a coaching and training programme run by a focal firm. Data were collected in two phases to investigate the capabilities linked to sales performance pre-intervention and the impact of coaching and training on the relationships between the capabilities and sales performance post-intervention. The time-lag data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings

For female sales agents, self-efficacy and sales experience have a significant positive effect on adaptive sales performance both before and after the coaching and training intervention. In contrast, intellectual capital and self-motivation had a non-significant relationship with sales performance before the intervention. However, after the intervention, the relationship between these variables became positive and significant.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates the effects of pre- and post-coaching and training on female consumer entrepreneurs’ capabilities and the links to sales performance. These findings add critical empirical knowledge on how female consumer entrepreneurship may be developed and the role of entrepreneurship for female empowerment in the Asian context. Collectively, the findings bring to the fore the female sphere in consumer entrepreneurship research in emerging economies.
The influence of socioeconomic factors on female entrepreneurship in Southeast Asian countries
Authors: Chikh-Amnache Sabrina , Mekhzoumi Lotfi
Published: September 2023

Purpose

Female entrepreneurship discussions will broaden and diversify as a result of global shifts. Studies of female entrepreneurship must take into account differences between male and female entrepreneurs due to the historical, cultural and social specificity of developing countries to narrow gender gaps, identify barriers, fine-tune support systems, release dormant potential and provide information for policymaking. This paper aims to measure and estimate the most crucial socioeconomic characteristics that Southeast Asian countries leverage to advance women’s business initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a panel data model whereby the Female Entrepreneurship Indicator Score serves as the dependent variable and the ten most important socioeconomic indicators serve as the independent variables. Ten southeast Asian countries are analyzed using the panel fixed effects approach of Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MM-QR) from 1980 to 2021.

Findings

It has been found by empirical panel quantile regression using the MM-QR method that the following indicators positively affect female entrepreneurship in southeast Asian countries: the assets indicator, the pay indicator, the workplace indicator, the mobility indicator and the a woman can sign a contract in the same way as a man indicator. But the parenthood indicator, the unemployment indicator, the school enrollment indicator, the men and women have equal ownership rights to immovable property indicator and the marriage indicator all have negative effects.

Originality/value

This paper uses a new method called MM-QR to look at how the most important socioeconomic factors affect female entrepreneurship in Southeast Asian countries. The results obtained will also add to and broaden the small amount of research that has been done on female entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Client perspectives on primary care integration in a rural-serving behavioral health center
Authors: Santos Jeffersson , Acevedo-Morales Amanda , Jones Lillian , Bautista Tara , Camplain Carolyn , Keene Chesleigh N. , Baldwin Julie
Published: September 2023

Purpose

Advancing behavioral health and primary care integration is a priority for helping clients overcome the complex health challenges impacting healthcare deserts like those in Arizona, United States of America (USA). This study aimed to explore the perspectives of people with a substance use disorder (SUD) on accessing integrated primary care (IPC) services in a rural-serving behavioral healthcare organization in Arizona.

Design/methodology/approach

Clients from a behavioral health facility in Arizona (n = 10) diagnosed with SUDs who also accessed IPC participated in a 45-min semi-structured interview.

Findings

The authors identified six overarching themes: (1) importance of IPC for clients being treated for SUDs, (2) client low level of awareness of IPC availability at the facility, (3) strategies to increase awareness of IPC availability at the behavioral health facility, (4) cultural practices providers should consider in care integration, (5) attitudes and perceptions about the experience of accessing IPC and (6) challenges to attending IPC appointments. The authors also identified subthemes for most of the main themes.

Originality/value

This is the first study in rural Arizona to identify valuable insights into the experiences of people with SUDs accessing IPC, providing a foundation for future research in the region on care integration.
Auction- and negotiation-based approach with local search for cellular manufacturing systems under traffic jam constraints in magnetic production enterprises
Authors: Zeng Chengkuan , Chen Shiming , Yan Chongjun
Published: September 2023

Purpose

This study addresses the production optimization of a cellular manufacturing system (CMS) in magnetic production enterprises. Magnetic products and raw materials are more critical to transport than general products because the attraction or repulsion between magnetic poles can easily cause traffic jams. This study needs to address a method to promote the scheduling efficiency of the problem.

Design/methodology/approach

To address this problem, this study formulated a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to describe the problem and proposed an auction and negotiation-based approach with a local search to solve it. Auction- and negotiation-based approaches can obtain feasible and high-quality solutions. A local search operator was proposed to optimize the feasible solutions using an improved conjunctive graph model.

Findings

Verification tests were performed on a series of numerical examples. The results demonstrated that the proposed auction and negotiation-based approach with a local search operator is better than existing solution methods for the problem identified. Statistical analysis of the experiment results using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software demonstrated that the proposed approach is efficient, stable and suitable for solving large-scale numerical instances.

Originality/value

An improved auction and negotiation-based approach was proposed; The conjunctive graph model was also improved to describe the problem of CMS with traffic jam constraint and build the local search operator; The authors’ proposed approach can get better solution than the existing algorithms by testing benchmark instances and real-world instances from enterprises.
When politics meets sustainability: the effect of independent directors' political connections on corporate sustainability disclosure in China
Authors: Ting Hsiu-I , Lee Yun-Chi
Published: September 2023

Purpose

This paper investigates the influence of political connections on sustainability disclosure in the context of China's Regulation 18.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs a quasi-experimental approach, utilizing difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis, dynamic DiD and propensity score matching to analyze the effects of politically connected independent directors on sustainability disclosure following the implementation of Regulation 18.

Findings

Companies with politically connected independent directors show an improvement in sustainability disclosures after Regulation 18. This effect is stronger for firms facing high political pressure or lacking alternative political power. Additionally, the increase in value from sustainability disclosures compensates for the loss of politically connected independent directors, indicating a positive value impact of sustainability disclosures.

Originality/value

This study provides novel insights into the corporate disclosure policy in China by investigating the impact of politically connected directors on sustainability disclosure. Additionally, it sheds light on the limitations of political power and its substitution effects within companies.
Self Managed Learning: a hybrid of Progressive and Democratic Education
Authors: Matusov Eugene
Published: September 2023

Purpose

The book has generated a passionate dialogue-disagreement (mostly but not entirely) with the book. Dialogue-disagreement is based on challenges, disagreements and rebuttals between opponents, often belonging to different, even irreconcilable, paradigms. The goal of dialogue-disagreement is not so much to convince the opponent to change their mind but rather to critically examine and problematize the two involved paradigms: the authors’ and the reviewer’s. By taking the generated challenges and disagreements seriously, both irreconcilable paradigms can grow through their replies. Dialogue-disagreement gives the participants–opponents the gift of revealing their own paradigmatic blind spots, which are often invisible from within their paradigms. Dialogue-disagreement is exploratory and based on an agnostic relationship between frenemies, i.e. “friendly enemies.”

Design/methodology/approach

This is a critical book review essay of Self Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm (Cunningham, 2021).

Findings

The reviewer views Ian Cunningham’s Self Managed Learning educational paradigm as a hybrid of Progressive and Democratic Education, while the reviewer sees his/her Self-Education paradigm as entirely Democratic (and Dialogic). Elsewhere, the reviewer discussed and critically analyzed the Progressive Education paradigm, which generally involves channeling the student’s learning activism and subjectivity toward learning outcomes desired by an educator. It uses the educator’s manipulation of the student’s subjectivity to make them study what the educator wants them to study. In contrast, the paradigm of Democratic Education assumes that the educatee is the final authority of their own education. The educatee decides whether to study, when to study, what to study, how to study, with whom to study, where to study, for what purpose to study and so on. The educatee makes these decisions by themselves or with the help of other people at the educatee’s discretion and conditions. The reviewer charges that Ian’s Self Managed Learning paradigm is a hybrid of both paradigms, with the Progressive Education paradigm taking the lead and exploiting the Democratic Education paradigm.

Originality/value

The book presented a unique, innovative practice worth a critical analysis. The reviewer’s dialogue-disagreement with the book reveals a particular hybrid of Progressive and Democratic Education which is common to some innovative self-directed learning.
Work interrupted at home: examining the influence of supportive teleworking practices on work–family conflict
Authors: Wang Mei-Ling , Lee Ming-Chi , Mao Hsiao-Yen
Published: September 2023

Purpose

By utilizing boundary theory and distraction–conflict theory, this study attempted to examine the influential process of supportive teleworking practices granting work scheduling autonomy on work-to-family conflict (WFC) via the mediating mechanism of work interruption initiated from home.

Design/methodology/approach

The study conducted two-wave online questionnaire survey to obtain a final sample of 277 remote knowledge workers in Taiwan during the peak period of COVID-19 pandemic. Hypotheses were tested with partial least squares-structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 3.0 software.

Findings

The results revealed that supportive teleworking practices did not directly decrease the level of WFC while home-sourced work interruptions fully mediated the negative relationship between supportive teleworking practices and WFC.

Originality/value

This provides a more nuanced explanation for how and why supportive teleworking practices are beneficial for employees to cope with the challenge of work–home interferences under the new ways of working. The findings simultaneously address evidence-based practices to better deal with mandatory teleworking during potential societal crisis beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effect of PVD-coated wall aperture roughness on the life span of fine-pitch stencil printing
Authors: Mohamed Sunar Mohamad Solehin , Abu Bakar Maria , A. Atiqah , Jalar Azman , Muhamed Mukhtar Muhamed Abdul Fatah , Che Ani Fakhrozi
Published: September 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of physical vapor deposition (PVD)-coated stencil wall aperture on the life span of fine-pitch stencil printing.

Design/methodology/approach

The fine-pitch stencil used in this work is fabricated by electroform process and subsequently nano-coated using the PVD process. Stencil printing process was then performed to print the solder paste onto the printed circuit board (PCB) pad. The solder paste release was observed by solder paste inspection (SPI) and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The printing cycle of up to 80,000 cycles was used to investigate the life span of stencil printing.

Findings

The finding shows that the performance of stencil printing in terms of solder printing quality is highly dependent on the surface roughness of the stencil aperture. PVD-coated stencil aperture can prolong the life span of stencil printing with an acceptable performance rate of about 60%.

Originality/value

Stencil printing is one of the important processes in surface mount technology to apply solder paste on the PCB. The stencil’s life span greatly depends on the type of solder paste, stencil printing cycles involved and stencil conditions such as the shape of the aperture, size and thickness of the stencil. This study will provide valuable insight into the relationship between the coated stencil wall aperture via PVD process on the life span of fine-pitch stencil printing.
Omnivore diet composition alters parasite resistance and host condition
Authors: Blubaugh Carmen K. , Jones Cami R. , Josefson Chloe , Scoles Glen A. , Snyder William E. , Owen Jeb P.
Published: September 2023

Diet composition modulates animals' ability to resist parasites and recover from stress. Broader diet breadths enable omnivores to mount dynamic responses to parasite attack, but little is known about how plant/prey mixing might influence responses to infection.

Using omnivorous deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) as a model, we examine how varying plant and prey concentrations in blended diets influence resistance and body condition following infestation by Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor andersoni).

In two repeated experiments, deer mice fed for 4 weeks on controlled diets that varied in proportions of seeds and insects were then challenged with 50 tick larvae in two sequential infestations.

The numbers of ticks successfully feeding on mice declined by 25% and 66% after the first infestation (in the first and second experiments, respectively), reflecting a pattern of acquired resistance, and resistance was strongest when plant/prey ratios were more equally balanced in mouse diets, relative to seed‐dominated diets.

Diet also dramatically impacted the capacity of mice to cope with tick infestations. Mice fed insect‐rich diets lost 15% of their body weight when parasitized by ticks, while mice fed seed‐rich diets lost no weight at all.

While mounting/maintaining an immune response may be energetically demanding, mice may compensate for parasitism with fat and carbohydrate‐rich diets.

Altogether, these results suggest that a diverse nutritional landscape may be key in enabling omnivores' resistance and resilience to infection and immune stressors in their environments.
Plant defences as functional traits: A comparison across savannas differing in herbivore specialization
Authors: Massad Tara Joy
Published: September 2023

Top‐down and bottom‐up forces in tropical savannas have shaped the evolution of traits that enable plants to thrive in environments where soils are poor, dry seasons are long, fire is frequent, woody plants and grasses compete and herbivores range from cryptic caterpillars to elephants that topple entire trees.

African savannas and the South American cerrado have similar climates and fire regimes, but differ in the presence of large mammal herbivores, which are mostly extinct in the cerrado. These biomes offer an instructive comparison to understand how plant defence traits evolved in response to differential herbivore pressure. Within Africa, mammalian herbivore pressure also differs across savannas, being lower in the miombo relative to more open, mixed savannas.

The dominance of specialist insect herbivores in the cerrado, relative to the more generalist mammalian herbivores in Africa, suggests that defence traits will differ between savannas in accordance with herbivore identity and pressure.

Wood is densest in mixed African savannas, as expected because large mammals often damage trees. Specific leaf area, related to palatability, is higher in mixed African savannas and the cerrado relative to the miombo, while leaf N is surprisingly higher in miombo species. Ant mutualists are important defences in mixed African savannas and the cerrado.

Defensive chemistry has received less attention in the trait literature. Foliar phenolics, the most commonly studied chemical defences in savannas, vary in their efficacy. New analyses isolating specific compounds are informative as is the evaluation of phytochemical diversity as a defence. There are indications that phytochemical defences are more diverse in the cerrado, which may be related to greater specialization of cerrado herbivores.

Synthesis. The dominance of specialist insect herbivores in the cerrado, relative to generalist mammalian herbivores in Africa, selected for different plant defence traits, contributing to the separation of species along the leaf economics spectrum and demonstrating the importance of plant defences as plant functional traits. African savanna species seem to follow a more acquisitive strategy, followed by miombo species. Cerrado species appear to follow a more conservative strategy with greater investments in tough leaves and chemical defences.
Thinking Childbirth from an Emancipatory Perspective? Phenomenology and Psychoanalysis1
Authors: Picard Clarisse
Published: September 2023

Feminist thought, despite the importance of its work, has not resolved the phenomenon of women's subordination in the care and education of children, and in society as a whole. Meanwhile, we are witnessing a gradual but continuous process of disconnection between women's bodies and subjectivity, and the conception, pregnancy and birth of children, due to developments in reproductive techniques. Considering this paradoxical tension, the author proposes to return to the very place where this subordination and anticipated rupture occur, to consider whether mothers could find there both the means to reclaim their childbirth experiences and potential levers for emancipation and rebirth, on both a personal and societal level. To this end, she describes, from the point of view of a singular woman, and from an emancipatory perspective, the phenomenological and psychoanalytical itinerary of childbirth by which this woman, in becoming a mother, is born to herself by giving birth to her child. By co‐constituting the universal meaning of childbirth and becoming a philosophical mother, this singular woman operates a real paradigm shift in our representations of the mother and the metaphysical structure of the sexes.
Microvascular dysfunction in women with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: A population‐based retrospective cohort study
Authors: Björkman Stina , Lilliecreutz Caroline , Bladh Marie , Strömberg Tomas , Östgren Carl Johan , Mahmoud Arina , Kafashian Arian , Bergstrand Sara , Sederholm Lawesson Sofia
Published: September 2023

Objective

To evaluate microvascular function in women with previous hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).

Design

Retrospective population‐based cohort study.

Setting

Linköping, Sweden.

Population

Women aged 50–65 years, participating in the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS) at one site (Linköping) 2016–18, who underwent microcirculatory assessment (N = 1222).

Methods

Forearm skin comprehensive microcirculatory assessment was performed with a PeriFlux PF6000 EPOS (Enhanced Perfusion and Oxygen Saturation) system measuring oxygen saturation and total speed resolved perfusion. Obstetric records were reviewed to identify women with previous HDP. Data on cardiovascular risk factors, comorbidities, medication, lifestyle, anthropometric data, and biochemical analyses were obtained from SCAPIS. The microcirculatory data were compared between women with and without previous HDP.

Main outcome measures

Skin microcirculatory oxygen saturation and total speed resolved perfusion at baseline and post‐ischaemic peak.

Results

Women with previous pre‐eclampsia displayed impaired post‐ischaemic peak oxygen saturation compared with women with normotensive pregnancies (88%, interquartile range [IQR] 84–89% vs 91%, IQR 87–94%, p = 0.001) 6–30 years after pregnancy. The difference remained after multivariable adjustment (β −2.69, 95% CI −4.93 to −0.45).

Conclusions

The findings reveal microvascular dysfunction at long‐term follow up in women with previous pre‐eclampsia and strengthen the possible role of endothelial dysfunction as a link to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in women with HDP.
Emerging challenges in maintaining marine food‐fish availability and food safety
Authors: Samarajeewa Upali
Published: September 2023

The marine finfish and crustaceans contribute immensely to human nutrition. Harvesting marine food‐fish to meet the global demand has become a challenge due to reduction of the fishery areas and food safety hazards associated with increased pre‐harvest and post‐harvest contaminations. The causes of low fish availability and contaminations were reviewed following the published literature from 2000 to 2023. The marine fish yields are stressed due to spread of contaminants triggered by rising sea temperatures, transport of microorganisms by marine vessels across the oceans, anthropogenic activities leading to increase in the toxic microorganisms, and the entry of toxic chemicals and antibiotic residues into the seawater through rivers or directly. Processing adds pyrogenic chemicals to foods. The hazardous materials may accumulate in the food‐fish, beyond tolerance limits permitted for human foods. While the research and control measures focus on minimizing the hazards due to pathogenic microorganisms and chemicals in market fish, there is less discussion on the unhealthy changes occurring in the oceans affecting the quantity and quality of food‐fish, and the origins of microbial and chemical contaminations. This review examines the factors affecting availability of wild food‐fish and increased contaminations. It aims to bridge the knowledge gaps between the spread of hazardous agents in the marine environment, and their effects on the food‐fish. Meeting the future human food security and safety through marine fish and fish products may need marine cage farming, introduction of genetically modified high yielding food‐fish, and cultured contaminant free finless fish muscles as options.
Eligibility test for advanced chronic kidney disease: Revision and proposal
Authors: García Agudo Rebeca , Méndez Molina Marina , Piqueras Sánchez Sara , Tejera‐Muñoz Antonio
Published: September 2023

Nowadays, chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence keeps increasing worldwide. The management of these patients usually requires renal replacement therapy (RRT). However, the complexity of patients' profiles comprises a great challenge to overcome. During the last decades, CKD units have been developed to offer multidisciplinary and coordinated attention to patients, helping in the decision‐making of the RRT. Nevertheless, there is a huge variability in the performance and organization of care practice, implying an existing necessity to homogenize the RRT modality chosen. We propose a test composed of two parts: one to be completed by the medical staff (to evaluate contraindications for the different RRT techniques) and another by the patient or nursing staff (to consider patients' preferences). In this sense, it would be possible to have a common and useful tool to complement patient education in RRT, as well as sharing decision‐making in the ACKD units taking into account patient preferences.
Quantifying the distribution and morphological variation of the beetles Homocopris achamas and Uroxys coarctatus in Andean ecosystems of Colombia
Authors: Morales‐Alba Andrés Felipe , Carvajal‐Cogollo Juan E.
Published: September 2023

Insects that inhabit high‐altitude ecosystems are an ecologically specialized group whose distribution is restricted by the presence of biogeographical barriers. These biogeographical constraints are thought to mould the shape of some insect structures because of environmental pressures that may produce better adaptations in extreme environments. We evaluated the potential distribution of Homocopris achamas and Uroxys coarctatus in two life regions (the Andean region and the Páramo region) found in the Andes of Colombia, and we determined if there were differences in their morphology along an elevational gradient. To determine the potential distribution of the species, we obtained geographical data through the systematic search of databases and entomological collections that we modelled under the maximum entropy model. We then evaluated the morphological variations by measuring geometric structures such as the clypeus (MC), the eye (ME) and the area of the anterior tibia (TA). We found that both species along the entire gradient exhibited the following characteristics: H. achamas was dominant in the Páramo region and showed two population nuclei separated by a wide biogeographic barrier, while U. coarctatus was more dominant in the Andean region and was distributed only in the northern Andes. Both were always linked to ecosystems with open vegetation that was both natural or intervened. H. achamas did not show changes in the shape of the structures while U. coarctatus showed differences in MC and ME. We suggested that livestock activity could act as an engine for breaking down biogeographical barriers allowing the distribution of a species to expand, and with this distributional expansion changes in the morphological structures of some species linked to their phenotypic plasticity could be promoted.
Different effects of fire age and fire recurrence on grass and woody plant chemistry in Kafue National Park, Zambia
Authors: Namukonde Ngawo , Simukonda Chuma , Ganzhorn Jörg U.
Published: September 2023

In savannas, fire and herbivores are important drivers of natural ecosystem processes. Fire is also used intensively for management purposes. However, reported fire effects differ between studies. Reasons for these differences are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of fire on leaf chemistry of grasses and woody plants in the savanna of the Busanga Flood Plain, Zambia, in relation to the time elapsed between plant sampling and the last fire (fire age) and the frequency of fires during the last 16 years (fire recurrence). We analyzed leaves for their nitrogen, carbon, and fiber concentrations, and estimated their metabolizable energy content, reflecting feed quality for browsers and grazers. Grasses and woody plants differed in all chemical components and showed different responses to fire. Grass quality was higher at sites burnt in the year of sample collection than at sites burnt only in previous years, but did not change under different fire recurrences. Leaves of woody plants did not differ in relation to fire age but their quality increased with increasing fire recurrence. In woody plants, the carbon content responded to the interaction between fire age and fire recurrence, indicating changes in carbon allocation in response to fire. Thus, burning increased feed quality for grazers and browsers but on different temporal scales. The scale effects may contribute to the differences in resource allocation described by different studies. They merit more attention in management decisions as well as in future studies on fire effects in savanna systems.
Conversion to tacrolimus alone compared to full immunosuppression following cardiac transplantation (TACTFUL)
Authors: Pearston Aaron P. , Ingemi Amanda I. , Shaeffer Zachary A. , Cameron Chad M. , Biagi Katharine T. , Gobble Myra , Yehya Amin , Baran David A.
Published: September 2023

Background

Cardiac transplantation requires lifelong immunosuppressant medications to prevent rejection. However, some patients may not tolerate multiple immunosuppressants due to adverse effects. At our institution, patients may be converted to monotherapy with tacrolimus if unable to tolerate a combination regimen. This study evaluated the outcomes among patients converted to tacrolimus monotherapy compared with those maintained on combination immunosuppression.

Methods

This single‐center, retrospective cohort study included patients who received heart transplants at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital between January 2015 and July 2021. Patients were classified as receiving tacrolimus monotherapy (Mono) or combination immunosuppression (Combo). The primary outcome was all‐cause mortality with key secondary outcomes including incidence of 2R/3R rejection, necessity for renal replacement therapy, and infection.

Results

112 patients were included (Mono = 25, Combo = 87). Median age at transplant was 53.8 years (Mono) and 52.1 years (Combo). The most common reasons for conversion to monotherapy were leukopenia, infection, and gastrointestinal (GI) distress. There was no difference in mortality (0 in Mono, 11 in Combo; p = .09) or percentage of patients with 2R/3R rejection (24% in Mono, 32.2% in Combo; p = .43). No Mono group patients experienced rejection after converting from combination therapy. 24% of Mono group patients resumed at least one additional immunosuppressive medication during the study period. Median time to monotherapy was 9.0 months, with a total median duration on monotherapy of 16.0 months. A median of 3.3 years of follow‐up was observed for patients in Mono and 3.4 years in Combo (p = .29).

Conclusion

Selected patients who do not tolerate combination immunosuppression can be safely transitioned to tacrolimus monotherapy as a means of controlling adverse events without an increased risk of mortality or rejection.
Efficacy and safety of adding once‐weekly dulaglutide to basal insulin for inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes in Chinese patients (AWARD‐CHN3): A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, phase III trial
Authors: Wang Weimin , Yan Xin , Cheng Zhifeng , Zhang Qiqi , Wang Rui , Deng Yuying , Ma Jianhua , Zhu Dalong
Published: September 2023

Aim

To determine the efficacy and safety of once‐weekly dulaglutide added to basal insulin in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with inadequate glycaemic control.

Materials and Methods

In the phase III, double‐blind AWARD‐CHN3 study, Chinese patients with T2DM (N = 291) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥7.0% and ≤11.0% receiving stable doses of basal insulin glargine with metformin and/or acarbose were randomized (1:1) to receive add‐on dulaglutide 1.5 mg once weekly or placebo once weekly. The primary endpoint was the superiority of dulaglutide/glargine to placebo/glargine for change from baseline in HbA1c at Week 28.

Results

The least squares (LS) mean ± standard error change in HbA1c from baseline to Week 28 was −2.0 ± 0.08% with dulaglutide/glargine and −1.1 ± 0.07% with placebo/glargine (LS mean difference: −1.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] –1.1 to −0.8; P < 0.001), and more patients receiving dulaglutide/glargine achieved HbA1c levels <7.0% (75.9% vs. 33.8%; P < 0.001 vs. placebo/glargine). Body weight decreased with dulaglutide/glargine and increased with placebo/glargine (LS mean difference: −1.2 kg, 95% CI –1.8 to – 0.6; P < 0.001). Reductions in fasting serum glucose were greater with dulaglutide/glargine than with placebo/glargine (LS mean difference: −0.8 mmol/L, 95% CI –1.1 to – 0.5; P < 0.001). The incidence of hypoglycaemia was similar with dulaglutide/glargine and placebo/glargine (29.2% vs. 31.3%; P = 0.704); no patient in either group had severe hypoglycaemia. The most common treatment‐emergent adverse events with dulaglutide/glargine were decreased appetite (22.2%), diarrhoea (13.2%) and nausea (10.4%).

Conclusions

Dulaglutide added to basal insulin was efficacious and well tolerated in Chinese patients with T2DM.
Embracing neurodiversity in doll play: Investigating neural and language correlates of doll play in a neurodiverse sample
Authors: Keating Jennifer , Hashmi Salim , Vanderwert Ross E. , Davies Rhys M. , Jones Catherine R. G. , Gerson Sarah A.
Published: September 2023

Doll play may provide opportunities for children to rehearse social interactions, even when playing alone. Previous research has found that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more engaged when children played with dolls alone, compared to playing with tablet games alone. Children's use of internal state language (ISL) about others was also associated with pSTS activity. As differences in social cognition are frequently observed in autistic people, we were interested in the brain and language correlates of doll play in children with varying levels of autistic traits. We investigated children's (N = 57, mean age = 6.72, SD = 1.53) use of ISL and their pSTS brain activity using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as they played with dolls and tablet games, both alone and with a social partner. We also investigated whether there were any effects of autistic traits using the parent‐report Autism Spectrum Quotient—Children's Version (AQ‐Child). We found that the left pSTS was engaged more as children played with dolls or a tablet with a partner, and when playing with dolls alone, compared to when playing with a tablet alone. Relations between language and neural correlates of social processing were distinct based on the degree of autistic traits. For children with fewer autistic traits, greater pSTS activity was associated with using ISL about others. For children with more autistic traits, greater pSTS activity was associated with experimenter talk during solo play. These divergent pathways highlight the importance of embracing neurodiversity in children's play patterns to best support their development through play.