bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contextual factors and lean production implementation in the Brazilian automotive supply chain
Authors: Marodin Giuliano Almeida , Frank Alejandro Germán , Tortorella Guilherme Luz , Saurin Tarcisio Abreu
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to understand the patterns of lean production implementation, and the relationship between three context factors (i.e. firm size, positions within the supply chain and time length of the lean initiative) and the adoption of lean production practices in firms of the automotive supply chain in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from 65 companies of the automotive supply chain in Brazil. For data analysis, first a cluster analysis was performed to identify common characteristics in the companies’ context factors when considering patterns of lean implementation. Then, multivariate analysis of variance was used to investigate the differences between the context factors and the degree of use of lean practices.

Findings

High lean adopters had better performance than low lean adopters in terms of lead time, inventory and turnover. Firms at the first and second tier of the automotive supply chain were “leaner” than firms at the third tier. Large-sized firms were more likely to have a higher degree of use of lean practices than medium and smaller ones. Some, but not all, lean practices followed these patterns. Results also showed that some lean practices were most commonly adopted at the beginning of the lean journey, whereas others took more time to mature.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrated how lean practices were implemented at different positions within the supply chain, and the patterns of implementation often followed. It also considers lean in the context of developing countries such as Brazil.
Dynamic development and execution of closed-loop supply chains: a natural resource-based view
Authors: Miemczyk Joe , Howard Mickey , Johnsen Thomas E.
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to reflect on recent closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) practices using a natural resource-based view (NRBV) and dynamic capabilities (DC) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Two empirical case studies of CLSC exemplars are used to discuss the theoretical relevance of these views.

Findings

The paper shows how strategic resources help companies in two sectors achieve successful CLSC designs. Strategic supply chain collaboration is an important success factor but also presents a number of challenges. The NRBV is used to explain the importance of new resources in technology, knowledge and relationships and stresses the role of DCs to constantly address changes in the business environment to renew these strategic resources.

Research limitations/implications

This research elaborates on NRBV theory related to CLSCs and reinforces the inclusion of DCs. It specifies the application of NRBV in the context of textiles and carpet manufacture and highlights the inherent conflicts in seeking value while moving towards sustainable development.

Practical implications

Investments in technical and operational resources are required to create CLSCs. Pure closed-loop applications are impractical, requiring relationships with multiple external partners to obtain supply and demand for recycled products.

Social implications

CLSCs may provide opportunities for social enterprises or third sector organizations collaborating with manufacturers.

Originality/value

This paper provides insights into the constituent resources needed for successful CLSCs. It also helps move CLSC research from a tactical logistics problem to a problem of strategic resources and relational capabilities: what we term “dynamic supply chain execution”. This paper develops a framework for transitioning towards CLSCs, underlining the importance of co-development and forging new relationships through commitment to supply chain redesign, co-evolution with customers and suppliers and control of supply chain activities.
Business lending and bank profitability in the UK
Authors: Ekpu Victor , Paloni Alberto
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of business lending as a source of bank profits in the UK banking system. The paper also examines whether the profitability of business lending is mostly driven by heterogeneous characteristics of individual banks or whether it is affected by systematic characteristics such as bank size and ownership structure.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses bank level data from BankScope for a total sample of 83 UK banks and building societies. The period under consideration extends from 2005 to 2009. Econometric estimation is by panel fixed effects.

Findings

Our empirical results show that business lending is a statistically significant determinant of bank profits. However, this average effect masks important systematic differences among banks. In particular, we find strong size effects: the profitability of business lending is considerable for small banks but negligible for large banks. In contrast, we could not detect any ownership effects for domestic and foreign banks. These findings persist when the occurrence of the financial crisis is accounted for.

Research limitations/implications

Interestingly, our study relates these findings to the process of financialisation. Yet, the extent of the latter and its impact on various groups of banks (i.e. large, small, domestic and foreign banks) have not been examined. Further research in this area would make an important contribution to the literature.

Practical implications

Our findings suggest that business lending is not a driving factor of profitability for large banks. One possible policy implication – which may be of interest especially to regulators and policy makers – is that capital injections into the larger banks per se are unlikely to lead to an expansion of credit to business.

Originality/value

There is very little research in the literature on the questions addressed in this paper, especially for the UK banking system. Moreover, the process of financialisation, which motivates the enquiry of this paper, is a growing area of research. Thus, the contribution of this paper is twofold.
Assessing foreign funds geographical focus timing skill
Authors: Rodríguez Javier , Romero Herminio
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to study the market timing skill of USA-based foreign open-end mutual funds in their geographical focus market.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use daily fund data and two multi-factor extensions of the Treynor-Mazuy (1966) and Henriksson-Merton (1981) timing models to measure US-based foreign funds’ market timing skill during 1999 to 2010. In particular, the authors study fund managers’ skill to time their geographical focus market.

Findings

The authors report that, in general, foreign funds do not accurately time their geographical focus market. However, during January 2008 to December 2010, the sub period that includes the 2008 global financial crisis, most foreign funds in this sample not only focused on their domestic market, the USA, but also demonstrated statistically significant, good timing skill.

Originality/value

Although US-based foreign funds’ market-timing skill is not an unexplored topic, this study is the first to consider these funds’ skill to time their geographical focus market, a skill that has been studied in the context of hedge funds.
Generalized poroelasticity framework for micro‐inhomogeneous rocks
Authors: Müller Tobias M. , Sahay Pratap N.
Published: June 2016

Poroelastic modelling of micro‐inhomogeneous rocks is of interest for applications in rock physics and geomechanics. Laboratory measurements from both communities indicate that the Biot poroelasticity framework is not adequate. For the case of a macroscopically homogeneous and isotropic rock, we present the most general poroelasticity framework within the scope of equilibrium thermodynamics that is able to capture the effects of micro‐inhomogeneities in a natural way. Within this generalized poroelasticity framework, the concept of micro‐inhomogeneity is generically related to partial localization of the deformational potential energy either in the solid phase, including the interfacial region or in the fluid phase. The former case can occur in the presence of surface roughness or multi‐mineralic frame and the latter case can be related to suspended particles residing in the fluid phase. A measure for micro‐inhomogeneity is the coefficient that governs the effective pressure dependence of porosity changes as described by the porosity perturbation equation of this framework. It can be therefore equivalently interpreted as porosity effective pressure coefficient or as micro‐inhomogeneity parameter. We show how this parameter and the other poroelastic constants embedded in this framework can be expressed in terms of experimentally accessible poroelastic constants.
Experimental mechanical compaction of sands and sand–clay mixtures: a study to investigate evolution of rock properties with full control on mineralogy and rock texture
Authors: Koochak Zadeh Mohammad , Mondol Nazmul Haque , Jahren Jens
Published: June 2016

Development of rock physical properties in well‐sorted and poorly‐sorted unconsolidated mono‐quartz sands and sand–clay mixtures as a function of effective stress in both dry and brine‐saturated conditions is assessed in this study. The tested samples were prepared with full control on their mineralogy, grain size, grain shape, sorting, and fabric. The experiments were performed in a high‐stress uniaxial oedometer up to a maximum of 30 MPa vertical effective stress. Sand–clay samples were a mixture of sand grains and clay particles (kaolinite or smectite) in different proportions. The maximum clay volume fraction used in the experiments was at most 30%. The initial bulk density of the tested sand‐dominated samples was adjusted to be close to the maximum index density expected for natural sediments (sand–clay mixtures) during deposition.

In pure sand samples, finer grained sand show higher initial porosity than relatively coarser grained sands. Moreover, sand–clay mixtures have lower initial porosity than pure sands. Porosity decreases as a function of increasing clay content. The poorly‐sorted sand samples are less compaction prone than the well‐sorted sand samples. Among well‐sorted sand samples, coarser grained sands are more compressible than finer grained sands. At a given effective stress level, sand–clay mixtures are more compaction prone compared with their sand component alone. Pure sands and clay‐poor sand–clay mixtures (either sand–kaolinite or sand–smectite) show almost the same degree of compaction when tested in both dry and brine‐saturated conditions. In contrast, clay‐rich sand–kaolinite and sand–smectite mixtures (clay volume >20%) are significantly more compact in brine‐saturated condition. The Vp values of brine‐saturated sand–kaolinite mixtures shows a positive correlation with the kaolinite content, whereas Vp starts to decrease substantially when the volume fraction of smectite exceeds 10% of the whole sand–smectite samples.

Saturated bulk moduli estimated by Gassmann's fluid substitution agree with measurements for brine‐saturated clay‐poor sand samples. However, the model does not yield proper predictions for sand–clay samples containing 20% clay volume and above, particularly when the clay is mainly smectite. The acoustic and physical properties derived from experimental compaction of pure sands and sand–clay mixtures show a good agreement with rock properties derived from well logs of mechanically compacted pure sands and shaly sands in progressively subsided basins such as Viking Graben in the North Sea. Thus, the outcome of this study can provide reliable constraints for rock physical properties of sands and shaly sands within the mechanical compaction domain and contribute to improved basin modelling and identification of hydrocarbon presence, overconsolidation, and/or undercompaction.
Static and dynamic pressure sensitivity anisotropy of a calcareous shale
Authors: Ong Oliver N. , Schmitt Douglas R. , Kofman Randolph S. , Haug Kristine
Published: June 2016

Optimizing the productivity of nonconventional, low‐permeability “shale” reservoirs requires detailed knowledge of the mechanical properties of such materials. These rocks' elastic anisotropy is acknowledged but usually ignored due to difficulties in obtaining such information. Here we study in detail the dynamic and static elastic properties of a suite of calcareous mudstones from the nonconventional Duvernay reservoir of Alberta, Canada. The complete set of transversely isotropic elastic constants is obtained from strategically oriented ultrasonic transducers to confining pressures of 90 MPa. Wave speed anisotropies of up to 35% are observed at even the highest confining pressures. Furthermore, the stress sensitivity of the wave speeds, and hence moduli, is itself highly dependent on direction with speeds taken perpendicular to the bedding plane being highly nonlinearly dependent on pressure, whereas those along the bedding plane show, unexpectedly, nearly no pressure dependence. These observations are in qualitative agreement with the preferentially oriented porosity and minerals seen in scanning electron microscope images. These results may be significant to the interpretation of sonic logs and azimuthal amplitude versus offset for principal stress directions, for the concentration of stress within such formations, and for estimation of static engineering moduli from sonic log wave speeds.
Daphnetin inhibits TNF‐α and VEGF‐induced angiogenesis through inhibition of the IKKs/IκBα/NF‐κB, Src/FAK/ERK1/2 and Akt signalling pathways
Authors: Kumar Abhishek , Sunita Priyashree , Jha Shivesh , Pattanayak Shakti Prasad
Published: June 2016

Coumarins, identified as plant secondary metabolites possess diverse biological activities including anti‐angiogenic properties. Daphnetin (DAP), a plant derived dihydroxylated derivative of coumarin has shown significant pharmacological properties such as anticancer, anti‐arthritic and anti‐inflammatory. The present study was performed to investigate the anti‐angiogenic potential of DAP, focusing on the mechanism of action. The in vivo anti‐angiogenic potential of DAP was evaluated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)‐induced rat aortic ring (RAR) assay and chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. For in vitro evaluation, wounding migration, transwell invasion, tube formation and apoptosis assays were performed on VEGF (8 ng/mL)‐induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The cellular mechanism of DAP was examined on TNFα (10 ng/mL) and VEGF‐induced HUVECs by extracting the mRNA and protein levels using RT‐qPCR and western blotting. Our data demonstrated that DAP inhibited the in vivo angiogenesis in the RAR and CAM assay. DAP also inhibited the different steps of angiogenesis, such as migration, invasion, and tube formation in HUVECs. DAP inhibited nuclear factor‐κB signalling together including TNF‐α induced IκBα degradation; phosphorylation of IκB kinase (IKKα/β) and translocation of the NF‐κB‐p65 protein. Furthermore, western blotting revealed that DAP significantly down‐regulated the VEGF‐induced signalling such as c‐Src, FAK, ERK1/2 and the related phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt) and VEGFR2 expressions. DAP reduced the elevated mRNA expression of iNOS, MMP2 and also, induced apoptosis in VEGF‐stimulated HUVECs by the caspase‐3 dependent pathway. Taken together, this study reveals that DAP may have novel prospective as a new multi‐targeted medication for the anti‐angiogenesis and cancer therapy.
Can we separate verbs from their argument structure? A group study in aphasia
Authors: Caley Sarah , Whitworth Anne , Claessen Mary
Published: June 2016

Background

Given the integral role that verbs play in sentence production, understanding verb deficits is critical to clinical practice. Difficulties in sentence production are often directly related to an inability to retrieve argument structure information which, according to most theoretical accounts, is specified at a lexical level as part of the semantic representation of the verb. The presence of an argument complexity effect when retrieving verbs in isolation, i.e. increased difficulty with increasing number of arguments required by the verb, is considered evidence of the integral link between verbs and the ensuing structure. Recent reports, however, of relatively intact verb retrieval and impaired argument structure suggest that difficulties with verbs and argument structure may not always co‐occur. One explanation for this is that lexical–syntactic information may be stored separately to lexical–semantic information at the lemma level and then differentially impaired.

Aims

To determine whether the presence of difficulties creating argument structure in a group of people with aphasia with verb‐retrieval deficits consistently aligned with the underlying nature of their impairment, where semantic involvement resulted in argument structure difficulties and post‐semantic impairment resulted in intact argument structure. This would provide evidence either to support or to challenge the view that argument structure is lexically specified. The presence of an argument complexity effect within the participants’ single verb naming was also investigated to examine the relationship between verb argument information and any subsequent difficulties creating argument structure for sentence production.

Methods & Procedures

Verb retrieval and argument structure production were investigated in 12 people with aphasia with verb‐retrieval deficits on single‐word and sentence‐production measures.

Outcomes & Results

Eight of the 12 participants presented with a semantic verb deficit (five semantic and three mixed semantic and phonological) and had difficulties in creating argument structure. Four participants presented with a phonological verb deficit. Of these, two had intact argument structure while two had impaired argument structure. An argument complexity effect in verb naming was seen in both groups.

Conclusions & Implications

Semantic verb‐retrieval deficits consistently resulted in argument structure production difficulties, supporting the view that syntactic information is stored within the lemma. The presence of argument structure difficulties in two participants with phonological deficits; however, lends support for the separate coding of lexical–syntactic from lexical–semantic information at the lemma level, a factor that has both theoretical and clinical implications with respect to diagnosis and management.
Assessing school‐aged children's inference‐making: the effect of story test format in listening comprehension
Authors: Freed Jenny , Cain Kate
Published: June 2016

Background

Comprehension is critical for classroom learning and educational success. Inferences are integral to good comprehension: successful comprehension requires the listener to generate local coherence inferences, which involve integrating information between clauses, and global coherence inferences, which involve integrating textual information with background knowledge to infer motivations, themes, etc. A central priority for the diagnosis of comprehension difficulties and our understanding of why these difficulties arise is the development of valid assessment instruments.

Aims

We explored typically developing children's ability to make local and global coherence inferences using a novel assessment of listening comprehension. The aims were to determine whether children were more likely to make the target inferences when these were asked during story presentation versus after presentation of the story, and whether there were any age differences between conditions.

Methods & Procedures

Children in Years 3 (n = 29) and 5 (n = 31) listened to short stories presented either in a segmented format, in which questions to assess local and global coherence inferences were asked at specific points during story presentation, or in a whole format, when all the questions were asked after the story had been presented.

Outcomes & Results

There was developmental progression between age groups for both types of inference question. Children also scored higher on the global coherence inference questions than the local coherence inference questions. There was a benefit of the segmented format for younger children, particularly for the local inference questions.

Conclusions & Implications

The results suggest that children are more likely to make target inferences if prompted during presentation of the story, and that this format is particularly facilitative for younger children and for local coherence inferences. This has implications for the design of comprehension assessments as well as for supporting children with comprehension difficulties in the classroom.
Causes and Effects of Capital Flight from Africa: Lessons from Case Studies
Authors: Ndikumana Léonce
Published: June 2016

This introduction distills the key findings and messages from the papers published in this issue, which consist of eight case studies on the causes and effects of capital flight from Africa. The case studies contribute to the literature by providing evidence that enables us to assess the validity and generalizability of the findings from cross‐sectional and panel data studies. The evidence from the case studies confirms important empirical regularities on the causes of capital flight. In particular, the results confirm that external borrowing fuels capital flight, and that trade misinvoicing is an important channel of capital flight, especially in the case of natural resource‐rich countries. The studies also underscore the important role of good institutions in alleviating the risks of capital flight, while political instability is found to be a driver of capital flight. The evidence from case studies provides valuable insights for the design of strategies aimed at curbing and preventing capital flight from Africa.
Fiscal Policy and Capital Flight in Kenya
Authors: Muchai Dianah Ngui , Muchai Joseph
Published: June 2016

Capital flight has been an issue of concern for Africa because it reduces the continent's much needed investible funds. In Kenya, the country lost US$ 4.9 billion in real terms from 1970 to 2010 through capital flight. This study seeks to provide fiscal evidence of capital flight in Kenya. The results establish that past capital flight, change in debt, and government expenditure have no significant impact on capital flight in Kenya. However, external debt, taxation, and expenditure practices under different political regimes have significant effects on capital flight. The study discusses policy implications emerging from the empirical results.
Why Is There Capital Flight from Developing Countries? The Case of Madagascar
Authors: Ramiandrisoa Olivier Tiarinisaina , Rakotomanana Eric Jean Michel
Published: June 2016

Like many other developing countries, Madagascar has not been spared from capital flight. This phenomenon has worsened over time, particularly during the recent period of political transition. This study seeks to identify the potential determinants of capital flight by carrying out a descriptive analysis of data and estimating VAR models. It finds that capital flight was fueled by external borrowing, and argues that capital flight was also driven by institutional deficiencies.
Capital Flight and its Determinants: The Case of Ethiopia
Authors: Geda Alemayehu , Yimer Addis
Published: June 2016

This study attempts to estimate the volume of capital flight from Ethiopia and its determinants, focusing on economic, institutional, and political determinants. Capital flight is estimated at $31 billion over the 1970–2012 period. On average, the country has lost around half a billion dollars annually under the ‘Derg’ regime. This amount more than doubled to over 1 billion per annum during the EPRDF regime. The empirical evidence suggests that macroeconomic instability, the degree of financial market deepening, exports, interest rate differentials, political instability, corruption, and debt‐creating flows are the most important determinants of capital flight from Ethiopia. The political environment is also found to be crucial. Generally, capital flight was high before violent regime changes and low in the subsequent periods, when regimes were in the process of establishing a firmer grip on power; after this point, however, capital flight began to rise significantly again. The historical analysis points to potential causality running from political factors to capital flight. A strong improvement in economic and political governance will be key to abating the problems of capital flight in Ethiopia.
Impact of Capital Flight on Public Social Expenditure in Congo‐Brazzaville
Authors: Moulemvo André
Published: June 2016

The economic literature has documented that a high level of capital flight affects domestic resource mobilization and development. However, some aspects of the effects of capital flight have not been adequately explored. This study assesses the effect of capital flight on public social expenditure in Congo‐Brazzaville. It shows, through a simulation exercise covering the 2000–2012 period, that the opportunity cost of capital flight translates into substantial losses in health and education expenditures, and thus significantly delays the achievement of the MDGs 4 and 5. This means that policies aimed at curbing capital flight may have a positive effect on the level of spending on health and education.
Welsh svarabhakti as stem allomorphy
Authors: Iosad Pavel
Published: June 2016

In this paper I propose an analysis of the repairs of sonority sequencing violations in South Welsh in terms of a non‐phonological process of stem allomorphy. As documented by Hannahs (2009), modern Welsh uses a variety of strategies to avoid word‐final rising‐sonority consonant clusters, depending in part on the number of syllables in the word. In particular, while some lexical items epenthesise a copy of the rightmost underlying vowel in the word, others delete one of the consonants in a cluster. In this paper, I argue that at least the deletion is not a live phonological process, and suggest viewing it as an instance of stem allomorphy in a stratal Optimality Theory (OT) framework (Bermúdez‐Otero 2013). This accounts for the lexical specificity of the pattern, which has been understated in the literature, and for the fact that cyclic misapplication of deletion and diachronic change are constrained by part‐of‐speech boundaries.
Formalization by the State, Re‐Informalization by the People: A Gecekondu Transformation Housing Estate as Site of Multiple Discrepancies
Authors: Erman Tahire
Published: June 2016

This article demonstrates residents' transformative practices and discusses attendant outcomes to contribute to an understanding of state‐built housing estates for people affected by urban transformation projects. It draws upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a social housing estate (K‐TOKI) in the Northern Ankara Entrance Urban Transformation Project (NAEUTP). It addresses questions on why formalization of informal housing takes place today, under what conditions it is countered by re‐informalization practices, and what the outcomes of this process are. As informal housing became formalized by NAEUTP, gecekondu dwellers were forced into formalized spaces and lives within K‐TOKI, which was based on a middle‐class lifestyle in its design and its legally required central management. Informality re‐emerged in K‐TOKI when the state's housing institution, in response to the estate's poor marketability, moved out, allowing residents to reappropriate spaces to meet their needs and form their own management system. When cultural norms that are inscribed in the built environment and financial norms that treat residents as clients conflict with everyday practices and financial capabilities, the urban poor increasingly engage in acts of informality. I argue that the outcome of this informality in a formal context is a site of multiple discrepancies.
Resistance of Campylobacter jejuni Isolated from Layer Farms in Northern Jordan Using Microbroth Dilution and Disc Diffusion Techniques
Authors: Al‐Natour Mohammad Q. , Alaboudi Akram R. , Osaili Tareq M. , Obaidat Mohammad M.
Published: June 2016

Campylobacter jejuni is an important pathogen of significant public health importance. This pathogen is associated with human infection and has been isolated from mammals and birds. Ninety‐two cloacal C. jejuni isolates were identified from 35 layer farms in Northern Jordan. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and disc diffusion techniques with variable suggested breakpoints. Using MIC and EUCAST cut‐off values, the study revealed a significantly high resistance level (100%) among the layers’ isolates against ciprofloxacin and tetracycline. A relatively high resistance (41%) toward gentamicin and amoxicillin and low resistance to nalidixic acid (21%), erythromycin (14%), and florfenicol (6.5%) were also found. This high level of resistance may indicate abuses in the handling of antibiotics, which may require stricter control in the local layer industry. A good agreement between the 2 techniques used was demonstrated and the disc diffusion technique could be used as a rapid screening test for antimicrobial susceptibility of C. jejuni to many antibiotics using specific Campylobacter breakpoints.
Developing educational resources for population genetics in R: an open and collaborative approach
Authors: Kamvar Zhian N. , López‐Uribe Margarita M. , Coughlan Simone , Grünwald Niklaus J. , Lapp Hilmar , Manel Stéphanie
Published: June 2016

The r computing and statistical language community has developed a myriad of resources for conducting population genetic analyses. However, resources for learning how to carry out population genetic analyses in r are scattered and often incomplete, which can make acquiring this skill unnecessarily difficult and time consuming. To address this gap, we developed an online community resource with guidance and working demonstrations for conducting population genetic analyses in r. The resource is freely available at http://popgen.nescent.org and includes material for both novices and advanced users of r for population genetics. To facilitate continued maintenance and growth of this resource, we developed a toolchain, process and conventions designed to (i) minimize financial and labour costs of upkeep; (ii) to provide a low barrier to contribution; and (iii) to ensure strong quality assurance. The toolchain includes automatic integration testing of every change and rebuilding of the website when new vignettes or edits are accepted. The process and conventions largely follow a common, distributed version control‐based contribution workflow, which is used to provide and manage open peer review by designated website editors. The online resources include detailed documentation of this process, including video tutorials. We invite the community of population geneticists working in r to contribute to this resource, whether for a new use case of their own, or as one of the vignettes from the ‘wish list’ we maintain, or by improving existing vignettes.
Analysis of the porcine APOA2 gene expression in liver, polymorphism identification and association with fatty acid composition traits
Authors: Ballester M. , Revilla M. , Puig‐Oliveras A. , Marchesi J. A. P. , Castelló A. , Corominas J. , Fernández A. I. , Folch J. M.
Published: June 2016

APOA2 is a protein implicated in triglyceride, fatty acid and glucose metabolism. In pigs, the APOA2 gene is located on pig chromosome 4 (SSC4) in a QTL region affecting fatty acid composition, fatness and growth traits. In this study, we evaluated APOA2 as a candidate gene for meat quality traits in an Iberian × Landrace backcross population. The APOA2:c.131T>A polymorphism, located in exon 3 of APOA2 and determining a missense mutation, was associated with the percentage of hexadecenoic acid [C16:1(n–9)], linoleic acid [C18:2(n–6)], α‐linolenic acid [C18:3(n–3)], dihomo‐gamma‐linolenic acid [C20:3(n–6)] and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in backfat. Furthermore, this SNP was associated with the global mRNA expression levels of APOA2 in liver and was used as a marker to determine allelic expression imbalance by pyrosequencing. We determined an overexpression of the T allele in heterozygous samples with a mean ratio of 2.8 (T/A), observing a high variability in the allelic expression among individuals. This result suggests that complex regulatory mechanisms, beyond a single polymorphism (e.g. epigenetic effects or multiple cis‐acting polymorphisms), may be regulating APOA2 gene expression.
Foreign body reaction from anti‐adhesion material during follow‐up of gynaecological malignancies: Mimicking local recurrence
Authors: Kwon Yong‐Soon , Gwack Jae‐Young , Im Kyong S. , Choi Dong‐Il
Published: June 2016

Background

Gynaecological surgery techniques and instruments have advanced and there is increasing effort to reduce operative complications by preventing adhesion complications after surgery.

Aims

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a possible limitation of the Surgi‐Wrap® anti‐adhesion material during clinical follow‐up of surgically managed gynaecological malignancies.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed the medical records and imaging findings of 92 patients who received the Surgi‐Wrap® anti‐adhesion material.

Results

Nine of the 92 patients had local recurrence based on the imaging findings. The positive imaging findings showed focal, isolated and small pelvic lesions without other distant metastasis or recurrence and normal tumour marker levels. Laparoscopic exploration and biopsy were performed in six patients and close clinical follow‐up was performed for the other three patients, who had a strong diagnostic impression of a foreign body reaction mimicking a focal recurrence of the tumour. The histological findings of the six laparoscopically‐explored patients revealed a foreign body reaction without malignancy in five and recurrence in one case. The rate of foreign body reaction, mimicking a local recurrence, was 5/92 (5.4% of histologically confirmed cases) and 8/92 cases had ambiguous findings between a foreign reaction and local recurrence (8.7% of clinically suspected cases).

Conclusions

It is important to avoid confusion between benign and recurrent conditions during follow‐up for gynaecological malignancies. We suggest avoiding use of Surgi‐wrap® during cancer surgeries and a need for further studies on the safety of Surgi‐wrap® in patients with cancer.
Medium to long‐term gastrointestinal outcomes following disc resection of the rectum for treatment of endometriosis using a validated scoring questionnaire
Authors: Ng Ada , Yang Phillip , Wong Shing , Vancaillie Thierry , Krishnan Surya
Published: June 2016

Objective

To assess the gastrointestinal functional outcomes and symptoms of low anterior resection syndrome after disc resection for deeply infiltrative endometriosis (DIE) using a validated scoring system.

Design

Retrospective study to assess the gastrointestinal functional outcomes after rectal disc resection for DIE using a validated scoring system.

Setting

University tertiary referral centre.

Patients

Women who underwent disc resection for endometriosis at Royal Hospital for Women and Prince of Wales Private Hospital between January 2012 and December 2013 were included.

Main outcome measure

Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) score using a validated questionnaire.

Results

Forty‐one women met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 40 ± 10 years (range 22–75 years). All procedures were performed laparoscopically. Eleven women (27%) underwent a hysterectomy in addition to rectal disc resection and endometriosis surgery. Mean operative time for the entire cohort was 158 ± 64 minutes, and mean length of hospital stay was 5 ± 2 days. Completed questionnaires were received from 31 women, a response rate of 76%. The mean length of follow‐up was 17 ± 10 months (range 3–34 months). The LARS scores ranged from 0 to 34 (median 15, interquartile range 0–24). Eight women (26%) had a LARS score of 0. Nineteen women (61%) had a LARS score less than 21 (the threshold for LARS).

Conclusion

Conservative treatment of DIE with rectal disc resection is safe and feasible and is associated with mild gastrointestinal dysfunction in the medium to long term.
News from Tartary: an ethnopharmacological approach to drug and therapeutic discovery
Authors: Moore Nicholas , Hamza Nawel , Berke Benedicte , Umar Anwar
Published: June 2016

Ethnopharmacology aims to identify new therapeutic agents based on their traditional use. It begins by the identification of disease states, and of the traditional therapies for these, most commonly herbals. Herbals of interest are selected from ethnopharmacological surveys, and tested on experimental models of the diseases of interest. Once the activity of the traditional remedy is demonstrated, including dose‐dependence, if possible comparatively to reference medications, the active ingredients can be explored, if possible using bioguided extraction. Identified molecules can then be further developed as medicinal products or pharmaceutical medicines (e.g., artemisine), or the herbal product can be developed as such (e.g. St John's wort). We provide examples of various study programmes, concerning the antiplatelet and antithrombotic effects of Armagnac extracts from Southwest France; antithrombotic and antihypertensive effects of extracts of Ocimum basilicum L; antithrombotic, antihypertensive and antihyperlipidemic effects of Cydonia oblonga; Antiproliferative and antithrombotic effects of Abnorma Savda Munziq of traditional Uyghur medicine; and the antidiabetic and hepatoprotective effects of Centaurium erythraea Rafn, Artemisia herba‐alba Asso and Trigonella foenum‐graecum L., all in collaboration between University of Bordeaux, France, Xinjiang Medical University in Urumqi, China and University Mentouri in Constantine, Algeria.
The development of spatial category representations from 4 to 7 years
Authors: Farran Emily K. , Atkinson Lauren
Published: June 2016

Representation of spatial categories was assessed in 4‐ to 7‐year‐olds. Across nine spatial categories (In, On, Under, In Front, Behind, Above, Below, Left, and Right), children were asked to pick the odd‐one‐out from four images, three of which displayed the same spatial relationship between two objects, and one which showed a different spatial relationship. Results support our proposed model of spatial category representation. Children progressed through three levels of understanding: from rigid (level 1), to abstract (level 2) to broad (including non‐prototypical category exemplars) (level 3) understanding of spatial category membership. This developmental pattern was common to all spatial categories, and the ages at which children reached each level varied across categories, in line with the order in which category representations emerge in infancy.
NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN STOCK AND FUTURES RETURNS: AN UNEXPLOITED HEDGING OPPORTUNITY?
Authors: Basu Parantap , Gavin William T.
Published: June 2016

The negative correlation between equity and commodity futures returns is widely perceived by investors as an unexploited hedging opportunity. A Lucas (1982) asset‐pricing model is adapted to analyse the fundamentals driving equity and commodity futures returns. Using the model we argue that such a negative correlation could arise as an equilibrium relationship which reflects traders' perceptions about the shocks driving the fundamentals such as energy and consumables, and does not necessarily indicate any hedging opportunity.
The ecology and evolution of temperature‐dependent reaction norms for sex determination in reptiles: a mechanistic conceptual model
Authors: Pezaro Nadav , Doody J. Sean , Thompson Michael B.
Published: June 2016

Sex‐determining mechanisms are broadly categorised as being based on either genetic or environmental factors. Vertebrate sex determination exhibits remarkable diversity but displays distinct phylogenetic patterns. While all eutherian mammals possessXYmale heterogamety and female heterogamety (ZW) is ubiquitous in birds, poikilothermic vertebrates (fish, amphibians and reptiles) exhibit multiple genetic sex‐determination (GSD) systems as well as environmental sex determination (ESD). Temperature is the factor controllingESDin reptiles and temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) in reptiles has become a focal point in the study of this phenomenon. Current patterns of climate change may cause detrimental skews in the population sex ratios of reptiles exhibitingTSD. Understanding the patterns of variation, both within and among populations and linking such patterns with the selection processes they are associated with, is the central challenge of research aimed at predicting the capacity of populations to adapt to novel conditions. Here we present a conceptual model that innovates by defining an individual reaction norm for sex determination as a range of incubation temperatures. By deconstructing individual reaction norms forTSDand revealing their underlying interacting elements, we offer a conceptual solution that explains how variation among individual reaction norms can be inferred from the pattern of population reaction norms. The model also links environmental variation with the different patterns ofTSDand describes the processes from which they may arise. Specific climate scenarios are singled out as eco‐evolutionary traps that may lead to demographic extinction or a transition to either male or female heterogameticGSD. We describe how the conceptual principles can be applied to interpretTSDdata and to explain the adaptive capacity ofTSDto climate change as well as its limits and the potential applications for conservation and management programs.
The role of semaphorin3A in myogenic regeneration and the formation of functional neuromuscular junctions on new fibres
Authors: Anderson Judy E. , Do Mai‐Khoi Q. , Daneshvar Nasibeh , Suzuki Takahiro , Dort Junio , Mizunoya Wataru , Tatsumi Ryuichi
Published: June 2016

Current research on skeletal muscle injury and regeneration highlights the crucial role of nerve–muscle interaction in the restoration of innervation during that process. Activities of muscle satellite or stem cells, recognized as the ‘currency’ of myogenic repair, have a pivotal role in these events, as shown by ongoing research. More recent investigation of myogenic signalling events reveals intriguing roles for semaphorin3A (Sema3A), secreted by activated satellite cells, in the muscle environment during development and regeneration. For example, Sema3A makes important contributions to regulating the formation of blood vessels, balancing bone formation and bone remodelling, and inflammation, and was recently implicated in the establishment of fibre‐type distribution through effects on myosin heavy chain gene expression. This review highlights the active or potential contributions of satellite‐cell‐derived Sema3A to regulation of the processes of motor neurite ingrowth into a regenerating muscle bed. Successful restoration of functional innervation during muscle repair is essential; this review emphasizes the integrative role of satellite‐cell biology in the progressive coordination of adaptive cellular and tissue responses during the injury‐repair process in voluntary muscle.
Ascites modulates cancer cell behavior, contributing to tumor heterogeneity in ovarian cancer
Authors: Kim Soochi , Kim Boyun , Song Yong Sang
Published: June 2016

Malignant ascites constitute a unique tumor microenvironment providing a physical structure for the accumulation of cellular and acellular components. Ascites is initiated and maintained by physical and biological factors resulting from underlying disease and forms an ecosystem that contributes to disease progression. It has been demonstrated that the cellular contents and the molecular signatures of ascites change continuously during the course of a disease. Over the past decade, increasing attention has been given to the characterization of components of ascites and their role in the progression of ovarian cancer, the most malignant gynecologic cancer in women. This review will discuss the role of ascites in disease progression, in terms of modulating cancer cell behavior and contributing to tumor heterogeneity.
How International Research on Parenting Advances Understanding of Child Development
Authors: Lansford Jennifer E. , Bornstein Marc H. , Deater‐Deckard Kirby , Dodge Kenneth A. , Al‐Hassan Suha M. , Bacchini Dario , Bombi Anna Silvia , Chang Lei , Chen Bin‐Bin , Di Giunta Laura , Malone Patrick S. , Oburu Paul , Pastorelli Concetta , Skinner Ann T. , Sorbring Emma , Steinberg Laurence , Tapanya Sombat , Alampay Liane P. , Uribe Tirado Liliana M. , Zelli Arnaldo
Published: June 2016

International research on parenting and child development can advance our understanding of similarities and differences in how parenting is related to children's development across countries. Challenges to conducting international research include operationalizing culture, disentangling effects within and between countries, and balancing emic and etic perspectives. Benefits of international research include testing whether findings regarding parenting and child development replicate across diverse samples, incorporating cultural and contextual diversity to foster more inclusive and representative research samples and investigators than has typically occurred, and understanding how children develop in proximal parenting and family and distal international contexts.
Optic replacement in a novel modular intraocular lens system
Authors: Guan Jia J , Kramer Gregory D , MacLean Kyle , Farukhi Aabid , Li He , Reiter Nicholas E , Werner Liliana , Mamalis Nick
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the stability and ease of replacement of a new modular intraocular lens (IOL) system consisting of a hydrophobic acrylic base unit and a hydrophobic acrylic optic in the rabbit model.

Methods

Five New Zealand white rabbits were utilized. Bilateral phacoemulsification was performed; one eye received the test IOL (ClarVista Harmoni Modular IOL System) and the other, a commercially available hydrophobic acrylic control IOL (Alcon AcrySof SA60AT). Slit‐lamp examinations were performed weekly during postoperative weeks 1 to 6. IOL replacement procedures were performed at weeks 2 and 6 using standard instruments. The rabbits were sacrificed at the end of the study (week 6), with all globes analyzed grossly using the Miyake‐Apple technique and sectioned and processed for histopathologic examination.

Results

The base component and the optic of the Harmoni IOL system remained stable and centred throughout the clinical follow up. Disengagement of the optic component from the base and replacement of the optic were safely and easily accomplished at 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively. Explantation of the control lens required posterior synechiolysis and capsular bag manipulation due to the position of the loops at the periphery of the bag, thus causing zonular stress.

Conclusions

Replacement of the Harmoni optic was found to be safe and efficient compared with the control IOL, as manipulation of the capsular bag to remove haptic components is not necessary with the modular design. The base component of the modular system remained stable and centred throughout the study.