bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Parents’ perceptions and intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19: Results from a cross-sectional national survey in India
Authors: Padhi Bijaya Kumar , Satapathy Prakasini , Rajagopal Vineeth , Rustagi Neeti , Vij Jatina , Jain Lovely , Chakrapani Venkatesan , Patro Binod , Kar Sitanshu Sekhar , Singh Ritesh , Pala Star , Sankhe Lalit , Modi Bhavesh , Bali Surya , Kiran Tanvi , Goel Kapil , Aggarwal Arun Kumar , Gupta Madhu
Published: October 2021

Background

Despite the success of adult vaccination against COVID-19, providing vaccines to children remains a challenge for policymakers globally. As parents are primary decision-makers for their children, we aimed to assess parents’ perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination in India.

Methods

A cross-sectional web-based study was designed, parents or caregivers (N=770) were recruited through snowball sampling using Google form. Cross-tabulation was performed by parents’ intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 virus with sociodemographic characteristics and their risk perception towards COVID-19, trust in the healthcare system, and their history of vaccine hesitancy behavior. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to compute the predictors of child vaccination intention among Indian parents.

Results

770 parents across the country have completed the survey. Of the 770 participants, 258 (33.5%) have shown intent to vaccinate their children. The stated likelihood of child vaccination was greater among parents who had a bachelor’s degree or higher education (aOR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.15-3.51); as well as among parents who intended to vaccinate themselves (aOR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.30-4.67). Parental concerns centered around vaccine safety and side effects.

Conclusion

Indian parents reported high knowledge of the COVID-19 virus and were aware of the development of a novel vaccine. However, about one-third of parents intended to vaccinate their children, and about half of them were not sure whether to vaccinate their children or not against the COVID-19 virus. The study highlighted the need for health promotion strategies that promote vaccine uptake among parents.
Individual treatment effect estimation in the presence of unobserved confounding using proxies: a cohort study in stage III non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: van Amsterdam Wouter A.C. , Verhoeff Joost J.C. , Harlianto Netanja I , Bartholomeus Gijs A , Manas Puli Aahlad , de Jong Pim A , Leiner Tim , van Lindert Anne S.R. , Eijkemans Marinus J.C. , Ranganath Rajesh
Published: October 2021

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) are the gold standard for estimating treatment effects but some important situations in cancer care require treatment effect estimates from observational data. We developed "Proxy based individual treatment effect modeling in cancer" (PROTECT) to estimate treatment effects from observational data when there are unobserved confounders, but proxy measurements of these confounders exist. We identified an unobserved confounder in observational cancer research: overall fitness. Proxy measurements of overall fitness exist like performance score, but the fitness as observed by the treating physician is unavailable for research. PROTECT reconstructs the distribution of the unobserved confounder based on these proxy measurements to estimate the treatment effect. PROTECT was applied to an observational cohort of 504 stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, treated with concurrent chemoradiation or sequential chemoradiation. Whereas conventional confounding adjustment methods seemed to overestimate the treatment effect, PROTECT provided credible treatment effect estimates.
RCT: randomized controlled trial; PROTECT: Proxy based individual treatment effect modeling in cancer; NSCLC: non-small cell lung cancer
Anxiety-impulsivity subtypes in adolescent internalizing disorder are characterized by distinguishable neurodevelopmental, neurocognitive and clinical trajectory signatures
Authors: Fan Huaxin , Kuang Nanyu , Wu Xinran , Yu Gechang , Jia Tianye , Sahakian Barbara , Robbins Trevor , Schumann Gunter , Feng Jianfeng , Becker Benjamin , Zhang Jie
Published: October 2021

Background Anxiety and impulsivity represent transdiagnostic pathology dimensions yet their interaction and contribution to emotional disorders in adolescence and to disease development remain controversial, and previous studies indicate heterogeneity within the broad category of internalizing disorders.

Methods A combination of hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering strategies was employed to determine impulsivity-related subtypes (based on the facets of negative urgency, lack of planning, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking and positive urgency in UPPS-P scales) in a large cohort of adolescents with internalizing disorders (n=2437) from Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Linear mixed-effect models were employed to determine cortical thickness alterations of the subtypes.

Results Data-driven clustering identified two distinct subtypes of internalizing patients (subtype 1/subtype 2) with comparable levels of increased anxiety yet distinguishable levels of impulsivity, i.e., enhanced (subtype 1) or decreased (subtype 2) compared to healthy controls. Subtype 1 was further characterized by thicker prefrontal and temporal cortical regions involved in regulatory control and fear processing, while subtype 2 did not demonstrate significant thickness alterations. The differential neuroanatomical profiles remained stable over the two-year follow-up, while the two subtypes had different neurodevelopmental trajectories. Subtype 1 additionally reported more psychopathology and dysfunctionality including higher suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms and transition rates to externalizing disorders during follow-up as well as impaired neurocognitive and educational performance compared to subtype 2. Moreover, for subtype 1, anxiety at baseline (9-10 years) was significantly positively associated with impulsivity (lack of perseverance) at 2-year follow-up, while in subtype 2, baseline anxiety was significantly negatively associated with impulsivity (sensation seeking) at 2-year follow-up.

Conclusions Our results demonstrate an impulsivity-dependent heterogeneity in adolescent internalizing disorders, with high-impulsivity patients being characterized by neurodevelopmental delay at the neural and cognitive levels. Individuals with elevated impulsivity are at a greater risk to develop behavioral dysregulation over the following two years and may thus require specific early interventions.
Measuring College Student Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccinations
Authors: Taylor Z.W. , Bicak Ibrahim , Childs Joshua , Fletcher Carla , Cornett Allyson
Published: October 2021

This survey explores attitudes of 1,197 currently enrolled college students regarding their comfort taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Results suggest most college students are willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine if their institution requires it to return to campus in subsequent semesters. However, certain students of Color, students with disabilities, and adult students may be less willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine if it were required before or during an on-campus semester. Finally, many college students do not understand that COVID-19 vaccines will be free, possibly affecting these students’ willingness to vaccinate and their perceptions of safely and affordably returning to campus. Implications for postsecondary policy and leadership are addressed.
Blockchain in accounting research: current trends and emerging topics
Authors: Garanina Tatiana , Ranta Mikko , Dumay John
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This paper provides a structured literature review of blockchain in accounting. The authors identify current trends, analyse and critique the key topics of research and discuss the future of this nascent field of inquiry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study’s analysis combined a structured literature review with citation analysis, topic modelling using a machine learning approach and a manual review of selected articles. The corpus comprised 153 academic papers from two ranked journal lists, the Association of Business Schools (ABS) and the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC), and from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). From this, the authors analysed and critiqued the current and future research trends in the four most predominant topics of research in blockchain for accounting.

Findings

Blockchain is not yet a mainstream accounting topic, and most of the current literature is normative. The four most commonly discussed areas of blockchain include the changing role of accountants; new challenges for auditors; opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology application; and the regulation of cryptoassets. While blockchain will likely be disruptive to accounting and auditing, there will still be a need for these roles. With the sheer volume of information that blockchain records, both professions may shift out of the back-office toward higher-profile advisory roles where accountants try to align competitive intelligence with business strategy, and auditors are called on ex ante to verify transactions and even whole ecosystems.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identify several challenges that will need to be examined in future research. Challenges include skilling up for a new paradigm, the logistical issues associated with managing and monitoring multiple parties all contributing to various public and private blockchains, and the pressing need for legal frameworks to regulate cryptoassets.

Practical implications

The possibilities that blockchain brings to information disclosure, fraud detection and overcoming the threat of shadow dealings in developing countries all contribute to the importance of further investigation into blockchain in accounting.

Originality/value

The authors’ structured literature review uniquely identifies critical research topics for developing future research directions related to blockchain in accounting.
Adaptive output-feedback robust active disturbance rejection control for uncertain quadrotor with unknown disturbances
Authors: Ahmed Nigar , Ali Shah Syed Awais
Published: October 2021

Purpose

In this research paper, an adaptive output-feedback robust active disturbance rejection control (RADRC) is designed for the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) quadrotor attitude model subject to unwanted uncertainties and disturbances (UUDs).

Design/methodology/approach

In order to achieve the desired control objectives in the presence of UUDs, the low pass filter (LPF) and extended high gain observer (EHGO) methods are used for the estimation of matched and mismatched UUDs, respectively. Furthermore, for solving the chattering incurred in the standard sliding mode control (SMC), a multilayer sliding mode surface is constructed. For formulating the adaptive output-feedback RADRC algorithm, the EHGO, LPF and SMC schemes are combined using the separation principle.

Findings

The findings of this research work include the design of an adaptive output-feedback RADRC with the ability to negate the UUDs as well as estimate the unknown states of the quadrotor attitude model. In addition, the chattering problem is addressed by designing a modified SMC scheme based on the multilayer sliding mode surface obtained by utilizing the estimated state variables. This sliding mode surface is also used to obtain the adaptive criteria for the switching design gain parameters involved in the SMC. Moreover, the requirement of high design gain parameters in the EHGO is solved by combining it with the LPF.

Originality/value

Designing the flight control techniques while assuming that the state variables are available is a common practice. In addition, to obtain robustness, the SMC technique is widely used. However, in practice, the state variables might not be available due to unknown parameters and uncertainties, as well as the chattering due to SMC reduces the performances of the actuators. Hence, in this paper, an adaptive output-feedback RADRC technique is designed to solve the problems of UUDs and chattering.
Putting a number on it: a latent profile approach to the typology of European Works Councils
Authors: De Spiegelaere Stan
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Identify the different types of experiences of European Works Council (EWC) members based on the four fields of interaction of EWCs and evaluate their relative presence.

Design/methodology/approach

Latent profile analysis using survey data of over 1600 EWC representatives from more than 300 EWCs.

Findings

Five different types of EWC experience are identified (marginalized, dominated, spearhead, participative and transnational forum). After 22 years of experience with EWCs, only a small minority of EWC representatives consider their EWC to be a participative structure. While trade union support and training increase the value of belonging to a well-functioning EWC type, they are not enough to circumvent structural obstacles. Additionally the analysis shows that domination by some countries in the functioning of an EWC is not always negative as this experience is present in both well- and ill-functioning EWC types.

Research limitations/implications

The article argues that research should focus more on the moments of regression which EWCs face; and take a more nuanced approach to the domination by some countries of how EWCs function.

Social implications

The article adds to the growing body of evidence that argues for structural intervention to improve EWC functioning.

Originality/value

This article uses insights from comparative case study research to cross-validate the findings using quantitative methods.
Factors influencing the participation of industry professionals in Work-Integrated Learning in Vietnamese universities: a qualitative approach
Authors: Thi Ngoc Ha Nguyen , Dakich Eva , Grieshaber Susan
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This article explores factors influencing the participation of industry professionals in Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) in three Vietnamese public universities. The impact of the unique socio-cultural background of Vietnam on WIL is also addressed.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach that included three focus groups and 15 individual in-depth interviews was applied. In total, 30 key university and industry WIL stakeholders were involved. Thematic analysis was employed to identify enablers and inhibitors to the participation of industry professionals in WIL in Vietnamese universities.

Findings

Industry professionals faced more challenges than support when involved in WIL in three Vietnamese public universities. Four enablers of their participation in WIL stemmed from industry and nine inhibitors emerged from a variety of sources. The overwhelming number of inhibiting factors indicated difficulties associated with implementing WIL.

Originality/value

The rationale behind limited industry involvement in Vietnamese universities has not been explored previously. A holistic understanding of all key WIL stakeholders’ perceptions of factors influencing industry participation in a non-Western tertiary context may provide leads for higher education policy in Vietnam and add to the international literature.
Teachers’ technological competence and success in online teaching during the COVID-19 crisis: the moderating role of resistance to change
Authors: Masry-Herzalah Asmahan , Dor-Haim Peleg
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Similar to education systems all over the world, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli education system shut its doors and moved to an online format. The present study aims to examine the relationship between Israeli teachers’ technological competence and their success in online teaching during the COVID-19 crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on 383 teachers’ who responded to a questionnaire about a month and a half after the transition to online teaching due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Findings

The study revealed a significant, positive relationship between technological competence and success in online teaching. Further, the study found that resistance to change among teachers played a key role in teaching success, such that it moderated the association between technological competency and online teaching success. Theoretical and practical implications are suggested.

Originality/value

The present study contributes to both theory and practice with regard to the matter of successful online teaching among teachers. The study introduces vital factors – specifically, resistance to change and technological competence – which may predict successful online teaching in schools during times of crisis.
Corn trade simulations of China: reduction in tariffs versus expansion in tariff-rate quotas
Authors: Liu Kai , Yamazaki Masato , Koike Atsushi , Mu Yueying
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Corn, which has the highest domestic production, planting area and consumption, is the top cereal in relation to demand and supply in China. However, the comparative advantage of China in corn has continuously deteriorated in recent years and based on the recent situation and possible supply and demand trends, it is widely accepted that a corn self-sufficiency rate of 95% is difficult to achieve. Under current import-restriction policies, corn may stand at the crossroads of reforms to solve its predicted insufficient supply. In this study, the authors analyse the necessity of relaxing trade restrictions on corn in China and explore the effects of trade restrictions by reducing tariffs and expanding tariff-rate quotas on corn and related industries and the welfare change caused by possible relaxations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors construct a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and design nine scenarios for the analysis.

Findings

The results show that relaxations of import restrictions are probable methods to meet the aim of sufficient corn supply during shortages. They are simulated to reduce corn's domestic production and price, increase import and import prices and lead to a decline in self-sufficiency but benefit the production of corn-related industries of corn. The results also imply that expanding the quota is a better method for releasing trade restrictions in China.

Originality/value

The comparative advantage of China in corn deteriorated with an increase in prices. Based on the current situation and possible trends of supply and demand, the referenced goal of achieving 95% corn self-sufficiency appears difficult, implying that reliance on imports is probably imminent and vital. This study provides simulation results in future scenarios and offers policy implications for China's corn trade policies.
Leadership, culture, intellectual capital and knowledge processes for organizational innovativeness across industries: the case of Poland
Authors: Kucharska Wioleta
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This study aims to present the overview of intellectual capital creation micro-mechanisms concerning formal and informal knowledge processes. The organizational culture, transformational leadership and innovativeness are also included in the investigation as ascendants and consequences of the focal relation of intellectual capital and knowledge processes.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 1,418 Polish knowledge workers from the construction, healthcare, higher education and information technology (IT) industries, the empirical model was developed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method.

Findings

The study exposes that the essence of transformational leadership innovativeness oriented is developing all intellectual capital components. To do so, leaders must support both formal and informal knowledge processes through the organizational culture of knowledge and learning. Furthermore, for best results of the knowledge transformation into intellectual capital, the learning culture must be shaped by both components: learning climate and acceptance of mistakes.

Practical implications

Presented findings can be directly applied to organizations to enhance innovativeness. Namely, leaders who observe that the more knowledge is formally managed in their organizations, the less effective the knowledge exchange is-should put more effort into supporting informal knowledge processes to smoothly develop human and relational intellectual capital components. Shortly, leaders must implement an authentic learning culture, including the mistakes acceptance component, to use the full organizational potential to achieve intellectual capital growth. Intellectual capital growth is essential for innovativeness.

Originality/value

This study presents the “big picture” of all intellectual capital creation micro-mechanisms linking transformational leadership with organizational innovativeness and explains the “knowledge paradox” identified by Mabey and Zhao (2017). This explanation assumes that intellectual capital components are created informally (i.e. human and relational ones) and formally (i.e. structural ones). Therefore, for best effects, both formal and informal knowledge processes, must be supported. Furthermore, this study exposes that the intensity of all explored micro-mechanisms is industry-specific.
An integrated approach based on the decision-theoretic rough set for resilient-sustainable supplier selection and order allocation
Authors: Zhao Pengyun , Ji Shoufeng , Xue Yaoting
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an innovative integration method based on decision-theoretic rough set and the extended VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR) methods to address the resilient-sustainable supplier selection and order allocation (SS/OA) problem.

Design/methodology/approach

Specifically, a two-stage approach is designed in this paper. First, the decision-theoretic rough set is employed to calculate the rough number for coping with the subjective uncertainty of data and assigning the weights for a resilient-sustainable evaluation criterion. On this basis, the supplier resilient-sustainable performance is ranked in combination with the extended VIKOR method. Second, a novel multi-objective optimization model is proposed that applies an improved genetic algorithm to select the resilient-sustainable supplier and allocate the corresponding order quantity under a multi-tier supplier network.

Findings

The results reveal that joint consideration of resilience and sustainability is essential in the SS/OA process. The method proposed in this study based on decision-theoretic rough sets and the extended VIKOR method can handle imprecise information flexibly, reduce information loss and obtain acceptable solutions for decision-makers. Numerical cases validate that this integrated approach can combine resilience and sustainability for effective and efficient SS/OA.

Practical implications

This paper provides industry managers with a new perspective on SS/OA from a resilience and sustainability perspective as a basis for best practices for industry resilience and sustainability. The proposed method helps to evaluate the resilient-sustainable performance of potential suppliers, which is applicable to solving real-world SS/OA problems and has important practical implications for the resilient-sustainable development of supply chains.

Originality/value

The two interrelated priorities of resilience and sustainability have emerged as key strategic challenges in SS/OA issues. This paper is the first study of this issue that uses the proposed integrated approach.
Ecological mechanisms underlying aridity thresholds in global drylands
Authors: Berdugo Miguel , Vidiella Blai , Solé Ricard V. , Maestre Fernando T.
Published: October 2021

With ongoing climate change, the probability of crossing environmental thresholds promoting abrupt changes in ecosystem structure and functioning is higher than ever. In drylands (areas where it rains <65% of what could be potentially evaporated), recent research has shown how the crossing of three aridity thresholds [at aridity (1‐Aridity Index) values of 0.54, 0.70 and 0.80] leads to abrupt changes on ecosystem structural and functional attributes. Despite the importance of these findings and their implications to develop effective monitoring and adaptation actions to combat climate change and desertification, we lack a proper understanding of the mechanisms unleashing these abrupt shifts.

Here we review multiple mechanisms that may explain the existence of aridity thresholds observed across global drylands, and discuss the potential amplification mechanisms that may underpin hypothetical abrupt temporal shifts with climate change.

We propose that each aridity threshold is caused by different and specific mechanisms. The first threshold is mainly caused by physiological mechanisms of plant adaptation to water shortages. The second threshold is unleashed by different mechanisms involving soil processes and plant–soil interactions such as soil erosion, plant community shifts and nutrient cycling and circulation. The collapse of vegetation observed once the third aridity threshold (0.8) is crossed is caused by the mechanisms related to the survival limits of plants that may cause sudden cover and diversity losses and plant–atmospheric feedbacks that link vegetation collapse with further climate aridification.

By identifying, revising and linking relevant mechanisms to each aridity threshold observed, we provide a set of specific hypotheses and identify knowledge gaps concerning the study of threshold emergence in drylands. We were also able to establish plausible factors that are context dependent and may influence the occurrence of abrupt ecosystem changes in time. Our review may help to focus future research efforts on aridity thresholds and to develop strategies to monitor, adapt to or even revert abrupt ecosystem changes across global drylands.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Do Firms Time Changes in Accounting Estimates to Manage Earnings?†
Authors: Chung Philip Keunho , Geiger Marshall A. , Paik Daniel Gyung , Rabe Collin
Published: October 2021

Prior earnings management research often focuses on specific accounts or on estimations of discretionary accruals but provides only limited insight into the methods firms actually use to manage earnings. In order to begin exploration of some of the operational details regarding how earnings are managed, we investigate whether firms time their decisions to make changes in accounting estimates (CAEs) in consideration of their earnings benchmarks. Using CAE data across all accounts from 2006 to 2018, we find that 28.1% of income‐increasing CAEs are implemented in quarters where pre‐CAE earnings are below a forecasted earnings benchmark but inclusion of the CAE effectively allows the firm to meet the benchmark. We find that income‐increasing CAEs are more likely implemented when a firm's pre‐CAE earnings are further below the benchmark. We also find that firms are more likely to implement income‐decreasing CAEs under two scenarios: (i) when pre‐CAE earnings are relatively high, as a way either to smooth earnings or to “bury bad news,” and (ii) when pre‐CAE earnings are already low, as a way to take a financial “big bath” and position the firm for positive future earnings. In addition, we present evidence that firms using CAEs to achieve an earnings benchmark face financial consequences in terms of poorer immediate stock price performance and subsequent return on assets. Our conclusions hold after performing several additional analyses, including consideration of other discretionary options, addressing endogeneity concerns, and conducting falsification tests. In sum, we contribute to the earnings management literature by presenting consistent evidence that firms appear to time CAEs to meet earnings benchmarks or achieve other reporting objectives.
RevGadgets: An R package for visualizing Bayesian phylogenetic analyses from RevBayes
Authors: Tribble Carrie M. , Freyman William A. , Landis Michael J. , Lim Jun Ying , Barido‐Sottani Joellë , Kopperud Bjørn Tore , Hӧhna Sebastian , May Michael R.
Published: October 2021

Statistical phylogenetic methods are the foundation for a wide range of evolutionary and epidemiological studies. However, as these methods grow increasingly complex, users often encounter significant challenges with summarizing, visualizing and communicating their key results.

We presentRevGadgets, anRpackage for creating publication‐quality figures from the results of a large variety of phylogenetic analyses performed inRevBayes(and other phylogenetic software packages).

We demonstrate how to useRevGadgetsthrough a set of vignettes that cover the most common use cases that researchers will encounter.

RevGadgetsis an open‐source, extensible package that will continue to evolve in parallel withRevBayes, helping researchers to make sense of and communicate the results of a diverse array of analyses.
ontoFAST: An R package for interactive and semi‐automatic annotation of characters with biological ontologies
Authors: Tarasov Sergei , Mikó István , Yoder Matthew Jon
Published: October 2021

Ontologies are becoming a fundamental technology for analysing phenotypic data. The commonly used Entity–Quality (EQ) provides rich semantics for annotating phenotypes and characters using ontologies. However, EQ syntax might be time inefficient if this granularity is unnecessary for downstream analysis.

We present an R package ontoFAST that aids fast annotations of characters with biological ontologies. ontoFAST takes a biomedical ontology in OBO format and a list of characters as input, and produces a list of mappings from characters to ontology terms as output.

The annotations produced by ontoFAST can be exported in CSV format for downstream analysis. Additionally, ontoFAST provides (a) functions for constructing simple queries of characters against ontologies and (b) helper function for exporting and visualizing complex ontological hierarchies and their relationships.

ontoFAST enhances integration of ontological and phylogenetic methods and supports data interoperability between R applications. Ontology tools are underrepresented in R ecosystem and we hope that ontoFAST will stimulate their further development.
Externally attached biologgers cause compensatory body mass loss in birds
Authors: Portugal Steven J. , White Craig R.
Published: October 2021

Animal‐borne logging devices are now commonly used to record and monitor the movements, physiology and behaviours of free‐living animals. It is imperative that the impacts these devices have on the animals themselves are minimised.

One important consideration is the interaction between the body mass of the animal and the mass of the device.

Using captive homing pigeons, we demonstrate that birds lose the equivalent amount of body mass compared to that of the logging device attached. With our experiments, we calculated that the compensatory mass loss because of the logging device equates to a total loss of 1,140 kJ of energy to the bird, over the 25‐day period. This equates to 32% per day of their total daily energy budget.

We suggest that practitioners of biologging give due consideration to the possibility of a device‐induced decrease in body mass when making decisions regarding device size, and when considering the period of the time of the year at which devices are attached.

It appears, based on the results of the present study, that device attachment is likely to be most disruptive during periods of regulated mass change, especially when periods of mass gain precede periods in which stored energy reserves are extensively utilised.

These findings have significant consequences for anyone using biologging technology on both wild and captive volant animals. Further studies utilising captive birds are now needed to fully understand how context‐ and species‐dependent physiological responses to externally attached devices are.
Advancing research on recurrent pregnancy loss: Overcoming obstacles and opportunities for translation
Authors: Girardi Guillermina , Bremer Andrew A.
Published: October 2021

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is one of the most complex and challenging scenarios in reproductive medicine. New theories about the mechanisms behind RPL have recently emerged, highlighting the multifactorial nature of this serious pregnancy complication.  Unfortunately, these preclinical observations are rarely validated in the human scenario, where treatment remains ineffective and empirical. New technologies such as organoids, organ‐on‐a‐chip, and 3D printing can be used to characterize the molecular cross talk between the uterine environment with its unique inflammatory cells and the developing embryo. Understanding the mechanisms behind RPL and identifying mediators and effectors and validating these targets for prevention and therapy in humans will have a profound impact on women's health.
Racial Identity, Group Consciousness, and Attitudes: A Framework for Assessing Multiracial Self‐Classification
Authors: Davenport Lauren D. , Iyengar Shanto , Westwood Sean J.
Published: October 2021

Multiracial self‐classifiers are the fastest‐growing racial population in the United States. While their rise signals a departure from norms of hypodescent, little is known about the sociopolitical meanings attached to multiracial labels. Here, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding multiracials’ sense of racial group identity, linked fate, and racial attitudes. Examining a national opinion survey that samples more than 1200 multiracial adults, we compare the identity and attitudinal profiles of the two largest multiracial groups in the United States—White‐Asians and White‐Blacks—with those of their component monoracial groups. We find that while White‐Asians and White‐Blacks often distinguish themselves from their component races, on balance, the assertion of dual racial membership signals greater solidarity and/or affect toward the minority race. These findings suggest that members of these multiracial populations are likely to align themselves relatively more with their minority background than with Whites on political issues that are racial in nature.
Progressive decline of function in renal allografts with normal 1‐year biopsies: Gene expression studies fail to identify a classifier
Authors: Park Walter D. , Kim Dean Y. , Mai Martin L. , Reddy Kunam S. , Gonwa Thomas , Ryan Margaret S. , Herrera Hernandez Loren P. , Smith Maxwell L. , Geiger Xochiquetzal J. , Turkevi‐Nagy Sandor , Cornell Lynn D. , Smith Byron H. , Kremers Walter K. , Stegall Mark D.
Published: October 2021

Histologic findings on 1‐year biopsies such as inflammation with fibrosis and transplant glomerulopathy predict renal allograft loss by 5 years. However, almost half of the patients with graft loss have a 1‐year biopsy that is either normal or has only interstitial fibrosis. The goal of this study was to determine if there was a gene expression profile in these relatively normal 1‐year biopsies that predicted subsequent decline in renal function. Using transcriptome microarrays we measured intragraft mRNA levels in a retrospective Discovery cohort (170 patients with a normal/minimal fibrosis 1‐year biopsy, 54 with progressive decline in function/graft loss and 116 with stable function) and developed a nested 10‐fold cross‐validated gene classifier that predicted progressive decline in renal function (positive predictive value = 38 ± 34%%; negative predictive value = 73 ± 30%, c‐statistic = .59). In a prospective, multicenter Validation cohort (270 patients with Normal/Interstitial Fibrosis [IF]), the classifier had a 20% positive predictive value, 85% negative predictive value and .58 c‐statistic. Importantly, the majority of patients with graft loss in the prospective study had 1‐year biopsies scored as Normal or IF. We conclude predicting graft loss in many renal allograft recipients (i.e., those with a relatively normal 1‐year biopsy and eGFR > 40) remains difficult.
Kidney utilization and outcomes of liver transplant recipients who were listed for kidney after liver transplant after the implementation of safety net policy
Authors: Homkrailas Piyavadee , Ayoub Walid S. , Martin Paul , Bunnapradist Suphamai
Published: October 2021

In 2017, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) established the safety net policy with set criteria for offering kidney transplantation (KT) for patients who developed end‐stage renal disease between 60 and 365 days after liver transplant (LT). We provide an update on the impact of the policy. We analyzed UNOS data of liver recipients transplanted between 1987 and 2020 who developed acute kidney injury requiring dialysis within 60 days before or after LT and subsequently listed for KT. We identified 407 patients who were listed for kidney after LT before policy and 248 patients after policy. Median waiting time to KT was shorter after policy (324 days vs. 2827 days). There was a higher proportion of candidates who were listed for subsequent KT within 1‐year after policy (94.8% vs. 63.6%). KT rate was also higher after policy (87.7 vs. 30.7 per 100 patient‐years at risk). Most importantly, we started to observe a net negative kidney utilization in end‐stage liver disease setting (i.e., summation of simultaneous liver kidney and kidney after liver transplant in the first‐year after LT has decreased from 1086 to 876 transplants in 2019). Such findings are consistent with a more efficient system and more appropriate allocation of organs.
Various innovative roles for 3‐Fr microcatheters in pancreaticobiliary endoscopy
Authors: Yoshida Michihiro , Naitoh Itaru , Hayashi Kazuki , Hori Yasuki , Natsume Makoto , Kato Akihisa , Kachi Kenta , Asano Go , Sahashi Hidenori , Toyohara Tadashi , Kito Yusuke , Kataoka Hiromi
Published: October 2021

With the development of newer devices and technical innovations, pancreaticobiliary endoscopy is expanding to assume more advanced therapeutic roles. As with other devices, slimmed‐down “3‐Fr microcatheters” are considered to be opening new windows toward entirely new therapeutic techniques for various purposes. Our practical experience with a total of 34 consecutive patients in whom 3‐Fr microcatheters were applied during pancreaticobiliary endoscopic procedures clarified the potential roles of this instrument in pancreaticobiliary endoscopy. The major benefits of 3‐Fr microcatheters involve their slimness and flexibility. Applications of 3‐Fr microcatheters could be categorized into three groups according to the characteristics of usage: (1) utilization as a cannulation catheter for peroral digital cholangioscopy (n = 15); (2) selective advancement through deep flexures or severely stenotic ducts (n = 11); or (3) two‐devices‐in‐one‐channel technique (n = 8). The microcatheter worked successfully for cannulation of cholangioscopy in all but one case (14/15, 93.3%). For selective advancement, the microcatheter worked for troubleshooting in 9 of 11 cases (81.8%). With the two‐devices‐in‐one‐channel technique, the microcatheter proved satisfactory in all cases (8/8, 100%). In total, the microcatheter was successfully maneuvered in 31 of 34 cases (91.1%), following the failure of procedures using conventional endoscopic techniques. In terms of adverse events, cystic duct injury was only observed in two cases (5.8%), who recovered under conservative observation, because its slimness could minimize the damage. We believe that 3‐Fr microcatheters offer effective and safe salvage troubleshooting during various endoscopic pancreaticobiliary procedures that face troublesome situations with conventional strategies.
Cemiplimab in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Naik Piyu Parth
Published: October 2021

Cemiplimab, a high‐affinity, highly potent human monoclonal antibody that binds to the programmed death‐1 (PD‐1)/programmed death ligand‐1 (PD‐L1) receptor, is the only drug to attain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and marketing authorization from the European Commission for use in patients with metastatic and locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation therapy as a first‐ or later‐line treatment. In pivotal phase II clinical testing, cemiplimab showed rapid and substantial antitumor efficacy and acceptable safety. This systematic review was aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of cemiplimab in patients with advanced CSCC. To this end, I reviewed EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and clinical trial registries/databases by using the following keywords alone or in combination: “cemiplimab,” “Libtayo,” “cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma,” “REGN2810,” and “SER439684.” Cemiplimab showed clinical efficacy and considerable safety and was associated with low rates of treatment discontinuation (7%) and death (3%). However, the current recommendation is primarily based on only phase II clinical testing due to the absence of an approved comparator agent.
Keyworker mediated enhancement of physical health in patients with first episode psychosis: A feasibility/acceptability study
Authors: Broughan John , McCombe Geoff , Lim Jayleigh , O'Keeffe Donal , Brown Katherine , Clarke Mary , Corcoran Ciarán , Hanlon David , Kelly Ned , Lyne John , McGorry Patrick , O' Brien Sinéad , O' Connor Karen , O' Mahony Karen , Scott Seamus , Wycherley Elizabeth , Cullen Walter
Published: October 2021

Aim

Early intervention for people experiencing first episode psychosis is a priority, and keyworkers are vital to such services. However, keyworkers' roles in addressing first episode psychosis patients' physical health are under researched. This study addresses this knowledge gap by evaluating a keyworker‐mediated intervention promoting physical health among first episode psychosis patients.

Methods

The study was informed by the Medical Research Council's Framework for Complex Interventions to Improve Health. First episode psychosis participants were recruited from three Irish mental health services. The intervention was evaluated in terms of its feasibility/acceptability.

Results

Feasibility outcomes were mixed (recruitment rate = 24/68 [35.3%]; retention rate = 18/24 [75%]). The baseline sample was predominantly male (M:F ratio = 13:6; Med age = 25 y; IQR = 23‐42 y). Common health issues among participants included overweightness/obesity (n = 11) and substance use (smoking/alcohol consumption [n = 19]). Participants' initial health priorities included exercising more (n = 10), improving diet (n = 6), weight loss (n = 7) and using various health/healthcare services. The intervention's acceptability was evidenced by the appreciation participants had for physical health keyworkers' support, as well as the healthy lifestyle, which the intervention promoted. Acceptability was somewhat compromised by a low‐recruitment rate, variable linkages between keyworkers and general practitioners (GPs) and COVID‐19 restrictions.

Conclusions

Physical health‐oriented keyworker interventions for first episode psychosis patients show promise and further evaluation of such initiatives is warranted. Future interventions should be mindful of participant recruitment challenges, strategies to enhance relationships between keyworkers and GPs, and if necessary, they should mitigate COVID‐19 restrictions' impacts on care.
Reasons and consequences of COVID‐19 vaccine failure in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Morawska Marta
Published: October 2021

People with hematologic malignancies are at a high risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID‐19. The response to vaccination is highly limited in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Less than half of the patients develop antibody response, suggesting that they remain at risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection even after the vaccination. Reasons for inadequate response to COVID‐19 vaccination in chronic lymphocytic leukemia are multifactorial and attributed to disease‐related immune dysregulation and patient‐ and therapy‐related factors. The negative predictors of response to vaccination include hypogammaglobulinemia, advanced age, current active treatment, and past treatment anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibodies. Despite using booster doses and heterologous immunization to improve humoral and cellular immunity, some patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia will fail to respond. Active treatment at the time of vaccination and a recent history of anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibodies use are the strongest predictors of the non‐response. Current data support informing patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other hematologic malignancies about the risk of infection regardless of vaccination. These individuals and members of their households should continue extreme preventive actions despite relaxed local regulations. Other emerging non‐vaccine preventive strategies include passive and post‐exposure prevention with monoclonal antibodies.
Estimating soil chemical properties by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy: Promise versus reality
Authors: McBride Murray B.
Published: October 2021

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the visible and near‐infrared (VNIR) spectral range has increasingly been utilised in recent years to measure soil properties, including organic carbon and macronutrient content, cation exchange capacity, pH, and even trace metal concentration. Proponents have even suggested that conventional laboratory soil testing methods can ultimately be replaced by these less laborious and more rapid spectroscopic methods. However, to this point in time, reflectance spectroscopy has not demonstrated accuracy comparable to that of conventional physical–chemical testing methods. This review explains why correlations between VNIR spectral features and specific chemical properties within selected sets of soil samples are indirect at best and therefore cannot be trusted more universally to predict soil chemical properties in larger and less homogeneous sample sets. Because mathematical manipulation of the raw spectral data has become increasingly complex and obscure to the users, particularly when machine learning is employed, the possibility exists that the correlations found and the predictions made are based on chance relationships resulting from overfitting the spectral data to include random noise in addition to any real trends. It is concluded that, for real‐world soil testing for agronomic and environmental purposes (e.g. available nutrient and trace metal levels), spectral reflectance methods are not sufficiently reliable to replace conventional testing. Conversely, these reflectance methods show utility and convenience in measuring general trends across landscapes in levels of soil organic matter, carbonates, soluble salts and specific clay minerals.

Highlights

VNIR reflectance spectroscopy is reviewed as a method to measure soil properties.

Estimating most soil chemical properties by VNIR relies on indirect or proxy correlations.

Complex regression models used in predicting soil properties may overstate accuracy.

Reflectance spectroscopy has lower reliability and extrapolability than conventional soil testing.