bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Corporate sustainability in SMEs: an Asian perspective
Authors: Das Maitreyee , Rangarajan K. , Dutta Gautam
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to do a thorough literature review to assess the current status of corporate sustainability (CS) practices, issues and challenges in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and based on literature suggest a model that can improve and strategically manage their sustainability practices in the emerging market context of Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

After setting the theoretical background on why the corporations need to shoulder the responsibility of sustainable development, the authors did a high level literature review to estimate the gap area and based on the findings formulated some research questions on why the SMEs, more specifically those in Asian emerging market, are lagging behind in terms of CS practices. Next, using the “literature survey” as the methodology the authors did a thorough in-depth literature review to answer the above research questions and organised the findings in light of those research questions. Considering the research gap and the crucial role of SMEs in a country’s economic progress the authors restricted the literature search on CS in the case of SMEs only.

Findings

CS is a well-practiced area in big organisations. However, the literature suggests that in the case of SMEs the situation is different. Social and environmental practices are grossly neglected in SMEs more specifically in emerging markets. Existing literature mentions that collaborative mode of operation, government policy and facilitation, supporting organisation culture can positively influence SME’s sustainability performance, and hence, improve their financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

The conceptual model has been developed based on suggestions and recommendations in western countries context. To establish the validity of the model in the Asian business scenario it needs to be tested with a sizable sample of SMEs in the Asian market.

Practical implications

The current paper has practical implications both for academic research on sustainable development and also in business development. The proposed model in the current form is based on the literature survey only. Once such a model is empirically established this can be proved beneficial for providing guidance to SMEs to enhance the sustainability of their business operations. Moreover, environmental and social best practices adopted by SMEs will also have a positive influence on society and the environment in the long run.

Originality/value

This paper had done a country-wise comparison of sustainable practices in SMEs and based on the recommendations and suggestions of different scholars as found in the detailed literature review, the authors developed few research propositions and also presented a conceptual model. Finally, to address the gap it mentions some future research possibilities to test and validate the proposed model in the context of SMEs in emerging markets of Asia.
Reforms and budgetary oversight roles in Tanzania
Authors: Mkasiwa Tausi Ally
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the new Budget Act (2015) and the new budget cycle influence and were influenced by the contextual environment of the Tanzanian parliament and how this changed parliamentarians’ (MPs) budgetary oversight roles.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employed analytical concepts explained in the contextual framework proposed by Alsharariet al.(2015) to explore changes in budgetary oversight roles after the implementation of the reforms. Interviews, video clips and document review were employed in the data collection. Data were analyzed using the thematic approach.

Findings

The values of the new Budget Act and the new budget cycle were in conflict with the prevailing institutions, political and power aspects. The MPs modified a few provisions in the new Budget Act and in the new budget cycle. Legitimating budgetary oversight roles as a result of institutional pressure emerged but stopped. Although there was a change in MPs formal powers and MPs involvement in budgetary oversight, there was stability as the change was ineffective.

Research limitations/implications

The paper only extracted relevant aspects of the contextual framework, which were sufficient to achieve the objective of the paper. Moreover, the study was conducted only a few years after the implementation of the reforms. Therefore, it might be too early to reach conclusions. Yet, the paper serves as the basis for further studies investigating changes in budgetary oversight roles after the implementation of the reforms.

Practical implications

In order for the parliament to hold the government accountable to the electorate, there is a need for reforming the nature of the government system, improving MPs capacity, harmonizing Budget Act with prevailing constitution and demonstrating the political will to use MPs’ formal powers. The findings suggest that effective change in budgetary oversight by focusing on formal institutions only is unlikely.

Originality/value

This paper provides a more robust explanation on how the integration of institutional, political and power aspects shape budgetary oversight roles in parliaments. It is the first paper to explore accounting change using the contextual theoretical framework in an organization of a parliamentary nature. The paper responds to Kim’s (2018) call for conducting case studies to explore changes in budgetary oversight roles by investigating potential attributes of institutions when operating in practice.
Overlapping community detection based on the union of all maximum spanning trees
Authors: Asmi Khawla , Lotfi Dounia , El Marraki Mohamed
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The state-of-the-art methods designed for overlapping community detection are limited by their high execution time as in CPM or the need to provide some parameters like the number of communities in Bigclam and Nise_sph, which is a nontrivial information. Hence, there is a need to develop the accuracy that represents the primordial goal, where the actual state-of-the-art methods do not succeed to achieve high correspondence with the ground truth for many instances of networks. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors offer a new method that explore the union of all maximum spanning trees (UMST) and models the strength of links between nodes. Also, each node in the UMST is linked with its most similar neighbor. From this model, the authors extract local community for each node, and then they combine the produced communities according to their number of shared nodes.

Findings

The experiments on eight real-world data sets and four sets of artificial networks show that the proposed method achieves obvious improvements over four state-of-the-art (BigClam, OSLOM, Demon, SE, DMST and ST) methods in terms of the F-score and ONMI for the networks with ground truth (Amazon, Youtube, LiveJournal and Orkut). Also, for the other networks, it provides communities with a good overlapping modularity.

Originality/value

In this paper, the authors investigate the UMST for the overlapping community detection.
Corporate disclosure via social media: a data science approach
Authors: Amin Marian H. , Mohamed Ehab K.A. , Elragal Ahmed
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate corporate financial disclosure via Twitter among the top listed 350 companies in the UK as well as identify the determinants of the extent of social media usage to disclose financial information.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies an unsupervised machine learning technique, namely, Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling to identify financial disclosure tweets. Panel, Logistic and Generalized Linear Model Regressions are also run to identify the determinants of financial disclosure on Twitter focusing mainly on board characteristics.

Findings

Topic modeling results reveal that companies mainly tweet about 12 topics, including financial disclosure, which has a probability of occurrence of about 7 percent. Several board characteristics are found to be associated with the extent of Twitter usage as a financial disclosure platform, among which are board independence, gender diversity and board tenure.

Originality/value

The extensive literature examines disclosure via traditional media and its determinants, yet this paper extends the literature by investigating the relatively new disclosure channel of social media. This study is among the first to utilize machine learning, instead of manual coding techniques, to automatically unveil the tweets’ topics and reveal financial disclosure tweets. It is also among the first to investigate the relationships between several board characteristics and financial disclosure on Twitter; providing a distinction between the roles of executive vs non-executive directors relating to disclosure decisions.
Crafting careers in accounting: redefining gendered selves
Authors: Vidwans Mohini , Du Plessis Rosemary Ann
Published: January 2020

Purpose

While women are increasingly in senior positions in accountancy firms, a century after gaining entry to this once exclusively male field, they are still struggling to achieve career success. The concept of possible selves and a model of career crafting are activated in an analysis of how a set of New Zealand professional accountants have pursued their careers. This paper aims to focus on how people actively craft career selves in the context of organisational and gendered constraints, some of which are self-imposed, and therefore, can be modified and revised.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews with 36 male and female accounting professionals in New Zealand – 21 working in private firms and 15 in academia identify how careers are shaped by contexts, cultural understandings of gender, organisational structures within which accountants are located and wider environmental factors.

Findings

Women accountants in this study are both agential and responsive to a range of constraints they encounter. These women challenge the notion that professional achievement requires single minded allegiance to a career; their strategic career crafting demonstrates how career and family commitments are not irreconcilable but can be skilfully integrated to nurture multiple selves. Their strategies are considered alongside those of a comparable set of male accountants.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on possible selves and the complexity of gendered lives through the application of a career crafting matrix to explore how accounting professionals forge careers and construct multiple selves.
Cynicism, dirty work, and policing sex crimes
Authors: Spencer Dale C. , Ricciardelli Rosemary , Ballucci Dale , Walby Kevin
Published: January 2020

Purpose

Digital evidence is now infused in many (or arguably most) cases of sexual assault, which has refigured investigative tools, policing strategies and sources of cynicism for those working in sex crime units. Although cynicism, both its sources and affects, is widely studied among scholars of work and policing, little is known about how police working in sex crime units experience, mitigate and express cynicism. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap in understanding and explore the role of cynicism amongst investigators working in sex crime units.

Design/methodology/approach

To address this research gap, the authors conducted 70 semi-structured in-depth interviews and two focus groups with members of police services organizations across Canada working in sex crime units.

Findings

Examining sources of cynicism and emotional experiences, the authors reveal that officers in these units normalize and neutralize organizational and intra-organizational sources of cynicism, and cope with the potentially traumatizing and emotionally draining realities of undertaking this form of “dirty work.” The authors show that officer cynicism extends beyond offenders into organizational and operational aspects of their occupations and their lived experiences outside of work, which has implications for literature on police work, cynicism and digital policing.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the literature on cyber policing by, first, examining sex crimes unit member’s sources of cynicism in relation to sex crimes and the digital world and, second, by exploring sources of cynicism in police organizations and other branches in the criminal justice system. The authors examine how such cynicism seeps into relationships outside of the occupation. The authors’ contribution is in showing that cynicism related to police dirty work is experienced in relation to “front” and “back” regions (Dick, 2005) but also in multiple organizational and social spheres. The authors contribute to the extant literature on dirty work insofar as it addresses the underexplored dirty work associated with policing cyber environments and the morally tainted elements of such policing tasks.
An integrative view of senescence in nature
Authors: Gaillard Jean‐Michel , Lemaître Jean‐François
Published: January 2020

Senescence—the decline in age‐specific contribution to fitness with increasing age—has been widely investigated in evolutionary ecology. A tremendous amount of detailed empirical analyses have now revealed the widespread occurrence of demographic senescence (i.e. both actuarial and reproductive senescence) and have started to identify factors (e.g. environmental conditions) that modulate its timing and intensity, both within and across species. In this special feature, we have built on this flourishing work to highlight several axes of research that would benefit from more integrative and multidisciplinary approaches.

Several contributions compiled in this special feature emphasize that our understanding of senescence remains taxonomically limited, mostly focused on birds and mammals, and is therefore not representative of the biological diversity displayed across the tree of life. In line with this observation, the influence of some peculiar lifestyles (e.g. involving sociality or modularity) on the evolution of senescence is yet to be deciphered.

Understanding of the diversity of senescence patterns across and within species and among traits will necessitate the establishment of new metrics as a golden standard to fully account for age‐specific changes recorded in individuals’ performance. This is illustrated with the specific case of actuarial senescence.

This special feature also highlights that the diversity of biological samples collected from wild plants and animals, along with accurate demographic data, is expanding. The fast development of new molecular tools now offers a unique opportunity to launch research programmes at the interface of physiology, health and ageing in non‐model organisms.

We argue that while these different research axes constitute key avenues of investigations for the coming years, they are only the tip of the iceberg. To appreciate the full complexity of the senescence process in nature, from its evolutionary causes to its demographic consequences, we also need a better understanding of the role played by both environmental conditions and gene–environment interactions, of constraints, and of senescence, an improved assessment of the influence of individual heterogeneity, and the consideration of transgenerational effects when quantifying the fitness consequences of senescence.
Species geographical co‐occurrence and the effect of Grinnellian and Eltonian niche partitioning: The case of a Neotropical felid assemblage
Authors: Sánchez‐Barradas Alejandro , Villalobos Fabricio
Published: January 2020

Understanding local coexistence and broad‐scale species co‐occurrence patterns are central questions in ecology and macroecology. Niche theory relates both spatial scales by considering the resources (Eltonian niche) and conditions (Grinnellian niche) used by species and allow us to assess the contribution of these factors for species co‐occurrence. Indeed, combining local field data on diet preferences and climatic variables across species distributions can help us to evaluate their co‐occurrence while jointly considering resources and conditions on niche partitioning. Here, using information drawn from literature, we evaluated the relationship between geographic, climatic (Grinnellian) and trophic (Eltonian) niche dimensions among five highly sympatric felid species in favoring species co‐occurrence at broad spatial scales across the Neotropical region. We obtain potential geographic distributions of species through ecological niche models. Then, we calculated the pairwise species overlaps for each niche dimension and tested for a relationship between each pair of dimensions using Mantel and partial Mantel tests. We found a positive and significant relationship between geographic co‐occurrence and climatic overlap. This relationship remained after controlling for trophic overlap. Geographic and trophic overlap, as well as climatic and trophic overlap, did not show significant relationships. We conclude that the high degree of geographic co‐occurrence among our studied felid species is favored by climate and that their high degree of trophic overlap is not limiting their co‐occurrence pattern.
Extremely halophilic archaeal communities are resilient to short‐term entombment in halite
Authors: Huby Tom J. C. , Clark Dave R. , McKew Boyd A. , McGenity Terry J.
Published: January 2020

Some haloarchaea avoid the harsh conditions present in evaporating brines by entombment in brine inclusions within forming halite crystals, where a subset of haloarchaea survives over geological time. However, shifts in the community structure of halite‐entombed archaeal communities remain poorly understood. Therefore, we analysed archaeal communities from in situ hypersaline brines collected from Trapani saltern (Sicily) and their successional changes in brines versus laboratory‐grown halite over 21 weeks, using high‐throughput sequencing. Haloarchaea were dominant, comprising >95% of the archaeal community. Unexpectedly, the OTU richness of the communities after 21 weeks was indistinguishable from the parent brine and overall archaeal abundance in halite showed no clear temporal trends. Furthermore, the duration of entombment was less important than the parent brine from which the halite derived in determining the community composition and relative abundances of most genera in halite‐entombed communities. These results show that halite‐entombed archaeal communities are resilient to entombment durations of up to 21 weeks, and that entombment in halite may be an effective survival strategy for near complete communities of haloarchaea. Additionally, the dominance of ‘halite specialists’ observed in ancient halite must occur over periods of years, rather than months, hinting at long‐term successional dynamics in this environment.
Effects of conventional and nonconventional drying on the stability of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis INL1
Authors: Zacarías María Florencia , Reinheimer Jorge A , Vinderola Gabriel , Kulozik Ulrich , Ambros Sabine
Published: January 2020

Freeze, spray, vacuum, microwave vacuum‐ and microwave freeze‐drying were applied to Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis INL1. Freeze and microwave freeze‐drying showed the highest survival after drying. When a storage test (25 °C; oxygen) was performed, these cultures were the most sensitive ones at aw = 0.23, but the addition of lactose improved their stability after 8 weeks. Flow cytometry was useful to assess viability after drying but not during storage. Our results show that dehydration technologies other than freeze‐drying might be suitable alternatives that deserve further investigation for the preservation of sensitive probiotic bacteria. Microwave drying rendered cultures of comparable characteristics to their conventional counterparts, requiring significantly shorter drying times.
Gadobenate dimeglumine‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging can accurately predict the severity of esophageal varices and portal vein pressure in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis
Authors: Feng Qian , Guan Shan , Zhao Jing Run , Zhao Xin Ya , Zhang Chuan Chen , Wang Le , Feng Yue Min , Li Sen Lin , Zhu Qiang
Published: January 2020

Objective

To explore the effectiveness of gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd‐BOPTA)‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in predicting portal hypertension and high‐risk esophageal varices (EV) in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis.

Methods

In total, 71 and 30 patients were enrolled in the training and validation groups, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to detect patient's risk of developing high‐risk EV to generate a formula for scoring EV. The relationships between the relative enhancement (RE) ratio of Gd‐BOPTA‐enhanced MRI and portal vein pressure were explored.

Results

Platelet count, portal vein width and RE were identified as independent predictors of high‐risk EV. Based on these parameters, the EV score model were calculated as: −6.483 + 15.612 × portal vein width (cm) + 2.251 × RE − 0.176 × platelet count (×109/L). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.903. At a cut‐off value of ≤−2.74, the negative predictive value was 94.00%, while the positive predictive value was as high as 93.80% when the cut‐off was set at >4.00. Gd‐BOPTA‐enhanced MRI was effective in predicting portal pressure. Its accuracy was confirmed with the validation set.

Conclusions

Gd‐BOPTA‐enhanced MRI was successfully applied to evaluate high‐risk EV and portal hypertension. These results show that it is an accurate, non‐invasive model for detecting high‐risk EV, based on which we propose a cost‐effective algorithm for EV management, eliminating the need to perform an endoscopy in all patients with cirrhosis.
TXNIP hypomethylation and its interaction with obesity and hypertriglyceridemia increase type 2 diabetes mellitus risk: A nested case‐control study
Authors: Zhang Dongdong , Cheng Cheng , Cao Meng , Wang Tieqiang , Chen Xiaoliang , Zhao Yang , Wang Bingyuan , Ren Yongcheng , Liu Dechen , Liu Leilei , Chen Xu , Liu Feiyan , Zhou Qionggui , Tian Gang , Li Quanman , Guo Chunmei , Li Honghui , Wang Jian , Cheng Ruirong , Hu Dongsheng , Zhang Ming
Published: January 2020

Background

This study aims to estimate type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) incidence with DNA methylation of the thioredoxin‐interacting protein (TXNIP) gene and its interaction with environmental factors.

Materials and Methods

This case‐control study included 286 incident T2DM cases and 286 non‐T2DM controls matched by sex, age, marital status, race, and residence village nested in the Rural Chinese Cohort Study. A conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate the association of DNA methylation at TXNIP gene with T2DM risk. Also, multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses were used to investigate the interaction between TXNIP methylation and environmental risk factors.

Results

Methylation levels of all five CpG loci at TXNIP gene were significantly lower in T2DM than in controls (all P < .001). With increasing methylation level, risk of T2DM was significantly decreased (odds ratio, 95% CI 0.80, 0.69‐0.94 for CpG1; 0.80, 0.69‐0.93 for CpG2; 0.70, 0.56‐0.88 for CpG3; 0.78, 0.66‐0.92 for CpG4; and 0.76, 0.60‐0.97 for CpG5). Additionally, the essential interactions among TXNIP methylation, obesity, and hypertriglyceridemia were identified by CART and MDR analyses. On logistic regression analysis, the risk of T2DM was reduced with terminal node 5 (CpG3 methylation ≥72%, nonobesity, normal triglyceride (TG) level, and CpG4 methylation ≥83%) vs terminal node 1 (CpG3 methylation <72%) (odds ratio 95% CI 0.20, 0.10‐0.40).

Conclusions

TXNIP methylation is associated with T2DM incidence in a Chinese population. Interaction between TXNIP methylation and environmental factors may influence T2DM risk and needs more investigation.
Estimating abundance and growth rates in a wild mountain gorilla population
Authors: Granjon A.‐C. , Robbins M. M. , Arinaitwe J. , Cranfield M. R. , Eckardt W. , Mburanumwe I. , Musana A. , Robbins A. M. , Roy J. , Sollmann R. , Vigilant L. , Hickey J. R.
Published: January 2020

Monitoring population size and growth over time is vital for the conservation of endangered species. Mountain gorillas Gorilla beringei beringei remain in two small populations that span the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Each population contains two subpopulations that receive differing levels of protection: the monitored groups are visited daily by park staff and researchers and can be counted by sight, whereas the number and growth rate of unmonitored gorillas must be estimated indirectly. Here, we re‐analyze published data from a survey in 2010 combined with new results from a survey conducted during two sampling occasions in 2015 and 2016 to estimate mountain gorilla abundance and growth in the Virunga Massif between 2010 and 2016. Using genetic analysis of non‐invasively collected samples and two capture–mark–recapture estimates, we estimated that the 186 detected genotypes represented 221 (95% credible interval: 204–243) to 251 (205–340) unmonitored gorillas in 2016. Together with the 418 monitored gorillas, the overall population of the Virunga Massif thus reached 639 (622–661) to 669 (623–758) individuals. We estimated the growth of the entire Virunga Massif population at about 3% per year, but determined that the growth of the monitored gorillas (4.4%) mainly drove that increase. In contrast, the trend of the unmonitored subpopulation could not be determined with confidence because both models provided 95% CI that encompassed zero: 0.5% per year (−0.7% to +1.7%) and 1.1% (−2.7% to +4.4%). While the overall growth rate represents a rare success story for primate conservation, our results highlight the need for greater protection of unmonitored gorillas.
Evaluation of population status and foraging ecology of Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger roosevelti, Heller, 1910) in Shimba Hills National Reserve, Kenya
Authors: Ochieng Benard , Okeyo Benards , Tamooh Fredrick
Published: January 2020

The Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger roosevelti, Heller, 1910) is nationally endemic to Shimba Hills National Reserve (SHNR) in Kenya. In the past few decades, its population has declined considerably. Despite the alarming decline and resultant localised distribution, a little information exists on the species population status and foraging ecology. Different ecological research techniques were used to collect relevant data and information on the species population structure and feeding habits. The results showed that Sable population comprised of sex and age structures that are skewed towards females and adult, respectively, whereas young and subadult populations were not significantly different. Seasonal change did not have significant influence on the diversity of food plants selected by Sable. Although crude protein and phosphorous levels in Sable faecal samples differed significantly between the seasons, they were within the recommended minimum maintenance requirements for wild herbivores. The study concludes that Sable has good survival rate and potential to breed but lacks stability in the population. Additionally, Sable forage quality and availability may not be limiting its population growth. There is need to establish management strategies for improving reproduction in Sable and understand the level of competition of the species with other mega herbivores in SHNR.
How market value relates to corporate philanthropy and its assurance. The moderating effect of the business sector
Authors: Arco‐Castro Lourdes , López‐Pérez Maria Victoria , Pérez‐López Maria Carmen , Rodríguez‐Ariza Lázaro
Published: January 2020

Corporate philanthropy strategy integrated into the core business constitutes a novel vision and a little‐explored field of study with regard to corporate social commitment. The goal of this study is to analyse how the diverse ways of managing and assuring philanthropy can be considered signals of a firm's social commitment and consequently affect its market value. In addition, the analysis considers whether the business sector moderates those relationships. We aim to provide a comprehensive vision of corporate philanthropy and its effect on market value. From a sample of 965 firm‐years, of 193 firms from 2011 to 2015, we found that the market responds positively to the professional, independent management of philanthropy via a foundation, in preference to donations, and welcomes external assurance of corporate philanthropy as a set of actions that improve the perceived reliability of philanthropic activities. In addition, we observe a moderating effect of the business sector on the relationships among corporate philanthropy, assurance and the company's market value. The main contribution of this study is the provision of new evidence of how corporate philanthropy and its assurance are effective signals that reduce the information asymmetries between firms and investors, affecting company market value positively.
“Team is everything”: Reflections on trust, logistics and methodological choices in collaborative interviewing
Authors: Schwartz Ariel E. , Durkin Brendan
Published: January 2020

Accessible Summary

People with disabilities often do research. Sometimes, they work together with people with academic training. Sometimes, working together can be challenging.

A researcher with academic training and a co‐researcher with a disability worked together to do interviews.

This paper is about how we worked together. We talk about how the co‐researcher with a disability got hired, did ethics training and dealt with transportation and his schedule. We also talk about how we worked together to make sure it was easy for him to do the interviews.

This paper might help other research teams figure out how to do interviews together.

Background

People with disabilities are increasingly involved in research. Our understanding of how to support co‐researchers with disabilities has grown since the 1990s. However, research teams have reported challenges in ensuring authentic collaboration. We report on the collaboration between an academic researcher and a co‐researcher with a disability to conduct interviews with other co‐researchers about their experiences in inclusive research.

Methods

The academic researcher took fieldnotes throughout the research. Together, she and the co‐researcher audio‐recorded “debriefs” after each interview. The academic researcher reviewed all fieldnotes and transcribed “debriefs.” Together, the academic researcher and co‐researcher listened to and reflected on the audio‐recorded debriefs.

Results

In this reflective manuscript, we discuss the hiring process, ethics training, logistical challenges and tools we developed to support the co‐researcher in his role. We also discuss challenges, including the academic researcher's difficulty eliciting critical feedback from the co‐researcher. This manuscript includes both the voice of the academic researcher and the co‐researcher.

Conclusion

Our research process was supported by our prior relationship, accessible processes, and time for training and reflective practice. We call attention to the importance of establishing trust and methods to elicit critical feedback from co‐researchers. We also discuss logistical challenges and the impact of methodological choices on research collaborations.
VISTA: Coming of age as a multi-lineage immune checkpoint
Authors: ElTanbouly M A , Schaafsma E , Noelle R J , Lines J L
Published: January 2020

The immune response is governed by a highly complex set of interactions among cells and mediators. T cells may be rendered dysfunctional by the presence of high levels of antigen in the absence of co-stimulation while myeloid cells may be programmed towards an immunosuppressive state that promotes cancer growth and metastasis while deterring tumor immunity. In addition, inhibitory programs driven by immune checkpoint regulators dampen anti-tumor immunity. The ideal cancer immunotherapy treatment will improve both cross-priming in the tumor microenvironment and relieve suppression by the inhibitory checkpoints. Recently, blockade of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) has elicited impressive results, but not in all patients, so additional targets are under investigation. V-set immunoglobulin domain suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) is a novel immunoregulatory receptor that is broadly expressed on cells of the myeloid and lymphoid lineages, and is frequently implicated as a poor prognostic indicator in multiple cancers. Importantly, antibody targeting of VISTA uniquely engages both innate and adaptive immunity. This, combined with the expression of VISTA and its non-redundant activities compared to other immune checkpoint regulators, qualifies VISTA to be a promising target for improving cancer immunotherapy.
Contrasting responses of beta diversity components to environmental and host‐associated factors in insect ectoparasites
Authors: Maestri Renan , Shenbrot Georgy I. , Warburton Elizabeth M. , Khokhlova Irina S. , Krasnov Boris R.
Published: January 2020

1. The present study investigated whether different components (species replacement and species gains/losses) of compositional and phylogenetic beta diversity of insect ectoparasites responded similarly to environmental and host‐associated gradients using a large dataset on distribution of fleas and their rodent hosts in Mongolia.

2. Generalised dissimilarity modelling was applied to investigate whether environmental variables or host dissimilarity was the best predictor of species/lineage replacement and species/lineage gains/losses (= richness difference) components of compositional and phylogenetic flea beta diversity.

3. The total compositional beta diversity of fleas was influenced mainly by the gradient in air temperature and, to a lesser degree, by total host beta diversity, with the former effect being associated with the richness difference component and the latter effect being associated with species replacement component. The total phylogenetic beta diversity of fleas was best explained by the total phylogenetic beta diversity of hosts, with this effect being mainly associated with the lineage replacement component, whereas the lineage richness difference component responded mainly to the temperature gradient.

4. The results of the present indicate that not only multiple beta diversity facets are driven by different factors, but also different components of the same beta diversity facet respond to different environmental (for parasites, including host‐associated) gradients. These patterns were masked when only total beta diversity was analysed.

5. This emphasizes the importance of considering the components of insect beta diversity separately. Ignoring the separate components of beta diversity can lead to potentially erroneous inferences about the relative contribution of abiotic and biotic effects on beta diversity.
Spatial variation in climate modifies effects of functional diversity on biomass dynamics in natural forests across Canada
Authors: Hisano Masumi , Chen Han Y. H.
Published: January 2020

Aim

Forest net biomass change (ΔAGB; the difference between biomass gain from growth and loss through mortality) determines how forests contribute to the global carbon cycle. Understanding how plant diversity affects ΔAGB in diverse abiotic conditions is crucial in the face of anthropogenic environmental change. Recent studies have advanced our understanding of the effects of plant diversity on growth dependent on the abiotic context, either supporting or rejecting the stress gradient hypothesis. However, we know little about how diversity influences mortality, which prevents us from knowing how diversity affects ΔAGB in diverse abiotic conditions.

Location

Across Canada (43–60° N, 52–133° W).

Time period

1951–2016.

Major taxa studied

Ninety‐three tree species.

Methods

We modelled the relationships of growth, mortality and ΔAGB with functional diversity that represented niche complementarity, while simultaneously accounting for the influence of functional identity and stand age.

Results

Growth and mortality increased, on average, with functional diversity, but the magnitude of the increase in growth was greater than that of mortality, resulting in an increase of ΔAGB. The positive relationship between growth and functional diversity was more prominent in more humid sites than in drier sites. Mortality increased with functional diversity in drier sites but did not increase in wetter sites. The positive relationship between ΔAGB and functional diversity was strengthened with water availability. Moreover, the positive relationship between growth and functional diversity became stronger with temperature, but the positive associations of diversity with mortality and ΔAGB were consistent across the gradient of temperature.

Main conclusions

Our results suggest that higher functional diversity leads to an increase in forest biomass accumulation owing to a greater positive effect of functional diversity on productivity than on mortality. However, in contrast to the stress gradient hypothesis, our findings show that the positive effect of functional diversity is more pronounced in an environment favourable for growth.
Mucosal and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran from 1968 to 2018: a narrative review of clinical features, treatments, and outcomes
Authors: Sabzevari Sadaf , Mohebali Mehdi , Hashemi Seyed Ahmad
Published: January 2020

Leishmaniases are worldwide zoonotic infectious diseases caused by different types of intracellular protozoan species of the genus Leishmania. Leishmaniasis as an important vector‐borne parasitic disease is transmitted between mammalian hosts by female sandflies. There are three main clinical forms of disease with varied severity: visceral leishmaniasis (VL), cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL). MCL is the most uncommon form of this syndrome in the Old World. Accordingly, the reports have characterized that patients with the involvement of mucous membranes are rare even in endemic areas. It is well‐known that MCL is a rare clinical manifestation in Iran, but there have been several different cases of patients with mucosal (ML) or MCL in some parts of Iran during the past 50 years. Therefore, we aimed to report and present clinical and epidemiological features of ML or MCL in different regions of the country. Also, we demonstrated specified Leishmania species causing the ML in some cases. The present narrative review indicates that ML or MCL is not unexpected in Iran. Based on the findings of the recent studies, it is concluded that diagnosis of ML should be considered by physicians in Iran.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor–induced inflammatory arthritis as a model of autoimmune arthritis
Authors: Cappelli Laura C. , Thomas Mekha A. , Bingham Clifton O. , Shah Ami A. , Darrah Erika
Published: January 2020

The development of inflammatory arthritis in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy is increasingly recognized due to the growing use of these drugs for the treatment of cancer. This represents an important opportunity not only to define the mechanisms responsible for the development of this immune‐related adverse event and to ultimately predict or prevent its development, but also to provide a unique window into early events in the development of inflammatory arthritis. Knowledge gained through the study of this patient population, for which the inciting event is known, could shed light into the pathogenesis of autoimmune arthritis. This review will highlight the clinical and immunologic features of these entities to define common elements for future study.
Predicting banking crises based on credit, housing and capital booms
Authors: Shen Chung‐Hua , Lee Yen‐Hsien , Fang Hao
Published: January 2020

This study examines how excessive growth in credit, housing and international capital flows, referred to as credit, housing and capital booms, can serve as an early warning signal (EWS) for an impending banking crisis. We examine 56 sample countries that comprise 32 advanced countries and 24 emerging countries. We have two novel results. The first supports the “more booms, stronger warning signal” argument for predicting the onset and persistence of a crisis. The joint consideration of credit, housing and foreign capital booms can be an important EWS for a systemic banking crisis. Second, the lead times for the three booms are different. Capital booms occur 1 year ahead of a crisis, but credit and housing booms occur 2 years ahead.
Asymptotics of the Non‐parametric Function for B‐splines‐based Estimation in Partially Linear Models
Authors: Lian Heng
Published: January 2020

We consider least squares method for partially linear models based on polynomial splines. We derive the asymptotic property for the estimator, focusing on the estimation of the non‐parametric function, in particular whether and how the estimation of the linear part will affect the non‐parametric part (the converse relation, that is, how the linear part will be affected by the non‐parametric part is much better known, which we will also review). One important goal along the way is to clarify the role of projection in semiparametric models, which was nevertheless a classical trick for proving the asymptotic normality of the linear part. A crucial question we try to answer is whether projection plays any role in the estimation of the non‐parametric function. The answer is both positive and negative depending on the direction along which to assess asymptotic normality. The style of writing of the paper is somewhat expository, and it also contains several new results not found in the current literature. Finally, we demonstrate in our numerical studies that construction of the pointwise confidence intervals for the non‐parametric function motivated by our theory improves upon those constructed by pretending the linear part is known.
Treatment for oral lesions in pediatric patients with Stevens‐Johnson's syndrome: A case report and literature review
Authors: Barea‐Jiménez Natalia , Calero Javier , Molina‐Negrón Damaris , López Del‐Valle Lydia M.
Published: January 2020

Stevens‐Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a disorder forming one of the several severe cutaneous adverse reactions, a group that includes, as well, erythema multiforme, toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), and SJS/TEN overlap. These adverse reactions are characterized by their severe involvement of the skin and the oral, gastrointestinal, genital, and conjunctival mucosa. The purposes of the study described herein were to perform a literature review of studies describing the clinical presentations and management of SJS patients with oral manifestations and to present a case report of a patient treated with dapsone gel. The research question for the literature review was the following: For patients with SJS, does adjunctive topical antibiotic treatment provide a better resolution for oral lesions than supportive care does? An online search of studies published from 2000 to 2019 was performed using the following databases: PubMed, BBO, LILACS, the Cochrane Library, and Ovid MEDLINE. Eight case reports were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Most of the articles included information about palliative treatments, such as supragingival cleaning and debridement, and the use of palliative oral rinses and gels, such as ‘magic’ mouthwash, chlorhexidine 0.12%, and lidocaine 2% gel. The case reported added an innovative treatment consisting of dapsone gel 5%.
Operating room nurses' self‐reported knowledge and attitude on perioperative pressure injury
Authors: Khong Betty Peck Chui , Goh Bong Chee , Phang Lai Yee , David Thamilselvi
Published: January 2020

Surgical patients are at risk of developing a perioperative pressure injury (ORPI) during surgery. Accurate assessment and prompt implementation of prevention strategies or treatment of ORPI are dependent on knowledge and skills of operating room (OR) nurses. The study examined the knowledge and attitude of OR nurses in identifying at‐risk patients. A cross‐sectional, prospective, descriptive study was adopted. OR nurses were invited to complete the survey using the attitude towards pressure ulcer prevention instrument (Cronbach α of 0.79) and pressure ulcer knowledge assessment tool (Cronbach α of 0.77). Approximately, 28% of OR nurses took part in the survey. Most of them were females (99%) with a mean age of 38.4 ± 12.9 years old. Of these, 73% of the nurses described not having adequate experience in preventing ORPI, and 88% of them were uncertain about the treatment strategies. The mean overall knowledge score was 47.8 ± 9.1% for this cohort. The study demonstrated that approximately 8.9% of OR nurses passed with a score ≥ 60% for knowledge. The mean overall attitude score was 74.6 ± 6.1% for this cohort. About 35.6% of these nurses gave positive scores of greater than 75% for attitudes. The knowledge scores have no relationship with the working experience, role responsibility, academic qualification, ethnicity, nationality, and gender except for age 35 years older or equal and younger. Still, both the knowledge and attitude scores obtained have a strong relationship with the nurses' experiences with PI prevention. Personal competency to prevent PI has a strong correlation with risk identifying and preventing PI. There are strong associations between being responsible for PI development and the knowledge on risk identification and prevention of PI. The attitude regarding the prioritisation of PI prevention is also strongly correlated to the nurses' knowledge in preventing PI. Positive attitudes of OR nurses have no relationship with the overall knowledge scores. The prevention of ORPI is not on the list of priorities among OR nurses. The knowledge of preventive measures and risk identification of PI was limited among local OR nurses. Incorporating a standard screening and assessment tool within the current assessment list will support and promote ORPI risk assessment and continuous assessment. Contextualised education on ORPI prevention and management should be considered part of the training for OR nurses.
Five‐year outcomes after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Zheng Shunwen , Jiang Weifeng , Dai Jinjie , Li Kaige , Shi Hongyu , Wu Weihua , Liu Xu , He Ben , Qiu Xingbiao , Song Zhiping
Published: January 2020

Background

Catheter ablation (CA) is a promising option in most patients with refractory atrial fibrillation (AF). However, data on over 5 years' outcomes with larger numbers in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients with AF have not been reported. We assessed the outcome of 120 HCM patients following CA compared with a non‐CA group and general patients without AF matched by HCM type with a 61.9 ± 31.6‐month follow‐up.

Methods and Results

A total of 120 patients (age 61 ± 9.8 years, female n = 43, 35.8%) with paroxysmal AF (n = 60, 50%) and persistent AF (n = 60, 50%) were enrolled. Of the 120 patients, 48 (40%) required redo procedures, and 82 (68.3%) were in sinus rhythm at the last evaluation. The composite clinical events rate following the initial CA was lower than that in the non‐CA group (P = .023) and was also comparable to that in general patients without AF matched by HCM type (P = .729). Female (HR 2.358, 95% CI, 1.151‐4.831; P = .019), NYHA functional class III‐IV (HR 2.422, 95% CI, 1.032‐5.685; P = .042) and left atrial diameter ≥50 mm (HR 3.319, 95% CI, 1.469‐7.499; P = .004) were predictors of AF recurrence after multiple procedures.

Conclusions

CA was successful in restoring long‐term sinus rhythm and improving symptomatic status in most HCM patients with refractory AF especially for those patients with small atrial size and mild symptoms. In addition, CA may contribute to the prevention of major clinical adverse events in the long‐term clinical course.