bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Portfolio flows – exchange rate volatility: is there a puzzling relationship?
Authors: Aydoğan Berna , Vardar Gülin
Published: December 2020

Purpose

This study investigates possible shock transmission and volatility spillover effects among the exchange rate changes and international portfolio flows for United States vis-à-vis two fast-growing emerging country groups: the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey).

Design/methodology/approach

Applying VAR-BEKK-GARCH model, the evidence indicates that exchange rate fluctuations have a negative impact on net equity flows in Brazil, Russia, India and Turkey; thus, supporting the view that exchange rate uncertainty is an important driver of equity home bias.

Findings

As for the comparison of the pre- and post-crisis period, the findings support the evidence that the post-crisis period witnessed a greater number of cases of significant shock and volatility spillovers among exchange rate uncertainty and portfolio flows.

Originality/value

Overall, the empirical results provide fresh insights and policy implications for domestic and international investors through investment activities, and for policymakers through maintaining economic and financial stability.
Mapping clinical governance to practitioner roles and responsibilities
Authors: Flynn Maureen Alice , Brennan Niamh M.
Published: December 2020

Purpose

While clinical governance is assumed to be part of organisational structures and policies, implementation of clinical governance in practice (the praxis) can be markedly different. This paper draws on insights from hospital clinicians, managers and governors on how they interpret the term “clinical governance”. The influence of best-practice and roles and responsibilities on their interpretations is considered.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on 40 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with hospital clinicians, managers and governors from two large academic hospitals in Ireland. The analytical lens for the research is practice theory. Interview transcripts are analysed for practitioners' spoken keywords/terms to explore how practitioners interpret the term “clinical governance”. The practice of clinical governance is mapped to front line, management and governance roles and responsibilities.

Findings

The research finds that interpretation of clinical governance in praxis is quite different from best-practice definitions. Practitioner roles and responsibilities held influence practitioners' interpretation.

Originality/value

The research examines interpretations of clinical governance in praxis by clinicians, managers and governors and highlights the adverse consequence of the absence of clear mapping of roles and responsibilities to clinical, management and governance practice.
The effect of Islamic banks’ specific corporate governance mechanisms on compliance with AAOIFI governance standards
Authors: Mnif Yosra , Tahari Marwa
Published: December 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of specific Islamic banks’ (IBs) corporate governance (CG) mechanisms on compliance with the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions’ (AAOIFI) governance standards (GSs) disclosure requirements.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an unweighted governance compliance index, the authors measure the extent of IBs’ compliance with 7 AAOIFI GSs’ disclosure requirements over the period 2009–2015 (372 bank-year observations). In addition, a multivariate regression analysis was used to test the four hypotheses.

Findings

This study’s results report substantial non-compliance (the mean of compliance level with AAOIFI’s GSs over the covered years for the entire sampled IBs is 52.1%). The findings reveal that the Shariah Supervisory Board’s (SSB) remuneration, SSB’s members with only industry expertise, SSB’s members with the combined industry expertise and accounting and financial expertise, the existence of internal Shariah Auditing Department and the level of investment accounts holders’ funds are positively associated with the level of compliance with AAOIFI’s GSs.

Originality/value

The existing studies focusing on the determinants of compliance with AAOIFI’s standards are in the early research stage, as to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is a paucity of empirical research testing this issue. The authors extend these studies by examining all the AAOIFI’s GSs and focusing on the specific IBs’ CG mechanisms. Furthermore, a major contribution of this study is the examination of the relationship between some SSB’s characteristics and compliance level. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research that has examined the effect of the SSB’s remuneration and expertise on compliance level.
Cybersecurity workforce in railway: its maturity and awareness
Authors: Kour Ravdeep , Karim Ramin
Published: December 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to evaluate and estimate the cybersecurity maturity and awareness risk for workforce management in railway transportation by using Railway-Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (R-C2M2) and Information Security Awareness Capability Model (ISACM), respectively.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses a case study strategy, so primary data comprise the majority of data collected. These data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. The secondary data were collected from the literature, technical reports and standards.

Findings

The results show that there is a gap in cybersecurity awareness within the workforce and there is a need to improve this gap. This paper provides some of the recommendations and literature to enhance cybersecurity workforce culture within railway organizations.

Practical implications

In this paper, the authors have demonstrated that cybersecurity awareness has positive impact on the overall dependability of the railway system.

Originality/value

This paper describes the importance of cybersecurity awareness and training in building more cyber resiliency across the operation and maintenance of railway.
Entrepreneurial intentions: a bibliometric analysis
Authors: Ruiz-Alba José L. , Guzman-Parra Vanesa F. , Vila Oblitas José Roberto , Morales Mediano Javier
Published: December 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to identify the main authors, the main influential universities doing research on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), the main subject areas and the main productive academic journals on this topic. This paper also aims to shed light on the current knowledge and contributions to the field, in particular co-authorships, co-words, research topics and cluster of themes.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on bibliometric techniques using mapping and clustering. The study has been conducted on 377 articles published in journals indexed in the Scopus database for a period of almost 24 years, that is, from 1 January 1993 to 8 July 2016. VOSviewer software was used to conduct the analysis.

Findings

Findings highlight the top authors, the ranking of the main journals and universities doing research in the field of EIs. Another relevant contribution is the identification and classification of main research streams and gaps that have been highlighted.

Originality/value

This paper is an attempt to clarify the state of the research study and to analyse the progress of the studies on EIs and to elaborate bibliometric studies that help to give some order to the variety of sources. This is helpful for new researchers approaching EIs for the first time and also for those who are familiar with the field.
The role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests during extreme situations: the Swedish migrant crisis in 2015
Authors: Carlsson-Wall Martin , Iredahl Adrian , Kraus Kalle , Wiklund Mats
Published: December 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests during extreme situations.

Design/methodology/approach

Through interviews and observations, the authors analyse the Swedish Migration Agency’s management controls and study routines during the peak of the European Migrant Crisis.

Findings

Prior to the crisis, the strategy used by the employees was to mediate between two interests (labelled legal security and empathy) to create a workable compromise. During the crisis, however, the authors observed filtering in the form of the previous hierarchical ordering of interests was further strengthened as the employees increasingly relied on just a single interest (the interest which they previously had deemed to be the most important) at the expense of the other interest. The findings suggest that behavioural and social controls helped such filtering; social controls helped certain employees to filter the empathy interest as more important during extreme situations and behavioural controls helped other employees to filter the legal security interest as more important. This help us explain why the authors observe less mediation between the two heterogeneous interests and rather a stricter dominance of one of the interests. The authors also illustrate how especially behavioural controls may become unsupportive of the operations during extreme situations as it consisted of rule-based standards, built to cope with “normal” situations. The heterogeneous interests affected the probability of actors, at times, ignoring behavioural controls when such controls were unsupportive. Actors whose day-to-day operations were mainly guided by the legal security interest remained tightly coupled to behavioural controls even when they felt that these controls were no longer useful. On the other hand, actors who were mainly guided by the empathy interest ignored behavioural controls when they felt that they were unsupportive.

Research limitations/implications

The authors acknowledge that bias might arise from the reliance on retrospective views of past processes and events, which the authors primarily gathered through interviews.

Practical implications

The authors highlight an important relationship between heterogeneous interests (i.e. legal security and empathy) and management controls during the crisis and how this relationship can lead actors to fundamentally different actions.

Originality/value

The two bodies of study on the role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests and the role of management controls during the crisis have been largely unconnected and it is in this intersection that this study contributes.
Glucocorticoid levels predict subsequent social tactic in females of a facultatively social mammal
Authors: Hill Davina L. , Pillay Neville , Schradin Carsten
Published: December 2020

Facultatively social species, in which individuals can switch between group‐ and solitary‐living tactics, offer an opportunity to shed light on proximate mechanisms underlying alternative life histories. Promising hormonal mediators of social tactic include glucocorticoids, which control energy allocation and are negatively related to body condition, and testosterone which regulates numerous social behaviours.

Here, we investigated hormone profiles associated with social tactic in eight generations of free‐living female striped mice Rhabdomys pumilio. Females are group living during the non‐breeding season but live solitarily or with female kin in communally breeding groups during the breeding season.

We tested whether females' baseline levels of corticosterone (a glucocorticoid) and testosterone measured during the breeding season differed before and after females left the group (i.e. when they switched from a group living to solitary social tactic), and whether the hormone levels of females that remained group living differed before and after their nestmates became solitary. We also asked whether seasonal variation in hormone levels was associated with social tactic.

During the breeding season, corticosterone levels were lower in solitary than group‐living females both before and after solitary females left the group, and did not differ in solitary females before and after leaving. In group‐living females, corticosterone was higher after their nestmates became solitary than before they left. Testosterone levels did not differ before and after females became solitary and were not associated with social tactic.

Corticosterone was higher during the breeding than the non‐breeding season in group‐living females but did not differ between the seasons in solitary females. Testosterone levels were higher in both social tactics during the non‐breeding season.

We conclude that baseline corticosterone but not testosterone levels are associated with female social tactic, and that corticosterone levels at the start of the breeding season, when all females are group living, may be an indicator of subsequent tactic: solitary females' corticosterone levels were lower than those of females that remained group living even before the solitary phenotype was expressed. Glucocorticoids might therefore play a modulatory role in social organisation in facultatively social species.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Association of birth mode of delivery with infant faecal microbiota, potential pathobionts, and short chain fatty acids: a longitudinal study over the first year of life
Authors: Mueller NT , Differding MK , Østbye T , Hoyo C , Benjamin‐Neelon SE
Published: December 2020

Objective

Caesarean section (CS) interrupts mother‐to‐newborn microbial transfer at birth. Beyond the neonatal period, the impact of CS on offspring gut microbiota and their short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) remains unclear. Here, we examine birth delivery mode (CS versus vaginal delivery) with the infant gut microbiota and faecal SCFAs measured 3 and 12 months after birth.

Design

Longitudinal study.

Setting

North Carolina.

Population

In 2013–15, we enrolled pregnant women and followed up their offspring for 12 months. We asked a subset of participants, enrolled over a 3‐month period, to provide faecal samples at the 3‐ and 12‐month follow‐up visits.

Methods and main outcomes

We sequenced the 16S rRNA V4 region with Illumina MiSeq and quantified SCFA concentrations using gas chromatography. We examined delivery mode with differential abundance of microbiota amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) using beta‐binomial regression and faecal SCFAs using linear regression. We adjusted models for confounders.

Results

Of the 70 infants in our sample, 25 (36%) were delivered by CS. Compared with vaginal delivery, CS was associated with differential abundance of 14 infant bacterial ASVs at 3 months and 13 ASVs at 12 months (all FDR P < 0.05). Of note, CS infants had a higher abundance of the potential pathobionts Clostridium neonatale (P = 0.04) and Clostridium perfringens (P = 0.04) and a lower abundance of potentially beneficial Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides spp. (both P < 0.05) at 3 months. Other ASVs were differentially abundant at 12 months. Infants delivered by CS also had higher faecal butyrate concentration at 3 months (P < 0.005) but not at 12 months.

Conclusions

Caesarean section was associated with increased butyrate excretion, decreased Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides spp., and more colonisation of the infant gut by pathobionts at 3 months of age. CS was also associated with altered gut microbiota composition, but not faecal SCFAs, at 12 months.

Tweetable abstract

Caesarean section delivery was associated with increased butyrate excretion, decreased Bifidobacterium, and increased colonisation of the infant gut by pathobionts at 3 months of age.
Far from Well: The UK since COVID‐19, and Learning to Follow the Science(s)*
Authors: O'Donnell Gus , Begg Harry
Published: December 2020

This paper offers a five‐part framework for assessing why the United Kingdom has coped poorly compared with peer countries with the medical, social and economic challenges brought by the COVID‐19 pandemic – a surprising failure, given the strength of its scientific community and the internationally attested quality of its civil service. The paper also offers a proposal for how to shape an independent inquiry, one promised by the UK Prime Minister, of the kind that has the primary motivation to better prepare the country for future crises. The paper begins by providing various metrics that set out how the UK has, as of late 2020, been particularly adversely affected by the pandemic. It then details the five‐part framework, which is presented as a series of propositions with initial supporting evidence that require more thorough investigation, supported by a fuller record of evidence. First, we suggest that there have been problems as to how evidence about the pandemic and its anticipated effects was collected, processed and circulated, weakening policymakers’ ability to evaluate the risk calculus. Second, particular structures and processes of government decision‐making appear to have been inadequate and ill‐suited to the multidimensional challenges brought by the pandemic. Third, the role of political leadership and decision‐making in the public health and broader policy responses needs thorough evaluation. Fourth, we assess some aspects of economic policymaking during the pandemic. Fifth, features of the UK's institutional make‐up may have been a driver of the suboptimal outcomes. Overall, we argue that UK policymakers may have over‐relied on the medical sciences at the expense of other (social) scientific evidence.
The contemporary transformation of american youth: An analysis of change in the prevalence of delinquency, 1991–2015
Authors: Baumer Eric P. , Cundiff Kelsey , Luo Liying
Published: December 2020

Youth involvement in crime has declined substantially over the past few decades, yet the reasons for this trend remain unclear. We advance the literature by examining the role of several potentially important shifts in individual attitudes and behaviors that may help to account for the observed temporal variation in youth delinquency. Our multilevel analysis of repeated cross‐sectional data from eighth and tenth grade students in the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study indicates that changes in youth offending prevalence were not associated with changes in youth attachment and commitment to school, community involvement, or parental supervision after school. In contrast, the study provides suggestive evidence that the significant reduction in youth offending prevalence observed since the early 1990s was significantly associated with a decrease in unstructured socializing and alcohol consumption and, to a lesser extent, with a decrease in youth preferences for risky activities. Implications for existing theoretical explanations and future research on youth crime trends are discussed.
Adapting treatment length to opioid‐dependent individuals’ needs and preferences: a 2‐year follow‐up to a 1‐year study of extended‐release naltrexone
Authors: Solli Kristin Klemmetsby , Opheim Arild , Latif Zill‐e‐Huma , Krajci Peter , Benth Jūratė Šaltytė , Kunoe Nikolaj , Tanum Lars
Published: December 2020

Background and aims

Extended‐release naltrexone (XR‐NTX) is an under‐used treatment option for opioid dependence, today only available in a few countries in the world. Although effective, safe and feasible in short‐term treatment, long‐term data are scarce and there is no recommendation for required treatment length. The aims of the study were to determine the perceived need of long‐term XR‐NTX treatment and to examine long‐term treatment outcomes.

Design

In this prospective cohort study, following a parent 1‐year study of XR‐NTX, participants received treatment with XR‐NTX at their own discretion for a maximum of 104 weeks.

Setting and participants

Five urban, outpatient addiction clinics in Norway, comprising opioid‐dependent adults aged 18–60 years (n = 50) already participating in the parent study.

Intervention

XR‐NTX administered as intramuscular injections (380 mg) every 4 weeks.

Measurements

Time in the study, use of opioids and other illicit substances, opioid craving and treatment satisfaction reported every 4 weeks.

Findings

Among 58 participants who completed the 1‐year parent study, 50 chose to continue the treatment with XR‐NTX. Median prolonged treatment time was 44.0 weeks [95% confidence interval (CI) = 25.5–62.5], ranging from 8 to 104 weeks. Most participants (35, 70%) reported no relapse to opioid use during treatment while a subgroup (15, 30%) reported relapses to opioids during the study. Scores for mean treatment satisfaction and recommending treatment to others were very high (>9) and mean opioid craving score was very low (<1) on a scale ranging from 0 to 10.

Conclusions

Extended‐release naltrexone (XR‐NTX) was well tolerated in long‐term treatment of opioid‐dependent individuals in Norway already in XR‐NTX treatment. On average, the participants chose to continue treatment for almost 1 year beyond the initial 9–12 months of treatment. Participants reported high treatment satisfaction and 70% showed no relapse to opioids during the treatment period.
Concurrent validity of the Alcohol Purchase Task for measuring the reinforcing efficacy of alcohol: an updated systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Martínez‐Loredo Victor , González‐Roz Alba , Secades‐Villa Roberto , Fernández‐Hermida José R. , MacKillop James
Published: December 2020

Background and aims

An early meta‐analysis testing the concurrent validity of the Alcohol Purchase Task (APT), a measure of alcohol's relative reinforcing value, reported mixed associations, but predated a large number of studies. This systematic review and meta‐analysis sought to: (1) estimate the relationships between trait‐based alcohol demand indices from the APT and multiple alcohol indicators, (2) test several moderators and (3) analyze small study effects.

Methods

A meta‐analysis of 50 cross‐sectional studies in four databases (n = 18 466, females = 43.32%). Sex, year of publication, number of APT prices and index transformations (logarithmic, square root or none) were considered as moderators. Small study effects were examined by using the Begg–Mazumdar, Egger's and Duval & Tweedie's trim‐and‐fill tests. Alcohol indicators were quantity of alcohol use, number of heavy drinking episodes, alcohol‐related problems and hazardous drinking. APT indices were intensity (i.e. consumption at zero cost), elasticity (i.e. sensitivity to increases in costs), Omax (i.e. maximum expenditure), Pmax (i.e. price associated to Omax) and breakpoint (i.e. price at which consumption ceases).

Results

All alcohol demand indices were significantly associated with all alcohol‐related outcomes (r = 0.132–0.494), except Pmax, which was significantly associated with alcohol‐related problems only (r = 0.064). The greatest associations were evinced between intensity in relation to alcohol use, hazardous drinking and heavy drinking and between Omax and alcohol use. All the tested moderators emerged as significant moderators. Evidence of small‐study effects was limited.

Conclusions

The Alcohol Purchase Task appears to have concurrent validity in alcohol research. Intensity and Omax are the most relevant indices to account for alcohol involvement.
Assigning moral roles within the Second World War in Europe: National similarities, differences, and implications for group‐level moral representations
Authors: Giner‐Sorolla Roger , Hilton Denis , Erb Hans‐Peter , Durante Federica , Flaßbeck Christine , Fülöp Eva , Mari Silvia , Petrović Nebojša , Sekerdej Maciej , Studzinska Anna , Skitka Linda J. , Washburn Anthony N. , Zadora Anna
Published: December 2020

The moral roles assigned to nations that took part in the Second World War cast a shadow over contemporary international politics. To understand contemporary moral beliefs about the war, we took 11 mostly student samples from 9 nations that took part in the European theatre of war (totalN = 1,427). We asked respondents, in free and scaled listings, to identify the war’s heroes, villains, victims, and recipients of help. Nations and individuals seen as heroes, victims, and villains could be readily identified by most samples and showed both continuity and difference across nations. Most nations preferentially assigned themselves hero and victim roles, and the two were correlated positively, showing ingroup favouritism linked to victimhood. These findings show the importance of morality to contemporary views of the war and suggest further directions for studying today’s political climate in Europe and elsewhere.
A panacea gone awry: A review of water privatization policy in the Philippines
Authors: Encarnacion Tadem Teresa S.
Published: December 2020

In 1997, the Philippine government privatized the operations of its publicly owned water service provider for Metro Manila. This was part of the global trend toward privatization of public services that started in the 1980s following a global economic crisis. The aims were to reduce government's role in economic development and in the provision of public services. Two decades later, however, the goals of Philippine water privatization continue to fall short of what it promised to do to the detriment of the consumers, particularly the urban poor. This article argues that the neoliberal development framework of privatization, deregulation, and economic liberalization and the market economy have generally favored corporate interests. The result has produced perennial problems such as the rising price of water and excessive profit taking and the limited and poor water services and sanitation coverage among others.
Citizen vain? Exposure to the UK citizenship test predicts milder demands from immigrants across the political spectrum
Authors: van Tilburg Wijnand A. P. , Saadi Amina , Mahadevan Nikhila
Published: December 2020

Passing the Life in the UK Test is an essential requirement for those who seek UK citizenship. This citizenship test, attempted around 150,000 times per year, has incurred criticism for its content and difficulty, and for its role in causing psychological distress. We examined, among a representative adult UK population, people’s reactions to this important instrument. Results showed that two‐thirds (66.4%) of UK residents, most of whom held citizenship, failed their own countries’ citizenship test. Participants on the right (vs. left) of the political and ideological spectrum were more likely to overestimate their own performance and demand higher performance from immigrants than left‐leaning voters, even though these voters’ actual performance did not differ. Strikingly, completing the Life in the UK Test caused participants to subsequently endorse milder test requirements, a finding that generalized well across political ideology and voter categories. Initial overconfidence in one’s own test performance mediated this change in attitudes. Results suggest that support for improving the Life in the UK Test can be garnered across the political spectrum by confronting people with the content of this life‐changing tool.
NO‐sensitive guanylyl cyclase in the lung
Authors: Friebe Andreas , Englert Nils
Published: December 2020

In the late 1960s, several labatories identified guanylyl cyclase (GC) as the cGMP‐producing enzyme. Subsequently, two different types of GC were described that differed in their cellular localization. Primarily found in the cytosol, nitric oxide (NO)‐sensitive guanylyl cyclase (NO‐GC) acts as receptor for the signalling molecule NO, in contrast the membrane‐bound isoenzyme is activated by natriuretic peptides. The lung compared with other tissues exhibits the highest expression of NO‐GC. The enzyme has been purified from lung for biochemical analysis. Although expressed in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and in pericytes, the function of NO‐GC in lung, especially in pericytes, is still not fully elucidated. However, pharmacological compounds that target NO‐GC are available and have been implemented for the therapy of pulmonary arterial hypertension. In addition, NO‐GC has been suggested as drug target for the therapy of asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary fibrosis.

LINKED ARTICLES

This article is part of a themed issue on cGMP Signalling in Cell Growth and Survival. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v179.11/issuetoc
Experimental nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment stimulates multiple trophic levels of algal and detrital‐based food webs: a global meta‐analysis from streams and rivers
Authors: Ardón Marcelo , Zeglin Lydia H. , Utz Ryan M. , Cooper Scott D. , Dodds Walter K. , Bixby Rebecca J. , Burdett Ayesha S. , Follstad Shah Jennifer , Griffiths Natalie A. , Harms Tamara K. , Johnson Sherri L. , Jones Jeremy B. , Kominoski John S. , McDowell William H. , Rosemond Amy D. , Trentman Matt T. , Van Horn David , Ward Amelia
Published: December 2020

Anthropogenic increases in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations can strongly influence the structure and function of ecosystems. Even though lotic ecosystems receive cumulative inputs of nutrients applied to and deposited on land, no comprehensive assessment has quantified nutrient‐enrichment effects within streams and rivers. We conducted a meta‐analysis of published studies that experimentally increased concentrations of N and/or P in streams and rivers to examine how enrichment alters ecosystem structure (state: primary producer and consumer biomass and abundance) and function (rate: primary production, leaf breakdown rates, metabolism) at multiple trophic levels (primary producer, microbial heterotroph, primary and secondary consumers, and integrated ecosystem). Our synthesis included 184 studies, 885 experiments, and 3497 biotic responses to nutrient enrichment. We documented widespread increases in organismal biomass and abundance (mean response = +48%) and rates of ecosystem processes (+54%) to enrichment across multiple trophic levels, with no large differences in responses among trophic levels or between autotrophic or heterotrophic food‐web pathways. Responses to nutrient enrichment varied with the nutrient added (N, P, or both) depending on rate versus state variable and experiment type, and were greater in flume and whole‐stream experiments than in experiments using nutrient‐diffusing substrata. Generally, nutrient‐enrichment effects also increased with water temperature and light, and decreased under elevated ambient concentrations of inorganic N and/or P. Overall, increased concentrations of N and/or P altered multiple food‐web pathways and trophic levels in lotic ecosystems. Our results indicate that preservation or restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem functions of streams and rivers requires management of nutrient inputs and consideration of multiple trophic pathways.
Motor function recovery: deciphering a regenerative niche at the neuromuscular synapse
Authors: Zelada Diego , Bermedo‐García Francisca , Collao Nicolás , Henríquez Juan P.
Published: December 2020

The coordinated movement of many organisms relies on efficient nerve–muscle communication at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a peripheral synapse composed of a presynaptic motor axon terminal, a postsynaptic muscle specialization, and non‐myelinating terminal Schwann cells. NMJ dysfunctions are caused by traumatic spinal cord or peripheral nerve injuries as well as by severe motor pathologies. Compared to the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system displays remarkable regenerating abilities; however, this capacity is limited by the denervation time frame and depends on the establishment of permissive regenerative niches. At the injury site, detailed information is available regarding the cells, molecules, and mechanisms involved in nerve regeneration and repair. However, a regenerative niche at the final functional step of peripheral motor innervation, i.e. at the mature neuromuscular synapse, has not been deciphered. In this review, we integrate classic and recent evidence describing the cells and molecules that could orchestrate a dynamic ecosystem to accomplish successful NMJ regeneration. We propose that such a regenerative niche must ensure at least two fundamental steps for successful NMJ regeneration: the proper arrival of incoming regenerating axons to denervated postsynaptic muscle domains, and the resilience of those postsynaptic domains, in morphological and functional terms. We here describe and combine the main cellular and molecular responses involved in each of these steps as potential targets to help successful NMJ regeneration.
Neurodevelopment outcomes in infants born to women with Zika virus infection during pregnancy in Mexico
Authors: Familiar Itziar , Boivin Michael , Magen Jed , Azcorra Jose Antonio , Phippen Colton , Barrett Elizabeth Ann , Miller Sydney , Ruisenor‐Escudero Horacio
Published: December 2020

Background

Few studies have assessed neurodevelopmental outcomes in normocephalic infants born to women with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy in Mexico. We sought to evaluate ZIKV exposed infants in Yucatan, Mexico, with performance‐based and eye‐gaze measures of neurodevelopment, removing observer bias.

Methods

We enrolled 60 infants about 6‐month old born to women with PCR + test for ZIKV during pregnancy. Infants were normocephalic and asymptomatic. Sixty infants born to women without a history of ZIKV infection were included as comparison. Children were assessed with the Mullen scales of early learning (MSEL), a test with scales in motor, language, and overall cognitive skills development, and the Fagan test of infant intelligence (FTII) using automated eye‐tracking instrumentation to evaluate infant visual preference of human faces, where longer gaze lengths to unfamiliar (i.e., new) faces are expected.

Results

All MSEL subscale scores, except expressive language, were significantly lower among ZIKV exposed children compared to controls, including the overall standard composite (80 ± 10 vs. 87 ± 7.4, respectively; p < 0.001). FTII eye‐tracking measures of fixation and gaze length were in the expected direction, with longer times recorded among infants in the control group (i.e., higher attention), but none reached statistical significance. In adjusted linear regressions, the FTII high novelty score (expected preference for a novel face) predicted fine motor (β = 3.61, p = 0.04) and receptive language (β = 2.55, p = 0.03) scores.

Conclusions

Nonmicrocephalic children born to women with ZIKV during pregnancy in Mexico merit early neurodevelopmental evaluation to allow for appropriate interventions and clinical follow‐up. It is possible that long‐term monitoring of cognitive deficits may need to be established for a proportion of affected cases.
Perineal healing following salvage surgery for anal cancer
Authors: Baloch Naseer , Nordenvall Caroline , Johansson Hemming , Nygren Jonas , Nilsson Per J.
Published: December 2020

Aim

Approximately 25% of anal cancer patients undergo abdominoperineal excision or more extensive surgery. Following surgery, a high perineal complication rate has been reported. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is an evidence‐based multimodal interventional programme introduced to mitigate the risk of complications. This study aims to describe perineal healing in relation to ERAS compliance, type of resection and method of perineal reconstruction in patients with anal cancer after salvage surgery.

Method

This is a retrospective cohort study including all patients undergoing abdominal surgery for squamous cell anal cancer in Stockholm between January 2005 and December 2015. Data collection was from registers supplemented by chart review. All patients were followed until death or 1 year after surgery. The associations between ERAS compliance, patient and treatment characteristics and perineal wound healing were evaluated using logistic regression.

Results

In total, 101 patients (67 women) were included, of whom 72 were ERAS compliant. Of patients alive, healing after surgery occurred in 61/98 and 84/89 at 3 months and 1 year, respectively. Perineal healing at 3 months was statistically significantly associated with younger age and type of perineal reconstruction (in favour of vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap). No associations were observed at 1 year but almost all wounds were healed.

Conclusion

Age and type of perineal reconstruction appear to be significantly associated with improved healing at 3 months whereas compliance to an ERAS protocol and type of resection do not. Nearly all patients had a fully healed perineal wound 1 year after surgery for anal cancer.
Crossing low/moderate‐level donor‐specific antibodies during heart transplantation
Authors: Setia Gayatri , Nishihara Keith , Singer‐Englar Tahli , Zhang Xiaohai , Patel Jignesh , Kobashigawa Jon
Published: December 2020

Donor‐specific antibodies (DSAs) in patients prior to heart transplantation are associated with increased risk of rejection and can lead to longer waitlist times, but it is not known whether patients with low/moderate‐level DSA at transplant have acceptable post‐transplant outcomes. We performed a single‐center, retrospective review to examine outcomes associated with crossing pre‐existing low/moderate‐level DSA. We assessed 864 patients awaiting heart transplantation between 2010 and 2018, identified 67 patients with low/moderate‐level DSA and compared them to patients who were sensitized without DSA at the time of heart transplantation, as well as a control group of non‐sensitized patients. Outcomes included 3‐year survival, freedom from cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), freedom from non‐fatal major adverse cardiac events (NF‐MACE), and 1‐year freedom from rejection. In the first‐year post‐transplant, there was decreased freedom from antibody‐mediated rejection (AMR) in the patients with pre‐existing DSA compared with patients sensitized without DSA and non‐sensitized patients. However, the DSA group experienced similar 3‐year post‐transplant survival, freedom from CAV, and freedom from NF‐MACE compared with the other study groups. Our findings suggest that crossing low/moderate‐level DSA does not lead to worse outcomes in heart transplantation and may offer a viable way to increase a sensitized patient's chance to obtain a suitable donor.
Update on dermatologic laser therapy II – advances in photodynamic therapy using laser‐assisted drug delivery
Authors: Paasch Uwe , Grunewald Sonja
Published: December 2020

Technical advances in recent years have led to the development of new dermatologic laser systems, light sources, and treatment concepts. With the introduction of ablative fractional lasers (using common wavelengths) in the field of dermatology, it is now possible to more effectively and efficiently treat a variety of skin disorders. One important example of these advances is laser‐assisted drug delivery (LADD). A type of LADD, laser‐assisted photodynamic therapy has been successfully employed in the treatment of non‐melanoma skin cancer including field cancerization. This treatment concept has been continually modified and today includes the use of daylight as well as artificial daylight systems. This update is based as cited, shortened and updated according to “Paasch,U. 2019. Laser‐assistierte photodynamische Therapie. p. 226–239. In G.Kautz (ed.) Energie für die Haut. Springer Nature, Springer Nature”.
Cerebrospinal fluid metabolites in tryptophan‐kynurenine and nitric oxide pathways: biomarkers for acute neuroinflammation
Authors: Yan Jingya , Kuzhiumparambil Unnikrishnan , Bandodkar Ashvin , Bandodkar Sushil , Dale Russell C , Fu Shanlin
Published: December 2020

Aim

To explore the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) metabolite features in acute neuroinflammatory diseases and identify potential biomarkers to diagnose and monitor neuroinflammation.

Method

A cohort of 14 patients (five females, nine males; mean [median] age 7y 9mo [9y], range 6mo–13y) with acute encephalitis (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis n=6, unknown suspected viral encephalitis n=3, enteroviral encephalitis n=2, seronegative autoimmune encephalitis n=2, herpes simplex encephalitis n=1) and age‐matched non‐inflammatory neurological disease controls (n=14) were investigated using an untargeted metabolomics approach. CSF metabolites were analyzed with liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry, followed by subsequent multivariate and univariate statistical methods.

Results

A total of 35 metabolites could be discriminated statistically between the groups using supervised orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis and analysis of variance. The tryptophan‐kynurenine pathway contributed nine key metabolites. There was a statistical increase of kynurenine, quinolinic acid, and anthranilic acid in patients with encephalitis, whereas tryptophan, 3‐hydroxyanthrnailic acid, and kynurenic acid were decreased. The nitric oxide pathway contributed four metabolites, with elevated asymmetric dimethylarginine and argininosuccinic acid, and decreased arginine and citrulline in patients with encephalitis. An increase in the CSF kynurenine/tryptophan ratio (p<0.001), anthranilic acid/3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid ratio (p<0.001), asymmetric dimethylarginine/arginine ratio (p<0.001), and neopterin (p<0.001) strongly predicted neuroinflammation.

Interpretation

The combination of alterations in the tryptophan‐kynurenine pathway, nitric oxide pathway, and neopterin represent a useful potential panel for neuroinflammation and holds potential for clinical translation practice.

What this paper adds

The kynurenine/tryptophan and anthranilic acid/3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid ratios hold great potential as biomarkers of neuroinflammation.

Elevation of the asymmetric dimethylarginine/arginine ratio in acute brain inflammation shows dysregulation of the nitric oxide pathway.
ADO09, a co‐formulation of the amylin analogue pramlintide and the insulin analogue A21G, lowers postprandial blood glucose versus insulin lispro in type 1 diabetes
Authors: Andersen Grit , Meiffren Grégory , Famulla Susanne , Heise Tim , Ranson Aymeric , Seroussi Cyril , Eloy Rosy , Gaudier Martin , Charvet Richard , Chan You‐Ping , Soula Olivier , DeVries J. Hans
Published: December 2020

Aim

To compare the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ADO09 with insulin lispro (Lispro) and separate subcutaneous injections of human insulin and pramlintide (Ins&Pram) in 24 subjects with type 1 diabetes.

Methods

At three dosing visits, participants received single doses of ADO09, Ins&Pram or Lispro immediately before eating a standardized mixed meal together with 1 g of acetaminophen, which was used as a surrogate marker to evaluate the kinetics of gastric emptying. Premeal blood glucose was adjusted to 126 mg/dL ± 10% by means of insulin and glucose infusions. The insulin dose was 7.5 U and the pramlintide dose was 45 μg. Blood glucose, glucagon and acetaminophen concentrations were assessed as pharmacodynamic endpoints; insulin and pramlintide concentrations were analysed as pharmacokinetic endpoints, and safety and tolerability were assessed.

Results

Compared with Lispro, ADO09 reduced postprandial blood glucose (ppBG) excursions by more than 95% in the first hour postmeal (mean ± SD ∆AUC BG 0‐1 h: 1.4 ± 9.9 mg*h/dL vs. 43.5 ± 15.3 mg*h/dL; p < .0001). Maximum ppBG was significantly improved with ADO09 (∆BGmax 87.0 ± 35.5 mg/dL) versus both Lispro (109.2 ± 31.1 mg/dL; p = .0133) and Ins&Pram (109.4 ± 44.3 mg/dL; p = .0357). Gastric emptying with ADO09 was similar to Ins&Pram and significantly slower than with Lispro. All treatments were well tolerated and both adverse events and hypoglycaemic events were rare during the meal test procedure.

Conclusion

ADO09 was well tolerated and markedly reduced ppBG compared with Lispro. ADO09 formulation was generally similar to the separate administration of insulin and pramlintide, except for a better BG level in the 4‐8 h interval postmeal. These positive results warrant further investigations with ADO09.
Point‐of‐care ultrasound in the COVID‐19 era: A scoping review
Authors: Yau Olivia , Gin Ken , Luong Christina , Jue John , Abolmaesumi Purang , Tsang Michael , Nair Parvathy , Tsang Teresa S. M.
Published: December 2020

In the midst of the COVID‐19 pandemic, unprecedented pressure has been added to healthcare systems around the globe. Imaging is a crucial component in the management of COVID‐19 patients. Point‐of‐care ultrasound (POCUS) such as hand‐carried ultrasound emerges in the COVID‐19 era as a tool that can simplify the imaging process of COVID‐19 patients, and potentially reduce the strain on healthcare providers and healthcare resources. The preliminary evidence available suggests an increasing role of POCUS in diagnosing, monitoring, and risk‐stratifying COVID‐19 patients. This scoping review aims to delineate the challenges in imaging COVID‐19 patients, discuss the cardiopulmonary complications of COVID‐19 and their respective sonographic findings, and summarize the current data and recommendations available. There is currently a critical gap in knowledge in the role of POCUS in the COVID‐19 era. Nonetheless, it is crucial to summarize the current preliminary data available in order to help fill this gap in knowledge for future studies.
Paesaniversuspaisanos: the relative failure of Spanish immigrants in Buenos Aires during the age of mass migration†
Authors: Abad Leticia Arroyo , Maurer Noel , Sánchez‐Alonso Blanca
Published: December 2020

Millions of immigrants chose Argentina as the land of opportunity during the era of mass migration. Two immigrant groups, Italian and Spanish, dominated the immigration flows. Despite higher literacy and a common language, Spaniards fared worse when compared to Italians in Buenos Aires. By 1895, Italians enjoyed higher wages. What explains their differential paths in the city of Buenos Aires? This study finds that the Italian community capitalized on pre‐existing cultural traditions to establish denser and more effective networks to match their compatriots with economic opportunities. The more individualistic Spanish were unable to keep pace, despite their initial cultural, linguistic, and educational advantages.