bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preferred Reporting items for OBservational studies in Endodontics (PROBE) guidelines: a development protocol
Authors: Nagendrababu V. , Duncan H. F. , Fouad A. F. , Kirkevang L. L. , Parashos P. , Pigg M. , Væth M. , Jayaraman J. , Dummer P. M. H.
Published: May 2020

Observational studies have a significant role in establishing the prevalence and incidence of diseases in populations, as well as determining the benefits and risks associated with health‐related interventions. Observational studies principally encompass cohort, case–control, case series and cross‐sectional designs. Inadequate reporting of observational studies is likely to have a negative impact on decision‐making in day‐to‐day clinical practice; however, no reporting guidelines have been published for observational studies in Endodontics. The aim of this project is to develop reporting guidelines for authors when creating manuscripts describing observational studies in the field of Endodontology in an attempt to improve the quality of publications. The new guidelines for observational studies will be named: ‘Preferred Reporting items for OBservational studies in Endodontics (PROBE)’. A steering committee was formed by the project leaders (PD, VN) to develop the guidelines through a five‐phase consensus process. The steering committee will review and adapt items from the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement and the Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications (CLIP) principles, as well as identify new items that add value to Endodontics. The steering committee will create a PROBE Delphi Group (PDG), consisting of 30 members across the globe to review and refine the draft checklist items and flowchart. The items will be assessed by the PDG on a nine‐point Likert scale for relevance and inclusion. The agreed items will then be discussed by a PROBE Face‐to‐Face meeting group (PFMG) made up of 20 individuals to further refine the guidelines. After receiving feedback from the PFMG, the steering committee will pilot and finalize the guidelines. The approved PROBE guidelines will be disseminated through publication in relevant journals, and be presented at national and international conferences. The PROBE checklist and flowchart will be available and downloadable from the Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontics (PRIDE) website: www.pride-endodonticguidelines.org. The PROBE steering committee encourages clinicians, researchers, editors and peer reviewers to provide feedback on the PROBE guidelines to inform the steering group when the guidelines are updated.
Strengthening the alignment between tertiary education and economic development: the Belizean perspective
Authors: Waight Consuelo Luisa
Published: May 2020

Researchers have established the role of tertiary education (TE) in economic development (ED). Globally, TE generates significant and multiple direct, indirect and catalytic economic impacts, which result in well‐established benefits pertaining to both individuals and broader economies. Last year, the government of Belize published its first comprehensive trade policy to develop a competitive economy, and it acknowledged that a shortage of skilled labour and competent human capital, among other factors, are core weaknesses towards trade development. Given the timeliness of the government’s trade policy, the following research question guided this study.

What can tertiary education do to strengthen alignment with economic development in Belize?

The findings revealed that three significant and interrelated factors can strengthen the link between TE and ED: they are (1) program development through strategic consultations (2) building on academic strengths and resources to increase the value proposition and (3) the implementation of talent engagement strategies.
Individual differences in infancy research: Letting the baby stand out from the crowd
Authors: Pérez‐Edgar Koraly , Vallorani Alicia , Buss Kristin A. , LoBue Vanessa
Published: May 2020

Within the developmental literature, there is an often unspoken tension between studies that aim to capture broad scale, fairly universal nomothetic traits, and studies that focus on mechanisms and trajectories that are idiographic and bounded to some extent by systematic individual differences. The suitability of these approaches varies as a function of the specific research interests at hand. Although the approaches are interdependent, they have often proceeded as parallel research traditions. The current review notes some of the historical and empirical bases for this divide and suggests that each tradition would benefit from incorporating both methodological approaches to iteratively examine universal (nomothetic) phenomena and the individual differences (idiographic) factors that lead to variation in development. This work may help isolate underlying causal mechanisms, better understand current functioning, and predict long‐term developmental consequences. In doing so, we also highlight empirical and structural issues that need to be addressed to support this integration.
The nurse outcomes and patient outcomes following the High‐Quality Care Project
Authors: Chen Q. , Gottlieb L. , Liu D. , Tang S. , Bai Y.
Published: May 2020

Background

There have been many single cross‐sectional studies on nurse or patient outcomes. However, long‐term evidence on improving nurse and patient outcomes is still limited. The High‐Quality Care Project is a national project in China for improving nurse and patient outcomes by implementing primary nursing.

Aim

(1) To assess the long‐term changes in nurse and patient outcomes in the context of the High‐Quality Care Project. (2) To explore the potential influences of primary nursing on nurse and patient outcomes based on this study and broader existing evidence.

Methods

The data of two cross‐sectional studies were used for analysis. The two cross‐sectional studies were conducted before (2009) and after (2016) the High‐Quality Care Project. A total of 1376 nurses and 904 patients from 40 units of 10 tertiary hospitals were surveyed. Reliable and validated instruments were used to measure nurse and patient outcomes. Multilevel modelling was the main method for data analysis.

Results

Nurses in 2016 were more satisfied than nurses in 2009 with most dimensions of nurse work environment and job satisfaction. However, they were not more satisfied with burnout, global job satisfaction or intention to leave their job. Nurses in 2016 also reported better quality of patient care and patient safety while their patients reported higher patient satisfaction.

Conclusion

The analysis of our results based on existing evidence indicates that primary nursing could be considered as a potentially effective way to improve nurse work environment and patient outcomes. More studies with rigorous study design from micro perspectives would be useful to further explore the direct effects of primary nursing on nurse or/and patient outcomes.

Implications for nursing and nursing policy

Policymakers, healthcare service leaders and nurse managers should make efforts to provide multi‐level supports to cultivate an encouraging environment for nurses to practice primary nursing, because the implementation of primary nursing may improve the nurse work environment and patient outcomes. Furthermore, improving nurse participation in hospital affairs and developing nursing discipline and education for increasing nursing staff resource and nurses’ capacity – which all need policy and management supports – are crucial to further improve nurse and patient outcomes.
Rights issues: Retail shareholders and their participation decisions
Authors: Au Yong Hue Hwa , Brown Christine , Ho Choy Yeing (Chloe) , Shekhar Chander
Published: May 2020

Using daily ownership data, this study documents median participation rates for retail and institutional shareholders in rights offers in Australia of 60% and 94%, respectively. At the median, the rights issue results in 0.25% (1.34%) of the value of firm market capitalization (offer size) being transferred from retail shareholders to institutional shareholders. Retail shareholder participation is higher in renounceable offers, offers with larger discount and those made by firms with larger market capitalization and lower risk. Companies with above median retail participation rates perform better in the long run. The results suggest that, on average, retail shareholders make rational participation decisions in rights offerings.
Where is the teacher? Digital analytics for classroom proxemics
Authors: Martinez‐Maldonado Roberto , Schulte Jurgen , Echeverria Vanessa , Gopalan Yuveena , Shum Simon Buckingham
Published: May 2020

The term Classroom Proxemics refers to how teachers and students use classroom space, and the impact of this and the spatial design on learning and teaching. This study addresses the divide between, on the one hand, substantial work on proxemics based on classroom observations and, on the other hand, emerging work to design automated feedback that helps teachers identify salient patterns in their use of the classroom space. This study documents how digital analytics were designed in service of a senior teacher's practice‐based inquiry into classroom proxemics. Indoor positioning data from four teachers were analysed, visualized and used as evidence to compare three distinct learning designs enacted in a physics classroom. This study demonstrates how teachers can make effective use of such visualizations, to gain insight into their classroom practice. This is evidenced by (a) documenting teachers' reflections on visualizations of positioning data, both their own and that of peers and (b) identifying the types of indicator (operationalized as analytical metrics) that foreground the most useful information for teachers to gain insight into their practice.
Sestrin 2 attenuates sepsis‐associated encephalopathy through the promotion of autophagy in hippocampal neurons
Authors: Luo Lili , Wu Jinlin , Qiao Lina , Lu Guoyan , Li Jinhui , Li Deyuan
Published: May 2020

Sepsis‐associated encephalopathy (SAE) has typically been associated with a poor prognosis. Although sestrin 2 (SESN2) plays a crucial role in metabolic regulation and the stress response, its expression and functional roles in SAE are still unclear. In the present study, SAE was established in mice through caecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The adeno‐associated virus 2 (AAV2)‐mediated SESN2 expression (ie overexpression and knockdown) system was injected into the hippocampi of mice with SAE, and subsequently followed by electron microscopic analysis, the Morris water maze task and pathological examination. Our results demonstrated an increase of SESN2 in the hippocampal neurons of mice with SAE, 2‐16 hours following CLP. AAV2‐mediated ectopic expression of SESN2 attenuated brain damage and loss of learning and memory functions in mice with SAE, and these effects were associated with lower pro‐inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus. Mechanistically, SESN2 promoted unc‐51‐like kinase 1 (ULK1)‐dependent autophagy in hippocampal neurons through the activation of the AMPK/mTOR signalling pathway. Finally, AMPK inhibition by SBI‐0206965 blocked SESN2‐mediated attenuation of SAE in mice. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that SESN2 might be a novel pharmacological intervention strategy for SAE treatment through promotion of ULK1‐dependent autophagy in hippocampal neurons.
Regulation of laryngeal squamous cell cancer progression by the lncRNA RP11‐159K7.2/miR‐206/DNMT3A axis
Authors: Wang Xin , Yu Boyu , Jin Qianqian , Zhang Junyi , Yan Bingrui , Yang Like , Li Yushan , Li Qiuying , Wang Peng , Sun Chuanhui , Liu Ming , Tian Linli , Sun Yanan
Published: May 2020

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are longer than 200 nt, have been proved to play a role in promoting or inhibiting cancer progression. The following study investigated the role and underlying mechanisms of lncRNA RP11‐159K7.2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) progression. Briefly, in situ hybridization (ISH) and real‐time quantitative PCR (RT‐qPCR) showed higher expression of RP11‐159K7.2 in LSCC tissues and cell lines. Patients with low expression level of RP11‐159K7.2 lived longer compared to those with high expression of RP11‐159K7.2 (χ2 = 39.111, ***P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that lncRNA RP11‐159K7.2 was an independent prognostic factor for LSCC patients (HR = 2.961, ***P < 0.001). Furthermore, to investigate the potential involvement of RP11‐159K7.2 in the development of LSCC, we knocked out the expression of endogenous RP11‐159K7.2 in TU‐212 cells and AMC‐HN‐8 cells via CRISPR/Cas9 double vector lentiviral system. RP11‐159K7.2 knockout decreased LSCC cell growth and invasion both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, we found that RP11‐159K7.2 could positively regulate the expression of DNMT3A by sponging miR‐206. In addition, a feedback loop was also discovered between DNMT3A and miR‐206. To sum up, these findings suggest that lncRNA RP11‐159K7.2 could be used as a potential biomarker for prognosis and treatment of LSCC.
Establishing a research network
Authors: Babl Franz E , Dalziel Stuart R , Borland Meredith L
Published: May 2020

Multicentre research provides advantages over single‐centre research by maximising available patient numbers while pooling varied expertise and resources available across different participating investigators and sites. The increased complexity of multicentre regulatory approvals, communication and study management, can be mitigated by the formation of a research network where multicentre efforts move from ad hoc, single projects to formalised ongoing collaboration. Network research helps prioritise research efforts and importantly fosters the development of a collaborative track record in terms of research expertise, research capacity and grant success. It also has the potential to rapidly change patient care across many hospitals as research results will be more generalizable and definitive. This paper sets out the key elements of network research, its benefits and possible challenges drawing on the example of PREDICT (Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative) an established paediatric emergency research network in Australia and New Zealand.
COVID‐19 and paediatric health services: A survey of paediatric physicians in Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Foley David A , Kirk Michael , Jepp Catherine , Brophy‐Williams Sam , Tong Steven Y C , Davis Joshua S , Blyth Christopher C , O'Brien Matthew P , Bowen Asha C , Yeoh Daniel K ,   Study endorsed by ASID CRN and ANZPID Group
Published: May 2020

Aims

COVID‐19 is now a global pandemic. At the time of survey, fewer than 150 children in Australia and New Zealand had documented infection. The aim of this study was to assess attitudes, readiness and confidence in the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic through an online survey of paediatric physicians and sub‐specialists across Australia and New Zealand.

Methods

Multiple email list groups were used to contact paediatric physicians to undertake an online Likert scale survey between 17 and 24 March. Respondents' specialty, experience and work setting were recorded. Ordinal logistic regression was used to determine respondent factors.

Results

There were 542 respondents from across Australia and New Zealand: an estimated 11% of the paediatric physician workforce. A minority (36.6%) agreed that their national response had been well coordinated; the majority (92.7%) agreed that senior‐level hospital administrators were taking the situation seriously. Most reported a good understanding of the natural history of COVID‐19 in children, and knowledge of where to find local information. A large proportion of physicians (86.1%) were worried about becoming infected through their work; few (5.8%) reported that they would not come to work to avoid infection. Closure of school and childcares would reduce the ability to continue work at current capacity for 23.6% of respondents.

Conclusion

Despite limited experience in pandemics, most paediatric physicians felt informed. Concern about exposure at work is common; most were willing to work regardless. The closure of schools and daycares may have an impact on staffing. Coordination and leadership will be critical.
Exposure to total 36‐hr sleep deprivation reduces physiological and psychological thermal strain to whole‐body uncompensable passive heat stress in young adult men
Authors: Cernych Margarita , Satas Andrius , Rapalis Andrius , Marozas Vaidotas , Malciene Lina , Lukosevicius Arunas , Daniuseviciute Laura , Brazaitis Marius
Published: May 2020

Total sleep deprivation (TSD) is associated with endothelial dysfunction and a consequent decrease in vascular reactivity and increase in peripheral vascular resistance. These effectors compromise the body's ability to thermoregulate in hot and cold stress conditions. We investigated heat‐unacclimated young adult men (26 ± 2 years) to determine whether 36 hr of TSD compared to an 8 or 4‐hr sleep condition, would suppress the responses of the autonomic system (body rectal temperature [Tre], heart rate [HR], root mean square of successive interbeat intervals, physiological strain, blood pressure [BP], circulating blood catecholamines, sweating rate and subjective sensations) to whole‐body uncompensable passive heat stress in traditional Finnish sauna heat (Tair = 80–90°C, rh = 30%). Sauna bathing that induced whole‐body hyperthermia had a residual effect on reducing BP in the 8‐hr and 4‐hr sleep per night conditions according to BP measurements. By contrast, 36 hr of total wakefulness led to an increase in BP. These observed sleep deprivation‐dependent differences in BP modifications were not accompanied by changes in the blood plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations. However, during sauna bathing, an increase in BP following 36 hr of TSD was accompanied by significant decreases in body Tre, HR and physiological strain, together with a diminished sweating rate, enhanced vagus‐mediated autonomic control of HR variability, and improved thermal perception by the subjects. Our results suggest the impaired ability of the body to accumulate external heat in the body's core under uncompensable passive heat conditions following 36 hr of TSD, because of the TSD‐attenuated autonomic system response to acute heat stress.
Supporting adaptive capacity of agropastoralists through fish production and marketing: The case of Tendaho Reservoir
Authors: Yami Mesay , Wubie Alemayehu , Cheffo Abebe , Mesfin Yared
Published: May 2020

The present study was conducted to share the experience of promoting fish production and marketing from the Tendaho Reservoir of the Afar region, Ethiopia. The study results indicate the reservoir is serving its purpose, namely to generate gainful employment for the pastoralist youth and to create sustainable livelihoods and sources of income for the pastoralist‐fishermen of the Afar region. Further, the reservoir fish production has improved the nutrition and food security status of children. It also created a new business entry for hotels and restaurants in the area. Fishermen in the study areas, however, face problems getting the required support for such efforts, in the form of training in fish post‐harvest practices. The present study also indicates dried catfish marketing should be targeted in the short run to address the substantial fish spoilage observed in the high‐production hot season. Dried catfish marketing is highly recommended for the Afar region since it is well adapted to the climate of the study area, noting the product is less perishable and can be sold throughout the country. Dried catfish marketing is also expected to address the problem of gender inclusiveness, an issue clearly missing in the fish production system in the study areas.
Low dopamine transporter binding in the nucleus accumbens in geriatric patients with severe depression
Authors: Moriya Hiroki , Tiger Mikael , Tateno Amane , Sakayori Takeshi , Masuoka Takahiro , Kim WooChan , Arakawa Ryosuke , Okubo Yoshiro
Published: May 2020

Aim

Dysfunction of dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system is considered to be related to major depressive disorder (MDD). Especially, MDD in geriatric patients is characterized by anhedonia, which is assumed to be associated with reduced dopamine neurotransmission in the reward system. Dopamine transporter (DAT) is considered to reflect the function of the dopamine nerve system. However, previous DAT imaging studies using single photon emission computed tomography or positron emission tomography (PET) have shown inconsistent results. The radioligand [18F]FE‐PE2I for PET enables more precise evaluation of DAT availability. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the DAT availability in geriatric patients with MDD using [18F]FE‐PE2I.

Methods

Eleven geriatric patients with severe MDD and 27 healthy controls underwent PET with [18F]FE‐PE2I, which has high affinity and selectivity for DAT. Binding potentials (BPND) in the striatum (caudate and putamen), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and substantia nigra were calculated. BPND values were compared between MDD patients and healthy controls.

Results

MDD patients showed significantly lower DAT BPND in the NAc (P = 0.009), and there was a trend of lower BPND in the putamen (P = 0.032) compared to controls.

Conclusion

We found low DAT in the NAc and putamen in geriatric patients with severe MDD, which could be related to dysregulation of the reward system.
Modeling Yellow and Red Alert Durations for Ambulance Systems
Authors: Rastpour Amir , Ingolfsson Armann , Kolfal Bora
Published: May 2020

Emergency systems are designed to almost always have enough capacity to respond to emergencies. However, capacity shortage periods do occur and these systems need to recover quickly. In this study, we apply queueing models and study whether it is better for an emergency system to add or to expedite servers, in order to quickly recover from a capacity shortage period. We focus on emergency medical service (EMS) systems and use Erlang loss models to study Red Alerts (when all ambulances are busy) and Yellow Alerts (when the number of available ambulances falls below a threshold). We analyze two loss models: one with Markovian state‐dependent service rates and one with generally and independently distributed service times. We validate the two models against EMS data sets from two cities. Despite the fact that the distribution of ambulance service times is a mixture of lognormal distributions, which is far from being exponential, we find that the loss model with Markovian state‐dependent service rates provides a better representation of empirical Yellow and Red alert statistics. We build on the model with state‐dependent rates and use the theory of absorbing Markov chains to quantify the impact of adding or expediting ambulances, with respect to two performance measures: (i) the duration of alert periods, and (ii) the number of lost calls. This quantification helps EMS staff (dispatchers and supervisors) to make better decisions to avoid, and to recover from, alert periods. For example, staff should not wait until a Red Alert before adding ambulances, which is a common practice, because the expected number of lost calls rapidly increases as the number of available ambulances at the action epoch decreases.
Reducing Product Expiration by Aligning Salesforce Incentives: A Data‐driven Approach
Authors: Akkaş Arzum , Sahoo Nachiketa
Published: May 2020

Product expirations at retail stores erode profits and burden the environment. We investigate whether manufacturers can leverage salesforce compensation design as a waste‐reduction tool. We propose a data‐driven framework that uses structural econometric modeling and agency theory. Our analysis starts with a game theoretic model in which a salesperson interacts with a manufacturer that reimburses retailers and penalizes its own salesforce for expired products. We then use our model’s equilibrium outcome to estimate factors that determine the effort exerted by the sales representatives of a consumer‐packaged‐goods manufacturer. We first show theoretically that a manufacturer can simultaneously increase profits and reduce waste by increasing its sales representatives’ penalty for product expiration that occurs at the retailer. Based on this, we formulate a manufacturer’s profit maximization problem to compute optimum expiration penalties. Solving this problem for the manufacturer, we find the potential to simultaneously reduce waste and improve profits for 14% of the product–market combinations in our dataset. For these cases, we find that charging the salesperson 2.1 times the commission (on average) for each expired unit can increase the manufacturer’s profits by 0.58% and reduce waste by 23.3%. This study determines that a profit‐seeking manufacturer can reduce waste at retailers by optimizing its salesforce incentive structure. Our work bridges the salesforce compensation and sustainable operations literatures. Furthermore, our framework allows consumer‐packaged‐goods manufacturers to identify win‐win opportunities for the environment and their bottom line.
Managing Information System Security Under Continuous and Abrupt Deterioration
Authors: Bensoussan Alain , Mookerjee Vijay , Yue Wei T.
Published: May 2020

In this study, we focus on the maintenance of an intrusion detection system (IDS) that attempts to discriminate between benign and malicious traffic arriving at a firm. An attack is more likely to successfully harm the firm if the ability of its IDS to discriminate between malicious and benign traffic is low, implying loopholes or vulnerabilities in the firm’s security. A novel aspect of this study is the modeling of both continuous degradation in system discrimination ability (drift) and the arrival of abrupt shocks that can suddenly lower discrimination ability. We model shocks to arrive randomly and cause a random decrease in discrimination ability. Furthermore, we prove the existence of a steady‐state level of discrimination ability that firms should strive to reach and maintain. When discrimination ability is below this steady‐state level, full effort must be exerted to reach it. We also compare our model with alternative settings, examine the impact of parameter estimation error, and study scenarios in which the arrival rate of malicious traffic is a function of the steady‐state discrimination ability chosen by the firm.
Inducing Consumer Online Reviews Via Disclosure
Authors: Guan Xu , Wang Yulan , Yi Zelong , Chen Ying‐Ju
Published: May 2020

In this study, we investigate a seller's voluntary disclosure strategy when serving two groups of consumers who arrive sequentially and are reference dependent with respect to product quality. Consumers may be naive or sophisticated, depending on whether they can make rational inferences from the seller's disclosure behavior and an experienced consumer's quality review. We show that when consumers are naive, the seller can strategically withhold high‐quality information and disclose low‐quality information to boost the reference‐dependent early adopter's subjective quality review, which in turn enhances the follower's quality expectation and allows the seller to extract more surplus in the second period. However, when consumers are sophisticated, it is difficult for the seller to enhance their quality expectations by designing his disclosure strategy to manipulate the early adopter's quality review. The seller discloses all the quality information to consumers. When the market contains both naive and sophisticated consumers, the seller is able to withhold relatively low‐quality information in advance. In such a situation, the seller exclusively serves naive customers in the first period by charging a high retail price. The earlier results are quite robust, regardless of whether the review rating is bounded or whether consumers possess heterogeneous preferences with respect to product quality.
Recycling Infrastructure Development under Extended Producer Responsibility in Developing Economies
Authors: Gui Luyi
Published: May 2020

To tackle the severe pollution caused by electronic waste (e‐waste), several developing countries have introduced e‐waste legislation based on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). A major challenge to implement EPR in developing countries is the lack of formal recycling infrastructure. In this paper, we study if a collective form of EPR implementation where producers may jointly invest in recycling facilities can promote their incentives to do so. We develop a Nash bargaining model that captures the decision dynamics underlying joint recycling facility investment. We show that despite its advantage in reducing producers’ fixed investment costs, joint investment in the collective system may lead to a worse recycling infrastructure development outcome than independent investment in an individual system. This can particularly happen when the collective system involves products whose recycling costs are highly differentiated. We further show that cost sharing based on the principle of Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) may undermine the recycling infrastructure development outcome in the collective system compared to simple proportional cost sharing rules. In practice, it is generally believed that IPR leads to better design incentives than proportional cost sharing rules. Accordingly, our result indicates that there exists a tradeoff between these two cost sharing rules, and promoting recycling infrastructure development via collective systems may come at the expense of design incentives and vice versa.
Policy impact assessment in developing countries using Social Accounting Matrices: The Kenya SAM 2014
Authors: Mainar‐Causapé Alfredo José , Boulanger Pierre , Dudu Hasan , Ferrari Emanuele
Published: May 2020

This paper describes the structure and estimation of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Kenya for the year 2014. Among its specificities, this SAM includes a very high disaggregation of the agri‐food sector and accounts for the double role of households as producers and consumers. Accounting for these characteristics is crucial to provide robust socioeconomic analysis in the context of developing countries. Indeed, this type of database is valuable to perform ex‐ante evaluations of economic policies with various economic models and techniques. In this paper, we present an application with a linear multiplier analysis (backward linkages and value chain decomposition). The results show the capacity of the primary sector in Kenya to generate value added and employment, with this growth distributed more intensely in rural households whose main livelihood is semi‐subsistence agriculture.
Variable Selection in Functional Linear Concurrent Regression
Authors: Ghosal Rahul , Maity Arnab , Clark Timothy , Longo Stefano B.
Published: May 2020

We propose a novel method for variable selection in functional linear concurrent regression. Our research is motivated by a fisheries footprint study where the goal is to identify important time-varying sociostructural drivers influencing patterns of seafood consumption, and hence the fisheries footprint, over time, as well as estimating their dynamic effects. We develop a variable-selection method in functional linear concurrent regression extending the classically used scalar-on-scalar variable-selection methods like the lasso, smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) and minimax concave penalty (MCP). We show that in functional linear concurrent regression the variable-selection problem can be addressed as a group lasso, and their natural extension: the group SCAD or a group MCP problem. Through simulations, we illustrate that our method, particularly with the group SCAD or group MCP, can pick out the relevant variables with high accuracy and has minuscule false positive and false negative rate even when data are observed sparsely, are contaminated with noise and the error process is highly non-stationary. We also demonstrate two real data applications of our method in studies of dietary calcium absorption and fisheries footprint in the selection of influential time-varying covariates.
Reducing unemployment? Examining the interplay between active labour market policies
Authors: Fredriksson Daniel
Published: May 2020

Active labour market policies (ALMP) are important tools that welfare states utilize to influence the labour market. This study analyses the macroeconomic effects of different types of ALMP spending on aggregate unemployment rates, and especially if there is evidence of interdependencies between policies. The types of policies scrutinized are public employment services (PES), training programs, public job creation and subsidized employment, where the PES is singled out as a crucial factor that moderates the effects of other types of labour market programs. The study examines 19 welfare states between 1985 and 2013, using error correction modelling to separate between short‐ and long‐term effects. The results indicate that PES, training and subsidized employment reduce unemployment in the short‐run, whereas PES and wage subsidies are associated with reduced unemployment when considering long‐term effects. However, PES is found to have indirect effects on other policy types and increased spending on PES is shown to reinforce long‐term effects of training programs.
Origin of isolated seamounts in the Canary Basin (East Atlantic): The role of plume material in the origin of seamounts not associated with hotspot tracks
Authors: Long Xiaojun , Geldmacher Jörg , Hoernle Kaj , Hauff Folkmar , Wartho Jo‐Anne , Garbe‐Schönberg C.‐Dieter
Published: May 2020

In contrast to seamount chains, small solitary seamounts/seamount groups have rarely been sampled despite their large number and therefore their origins remain enigmatic. Here we present new 40Ar/39Ar, trace element and Nd‐Hf‐Pb isotope data from the solitary Demenitskoy Seamount, the isolated Tolkien seamount group and the Krylov Seamount and Ridge in the Canary Basin, Central Atlantic Ocean. Their chemical compositions range from intraplate ocean‐island‐basalt (Demenitskoy) to mid‐ocean‐ridge‐basalt (Tolkien and Krylov) types. Lavas from all three seamount groups, however, show geochemical evidence for involvement of enriched Canary/Cape Verde plume material. Seismic tomography shows that large areas around these mantle plumes consist of dispersed low‐velocity material, which could represent diffusely‐upwelling plume mantle. Melts from such upwelling mantle could form isolated seamounts. Diffuse upwelling of plume material is likely to be extremely widespread but has been poorly studied to date.

Significance Statement

A fundamental question concerns the origin of the hundreds of thousands of solitary seamounts and small isolated clusters of such seamounts on the seafloor of the world's ocean basins. Most of them do not fit into any currently accepted models (e.g. they are not associated with a linear hotspot track or plate boundary processes). Their formation could therefore represent a new kind of intraplate volcanism that in fact could be extremely widespread but has been thus far largely neglected. In this manuscript, we report geochemical data from three isolated seamount sites in the Canary Basin and propose a provocative model for their formation that can also be applied to isolated seamounts elsewhere. Our study is therefore also a plea for the long overdue systematic investigation of small seamount volcanism in the world's ocean basins.

I hereby confirm that all the data and interpretations are new and have not been published elsewhere. All co‐authors have been actively involved in this work, have approved the manuscript and agreed to this submission.
Topographic cues reveal filopodia-mediated cell locomotion in 3D microenvironment
Authors: Li Xiufang , Zhang Qiang , Yan Shuqin , Li Mingzhong , You Renchuan
Published: May 2020

In cell–material interactions, the formation and functioning of filopodia have been demonstrated to be very sensitive to topographic cues. However, substrate-exploring functions of filopodia in a 3D microenvironment remain elusive. In this study, the silk fibroin film with a micropillar structure was prepared to reveal a filopodial-mediated cell response to 3D topographic cues. The micropillars provided a confined space for cell spreading by a simplified 3D structure, allowing initial cells to settle on the bottom of substrates rather than on the top of micropillars. Shortly after cell adhesion, the authors describe how cells transform from a filopodia-rich spherical cell state to a lamellipodia-dominated state that enables cell to climb along micropillars and spread on the top of the micropillars. The authors found that filopodia not only served as sensors for pathfinding but also provided nucleation scaffolds for the formation and orientation of minilamellipodia on the micropillar substrate. On the route of long filopodial extension following micropillars, all three functional filopodial adhesions have the ability to form veil-like minilamellipodium, simply by tethering the filopodium to the micropillars. Stable filopodia contacts consistently stimulated the local protrusion of a lamellipodium, which ultimately steered cell migration. Their results suggest the filopodia-mediated cell locomotion in the 3D microenvironment using a filopodia-to-minilamellipodium transformation mechanism.
Automatic detectors for low-frequency vocalizations of Omura's whales, Balaenoptera omurai: A performance comparison
Authors: Madhusudhana Shyam , Murray Anita , Erbe Christine
Published: May 2020

Automatically detecting animal signals in soundscape recordings is of benefit to passive acoustic monitoring programs which may be undertaken for research or conservation. Numerous algorithms exist, which are typically optimized for certain situations (i.e., certain animal sound types and ambient noise conditions). Adding to the library of algorithms, this paper developed, tested, and compared three detectors for Omura's whale vocalizations (15–62 Hz; <15 s) in marine soundscape recordings which contained noise from other animals, wind, earthquakes, ships, and seismic surveys. All three detectors were based on processing of spectrographic representations. The specific methods were spectrogram cross-correlation, entropy computation, and spectral intensity “blob” tracing. The latter two were general-purpose detectors that were adapted for detection of Omura's whale vocalizations. Detector complexity and post-processing effort varied across the three detectors. Performance was assessed qualitatively using demonstrative examples, and quantitatively using Receiver-Operating Characteristics and Precision-Recall curves. While the results of quantitative assessment were dominated by the spectrogram cross-correlation method, qualitative assessment showed that all three detectors offered promising performance.
Trends and developments in international regulation of anthropogenic sound in aquatic habitats
Authors: Colbert Benjamin R.
Published: May 2020

As the understanding of the possible impacts of anthropogenic underwater sound has increased, so have efforts been designed to reduce the effects to marine species and habitats. Consequently, over the last decade, a large number of new policies, regulations, and joint efforts to reduce anthropogenic sound and mitigate affects to aquatic life have been introduced internationally. The United States, Canada, the EU, and many regional and multinational organizations have implemented regulations governing underwater anthropogenic sound. While habitat-centric policies have been developed internationally, difficulty in implementing these highlights the need for additional research including efforts to monitor over longer temporal scales, assess impacts to estuarine and freshwater environments, obtain baseline data where possible, and better understand impacts of chronic noise on individual fitness and population health. This paper reviews the developments in policy focused on reducing the impacts of anthropogenic impacts on aquatic habitats and makes recommendations on research efforts required to manage the impact of underwater anthropogenic sound on habitats.
Beamforming correction for the singular problem in identifying rotating sources with non-uniform directivity
Authors: Pan Xingjian , Wu Haijun , Jiang Weikang
Published: May 2020

Identification of rotating sources with non-uniform directivity has been paid much attention in the field of aeroacoustic measurements over recent years. Singularities may be produced on the source map by using the rotating source identifier based on the multipole model due to zeros of the directivity function. A correction method is proposed to remove the influence of source directivity on source imaging and restrain the singular problem. De-Dopplerized microphone signals are transformed to the frequency domain and deconvolved with transfer functions to compensate for directivity functions. Numerical simulations, as well as experiments using rotating dipole loudspeakers, were conducted to verify the proposed method. It is demonstrated that the method is suitable for rotating sources with arbitrary orientation and works well under a high level of background noise. Positions and strengths of sources are estimated more accurately than traditional algorithms.
Waves at a fluid-solid interface: Explicit versus implicit formulation of boundary conditions using a discontinuous Galerkin method
Authors: Shukla Khemraj , Carcione José M. , Hesthaven Jan S. , L'heureux Elizabeth
Published: May 2020

An accurate solution of the wave equation at a fluid-solid interface requires a correct implementation of the boundary condition. Boundary conditions at fluid-solid interface require continuity of the normal component of particle velocity and traction, whereas the tangential components vanish. A main challenge is to model interface waves, namely, the Scholte and leaky Rayleigh waves. This study uses a nodal discontinuous Galerkin (dG) finite-element method with the medium discretized using an unstructured uniform triangular meshes. The natural boundary conditions in the dG method are implemented by (1) using an explicit upwind numerical flux and (2) by using an implicit penalty flux and setting the modulus of rigidity of the acoustic medium to zero. The accuracy of these methods is evaluated by comparing the numerical solutions with analytical ones, with source and receiver at and away from the interface. The study shows that the solutions obtained from the explicit and implicit boundary conditions provide the correct results. The stability of the dG scheme is determined by the numerical flux, which also implements the boundary conditions by unifying the numerical solution at shared edges of the elements in an energy stable manner.
Discrimination of four Canadian-French vowels by native Canadian-English listeners
Authors: Desmeules-Trudel Félix , Joanisse Marc F.
Published: May 2020

Discrimination of Canadian French /y/, /u/, /ɑ/, and /e/ by native Canadian-English listeners was investigated to determine if patterns found in standard varieties of French (as explained by the Perceptual Assimilation Model) could be replicated in Canadian French. Front-rounded /y/ paired with /u/ was the focus of investigation, as well as other (control) pairs. It was found that /y/-/u/ was the most difficult to discriminate as compared to other pairs, but that listeners were sensitive to the contrast, which replicates previous findings in European French. Results are explained as a mix of instances of single-category and category-goodness assimilation patterns.
Site-specific glycan analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 spike
Authors: Watanabe Yasunori , Allen Joel D. , Wrapp Daniel , McLellan Jason S. , Crispin Max
Published: May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, elaborated

Vaccine development for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is focused on the trimeric spike protein that initiates infection. Each protomer in the trimeric spike has 22 glycosylation sites. How these sites are glycosylated may affect which cells the virus can infect and could shield some epitopes from antibody neutralization. Watanabe
et al.
expressed and purified recombinant glycosylated spike trimers, proteolysed them to yield glycopeptides containing a single glycan, and determined the composition of the glycan sites by mass spectrometry. The analysis provides a benchmark that can be used to measure antigen quality as vaccines and antibody tests are developed.

Science
this issue p.
330
Novel Toxin-Antitoxin Module SlvT-SlvA Regulates Megaplasmid Stability and Incites Solvent Tolerance in Pseudomonas putida S12
Authors: Kusumawardhani Hadiastri , van Dijk David , Hosseini Rohola , de Winde Johannes H.
Published: May 2020

Sustainable alternatives for high-value chemicals can be achieved by using renewable feedstocks in bacterial biocatalysis. However, during the bioproduction of such chemicals and biopolymers, aromatic compounds that function as products, substrates, or intermediates in the production process may exert toxicity to microbial host cells and limit the production yield. Therefore, solvent tolerance is a highly preferable trait for microbial hosts in the biobased production of aromatic chemicals and biopolymers. In this study, we revisit the essential role of megaplasmid pTTS12 from solvent-tolerant
Pseudomonas putida
S12 for molecular adaptation to an organic solvent. In addition to the solvent extrusion pump (SrpABC), we identified a novel toxin-antitoxin module (SlvAT) which contributes to short-term tolerance in moderate solvent concentrations, as well as to the stability of pTTS12. These two gene clusters were successfully expressed in non-solvent-tolerant strains of
P. putida
and
Escherichia coli
strains to confer and enhance solvent tolerance.
Loss of Bacterial Cell Pole Stabilization in Caulobacter crescentus Sensitizes to Outer Membrane Stress and Peptidoglycan-Directed Antibiotics
Authors: Vallet Simon-Ulysse , Hansen Lykke Haastrup , Bistrup Freja Cecillie , Laursen Signe Aagaard , Chapalay Julien Bortoli , Chambon Marc , Turcatti Gerardo , Viollier Patrick H. , Kirkpatrick Clare L.
Published: May 2020

Maintenance of an intact cell envelope is essential for free-living bacteria to protect themselves against their environment. In the case of rod-shaped bacteria, the poles of the cell are potential weak points in the cell envelope due to the high curvature of the layers and the need to break and reform the cell envelope at the division plane as the cells divide. We have found that TipN, a factor required for correct division and cell pole development in
Caulobacter crescentus
, is also needed for maintaining normal levels of resistance to cell wall-targeting antibiotics such as vancomycin and cefixime, which interfere with peptidoglycan synthesis. Since TipN is normally located at the poles of the cell and at the division plane just before cells complete division, our results suggest that it is involved in stabilization of these weak points of the cell envelope as well as its other roles inside the cell.