bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What drives credit risk of microfinance institutions? International evidence
Authors: Lassoued Naima
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the factors that affect microfinance institutions’ (MFI) credit risk. These factors include MFIs’ characteristics and country-level indicators.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical study uses an unbalanced panel data of 638 MFIs from 87 countries observed over a period ranging from 2005 to 2015. Random-effects models are used to estimate the models.

Findings

The results reveal that group-lending methodology, percent of loan granted to women and diversification activities reduce credit risk; credit quality is enhanced by the relevance of the information published by public or private bureaus and law enforcement cost increases credit risk. Finally, credit risk tends to be limited in a good institutional environment.

Practical implications

Several implications can be drawn in light of these findings. For MFIs’ managers, using group lending or granting more credit to women and diversifying their activities enhance their credit quality. Furthermore, authorities need to strength debt repayment institutions and reinforce institutional environment to help MFIs to limit their credit risk.

Originality/value

Previous studies focus on specific MFIs’ practices that enhance repayment rate or on country-level indicators. One of the contributions of this paper is the use of both types of indicators.
SME finance and the construction of value in Rwanda
Authors: van Klyton Aaron , Rutabayiro-Ngoga Said
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurs, banks, the government, and alternative lending respond to finance gaps for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper considers valuation as a sociological construct where actors use different calculative devices, forming an assemblage that partly positions valuation of entrepreneurial finance as a contested and socially constructed process.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the concept of “calculative devices”, the study articulates discursive institutional practices embedded within SME lending. This case study draws on analyses of 30 semi-structured interviews and archival data, government reports, and newspaper articles.

Findings

The study identified three triggers in Rwanda that were rooted in the informal and unincorporated nature of the SME governance structure, the lack of capacity for SME owners to manage their own projects, and normalising language around collateral requirements that marginalised the realities of SMEs, contributing to stagnation for SME finance.

Practical implications

The research provides direction for understanding how calculative devices create new forms of valuation of entrepreneurship in developing countries, particularly when human and non-human actors come together in an assemblage. The study calls for further research to demonstrate the embedded power of valuation practices and the performance of value in entrepreneurial finance.

Originality/value

The study brings new findings to the market creation literature by extending the notion of distributive calculative agency to SME finance. The study mobilises theory to interpret how discursive institutional practices are embedded within a country’s finance infrastructure, yielding unintended consequences for SME growth.
Data, data everywhere, but little to use!
Authors: Oyelude Adetoun A.
Published: August 2017

Purpose

This edition of the column aims to expand the ideas presented in a poster of the same title exhibited at the IASSIST Conference held in April 2017 in Kansas, USA.

Design/methodology/approach

It explores the fact that data are constantly being generated daily; however, the use of these data is limited because of its unavailability to the general public in forms or formats they need.

Findings

Data are important to research because of their high information value, that is, value-added information that is critical for decision-making.

Originality/value

Data come in many forms — census, statistics, research results, figures, graphs, interview transcriptions, journal entries, etc.
Raymond Carver and the voices of everyday life
Authors: Styhre Alexander
Published: August 2017

Purpose

All scholarly writing must straddle the universal and the particular. The universal is commonly addressed in terms of theoretical frameworks and analytical models, supported by the objectivity norm that has guided scientific inquiry since its inception. The particularities, on the other hand, the details and the nuts and bolts of everyday life and organizational reality, are oftentimes associated with subjectivity and therefore raise concern regarding the scholar’s preferences and convictions. In order to better balance objectivity and subjectivity in the organization studies literature, it is important to pay attention to how the choice of literary style may apprehend and convey organizational realities. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Discussing the role of literature, and the work of the American short-story writer and poet Raymond Carver, more specifically, as a domain wherein language resonates with the pace and breathing of everyday life, it is suggested that an increased level of “lyrical sensibility” in scholarly vocabularies is conducive to more nuanced accounts of organizational practices. To substantiate Carver’s argument, ethnographies of occupational work is referenced and compared to Carver’s work.

Findings

Carver’s emphasis on writing stories and dialogs that do not hide behind jargon, nor impose unnecessary literary experiments or heavy-handed literary vocabularies on texts, is exemplary to organization researchers. In particular, Carver emphasizes the role of materiality and objects in his stories, the understated tension and concealed conflicts in social situations and relations, and points at how individuals interpret situations wherein they are located; in many cases, leading to apathy and indolence as the protagonists cannot consider meaningful ways to handle perceived issues or to move along. Carver’s emphasis on mundane experience is therefore conducive to a wider recognition of subjectivity in organization studies.

Originality/value

The paper broadens the discussion about organization studies writing by introducing the work of Raymond Carver, a seminal author only sparsely featured in organization and management studies.
The 1960s baby boomers: future needs and preferences
Authors: Young Aideen , Tinker Anthea
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the likely needs and priorities of the 1960s baby boomers in later life (defined as those born in this country between 1960 and 1969 inclusive), based on their characteristics outlined in the accompanying paper.

Design/methodology/approach

A non-systematic search of academic and grey literature plus key policy and statistical data from sources including the Office for National Statistics to identify studies and data relevant to people born in the 1960s in the UK.

Findings

The 1960s baby boomers are characterised by high levels of education and technological proficiency and a youthful self-image. They have longer working lives and display greater levels of consumption than previous cohorts. These attributes will likely make this a highly demanding group of older people. Maintaining their health and function is important to this group so there is a scope for products that enable active and healthy ageing. Relatively high levels of childlessness may give rise to innovative housing solutions. At the same time, products that help the baby boomers stay independent at home will help alleviate pressure on social care.

Originality/value

There has been little examination of the needs of the 1960s baby boomers in the UK. Given that they stand on the brink of later life, it is timely to consider their likely needs as older people. In view of the size of this cohort, this group’s requirements in later life provide a significant opportunity for businesses to fill the current gaps in the market. Moreover, in the context of increasing neoliberalism, innovations that reduce the dependence of this large cohort on the state and facilitate self-reliance will benefit individuals and society.
A recombinant iron transport protein from Bordetella pertussis confers protection against Bordetella parapertussis
Authors: Alvarez Hayes Jimena , Oviedo Juan Marcos , Valdez Hugo , Laborde Juan Martín , Maschi Fabricio , Ayala Miguel , Shah Rohan , Fernandez Lahore Marcelo , Rodriguez Maria Eugenia
Published: August 2017

Whooping cough, which is caused by Bordetella pertussis and B. parapertussis, is a reemerging disease. New protective antigens are needed to improve the efficacy of current vaccines against both species. Using proteomic tools, it was here found that B. parapertussis expresses a homolog of AfuA, a previously reported new vaccine candidate against B. pertussis. It was found that this homolog, named AfuABpp, is expressed during B. parapertussis infection, exposed on the surface of the bacteria and recognized by specific antibodies induced by the recombinant AfuA cloned from B. pertussis (rAfuA). Importantly, the presence of the O‐antigen, a molecule that has been found to shield surface antigens on B. parapertussis, showed no influence on antibody recognition of AfuABpp on the bacterial surface. The present study further showed that antibodies induced by immunization with the recombinant protein were able to opsonize B. parapertussis and promote bacterial uptake by neutrophils. Finally, it was shown that this antigen confers protection against B. parapertussis infection in a mouse model. Altogether, these results indicate that AfuA is a good vaccine candidate for acellular vaccines protective against both causative agents of whooping cough.
Non‐random dispersal mediates invader impacts on the invertebrate community
Authors: Cote Julien , Brodin Tomas , Fogarty Sean , Sih Andrew
Published: August 2017

Dispersers are often not a random draw from a population, dispersal propensity being conditional on individual phenotypic traits and local contexts. This non‐randomness consequently results in phenotypic differences between dispersers and non‐dispersers and, in the context of biological invasions, in an invasion front made of individuals with a biased phenotype. This bias of phenotypes at the front may subsequently modulate the strength of ecological effects of an invasive species on invaded communities.

We recently demonstrated that more asocial mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), one of the 100 worst invasive species, disperse further, suggesting a sociability‐biased invasion front. As behavioural types are related to the strength of interspecific interactions, an invasion by a biased subset of individuals should have important ecological implications for native communities.

Here, we tested the impact of phenotypic biases in dispersing individuals (relative to non‐dispersers) on prey communities in experimental mesocosms.

We show that dispersers reduce prey abundance more than do non‐dispersers during the first 4 weeks after introduction, and that the disperser's social types are likely drivers of these differences. These differences in prey communities disappeared after 8 weeks suggesting prey community resilience against predation in these mesocosm ecosystems.

Consequently, we call for the integration of non‐random dispersal, dispersal syndromes and more generally intraspecific variation into studies predicting the impacts of invasions.
On trusting ethnography: serendipity and the reflexive return to the fields of Gujarat
Authors: Tilche Alice , Simpson Edward
Published: August 2017

We draw on David Pocock's fieldwork of the 1950s in central Gujarat, India, as a comparative resource to think about social change and anthropological knowledge. Revisiting where Pocock had been through new fieldwork, we were encouraged to think about the ways in which places are accessed and subsequently understood. Against our conscious will, the pathways we were able to take through the field strongly resembled those Pocock took sixty years earlier. The coincidence is such that the material casts shadows of doubt over the potency of terms such as ‘serendipity’ and ‘chance’ to characterize key moments of ethnographic fieldwork. Against the primacy given to the self in much reflexive anthropology, we demonstrate that the personal attributes of the anthropologist might influence the production of ethnographic research less than is generally assumed. The double bind of our ‘reflexive return’ comes from revisiting an anthropological field and experiencing the agency of that field in making what we can know.
‘Black’ and ‘white’ death: burials in a time of Ebola in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Authors: Lipton Jonah
Published: August 2017

The article examines experiences of the 2014‐15 Ebola crisis in Freetown, Sierra Leone, through an analysis of the performance of burials. While most of the city's residents had no contact with the virus, ‘Ebola’ was inescapable, owing to the onerous state of emergency regulations imposed by national and international authorities. All burials, regardless of the cause of death, were to be performed by newly established official teams operating according to unfamiliar biomedical and bureaucratic protocols. Burials became emblematic of the crisis through presenting a conflict between local practices and novel procedures, which was coded locally in a complex racial language of ‘black’ and ‘white’, recalling a long regional history of violent integration into the Atlantic World. Building on long‐standing anthropological discussion on the relationship between ‘good’ death and social order, the article explores how burials became sites around which opposing ‘orders’ were experienced, negotiated, and reconciled in locally meaningful ways.
Institutional change and parental compensation in intergenerational attainment
Authors: Pöyliö Heta , Erola Jani , Kilpi‐Jakonen Elina
Published: August 2017

Previous research has shown how institutional changes, such as educational expansion, have weakened parental influence on educational attainment. We extend this analysis to occupational attainment and put forth a parental compensation hypothesis: as the origin‐education (OE) association weakens, parents act to compensate for this in order to maintain their influence on the child's occupational attainment. We should see this as a strengthened origin‐destination association net of education (net OD). Further, we study whether these compensatory actions are triggered by changes in educational institutions and whether the institutional changes that reduce educational inequality are the same ones that prompt parental compensation. We have linked data from five waves of the European Social Survey (2002–10) with data on educational institutions matched to birth cohorts born 1941–80 in 25 countries. We find weakened OE and strengthened net OD associations, supporting our parental compensation hypothesis. Multilevel mixed effects regression analyses reveal that reforms lengthening compulsory education, and the increased access to and the attainment of higher education have had a positive influence on parental compensation. As a conclusion, a later school leaving age seems to secure increased parental influence on children's occupational attainment, while parents seem to have reacted to a lesser extent on the changes in higher education.
Willingness to click: Risk information seeking during imminent threats
Authors: Sutton Jeannette , Woods Chelsea , Vos Sarah C.
Published: August 2017

Short messaging systems have the potential to deliver targeted messages to individuals needing critical safety information. However, their limited content may provide insufficient life‐saving information. One solution is to include a hyperlink that allows message recipients access to a web page. Research has not examined whether at‐risk individuals are willing to use this strategy in time critical situations. Using constructs from the risk information seeking and processing model, this study investigates how individuals perceive and make decisions to click on hyperlinks during crisis events. Findings suggest that the nature and timing of the crisis, risk judgement, and risk perceptions strongly influence decisions to click in crises. Suggestions are offered on ways to facilitate information seeking on short messaging systems during crises.
Do you have a Plan B?
Authors: Dahlberg Rasmus
Published: August 2017

This study explores adaptive capacities in infrastructure preparedness planning from a resilience approach using the bridge between Denmark and Sweden as a case. First, a theoretical framework anchors adaptive capacity in a more general resilience discourse focusing on flexibility and adaptive capacity with emphasis on citizens' ability to interpret information and adjust their behaviour without prior planning and training or instructions. Then, findings from a small qualitative study (n = 45) of the perception of commuters and travellers of the responsibilities and contingencies involved in potential long‐term disruptions of the Øresund Bridge are discussed. The most important suggested recommendation for authorities and infrastructure owners is simply to remind users that an infrastructure is not a given—in other words, to ask travellers whether “they have a Plan B,” thereby prompting citizens to contemplate their dependency on infrastructure and prepare for a disruption.
The Tyranny of Distance and the Gravity of Resources
Authors: Robertson Peter E. , Robitaille Marie‐Claire
Published: August 2017

To what extent does geography remain an important determinant of comparative advantage and factor incomes in resource markets? We estimate gravity models for resources and find that some minerals and fuels, particularly iron ore and gas, do have very high elasticities of trade with respect to distance. To assess the implications of this we then consider a simple counterfactual where location advantages are eliminated. We find that for a few countries, including Australia and New Zealand, distance barriers have a large impact of their market share.
Protein complex formation during denitrification by Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Borrero‐de Acuña José Manuel , Timmis Kenneth N. , Jahn Martina , Jahn Dieter
Published: August 2017

The most efficient means of generating cellular energy is through aerobic respiration. Under anaerobic conditions, several prokaryotes can replace oxygen by nitrate as final electron acceptor. During denitrification, nitrate is reduced via nitrite, NO and N2O to molecular nitrogen (N2) by four membrane‐localized reductases with the simultaneous formation of an ion gradient for ATP synthesis. These four multisubunit enzyme complexes are coupled in four electron transport chains to electron donating primary dehydrogenases and intermediate electron transfer proteins. Many components require membrane transport and insertion, complex assembly and cofactor incorporation. All these processes are mediated by fine‐tuned stable and transient protein–protein interactions. Recently, an interactomic approach was used to determine the exact protein–protein interactions involved in the assembly of the denitrification apparatus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both subunits of the NO reductase NorBC, combined with the flavoprotein NosR, serve as a membrane‐localized assembly platform for the attachment of the nitrate reductase NarGHI, the periplasmic nitrite reductase NirS via its maturation factor NirF and the N2O reductase NosZ through NosR. A nitrate transporter (NarK2), the corresponding regulatory system NarXL, various nitrite (NirEJMNQ) and N2O reductase (NosFL) maturation proteins are also part of the complex. Primary dehydrogenases, ATP synthase, most enzymes of the TCA cycle, and the SEC protein export system, as well as a number of other proteins, were found to interact with the denitrification complex. Finally, a protein complex composed of the flagella protein FliC, nitrite reductase NirS and the chaperone DnaK required for flagella formation was found in the periplasm of P. aeruginosa. This work demonstrated that the interactomic approach allows for the identification and characterization of stable and transient protein–protein complexes and interactions involved in the assembly and function of multi‐enzyme complexes.
Asplenium sanshuiense sp. nov.: the Lowest Latitude Fossil Record of the Genus
Authors: XU Kewang , LIAO Wenbo , JIN Jianhua , LIU Xiaoyan
Published: August 2017

Extant Asplenium is one of the most widespread fern groups and occurs in the temperate and tropical regions. However, the fossil records of this genus are poorly documented, especially in the low latitudes. Here, a new species, Asplenium sanshuiense sp. nov. is described from the early Eocene of Sanshui Basin, Guangdong Province, South China. This is the lowest modern latitude fossil record of Asplenium and the first fossil assignment of A. section Darea (Jussieu) Bak., as well as the first fossil record of Asplenium reported from South China. This new species shows that Asplenium had already spread into South China by the early Eocene and the section Darea (Jussieu) Bak. was identifiable within the genus Asplenium during that time. This new species, combined with previous fossil spore‐pollen records indicates a warm and humid climate in the Sanshui Basin of the early Eocene.
A New Species of Cupressinocladus from the Lower Cretaceous of Guyang Basin, Inner Mongolia, China and Cluster Analysis
Authors: JIN Peihong , MAO Teng , DONG Junling , WANG Zixi , SUN Mingxuan , XU Xiaohui , DU Baoxia , SUN Bainian
Published: August 2017

Cupressinocladus Seward is a fossil genus of conifers and conifer fossils with reproductive organs are very rare. In general, it is difficult to understand the natural affinities with other conifers. In this paper, a new species, Cupressinocladus guyangensis P.H. Jin et B.N. Sun sp. nov., is reported based on branches with immature female cones from the Lower Cretaceous Guyang Formation of the Guyang Basin in Inner Mongolia, northern China. The foliage shoots are decussate. Leaves are decussate, imbricate, scale‐like, weakly dimorphic, and bear longitudinal glands on the abaxial view. Stomata complexes are haplocheilic, monocyclic, irregularly arranged, and spread along the leaf margin. Immature female cones are subglobose with 6–8 cone scales, and three subglobose ovules arranged in a row at the base of the cone scales. Moreover, we performed cluster analysis using a statistics and machine learning toolbox for 23 fossils and extant species based on 16 morphological characters. The result implies that the new species bears a close resemblance to the extant Cupressus funebris Endl. and might have nearest systematic affinities to it.
Petrogenesis of the Late Cretaceous Tholeiitic Volcanism and Oceanic Island Arc Affinity of the Chagai Arc, Western Pakistan
Authors: SIDDIQUI Rehanul Haq , JAN M. Qasim , KHAN Mohammad Asif , KAKAR M. Ishaq , FODEN John D.
Published: August 2017

The Late Cretaceous Chagai arc outcrops in western Pakistan, southern Afghanistan and eastern Iran. It is in the Tethyan convergence zone, formed by northward subduction of the Arabian oceanic plate beneath the Afghan block. The oldest unit of the Chagai arc is the Late Cretaceous Sinjrani Volcanic Group. This is composed of porphyritic lava flows and volcaniclastic rocks, and subordinate shale, sandstone, limestone and chert. The flows are fractionated low‐K tholeiitic basalts, basalticandesites, and andesites. Relative enrichment in their LILE and depletion in HFSE, and negative Nb and Ta and positive K, Ba and Sr anomalies point to a subduction‐related origin. Compared to MORB, the least fractionated Chagai basalts have low Na2O, Fe2O3T, CaO, Ti, Zr, Y and 87Sr/86Sr. Rather than an Andean setting, these results suggest derivation from a highly depleted mantle in an intraoceanic arc formed by Late Cretaceous convergence in the Ceno‐Tethys. The segmented subduction zone formed between Gondwana and a collage of small continental blocks (Iran, Afghan, Karakoram, Lhasa and Burma) was accompanied by a chain of oceanic island arcs and suprasubduction ophiolites including Semail, Zagros, Chagai‐Raskoh, Kandahar, Muslim Bagh, Waziristan and Kohistan‐Ladakh, Nidar, Nagaland and Manipur. These complexes accreted to the southern margin of Eurasia in the Late Cretaceous.
Temporal and Spatial Distribution of the Late Devonian (Famennian) Strata in the Northwestern Border of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, Northwestern China
Authors: MA Xueping , ZHANG Meiqiong , ZONG Pu , ZHANG Yubo , LÜ Dan
Published: August 2017

The base of the Saerba Member (Mbr) of the Hongguleleng Formation (Fm.) probably lies in the Famennian Palmatolepis crepida Zone; the Longkou Mbr is probably a sedimentary wedge that thins out northwards; the Duguer Mbr has an approximate age from the upper part of the Pa. marginifera Zone or the Lower Pa. rugosa trachytera Zone through the top of the Pa. perlobata postera Zone; the Wulan Mbr has an age approximately corresponding to the whole Pa. gracilis expansa Zone. In the Bulongguoer section, the Lower Mbr of the Hongguleleng Fm. corresponds to Famennian Pa. crepida Zone through Pa. marginifera Zone; the Middle Mbr probably ranges from the Pa. r. trachytera Zone through the Pa. g. expansa Zone. The basal Namu Mbr of the Heishantou Fm. is probably the product during and after the Hangenberg Event in the upper part of the Siphonodella praesulcata Zone, which is still within the Devonian. In this context, the underlying Chasi Mbr may approximately correspond to the lower part of the S. praesulcata Zone (before the Hangenberg Event). Lateral distribution of strata indicates that the Upper Devonian in the Gennaren and Saerba areas each constitutes a structure of syncline, which differs from the previous recognition of a monocline structure.
Follow the Money: How Trends in Financing Are Changing Governance at International Organizations
Authors: Graham Erin R.
Published: August 2017

This article considers how trends in financing are changing governance at intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Over the course of the twentieth century IGO funding rules changed in two important ways. First, they were altered to allow states greater control over the financial contributions they provide, allowing states to ‘earmark’ contributions. Second, funding rules made private actors eligible contributors, providing an important entry point for private actor influence. I focus on three primary effects of these changes on IGO governance: (1) how the increased reliance on earmarked contributions undermines traditional conceptions of multilateral governance; (2) how private actors are empowered by their ability to earmark resources as they emerge as major funders; and (3) on the surge in ‘minilateral’ governance associated with the rise of pooled funding mechanisms. I draw on delegation theory to illustrate these changes conceptually and provide examples from a wide variety of institutions within and outside the UN system. I conclude by outlining fruitful avenues for research on financing IGOs.
Resourcing Global Justice: The Resource Management Design of International Courts
Authors: Squatrito Theresa
Published: August 2017

This article examines the resource management design of international courts (ICs) and asks: how are ICs designed in terms of the management of resources and what factors contribute to the resource management design of ICs? Theoretically, this article draws on existing literature to conceptualize resource management as a design feature of international courts and considers three causal mechanisms that might shape the resource management design of ICs: diffusion by emulation, the uploading of domestic governance norms, and bureaucrats who pursue institutional independence and sustainability. Empirically, I examine the resource management design of 24 ICs and assess who selects their chief administrators and approves their budgets. A case study on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is also analyzed in order to gain traction on the causal mechanisms generating resource management design of ICs. The article shows that there is a strong tendency for ICs to have greater control over the appointment of their chief administrators, but less control over their budgets. States generally retain authority to approve ICs’ budgets. Moreover, it suggests that domestic judicial norms and national legal bureaucrats influenced the design of the CCJ's resource management.
Contested Implementation: The Unilateral Influence of Member States on Peacebuilding Policy in Kosovo
Authors: Eckhard Steffen , Dijkstra Hylke
Published: August 2017

International organizations play an important role in policy implementation. As member states do not necessarily resolve political disagreements before delegating tasks, this article focuses on how individual member states seek to influence policy implementation by international organizations. It argues that the institutional context in which delegation takes place affects the opportunities for such unilateral influence. Particularly when the agent has considerable autonomy, implementation is likely to be a contested process. The article presents evidence on the implementation of peacebuilding policy by three international organizations in Kosovo after independence in 2008. Despite the fact that the member states within the UN, OSCE and EU fundamentally disagree on the legal status of Kosovo, the organizations have deployed substantial peacebuilding missions. The UN, OSCE and EU have, however, different institutional designs: implementing agents in the UN and OSCE have, by default, more autonomy than those in the EU. We analogously observe variation in how and to what extent member states exert unilateral influence during implementation of peacebuilding policy on the ground in Kosovo.
Can FSH influence longevity?
Authors: Bartke Andrzej
Published: August 2017

It was recently reported that the extragonadal actions of follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) include regulation of brown and white adipose tissue function and thermogenesis. Based on these findings and on our evidence for reduced FSH levels and enhanced thermogenesis in long‐lived growth hormone (GH)‐deficient mice and GH‐resistant mice, we suggest that FSH may have a role in the control of aging and longevity. We speculate that alterations in FSH secretion may represent one of the mechanisms of trade‐offs between reproduction and aging.
Allergic FcεRI‐ and pseudo‐allergic MRGPRX2‐triggered mast cell activation routes are independent and inversely regulated by SCF
Authors: Babina M. , Guhl S. , Artuc M. , Zuberbier T.
Published: August 2017

While allergic mast cell (MC) degranulation occurs by FcεRI aggregation and varies in strength among subjects, the analogous pseudo‐allergic route was recently uncovered to proceed via MRGPRX2. Here, we examine interindividual variability in skin MC responses to FcεRI triggering vs those evoked by MRGPRX2. While population‐based variability is comparable between the routes, FcεRI‐ and MRGPRX2‐stimulated pathways are completely independent from each other, and responsiveness to one has therefore no predictive value for the other. Conversely, degranulation triggered by compound 48/80 is highly correlated to the process elicited by substance P. MRGPRX2 mRNA shows pronounced population‐based variability (coefficient of variation 102.9%). Surprisingly, stem cell factor (SCF) as the MC‐supportive mediator par excellence potently inhibits pseudo‐allergic degranulation, while it simultaneously promotes allergic stimulation via FcεRI. We conclude that SCF can have selective MC‐dampening functions. Clinically, the data imply that subjects highly reactive in one pathway are not automatically hyper‐responsive in terms of the alternative route.
Gastric bypass surgery does not increase the risk for sight‐threatening diabetic retinopathy
Authors: Morén Åsa , Sundbom Magnus , Ottosson Johan , Granstam Elisabet
Published: August 2017

Purpose

To study the occurrence and level of diabetic retinopathy (DRP) before and after planned bariatric surgery and to investigate potential risk factors for deterioration of DRP.

Methods

The Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Registry (SOReg) was used to identify diabetic patients who underwent gastric bypass (GBP) surgery at three centres in Sweden during 2008–2010. Information regarding DRP screening was obtained from ophthalmological patient charts. Patients who had DRP screening before and after GBP surgery were included in the study.

Results

The survey included 117 patients. Mean age was 50 (SD 10) years, body mass index (BMI) 43 (SD 8) kg/m2 and HbA1c 64 (SD 18) mmol/mol before surgery. One year post‐GBP, BMI was reduced to 31 (SD 6) kg/m2. HbA1c was 43 (SD 10) mmol/mol, and in 66% (77/117) treatment for diabetes had been discontinued. Occurrence of DRP before GBP was as follows: no DRP 62%, mild 26%, moderate 10%, severe 0% and proliferative DRP 2%. No significant changes in occurrence of DRP after surgery were observed. Twelve patients (16%) developed mild DRP. In seven patients with pre‐existing DRP, deterioration was observed and two of these patients required treatment for sight‐threatening DRP. No association between preoperative BMI, HbA1c or reduction in HbA1c and worsening of DRP was found.

Conclusion

In a majority of patients, no deterioration of DRP following GBP was observed. Screening for DRP before planned surgery is recommended for all diabetic patients about to undergo bariatric surgery to identify any pre‐existing DRP.
Metachronous solitary mediastinal lymph node metastases of hepatocellular carcinoma treated by video‐assisted thoracic surgery twice: Report of a case
Authors: Taniguchi Masatake , Hyodo Masanobu , Tezuka Kenji , Shinohara Shoichi , Hayashi Hirofumi , Inoue Yasuhiro , Satoh Hirotake , Tsukahara Munetoshi , Lefor Alan Kawarai , Okada Masaki , Yasuda Yoshikazu
Published: August 2017

Solitary mediastinal lymph node metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rare. We report a case of metachronically solitary mediastinal metastases of HCC treated by video‐assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) twice. A 66‐year‐old man underwent repeated laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation or trans‐arterial catheter chemo‐embolization against HCC for more than 10 years. The level of alpha fetoprotein protein was elevated, and radiological modalities including FDG‐PET revealed solitary mediastinal tumor metachronically. VATS was performed bilaterally twice. The postoperative course was uneventful and there had no recurrence of extra‐hepatic metastases and tumor markers are within normal limits at 18 months after second VATS. VATS is a minimally invasive and useful procedure for solitary mediastinal lymph node metastasis of HCC. If primary HCC was controlled and lymph node metastasis was solitary, mediastinum lymphadenectomy using VATS might give good short and long term results.
Bisphenol A Exposure Impairs Epididymal Development during the Peripubertal Period of Rats: Inflammatory Profile and Tissue Changes
Authors: Ogo Fernanda Mithie , de Lion Siervo Glaucia Eloisa Munhoz , Staurengo‐Ferrari Larissa , de Oliveira Mendes Leonardo , Luchetta Nicla Renata , Vieira Henrique Rodrigues , Fattori Victor , Verri Waldiceu Aparecido , Scarano Wellerson Rodrigo , Fernandes Glaura Scantamburlo Alves
Published: August 2017

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic non‐steroidal oestrogen used in the production of plastics. BPA can cause alterations in the endocrine system of human beings and animals at varied stages of development. During puberty, altered morphological, sexual behaviour and completion of the epididymal development occur. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of BPA on epididymal development during the peripubertal period of rats. Male Wistar rats were treated with BPA via gavage at doses of 20 μg/kg or 200 μg/kg per day [post‐natal day (PND] 36–66). The control group received the vehicles under the same conditions. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. On PND 67, the epididymis was removed, weighed, divided into caput/corpus and cauda sections. It was then used for sperm count determination; histopathological and stereological evaluation; inflammatory cell enzymatic profiling (myeloperoxidase activity – MPO; N‐acetylglucosaminidase – NAG); immunohistochemistry for IL‐6; and evaluation of superoxide anion levels and malondialdehyde (MDA). Exposure to BPA at 200 μg/kg caused a significant increase of MPO activity and immunoreactivity to IL‐6 (interleukin‐6) as well as remodelling of tissue components in the caput/corpus and cauda regions of the epididymis. Under these experimental conditions, it is concluded that BPA alters post‐natal epididymal development.
Students' insights on the use of video lectures in online classes
Authors: Scagnoli Norma I. , Choo Jinhee , Tian Jing
Published: August 2017

Video lectures (VL), considered an effective means for delivering course content and infusing teaching presence in the virtual environment, have become very popular in education. The purpose of this study was to investigate online student experiences with VL focusing on their opinion of usefulness of VL, their satisfaction with them and their perception of learning derived from them. Our findings show that students' satisfaction with VL has a strong relationship with positive overall learning experience and perception of impact of video on learning. Furthermore, VL can enhance a feeling of engagement with content because of learners' control of the media and instructors' presence. The findings also alert us on the importance of careful planning and balanced integration of VL with other course materials. This provides important information on the effectiveness of video‐lectures in college teaching and learning and implications for practice in online course design.
Results of a multicentre UK‐wide retrospective study evaluating the efficacy of brentuximab vedotin in relapsed, refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma in the transplant naive setting
Authors: Eyre Toby A. , Phillips Elizabeth H. , Linton Kim M. , Arumainathan Arvind , Kassam Shireen , Gibb Adam , Allibone Suzanne , Radford John , Peggs Karl , Burton Cathy , Stewart Gillian , LeDieu Rifca , Booth Catherine , Osborne Wendy L. , Miall Fiona , Eyre David W. , Ardeshna Kirit M. , Collins Graham P.
Published: August 2017

Relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is associated with a poor outcome when standard chemotherapy fails. Brentuximab vedotin (BV) is an anti‐CD30 monoclonal antibody‐drug conjugate licensed for use at relapse after autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or following two prior therapies in those unsuitable for ASCT. There are limited data assessing the ability of BV to enable curative SCT. We performed a UK‐wide retrospective study of 99 SCT‐naïve relapsed/refractory cHL. All had received 2 prior lines and were deemed fit for transplant but had an insufficient remission to proceed. The median age was 32 years. Most had nodular sclerosis subtype, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0–1 and advanced stage disease. The median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 5·6 months and median overall survival (OS) was 37·2 months. The overall response rate was 56% (29% complete response; 27% partial response). 61% reached SCT: 34% immediately post‐BV and 27% following an inadequate BV response but were salvaged and underwent deferred SCT. Patients consolidated with SCT had a superior PFS and OS to those not receiving SCT (P < 0·001). BV is an effective, non‐toxic bridge to immediate SCT in 34% and deferred SCT in 27%. 39% never reached SCT with a PFS of 3·0 months, demonstrating the unmet need to improve outcomes in those unsuitable for SCT post‐BV.
Commentary: Why measuring clinical change at the individual level is challenging but crucial – commentary on Jensen and Corralejo (2017)
Authors: Wolpert Miranda
Published: August 2017

Jensen and Corralejo highlight that most mental health intervention research focuses on the group level rather than individual level. They looked at parent‐reported outcomes for up to 24 children and found that individual‐level findings appear to tell a less positive story than the more traditional group‐level finding. They call for more reporting of outcomes at individual level.
Editorial: Values based child and adolescent mental health systems
Authors: Hindley Peter , Whitaker Fran
Published: August 2017

There are significant concerns, in countries around the world, about the mental health of children and young people and their access to appropriate services (Kutcher, McLuckie, & for the Child and Youth Advisory Committee, Mental Health Commission of Canada, ; Mental Health Commission, ; Paula, Lauridsen‐Ribeiro, Wissow, Bordin, & Evans‐Lacko, ; Wolfe & McKee, ; Department of Health, ). Common themes include: difficulties in accessing services, especially for some vulnerable groups, levels of resourcing, waiting times and training and staffing levels, although there are variations in emphasis.
What the child “SAID” to the dentist: A UK randomized controlled trial
Authors: Yee R. , Jones L. M. , Hosey M. T.
Published: August 2017

Background

The electronic Survey of Anxiety and Information for Dentists (eSAID) allows children to tell dentists about their feelings and coping preferences. It is a computer “quiz” with 26 questions and free‐text responses that produces a report for the children that they can then hand to their dentist. This is the first study to report the use of eSAID in a hospital paediatric dental clinic.

Methods

This was a randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether children thought that eSAID benefitted them, made them less anxious, and improved cooperation and their treatment satisfaction. Fifty‐one children aged 8–13 years were randomized to complete either eSAID or a control version in the waiting room before their scheduled dental appointment. The study group had a 26‐item questionnaire; the control had only two items. Both groups scored their anxiety on a 7‐point anxiety scale at the start and again at the end of the quiz. All subjects handed the resultant eSAID report as a printout to their dentist. Dental treatment proceeded as planned. After treatment, each child reported how they thought the eSAID quiz had benefitted them by scoring on a 10 cm Visual Analogue Scale and their satisfaction on the Modified Treatment Evaluation Inventory. The operating dentists scored the children's cooperation using a 10 cm Visual Analogue Scale.

Results

Overall, the baseline anxiety levels were low (study: mean 1.2; control: mean 1.5). The study group's post‐survey anxiety reduced by 0.4, whereas controls' increased by 0.2; this difference is statistically significant (p = .04). However, it made no difference to the children's self‐reported benefit (p = .30), satisfaction (p > .05), or cooperation (p = .34).

Conclusions

eSAID reduced pre‐treatment anxiety but made no difference to children's perceived benefit, satisfaction, or cooperation. Future study should include known anxious children.
Selective release of miRNAs via extracellular vesicles is associated with house‐dust mite allergen‐induced airway inflammation
Authors: Gon Y. , Maruoka S. , Inoue T. , Kuroda K. , Yamagishi K. , Kozu Y. , Shikano S. , Soda K. , Lötvall J. , Hashimoto S.
Published: August 2017

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) may facilitate cell‐to‐cell communication via extracellular vesicles (EVs). The biological roles of miRNAs in EVs on allergic airway inflammation are unclear.

Methods

Airway‐secreted EVs (AEVs) were isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of control and house‐dust mite (HDM) allergen‐exposed HDM‐sensitized mice. The expression of miRNAs in AEVs or miRNAs and mRNAs in lung tissue was analysed using miRNA microarray.

Results

The amount of AEV increased 8.9‐fold in BALF from HDM‐exposed mice compared with that from sham‐control mice. HDM exposure resulted in significant changes in the expression of 139 miRNAs in EVs and 175 miRNAs in lung tissues, with 54 miRNAs being common in both samples. Expression changes of these 54 miRNAs between miRNAs in AEVs and lung tissues after HDM exposure were inversely correlated. Computational analysis revealed that 31 genes, including IL‐13 and IL‐5Ra, are putative targets of the miRNAs up‐regulated in AEVs but down‐regulated in lung tissues after HDM exposure. The amount of AEV in BALF after HDM exposure was diminished by treatment with the sphingomyelinase inhibitor GW4869. The treatment with GW4869 also decreased Th2 cytokines and eosinophil counts in BALFs and reduced eosinophil accumulation in airway walls and mucosa.

Conclusion

These results indicate that selective sorting of miRNA including Th2 inhibitory miRNAs into AEVs and increase release to the airway after HDM exposure would be involved in the pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation.
Biallelic mutations in DYNC2LI1 are a rare cause of Ellis‐van Creveld syndrome
Authors: Niceta M. , Margiotti K. , Digilio M.C. , Guida V. , Bruselles A. , Pizzi S. , Ferraris A. , Memo L. , Laforgia N. , Dentici M.L. , Consoli F. , Torrente I. , Ruiz‐Perez V.L. , Dallapiccola B. , Marino B. , De Luca A. , Tartaglia M.
Published: August 2017

Ellis‐van Creveld syndrome (EvC) is a chondral and ectodermal dysplasia caused by biallelic mutations in the EVC, EVC2 and WDR35 genes. A proportion of cases with clinical diagnosis of EvC, however, do not carry mutations in these genes. To identify the genetic cause of EvC in a cohort of mutation‐negative patients, exome sequencing was undertaken in a family with 3 affected members, and mutation scanning of a panel of clinically and functionally relevant genes was performed in 24 additional subjects with features fitting/overlapping EvC. Compound heterozygosity for the c.2T>C (p.Met1?) and c.662C>T (p.Thr221Ile) variants in DYNC2LI1, which encodes a component of the intraflagellar transport‐related dynein‐2 complex previously found mutated in other short‐rib thoracic dysplasias, was identified in the 3 affected members of the first family. Targeted resequencing detected compound heterozygosity for the same missense variant and a truncating change (p.Val141*) in 2 siblings with EvC from a second family, while a newborn with a more severe phenotype carried 2 DYNC2LI1 truncating variants. Our findings indicate that DYNC2LI1 mutations are associated with a wider clinical spectrum than previously appreciated, including EvC, with the severity of the phenotype likely depending on the extent of defective DYNC2LI1 function.
Development and validation of a severity scoring system for Zellweger spectrum disorders
Authors: Klouwer F.C.C. , Meester‐Delver A. , Vaz F.M. , Waterham H.R. , Hennekam R.C.M. , Poll‐The B.T.
Published: August 2017

The lack of a validated severity scoring system for individuals with Zellweger spectrum disorders (ZSD) hampers optimal patient care and reliable research. Here, we describe the development of such severity score and its validation in a large, well‐characterized cohort of ZSD individuals. We developed a severity scoring system based on the 14 organs that typically can be affected in ZSD. A standardized and validated method was used to classify additional care needs in individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities (Capacity Profile [CAP]). Thirty ZSD patients of varying ages were scored by the severity score and the CAP. The median score was 9 (range 6‐19) with a median scoring age of 16.0 years (range 2‐36 years). The ZSD severity score was significantly correlated with all 5 domains of the CAP, most significantly with the sensory domain (r = 0.8971, P = <.0001). No correlation was found between age and severity score. Multiple peroxisomal biochemical parameters were significantly correlated with the severity score. The presently reported severity score for ZSD is a suitable tool to assess phenotypic severity in a ZSD patient at any age. This severity score can be used for objective phenotype descriptions, genotype‐phenotype correlation studies, the identification of prognostic features in ZSD patients and for classification and stratification of patients in clinical trials.