bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Robust ensemble of handcrafted and learned approaches for DNA-binding proteins
Authors: Nanni Loris , Brahnam Sheryl
Published: May 2021

Purpose

Automatic DNA-binding protein (DNA-BP) classification is now an essential proteomic technology. Unfortunately, many systems reported in the literature are tested on only one or two datasets/tasks. The purpose of this study is to create the most optimal and universal system for DNA-BP classification, one that performs competitively across several DNA-BP classification tasks.

Design/methodology/approach

Efficient DNA-BP classifier systems require the discovery of powerful protein representations and feature extraction methods. Experiments were performed that combined and compared descriptors extracted from state-of-the-art matrix/image protein representations. These descriptors were trained on separate support vector machines (SVMs) and evaluated. Convolutional neural networks with different parameter settings were fine-tuned on two matrix representations of proteins. Decisions were fused with the SVMs using the weighted sum rule and evaluated to experimentally derive the most powerful general-purpose DNA-BP classifier system.

Findings

The best ensemble proposed here produced comparable, if not superior, classification results on a broad and fair comparison with the literature across four different datasets representing a variety of DNA-BP classification tasks, thereby demonstrating both the power and generalizability of the proposed system.

Originality/value

Most DNA-BP methods proposed in the literature are only validated on one (rarely two) datasets/tasks. In this work, the authors report the performance of our general-purpose DNA-BP system on four datasets representing different DNA-BP classification tasks. The excellent results of the proposed best classifier system demonstrate the power of the proposed approach. These results can now be used for baseline comparisons by other researchers in the field.
Internal communication torn between employees' and management's expectations: an empirical study of employee magazines
Authors: Viererbl Benno , Koch Thomas , Denner Nora
Published: May 2021

Purpose

Editors of employee magazines may be torn between diverging expectations among their stakeholders. The management might be interested in strategically supportive communication, whereas employees might expect objective, independent, or critical coverage. Based on quantitative data, the paper aims to analyze how the editors perceive these expectations, how they see their professional role in this field of tension and how critically the magazines report.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a quantitative survey of 197 editors of employee magazines and a quantitative content analysis of 200 articles of employee magazines.

Findings

Editors perceive differences regarding the expectations of management and employees. These discrepancies, in turn, contribute to the experience of role conflicts. Our analysis reveals three types of editors: the voice of the management, the critical observer and the consensus-oriented mediator.

Originality/value

The study addresses the scarcely investigated area of conflict in which editors of employee magazines work. It is one of the first studies to analyze editors' perceived expectations of stakeholders, their professional self-perception and potential role conflicts with a quantitative survey. For the first time, quantitative methods are used to examine the causes of editors' role conflicts.
Archivists’ golden egg: environmental sustainability practices of archives
Authors: Faulkner James , Lu Liuxing , Chen Jiangping
Published: May 2021

Purpose

Archivists are charged with the preservation of their collections by reducing deterioration because of temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pollutants and other factors. The methods archivists use to preserve their collections may have a negative impact on the environment. This paper aims to identify factors for building environmentally sustainable archives to help guide archival environmental sustainability practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper identifies factors through a literature review, and conducts a content analysis of the websites of seven national/state archives. The analysis focuses on the policy statements of these archives.

Findings

The authors found that the literature lists 31 factors under 7 categories: electricity, facilities, water, exhibitions, pollution, collection practices and education and outreach. The content analysis of the policy documents or statements demonstrated that archives applied and addressed mostly “resource-related” efforts to protect the environment, such as factors related to electricity, facilities, water and pollution. However, factors related to “work-related” efforts, such as exhibitions, collection practices and education and outreach, were ignored.

Practical implications

This study can provide insights to archivists on current implementation and help to guide their further environmental sustainability practices.

Originality/value

Little is known regarding archivists’ implementation of environmentally sustainable practices. This study focuses on identifying factors for environmental sustainability of archives addressed by literature and existing archives, trying to find the gap between literature and practice.
An evaluation of public policy student placements: outcomes of a Malta-based study
Authors: Thake Anne Marie
Published: May 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate short-term, unpaid placements offered to students reading for a degree in public policy. They provide added value to their tertiary education experience. Elective placements were offered in 2012 and became a mandatory requirement for students reading for a three-year bachelor of commerce degree in public policy in 2018. To date, no research has been carried out on these placements and this may serve as a model for a post-evaluation assessment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from students who undertook placements, embedded in the public policy undergraduate programme. A document analysis of selected student and placement provider's reports was carried out to complement the students' responses to an online questionnaire.

Findings

Placements are of value to students as they served as an introduction to the working world. They enable students to establish connections with the course content and carry out research. They were exposed to real-life situations, developing their knowledge, acquiring soft skills and learning new tools, sought after by employers. These placements were valued as a route to graduate employment tailor-made to the degree's requirements. Students were able to embark on a soul-searching, introspective discovery and journey which made them mature and shed light in the direction of future work prospects.

Research limitations/implications

Placements give students the opportunity to gain insights into real-work environments and are able to link theories learnt in the class-room with real-life situations. Placements have positive implications on students adjusting to their work life easily after graduation. The limitations are that the sample size was small and that the reflective reports which were randomly selected may not have necessarily been representative of the full complement.

Practical implications

The practical implications are that the placements system and process can easily be implemented and replicated in other academic disciplines and universities as a compulsory component of their studies.

Social implications

Placements gave students the opportunity to reflect on their learning, develop non-technical skills and enhance their confidence levels. They were also able to network and communicate with different employees.

Originality/value

Placements provided exposure to relevant organisations and personal enrichment in terms of acquiring skills, autonomy and independence. Students with placement experience are also more likely to secure future employment, relevant to their undergraduate degree.
Healthy food exposition attendees’ purchasing strategies: a mental budgeting perspective
Authors: Fu Xiaoxiao , Lin Bingna , Wang Yao-Chin
Published: May 2021

Purpose

Grounded in the theory of mental budgeting, this paper aims to investigate how the regret and perfectionism of exposition attendees influences their purchasing strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

This research collected on-site data at a well-established specialty food exposition in China. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to test the proposed model.

Findings

The findings confirm the effect of psychological mechanism (regret and perfectionism) on exposition attendees’ purchasing strategy as one that boosts/impairs their confidence in purchasing healthy food at the exposition. Specifically, regret and perfectionism show differential contributions to purchasing strategy dimensions. Variety seeking has a positive effect, whereas price consciousness has a negative effect, on purchase confidence.

Practical implications

Event organizers and exhibitors should understand attendees’ consumption-related psychological mechanism and devise effective management and marketing strategies for optimal consumption experiences at expositions. They can create an informative and worry-free experience that facilitates a pleasant thought process to reduce uncertainty in attendees’ on-site decision-making.

Originality/value

The current research pioneered a unique model conceptualizing the important, yet underexplored, phenomenon of purchasing mechanism in the exposition setting. Addressing the emerging interest in food expositions, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first for examining purchasing mechanism from the perspective of mental budgeting, providing insightful knowledge about how the psychological mechanism affects exposition attendees’ pre-purchase evaluation and confidence toward purchasing healthy food at expositions.
Online flight path planning with flight time constraints for fixed-wing UAVs in dynamic environments
Authors: Babel Luitpold
Published: May 2021

Purpose

A major challenge for mission planning of aircraft is to generate flight paths in highly dynamic environments. This paper presents a new approach for online flight path planning with flight time constraints for fixed-wing UAVs. The flight paths must take into account the kinematic restrictions of the vehicle and be collision-free with terrain, obstacles and no-fly areas. Moreover, the flight paths are subject to time constraints such as predetermined time of arrival at the target or arrival within a specified time interval.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed flight path planning algorithm is an evolution of the well-known RRT* algorithm. It uses three-dimensional Dubins paths to reflect the flight capabilities of the air vehicle. Requirements for the flight time are realized by skillfully concatenating two rapidly exploring random trees rooted in the start and target point, respectively.

Findings

The approach allows to consider static obstacles, obstacles which might pop up unexpectedly, as well as moving obstacles. Targets might be static or moving with constantly changing course. Even a change of the target during flight, a change of the target approach direction or a change of the requested time of arrival is included.

Originality/value

The capability of the flight path algorithm is demonstrated by simulation results. Response times of fractions of a second qualify the algorithm for real-time applications in highly dynamic scenarios.
The effectiveness of using blended learning teaching and learning strategy to develop students' performance at higher education
Authors: Ayob Hisham Hanfy , Daleure Georgia , Solovieva Nadia , Minhas Wasif , White Timothy
Published: May 2021

Purpose

The research aims to identify the effectiveness of using the blended learning strategy on achievement among students of higher colleges of technology in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), through the answer to the following question: Is there a statistically significant difference at the significance level (a = 0.05) in students' achievements in general studies courses at higher education attributed to the method of teaching (blended learning, traditional).

Design/methodology/approach

The research applied a Quasi-experimental. The current research used two groups experimental group and controlled group across two phases: pilot study and experimental study. Phase 1 examined the difference between the pilot group and the nonpilot group at Sharjah colleges across three different courses: Fundamentals of Applied Mathematics, Professional Communication and Reporting and Basic Research Methods during the spring semester 2019 at Sharjah colleges. Phase 2 examined the difference between the experimental group (using blended learning during summer 2019) and the controlled group (learned the same courses during summer 2018) across three different courses and the same three courses.

Findings

There is no statistically significant difference at significance level (a = 0.05) in students' achievements in the Fundamentals of Applied Mathematics (LSM 1000) course between the experimental and controlled groups. There is a statistically significant difference at significance level (a = 0.05) in students' achievements in the Professional Communication and Reporting (LSC 1103) in favor of the experimental group course at higher education attributed to the method of teaching (blended learning, traditional). There is no statistically significant difference at significance level (a = 0.05) in students' achievements in the Basic Research Methods (LSS 1123) between the experimental and controlled groups.

Research limitations/implications

1. The study is limited to students of Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE. 2. The study is limited to the General Studies Department at Higher Colleges of Technology. 3. The achievement test used in the study is a standardized test developed by the college.

Originality/value

This research considered the first research to discuss the effectiveness of using blended learning where three teaching strategies are combined together (normal face-to-face classes, flipped classroom and online face-to-face classes) in students' achievement at higher education in the UAE.
The effects of online tactile information source for low-touch products on consumer responses
Authors: Donato Carmela , Raimondo Maria Antonietta
Published: May 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the effects of web communities vs company websites in providing tactile information considering different types of product in terms of touch diagnosticity (low- vs. high-touch products).

Design/methodology/approach

Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the effect of online information sources (i.e. web communities vs. company websites) in providing tactile information on consumer responses, considering the moderation role of product type in terms of touch diagnosticity (low- vs. high-touch products, Study 1), the moderating role of type of information (tactile vs. generic, Study 2a); and the moderating role of need for touch (NFT) (Study 2a and 2b).

Findings

While previous research converges on the idea that the provision of a written description of tactile properties deriving from the product usage is particularly effective for products for which tactile information is diagnostic and for individuals high in NFT, the results demonstrated that the presence (vs. the absence) of the description of the tactile properties provided by web communities (vs. company websites) matters for those products for which touch is not diagnostic and for individuals low in NFT.

Practical implications

The findings have particular relevance for emerging brands intending to commercialize their products in the digital environment. These companies should be present in web communities to describe a product’s tactile characteristics, especially if not diagnostic.

Originality/value

This paper significantly contributes to a better understanding of a little studied area, namely, consumer responses toward haptic compensational strategies providing haptic cues (e.g. written description of tactile information along with pictures of products) aiming at compensating for the absence of touch, underlining the differential influence of online sources of tactile information on consumer responses across different types of products.
Digital evolution and emerging revenue management practices: evidence from Aegean airlines distribution channels
Authors: Katsoni Vicky , Poulaki Ioulia
Published: May 2021

Purpose

The rapid digital transformation (DX) that airlines experienced during the past decade has been proven to be the driving force of significant benefits for the airlines when it comes to cost reduction, branding and revenue opportunities when passengers purchase tickets and ancillaries directly from their websites. This paper aims to contribute empirically to the theoretical approaches of DX and revenue management (RM) with the investigation of the Aegean airlines DX progress, focusing on emerging RM practices and digital distribution channels.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis of the airlines’ website and social media performance is used to note the current situation combined with previous and upcoming developments. Evaluation of the company’s digitalization progress is approached by using a combination of two selected DX models, the digital transformation maturity (DTM) concept and the technology acceptance model (TAM).

Findings

The analysis of qualitative and quantitative secondary data provided by the Aegean airlines indicates that the adoption of a digital evolution marketing plan, enriched with emerging RM practices, is leading to the increase of the bookings coming from the airline’s direct distribution channels (Web & Apps) over those from intermediaries (GDSs). Consequently, Aegean airlines’ DX progress favors cost reduction and revenue increase at the same time.

Originality/value

DX model-based airline steps combined with direct versus indirect ticket purchase pattern compose a tool to evaluate the airline digitalization progress toward revenue integrity and product customization, as the latest trend in customer-centric strategy of businesses and customer relationship management (eCRM).
The efficiency of REITs industry in Saudi Arabia: profit-oriented approach
Authors: Alsharif Mohammad
Published: May 2021

Purpose

This study aims to extensively investigate the efficiency of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Saudi Arabia.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs the data envelopment analysis on 17 Saudi REITs with an innovative profit-oriented approach in selecting REITs' inputs and outputs.

Findings

It is found that the traditional approach underestimates the efficiency of Saudi REITs in comparison with the profit-oriented approach, implying that relying on the traditional approach in assessing the efficiency of REITs will underestimate their efficiency and provide misleading results about their actual performance. However, both approaches showed that Saudi REITs are very efficient in utilizing their inputs, and the major source of their inefficiency is related to their scale inefficiency. Moreover, small Saudi REITs are more efficient than large ones. Finally, a higher level of debt is supposedly associated with lower levels of efficiency, indicating that Saudi REITs should not rely on debt funding because there is no tax advantage from using debt.

Originality/value

This paper has several contributions to the literature. First, it employs an innovative profit-oriented approach in selecting REITs' inputs and outputs. Second, this study focuses on analyzing the efficiency of REITs in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest country in the Middle East region, regarding size, stock market capitalization and gross domestic product. Finally, to the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the efficiency of REITs in Saudi Arabia, and it provides substantial information for REITs' investors and managers about the current efficiency of the Saudi REITs industry.
Service quality and customer satisfaction as antecedents of financial sustainability of the water service providers
Authors: Murrar Abdullah , Batra Madan , Rodger James
Published: May 2021

Purpose

Service quality and customer satisfaction influence the financial performance of service organizations. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the path relationship of service quality to customer satisfaction to financial sustainability in the water service sector, which is vital to the sustainable future of mankind. Further, these three interrelated constructs and their dimensions are clearly articulated.

Design/methodology/approach

SERVQUAL questionnaire responses were collected from 635 household families, and the financial sustainability indicators of 56 water providers were gathered as well. Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis were conducted to measure the internal consistency and convergent validity. Path analysis was utilized to evaluate the causal diagram by examining the relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction and financial sustainability using the AMOS software package.

Findings

The results showed that the five dimensions of service quality explain 58% of the customer satisfaction variation. The responsiveness, empathy, assurance and reliability have significant impact on the customer satisfaction where p < 0.05, while the tangible dimension has an insignificant effect. The results also revealed that customer satisfaction has a significant impact on the financial sustainability indicators of the water providers, where p = 0.000 for the debt collection ratio indicator, and p = 0.003 for the financial efficiency ratio indicator.

Research limitations/implications

This research on financial sustainability is based on evidence about service quality and customer satisfaction in the Palestinian water sector. Future research on financial sustainability of the water sector may focus on the pricing mechanism and debt collection of water service.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that water providers should recognize the importance of service quality dimensions, which strengthen the customer satisfaction, which, in turn, is a significant driver for their financial sustainability. It is, therefore, sound to draw action-oriented managerial implications from these results.

Originality/value

The study adds to the literature of water service sector and is based on empirical evidence from primary data of household families and secondary data of water service providers from developing countries. This paper also contributes toward the strengthening of sustainability of the water service sector in Palestine – a worthy humanitarian cause. The study provides evidence useful for policy makers toward carving out policies aimed at strengthening the financial sustainability of the water service sector.
Are traits drivers or consequences of competition? Comments to Carmona et al
Authors: Botta‐Dukát Zoltán
Published: May 2021

Carmona et al. (2019) have recently published the results of a well‐designed experiment examining the effect of functional traits on the outcome of competition. Their main conclusions were that (a) trait hierarchies better predict the strength of competition than trait differences, and (b) the consideration of intraspecific trait variation improves our ability to predict the strength of competition.

They applied multi‐model inference by averaging regression coefficients. This approach is strongly criticized because it averages regression coefficients for which the meaning is conditional on the other predictors included in the model.

In this paper, their data were re‐analysed using alternative methods. The results only partly support the original conclusions in that trait hierarchy proved to be obviously important in height, but not in the other three traits.

Synthesis. Intraspecific trait variation contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between traits and competitive interactions. On the other hand, traits measured in focal individuals may be both drivers and consequences of competition, which makes the interpretation of the relationship more difficult.
Does performance measurement improve public sector performance? A case of Australian government agencies
Authors: Smith Graham , Halligan John , Mir Monir
Published: May 2021

The paper investigates whether performance measurement drives performance improvement in Australian government agencies. Because the answer to such a question is rarely unconditional, contextual factors such as jurisdiction and type of organisation are considered. The paper uses documents such as budgets and annual reports of nine government agencies in three Australian jurisdictions to analyse how results against targets influence subsequent measured performance. It finds that performance measurement does not drive performance improvement for the agencies studied. The paper also explores two types of mechanism by which performance measurement might improve performance in Australian government agencies. One mechanism is that setting targets focuses effort leading to improved performance. A second mechanism assumes that policy intent plus resources leads to good performance measures, which produces better information and decisions and hence higher performance. No discernible impacts of these mechanisms on performance improvements in these agencies were observed. A systems‐based approach to understanding the forces acting on managers and organisations showed that the mechanisms described above were less effective than countervailing influences that tended to derogate from the use of performance measurement.
The two‐community model in the New Zealand housing policy community – A bottom‐up perspective
Authors: Löfgren Karl , Bickerton Sarah Hendrica
Published: May 2021

The barriers and tensions between the world of academic research and the policy world have been a recurrent theme in policy research since the 1970s and has gained renewed interest in the light of the evidence‐based policymaking movement. Although there seem to be many good arguments to not exaggerate the gulf between what has been called ‘the two communities’, we will in this article demonstrate the persistence of the model from an inductive, bottom‐up perspective. Based on an empirical and bottom‐up qualitative study with various organised interests (both inside and outside the government) involved in New Zealand housing policy, we demonstrate that although the two‐community model prevails, the actual relationship between academia and policy professionals is more complex once you begin to probe into the minds of the policy professionals and cannot be reduced to two separate tribes. The study is based on focus groups with 15 different organisations representing both central and local government organisations, housing associations, and professional associations within the policy field of housing in New Zealand.
Analysis of the Australia and New Zealand referral criteria for transfer to a liver unit for paracetamol overdose
Authors: Xu Yifan , Testro Adam , Wong Anselm
Published: May 2021

Objectives

Paracetamol overdose is common and can lead to fulminant hepatic failure. In cases that are not improving with standard medical therapy with N‐acetylcysteine, some patients may require liver transplant. The Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) referral criteria for transfer to a liver unit have not been extensively studied for its predictive value. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ANZ referral criteria for predicting mortality in paracetamol overdose.

Methods

This study involves a retrospective analysis of patients who developed hepatotoxicity post‐paracetamol overdose presenting to an Australian health service with a liver transplant unit between 2010 and 2019 and were treated with N‐acetylcysteine. The primary outcome was death or transplant.

Results

Out of 983 paracetamol overdose presentations, 81 (8.2%) cases developed hepatotoxicity. Of these, 17 cases (21%) met the composite endpoint of death or transplant. The ANZ referral criteria is highly sensitive at predicting the primary endpoint of death or transplant at time of referral 100% (95% confidence interval 81–100) but had low specificity at 30% (95% confidence interval 19–42).

Conclusions

The ANZ referral criteria were highly sensitive for predicting the outcome of mortality and transplant. This is important for screening patients who may become unstable and difficult to transfer at a later stage of their admission.
Food prices and marketing margins during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from vegetable value chains in Ethiopia
Authors: Hirvonen Kalle , Minten Bart , Mohammed Belay , Tamru Seneshaw
Published: May 2021

It is widely feared that the shock of the COVID‐19 pandemic will lead to a significant worsening of the food security situation in low and middle‐income countries. One reason for this is the disruption of food marketing systems and subsequent changes in farm and consumer prices. Based on primary data in Ethiopia collected just before the start and a few months into the pandemic, we assess changes in farm and consumer prices of four major vegetables and the contribution of different segments of the rural‐urban value chain in urban retail price formation. We find large, but heterogeneous, price changes for different vegetables with relatively larger changes seen at the farm level, compared to the consumer level, leading to winners and losers among local vegetable farmers due to pandemic‐related trade disruptions. We further note that despite substantial hurdles in domestic trade reported by most value chain agents, increases in marketing—and especially transportation—costs have not been the major contributor to overall changes in retail prices. Marketing margins even declined for half of the vegetables studied. The relatively small changes in marketing margins overall indicate the resilience of these domestic value chains during the pandemic in Ethiopia.
Has consumer‐directed care improved the quality of life of older Australians? An exploratory empirical assessment
Authors: Bulamu Norma B. , Kaambwa Billingsley , Gill Liz , Lancsar Emily , Cameron Ian D. , Ratcliffe Julie
Published: May 2021

Objectives

To assess the impact of a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) model of service delivery on the quality of life of older people receiving home care packages.

Methods

Quality of life was assessed using validated instruments. The relationship between quality of life and length of time exposed to CDC was examined using descriptive statistical and multivariate regression analyses.

Results

Consenting older adults (n = 150) in receipt of home care packages participated. Quality of life and capability scores were higher for older people in receipt of a CDC model of service delivery for <12 months compared to those receiving the model of care for longer, although this difference was not statistically significant. However, older people with more recent exposure to CDC indicated a stronger capability to do things that made them feel valued.

Conclusion

Extended longitudinal follow‐up is needed to facilitate a detailed examination of the relationship between the evolution of CDC and its longer‐term influences on quality of life.
Prenatal paraben exposure and atopic dermatitis‐related outcomes among children
Authors: Thürmann Loreen , Herberth Gunda , Seiwert Bettina , Schlittenbauer Linda , Rolle‐Kampczyk Ulrike , Röder Stefan , Sack Ulrich , Borte Michael , von Bergen Martin , Trump Saskia , Reemtsma Thorsten , Lehmann Irina
Published: May 2021

Background

Parabens, widely used as preservatives in cosmetics, foods, and other consumer products, are suspected of contributing to allergy susceptibility. The detection of parabens in the placenta or amniotic fluid raised concerns about potential health consequences for the child. Recently, an increased asthma risk following prenatal exposure has been reported. Here, we investigated whether prenatal paraben exposure can influence the risk for atopic dermatitis (AD).

Methods

261 mother‐child pairs of the German mother‐child study LINA were included in this analysis. Eight paraben species were quantified in maternal urine obtained at gestational week 34. According to the parental report of physician‐diagnosed AD from age 1 to 8 years, disease onset, and persistence, childhood AD was classified into four different phenotypes.

Results

4.6% (n = 12) and 12.3% (n = 32) of the children were classified as having very early‐onset AD (until age two) either with or without remission, 11.9% (n = 31) as early‐onset (after age two), and 3.1% (n = 8) as childhood‐onset AD (after age six). Exposure to ethylparaben and n‐butylparaben was associated with an increased risk to develop very early‐onset AD without remission (EtP: adj.OR/95% CI:1.44/1.04–2.00,nBuP:adj.OR/95% CI:1.95/1.22–3.12). The effects of both parabens were predominant in children without a history of maternal AD and independent of children's sex.

Conclusion

Prenatal EtP or nBuP exposure may increase children's susceptibility for persistent AD with disease onset at very early age. This association was particularly pronounced in children without a history of maternal AD, indicating that children without a genetic predisposition are more susceptible to paraben exposure.
Long‐term trends in critical care admissions in Wales**
Authors: Pugh R. J. , Bailey R. , Szakmany T. , Al Sallakh M. , Hollinghurst J. , Akbari A. , Griffiths R. , Battle C. , Thorpe C. , Subbe C. P. , Lyons R. A.
Published: May 2021

As national populations age, demands on critical care services are expected to increase. In many healthcare settings, longitudinal trends indicate rising numbers and proportions of patients admitted to ICU who are older; elsewhere, including some parts of the UK, a decrease has raised concerns with regard to rationing according to age. Our aim was to investigate admission trends in Wales, where critical care capacity has not risen in the last decade. We used the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank to identify and characterise critical care admissions in patients aged ≥ 18 years from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2017. We categorised 85,629 ICU admissions as youngest (18–64 years), older (65–79 years) and oldest (≥ 80 years). The oldest group accounted for 15% of admissions, the older age group 39% and the youngest group 46%. Relative to the national population, the incidence of admission rates per 10,000 population in the oldest group decreased significantly over the study period from 91.5/10,000 in 2008 to 77.5/10,000 (a relative decrease of 15%), and among the older group from 89.2/10,000 in 2008 to 75.3/10,000 in 2017 (a relative decrease of 16%). We observed significant decreases in admissions with high comorbidity (modified Charlson comorbidity index); increases in the proportion of older patients admitted who were considered ‘fit’ rather than frail (electronic frailty index); and decreases in admissions with a medical diagnosis. In contrast to other healthcare settings, capacity constraints and surgical imperatives appear to have contributed to a relative exclusion of older patients presenting with acute medical illness.
Hyperinflammation: On the pathogenesis and treatment of macrophage activation syndrome
Authors: Andersson Ulf
Published: May 2021

Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a subtype of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) diseases. The underlying mechanism of these life‐threatening disorders is impaired granule‐mediated cytotoxicity exerted by natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes. This function is meant for elimination of virus‐infected cells, malignant cells and to prevent exaggerated immune responses. The normal outcome after an attack by NK or cytotoxic T cells is apoptosis of the target cell. This prevents cytotoxic inflammatory responses in adjacent tissues which occur after lytic cell death. Extensive cell lysis can even produce a cytokine storm, as evidenced in MAS. Programmed proinflammatory lytic cell death, pyroptosis, caused by activated inflammasomes is central in the pathogenesis of MAS. Pyroptosis mediates IL‐18 cytokine release, which robustly stimulates NK and T cells to produce IFN‐γ, the key macrophage‐activating signal which initiates a burst of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Lytic cell death also mediates a discharge of the prototype alarmin high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1), a proinflammatory molecule present in all cells and that mediates the pathogenesis of MAS as outlined here. Therapeutic options to control causal factors operating in the pathogenesis of MAS are also discussed.
Health outcomes among detoxification patients: The role of chronic pain
Authors: Woodhead Erin L. , Brief Deborah , Below Maureen , Timko Christine
Published: May 2021

Understanding associations between chronic pain and health outcomes among detoxification patients may help improve treatment outcomes and abstinence rates. Exercise is a modifiable lifestyle factor that may reduce the effect of pain on outcomes in this population. The current study examined whether baseline pain, exercise, and their interaction were associated with psychiatric and medical severity, and abstinence self‐efficacy, over six months following detoxification. Participants were veteran patients in alcohol or opioid detoxification treatment (N = 298) who were followed for six months (91.1%). Psychiatric severity and abstinence self‐efficacy improved over the six months after detoxification; medical severity was stable. More intense pain at baseline was associated with poorer psychiatric and medical outcomes during the post‐detoxification period. Regular exercise at baseline was associated with less psychiatric severity and more abstinence self‐efficacy during the post‐detoxification period. A significant pain by exercise interaction at baseline indicated that regular exercise was associated with more abstinence self‐efficacy during the post‐detoxification period only among participants with less intense pain. Pain by exercise interactions was not significant for the outcomes of psychiatric and medical severity. Among detoxification patients, exercise may be beneficial in improving outcomes among those with less intense pain.
Antecedents of CSR communication by hotels: The case of the Colombian Caribbean Region
Authors: Serra‐Cantallops Antoni , Peña Miranda David D. , Ramón‐Cardona José
Published: May 2021

By measuring the level of CSR communication carried out by hotels located in the Colombian Caribbean region and identifying the main determinant factors influencing this level (including pressure from the different stakeholders), this paper contributes to deepening our understanding of the antecedents of CSR communication in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in emerging economies and, particularly, in the hotel industry, for which no previous studies on this topic could be uncovered. The results reveal that the level of CSR disclosure is low in the region and that the size of the hotel, the pressure from government agencies, and the age and educational background of the hotel’s top manager have a significant influence on the level of CSR communication. Results indicate a reactive approach to CSR communication confirming the prominent role played by government agencies, thus contributing to gain a richer understanding of institutional influences on CSR in Latin American countries. In terms of practical implications, findings suggest that governments should play a more active role in stimulating CSR communication in emerging countries, particularly in the case of SMEs.
Collective Reflective Equilibrium in Practice (CREP) and controversial novel technologies
Authors: Savulescu Julian , Gyngell Christopher , Kahane Guy
Published: May 2021

In this paper, we investigate how data about public preferences may be used to inform policy around the use of controversial novel technologies, using public preferences about autonomous vehicles (AVs) as a case study. We first summarize the recent ‘Moral Machine’ study, which generated preference data from millions of people regarding how they think AVs should respond to emergency situations. We argue that while such preferences cannot be used to directly inform policy, they should not be disregarded. We defend an approach that we call ‘Collective Reflective Equilibrium in Practice’ (CREP). In CREP, data on public attitudes function as an input into a deliberative process that looks for coherence between attitudes, behaviours and competing ethical principles. We argue that in cases of reasonable moral disagreement, data on public attitudes should play a much greater role in shaping policies than in areas of ethical consensus. We apply CREP to some of the global preferences about AVs uncovered by the Moral Machines study. We intend this discussion both as a substantive contribution to the debate about the programming of ethical AVs, and as an illustration of how CREP works. We argue that CREP provides a principled way of using some public preferences as an input for policy, while justifiably disregarding others.
Fisher transformation based confidence intervals of correlations in fixed‐ and random‐effects meta‐analysis
Authors: Welz Thilo , Doebler Philipp , Pauly Markus
Published: May 2021

Meta‐analyses of correlation coefficients are an important technique to integrate results from many cross‐sectional and longitudinal research designs. Uncertainty in pooled estimates is typically assessed with the help of confidence intervals, which can double as hypothesis tests for two‐sided hypotheses about the underlying correlation. A standard approach to construct confidence intervals for the main effect is the Hedges‐Olkin‐Vevea Fisher‐z (HOVz) approach, which is based on the Fisher‐z transformation. Results from previous studies (Field, 2005,Psychol. Meth., 10, 444; Hafdahl and Williams, 2009,Psychol. Meth., 14, 24), however, indicate that in random‐effects models the performance of the HOVz confidence interval can be unsatisfactory. To this end, we propose improvements of the HOVz approach, which are based on enhanced variance estimators for the main effect estimate. In order to study the coverage of the new confidence intervals in both fixed‐ and random‐effects meta‐analysis models, we perform an extensive simulation study, comparing them to established approaches. Data were generated via a truncated normal and beta distribution model. The results show that our newly proposed confidence intervals based on a Knapp‐Hartung‐type variance estimator or robust heteroscedasticity consistent sandwich estimators in combination with the integral z‐to‐r transformation (Hafdahl, 2009,Br. J. Math. Stat. Psychol., 62, 233) provide more accurate coverage than existing approaches in most scenarios, especially in the more appropriate beta distribution simulation model.
Specific activation of glycolytic enzyme enolase 2 in BRAF V600E‐mutated colorectal cancer
Authors: Yukimoto Ryohei , Nishida Naohiro , Hata Tsuyoshi , Fujino Shiki , Ogino Takayuki , Miyoshi Norikatsu , Takahashi Hidekazu , Uemura Mamoru , Satoh Taroh , Hirofumi Yamamoto , Mizushima Tsunekazu , Doki Yuichiro , Eguchi Hidetoshi
Published: May 2021

The BRAF V600E mutation occurs in approximately 10% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) and constitutes a distinct subtype of the disease with extremely poor prognosis. To address this refractory disease, we investigated the unique metabolic gene profile of BRAF V600E‐mutated tumors via in silico analysis using a large‐scale clinical database. We found that BRAF V600E‐mutated tumors exhibited a specific metabolic gene expression signature, including some genes that are associated with poor prognosis in CRC. We discovered that BRAF V600E‐mutated tumors expressed high levels of glycolytic enzyme enolase 2 (ENO2), which is mainly expressed in neuronal tissues under physiological conditions. In vitro experiments using CRC cells demonstrated that BRAF V600E‐mutated cells exhibited enhanced dependency on ENO2 compared to BRAF wild‐type cancer cells and that knockdown of ENO2 led to the inhibition of proliferation and migration of BRAF V600E‐mutated cancer cells. Moreover, inhibition of ENO2 resulted in enhanced sensitivity to vemurafenib, a selective inhibitor of BRAF V600E. We identified AP‐1 transcription factor subunit (FOSL1) as being involved in the transcription of ENO2 in CRC cells. In addition, both MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling were suppressed upon inhibition of ENO2, implying an additional oncogenic role of ENO2. These results suggest the crucial role of ENO2 in the progression of BRAF V600E‐mutated CRC and indicate the therapeutic implications of targeting this gene.
Design strategies, SAR, and mechanistic insight of Aurora kinase inhibitors in cancer
Authors: Sankhe Kaksha , Prabhu Arati , Khan Tabassum
Published: May 2021

Aurora kinases (AURKs) are serine/threonine protein kinases that play a critical role during cell proliferation. Three isoforms of AURKs reported in mammals include AURKA, AURKB, AURKC, and all share a similar C‐terminal catalytic domain with differences in their subcellular location, substrate specificity, and function. Recent research reports indicate an elevated expression of these kinases in several cancer types highlighting their role as oncogenes in tumorigenesis. Inhibition of AURKs is an attractive strategy to design potent inhibitors modulating this target. The last few years have witnessed immense research in the development of AURK inhibitors with few FDA approvals. The current clinical therapeutic regime in cancer is associated with severe side‐effects and emerging resistance to existing drugs. This has been the key driver of research initiatives toward designing more potent drugs that can potentially circumvent the emerging resistance. This review is a comprehensive summary of recent research on AURK inhibitors and presents the development of scaffolds, their synthetic schemes, structure–activity relationships, biological activity, and enzyme inhibition potential. We hope to provide the reader with an array of scaffolds that can be selected for further research work and mechanistic studies in the development of new AURK inhibitors.