bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Building kidney organoids from pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Kobayashi Akio , Nishinakamura Ryuichi
Published: June 2022

Purpose of review

During embryogenesis, the kidney is mainly generated from three progenitor cells; nephron progenitors, ureteric bud progenitors and stromal progenitors. Mutual interactions of the all three progenitor populations are essential to form a functional kidney with the higher-order structure. Pluripotent stem cells have potential to differentiate into all cell types of the animal body, including the kidney. In this review, we will summarize recent advances in reconstructing kidney organoids from pluripotent stem cells.

Recent findings

In the past years, major advances were reported to induce nephron and ureteric bud progenitors from pluripotent stem cells in mice and humans, and to create kidney organoids of nephron and/or ureteric bud-derived collecting duct tissues in vitro. These kidney organoid technologies were applied to high-throughput genetic screenings and small chemical screenings to identify key factors for kidney development and disease. Furthermore, a novel method was established to induce stromal progenitors from pluripotent stem cells, leading to creation of kidney organoids with the higher-order structures completely derived from pluripotent stem cells.

These advances in kidney organoids from pluripotent stem cells should lay a foundation to establish a novel therapy for kidney disease, which ultimately eliminate the need of dialysis and kidney transplantation for patients with kidney disease in the future.
Significant Temporal Association of Esophageal Air Events (Supragastric Belches, Air Swallows, and Gastric Belches) With Hiccups: A Case Study in an Adolescent
Authors: Woodley Frederick W. , Williams Kent , Di Lorenzo Carlo , Michel Hilary K.
Published: June 2022

We previously reported our ability to objectively assess the strength of temporal relationships between gastroesophageal reflux (GER) disease-like symptoms with esophageal air events (EAEs) (air swallows, gastric belching, and supragastric belching) using impedance-pH monitoring. Recently, we similarly evaluated an adolescent female who presented to our clinic with symptoms of recurrent hiccups and with what appeared to be numerous EAEs. Hiccups were associated with GER (symptom association probability [SAP] = 100%), air swallows (SAP = 99.7%), supragastric belches (SAP = 100%), and gastric belches (SAP = 100%), with almost twice as many of the supragastric belches preceding a hiccup than any of the other 3 esophageal disturbance types (EDs) (P < 0.00001). Our data showing a significant temporal association between EAEs and hiccups support a previous report in which belching was suspected of being associated with hiccups in an adult male. Reports such as this underscore the importance of considering the assessment of temporal relationships between extra-esophageal symptoms and EDs that include not only GER, but also EAEs, such as air swallows, gastric belches and supragastric belches, when devising strategies for clinical management of patients with hiccups.
Recruitment and retention for chronic pain clinical trials: a narrative review
Authors: Kennedy Nan , Nelson Sarah , Jerome Rebecca N. , Edwards Terri L. , Stroud Mary , Wilkins Consuelo H. , Harris Paul A.
Published: June 2022

Opioid misuse is at a crisis level. In response to this epidemic, the National Institutes of Health has funded $945 million in research through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Pain Management Initiative, including funding to the Vanderbilt Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC) to strategize methods to catalyze participant recruitment. The RIC, recognizing the challenges presented to clinical researchers in recruiting individuals experiencing pain, conducted a review of evidence in the literature on successful participant recruitment methods for chronic pain trials, in preparation for supporting the HEAL Pain trials. Study design as it affects recruitment was reviewed, with issues such as sufficient sample size, impact of placebo, pain symptom instability, and cohort characterization being identified as problems. Potential solutions found in the literature include targeted electronic health record phenotyping, use of alternative study designs, and greater clinician education and involvement. For retention, the literature reports successful strategies that include maintaining a supportive staff, allowing virtual study visits, and providing treatment flexibility within the trial. Community input on study design to identify potential obstacles to recruitment and retention was found to help investigators avoid pitfalls and enhance trust, especially when recruiting underrepresented minority populations. Our report concludes with a description of generalizable resources the RIC has developed or adapted to enhance recruitment and retention in the HEAL Pain studies. These resources include, among others, a Recruitment and Retention Plan Template, a Competing Trials Tool, and MyCap, a mobile research application that interfaces with Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap).
Climate change winners and losers among North American bumblebees
Authors: Jackson Hanna M. , Johnson Sarah A. , Morandin Lora A. , Richardson Leif L. , Guzman Laura Melissa , M’Gonigle Leithen K.
Published: June 2022

Mounting evidence suggests that climate change, agricultural intensification and disease are impacting bumblebee health and contributing to species’ declines. Identifying how these factors impact insect communities at large spatial and temporal scales is difficult, partly because species may respond in different ways. Further, the necessary data must span large spatial and temporal scales, which usually means they comprise aggregated, presence-only records collected using numerous methods (e.g. diversity surveys, educational collections, citizen-science projects, standardized ecological surveys). Here, we use occupancy models, which explicitly correct for biases in the species observation process, to quantify the effect of changes in temperature, precipitation and floral resources on bumblebee site occupancy over the past 12 decades in North America. We find no evidence of genus-wide declines in site occupancy, but do find that occupancy is strongly related to temperature, and is only weakly related to precipitation or floral resources. We also find that more species are likely to be climate change ‘losers’ than ‘winners’ and that this effect is primarily associated with changing temperature. Importantly, all trends were highly species-specific, highlighting that genus or community-wide measures may not reflect diverse species-specific patterns that are critical in guiding allocation of conservation resources.
Capturing crop adaptation to abiotic stress using image-based technologies
Authors: Al-Tamimi Nadia , Langan Patrick , Bernád Villő , Walsh Jason , Mangina Eleni , Negrão Sónia
Published: June 2022

Farmers and breeders aim to improve crop responses to abiotic stresses and secure yield under adverse environmental conditions. To achieve this goal and select the most resilient genotypes, plant breeders and researchers rely on phenotyping to quantify crop responses to abiotic stress. Recent advances in imaging technologies allow researchers to collect physiological data non-destructively and throughout time, making it possible to dissect complex plant responses into quantifiable traits. The use of image-based technologies enables the quantification of crop responses to stress in both controlled environmental conditions and field trials. This paper summarizes phenotyping imaging technologies (RGB, multispectral and hyperspectral sensors, among others) that have been used to assess different abiotic stresses including salinity, drought and nitrogen deficiency, while discussing their advantages and drawbacks. We present a detailed review of traits involved in abiotic tolerance, which have been quantified by a range of imaging sensors under high-throughput phenotyping facilities or using unmanned aerial vehicles in the field. We also provide an up-to-date compilation of spectral tolerance indices and discuss the progress and challenges in machine learning, including supervised and unsupervised models as well as deep learning.
Availability of Priority Maternal and Newborn Health Indicators: Cross-sectional Analysis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Postnatal Care Registers from 21 Countries
Authors: Kabue Mark , Palestra Francesca , Katwan Elizabeth , Moran Allisyn C.
Published: June 2022

Background

Data from national health management information systems (HMIS) are essential for routinely tracking progress toward national and subnational objectives, programmatic decision-making, planning and review, and ultimately to improve quality of care. It is through an in-depth understanding of the data elements captured in patient registers, as building blocks of national HMIS indicators, that it is possible to improve standardization in data collection and measurement of key indicators to help track progress towards achieving maternal and newborn health goals.

Methods and findings

This analysis was done through a review of antenatal (ANC), childbirth and postnatal (PNC) registers from 21 countries across five world regions. Between July and October 2020, various country-based maternal and newborn experts, implementing agencies, program managers, and ministries of health personnel were contacted and requested to share the current versions of the registers. Both paper-based and electronic registers were obtained. Twenty ANC registers, eighteen childbirth and thirteen PNC were analyzed. Both longitudinal and cross-sectional ANC and PNC registers were reviewed, while the childbirth registers included in the review were all cross-sectional. For the ANC registers 11/20 (55%) and for PNC registers 7/13 (54%) were longitudinal. In four countries the registers were electronic (Norway, Sweden, USA, West-Bank - Palestine), while the rest was paper-based. There was great variation in the number of data elements included from each register reviewed ranging from 24 in Nepal’s childbirth register to 188 in Eswatini’s ANC register. These findings are presented in four broad categories (Pregnancy, Childbirth, Postnatal care, and Mortality outcomes), with subheadings in each category.

Conclusion

This analysis highlights some areas in where there are data gaps as we work to reduce preventable maternal, newborn deaths and stillbirths and deliver high-quality, equitable care. Programme managers and health workers need this data to monitor the performance of their national health system and to guide the continuous improvement of health care services for women and newborns. The results of this analysis will complement additional work and help to inform the standardization of pregnancy and childbirth registers and provide information for other countries seeking to introduce indicators in their health systems.
An antioxidant screen identifies ascorbic acid for prevention of light-induced mitotic prolongation in live cell imaging
Authors: Harada Tomoki , Hata Shoji , Fukuyama Masamitsu , Chinen Takumi , Kitagawa Daiju
Published: June 2022

Phototoxicity is an important issue in fluorescence live imaging of light-sensitive cellular processes such as mitosis, especially in high spatiotemporal resolution microscopy that often requires high-intensity illumination. Among several approaches to reduce phototoxicity, the addition of antioxidants to the imaging media has been used as a simple and effective method. However, it remains unknown what are the optimal antioxidants that could prevent phototoxicity-induced defects during mitosis in fluorescence live cell microscopy. In this study, we analyzed the impact of phototoxicity on the mitotic progression in fluorescence live imaging of human diploid cells and performed a screen to identify the most efficient antioxidative agents that reduce it. Quantitative analysis shows that high amounts of light illumination cause various mitotic defects such as prolonged mitosis and delays of chromosome alignment and centrosome separation. Among several antioxidants known to reduce cellular phototoxicity, our screen reveals that ascorbic acid significantly alleviates these phototoxic effects in mitosis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the addition of ascorbic acid to the imaging media enables fluorescence imaging of mitotic events at very high temporal resolution without obvious photodamage. Thus, this study provides a simple and practical method to effectively reduce the phototoxic effects on mitotic processes in fluorescence live cell imaging.
MLL family members regulate H3K4 methylation to ensure CENP-A assembly at human centromeres
Authors: Malik Kausika Kumar , Sridhara Sreerama Chaitanya , Lone Kaisar Ahmad , Katariya Payal Deepakbhai , Tyagi Shweta
Published: June 2022

The active state of centromeres is epigenetically defined by the presence of CENP-A interspersed with histone H3 nucleosomes. While the importance of dimethylation of H3K4 mark for centromeric transcription has been highlighted in various studies, the identity of the enzyme(s) depositing these marks on the centromere is still unknown. The MLL (KMT2) family play a crucial role in RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-mediated gene regulation by methylating H3K4. Here, we report that MLL family regulate transcription of human centromeres. CRISPR-mediated downregulation of MLL causes loss of H3K4me2, resulting in an altered epigenetic chromatin state of the centromeres. Intriguingly, our results reveal that loss of MLL, but not SETD1A, increases co-transcriptional R-loop formation, and Pol II accumulation at the centromeres. Finally we report that the presence of MLL and SETD1A is crucial for kinetochore maintenance. Altogether, our data reveals a novel molecular framework where both the H3K4 methylation mark and the methyltransferases regulate stability and identity of the centromere.
scPheno: A deep generative model to integrate scRNA-seq with disease phenotypes and its application on prediction of COVID-19 pneumonia and severe assessment
Authors: Zeng Feng , Kong Xuwen , Yang Fan , Chen Ting , Han Jiahuai
Published: June 2022

Cell-to-cell variability is orchestrated by transcriptional variations participating in different biological processes. However, the dissection of transcriptional variability in specific biological process at single-cell level remains unavailable. Here, we present a deep generative model scPheno to integrate scRNA-seq with disease phenotypes to unravel the invisible phenotype-related transcriptional variations. We applied scPheno on COVID-19 blood scRNA-seq to separate transcriptional variations in regulating COVID-19 host immunity and transcriptional variations in maintaining cell-type identity. In silico, we found CLU+IFI27+S100A9+ monocyte as the efficient cellular marker for the prediction of COVID-19 diagnosis. Inspiringly, using only 4 genes upregulated in CLU+IFI27+S100A9+ monocytes can predict the COVID-19 diagnosis of individuals from different country with an accuracy up to 81.3%. We also found C1+CD163+ monocyte and 8 C1+CD163+ monocyte-upregulated genes as the efficient biomarkers for the prediction of severity assessment. Overall, scPheno is an effective method in dissecting the transcriptional basis of phenotype variations at single-cell level.
Cardiac myosin binding protein-C palmitoylation is associated with increased myofilament affinity, reduced myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity and is increased in ischaemic heart failure
Authors: Main Alice , Milburn Gregory N. , Balesar Rajvi M. N. , Rankin Aileen C. , Smith Godfrey L. , Campbell Kenneth S. , Baillie George S. , van der Velden Jolanda , Fuller William
Published: June 2022

Cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) is an essential regulator of cardiac contractility through its interactions with the thick and thin filament. cMyBP-C is heavily influenced by post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation which improves cardiac inotropy and lusitropy, and S-glutathionylation, which impairs phosphorylation and is increased in heart failure. Palmitoylation is an essential cysteine modification that regulates the activity of cardiac ion channels and soluble proteins, however, its relevance to myofilament proteins has not been investigated. In the present study, we purified palmitoylated proteins from ventricular cardiomyocytes and identified that cardiac actin, myosin and cMyBP-C are palmitoylated. The palmitoylated form of cMyBP-C was more resistant to salt extraction from the myofilament lattice than the non-palmitoylated form. Isometric tension measurements suggest c-MyBP-C palmitoylation reduces myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity, with no change to maximum force or passive tension. Importantly, cMyBP-C palmitoylation levels are reduced at the site of injury in a rabbit model of heart failure but increased in samples from patients with ischaemic heart failure. Identification of cMyBP-C palmitoylation site revealed S-glutathionylated cysteines C635 and C651 are required for cMyBP-C palmitoylation, suggesting an interplay between the modifications at these sites. We conclude that structural and contractile proteins within the myofilament lattice are palmitoylated, with important functional consequences for cardiac contractile performance.
Somatic retrotransposition in the developing rhesus macaque brain
Authors: Billon Victor , Sanchez-Luque Francisco J. , Rasmussen Jay , Bodea Gabriela O. , Gerhardt Daniel J. , Gerdes Patricia , Cheetham Seth W. , Schauer Stephanie N. , Ajjikuttira Prabha , Meyer Thomas J. , Layman Cora E. , Nevonen Kimberly A. , Jansz Natasha , Garcia-Perez Jose L. , Richardson Sandra R. , Ewing Adam D. , Carbone Lucia , Faulkner Geoffrey J.
Published: June 2022

The retrotransposon LINE-1 (L1) is central to the recent evolutionary history of the human genome and continues to drive genetic diversity and germline pathogenesis. However, the spatiotemporal extent and biological significance of somatic L1 activity are poorly defined and are virtually unexplored in other primates. From a single L1 lineage active at the divergence of apes and Old World monkeys, successive L1 subfamilies have emerged in each descendant primate germline. As revealed by case studies, the presently active human L1 subfamily can also mobilize during embryonic and brain development in vivo. It is unknown whether nonhuman primate L1s can similarly generate somatic insertions in the brain. Here we applied approximately 40× single-cell whole-genome sequencing (scWGS), as well as retrotransposon capture sequencing (RC-seq), to 20 hippocampal neurons from two rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). In one animal, we detected and PCR-validated a somatic L1 insertion that generated target site duplications, carried a short 5′ transduction, and was present in ∼7% of hippocampal neurons but absent from cerebellum and nonbrain tissues. The corresponding donor L1 allele was exceptionally mobile in vitro and was embedded in PRDM4, a gene expressed throughout development and in neural stem cells. Nanopore long-read methylome and RNA-seq transcriptome analyses indicated young retrotransposon subfamily activation in the early embryo, followed by repression in adult tissues. These data highlight endogenous macaque L1 retrotransposition potential, provide prototypical evidence of L1-mediated somatic mosaicism in a nonhuman primate, and allude to L1 mobility in the brain over the past 30 million years of human evolution.
How does family ownership and management influence green innovation of family firms: evidence from China
Authors: Yang Xuelei , Shang Hangbiao , Li Weining , Lan Hailin
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Based on the socio-emotional wealth and agency theories, this study empirically investigates the impact of family ownership and management on green innovation (GI) in family businesses, as well as the moderating effects of institutional environmental support factors, namely, the technological achievement marketisation index and the market-rule-of law index.

Design/methodology/approach

This study empirically tests the hypotheses based on a sample of listed Chinese family companies with A-shares in 14 heavily polluting industries from 2009 to 2019.

Findings

There is a U-shaped relationship between the percentage of family ownership and GI, and an inverted U-shaped relationship between the degree of family management and GI. Additionally, different institutional environmental support factors affect these relationships in different ways. As the technological achievement marketisation index increases, the U-shaped relationship between the percentage of family ownership and GI becomes steeper, while the inverted U-shaped relationship between the degree of family management and GI becomes smoother. The market rule-of-law index weakens the U-shaped relationship between family ownership and GI.

Originality/value

First, the authors enrich the research on the driving factors of GI from the perspective of the most essential heterogeneity of family businesses. This study shows nonlinear and opposite effects of family ownership and management on GI in family firms. Second, this study contributes to the literature on family firm innovation. GI, not considered by researchers, is regarded as an important deficiency in research on innovation in family businesses. Therefore, this study fills that gap. Third, the study expands research on moderating effects in the literature on GI from the perspective of institutional environmental support factors.
Intellectual structure of leadership studies in hospitality and tourism
Authors: Bavik Ali , Koseoglu Mehmet Ali
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the intellectual structure of leadership research in the hospitality industry through citation, co-citation and heat map analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

Systematic bibliometric mapping was done using citation and co-citation analysis. This study covered journals from 1985 to 2020.

Findings

After reviewing 172 published articles with 10,276 citations, results identified five main clusters.

Practical implications

Hospitality managers can choose certain qualities (i.e. charisma, individualized consideration) or use servant leadership characteristics (i.e. selflessness) to direct employees toward more discretionary behavior.

Originality/value

Former holistic studies on leadership applied different approaches, such as review studies (i.e. systematic review and meta-analysis) or evaluative studies (e.g. productivity measures). It mainly focused on extending the understanding of different leadership types in tourism and hospitality. Nevertheless, relational studies (e.g. citation analysis, bibliographic analysis) remained untouched.
Individual differences, job demands and job resources as boundary conditions for relations between experienced incivility and forms of instigated incivility
Authors: Hughes Ian M. , Jex Steve M.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Using the job–demands resources model as a guide, this study aims to expand the understanding of the boundary conditions of the relation between experienced incivility and instigated incivility. The authors do so by focusing on the unique forms of instigated incivility: hostility, gossip, exclusionary behavior and privacy invasion. Drawing from past research, the authors focus on the personal resources of agreeableness and conscientiousness as individual difference boundary conditions, and the job demands and resources of workload and perceived emotional social support, respectively, as job-related boundary conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test their hypotheses using two-wave survey data collected from 192 customer service workers and hierarchical moderated multiple regression.

Findings

Analyses reveal that the relation between experienced incivility and gossip, a distinct type of instigated incivility, is stronger for those who are higher in agreeableness and perceived emotional social support, and weaker for those who report experiencing higher levels of workload.

Originality/value

This research advances knowledge on incivility by focusing on unique forms of instigated incivility, as opposed to instigated incivility broadly, as outcomes of experienced incivility. In doing so, this research adds nuance to recent findings surrounding the moderating role of personality in the experienced incivility and instigated incivility relation. The authors also report novel findings surrounding the influence of key job demands and resources.
Strategies implementing cash waqf system for Baitul Maal wat Tamwil to improve its commercial and social activities
Authors: Ascarya Ascarya , Masrifah Atika Rukminastiti
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This study aims to devise policies in implementing cash waqf system of Baitul Maal wat Tamwil (BMT) in Indonesia, enabling the BMT to optimize its commercial and social activities to better achieve outreach, sustainability and welfare impact.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the strategic assumption surfacing and testing (SAST) method, with three groups of knowledgeable respondents, including expert, BMT practitioner and regulator to formulate important and certain policies.

Findings

The results show that four types of policies are required to improve cash waqf system of BMT, including 12 internal strategic policies, 15 internal operational policies, 15 external strategic policies and 9 external operational policies, which were found to be within a “certain planning region.” All of these policies have been agreed significantly by each group of respondents, as well as by all respondents combined. The most important-certain policies include Shiddiq, Amanah and professional Nazir, inculcate Islamic values to BMT employees and members, standard operating procedure and standard operating management of cash waqf management, technical assistance for Nazir to manage cash waqf and IT systems for BMT-cash waqf administration.

Research limitations/implications

The qualitative method used has its limitations, which could be improved by incorporating other methods. Moreover, the case and respondents are all Indonesian, so that the results are possibly only applicable to BMTs in Indonesia.

Practical implications

BMTs could adopt these policies in implementing their cash waqf management optimally.

Social implications

The management of cash waqf by BMT could help improve the social activities of the Baitul Maal directly from social cash waqf and indirectly from productive cash waqf.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study using SAST method to determine policies needed by the BMT to upgrade its cash waqf management producing more social programs for the society.
Review of work–life interface: a systematic literature analysis
Authors: Sharma Indu , Tiwari Vivek
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to review the literature on work–life interface (WLI) studies conducted in India, including how cultural and institutional factors affect the work–life balance perception of Indian employees and how they differ from the west.

Design/methodology/approach

The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta analyses (PRISMA) framework was used to select studies included in this systematic review.

Findings

Employees in India prioritize their family first because of the collectivist culture as opposed to the west, where work forms the role of root identity. Further, it was found that institutional support in India is lower than in developed western countries, resulting in difficulty for Indian employees to balance their work and life domains. Additionally, methodological advancement and large-scale multilevel research are much needed in India, as research on work–life studies is still in its infancy.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to qualitative synthesis of PRISMA framework. Adopting more advanced “meta-analysis” techniques to review quantitative studies could result in more comprehensive and informative results.

Originality/value

Since 2009, there has been an increase in empirical studies conducted on work–life studies in India, but no systematic review has been conducted to understand the various theories and variables used by researchers. In this study, we developed a conceptual model to increase the theoretical knowledge of WLI constructs.
The width and depth of literacies for tackling the COVID-19 infodemic
Authors: Koltay Tibor
Published: June 2022

Purpose

A wide choice of varied information and data-based tools is reviewed in order to determine their ability treating symptoms of the COVID-19 infodemic. Several literacies and derived literacies, presumably having the ability to fulfil these roles are enumerated. There is also a review of the impact of applying deconstruction, understanding, and anticipation as well as of tools for mitigating overload phenomena, and communication overload.

Design/methodology/approach

The article reviews literacies deemed to promise reducing the impact of the information crisis, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

A non-exhaustive review of literature, taken from sources of varied disciplines, resulting from reverse snowballing and forward citation mining confirmed that there is a wide choice of solutions from among literacies, derived literacies and other approaches that have the potential to combat annoyance and anxiety, caused by the infodemic.

Originality/value

No other, published research has looked at such a wide range of literacies and derived literacies, as well as other, related approaches linked them to the COVID-19 infodemic.
Information seeking amongst informal caregivers of people with dementia: a qualitative study
Authors: Hargreaves Sarah , Sbaffi Laura , Ford Nigel
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This paper both supports previous findings relating to, and presents new insights into: the information needs and the information seeking processes of a sample of informal caregivers of people with dementia (in relation to their own needs and the interrelated needs of the people they are caring for); the extent to which such information needs are and are not being met; and the factors facilitating and hindering access to the right information.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a qualitative approach in the form of a thematic analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 20 informal caregivers from a range of different age groups, genders and caring roles.

Findings

Thematic analysis identified significant informational challenges, with a common perception that information seeking was onerous, requiring a proactive approach. Further challenges arose from a perceived lack of focus on carer needs coming up against the boundaries of professional knowledge and inconsistent information provision across the sample. Distance carers faced specific issues. A second theme of negative impacts described burdens arising from: difficulties in accessing information from a complex array of support services closure or change in services and unfulfilled information needs. Participants employed strategies to enable access to information, for example, being open about their caring role; and building formal or informal support networks. It is important to address emotional as well as cognitive dimensions of information needs.

Practical implications

This research highlights a need for health and social care, practice and policy to acknowledge and address information needs of this diverse population and build resilience. Above all, information seeking and sharing must be understood within the context of the emotional impact of caring, and recognition of these twin needs is crucial.

Originality/value

Whilst previous research has focussed on identifying specific needs and knowledge acquisition at cross-sections, a more holistic understanding of experiences is underexplored. This approach is needed to take into account broader contexts, diversity of experiences and different caring roles, e.g. primary and secondary carers, and in situ and distance carers.
Corporate governance mechanisms and corporate social responsibility disclosure: evidence from an emerging market
Authors: Ebaid Ibrahim El-Sayed
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms, namely, board independence, board size and gender diversity, and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure for companies listed on the Saudi stock exchange.

Design/methodology/approach

Data has been extracted from the annual reports of a sample of 67 companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange during the period 2014–2019. Three panel data techniques have been used to investigate the association between governance variables and the extent of CSR disclosures after statistically controlling the effects of the size, leverage and profitability of the companies.

Findings

The results of this study indicate that board independence and board size have positive and significant associations with the extent of CSR disclosures. However, the study finds that the percentage of female representation on the board has a positive effect on the extent of CSR disclosure, but that this effect is not statistically significant.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study are limited to the context in which the study was conducted, which is the Saudi stock exchange during the period 2014–2019, and then the generalization of the results may be limited to listed companies operating in a similar social and economic context. Also, the data sources in this study were limited to the annual reports of companies only.

Practical implications

The results of this study provide some indications for policymakers in Saudi Arabia to take what is necessary to promote corporate governance mechanisms and, therefore, enhance CSR practices.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on CSR by providing empirical evidence on the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on the extent of CSR disclosure from one of the developing countries, which is Saudi Arabia.
Financial intelligence unit of Pakistan: an evaluation of its performance and role in combating money laundering and terrorist financing
Authors: Sultan Nasir , Mohamed Norazida
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This study aims to determine the performance of the Pakistani financial intelligence unit in combating money laundering/terrorist financing in local and global contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative research design. The objective is achieved by critically examining the Anti-money Laundering Act and its relevant clauses concerning the financial monitoring unit and other related legislation. Further, empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with chief compliance officers from regulated entities, regulators and premier law enforcer.

Findings

The performance of the financial monitoring unit has severe issues concerning the dissemination of financial intelligence due to its time taking behaviour, non-sharing of feedback with reporting agencies, dearth of international cooperation, lack of trained and relevant personnel and financial constraints.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a maiden study concerning financial monitoring unit in Pakistan.
Audit quality and COVID-19 restrictions
Authors: Gong Sabrina , Ho Nam , Jin Justin Yiqiang , Kanagaretnam Kiridaran
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This study aims to examine declines in audit quality after the COVID-19 travel restrictions/stay-at-home orders were issued in the USA in early 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

Taking advantage of variation in the dates of stay-at-home orders issued by different US states, this study identifies engagements that were significantly affected by the lock down orders.

Findings

The results suggest that engagements affected by the restrictions produced lower audit quality, as measured through restatements and discretionary accruals, relative to those completed before COVID-19 travel restrictions/stay-at-home orders. Further analysis reveals that this decrease in audit quality was attributable to firms with high inventory relative to assets, high R&D expenses relative to assets and non-Big 4 auditors.

Practical implications

This study finds that the restrictions on physical and on-site interaction caused auditors to universally struggle with resource/judgment-intensive accounts such as inventory and R&D expenditures. The results suggest that while Big 4 auditors managed to maintain their status quo level of audit quality following COVID-19 restrictions, non-Big 4 auditors were unable to overcome the challenges of an online work environment and their audit quality declined.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to empirically examine changes in audit quality as a response to a substantial change in auditors’ working environment due to the global health crisis. As work-from-home becomes more prevalent in audit firms, the results suggest that, on average, this move does diminish audit quality.
Risk attitudes and demand for insurance: micro evidence from Ghana
Authors: Asuming Patrick Opoku , Gaisie Deborah Aba
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand how risk attitudes drive demand for different types of insurance amongst Ghanaians.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from a nationally representative survey of Ghanaian households (Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 7). Risk aversion is measured following the approach of Holt and Laury (2002) in the use of hypothetical questions about investment. Probit regressions are used to estimate the effect of risk aversion on insurance outcomes.

Findings

The paper finds evidence that supports the theory that risk attitudes influence insurance demand. Specifically, risk aversion is positively related to the uptake of insurance in general and in particular, public health insurance. Unlike previous literature, the authors do not find the sex of the respondent to affect the relationship between risk aversion and insurance demand except for private health insurance. Socio-economic factors such as wealth, age and education were found to strongly predict insurance demand.

Research limitations/implications

The findings confirm that risk attitude influence the demand for insurance in developing countries but socio-economic factors play a strong role in explaining low insurance penetration in such contexts.

Originality/value

Theoretically, attitudes towards risk have been strongly linked with insurance demand. Yet, empirical evidence on this relationship is limited in developing countries where insurance penetration is very low. This study is among the first to document the influence of risk attitude on the demand of a range of insurance products using a large nationally representative sample of individuals in a developing country.
Challenge of hepatitis B testing following intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in patients with autoimmune skin diseases
Authors: Pruessmann Jasper N. , Langan Ewan A. , Rupp Jan , Marquardt Jens , Terheyden Patrick , Zillikens Detlef , Ludwig Ralf J. , Boch Katharina
Published: June 2022

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) contains pooled immunoglobulins from the plasma of healthy blood donors. All plasma samples are tested for HIV, hepatitis viruses (A, B, and C), and parvovirus B19. As part of this screening step, nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) is used and allows the presence of specific antibodies targeting viral structures that are commonly used to test for infection status, such as anti‐hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs) or anti‐hepatitis B virus core (HBc) antibodies. For this reason, manufacturers point to the possibility of false‐positive viral serological test results following IVIg treatment due to the passive transfer of antibodies. IVIg therapy is commonly used to manage patients with severe, treatment‐refractory autoimmune skin diseases. The aim of this cohort study was to retrospectively quantify newly‐discovered positive serological HBV test results after IVIg treatment in patients with autoimmune skin diseases. Between March 2018 and June 2021, 28 patients with autoimmune skin diseases received IVIg therapy, of whom 17 were longitudinally followed‐up. None of the patients had evidence of active HBV infection prior to IVIg therapy. All patients (n = 17) had detectable anti‐HBs antibodies and 12 patients had anti‐HBc antibodies 4 weeks after commencing IVIg treatment. Passive antibody transfer seems the most likely interpretation. Nevertheless, complete serological hepatitis assessment should be performed to exclude a new infection. We recommend hepatitis screening before IVIg therapy to prevent diagnostic confusion which may arise due to passive antibody transfer.
Cold adaptations along a range limit in an obligate symbiosis
Authors: Senula Sarah F. , Scavetta Joseph T. , Mueller Ulrich G. , Seal Jon Nicholas , Kellner Katrin
Published: June 2022

Symbionts can have profound effects on host fitness, adaptations and range distributions. Stress‐induced evolution is difficult to show in obligate symbioses; however, adaptive evolution within an obligate symbiosis can be investigated experimentally or by correlating trait variation with stress along an ecological cline (i.e. temperature‐stress gradient).

We investigated the cold tolerance of the fungus‐growing antTrachymyrmex septentrionalisby performing cold tolerance assays comparing two populations collected from either the southernmost range of their distribution (Bastrop, Texas) or from a site that is approximately 600 km further north (Norman, Oklahoma). We first compared isolated fungal symbionts grown on artificial media to determine cold tolerance of fungus alone. Subsequently, we conducted cross‐fostering experiments between northern and southern host and symbionts to test for synergisms between the partners in generating adaptations of cold tolerance.

Ants of the northern fungal populations were more cold adapted than southern fungal populations. Northern nests were deeper and northern colonies initially rejected fungi from the southern population. The cross‐fostering experiments demonstrated that only one partner must be cold tolerant to confer maximum cold tolerance to the ant–fungus symbiosis, because northern ants growing southern fungus under cold stress performed just as well as northern ants growing northern fungi.

Our results suggest that cold stress has been an important selective factor during the migration of this ant–fungus symbiosis into northern latitudes during the last 10,000 years, and that cold tolerance likely is an energetically demanding trait that may be traded off with other aspects of the symbiosis' life history. The symbiosis also appears to have evolved several additional adaptations that increase survival in cold environments, such as building deeper nests that insulate the fungi from cold surface.

Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.
Novel trophic subsidies from recreational angling transform the trophic ecology of freshwater fishes
Authors: Britton J. Robert , Cucherousset Julien , Dominguez Almela Victoria
Published: June 2022

Angling is a globally popular leisure activity. There are over 31 million anglers in Europe, many of which target species of the Cyprinidae family in lowland freshwater ecosystems using methods generally involving bait (e.g. groundbaits, seeds and pellets), with large bait inputs possible in periods of high angling activity. While these bait inputs act as novel trophic subsidies (‘angling subsidy’), substantial knowledge gaps remain on their influence on freshwater food webs, including on fish trophic niche size and position.

The effects of angling subsidies on the trophic ecology of cyprinid fish populations and their macroinvertebrate prey resources were investigated in field studies comparing waters of high angling activity (‘subsidised fisheries’) versus low angling activity (‘non‐subsidised fisheries’), and complemented by a pond experiment using two cyprinid species in subsidy absence/presence. Methods were based on stable isotope analysis, with angling subsidies being δ13C enriched and, generally, δ15N depleted compared to macroinvertebrate prey resources.

In the subsidised fisheries, while there were minimal influences of the baits on macroinvertebrate stable isotope values, the effects of the subsidies on all fish species were to substantially δ13C enrich and δ15N deplete their isotopic niches. However, patterns of interspecific niche divergence remained similar between the species in subsidy presence.

In the pond experiment, there was strong isotopic association between the two fish species and macroinvertebrate putative prey in subsidy absence. In treatments that then exposed both species to angling subsidies, their stable isotope values shifted to enriched δ13C.

Synthesis and application. Where angling activity is high, angling baits can provide strong trophic subsidies to freshwater fish, but with minimal effects on other trophic levels. Their regular input into freshwaters can provide some substantial benefits for fish (e.g. increased growth rates) and fisheries (e.g. elevated carrying capacity, higher catch rates), but can also increase nutrient enrichment and potentially raise concerns on angling ethics. Thus, in allowing the use of these baits, especially in relatively high quantities, managers must balance the benefits they can deliver to fish and fisheries versus the adverse effects their use can have on freshwater organisms and ecosystem functioning.
Role of the CrcB transporter of Pseudomonas putida in the multi‐level stress response elicited by mineral fluoride
Authors: Calero Patricia , Gurdo Nicolás , Nikel Pablo I.
Published: June 2022

The presence of mineral fluoride (F−) in the environment has both a geogenic and anthropogenic origin, and the halide has been described to be toxic in virtually all living organisms. While the evidence gathered in different microbial species supports this notion, a systematic exploration of the effects of F− salts on the metabolism and physiology of environmental bacteria remained underexplored thus far. In this work, we studied and characterized tolerance mechanisms deployed by the model soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida KT2440 against NaF. By adopting systems‐level omic approaches, including functional genomics and metabolomics, we gauged the impact of this anion at different regulatory levels under conditions that impair bacterial growth. Several genes involved in halide tolerance were isolated in a genome‐wide Tn‐Seq screening—among which crcB, encoding an F−‐specific exporter, was shown to play the predominant role in detoxification. High‐resolution metabolomics, combined with the assessment of intracellular and extracellular pH values and quantitative physiology experiments, underscored the key nodes in central carbon metabolism affected by the presence of F−. Taken together, our results indicate that P. putida undergoes a general, multi‐level stress response when challenged with NaF that significantly differs from that caused by other saline stressors. While microbial stress responses to saline and oxidative challenges have been extensively studied and described in the literature, very little is known about the impact of fluoride (F−) on bacterial physiology and metabolism. This state of affairs contrasts with the fact that F− is more abundant than other halides in the Earth crust (e.g. in some soils, the F− concentration can reach up to 1 mg gsoil−1). Understanding the global effects of NaF treatment on bacterial physiology is not only relevant to unveil distinct mechanisms of detoxification but it could also guide microbial engineering approaches for the target incorporation of fluorine into value‐added organofluorine molecules. In this regard, the soil bacterium P. putida constitutes an ideal model to explore such scenarios, since this species is particularly known for its high level of stress resistance against a variety of physicochemical perturbations.