bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of artificial neural network to loan recovery prediction
Authors: Adewusi Amos Olaolu , Oyedokun Tunbosun Biodun , Bello Mustapha Oyewole
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This study assesses the classification accuracy of an artificial neural network (ANN) model. It examines the application of loan recovery probability rather than odds of default as the case with traditional credit evaluation models.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on 2,300 loans granted over the period 2001-2012 was obtained from the databases of Nigerian commercial banks and primary mortgage institutions. A multilayer feed-forward ANN model with back-propagation learning algorithm was developed having classified the sample into training (38 per cent), testing (41 per cent) and validation (21 per cent) sub-samples.

Findings

The model exhibits a high overall percentage classification accuracy of 92.6 per cent. It also achieves relatively low misclassification Type I and Type II errors at 6.5 per cent and 8.2 per cent, respectively. Macroeconomic variables such as gross domestic product, inflation and interest rates have the strongest influence on the ANN model classification power. The result of the analysis shows that adopting odds of recovery in ANN classification models can lead to improved loan evaluation.

Originality/value

The paper is distinct from extant studies in that it presents a new dimension to loan evaluation in Nigerian lending market. To the best knowledge of the authors, the paper is among the first to explore probability of loan recovery as the basis for credit evaluation in the country.
China’s diversifying demand for housing for the elderly
Authors: Jia Min , Heath Timothy
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the trends among the elderly population in China about residential preferences and policy applications, as the elderly is a rapidly expanding demographic group that has increasing and diversifying inclinations for demanding the residential facilities for the elderly (RFEs) now and in the foreseeable future.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a review of the existing literature and policies, a model is conceptualised for understanding the demands of the elderly. Their needs for functional supportiveness and richness of residential resources in RFEs are then categorised into focal groups.

Findings

The Chinese elderly’s demand for specialised residential facilities is under a shift from seeking deficit relief to pursuing personal choices. It is suggested that there will be a continuing demand for affordable RFEs from a number of key focal groups, including: the functionally impaired; marginally housed; socially isolated; and the elderly requiring social relief. In addition, retirement housing in China is likely to be more affordable for the next elderly generation. However, the immature social welfare system and low average income level of the current elderly generation means that the Chinese Government has tough decisions to make about service priorities.

Practical implications

Policy and investment priorities may have to be inclusive of those who demand social relief (free-of-charge) and affordable professional long-term care in RFEs, whereas the rest of the demand could be released by growth in the development of community- and home-based service systems.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to identify the diversifying demands of age-exclusive living facilities for the elderly that deserve priorities in China. The results can inform and guide future policy and project investment in China.
How successful organizations drive innovation
Authors: Ikeda Kazuaki , Marshall Anthony
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The authors analyze IBM research and outline how the most successful established organizations approach innovation and prescribe specific strategies that can help all organizations innovate like an outperformer.

Design/methodology/approach

In a 2014 survey of more than 1,000 C-suite executives and their direct reports, we found that the most successful organizations approach innovation differently.

Findings

The top six percent of organizations in both operating efficiency and revenue growth pursue distinct strategies in innovation organization, culture and process.

Practical Implications

For today’s business leaders, innovation blends the art and science of anticipating the future. It requires understanding what the full potential of new technologies will be, of knowing what customers need and want, even before they know it themselves. And it requires building organizational and ecosystem-wide capabilities to execute and deliver. Successful organizations align innovation activities with business objectives, and they are not afraid to experiment.

Originality/value

Outlines the best practices of the most successful innovators. For example, these, organizations align innovation activities directly with business objectives, pursue “open” innovation structures and create specialized innovation teams. They also source new ideas from diverse locations, often leveraging big data and analytics; innovation is funded separately and measured rigorously.
Promoting learning and innovation in organizations through complexity leadership theory
Authors: Mendes M. , Gomes C. , Marques-Quinteiro P. , Lind P. , Curral L.
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Current organizations face a complex competitive landscape driven by globalization and technology that puts them in the course of a new economic age. This complexity stresses learning and innovation as fundamental mechanisms for organizational survival. This paper aims to propose that how learning and innovation emerge and affect organizational performance can be better understood through the complexity leadership theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors review literature on complexity leadership theory, learning and innovation in complex bureaucratic environments and then present reflections regarding how learning and innovation can be achieved through the interaction of three complexity leadership functions: adaptive, administrative and enabling. This conceptual framework suggests that individuals are in constant interaction, exchange information, influence each other and collectively produce emergent properties that promote effective learning and innovation.

Findings

We propose that learning and innovation can be better achieved in organizations if the complexity leadership theory is applied as an alternative to centralized forms of influence and control.

Originality/value

This paper presents a reflection on the benefits of the complexity leadership theory as an alternative framework to understand organizational leadership. Furthermore, this paper proposes that the complexity leadership theory is more adequate to generate learning and innovation in complex, fast-changing work environments.
Conflict management and performance of information technology development teams
Authors: Nesterkin Dmitriy , Porterfield Tobin
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This research aims to investigate how team support and cohesion channel the effects of relationship conflict and its management on team productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire data were sampled from students working in groups to design software systems for companies. Structural equation methodology was used to estimate the proposed model.

Findings

The results indicate that the mediators (team support and cohesion) positively affect each other and team performance. The results support that the effects of conflict and conflict management on team performance are mediated by team support first and then indirectly through team cohesion.

Research limitations/implications

This paper empirically establishes the mechanisms through which conflict and its management affect team performance. The following limitations should be considered when generalizing the results of the study: team-level phenomena were assessed using perceived measures of individual team members and an academic setting was used for data collection.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that team support plays an important role in protecting the team from the negative effects of conflict and that team support contributes to the development of team cohesion.

Originality/value

This work is one of the first to evaluate the mechanisms of team support and cohesion through which team conflict and its management affect team performance.
Working with group dynamics while teaching group dynamics in a traditional classroom setting
Authors: Schruijer Sandra
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Based on an experience, the paper aims to describe how group dynamics can play out in a traditional classroom setting and reflect on how the author worked with these dynamics from a systems psychodynamic perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The experience involved teaching a two-day module on group dynamics to a class of 35 mature students enrolled in a business school. The author tried to create a space to understand and work with here-and-now dynamics as the module progressed.

Findings

Frustration grew among the students regarding the time spent on discussion and reflection. The group was split in two, with one subgroup opening up to experiencing and reflecting on the dynamics, whereas the other subgroup grew more frustrated and demanded that the author take up his authority. Apart from attempting to work with the dynamics, the author introduced relevant concepts and theories that could help to understand the dynamics. The group was characterized by an emotional climate of dependency while students projected hitherto unexplored frustrations onto the lecturer. Although the conditions for experiential learning were far from optimal, the group did experience group dynamics and did engage in reviewing their experiences. Learning did take place, although the depth varied among individuals.

Originality/value

Reflections are provided on the (im)possibilities of learning about group dynamics at business schools. Suggestions are given how to create conditions for experiential learning in management education.
Video games and young children’s evolving sense of identity: a qualitative study
Authors: Bassiouni Dina H. , Hackley Chris
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate children’s experience as consumers of video games and associated digital communication technology, and the role this experience may play in their evolving senses of identity.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative depth interviews and discussions were conducted in a convenience sample consisting of 22 children of both genders aged 6-12 years, parents and video games company executives in the southwest of the UK. The fully transcribed data sets amounting to some 27,000 words were analysed using discourse analysis.

Findings

The findings revealed the heightened importance that the knowledge of video games plays in children’s strategies for negotiating their nascent sense of identity with regard to peer groups, family relationships and gender identity. Video games were not only a leisure activity but also a shared cultural resource that mediated personal and family relationships.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on an interpretive analysis of data sets from a small convenience sample, and is therefore not statistically generalisable.

Practical implications

This study has suggested that there may be positive benefits to children’s video game playing related to aspects of socialisation, emotional development and economic decision-making. An important caveat is that these benefits arise in the context of games as part of a loving and ordered family life with a balance of activities.

Social implications

The study hints at the extent to which access to video games and associated digital communications technology has changed children’s experience of childhood and integrated them into the adult world in both positive and negative ways that were not available to previous generations.

Originality/value

This research addresses a gap in the field and adds to an understanding of the impact of video games on children’s development by drawing on children’s own expression of their subjective experience of games to engage with wider issues of relationships and self-identity.
Fashioning masculinity among young New Zealand men: young men, shopping for clothes and social identity
Authors: McNeill Lisa , McKay Jacob
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how fashion clothing is perceived and consumed by young males, what their attitudes are toward fashion and how fashion is used in the construction of a social identity by these men.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory approach is used in this research, with the fashion consumption behaviours and perceptions of males aged between 19 and 25 explored.

Findings

Results note the positive role of social comparison amongst young men in their fashion-seeking behaviour, with fashion consumption playing a large role in the emotional well-being of young men in a social context.

Research limitations/implications

This research was exploratory in nature and used a small sample of males from a specific age cohort. As such, the results cannot be generalized but do offer analytical insights into male attitudes and behaviour toward fashion that can be extended in future research.

Practical implications

While the act of shopping for clothing was traditionally seen as a female recreation, fragmentation of the traditional male/female dichotomy has seen men become active in the social consumption ethic surrounding fashion. The current study examines the emergence of fashion-aware males and offers insight into the key motivations for young males to seek out fashion products.

Social implications

In a society where fashion seeking is a popular recreational activity across genders and changing notions of masculinity allow for more appearance focused men, shopping for clothes is no longer considered an exclusively female activity.

Originality/value

Where research has previously examined fashion items and their integral role in product-self extension from a female perspective, very little studies focus on males’ relationships with fashion. Whilst prior research has examined men’s self-image and self-modification via exercise or plastic surgery, there is little that focuses on the role of clothing in men’s identity creation.
Exploring self-regulatory strategies for eating behaviour in Danish adolescents
Authors: Nureeva Liliya , Brunsø Karen , Lähteenmäki Liisa
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Healthy eating behaviour in adolescence may be negatively affected by lack of self-regulation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss strategies for regulating eating behaviour as formulated by adolescents themselves.

Design/methodology/approach

Self-regulatory strategies were elicited with concept mapping, which is a group-based method. Three meetings were conducted with each of four school classes in Denmark. Participants in the 12-15-year age group were recruited for the study. At the first meeting, participants had to complete the phrase “Things I can do to ensure my healthy eating are: […]”. At the second meeting, participants had to group the statements. At the third meeting, the results were discussed with participants.

Findings

The results suggest that adolescents’ knowledge about healthy and unhealthy eating is in line with the official guidelines provided by health organisations. Adolescents made 142 statements about things they could do to ensure healthy eating; the statements were grouped by adolescents, and 12 strategies were formulated: following nutrition recommendations, developing own rules, making healthy deals with oneself, ensuring the right balance and regularity of food intake, awareness: remember to eat healthy, thinking of consequences, good advice for shopping and cooking, seeking help from parents, influencing family and others, avoiding temptations, replacing unhealthy food with a healthier option and reducing the amounts of unhealthy food in diet.

Practical implications

Focusing on improving adolescents’ self-regulatory skills in the domain of eating behaviour is a promising approach in developing future interventions.

Originality/value

The present article explores self-regulatory strategies for eating behaviour in adolescence and discusses their relevance.
Genetic mixture of multiple source populations accelerates invasive range expansion
Authors: Wagner Natalie K. , Ochocki Brad M. , Crawford Kerri M. , Compagnoni Aldo , Miller Tom E.X.
Published: July 2016

A wealth of population genetic studies have documented that many successful biological invasions stem from multiple introductions from genetically distinct source populations. Yet, mechanistic understanding of whether and how genetic mixture promotes invasiveness has lagged behind documentation that such mixture commonly occurs. We conducted a laboratory experiment to test the influence of genetic mixture on the velocity of invasive range expansion.

The mechanistic basis for effects of genetic mixture could include evolutionary responses (mixed invasions may harbour greater genetic diversity and thus elevated evolutionary potential) and/or fitness advantages of between‐population mating (heterosis). If driven by evolution, positive effects of source population mixture should increase through time, as selection sculpts genetic variation. If driven by heterosis, effects of mixture should peak following first reproductive contact and then dissipate.

Using a laboratory model system (beetles spreading through artificial landscapes), we quantified the velocity of range expansion for invasions initiated with one, two, four or six genetic sources over six generations. Our experiment was designed to test predictions corresponding to the evolutionary and heterosis mechanisms, asking whether any effects of genetic mixture occurred in early or later generations of range expansion. We also quantified demography and dispersal for each experimental treatment, since any effects of mixture should be manifest in one or both of these traits.

Over six generations, invasions with any amount of genetic mixture (two, four and six sources) spread farther than single‐source invasions. Our data suggest that heterosis provided a ‘catapult effect’, leaving a lasting signature on range expansion even though the benefits of outcrossing were transient. Individual‐level trait data indicated that genetic mixture had positive effects on local demography (reduced extinction risk and enhanced population growth) during the initial stages of invasion but no consistent effects on dispersal ability.

Our work is the first to demonstrate that genetic mixture can alter the course of spatial expansion, the stage of invasion typically associated with the greatest ecological and economic impacts. We suggest that similar effects of genetic mixture may be a common feature of biological invasions in nature, but that these effects can easily go undetected.
Sexual Harassment: The Nexus Between Gender and Workplace Authority: Evidence from the Australian Public Service
Authors: Wynen Jan
Published: July 2016

Sexual harassment in the workplace is commonly portrayed as the male supervisor harassing female subordinates. Within this popular characterization, the unequal distribution of formal, organizational power is believed to be a necessary precondition for sexual harassment. The traditional cultural image of harassers and targets has however not kept pace with changing workplace realities. Research has indeed found that female supervisors may in fact be more likely to be subjects of sexual harassment. This article uses survey data from the Australian Public Service to explore this kind of contrapower harassment. Results indicate that a strong link between gender, workplace authority, and sexual harassment exists, but also that this relationship is strongly influenced by age.
Contributory Negligence in the Twenty‐First Century: An Empirical Study of First Instance Decisions
Authors: Goudkamp James , Nolan Donal
Published: July 2016

In this article we report the results of an empirical study of 368 first instance decisions on the contributory negligence doctrine handed down in England and Wales between 2000 and 2014. The two central questions at which we looked were: how often a defendant's plea of contributory negligence was successful; and by how much a claimant's damages were reduced when a finding of contributory negligence was made. We also considered the extent to which the answers to these questions depended on the following variables: the claimant's age; the claimant's gender; the type of damage suffered by the claimant; the contextual setting of the claim; and the year of the decision. Our study uncovered several important truths about the contributory negligence doctrine hidden in this mass of case law, some of which cast significant doubt on the accuracy of widely held views about the doctrine's operation.
The International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015: Legislative Spending Targets, Poverty Alleviation and Aid Scrutiny
Authors: Manji Ambreena
Published: July 2016

With the enactment of the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, the United Kingdom has enshrined an aid target in law. It is now under a legal duty to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) each year on aid. This article assesses the implications of enshrining a spending target for development assistance in law. It argues that commentators have focused their analyses too narrowly on the legal target and that it is in fact the mechanisms for scrutinising development assistance contained in section 5 of the new Act that will be important in future. This is because judicial scrutiny of aid spending is a remote possibility as a result of the International Development Act 2002. The article provides an analysis of the new legislation in the context of the UK's now detailed legislative framework for international development aid and concludes that this framework is far from satisfactory.
Secularism before the Strasbourg Court: Abstract Constitutional Principles as a Basis for Limiting Rights
Authors: McCrea Ronan
Published: July 2016

The justification for the restrictions on religion inherent in secularism is the subject of lively debate in constitutional and political theory. As a rights‐focused text, the ECHR struggles to accommodate constitutional principles such as secularism whose aims and justifications may go beyond the protection of the rights of others and include abstract goals such as upholding the religious neutrality of the state. Rights alone cannot provide an adequate account of the relationship between religion, state and law, and in Ebrahimian v France, the Strasbourg Court rightly reaffirmed that secularism and strict neutrality can be in harmony with the values of the Convention. However, the Court needs more clarity about the reasons for this stance and to be vigilant in its protection of private autonomy so that the use of abstract principles to restrict religious expression does not give excessive latitude to states to restrict individual autonomy and minority rights.
Understanding the structure and function of bacterial expansins: a prerequisite towards practical applications for the bioenergy and agricultural industries
Authors: Martinez‐Anaya Claudia
Published: July 2016

Since the publication of a landmark article on the structure of EXLX1 from Bacillus subtilis in 2011, our knowledge of bacterial expansins has steadily increased and our view and understanding of these enigmatic proteins has advanced with relation to their structure, phylogenetic relationships and substrate interaction, although the molecular basis for their mechanism of action remains to be determined. Lignocellulosic material represents a source of fermentable sugars for the production of biofuels, and cell‐wall degrading activities are essential to efficiently release such sugars from their polymeric structures. Because expansins from fungi and bacteria seem to be required to properly colonize or cause disease to plant tissues, and because they share some characteristics with their plant counterparts for loosening the cell wall they have been seen as a promising tool to overcome the recalcitrance of these materials. However, microbial expansins activity is at best, very low compared with plant expansins activity. This revision analyses recent work on bacterial expansins structure, function and biological role, emphasizing our need to focus on their mechanism of action as a means to design better strategies for their use, in both in the energy and agricultural industries.
Trauma‐ and Stress‐Induced Response in Veterans with Alcohol Dependence and Comorbid Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Ralevski Elizabeth , Southwick Steven , Jackson Eric , Jane Jane Serrita , Russo Melanie , Petrakis Ismene
Published: July 2016

Background

Alcohol dependence (AD) and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly co‐occur, and the co‐occurrence is associated with worse prognosis than either disorder absent the other. Craving is an important construct related to relapse, but the relationship between PTSD symptoms, craving, and relapse is not well understood. Several studies have documented the relationship between stress and craving in individuals without comorbid PTSD, but the effect on those with comorbid PTSD is not well known. A small literature suggests that trauma imagery affects craving. This is the first study to explore the effects of trauma‐induced and stress‐induced scripts on alcohol craving, affect, cardiovascular, and cortisol responses in the laboratory.

Methods

Veterans (n = 25) diagnosed with AD and PTSD who were participating in a randomized clinical treatment trial took part in this laboratory study. Baseline assessment included PTSD symptoms and drinking quantity and frequency over 3 months before study initiation. In the laboratory, participants were exposed to neutral, stressful, and trauma scripts randomly assigned. Main outcomes included craving, anxiety, mood states, salivary cortisol, and cardiovascular responses.

Results

Both stress and trauma scripts produced greater increases in craving, negative affect, and cardiovascular reactivity, compared to neutral scripts. Trauma scripts produced significantly stronger craving for alcohol and greater cardiovascular reactivity than stress scripts. Also, trauma‐induced but not stress‐induced craving was positively correlated with baseline levels of drinking. There were no changes in cortisol levels from pre‐ to postexposure of any scripts.

Conclusions

The results highlight that trauma cues are more salient in inducing alcohol craving than stress cues and higher reactivity is related to more baseline drinking. This finding is consistent with clinical observations that show an association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol relapse. It also underscores the importance of adequate treatment of PTSD as reactivity related to trauma cues and reminders may be an important factor in craving and relapse.
Does the addition of saline infusion sonohysterography to transvaginal ultrasonography prevent unnecessary hysteroscopy in premenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding?
Authors: Short John , Sharp Benjamin , Elliot Nikki , McEwing Rachael , McGeoch Graham , Shand Brett , Holland Kieran
Published: July 2016

This observational case series in 65 premenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding evaluated whether transvaginal ultrasound followed by saline infusion sonohysterography (SIS) prevented unnecessary hysteroscopy. Although SIS indicated that hysteroscopy was unnecessary in eight women, this benefit was offset by the invasive nature of the scan, the number of endometrial abnormalities falsely detected by SIS and the cost of the additional investigation.
The Buckley–James Estimator and Induced Smoothing
Authors: Wang You‐Gan , Zhao Yudong , Fu Liya
Published: July 2016

The Buckley–James (BJ) estimator is known to be consistent and efficient for a linear regression model with censored data. However, its application in practice is handicapped by the lack of a reliable numerical algorithm for finding the solution. For a given data set, the iterative approach may yield multiple solutions, or no solution at all. To alleviate this problem, we modify the induced smoothing approach originally proposed in 2005 by Brown & Wang. The resulting estimating functions become smooth, thus eliminating the tendency of the iterative procedure to oscillate between different parameter values. In addition to facilitating point estimation the smoothing approach enables easy evaluation of the projection matrix, thus providing a means of calculating standard errors. Extensive simulation studies were carried out to evaluate the performance of different estimators. In general, smoothing greatly alleviates numerical issues that arise in the estimation process. In particular, the one‐step smoothing estimator eliminates non‐convergence problems and performs similarly to full iteration until convergence. The proposed estimation procedure is illustrated using a dataset from a multiple myeloma study.
Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor of the cerebral microvasculature: a forgotten and nitric oxide‐dependent contributor of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor in the brain
Authors: Monnier A. , Prigent‐Tessier A. , Quirié A. , Bertrand N. , Savary S. , Gondcaille C. , Garnier P. , Demougeot C. , Marie C.
Published: July 2016

Aim

Evidence that brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin largely involved in cognition, is expressed by cerebral endothelial cells led us to explore in rats the contribution of the cerebral microvasculature to BDNF found in brain tissue and the link between cerebrovascular nitric oxide (NO) and BDNF production.

Methods

Brain BDNF protein levels were measured before and after in situ removal of the cerebral endothelium that was achieved by brain perfusion with a 0.2% CHAPS (3‐[(3‐cholamidopropyl) dimethylammonio]‐1‐propane sulphonate) solution. BDNF protein and mRNA levels as well as levels of endothelial NO synthase phosphorylated at serine 1177 (P‐eNOSser1177) were measured in cerebral microvessel‐enriched fractions. These fractions were also exposed to glycerol trinitrate. Hypertension (spontaneously hypertensive rats) and physical exercise training were used as experimental approaches to modulate cerebrovascular endothelial NO production.

Results

CHAPS perfusion resulted in a marked decrease in brain BDNF levels. Hypertension decreased and exercise increased P‐eNOSser1177 and BDNF protein levels. However, BDNF mRNA levels that were increased by exercise did not change after hypertension. Finally, in vitro exposure of cerebral microvessel‐enriched fractions to glycerol trinitrate enhanced BDNF production.

Conclusion

These data reveal that BDNF levels measured in brain homogenates correspond for a large part to BDNF present in cerebral endothelial cells and that cerebrovascular BDNF production is dependent on cerebrovascular endothelial eNOS activity. They provide a paradigm shift in the cellular source of brain BDNF and suggest a new approach to improve our understanding of the link between endothelial function and cognition.
Liver stiffness measurement reliability and main determinants of point shear‐wave elastography in patients with chronic liver disease
Authors: Fraquelli M. , Baccarin A. , Casazza G. , Conti C. B. , Giunta M. , Massironi S. , Invernizzi F. , Donato M. F. , Maggioni M. , Aghemo A. , Conte D. , Colombo M.
Published: July 2016

Background

Liver stiffness (LS) measured by transient elastography (TE) accurately predicts the severity of chronic liver diseases (CLD). Point quantification shear‐wave elastography (pSWE) is a new technique incorporated into a conventional ultrasound system for measuring LS. We evaluated pSWE feasibility, reproducibility and diagnostic accuracy in consecutively recruited CLD patients who concomitantly underwent TE and liver biopsy.

Aim

To evaluate pSWE feasibility, reproducibility and diagnostic accuracy in consecutively recruited CLD patients who concomitantly underwent TE and liver biopsy.

Methods

Over 2 years 186 CLD patients (116 males, 132 viral hepatitis) consecutively underwent pSWE (10 valid measurements by ElastPQ) blindly performed by two raters. A further operator performed TE. Inter‐observer agreement for pSWE was analysed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and correlated with histological liver fibrosis (METAVIR). Main determinants of pSWE were investigated by linear regression model.

Results

Three hundred and seventy‐two (100%) reliable measurements were obtained by pSWE and 184 by TE (99%). LS was 8.1 ± 4.5 kPa for pSWE with the first rater and 8.0 ± 4.2 kPa with the second one vs. 8.8 ± 3.6 kPa for TE. pSWE ICC was 0.89 (95% CI 0.85‒0.91), not influenced by age, sex, BMI, liver enzymes, liver aetiology. ICC increased over time with year 1 at 0.86 and 95% CI 0.81–0.90 vs. year 2 at 0.92 and 95% CI 0.87–0.95. Liver fibrosis was the only independent determinant of LS on pSWE. The AUROCs for diagnosing F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3 and F = 4 were 0.77, 0.85 and 0.88 for pSWE vs. 0.81, 0.88 and 0.94 for TE. After 1‐year training they were 0.86, 0.94 and 0.91.

Conclusion

Point quantification shear‐wave elastography reliably and reproducibly evaluates liver stiffness, matching transient elastography for accuracy after a 1‐year learning curve or 130 examinations.
Drug disposition before and after gastric bypass: fenofibrate and posaconazole
Authors: Gesquiere Ina , Hens Bart , Van der Schueren Bart , Mols Raf , de Hoon Jan , Lannoo Matthias , Matthys Christophe , Foulon Veerle , Augustijns Patrick
Published: July 2016

Aims

Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass (RYGB) alters the anatomical structure of the gastrointestinal tract, which can result in alterations in drug disposition. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the oral disposition of two compounds belonging to the Biopharmaceutical Classification System Class II – fenofibrate (bile salt‐dependent solubility) and posaconazole (gastric pH‐dependent dissolution) – before and after RYGB in the same individuals.

Methods

A single‐dose pharmacokinetic study with two model compounds – namely, 67 mg fenofibrate (Lipanthyl®) and 400 mg posaconazole (Noxafil®) – was performed in 12 volunteers pre‐ and post‐RYGB. After oral administration, blood samples were collected at different time points up to 48 h after administration. Plasma concentrations were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography in order to calculate the area under the concentration–time curve up to 48 h (AUC0–48 h), the peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and the time to reach peak concentration (Tmax).

Results

After administration of fenofibrate, no relevant differences in AUC0–48 h, Cmax and Tmax between the pre‐ and postoperative setting were observed. The geometric mean of the ratio of AUC0–48 h post/pre‐RYGB for fenofibrate was 1.10 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87, 1.40; P = 0.40]. For posaconazole, an important decrease in AUC0–48 h and Cmax following RYGB was shown; the geometric mean of the AUC0–48 h post/pre‐RYGB ratio was 0.68 (95% CI 0.48, 0.96; P = 0.03) and the geometric mean of the Cmax pre/post‐RYGB ratio was 0.60 (95% CI 0.39, 0.94; P = 0.03). The decreased exposure of posaconazole could be explained by the increased gastric pH and accelerated gastric emptying of fluids post‐RYGB. No difference for Tmax was observed.

Conclusions

The disposition of fenofibrate was not altered after RYGB, whereas the oral disposition of posaconazole was significantly decreased following RYGB.
Primary Gleason pattern upgrading in contemporary patients with D'Amico low‐risk prostate cancer: implications for future biomarkers and imaging modalities
Authors: Leyh‐Bannurah Sami‐Ramzi , Abou‐Haidar Hiba , Dell'Oglio Paolo , Schiffmann Jonas , Tian Zhe , Heinzer Hans , Huland Hartwig , Graefen Markus , Budäus Lars , Karakiewicz Pierre I.
Published: July 2016

Objective

To retrospectively assess the rate of high‐grade primary Gleason upgrading (HGPGU) to primary Gleason pattern 4 or 5 in a contemporary cohort of patients with D'Amico low‐risk prostate cancer including those who fulfilled Prostate Cancer Research International Active Surveillance (PRIAS) criteria, and to develop a tool for HGPGU prediction. HGPGU is a contraindication in most active surveillance (AS) and focal therapy protocols.

Patients and Methods

In all, 10 616 patients with localised prostate cancer were treated at a high‐volume European tertiary care centre from 2010 to 2015 with radical prostatectomy. Analyses were restricted to 1 819 patients with D'Amico low‐risk prostate cancer (17.1%) with prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels of <10.0 ng/mL, cT1c–cT2a and Gleason score ≤6, and were repeated within 772 of the men (7.3%) who fulfilled the PRIAS criteria for AS (PSA level of ≤10 ng/mL, T1c–T2, Gleason score ≤6, PSA density (PSAD) of <0.2 ng/mL2, ≤2 positive cores). Uni‐ and multivariable logistic regression models were fitted, testing predictors of HGPGU. The final logistic regression model was based on the most informative variables.

Results

There was HGPGU in 88 (4.8%) patients with D'Amico low‐risk prostate cancer and in 32 (4.1%) of the subgroup who were PRIAS eligible. Multivariable analysis predicting HGPGU for the patients with D'Amico low‐risk yielded three independent predictors: age, PSAD, and clinical tumour stage (P = 0.008, P = 0.005 and P = 0.021, respectively). Within the same patients, the model using all vs the most informative variables resulted in area under the curves (AUCs) of 69.2% and 68.3%, respectively. Multivariable analysis of those who were PRIAS eligible, yielded age and number of positive cores as independent predictors of HGPGU (P = 0.002 and P = 0.049, respectively; AUC 64.9%).

Conclusions

The low accuracy (invariably <70%) for HGPGU prediction in both patients with D'Amico low‐risk prostate cancer and PRIAS eligibility indicates that these variables have poor predictive ability in contemporary patients. Despite HGPGU being a rare phenomenon, it may have life threatening implications and consequently alternatives such as biomarkers, genetic markers, or imaging modalities at re‐biopsy are needed.
Prediction of pathological stage based on clinical stage, serum prostate‐specific antigen, and biopsy Gleason score: Partin Tables in the contemporary era
Authors: Tosoian Jeffrey J. , Chappidi Meera , Feng Zhaoyong , Humphreys Elizabeth B. , Han Misop , Pavlovich Christian P. , Epstein Jonathan I. , Partin Alan W. , Trock Bruce J.
Published: July 2016

Objective

To update the Partin Tables for prediction of pathological stage in the contemporary setting and examine trends in patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) over the past three decades.

Patients and Methods

From January 2010 to October 2015, 4459 men meeting inclusion criteria underwent RP and pelvic lymphadenectomy for histologically confirmed prostate cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Preoperative clinical stage, serum prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level, and biopsy Gleason score (i.e. prognostic Grade Group) were used in a polychotomous logistic regression model to predict the probability of pathological outcomes categorised as: organ‐confined (OC), extraprostatic extension (EPE), seminal vesicle involvement (SV+), or lymph node involvement (LN+). Preoperative characteristics and pathological findings in men treated with RP since 1983 were collected and clinical‐pathological trends were described.

Results

The median (range) age at surgery was 60 (34–77) years and the median (range) PSA level was 4.9 (0.1–125.0) ng/mL. The observed probabilities of pathological outcomes were: OC disease in 74%, EPE in 20%, SV+ in 4%, and LN+ in 2%. The probability of EPE increased substantially when biopsy Gleason score increased from 6 (Grade Group 1, GG1) to 3 + 4 (GG2), with smaller increases for higher grades. The probability of LN+ was substantially higher for biopsy Gleason score 9–10 (GG5) as compared to lower Gleason scores. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for binary logistic models predicting EPE, SV+, and LN+ vs OC were 0.724, 0.856, and 0.918, respectively. The proportion of men treated with biopsy Gleason score ≤6 cancer (GG1) was 47%, representing a substantial decrease from 63% in the previous cohort and 77% in 2000–2005. The proportion of men with OC cancer has remained similar during that time, equalling 73–74% overall. The proportions of men with SV+ (4.1% from 3.4%) and LN+ (2.3% from 1.4%) increased relative to the preceding era for the first time since the Partin Tables were introduced in 1993.

Conclusions

The Partin Tables remain a straightforward and accurate approach for projecting pathological outcomes based on readily available clinical data. Acknowledging these data are derived from a tertiary care referral centre, the proportion of men with OC disease has remained stable since 2000, despite a substantial decline in the proportion of men with biopsy Gleason score 6 (GG1). This is consistent with the notion that many men with Gleason score 6 (GG1) disease were over treated in previous eras.
Syntactic Change in the Parallel Architecture: The Case of Parasitic Gaps
Authors: Culicover Peter W.
Published: July 2016

In Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture, the well‐formed expressions of a language are licensed by correspondences between phonology, syntax, and conceptual structure. I show how this architecture can be used to make sense of the existence of parasitic gap constructions. A parasitic gap is one that is rendered acceptable because of the presence of another gap in the same sentence. Compare *a person whoeveryone who talks tolikes Chris, which shows an illicit extraction from a relative clause, anda personeveryone who talks tolikes, which shows a parasitic gap in the relative clause. Languages differ in terms of the range of configurations in which they allow parasitic gaps; these configurations appear to form a hierarchy.

These observations raise some fundamental questions:

Why do parasitic gaps exist at all?

Why are different syntactic configurations possible for P‐gaps and why just these configurations?

Why is there a parasitic gap hierarchy?

The answers that I propose make crucial use of constructional overgeneralization of across‐the‐board extraction in coordinate constructions, formulated straightforwardly in the framework of Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture.
Impacts of Community Forest Management on Human Economic Well‐Being across Madagascar
Authors: Rasolofoson Ranaivo A. , Ferraro Paul J. , Ruta Giovanni , Rasamoelina Maminiaina S. , Randriankolona Patrick L. , Larsen Helle O. , Jones Julia P. G.
Published: July 2016

Community Forest Management (CFM) devolves forest management to local communities to achieve conservation and human well‐being goals. Yet, the evidence for CFM's impacts is mixed and difficult to interpret because of inadequate attention to rival explanations for the observed empirical patterns. In a national‐scale analysis in Madagascar that carefully considers these rival explanations, we estimate CFM impacts on household living standards, as measured by per capita consumption expenditures. The estimated impact is positive, but small and not statistically different from zero. However, we can statistically reject substantial negative impacts (which others have suggested may exist). The estimated impacts vary conditional on household education and proximity to forests: they are more positive and statistically significant for households closer to forest and with more education. To help improve CFM design, scholars and practitioners should anticipate heterogeneity in CFM impacts and work to better characterize them, theoretically and empirically.
Spatial associations of ecosystem services and biodiversity as a baseline for systematic conservation planning
Authors: Manhães Adriana Pellegrini , Mazzochini Guilherme Gerhardt , Oliveira‐Filho Ary Teixeira , Ganade Gislene , Carvalho Adriana Rosa
Published: July 2016

Aim

Protected areas are frequently defined on the basis of biological importance. Ecosystem services are expected to be under protection when biodiversity is preserved; however, new approaches are needed to confirm this statement. We evaluated how spatial associations between ecosystem services and plant biodiversity on a large spatial scale influence their representativeness in current protected areas.

Location

Brazilian seasonally tropical dry forest (Caatinga).

Methods

We produced woody plant biodiversity maps (species richness, narrow‐range species richness and beta diversity) using species distribution modelling. We estimated regulating services (water purification, carbon storage and erosion control), provisioning services (water supply, fodder and agriculture) and supporting services (water balance, net primary productivity and soil fertility) using primary data and a proxy‐based approach. We performed spatial correlation analyses between biodiversity and ecosystem services using Pearson's correlation test. After estimating the percentage of hotspot areas of biodiversity and ecosystem services presented in two types of protected areas (strict protection and sustainable use), we compared it to expected distribution by null model.

Results

Mostly weak and intermediary positive correlations arose among biodiversity and ecosystem services (beta diversity with water balance and species richness with water purification and carbon storage). Negative correlations occurred among water balance with both species richness and narrow‐range species richness. Strict protection areas were well represented in terms of carbon storage and underrepresented for fodder and agriculture. Sustainable use protected areas were important for water balance. Plant biodiversity variables were not represented in current protected areas.

Main conclusions

Positive correlations between biodiversity and ecosystem services do not assure the protection of these targets in protected areas. Surrogates choice based only on spatial correlations might not effectively protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Selection of priority areas must include biodiversity and ecosystem services as distinct conservation targets.
Intelligent Aggressiveness: Using Forecast Multipliers, Hybrid Forecasting, Fare Adjustment, and Unconstraining Methods to Increase Revenue*
Authors: Weatherford Larry R.
Published: July 2016

Many studies have begun the exploration of airlines using intelligent aggressiveness (IA) in unidimensional directions (e.g., forecast multipliers alone). This article uses the sophisticated passenger origin–destination simulator (PODS) to examine the revenue impact of four different IA levers—forecast multipliers, unconstraining, hybrid forecasting (HF) and fare adjustment (FA). We also explore the impacts in two different origin–destination networks. Due to the competitive nature of PODS (two or four airlines competing) and its allowance for customer choice, we are able to assess all the implications, including the impact of spill, upgrades and recapture. We find that with a single IA lever, independent of the network and demand level, in a more‐restricted fare environment, the optimal lever is almost always HF with moderate‐to‐aggressive estimates of willingness‐to‐pay, with revenue gains of 0.4–4.3% in a large global network, and gains of 1.7–4.2% in a domestic network, depending on demand level and optimization method used. We also test two additional, less‐restricted fare environments and find that revenue improvements have a wider range (0.8–6.3%) with a single lever in the larger network. Finally, we explore the impacts of allowing the competitors to use basic IA and the airline of interest to use multiple IA levers.