bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Stories of grey zone between corruption and whistleblowing: insights from the Italian public administration
Authors: Tomo Andrea , De Nito Ernesto , Canonico Paolo , Mangia Gianluigi , Consiglio Stefano 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe literature on corruption and whistleblowing is increasing over the past years. However, the authors contend that individual reactions to a corrupt proposal could differ from the mentioned behaviours. On these grounds, the authors contend that a “grey zone” between accepting corruption and whistleblowing does exist. This paper aims to explore what are the behaviours defining this “grey zone” as nuanced behaviours adopted to react to a corrupt proposal.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw from Miceli and Near’s process of whistleblowing to open the scope for the comprehension of grey behaviours in the decision-making process following to a triggering event. The authors adopted a qualitative and explorative approach by interviewing 27 Italian public servants through open questions and storytelling to explore what kind of behaviours could define the grey zone.FindingsThe findings unveil nuanced behaviours in the grey zone configuring neither as corruption nor whistleblowing, ranging from ignoring the corrupt proposal to explicit contraposition. Also, they reveal different social and individual outcomes affecting future relationships in organizations. The findings allow to extend Miceli and Near’s process of whistleblowing to the wider spectrum of response behaviours to triggering events such as receiving or assisting to a corrupt proposal.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations might be recognized in that the situations detected could be only a part of a possible wider “grey zone”. However, the authors believe that the findings could encourage future research to continue exploring the grey zone to enrich its comprehension. Also, the paper offers useful and interesting insights on an undebated issue that has a prominent value under the theoretical, practical, social and policymaking perspectives.Practical implicationsFrom the practical and policymaking perspective, the advancement of a debate contending the existence of a grey zone made of nuanced behaviours between corruption and whistleblowing could provide support both for organizations and policymakers to a better understanding of individual behaviours and improving actions and policies to prevent corruption and encourage whistleblowing.Originality/valueAs the authors are at least unaware of studies debating on the grey zone with specific reference to corruption and whistleblowing, the paper advances a discussion on the grey zone between corruption and whistleblowing as a continuum of nuanced behaviours that could provide a starting point for further fine-grained analyses.
Orthotropic properties of cement-filled polyamide 12 manufactured by selective laser sintering
Authors: Aldahash Saleh Ahmed , Gadelmoula Abdelrasoul M. 
Published: April 2020

Purpose
The cement-filled PA12 manufactured by selective laser sintering (SLS) offers desirable mechanical properties; however, these properties are dependent on several fabrication parameters. As a result, SLS prototypes may exhibit orthotropic mechanical properties unless properly oriented in build chamber. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of part build orientation, laser energy and cement content on mechanical properties of cement-filled PA12.

Design/methodology/approach
The test specimens were fabricated by SLS using the “DTM Sinterstation 2000” system at which the specimens were aligned along six different orientations. The scanning speed was 914mm/s, scan spacing was 0.15mm, layer thickness was 0.1mm and laser power was 4.5–8Watt. A total of 270 tensile specimens, 270 flexural specimens and 135 compression specimens were manufactured and the tensile, compression and flexural properties of fabricated specimens were evaluated.

Findings
The experiments revealed orientation-dependent (orthotropic) mechanical properties of SLS cement-filled PA12 and confirmed that the parts with shorter scan vectors have enhanced flexural strength as compared with longer scan vectors. The maximum deviations of ultimate tensile strength, compressive strength and flexural modulus along the six orientations were 32%, 26% and 36%, respectively.

Originality/value
Although part build orientation is a key fabrication parameter, very little was found in open literature with contradictory findings about its effect on mechanical properties of fabricated parts. In this work, the effects of build orientation when combined with other fabrication parameters on the properties of SLS parts were evaluated along six different orientations.
Protect thy host: Pf4 phages shield Pseudomonas aeruginosa from antibiotics
Authors: Wettstadt Sarah 
Published: April 2020

SummaryBacterial viruses or bacteriophages exert profound effects on host cell lifestyle and evolution. The prophage Pf4 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is highly induced in biofilms and is shown to confer antibiotic resistance to the bacterium. A novel study has now revealed that Pf4 forms crystalline structures that serve to physically wall off antibiotics from the bacterium. This represents an entirely novel mechanism involving liquid–liquid phase separation in prokaryotic systems. Furthermore, the toxin‐antitoxin system PfiAT, which is encoded within the prophage Pf4, represents a unique production mechanism for Pf4. Combined, these two studies broadened our knowledge on the antibiotic resistance mechanisms used by P. aeruginosa.
Is there a role for HLA‐G in the induction of regulatory T cells during the maintenance of a healthy pregnancy?
Authors: Al‐Khunaizi Nada R. , Tabbara Khaled S. , Farid Eman M. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractProblemPregnancy remains an immune challenge for the uterus that has to adapt to a semi‐allogeneic fetus using various regulatory mechanisms. Both HLA‐G and regulatory T cells (CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ Tregs) are upregulated in successful pregnancy, but not in abortion. It is unclear if HLA‐G plays a role in the upregulation of regulatory cells.Method of StudyWe measured the level of both sHLA‐G and Treg cells in the blood of healthy pregnant multigravida, unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortions (URSA) and healthy non‐pregnant and nulliparous females. We cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy non‐pregnant multigravida females who never had an abortion with lymphocytes of their partners at ratio of 1:1, with and without sHLA‐G to detect changes in number of Treg cells, or relevant cytokines.ResultsSoluble HLA‐G concentrations and Treg cells percentage were significantly lower in women with URSA as compared to healthy pregnant multigravida women and were comparable to healthy non‐pregnant nulliparous women. Percentage of Tregs increased between zero time and mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC) in both cultures with and without recombinant sHLA‐G but no significant difference between the two cultures. When stimulated with sHLA‐G the mean extracellular IL‐10 concentration was unchanged, while the mean INF‐γ concentration was slightly higher with no significant difference. Intracellular TGF‐β was higher in CD4+ cells after incubation with sHLA‐G.ConclusionThe results of this study are consistent with previous studies on the role of sHLA‐G and Treg cells in inducing immune‐tolerance in pregnancy. The results also suggest a possible role for HLA‐G in the enrichment of Treg cells.
The European Academy of Andrology (EAA) ultrasound study on healthy, fertile men: clinical, seminal and biochemical characteristics
Authors: Lotti Francesco , Frizza Francesca , Balercia Giancarlo , Barbonetti Arcangelo , Behre Hermann M. , Calogero Aldo E. , Cremers Jann‐Frederik , Francavilla Felice , Isidori Andrea M. , Kliesch Sabine , La Vignera Sandro , Lenzi Andrea , Marcou Marios , Pilatz Adrian , Poolamets Olev , Punab Margus , Peraza Godoy Maria Fernanda , Rajmil Osvaldo , Salvio Gianmaria , Shaeer Osama , Weidner Wolfgang , Maseroli Elisa , Cipriani Sarah , Baldi Elisabetta , Degl’Innocenti Selene , Danza Giovanna , Caldini Anna Lucia , Terreni Alessandro , Boni Luca , Krausz Csilla , Maggi Mario 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundInfertility affects 7%‐12% of men, and its etiology is unknown in half of cases. To fill this gap, use of the male genital tract color‐Doppler ultrasound (MGT‐CDUS) has progressively expanded. However, MGT‐CDUS still suffers from lack of standardization. Hence, the European Academy of Andrology (EAA) has promoted a multicenter study (“EAA ultrasound study”) to assess MGT‐CDUS characteristics of healthy, fertile men to obtain normative parameters.ObjectivesTo report (a) the development and methodology of the “EAA ultrasound study,” (b) the clinical characteristics of the cohort of healthy, fertile men, and (c) the correlations of both fertility history and seminal features with clinical parameters.MethodsA cohort of 248 healthy, fertile men (35.3 ± 5.9 years) was studied. All subjects were asked to undergo, within the same day, clinical, biochemical, and seminal evaluation and MGT‐CDUS before and after ejaculation.ResultsThe clinical, seminal, and biochemical characteristics of the cohort have been reported here. The seminal characteristics were consistent with those reported by the WHO (2010) for the 50th and 5th centiles for fertile men. Normozoospermia was observed in 79.6% of men, while normal sperm vitality was present in almost the entire sample. Time to pregnancy (TTP) was 3.0[1.0‐6.0] months. TTP was negatively correlated with sperm vitality (Adj.r =−.310, P = .011), but not with other seminal, clinical, or biochemical parameters. Sperm vitality and normal morphology were positively associated with fT3 and fT4 levels, respectively (Adj.r = .244, P < .05 and Adj.r = .232, P = .002). Sperm concentration and total count were negatively associated with FSH levels and positively, along with progressive motility, with mean testis volume (TV). Mean TV was 20.4 ± 4.0 mL, and the lower reference values for right and left testes were 15.0 and 14.0 mL. Mean TV was negatively associated with gonadotropin levels and pulse pressure. Varicocoele was found in 33% of men.ConclusionsThe cohort studied confirms the WHO data for all semen parameters and represents a reference with which to assess MGT‐CDUS normative parameters.
Integrating interactive learner‐immersed video‐based virtual reality into learning and teaching of physical geography
Authors: Jong Morris Siu‐Yung , Tsai Chin‐Chung , Xie Haoran , Kwan‐Kit Wong Frankie 
Published: April 2020

AbstractImmersive virtual reality (IVR) is regarded as one of the contemporary technological innovations with rich educational potential. As a subset of IVR, spherical video‐based IVR (SV‐IVR) immerses users centrally in a human‐recorded real‐world environment, allowing them to explore the environment in any directions via mobile phones and cardboard goggles. We have proposed a pedagogical framework—Learner‐Immersed Virtual Interactive Expedition (LIVIE), which leverages SV‐IVR to integrate immersive and interactive virtual inquiry‐based fieldwork into learning and teaching of physical geography. Besides discussing the design of LIVIE, this paper reports on the quasi‐experimental study that we carried out to evaluate its pedagogical effectiveness. The research subjects were 566 students from upper, middle and lower academic‐category secondary schools in Hong Kong. The study showed that LIVIE had different degrees of positive effects on the high, moderate and low academic‐achieving subjects. Our work not only provides evidence for supporting wider adoption of LIVIE in geography education, but it also sheds light on how to design and implement the pedagogical use of SV‐IVR in school education.
Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic

There is an urgent need for seeking alternative teaching strategies to foster deeper learning and stimulate students’ motivation in geography education.
IVR is a technological innovation with rich educational potential.
Creating 3‐dimensional animation‐based IVR is quite costly, technically demanding and time‐consuming, thus impeding its widespread adoption in school education.
The pedagogical use of SV‐IVR is an emerging research area in the domain of educational technology.
What this paper adds

SV‐IVR offers a pragmatic alternative to incorporate immersive virtual learning elements in the process of learning and teaching.
LIVIE is a theoretically grounded pedagogical framework designed for learning and teaching of physical geography with the adoption of SV‐IVR and has been empirically implemented in different academic settings of formal schooling in Hong Kong.
LIVIE has different degrees of positive pedagogical effects on high, moderate and low academic‐achieving students, respectively, with small, medium and medium effect sizes.
Implications for practice and/or policy

Researchers, instructional designers and technological developers are provided with scholarly and practical insights into designing immersive and interactive virtual environments with SV‐IVR for educational purposes.
Educational policymakers and school administrators are provided with a concrete example of incorporating SV‐IVR in formal education.
Teachers are provided with pragmatic in‐class and out‐of‐class strategies for integrating immersive and interactive virtual inquiry‐based fieldwork into learning and teaching of physical geography.
MOSPD2 is a therapeutic target for the treatment of CNS inflammation
Authors: Yacov N , Kafri P , Salem Y , Propheta-Meiran O , Feldman B , Breitbart E , Mendel I 
Published: April 2020

Summary
In multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), myeloid cells comprise a major part of the inflammatory infiltrate in the central nervous system (CNS). We previously described that motile sperm domain-containing protein 2 (MOSPD2) is expressed on human myeloid cells and regulates monocyte migration in vitro. The role of MOSPD2 in EAE pathogenesis was studied by generating MOSPD2 knock-out (KO) mice and monoclonal antibodies directed against MOSPD2. We found that EAE development in MOSPD2 KO mice was significantly suppressed. While frequency representation of leukocyte subsets in lymphoid tissues was comparable, the ratio of inflammatory monocytes in the blood was markedly reduced in MOSPD2 KO mice. In addition, T cells from MOSPD2 KO mice displayed reduced secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and increased production of interleukin (IL)-4. Prophylactic and post-onset treatment using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) generated against MOSPD2 abrogated development and reduced EAE severity. These results suggest that MOSPD2 is key in regulating migration of inflammatory monocytes, and that anti-MOSPD2 mAbs constitute a potential therapy for the treatment of CNS inflammatory diseases.
Sentiment classification with adversarial learning and attention mechanism
Authors: Xu Yueshen , Li Lei , Gao Honghao , Hei Lei , Li Rui , Wang Yihao 
Published: April 2020

AbstractSentiment classification is a key task in sentiment analysis, reviews mining, and other text mining applications. Various models have been proposed to build sentiment classifiers, but the classification performances of some existing methods are not good enough. Meanwhile, as a subproblem of sentiment classification, positive and unlabeled learning (PU learning) problem widely exists in real‐world cases, but it has not been given enough attention. In this article, we aim to solve the two problems in one framework. We first build a model for traditional sentiment classification based on adversarial learning, attention mechanism, and long short‐term memory (LSTM) network. We further propose an enhanced adversarial learning method to tackle PU learning problem. We conducted extensive experiments in three real‐world datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that our models outperform the compared methods in both traditional sentiment classification problem and PU learning problem. Furthermore, we study the effect of our models on word embedding. Finally, we report and discuss the sensitivity of our models to parameters.
Lichenoid granulomatous dermatitis as a tuberculid in association with spondylitis due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Williamson Sarah , Auerbach Jena , Motaparthi Kiran 
Published: April 2020

AbstractLichenoid granulomatous dermatitis (LGD) is a histopathologic pattern with a band‐like lymphocytic infiltrate, typical of lichenoid dermatitis, combined with dermal histiocytes and granulomatous inflammation. Prior reports have described cases of LGD caused by non‐tuberculous mycobacteria, with evidence of intralesional acid‐fast bacilli or mycobacterial DNA. Herein, we report a patient with pulmonary and extrapulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection who developed LGD. No evidence of M. tuberculosis was detected within the cutaneous lesions, suggesting a potential delayed‐type hypersensitivity reaction to tuberculosis.
Zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein is associated with non‐albuminuric chronic kidney disease progression in type 2 diabetes: a retrospective study with 4‐year follow‐up
Authors: Moh A. , Seah N. , Low S. , Ang K. , Sum C. F. , Subramaniam T. , Kwan P. Y. , Lee S. , Tang W. E. , Lim S. C. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractAimTo investigate the association between baseline plasma zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein and non‐albuminuric chronic kidney disease progression in type 2 diabetes.MethodsAdults with normoalbuminuria at entry (n=341; age 57±10 years, 52% men) were analysed. Chronic kidney disease progression was defined as a decrease in chronic kidney disease stage and a decline of ≥25% in estimated GFR from baseline. Baseline plasma zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein levels were quantified by immunoassay, and analysed either as a continuous variable or by tertiles in Cox proportional hazards models. Model discrimination was assessed using Harrell's C‐index. A sensitivity analysis was performed on a subset of individuals who maintained normoalbuminuria during follow‐up.ResultsChronic kidney disease progression occurred in 54 participants (16%). Zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein levels were elevated in chronic kidney disease progressors (P = 0.011), and more progressors were assigned to the higher zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein tertile than non‐progressors. In the unadjusted Cox model, zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein, both as a continuous variable (hazard ratio 1.72, 95% CI 1.08–2.75) and tertile 3 (vs tertile 1; hazard ratio 2.14, 95% CI 1.10–4.17), predicted chronic kidney disease progression. The association persisted after multivariable adjustment. The C‐index of the Cox model increased significantly after incorporation of zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein into a base model comprising renin‐angiotensin system antagonist usage. Sensitivity analysis showed that zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein independently predicted chronic kidney disease progression among individuals who maintained normoalbuminuria during follow‐up.ConclusionsPlasma zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein is associated with chronic kidney disease progression, and may serve as a useful early biomarker for predicting non‐albuminuric chronic kidney disease progression in type 2 diabetes.
Application of trastuzumab emtansine in HER‐2–positive and KRAS/BRAF‐mutated colon cancer cells
Authors: Chung Yuan‐Chiang , Chiu Hsi‐Hsiung , Wei Wan‐Chen , Chang King‐Jen , Chao Wei‐Ting 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundTrastuzumab emtansine (T‐DM1) is an antibody‐drug conjugate (ADC) for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER‐2)–positive breast cancer. T‐DM1 is based on the trastuzumab antibody and delivers a toxic agent into breast cancer cells through endocytic mechanism. This study evaluated whether T‐DM1 can be used in HER‐2–positive colon cancer cells which harbour KRAS/ BRAF mutation with limited treatment.Materials and MethodsLS174T and HT‐29 which are KRAS and BRAF mutant HER‐2–positive colon cancer cells were used in this study. Cells were first treated with T‐DM1; cetuximab and trastuzumab were applied for comparison, the effect of drug sensitivity was determined. Cells were then transfected with plasmid to overexpress HER‐2 or the endocytic protein, caveolin‐1 or furthermore pretreated with metformin to examine the effect of T‐DM1 efficacy. Finally, a xenograft mouse model was used to evaluate the drug efficacy in vivo.ResultsThe results showed that T‐DM1 had better inhibitory effect than cetuximab and trastuzumab on LS174T and HT‐29 cells. HER‐2 or caveolin‐1 overexpression with plasmid in the cells to increase T‐DM1 recognition or internalization can increase the sensitivity to T‐DM1. When cells were pretreated with metformin, caveolin‐1 expression was induced and promoted T‐DM1 uptake and enhanced cell toxicity. In xenograft mouse model, combined treatment of T‐DM1 and metformin had apparent inhibitory effect on subcutaneous tumour growth.ConclusionThe results of this study suggested that T‐DM1 has potential in the treatment of HER‐2–positive colon cancer cells, and application of metformin has therapeutic benefits during T‐DM1 treatment.
Monosomal karyotype affecting outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission
Authors: Choi Yunsuk , Lee Je‐Hwan , Lee Jung‐Hee , Park Han‐Seung , Choi Eun‐Ji , Jo Jae‐Cheol , Lee Yoo Jin , Lee Young‐Shin , Kang Young‐Ah , Lee Kyoo‐Hyung 
Published: April 2020

AbstractObjectivesWe evaluated the prognostic impact of MK on postremission outcomes of AML patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in the first complete remission (CR1).MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 465 adult patients with AML who had received HSCT in the first CR between 2000 and 2016.ResultsIn MK + AML, the median leukocyte count was significantly lower (P < .001) and no NPM1 mutation was found (P = .042). Multivariate analysis revealed that MK was the most powerful prognostic factors for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 2.6; P = .001), EFS (HR, 3.8; P < .001), and cumulative incidence of relapse (HR, 6.1; P < .001), compared to any other poor risk factors such as complex karyotype, FLT3‐ITD mutations, old age, and higher leukocyte count. The adverse prognostic impact of MK tended to be more prominent in the younger age group (<40 years) (HR, 6.3, P < .001) than in the older age group (≥40 years) (HR, 3.4, P < .001).ConclusionNovel treatment modalities for MK + AML need to be investigated to reduce the risk of relapse after HSCT.