bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The information content of discretionary accruals during systemic crises
Authors: Moscariello Nicola , Fera Pietro , Cinque Ettore 
Published: April 2020

PurposeBy analyzing the relationship between discretionary accruals and information asymmetry throughout the latest global financial crisis, this paper deepens our understanding of the effect of managerial discretion on the informativeness of earnings in the case of a negative exogenous shock in business fundamentals.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the relationship between discretionary accruals and the bid–ask spread within the Italian Stock Exchange over the period of 2007–2012. The authors focus on one country in order to avoid systematic cross-country performance variation in discretionary accruals models, and they use the bid–ask spread as a proxy for information asymmetry.FindingsThis paper shows the role played by discretionary accruals in unblocking private information in the case of a negative exogenous shock in business fundamentals and finds a significant negative relationship between discretionary accruals and the bid–ask spread during the global financial crisis, although only limited to firms with strong corporate governance.Research limitations/implicationsSince the paper focuses on one country, the findings might not be necessarily generalizable. Moreover, the relatively small sample size could be another limitation.Practical implicationsThis paper offers useful evidence to identify settings in which discretionary accruals increase the informativeness of earnings. Further, it suggests controlling for macroeconomic variables to mitigate the risk of an erroneous interpretation of discretionary accruals models.Originality/valueThis paper extends knowledge and collects new evidence on the information content of discretionary accruals by investigating the relationship between discretionary accruals and information asymmetry during a systemic crisis.
Money laundering through consulting companies
Authors: Teichmann Fabian Maximilian , Falker Marie-Christin 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate how illegally obtained funds are laundered by employment of consulting companies in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis of 28 semi-standardized expert interviews with both criminals and prevention experts, and a quantitative survey of 200 compliance officers led to the identification of concrete money-laundering techniques involving the employment of consulting companies.FindingsConsulting companies continue to be used for money laundering in European German-speaking countries, especially in the layering and integration stages of the money laundering process, during which the origins of funds are concealed, and the money is integrated into the legal economy.Research limitations/implicationsQualitative findings from the analysis of semi-standardized interviews are limited to the 28 interviewees’ perspectives.Practical implicationsIdentification of gaps in existing anti-money-laundering mechanisms provides compliance officers, law enforcement agencies and legislators with valuable insights into how criminals operate.Originality/valueThe existing literature focuses on organizations that combat money laundering and the improvement of anti-money-laundering measures. This paper outlines how money launderers avoid detection. Both preventative and criminal perspectives are considered.
Cellular life from the three domains and viruses are transcriptionally active in a hypersaline desert community
Authors: Uritskiy Gherman , Tisza Michael J. , Gelsinger Diego R. , Munn Adam , Taylor James , DiRuggiero Jocelyne 
Published: April 2020

SummaryMicrobial communities play essential roles in the biosphere and understanding the mechanisms underlying their functional adaptations to environmental conditions is critical for predicting their behaviour. This aspect of microbiome function has not been well characterized in natural high‐salt environments. To address this knowledge gap, and to build a general framework relating the genomic and transcriptomic components in a microbiome, we performed a meta‐omic survey of extremophile communities inhabiting halite (salt) nodules in the Atacama Desert. We found that the major phyla of this halophilic community have different levels of total transcriptional activity, at the selected time‐points, and that different metabolic pathways were activated in their transcriptomes. We report that a novel Dolichomastix alga—the only eukaryote found in this system—was the most active community member. It produced the vast majority of the community's photosynthetic transcripts despite being outnumbered by Cyanobacteria. The divergence in the transcriptional landscapes of these segregated communities, compared with the relatively stable metagenomic functional potential, suggests that microbiomes in each salt nodule undergo unique transcriptional adjustments to adapt to local conditions. We also report the characterization of several previously unknown halophilic viruses, many of which exhibit transcriptional activity indicative of host infection.
Functional responses between PMP3 small membrane proteins and membrane potential
Authors: Kwok Alvin C. M. , Zhang Fang , Ma Zhiyi , Chan Wai Sun , Yu Vivian C. , Tsang Jimmy S. H. , Wong Joseph T. Y. 
Published: April 2020

SummaryThe Plasma Membrane Proteolipid 3 (PMP3, UPF0057 family in Uniprot) family consists of abundant small hydrophobic polypeptides with two predicted transmembrane helices. Plant homologues were upregulated in response to drought/salt‐stresses and yeast deletion mutants exhibited conditional growth defects. We report here abundant expression of Group I PMP3 homologues (PMP3(i)hs) during normal vegetative growth in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, at a level comparable to housekeeping genes, implicating the regular cellular functions. Expression of eukaryotic PMP3(i)hs was dramatically upregulated in response to membrane potential (Vm) variability (Vmvar), whereas PMP3(i)hs deletion‐knockdown led to Vm changes with conditional growth defects. Bacterial PMP3(i)h yqaE deletion led to a shift of salt sensitivity; Vmvar alternations with exogenous K+ addition downregulated prokaryotic PMP3(i)hs, suggesting [K+]‐Vmvar axis being a significant feedback element in prokaryotic ionic homeostasis. Remarkably, the eukaryotic homologues functionally suppressed the conditional growth defects in bacterial deletion mutant, demonstrating the conserved cross‐kingdom membrane functions by PMP3(i)hs. These data demonstrated a direct reciprocal relationship between PMP3(i)hs expression and Vm differentials in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Cumulative with PMP3(i)hs ubiquitous abundance, their lipid‐binding selectivity and membrane protein colocalization, we propose [PMP3(i)hs]‐Vmvar axis as a key element in membrane homeostasis.
Origins and Characteristics of Macro‐Nationalism: A Reflection on Pan‐Latinism's Emergence at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century
Authors: GILADI AMOTZ 
Published: April 2020

AbstractAppearing across Europe in the late nineteenth century, macro‐nationalist movements or pan‐movements – pan‐Latinism among them – participated in the ‘first globalisation’. During that period, European powers’ new domination of a considerable part of the world gradually homogenised the planet politically and economically. In this context, the pan‐movements placed nationalism on a larger scale than ever before. Mining various cultural, linguistic and ‘racial’ criteria, each macro‐nationalist movement promoted projects of supra‐national integration among all German‐speaking, Slavic‐speaking or Romance‐speaking peoples. Proposing a conceptual framework for analysing this phenomenon, this article situates macro‐nationalism within nationalism's broader history, underscoring similarities and differences in relation to the dominant model of nation‐state nationalism. I show how the pan‐movements drew constitutive elements from different phases in nineteenth‐century nationalism and became crystallised in a context marked by intensified armed conflicts and imperial rivalries. Focusing on the case of pan‐Latinism, I highlight the major role played by intellectual and political elites in this ideology's development and discuss the extent of its relevance to other social classes.
Put to the test: For a new sociology of testing
Authors: Marres Noortje , Stark David 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn an age defined by computational innovation, testing seems to have become ubiquitous, and tests are routinely deployed as a form of governance, a marketing device, an instrument for political intervention, and an everyday practice to evaluate the self. This essay argues that something more radical is happening here than simply attempts to move tests from the laboratory into social settings. The challenge that a new sociology of testing must address is that ubiquitous testing changes the relations between science, engineering, and sociology: Engineering is today in the very stuff of where society happens. It is not that the tests of 21st‐century engineering occur within a social context but that it is the very fabric of the social that is being put to the test. To understand how testing and the social relate today, we must investigate how testing operates on social life, through the modification of its settings. One way to clarify the difference is to say that the new forms of testing can be captured neither within the logic of the field test nor of the controlled experiment. Whereas tests once happened inside social environments, today’s tests directly and deliberately modify the social environment.
Occupational inequalities in volunteering participation: Using detailed data on jobs to explore the influence of habits and circumstances
Authors: Lambert Paul S. , Rutherford Alasdair C. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn this paper we present empirical results that show that detailed occupations have distinctive patterns of association with voluntary participation. We draw upon data from four secondary survey datasets from the UK (coverage 1972–2012). Occupations are shown to link to volunteering in a wide range of scenarios and in individual, household, and longitudinal contexts. We argue that these linkages provide insight into social inequalities in volunteering, and that they can help us to understand the relative influence of “circumstance” and “habits” in enabling or inhibiting voluntary participation.
Multilayer packaging: Advances in preparation techniques and emerging food applications
Authors: Anukiruthika T. , Sethupathy Priyanka , Wilson Anila , Kashampur Kiran , Moses Jeyan Arthur , Anandharamakrishnan Chinnaswamy 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn recent years, with advantages of versatility, functionality, and convenience, multilayer food packaging has gained significant interest. As a single entity, multilayer packaging combines the benefits of each monolayer in terms of enhanced barrier properties, mechanical integrity, and functional properties. Of late, apart from conventional approaches such as coextrusion and lamination, concepts of nanotechnology have been used in the preparation of composite multilayer films with improved physical, chemical, and functional characteristics. Further, emerging techniques such as ultraviolet and cold plasma treatments have been used in manufacturing films with enhanced performance through surface modifications. This work provides an up‐to‐date review on advancements in the preparation of multilayer films for food packaging applications. This includes critical considerations in design, risk of interaction between the package and the food, mathematical modeling and simulation, potential for scale‐up, and costs involved. The impact of in‐package processing is also explained considering cases of nonthermal processing and advanced thermal processing. Importantly, challenges associated with degradability and recycling multilayer packages and associated implications on sustainability have been discussed.
Effects of ice storm on species richness and abundance of resident birds in subtropical forest in southern China
Authors: LEE Myung‐Bok , HONG Yongmi , SHU Zufei , ZHANG Qiang , ZOU Fasheng 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBetween January and February 2008, a severe ice storm occurred in southern China. The storm damaged nearly 21 million hectares of forest lands with broken branch, trunk breakage, and stem bending of many trees. This natural disturbance provides a unique opportunity to study impacts of extreme climatic event on forest birds. Using hierarchical multi‐species occupancy model (species richness; 27 species) and N‐mixture model (abundance; 3 species), we investigated how the storm affected resident bird species in subtropical forest in southern China. We sampled birds at Chebaling National Nature Reserve in Guangdong Province, monthly for 1 year each before and after the storm by mist nets. To take into account variations in temperature between years and between months, we incorporated monthly mean temperature into the models as an additional covariate. Observed species richness was greater before the storm. Estimated species richness (from the hierarchical model) also tended to be greater before than after the storm although 95% Bayesian credible intervals of these estimates were overlapped. Temperature showed a negative effect on estimated species richness, indicating greater species richness during winter. Among three species captured the most, abundance of Chestnut Bulbul (Hemixos castanonotus) significantly decreased after the storm. Other two species, Grey Treepie (Dendrocitta formosae) and Huet's Fulvetta (Alcippe hueti) showed insignificant responses to the storm. Our study indicates that the 2008 ice storm may not have a significant impact on species richness of resident birds in subtropical forest; however, the effect can be species‐specific and negative to some species’ population.
Investigation and diagnostic imaging of suspected pulmonary embolism during pregnancy and the puerperium: A review of the literature
Authors: Tester Jodie , Hammerschlag Gary , Irving Louis , Pascoe Diane , Rees Megan 
Published: April 2020

SummaryPulmonary embolism (PE) is a leading cause of maternal mortality with women at increased risk of PE during pregnancy and the early postpartum period. Clinical assessment of suspected PE during pregnancy is challenging as signs and symptoms associated with PE overlap with physiological changes of pregnancy. Clinical tests and rules commonly used to assess pre‐test probability of PE were historically not well validated in the pregnant population. The challenges of clinical assessment in the pregnant and postpartum population result in a lowered threshold for diagnostic imaging. Computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and nuclear medicine lung scintigraphy or ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scans are the main types of diagnostic imaging for suspected PE. Both methods are associated with small levels of ionising radiation exposure to mother and foetus. Accuracy of the diagnostic imaging tests is paramount. Haemodynamic changes of pregnancy, including increased heart rate, increased blood volume and altered flow velocity in the pulmonary arteries, may influence the quality of imaging. This comprehensive review examines the literature and evidence for the investigation and diagnostic imaging of suspected pulmonary embolism during pregnancy with CTPA and V/Q. Clinical decision‐making tools, biomarkers and diagnostic imaging during pregnancy and postpartum will be considered with a focus on diagnostic accuracy and yield, radiation dose exposure (maternal–foetal) and protocol modifications. Current practice guideline recommendations and recent literature on diagnostic pathways are also presented.
Postoperative short‐term outcomes of minimally invasive versus open esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancer: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Akhtar Naeem M. , Chen Donglai , Zhao Yuhuan , Dane David , Xue Yuhang , Wang Wenjia , Zhang Jiaheng , Sang Yonghua , Chen Chang , Chen Yongbing 
Published: April 2020

BackgroundWe performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis to synthesize the available evidence regarding short‐term outcomes between minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and open esophagectomy (OE).MethodsStudies were identified by searching databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library up to March 2019 without language restrictions. Results of these searches were filtered according to a set of eligibility criteria and analyzed in line with PRISMA guidelines.ResultsThere were 33 studies included with a total of 13 269 patients in our review, out of which 4948 cases were of MIE and 8321 cases were of OE. The pooled results suggested that MIE had a better outcome regarding all‐cause respiratory complications (RCs) (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.41–0.78, P = <0.001), in‐hospital duration (SMD = −0.51; 95% CI = −0.78−0.24; P = <0.001), and blood loss (SMD = −1.44; 95% CI = −1.95−0.93; P = <0.001). OE was associated with shorter duration of operation time, while no statistically significant differences were observed regarding other outcomes. Additionally, subgroup analyses were performed for a number of different postoperative events.ConclusionsOur study indicated that MIE had more favorable outcomes than OE from the perspective of short‐term outcomes. Further large‐scale, multicenter randomized control trials are needed to explore the long‐term survival outcomes after MIE versus OE.
Stability of At‐risk Alcohol Use Screening Results in a General Population Sample
Authors: Staudt Andreas , Freyer‐Adam Jennis , John Ulrich , Meyer Christian , Baumann Sophie 
Published: April 2020

BackgroundIn combination with systematic routine screening, brief alcohol interventions have the potential to promote population health. Little is known on the optimal screening interval. Therefore, this study pursued 2 research questions: (i) How stable are screening results for at‐risk drinking over 12 months? (ii) Can the transition from low‐risk to at‐risk drinking be predicted by gender, age, school education, employment, or past week alcohol use?MethodsA sample of 831 adults (55% female; mean age = 30.8 years) from the general population was assessed 4 times over 12 months. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—Consumption was used to screen for at‐risk drinking each time. Participants were categorized either as low‐risk or at‐risk drinkers at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months later. Stable and instable risk status trajectories were analyzed descriptively and graphically. Transitioning from low‐risk drinking at baseline to at‐risk drinking at any follow‐up was predicted using a logistic regression model.ResultsConsistent screening results over time were observed in 509 participants (61%). Of all baseline low‐risk drinkers, 113 (21%) received a positive screening result in 1 or more follow‐up assessments. Females (vs. males; OR = 1.66; 95% confidence intervals [95% CI] = 1.04; 2.64), 18‐ to 29‐year‐olds (vs. 30‐ to 45‐year‐olds; OR = 2.30; 95% CI = 1.26; 4.20), and those reporting 2 or more drinking days (vs. less than 2; OR = 3.11; 95% CI = 1.93; 5.01) and heavy episodic drinking (vs. none; OR = 2.35; 95% CI = 1.06; 5.20) in the week prior to the baseline assessment had increased odds for a transition to at‐risk drinking.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the widely used time frame of 1 year may be ambiguous regarding the screening for at‐risk alcohol use although generalizability may be limited due to higher‐educated people being overrepresented in our sample.
Mainstream consent programs for genetic counseling in cancer patients: A systematic review
Authors: Scheinberg Tahlia , Young Alison , Woo Henry , Goodwin Annabel , Mahon Kate L. , Horvath Lisa G. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractAs demand for germline genetic testing for cancer patients increases, novel methods of genetic counseling are required. One such method is the mainstream consent pathway, whereby a member of the oncology team (rather than a genetic specialist) is responsible for counseling, consenting, and arranging genetic testing for cancer patients. We systematically reviewed the literature for evidence evaluating mainstream pathways for patients with breast, ovarian, colorectal, and prostate cancer. Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched for studies that met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Article references were checked for additional studies. Trial databases were searched for ongoing studies. Of the 13 papers that met inclusion criteria, 11 individual study groups were identified (two study groups had two publications each). Ten of the 11 studies evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, and impact of BRCA testing for patients and/or clinicians in different clinical settings in breast and ovarian cancer, while the final study explored the attitudes of colorectal specialists toward genetic testing for colorectal cancer. None involved prostate cancer. Overall, mainstream pathways were acceptable and feasible. Medical oncologist‐ and nurse‐driven pathways were particularly successful, with both patients and clinicians satisfied with this process. Although the content of pretest counseling was less consistent compared with counseling via the traditional model, patients were largely satisfied with the education they received. Further research is required to evaluate the mainstream pathway for men with prostate cancer.
Homocysteine is associated with severity of microvasculopathy in sickle cell disease patients
Authors: Samarron Sandra L. , Miller Joshua W. , Cheung Anthony T. , Chen Peter C. , Lin Xin , Zwerdling Theodore , Wun Ted , Green Ralph 
Published: April 2020

SummaryThe pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) includes vasculopathy as well as anaemia. Elevated plasma homocysteine is a risk factor for vascular disease and may be associated with increased risk of vascular complications in SCD patients. In the present study, microvascular characteristics were assessed in the bulbar conjunctiva of 18 paediatric and 18 adult SCD patients, using the non‐invasive technique of computer‐assisted intravital microscopy. A vasculopathy severity index (SI) was computed to quantify the degree of microvasculopathy in each patient. Plasma homocysteine and several of its determinants [serum folate and vitamin B12, plasma pyridoxal‐5'‐phosphate (vitamin B6 status) and creatinine (kidney function)] were measured. Age was strongly correlated with microvasculopathy in the SCD patients, with the SI increasing about 0·1 unit per one‐year increase in age (P < 0·001). After adjusting for age, gender, B‐vitamin status and creatinine, homocysteine concentration was directly correlated with severity index (P < 0·05). Age and homocysteine concentration were independent predictors of microvasculopathy in SCD patients. It remains to be determined whether lowering homocysteine concentrations using appropriate B‐vitamin supplements (folate and vitamins B12 and B6) ‒ particularly if started early in life ‒ could ameliorate microvasculopathy and its associated complications in SCD patients.