bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does Firm Location Affect Management Team Size and Reputation? Evidence from Taiwan*☆
Authors: Chen Tsung‐Kang , Tseng Yijie , Hsieh Yu‐Ting , Yeh Yi‐Fang 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis study explores the effect of the location of a firm’s headquarters on the firm’s management team size and reputation (MS&R) in a geographically small country (i.e., Taiwan) with numerous founding family firms. The results show that firm location quality positively relates to MS&R, and the association becomes weaker when firm profitability is higher or the founding family is present in the firm. Furthermore, the effect of firm location quality on management team reputation (team size) becomes stronger (weaker) when the CEO position is held by the founding family. Finally, the results are robust when considering endogeneity issues and other model settings.
Political connections and corporate social responsibility: Political incentives in China
Authors: Xu Shan , Liu Duchi 
Published: August 2020

AbstractTo explore the motivations underpinning corporate social responsibility (CSR) decisions in China, a country characterized by extensive government intervention, this paper investigates whether building a good relationship with the government is a political incentive that is driving firms to conduct CSR by examining the effects of political connections on the latter. Our results indicate that politically connected firms exhibit better CSR. However, the effect is considerably more significant for firms with existing political relationships. Additionally, findings show that the effect is more prominent in firms for which political connections are more valuable, namely, non‐state‐owned enterprises, small firms, and firms operating in less market‐oriented cities, indicating that CSR can serve as a differentiation strategy to compete against other bidders. Dividing CSR activities into economic, environmental and social aspects, we find that the social‐based activities are more likely to be driven by political motivations. By categorizing CSR and political connections, this paper not only expands the scope of political CSR and renders the generated results that have been mixed together more distinguishable, but also provides a more precise understanding of the fundamental drivers of CSR in China from the perspective of resource exchange.
Does Employment Protection Affect Qualification Mismatch?
Authors: Maida Agata , Tealdi Cristina 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis article investigates the effect of the relaxation of the rigidity of employment protection legislation in dual economies on qualification mismatch, measured as the sum of over‐education and under‐education. Using a unique matched employer–employee flow dataset, the effect of two reforms, which significantly modified the rules for the utilization of temporary contracts in Italy, is studied. By increasing the relative flow of workers on short‐term contracts, the short‐term contract reform is found to have reduced the relative flow of over‐educated workers. However, this result holds only for older male workers, while no effect is found for female and younger workers. The apprenticeship reform instead had no major effects on the relative flow of mismatched workers.
Retzius‐sparing robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy: early learning curve experience in three continents
Authors: Galfano Antonio , Secco Silvia , Dell’Oglio Paolo , Rha Koon , Eden Christopher , Fransis Karen , Sooriakumaran Prasanna , De La Muela Pedro Sanchez , Kowalczyk Keith , Miyagawa Tomoaki , Assenmacher Christophe , Matsubara Akio , Chiu Kun‐Yuan , Boylu Ugur , Lee Harry , Bocciardi Aldo Massimo 
Published: August 2020

ObjectiveTo assess the effect of surgical experience on peri‐operative, functional and oncological outcomes during the first 50 Retzius‐sparing robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RsRARP) cases performed by surgeons naïve to this novel approach.Materials and MethodsWe retrospectively evaluated the initial cases operated by 14 surgeons in 12 different international centres. Pre‐, peri‐ and postoperative features of the first 50 patients operated by each surgeon in all the participating centres were collected. The effect of surgical experience on peri‐operative, functional and oncological outcomes was firstly evaluated after stratification by level of surgical experience (initial [≤25 cases] and expert [>25 cases]) and after using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing to graphically explore the relationship between surgical experience and the outcomes of interest.ResultsWe evaluated 626 patients. The median follow‐up was 13 months in the initial group and 9 months in the expert group (P = 0.002). Preoperative features overlapped between the two groups. Shorter console time (140 vs 120 min; P = 0.001) and a trend towards lower complications rates (13 vs 5.5%; P = 0.038) were observed in the expert group. The relationship between surgical experience and console time, immediate urinary continence recovery and Clavien–Dindo grade ≥2 complications was linear, without reaching a plateau, after 50 cases. Conversely, a non‐linear relationship was observed between surgical experience and positive surgical margins (PSMs).ConclusionsIn this first report of a multicentre experience of RsRARP during the learning curve, we found that console time, immediate urinary continence recovery and postoperative complications are optimal from the beginning and further quickly improve during the learning process, while PSM rates did not clearly improve over the first 50 cases.
Structure‐based non‐nucleoside inhibitor design: Developing inhibitors that are effective against resistant mutants
Authors: Smith Steven J. , Pauly Gary T. , Hewlett Katharine , Schneider Joel P. , Hughes Stephen H. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractNon‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) inhibit reverse transcription and block the replication of HIV‐1. Currently, NNRTIs are usually used as part of a three‐drug combination given to patients as antiretroviral therapy. These combinations involve other classes of anti‐HIV‐1 drugs, commonly nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). However, attempts are being made to develop two‐drug maintenance therapies, some of which involve an NNRTI and an integrase strand transfer inhibitor. This has led to a renewed interest in developing novel NNRTIs, with a major emphasis on designing compounds that can effectively inhibit the known NNRTI‐resistant mutants. We have generated and tested novel rilpivirine (RPV) analogs. The new compounds were designed to exploit a small opening in the upper right periphery of the NNRTI‐binding pocket. The best of the new compounds, 12, was a more potent inhibitor of the NNRTI‐resistant mutants we tested than either doravirine or efavirenz but was inferior to RPV. We describe the limitations on the modifications that can be appended to the “upper right side” of the RPV core and the effects of substituting other cores for the central pyrimidine core of RPV and make suggestions about how this information can be used in NNRTI design.
Depression and Anxiety in the Postnatal Period: An Examination of Infants’ Home Language Environment, Vocalizations, and Expressive Language Abilities
Authors: Brookman Ruth , Kalashnikova Marina , Conti Janet , Xu Rattanasone Nan , Grant Kerry‐Ann , Demuth Katherine , Burnham Denis 
Published: August 2020

This longitudinal study investigated the effects of maternal emotional health concerns, on infants’ home language environment, vocalization quantity, and expressive language skills. Mothers and their infants (at 6 and 12 months; 21 mothers with depression and or anxiety and 21 controls) provided day‐long home‐language recordings. Compared with controls, risk group recordings contained fewer mother–infant conversational turns and infant vocalizations, but daily number of adult word counts showed no group difference. Furthermore, conversational turns and infant vocalizations were stronger predictors of infants’ 18‐month vocabulary size than depression and anxiety measures. However, anxiety levels moderated the effect of conversational turns on vocabulary size. These results suggest that variability in mothers’ emotional health influences infants’ language environment and later language ability.
Smart contract for distributed energy trading in virtual power plants based on blockchain
Authors: Lu Jing , Wu Shihong , Cheng Hanlei , Xiang Zhiyu 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe energy system is evolving from smart grid to energy Internet. Virtual power plant (VPP), as an important part of the energy Internet, plays an important role in the distributed energy generation and trading. In this article, a blockchain‐based VPP transaction model is established for the future energy Internet driven by real‐time electricity price. Then the smart contracts for distributed energy trading in VPPs using blockchain technology are proposed, and the key technological difficulties are analyzed and the solutions are given. Experiments show that the proposed model can reflect the supply and demand information in real time, so that two‐way selection can be carried out under the condition of information symmetry when distributed energy is connected to the grid. If our method is applied, we can help distributed energy suppliers set electricity prices, reduce the trust cost and improve the energy trading efficiency. Also, we can help the distributed energy voluntarily participate in VPPs and joint maintain the system, then solve the problem of VPP's coordinated control and scheduling of distributed energy resources.
A Personal View: Navigating conflicting claims of legality and women’s safety at a volunteer medical clinic in Guatemala
Authors: Altshuler Ellery 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis paper examines the ethical considerations in a case of a 12‐year‐old girl seeking an abortion in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala in early 2020. The physician denied the girl care and did not refer her to a qualified provider, citing the illegality of such actions. Though abortion is illegal in Guatemala, enforcement of the law is sparse, and many abortions are performed every year. The physician would have taken on minimal personal risk by helping the girl. This case exemplifies a circumstance in which breaking the law to help a patient is ethically justified.
Associations between usual glycated haemoglobin and cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A 10‐year diabetes cohort study
Authors: Wan Eric YF , Yu Esther YT , Chen Julie Y , Wong Ian CK , Chan Esther WY , Lam Cindy LK 
Published: August 2020

AbstractAimTo investigate the assocation between glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among patients with type 2 diabetes.Materials and methodsThis retrospective cohort study conducted in Hong Kong selected patients aged 45 to 84 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus and without CVD from primary care clinics during the period 2008 to 2010. Usual HbA1c measurement was calculated using a mixed‐effects model to minimize regression dilution bias. The association between usual HbA1c and CVD risk was assessed by Cox regression, with adjustment for baseline covariates. Subgroup analyses by patient characteristics were also conducted.ResultsAfter a median follow‐up period of 8.4 years (1.4 million person‐years), 174 028 patients with 34 074 CVD events were observed. A curvilinear association was found between usual HbA1c and total CVD, stroke, heart failure and CVD mortality risk. No significant difference was found among patients with usual HbA1c <53 mmol/mol (7%). A positive linear association was found between usual HbA1c and the risks of outcomes when the usual HbA1c was 53 mmol/mol (7%) or above. The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for CVD risk per 1% increment in usual HbA1c >7% was 21% (HR 1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18–1.23) (HR for CVD per 1mmol/mol increment in usual HbA1c > 53 mmol/mol was 1.7% (HR 1.017, CI 1.015‐1.019)). A similar pattern was identified in a patient subgroup analysis, but the effects of usual HbA1c in younger patients were more prominent than in older patients.ConclusionsUsual HbA1c increments for levels >53 mmol/mol (7.0%) were associated with elevated CVD risk, but no difference was found in the population with usual HbA1c <53 mmol/mol (7.0%), irrespective of patient characteristics. For CVD prevention, strict adherence to an HbA1c target of <53 mmol/mol (7%) should apply to younger patients.
Production of β‐glucosidases by European Armillaria species
Authors: Idder‐Ighili H. , Agustian A. , Idder M. A. , Guillaumin J. J. , Wipf D. , Botton B. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractProduction of β‐glucosidase was investigated in nine isolates of Armillaria representing four species found in Europe: Armillaria mellea and Armillaria ostoyae, considered to be pathogenic and moderately pathogenic, respectively, and Armillaria. gallica and Armillaria cepistipes, both considered to be non‐pathogenic. β‐glucosidase was predominantly produced in the rhizomorphs, while the vegetative mycelium produced only a low amount of enzyme. Pachlewski's medium containing ammonium tartrate, glucose, maltose and thiamine was very efficient in promoting differentiation and growth of rhizomorphs. In A. ostoyae and A. cepistipes, a large proportion of β‐glucosidase production was endocellular, but the rhizomorphs of all species excreted significant amounts of the enzyme in the culture medium once they had grown. The pathogenic species A. ostoyae and A. mellea excreted significantly more β‐glucosidase than the non‐pathogenic species, indicating that this enzyme might play a key role in pathogenicity. Native intracellular β‐glucosidases were visualized as three bands at 470, 164 and 82 kDa on polyacrylamide gradient gels. The native excreted enzymes exhibited two, three or four bands depending on the isolates, with molecular weights ranging from 170 to 400 kDa.
Semi‐professional school leadership in Spain: Gender differences
Authors: Tierno‐García Juana‐María , Camarero‐Figuerola Marta , Iranzo‐García Pilar , Barrios‐Arós Charo 
Published: August 2020

AbstractConstructing the identity of school principals is difficult because being a principal requires carrying out complex functions in challenging contexts. Our research addressed semi‐professional school leadership in Catalonia, Spain, with a particular focus on differences in the managerial styles of men and women. In Spain, the school management system is semi‐professional which means that principals are teachers who take on leadership roles for limited periods. In a descriptive study based on an ad hoc questionnaire administered to a representative sample, we considered the personal and contextual characteristics of elementary school principals. Focusing on the variable of gender, this article analyses principals' reasons for accepting and continuing in their position and principals' priorities when performing their duties; also, their perceptions of various aspects of the school environment that help them in their role. We found significant differences related to gender. While the predominance of male principals in elementary education is declining, female principals, more than their male counterparts, must accept and tackle the challenges associated with contextualized, distributed and pedagogical leadership in conditions leading to overexertion. Many of the principals who were women worked in small, rural or disadvantaged schools. Paradoxically, female principals construct their professional identity in closer alignment with administrative style and with teaching duties than with leadership style. We conclude that these challenges should be taken into account and further investigated to avert the precarious position of women in school leadership.
Outcome of COVID‐19 in multiple myeloma patients in relation to treatment
Authors: Susek Katharina Helene , Gran Charlotte , Ljunggren Hans‐Gustaf , Alici Evren , Nahi Hareth 
Published: August 2020

AbstractCOVID‐19 has emerged as a global pandemic. Cancer patients have been reported to be at higher risk for adverse outcome of COVID‐19. Studies are ongoing to decipher the risk factors and risk groups among cancer patients as well as strategies to refine treatment approaches. Here, we report eight patients with multiple myeloma that underwent immunomodulatory therapies with daratumumab or lenalidomide‐based combination treatments and one patient with smoldering multiple myeloma, all of which presented with symptomatic COVID‐19. We report that patients that succumbed to COVID‐19 presented with either progressive tumor disease under daratumumab treatment or were in remission under lenalidomide‐dexamethasone treatment.
A multimodal study of the effects of tDCS on dorsolateral prefrontal and temporo‐parietal areas during dichotic listening
Authors: Marquardt Lynn , Kusztrits Isabella , Craven Alexander R. , Hugdahl Kenneth , Specht Karsten , Hirnstein Marco 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe underlying neural mechanisms of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), especially beyond the primary motor cortex, remain unclear. Several studies examined tDCS effects on either functional activity, neurotransmitters or behavior but few investigated those aspects together to reveal how the brain responds to tDCS. The objective is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of tDCS using a multimodal approach that extends from behavioral to neurotransmitter levels of explanation. Thirty‐two healthy participants performed an auditory dichotic listening task at two visits, one session with sham and one session with real tDCS (2 mA) while simultaneously undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The anode and cathode were placed over the left temporo‐parietal cortex (TPC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, respectively. Before and after simultaneous dichotic listening/fMRI/tDCS, combined glutamate and glutamine (Glx) and myo‐inositol levels were assessed in the stimulated areas. While fMRI and dichotic listening showed expected functional activity and behavioral effects, neither method demonstrated differences between real and sham stimulation. Glx only showed a statistical trend towards higher levels after real tDCS in both stimulated brain areas. There were no significant correlations between behavior and Glx. Despite a reasonable sample size, electrical field strength, and replication of behavioral and functional activity results, tDCS had little to no effect on dichotic listening, Glx, and functional activity. The study emphasizes that findings about the underlying neural mechanisms of the primary motor cortex cannot simply be generalized to other brain areas. Particularly, the TPC might be less sensitive to tDCS. Moreover, the study demonstrates the general feasibility of multimodal approaches.
A new theory of absence experience
Authors: Gow Laura 
Published: August 2020

AbstractOrdering your morning coffee and then realising that your wallet is missing from your bag triggers an experience of the absence of your wallet. Familiar cases like this one provide good evidence for the idea that we frequently experience absences. According to one popular view, we experience absences by perceiving them. I argue that there are a number of problems with the perceptual view, and propose an alternative, cognitive account. Now, a cognitive account of absence experience has already been widely discussed and unequivocally rejected by participants in the debate. However, arguments against it depend upon the important, yet mistaken assumption that cognitive accounts must appeal to beliefs or judgements. I argue that the phenomenology involved in absence experience is not that associated with belief or judgement, but is instead an intellectual seeming. This renders my account immune to the objections that have been made against the existing cognitive view.
Long‐term effects of COVID‐19 in a patient on maintenance dialysis
Authors: Alfano Gaetano , Perrone Rossella , Fontana Francesco , Mori Giacomo , Lucchi Leonardo , Guaraldi Giovanni , Magistroni Riccardo , Cappelli Gianni ,   for the Modena Covid‐19 Working Group (MoCo19)
Published: August 2020

AbstractCoronavirus infectious disease (COVID‐19) is a novel respiratory infection highly associated with severe complications in elderly subjects affected by cardiovascular disease. Patients on maintenance dialysis are exceptionally vulnerable because most of them are old and have multiple comorbidities. We report the complex clinical course of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in a patient on maintenance dialysis who presented with fever and lung edema. After 41 days from the primary infection, the clinically recovered patient experienced symptomatic reactivation of SARS‐COV‐2 infection documented by positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) result on nasal/oropharyngeal swab along with immunoglobulin M seroconversion. The recurrence of PCR positivity forced us to perform hemodialysis in a separate isolation room for a prolonged period of time. Close monitoring of previously infected patients and restructuring of dialysis facilities are necessary to avoid new outbreaks of this concerning disease.
Photoluminescence studies of Ce3+ ion‐doped BiPO4 phosphor and its photocatalytic activity
Authors: Naorem Ramananda Singh , Singh Naorem Premjit , Singh Nongmaithem Mohondas 
Published: August 2020

AbstractCe3+ ion doped BiPO4 phosphors were synthesized by co‐precipitation method using ethylene glycol as capping agent. The prepared phosphors were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT‐IR, UV‐Vis, and PL spectroscopy techniques. The formation of monoclinic phase was confirmed from XRD and FT‐IR studies. SEM study revealed the rice shape morphology of BiPO4:Ce3+ (7at.%). In the photoluminescence analysis, a broad emission band extending in a wide wavelengths range with maxima around 419 and 470 nm was observed under excitation at 370 and 417 nm, respectively. These emission bands are originated from the electronic transitions, viz., 5d → 2F5/2, 2F7/2 of Ce3+ ion. The emission intensity was accentuated with the increase of Ce3+ ion till 7at.% and subsequently attenuated with further increase of Ce3+ ion concentration; which is due to the concentration quenching effect. The BiPO4:Ce3+ (7at.%) sample was characterized for the feasibility of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under UV light irradiation and degradation of 90% of the dye was degraded within 120 minutes was observed. From the results, it is believed that the prepared BiPO4:Ce3+ may have potential applications in solid state lighting as well as in photocatalysis for the degradation of organic dyes.