bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Corporate environmental communication: a closer look at the initiatives from leading manufacturing and IT organizations in India
Authors: Ramya S.M. , Shereen Aysha , Baral Rupashree 
Published: February 2020

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the level of environmental communication and the predominant themes of environmental initiatives and technologies used in India.

Design/methodology/approach
In this exploratory study, a manual content analysis was conducted using print and website data related to corporate environmental communication of 60 Indian companies listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange, representing the top thirty from manufacturing and information technology (IT) sector each.

Findings
The authors classified the level of importance based on seven attributes, distinguished between hard and soft disclosure and identified the prevalent environmental practices and technologies in each sector. The authors found that the environmental communication of the IT sector is technology-based than the manufacturing sector, but both are weak in acknowledging climate change.

Practical implications
Managers, across the two sectors, can make their organizations environmentally responsible by learning and applying the current practices/technologies and reap benefits by mimetic isomorphism or create competitive advantage.

Originality/value
Building on the theoretical and practical works in corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility communication literature, the authors contribute to the stakeholder theory and voluntary disclosure theory. The findings of the study provide the much-needed base for future research that links the engineering and management community to take the scholarship further to prevent the climate crisis.
Fungal endophytes promote the accumulation of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids in Lycoris radiata
Authors: Zhou Jiayu , Liu Zhilin , Wang Songfeng , Li Jie , Li Yikui , Chen Wei‐Kang , Wang Ren 
Published: February 2020

SummaryLycoris radiata is a main source of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids; however, the low content of these alkaloids in planta remains a limit to their pharmaceutical development and utilization. The accumulation of secondary metabolites can be enhanced in plants inoculated with fungal endophytes. In this study, we analysed the diversity of culturable fungal endophytes in different organs of L. radiata. Then, by analysing the correlation between the detectable rate of each fungal species and the content of each tested alkaloid, we proposed several fungal candidates implicated in the increase of alkaloid accumulation. This was verified by inoculating these candidates to L. radiata plants. Based on the results of two independent experiments conducted in May 2018 and October 2019, the individual inoculation of nine fungal endophytes significantly increased the total content of the tested alkaloids in the entire L. radiata plants. This is the first study in L. radiata to show that fungal endophytes are able to improve the accumulation of various alkaloids. Therefore, our results provide insights into a better understanding of interactions between plants and fungal endophytes and suggest an effective strategy for enhancing the alkaloid content in the cultivation of L. radiata.
Effects and molecular mechanisms of Ninghong black tea extract in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease of rats
Authors: Shen Yu , Xiao Xiaojuan , Wu Kunlu , Wang Yanpeng , Yuan Yijun , Liu Jianwei , Sun Shuming , Liu Jing 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe aim of this study is to observe the effects of Ninghong black tea extract on fat deposition and high‐fat diet‐induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to explore the potential mechanisms of these effect. Under 2% Ninghong black tea extract diet feeding in rat model, the results showed that Ninghong black tea extract decreased the body fat ratio and the number of lipid droplets in the liver and significantly alleviated NAFLD in the rat model. The real‐time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that Ninghong black tea extract significantly upregulated the expression of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor α (PPARα), which is important in fatty acid β‐oxidation, and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), which plays an important role in the synthesis of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL). By promoting the expression of PPARα and MTP in liver tissue and thereby promoting fatty acid β‐oxidation and VLDL synthesis, Ninghong black tea extract relieves high‐fat diet‐induced NAFLD.
Validity of the personality disorder diagnosis in the Swedish National Patient Register
Authors: Kouppis E. , Ekselius L. 
Published: February 2020

AimsThe Swedish National Patient Register (NPR) is an exceptional source of information in clinical epidemiological research. The register is, however, not validated for the diagnosis of personality disorder (PD). We therefore assessed its validity in this patient group, and the group with emotionally unstable PD (EUPD)/borderline personality disorder (BPD).MethodsRecords from 100 random adult patients (aged 15–65 years) diagnosed with any PD in the NPR between 1987 and 2015 were analysed using a protocol based on general diagnostic criteria for PD, as well as specific criteria for EUPD/BPD in both ICD and DSM classification systems.ResultsOf the 100 patients, 27 had been given a diagnosis of EUPD, 23 another specific PD and 50 an unspecified PD. Using ICD criteria, 88 of 95 evaluable patients could be confirmed to have a PD, that is an agreement rate of 93%. Using DSM criteria, the agreement was lower (77 patients or 81%). Of 26 evaluable patients with a diagnosis of EUPD/BPD, the diagnosis was confirmed in all cases when using the ICD criteria, but in only 20 when using the DSM criteria.ConclusionsThe NPR is a valid source of data for the diagnosis of PD per se and also of EUPD in women.
Low signal intensities of MRI T1 mapping predict refractory diplopia in Graves’ ophthalmopathy
Authors: Matsuzawa Kazuhiko , Izawa Shoichiro , Kato Ayumi , Fukaya Kenji , Matsumoto Kazuhisa , Okura Tsuyoshi , Miyazaki Dai , Kurosaki Masamichi , Fujii Shinya , Taniguchi Shin‐ichi , Kato Masahiko , Yamamoto Kazuhiro 
Published: February 2020

AbstractObjectiveIn Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO), fibrosis in extraocular muscles (EOMs) may be related to intravenous glucocorticoid (ivGC)‐resistant diplopia. Signal intensity (SI) of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T1 mapping can quantify properties of EOM components, including fibrosis. We investigated EOM features of GO patients with diplopia using T1 mapping SI and the predictive value of T1 mapping SI in the response of diplopia to ivGCs.DesignWe performed a cross‐sectional study that included 13 active GO patients, 34 inactive GO patients with history of diplopia, including 20 with a history of diplopia disappearance, 14 GO patients with refractory diplopia and 35 control subjects. In nine active GO patients, the relationship between T1 mapping SI at pretreatment and at diplopia outcome after ivGC treatment was prospectively investigated.MethodsT1 mapping SI of left and right inferior rectus and medial rectus muscles was measured in all participants.ResultsT1 mapping SI in inactive GO patients with refractory diplopia was significantly lower than that of other groups in all evaluated EOMs. Diagnostic accuracy for refractory diplopia by T1 mapping SI in GO patients with a history of diplopia disappearance was excellent (AUC 0.89) compared with other assessments. Furthermore, among nine active GO patients, pretreatment T1 mapping SI in four patients with ivGC‐resistant diplopia tended to be low compared with the other five patients with improved diplopia.ConclusionsLow intensity T1 mapping in EOMs is likely to be associated with refractory diplopia and may be useful in predicting the response of diplopia to ivGCs.
Of Kids and Unicorns: How Rational Is Children's Trust in Testimonial Knowledge?
Authors: Lascaux Alexander 
Published: February 2020

AbstractWhen young children confront a vast array of adults' testimonial claims, they should decide which testimony to endorse. If they are unable to immediately verify the content of testimonial assertions, children adopt or reject their informants' statements on the basis of forming trust in the sources of testimony. This kind of trust needs to be based on some underlying reasons. The rational choice theory, which currently dominates the social, cognitive, and psychological sciences, posits that trust should be formed on a rational basis, as a result of probabilistic assessments and utility‐maximizing calculations. In this paper, the predictions stemming from the rational choice approach to trust are systematically compared with the empirical evidence from the field of developmental psychology on how children establish their trust in testimonial statements. The results of this comparison demonstrate an obvious inadequacy of the rational choice explanation of the emergence and development of children's testimonial trust, regardless of which form of trust rationality—weighting, threshold, or ordering—is examined. As none of the three forms of rationality of children's trust in testimony squares with the empirical data, this paper introduces a new version of trust rationality, adaptively rational trust. It explores the compatibility of the concept of adaptively rational trust with the recent empirical findings in the area of developmental psychology and addresses some avenues for future research on the rationality of testimonial trust.
Commitment and transformative choice
Authors: Duncan Samuel 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThis paper presents a new solution to the problem of transformative choice raised by L.A. Paul's recent work. Paul thinks that transformative choices pose a problem because we cannot assess how much we would value the results of such choices due to the fact that we are unfamiliar with what the experiences that result will be like. I draw on Amartya Sen's notion of commitments and their place in our decision‐making for resources to address this problem. I argue that in many cases, such commitments give us all the grounds we need to assess the subjective value of a choice. This means that by drawing on commitments, we can rationally make transformative choices even if we do not know what the experience that results will be like. Moreover, unlike some proposed solutions to the problem posed by transformative choice, I think that my suggestion is compatible with the way Paul sets up the problem and does not rest on any sort of claim that her way of describing it is in mistaken in some way. In fact, I believe that in many ways, my proposal here builds on and takes further her own suggestion about how to solve the problem of transformative choice.
Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome in Polypharmacy
Authors: George Claudene J. , Verghese Joe 
Published: February 2020

OBJECTIVESRisk factors for motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), a predementia syndrome characterized by slow gait and cognitive complaints, have been identified, but few are reversible. Polypharmacy is a potentially reversible risk factor for cognitive decline, but the relationship between MCR and polypharmacy has not been examined. Our aim was to compare the epidemiology of MCR and polypharmacy.DESIGNCross‐sectional.SETTINGCommunity‐based Health and Retirement Study cohort.PARTICIPANTSA total of 1119 adults 65 years and older (mean age = 74.7 ± 7.0 y; 59% female).MEASUREMENTSPolypharmacy is defined as the use of five or more regularly scheduled medications. MCR is defined as cognitive complaints and slow gait in an individual without dementia.RESULTSThe prevalence of MCR among 417 participants with polypharmacy was 10%; it was 6% among 702 participants without polypharmacy. The odds of meeting MCR criteria in those with polypharmacy was 1.8 (confidence interval = 1.0‐3.0; P = .035) compared with those without polypharmacy, even after adjusting for high‐risk medication use.CONCLUSIONOur results show the coexistence of MCR and polypharmacy in older adults, suggesting a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1072–1077, 2020
Healthcare practitioners’ experiences of postoperative pain management in lumbar spine surgery care—A qualitative study
Authors: Angelini Eva , Baranto Adad , Brisby Helena , Wijk Helle 
Published: February 2020

AbstractAims and objectiveTo explore and describe healthcare practitioners’ experiences of postoperative pain management to patients undergoing planned lumbar spine surgery by identifying the healthcare practitioners’ behaviours, attitudes and strategies.BackgroundPoorly managed postoperative pain continues to cause suffering and prolong hospital care and may affect individual and team practitioners’ strategies and attitudes. The impact of these strategies and attitudes needs greater understanding.DesignDescriptive qualitative study.MethodsIn‐depth interviews were conducted at a university hospital in Sweden during January–March 2016 with 9 healthcare practitioners (ages: 29–61 years; gender: male 3 and female 6; professions: medical doctor 3, registered nurse 3 and physiotherapist 3; professional experience: 1.5 months to 25 years). The interviews were analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. The study adhered to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research COREQ.ResultsThe interviews revealed healthcare practitioners’ attitudes and strategies. Three themes were identified: (a) Connecting with the person was recognised as the key component in postoperative pain management; (b) Professionalism: a balancing act, accentuated health care practitioners’ duality in being both vulnerable and strong in delicate care situations; and (c) Collaboration: being constantly responsive, the necessity for healthcare practitioners to be constantly responsive to their environment.ConclusionsThe findings pinpoint the need for healthcare organisations to build structures enabling practitioners to deliver adequate pain management in acknowledging the practitioners’ delicate situation when facing patients in pain.Relevance to clinical practiceGiven the global need for postoperative pain management, our findings have international relevance. Preconceived expectations on specific pain need to be depicted and postoperative pain taken seriously to protect the patient as well as the healthcare practitioners.
Benefits of ensemble models in road pavement cracking classification
Authors: Rodriguez‐Lozano Francisco J. , León‐García Fernando , Gámez‐Granados Juan C. , Palomares Jose M. , Olivares J. 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe maintenance of road pavements is an essential task to prevent major deterioration and to reduce accident rates. In this task, the detection and classification of different types of cracks on the roads is usually considered. However, in most cases, these tasks are not fully automated and they need to be supervised by an expert to make repair decisions. This work focuses on the automatic classification of the most common types of cracks: longitudinal cracks, transverse cracks, and alligator cracks. Our proposal combines, first, computer vision techniques for crack segmentation and second, an ensemble model (composed of different rule‐based algorithms) for the classification. This approach achieves an average precision and recall values greater than 94% for three analyzed data sets improving the results in comparison to other approaches.
Iron deficiency leads to repression of a non‐canonical methionine salvage pathway in Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Brault Ariane , Labbé Simon 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe methionine salvage pathway (MSP) regenerates methionine from 5′‐methylthioadenosine (MTA). Aerobic MSP consists of six enzymatic steps. The mug14+ and adi1+ genes that are involved in the third and fifth steps of the pathway are repressed when Schizosaccharomyces pombe undergoes a transition from high‐ to low‐iron conditions. Results consistently show that methionine auxotrophic cells (met6Δ) require iron for growth in the presence of MTA as the sole source of methionine. Inactivation of the iron‐using protein Adi1 leads to defects in the utilization of MTA. In the case of the third step of the pathway, co‐expression of two distinct proteins, Mta3 and Mde1, is required. These proteins are interdependent to rescue MTA‐dependent growth deficit of met6Δ cells. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments showed that Mta3 is a binding partner of Mde1. Meiotic met6Δ cells co‐expressing mta3+ and mde1+ or mta3+ and mug14+ produce comparable levels of spores in the presence of MTA, revealing that Mde1 and Mug14 share a common function when co‐expressed with Mta3 in sporulating cells. In sum, our findings unveil several novel features of MSP, especially with respect to its regulation by iron and the discovery of a non‐canonical third enzymatic step in the fission yeast.
Life has given me suffering and desire – A study of older men’s lives after the loss of their life partners
Authors: Koskinen Camilla , Nyman Gun‐Britt , Nyholm Linda 
Published: February 2020

Background and aimAll human beings have the need to feel connected with others. However, researchers have found that for those aged 80+, loneliness markedly increases and that such loneliness is often linked to life changes or the loss of a close relative. The loss of a life partner is considered to have a greater impact on men’s identify, social engagement and management of life. The aim of this study was to deepen understanding of older (80+) men’s life after the loss of their life partners.Theoretical frameworkCaring science and Eriksson’s theory of caritative caring form the theoretical base for the study and its interpretative framework. The central concepts are suffering of life and desire of life.Informants, methodology and methodsA total of five men aged 81–91 gave thereby consent for participation in the study. Emanating from hermeneutical methodology, qualitative deep interviews with a narrative approach were used to collect data. Thereafter, a six‐step qualitative thematic analysis in accordance with Braun and Clarke was used to analyse the text.Interpretation and conclusionFour themes emerged: reconciliation with one’s lived life, living in the present with uncertainty about the future, a reorientation in life including new living conditions and living with the hope of finding a new life partner and feeling loved. We found that loss can lead to suffering in life. The life can be filled with loneliness, emptiness, life weariness and an absence of desire, hope and longing. Yet there is a vitality in suffering that enables to find new meaning contexts and desire for life. Here, the fundamental choice underpinning the movement between life suffering and desire for life is comprised of reconciliation with one’s lived life, living in the present, daily habits and routines, being seen, participation, love and thoughtfulness.
Retrospective evaluation of urinary indwelling catheter type in cats with urethral obstruction (January 2014 to December 2014): 91 cases
Authors: Davidow Elizabeth B. 
Published: February 2020

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the influence of urinary catheter type on recurrence rate (rUO) in cats with urethral obstruction.DesignRetrospective study.SettingTwo private referral hospitals.AnimalsNinety‐one cats diagnosed with urethral obstruction treated with a 3.5‐Fr Argyle (AR) or 3.5‐Fr red rubber (RR) indwelling catheter presenting in 2014.Measurements and Main ResultsOne hundred sixty‐six cats were identified using diagnostic code search with 91 cats meeting inclusion criteria. All were treated with IV fluids, buprenorphine, prazosin, and an indwelling urethral catheter with a closed collection system. Catheter groups did not differ statistically in baseline characteristics, medication treatment, or catheterization time. Follow‐up was available for 91 cats at 24 hours, 86 cats at 7 days, and 84 cats at 30 days. There was no statistical difference in rUO between cats with different catheter types at any time in this retrospective study.ConclusionsNo difference in rUO was found in cats treated for urethral obstruction with a 3.5‐Fr AR or RR catheter, however, due to the retrospective nature of this study the inability to detect a difference may be due to the small sample size of this study. Recurrent urethral obstruction in this study at 30 days was 11%.
Oximetry-detected pulsus paradoxus predicts for severity in paediatric asthma
Authors: G Krishnan Sandhya , Wong Hung Chew , Ganapathy Sashikumar , Ong Gene Yong-Kwang 
Published: February 2020

ObjectiveTo evaluate if qualitative visual detection of pulsus paradoxus (PP) on the pulse oximeter plethysmograph can predict outcomes for children with moderate to severe respiratory distress in a paediatric emergency department (ED).DesignProspective cohort study.SettingPaediatric ED of a tertiary paediatrics hospital in Singapore.PatientsChildren managed for moderate to severe wheezing in the resuscitation bay of the ED.InterventionsPatients were assessed for the presence of PP based on visual detection of oximeter plethysmograph before and after initial inhaled bronchodilator therapy.Main outcome measuresThese include the need for adjunct medications such as aminophylline or magnesium sulfate, the need for supplementary ventilation and the need for admission to the high dependency unit (HDU) or intensive care unit (ICU).ResultsThere were 285 patients included in the study, of whom 78 (27.4%) had PP at ED presentation. There were 40 (14.0%) who had PP after initial management. Children who had PP after initial management had significantly relative risks (RR) of requiring adjunct medications (RR 12.5, 95% CI 4.0 to 38.6), need for supplementary ventilation (RR 5.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 26.5) and admission to the HDU/ICU (RR 5.6, 95% CI 3.0 to 10.4).ConclusionQualitative detection of PP on pulse oximetry can be used as a potential point-of-care tool to help in the assessment of response to initial treatment in paediatric patients with acute moderate to severe asthma exacerbations. Future studies are needed to assess and validate its role in guiding ED management of acute paediatric asthma.
Postdural puncture headache in the obstetric population: a new approach?
Authors: Xavier João , Pinho Sílvia , Silva Jorge , Nunes Catarina S , Cabido Herminia , Fortuna Rosário , Araújo Rita , Lemos Paulo , Machado Humberto 
Published: February 2020

Background and objectivesThe gold standard for the treatment of postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is the epidural blood patch (EBP). Regional techniques—sphenopalatine ganglion block (SPGB), greater occipital nerve block (GONB) and trigger point infiltration (TPI)—can also be used for the treatment of PDPH. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of these peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) in the treatment of PDPH.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted including all patients with PDPH in the obstetrics department of our institution between April 2016 and December 2017. Data were retrieved from clinical records regarding anesthetic technique, symptoms, treatment, Numeric Pain Score (NPS) before and after treatment, among others.ResultsWe observed 50 cases of PDPH: 25 following spinal anesthesia, 19 following epidural block and 6 following combined spinal-epidural. Of these, seven were managed conservatively and one received EBP as first-line treatment. The remaining 42 patients received PNB as first-line treatment. Of these, 27 received only 1 course of PNB, while 15 received 2 courses. We observed a statistically significant improvement in the NPS after the first course of blocks (n=42), with a reduction of the median NPS by 6.0 (IQR 4.0–7.5; p<0.001). Improvement was also observed after the second course of blocks (n=15), with a reduction of the median NPS of 3.5 (IQR 1.5–5.0; p=0.02). Due to treatment failure, 9 of the 42 patients treated with PNB required EBP. None of these were cases following spinal anesthesia.ConclusionSPGB, GONB and TPI can be safe and effective options for treatment of PDPH, but do not completely eliminate the need for EBP. Prospective studies designed to identify factors associated with unsuccessful treatment are required.