bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The importance of SMEs’ network partners in consortium bidding for public sector tenders
Authors: Reijonen Helen , Saastamoinen Jani , Tammi Timo 
Published: August 2021

PurposeThe aim is to examine the importance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see in different network partners regarding successful tendering in public procurement, and whether this perception predicts the number of joint bids and wins.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected by an electronic questionnaire which was sent to the registered users of the leading electronic platform for public procurement in Finland. The data were analysed with statistical methods.FindingsThe findings suggest that a favourable perception of the importance of horizontal networks in public procurement is associated with a larger number of joint bids and better success in joint bidding. However, the results do not establish a positive correlation between vertical networks and consortium bidding.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected from a single EU country. Since the criteria for bidding consortia may vary between countries, different results might have been achieved from other countries.Practical implicationsSMEs should be encouraged to form bidding consortia and acquire related experience. Policymakers should minimise barriers to consortium bidding, e.g. by offering more information. They should also assess the merits of joint bidding because they rarely encourage SMEs to bid as a consortium.Social implicationsConsortium bidding is a way of enhancing SMEs’ possibilities to participate in public tender contests, even in large contracts.Originality/valueWhile consortium bidding has been recognised to enhance SMEs’ possibilities of participating in public procurement, there is limited research into how SMEs’ network collaborations relate to bidding as a consortium.
In God we trust…and Caesar too? Evaluating the link between religiosity and trust in government
Authors: Creel Nicholas 
Published: August 2021

PurposeThe study aims to establish that religiosity has a positive link with government trust, making the secularization trend all the more likely to further erode this already fragile resource.Design/methodology/approachThrough the use of data from the World Values Survey and European Social Survey the link between religiosity and trust in government is examined.FindingsReligiosity and trust in government are positively linked in aggregate data.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis is based on aggregated data, not individual countries, and religiosity is a complex concept to measure.Practical implicationsSecularization will have a long-term negative effect on government trust. Low levels of trust in government in the West are likely here to stay, or even worsen, as populations continue to secularize.Social implicationsWith less trust in government, it will be more difficult to govern effectively.Originality/valueThe author has not yet seen a full test on how secularization will impact trust in government. In fact, this study makes clear that the trend goes a long way explaining why trust in government has been falling in the developed world for decades.
The evolution of humanitarian logistics as a discipline through a crystal ball
Authors: Altay Nezih , Kovács Gyöngyi , Spens Karen 
Published: August 2021

PurposeHumanitarian logistics has for a long time been argued to be a new discipline. Now that even the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management (JHLSCM) has existed over a decade, it is time to take a closer look at its evolution. This article provides some understanding for the developments of humanitarian logistics over the past decade, reveals current trends and discovers what lies behind the curtains in the humanitarian logistics and supply chain management discipline.Design/methodology/approachThis article brings in developments and discussions in humanitarian logistics practice into the research domain.FindingsThe article conveys the concerns of humanitarian logistics practitioners to research. These include the backlash from the COVID-19 pandemic as a prime current concern, and also other longer-term issues and developments.Research limitations/implicationsThe themes identified in the article can be used to inform a research agenda in humanitarian logistics and supply chain management. The article revisits a framework of global events and their cascading impacts to include non-linearities and multiple disruptions from evolutionary disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic.Practical implicationsThe article argues for more collaborative and co-designed research to increase the relevance and impact of humanitarian logistics.Social implicationsWider societal views are brought into the area of humanitarian logistics.Originality/valueThe article highlights the gaps that remain in humanitarian logistics and supply chain management research.
Facies‐based full‐waveform inversion for anisotropic media: a North Sea case study
Authors: Singh Sagar , Tsvankin Ilya , Naeini Ehsan Zabihi 
Published: August 2021

ABSTRACTElastic full‐waveform inversion can increase the resolution of reservoir characterization using seismic data. However, full‐waveform inversion for realistic anisotropic media suffers from the trade‐offs between the medium parameters and strongly relies on the accuracy of the initial model. Here, we employ a regularization methodology that utilizes geologically consistent information to reduce the inversion non‐linearity and crosstalk between the parameters. The geologic constraints are obtained from well logs and interpolated along major horizons in the migrated image. The algorithm, designed for transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis, is applied to ocean‐bottom data acquired at Volve field in the North Sea. The facies‐based constraints help build high‐resolution velocity fields and accurately image the reservoir region. In particular, the developed algorithm increases the resolution of the P‐ and S‐wave symmetry‐direction velocities and other parameters at the reservoir level. The facies‐based inversion also provides robust estimates of density, which is inverted simultaneously with the velocity fields. Overall, even relatively sparse prior information proves to be sufficient for the proposed methodology to achieve a much higher spatial resolution than the unconstrained full‐waveform inversion.
Within‐year and among‐year variation in impacts of targeted conservation management on juvenile survival in a threatened population
Authors: Fenn Sarah R. , Bignal Eric M. , Bignal Sue , Trask Amanda E. , McCracken Davy I. , Monaghan Pat , Reid Jane M. 
Published: August 2021

Abstract

Overall impacts of targeted conservation interventions on population growth rate (λ) will depend on within‐year and among‐year variation in exposure of target individuals to interventions, and in intervention efficacy in increasing vital rates of exposed individuals. Juvenile survival is one key vital rate that commonly varies substantially within and among years, and consequently drives variation in λ. However, within‐year, among‐year and overall impacts of targeted interventions on population‐wide survival probabilities of potentially mobile juveniles are rarely quantified, precluding full evaluation and evidence‐based refinement of interventions.

We applied multi‐state mark–recapture models to 8 years of ring–resighting data from a threatened red‐billed chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax population to quantify within‐year and among‐year variation in juvenile exposure to a targeted intervention of supplementary feeding and parasite treatment, and to estimate efficacy in increasing juvenile survival probability. We then combined and up‐scaled these estimated effects to evaluate the impact of the 8‐year intervention on overall population‐wide survival probability and resulting population size.

High proportions of surviving juveniles (>70%) were exposed to the intervention across the annual biological cycle in all years. Exposure was associated with higher short‐term survival probabilities through the full annual cycle. Consequently, management increased estimated population‐wide annual juvenile survival by approximately 0.14. However, such effects were only evident in cohorts with low overall annual survival.

Population models projected that these impacts on annual juvenile survival substantially reduced population decline, such that population size at the end of the 8‐year intervention was approximately double that without management.

Synthesis and applications. Our results show how complex patterns of within‐year and among‐year variation in exposure and efficacy of targeted conservation interventions can arise and scale up to affect population‐level outcomes. We demonstrate overall positive effects of a joint supplementary feeding and parasite treatment intervention on the focal chough population, but also highlight potential routes to improve efficacy, for example, through more precise targeting of interventions and agricultural management actions in the context of among‐year variation in environmental conditions.
Acoustic monitoring shows invasive beavers Castor canadensis increase patch‐level avian diversity in Tierra del Fuego
Authors: Francomano Dante , Valenzuela Alejandro E. J. , Gottesman Benjamin L. , González‐Calderón Alvaro , Anderson Christopher B. , Hardiman Brady S. , Pijanowski Bryan C. 
Published: August 2021

Abstract

The North American beaver Castor canadensis is an invasive species in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago. Due to this biological invasion, Argentina and Chile signed an agreement to restore affected ecosystems by eradicating beavers. In southern Patagonia, the beavers’ ecological impacts are well studied, but there is a relative lack of information on how their invasion (and potential removal) could affect bird communities.

In the southern portion of Tierra del Fuego's ‘big island’ (Isla Grande), we conducted passive acoustic monitoring and avian point counts in intact riparian forests, beaver ponds and beaver meadows (i.e. drained ponds) to assess spatial and seasonal differences in acoustic activity and avian abundance, species diversity and functional diversity.

During spring and summer, acoustic activity was significantly higher in meadows than in forests, with ponds exhibiting intermediate values.

Abundance and species diversity exhibited similar patterns, driven largely by resident passerines, while functional diversity tended to be highest in ponds, largely due to ducks and raptors. Effects were weaker in fall and winter.

Acoustic metrics exhibited moderate to strong correlations with all point‐count‐derived metrics.

Synthesis and applications. At the patch level, the avian community was more abundant and diverse in beaver‐modified habitats than in intact riparian forests, though communities in modified patches may not differ substantially from those in analogous natural open and wetland habitats. Dam breaching and pond drainage did not yield a return to an intact forest bird community, indicating that active reforestation may be necessary to restore avian communities to pre‐beaver conditions in the short to medium term, as sought by the binational agreement. Given the immense challenges of eradication and restoration, its social‐ecological costs and benefits—including those related to avifauna—should be thoroughly considered in establishing goals or indicators of success.
Arterial supply to the rat colon
Authors: Kigata Tetsuhito , Shibata Hideshi , Kobayashi Yasushi 
Published: August 2021

SummaryRats are often used as animal models in studies such as on intestinal transplantation and anastomosis healing, which require colectomy. Although detailed information regarding arterial supply is important to establish accurate and reproducible experimental procedures, this has not been studied in the rat colon. Therefore, we analysed the detailed arterial distribution pattern and its individual variations in the colon of 34 rats. The rat colon received colic branches of the ileocolic artery, and the right, middle and left colic arteries. The single left colic artery constantly arose from the caudal mesenteric artery and was distributed to the descending colon, whereas the others showed variations in number and distribution. The ileocolic artery gave rise to one (12%) or two (88%) colic branches supplying the proximal ascending colon, and these branches formed rich, mesh‐like anastomoses along the initial portion of the ascending colon. One (74%) or two (26%) right colic arteries originated from the cranial mesenteric artery and supplied the ascending colon and right colic flexure. Moreover, one (38%), two (56%) or three (6%) middle colic arteries emerged from the cranial mesenteric artery and were distributed to the transverse colon, left colic flexure and proximal descending colon. In total, we categorized the individual variations in arterial branching and anastomosis into 11 patterns. Arterial supply to the rat colon showed a specific pattern and frequent individual variations. These findings thus provide essential information for establishing reproducible models of rat colic surgery.
Coming together: The role of marriage in assorting household educational and geographical capital in rural lowland Nepal
Authors: Marphatia Akanksha A. , Saville Naomi M. , Manandhar Dharma S. , Amable Gabriel , Cortina‐Borja Mario , Reid Alice M. , Wells Jonathan C. K. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis paper investigates how educational and geographic capital are assorted among households in rural Nepal, and how women's marital age may shape this distribution. Our focus on the timing of marriage adds a new dimension to studies of geographies of youth and marital assortment, while our emphasis on the physical and spatial attributes of households leads us to propose the concept of geographic capital, operationalised here as agrarian landholding and access to rural markets. Using data on 17,284 women from rural lowland Nepal, heat tables showed substantial pairing among uneducated spouses, whereas educated men married women with varying levels of schooling, partly because fewer women were educated. Multivariable logistic regression models showed that the odds of marrying an educated man increased substantially for women with secondary education, and vice versa. Educated women were also more likely to marry into households with geographic capital. However, landowning husbands tended to marry younger wives, perhaps because the natal home was prepared to marry daughters earlier in order to access this geographic capital. The youngest‐marrying women were least likely to marry into households with accessibility to markets. Our findings may help understand the decisions of both a woman's natal and marital household over the timing of her marriage, and the investment in her formal education. These patterns have implications for both spouses because capital not only shapes marital pairing, but also the spatial niche of the household within which women and their children will experience their life‐course.
Composition and physiological functions of the porcine colostrum
Authors: Inoue Ryo , Tsukahara Takamitsu 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe first secretion, 24‐h post parturition of the mammary glands of sows, known as colostrum, is high in protein and low in lactose and fat. As a consequence of an insufficient ingestion of colostrum, more than 50% of piglets fail to reach weaning and die. The composition and some functions of colostrum have been previously reported. For example, colostrum carbohydrates consist of mainly lactose. Lipids in the colostrum are mostly triacylglycerols, but <1% is fatty acids, which may act as homeostasis regulators. Similarly, proteins are found mostly as casein and whey, the latter being ≥80% immunoglobulins. Colostrum‐derived immunoglobulins and bioactive proteins such as azurocidin help the immune system of the piglet fend off infections. In addition, leukocytes and exosomes are other minor but nonetheless equally crucial bioactive components in the porcine colostrum. Modern pig farming has achieved increases in pig productivity and litter size, but this has been accomplished in detriment of the health and the survival rate of piglets. Therefore, porcine colostrum is now even more important in pig farming. In the present review, we discuss the current knowledge on the composition and physiological functions of the porcine colostrum and briefly propose future research directions.
Systematic review of the effects of antimicrobial cycling on bacterial resistance rates within hospital settings
Authors: Chatzopoulou Marianneta , Reynolds Lucy 
Published: August 2021

AimsAntimicrobial resistance is an evolving phenomenon with alarming public health consequences. Antibiotic cycling is a widely known antimicrobial stewardship initiative that encompasses periodical shifts in empirical treatment protocols with the aim of limiting selective pressures on bacterial populations. We present a review of the evidence regarding the actual impact of antimicrobial cycling on bacterial resistance control within hospitals.MethodsA systematic literature review was conducted using the PubMed/MedLine, Embase, CINAHL Plus and Global Health databases.ResultsA systematic search process retrieved a sole randomised study, and so we broadened inclusion criteria to encompass quasi‐experimental designs. Fifteen studies formed our dataset including seven prospective trials and eight before‐and‐after studies. Nine studies evaluated cycling vs. a control group and produced conflicting results whilst three studies compared cycling with antibiotic mixing, with none of the strategies appearing superior. The rest evaluated resistance dynamics of each of the on‐cycle antibiotics with contradictory findings. Research protocols differed in parameters such as the cycle length, the choice of antibiotics, the opportunity to de‐escalate to narrow‐spectrum agents and the measurement of indicators of collateral damage. This limited our ability to evaluate the replicability of findings and the overall policy effects.ConclusionDearth of robust designs and standardised protocols limits our ability to reach safe conclusions. Nonetheless, in view of the available data we find no reason to believe that cycling should be expected to improve antibiotic resistance rates within hospitals.
May I give my heart away? On the permissibility of living vital organ donation
Authors: Andersen Didde B. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe dead donor rule (DDR) regulates current practice for vital organ donation, which means that organs may only be retrieved from people who are already dead (or brain dead). However, several authors criticize the DDR and argue that we should instead adopt a rule that allows us to retrieve vital organs before people are dead. They call this proposal organ donation euthanasia (ODE). While I am sympathetic to this proposal I do not think it goes far enough. In this paper, I show that the key reasons put forward in favor of permitting ODE actually justify a more far‐reaching suggestion for regulation, permitting people to become living vital organ donors even when they are not about to die for other reasons. Further, I argue that only accepting imminently dying people as eligible donors for living vital organ donation would be objectionably paternalistic.
Ggct (γ‐glutamyl cyclotransferase) plays an important role in erythrocyte antioxidant defense and red blood cell survival
Authors: He Zaoke , Sun Xiaoqin , Wang Shixiang , Bai Dongsheng , Zhao Xiangyu , Han Ying , Hao Piliang , Liu Xue‐Song 
Published: August 2021

SummaryThe expression of GGCT (γ‐glutamyl cyclotransferase) is upregulated in various human cancers. γ‐glutamyl cyclotransferase enzyme activity was originally purified from human red blood cells (RBCs), but the physiological function of GGCT in RBCs is still not clear. Here we reported that Ggct deletion in mice leads to splenomegaly and progressive anaemia phenotypes, due to elevated oxidative damage and the shortened life span of Ggct−/− RBCs. Ggct−/− RBCs have increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), and are more sensitive to H2O2‐induced damage compared to control RBCs. Glutathione (GSH) and GSH synthesis precursor l‐cysteine are decreased in Ggct−/− RBCs. Our study suggests a critical function of Ggct in RBC redox balance and life span maintenance through regulating GSH metabolism.
Preparation and antioxidant activity of phosphorylated polysaccharide from purple sweet potato
Authors: Yang Wenjian , Zhang Yanqiong , Tang Ao , Ruan Qingqing , Huang Gangliang 
Published: August 2021

AbstractPurple sweet potato polysaccharide was extracted via hot water, and it was chemically modified by phosphorus oxychloride‐pyridine to obtain phosphorylated polysaccharide from purple sweet potato (P‐PPSP) with certain degrees of substitution. Furthermore, the structure and antioxidant activity in vitro of PPSP and phosphorylated derivative were compared. The result indicated that the phosphorylation modification product of polysaccharide from purple sweet potato could improve the scavenging effect on hydroxyl radical and superoxide anion of PPSP, significantly. It also could improve the anti‐lipid peroxidation ability while fail to improve the reducing ability of PPSP.
From Noon to Sunset: Interactive Rendering, Relighting, and Recolouring of Landscape Photographs by Modifying Solar Position
Authors: Türe Murat , Çıklabakkal Mustafa Ege , Erdem Aykut , Erdem Erkut , Satılmış Pinar , Akyüz Ahmet Oguz 
Published: August 2021

AbstractImage editing is a commonly studied problem in computer graphics. Despite the presence of many advanced editing tools, there is no satisfactory solution to controllably update the position of the sun using a single image. This problem is made complicated by the presence of clouds, complex landscapes, and the atmospheric effects that must be accounted for. In this paper, we tackle this problem starting with only a single photograph. With the user clicking on the initial position of the sun, our algorithm performs several estimation and segmentation processes for finding the horizon, scene depth, clouds, and the sky line. After this initial process, the user can make both fine‐ and large‐scale changes on the position of the sun: it can be set beneath the mountains or moved behind the clouds practically turning a midday photograph into a sunset (or vice versa). We leverage a precomputed atmospheric scattering algorithm to make all of these changes not only realistic but also in real‐time. We demonstrate our results using both clear and cloudy skies, showing how to add, remove, and relight clouds, all the while allowing for advanced effects such as scattering, shadows, light shafts, and lens flares.