bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of trade narratives in poverty reduction after the COVID-19 crisis
Authors: Hipsher Scott Allen 
Published: February 2021

PurposeThis paper aims to explore different possible economic narratives concerning trade, which may emerge based on lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis and likely effects of these differing narratives would have on global poverty reduction.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper based on original analysis of selected literature.FindingsThe global response to the COVID-19 crisis of severely restricting international travel and business operations has been accompanied by slowing economic growth and increased levels of global poverty. Due to the nature of the crisis, it is not currently clear, even with hindsight, whether the measures taken have produced more benefits than problems. However, the pace and direction of the economic recovery and the effect on future levels of global poverty will likely depend to some extent on which narratives go viral and become accepted.Social implicationsMembers of academia as well as others have a role to play in creating and spreading narratives about economic activities and focusing on narratives, which do not ignore the plight of the global poor in the aftermath of the current crisis might have a positive effect on the living standards of the hundreds of millions of people living in poverty who have been affected by the current global economic slowdown.Originality/valueThe paper uniquely links ideas associated with behavioral economics, international business theories and empirical evidence with reducing poverty as we move past the COVID-19 crisis.
Knowledge strategy planning and information system strategies enable dynamic capabilities innovation capabilities impacting firm performance
Authors: Yoshikuni Adilson Carlos , Galvão Frederico Ribeiro , Albertin Alberto Luiz 
Published: February 2021

Purpose
Many studies have not fully explored the relationship between knowledge and information system strategies (ISS) and their overall impact on firm performance (FP). In an attempt to address this knowledge gap, this study draws on the dynamic capabilities view, and on recent literature on knowledge strategy planning (KSP), and examines the alignment between KSP and ISS to enable dynamic capabilities innovation capabilities (DCIC) to gain FP.

Design/methodology/approach
The survey examined empirical data from 234 Brazilian companies using the partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed herein.

Findings
The empirical results confirmed that both KSP and ISS have a positive impact on DCIC. Furthermore, the results indicated that FP was positively impacted through DCIC. The results indicated that the alignment between KSP and ISS positively impacts DCIC and ultimately FP.

Research limitations/implications
The data was collected from 234 Brazilian companies in a country classified as a developing economy. Future studies could investigate the impact of KSP and ISS on FP in developed economies. The practical implication of the study required managers to be knowledgeable about the value of alignment between KSP and IT capabilities involving more practitioners in the strategy-as-practice to create innovation capabilities and enhance FP.

Originality/value
This is one of the earliest studies that has investigated the relationships between KSP and ISS and their impact on FP within a developed economy context. The relationship between all constructs that have not been addressed previously contributes to extend the literature on KSP, ISS and dynamic capabilities view.
The role of fishes as food: A functional perspective on predator–prey interactions
Authors: Mihalitsis Michalis , Hemingson Christopher R. , Goatley Christopher H. R. , Bellwood David R. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Every animal dies. In nature, mortality usually occurs due to predation by other animals. One of the fundamental consequences of mortality is the transfer of energy and nutrients from one organism (prey) to another (predator). On coral reefs, these key interactions and processes, that are essential for ecosystem functioning, are primarily mediated by fishes; up to 53% of fishes on coral reefs can be regarded as piscivorous.

To date, piscivory on coral reefs has been primarily studied with regard to the species piscivores feed on, and how piscivores control populations. Consequently, understanding prey selectivity by piscivorous fishes has been a major goal. However, prey functional traits may also be important in understanding these ‘energy transactions’, especially in complex ecosystems such as coral reefs.

Our goal, therefore, was to quantify—at a community level—functional traits of prey that have been shown to influence predator–prey interactions. We found that, on average, deep‐bodied, social fishes occupy higher positions in the water column, whereas solitary species are usually elongate and more closely associated with the benthos. On closer examination, we found that solitary species have a size‐dependent relationship, with substratum associations shifting to water column associations, at approximately 50 mm body length.

Our results reveal three distinct prey functional groups: cryptobenthic substratum dwellers, solitary epibenthics and social fishes. These groups display significant differences in their morphologies and behaviours. Furthermore, based on a meta‐analysis of published mortality rates of small‐bodied (<100 mm TL) reef fishes, we show that the three groups display different mortality rates, possibly due to differential exposure to, and potential to be captured by, different predator types.

Although fishes are widely available on coral reefs, they may not be equally available as prey to all piscivore types. Prey are not simply victims; they are capable of influencing potential predation through functional traits.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Habitat restoration in spatially explicit metacommunity models
Authors: Gawecka Klementyna A. , Bascompte Jordi 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

In a time of rapid habitat destruction threatening the existence of many species, restoration of degraded habitats plays a crucial role in hampering biodiversity decline and recovering ecosystem services.

The goal of this study is to advance the understanding of the consequences of habitat restoration on metacommunities, which is of upmost importance for designing successful restoration projects.

We approach habitat restoration from a theoretical perspective by analysing spatially explicit metacommunity models which have previously been essential to understanding the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. We investigate the efficiency of various restoration strategies on metacommunities involving interactions ranging from pairwise competition, predation and mutualism to more complex three‐trophic modules. Our novel approach for measuring the restoration efficiency enables direct comparison of the responses of species in different metacommunities.

We show that species recovery is affected by the amount of habitat destroyed, and the restoration strategy. When habitat is restored by randomly selecting destroyed sites, species recovery becomes less efficient and more uncertain with increasing amount of previously destroyed habitat. However, when the destroyed sites are restored in clusters, minimising the effects of fragmentation, species recovery and the certainty of success are substantially improved. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the community structure and the types of interactions involved determine the most efficient restoration approach.

Our findings highlight the importance of carefully planning the restoration process, especially in landscapes where a large proportion of habitat has been destroyed, and with species at the brink of extinction. Our results may be used as guidelines for designing habitat restoration projects.
Grasshopper species' seasonal timing underlies shifts in phenological overlap in response to climate gradients, variability and change
Authors: Buckley Lauren B. , Graham Stuart I. , Nufio César R. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Species with different life histories and communities that vary in their seasonal constraints tend to shift their phenology (seasonal timing) differentially in response to climate warming.

We investigate how these variable phenological shifts aggregate to influence phenological overlap within communities. Phenological advancements of later season species and extended durations of early season species may increase phenological overlap, with implications for species' interactions such as resource competition.

We leverage extensive historic (1958–1960) and recent (2006–2015) weekly survey data for communities of grasshoppers along a montane elevation gradient to assess the impact of climate on shifts in the phenology and abundance distributions of species. We then examine how these responses are influenced by the seasonal timing of species and elevation, and how in aggregate they influence degrees of phenological overlap within communities.

In warmer years, abundance distributions shift earlier in the season and become broader. Total abundance responds variably among species and we do not detect a significant response across species. Shifts in abundance distributions are not strongly shaped by species' seasonal timing or sites of variable elevations. The area of phenological overlap increases in warmer years due to shifts in the relative seasonal timing of compared species. Species that overwinter as nymphs increasingly overlap with later season species that advance their phenology. The days of phenological overlap also increase in warm years but the response varies across sites of variable elevation. Our phenological overlap metric based on comparing single events—the dates of peak abundance—does not shift significantly with warming.

Phenological shifts are more complex than shifts in single dates such as first occurrence. As abundance distributions shift earlier and become broader in warm years, phenological overlap increases. Our analysis suggests that overall grasshopper abundance is relatively robust to climate and associated phenological shifts but we find that increased overlap can decrease abundance, potentially by strengthening species interactions such as resource competition.
Does trait‐based joint species distribution modelling reveal the signature of competition in stream macroinvertebrate communities?
Authors: Elo Merja , Jyrkänkallio‐Mikkola Jenny , Ovaskainen Otso , Soininen Janne , Tolonen Kimmo T. , Heino Jani 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

The occupancy and abundance of species are jointly driven by local factors, such as environmental characteristics and biotic interactions, and regional‐scale factors, such as dispersal and climate. Recently, it has been shown that biotic interactions shape species occupancies and abundances beyond local extents. However, for small ectothermic animals, particularly for those occurring in freshwater environments, the importance of biotic interactions remains understudied. Species‐to‐species associations from joint species distribution models (i.e. species associations while controlling for environmental characteristics) are increasingly used to draw hypotheses of which species possibly show biotic interactions.

We studied whether species‐to‐species associations from joint species distribution models show signs of competition using a hypothesis testing framework in stream macroinvertebrate communities at regional extent.

We sampled aquatic macroinvertebrates from 105 stream sites in western Finland encompassing a latitudinal gradient of c. 500 kilometres. We hypothesized that if competition drives these associations (H1) functionally, similar species are mostly negatively associated, whereas functionally dissimilar species show random associations. We further hypothesized that the relationship between functional dissimilarity and the strength of association is more pronounced (H2) for abundances rather than occupancies, (H3) at small grain (i.e. stream site) rather than at large grain (i.e. river basin), and (H4) among species having weak dispersal ability than among species with high dispersal ability.

Stream macroinvertebrates showed both negative and positive species‐to‐species associations while controlling for habitat characteristics. However, the negative associations were mostly at large grain (river basin) rather than at small grain (stream site), in occupancy rather than abundance, and not related to species functional dissimilarity or to their dispersal ability. Thus, all our hypotheses considering possible competition (H1–H4) were rejected.

Competition does not appear to be a major driving force of stream macroinvertebrate communities at the spatial grain sizes considered. The observed positive associations in occupancy at small grain (stream site) may be attributed to species' similar microhabitat preferences, whereas at large grain (river basin), they may stem from metacommunity dynamics. Our results highlight that species traits were necessary to interpret whether or not species‐to‐species associations from joint species distribution models resulted from biotic interactions.
Brahmin Left versus Merchant Right? Education, class, multiparty competition, and redistribution in Western Europe
Authors: Abou‐Chadi Tarik , Hix Simon 
Published: February 2021

AbstractIn this article, we revisit the main claims of Part Four of Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology and especially the changing support coalitions for parties of the left. Piketty's core argument in this part of the book is that the left now represents the highly educated and that, as a result, the redistributive preferences of the working class do not find representation in today's party systems. We address these claims building on existing political science research that has investigated the transformation of politics in advanced capitalist societies. We argue, first, that the educational divide cannot be adequately analyzed by looking at a left and a right bloc, but crucially needs to pay attention to the rise of green/left‐libertarian and radical right parties. Second, we contend that the new middle classes that support parties of the left are largely in favor of economic redistribution. Analyzing data from the European Social Survey in 11 West European countries from 2002 to 2018, we show that the effect of education on voting left or right is indeed largely driven by green/left‐libertarian and radical right parties, while there is little empirical evidence that social democratic parties represent the educational elite. We also find that redistributive preferences remain at the heart of voting behavior and that, especially for educated voters, these preferences determine whether someone votes for a party of the left rather than the right.
Antenatal corticosteroid therapy in late preterm delivery: a nationwide population‐based retrospective study in Taiwan
Authors: Liang F‐W , Tsai H‐F , Kuo P‐L , Tsai P‐Y 
Published: February 2021

ObjectiveTo investigate whether antenatal corticosteroid therapy improves neonatal and maternal outcomes in late preterm delivery.DesignPopulation‐based retrospective study.SettingThe linkages of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database, National Birth Reporting Database, and the Taiwan Maternal and Child Health Database.PopulationAll births at risk for late preterm deliveries in Taiwan between 2004 and 2011.MethodsFor every birth at risk for late preterm delivery, five controls randomly matched by maternal and gestational ages and birthweight were included. A conditional logistic regression analysis was applied for risk estimation, with births without corticosteroids as the reference group. Odds ratios were adjusted for caesarean section, parity, sex, gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes mellitus.Main outcome measuresNeonatal outcomes, maternal outcomes and the utilisation of healthcare services.ResultsThe outcomes of 5745 women treated with corticosteroids between 34+0 weeks and 36+6 weeks of gestation were compared with those of 28 135 untreated controls. Compared with the controls, births from women administered corticosteroids reduced the need for continuous positive airway pressure, the number of neonatal intensive care unit admission, and the need for glucose administration, as well as the risk of neonatal respiratory distress, but increased the risk of neonatal sepsis and the number of outpatient visits.ConclusionsAntenatal corticosteroid therapy in women at risk of late preterm delivery may significantly reduce the need for respiratory support and glucose supply, and respiratory complication risk in neonates.Tweetable abstractAntenatal corticosteroids in late preterm delivery reduced the risk of neonatal respiratory complications in Taiwan.
Does counter‐mobilization contain right‐wing populist movements? Evidence from Germany
Authors: VÜLLERS JOHANNES , HELLMEIER SEBASTIAN 
Published: February 2021

AbstractRight‐wing populist (RWP) movements have been on the rise in Western democracies. Outside of party politics, such movements regularly organize demonstrations against political elites and minority groups. At the same time, civil society coalitions have mobilized against these movements. Yet we know little about the effect of counter‐demonstrations on RWP protest activities. We derive competing theoretical expectations from previous work. On the one hand, counter‐mobilization reduces mobilization because the original movement is less likely to achieve its goals (expected utility/costs). On the other hand, clashes and standoffs between opposing movements facilitate mobilization through polarization and anger (identity/emotions). We empirically analyze movement–countermovement dynamics using a new city‐level event dataset on street protests by the German Pegida movement and its opponents. In our quantitative analysis, we investigate how counter‐mobilization is associated with the onset of Pegida protests, their intensity in terms of participant numbers, and their demobilization. Counter‐mobilization does not prevent protest onset, but large counter‐demonstrations are associated with larger subsequent Pegida protests, and violence against Pegida supporters reduces the likelihood that they will stop protesting.
Median nerve swelling is an independent risk factor of carpal tunnel syndrome in chronic hemodialysis patients
Authors: Kim June Hyun , Ye Byung‐min , Kim Min Jeong , Kim Seo Rin , Kim Il Young , Kim Hyo Jin , Han Miyeun , Song Sang Heon , Seong Eun Young , Lee Soo Bong , Lee Dong Won 
Published: February 2021

AbstractCarpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has a wide variety of underlying causes and occurs in association with dialysis. Early diagnosis is essential to prevent permanent nerve damage and functional sequelae. We evaluated the association between CTS and cross‐sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. Patients with end‐stage renal disease on maintenance HD via arteriovenous fistula were enrolled. We divided 43 patients into two groups; patients diagnosed with CTS (n = 19) and patients without CTS (n = 24). The median nerve CSA was measured at the wrist (CSA‐W) and forearm (CSA‐F) by ultrasonography. Median nerve swelling was assessed by the wrist‐to‐forearm ratio (WFR). There were no significant differences in the underlying causes of chronic kidney disease and adequacy of dialysis between the two groups (p = NS). The patients with CTS showed significantly higher WFR than the patients without CTS (p = 0.001). Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that WFR >1.25 (odds ratio, 6.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.44–27.45; p = 0.014) was associated with CTS in HD patients. The factors traditionally associated with CTS such as age, sex, diabetes, vintage of HD, β2‐MG, intact PTH, and Kt/V were not associated with CTS. After adjustment for age and sex, we found a strong correlation between CTS and the WFR >1.25 (odds ratio, 10.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.85–62.4; p = 0.008). High WFR was associated with the development of CTS, and median nerve swelling was an independent risk factor of CTS in chronic HD patients.
Isolation of alkaliphilic calcifying bacteria and their feasibility for enhanced CaCO3 precipitation in bio‐based cementitious composites
Authors: Shaheen Nafeesa , Jalil Amna , Adnan Fazal , Arsalan Khushnood Rao 
Published: February 2021

SummaryMicrobially induced calcite precipitation (MICP), secreted through biological metabolic activity, secured an imperative position in remedial measures within the construction industry subsequent to ecological, environmental and economical returns. However, this contemporary recurrent healing system is susceptible to microbial depletion in the highly alkaline cementitious environment. Therefore, researchers are probing for alkali resistant calcifying microbes. In the present study, alkaliphilic microbes were isolated from different soil sources and screened for probable CaCO3 precipitation. Non‐ureolytic pathway (oxidation of organic carbon) was adopted for calcite precipitation to eliminate the production of toxic ammonia. For this purpose, calcium lactate Ca(C3H5O3)2 and calcium acetate Ca(CH3COO)2 were used as CaCO3 precipitation precursors. The quantification protocol for precipitated CaCO3 was established to select potent microbial species for implementation in the alkaline cementitious systems as more than 50% of isolates were able to precipitate CaCO3. Results suggested 80% of potent calcifying strains isolated in this study, portrayed higher calcite precipitation at pH 10 when compared to pH 7. Ten superlative morphologically distinct isolates capable of CaCO3 production were identified by 16SrRNA sequencing. Sequenced microbes were identified as species of Bacillus, Arthrobacter, Planococcus, Chryseomicrobium and Corynebacterium. Further, microstructure of precipitated CaCO3 was inspected through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric (TG) analysis. Then, the selected microbes were investigated in the cementitious mortar to rule out any detrimental effects on mechanical properties. These strains showed maximum of 36% increase in compressive strength and 96% increase in flexural strength. Bacillus, Arthrobacter, Corynebacterium and Planococcus genera have been reported as CaCO3 producers but isolated strains have not yet been investigated in conjunction with cementitious mortar. Moreover, species of Chryseomicrobium and Glutamicibacter were reported first time as calcifying strains.
Hunting practices of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) and predation by vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) as a potential route of rabies in the Brazilian Pantanal
Authors: Grotta‐Neto Francisco , Peres Pedro H. F. , Piovezan Ubiratan , Passos Fernando C. , Duarte José M. B. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractExotic species are known to cause an impact on native species and the environment through various ecological processes. Their impact on disease dynamics is not completely understood, but their relationship with the local fauna can favour the emergence of zoonoses. We reported records of predation of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) by common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland and detailed how the traditional hunting, which involves castration management and hunting dogs, can represent a risk to emergency of rabies virus. With 1.43% of attack probability recorded by camera traps, we highlight the potential role of this interaction in disseminating zoonosis, especially in a scenario where hunting management has been prioritised as a policy tool in the control of exotic species. We alerted for the danger of rabies onset. Moreover, we suggested that the ranchers avoid contact with the pigs' salivary secretions during hunting, to maintain up to date rabies vaccination on domestic animals, and pay attention to the clinical behaviours of rabies in their hunting dogs. Therefore, we must be aware of all the risks involved in interactions between humans and wildlife to reevaluate our practices and prevent viral outbreaks as we currently witness.