bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Auditor Sensitivity to Real Earnings Management: The Importance of Ambiguity and Earnings Context
Authors: Commerford Benjamin P. , Hermanson Dana R. , Houston Richard W. , Peters Michael F. 
Published: July 2018

ABSTRACTDifferentiating real earnings management (REM) from normal business decisions poses a unique challenge for auditors, researchers, and investors. The ambiguity associated with REM, and the fact that REM does not violate GAAP, may explain why its use is on the rise. While some assert that auditors are not, and should not be, concerned with REM, recent research suggests that REM may influence some auditor judgments. Using Correspondent Inference Theory (CIT) as our theoretical framework, we extend REM research by investigating the ways in which auditors respond to REM and how auditors deal with the intrinsic ambiguity associated with REM. We administer a 3×2 between‐subjects experiment to 113 highly‐experienced auditors, manipulating the level of ambiguity surrounding the observed REM (Explicit REM, Potential REM, or No REM) and the earnings context in which the client engages in REM (the client beat or missed the consensus earnings forecast). We find that auditors respond to REM by lowering assessments of management tone (i.e., management's commitment to a culture of high ethical standards), being more likely to discuss the issue with the audit committee, and being less likely to retain the client. Auditors respond to Explicit REM regardless of the earnings context, but respond to Potential (i.e., ambiguous) REM only when the client beats the forecast. Finally, we find that management tone mediates the relation between REM and auditor responses, even after controlling for various audit‐related risks. Thus, for auditors, REM appears to be primarily a “people” issue, as REM provides a negative signal about management.
Predicting complications in hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastasis: the lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio
Authors: McCluney Simon J. , Giakoustidis Alexandros A. , Segler Angela , Bissel Juliane , Miller Robert L. , Valente Roberto , Hutchins Robert R. , Abraham Ajit , Bhattacharya Satyajit , Kocher Hemant M. 
Published: July 2018

BackgroundColorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide; whilst approximately 20% of patients have hepatic disease at presentation. Hepatic resection remains the gold standard of care; however, it is associated with significant morbidity. We sought to establish whether the lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio (LMR) could help predict post‐operative complications, thus improving patient outcomes.MethodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing hepatic resection at a single centre. Baseline demographics and complications within 30 days following surgery were recorded. White blood cell counts and C‐reactive protein (CRP) were recorded pre‐operatively, and until post‐operative day 7.ResultsA total of 188 operations were included. About 47.3% of resections had a complicated recovery, of which 31.46% were major. The median LMR was 1.29 across the cohort, 1.60 for uncomplicated procedures, 1.14 for those with complications and 0.85 in major complications. For detecting major complications versus an uncomplicated recovery, median LMR was the best parameter (area under the curve 0.78), whilst it was the only parameter to accurately predict such complications within 48 hours of surgery (area under the curve 0.72 on day 1). It was consistently the most accurate parameter at detecting uncomplicated versus complicated recovery, minor versus major complications, and major complications versus an uncomplicated recovery, at numerous timepoints over the post‐operative period.ConclusionThe LMR appears better at predicting complications following hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastases, as opposed to conventionally measured parameters.
Rules of thumb for predicting tropical forest recovery
Authors: Holl Karen D. , Reid John Leighton , Oviedo‐Brenes Federico , Kulikowski Andy J. , Zahawi Rakan A. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractQuestionsNatural regeneration is increasingly recognized as a potentially cost‐effective strategy to reach ambitious forest landscape restoration targets, but rates of recovery are notoriously variable. We asked how well initial habitat conditions after cessation of agriculture predict forest recovery after nearly a decade. We aimed to provide land managers with general rules of thumb to assess when it is necessary to invest resources in active restoration, such as tree planting, to accelerate forest recovery.LocationCoto Brus County, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.MethodsWe compiled data on initial vegetation structure, soil nutrients, prior land‐use history and surrounding forest cover at 13 sites. After 8.5 years, we measured vegetation indicators commonly used to assess forest recovery, namely amount of canopy closure and number and diversity of woody recruits.ResultsTwo variables, grass cover and canopy closure, measured 1.5 years after site abandonment, explained 47–87% of five of the six response variables after 8.5 years; recovery was faster in sites with lower grass cover and higher canopy closure initially. Waiting an additional year to measure initial vegetation variables did not improve model fit. Time since the original forest was cleared explained 62% of change in canopy cover, whereas percentage of surrounding forest cover, length of pasture use and soil variables explained minimal additional variation.ConclusionsOur results suggest that two easily measurable vegetation variables can provide guidance to land managers and policy makers about where to invest scarce restoration resources to facilitate forest recovery.
Micro‐computed tomography of spicule networks in three genera of dorid sea‐slugs (Gastropoda: Nudipleura: Doridina) shows patterns of phylogenetic significance
Authors: Penney Brian K. , Ehresmann Kathleen R. , Jordan Katherine J. , Rufo Gianpaolo 
Published: July 2018

AbstractDorid nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Nudipleura) are a key taxon for studying the evolution and interaction of chemical defence, colour patterns and feeding specialization, but we lack a robust phylogeny for hypothesis testing. To provide new morphological characters, we investigated the extensive interior spicule networks of several dorid taxa. We compared traditional staining methods versus micro‐computed tomography (μCT) of 31 specimens representing 10 species ofAldisa,CadlinaandOnchidoris. We found that μCToffered a nondestructive view of sufficient resolution to study the gross morphology of networks, although images of fine structures were too grainy to allow robust comparisons. Network form did not vary within species and was consistent within genera. The three genera varied in several obvious characters, such as the presence of a pleural sinus channel, large dorsal spicules and multispicular tracts, as well as in relative size, shape and orientation of spicules. These characters, combined with those from the literature, supported recent molecular phylogenies that groupCadlinawithAldisa, and that question the monophyly of the Cryptobranchia. This suggests that these network forms will prove a fruitful source of phylogenetic characters with at least genus‐level resolution.
Our flawed approach to undue inducement in medical research
Authors: Lee Eric 
Published: July 2018

AbstractSome worry that offering too much money to participate in medical research can seduce people into participating against their better judgment. These overly attractive offers that impair judgment are often referred to as ‘undue inducements’. The current approach to prevent undue inducement is to limit the size of such offers. The hope is that smaller offers will not be attractive enough to impair judgment. Even if this is true, I argue that we should reject this solution. In Section 1, I go over the problem of undue inducement, and our current approach to preventing it, in more detail. In Section 2, I argue that, like money, therapeutic benefits of medical research may also unduly induce. In Section 3, I argue that the current approach to preventing undue inducement is absurd in the case of therapeutic inducements. In Section 4, I argue that our current approach is analogously problematic in the case of monetary inducements.
HLA‐DRB1 allele frequency and immunological response in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in Turkish population
Authors: Tepebaşı Muhammet Yusuf , Şahin Calapoğlu Nilüfer , Öztürk Önder , Sancer Okan , Gonca Taner 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIntroductionObstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a complex, polygenic and multifactorial disease. The relationship between Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) polymorphisms and sleep disturbances has been established, but the relationship with HLA alleles has not been fully clarified. In addition, sleep deprivation in OSAS patients can cause changes that affect the components and responses of the immune system.ObjectiveThe aim of this study has assessed the effect of HLA‐DRB1 alleles on OSAS disease and the changes occurring in immune response cells in Turkish population.MethodOSAS was diagnosed by polysomnography and severity was determined. PCR SSP and flow cytometry methods were used.ResultsWe found that DRB1*07 and DRB1*11 were significantly increased in the control group and DRB1*03 and DRB1*08 alleles in the patient group in our study (P = 0.048, P = 0.005, P = 0.012 and P = 0.030, respectively). DRB1*08 was significantly increased in patients with severe OSAS (P = 0.002). When the immunological response was examined in OSAS patients, there was a decrease in CD4, an increase in HLA DR, CD8 and NK cells (P = 0.002, P = 0.00, P = 0.020, P = 0.040, respectively). We also found that CD19 was reduced in severe OSAS (P = 0.048).ConclusionThese results suggest that the DRB1*03 allele may play a predisposing role in OSAS disease and that the DRB1*08 allele may be related to the severity of the disease. In addition, the decrease in CD4, CD8, NK and HLA DR increase in this disease suggests that the disease causes impairment of the immunological system and may be associated with autoimmunity.
The serum KL‐6 levels in untreated idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis can naturally decline in association with disease progression
Authors: Ishii Hiroshi , Kushima Hisako , Kinoshita Yoshiaki , Fujita Masaki , Watanabe Kentaro 
Published: July 2018

AbstractBackgroundSerum KL‐6 is known to be a useful biomarker for the diagnosis and assessment of the disease activity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, some patients with untreated IPF present with a serial decline in their serum KL‐6 levels, despite showing clinical progression.ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between the time course of the serum KL‐6 levels and the clinical course of patients with untreated IPF.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study of 59 patients who met the diagnostic criteria for IPF, who regularly underwent laboratory tests, including the measurement of KL‐6 and pulmonary function tests, and who were untreated during the follow‐up period.ResultsThe rates of decline in comparison to the baseline FVC values were comparable between survivors (n = 30) and non‐survivors (n = 29); however, the rates of change in comparison to the baseline KL‐6 levels were heterogeneous in all subjects, and the KL‐6 levels of the non‐survivors were observed to decline significantly more frequently in comparison to the survivors (P = .001). Patients with a higher breathlessness scale, lower pulmonary functions and higher levels of baseline KL‐6 were predisposed to demonstrate a decline in the serum KL‐6 levels during the untreated period.ConclusionsA reduction in the serum KL‐6 levels of patients with untreated IPF may not mean that the disease activity has subsided. Serum KL‐6 levels can naturally decline in association with disease progression.
China's Free Trade Ports: Effective Action Against the Threat of De‐globalization
Authors: Tian Wei , Xu Zhuxi , Yu Miaojie , Zhu Huihuang 
Published: July 2018

AbstractWith sluggish external demand and increasing trade protectionism by the USA and the European Union, China is facing severe challenges in implementing its deeper, ongoing reforms. To respond actively to such challenges, the Communist Party of China's 19th National Congress proposed to “promote a new pattern of all‐round opening up.” In particular, the establishment of free trade ports is considered an important means to realize deeper integration with the world economy. This paper discusses the background, the motivation, the possible challenges as well as a feasible path for the successful implementation of free trade ports in China. Based on the international experience, the construction of free trade ports in China requires freer trade in goods, high mobility of talent and free capital flow.
Local Government Debt, Factor Misallocation and Regional Economic Performance in China
Authors: Wu Jianxin , Wu Yanrui , Wang Bing 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThis paper examines total factor efficiency and productivity performance by taking into account local government debt (LGD) in 31 Chinese provincial regions for the period 2000–2013. The results show that neglecting LGD may overstate economic performance in Chinese provinces. The eastern region shows better performance in single factor efficiency and total factor efficiency than the non‐eastern regions. The western region shows the worst total factor performance. The north‐eastern region is the only region that has experienced a decline in total factor performance. The state‐dominated, investment‐driven development model may help technological progress across Chinese regions but could lead to significant factor misallocation. We argue that biases towards more state‐dominated investment and land supply in less productive western, central and north‐eastern regions, at the expense of investment and land supply in more productive eastern regions, have contributed to the recent slowdown in economic growth in China. Therefore, further market‐oriented reforms in factor markets should be considered in the future.
The profile of abstract rule learning in infancy: Meta‐analytic and experimental evidence
Authors: Rabagliati Hugh , Ferguson Brock , Lew‐Williams Casey 
Published: July 2018

AbstractEveryone agrees that infants possess general mechanisms for learning about the world, but the existence and operation of more specialized mechanisms is controversial. One mechanism—rule learning—has been proposed as potentially specific to speech, based on findings that 7‐month‐olds can learn abstract repetition rules from spoken syllables (e.g. ABB patterns: wo‐fe‐fe, ga‐tu‐tu…) but not from closely matched stimuli, such as tones. Subsequent work has shown that learning of abstract patterns is not simply specific to speech. However, we still lack a parsimonious explanation to tie together the diverse, messy, and occasionally contradictory findings in that literature. We took two routes to creating a new profile of rule learning: meta‐analysis of 20 prior reports on infants’ learning of abstract repetition rules (including 1,318 infants in 63 experiments total), and an experiment on learning of such rules from a natural, non‐speech communicative signal. These complementary approaches revealed that infants were most likely to learn abstract patterns from meaningful stimuli. We argue that the ability to detect and generalize simple patterns supports learning across domains in infancy but chiefly when the signal is meaningfully relevant to infants’ experience with sounds, objects, language, and people.
Modeling matrix multicracking development of fiber‐reinforced ceramic‐matrix composites considering fiber debonding
Authors: Li Longbiao 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn this paper, the effect of fiber debonding on matrix multicracking development of different fiber‐reinforced CMCs is investigated using the micromechanical approach. The Budiansky–Hutchinson–Evans shear‐lag model is adopted to analyze the fiber and matrix stress distributions of the damaged composite. The fracture mechanics approach is used to determine the fiber/matrix interface debonding length. Combining the critical matrix strain energy criterion and fracture mechanics fiber/matrix interface debonding criterion, the stress‐dependent matrix multicracking development is analyzed for different fiber volume fraction, fiber/matrix interface properties and matrix cracking characteristic stress. The experimental matrix multicracking development of unidirectional C/Si3N4, SiC/Si3N4, SiC/CAS, SiC/CAS‐II, SiC/SiC, SiC/Borosilicate and mini‐SiC/SiC composites are predicted.
T‐cell subset differentiation and antibody responses following antiretroviral therapy during simian immunodeficiency virus infection
Authors: Bhattacharyya Mitra , Whitney James B. , Seaman Michael , Barouch Dan H. , Penaloza‐MacMaster Pablo 
Published: July 2018

SummaryAntiretroviral therapy (ART) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection represents a major breakthrough in the treatment of HIV/acquired immune‐deficiency syndrome. However, it remains unclear how ART influences virus‐specific immune responses and understanding this is important for developing novel cure and eradication interventions for HIV‐1. In the present study, we evaluate how ART impacts T‐cell and antibody responses in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) ‐infected rhesus macaques. We evaluated CD4 and CD8 T‐cell responses by multiparameter flow cytometry, viral loads by quantitative RT‐PCR by a two‐step process using SIV‐specific primers and antibody neutralization function by luciferase‐based TZM‐bl assays. We demonstrate that macaques treated with ART exhibit phenotypic and qualitative effects on T‐cell and antibody responses. Macaques on ART exhibited low numbers of virus‐specific T‐cell responses, and these responses appeared to be partially biased towards central memory subsets. More importantly, there were significantly reduced neutralizing antibody responses in macaques treated with ART. Collectively, these data improve the understanding of how virus‐specific immune responses are generated during ART, and suggest the potential importance of therapeutic vaccines to maintain adaptive immunity during treated infection.
Heritability and genetic correlations between rumination time and production traits in Holstein dairy cows during different lactation phases
Authors: Moretti Riccardo , de Rezende Marcos Paulo Gonçalves , Biffani Stefano , Bozzi Riccardo 
Published: July 2018

AbstractSo far, rumination has been used as a proxy for monitoring dairy cow health at farm level. However, investigating its genetic aspects as well as its correlation with other important productive traits may turn this management tool into a new informative selection criterion. However, scientific evidences on genetic correlation among rumination time (RT) and milk production and milk composition are still scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to estimate the heritability of RT across three lactation phases and its genetic correlation with milk production, milk composition and somatic cell count (SCC). Results of our study showed that heritability for RT was 0.34 and was constant across lactation. The mean genetic correlations between RT and milk production and composition traits were 0.07 (milk production), −0.07 (protein yield), −0.31 (fat yield), and −0.32 (fat/protein ratio). The mean genetic correlation between RT and the SCC was 0.05.
Surface ECG and intracardiac spectral measures predict atrial fibrillation recurrence after catheter ablation
Authors: Szilágyi Judit , Walters Tomos E. , Marcus Gregory M. , Vedantham Vasanth , Moss Joshua D. , Badhwar Nitish , Lee Byron , Lee Randall , Tseng Zian H. , Gerstenfeld Edward P. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIntroductionOutcome of patients undergoing catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) varies widely. We sought to investigate whether parameters derived from the spectral analysis of surface ECG and intracardiac AF electrograms can predict outcome in patients referred for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).MethodsWe performed spectral analysis on the surface ECG and intracardiac electrograms from patients referred for AF ablation. After filtering and QRST subtraction, we measured the dominant frequency (DF), regularity index (RI) and the organizational index (OI) of fibrillatory electrograms and determined their value for predicting AF recurrence after ablation. A subjective, blinded prediction based on the surface ECG was also performed.ResultsWe analyzed data from 153 PVI procedures in 140 patients (67.1% with persistent or longstanding AF). In a multivariable model, DF in the right atrium (RA) and distal coronary sinus (CSd)‐to‐RA DF gradient predicted AF recurrence (OR, 3.52, P = 0.023 and OR, 0.2,
P = 0.034, respectively). DF in RA and CSd to RA DF gradient had a good predictive value for PVI outcome (area under the curve [AUC] of 0.73,
P = 0.007 and 0.74,
P = 0.007, respectively). These performed better than the subjective predictions of experienced electrophysiologists (
P = 0.2).ConclusionsHigher RA DF, lower CSd to RA DF gradient predicted recurrence after AF ablation. These spectral measures suggest a more remodeled atrial substrate and may provide simple tools for risk stratification or predict the need for additional substrate modification in patients referred for AF ablation.
The judgements that evidence‐based medicine adopts
Authors: Rocca Elena 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn “The evidence that evidence‐based medicine omits”, Brendan Clarke and colleagues argue that when establishing causal facts in medicine, evidence of mechanisms ought to be included alongside evidence of correlations. One of the reasons they provide is that correlations can be spurious and generated by unknown confounding variables. A causal mechanism can provide a plausible explanation for the correlation, and the absence of such an explanation is an indication that the correlation is not causal. Evidence‐based medicine (EBM) proponents remain sceptical about this argument, one problem being that the formulation of a mechanism requires judgements that are external to the evaluation of data and experimental designs—for instance judgements of plausibility against, or derivability from, background knowledge. Because background knowledge is always incomplete and therefore unreliable, EBM proponents maintain that the plausibility of a hypothesis should be evaluated mainly by the quality of population data that yielded it. Here, I use the example of oestrogen replacement therapy's effect on coronary heart disease, an example that is often quoted in defence of the epistemic advantage of randomized controlled trials, to show that the evaluation of the most reliable study design necessarily implies the adoption of judgements that are external to the specific evidence of correlation. The exclusion of evidence of mechanism, therefore, is not effective in bypassing paradigm‐dependent judgements, which are external to specific evidence. Because such judgements cannot be excluded by evidence evaluation, they can only be kept under scrutiny, or adopted uncritically. I propose that the latter option can hinder the maintenance of an active critical inquiry, as well as the analysis of experts' disagreement.