bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of earnings expectations on corporate downsizing
Authors: Schulz Ann‐Christine , Wiersema Margarethe F. 
Published: July 2018

Research Summary: We propose that due to financial market pressures, managers are forward‐looking in their search and decision processes and focus on meeting performance targets set by the financial community. Using panel data on S&P 100 companies, we find that pressure felt by management to meet the analyst consensus earnings estimate influences the extent of corporate downsizing. Moreover, our results show that high levels of institutional investor stock ownership and CEO power attenuate managers’ sensitivity to financial market pressures, while high levels of analyst coverage increase their sensitivity.Managerial Summary: In this study we examine how financial market pressures influence managers’ downsizing decisions. We argue that investment analysts’ earnings estimates represent important performance targets to which managers aspire. If firms fail to meet analysts’ expectations, the stock price will suffer. This study shows that managers utilize corporate downsizing to address the potential shortfall between a firm's future performance and the analyst consensus earnings estimate.In addition, we find that managers’ concerns over meeting analysts’ earnings estimates are influenced by various contextual factors such as institutional investor stock ownership, CEO power, and high levels of analyst coverage.
Let's get connected: A new graph theory‐based approach and toolbox for understanding braided river morphodynamics
Authors: Connor‐Streich Gabriel , Henshaw Alexander J. , Brasington James , Bertoldi Walter , Harvey Gemma L. 
Published: July 2018

Our understanding of braided river morphodynamics has improved significantly in recent years, however, there are still large knowledge gaps relating to both long‐term and event‐based change in braided river morphologies. Furthermore, we still lack methods that can take full advantage of the increasing availability of remotely sensed datasets that are well suited to braided river research. Network analysis based on graph theory, the mathematics of networks, offers a largely unexplored toolbox that can be applied to remotely sensed data to quantify the structure and function of braided rivers across nearly the full range of spatiotemporal scales relevant to braided river evolution. In this article, important commonalities between braided rivers and other types of complex network are described, providing a compelling argument for the wider uptake of complex network analysis methods in the study of braided rivers. We provide an overview of the extraction of graph representations of braided river networks from remotely sensed data and detail a suite of metrics for quantitative analysis of these networks. Application of these metrics as new tools for multiscale characterization of braided river planforms that improve upon traditional, spatially averaged approaches is discussed and potential approaches to network‐based analysis of braided river dynamics are proposed, drawing on a range of different concepts from braided river research and other network sciences. Finally, the potential for using graph theory metrics to validate numerical models of braided rivers is discussed.This article is categorized under:

Science of Water > Methods
The epistemology of modality and the problem of modal epistemic friction
Authors: Vaidya Anand Jayprakash , Wallner Michael 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThere are three theories in the epistemology of modality that have received sustained attention over the past 20 years (1998–2018): conceivability-theory, counterfactual-theory, and deduction-theory. In this paper we argue that all three face what we callthe problem of modal epistemic friction(PMEF). One consequence of the problem is that for any of the three accounts to yieldmodal knowledge, the account must provide an epistemology of essence. We discuss an attempt to fend off the problem within the context of the internalism versus externalism debate about epistemic justification. We then investigate the effects that the PMEF has on reductive and non-reductive theories of the relation between essence and modality.
The Incompatibility of System and Lifeworld Understandings of Food Insecurity and the Provision of Food Aid in an English City
Authors: Power Madeleine , Small Neil , Doherty Bob , Pickett Kate E. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractWe report qualitative findings from a study in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith city with high levels of deprivation. Primary research over 2 years consisted of three focus groups and 18 semi-structured interviews with food insecurity service providers followed by focus groups with 16 White British and Pakistani women in or at risk of food insecurity. We consider food insecurity using Habermas’s distinction between the system and lifeworld. We examine system definitions of the nature of need, approved food choices, the reification of selected skills associated with household management and the imposition of a construct of virtue. While lifeworld truths about food insecurity include understandings of structural causes and recognition that the potential of social solidarity to respond to them exist, they are not engaged with by the system. The gap between system rationalities and the experiential nature of lay knowledge generates individual and collective disempowerment and a corrosive sense of shame.
“Some fuzzy math”: relational information on debt value adjustments by managers and the financial press
Authors: Kaumanns Sebastian 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThis study provides comprehensive descriptive evidence on the occurrence, size, and reporting by managers and the financial press of debt value adjustments due to a change in own credit risk (DVAs). The study is motivated by a public debate about DVAs in which critics describe them as “counterintuitive” and claim that managers disclose DVA information strategically to make firms “look good”. Analyzing a sample of 405 firm-quarters of 19 US financial firms that report DVAs between 2007 and 2014, I found that positive and negative DVAs appear similarly often and with similar magnitude. I further found that managers provide more information on large negative DVAs compared to positive DVAs. Managers also provide more DVA information when they have strategic incentives to do so. Examining newspaper articles on 202 firm-quarters, I found that the financial press is more likely to cover large positive DVAs and DVAs about which managers provided more information. Analyzing the articles’ content, I found that the press is more likely to provide new DVA information if managers’ press releases contain little information. The findings are in line with popular claims of asymmetric DVA reporting by managers. They are further consistent with the financial press acting as a counterweight to such asymmetric reporting.
Assessing impacts of introducing ship‐to‐store service on sales and returns in omnichannel retailing: A data analytics study
Authors: Serkan Akturk M. , Ketzenberg Michael , Heim Gregory R. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractOmnichannel retailing features, such as ship‐to‐store (STS) service, are designed to deliver a seamless shopping experience for customers. For a retailer, introducing omnichannel capabilities requires major investments to integrate physical stores and online marketplaces, yet holds a promise of potentially enhancing revenue streams from both brick‐and‐mortar (BM) stores and online store channels. We assess the promise of ship‐to‐store capabilities by analyzing transactional data from a national jewelry retailer to study impacts of introducing ship‐to‐store on a retailer's operating performance, in terms of sales and customer returns. Contrary to expectations, the findings show that online sales decreased after ship‐to‐store was introduced, although BM store sales increased. Detailed analysis of the transactional data suggests that, after STS implementation, some customers switched from the online channel to the brick‐and‐mortar channel. This switch occurred mainly for high‐value purchases. The customers who actually remained with and fully completed a sale using the ship‐to‐store service typically were those that bought low‐value items. Our findings also suggest that introducing ship‐to‐store increased cross‐channel customer returns of online purchases to physical stores. Concurrently, these new ship‐to‐store returns generated additional BM store sales. The paper contributes by showing how introducing ship‐to‐store service can have different impacts in terms of sales and returns across a retailer's channels.
A new find of macrofossils of Picea crassifolia Kom. in early–middle Holocene sediments of the Qinghai Lake basin and its paleoenvironmental significance
Authors: Lu Ruijie , Liu Xiaokang , Lü Zhiqiang , Chen Lu , Du Jing 
Published: July 2018

AbstractHere we report a new find of abundant woody debris and cones in stratum of two sections located to the east of the Qinghai Lake basin in China. Analysis of the anatomical structure of the wood and cones confirmed that they are Picea crassifolia Kom. The results of accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating indicate that the buried Qinghai spruce grew during 9.7–4.2 ka, and the ages of the large trunks or branches are mainly concentrated within the interval 7.5–6.5 ka. This finding gives direct evidence at the species level about the presence of coniferous forest in the early–middle Holocene in Qinghai lake basin. In addition, the buried cones suggest that the early-middle Holocene environment was suitable for the propagation of Picea crassifolia Kom. The variations in the occurrence of Qinghai spruce forest in the Holocene probably reflect changes in humidity/moisture. The humid early-middle Holocene was suitable for the growth and reproduction of Qinghai spruce forest, while a shift toward an increasingly arid climate during the late Holocene resulted in the disappearance of Picea crassifolia Kom. from the Qinghai Lake basin, although human activities may also have contributed to the environmental change.
On magnetostrophic mean-field solutions of the geodynamo equations. Part 2
Authors: Roberts Paul H. , Wu Cheng-Chin 
Published: July 2018

A dynamo driven by motions unaffected by viscous forces is termed ‘magnetostrophic’, but cannot be found through today’s numerical simulations, which require substantial viscosity to stabilize solutions of the full magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) dynamo equations. By using an alternative numerical technique, proposed by Taylor (Proc. R. Soc. Lond.A, vol. 274, 1963, pp. 274–283), we recently obtained the first magnetostrophic dynamo solutions ever derived (Wu & Roberts,Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., vol. 109, 2014, pp. 84–110). These were axisymmetric and of mean-field type. In an earlier paper (Roberts & Wu,Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., vol. 108, 2014, pp. 696–715), we proposed an extension of Taylor’s method. Here we explore its numerical implications, comparing them to the consequences of Taylor’s original proposal. One of the differences between the two approaches is that our modification retains torsional waves but Taylor’s theory does not. A more important difference is that our extension of Taylor’s method is, for reasons presented here, the most general possible that does not suffer from the limitations imposed by viscosity on today’s numerical simulations.
The Elastic Properties of Clay in Shales
Authors: Sayers Colin M. , den Boer Lennert D. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe mechanical properties of clay minerals are important in many diverse scientific disciplines, including soil mechanics, civil engineering, materials science, and petroleum exploration. Rock physics provides a link between the elastic properties of rocks and their constitutive properties such as mineralogic composition, porosity, and pore‐fluid content. To accurately characterize shales, rock physics models must account for the anisotropic properties of clay minerals. Due to more compliant regions between clay particles, the elastic stiffness of clay in shales is significantly less than that of its constituent clay minerals. In this paper, the clay in shales is modeled as anisotropic clay platelets surrounded by a softer interparticle region consisting of clay‐bound water and interparticle contacts. Inverting for the elastic properties of this interparticle region indicates that its effective bulk modulus is like that of water. However, it has a nonzero effective shear modulus that is smaller by an order of magnitude, consistent with the expected shear modulus of clay‐bound water. Owing to its simplicity and robustness, it is anticipated that this model of shales, based on the properties of clay minerals and the interparticle medium, will find use in many rock physics applications, including seismic imaging, seismic inversion, and geomechanics.
Observation of parity-time symmetry in microwave photonics
Authors: Liu Yanzhong , Hao Tengfei , Li Wei , Capmany Jose , Zhu Ninghua , Li Ming 
Published: July 2018

AbstractSymmetry plays a crucial role in explorations of the laws of nature. Parity-time (PT) symmetry phenomena can lead to entirely real spectra in non-Hermitian systems, which attracts considerable attention in the fields of optics and electronics because these phenomena provide a new tool for the manipulation of oscillation modes and non-reciprocal signal transmission. A potential new field of application is microwave photonics, an interdisciplinary field in which the interaction between microwaves and optical signals is exploited. In this article, we report the experimental use of PT symmetry in an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO), a key microwave photonics system that can generate single-frequency sinusoidal signals with high spectral purity. PT symmetry is theoretically analyzed and experimentally observed in an OEO with two mutually coupled active oscillation cavities via a precise manipulation of the interplay between gain and loss in the two oscillation cavities. Stable single-frequency microwave oscillation is achieved without using any optical/electrical filters for oscillation mode selection, which is an indispensable requirement in traditional OEOs. This observation opens new avenues for signal generation and processing based on the PT symmetry principle in microwave photonics.
α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase inhibition counteracts breast cancer-associated lung metastasis
Authors: Atlante Sandra , Visintin Alessia , Marini Elisabetta , Savoia Matteo , Dianzani Chiara , Giorgis Marta , Sürün Duran , Maione Federica , Schnütgen Frank , Farsetti Antonella , Zeiher Andreas M. , Bertinaria Massimo , Giraudo Enrico , Spallotta Francesco , Cencioni Chiara , Gaetano Carlo 
Published: July 2018

AbstractMetastasis formation requires active energy production and is regulated at multiple levels by mitochondrial metabolism. The hyperactive metabolism of cancer cells supports their extreme adaptability and plasticity and facilitates resistance to common anticancer therapies. In spite the potential relevance of a metastasis metabolic control therapy, so far, limited experience is available in this direction. Here, we evaluated the effect of the recently described α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (KGDH) inhibitor, (S)-2-[(2,6-dichlorobenzoyl) amino] succinic acid (AA6), in an orthotopic mouse model of breast cancer 4T1 and in other human breast cancer cell lines. In all conditions, AA6 altered Krebs cycle causing intracellular α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) accumulation. Consequently, the activity of the α-KG-dependent epigenetic enzymes, including the DNA demethylation ten-eleven translocation translocation hydroxylases (TETs), was increased. In mice, AA6 injection reduced metastasis formation and increased 5hmC levels in primary tumours. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo treatment with AA6 determined an α-KG accumulation paralleled by an enhanced production of nitric oxide (NO). This epigenetically remodelled metabolic environment efficiently counteracted the initiating steps of tumour invasion inhibiting the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Mechanistically, AA6 treatment could be linked to upregulation of the NO-sensitive anti-metastatic miRNA 200 family and down-modulation of EMT-associated transcription factor Zeb1 and its CtBP1 cofactor. This scenario led to a decrease of the matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) and to an impairment of 4T1 aggressiveness. Overall, our data suggest that AA6 determines an α-KG-dependent epigenetic regulation of the TET–miR200–Zeb1/CtBP1–MMP3 axis providing an anti-metastatic effect in a mouse model of breast cancer-associated metastasis.
Cisplatin-activated PAI-1 secretion in the cancer-associated fibroblasts with paracrine effects promoting esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression and causing chemoresistance
Authors: Che Yun , Wang Jingnan , Li Yuan , Lu Zhiliang , Huang Jianbing , Sun Shouguo , Mao Shuangshuang , Lei Yuanyuan , Zang Ruochuan , Sun Nan , He Jie 
Published: July 2018

AbstractPreoperative chemotherapy is a promising strategy for the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Acquired resistance to chemotherapy is a major obstacle in improving patient prognosis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the primary components of the tumor microenvironment and play a crucial role in tumor development; these cells are also potential therapeutic targets for cancer. Using protein arrays, we identified a key secreted cytokine, PAI-1, from CAFs pretreated with cisplatin that was induced after DNA damage of CAFs. The PAI-1 in the tumor microenvironment promoted tumor growth and attenuated the effects of cisplatin treatment. Extracellular PAI-1 activated the AKT and ERK1/2 signaling pathways and inhibited caspase-3 activity and reactive oxygen species accumulation. Tiplaxtinin as a PAI-1 inhibitor could play synergistic effects with cisplatin in vitro and in vivo. In clinical samples, ESCC patients with high expression of PAI-1 in CAFs presented a significantly worse progression-free survival. Taken together, our results showed that PAI-1 secreted from cisplatin-activated CAFs promoted tumor growth and reduced the effects of cisplatin in a paracrine manner, establishing a preclinical rationale to target this cytokine to further improve the clinical response of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Co-expression of CD39 and CD103 identifies tumor-reactive CD8 T cells in human solid tumors
Authors: Duhen Thomas , Duhen Rebekka , Montler Ryan , Moses Jake , Moudgil Tarsem , de Miranda Noel F. , Goodall Cheri P. , Blair Tiffany C. , Fox Bernard A. , McDermott Jason E. , Chang Shu-Ching , Grunkemeier Gary , Leidner Rom , Bell Richard Bryan , Weinberg Andrew D. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIdentifying tumor antigen-specific T cells from cancer patients has important implications for immunotherapy diagnostics and therapeutics. Here, we show that CD103+CD39+ tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells (CD8 TIL) are enriched for tumor-reactive cells both in primary and metastatic tumors. This CD8 TIL subset is found across six different malignancies and displays an exhausted tissue-resident memory phenotype. CD103+CD39+ CD8 TILs have a distinct T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, with T-cell clones expanded in the tumor but present at low frequencies in the periphery. CD103+CD39+ CD8 TILs also efficiently kill autologous tumor cells in a MHC-class I-dependent manner. Finally, higher frequencies of CD103+CD39+ CD8 TILs in patients with head and neck cancer are associated with better overall survival. Our data thus describe an approach for detecting tumor-reactive CD8 TILs that will help define mechanisms of existing immunotherapy treatments, and may lead to future adoptive T-cell cancer therapies.
A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs
Authors: Xu Xing , Upchurch Paul , Mannion Philip D. , Barrett Paul M. , Regalado-Fernandez Omar R. , Mo Jinyou , Ma Jinfu , Liu Hongan 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe fragmentation of the supercontinent Pangaea has been suggested to have had a profound impact on Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate distributions. One current paradigm is that geographic isolation produced an endemic biota in East Asia during the Jurassic, while simultaneously preventing diplodocoid sauropod dinosaurs and several other tetrapod groups from reaching this region. Here we report the discovery of the earliest diplodocoid, and the first from East Asia, to our knowledge, based on fossil material comprising multiple individuals and most parts of the skeleton of an early Middle Jurassic dicraeosaurid. The new discovery challenges conventional biogeographical ideas, and suggests that dispersal into East Asia occurred much earlier than expected. Moreover, the age of this new taxon indicates that many advanced sauropod lineages originated at least 15 million years earlier than previously realised, achieving a global distribution while Pangaea was still a coherent landmass.
SUMO2 conjugation of PCNA facilitates chromatin remodeling to resolve transcription-replication conflicts
Authors: Li Min , Xu Xiaohua , Chang Chou-Wei , Zheng Li , Shen Binghui , Liu Yilun 
Published: July 2018

AbstractDuring DNA synthesis, DNA replication and transcription machinery can collide, and the replication fork may temporarily dislodge RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) to resolve the transcription-replication conflict (TRC), a major source of endogenous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and common fragile site (CFS) instability. However, the mechanism of TRC resolution remains unclear. Here, we show that conjugation of SUMO2, but not SUMO1 or SUMO3, to the essential replication factor PCNA is induced on transcribed chromatin by the RNAPII-bound helicase RECQ5. Proteomic analysis reveals that SUMO2-PCNA enriches histone chaperones CAF1 and FACT in the replication complex via interactions with their SUMO-interacting motifs. SUMO2-PCNA enhances CAF1-dependent histone deposition, which correlates with increased histone H3.1 at CFSs and repressive histone marks in the chromatin to reduce chromatin accessibility. Hence, SUMO2-PCNA dislodges RNAPII at CFSs, and overexpressing either SUMO2-PCNA or CAF1 reduces the incidence of DSBs in TRC-prone RECQ5-deficient cells.
Effects of BNN27, a novel C17-spiroepoxy steroid derivative, on experimental retinal detachment-induced photoreceptor cell death
Authors: Tsoka Pavlina , Matsumoto Hidetaka , Maidana Daniel E. , Kataoka Keiko , Naoumidi Irene , Gravanis Achille , Vavvas Demetrios G. , Tsilimbaris Miltiadis K. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractRetinal detachment (RD) leads to photoreceptor cell death secondary to the physical separation of the retina from the underlying retinal pigment epithelium. Intensifying photoreceptor survival in the detached retina could be remarkably favorable for many retinopathies in which RD can be seen. BNN27, a blood-brain barrier (BBB)-permeable, C17-spiroepoxy derivative of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has shown promising neuroprotective activity through interaction with nerve growth factor receptors, TrkA and p75NTR. Here, we administered BNN27 systemically in a murine model of RD. TUNEL+photoreceptors were significantly decreased 24 hours post injury after a single administration of 200 mg/kg BNN27. Furthermore, BNN27 increased inflammatory cell infiltration, as well as, two markers of gliosis 24 hours post RD. However, single or multiple doses of BNN27 were not able to protect the overall survival of photoreceptors 7 days post injury. Additionally, BNN27 did not induce the activation/phosphorylation of TrkAY490in the detached retina although the mRNA levels of the receptor were increased in the photoreceptors post injury. Together, these findings, do not demonstrate neuroprotective activity of BNN27 in experimentally-induced RD. Further studies are needed in order to elucidate the paradox/contradiction of these results and the mechanism of action of BNN27 in this model of photoreceptor cell damage.