bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Networking and new venture’s performance: mediating role of competitive advantage
Authors: Anwar Muhammad , Rehman Atiq Ur , Shah Syed Zulfiqar Ali 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different types of networking, namely, business networking, financial networking and political networking, on the performance of new ventures and the extent to which competitive advantage influences the process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a structured questionnaire using sample size of 319 newly established ventures in Pakistan – an emerging economy. The hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling by using AMOS 21.FindingsResults of the study indicate that business networking, financial networking and political networking significantly and positively contribute to new ventures performance and competitive advantage. Results also show that competitive advantage is a strong mediator between financial networking and new venture performance, as well as between business networking and new venture performance, respectively. However, in case of relationship between political networking and new venture performance, competitive advantage plays only a partial mediating role.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that the owners and managers of new ventures should devote considerable efforts to developing all the three types of networks; in particular these networks are important for newly established ventures operating in emerging markets to access resources and to enhance performance.Originality/valueExtensive review of available literature indicates that this is the first paper to assess the impact of networking on new ventures’ performance with a mediating role of competitive advantage. This study contributes to the existing literature through empirical evidence.
Sovereign entrepreneurship
Authors: Salter Alexander 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a theory of sovereign entrepreneurship, which is a special kind of political entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses qualitative methods/historical survey.

Findings
Sovereignty is rooted in self-enforced exchange of political property rights. Sovereign entrepreneurship is the creative employment of political property rights to advance a plan.

Research limitations/implications
Because a polity’s constitution is determined by its distribution of political property rights, sovereign entrepreneurship and constitutional change are necessarily linked. The author illustrated how sovereign entrepreneurship can be applied by using it to explain the rise of modern states.

Practical implications
In addition to studying instances of sovereign entrepreneurship in distant history, scholars can apply it to recent history. Sovereign entrepreneurship can be especially helpful as a tool for doing analytic narratives of low-n cases of political-economic development, especially when those polities attract interests for being “development miracles.”

Originality/value
This paper uses treats sovereignty as a political property right.
Bat overpasses: An insufficient solution to restore habitat connectivity across roads
Authors: Claireau Fabien , Bas Yves , Puechmaille Sébastien J. , Julien Jean‐François , Allegrini Benjamin , Kerbiriou Christian 
Published: October 2018

Abstract

Roads have many negative effects on wildlife, including their role in habitat fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation affects bats during their daily movements between roosts and foraging areas. As bats are protected in Europe, developers must implement specific mitigation measures that are hierarchically structured to achieve a null net impact. However, very few specific mitigation measures have been undertaken specifically for bats. Bat overpasses (e.g. gantries) are among proposed improvements intended to reduce the impact of roads, but they have rarely been tested. The effectiveness of overpasses in facilitating safe road crossing of bats is critical for justifying the implementation of this mitigation measure. We therefore assessed whether bat overpasses are effectively used by bats.

We studied three bat overpasses with different designs in France. We developed an innovative method to characterize bat crossings using acoustic flight path reconstruction (AFPR). We used six pairs of stereo acoustic recorders in different habitat types that were located on both sides of the road, and operated simultaneously throughout the night.

Recording data contained 57,941 bat passes and 284 bat crossings from six species of bats at the three study sites. Our results suggest that crossings are more numerous if an overpass is located where bat commuting routes have been identified by environmental impact assessment. However, we found that the proportion of bat crossings along the commuting route was the same with or without an overpass; thus highlighting that bat overpasses do not fully restore habitat connectivity.

Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates that acoustic flight path reconstruction (AFPR) is a useful approach to obtain information on bat flight behaviour. We also emphasize the importance of field testing the effectiveness of mitigation measures, such as those intended to offset the impact of roads on biodiversity, and highlight that such measures should not be implemented based on their theoretical effectiveness alone.
Missing the people for the trees: Identifying coupled natural–human system feedbacks driving the ecology of Lyme disease
Authors: MacDonald Andrew J. , Larsen Ashley E. , Plantinga Andrew J. 
Published: October 2018

Abstract

Infectious diseases are rapidly emerging and many are increasing in incidence across the globe. Processes of land‐use change, notably habitat loss and fragmentation, have been widely implicated in the emergence and spread of zoonoses such as Lyme disease, yet evidence remains equivocal.

Here, we discuss and apply an innovative approach from the social sciences; instrumental variables, which seeks to tease out causality from observational data. Using this approach, we revisit the effect of forest fragmentation on Lyme disease incidence, focusing on human interaction with fragmented landscapes. Although human interaction with infected ticks is of clear and fundamental importance to human disease incidence, human activities that influence exposure have been largely overlooked in ecology literature.

Using county‐level land‐use and Lyme disease incidence data for ~800 counties from the northeastern United States over the span of a decade, we illustrate (a) that human interaction with fragmented forest landscapes reliably predicts Lyme disease incidence, while ecological measures of forest fragmentation alone are unreliable predictors and (b) that identifying the effect of forest fragmentation on human disease entails addressing the feedback between Lyme disease risk and human decisions to avoid interaction with high‐risk landscapes.

Synthesis and applications. Our innovative approach and novel results help to clarify the equivocal literature on the effects of forest fragmentation on Lyme disease and illustrate the key role that human behaviour may be playing in the ecology of Lyme disease in North America. Accounting for human activity and behaviour in the ecology of disease more broadly may result in improved understanding of both the ecological drivers of disease, as well as actionable intervention strategies to reduce disease burden in a changing world. For example, our model results indicate that forest fragmentation by human settlement increases Lyme disease incidence, which has practical implications for land‐use policy aimed at disease reduction. Specifically, our model suggests land‐use regulations that reduce parcel size would be an actionable approach to reduce Lyme disease transmission for policymakers concerned about increasing Lyme disease incidence in the northeastern United States.
Banks as Tax Planning Intermediaries
Authors: GALLEMORE JOHN , GIPPER BRANDON , MAYDEW EDWARD 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTWe provide the first large‐scale empirical evidence of banks functioning as tax planning intermediaries. We posit that some banks specialize in assisting corporate clients with tax planning. In this role, banks make use of their centrality in financial relationships; access to private information; and ability to structure, execute, and participate in tax planning transactions for clients. We measure bank‐client relationships using loan contracts and measure client tax planning using either the cash effective tax rate or the unrecognized tax benefit balance. Using a difference‐in‐differences design, we find that firms experience meaningful tax reductions when they begin a relationship with a bank whose existing clients engage in above‐median tax planning. The effects of pairing with such tax intermediary banks are concentrated in relationships with larger or longer maturity loans, clients with foreign income or greater credit risk, and when the bank is an industry specialist or has above‐median investment banking activities. Finally, we find that potential clients are more likely to choose tax intermediary banks than nontax intermediary banks, suggesting that tax intermediary banks benefit by attracting new business. Collectively, our results suggest that some banks act as tax planning intermediaries, a role beyond the traditional one of financial intermediary.
Comparative proteomic analysis of four biotechnological strains Lactococcus lactis through label‐free quantitative proteomics
Authors: Silva Wanderson M. , Sousa Cassiana S. , Oliveira Leticia C. , Soares Siomar C. , Souza Gustavo F.M.H. , Tavares Guilherme C. , Resende Cristiana P. , Folador Edson L. , Pereira Felipe L. , Figueiredo Henrique , Azevedo Vasco 
Published: October 2018

SummaryLactococcus lactis is a bacteria with high biotechnological potential, where is frequently used in the amino acid production and production of fermented dairy products, as well as drug delivery systems and mucosal vaccine vector. The knowledge of a functional core proteome is important extremely for both fundamental understanding of cell functions and for synthetic biology applications. In this study, we characterized the L. lacits proteome from proteomic analysis of four biotechnological strains L. lactis: L. lactis subsp. lactis NCDO2118, L. lactis subsp. lactis IL1403, L. lactis subsp. cremoris NZ9000 and L. lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363. Our label‐free quantitative proteomic analysis of the whole bacterial lysates from each strains resulted in the characterization of the L. lactis core proteome that was composed by 586 proteins, which might contribute to resistance of this bacterium to different stress conditions as well as involved in the probiotic characteristic of L. lactis. Kegg enrichment analysis shows that ribosome, metabolic pathways, pyruvate metabolism and microbial metabolism in diverse environments were the most enriched. According to our quantitative proteomic analysis, proteins related to translation process were the more abundant in the core proteome, which represent an important step in the synthetic biology. In addition, we identified a subset of conserved proteins that are exclusive of the L. lactis subsp. cremoris or L. lactis subsp. lactis, which some are related to metabolic pathway exclusive. Regarding specific proteome of NCDO2118, we detected ‘strain‐specific proteins’. Finally, proteogenomics analysis allows the identification of proteins, which were not previously annotated in IL1403 and MG1363. The results obtained in this study allowed to increase our knowledge about the biology of L. lactis, which contributes to the implementation of strategies that make it possible to increase the biotechnological potential of this bacterium.
Deep‐Seated Landslides Drive Variability in Valley Width and Increase Connectivity of Salmon Habitat in the Oregon Coast Range
Authors: Beeson Helen W. , Flitcroft Rebecca L. , Fonstad Mark A. , Roering Joshua J. 
Published: October 2018

AbstractDeclines in populations of Pacific salmon have prompted extensive and costly restoration efforts, yet many populations are still in peril. An improved understanding of landscape‐scale controls on salmon habitat should help focus restoration resources on areas with the greatest potential to host productive habitat. We investigate the contribution of deep‐seated landslides (DSLs) to Coho Salmon habitat by comparing the quantity and connectivity of potential seasonal habitat observed in five streams with extensive DSLs to five lacking significant landsliding. Further, we measure valley width in these streams and relate it to connectivity. We show that median fractions of stream length identified as spawning, summer‐rearing, winter‐refuge habitat, and as having high connectivity among seasonal habitat types are greater in streams with DSLs and that distances between units of each seasonal habitat type are significantly lower in DSL terrain. The median R2 value for the relationship between drainage area and valley width is lower in landslide terrain and we observed that high connectivity among seasonal habitat types tends to occur where valley width is variable. Our results suggest that DSLs promote connectivity among seasonal habitat types for Coho Salmon and that prioritizing restoration projects in streams in DSL terrain could improve the effectiveness of salmonid recovery programs.
Heme oxygenase‐1 induction attenuates senescence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease lung fibroblasts by protecting against mitochondria dysfunction
Authors: Even Benjamin , Fayad‐Kobeissi Sarah , Gagliolo Jean‐Marie , Motterlini Roberto , Boczkowski Jorge , Foresti Roberta , Dagouassat Maylis 
Published: October 2018

AbstractChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with lung fibroblast senescence, a process characterized by an irreversible proliferation arrest associated with secretion of inflammatory mediators. ROS production, known to induce senescence, is increased in COPD fibroblasts and mitochondria dysfunction participates in this process. Among the battery of cellular responses against oxidative stress damage, heme oxygenase (HO)‐1 plays a critical role in defending the lung against oxidative stress and inflammation. Therefore, we investigated whether pharmacological induction of HO‐1 by chronic hemin treatment attenuates senescence and improves dysfunctional mitochondria in COPD fibroblasts. Fibroblasts from smoker controls (S‐C) and COPD patients were isolated from lung biopsies. Fibroblasts were long‐term cultured in the presence or absence of hemin, and/or ZnPP or QC‐15 (HO‐1 inhibitors). Lung fibroblasts from smokers and COPD patients displayed in long‐term culture a senescent phenotype, characterized by a reduced replicative capacity, an increased senescence and inflammatory profile. These parameters were significantly higher in senescent COPD fibroblasts which also exhibited decreased mitochondrial activity (respiration, glycolysis, and ATP levels) which led to an increased production of ROS, and mitochondria biogenesis and impaired mitophagy process. Exposure to hemin increased the gene and protein expression level of HO‐1 in fibroblasts and diminished ROS levels, senescence, the inflammatory profile and simultaneously rescued mitochondria dysfunction by restoring mitophagy in COPD cells. The effects of hemin were abolished by a cotreatment with ZnPP or QC‐15. We conclude that HO‐1 attenuates senescence in COPD fibroblasts by protecting, at least in part, against mitochondria dysfunction and restoring mitophagy.
Multicenter Implementation of a Novel Management Protocol Increases the Outpatient Treatment of Pulmonary Embolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis
Authors: Kabrhel Christopher , Rosovsky Rachel , Baugh Christopher , Connors Jean , White Benjamin , Giordano Nicholas , Torrey Jasmine , Deadmon Erin , Parry Blair Alden , Hagan Sean , Zheng Hui 
Published: October 2018

AbstractObjectiveThe objective was to determine whether a protocol combining risk stratification, treatment with the direct‐acting oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban, and defined follow‐up is associated with a greater proportion of patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) treated as outpatients, without hospital admission.MethodsWe performed a multicenter study of patients diagnosed with VTE (pulmonary embolism [PE] or deep vein thrombosis [DVT]) in two urban EDs, 18 months before and 18 months after implementation of an outpatient VTE treatment protocol. Patients with radiographically confirmed acute VTE were eligible. Our primary outcome was the proportion of VTE patients discharged from the ED or observation unit (i.e., without hospital admission). We performed subgroup analyses according to hospital, DVT and PE, and low‐risk PE. We also assessed 7‐ and 30‐day mortality, major bleeding, and returns to the ED. We compared proportions using chi‐square and Fisher's exact tests.ResultsWe enrolled 2,212 patients, 1,081 (49%) before protocol and 1,131 (51%) after protocol. Mean age (59 years vs. 60 years), female sex (49% vs. 49%), other demographics, comorbid illness, and PE risk stratification were similar before and after. After protocol, more VTE (35% from 26%, p < 0.001), PE (18% from 12%, p = 0.002), low‐risk PE (28% from 18%, p < 0.001), and DVT (60% from 49%, p = 0.002) patients were treated as outpatients. Mortality, bleeding, and returns to ED were rare and did not increase after protocol.ConclusionsA treatment protocol combining risk‐stratification, rivaroxaban treatment and defined follow‐up is associated with an increase in PE and DVT patients treated as outpatients, with no increase in adverse outcomes.
Anticariogenic efficacy of a saliva biomimetic in head‐and‐neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy
Authors: Sim CPC , Walker GD , Manton DJ , Soong YL , Wee JTS , Adams GG , Reynolds EC 
Published: October 2018

AbstractBackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of treatment with the saliva biomimetic, casein phosphopeptide‐amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP‐ACP) and SnF2/NaF compared with SnF2/NaF alone on coronal surface caries progression in head‐and‐neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.MethodsTwenty‐four participants were randomized into two groups. Both groups used 0.4% SnF2 gel and a 0.32% NaF toothpaste; the test group also applied a crème containing 10% CPP‐ACP three times daily while the control group used an identical crème without CPP‐ACP (placebo). Resting saliva flow rate and saliva fluoride concentrations were determined. Caries status was assessed using ICDASII at baseline and 12‐weeks postradiotherapy. Data were statistically analysed using a linear mixed effects model.ResultsBoth groups showed significantly reduced resting saliva flow rate (P < 0.001) postradiotherapy. There were no significant differences in flow rates and fluoride concentration between groups. The CPP‐ACP group exhibited a significant (P < 0.05) 51% reduction in coronal surface caries progression compared with the placebo group.ConclusionResting salivary flow rate was significantly reduced in head‐and‐neck cancer patients following radiotherapy and use of CPP‐ACP with SnF2/NaF significantly lowered caries progression compared with SnF2/NaF alone.
Cash Holdings Adjustment Speed and Managerial Ability
Authors: Cho Hyungjin , Choi Sera , Kim Mi‐Ok 
Published: October 2018

AbstractUsing the partial adjustment model of cash holding, we find that managerial ability is negatively related to adjustment speed of cash holdings toward the target, particularly when the firm has excess cash. We also find that the relation between managerial ability and cash holding adjustment speed is weaker in the presence of the internal capital market. Additionally, we provide evidence that firms with higher managerial ability are less likely to make inefficient investments when they have excess cash, implying that high‐ability managers are willing to hold a large amount of cash to make timely investments.
C5a receptor 1−/− mice are protected from the development of IgE‐mediated experimental food allergy
Authors: Kordowski Anna , Reinicke Anna T. , Wu David , Orinska Zane , Hagemann Philipp , Huber‐Lang Markus , Lee Jee‐Boong , Wang Yui‐Hsi , Hogan Simon P. , Köhl Jörg 
Published: October 2018

AbstractBackgroundFood‐induced anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction caused by Fcε‐receptor activation on mast cells (MCs). The exact mechanisms breaking oral tolerance and the effector pathways driving food allergy remain elusive. As complement is activated in food‐induced anaphylaxis, we aimed to assess the role of C5a in disease pathogenesis.MethodsOral antigen‐induced food‐induced anaphylaxis was induced in BALB/c wild‐type (wt) and C5ar1−/− mice. Readouts included diarrhea development, changes in rectal temperature, hematocrit, antigen‐specific serum IgE, MCPT‐1, and intestinal MC numbers, as well as FcεR1‐mediated MC functions including C5a receptor 1 (C5aR1) regulation. Further, histamine‐mediated hypothermia and regulation of endothelial tight junctions were determined.ResultsRepeated oral OVA challenge resulted in diarrhea, hypothermia, increased hematocrit, high OVA‐specific serum IgE, and MCPT‐1 levels in wt mice. Male C5ar1−/− mice were completely whereas female C5ar1−/− mice were partially protected from anaphylaxis development. Serum MCPT‐1 levels were reduced gender‐independent, whereas IgE levels were reduced in male but not in female C5ar1−/− mice. Mechanistically, IgE‐mediated degranulation and IL‐6 production from C5ar1−/− BMMCs of both sexes were significantly reduced. Importantly, FcεR1 cross‐linking strongly upregulated C5aR1 MC expression in vitro and in vivo. Finally, C5ar1−/− male mice were largely protected from histamine‐induced hypovolemic shock, which was associated with protection from histamine‐induced barrier dysfunction in vitro following C5aR targeting.ConclusionsOur findings identify C5aR1 activation as an important driver of IgE‐mediated food allergy through regulation of allergen‐specific IgE production, FcεR1‐mediated MC degranulation, and histamine‐driven effector functions preferentially in male mice.
Accepting the avoidable death: The philosophy of limiting intensive care
Authors: Sørensen Marc , Andersen Lars Willy 
Published: October 2018

AbstractLimiting intensive care is paid increasing attention. In the echoing call for physicians’ ethical self‐restriction, it is easily overlooked, however, that ethics needs a critical epistemological analysis before it can suffice as an emergency brake to futile treatment. This analysis is provided by the present essay. The authors suggest that the difficulties of resolving moral dilemmas related to limiting intensive care may just be due to the unclarified epistemological status of moral claims. Even if normative ethics cannot prescribe right decisions, but only draw conclusions from defined premises, the premises may or may not be true. Their intertwined descriptive and normative evidence is endorsed in an academic and political discourse. There will necessarily be various demands for rationality in prudent decisions between physicians, their patients and society. These demands are formulated dialogically through critical questions and justified answers. A good argument is the convincing one that, finally and ideally, leads to the absence of open objections. Thus, in the end the rightness of a given decision does not depend on axiomatic moral principles, but is comparative and conditional, as it is given in an omnilateral argument. Neither is it the democratic process of shared decision making that we should evaluate, but rather the argumentative state itself, when we judge the morality of health politics and clinical practice.