bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analysis of 19 Highly Conserved Vibrio cholerae Bacteriophages Isolated from Environmental and Patient Sources Over a Twelve-Year Period
Authors: Angermeyer Angus , Das Moon Moon , Singh Durg Vijai , Seed Kimberley D. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractThe Vibrio cholerae biotype ‘El Tor’ is responsible for all current epidemic and endemic cholera outbreaks worldwide. These outbreaks are clonal and are hypothesized to originate from the coastal areas near the Bay of Bengal where the lytic bacteriophage ICP1 specifically preys upon these pathogenic outbreak strains. ICP1 has also been the dominant bacteriophage found in cholera patient stool since 2001. However, little is known about its genomic differences between ICP1 strains collected over time. Here we elucidate the pan-genome and phylogeny of ICP1 strains by aligning, annotating and analyzing the genomes of 19 distinct isolates collected between 2001 and 2012. Our results reveal that ICP1 isolates are highly conserved and possess a large core-genome as well as a smaller, somewhat flexible accessory-genome. Despite its overall conservation, ICP1 strains have managed to acquire a number of unknown genes as well as a CRISPR-Cas system, which is known to be critical for its ongoing struggle for co-evolutionary dominance over its host. This study describes a foundation on which to construct future molecular and bioinformatic studies of this V. cholerae-associated bacteriophages.
The moderating effects of status and trust on the performance of age-diverse work groups
Authors: Scheuer Cara-Lynn , Loughlin Catherine 
Published: May 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to help organizations capitalize on the potential advantages of age diversity by offering insight into two new moderators in the age diversity, work group performance relationship – status congruity and cognition-based trust.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed 197 employees and 56 supervisors across 59 work groups to test for the moderating effects of status congruity and cognition-based trust on the age diversity, work group performance relationship.FindingsThe results demonstrated, on the one hand, that under conditions of status congruity (i.e. when there were high levels of perceived status legitimacy and veridicality) and/or when perceptions of cognition-based trust were high within the group, the relationship between age diversity and work group performance was positive. On the other hand, under conditions of status incongruity and/or low levels of cognition-based trust, this relationship was negative.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings contribute to the literature by being the first to provide empirical evidence for the theorized effects of status on the performance of age-diverse work groups and also by demonstrating the effects of cognition-based trust in a new context – age-diverse work groups.Practical implicationsArising from the study’s findings are several strategies, which are expected to help organizations enhance perceptions of status congruity and/or trust and ultimately the performance of their age-diverse work groups.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to empirically demonstrate the moderating effects of status congruity and cognition-based trust on the age diversity, work group performance relationship. The study also establishes important distinctions between the effects of objective status differences vs status perceptions.
Soft skills of construction project management professionals and project success factors
Authors: Zuo Jian , Zhao Xianbo , Nguyen Quan Bui Minh , Ma Tony , Gao Shang 
Published: May 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify the soft skills of construction project management; and second, to investigate the influence of these soft skills on project success factors in the Vietnamese construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was conducted with 108 project management professionals from the Vietnamese construction industry. Partial least square structural equation modelling was employed in data analysis.

Findings
Four-dimensional structure of project success factors was confirmed in this study. Results also showed that soft skills of project managers significantly contributed to project success factors and hence the project success.

Research limitations/implications
There may be geographical limitation on the conclusions drawn from the findings. Similarly, the sample size was still small, despite a relatively high response rate. In addition, the majority of the respondents were contractors and clients as other project players were reluctant to respond to the survey.

Practical implications
This study provides an understanding of the relationship between soft skills and project success factors.

Originality/value
Although there have been studies focused on soft skills of project management and project success factors, few have attempted to analyse the effects of these soft skills on critical success factors. Thus, this study adds significantly to the existing research on both project management skills and project success factors.
Building energy conservation in atrium spaces based on ECOTECT simulation software in hot summer and cold winter zone in Iran
Authors: Amani Nima 
Published: May 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the optimum energy consumption of building atriums in hot, cold and dry climate zones in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses simulation software to analyze atrium design for energy saving in buildings and the effects of the energy saving process on the use of atrium in hot summer and cold winter zones in Iran. The buildings exhibit brick cavity concrete block plaster for wall, double-glazed alum frame for glaze, concrete slab on ground for flour and plaster insulation suspend for ceiling. This process is analyzed by choosing a suitable atrium for building energy efficiency in warmest session for warm weather conditions and the coldest session for cold weather conditions in Iran.

Findings
According to the analysis done using simulation software, with respect to the hot need prevention of direct and indirect solar energy and cold need absorption of direct and indirect solar energy, four-side atrium with total radiation incident of 2,506,027 and 69,613 W, radiation absorption of 902,795 and 29,057 W and radiation transmission of 297,118 and 4,201 W in hot summer and in cold winter are the best optimum selections.

Originality/value
The results of this research are useful for both building energy efficiency and producing a comfortable living environment in the future and will support new observations of how residential building developers can accept sustainable strategies to grow their overtaking in the Iranian construction market.
A novel approach to solve a mining work centralization problem in blockchain technologies
Authors: Kano Yuki , Nakajima Tatsuo 
Published: May 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to solve a mining work centralization problem using a gamification-based approach.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors have developed a simple blockchain application that incorporates a gamification concept into the mining work. Then, they asked some participants in an experiment to use the application for a week and gathered some insights from the responses on questionnaires.

Findings
The results show that the gamification-based approach distributed mining work among many participants by increasing their motivation to participate mining work.

Originality/value
The gamification-based approach solves a mining work centralization problem and opens a new direction for future blockchain technologies.
The role of actors in interactions between “innovation ecosystems”: drivers and implications
Authors: Pucci Tommaso , Runfola Andrea , Guercini Simone , Zanni Lorenzo 
Published: May 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the role of the actors (especially firms) in interactions between contexts defined as “innovation ecosystems.”

Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a conceptual framework. A review of the literature to frame the concepts of innovation ecosystems and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) approach is presented. A possible integration of the two concepts is then discussed.

Findings
The paper adds new discursive inputs to the concept of innovation ecosystem that validate its use in the context of the knowledge economy and extends the theories of knowledge, by analyzing the role that various actors who populate an innovative ecosystem play in the creation, learning, use, and dissemination of knowledge.

Originality/value
The paper furnishes an approach to the research on knowledge management and innovation, in the attempt to relate the IMP Group approach with the perspective of the “innovation ecosystems” concept.
Spatial heterogeneity in plant–soil feedbacks alters competitive interactions between two grassland plant species
Authors: Xue Wei , Berendse Frank , Bezemer T. Martijn 
Published: May 2018

Abstract

The effects of plants on soil vary greatly between plant species and in mixed plant communities this can lead to spatial variation in plant‐soil feedback (PSF) effects. Such spatial effects are thought to influence plant species coexistence, but the empirical evidence for this hypothesis is limited.

Here, we investigate how spatial heterogeneity in PSFs influences plant growth and competition. The experiment was carried out with high and low nutrient soils to examine how these effects depend on soil fertility. We collected soil from field plots planted for three years with monocultures of Anthoxanthum odoratum and Centaurea jacea and tested the performance of the two species in a greenhouse experiment in heterogeneous soils consisting of patches of “own” and “foreign” soils and in soils where the “own” and “foreign” soils were mixed homogeneously. In the test phase, plants were grown in monocultures and in 1:1 mixtures in live or sterilized soils.

Overall, A. odoratum in monocultures produced less aboveground biomass in heterogeneous soils than in homogeneous soils. Centaurea jacea produced less belowground biomass in live heterogeneous soils than in live homogeneous soils, but there was no difference between sterile heterogeneous and homogeneous soils. The belowground biomass per patch varied more in pots with live heterogeneous soils than in pots with live homogeneous soils for both plant species, but there was no difference between pots with sterile heterogeneous and homogeneous soils. In pots with plant mixtures, the difference in aboveground biomass between the two competing species tended to be smaller in heterogeneous than in homogeneous soils. In pots with heterogeneous soils, both plant species grown in mixtures produced more aboveground biomass in “foreign” soil patches than in “own” soil patches. The responses of plants to heterogeneous PSFs were not different between low and high nutrient soils.

Our results show that spatially heterogeneous PSFs can influence plant performance and competition via reducing the growth inequality between the two competing species by allowing selective growth in foreign soil patches, independent of initial soil nutrient availability. Such effect may slow down exclusion processes and thus promote the coexistence of competing species at the local scale in mixed plant communities.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Breast and reproductive cancers in the transgender population: a systematic review
Authors: Joint R , Chen ZE , Cameron S 
Published: April 2018

BackgroundThe medical transition undergone by a transgender person may influence their risk of breast or reproductive cancer.ObjectivesTo assess breast and reproductive cancer prevalence in the transgender population. To elucidate any associations between gender‐affirming hormones and risk of these cancers.Search strategyFollowing registration of review protocol with PROSPERO, five databases were searched.Selection criteriaIncluded studies investigated breast, ovarian, uterine, cervical, vaginal, neovaginal, testicular and prostate cancer in the transgender population. Secondary studies, opinions, editorials and conference abstracts were excluded. No date, language or setting restrictions were applied.Data collection and analysisTwo reviewers conducted literature searches and applied inclusion and exclusion criteria to the results. Studies were categorised, aggregated and analysed by study population (transmen/transwomen) and type of cancer.Main resultsThe literature search produced 228 articles; 43 were included. The overall evidence quality was very low to low. In transgender women, 20 breast cancer cases, two neovaginal cancer cases, one testicular cancer case and eight prostate cancer cases were reported. In transgender men, 18 breast cancer cases, five ovarian cancer cases, four uterine/cervical cancer cases and one vaginal cancer case were reported.ConclusionsThere is insufficient evidence to estimate breast or reproductive cancer prevalence in the transgender population. Gender‐affirming hormones have not been shown to affect cancer risk, but there is a clear need for well‐designed, robust studies to confirm or refute this.FundingThis study was undertaken as an education dissertation. No funding was received.Tweetable abstractLittle is known about the impact of gender‐affirming hormones on breast or reproductive cancers in trans people.
An optimal rule for patent damages under sequential innovation
Authors: Chen Yongmin , Sappington David E.M. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractWe analyze the optimal design of damages for patent infringement when a follow‐on innovator may infringe the patent of an initial innovator. We consider damage rules that are linear combinations of the popular “lost profit” (LP) and “unjust enrichment” (UE) rules, coupled with a lump‐sum transfer between innovators. Such linear rules can sometimes induce the socially optimal levels of sequential innovation and the optimal allocation of industry output. The optimal linear rule achieves the highest welfare among all rules that ensure a balanced budget for the industry, and often secures substantially more welfare than either the LP rule or the UE rule.
Design of public procurement auctions: evidence from cleaning contracts
Authors: Hyytinen Ari , Lundberg Sofia , Toivanen Otto 
Published: May 2018

AbstractWe analyze a regime change from beauty contests to first‐price sealed‐bid and scoring auctions, using Swedish data on public procurement of cleaning services. In beauty contests, the lowest bid often lost, leaving substantial money on the table. The procurement costs were similar before and after the regime change: (i) Entry strongly decreases the procurement cost but did not change. Entry would have decreased had the municipalities not adjusted the objects of auctions. (ii) Municipalities favored in‐house suppliers in the old regime, leading to more aggressive bidding by others. With favoritism reduced, these changes balanced each other out.
Drug‐induced dysphoria is enhanced following prolonged cocaine abstinence and dynamically tracked by nucleus accumbens neurons
Authors: Haake Rachel M. , West Elizabeth A. , Wang Xuefei , Carelli Regina M. 
Published: May 2018

AbstractNegative reinforcement models postulate that addicts use drugs to alleviate negative affective states (e.g. dysphoria) associated with withdrawal. In a pre‐clinical model, rats exhibit negative affect to a normally rewarding tastant when it predicts impending, but delayed cocaine, and nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons dynamically track this state. Here, we examined the effects of short versus prolonged experimenter‐imposed cocaine abstinence on negative affect, cocaine seeking and self‐administration. Rats were given 14 saccharin‐cocaine sessions; NAc activity and affective responses to the taste (i.e. taste reactivity) were measured during sessions 1 and 14. Next, following 1 or 30 days of abstinence, taste reactivity and cell firing were recorded in a three‐phase test session: (1) intraoral saccharin infusions, (2) extinction and (3) cocaine self‐administration. Results showed that 30 days of abstinence led to a significant enhancement of aversive responses to the cocaine‐paired tastant, accompanied by a dramatic decline in NAc phasic activity during tastant infusion. While extinction behavior did not differ across groups, NAc phasic firing reemerged during drug seeking. Further, when drug was again readily available, greater aversion to the drug‐paired tastant before and after abstinence was associated with increased self‐administration following prolonged (30‐day) abstinence in rats classified as high (not low) aversive. Collectively, these findings show that drug‐induced dysphoria is enhanced following prolonged cocaine abstinence and that NAc neural signaling is dynamic, dampening when negative affect is at its highest (phase 1), but transitioning back ‘online’ during subsequent drug seeking and taking (phases 2 and 3).
Oncologist provision of smoking cessation support: A national survey of Australian medical and radiation oncologists
Authors: Day Fiona L. , Sherwood Emma , Chen Tina Y. , Barbouttis Margaret , Varlow Megan , Martin Jarad , Weber Marianne , Sitas Freddy , Paul Christine 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimContinued smoking in patients diagnosed with cancer affects treatment outcomes and overall survival. With national surveys of Australian medical oncologists (MO) and radiation oncologists (RO) we sought to determine current clinical practices, preferences and barriers in providing patient smoking cessation support.MethodsOncologist members of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (n = 452) and Trans‐Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (n = 230) were invited to participate in a multiple choice survey exploring smoking cessation practices and beliefs.ResultsThe survey response rate was 43%. At first consultations more than 90% of MO and RO regularly asked patients if they smoke or use tobacco products, closely followed by documentation of duration of smoking history and current level of consumption. Less common was asking the patient if they intended to quit (MO 63%, RO 53%) and advising cessation (MO 70%, RO 72%). Less than 50% of oncologists regularly asked about current smoking in follow‐up consultations. Although a range of referral options for smoking cessation care were used by oncologists, only 2% of MO and 3% of RO actively managed the patients’ smoking cessation themselves and this was the least preferred option. The majority believed they require more training in cessation interventions (67% MO, 57% RO) and cited multiple additional barriers to providing cessation care.ConclusionsOncologists strongly prefer smoking cessation interventions to be managed by other health workers. A collaborative approach with other health professionals is needed to aid the provision of comprehensive smoking cessation care tailored to patients with cancer.
Plasma markers of oxidative status were associated with increasing continuous cardiometabolic risk scores in healthy students aged 16–20 years without central obesity
Authors: Koborová I , Gurecká R , Csongová M , Šebek J , Šebeková K 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimWe studied the association between increased cardiometabolic risk and markers of oxidative status and glycation in apparently healthy subjects who did not present with central obesity.MethodsFrom 2011 to 2012, we recruited 2064 students (53% girls) aged 16–20 years from Western Slovakia. Their continuous metabolic syndrome scores (MSS) were calculated as a mean of the sum of the z‐scores of waist‐to‐height ratio, mean arterial pressure, triacylglycerols, high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index. Plasma markers of protein glycation and oxidation, lipid peroxidation and total antioxidant status were analysed.ResultsIn both genders, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) increased across the MSS quintiles (p < 0.001). AOPPs and fructosamines were significant predictors of the MSS in both genders. Moreover, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, leukocyte counts and advanced glycation end‐products (AGEs) contributed significantly in girls. Triacylglycerols, fructosamines, AGEs and total antioxidant capacity correlated significantly with AOPPs in both genders.ConclusionAdvanced oxidation protein products may act as inflammatory mediators that contribute to the development of cardiometabolic afflictions. Determining these may provide information related to cardiometabolic risk and represent potential target to reduce or prevent irreversible oxidative stress‐induced cellular damage.
Outpatients with acute osteoarticular infections had favourable outcomes when they received just oral antibiotics without intravenous antibiotics
Authors: Alcobendas Rosa , Remesal Agustín , Murias Sara , Nuñez Esmeralda , Calvo Cristina 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimThe traditional approach for acute paediatric osteoarticular infections (OAI) has comprised initial intravenous antibiotics followed by prompt oral antibiotics. We assessed how providing just oral antibiotics compared to the traditional two‐step approach.MethodsThis prospective study was performed at the Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain, from September 2015 to September 2016. We compared 25 outpatients, with good general health and a mean age of 25 months who received just oral antibiotics, with 228 hospitalised children of a similar age who received intravenous and oral antibiotics from other hospitals in the Spanish Network of Osteoarticular Infections.ResultsThe groups were comparable in terms of age, sex, fever, erythrocyte sedimentation rate value, C‐reactive protein and diagnosis. The oral group comprised 15 with osteomyelitis, seven with septic arthritis, two with osteoarthritis and one with spondylodiscitis. This group had a lower percentage of Staphylococcus aureus (8% vs 26%, p = 0.06) and higher proportion of Kingella kingae (24% vs 9%, p = 0.017) than the intravenous group. There were complications (24%) and follow‐up sequelae (6%) in the intravenous group, but none in the oral group.ConclusionOutpatients with OAI who were in good general health had favourable outcomes when they received oral antibiotics without intravenous antibiotics.
Clinical usefulness of the faecal calprotectin test in suspected paediatric inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: Akobeng Anthony K. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimThe faecal calprotectin (FC) test is increasingly being used in clinical practice to help select children with gastrointestinal symptoms who might have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and benefit from endoscopies. We provide an overview of the advantages and limitations of the FC test.MethodsPubMed was searched for meta‐analyses that had investigated the diagnostic accuracy of the FC test and the pooled sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing IBD from non‐IBD patients were used to calculate likelihood ratios (LR). These were applied to practical examples to explain how easily clinicians can use the results to modify pre‐test probabilities of IBD and generate post‐test probabilities for IBD.ResultsThe positive LR and negative LR of the FC test were 2.8 and 0.015, respectively. The usefulness of the FC test depended on the pre‐test probability of IBD. When the pre‐test probability of IBD was low, a positive FC test did not necessarily indicate IBD. However, because of the very small negative LR, a negative FC result virtually ruled out IBD in most cases.ConclusionThe FC test should not be used indiscriminately in children with gastrointestinal symptoms but should be targeted at those who are likely to have IBD.