bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Repercussions of workplace bullying on marital relationships
Authors: Pellegrini Priscila Gasperin , Gonçalves Júlia , Tolfo Suzana da Rosa 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of workplace bullying on the marital relationship of three Brazilian couples.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a qualitative approach with multiple cases. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with the victims, followed by interviews with each couple. Then, the information obtained was categorised and analysed according to the content analysis approach.

Findings
The findings indicate that the experience of workplace bullying by one of the spouses influenced their marital relationship, since there were periods of estrangement, conflicts, and changes in sexual behaviour, and subsequent reconciliation. At the same time, the marital relationship played a protective role against workplace bullying.

Research limitations/implications
This is an exploratory study which aims to understand the repercussions of workplace bullying on marital relationships, rather than draw conclusions about all bullied workers and their marital relationships. The identification and analysis of these repercussions may contribute to deepen the understanding of the importance of the victim’s significant other when facing bullying.

Practical implications
This research expands the perception of the consequences and influences of workplace bullying, which are not restricted to the victim. Furthermore, the detailed information demonstrates the importance of including multiple participants in the research, and additional tools to collect data.

Originality/value
By providing a deeper understanding of the impact of workplace bullying on the victims and their families, in particular on the marital relationship of these workers, the study shows that workplace bullying does not affect only those who are directly linked to the organisation.
Inoculation history affects community composition in experimental freshwater bacterioplankton communities
Authors: Rummens Koen , De Meester Luc , Souffreau Caroline 
Published: January 2018

SummaryPriority effects occur when the arrival order of species or genotypes has a lasting effect on community or population structure. For freshwater bacteria, priority effects have been shown experimentally among individual species, but no experiments have been performed using complex natural communities. We investigated experimentally whether a foreign bacterioplankton community influences the community assembly trajectory when inoculated prior to the local community, whether inoculation time lag affects priority effects, and how the individual OTUs responded to time lag. Two bacterioplankton communities from dissimilar ponds were inoculated into one of the natural media with a time lag of 0, 12, 36 or 60 h, giving advantage in time to the foreign community. All three time lags resulted in priority effects, as the final community composition of these treatments differed significantly from that of the treatment with no time lag, but compositional shifts were not linear to inoculation time lag. The responses of individual OTUs to time lag were highly diverse and not predictable based on their immigration history or relative abundance in the inocula or control. The observed impact and complexity of priority effects in multispecies systems emphasize the importance of this process in structuring both natural and industrial bacterial communities.
Marketing as an Investment in Shareholder Value
Authors: Hughes Mathew , Hughes Paul , Yan Ji (Karena) , Sousa Carlos M. P. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe present resource‐based and capability‐based arguments of marketing investment intensity to offer a strategic view of marketing as an investment in shareholder value. We find that marketing investment intensity has a U‐shaped quadratic effect on shareholder value creation (Tobin's q) that calls for marketing investment to be protected and increased, not surrendered. We show how marketing investments interact with investments in R&D, human capital and operations to reveal how strategic co‐investments can alter the shareholder value of marketing. Finally, we show how competitive intensity and failings in the firm's investment productivity (its ability to convert investment expenditure into sales) point to malaise in the firm's own strategic architecture as a fault for perceived poor returns from marketing investments. Our findings suggest that marketing investment should not be scapegoated when its contributions to shareholder value are not as expected. When invested in strategically and in combination with other investments, marketing can unlock exciting improvements in shareholder value.
Model‐driven design of a minimal medium for Akkermansia muciniphila confirms mucus adaptation
Authors: van der Ark Kees C. H. , Aalvink Steven , Suarez‐Diez Maria , Schaap Peter J. , de Vos Willem M. , Belzer Clara 
Published: January 2018

SummaryThe abundance of the human intestinal symbiont Akkermansia muciniphila has found to be inversely correlated with several diseases, including metabolic syndrome and obesity. A. muciniphila is known to use mucin as sole carbon and nitrogen source. To study the physiology and the potential for therapeutic applications of this bacterium, we designed a defined minimal medium. The composition of the medium was based on the genome‐scale metabolic model of A. muciniphila and the composition of mucin. Our results indicate that A. muciniphila does not code for GlmS, the enzyme that mediates the conversion of fructose‐6‐phosphate (Fru6P) to glucosamine‐6‐phosphate (GlcN6P), which is essential in peptidoglycan formation. The only annotated enzyme that could mediate this conversion is Amuc‐NagB on locus Amuc_1822. We found that Amuc‐NagB was unable to form GlcN6P from Fru6P at physiological conditions, while it efficiently catalyzed the reverse reaction. To overcome this inability, N‐acetylglucosamine needs to be present in the medium for A. muciniphila growth. With these findings, the genome‐scale metabolic model was updated and used to accurately predict growth of A. muciniphila on synthetic media. The finding that A. muciniphila has a necessity for GlcNAc, which is present in mucin further prompts the adaptation to its mucosal niche.
Immunosuppressants produced by Streptomyces: evolution, hygiene hypothesis, tumour rapalog resistance and probiotics
Authors: Bolourian Alireza , Mojtahedi Zahra 
Published: January 2018

SummaryResistance to a drug and the suppression of inflammatory disorders with immunosuppressive drugs might have happened upon exposure to natural compounds during evolution. Streptomycetes are soil bacteria, but they produce therapeutic drugs. They have been reported to be the low‐abundant members of mucosal microbiomes with a higher prevalence in nonhumans ingesting soil compared with humans. Their lower abundance in the human microbiome might be the representations of our current hygienic lifestyle. We suggest that the Streptomyces bacteria producing antiproliferative/immunosuppressive compounds (e.g., rapamycin and tacrolimus) contribute to the rapalog resistance of certain mucosal tumours (e.g., colon cancer) and the ‘hygiene hypothesis’. If so, the shortage of exposure to these compounds in the current lifestyle might be an underlying reason for the increase of inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). An investigation on adding certain Streptomycetes (e.g., S. hygroscopicus and S. tubercidicus) to the list of probiotics against inflammatory diseases would be an interesting research area in the future.
Are oceanic fronts ecotones? Seasonal changes along the subtropical front show fronts as bacterioplankton transition zones but not diversity hotspots
Authors: Morales Sergio E. , Meyer Moana , Currie Kim , Baltar Federico 
Published: January 2018

SummaryEcotones are regarded as diversity hotspots in terrestrial systems, but it is unknown if this ‘ecotone effect’ occurs in the marine environment. Oceanic fronts are widespread mesoscale features, present in the boundary between different water masses, and are arguably the best potential examples of ecotones in the ocean. Here we performed the first seasonal study along an oceanic front, combining 16S rRNA gene sequencing coupled with a high spatial resolution analysis of the physical properties of the water masses. Using the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand we demonstrate that fronts delimit shifts in bacterioplankton community composition between water masses, but that the strength of this effect is seasonally dependent. While creating a transition zone where physicochemical parameters and bacterioplankton communities get mixed, this ecotone does not result in increased diversity. Thus unlike terrestrial ecotones, oceanic fronts are boundaries but not hotspots of bacterioplankton diversity in the ocean.
Capecitabine/cisplatin versus 5‐fluorouracil/cisplatin in Chinese patients with advanced and metastatic gastric cancer: Re‐analysis of efficacy and safety data from the ML17032 phase III clinical trial
Authors: Chen Jia , Xiong Jianping , Wang Jiejun , Zheng Leizhen , Gao YanFei , Guan Zhongzhen 
Published: January 2018

AbstractAimTo confirm non‐inferiority and test potential superiority of capecitabine/cisplatin (XP) over 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU)/cisplatin (FP) as first‐line treatment for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) in Chinese patients.MethodsIn open‐label phase III ML17032 trial, AGC (stage IIIA–IV) patients with or without metastases were randomized 1:1 to receive cisplatin (80 mg/m2/day intravenous [IV] day 1) with either capecitabine (1000 mg/m2/day oral [PO] twice daily [BID], days 1–14; XP) or 5‐FU (800 mg/m2/day continuous IV days 1–5; FP) every 3 weeks. The primary objective was to confirm the non‐inferiority of XP over FP for progression‐free survival (PFS).ResultsThe intent‐to‐treat (ITT) population included 126 Chinese patients (XP–62, FP–64; 67.5% male, mean age 54.7 years). The primary analysis was performed on the per‐protocol (PP) population (105 patients; XP–51, FP–54; 65.7% male). Median PFS in the XP and FP groups was 7.2 and 4.5 months, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for PFS was 0.52 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32–0.83, P = 0.006). Unadjusted HR for PFS in the ITT population was 0.63 (95% CI, 0.42–0.94, P = 0.022). The most frequent drug‐related grade 3/4 adverse events (AEs) were neutropenia (XP–20.7%, FP–17.7%) and gastrointestinal disorders (XP–19.0%, FP–19.4%). The overall incidence of grade 3/4 AEs (XP–43.1%, FP–46.8%), serious AEs (XP–1.7%, FP–3.2%), and AEs related to treatment discontinuation (XP–10.3%, FP–16.1%) were comparable.ConclusionXP had a similar safety profile and may demonstrate superiority for PFS compared to FP as first‐line treatment of Chinese patients with AGC (NCT02563054).
A novel glycocluster molecule prevents timothy‐induced allergic airway inflammation in mice
Authors: Lehto M. , Wolff H. , Leino R. , Alenius H. , Savolainen J. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBackgroundAllergen‐specific immunotherapy (SIT) effectively alleviates type I allergic diseases characterized by T helper (Th)2‐type immunity. Our recent studies have shown that a synthetic trivalent glycocluster, triacedimannose (TADM), suppresses the Th2‐type allergic inflammation. The aim of this study was to compare TADM with two well‐known adjuvants, unmethylated cytosine‐phosphate‐guanine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG) and monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) in a grass allergen‐induced chronic allergic inflammation model in mice.MethodsFemale BALB/c mice were intranasally sensitized with 50 μL of timothy grass pollen extract (TE) twice a week for a period of 15 weeks. Therapeutic intranasal treatments were then performed once a week after the tenth intranasal TE instillation using TADM (10 or 25 μg/50 μL), CpG‐ODN (20 μg/50 μL) or MPLA (2 μg/50 μL). Groups of 9‐10 animals per treatment were killed 24 hours after the last timothy dosage. Blood, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids and lung biopsies were taken for subsequent analysis.ResultsWhen mice were repeatedly exposed to TE for 15 weeks, the number of eosinophils and lymphocytes increased in the BAL fluids. The eosinophil and lymphocyte counts decreased dose‐dependently and were practically abolished in the mice treated with TADM. Treatments with MPLA or CpG significantly increased the numbers of neutrophils, while CpG nonsignificantly decreased eosinophilia compared to timothy exposure.ConclusionsA novel synthetic glycocluster molecule inhibited the development of grass‐induced eosinophilic pulmonary inflammation in mice when administrated in the airways. This compound could be a candidate to be used either as an adjuvant in SIT or as a topical anti‐inflammatory treatment.
Symptom association probability does not reliably distinguish functional heartburn from reflux hypersensitivity
Authors: Choksi Y. , Slaughter J. C. , Sharda R. , Higginbotham T. , Lal P. , Vaezi M. F. 
Published: January 2018

SummaryBackgroundSymptom association probability (SAP) is thought to distinguish reflux hypersensitivity from functional disorders. A diagnosis of hypersensitive oesophagus (SAP‐positive) indicates that gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the cause of continued symptoms.AimTo conduct an analysis of pH and symptom criteria that lead to a diagnosis of SAP‐positivityMethodsWe calculated SAP for 205 patients with GERD symptoms refractory to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy who underwent endoscopy with wireless pH monitoring from 2007 to 2014. Patients were divided into three groups: pH‐negative with no oesophagitis (n = 45), pH‐positive with no oesophagitis (n = 130), and patients with oesophagitis (n = 30). We constructed a 2 × 2 table of symptom and reflux event association and quantified the number of 2‐minute intervals for each of the 2 × 2 variables that distinguished SAP‐positive from SAP‐negative. In a separate cohort of 58 patients who had undergone anti‐reflux surgery, we evaluated the effects of pre‐surgery SAP.ResultsThe difference in symptom association parameters that led to a diagnosis of an SAP‐positive was small (2.98% in oesophagitis‐positive; 1.56% in oesophagitis‐negative/pH‐positive; 0.48% in oesophagitis‐negative/pH‐negative). In the pH‐negative/oesophagitis‐negative group, a difference of 0.48% led to a diagnosis of hypersensitivity. There was significant variability in SAP values between day 1 and day 2 of pH testing in all groups, with the greatest in the oesophagitis‐positive group, despite objective evidence for reflux (27% in oesophagitis‐positive, 19% pH‐positive/oesophagitis‐negative, and 7% in pH‐negative/oesophagitis‐negative). Pre‐surgery SAP was not associated with response to anti‐reflux surgery.ConclusionIn PPI‐refractory GERD, SAP cannot accurately distinguish reflux hypersensitivity from functional oesophageal symptoms.
Individualization of levodopa treatment using a microtablet dispenser and ambulatory accelerometry
Authors: Johansson Dongni , Ericsson Anders , Johansson Anders , Medvedev Alexander , Nyholm Dag , Ohlsson Fredrik , Senek Marina , Spira Jack , Thomas Ilias , Westin Jerker , Bergquist Filip 
Published: January 2018

SummaryAimThis 4‐week open‐label observational study describes the effect of introducing a microtablet dose dispenser and adjusting doses based on objective free‐living motor symptom monitoring in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).MethodsTwenty‐eight outpatients with PD on stable levodopa treatment with dose intervals of ≤4 hour had their daytime doses of levodopa replaced with levodopa/carbidopa microtablets, 5/1.25 mg (LC‐5) delivered from a dose dispenser device with programmable reminders. After 2 weeks, doses were adjusted based on ambulatory accelerometry and clinical monitoring.ResultsTwenty‐four participants completed the study per protocol. The daily levodopa dose was increased by 15% (112 mg, P < 0.001) from period 1 to 2, and the dose interval was reduced by 12% (22 minutes, P = 0.003). The treatment adherence to LC‐5 was high in both periods. The MDS‐UPDRS parts II and III, disease‐specific quality of life (PDQ‐8), wearing‐off symptoms (WOQ‐19), and nonmotor symptoms (NMS Quest) improved after dose titration, but the generic quality‐of‐life measure EQ‐5D‐5L did not. Blinded expert evaluation of accelerometry results demonstrated improvement in 60% of subjects and worsening in 25%.ConclusionsThe introduction of a levodopa microtablet dispenser and accelerometry aided dose adjustments improve PD symptoms and quality of life in the short term.
Decomposition and recompilation of mammograms for breast tumour detection
Authors: Yeh Jinn‐Yi , Chan Si‐Wa 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBreast tumours are the leading cause of cancer death among female adults. Early diagnosis, discovery and treatment are currently the optimal approach to reducing mortality rates and increasing the length of cancer patients' lives. Presently, mammography is the most effective screening method for early breast tumour detection. This paper proposes a decomposition and recompilation approach for the analysis of mammograms. The decomposition stage is based on multiband generation processes (MBGP), which are used to expand the dimensionality of a mammogram. Recompilation uses principal‐component analysis (PCA) to generate different views of the mammogram based on the orthonormal basis vectors. Using Otsu's thresholding method, the abnormal parts of mammographic images can be easily detected. In experiments, the average Jaccard values determined using the Bayes, Markov, Windows, and proposed method were 0.253, 0.228, 0.201, and 0.441, respectively, for images from the mini–MIAS; averages were 0.132, 0.186, 0.158, and 0.261 for images from the Digital Database for Screening Mammography. Thus, the proposed method outperformed the other methods. The main contributions of the current paper are as follows: A novel methodology consisting of multiband generation processes and principal‐component analysis for analyzing abnormities in mammograms is proposed. Two practical data sets were used to develop and evaluate the proposed approach.
Evaluation of the benefits of using a backward chaining decision support expert system for local flood forecasting and warning
Authors: Zhang Xiaoyin , Moynihan Gary P. , Ernest Andrew N. S. , Gutenson Joseph L. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractNationwide flood forecasting and warning are available through mass media. However, running the complex numerical models requires enormous computational resources. In addition, the comparatively low accuracy of prediction for a certain region such as a small town, a community, or a single house, causes false alarms and improper responses and thus the unnecessary loss of property and/or life. One potential solution to advance forecast accuracy without occupying substantial computational resources is to develop a stand‐alone local flood forecasting and warning expert system incorporating sufficient data on local hydraulic and hydrological factors and local historical experience. To date, there has been a limited amount of work developing expert systems in this area. In this paper, we discuss the development and implementation of an expert system for local flood forecasting and warning. With its extensible knowledge base combined with the information provided by users, this expert system provides reasoning routines and forecasting on the flood warning stages, possible consequences, and recommendations for community managers, landowners, or the public in general.
Inconsistent patterns of body size evolution in co‐occurring island reptiles
Authors: Itescu Yuval , Schwarz Rachel , Donihue Colin M. , Slavenko Alex , Roussos Stephanos A. , Sagonas Kostas , Valakos Efstratios D. , Foufopoulos Johannes , Pafilis Panayiotis , Meiri Shai 
Published: January 2018

AbstractAimAnimal body sizes are often remarkably variable across islands, but despite much research we still have a poor understanding of both the patterns and the drivers of body size evolution. Theory predicts that interspecific competition and predation pressures are relaxed on small, remote islands, and that these conditions promote body size evolution. We studied body size variation across multiple insular populations of 16 reptile species co‐occurring in the same archipelago and tested which island characteristics primarily drive body size evolution, the nature of the common patterns, and whether co‐occurring species respond in a similar manner to insular conditions.LocationAegean Sea islands.Time period1984–2016.Major taxa studiedReptiles.MethodsWe combined fieldwork, museum measurements and a comprehensive literature survey to collect data on nearly 10,000 individuals, representing eight lizard and eight snake species across 273 islands. We also quantified a large array of predictors to assess directly the effects of island area, isolation (both spatial and temporal), predation and interspecific competition on body size evolution. We used linear models and meta‐analyses to determine which predictors are informative for all reptiles, for lizards and snakes separately, and for each species.ResultsBody size varies with different predictors across the species we studied, and patterns differ within families and between lizards and snakes. Each predictor influenced body size in at least one species, but no general trend was recovered. As a group, lizards are hardly affected by any of the predictors we tested, whereas snake size generally increases with area and with competitor and predator richness, and decreases with isolation.Main conclusionsNo factor emerges as a predominant driver of Aegean reptile sizes. This contradicts theories of general body size evolutionary trajectories on islands. We conclude that overarching generalizations oversimplify patterns and processes of reptile body size evolution on islands. Instead, species’ autecology and island particularities interact to drive the course of size evolution.
Negativity Bias in Attention Allocation: Retail Investors’ Reaction to Stock Returns
Authors: Reyes Tomas 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWe argue that negative stock market performance attracts more attention from retail investors than comparable positive performance. Specifically, we test and confirm the hypothesis that retail investors pay more attention to negative extreme returns than positive ones. We present a measure of attention at the aggregate and company‐specific levels using Google's internet search volume indexes. These measures correlate with, but are different from, existing proxies of attention. Our empirical results strongly support the position that investors display a negativity bias in attention allocation with respect to extreme stock returns. Across all specifications, lagged negative extreme returns are stronger predictors of high attention at the individual‐stock and stock market levels than positive ones.
Wnt is here! Could Wnt signalling be promoted to protect against Alzheimer disease?
Authors: Garner Brett , Ooi Lezanne 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThis Editorial highlights an article in the current issue by Tapia‐Rojas and Inestrosa suggesting that attenuation of Wnt signalling may be a triggering factor for the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD) in the J20 mouse model of AD. Their study utilises Wnt signalling inhibitors that operate at different points in the signalling pathway. The molecular changes of several key Wnt signaling components are examined, along with a thorough analysis of both the amyloid and tau based pathologies in the mouse brain. Studies focusing on inhibition of Wnt signalling in AD mice have the potential to provide much needed information regarding the pathological mechanisms by which attenuated Wnt signalling impacts on AD.
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