bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Corporate social responsibility disclosures over time: evidence from Malaysia
Authors: Ahmed Haji Abdifatah 
Published: June 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures over a period of time when the business environment, particularly the Malaysian environment, experienced several significant changes including the recent financial crises and regulatory changes. The paper also examines factors influencing the CSR disclosures before and after the aforementioned changes.Design/methodology/approachA self‐constructed CSR checklist was used to measure the extent and quality of CSR disclosures in the annual reports of 85 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia for the years 2006 and 2009. A number of statistical techniques were employed to assess the CSR disclosures over time, as well as factors influencing the CSR disclosures.FindingsResults revealed a significant overall increase in both the extent and quality of CSR disclosures between the two years covered in the study. In terms of factors influencing the CSR disclosures, director ownership, government ownership and company size were found to be significant in explaining both the extent and quality of CSR disclosures in the year 2006. Board size was found to have a significant relationship with only the extent of CSR disclosures in 2006. However, the results in the year 2009, a period following the policy changes, revealed an improved significant association between board size and CSR disclosures.Research limitations/implicationsThe results, which showed a significant increasing trend in CSR disclosures following changes in the market place of an emerging economy, lend some support to legitimacy theory's conjecture that CSR disclosures are used to reduce exposure arising from the public. Hence, this study suggests corporate legitimation practices, which were previously renowned in the economically developed countries, also exist in the emerging economies. The empirical observations asserted in this study, however, were only drawn from the Malaysian context. Therefore, future research involving several emerging countries is needed to ascertain the existence of corporate legitimation exercises in the developing countries.Practical implicationsIn terms of practical implications, the dominance of narrative CSR disclosures in the annual reports as opposed to verifiable information, even after the CSR mandatory requirement, could be due to the absence of a detailed CSR framework for Malaysian public listed companies. Policy makers in Malaysia may therefore want to devise detailed and specific CSR disclosure requirements, rather the current general mandatory requirement, to enhance the quality of CSR disclosures.Originality/valueThis study can be considered one of limited empirical studies to have assessed CSR disclosures following changes in the market place.
Aldosterone, organ damage and dietary salt
Authors: Catena Cristiana , Colussi GianLuca , Sechi Leonardo A 
Published: June 2013

Summary

Long‐term exposure to elevated aldosterone levels or activation of the mineralocorticoid receptors results in cardiac, vascular and renal tissue injury with mechanisms that are independent of blood pressure levels. This evidence has been obtained in experiments carried out in hypertensive animal models, and clinical studies involving patients with heart failure, essential hypertension and primary aldosteronism.

Animal studies have shown that aldosterone causes cardiovascular and renal tissue damage only in the context of an inappropriate salt status. It has also been suggested that some of the untoward effects of high‐salt intake might depend on activation of mineralocorticoid receptors resulting from increased generation of reactive oxygen species and changes in the intracellular redox potential.

Although the interaction between dietary salt intake and circulating aldosterone in causing organ damage has received robust support from the results of animal experiments, the evidence of such interaction in the clinical setting is only preliminary and will require further investigation in appropriately designed studies.
Diversity and distribution of a key sulpholipid biosynthetic gene in marine microbial assemblages
Authors: Villanueva Laura , Bale Nicole , Hopmans Ellen C. , Schouten Stefan , Damsté Jaap S. Sinninghe 
Published: June 2013

SummarySulphoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDG) are polar sulphur‐containing membrane lipids, whose presence has been related to a microbial strategy to adapt to phosphate deprivation. In this study, we have targeted the sqdB gene coding the uridine 5′‐diphosphate‐sulphoquinovose (UDP‐SQ) synthase involved in the SQDG biosynthetic pathway to assess potential microbial sources of SQDGs in the marine environment. The phylogeny of the sqdB‐coding protein reveals two distinct clusters: one including green algae, higher plants and cyanobacteria, and another one comprising mainly non‐photosynthetic bacteria, as well as other cyanobacteria and algal groups. Evolutionary analysis suggests that the appearance of UDP‐SQ synthase occurred twice in cyanobacterial evolution, and one of those branches led to the diversification of the protein in members of the phylum Proteobacteria. A search of homologues of sqdB‐proteins in marine metagenomes strongly suggested the presence of heterotrophic bacteria potential SQDG producers. Application of newly developed sqdB gene primers in the marine environment revealed a high diversity of sequences affiliated to cyanobacteria and Proteobacteria in microbial mats, while in North Sea surface water, most of the detected sqdB genes were attributed to the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. Lipid analysis revealed that specific SQDGs were characteristic of microbial mat depth, suggesting that SQDG lipids are associated with specific producers.
Impaired emotional empathy and related social network deficits in cocaine users
Authors: Preller Katrin H. , Hulka Lea M. , Vonmoos Matthias , Jenni Daniela , Baumgartner Markus R. , Seifritz Erich , Dziobek Isabel , Quednow Boris B. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractChronic cocaine users consistently display neurochemical and functional alterations in brain areas involved in social cognition (e.g. medial and orbitofrontal cortex). Although social functioning plays a crucial role in the development and treatment of drug dependence, studies investigating social cognition in cocaine users are lacking. Therefore, we investigated mental perspective taking (‘theory of mind’) and emotional and cognitive empathy in recreational (RCU) and dependent (DCU) cocaine users. Furthermore, we related these measures to real‐life indicators of social functioning. One‐hundred cocaine users (69 RCU, 31 DCU) and 68 stimulant‐naïve healthy controls were tested with the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). The Social Network Questionnaire was conducted to assess social network size. Furthermore, participants provided information on committed criminal offenses. RCU and DCU showed less emotional empathy compared to controls (MET), whereas cognitive empathy was not impaired (MET, RMET). Additionally, DCU made more errors in mental perspective taking (MASC). Notably, cocaine users committed more criminal offenses and displayed a smaller social network and higher cocaine use was correlated with less social contacts. Diminished mental perspective taking was tentatively correlated with more intense cocaine use as well. Finally, younger age of onset of cocaine use was associated with more pronounced empathy impairment. In conclusion, social cognition impairments in cocaine users were related to real‐life social functioning and should therefore be considered in therapy and prevention strategies.
A review of ecological interactions between native frogs and invasive cane toads in Australia
Authors: Shine Richard 
Published: June 2013

Abstract Translocated from their native range in the Americas in 1935, cane toads (Rhinella marina, Bufonidae) have now spread through much of tropical and subtropical Australia. The toad's invasion and impact have attracted detailed study. In this paper, I review information on ecological interactions between cane toads and Australian anurans. The phylogenetic relatedness and ecological similarity between frogs and toads creates opportunities for diverse interactions, ranging from predation to competition to parasite transfer, plus a host of indirect effects mediated via impacts of toads on other species, and by people's attempts to control toads. The most clear‐cut effect of toads on frogs is a positive one: reducing predator pressure by fatally poisoning anuran‐eating varanid lizards. However, toads also have a wide range of other effects on frogs, some positive (e.g. taking up parasites that would otherwise infect native frogs) and others negative (e.g. eating frogs, poisoning frogs, competing with tadpoles). Although information on such mechanisms predicts intense interactions between toads and frogs, field surveys show that cane toad invasion has negligible overall impacts on frog abundance. That counter‐intuitive result is because of a broad balancing of negative and positive impacts, coupled with stochastic (weather‐induced) fluctuations in anuran abundance that overwhelm any impacts of toads. Also, the impacts of toads on frogs differ among frog species and life‐history stages, and depend upon local environmental conditions. The impacts of native frogs on cane toads have attracted much less study, but may well be important: frogs may impose biotic resistance to cane toad colonization, especially via competition in the larval phase. Overall, the interactions between native frogs and invasive toads illustrate the diverse ways in which an invader's arrival can perturb the native fauna by both direct and indirect mechanisms, and by which the native species can curtail an invader's success. These studies also offer a cautionary tale about the difficulty of predicting the impact of an invasive species, even with a clear understanding of mechanisms of direct interaction.
Renal function assessment in older adults
Authors: Drenth‐van Maanen A. Clara , Jansen Paul A. F. , Proost Johannes H. , Egberts Toine C. G. , van Zuilen Arjan D. , van der Stap Dawi , van Marum Rob J. 
Published: June 2013

AimsThe Cockcroft‐Gault (CG), the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) and the CKD‐EPI (Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration) formulae are often used to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The objective was to determine the best method for estimating GFR in older adults.MethodsA cross‐sectional study was conducted at the geriatric wards of two hospitals in The Netherlands. Patients aged 70 years or above with an estimated (e)GFR below 60 ml min−1 1.73 m−2 were included. The CG, CG calculated with ideal bodyweight (IBW), MDRD and CKD‐EPI formulae were compared with a criterion standard, sinistrin clearance. Renal function was classified into five stages according to the National Kidney Foundation Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative chronic kidney disease classification, as follows (in ml min−1 1.73 m−2): stage 1, eGFR ≥ 90; stage 2, eGFR of 60–89; stage 3, eGFR of 30–59; stage 4, eGFR of 15–29; and stage 5, eGFR < 15.ResultsSixteen patients, 50% male, with a mean age of 82 years (range 71–87 years) and mean body mass index 26 kg m−2 (range 18–36 kg m−2), were included. On average, all formulae slightly overestimated GFR, as follows (in ml min−1 1.73 m−2): CG +0.05 [95% confidence interval (CI) −28 to +28]; CG with IBW +0.03 (95% CI −20 to +20); MDRD +9 (95% CI −16 to +34); and CKD‐EPI +5 (95% CI −20 to +29). They classified kidney disease correctly in 68.8% (CG), 75% (CG with IBW), 43.8% (MDRD) and 68.8% (CKD‐EPI) of the participants, respectively.ConclusionsThe CG, CG with IBW, MDRD and CKD‐EPI formulae estimate the mean GFR of a population rather well. In individual cases, all formulae may misclassify kidney disease by one stage.
Designing leadership and soft skills in educational games: The e‐leadership and soft skills educational games design model (ELESS)
Authors: de Freitas Sara , Routledge Helen 
Published: June 2013

AbstractWhile the field of leadership studies includes a large corpus of literature and studies, the literature and scientific research in the field of e‐leadership and soft skills used in learning game environments are at present small in scale. Towards contributing to this newly emerging field of literature and study, this research paper presents a new model, the e‐Leadership and Soft Skills Educational Design Model (ELESS) for assessing the use and constructing the effective design of soft skills and leadership skills in multiplayer learning game environments. The central research question considers: what is the role of e‐leadership and how can it be designed and tested in the context of educational games? To address this question, the research paper includes a review of the current literature around distributed (shared) leadership models and presents some examples of studies assessing how leadership is designed, used and tested in available game environments. The paper then presents the ELESS model and validates it within the context of a case study of the Leadership Game. As a result, the ELESS model can be used to test the efficacy of existing games and to inform the effective design of new games that focus upon developing leadership and soft skills.
Increasing paternal age at childbirth is associated with taller stature and less favourable lipid profiles in their children
Authors: Savage Tim , Derraik José G. B. , Miles Harriet L. , Mouat Fran , Hofman Paul L. , Cutfield Wayne S. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractBackgroundPaternal age at childbirth has been increasing worldwide, and we assessed whether this increase affects growth, body composition and metabolism in their children.MethodsWe studied 277 children (aged 3–12 years) born to fathers aged 19·8–51·8 years. Clinical assessments were height and weight adjusted for parental measurements, DEXA‐derived body composition, fasting lipids, glucose homoeostasis and hormonal profiles.ResultsChildren born to fathers aged 31–35 (P = 0·009) and >35 years (P = 0·021) were 2 cm taller than those of fathers aged ≤30 years. Children of fathers aged >35 years at childbirth had a lower body mass index (BMI) (−0·32 SDS) than offspring of fathers aged 31–35 (−0·01 SDS; P = 0·043) and ≤30 (0·22 SDS; P = 0·019). There were marked effects of paternal age at childbirth on childhood blood lipids. LDL‐C concentrations in children born to fathers aged >35 years were 11% and 21% higher than in children of fathers aged 31–35 and ≤30 years, respectively (P < 0·01). Total cholesterol to HDL‐C ratio was also higher among the children of fathers aged 31–35 (12%; P = 0·014) and >35 (16%; P = 0·004) years at childbirth compared with the ≤30 group. In addition, HOMA‐IR in girls (but not boys) born of fathers aged 31–35 (0·99) and >35 years (1·11) indicated better insulin sensitivity compared with offspring in the ≤30 group (1·63; P < 0·05).ConclusionsIncreasing paternal age at childbirth is associated with a more favourable phenotype in their children (taller and slimmer, with better insulin sensitivity in girls) but with a less favourable lipid profile.
Gene expression and regulation in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Frangou Eleni A. , Bertsias George K. , Boumpas Dimitrios T. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractBackgroundSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the prototypic systemic autoimmune disease. Genome‐wide (GW) association studies have identified more than 40 disease‐associated loci, together accounting for only 10–20% of disease heritability. Gene expression represents the intermediate phenotype between DNA and disease phenotypic variation, and provides insights regarding genetic and epigenetic effects. We review data on gene expression and regulation in SLE by our group and other investigators.Materials and methodsSystematic PubMed search for GW expression studies in SLE published since the year 2000.ResultsDeregulation of genes involved in type I interferon signaling is a consistent finding in the peripheral blood of active and severe SLE patients. Upregulation of granulocyte‐specific transcripts especially in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs), and of myeloid lineage transcripts in lupus nephritis, provide evidence for pathogenic role of these cells. Gene network analysis in BMMCs identified central gene regulators which could represent therapeutic targets and a high similarity between SLE and non‐Hodgkin lymphoma providing a molecular basis for the reported association of the two diseases. Gene expression abnormalities driven by deregulated expression of certain microRNAs in SLE contribute to interferon production, T‐ and B‐cell hyperactivity, DNA hypomethylation, and defective tissue response to injury. Methylation arrays have revealed alterations in white blood cell DNA methylation in SLE suggesting an important role of epigenetics and the environment.ConclusionsGene expression studies have contributed to the characterization of pathogenic processes in SLE. Integrated approaches utilizing genetic variation, transcriptome and epigenome profiling will facilitate efforts towards a molecular‐based disease taxonomy.
Authority, The Autonomy of The University, and Neoliberal Politics
Authors: Kodelja Zdenko 
Published: June 2013

AbstractZdenko Kodelja's purpose in this essay is not to give a comprehensive explanation of the impact of neoliberal ideas and politics on authority (in all of its forms) of universities and their professors. His aims are much more modest: to sketch a theoretical framework for better understanding what the essence of authority is; to show that the relation between authority and trust is the key to explaining the effect of neoliberal politics on the authority of the university and university professors; to discuss professors' autonomy as deriving primarily from epistemic authority and to point out that what makes professors epistemic authorities is not the truth of what they say, but rather the students' belief that it is true; and to disclose some problems related to authority, university autonomy, and neoliberal politics.
Impact of derived global weather data on simulated crop yields
Authors: van Wart Justin , Grassini Patricio , Cassman Kenneth G. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractCrop simulation models can be used to estimate impact of current and future climates on crop yields and food security, but require long‐term historical daily weather data to obtain robust simulations. In many regions where crops are grown, daily weather data are not available. Alternatively, gridded weather databases (GWD) with complete terrestrial coverage are available, typically derived from: (i) global circulation computer models; (ii) interpolated weather station data; or (iii) remotely sensed surface data from satellites. The present study's objective is to evaluate capacity of GWDs to simulate crop yield potential (Yp) or water‐limited yield potential (Yw), which can serve as benchmarks to assess impact of climate change scenarios on crop productivity and land use change. Three GWDs (CRU, NCEP/DOE, and NASA POWER data) were evaluated for their ability to simulate Yp and Yw of rice in China, USA maize, and wheat in Germany. Simulations of Yp and Yw based on recorded daily data from well‐maintained weather stations were taken as the control weather data (CWD). Agreement between simulations of Yp or Yw based on CWD and those based on GWD was poor with the latter having strong bias and large root mean square errors (RMSEs) that were 26–72% of absolute mean yield across locations and years. In contrast, simulated Yp or Yw using observed daily weather data from stations in the NOAA database combined with solar radiation from the NASA‐POWER database were in much better agreement with Yp and Yw simulated with CWD (i.e. little bias and an RMSE of 12–19% of the absolute mean). We conclude that results from studies that rely on GWD to simulate agricultural productivity in current and future climates are highly uncertain. An alternative approach would impose a climate scenario on location‐specific observed daily weather databases combined with an appropriate upscaling method.
Shedding light on junior doctors' work practices after hours
Authors: Arabadzhiyska P. N. , Baysari M. T. , Walter S. , Day R. O. , Westbrook J. I. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractBackgroundIt is imperative to understand the current work practices of hospital personnel to inform efforts and secure resources towards the improvement of hospital systems. Research examining doctors' work during night‐shifts is limited.AimTo describe and quantify the night‐shift work practices of junior doctors.MethodsAn observational time and motion study was conducted. Eight resident doctors in four general wards were observed for 96 h during night shifts (Monday–Friday, 2200–0800).ResultsDoctors spent the highest proportion (28%; 95% CI 21–35) of their time performing social/personal tasks (e.g. sleeping, eating) and indirect care (24%; 95% CI 22–25) (e.g. reviewing notes, ordering tests). Work‐related discussion comprised 15% (95% CI 13–17), and most took place at the beginning of the night. Medication‐related tasks consumed a small proportion of time (4%; 95% CI 3–4) but attracted a higher level of multitasking and interruptions than most other tasks. On average, 2 h of every shift were spent at a computer and 1.3 h with patient notes. Doctors spent 72% of the night‐shift alone, multitasked 6.4% of the time and were interrupted, on average, once every 46 min.ConclusionsThis study provides new data about junior doctors' work at night. Relative to doctors during the day, greater proportions of time were devoted to social/personal tasks (including sleep) and indirect care, but a similar proportion to direct care. Multitasking and interruptions were minimal. Computer activities were an integral part of work. Handovers were observed at the beginning but not the completion of the night shift, which may have implications for patient safety.
Imipenem versus piperacillin/tazobactam for empiric treatment of neutropenic fever in adults
Authors: Roohullah A. , Moniwa A. , Wood C. , Humble M. , Balm M. , Carter J. , Weinkove R. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractAustralian guidelines for neutropenic fever recommend piperacillin/tazobactam (PIP‐TAZ) or cefepime for first‐line empiric treatment of neutropenic fever. We compared outcomes among haematology patients before and after changing our first‐line neutropenic fever treatment from imipenem to PIP‐TAZ. Forty‐five patients received imipenem and 60 PIP‐TAZ. Despite a higher rate of antibiotic modification in the PIP‐TAZ cohort, treatment success and time to defervescence were similar, with a trend towards fewer Clostridium difficile infections in the PIP‐TAZ cohort.