bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What factors impact debt levels in the health sector? Evidence for a bank system-oriented country
Authors: Neves Maria , Proença Catarina , Cancela Beatriz , Serrasqueiro Zelia 
Published: January 2024

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of the level of indebtedness in the health sector in Portugal, taking into account the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, an attempt is made to understand whether the effect of a pandemic crisis is similar to that of a financial crisis.

Design/methodology/approach
To achieve this aim, two subperiods were analyzed: a global period between 2011 and 2020 that includes the pandemic crisis and the period between 2011 and 2014, designated as the financial assistance period by the “Troika” in Portugal. For a sample of 514 companies belonging to the NACE code: 86100 – activities of the health sector with hospitalization, the panel data methodology was applied, specifically, the generalized method of moments system proposed by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998).

Findings
The results of the study are in line with the Pecking-order explanatory theory, demonstrating that companies in this sector follow a financing hierarchy, preferentially resorting to internally generated funds and external debt. Additionally, the results reveal that the capital structure of companies has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As for the period of financial assistance, there are no major differences in evidence when the total debt ratio is considered. The results suggest different impacts when it comes to a bear market period caused by a health crisis or a period of growing economic slowdowns.

Originality/value
As far as we know, this is the first study that analyses the debt levels in the context of the health sector in a country with a financial system based on the bank sector, using short- and long-term debt ratios, taking into account the particularities of two different moments considered to be bear market that may eventually be useful for comparison with other bear market moments in other macroeconomic environments.
Development of a mobile health information application for immigrant women in South Korea
Authors: Jang Sou Hyun , Yi Yong Jeong , Song Yun-Mi 
Published: January 2024

PurposeThe primary objective was to develop a user-centered mobile health application (app) tailored to the specific health information needs of among immigrant women from diverse backgrounds in Korea.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted with 24 immigrant women to gain insights into their health information-seeking behavior. Based on the findings, a mobile app was designed and developed. A beta version of the app underwent validation by an MD and seven expert reviewers who assessed the app for content accuracy and conformance to mobile heuristics. Last, immigrant women (n = 12) evaluated the usability of the app.FindingsThe study revealed that the interviewed immigrant women had strong health information needs related to pregnancy and parenting. Most of them used multiple sources to find and verify health information. Language barriers were identified as a major obstacle to accessing and evaluating health information. The results of the user test indicated that the app effectively facilitated study participants' search for reliable health information, meeting their specific needs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research extended the literature by addressing the limited availability of mobile apps tailored to the health information needs of immigrant women in Korea.Originality/valueBy incorporating multilingual support and focusing on pregnancy and parenting information, the health app serves as a valuable tool to bridge the gap in health information access and to facilitate the well-being of immigrant women in the country.
Indoor WiFi path loss model to estimate indoor network coverage considering residential design
Authors: Teo Spencer Ii Ern , Zhou Yuhan , Yeoh Justin Ker-Wei 
Published: January 2024

PurposeNetwork coverage is crucial for the adoption of advanced Smart Home applications. The commonly used log-based path loss model is not able to accurately estimate WiFi signal strength in different houses, as it does not fully consider the impact of building morphology. To better describe the propagation of WiFi signals and achieve higher estimation accuracy, this paper studies the basic building morphology characteristics of houses.Design/methodology/approachA new path loss model based on a decision tree was proposed after measuring the WiFi signal strength passing through multiple housing units. Three types of regression models were tested and compared.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that the log-based path loss model fits small houses well, while the newly proposed nonlinear path loss model performs better in large houses (area larger than 125 m2 and area-to-perimeter ratio larger than 2.5). The impact of building design on path loss has been proven and specifically quantified in the model.Originality/valueProposed an improved model to estimate indoor network coverage. Quantify the impacts of building morphology on indoor WiFi signal strength. Improve WiFi signal strength estimation to support Smart Home applications.
The Fundamentals of Public Ownership: Learning from UK Historical Experience and Recent Scottish Policy
Authors: Gibbs Ewan , McCartney Gerard , Phillips Jim 
Published: January 2024

AbstractPublic ownership has emerged as desirable and achievable in the United Kingdom in the 2020s. The ongoing water crisis in England and concerns about ‘greedflation’ in sectors such as electricity and gas following recent price rises have encouraged interest in public ownership. Informed discussion is compromised, however, by a gap in public knowledge. This partly stems from the distance of time, a generation or more, since publicly owned enterprises operated in these sectors across Britain. We argue that public ownership is best understood in terms of fundamentals. Our proposed typology presents the predominant form of public ownership, nationalisation, as a response to fundamental problems, or devised as more efficient management of fundamental sectors, or established to achieve fundamental citizenship values. The typology is developed in dialogue with historical British experiences, then applied to contemporary examples of Scottish government policy, namely shipbuilding, social care and railways.
Informality and the governance dilemma: How institutional inter‐linkages can bridge accountability gaps
Authors: Roger Charles B. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractStates have increasingly relied on informal international organizations (IOs) to govern cross‐border problems. Frequently, however, their accountability has been questioned because they have been created to evade political control and strengthen the hands of executives and bureaucrats vis‐à‐vis legislative actors. This has led some to propose solutions that might address their accountability gaps. In this article, I discuss the role that institutional inter‐linkages may play. Many informal IOs lack capabilities and accountability mechanisms that raise questions about their desirability as standalone institutions. Yet, in practice, by creating links with states and formal IOs, their capabilities and accountability have been augmented. With respect to their accountability, specifically, I argue such linkages can promote reflexivity, policy filtering, and the institutionalization of new procedural norms. While these dynamics cannot fully reduce accountability gaps, recognition of them provides a more balanced picture of the issues at stake and an added rationale for expanding such linkages in the future.
Inhalational volatile anaesthetic agents: the atmospheric scientists' viewpoint
Authors: Nielsen O. J. , Sulbaek Andersen M. P. 
Published: January 2024

SummaryAll sectors of society must reduce their carbon footprint to mitigate climate change, and the healthcare community is no exception. This narrative review focuses on the environmental concerns associated with the emissions of volatile anaesthetic agents, some of which are potent greenhouse gases. This review provides an understanding of the global warming potential metric, as well as the concepts of atmospheric lifetime and radiative efficiency. The state of knowledge of the environmental impact and possible climate forcing of emitted volatile anaesthetic agents are reviewed. Additionally, the review discusses how climate metrics can guide mitigation strategies to reduce emissions and suggests present and future options for mitigating the climate impact.
Anaesthetic subspecialties and sustainable healthcare: a narrative review
Authors: Oliver C. , Charlesworth M. , Pratt O. , Sutton R. , Metodiev Y. 
Published: January 2024

SummaryThe principles of environmentally sustainable healthcare as applied to anaesthesia and peri‐operative care are well documented. Associated recommendations focus on generic principles that can be applied to all areas of practice. These include reducing the use of inhalational anaesthetic agents and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of modern peri‐operative care. However, four areas of practice have specific patient, surgical and anaesthetic factors that present barriers to the implementation of some of these principles, namely: neuroanaesthesia; obstetric; paediatric; and cardiac anaesthesia. This narrative review describes these factors and synthesises the available evidence to highlight areas of sustainable practice clinicians can address today, as well as posing several unanswered questions for the future. In neuroanaesthesia, improvements can be made by undertaking awake surgery, moving towards more reusables and embracing telemedicine in quaternary services. Obstetric anaesthesia continues to present questions regarding how services can move away from nitrous oxide use or limit its release to the environment. The focus for paediatric anaesthesia is addressing the barriers to total intravenous and regional anaesthesia. For cardiac anaesthesia, a significant emphasis is determining how to focus the substantial resources required on those who will benefit from cardiac interventions, rather than universal implementation. Whilst the landscape of evidence‐based sustainable practice is evolving, there remains an urgent need for further original evidence in healthcare sustainability targeting these four clinical areas.
The Perceived Economic Scarcity Scale: A valid tool with greater predictive utility than income
Authors: Auger Victor , Sommet Nicolas , Normand Alice 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis article introduces the Perceived Economic Scarcity Scale (PESS), a novel instrument measuring the subjective evaluation and experience of economic scarcity (the feeling of having insufficient financial resources to meet one's needs). We conducted three high‐powered preregistered studies (total N = 1900) to rigorously evaluate the PESS's psychometric properties. In Study 1, we generated a pool of items and used both Principal Component Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis to select the most appropriate items. In Study 2, we examined the PESS's construct validity, demonstrating that it measures a distinct construct from related constructs such as subjective social class. In Study 3, we examined the PESS's predictive validity, demonstrating that it is a robust predictor of both affective outcomes (e.g. anxiety‐depressive symptoms) and cognitive outcomes (e.g. economic risk‐taking). Critically, we found that the PESS not only has incremental validity over and above income but also has greater predictive utility than income. We also found that the PESS score varies depending on the distance‐to‐pay and has excellent test–retest reliability. Overall, the PESS appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing perceived economic scarcity, and we encourage researchers to use it to better understand the psychological consequences of ‘not having enough’.
Factors associated with impaired psychophysical gustatory function
Authors: Kim Kyung Soo , Kwak Il‐Youp , Min Hyun Jin 
Published: January 2024

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics associated with measured gustatory dysfunction in patients with chemosensory (smell and taste) discomfort.Study designRetrospective study.DesignHospital‐based cohort.SettingThe clinical characteristics associated with the measured diagnosis of gustatory dysfunction were statistically analysed.ParticipantsPatients who underwent all the psychophysical olfactory and chemical gustatory function tests (YSK olfactory function test and chemical gustometry exam) and the subjective questionnaires between October 2021 and February 2023.Main outcome measuresYSK olfactory function test and chemical gustometry results, subjective questionnaire score about chemosensory (smell and taste) functions. The Medical records of patients who visited the smell and taste centre in a tertiary.ResultsA total of 219 patients were enrolled; 180 were diagnosed as having normal gustatory function, and 39 were diagnosed as having gustatory dysfunction. Subjective recognition of gustatory function was not associated with the measured gustatory function. Age, sex, measured olfactory function and the threshold and discrimination scores for the olfactory function test were significant factors in the multivariate analysis. When the patients were further divided according to age, the threshold test scores rather than other subsets in the olfactory function test were significantly associated with measured gustatory dysfunction in patients 60 and older.ConclusionIn older adult male patients with olfactory dysfunction, gustatory function should be considered regardless of subjective gustatory dysfunction.
Review of impacts of using body mass index as a screening tool in school children: A scoping review
Authors: Sigurðardóttir Björk , Gribsholt Sigrid Bjerge , Bjerregaard Lise Geisler , Bruun Jens Meldgaard 
Published: January 2024

SummaryBody mass index (BMI) is used to screen for under‐ or overweight. However, it is unknown whether BMI‐screening in school children reduces the incidence of overweight and obesity. We aimed to summarise the knowledge on positive and negative consequences on BMI and weight‐related perceptions and behaviours of BMI‐screening followed by an intervention to prevent and/or address obesity. We performed a systematic literature search, April 2023, using the PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases. We included randomised controlled trials and observational studies, including children aged 6 to 18 years and examining BMI‐screening in a school setting. The primary outcome measures were BMI and weight status. Secondary outcome measures were weight‐related perceptions and behaviours. Three studies met the inclusion criteria; two randomised controlled trials and one observational study. All studies used BMI‐screening followed by sending report cards to the parents. None of the studies found a change in BMI z‐scores in school children. Screening could cause transitory body‐dissatisfaction and increase peer weight talk, yet potentially reduce problematic weight behaviours like skipping meals or excessive dieting. Reporting BMI to parents may influence their perception of their children's weight status, but does not change behaviour. The sparse evidence available suggested that BMI screening followed by sending report cards to parents does not change BMI z‐scores among children in primary, middle and high school. Studies using appropriate evidence‐based weight management interventions as a follow‐up are lacking. Such studies may improve future prevention, detection and treatment of weight‐related issues.
Listening to algorithms: The case of self‐knowledge
Authors: Doyle Casey 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis paper begins with the thought that there is something out of place about offloading inquiry into one's own mind to AI. The paper's primary goal is to articulate the unease felt when considering cases of doing so. It draws a parallel between the use of algorithms in the criminal law: in both cases one feels entitled to be treated as an exception to a verdict made on the basis of a certain kind of evidence. Then it identifies an account of first‐person authority that can make good on this: agentialism. Thus, the paper constitutes an argument in favor of an agentialist treatment of self‐knowledge and first‐person authority.
Lack of population structure in an important fishery species of mud shrimp, Trypaea australiensis
Authors: Kirby Renae L. , Froehlich Catheline Y. M. , Greaves Samuel , Klanten O. Selma , Wong Marian Y. L. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractFrom a conservation standpoint, species that are managed without consideration of their population sizes and connectivity have the potential to be over‐exploited and/or incur population decline. The burrowing shrimp, Trypaea australiensis, is an important ecosystem engineer and fishery resource caught in large numbers for which population information is unknown for properly managing the species. Here, we determined the level of population structure of T. australiensis across three locations along the East Coast of New South Wales, Australia, using genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained through double digest Restriction‐site Associated DNA‐sequencing (ddRAD‐seq). Analysis of population structure, including pairwise Fst (−0.003 to −0.001), STRUCTURE (K = 2) and Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) showed no evidence of structure among locations. Our findings provide crucial preliminary population genetic data for a key cryptic species, that also suggests gene flow among sampling locations enables the management of fisheries throughout the study area as a single unit.
Declining coupling between vegetation and drought over the past three decades
Authors: Li Delong , An Li , Zhong Shuai , Shen Lei , Wu Shuyao 
Published: January 2024

AbstractDroughts have been implicated as the main driver behind recent vegetation die‐off and are projected to drive greater mortality under future climate change. Understanding the coupling relationship between vegetation and drought has been of great global interest. Currently, the coupling relationship between vegetation and drought is mainly evaluated by correlation coefficients or regression slopes. However, the optimal drought timescale of vegetation response to drought, as a key indicator reflecting vegetation sensitivity to drought, has largely been ignored. Here, we apply the optimal drought timescale identification method to examine the change in coupling between vegetation and drought over the past three decades (1982–2015) with long‐term satellite‐derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Standardized Precipitation‐Evapotranspiration Index data. We find substantial increasing response of vegetation to drought timescales globally, and the correlation coefficient between vegetation and drought under optimal drought timescale overall declines between 1982 and 2015. This decrease in vegetation–drought coupling is mainly observed in regions with water deficit, although its initial correlation is relatively high. However, vegetation in water‐surplus regions, with low coupling in earlier stages, is prone to show an increasing trend. The observed changes may be driven by the increasing trend of atmospheric CO2. Our findings highlight more pressing drought risk in water‐surplus regions than in water‐deficit regions, which advances our understanding of the long‐term vegetation–drought relationship and provides essential insights for mapping future vegetation sensitivity to drought under changing climate conditions.
The IL‐1β‐p65 axis stimulates quiescent odontogenic epithelial cell rests via TGF‐β signalling to promote cell proliferation of the lining epithelia in radicular cysts: A laboratory investigation
Authors: Nagano Ryoko , Nakako Yusuke , Fujii Shinsuke , Kawano Shintaro , Maeda Hidefumi , Kiyoshima Tamotsu 
Published: January 2024

AbstractAimCyst formation of the jaws is frequently accompanied by the proliferation of odontogenic epithelial cells located in the periodontal ligament (PDL), which consists of heterozygous cells and includes the most fibroblasts. The lining epithelium of radicular cyst, an odontogenic cyst of inflammatory origin, is derived from the proliferation of the remnants of the Hertwig epithelial root sheath (odontogenic epithelial cell rests of Malassez; ERMs) in the PDL. ERMs are maintained at a lower proliferative state under physiological conditions, but the regulatory mechanisms underlying the inflammation‐dependent enhanced‐proliferative capabilities of ERMs are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cytokine pathway association between TGF‐β signalling and IL‐1β signalling on the regulation of odontogenic epithelial cell proliferation using radicular cyst pathological specimens and odontogenic epithelial cell lines.MethodologyImmunofluorescence analyses were performed to clarify the expression levels of Smad2/3 and Ki‐67 in ERMs of 8‐week‐old mouse molar specimens. In radicular cyst (n = 52) and dentigerous cysts (n = 6) specimens from human patients, the expression of p65 (a main subunit of NF‐κB), Smad2/3 and Ki‐67 were investigated using immunohistochemical analyses. Odontogenic epithelial cells and PDL fibroblastic cells were co‐cultured with or without an inhibitor or siRNAs. Odontogenic epithelial cells were cultured with or without TGF‐β1 and IL‐1β. The proliferative capabilities and Smad2 phosphorylation levels of odontogenic epithelial cells were examined.ResultsImmunohistochemically, Smad2/3‐positivity was increased, and p65‐positivity and Ki‐67‐positivity were decreased both in ERMs and in the epithelial cells in dentigerous cysts, a non‐inflammatory developmental cyst. In contrast, p65‐positive cells, along with the expression of Ki‐67, were increased and Smad2/3‐positive cells were decreased in the lining epithelia of radicular cysts. Co‐culture experiments with odontogenic epithelial cells and PDL fibroblastic cells revealed that PDL cells‐derived TGF‐β1/2 and their downstream signalling suppressed odontogenic epithelial cell proliferation. Moreover, TGF‐β1 stimulation induced Smad2 phosphorylation and suppressed odontogenic epithelial cell proliferation, while IL‐1β stimulation reversed these phenotypes through p65 transactivation.ConclusionsThese results suggest that IL‐1β‐p65 signalling promotes odontogenic epithelial cell proliferation through suppressing TGF‐β‐Smad2 signalling, which would be involved in the pathogenesis of radicular cysts.