bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Instructional leadership in school middle leaders
Authors: Shaked Haim 
Published: September 2023

PurposeInstructional leadership is a school leadership approach that emphasizes improving teaching and learning. This study explores how school middle leaders – teachers holding leadership positions in schools, who are responsible for a particular area or discipline of the school's curriculum – fulfill their instructional leadership role.Design/methodology/approachThe participants in this qualitative study were 24 middle leaders (subject coordinators) in elementary schools in Israel. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis included three stages: sorting, coding and categorizing.FindingsThe current study points to three main characteristics of instructional leadership in school middle leaders: leading by expertise; leading by collaboration; and leading by example.Originality/valueAt present, there is only scant literature on instructional leadership in school middle leaders. This study suggests that principals and middle leaders, who work closely with each other to provide instructional leadership in their schools, do so in different ways.
Predicting the future financial performance of Islamic banks: a sentiment analysis approach
Authors: Iqbal Javid , Sohail Muhammad Khalid , Malik Muhammad Kamran 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
This study aims to predict the financial performance of Islamic banks with sentiments of management from the textual information in annual reports.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from 33 Islamic banks in six Islamic countries from 2006 to 2020. The authors estimate the model using the system GMM because it helps dealing with endogeneity problem, which are inherent in panel data.

Findings
The findings of the study reveal that there is a strong relationship between the sentiment expressed by management in annual reports and the current (future) financial performance of Islamic banks. The higher the positive sentiments of management, the better financial performance. In addition, the study also suggests that negative sentiments using term frequency-inverse document frequency is linked to a decrease in banks’ financial performance.

Research limitations/implications
The study does not present the Islamic view on sentiment analysis in the context of Islamic scriptures due to the unavailability of a relevant dictionary.

Practical implications
The findings of the study suggest that developing accurate models with the help of textual information for performance prediction of Islamic banks help shareholders, regulators and policymakers avoid devastating events. Using textual information may also help reduce the information asymmetry between the management and shareholders, which may lead to more efficient bank supervision. The study can also help investors evaluate their prospective investments in the Islamic bank.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that uses management sentiments for performance prediction of the Islamic banking sector. It may add a valuable contribution to the existing literature.
Impact of opening-up on industrial upgrading in global value chain: a difference-in-differences estimation for Shanghai pilot free trade zone
Authors: Shahid Rabia , Shahid Humera , Shijie Li , Mahmood Faiq , Yifan Ning 
Published: September 2023

PurposeUsing the Shanghai pilot free trade zone (SPFTZ) as the testing ground for further reform and opening up,the links between global value chain (GVC) and pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) programs are mutually reinforcing. GVC creates opportunities for companies to use PFTZ to reduce their costs and increase their competitiveness, while PFTZ can facilitate the movement of goods within GVC and promote the development of GVC by attracting foreign investment. Overall, in SPFTZ, the industrial structure is promoted due to trade and investment facilitation, innovation promotion, and comprehensive service platform inside SPFTZ.Design/methodology/approachThis study examined industrial upgrading in GVC (IUGVC) using five indicators under three quantitative dimensions: product, process, and skill upgrading. Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is employed for the impact assessment of SPFTZ. Parallel trend analysis and Granger causality analysis are performed to check the reliability of DID outcome. Finally, robustness test using exogenous control variables are carried out.FindingsA positive impact of SPFTZ is found on IUGVC, which is due to promoting effect of SPFTZ on foreign direct investment and technological innovation. Based on the study's findings, policy recommendations are given, such as providing business support to enterprises operating inside a PFTZ.Originality/valueFrom a GVC perspective, the impact of theSPFTZ establishment on IUGVC cannot be ignored, and is so far missing in the literature.
Practice development amidst a pandemic: a pilot programme to develop leadership in infection prevention and control professionals
Authors: Jain Susan , Dempsey Kathy , Wilcox Stephanie , Bradd Patricia , Travaglia Joanne , Debono Deborah , Justin Linda , Hor Su-yin 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
This paper aims to describe the design and evaluation of a pilot leadership development programme for infection prevention and control (IPAC) professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme’s aim was to improve IPAC knowledge and capacity in the health-care system by developing the leadership skills and capacities of novice and advanced Infection Control Professionals (ICPs), to respond flexibly, and competently, in their expanding and ever-changing roles.

Design/methodology/approach
The leadership programme was piloted with seven nurses, who were part of a clinical nursing team in New South Wales, Australia, over a 12-month period between 2021 and 2022. The programme was designed using a leadership development framework underpinned by transformational leadership theory, practice development approaches and collaborative and experiential learning. These principles were applied during programme design, with components adapted to learners’ interests and regular opportunities provided for collaboration in active learning and critical reflection on workplace experiences.

Findings
The authors’ evaluation suggests that the programme was feasible, acceptable and considered to be effective by this cohort. Moreover, participants valued the opportunities to engage in active and experience-based learning with peers, and with the support of senior and experienced ICPs. The action learning sets were well-received and allowed participants to critically reflect on and learn from one another’s experiences. The mentoring programme allowed them to apply their developing leadership skills to real workplace challenges that they face.

Research limitations/implications
Despite a small sample size, the authors’ results provide empirical evidence about the effectiveness of using a practice development approach for strengthening ICP leadership capacity. The success of this pilot study has paved the way for a bigger second cohort of participants in the programme, for which further evaluation will be conducted.

Practical implications
The success of this leadership programme reflects both the need for leadership development in the IPAC professions and the applicability of this approach, with appropriate facilitation, for other professions and organizations.

Originality/value
ICP leadership programmes have not been previously reported in the literature. This pilot study builds on the growing interest in IPAC leadership to foster health system responsiveness and change.
Predicting firms’ resilience to economic crisis using artificial intelligence for optimizing economic stimulus programs
Authors: Kyriakou Niki , Loukis Euripidis N. , Maragoudakis Manolis 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
This study aims to develop a methodology for predicting the resilience of individual firms to economic crisis, using historical government data to optimize one of the most important and costly interventions that governments undertake, the huge economic stimulus programs that governments implement for mitigating the consequences of economic crises, by making them more focused on the less resilient and more vulnerable firms to the crisis, which have the highest need for government assistance and support.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors are leveraging existing firm-level data for economic crisis periods from government agencies having competencies/responsibilities in the domain of economy, such as Ministries of Finance and Statistical Authorities, to construct prediction models of the resilience of individual firms to the economic crisis based on firms’ characteristics (such as human resources, technology, strategies, processes and structure), using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques from the area of machine learning (ML).

Findings
The methodology has been applied using data from the Greek Ministry of Finance and Statistical Authority about 363 firms for the Greek economic crisis period 2009–2014 and has provided a satisfactory prediction of a measure of the resilience of individual firms to an economic crisis.

Research limitations/implications
The authors’ study opens up new research directions concerning the exploitation of AI/ML in government for a critical government activity/intervention of high importance that mobilizes/spends huge financial resources. The main limitation is that the abovementioned first application of the proposed methodology has been based on a rather small data set from a single national context (Greece), so it is necessary to proceed to further application of this methodology using larger data sets and different national contexts.

Practical implications
The proposed methodology enables government agencies responsible for the implementation of such economic stimulus programs to proceed to radical transformations of them by predicting the resilience to economic crisis of the firms applying for government assistance and then directing/focusing the scarce available financial resources to/on the ones predicted to be more vulnerable, increasing substantially the effectiveness of these programs and the economic/social value they generate.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first application of AI/ML in government that leverages existing data for economic crisis periods to optimize and increase the effectiveness of the largest and most important and costly economic intervention that governments repeatedly have to make: the economic stimulus programs for mitigating the consequences of economic crises.
Association between weight loss and death in patients with malignant melanoma: A retrospective study of 28 cases
Authors: Tanaka Arisa , Miyazawa Hajime , Yanagi Teruki , Maeda Takuya , Kitamura Shinya , Ujiie Hideyuki 
Published: September 2023

AbstractMalignant melanoma (MM) is often associated with a poor prognosis due to metastasis and cancer death. The monitoring of prognostic factors is of vital importance, and among these factors, elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) should be closely observed during the disease course. Important factors for predicting the survival of MM patients include tumor thickness, ulceration, the number of lymph node metastases, metastatic lesions, and the sites of metastasis. Weight loss is not generally included in the prognostic factors of MM, but it is monitored in other cancers, such as lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between weight loss and MM prognosis. Using data from MM patients who had been treated at our institution, we assessed the prognoses of two groups: weight loss of at least 5% body weight or weight loss not exceeding 5% body weight within a 12‐month period. As a result, a higher mortality rate was found for the former group. Furthermore, the loss of at least 5% of body weight within a month was found to almost always adversely affect the patient's prognosis. The present study indicates that there may be an association between MM prognosis and weight loss of at least 5% within a year, and body weight could potentially serve as an informative factor for MM survival.
Woodland expansion in the presence of deer: 30 years of evidence from the Cairngorms Connect landscape restoration partnership
Authors: Gullett Philippa R. , Leslie Colin , Mason Richard , Ratcliffe Phil , Sargent Ian , Beck Adele , Cameron Tom , Cowie Neil R. , Hetherington David , MacDonell Thomas , Moat Tom , Moore Peter , Teuten Emma , Hancock Mark H. 
Published: September 2023

Abstract

Restoring native woodlands to areas where they have been lost is a key element for tackling the nature and climate crises. Natural regeneration offers the potential to achieve this cheaply and at scale, but browsing ungulates like deer can inhibit this or alter the pattern of regeneration. This issue is particularly pronounced in the Scottish Highlands, a heavily deforested region with high deer numbers.

We describe the work of the 60,000 ha landscape restoration partnership, Cairngorms Connect, in speeding up natural woodland expansion. We use 30 years of regeneration monitoring to show a consistent, large‐scale expansion of native woodland, largely through natural regeneration alongside deer culling, without the use of fences. This was achieved across the partnership, despite differing management histories and land‐managing organisations (comprising two statutory agencies, one private landowner and one non‐governmental organisation).

During peak periods of woodland expansion, the area of new woodland (i.e. exceeding 100 trees per hectare) increased by 1.2%, 1.7%, 2.7% and 6.0% annually in the four landholdings' regeneration zones, equating to a total of approximately 164 ha annually of new woodland.

Natural regeneration is however patchy and hard to predict. Higher levels of management intervention may be needed to increase species that are rarer, more palatable or further from seed sources; we recommend long‐term field trials to inform this, such as those underway in Cairngorms Connect. Further research should develop techniques for remote sensing of woodland expansion, verified against field data and combined with the development of process‐based models to enable us to predict the outcomes of different management scenarios.

Synthesis and applications. We show that collaborative deer management across multiple adjoining landholdings can achieve rapid landscape‐scale native woodland expansion with minimal need for planting or fencing. Our results show the power of monitoring regeneration directly, to inform deer management for an area. We demonstrate that by uniting over a shared vision, organisations with differing management approaches and histories can build understanding alongside landscape‐scale ecological restoration.
URBAN ECOLOGICAL FUTURES: Five Eco‐Community Strategies for more Sustainable and Equitable Cities
Authors: Pickerill Jenny , Chitewere Tendai , Cornea Natasha , Lockyer Joshua , Macrorie Rachel , Blažek Jan Malý , Nelson Anitra 
Published: September 2023

AbstractCities are critical sites for understanding, and potentially ameliorating, the effects of global ecological change, the climate emergency and natural resource depletion. Contemporary cities are sociomaterially connected through global markets, trade and transportation, placing ever‐increasing demands on the natural environment and generating dangerous pollutants and emissions. Current approaches to address these environmental crises are dominated by neoliberal forms of ‘green’ urban development, carbon accounting and techno‐economic solutions, which extend corporate control over cities and tend to entrench inequality. A more strategic approach for enabling ecologically sustainable and equitable urban futures is urgently needed. We present five strategies for urban ecological futures in the global North, derived from qualitative and ethnographic empirical research with international eco‐communities, which open up discussions about how to tackle this challenge by acknowledging the role and potential of: (1) non‐extractive community economies; (2) democratic processes of co‐operative action; (3) social approaches to resource management; (4) participatory collaborative governance; and (5) urban heterogeneity and social justice. We explore the relational, contested and contextual processes through which these approaches could become embedded in urban policy and planning, thereby offering the strategic capacity required to move towards truly sustainable cities.
Patient decision aids in mainstreaming genetic testing for women with ovarian cancer: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Sobocan Monika , Chandrasekaran Dhivya , Sideris Michail , Blyuss Oleg , Fierheller Caitlin , Kalra Ashwin , Sia Jacqueline , Miller Rowan E. , Mills‐Baldock Tina , Crusz Shanthini M. , Sun Li , Evans Olivia , Robbani Sadiyah , Jenkins Lucy A. , Ahmed Munaza , Kumar Ajith , Quigley Mary , Lockley Michelle , Faruqi Asma , Casey Laura , Brockbank Elly , Phadnis Saurabh , Trevisan Giorgia , Singh Naveena , Legood Rosa , Manchanda Ranjit 
Published: September 2023

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate patient preference for short (gist) or detailed/extensive decision aids (DA) for genetic testing at ovarian cancer (OC) diagnosis.DesignCohort study set within recruitment to the Systematic Genetic Testing for Personalised Ovarian Cancer Therapy (SIGNPOST) study (ISRCTN: 16988857).SettingNorth‐East London Cancer Network (NELCN) population.Population/SampleWomen with high‐grade non‐mucinous epithelial OC.MethodsA more detailed DA was developed using patient and stakeholder input following the principles/methodology of IPDAS (International Patients Decision Aids Standards). Unselected patients attending oncology clinics evaluated both a pre‐existing short and a new long DA version and then underwent mainstreaming genetic testing by a cancer clinician. Appropriate inferential descriptive and regression analyses were undertaken.Main outcome measuresSatisfaction, readability, understanding, emotional well‐being and preference for long/short DA.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 66 years (interquartile range 11), and 85% were White British ethnicity. Of the participants, 74% found DAs helpful/useful in decision‐making. Women reported higher levels of satisfaction (86% versus 58%, p < 0.001), right amount of information provided (76.79% versus49.12%, p < 0.001) and improved understanding (p < 0.001) with the long DA compared with the short DA. There was no statistically significant difference in emotional outcomes (feeling worried/concerned/reassured/upset) between ‘short’ and ‘long’ DA; 74% of patients preferred the long DA and 24% the short DA. Patients undergoing treatment (correlation coefficient (coef) = 0.603; 95% CI 0.165–1.041, p = 0.007), those with recurrence (coef = 0.493; 95% CI 0.065–0.92, p = 0.024) and older women (coef = 0.042; 95% CI 0.017–0.066, p = 0.001) preferred the short DA. Ethnicity did not affect outcomes or overall preference for long/short DA.ConclusionsA longer DA in OC patients has higher satisfaction without increasing emotional distress. Older women and those undergoing treatment/recurrence prefer less extensive information, whereas those in remission preferred a longer DA.
Analysis of female strangulation homicides in King County, Washington, from 1978 to 2022
Authors: Harruff Richard C. , Johnston Robert , Lubin Micheline , Perera U. L. M. S. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractAsphyxia due to strangulation is an uncommon but important modality of homicide that tends to disproportionately involve female victims. The present study was designed to investigate the circumstances, motivations, and injuries associated with strangulation homicides of females and to measure trends in incidence over time. Electronic records of the King County Medical Examiner's Office in Seattle, Washington, were used to compile a data set of all homicides in King County from 1995 through 2022. A second data set of female homicides due to strangulation was constructed with additional records prior to 1995, supplemented with data abstracted from autopsy reports, and linked to the Washington Attorney General's Office Homicide Investigation Tracking System database. This comprehensive data set was used to analyze demographics, circumstances, motives, and injuries of female strangulation homicides from 1978 through 2016. The results found that, from 1995 through 2022, females accounted for 22.8% of 2394 homicides but 80.3% of strangulation homicides. The average annual rate of all strangulation homicides decreased until 2020. Mean ages of female decedents were 27.7 years in homicides associated with sexual assault, 36.8 years with domestic violence, and 63.9 years with robbery. Lethal assaults most often occurred in private homes, and perpetrators were usually well known to the victim. Injuries included petechiae in 83%; ligature marks in 20%; fingernail marks in 1.4%; hyoid fractures in 23%; and thyroid cartilage fractures in 31%. Fractures were more common in manual strangulation and in decedents of ages over 40 years.
Electrical impedance spectroscopy detects skin barrier dysfunction in childhood atopic dermatitis
Authors: Sasaki Mari , Sundberg Mathilda , Frei Remo , Ferstl Ruth , Heye Kristina N. , Willems Erik P. , Akdis Cezmi A. , Lauener Roger ,   CK‐CARE Study Group, Roduit Caroline 
Published: September 2023

AbstractBackgroundSkin barrier dysfunction is associated with the development of atopic dermatitis (AD), however methods to assess skin barrier function are limited. We investigated the use of electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to detect skin barrier dysfunction in children with AD of the CARE (Childhood AlleRgy, nutrition, and Environment) cohort.MethodsEIS measurements taken at multiple time points from 4 months to 3‐year‐old children, who developed AD (n = 66) and those who did not (n = 49) were investigated. Using only the EIS measurement and the AD status, we developed a machine learning algorithm that produces a score (EIS/AD score) which reflects the probability that a given measurement is from a child with active AD. We investigated the diagnostic ability of this score and its association with clinical characteristics and age.ResultsBased on the EIS/AD score, the EIS algorithm was able to clearly discriminate between healthy skin and clinically unaffected skin of children with active AD (area under the curve 0.92, 95% CI 0.85–0.99). It was also able to detect a difference between healthy skin and AD skin when the child did not have active AD. There was no clear association between the EIS/AD score and the severity of AD or sensitisation to the tested allergens. The performance of the algorithm was not affected by age.ConclusionsThis study shows that EIS can detect skin barrier dysfunction and differentiate skin of children with AD from healthy skin and suggests that EIS may have the ability to predict future AD development.