bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Private information and bank‐loan pricing: The effect of upcoming corporate spinoffs
Authors: Hope Ole‐Kristian , Porumb Vlad‐Andrei , Rusanescu Simona , Vyas Dushyantkumar 
Published: June 2023

AbstractCorporate spinoffs are important events that are accompanied by valuation and credit‐risk implications for the parent firm. Among other benefits, spinoffs can improve corporate focus and enhance valuation transparency. In the debt‐contracting context, however, spinoffs can also be associated with negative outcomes for the divesting firms. We examine whether banks, due to their timely access to material private information, are able to ascertain the likelihood and the implications of impending spinoffs for the parent firm before a formal public announcement of the spinoff. Our empirical analyses indicate that, in the 365‐day pre‐spinoff announcement period, banks charge incrementally higher (lower) spreads to borrowers with increased (decreased) post‐spinoff riskiness relative to nondivesting firms. This suggests that, while lenders recognize the value‐ and transparency‐enhancing effects of spinoffs, they are also able to foresee potentially negative implications of these divestitures. Cross‐sectional analyses indicate that banks charge incrementally lower loan spreads if spinoffs result in high‐risk borrowers having either higher reporting quality or lower reporting or operational complexity. These results suggest that the post‐spinoff increase in riskiness is compensated by the divestiture benefits typically associated with spinoffs. Similarly, high‐risk borrowers incur larger spreads if they do not undergo “focus‐increasing” spinoffs. Overall, our findings suggest that banks are able to ex ante determine the implications of important corporate events such as spinoffs.
Does gender and ethnic diversity among audit partners influence office‐level audit personnel retention and audit quality?
Authors: Condie Eric R. , Lisic Ling Lei , Seidel Timothy A. , Truelson Jonathan Michael , Zimmerman Aleksandra B. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractMotivated by prior literature on organizational identification and 23 semistructured interviews with a variety of US audit partners and directors, we examine whether the gender and ethnic diversity of an office's audit partners influences the retention of the office's audit professionals and the quality of the audits conducted by the office. Using hand‐collected data on US audit partners, we find that greater levels of (or changes in) diversity in office audit partners' gender and ethnicity are associated with lower (reduced) turnover among office audit professionals and higher (increased) office‐level audit quality. We conduct a path analysis based on the most common mechanisms highlighted in our interviews to provide further insight into the audit quality results. The results indicate partial mediation through increased retention, greater gender and ethnic diversity among office audit personnel, client continuity, and increased efficiency. Further tests reveal that the association with audit quality is incremental to, and distinct from, the effect of individual engagement partner characteristics and does not reflect client screening. The findings underscore the importance of gender and ethnic diversity among office audit partners to organizational outcomes and provide important practical implications for audit firms.
Begomovirus diversity in tomato crops in Costa Rica
Authors: Valverde‐Méndez Karen , Hernández Eduardo J. , Matamoros Dennis , Barboza Natalia 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBegomoviruses (Geminiviridae family) are characterized by their high recombination rate and a wide range of hosts, making their control difficult. In Costa Rica, various species of bipartite begomoviruses have been reported, which are Pepper golden mosaic virus (PepGMV), Tomato yellow mottle virus (ToYMoV), Tomato leaf curl Sinaloa virus (ToLCSiV) and the monopartite begomovirus Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Since the TYLCV first report in Costa Rica, neither additional knowledge has been produced on how this begomovirus has spread in the country's territory nor on the distribution of the other bipartite species. A total of 429 tomato samples collected during the years 2015–2016 were used to study these aspects. Each sample was georeferenced and analysed with various techniques such as nucleic acid hybridization, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing for the begomoviruses previously reported in Costa Rica. It was found that the presence/absence of the different species can vary, depending on the province. TYLCV is present in the six provinces analysed in this work, with a proportion from 3.7 to 86.6 per cent. Alajuela, Cartago, and Heredia are the provinces most affected by tomato‐infecting begomoviruses. Fourteen different haplotypes of TYLCV were detected, but all were identified as TYLCV‐IL. The distribution of TYLCV was related to the presence of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci MED, especially in the country's main tomato production areas. This information allows the phytosanitary surveillance services to develop strategies for the integrated management of the disease and to contribute data to the genetic improvement programmes of the crop.
Community forests as beacons of conservation: Enabling local populations monitor their biodiversity
Authors: Fa Julia E. , Luiselli Luca 
Published: June 2023

AbstractHabitat fragmentation is one of the main threats to biodiversity in Africa. In this article, we highlight the importance of conserving the Guinean forests of West Africa, which are rich in biodiversity and endemism but threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. The size of forest patches is critical, with larger fragments containing more species than smaller ones. The protection of intact, dense forest patches is vital for any conservation strategy in West Africa, but improving the management of forests that are already used for logging and hunting is also essential. Community forests (CFs) can play a crucial role in conservation, especially if there is a substantial network that can promote ecological connectivity. However, biomonitoring in CFs remains a challenge due to inadequate resources. By developing standardised, easy‐to‐apply and inexpensive methods for biomonitoring, communities can be involved in biomonitoring instead of relying solely on scientists and expensive equipment. We present a monitoring framework here where we suggest local communities should become the main agents for biomonitoring in their own forests; we highlight a five‐step scheme. The importance of the various CFs in terms of conservation should be made through a combination of accurate, standardised face‐to‐face interviews with selected persons in the target communities and biomonitoring be based on the RAPELD scheme. The latter will be implemented after specifically training local ‘wise’ persons. We are proposing a kind of ‘citizen science’ scheme, applied to enhance the ability of local communities to monitor their own biodiversity.
Future climate change projections in the agroecological, bioclimatic, biogeographical and altitudinal vegetation zones of Morocco
Authors: Meliho Modeste , Khattabi Abdellatif , Braun Marco , Orlando Collins A. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractMorocco is located in a region vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which can have profound effects on its social, economic and environmental systems. This makes studies aimed at forecasting these impacts in future using climate models particularly important. However, the generally coarse spatial resolution of models, combined with a large number of models, imposes a limitation on the models, allowing the selection of the most appropriate ones for climate change impact assessments in a specific region. In this study, 38 GCMs and GCM‐RCMs from CMIP5 ensemble and CORDEX project were downscaled and bias‐corrected for use in projecting climate change over Morocco under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. A three‐step sequential process was adopted, involving in that order the selection of models based on: (i) projection of climate means; (ii) projection of climate extremes; and (iii) ability of the models to simulate the baseline climate. Climate projections show precipitation decreases of up to 10% by the beginning of the century, with decreases of more than 20% under RCP8.5 projected by 2100, with the central and northern mountainous regions of the country being the most affected. Seasonal projections showed autumn months likely to experience the greatest decline in precipitation, up to 36.56% by the end of the century. Temperature projections revealed an upward trend in mean, maximum and minimum temperatures, with increases of up to 3°C predicted by mid‐century over most of the country, particularly in the winter months. Our results point to a concerning future, with impacts related to decreased precipitation and increased temperatures expected to be many and varied across the country. Nevertheless, they can help provide a knowledge base for efforts to mitigate and adapt to expected changes.
Validation of the relationship between rapid eye movement sleep and sleep‐related erections in healthy adults by a feasible instrument Fitbit Charge2
Authors: Liu Guodong , Zhang Yuyang , Zhang Wei , Wu Xu , Jiang Hui , Zhang Xiansheng 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackgroundSleep, particularly rapid eye movement sleep, has been found to be associated with sleep‐related erections. While RigiScan is currently a more accurate method for monitoring nocturnal erectile events, the Fitbit, a smart wearable device, shows great potential for sleep monitoring.ObjectivesTo analyze the relationship between sleep‐related erections and sleep by recruiting sexually active, healthy men for simultaneous monitoring of sleep and nocturnal penile tumescence and rigidity.Patients and methodsUsing Fitbit Charge2 and RigiScan, we simultaneously monitored nocturnal sleep and erections in 43 healthy male volunteers, and analyzed the relationship between sleep periods and erectile events with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.ResultsAmong all erectile events, 89.8% were related to rapid eye movement, and 79.2% of all rapid eye movement periods were associated with erectile events. Moreover, a statistical correlation was shown between the duration of rapid eye movement and the time of total erectile events (first night: 𝜌 = 0.316, p = 0.039; second night: 𝜌 = 0.370, p = 0.015).Discussion and conclusionOur study shows a potential link between sleep‐related erections and rapid eye movement sleep, which has implications for the current examination of sleep‐related erections and further research into the mechanisms of erectile function. Meanwhile, the wearable device Fitbit has shown a potential promise for sleep monitoring in patients with erectile dysfunction. The results provide an alternative approach for further research on the relationship between erectile function and sleep with large sample sizes in the future.
Lactate as the sole energy substrate induces spontaneous acrosome reaction in viable stallion spermatozoa
Authors: Ramírez‐Agámez Luisa , Hernández‐Avilés Camilo , Ortíz Isabel , Love Charles C. , Varner Dickson D. , Hinrichs Katrin 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackgroundEquine spermatozoa appear to differ from spermatozoa of other species in using oxidative phosphorylation preferentially over glycolysis. However, there is little information regarding effects of different energy sources on measured parameters in equine spermatozoa.ObjectiveTo determine the effect of three individual energy substrates, glucose, pyruvate, and lactate, on motion characteristics, membrane integrity, and acrosomal status of stallion spermatozoa.Materials and methodsFreshly ejaculated stallion spermatozoa were incubated with combinations of glucose (5 mm), pyruvate (10 mm), and lactate (10 mm) for 0.5 to 4 h. Response to calcium ionophore A23187 (5 μm) was used to evaluate capacitation status. Motility was evaluated using computer‐assisted sperm analysis, and plasma membrane and acrosomal integrity were evaluated by flow cytometry.ResultsIncubation with lactate alone for 2 h increased acrosomal sensitivity to A23187. Notably, incubation with lactate alone for 4 h induced a significant spontaneous increase in acrosome‐reacted, membrane‐intact (viable) spermatozoa, to approximately 50% of the live population, whereas no increase was seen with incubation in glucose or pyruvate alone. This acrosomal effect was observed in spermatozoa incubated at physiological pH as well as under alkaline conditions (medium pH approximately 8.5). Sperm motility declined concomitantly with the increase in acrosome‐reacted spermatozoa. Sperm motility was significantly higher in pyruvate‐only medium than in glucose or lactate. The addition of pyruvate to lactate‐containing medium increased sperm motility but reduced the proportion of live acrosome‐reacted spermatozoa in a dose‐dependent fashion.DiscussionThis is the first study to demonstrate that incubation with a specific energy substrate, lactate, is associated with spontaneous acrosome reaction in spermatozoa. The proportion of live, acrosome‐reacted spermatozoa obtained is among the highest reported for equine spermatozoa.ConclusionThese findings highlight the delicate control of key sperm functions, and may serve as a basis to increase our understanding of stallion sperm physiology.
Efficacy of biologic and small molecule agents as second‐line therapy after exposure to TNF inhibitors in patients with ulcerative colitis: A propensity‐matched cohort study
Authors: Kochhar Gursimran S. , Desai Aakash , Farraye Francis A. , Cross Raymond K. , El‐Hachem Sandra , Dulai Parambir S. , Regueiro Miguel 
Published: June 2023

SummaryBackgroundThere is limited real‐world data on comparative effectiveness of different biologic or small molecule agents as second‐line therapies in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) with prior exposure to a tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi).MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX, a multi‐institutional database to assess the efficacy of tofacitinib, vedolizumab and ustekinumab in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) with prior exposure to a TNFi. Failure of medical therapy was defined as a composite outcome of intravenous steroids or colectomy within 2 years. One‐to‐one propensity score matching was performed for demographics, disease extent, mean haemoglobin, C‐reactive protein, albumin and calprotectin, prior IBD medications and steroid use between cohorts.ResultsAmong 2141 patients with UC and prior exposure to TNFi, 348 (16.2%), 716 (33.4%) and 1077 (50.3%) were switched to tofacitinib, ustekinumab and vedolizumab, respectively. After propensity‐score matching, there was no difference in the composite outcome (aOR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.55–1.07) but higher risk of colectomy (aOR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.31–5.50) in the tofacitinib cohort than the vedolizumab cohort. There was no difference in the risk of composite outcome (aOR: 1.29, 95% CI: 0.89–1.86) but higher risk of colectomy (aOR: 2.63, 95% CI: 1.24–5.58) in the tofacitinib cohort than the ustekinumab cohort. The vedolizumab cohort had a higher risk of composite outcome (aOR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.29–2.16) than the ustekinumab cohort.ConclusionUstekinumab might be the preferred second‐line therapy over tofacitinib and vedolizumab in patients with UC that were previously exposed to a TNFi.
Baveno VI and VII criteria are not suitable for screening for large varices or clinically significant portal hypertension in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Allaire Manon , Campion Bertille , Demory Alix , Larrey Edouard , Wagner Mathilde , Rudler Marika , Roux Charles , Blaise Lorraine , Carrie Nathalie G. , Thabut Dominique 
Published: June 2023

SummaryBackgroundBaveno VI and VII criteria are used in patients with cirrhosis to rule out large size oesophageal varices (EV) and rule in/out clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH).AimTo evaluate their diagnostic performance in these patients.MethodsWe retrospectively included all patients with Child‐Pugh A cirrhosis and HCC who had endoscopy, liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and platelet count within 6 months. They were classified according to the BCLC stage. Favourable Baveno VI criteria were defined by LSM < 20 kPa and platelets > 150 G/L (to rule out large EV), favourable Baveno VII criteria if LSM ≤ 15 kPa and platelets ≥ 150 G/L (to rule out CSPH, which was defined by a HVPG ≥ 10 mm Hg.ResultsWe included 185 patients; 46% were BCLC‐0/A, 28% BCLC‐B and 26% BCLC‐C. EV were present in 44% (23% large), and HVPG ≥ 10 mm Hg in 42% (mean 8 mm Hg). In patients with favourable Baveno VI criteria, 8% of the whole cohort (Se 93%, NPV 92%), 11% of BCLC‐0‐A (Se 89%, NPV 89%) and 10.0% of BCLC‐C patients (Se 91%, NPV 90%) had large EV. Among patients with HVPG < 10 mm Hg, 6% had large EV and 17% small. CSPH was present in 23% of patients with favourable Baveno VII criteria among the whole cohort, and in 25% of those with BCLC‐0/A. The specificity of LSM ≥ 25 kPa to rule in CSPH was 48%.ConclusionsFavourable Baveno VI criteria are not appropriate to rule out the presence of high‐risk EV, or Baveno VII criteria to rule CSPH in/out in patients with HCC.
Preparing surfaces for shredding: Skateboarding, repair, and care across scales
Authors: McDuie‐Ra Duncan , Campbell Jason 
Published: June 2023

AbstractIn cities around the world, skateboarders repair surfaces and objects for the purposes of play using techniques to fill, smooth, and fabricate. Research in social and cultural geography focuses on the ways citizens repair and care for material objects using do‐it‐yourself (DIY) practices. Despite continuities, repair work by skateboarders does not strive to improve neglected, absent, or dysfunctional infrastructure for the common good, as in cases from literature on DIY urbanism, nor to subvert objects, texts, and surfaces to make political statements, as in cases from literature on tactical urbanism. Skateboarders do repair and care work to prepare surfaces for playful damage benefitting other skaters and onlookers enjoying the spectacle. By exploring these widespread but under‐researched acts of repair and care and the circuits of knowledge that reproduce them, this paper makes four arguments. First, skateboarders do repair and care work to generate ‘spots’ for skateboarding from assemblages of objects and surfaces intended for other purposes. Transforming spots brings otherwise mundane patches of the city to life through thousands of tiny acts of repair and care. Second, repair and care work by skateboarders is most effective when barely visible to people outside the culture. However, repaired surfaces make their way to large audiences, often millions of viewers, through skateboard photography and video, giving some of them an outsized life across time and space. Third, knowledge about techniques of repair and care are considered an important part of skate culture to be learned and shared. Protocols of care shape acceptable degrees of modification to surfaces and objects, and as skateboarding globalises so too do these protocols. Fourth, acts of repair and care have no guarantees of longevity. Hours of labour can be destroyed by direct acts to stop skateboarding and by indirect acts emanating from dynamics of urban change.
The Patient Typology about deprescribing and medication‐related decisions: A quantitative exploration
Authors: Weir Kristie Rebecca , Scherer Aaron M. , Vordenberg Sarah E. , Streit Sven , Jansen Jesse , Jungo Katharina Tabea 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis study aimed to test the adequacy of a quantitative measure of our qualitatively developed Patient Typology—categories of older adults' attitudes towards medicines and medicine decision‐making—and identify characteristics associated with each Typology. We conducted secondary data analyses of a subset of survey item measures of adults (≥65 years) who were members of online survey panels in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands (n = 4688). Multinomial logistic regression analyses assessed associations between demographic, psychosocial and medication‐related measures. Mean age was 71.5 (5), and 47.5% of participants were female. Factors associated with an increased likelihood of identifying with Typology 1 ‘Attached to medicines’ over Typology 2 ‘Open to deprescribing’ were higher positive attitude towards polypharmacy (RRR = 1.12, p = <0.001) and higher need for certainty (RRR = 1.11, p = 0.039). Factors associated with an increased likelihood of identifying with Typology 3 ‘Defers (medication decision‐making) to others’ over Typology 2 were older age (RRR = 1.47 per 10‐year age increase, p = <0.001) and a decreased likelihood of prior deprescribing experience (RRR = 0.73, p = 0.033). This study provides validation of the Typology with large samples from four countries, with the quantitatively‐measured typologies generally aligning with the qualitatively derived categories. Our Patient Typology measure provides a succinct way researchers can assess attitudes towards deprescribing.
Association between lithium treatment and renal, thyroid and parathyroid function: A cohort study of 6659 patients with bipolar disorder
Authors: Wiuff Anne Christine , Rohde Christopher , Jensen Botilla Dalsgaard , Nierenberg Andrew A. , Østergaard Søren Dinesen , Köhler‐Forsberg Ole 
Published: June 2023

AbstractObjectivesAlthough potential adverse effects of lithium treatment on renal and endocrine systems have been extensively investigated, most prior studies are limited by selected populations and short follow‐up.MethodsWithin the Psychiatric Services of the Central Denmark Region, we identified all patients with bipolar disorder and ≥1 serum‐lithium (se‐Li) measurements between January 1, 2013, and July 20, 2022, and reference patients with bipolar disorder matched on age, sex, and baseline creatinine. Outcomes were diagnoses of renal, thyroid and parathyroid disease, and blood tests measuring creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH), parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium. Analyses included unadjusted multilevel regression to describe changes in biochemical markers, and adjusted Cox regression to compare rates of disease/biochemical outcomes between lithium users and reference patients.ResultsAmong 1646 lithium users (median age 36 years, 63% women) and 5013 reference patients, lithium users had decreasing TSH and eGFR, stable PTH, and increasing calcium levels over time. Lithium use was associated with increased rates of renal, thyroid and parathyroid disease, and levels of biochemical markers outside normal ranges (hazard rate ratios: 1.07–11.22), but the absolute number of severe outcomes was low (e.g., chronic kidney disease: N = 10, 0.6%). Notably, the rate of blood testing was substantially higher among lithium users than among reference patients (e.g., mean number of creatinine tests during the second year of follow‐up: lithium users = 2.5, reference patients = 1.4).ConclusionsSeverely adverse renal and endocrine outcomes are rare during lithium treatment. Observational studies of long‐term lithium treatment are prone to detection bias.