bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gabra2is a genetic modifier of Dravet syndrome in mice
Authors: Hawkins Nicole A. , Nomura Toshihiro , Duarte Samantha , Williams Robert W. , Homanics Gregg E. , Mulligan Megan K. , Contractor Anis , Kearney Jennifer A.
Published: April 2020

Pathogenic variants in epilepsy genes result in a spectrum of clinical presentation, ranging from benign phenotypes to intractable epilepsies with significant co-morbidities and increased risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). One source of this phenotypic heterogeneity is modifier genes that affect penetrance, dominance or expressivity of a primary pathogenic variant. Mouse models of epilepsy also display varying degrees of clinical severity on different genetic backgrounds. Mice with heterozygous deletion ofScn1a(Scn1a+/−) model Dravet syndrome, a severe epilepsy most often caused bySCN1Ahaploinsufficiency.Scn1a+/−heterozygous mice recapitulate key features of Dravet syndrome, including febrile and afebrile spontaneous seizures, SUDEP, and cognitive and behavioral deficits. TheScn1a+/−mouse model also exhibits strain-dependent phenotype severity.Scn1a+/−mice maintained on the 129S6/SvEvTac (129) strain have normal lifespan and no overt seizures. In contrast, admixture with C57BL/6J (B6) results in severe epilepsy and premature lethality in [B6×129]F1.Scn1a+/−mice. In previous work, we identified Dravet Survival Modifier loci (Dsm1-Dsm5) responsible for strain-dependent differences in survival.Gabra2, encoding the GABAAα2 subunit, was nominated as the top candidate modifier at theDsm1locus on chromosome 5. Direct measurement of GABAAreceptors found lower abundance of α2-containing receptors in hippocampal synapses of B6 mice relative to 129. We also identified a B6-specific single nucleotide intronic deletion withinGabra2that lowers mRNA and protein by nearly 50%. Repair of thisde novodeletion reestablished normal levels ofGabra2transcript and protein expression. In the current study, we used B6 mice with the repairedGabra2allele to validate it as a modifier of phenotype severity inScn1a+/−mice. Repair ofGabra2restored transcript and protein expression, increased abundance of α2-containing GABAAreceptors in hippocampal synapses, and improved seizure and survival phenotypes ofScn1a+/−mice. These findings validateGabra2as a genetic modifier of Dravet syndrome.
Raman mapping glucose metabolites during human mesenchymal stem cell adipogenesis
Authors: Subramanian Gomathy S. , Stylianou Con , Phang In Yee , Cool Simon , Nurcombe Victor , Lear Martin J. , Gorelik Sergey , Fernig David G. , Hobley Jonathan
Published: April 2020

Raman mapping was used to determine the lipid distribution inside human mesenchymal stem cells during induced adipogenesis by monitoring C-H stretching bands of the fats inside the lipid droplets. By incorporating deuterated glucose into the cell culture medium during induction it was possible to distinguish whether or not downstream metabolites, either in lipid droplets or in the cytoplasm, had been formed before or after the adipogenic cascade, because C-D stretching bands are 1/√2 shifted compared to the C-H bands. Thus, metabolites formed after the initiation of the process displayed both C-H and C-D stretching bands and so were forming during induced adipogenesis rather than prior to it. With the ability to distinguish small putative lipid drops formed by the induction of adipogenesis from those pre-formed in the cell, it was possible to analyze spectral changes occurring in the droplets at the earliest stages of adipogenesis. There were two key findings. Firstly, Raman spectra of lipid droplets evolved over time, suggesting that their composition at the early stages was not the same as at the later stages. Secondly, it was apparent that the proportion of unsaturated fats in droplets was higher at early stages than it was at later stages, suggesting that unsaturated fats arrive in the droplets faster than saturated ones.
Quantifying the potential causes of Neanderthal extinction: abrupt climate change versus competition and interbreeding
Authors: Timmermann Axel
Published: April 2020

Anatomically Modern Humans are the sole survivor of a group of hominins that inhabited our planet during the last ice age and that included, among others,Homo neanderthalensis,Homo denisova, andHomo erectus. Whether previous hominin extinctions were triggered by external factors, such as abrupt climate change, volcanic eruptions or whether competition and interbreeding played major roles in their demise still remains unresolved. Here I present a spatially resolved numerical hominin dispersal model (HDM) with empirically constrained key parameters that simulates the migration and interaction of Anatomically Modern Humans and Neanderthals in the rapidly varying climatic environment of the last ice age. The model simulations document that rapid temperature and vegetation changes associated with Dansgaard-Oeschger events were not major drivers of global Neanderthal extinction between 50-35 thousand years ago, but played important roles regionally, in particular over northern Europe. According to a series of parameter sensitivity experiments conducted with the HDM, a realistic extinction of the Neanderthal population can only be simulated whenHomo sapiensis chosen to be considerably more effective in exploiting scarce glacial food resources as compared to Neanderthals.
Pseudomonas aeruginosaTfpW is a multifunctional D-Arafglycosyltransferase and oligosaccharyltransferase
Authors: Villela Anne D. , Harvey Hanjeong , Graham Katherine , Burrows Lori L.
Published: April 2020

TfpW is an oligosaccharyltransferase that modifies the subunits of type IV pili from group IV strains ofPseudomonas aeruginosawith oligomers of α-1,5-linked-D-arabinofuranose (D-Araf). Besides its oligosaccharyltransferase activity, TfpW may be responsible for periplasmic translocation and polymerization of D-Araf. Here we investigated these potential roles of TfpW in Pa5196 pilin glycosylation. Topology studies confirmed the periplasmic location of loop 1 and the large C-terminus domain, however the central portion of TfpW had an indeterminate configuration. Reconstitution of the Pa5196 pilin glycosylation system by providingpilA,tfpW+/-tfpXand the D-Arafbiosynthesis genesPsPA7_6246-6249showed that TfpW is sufficient for glycan polymerization and transfer to pilins inP. aeruginosaPAO1, while TfpX is also necessary inEscherichia coli. In addition to PsPA7_6246, DprE1 (PsPA7_6248) and DprE2 (PsPA7_6249), the GtrA-like component PsPA7_6247 was required for pilin glycosylation inE. coliversus PAO1. In a PAO1 ΔarnE/Fmutant, loss of PsPA7_6247 expression decreased the level of pilin glycosylation, suggesting thatarnE/Fmay play a role in pilin glycosylation when PsPA7_6247 is absent. Bacterial two-hybrid studies showed interactions of TfpW with itself, TfpX, PsPA7_6247 and DprE2, suggesting the formation of a complex that enables efficient pilin glycosylation. Fluorescence microscopy ofE. coliand Pa5196ΔdprE1expressing a DprE1-sGFP fusion showed that the protein is expressed in the cytoplasm, supporting our model that includes cytoplasmic biosynthesis of the lipid carrier-linked D-Arafprecursor prior to its periplasmic translocation. Together these data suggest that TfpW may be the first example of a trifunctional flippase, glycosyltransferase, and oligosaccharyltransferase.
Cluster Analysis of Medicinal Plants and Targets Based on Multipartite Network
Authors: Lee Namgil , Yoo Hojin , Yang Heejung
Published: April 2020

Although medicinal plants have played an important role in the development of therapeutics as natural compound sources, the synergistic effects of the multiple chemicals in the plants on multiple targets have not been studied widely. Recently, network-based methods for the analysis of drug-target interactions have gained attention and relies on the paradigm that a single drug can act on multiple targets rather than a single target. In this study, we have presented a novel approach to analyze the interactions between the chemicals in the medicinal plants and multiple targets based on the complex multipartite network of the medicinal plants, multi-chemicals, and multiple targets. The multipartite network was constructed via the conjunction of two relationships: chemicals in plants and the biological actions of those chemicals on the targets. By analyzing the structural characteristics of the network using the network analysis techniques, we investigated the similarities among the plants via their chemical profiles obtained from the hierarchical clustering analysis. In doing so, we introduced an index of the efficacy of chemicals in a plant on a protein target of interest, called target potency score (TPS). We showed that the analysis can identify specific chemical profiles from each group of plants, which can then be employed for discovering new alternative therapeutic agents. Furthermore, specific clusters of plants and chemicals acting on specific targets were retrieved using TPS that suggested potential drug candidates with high probability of clinical success. We expect that this approach may open a way to predict the biological functions of multi-chemicals and multi-plants on the targets of interest and enable repositioning of the plants and chemicals.
An unsupervised algorithm for host identification in flaviviruses
Authors: Truong Phuoc , Garcia-Vallve Santiago , Puigbò Pere
Published: April 2020

Early characterization is essential to control the spread of emerging viruses, such as the Zika Virus outbreak in 2014. A major challenge is the identification of potential hosts for novel viruses. We introduce an algorithm to identify the host range of a virus from its raw genome sequence that will be a useful tool to understand host-virus relationships.
Defective membrane repair machinery impairs survival of invasive cancer cells
Authors: Bouvet F. , Ros M. , Bonedeau E. , Croissant C. , Frelin L. , Saltel F. , Moreau V. , Bouter A.
Published: April 2020

Cancer cells are able to reach distant tissues by migration and invasion processes. Enhanced ability to cope with physical stresses leading to cell membrane damages may offer to cancer cells high survival rate during metastasis. Consequently, down-regulation of the membrane repair machinery may be a therapeutic avenue for inhibiting metastasis. We show that migration of MDA-MB-231 cells on collagen I fibrils induces disruptions of plasma membrane and pullout of membrane fragments in the wake of cells. These cells are able to reseal membrane damages thanks to annexins (Anx) that are highly expressed in invasive cancer cells.In vitromembrane repair assays reveal that MDA-MB-231 cells respond heterogeneously to membrane injury and some of them possess very efficient repair machinery. Finally, we show that silencing of AnxA5 and AnxA6 leads to major defect of the membrane repair machinery responsible for the death of migrating MDA-MB-231 cells. Inhibition of membrane repair machinery may therefore represent a promising avenue for annihilating cancer metastasis.

Cancer cells are able to reach distant tissues by migration and invasion processes. This study shows that inhibition of the plasma membrane repair machinery may represent a promising avenue for annihilating cancer metastasis.
MendelVar: gene prioritization at GWAS loci using phenotypic enrichment of Mendelian disease genes
Authors: Sobczyk Maria K , Gaunt Tom R , Paternoster Lavinia
Published: April 2020

Gene prioritisation at GWAS loci necessities careful assembly and examination of different types of molecular evidence to arrive at a set of plausible candidates. In many human traits, common small-effect mutations may subtly dysregulate the function of the very same genes which are impacted by rare, large-effect mutations causing Mendelian disease of similar phenotype. However, information on gene-Mendelian disease associations, rare pathogenic mutations driving the disease, and the disease phenotype ontology is dispersed across many data sources and does not integrate easily with enrichment analysis.

MendelVar is a new webserver facilitating transfer of knowledge from Mendelian disease research into interpretation of genetic associations from GWAS of complex traits. MendelVar allows querying of pre-defined or LD-determined genomic intervals against a comprehensive integrated database to find overlap with genes linked to Mendelian disease. Next, MendelVar looks for enrichment of any Human Phenotype Ontology, Disease Ontology and other ontology/pathway terms associated with identified Mendelian genes. In addition, MendelVar provides a list of all overlapping pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants for Mendelian disease sourced from ClinVar.

Inclusion of information obtained from MendelVar in post-GWAS gene annotation pipelines can strengthen the case for causal importance of some genes. Moreover, as genes with Mendelian disease evidence may make for more successful drug targets, this may be particularly useful in drug discovery pipelines. Taking GWAS summary statistics for male-pattern baldness, intelligence and atopic dermatitis, we demonstrate the use of MendelVar in prioritizing candidate genes at these loci which are linked to relevant enriched ontology terms. MendelVar is freely available athttps://mendelvar.mrcieu.ac.uk/
Performance comparison of population-based optimization algorithms for air traffic control
Authors: Sarikaya Basturk Nurcan , Sahinkaya Abdurrahman
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed performance comparison of recent and state-of-the-art population-based optimization algorithms for the air traffic control problem.

Design/methodology/approach

Landing sequence and corresponding landing times for the aircrafts were determined by using population-based optimization algorithms such as artificial bee colony, particle swarm, differential evolution, biogeography-based optimization, simulated annealing, firefly and teaching–learning-based optimization. To obtain a fair comparison, all simulations were repeated 30 times for each of the seven algorithms, two different problems and two different population sizes, and many different criteria were used.

Findings

Compared to conventional methods that depend on a single solution at the same time, population-based algorithms have simultaneously produced many alternate possible solutions that can be used recursively to achieve better results.

Research limitations/implications

In some cases, it may take slightly longer to obtain the optimum landing sequence and times compared to the methods that give a direct result; however, the processing times can be reduced using powerful computers or GPU computations.

Practical implications

The simulation results showed that using population-based optimization algorithms were useful to obtain optimal landing sequence and corresponding landing times. Thus, the proposed air traffic control method can also be used effectively in real airport applications.

Social implications

By using population-based algorithms, air traffic control can be performed more effectively. In this way, there will be more efficient planning of passengers’ travel schedules and efficient airport operations.

Originality/value

The study compares the performances of recent and state-of-the-art optimization algorithms in terms of effective air traffic control and provides a useful approach.
The impact of service/product performance and problem-solving on relationship satisfaction
Authors: Chumpitaz Ruben , Paparoidamis Nicholas G.
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to merge service and product quality concepts as well as problem-solving capabilities and relationship satisfaction into an integrative model and empirically test it in business-to-business (B2B) context.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypothesis testing was performed using a structural equation model based on a LISREL approach applied to a sample of 1,218 industrial buying centers producing and marketing food and beverage products for industrial use in Belgium, France and Holland.

Findings

The model allows a comparison between the relative efficacy of product quality, service and sales quality as well as problem-solving in driving relationship satisfaction. The results demonstrate the relative effectiveness of sales team quality while also emphasizing the importance of problem-solving in building relationship satisfaction.

Originality/value

This study makes theoretical and empirical contributions providing a better understanding of the impact of service/product quality and problem-solving in building relationship satisfaction in a B2B context.
The dispositif of prison sexuality: transphobic violence in a Mexican male prison
Authors: Constant Chloé
Published: April 2020

Purpose

The aim of this study is to analyze how the dispositif of sexuality operates toward trans women imprisoned in a male prison in Mexico City, to understand how sexual norms that come from the heteropatriarchal model so as from the “internal law” produce transphobic violence.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on the queer theory, Foucault’s works on sexuality and power, Segato’s theory about war against women’s bodies and on a fieldwork realized between 2015 and 2019 in Mexico City, with prisoners and former prisoners.

Findings

The sexuality dispositif works in a particular way inside prison. It is the result of the heteropatriarchal model and laws defined by both prisoners and prison workers, all involved in the Mexican war context. The effects are materialized through violence toward trans* women whose bodies serve for rape, male appropriation and exchange between powerful subjects.

Research limitations/implications

This paper produces knowledge about imprisonned trans* people, a very few developped field in prison studies, especially in Latin America.

Practical implications

The paper demonstrates how specific violence toward trans* women imprisoned in a male prison in Mexico City deepens violent dynamics that occur out of the prison. So, it questions the meaning of a sentence in the actual Mexican prison system. It may help to think about staff’s training/education to guarantee basic human rights for imprisoned trans* people. Additionally, the theorization of “internal law” could help prison authorities to rethink classification and treatment for prisoners.

Social implications

This paper provide specific knowledge on imprisonned trans* women and helps to think and act different with this people through the understanding of their special vulnerability.

Originality/value

There are only a few papers about imprisoned trans population throughout the world and fewer in Latin America and Mexico. Additionally, this paper aims to overcome the “internal order” as it is always theorized as proper of detainees. It wants to show that the prison order in a Mexico City prison, borns from the meeting of cultural specificities from outside and inside, and from both prisoners, organized crime and prison staff.
An integrated model of the knowledge antecedents for exploring software process improvement success
Authors: Lee Jung-Chieh , Shiue Yih-Chearng , Chen Chung-Yang
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Software process improvement (SPI) is a knowledge activity that is critical to the excellence of information system development. This study observes two knowledge gaps in the quest for SPI success and proposes a research model that integrates existing knowledge antecedents to address these gaps. Based on organizational learning theory and the dynamic capability view, the proposed model consolidates a firm's absorptive capacity (AC), learning ability in terms of exploration and exploitation and knowledge sharing (KS), and it examines the contextual relationships among these knowledge antecedents on the path to SPI success.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research design is implemented to examine the model with a sample of 138 SPI-certified organizations in Taiwan and Mainland China. The partial least squares (PLS) technique is used for the data analysis.

Findings

The results reveal the following findings. First, AC triggers the effect of exploration/exploitation on SPI success. Second, KS fosters exploitation but has an insignificant influence on exploration. Third, KS can promote AC, and it serves as the sourcing mechanism for all of the knowledge antecedents. Overall, an integrative set of knowledge learning routes is presented in guiding software firms on the way to SPI success.

Originality/value

In addition to identification of the two knowledge gaps, this study advances the authors’ understanding by comprehending the causal associations of the four knowledge antecedents on the way to SPI success.
On the link between HIV prevalence and health expenditure: an asymmetric analysis
Authors: Hajilee Massomeh , Oroojeni Mohammad Javad Mahsa , Hayes Linda A.
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Individuals' health is considered one of the major determinants of higher levels of productivity and economic development. Over the past century, the widespread occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has been a serious threat to economic development around the globe and has caused a dramatic fall in the life expectancy rate in many nations. This is the first study that examines the impact of HIV prevalence on health expenditure at the national level employing two linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models and simultaneously tests the long-run and short-run relationship for five selected developed countries. The authors employ annual data from 1981 to 2016. They find that HIV prevalence has a significant impact on health expenditure in the short-run and long-run in all five countries using the linear model and four of the countries in the nonlinear model. They find that HIV/AIDS prevalence has a significant short-run and long-run asymmetric impact on health expenditure of almost all selected developed economies.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors are employing two linear and nonlinear ARDL models and simultaneously test the long-run and short-run relationship for five selected developed countries.

Findings

The authors find that HIV/AIDS prevalence has a significant short-run and long-run asymmetric impact on health expenditure of almost all selected developed economies.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research work that empirically examines the link between HIV prevalence and health expenditure for this group of countries using linear and nonlinear ARDL approach for short run and long run.
The association between organisational culture, CSR practices and organisational performance in an emerging economy
Authors: Bhuiyan Faruk , Baird Kevin , Munir Rahat
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the influence of organisational culture, specifically O’Reillyet al.’s (1991) six dimensions of the organisational culture profile (respect for people, outcome orientation, team orientation, innovation, attention to detail and stability) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and the subsequent impact of CSR practices on organisational performance from the context of an emerging economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a survey of middle- and higher-level managers in Bangladeshi organisations to develop a seven-dimensional model of CSR practices and used structural equation modelling to analyse the developed hypotheses.

Findings

The findings provide evidence of the influence of the six different dimensions of organisational culture on the different dimensions of CSR practices. The findings highlight the diverse impacts (i.e. positive and negative) of CSR practices on organisational performance. The study also highlights the direct influence of organisational culture on both financial and non-financial performance. In particular, the outcome and team orientation culture are positively associated with non-financial and financial performance, respectively, while an innovative culture is negatively associated with both non-financial and financial performance.

Practical implications

The findings of the study provide practitioners, internal (i.e. the managers and business owners of both the local and multinational organisations) and external policy-makers, and foreign investors in an emerging economy with new insights into the role of an intra-organisational factor (i.e. organisational culture) in influencing the adoption of CSR practices and the subsequent impact of CSR practices on organisational performance.

Originality/value

Using the 52 guidelines of CSR practices provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, this study provides a unique empirical insight into the influence of organisational culture on CSR practices and the impact of CSR practices on organisational performance. The findings contribute to the limited CSR literature examining the influence of organisational culture on the adoption of CSR practices and its subsequent impact on organisational performance in an emerging economy.
Mandatory CSR expenditure and stock return
Authors: Bhattacharyya Asit , Rahman Md Lutfur
Published: April 2020

Purpose

India has mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure under Section 135 of the Indian Companies Act, 2013 – the first national jurisdiction to do so. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of mandated CSR expenditure on firms’ stock returns by using actual CSR spending data, whereas the previous studies mostly focus on voluntary CSR proxied by CSR scores.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors estimate their baseline regression by using ordinary least squares(OLS) method. Although the baseline regression involving CSR expenditure and stock returns using ordinary least squares method are estimated, endogeneity and reverse causality biases are addressed by using two-stage least squares and generalized method of moments approaches. These approaches contribute mitigating endogeneity bias and biases associated with unobserved heterogeneity and simultaneity.

Findings

The findings document that mandatory CSR expenditure has a negative impact on firms’ stock returns which supports the “shareholders” expense’ view. This result remain robust after controlling for endogeneity bias and the use of both standard and robust test statistics. The authors however observe that this result holds for the firms with actual CSR expenditure equal to the mandated amount but does not hold for the firms with actual CSR expenditure greater than the mandated amount. Therefore, the authors provide evidence that CSR expenditure’s impact on stock returns depends on whether firms simply comply the regulation or voluntarily chose an amount of CSR expenditure above the mandated amount.

Originality/value

The primary contribution is to present a valid and robust evidence of negative effect of mandated CSR spending on firms’ stock returns when the mandatory CSR spending rule is already in place. This study contributes by examining the impact of mandated CSR spending on stock during post-implementation period (2015-2017), whereas other studies by Dharampala and Khanna (2018); Kapoor and Dhamija (2017); and Mukherjee et al. (2018) mainly examined the impact of legislation on Indian CSR. The authors use mandated actual CSR expenditure, whereas previous studies mostly focus on voluntary CSR proxied by CSR scores.
Paraffin/graphene sponge composite as a shape-stabilized phase change material for thermal energy storage
Authors: Li Pengyang , Chen Qiang , Peng Qingyu , He Xiaodong
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to study the synergistic effect of graphene sponge on the thermal properties and shape stability of composite phase change material (PCM).

Design/methodology/approach

Graphene oxide sponge is first prepared from an aqueous solution of graphene oxide by freeze-drying method. The oxidized graphene sponge is reduced by hydrazine hydrate. Finally, use vacuum impregnation method to introduce paraffin into graphene sponge to prepare composite PCM.

Findings

Graphene sponge is used to improve the shape stability of paraffin wax and improves the thermal conductivity and latent heat of the composite PCM. The thermal conductivity increases by 200 per cent and the composite PCM has excellent reliability in 100 melt-freezing cycles.

Research limitations/implications

A simple way for fabricating composite PCM with high thermal conductivity and latent heat which has the potential to be used as thermal storage materials without container encapsulation has been developed by using graphene sponge and paraffin.

Originality/value

The materials and preparation methods with special structure and properties in this paper provide a new idea for the research of PCM, which can be widely used in the fields of energy conversion and storage.
Controlling outsourced management accounting to build legitimacy
Authors: Lepistö Sinikka , Dobroszek Justyna , Lepistö Lauri , Zarzycka Ewelina
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to explore controls within an inter-organisational relationship involving outsourced management accounting services from the contractor’s perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data from within the relationship are analysed in a legitimacy-theory framework, illustrating how controls within the relationship are intended to build the contractor’s legitimacy and what kinds of implications the controls have in relation to conflicts between interests inherent in the relationship.

Findings

The legitimacy perspective clarifies that while controls are aimed at ensuring efficiency for the client, they may also provide symbolic displays of the appropriateness of the contractor’s actions both at an inter-organisational level for the client and at an individual level for the contractor’s employees. While the contractor intends to build legitimacy with the client by demonstrating utility in the form of efficiency, the process also gives the client influence and allows the disposition in terms of shared values to be demonstrated. However, this process has some negative consequences for the contractor’s employees as it is insufficient for serving the boundary-spanning employees’ interests connected with the nature of their work. Hence, the same controls need to yield benefits and fair outcomes for employees. The controls simultaneously foster interconnections that contribute to permanence and formalise the outsourcing of complex services, thereby rendering such processes comprehensible and transferable to other settings, which can be seen to serve the contractor’s continuity interests.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to academic research by illustrating how controls within inter-organisational relationships not only steer boundary-spanners’ work to conform to a client’s needs but may also help to build legitimacy via symbolic properties in the presence of conflicting interests at both an inter-organisational and individual level. It specifically highlights the important role of boundary-spanners lower in the organisational structure, who both affect and are influenced by the intentions to build legitimacy with the client.
Does analyst forecast dispersion represent investors’ perceived uncertainty toward earnings?
Authors: Wang Jundong (Jeff)
Published: April 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the association between analyst forecast dispersion and investors’ perceived uncertainty toward earnings.

Design/methodology/approach

A new measure for investors’ expectations of earnings announcement uncertainty is constructed, using changes in implied volatility of option contracts prior to earnings announcements. Unlike other proxies of uncertainty, this measure isolates the incremental uncertainty regarding the upcoming earnings announcement and is a forward-looking measure.

Findings

Using this new proxy, this paper finds a significant negative correlation between analyst forecast dispersion and investors’ uncertainty regarding the upcoming earnings announcements. Further tests show that this negative correlation is driven by analysts’ private information acquisition rather than analysts; uncertainty toward upcoming earnings announcements. Additional cross-sectional tests show that this negative relationship is more pronounced in the subsample with lower earnings quality.

Social implications

This paper helps to further the understanding of the information content of analyst forecast dispersion, particularly the ways in which they gather and produce private information and their incentives for so doing.

Originality/value

This paper introduces a new market-based and forward-looking proxy of earnings announcement uncertainty that should be useful in future research. This paper also provides original empirical evidence that analysts gather and produce an additional private information to the market when facing noisy signals and that their information reduces investors’ uncertainty toward upcoming earnings announcements.
Territory acquisition mediates the influence of predators and climate on juvenile red squirrel survival
Authors: Hendrix Jack G. , Fisher David N. , Martinig April Robin , Boutin Stan , Dantzer Ben , Lane Jeffrey E. , McAdam Andrew G.
Published: April 2020

Juvenile survival to first breeding is a key life‐history stage for all taxa. Survival through this period can be particularly challenging when it coincides with harsh environmental conditions such as a winter climate or food scarcity, leading to highly variable cohort survival. However, the small size and dispersive nature of juveniles generally make studying their survival more difficult.

In territorial species, a key life‐history event is the acquisition of a territory. A territory is expected to enhance survival, but how it does so is not often identified. We tested how the timing of territory acquisition influenced the winter survival of juvenile North American red squirrelsTamiasciurus hudsonicus, hereafter red squirrels, and how the timing of this event mediated the sources of mortality. We hypothesized that securing a territory prior to when food resources become available would reduce juvenile susceptibility to predation and climatic factors overwinter.

Using 27 years of data on the survival of individually marked juvenile red squirrels, we tested how the timing of territory acquisition influenced survival, whether the population density of red squirrel predators and mean temperature overwinter were related to individual survival probability, and if territory ownership mediated these effects.

Juvenile red squirrel survival was lower in the years of high predator abundance and in colder winters. Autumn territory owners were less susceptible to lynxLynx canadensisand possibly mustelidMustelaandMartesspp., predation. Autumn territory owners had lower survival in colder winters, but surprisingly non‐owners had higher survival in cold winters.

Our results show how the timing of a life‐history event like territory acquisition can directly affect survival and also mediate the effects of biotic and abiotic factors later in life. This engenders a better understanding of the fitness consequences of the timing of key life‐history events.
Can multi‐taxa diversity in European beech forest landscapes be increased by combining different management systems?
Authors: Schall Peter , Heinrichs Steffi , Ammer Christian , Ayasse Manfred , Boch Steffen , Buscot François , Fischer Markus , Goldmann Kezia , Overmann Jörg , Schulze Ernst‐Detlef , Sikorski Johannes , Weisser Wolfgang W. , Wubet Tesfaye , Gossner Martin M.
Published: April 2020

Forest management greatly influences biodiversity across spatial scales. At the landscape scale, combining management systems that create different stand properties might promote biodiversity due to complementary species assemblages. In European beech forests, nature conservation and policy advocate a mixture of unmanaged (UNM) forests and uneven‐aged (UEA) forests managed at fine spatial grain at the expense of traditionally managed even‐aged shelterwood forests (EA). Evidence that such a landscape composition enhances forest biodiversity is still missing.

We studied the biodiversity (species richness 0D, Shannon diversity 1D, Simpson diversity 2D) of 14 taxonomic groups from bacteria to vertebrates in ‘virtual’ beech forest landscapes composed of varying shares of EA, UEA and UNM and investigated how γ‐diversity responds to landscape composition. Groups were sampled in the largest contiguous beech forest in Germany, where EA and UEA management date back nearly two centuries, while management was abandoned 20–70 years ago (UNM). We used a novel resampling approach that created all compositional combinations of management systems.

Pure EA landscapes preserved a maximum of 97.5% γ‐multidiversity (0D, 1D) across all taxa. Pure and mixed UEA/UNM landscapes reduced γ‐multidiversity by up to 12.8% (1D). This effect was consistent for forest specialists (1D: −15.3%). We found only weak complementarity among management systems.

Landscape composition significantly affected γ‐diversity of 6–9 individual taxa, depending on the weighting of species frequencies with strongest responses for spiders, beetles, vascular plants and birds. Most showed maximum diversity in pure EA landscapes. Birds benefited from UNM in EA‐dominated landscapes. Deadwood fungi showed highest diversity in UNM.

Synthesis and applications. Our study shows that combining fine‐grained forest management and management abandonment at the landscape scale will reduce, rather than enhance, regional forest biodiversity. We found an even‐aged shelterwood management system alone operating at intermediate spatial scales and providing stands with high environmental heterogeneity was able to support regional biodiversity. However, some taxa require certain shares of uneven‐aged and unmanaged forests, emphasizing their general importance. We encourage using the here presented resampling approach to verify our results in forest landscapes of different composition and configuration across the temperate zone.
Shear‐wave sonoelastographic assessment of cervix in pregnancy
Authors: Duan Honglei , Chaemsaithong Piya , Ju Xiaoqing , Ho Sin Yee Stella , Sun Qian , Tai Yi‐yun , Leung Tak Yeung , Poon Liona C.
Published: April 2020

Introduction

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in shear‐wave sonoelastography (SWS) scores between the different parts of cervix, explore the association between the cervical SWS scores with cervical length and evaluate repeatability of the measurement of cervical SWS scores.

Material and methods

This was a prospective study performed in women with singleton pregnancy at 11‐13+6 (n = 676), 16‐20+6 (n = 364), 21‐24+6 (n = 338) and 28‐32+6 weeks (n = 304). The SWS scores were obtained at the inner, middle and external parts of the cervix, using a transvaginal ultrasound approach.

Results

The SWS scores of the inner cervix were significantly higher than the measurements acquired at the middle and external parts (all P < .001). At 21‐24+6 and 28‐32+6 weeks, most regions of interest demonstrated a very weak positive correlation with cervical length (r = .125 to r = .299). In comparison with nulliparous women, parous women without prior preterm birth had higher SWS scores of the inner and middle parts of the cervix at 16‐20+6 and 21‐24+6 weeks. All regions of interest showed good intra‐ and inter‐observer agreement.

Conclusions

The assessment of the cervical SWS scores is highly reproducible. The stiffness of the cervix demonstrates a gradient that decreases from the inner part to the external part and a very weak positive correlation with cervical length.
Extensive hard palate hyperpigmentation associated with chloroquine use
Authors: Godinho Géssica Vasconcelos , Paz Ana Luiza Lima Medeiros , de Araújo Gomes Elâine Patrícia Alves , Garcia Cristiane Loreda , Volpato Luiz Evaristo Ricci
Published: April 2020

A 66‐year‐old woman diagnosed clinical manifestation of extensive hard palate hyperpigmentation is presented. Due to historic of rheumatoid arthritis and use of chloroquine phosphate for 3 years, exogenous hyperpigmentation associated with the drug was included among the possible diagnoses. Incisional biopsy was performed and the histopathological exam confirmed exogenous hyperpigmentation compatible with chloroquine use. The patient was referred to the rheumatologist and the ophthalmologist for evaluation of the continuity of the chloroquine use. After one year of follow‐up, no changes were seen in the hyperpigmentation nor other clinical changes. Hyperpigmentation of the hard palate by the use of chloroquine is one of the adverse effects of the chronic use of this drug and does not require specific treatment. The adequate anamnesis and the knowledge about the adverse effects of the drug allowed an adequate therapeutic approach in the case.
Molecular and clinical features of myeloid neoplasms with somatic DDX41 mutations
Authors: Qu Shiqiang , Li Bing , Qin Tiejun , Xu Zefeng , Pan Lijuan , Hu Naibo , Huang Gang , Peter Gale Robert , Xiao Zhijian
Published: April 2020

We screened 47 subjects with DDX41 variants among 1529 subjects with myeloid neoplasms. The most common germline variants included Splice c.935 + 4A>T, p.T360Ifs*33, p.V152G, p.S217Ifs*4, p.R311* and p.R369*. Except for the p.R369*, no other variants have been previously reported. Clinical covariates of subjects with simple DDX41 somatic variants and germline/somatic biallelic variants are similar. The two‐year overall survival (OS) of subjects with DDX41 variants was 85%. Overall response rate to demethylation therapy in subjects with DDX41 variants was 69%. The response did not correlate with the presence of a germline variant.
Small seed bank in grasslands and tree plantations in former grassland sites in the South Brazilian highlands
Authors: de Souza Vieira Mariana , Overbeck Gerhard Ernst
Published: April 2020

The soil seed bank can be an important source for vegetation regeneration, and data on the similarity between aboveground vegetation and the seed bank can provide information about successional pathways after disturbances or land‐use change. We conducted this study in natural grasslands in the subtropical highland region in southern Brazil. We evaluated the effect of silviculture on richness, density, and composition of the seed bank at former grassland sites converted to pine plantations 25 years ago. We worked at six grassland sites and three pine plantation sites and used the seedling emergence method. Seed bank density and richness in grasslands were lower than those reported in similar environments in other regions. Species richness and density varied considerably within each vegetation type; therefore, richness and density were not statistically significant, while composition varied among vegetation types. In terms of species, the pine plantation seed bank was a small subset of the grassland seed bank. Seeds of typical grassland species were missing in the pine plantation, but also had only low abundances in the grassland, and similarity of seed bank and vegetation were low (less than 20%). The low seed density found in this study, including in grasslands areas, indicates that regeneration of species from the soil seed bank likely is of a limited role for the maintenance of plant populations after disturbances in this system. Our data further suggest that natural regeneration after tree planting in grasslands is reduced due to seed limitation.

Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material
MicroRNA‐93 targets WASF3 and functions as a metastasis suppressor in breast cancer
Authors: Shibuya Naoki , Kakeji Yoshihiro , Shimono Yohei
Published: April 2020

Cancer cells with cancer stem cell (CSC) properties initiate both primary tumor formation and metastases at distant sites. Acquisition of CSC properties is highly associated with epigenetic alterations, including those mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs). We have previously established the breast cancer patient‐derived tumor xenograft (PDX) mouse model in which CSC marker CD44+ cancer cells formed spontaneous microscopic metastases in the liver. In this PDX mouse, we found that the expression levels of 3 miRNAs (miR‐25, miR‐93, and miR‐106b) in the miR‐106b‐25 cluster were much lower in the CD44+ human cancer cells metastasized to the liver than those at the primary site. Constitutive overexpression of miR‐93 suppressed invasive ability and 3D‐organoid formation capacity of breast cancer cells in vitro and significantly suppressed their metastatic ability to the liver in vivo. Wiskott‐Aldrich syndrome protein family member 3 (WASF3), a regulator of both cytoskeleton remodeling and CSC properties, was identified as a functional target of miR‐93: overexpression of miR‐93 reduced the protein level of WASF3 in breast cancer cells and WASF3 rescued the miR‐93‐mediated suppression of breast cancer cell invasion. These findings suggest that miR‐93 functions as a metastasis suppressor by suppressing both invasion ability and CSC properties in breast cancers.
Association between polycystic ovary syndrome and the vaginal microbiome: A case‐control study
Authors: Hong Xiang , Qin Pengfei , Huang Kaiping , Ding Xiaoling , Ma Jun , Xuan Yan , Zhu Xiaoyue , Peng Danhong , Wang Bei
Published: April 2020

Background

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy in women of reproductive age. Some evidence suggests that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota could be associated with PCOS clinical parameters, but little is known for the association between vaginal microbiome and PCOS.

Objective

To determine differences in the vaginal microbiome between women with PCOS and healthy control women.

Research design and methods

In this case‐control study, the women with newly diagnosed PCOS (n = 39) and healthy controls (n = 40) were included from the hospital and maternal and child health centre, respectively. The vaginal swabs were collected, and microbiome structures were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The screening values for potential bacteria biomarker for PCOS were assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve method.

Results

There was significant difference in vaginal bacterial structures between PCOS and healthy control women. The vaginal bacterial species in the PCOS group were more diverse than the control group (Simpson index for PCOS group vs. control group: median 0.49 vs. 0.80, P = .008; Shannon index: median 1.07 vs. 0.44, P = .003; Chao1 index: median 85.12 vs. 66.13, P < .001). The relative abundance of Lactobacillus crispatus in the PCOS group was significantly lower than controls (P = .001), and the relative abundance of Mycoplasma and Prevotella was higher than controls (P < .001, P = .002, respectively). The Mycoplasma genus could be a potential biomarker for PCOS screening, as ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the relative abundance of Mycoplasma was 0.958 (95% CI: 0.901‐0.999). Subgroup analyses also showed these associations would not change among the women with the same BMI level and vagina cleanliness grading.

Conclusions

In the vaginal microbiome, the Mycoplasma genus was associated with PCOS. Further research is required to explore causal correlations between PCOS and the vaginal microbiome.