bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mediodorsal and ventromedial thalamus engage distinct L1 circuits in the prefrontal cortex
Authors: Anastasiades Paul G. , Collins David P. , Carter Adam G.
Published: January 2020

Interactions between the thalamus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) play a critical role in cognitive function and arousal. Here we use anatomical tracing, electrophysiology, optogenetics, and 2-photon Ca2+ imaging to determine how ventromedial (VM) and mediodorsal (MD) thalamus target specific cell types and subcellular compartments in layer 1 (L1) of mouse PFC. We find thalamic inputs make distinct connections in L1, where VM engages NDNF+ cells in L1a, and MD drives VIP+ cells in L1b. These separate populations of L1 interneurons participate in different disinhibitory networks in superficial layers by targeting either PV+ or SOM+ interneurons. NDNF+ cells also inhibit the apical dendrites of L5 pyramidal tract (PT) cells, where they suppress AP-evoked Ca2+ signals. Lastly, NDNF+ cells mediate a unique form of thalamus-evoked inhibition at PT cells, selectively blocking VM-evoked dendritic Ca2+ spikes. Together, our findings reveal how two thalamic nuclei differentially communicate with the PFC through distinct L1 micro-circuits.
The effect of counterfactual information on outcome value coding in medial prefrontal and cingulate cortex: from an absolute to a relative neural code
Authors: Pischedda Doris , Palminteri Stefano , Coricelli Giorgio
Published: January 2020

Adaptive coding of stimuli in visual cortex is well documented in perception, where it supports efficient encoding over a broad range of possible percepts. Recently, a similar neural mechanism has been reported also in value-based decision, where it allows optimal encoding of vast ranges of values in PFC: neuronal response to value depends on the choice context (relative coding), rather than being invariant across contexts (absolute coding). Additionally, value learning is sensitive to the amount of feedback information: providing complete feedback (both obtained and forgone outcomes) instead of partial feedback (only obtained outcome) improves learning. However, it is unclear whether relative coding occurs in all PFC regions and how it is affected by feedback information. We systematically investigated univariate and multivariate feedback encoding in various PFC regions and compared three modes of neural coding: absolute, partially-adaptive and fully-adaptive.

Twenty-eight human participants (both sexes) performed a learning task while undergoing fMRI scanning. On each trial, they chose between two symbols associated with a certain outcome. Then, the decision outcome was revealed. Notably, in half of the trials participants received partial feedback, while in the other half they got complete feedback. We used univariate and multivariate analysis to explore value encoding in different feedback conditions.

We found that both obtained and forgone outcomes were encoded in mPFC, but with opposite sign in ventral and dorsal subdivisions. Moreover, we showed that increasing feedback information induced a switch from absolute to relative coding. Our results suggest that complete feedback information promotes context-dependent outcome encoding.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

This study offers a systematic investigation of the effect of the amount of feedback information (partial vs. complete) on univariate and multivariate outcome value encoding, within multiple regions in mPFC/ACC critical for value-based decisions and behavioural adaptation. Moreover, we provide the first comparison of three possible models of neural coding (i.e., absolute, partially-adaptive, and fully-adaptive coding) of value signal in mPFC by using commensurable measures of model accuracy. Taken together, our results help build a more comprehensive picture of how the human brain encodes and processes outcome value. In particular, our results suggest that simultaneous presentation of obtained and foregone outcomes promotes relative value representation.
Hap10: reconstructing accurate and long polyploid haplotypes using linked reads
Authors: Majidian Sina , Kahaei Mohammad Hossein , de Ridder Dick
Published: January 2020

Background

Haplotype information is essential for many genetic and genomic analyses, including genotype-phenotype associations in human, animals and plants. Haplotype assembly is a method for reconstructing haplotypes from DNA sequencing reads. By the advent of new sequencing technologies, new algorithms are needed to ensure long and accurate haplotypes. While a few linked-read haplotype assembly algorithms are available for diploid genomes, there are no algorithms yet for polyploids.

Results

The first haplotyping algorithm designed for 10X linked reads generated from a polyploid genome is presented, built on a typical short-read haplotyping method, SDhaP. Using the input aligned reads and called variants, the haplotype-relevant information is extracted. Next, reads with the same barcodes are combined to produce molecule-specific fragments. Then, these fragments are clustered into strongly connected components which are then used as input of a haplotype assembly core in order to estimate accurate and long haplotypes.

Conclusions

Hap10 is a novel algorithm for haplotype assembly of polyploid genomes using linked reads. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated in a number of simulation scenarios and its applicability is demonstrated on a real dataset of sweet potato.
Expression-Based Inference of Cancer Metabolic Flux Differences
Authors: Wang Yiping , Gu Zhenglong
Published: January 2020

1

Cancer cells display numerous differences in metabolic regulation and flux distribution from noncancerous cells, which are necessary to support increased cancer cell growth. However, current experimental methods cannot accurately measure such metabolic flux differences genome-wide. To address this short-coming, we apply FALCON, a computational algorithm for inferring metabolic fluxes from gene expression data, to analyze data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We found several major differences between tumor and control tissue metabolism. Cancer tissues have a considerably stronger correlation between RNA-seq expression and inferred metabolic flux, which may indicate a more streamlined and efficient use of metabolism. Cancer metabolic fluxes generally have high correlation with their normal control counterparts in the same tissue, but surprisingly, there are several cases where tumor samples in one tissue have even higher correlation with control samples in another tissue. Finally, we found several pathways that frequently have divergent flux between tumor and control samples. Among these are several previously implicated in tumorigenesis, including sphingolipid metabolism, methionine and cysteine synthesis, and bile acid transformations. Together, these findings show how cancer metabolism differs from normal tissues and may be targeted in order to control cancer progression.
Dissociable roles of central striatum and anterior lateral motor area in initiating and sustaining naturalistic behavior
Authors: Corbit Victoria L. , Piantadosi Sean C. , Wood Jesse , Liu Grace , Choi Clare J.Y. , Witten Ilana B. , Gittis Aryn H. , Ahmari Susanne E.
Published: January 2020

Although much is known about how corticostriatal circuits mediate behavioral selection, most previous work has been conducted in highly trained animals engaged in instrumental tasks. Understanding how corticostriatal circuits mediate behavioral selection and initiation in a naturalistic setting is critical to understanding how the brain chooses and executes behavior in unconstrained situations. Central striatum (CS), an understudied region that lies in the middle of the motor-limbic topography, is well-poised to play an important role in these processes since its main cortical inputs (Corbit et al., 2019) have been implicated in behavioral flexibility (lateral orbitofrontal cortex (Kim and Ragozzino, 2005)) and response preparation (anterior lateral motor area, ALM) (Li et al., 2015), However, although CS activity has been associated with conditioned grooming behavior in transgenic mice (Burguiere et al., 2013), the role of CS and its cortical inputs in the selection of spontaneous behaviors has not been explored. We therefore studied the role of CS corticostriatal circuits in behavioral selection in an open field context.

Surprisingly, using fiber photometry in this unconstrained environment, we found that population calcium activity in CS was specifically increased at onset of grooming, and not at onset of other spontaneous behaviors such as rearing or locomotion. Supporting a potential selective role for CS in the initiation of grooming, bilateral optogenetic stimulation of CS evoked immediate onset grooming-related movements. However, these movements resembled subcomponents of grooming behavior and not full-fledged grooming bouts, suggesting that additional input(s) are required to appropriately sequence and sustain this complex motor behavior once initiated. Consistent with this idea, optogenetic stimulation of CS inputs from ALM generated sustained grooming responses that evolved on a time-course paralleling CS activation monitored using single-cell calcium imaging. Furthermore, fiber photometry in ALM demonstrated a gradual ramp in calcium activity that peaked at time of grooming termination, supporting a potential role for ALM in encoding length of this spontaneous sequenced behavior. Finally, dual color dual region fiber photometry indicated that CS activation precedes ALM during naturalistic grooming sequences. Taken together, these data support a novel model in which CS activity is sufficient to initiate grooming behavior, but ALM activity is necessary to sustain and encode the length of grooming bouts. Thus, the use of an unconstrained behavioral paradigm has allowed us to uncover surprising roles for CS and ALM in the initiation and maintenance of spontaneous sequenced behaviors.
Structure of a consensus chitin-binding domain revealed by solution NMR
Authors: Heymann Dario , Mohanram Harini , Kumar Akshita , Verma Chandra S. , Lescar Julien , Miserez Ali
Published: January 2020

Carbohydrate-binding proteins (CBPs) are a versatile group of proteins found in almost every organism on earth. CBPs are involved in enzymatic carbohydrate degradation and also serve as templating scaffolds in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects. One specific chitin-binding motif found across a wide range of arthropods’ exoskeletons is the “extended Rebers and Riddiford” consensus (R&R). However, how the R&R motif binds chitin is unclear. Here, we report the 3D structure and molecular level interactions of a chitin-binding domain (CBD-γ) located in a CBP from the beak of the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas. This CBP is one of four chitin-binding proteins identified in the beak mouthpart of D. gigas and is believed to interact with chitin to form a scaffold network that is infiltrated with a second set of structural proteins during beak maturation. We used solution state NMR spectroscopy to elucidate the molecular interactions between CBD-γ and the soluble chitin derivative pentaacetyl-chitopentaose (PCP) and find that folding of this domain is triggered upon its interaction with PCP. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental 3D structure of a CBP containing the R&R consensus motif, which can be used as a template to understand in more details the role of the R&R motif found in a wide range of CBP-chitin complexes. The present structure also provides molecular information for biomimetic synthesis of graded biomaterials using aqueous-based chemistry and biopolymers.
KLF4 coordinates corneal epithelial apicobasal polarity and plane of cell division, and is downregulated in ocular surface squamous neoplasia
Authors: Tiwari Anil , Swamynathan Sudha , Jhanji Vishal , Swamynathan Shivalingappa K.
Published: January 2020

Apicobasal polarity (ABP) is an important feature of many epithelial cells, including those in the stratified squamous corneal epithelium (CE). Previously, we demonstrated that KLF4 promotes CE homeostasis by suppressing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and TGF-β signaling. As dysregulation of TGF-β signaling affects ABP, we investigated the role of KLF4 in regulating cell polarity and plane of division by spatiotemporally regulated ablation ofKlf4in adult ternary transgenicKlf4Δ/ΔCE(Klf4LoxP/LoxP/Krt12rtTA/rtTA/Tet-O-Cre) mouse CE.Klf4Δ/ΔCEcells displayed decreased expression and mis-localization of apical polarity markers Pals1 and Crumbs1, apicolateral Par3, and basolateral Scribble. Cdc42 was upregulated, while Rac and Rho were mis-localized in theKlf4Δ/ΔCEcytoplasm unlike their cortical expression in the control. Phalloidin staining revealed disrupted actin cytoskeleton in theKlf4Δ/ΔCEcells. Survivin and phospho-histone-H3 immunostaining revealed a tilt in the plane of cell division favoring symmetrical divisions with vertical axis in theKlf4Δ/ΔCEcompared with predominantly asymmetrical divisions with horizontal axis in the control. Human ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) tissues displayed signs of EMT and loss of ABP markers PAR3, PALS1 and SCRIB, coupled with downregulation of KLF4. By demonstrating thatKlf4ablation affects CE expression of ABP markers and Rho family GTPases, cytoskeletal actin organization and the plane of cell division, and that KLF4 is downregulated in OSSN tissues that display EMT and lack ABP, these results elucidate the key integrative role of KLF4 in coordinating CE cell polarity and plane of division, loss of which results in OSSN.
Multiple phosphatidylinositol(3)phosphate roles in retinal pigment epithelium membrane recycling
Authors: He Feng , Agosto Melina A. , Nichols Ralph M. , Wensel Theodore G.
Published: January 2020

The low-abundance lipid phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PI(3)P) is important for membrane dynamics in autophagy, endosome processing, and phagocytosis. In retinal pigmented epithelial cells (RPE) all three pathways are important, but phagocytosis of disk membranes shed from adjacent photoreceptors is especially important for ensuring health of photoreceptors and preventing retinal degeneration. By eliminating Vps34, the kinase responsible for synthesizing PI(3)P in RPE, we have found that PI(3)P plays distinct roles in each pathway. In phagocytosis it is not required for disk engulfment or phagosome transport but is essential for recruitment and lipidation of LC3. In contrast, initiation of autophagy and LC3 recruitment to autophagosomes does not require PI(3)P, which can be bypassed by an alternative mechanism of ATG16L recruitment that does not require PI(3)P, Rab11a, or WIPI2. In all three pathways, PI(3)P is essential for fusion with lysosomes; autophagosomes, phagosomes, and Rab7-positive late endosomes, as well as enlarged lysosomes, accumulate in large numbers in the absence of Vps34, leading to cell death.
Transcriptome analysis reveals evolutionary co-option of neural development and signaling genes for the wing pigmentation pattern of the polka-dotted fruit fly
Authors: Fukutomi Yuichi , Kondo Shu , Toyoda Atsushi , Shigenobu Shuji , Koshikawa Shigeyuki
Published: January 2020

How evolutionary novelties have arisen is one of the central questions in evolutionary biology. Pre-existing gene regulatory networks or signaling pathways have been shown to be co-opted for building novel traits in several organisms. However, the structure of entire gene regulatory networks and evolutionary events of gene co-option for emergence of a novel trait are poorly understood. In this study, we used a novel wing pigmentation pattern of the polka-dotted fruit fly, and identified the complete set of genes for pigmentation pattern formation byde novogenome sequencing and transcriptome analyses. In pigmentation areas of wings, 151 genes were positively or negatively regulated bywingless, a master regulator of wing pigmentation. Genes for neural development, Wnt signaling, Dpp signaling, Zinc finger transcription factors, and effectors (such as enzymes) for melanin pigmentation were included among these 151 genes. None of the known regulatory genes that regulate pigmentation pattern formation in other fruit fly species were included. Our results suggest that the novel pigmentation pattern of the polka-dotted fruit fly emerged through multi-step co-options of multiple gene regulatory networks, signaling pathways, and effector genes, rather than recruitment of one large gene circuit.
Discriminant Analysis of Principle Component analyses of Physiological Data
Authors: Haidar Omar , Ball Samuel , Barrett-Jolley Richard
Published: January 2020

There are many situations in physiological and pharmacological analyses where multivariate data is collected. Frequently these are analysed with t-tests and multiple (Bonferroni) comparisons or ANOVA with post-hoc test. Increasingly, even with more powerful computers many variables and it seems that feature reduction would be a useful approach. The most commonly used method is principle component analyses, but in this report we compare this to a technique developed for genetic analyses, discriminant analysis of principle component (DAPC) analyses. A simple to use and well-maintained library exists for DAPC analyses, Adegenet2, and using this we find that DAPC detects differences between synthetic physiological datasets with significantly greater accuracy than traditional PCA.
The microtubule regulator ringer functions downstream from the RNA repair/splicing pathway to promote axon regeneration
Authors: Vargas Ernest J. Monahan , Matamoros Andrew J. , Qiu Jingyun , Jan Calvin H. , Wang Qin , Gorczyca David , Han Tina W. , Weissman Jonathan S. , Jan Yuh Nung , Banerjee Swati , Song Yuanquan
Published: January 2020

Promoting axon regeneration in the central and peripheral nervous system is of clinical importance in neural injury and neurodegenerative diseases. Both pro- and antiregeneration factors are being identified. We previously reported that the Rtca mediated RNA repair/splicing pathway restricts axon regeneration by inhibiting the nonconventional splicing of Xbp1 mRNA under cellular stress. However, the downstream effectors remain unknown. Here, through transcriptome profiling, we show that the tubulin polymerization-promoting protein (TPPP) ringmaker/ringer is dramatically increased in Rtca-deficient Drosophila sensory neurons, which is dependent on Xbp1. Ringer is expressed in sensory neurons before and after injury, and is cell-autonomously required for axon regeneration. While loss of ringer abolishes the regeneration enhancement in Rtca mutants, its overexpression is sufficient to promote regeneration both in the peripheral and central nervous system. Ringer maintains microtubule stability/dynamics with the microtubule-associated protein futsch/MAP1B, which is also required for axon regeneration. Furthermore, ringer lies downstream from and is negatively regulated by the microtubule-associated deacetylase HDAC6, which functions as a regeneration inhibitor. Taken together, our findings suggest that ringer acts as a hub for microtubule regulators that relays cellular status information, such as cellular stress, to the integrity of microtubules in order to instruct neuroregeneration.
Aurora B-dependent Ndc80 degradation regulates kinetochore composition in meiosis
Authors: Chen Jingxun , Liao Andrew , Powers Emily N. , Liao Hanna , Kohlstaedt Lori A. , Evans Rena , Holly Ryan M. , Kim Jenny Kim , Jovanovic Marko , Ünal Elçin
Published: January 2020

The kinetochore complex is a conserved machinery that connects chromosomes to spindle microtubules. During meiosis, the kinetochore is restructured to accommodate a specialized chromosome segregation pattern. In budding yeast, meiotic kinetochore remodeling is mediated by the temporal changes in the abundance of a single subunit called Ndc80. We previously described the regulatory events that control the timely synthesis of Ndc80. Here, we report that Ndc80 turnover is also tightly regulated in meiosis: Ndc80 degradation is active in meiotic prophase, but not in metaphase I. Ndc80 degradation depends on the ubiquitin ligase APCAma1 and is mediated by the proteasome. Importantly, Aurora B-dependent Ndc80 phosphorylation, a mark that has been previously implicated in correcting erroneous microtubule–kinetochore attachments, is essential for Ndc80 degradation in a microtubule-independent manner. The N terminus of Ndc80, including a 27-residue sequence and Aurora B phosphorylation sites, is both necessary and sufficient for kinetochore protein degradation. Finally, defects in Ndc80 turnover predispose meiotic cells to chromosome mis-segregation. Our study elucidates the mechanism by which meiotic cells modulate their kinetochore composition through regulated Ndc80 degradation, and demonstrates that Aurora B-dependent regulation of kinetochores extends beyond altering microtubule attachments.
Exploiting market-oriented collective learning cycle to leverage competitive advantage at a foreign subsidiary in emerging markets
Authors: Shehata Gamal Mohamed
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how a foreign subsidiary operates in emerging markets and integrates market orientation with organizational learning to achieve a competitive lead. It is an attempt to fill an evident gap in the literature of integrating organizational learning into a market-oriented competitive strategy through using a four-step collective learning cycle at General Motors Egypt (GME).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a qualitative case study methodology to thoroughly examine the viewpoints of 90 respondents via in-depth and unstructured interviews with both managers and employees working in a variety of divisions inside GME. An integrative qualitative data analysis approach is used to explore, synthesize, interpret and derive relationships resulting from the collected data.

Findings

This work advances the theory of organizational learning by testing the theme of collective learning cycle in a real work setting. It presents a real example of aligning market orientation into a collective learning cycle directed toward achieving competitive advantages.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides scholars and practitioners alike with a real scenario on how and why a four-step organizational learning cycle functions as a building block to generate a competitive advantage. It also discusses the elements of collective learning that are not captured by the four-step collective learning cycle. Factors facilitating market-based organizational learning are also explored. However, the results generated are contingent on the investigated case study circumstances, which are limited in generalizability.

Practical implications

The paper addresses a set of directions through which auto assembly firms leverage both collective learning practices and knowledge-driven strategy to gain competitive advantages. The GME paradigm indicates how a firm can use collective learning not only to respond to an internal need for change but also to react to external market forces and constraints.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind to investigate the value of the cyclic learning concept from a strategic viewpoint in a multinational organizational context. It enriches the primarily practitioner literature on aligning collective learning into strategy with rich empirical examination of the learning practices of a leading foreign subsidiary. It resolves a gap in the literature regarding how organizational learning and knowledge management processes are aligned to market-oriented competitive strategy. The paper draws a number of critical research issues that call for refinement of the organizational learning cycle theory.
Implementing HBIM on conservation heritage projects
Authors: Woodward Alexa , Heesom David
Published: January 2020

Purpose

Heritage or historic building information modelling (BIM), often referred to as HBIM, is becoming an established feature in both research and practice. The advancement of data capture technologies such as laser scanning and improved photogrammetry, along with the continued power of BIM authoring tools, has provided the ability to generate more accurate digital representations of heritage buildings which can then be used during renovation and refurbishment projects. Very often these representations of HBIM are developed to support the design process. What appears to be often overlooked is the issue of conservation and how this can be linked to the BIM process to support the conservation management plan for the building once it is given a new lease of life following the refurbishment process. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a review of the context of conservation and HBIM, and then subsequently presents two case studies of how HBIM was applied to high-profile renovation and conservation projects in the UK. In presenting the case studies, a range of issues is identified which support findings from the literature noting that HBIM is predominantly a tool for the geometric modelling of historic fabric with less regard for the actual process of renovation and conservation in historic buildings.

Findings

Lessons learnt from the case studies and from existing literature are distilled to develop a framework for the implementation of HBIM on heritage renovation projects to support the ongoing conservation of the building as an integral part of a BIM-based asset management strategy. Five key areas are identified in the framework including value, significance, recording, data management and asset management. Building on this framework, a conceptual overlay is proposed to the current Level 2 BIM process to support conservation heritage projects.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the issue of HBIM application to conservation heritage projects. Whilst previous work in the field has identified conservation as a key area, there is very little work focusing on the process of conservation in the HBIM context. This work provides a framework and overlay which could be used by practitioners and researchers to ensure that HBIM is fully exploited and a more standardised method is employed which could be used on conservation heritage renovation projects.
Food image segmentation using edge adaptive based deep-CNNs
Authors: C. Burkapalli Vishwanath. , Patil Priyadarshini C.
Published: January 2020

Purpose

Indian food recognition can be considered as a case of fine-grained type visual recognition, where the several photos of same category generally have significant variability. Therefore, effective segmentation and classification technique is required to identify the particular cuisines and fine-grained analysis. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors provided an effective segmentation approach through the proposed edge adaptive (EA)-deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) model, where each input images are divided into patches in order to provide much efficient and accurate structural description of data.

Findings

EA-DCNNs starts with developing a coarse map of feature that obtained through DCNN, afterwards EA model is applied to construct the final segmented image.

Originality/value

The training model of EA-DCNN consists of pooling, rectified linear unit and convolution, which help convolutional network to optimize the performance of segmentation in a significant extent, which is much practical and relevant in the context of food image segmentation.
Comparison of research and industry views on project managers’ competencies
Authors: Moradi Sina , Kähkönen Kalle , Aaltonen Kirsi
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The success of projects clearly relies on project management personnel and particularly on project managers. Their performance and capacities are based on the achieved competencies. The purpose of this paper is to address possible discrepancies between the views arising from the research results and standards of practice related to project managers’ competencies.

Design/methodology/approach

For reaching the aim of the study, a comprehensive literature review, covering previous studies and related standards of practice was conducted, and analyses of competencies in the studies and standards of practice containing the rank of competencies based on frequency of appearance were developed.

Findings

The findings are proposing four discrepancies between the results of previous studies and standards of practice: commonly existing/missing competencies; uneven priority of some competencies in the view of researchers vs standards of practice; uneven degree of consensus on the importance of competencies; and research results are more context-oriented than the standards of practice. In addition, 98 project managers’ competencies were identified, from which 68 were qualified as weighty ones. Moreover, a categorization of project managers’ weighty competencies was developed. Finally, a list of competencies of relevance for different project types and their targets is presented.

Originality/value

The findings of this study provide a contribution with respect of present knowledge over project managers’ competencies by recognizing certain discrepancies between research results and standards of practice. Another contribution of the study is the comprehensive list of competencies together with considerations of their relevance in different project contexts and in different project types.
Work–family conflict, negative affect and psychosomatic health complaints among female physicians in Egypt
Authors: Mohammed Sayed Mostafa Ahmed
Published: January 2020

Purpose

This study aims to examine the direct relationship between work–family conflict and psychosomatic health complaints among female physicians in Egypt. The study also investigates the mediating role of the negative affect on this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a paper and pen questionnaire from 186 female physicians, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data.

Findings

The study findings revealed that work–family conflict is associated with increased psychosomatic complaints among female physicians in Egypt. The study also found that negative affect partially mediates the relationship between work–family conflict and psychosomatic health complaints.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the cross-sectional research design, causal interpretations could not be made. Further empirical evidence is also needed to ascertain the generalizability of the findings to other contexts.

Practical implications

Organizations need to support their employees in balancing their work and family roles. In addition, employees need to understand how work–family conflict could influence their affect and should try to find ways to cope.

Originality/value

The study addresses calls for research on the relationship between work–family conflict and health in developing countries. It also responds to calls for research on the mechanisms through which work–family conflict relates to employee health.
Management and culture in successful networks
Authors: Cristofoli Daniela , Martini Mattia , Trivellato Benedetta , Cavenago Dario
Published: January 2020

Purpose

It is generally recognized that network management is a critical factor for network success. It is also acknowledged that different managerial behaviors are necessary in different network settings. Scholars have explored the relationships between network characteristics and managerial behaviors, but the role of network culture in influencing network managers’ activities remains under-investigated. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is developed through a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of 18 country-based networks involved in the same EU-funded project.

Findings

The results shed light on two different combinations of network culture types and management practices simultaneously leading to high network performance.

Originality/value

The paper confirms the existence of a relationship between network management and certain characteristics of the networks, in particular network culture.
Responses of Arab teachers of Hebrew in Israel to an Israeli novel on Jewish-Arab relations
Authors: Rudin Shai
Published: January 2020

Purpose

This study aims to examine the responses and perceptions of Israeli Arab teachers toward multicultural and educational issues concerning Jewish–Arab relations.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a qualitative research. The study included 44 novice Arab teachers, who teach Hebrew in the Arab sector and are currently studying toward their masters’ degree at a teacher education college in northern Israel. The teachers were asked to read the novel Nadia by Galila Ron Feder–Amit. Published in 1985, the novel describes the complex integration of Nadia, an Arab village girl, into a Jewish boarding school, and it is narrated in first person. After having read the novel, the teachers were requested to answer the writing task, which addressed the character of the protagonist, the issue of teaching the novel in the Jewish and Arabic educational systems and the anticipated responses of Jewish and Arab students to the novel.

Findings

Phenomenological analysis of the teachers’ responses found that the reading experience was complex and resulted in a variety of responses toward the protagonist. Some were based on identification and appreciation, while others on criticism and judgment of the heroine’s restraint vis-a-vis the racism that she was experiencing. However, most of the teachers demonstrated moral courage and thought that the novel should be taught, as they viewed it as a bridge leading to understanding between the two nations. The teachers anticipated conflicting responses of Jewish and Arab students to the novel, according to the students’ political views and values.

Practical implications

These findings indicate that the educational system should include political texts relating to the Jewish–Arab schism, especially texts that voice the Palestinian narrative. This view differs from the current situation in both sectors, whereby the tendency is to avoid political texts while ignoring the Palestinian narrative.

Originality/value

The study shows that the reading experience of a political novel affords various and often contrasting responses with the teachers facing the didactic challenges. The teachers who participated in the study anticipated complexity of the reading and teaching process, yet were not deterred by it, particularly in view of the novel’s messages – striving to understand the “other” and to bridge a discourse between the nations.
Factors that affect acceptance and use of information systems within the Maritime industry in developing countries
Authors: Wiafe Isaac , Koranteng Felix Nti , Tettey Thomasina , Kastriku Ferdinand A. , Abdulai Jamal-Deen
Published: January 2020

Purpose

Although information and communication technology has become a significant driver for organizational efficiency and effectiveness, there is inadequate empirical research on technology acceptance in the maritime industry especially in developing countries. Literature on how behavior and attitude influence technology acceptance is non-existent. This study therefore aims to augment existing literature on technology acceptance in developing countries with particular emphasis on the maritime industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The study extended the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to investigate the factors that affect the acceptance and use of INTTRA: a multi-carrier booking and shipping system designed to facilitate ocean trade worldwide. Responses from 198 subjects, collected through a questionnaire, were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling.

Findings

The research model confirmed significant influences of performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, anxiety and attitude towards use on users’ intention to use INTTRA. In contrast, social influence, effort expectancy and self-efficacy did not significantly influence intention to use. Although these findings confirm some proposed relationships in the UTAUT model, it contradicted the cultural dimension argument that developing countries with higher degrees of femininity pay less attention to performance and high attention to social influence.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to knowledge in the area of information systems and technology acceptance in developing countries. Particularly, it seeks to expand literature on adoption within the maritime industry. The study is limited to the sample used for the study, as it used participants from only one country. However, the findings are not generalized for the entire maritime industry but rather Ghana.

Originality/value

The originality of the study is derived from the provision of literature on adoption within the maritime industry in developing countries. It also provided evidence that challenges existing knowledge on characteristics of countries that exhibits high level of femininity culture as proposed by Hofstede.
Tax compliance as a driver for adopting information technologies – effect on competencies development and on competitive advantages
Authors: Martins Adérito Leitão , Picoto Winnie Ng
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The adoption of information systems (IS) by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) leads to the acquisition of new competencies and relative advantages. In some cases, the decision to adopt IS results from legal obligations that companies must comply with. This paper aims to assess the effect of the mandatory digital transmission of documents to the tax and customs authority on the decision to adopt IS by SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a research model to analyze the antecedents of IS adoption and the relationship between that adoption and the development of new competencies and the consequent relative advantages. Based on the data from 94 European SMEs, this paper tests the research model with a partial least squares approach.

Findings

The findings show that companies decide to adopt IS due to their obligations for tax compliance. However, while some companies decide to adopt basic IS just to comply with the transmission of documents, others decided to implement more complex systems to satisfy wider company needs.

Research limitations/implications

Due to time constraints, the characteristics of the respondents such as their sector of activity, the sensitivity of companies and entrepreneurs to IS, their geographic distribution or years of activity were not studied. As mentioned above it is important to investigate further the characteristics of the companies and their differentiation factors between those who only invest to reduce costs and those that see IS as a differentiating factor. This factor could be a source of information to study the company and its environment that is very useful in increasingly competitive markets.

Practical implications

This study is important because it shows managers the possible ways of thinking that can guide their investment decisions and whether these will lead them to face future challenges.

Originality/value

For researchers, this paper shows how a change in the law may have an effect on decisions to adopt technology and how existing theories can be applied to study the effects of changes in the law.
A transformative perspective of financial services for the unbanked
Authors: Bustamante Juan , Amaya Adriana
Published: January 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the factors that affect financial services design of and their effect on the improvement of the unbanked customer well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a path analysis to examine customer well-being integration in the activities of service organizations. The theoretical estimation model was conducted using a structural equation model with maximum likelihood estimation. To build a more robust model that explains customer well-being, direct and indirect effects are used in the estimation of the research model.

Findings

Perceived customer support and interaction with the storekeeper are two major factors that, positively, influence trust and customer participation (CP). In addition, CP plays a key role in enhancing financial empowerment and thereby in the production of greater customer well-being.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on the positive effects that the design of services has on customer well-being and exposes the underlying mechanisms that contribute to customer well-being through CP. It also provides a unique financial service format and specific strategies for managing trust and CP to enhance individual well-being in the unbanked population in a developing country.
Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process model for multi-criteria analysis of internet of things
Authors: Mashal Ibrahim , Alsaryrah Osama
Published: January 2020

Purpose

Nowadays, there are various internet of things (IoT) applications covering many aspects of daily life. Many people own numerous smart objects that use these IoT applications. The purpose of this study is determining suitable IoT applications for each user which is a relevant challenge because it is amulti-criteria decision-making.

Design/methodology/approach

To solve this challenge, the authors propose fuzzy analytical hierarchy process model. Based on the opinions of IoT experts, the model and the hierarchy were designed to assess and compare three crucial IoT criteria, namely, object, application and providers.

Findings

The results indicated that the application criterion is far more relevant for users other than the two criteria. The findings of this study offer insights into more effective decision-making for IoT application developers and providers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the IoT through proposing a fuzzy model to classify IoT applications. The findings provide meaningful implications for IoT application providers.
Differentiating two facets of trust in colleagues
Authors: Tu Yidong , Zhang Yangmei , Lu Xinxin , Wang Shuoli
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between ethical leadership and employee cross-team knowledge sharing via the differentiating mediating effects of cognitive and affective trust in colleagues.

Design/methodology/approach

Multi-source and multi-wave data were collected from 214 dyads of employees and their supervisors. Linear regression was employed to examine the hypotheses.

Findings

Ethical leadership positively predicts employee cross-team knowledge sharing. Affective trust in colleagues mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employee cross-team knowledge sharing, whereas cognitive trust in colleagues does not. The hypothesis – the mediating effect of affective trust in colleagues between ethical leadership and cross-team knowledge sharing is greater than that of cognitive trust in colleagues – is not supported.

Originality/value

This study extends understanding of the influence of ethical leadership on cross-team knowledge sharing. It further differentiates cognitive and affective trust in colleagues between ethical leadership and cross-team knowledge sharing. These findings are valuable for improving the research of leadership practices and knowledge sharing.
Strengthening knowledge sharing and job dedication
Authors: Liu Min-Ling , Lin Chieh-Peng , Chen Mei-Liang , Chen Pei-Chun , Chen Kuang-Jung
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a moderated mediation model to explain how corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical leadership influence knowledge sharing and job dedication through the mediating mechanism of positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness.

Design/methodology/approach

The research hypotheses were empirically tested using a survey of employees from the high-tech industry in Taiwan. The research constructs in this study were measured using five-point Likert scales modified from existing literature. The survey data were empirically analyzed with two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analysis.

Findings

The empirical results of this study reveal that CSR and ethical leadership positively relate to positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness. Knowledge sharing is positively affected by positive affective tone whereas job dedication is positively affected by positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness. While the relationship between positive affective tone and job dedication is positively moderated by job demand, the relationship between cognitive meaningfulness and job dedication is negatively moderated by job demand.

Originality/value

This study elucidates the ethical influences from organizations (i.e. CSR) and leaders (i.e. ethical leadership) respectively to explain affective and cognitive processes involved in work situations. At the same time, by clarifying the moderating role of job demand, this study provides valuable implications for managers to effectively leverage job demand for increasing employees’ job dedication.
Contract design for a multi-channel hotel service supply chain
Authors: Zeng Xiaoyan , Shi Pengcheng , Xie Wei
Published: January 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to reduce the confliction between different retail channels.

Design/methodology/approach

By investigating a game-theoretic model consisting of a dominant hotel, a promoter and an OTA, the authors analyze the optimal amount of reserved rooms on the hotel's official website and realize the coordination between the hotel and the promoter with an appropriate contact.

Findings

When the gap between promoter’s reservation profits under different promotion cost coefficients is reasonable, complete coordination can be achieved in the supply chain. In addition, numerical examples are conducted to show that the profit of hotel and supply chain can be maximized with a moderate amount of reserved rooms on OTA.

Research limitations/implications

The authors only focus on one OTA scenarios, which overlooks the competition between OTAs.

Practical implications

Coordination strategy can fierce the increase on profit when the customer conversion rate increases.

Originality/value

The authors propose a contract menu to help the hotel avoid the profit loss under asymmetric promotion cost information.
Predictors of police body-worn camera acceptance: digging deeper into officers’ perceptions
Authors: Todak Natalie , Gaub Janne E.
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine individual-level factors related to police body-worn camera (BWC) acceptance.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys were completed by 119 officers from one northwestern police agency a year after BWC deployment. Relationships between demographics, job characteristics, cultural attitudes, organizational justice perceptions and BWC acceptance were examined.

Findings

Supervisors, as well as officers who had worn BWCs longer, worked the most active patrol shifts, and viewed their supervisors as critical, reported more BWC acceptance. Other indicators of culture and organizational justice were not significant.

Originality/value

BWCs offer many benefits, but to realize these outcomes officers must accept and use the technology. Research shows wide variations in officer acceptance of BWCs. These findings suggest some officers view BWCs as helpful in dealing with job stressors, including supervisory responsibilities, high volumes of calls and critical supervisors, and tend to grow more accepting of them over time.