bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genome-scale and pathway engineering for the sustainable aviation fuel precursor isoprenol production inPseudomonas putida
Authors: Banerjee Deepanwita , Yunus Ian S. , Wang Xi , Kim Jinho , Srinivasan Aparajitha , Menchavez Russel , Chen Yan , Gin Jennifer W. , Petzold Christopher J. , Martin Hector Garcia , Adams Paul D. , Mukhopadhyay Aindrila , Kim Joonhoon , Lee Taek Soon
Published: April 2023

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will significantly impact global warming in the aviation sector, and important SAF targets are emerging. Isoprenol is a precursor for a promising SAF compound DMCO (1,4-dimethylcyclooctane), and has been produced in several engineered microorganisms. Recently,Pseudomonas putidahas gained interest as a future host for isoprenol bioproduction as it can utilize carbon sources from inexpensive plant biomass. Here, we engineer metabolically versatile hostP. putidafor isoprenol production. We employ two computational modeling approaches (Bilevel optimization and Constrained Minimal Cut Sets) to predict gene knockout targets and optimize the “IPP-bypass” pathway inP. putidato maximize isoprenol production. Altogether, the highest isoprenol production titer fromP. putidawas achieved at 3.5 g/L under fed-batch conditions. This combination of computational modeling and strain engineering onP. putidafor an advanced biofuels production has vital significance in enabling a bioproduction process that can use renewable carbon streams.
DDX5 (p68) orchestrates β-catenin, RelA and SP1 mediated MGMT gene expression: Implication in TMZ chemoresistance
Authors: Shaw Rajni , Karmakar Subhajit , Basu Malini , Ghosh Mrinal K.
Published: April 2023

DDX5 (p68) upregulation has been linked with various cancers of different origins, especially Colon Adenocarcinomas. Similarly, across cancers, MGMT has been identified as the major contributor of chemoresistance against DNA alkylating agents like Temozolomide (TMZ). TMZ is an emerging potent chemotherapeutic agent across cancers under the arena of drug repurposing. Recent studies have established that patients with open MGMT promoters are prone to be innately resistant or acquire resistance against TMZ compared to its closed conformation. However, not much is known about the transcriptional regulation of MGMT gene in the context of colon cancer. This necessitates studying MGMT gene regulation, which directly impacts the cellular potential to develop chemoresistance against alkylating agents. Our study aims to uncover an unidentified mechanism of DDX5-mediated MGMT gene regulation. Experimentally, we found that both mRNA and protein expression levels of MGMT were elevated in response to p68 overexpression in multiple human colon cancer cell lines and vice-versa. Since p68 cannot directly interact with the MGMT promoter, transcription factorsviz., β-catenin, RelA (p65) and SP1 were also studied as reported contributors. Through co-immunoprecipitation and GST-pull-down studies, p68 was established as an interacting partner of SP1 in addition to β-catenin and NF-κB (p50-p65). Mechanistically, luciferase reporter and chromatin-immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that p68 interacts with the MGMT promoterviaTCF4-LEF, RELA and SP1 sites to enhance its transcription. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of p68 as a transcriptional co-activator of MGMT promoter and our study identifies p68 as a novel and master regulator of MGMT gene expression.
AstroglialHmgb1regulates postnatal astrocyte morphogenesis and cerebrovascular maturation
Authors: Freitas-Andrade Moises , Comin Cesar H. , Dyken Peter Van , Ouellette Julie , Raman-Nair Joanna , Blakeley Nicole , Liu Qing Yan , Leclerc Sonia , Pan Youlian , Liu Ziying , Carrier Micaël , Thakur Karan , Savard Alexandre , Rurak Gareth M. , Tremblay Marie-Ève , Salmaso Natalina , Costa Luciano Da F. , Coppola Gianfilippo , Lacoste Baptiste
Published: April 2023

Astrocytes are intimately linked with brain vessels, a relationship that is critical for neuronal health and function. However, astroglial factors driving these physical and functional associations during postnatal brain development have yet to be identified. We characterized structural and transcriptional changes in mouse cortical astrocytes and microvessels during the first two postnatal weeks and found that high-mobility group box 1 (Hmgb1), normally upregulated with injury and involved in adult cerebrovascular repair, was highly expressed in astrocytes at birth and then decreased rapidly. Astrocyte-selective ablation ofHmgb1at birth affected astrocyte morphology and endfoot placement, altered distribution of endfoot proteins connexin43 and aquaporin-4, induced transcriptional changes in astrocytes related to cytoskeleton remodeling, and profoundly disrupted endothelial ultrastructure. While lack of astroglialHmgb1did not affect the blood-brain barrier or angiogenesis postnatally, it impaired neurovascular coupling and behavior in adult mice. These findings identify astroglialHmgb1as a key player in postnatal gliovascular maturation.
Identification of B56α, B56γ and BAP1 as PRR14L binding partners
Authors: Chase Andrew , Carreño-Tarragona Gonzalo , Lin Feng , Yapp Sarah , Score Joanna , Bryant Catherine , Cross Nicholas CP
Published: April 2023

Truncating mutations have been previously described inPRR14Lassociated with acquired isodisomy of chromosome 22 in myeloid neoplasms. Very little is known about the function of PRR14L, but previous work showed localization to the midbody and binding to KIF4A. Here we confirm binding of PRR14L to PP2A components B56α and B56γ. Similar to the related protein PRR14, PRR14L binds B56α via a conserved short linear motif within the C-terminal Tantalus domain. We also confirmed binding to BAP1, which forms the H2A deubiquinating complex PR-DUB with ASXL1, thereby linking PRR14L to a protein with established leukemogenic significance. AlphaFold data predicts PRR14L structure to be largely disordered, consistent with a possible role as a scaffold protein.
Enhancing extracellular vesicle cargo loading and functional delivery by engineering protein-lipid interactions
Authors: Peruzzi Justin A. , Gunnels Taylor F. , Edelstein Hailey I. , Lu Peilong , Baker David , Leonard Joshua N. , Kamat Neha P.
Published: April 2023

Naturally generated lipid nanoparticles termed extracellular vesicles (EVs) hold significant promise as engineerable therapeutic delivery vehicles. However, active loading of protein cargo into EVs in a manner that is useful for delivery remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate that by rationally designing proteins to traffic to the plasma membrane and associate with lipid rafts, we can enhance loading of protein cargo into EVs for a set of structurally diverse transmembrane and peripheral membrane proteins. We then demonstrate the capacity of select lipid tags to mediate increased EV loading and functional delivery of an engineered transcription factor to modulate gene expression in target cells. We envision that this technology could be leveraged to develop new EV-based therapeutics that deliver a wide array of macromolecular cargo.
Snowprint: a predictive tool for genetic biosensor discovery
Authors: d’Oelsnitz Simon , Stofel Sarah K. , Ellington Andrew D.
Published: April 2023

Bioengineers increasingly rely on ligand-inducible transcription regulators for chemical-responsive control of gene expression, yet the number of regulators available is limited. Novel regulators can be mined from genomes, but an inadequate understanding of their DNA specificity complicates genetic design. Here we present Snowprint, a simple yet powerful bioinformatic tool for predicting regulator:DNA interactions. Benchmarking results demonstrate that Snowprint predictions are significantly similar for >45% of experimentally validated regulator:operator pairs from organisms across nine phyla and for regulators that span five distinct structural families. We then use Snowprint to design promoters for 33 previously uncharacterized regulators sourced from diverse phylogenies, of which 28 were shown to influence gene expression and 24 produced a >20-fold signal-to-noise ratio. A panel of the newly domesticated regulators were then screened for response to biomanufacturing-relevant compounds, yielding new sensors for a polyketide (olivetolic acid), terpene (geraniol), steroid (ursodiol), and alkaloid (tetrahydropapaverine) with induction ranges up to 10.7-fold. Snowprint represents a unique, generalizable tool that greatly facilitates the discovery of ligand-inducible transcriptional regulators for bioengineering applications.

Abstract Figure
Actin- and microtubule-based motors contribute to clathrin-independent endocytosis in yeast
Authors: Woodard Thaddeus K. , Rioux Daniel J. , Prosser Derek C.
Published: April 2023

Most eukaryotic cells utilize clathrin-mediated endocytosis as well as multiple clathrin-independent pathways to internalize proteins and membranes. Although clathrin-mediated endocytosis has been studied extensively and many machinery proteins have been identified, clathrin-independent pathways remain poorly characterized by comparison. We previously identified the first known yeast clathrin-independent endocytic pathway, which relies on the actin-modulating GTPase Rho1, the formin Bni1 and unbranched actin filaments, but does not require the clathrin coat or core clathrin machinery proteins. In this study, we sought to better understand clathrin-independent endocytosis in yeast by exploring the role of myosins as actin-based motors, since actin is required for endocytosis in yeast. We find that Myo2, which transports secretory vesicles, organelles and microtubules along actin cables to sites of polarized growth, participates in clathrin-independent endocytosis. Unexpectedly, the ability of Myo2 to transport microtubule plus ends to the cell cortex appears to be required for its role in clathrin-independent endocytosis. In addition, dynein, dynactin and proteins involved in cortical microtubule capture are also required. Thus, our results suggest that interplay between actin and microtubules contributes to clathrin-independent internalization in yeast.

Summary Statement

Clathrin-independent endocytosis is a poorly-understood but conserved process. Here, we provide evidence of a role for myosin and dynein as motor proteins involved the yeast clathrin-independent pathway.
Exploring The Ability Of Machine Learning-Based Virtual Screening Models To Identify The Functional Groups Responsible For Binding
Authors: Hadfield Thomas E. , Scantlebury Jack , Deane Charlotte M.
Published: April 2023

Many recently proposed structure-based virtual screening models appear to be able to accurately distinguish high affinity binders from non-binders. However, several recent studies have shown that they often do so by exploiting ligand-specific biases in the dataset, rather than identifying favourable intermolecular interactions in the input protein-ligand complex. In this work we propose a novel approach for assessing the extent to which machine learningbased virtual screening models are able to identify the functional groups responsible for binding. To sidestep the difficulty in establishing the ground truth importance of each atom of a large scale set of protein-ligand complexes, we propose a protocol for generating synthetic data where the label of an example is assigned by a 3-dimensional deterministic binding rule. This allows us to precisely quantify the ground truth importance of each atom and compare it to the model generated attributions.

Using our generated datasets, we demonstrate that a recently proposed deep learning-based virtual screening model, PointVS, identified the most important functional groups with 39% more efficiency than a fingerprint-based random forest, suggesting that it would generalise more effectively to new examples.

In addition, we found that ligand-specific biases, such as those present in widely used virtual screening datasets, substantially impaired the ability of all ML models to identify the most important functional groups.

We have made our synthetic data generation framework available to facilitate the benchmarking of new virtual screening models. Code is available athttps://github.com/tomhadfield95/synthVS.
Abnormal homeostasis of P53 gene knockout mice can be reflected in urinary proteome
Authors: Pan Xuanzhen , Yang Minhui , Bao Yijin , Liu Yongtao , Gao Youhe
Published: April 2023

In this experiment, the urinary proteome analysis of p53 knockout mice at four relatively early time points before death was performed from three dimensions. One was to compare the differential proteins screened by homozygote and heterozygote at the same time point; the other was to compare the differential proteins screened by homozygote and wild-type as well as heterozygote and wild-type at the same time point; the third was to compare the differential proteins screened by homozygote and heterozygote before and after each time point, and to screen the differential proteins of three mice by self-control analysis and screening. Later, enrichment analysis of the differential proteins was performed mainly by Metascape and String, and disease association analysis of gene or variant genotype-phenotype with the help of DisGeNET and Monarch. We found that the biological pathways mainly related to metabolism were most abundant, and at the same time abnormal homeostasis, cancer and tumor, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases appeared. However, under the analysis of Monarch, homozygotes or heterozygotes contained abnormal homeostasis at all time points, and most of them ranked the first or at least the top, while all timepoints in the growth and development of each normal rat were not enriched to abnormal homeostasis and other disease pathways.
A single-cell atlas of the aging murine ovary
Authors: Isola José V. V. , Ocañas Sarah R. , Hubbart Chase R. , Ko Sunghwan , Ali Mondal Samim , Hense Jessica D. , Carter Hannah N. C. , Schneider Augusto , Kovats Susan , Alberola-Ila José , Freeman Willard M. , Stout Michael B.
Published: April 2023

Ovarian aging leads to diminished fertility, dysregulated endocrine signaling, and increased chronic disease burden. These effects begin to emerge long before follicular exhaustion. Around 35 years old, women experience a sharp decline in fertility, corresponding to declines in oocyte quality. Despite a growing body of work, the field lacks a comprehensive cellular map of the transcriptomic changes in the aging ovary to identify early drivers of ovarian decline. To fill this gap, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on ovarian tissue from young (3-month-old) and reproductively aged (9-month-old) mice. Our analysis revealed a doubling of immune cells in the aged ovary, with lymphocyte proportions increasing the most, which was confirmed by flow cytometry. We also found an age-related downregulation of collagenase pathways in stromal fibroblasts, which corresponds to rises in ovarian fibrosis. Follicular cells displayed stress response, immunogenic, and fibrotic signaling pathway inductions with aging. This report raises provides critical insights into mechanisms responsible for ovarian aging phenotypes.
Ancestral genome reconstruction enhances transposable element annotation by identifying degenerate integrants
Authors: Matsushima Wayo , Planet Evarist , Trono Didier
Published: April 2023

Growing evidence indicates that transposable elements (TEs) play important roles in evolution by providing genomes with coding and non-coding elements. Identification of TE-derived functional elements, however, has relied on TE annotations in individual species, which limits its scope to relatively intact TE sequences and misses elements derived from evolutionarily old TEs. Here, we report a novel approach to uncover previously unannotated degenerate TEs (degTEs) by probing multiple ancestral genomes reconstructed from hundreds of species. We applied this method to the human genome and discovered 1,452,810 degTEs, representing a 10.8% increase over the most recent human TE coverage. Further, we discovered that degTEs contribute to variouscis-regulatory elements as well as transcription factor binding sites, including those of a known TE-controlling family, the KRAB zinc-finger proteins. We also report unannotated chimeric transcripts between degTEs and human genes expressed in embryos. This study provides a novel methodology and a freely available resource that will facilitate the investigation of TE co-option events on a full scale.
The murine meninges acquire lymphoid tissue properties and harbour autoreactive B cells during chronicTrypanosoma bruceiinfection
Authors: Quintana Juan F. , Sinton Matthew C. , Chandrasegaran Praveena , Dubey Lalit Kumar , Ogunsola John , Samman Moumen Al , Haley Michael , McConnell Gail , Swar Nono-Raymond Kuispond , Ngoyi Dieudonne Mumba , Bending David , Lecea Luis de , MacLeod Annette , Mabbott Neil A.
Published: April 2023

The meningeal space is a critical brain structure providing immunosurveillance for the central nervous system, but the impact of infections on the meningeal immune landscape is far from being fully understood. The extracellular protozoan parasiteTrypanosoma brucei, which causes Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness, accumulates in the meningeal spaces, ultimately inducing severe meningitis and resulting in death if left untreated. Thus, sleeping sickness represents an attractive model to study immunological dynamics in the meninges during infection. Here, by combining single cell transcriptomics and mass cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF) within vivointerventions, we found that chronicT. bruceiinfection triggers the development of ectopic lymphoid aggregates (ELAs) in the murine meninges. These infection-induced ELAs were defined by the presence of ER-TR7+fibroblastic reticular cells, CD21/35+follicular dendritic cells, CXCR5+PD1+T follicular helper-like phenotype, GL7+CD95+GC-like B cells, and plasmablasts/plasma cells. Furthermore, the B cells found in the infected meninges produced high-affinity autoantibodies able to recognise mouse brain antigens, in a process dependent on LTβ signalling. A mid-throughput screening identified several host factors recognised by these autoantibodies, including myelin basic protein (MBP), coinciding with cortical demyelination and brain pathology. In humans, we identified the presence of autoreactive IgG antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid of second stage HAT patients that recognised human brain lysates and MBP, consistent with our findings in experimental infections. Lastly, we found that the pathological B cell responses we observed in the meninges required the presence ofT. bruceiin the CNS, as suramin treatment before the onset of the CNS stage prevented the accumulation of GL7+CD95+GC-like B cells and brain-specific autoantibody deposition. Taken together, our data provide evidence that the meningeal immune response during chronicT. bruceiinfection results in the acquisition of lymphoid tissue-like properties, broadening our understanding of meningeal immunity in the context of chronic infections. These findings have wider implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying the formation ELAs during chronic inflammation resulting in autoimmunity in mice and humans, as observed in other autoimmune neurodegenerative disorders, including neuropsychiatric lupus and multiple sclerosis.
Alternative splicing decouples local from global PRC2 activity
Authors: Arecco Niccolò , Mocavini Ivano , Blanco Enrique , Ballaré Cecilia , Bonnal Sophie , Irimia Manuel , Di Croce Luciano
Published: April 2023

The Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) mediates epigenetic maintenance of gene silencing in eukaryotes via methylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27). This complex interacts with sets of accessory factors to form two distinct subtypes, PRC2.1 and PRC2.2, that differ in their actions and chromatin targeting mechanisms. The underlying molecular mechanisms orchestrating PRC2 assembly are not yet fully understood. Here, we report that alternative splicing (AS) of the PRC2 core component SUZ12 generates an uncharacterised isoform SUZ12-S, which co-exists with the canonical SUZ12-L isoform in the same cell in virtually all tissues and developmental stages. We show that SUZ12-S drives PRC2.1 subtype formation and favours PRC2 dimerisation. While SUZ12-S is necessary and sufficient to ensure correct repression of Polycomb target genes via promoter-proximal H3K27me3 deposition, SUZ12-L is needed for maintaining global H3K27 methylation levels. Lastly, we show that mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) lacking either of the two isoforms have a slower exit from pluripotency upon differentiation stimulus. Our findings thus reveal a physiological mechanism regulating PRC2 assembly and higher-order interactions, with impacts on H3K27 methylation and gene repression.
Weakly supervised contrastive learning predicts tumor infiltrating macrophages and immunotherapy benefit in breast cancer from unannotated pathology images
Authors: Yu Guobang , Zuo Yi , Wang Bin , Liu Hui
Published: April 2023

The efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors is significantly influenced by the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). RNA sequencing of tumor biopsies or surgical specimens can offer valuable insights into TIME, but its high cost and long turnaround time seriously restrict its utility in routine clinical examinations. Several recent studies have suggested that ultra-high resolution pathology images can infer cellular and molecular characteristics. However, studies on revealing TIME from pathology images are still limited.In this paper, we proposed a novel weakly supervised contrastive learning model to deduce tumor immune microenvironment features from whole slide images (WSIs) of H&E stained pathological sections. The high-resolution WSIs are split into tiles, and then contrastive learning is applied to extract features of each tile. After aggregating the features at the tile level, we employ weak supervisory signals to fine-tune the encoder for various downstream tasks. Comprehensive downstream experiments on two independent breast cancer cohorts and spatial transcriptomics data demonstrate that our computational pathological features accurately predict the proportion of tumor infiltrating immune cells, particularly the infiltration level of macrophages, as well as the immune subtypes and biomarker gene expression levels. These findings demonstrate that our model effectively captures pathological features beyond human vision, establishing a mapping relationship between cellular compositions and histological morphology, thus expanding the clinical applications of digital pathology images.
Product information the more the better? A moderated mediation model to explain consumer purchasing intention in cross-border e-commerce
Authors: Yang Xianchuan , Ma Yin , Han Jiashi
Published: April 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of product information on purchase intention and evaluate the moderated mediation effect of return policy leniency in cross-border e-commerce.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is to use multiple regression analysis on 406 qualified online survey responses to determine the influence of product description, product display, and product content on consumer purchasing intention through product involvement as well as the moderated mediation effect of return policy leniency.

Findings

The results show that product description and product content were positively associated with product involvement, while product display did not exhibit a significant relationship between it and product involvement. As hypothesized, product involvement mediated the relationship of product description and product content with consumer purchasing intention. The return policy leniency was also found to positively moderate the mediation path of product content on purchasing intention through product involvement.

Originality/value

This study bridges a gap in the literature on the influence of three kinds of product information on purchasing intention through product involvement in a cross-border e-commerce context. Especially the study is one of the first attempts to determine that good return policy do not apply universally due to implied boundary conditions. The results can be used to expand consumption in cross-border e-commerce.
Market development strategy and process performance of knowledge-intensive SMEs in the epidemic era: a process-oriented perspective
Authors: Wang Siying , Hu Haiqing , Zhang Zhiguang
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This study analyzes in-depth how knowledge-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can achieve higher new product development (NPD) process performance in the epidemic era and examine the internal development mechanism of knowledge-intensive SMEs in the process of continuous digital transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

This issue is tested with partial least squares on data collected via a survey conducted from November 2021 to February 2022. The sample comprises 487 knowledge-intensive SMEs operating in China.

Findings

The results indicate that one form of cross-functional ambidexterity, market development strategy (MDS), plays an important role in process performance from an inside-out financial perspective and an outside-in customer perspective. Simultaneously, product innovation efficiency (PIE) mediates the relationship between MDS and the above results. Big data analytics capabilities (BDACs) positively regulate the relationship between MDS and PIE.

Research limitations/implications

The authors do not consider other contingency factors. Future research should introduce influential factors such as leadership and competitive intensity to further distinguish the effects of MDS on NPD process performance.

Practical implications

The study findings offer suggestions to help knowledge-intensive SME managers better manage their NPD process by making better use of their limited resources in developing countries such as China.

Originality/value

This study is one of only a few to adopt a process-oriented perspective to specifically examine how one form of cross-functional ambidexterity, MDS, impacts knowledge-intensive SME process performance in the epidemic era. This study also extends the theoretical framework of cross-functional ambidexterity to BDAC research.
Substitutability between older and younger workers and its implications for Japan
Authors: Nguyen Quoc Hung
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This study investigates the impact of the increasing proportion of older workers in the workforce by establishing a theoretical framework and estimating the degree of substitutability between them and their younger counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

The first step is to establish a theoretical framework that combines older and younger workers with imperfect substitutability in the production of final goods within an aggregate production function. The author then derives an equation that relates the relative wage, relative supply and elasticity of substitution between the worker types, for use in estimation. Using data from Japan’s Basic Survey on Wage Structure and Population Census from 2010 to 2019 across 47 prefectures, the author estimates the elasticity of substitution between older and younger workers in Japan.

Findings

The author finds that workers aged 55 and over and their younger counterparts are gross substitutes, and the estimated elasticity of substitution is in the range of 2.33–2.86. This implies that a 10% increase in the relative number of workers aged 55 and older leads to a fall in their relative wage in the range of 3.5–4.3%. The study estimations suggest that since 2010, there has been a convergence in the relative wage of older workers across Japan’s prefectures.

Originality/value

Understanding the degree of substitutability between older and younger workers is essential for quantitatively assessing the impact of workforce aging, technological advancements and labor policies on the wage distribution. This study estimates the elasticity of substitution between the two worker types based on a theoretical model, and utilizes recent datasets and methodology not adequately addressed in previous literature.
The role of higher education image and service quality on the effect of university social responsibility (USR) on student loyalty in Indonesia
Authors: Suranta Sri , Rahmawati Rahmawati
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This research examined the direct and indirect effect of university social responsibility (USR) on student loyalty through the mediation of service quality and university image.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample includes 35 students from Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa, a private university, and 74 respondents from Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, a state university, totaling 109 respondents. The data were obtained by sending a questionnaire in the form of Google Docs through the student WhatsApp groups at the universities. Furthermore, the four variable constructs were tested with loading factors to determine reliability, and Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the construct validity. The research hypotheses were tested via path analysis using the WarpPLS 8.0 statistical tool.

Findings

The results showed that the image of the university mediates the relationship between USR and student loyalty. Meanwhile, service quality does not mediate the relationship. The USR had a direct relationship with service quality, university image and student loyalty. The image of the university also had a direct effect on student loyalty, while service quality had an insignificant effect on student loyalty. Therefore, based on the coefficient value, the indirect effect between USR and student loyalty through the image of the university is stronger than the direct effect between USR and student loyalty.

Originality/value

Several previous models examined the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumer loyalty in general, but this research has applications in the education sector with a different concept, namely USR with different measurements.
Psychological contract of employees in family-owned hotels: the role of talent management practices
Authors: Mousa Mohamed , Arslan Ahmad , Abdelgaffar Hala
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This study aims to analyse how talent management practices in family-owned hotels contribute to their employees' fulfilment of their psychological contract.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 employees working at three different family business hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Moreover, thematic analysis was undertaken on the collected data resulting in four major themes.

Findings

The findings revealed that stimulating employees to fulfil their psychological contract towards their family-owned hotels leads to several benefits. First, it leads to talent management practices that support crisis management, sustainability and resilience. Second, it contributes to empathy towards or at least a deep concern for the future of work in the hospitality sector. Third, to fulfil their psychological contract, employees, particularly non-family members, require inclusive talent management and ongoing training programmes tailored to prepare them to meet current and future challenges in the hospitality sector.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the present study is the first study to empirically investigate the relationship between talent management practices and the psychological contract of employees in family-owned hotels, especially in developing economy context of Egypt. Also, it is one of the pioneering studies to unpack these dynamics for family as well as non-family employees.
Construction practice knowledge for complementing classroom teaching during site visits
Authors: Olayiwola Johnson , Yusuf Anthony Olukayode , Akanmu Abiola Abosede , Murzi Homero , Gao Xinghua , Afsari Kereshmeh
Published: April 2023

Purpose

As video-based interventions are continuously utilized as alternatives to physical site visits, directing students' attention to specific learning contents within videos could increase their comprehension and stimulate their interest. Students' knowledge of construction practice can be reinforced, misconceptions and improper inferences can be reduced by calling out significant learning concepts. However, few studies have formalized practice concepts that could be beneficial in preparing students for the workplace. This paper presents an investigation of construction practice concepts, based on site visits that would be beneficial in complimenting classroom teaching to prepare students for the realities of practice.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed methods research approach was employed combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. An online questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and a focus group were conducted with industry practitioners and instructors to identify the topics and practice concepts significant for supporting classroom teaching with site visits.

Findings

The findings suggest that the most relevant topics typically supported with site visits are preconstruction management, excavation and foundation work, construction equipment, construction means and methods, project management, road construction, sustainability, building systems, structures, construction technology, building construction, capstone, site logistics and safety. Practice concepts were identified for each of these topics.

Research limitations/implications

The study will guide researchers in the design of video-based pedagogical tools to be used as an effective complement of or alternative to site visit experiences. The findings will support instructors on how to structure their teaching practices to prepare students for some of the complexities of the workplace.

Originality/value

This study adds value to the existing literature by providing insights into industry perception of practice concepts for complementing classroom teaching.
Cost‐utility analysis of separated continuous renal replacement therapy systems versus intermittent hemodialysis in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury in a low‐resource setting
Authors: Phongphithakchai Atthaphong , Liabsuetrakul Tippawan , Boonsrirat Ussanee
Published: April 2023

Background

The aim of this study is to perform a cost‐utility analysis of separated continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) compared with intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI).

Methods

Cost and clinical data were gathered from adult patients with AKI who received separated CRRT or IHD at a tertiary hospital in Thailand. We applied a Markov model in this study. Our primary outcome was the incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER). We performed sensitivity analysis to assess the influence of parameter uncertainty.

Results

We enrolled 199 critically ill patients with AKI. Of these patients, 129 underwent separated CRRT, and the rest underwent IHD. The mortality rate and dialysis dependence status were not significantly different between the groups. The total costs of separated CRRT were lower than IHD ($73 042.20 vs. $89 244.37). We estimated that separated CRRT increased quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) by 0.21 compared with IHD. The ICER of −74 035.16 USD/QALY gained in the case‐based analysis indicated that separated CRRT is superior to IHD due to the lower cost and more cumulative QALYs. After performing sensitivity analysis by varying parameter ranges, separated CRRT remained a cost‐saving approach.

Conclusions

Separated CRRT is a cost‐saving modality compared with IHD in critically ill patients with AKI. This approach can be applied in resource‐limited settings.
Integration, urban citizenship, and spatial aspects of (new) mobilities: Greek migrants' constructions of integration in European cities
Authors: Zisakou Anastasia , Figgou Lia
Published: April 2023

This study aims at casting light on the ways in which spatial aspects of mobility and belonging serve as social‐psychological discursive resources used by Intra‐European Greek immigrants in order to account for integration. For the purposes of the study, 17 virtual interviews with Greek migrants in European cities were analysed. Interview discussion was facilitated by photographs of participants' meaningful places. In the analysis, accounts of belonging to the community ‘in general’ were juxtaposed to accounts of bonding with specific places. Participants, using spatial discursive resources and constituting complex relationships between political participation, citizenship and place, developed competing arguments and positioned themselves as integrated or excluded from local, national or supranational communities. Accounts of attachment to private and public places mobilized constructions of citizenship based on place appropriation and people–environment relations and constructed spatial or symbolic boundaries. The conclusions underscore the benefits of understanding migrant integration through multilevel (local, national and supranational) constructions of political participation and urban and localized perspectives of citizenship.
The Green Energy Transition and Peripheral City Development in China: Towards a Local Eco‐developmental State
Authors: Lin Victor Kaiyuan , Wang Jenn‐Hwan
Published: April 2023

The green energy transition is recognized for its inherent environmental contributions. This article illustrates how it can also reshape the economic landscape and create the conditions for a peripheral city to develop. Drawing on the politics of accelerating low‐carbon transition and focusing on the role that local governments play in this process, the authors illustrate how the green energy transition has commercialized wind and solar resources and constructed a new resource control system in northwest China. The Gobi Desert has extensive wind and solar energy resources; having the authority to grant access to preferential sites to exploit these resources empowers local governments to combine their interests with those of other stakeholders to build local capacity and achieve developmental goals. Governments are also able to manipulate renewable energy curtailments to promote infrastructure investment, technological progress, and the grid‐parity model. The green energy transition can therefore play a role in upgrading industrial structures, alleviating local poverty, narrowing regional development gaps, and contributing to national environmental improvement. This study provides a theoretical contribution to our understanding of how the local eco‐developmental state configures new energy spaces and restructures local governance, and argues that green industrial policies are sometimes actively nurtured by local rather than central governments.
Comrades from the town: How did a factory‐commune pairing policy during the Send‐Down Movement propel rural industrialization in China?
Authors: Du Limin , Lai Zhenhao , Shi Jinchuan , Wang Zheng
Published: April 2023

This paper traces the institutional root of China's rural industrialization to a historical policy, which paired factories in urban areas with people's communes in the countryside during the Send‐Down Movement in the 1970s. The policy, initially intended to improve the lives of sent‐down youth (SDY), is believed to have provided some initial impetus for industrial development in rural areas before the marketization reform that began in the late 1970s. Based on a manually collected county‐level panel dataset of Zhejiang Province, we find that following the implementation of the pairing policy in 1974, counties that received a higher concentration of SDY, relative to their rural population, achieved faster growth in per capita industrial output of commune enterprises. Our results are consistent with various historical accounts. In addition, our tentative evidence shows that the pairing policy had a prolonged effect on rural economic development, lasting into the 1980s. Overall, our findings reveal the importance of some pre‐reform institutions in shaping China's unique paths towards industrialization.
The start of frozen dates over northern permafrost regions with the changing climate
Authors: Li Jialing , Wu Chaoyang , Peñuelas Josep , Ran Youhua , Zhang Yongguang
Published: April 2023

The soil freeze–thaw cycle in the permafrost regions has a significant impact on regional surface energy and water balance. Although increasing efforts have been made to understand the responses of spring thawing to climate change, the mechanisms controlling the global interannual variability of the start date of permafrost frozen (SOF) remain unclear. Using long‐term SOF from the combinations of multiple satellite microwave sensors between 1979 and 2020, and analytical techniques, including partial correlation, ridge regression, path analysis, and machine learning, we explored the responses of SOF to multiple climate change factors, including warming (surface and air temperature), start date of permafrost thawing (SOT), soil properties (soil temperature and volume of water), and the snow depth water equivalent (SDWE). Overall, climate warming exhibited the maximum control on SOF, but SOT in spring was also an important driver of SOF variability; among the 65.9% significant SOT and SOF correlations, 79.3% were positive, indicating an overall earlier thawing would contribute to an earlier frozen in winter. The machine learning analysis also suggested that apart from warming, SOT ranked as the second most important determinant of SOF. Therefore, we identified the mechanism responsible for the SOT–SOF relationship using the SEM analysis, which revealed that soil temperature change exhibited the maximum effect on this relationship, irrespective of the permafrost type. Finally, we analyzed the temporal changes in these responses using the moving window approach and found increased effect of soil warming on SOF. In conclusion, these results provide important insights into understanding and predicting SOF variations with future climate change.
The multidisciplinary roots of higher education research: An analysis of citation patterns
Authors: Lovakov Andrey , Yudkevich Maria
Published: April 2023

Researchers in higher education (HE) are a community of academics with backgrounds and experiences in a variety of scientific disciplines. For this reason, HE research is influenced by other disciplines from which HE researchers take theories, constructs and research methods. This article describes a large‐scale analysis of the impact of different scientific fields on HE research. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the influences of psychology, sociology & political science, and economics as the disciplines that have the greatest impact on HE research. To assess this impact, we analyse citation patterns in seven key HE journals. Our empirical analysis confirms that HE research is indeed a multidisciplinary field and experiences a different impact of identified scientific fields for HE articles of different topics. We analyse the dynamics of such an impact and discuss the factors that may cause the growth of multidisciplinarity in HE research.
Combined experimental and DFT study on high‐temperature thermochromism of Co‐doped LaCrO3 coating for thermal indicator
Authors: Xu Nianao , Tong Liping , Wang Zhongyang , Fan Tongxiang
Published: April 2023

Noncontact temperature measurement using thermochromic materials is vital in the field of temperature indication, but the related mechanisms behind thermochromic behavior are diverse and high complexity, and the color‐temperature correspondence is poorly explored. This paper systematically studied the thermochromic mechanisms and color‐temperature correspondence in the cobalt‐doped LaCrO3 coatings via experiment and density functional theory study. The coatings appear reversible thermochromism from green to black with temperature and composition, functions from room temperature to 700°C. This thermochromism is attributed to the lattice expansion and bandgap reduction as the temperature increase, and a model of temperature effect bandgap was proposed. Meanwhile, the coating temperature can be inferred from the color change because the CIE chromaticity coordinate of the coating varies linearly with temperature, and the mean relative error of thermochromic measurements is 8.28%. Furthermore, the cobalt doped introduces impurity energy levels and enhances the interaction between photons and carriers, which reduce the bandgap and increase the absorption in the visible spectrum resulting in darker colors. This work provides a stable and efficient high‐temperature thermochromic coating that has a wide thermochromic temperature range and clear color‐temperature correspondence, which shows broad application prospects in the field of thermal indication at high temperatures.
Investigation of sintering mechanism for novel composite structural thermal barrier coating
Authors: Yang Ting , Wang Weize , Huang Jibo , Liu Yangguang , Li Kaibin , Yang Zining , Wang Yihao , Yuan Baohan , Zhang Chengcheng
Published: April 2023

A micro‐agglomerated particle embedded–thermal barrier coating (TBC) structure was prepared by an improved plasma spray process to withstand the sintering‐induced degradation of TBCs during service. In this study, the sintering resistance and thermophysical and mechanical properties of conventional and novel‐structured TBCs were systematically characterized. The results suggested that the thermal conductivity and sintering shrinkage of the novel‐structured TBCs were approximately 30% lower than those of conventional air plasma spraying TBCs. The elastic modulus of the novel‐structured coating is only 32% of that of the conventional structure after thermal exposure at 1300°C for 100 h. The distinct structure of the coating is the main factor that influences its performance. The relationship between the structural evolution and residual strain of the coating was analyzed using electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Significant differences were observed in the sintering behavior of the dense matrix and embedded particle regions in the coating. Some columnar grains near the intersplat pores in the dense matrix have similar lattice orientations, and they tend to connect and consequently heal the intersplat pores. The large pores between the agglomerated particles and non‐oriented submicron‐sized grains that constitute these particles are responsible for the sintering resistance of the coating.
Enhanced high‐temperature strength in textured (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 medium‐entropy ceramics via strong magnetic field
Authors: Li Rong‐Zhen , Wang Xin‐Gang , Yuan Jian‐Hui , Wang Xiao‐Fei , Gao Wei , Qin Fu‐Lin , Zhang Guo‐Jun , Jiang Dan‐Yu
Published: April 2023

This study prepared textured (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 medium‐entropy ceramics for the first time that maintain enhanced flexural strength up to 1800°C using single‐phase (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 powders, slip casting under a strong magnetic field, and hot‐pressed sintering methods. Effects of WC additive and strong magnetic field direction on the phase compositions, orientation degree, microstructure evolution, and high‐temperature flexural strength of (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 were investigated. (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 grain grows along the a,b‐axes, resulting in a platelet‐like morphology. Pressure parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field direction can promote the orientation degree and hinder the texture structure formation, respectively. Reaction products of W(B,C) and (Ti,Zr,Hf)C between (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 and WC additive can efficiently refine the (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 grain size and promote grain orientation. (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2 ceramics doped with 5 vol.% WC yielded a Lotgering orientation factor of 0.74 through slip casting under a strong magnetic field (12 T) and hot‐pressed sintering at 1900°C. Furthermore, cleaning the boundary by W(B,C) and introducing texture can enhance the grain‐boundary strength and improve its high‐temperature flexural strength. The four‐point flexural strength of textured (Ti1/3Zr1/3Hf1/3)B2‐5 vol.% WC ceramics was 770 ± 59 MPa at 1600°C and 638 ± 117 MPa at 1800°C.