bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Precise and Automatic Patient Positioning in Computed Tomography
Authors: Saltybaeva Natalia , Schmidt Bernhard , Wimmer Andreas , Flohr Thomas , Alkadhi Hatem
Published: May 2018

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a 3-dimensional (3D) camera algorithm for automatic and individualized patient positioning based on body surface detection and to compare the results of the 3D camera with manual positioning performed by technologists in routinely obtained chest and abdomen computed tomography (CT) examinations.

Materials and Methods

This study included data of 120 patients undergoing clinically indicated chest (n = 68) and abdomen (n = 52) CT. Fifty-two of the patients were scanned with CT using a table height manually selected by technologists; 68 patients were automatically positioned with the 3D camera, which is based on patient-specific body surface and contour detection. The ground truth table height (TGT) was defined as the table height that aligns the axial center of the patient’s body region in the CT scanner isocenter. Off-centering was defined as the difference between the ground truth table height (TGT) and the actual table position used in all CT examinations. The t test was performed to determine significant differences in the vertical offset between automatic and manual positioning. The χ2 test was used to check whether there was a relationship between patient size and the magnitude of off-centering.

Results

We found a significant improvement in patient centering (offset 5 ± 3 mm) when using the automatic positioning algorithm with the 3D camera compared with manual positioning (offset 19 ± 10 mm) performed by technologists (P < 0.005). Automatic patient positioning based on the 3D camera reduced the average offset in vertical table position from 19 mm to 7 mm for chest and from 18 mm to 4 mm for abdomen CT. The absolute maximal offset was 39 mm and 43 mm for chest and abdomen CT, respectively, when patients were positioned manually, whereas with automatic positioning using the 3D camera the offset never exceeded 15 mm. In chest CT performed with manual patient positioning, we found a significant correlation between vertical offset greater than 20 mm and patient size (body mass index, >26 kg/m2, P < 0.001). In contrast, no such relationship was found for abdomen CT (P = 0.38).

Conclusions

Automatic individualized patient positioning using a 3D camera allows for accurate patient centering as compared with manual positioning, which improves radiation dose utilization.
Temporal Progression of Craniofacial Dysmorphology in Unilateral Coronal Synostosis: A Mechanistic Hypothesis
Authors: Baweja Kirun , Sun Alexander H. , Sawh-Martinez Rajendra , Persing John A.
Published: May 2018

Aim:

This study chronicles skull base and face development in nonsyndromic unilateral coronal synostosis (UCS) during infancy, to characterize the mechanistic progression of facial dysmorphology.

Methods:

Computed tomography scans from 51 subjects were reviewed (26 UCS, 25 controls) and data were reconstructed. Patients were stratified into 5 age groups. A series of measurements were taken from the reconstructions.

Results:

All patients had a unilaterally fused coronal suture at the time of analysis. Asymmetry of the sphenoid wings was present across all age groups. The sphenoid wing ipsilateral to the fused suture consistently had a more acute angle from the midline. At 19 days of age, ipsilateral nasal root and cribriform plate deviation are noted, as well as increased contralateral zygoma antero-posterior length. Patients younger than 2 months also had elongated posterior cranial bases. At 2 to 3 months of age, the cranial base widens in the anterior portion of the middle cranial fossa with an increased ipsilateral pterion to sella distance. The most delayed change observed was the increase in contralateral orbital rim angle at 7 to 12 months of age compared to normal.

Conclusion:

After suture fusion, sphenoid wing changes are among the earliest restructural malformations to take place. This suggests that the cascade of dysmorphology in UCS originates in the cranial vault, then progresses to the skull base, and lastly to the facial structures. Ipsilateral orbital changes are early facial changes in UCS that begin before 2 months of age. This is then followed by changes in the contralateral face later in development.
Comparison of Bone Grafts From Various Donor Sites in Human Bone Specimens
Authors: Kamal Mohammad , Gremse Felix , Rosenhain Stefanie , Bartella Alexander K. , Hölzle Frank , Kessler Peter , Lethaus Bernd
Published: May 2018

The objective of the current study was to compare the three-dimensional (3D) morphometric microstructure in human cadaveric bone specimens taken from various commonly utilized donor sites for autogenous bone grafting. Autogenous bone grafts can be harvested from various anatomic sites and express heterogeneous bone quality with a specific 3D microstructure for each site. The long-term structural integrity and susceptibility to resorption of the graft depend on the selected donor bone. Micro-computed tomography generates high-resolution datasets of bone structures and calcifications making this modality versatile for microarchitecture analysis and quantification of the bone. Six bone specimens, 10 mm in length, where anatomically possible, were obtained from various anatomical sites from 10 human dentate cadavers (4 men, 6 women, mean age 69.5 years). Specimens were scanned using a micro-computed tomography device and volumetrically reconstructed. A virtual cylindrical inclusion was reconstructed to analyze the bone mineral density and structural morphometric analysis using bone indices: relative bone volume, surface density, trabecular thicknesses, and trabecular separation. Calvarial bone specimens showed the highest mineral density, followed by the chin, then mandibular ramus then the tibia, whereas iliac crest and maxillary tuberosity had lower bone mineral densities. The pairwise comparison revealed statistically significant differences in the bone mineral density and relative bone volume index in the calvaria, mandibular ramus, mandibular symphysis groups when compared with those in the iliac crest and maxillary tuberosity, suggesting higher bone quality in the former groups than in the latter; tibial specimens expressed variable results.
Association Between Duration of Delayed Graft Function, Acute Rejection, and Allograft Outcome After Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation
Authors: Lim Wai H. , Johnson David W. , Teixeira-Pinto Armando , Wong Germaine
Published: May 2018

Background

Prolonged duration of delayed graft function (DGF) may be associated with adverse allograft outcomes, but the association between threshold duration of DGF, acute rejection and long-term allograft loss remains undefined. We aimed to determine the impact of DGF duration on allograft outcomes and to assess whether this association was mediated by acute rejection.

Methods

Using data from the Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry, Cox proportional modeling was used to determine the association between quartiles of DGF duration, acute rejection at 6 months and death-censored graft loss (DCGL). Mediation analysis was conducted to determine whether acute rejection was a causal intermediate between DGF and DCGL.

Results

Of 7668 deceased donor kidney transplants between 1997 and 2014, 1497 (19.5%) recipients experienced DGF requiring dialysis. The median (interquartile range) duration of DGF was 7 (9) days, with 25% requiring dialysis for 14 days or longer. Among recipients who had experienced a DGF duration of 1 to 4 days, the adjusted hazard ratio for duration of 5 to 7, 8 to 13, and 14 days or longer were 1.13 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-1.55; P = 0.43), 1.44 (95% CI, 1.08-1.91; P = 0.013), and 1.99 (95% CI, 1.50-2.65; P < 0.001), respectively, for acute rejection; and were 1.10 (95% CI< 0.73-1.67; P = 0.64), 1.45 (95% CI, 1.00-2.11; P = 0.05) and 1.60 (95% CI, 1.10-2.31; P = 0.01), respectively, for DCGL. On average, 8% of the effects between DGF duration and DCGL were explained by acute rejection.

Conclusions

There was a direct dose-dependent effect between DGF duration and DCGL, with acute rejection explaining less than 10% of the effects between DGF duration and DCGL. Future research identifying other potential modifiable mediators that lies in the causal pathway between DGF duration and allograft loss is essential.
ALEdb 1.0: A Database of Mutations from Adaptive Laboratory Evolution Experimentation
Authors: Phaneuf Patrick V. , Gosting Dennis , Palsson Bernhard O. , Feist Adam M.
Published: May 2018

Full genomic sequences are readily available, but their functional interpretation remains a fundamental challenge. Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE) has emerged as an experimental approach to discover causal mutations that confer desired phenotypic functions. Thus, ALE not only represents a controllable experimental approach to systematically discover genotype-phenotype relationships, but it also allows for the revelation of the series of genetic alterations required to acquire the new phenotype. Numerous ALE studies have appeared in the literature providing a strong impetus for developing structured databases to warehouse experimental evolution information and make it retrievable for large-scale analysis. Here, the first step towards establishing this capability is presented: ALEdb (http://aledb.org). This initial release contains over 11,000 mutations that have been discovered in ALE experiments. ALEdb is the first of its kind; (1) it is a web-based platform that comprehensively reports on ALE acquired mutations and their conditions, (2) it reports key mutations using previously established trends, (3) it enables a search-driven workflow to enhance user mutation functional analysis, (4) it allows exporting of mutation query results for custom analysis, (5) it has a bibliome that describes the underlying published literature, and (6) contains experimental evolution mutations from multiple model organisms. Thus, ALEdb is an informative platform which will become increasingly revealing as the number of reported ALE experiments and identified mutations continue to expand.
Theory of Circadian Metabolism
Authors: Monti Michele , Lubesnky David K. , ten Wolde Pieter Rein
Published: May 2018

Many organisms repartition their proteome in a circadian fashion in response to the daily nutrient changes in their environment. A striking example is provided by cyanobacteria, which perform photosynthesis during the day to fix carbon. These organisms not only face the challenge of rewiring their proteome every 12 hours, but also the necessity of storing the fixed carbon in the form of glycogen to fuel processes during the night. In this manuscript, we extend the framework developed by Hwa and coworkers (Scott et al., Science 330, 1099 (2010)) for quantifying the relatinship between growth and proteome composition to circadian metabolism. We then apply this framework to investigate the circadian metabolism of the cyanobacterium Cyanothece, which not only fixes carbon during the day, but also nitrogen during the night, storing it in the polymer cyanophycin. Our analysis reveals that the need to store carbon and nitrogen tends to generate an extreme growth strategy, in which the cells predominantly grow during the day, as observed experimentally. This strategy maximizes the growth rate over 24 hours, and can be quantitatively understood by the bacterial growth laws. Our analysis also shows that the slow relaxation of the proteome, arising from the slow growth rate, puts a severe constraint on implementing this optimal strategy. Yet, the capacity to estimate the time of the day, enabled by the circadian clock, makes it possible to anticipate the daily changes in the environment and mount a response ahead of time. This significantly enhances the growth rate by counteracting the detrimental effects of the slow proteome relaxation.
Estimating parasite load dynamics to reveal novel resistance mechanisms to human malaria
Authors: Bretscher Michael T. , Georgiadou Athina , Lee Hyun Jae , Walther Michael , van Beek Anna E. , Fitriani Fadlila , Wouters Diana , Kuijpers Taco W. , Nwakanma Davis , D’Alessandro Umberto , Riley Eleanor M. , Levin Michael , Coin Lachlan J. , Ghani Azra , Conway David J. , Cunnington Aubrey J.
Published: May 2018

Improved methods are needed to identify host mechanisms which directly protect against human infectious diseases in order to develop better vaccines and therapeutics1,2. Pathogen load determines the outcome of many infections3, and is a consequence of pathogen multiplication rate, duration of the infection, and inhibition or killing of pathogen by the host (resistance). If these determinants of pathogen load could be quantified then their mechanistic correlates might be determined. In humans the timing of infection is rarely known and treatment cannot usually be withheld to monitor serial changes in pathogen load and host response. Here we present an approach to overcome this and identify potential mechanisms of resistance which control parasite load inPlasmodium falciparummalaria. Using a mathematical model of longitudinal infection dynamics for orientation, we made individualized estimates of parasite multiplication and growth inhibition in Gambian children at presentation with acute malaria and used whole blood RNA-sequencing to identify their correlates. We identified novel roles for secreted proteases cathepsin G and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) as direct effector molecules which inhibitP. falciparumgrowth. Cathepsin G acts on the erythrocyte membrane, cleaving surface receptors required for parasite invasion, whilst MMP9 acts on the parasite. In contrast, the type 1 interferon response and expression ofCXCL10(IFN-γ-inducible protein of 10 kDa, IP-10) were detrimental to control of parasite growth. Natural variation in iron status and plasma levels of complement factor H were determinants of parasite multiplication rate. Our findings demonstrate the importance of accounting for the dynamic interaction between host and pathogen when seeking to identify correlates of protection, and reveal novel mechanisms controlling parasite growth in humans. This approach could be extended to identify additional mechanistic correlates of natural- and vaccine-induced immunity to malaria and other infections.
Learning to act by integrating mental simulations and physical experiments
Authors: Dasgupta Ishita , Smith Kevin A. , Schulz Eric , Tenenbaum Joshua B. , Gershman Samuel J.
Published: May 2018

People can learn about the effects of their actions either by performing physical experiments or by running mental simulations. Physical experiments are reliable but risky; mental simulations are unreliable but safe. We investigate how people negotiate the balance between these strategies. Participants attempted to shoot a ball at a target, and could pay to take practice shots (physical experiments). They could also simply think (run mental simulations), but were incentivized to act quickly by paying for time. We demonstrate that the amount of thinking time and physical experiments is sensitive to trial characteristics in a way that is consistent with a model that integrates information across simulation and experimentation and decides online when to perform each.
Annotation of phenotypes using ontologies: a Gold Standard for the training and evaluation of natural language processing systems
Authors: Dahdul Wasila , Manda Prashanti , Cui Hong , Balhoff James P. , Dececchi T. Alexander , Ibrahim Nizar , Lapp Hilmar , Vision Todd , Mabee Paula M.
Published: May 2018

Natural language descriptions of organismal phenotypes - a principal object of study in biology, are abundant in biological literature. Expressing these phenotypes as logical statements using formal ontologies would enable large-scale analysis on phenotypic information from diverse systems. However, considerable human effort is required to make the semantics of phenotype descriptions amenable to machine reasoning by (a) recognizing appropriate on-tological terms for entities in text and (b) stringing these terms into logical statements. Most existing Natural Language Processing tools stop at entity recognition, leaving a need for tools that can assist with both aspects of the task. The recently described Semantic CharaParser aims to meet this need. We describe the first expert-curated Gold Standard corpus for ontology-based annotation of phenotypes from the systematics literature. We use it to evaluate Semantic CharaParser’s annotations and explore differences in performance between humans and machine. We use four annotation accuracy metrics that can account for both semantically identical and similar matches. We found that machine-human consistency was significantly lower than inter-curator (human–human) consistency. Surprisingly, allowing curators access to external information that was not available to Semantic CharaParser did not significantly increase the similarity of their annotations to the Gold Standard nor have a significant effect on inter-curator consistency. We found that the similarity of machine annotations to the Gold Standard increased after new ontology terms relevant to the input text had been added. Evaluation by the original authors of the character descriptions indicated that the Gold Standard annotations came closer to representing their intended meaning than did either the curator or machine annotations. These findings point toward ways to better design of software to augment human curators, and the Gold Standard corpus will allow training and assessment of new tools to improve phenotype annotation accuracy at scale.
Custom hereditary breast cancer gene panel selectively amplifies target genes for reliable variant calling
Authors: Amuzu Setor , Revil Timothée , Foulkes William D. , Ragoussis Jiannis
Published: May 2018

Background: Target enrichment coupled with next generation sequencing provide high-throughput approaches for screening several genes of interest. These approaches facilitate screening a panel of genes for mutations associated with inherited breast cancer for research, diagnostic, and genetic counseling applications.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of our custom 13 gene breast cancer panel, based on singleplex PCR, developed by WaferGen BioSystems. The panel was evaluated using patient-derived DNA samples, in terms of target enrichment efficiency, off-target enrichment, uniformity of target capture, effect of GC content of target regions on coverage depth, and concordance with validated variant calls.

Results: At least 90% of target sequence for each gene was captured at 30x or greater. We evaluated uniformity of target capture across samples by calculating the percentage of samples with at least 90% of total target captured at 100x or greater and found 92% (33/36 samples) uniformity for our panel. Off-target enrichment ranges between 7.2% and 22.3%. We found perfect concordance between our custom panel and the Qiagen human breast cancer panel for functionally annotated variant calls in high read depth shared target regions. Altogether, there was agreement between the panels for 779 variants at 41 loci. We also confirmed 10 pathogenic mutations, initially discovered by Sanger sequencing, in the appropriate samples following target enrichment using our custom WaferGen panel.

Conclusion: Our custom hereditary breast cancer panel is sensitive to the desired target genes and facilitates deep sequencing for reliable variant calling.
Methylation-wide association analysis reveals AIM2, DGUOK, GNAI3, and ST14 genes as potential contributors to the Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis
Authors: Nazarian Alireza , Yashin Anatoliy I. , Kulminski Alexander M.
Published: May 2018

Introduction:Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive complex neurodegenerative disorder with devastating impact on cognitive abilities. It is among the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States with no curative medications. Exploring genetic and non-genetic contributors to AD development is, therefore, of great importance.

Methods:We investigated the AD-associated epigenetic changes by combing results from publicly available genome-wide association analyses and a large-scale methylation quantitative trait loci study.

Results:Probes mapped to 133 genes were associated with AD with < 2.50E-06. Of these, four genes (i.e., GNAI3, AIM2, DGUOK and ST14) provided stronger evidence of possible role in AD pathogenesis as they were also significantly associated with AD in previous expression quantitative trait loci analyses and/or mouse model studies.

Discussion:Although the identified associations do not prove any definitive causal relationships with AD, they provide a list of prioritized genes for follow-up functional studies.
Glucocorticoid-mediated Aβ and SCG10 upregulation evoke microtubule dysfunction and memory deficits
Authors: Choi Gee Euhn , Oh Ji Young , Lee Hyun Jik , Chae Chang Woo , Kim Jun Sung , Jung Young Hyun , Han Ho Jae
Published: May 2018

We investigated glucocorticoid, a major risk factor of Alzheimer’s disease, promoted microtubule instability that culminates in memory deficits. Mice group exposed to corticosteroid had reduced trafficking of AMPAR1/2 and mitochondria into the synapse due to microtubule destabilization, which finally impaired cognitive function. Furthermore, cortisol reduced microtubule stability through the mitochondria glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-dependent pathway in SH-SY5Y cells. Cortisol translocated the Hsp70-bound GR into mitochondria before stimulating ER-mitochondria interaction via increasing GR-Bcl-2 complex. Subsequently, Aβ was produced since γ-secretase activity was upregulated by increased ER-mitochondria connectivity. Mitochondrial Ca2+ influx was also elevated due to ER-mitochondria bridging, resulting in activation of mTOR pathway. Subsequent autophagy inhibition failed to remove Aβ and led to its accumulation. Moreover, selective autophagy through ubiquitination of SCG10 was suppressed. We eventually showed that both elevated Aβ and SCG10 levels drive cells to fail trafficking AMPAR1/2 and mitochondria into the cell terminus. In conclusion, glucocorticoid regulates ER-mitochondria coupling, which evokes Aβ generation and SCG10 upregulation. Subsequent microtubule destabilization leads to memory impairment through failure of AMPAR1/2 or mitochondria transport into cell periphery.
Learning the sequence of influenza A genome assembly during viral replication using point process models and fluorescence in situ hybridization
Authors: Majarian Timothy D. , Murphy Robert F. , Lakdawala Seema S.
Published: May 2018

Within influenza virus infected cells, viral genomic RNA are selectively packed into progeny virions, which predominantly contain a single copy of 8 viral RNA segments. Intersegmental RNA-RNA interactions are thought to mediate selective packaging of each viral ribonucleoprotein complex (vRNP). Clear evidence of a specific interaction network culminating in the full genomic set has yet to be identified. Using multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization to visualize four vRNP segments within a single cell, we developed image-based models of vRNP-vRNP spatial dependence. These models were used to construct likely sequences of vRNP associations resulting in the full genomic set. Our results support the notion that selective packaging occurs during cytoplasmic transport and identifies the formation of multiple distinct vRNP sub-complexes that likely form as intermediate steps toward full genomic inclusion into a progeny virion. The methods employed demonstrate a statistically driven, model based approach applicable to other interaction and assembly problems.

Author Summary

Influenza virus consists of eight viral ribonucleoproteins (vRNPs) that are assembled by infected cells to produce new virions. The process by which all eight vRNPs are assembled is not yet understood. We therefore used images from a previous study in which up to four vRNPs had been visualized in the same cell to construct spatial point process models that measure how well the subcellular distribution of one vRNP can be predicted from one or more other vRNPs. We used the likelihood of these models as an estimate of the extent of association between vRNPs and thereby constructed likely sequences of vRNP assembly that would produce full virions. Our work identifies the formation of multiple distinct vRNP sub-complexes that likely form as intermediate steps toward production of a virion. The results may be of use in designing strategies to interfere with virus assembly. We also anticipate that the approach may be useful for studying other assembly processes, especially for complexes with modest affinities and more components than can be visualized simultaneously.
Flow-wise or path-wise: diffusion in a fragmented dendritic network and implications for eels
Authors: Domange J. , Lambert P. , Beaulaton L. , Drouineau H.
Published: May 2018

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a catadromous species that reproduces at sea and inhabits continental waters during its growth phase. River fragmentation due to obstacles is considered one cause of the decline of this species. However, the colonization process of river catchments by eels is still poorly understood. In this article, we compare two scenarios for the diffusion of eels within river catchments: a path-wise scenario, in which movements are totally random, and a flow-wise scenario, in which movements are partially oriented. Based on these two scenarios, we attempted to predict the distribution of eels within dendritic river catchments, explicitly accounting for the presence of obstacles to movement. The model was fitted to a long-time series of electro-fishing data. The results suggest that the path-wise scenario is more predominant than the flow-wise scenario. Moreover, results show that the distribution of eels in river catchment depends on (i) the types of movements carried out by eels, (ii) the configuration of river networks and (iii) the positions of obstacles within catchments.
Effect of fosfomycin,Cynara scolymusextract, deoxynivalenol and their combinations on intestinal health of weaned piglets
Authors: Martínez Guadalupe , Diéguez Susana N. , Fernández Paggi María B. , Riccio María B. , Pérez Gaudio Denisa S. , Decundo Julieta M. , Romanelli Agustina , Amanto Fabián A. , Tapia María O. , Soraci Alejandro L.
Published: May 2018

Intestinal health of weaning piglets was studied after oral treatments with fosfomycin (FOS),Cynara scolymusextract (CSE), deoxynivalenol (DON) and their combinations. Piglets were divided in groups and received different treatments during 15 days, namely DON (1mg/kg of feed), FOS administered into the drinking water (30 mg/kg b.w.), CSE (300 g/ton of feed) and all possible combinations including a control group that received clean balanced diet. At day 15, three piglets from each group were euthanized and gastrointestinal tract samples were immediately taken to evaluate pH, bacteriology (enterobacteria and lactic acid bacteria), volatile fatty acids concentration (VFAs), disaccharidases activity (lactase, sucrase and maltase), histology (intestinal absorptive area [IAA] and goblet cells count) and adherence of bacteria to intestinal mucus. Animals receiving FOS and CSE treatments exhibited evident beneficial intestinal effects compared to animals receiving diets free from these compounds. This was revealed by a lower enterobacteria population together with a lower E/L, an enhanced production of butyric acid, an increased enzymatic activity (particularly maltase), and a greater IAA and goblet cells count along with an increase in pathogenic bacteria adherence to intestinal mucus. Interactions between both treatments resulted in similar beneficial effects as their individual administration. On the contrary, DON produced detrimental effects on intestinal health as a decrease was observed on volatile fatty acids production, enzymatic activity and goblet cells count in animals receiving diets containing sub- toxic concentrations of this mycotoxin. The knowledge of the intestinal effects of these compounds contributes to understand the physiological and pathological gut changes and their potential productive consequences.
Development of mnemonic discrimination during childhood
Authors: Rollins Leslie , Cloude Elizabeth B.
Published: May 2018

The present study examined mnemonic discrimination in 5- and 6-yr-old children, 8- and 9-yr-old children, 11- and 12-yr-old children, and young adults. Participants incidentally encoded pictorial stimuli and subsequently judged whether targets (i.e., repeated stimuli), lures (i.e., mnemonically related stimuli), and foils (i.e., novel stimuli) were old, similar, or new. Compared to older age groups, younger children were more likely to (1) incorrectly identify lures as “old” (rather than “similar”) and (2) fail to recognize lures altogether, especially when lures were more mnemonically distinct from targets. These results suggest age-related improvements in pattern separation and pattern completion during childhood.
Synthesis and structure of an arylselenenium(II) cation, [C34H41N4Se+]2[Hg(SeCN)4]2−, based on a 5-tert-butyl-1,3-bis(1-pentyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)benzene scaffold
Authors: Rani Varsha , Singh Harkesh B. , Butcher Ray J.
Published: May 2018

In the title salt, bis{[5-tert-butyl-1,3-bis(1-pentyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)benzene]selenium} tetrakis(selenocyanato)mercury, (C34H41N4Se)2[Hg(SeCN)4], the arylselenenium cations, [C34H41N4Se]+, are linked through [Hg(SeCN)4]2−anions by C—H...N hydrogen bonds. In the cation, the geometry around the Se atom in the 5-tert-butyl-1,3-bis(1-pentyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)benzene scaffold is T-shaped, resulting from the coordination of Se by the C atom of the central aromatic ring and the N atoms of both of the benzimidazole moieties. ThetransSe—N bond lengths are almost equal [2.087 (3) and 2.099 (3) Å] and the Se—C bond length is 1.886 (3) Å. The N—Se—N angle is 159.29 (11)°. The geometry around the HgIIatom in the [Hg(SeCN)4]2−anion is distorted tetrahedral, with Se—Hg—Se angles ranging from 88.78 (3) to 126.64 (2)°. In [Hg(SeCN)4]2−, the Hg—Se bonds are unsymmetrical [2.5972 (4) and 2.7242 (5) Å]. One of the pentyl substituents is disordered over two equivalent conformations, with occupancies of 0.852 (8) and 0.148 (8).
Crystal structures of two new six-coordinate iron(III) complexes with 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphane) ligands
Authors: McNeil Derek L. , Beckford Daihlia J. , Kneebone Jared L. , Carpenter Stephanie H. , Brennessel William W. , Neidig Michael L.
Published: May 2018

Structural characterization of the ionic complexes [FeCl2(C26H22P2)2][FeCl4]·0.59CH2Cl2 or [(dppen)2FeCl2][FeCl4]·0.59CH2Cl2 (dppen = cis-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphane)ethylene, P2C26H22) and [FeCl2(C30H24P2)2][FeCl4]·CH2Cl2 or [(dpbz)2FeCl2][FeCl4]·CH2Cl2 (dpbz = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphane)benzene, P2C30H24) demonstrates trans coordination of two bidentate phosphane ligands (bisphosphanes) to a single iron(III) center, resulting in six-coordinate cationic complexes that are balanced in charge by tetrachloridoferrate(III) monoanions. The trans bisphosphane coordination is consistent will all previously reported molecular structures of six coordinate iron(III) complex cations with a (PP)2
X
2 (X = halido) donor set. The complex with dppen crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group C2/c as a partial-occupancy [0.592 (4)] dichloromethane solvate, while the dpbz-ligated complex crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 as a full dichloromethane monosolvate. Furthermore, the crystal studied of [(dpbz)2FeCl2][FeCl4]·CH2Cl2 was an inversion twin, whose component mass ratio refined to 0.76 (3):0.24 (3). Beyond a few very weak C—H...Cl and C—H...π interactions, there are no significant supramolecular features in either structure.
Crystal structure of 3-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylmethyl)-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-2-enone
Authors: Stikute Agnese , Skestere Karina , Mierina Inese , Mishnev Anatoly , Jure Mara
Published: May 2018

In the title compound, C16H20O4, a new starting compound for the synthesis of various heterocycles, the partially saturated six-membered ring adopts a sofa conformation. An intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bond is observed in the guaiacol residue. In the crystal, molecules are assembled into a sheet structure parallel to the ab plane via O—H...O hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen-bond pattern is described by an R
4
4(28) graph-set motif. The sheets are further linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network.
Group reporting as a tool to enhance the quality of courses
Authors: Crisanto Mari Anjeli Lubrica
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Group reporting, a form of cooperative learning, is a learning tool often employed in residential teaching to facilitate quality learning. Like other cooperative learning methods, it enhances learning in classrooms by allowing students work on activities in small groups to receive rewards based on their group’s performance. However, though group reporting is often done in face-to-face settings, few up-to-date literature has shown its application in online learning. Moreover, the question as to whether online cooperative learning through group reports yields positive or negative response from students has to be studied further. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focuses on the students’ response to the group reporting activity carried throughout one semester. A course offered by the University of the Philippines Open University on database management systems made use of group reporting to add to the students’ learning experience. Group meetings along with regular online lectures were carried out during the first half of the semester. The output group reports were then presented during the second half and served as the main resource for those weeks’ study modules. An online survey with Likert scales drawing out the student reactions on the learning activity impact was administered to volunteer respondents at the end of classes.

Findings

In total, 71.9 percent of 32 respondents observed changes in their behavior after using peer and cooperative learning technologies. The respondents also indicated that they enjoyed the group reporting activity (14 agreeing strongly, 14 agreeing moderately). They also indicated that they were motivated to learn the course through the group reports (8 agreeing strongly, 14 agreeing moderately). However, when asked if they preferred to have all the modules in group report format 9 agreed moderately, 8 disagreed moderately, 7 disagreed strongly, 4 agreed strongly, and 4 neither agreed nor disagreed. Still, overall, online cooperative learning facilitated quality learning based on this study’s results.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by showing how group reporting can be applied online and how students have responded to it. The study also provides recommendations on how to conduct online cooperative learning in order to enhance the quality of courses, with implications for further research to look into variations with respect to the technology used for reporting and its suitability to a given course.
The “comply or explain” principle in the Republic of Slovenia
Authors: Djokic Danila , Duh Mojca
Published: May 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to provide an overview of the quality of corporate governance (CG) disclosures in the framework of CGS and the “comply or explain” code principle in Slovenia. It aims to observe the differences among companies of the prime, standard and entry markets in terms of the differences in governance standards and regulatory frameworks.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyzes the historical development, legal approach and methods used in the regulation of the “comply or explain” principle in Slovenia. In the 2014 SEECGAN research – Slovenia, we measured the quality of CG by applying the newly created SEECGAN index methodology covering seven segments of CG and assessing 98 attributes. This paper upgrades the results of this research with additional case study research.

Findings

The analysis from 2011 to 2014 on the “comply or explain” principle showed a gradual improvement of transparency in Slovenian public companies. The 2014 SEECGAN research – Slovenia revealed that the number of specific and high-quality explanations of deviations has increased. The study in this paper showed that the governance practice in some cases is still not in line with code recommendations and does not disclose the deviations from the code.

Originality/value

Disclosures of the Slovenian public companies are presented for the period 2004-2018. This paper points out the improvements to be realized to change unsatisfactory practices. The measurement of the quality of CG by the 2014 SEECGAN research – Slovenia introduced a methodology, which could be recognized and improved by the EU and/or its member states.
Smart HR 4.0 – how industry 4.0 is disrupting HR
Authors: Sivathanu Brijesh , Pillai Rajasshrie
Published: May 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight the importance of Smart Human Resources 4.0 (Smart HR 4.0) and its role as a catalyst in the disruption process in the human resource domain. This paper illustrates the advantages of Smart HR 4.0 in the HR domain by using the example of Credit Suisse, which has extensively used people analytics to reduce employee attrition.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the role of Smart HR 4.0 as a disruptor in the human resource domain. With the help of the Smart HR 4.0 conceptual framework, this paper illustrates how Smart HR 4.0 disrupts the talent on-boarding, talent development, and talent off-boarding process.

Findings

An organization would require a successful Smart HR 4.0 strategy to cope up with the challenges of Industry 4.0 transformation. Emerging technologies such as Internet-of-Things, Big Data, and artificial intelligence will automate most of the HR processes, resulting in efficient and leaner HR teams. Both organization structure and leadership style changes would be required for efficient Smart HR 4.0 implementation that would allow HR departments to play a more strategic role in the overall organization growth.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the existing literature and body of knowledge in the HR domain by developing a Smart HR 4.0 conceptual framework. This paper discusses how Smart HR 4.0 acts as a catalyst in the disruption of talent ion-boarding, talent development, and talent off-boarding process with the help of emerging technologies and change in the employee generation.
Lean leadership in major projects: from “predict and provide” to “predict and prevent”
Authors: Holweg Matthias , Maylor Harvey
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the context of major projects and their management from an OM perspective; the authors provide a foundation for exploring how the body of work on lean production (the “old” theory) can contribute to the development of major projects (the “new” context). In doing so, it extends the prevailing economic approach to major projects (best described as “predict and provide”) and posits the development of an alternative approach based on extending the lean production logic to this new context (referred to as “predict and prevent”).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates the scope for adopting lean practices in context of major project. To this effect the authors review the current state of both lean thinking and major project management, and use “Universal Credit” as an exploratory case study to illustrate and verify the arguments in practice.

Findings

Two main findings are proposed: first, the authors demonstrate the inherent performance challenge of major projects in OM terms, which the authors argue presents significant scope for the application of OM concepts to improve major project performance. Second, using lean thinking as framing, the authors identify three distinct process levels and common wastes in major projects, and identify five principles how lean could improve the delivery of major projects.

Research limitations/implications

Major projects present an untapped area for OM research; based on the exploratory case the authors propose ways how OM concepts can be applied to this new context. Further research will be needed to validate and generalise.

Practical implications

Major projects, including organisational transformations, IT-enabled change, major events and large infrastructure projects, constitute a large proportion of economic activity. Despite their prominence, however, they are also commonly associated with low success rates. This paper provides one route for exploring how a successful set of principles could be applied to improving their performance.

Originality/value

This work translates a popular set of ideas from OM to strengthening a relatively neglected context within OM. An agenda for further research is suggested to support the development of this application.
Strategic alliances in technology industries: a different rationale
Authors: Li Lee , Qian Gongming
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic intentions of strategic alliances in technology industries.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper mainly uses case studies as its methodology.

Findings

This paper depicts how the possibilities of firms sharing resources, costs and risks decrease when industry changes grow frequently and unpredictably. More importantly, this study suggests that in technology industries, firms use strategic alliances to keep their existing marketing strategies intact.

Research limitations/implications

For future studies, the authors will develop and test hypotheses based on the arguments of this paper.

Practical implications

Findings of this paper contradict business executives’ common sense but have important implications for them to manage their strategic alliances.

Originality/value

Findings of this paper contradict the traditional belief of strategic alliances and thus advance the knowledge on strategic alliances.
Great expectations
Authors: Almazrouei Hanan Saber , Zacca Robert , Evans Joel M. , Dayan Mumin
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Organizational fairness has been shown to affect numerous employee outcomes, including organizational commitment and job satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an expatriate manager’s favorability toward accepting a foreign assignment affects the way they respond to subsequent treatment in the workplace, viewed in terms of organizational justice.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered in two stages from 175 expatriate managers located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To test the authors’ predictions, the authors analyzed organizational commitment and job satisfaction as a function of organizational fairness (distributive and interpersonal) and pre-departure opinion.

Findings

The results suggest that expatriate managers who express a higher degree of favorability toward accepting a foreign assignment appear less reactive to changes in organizational fairness. Meanwhile, expatriate managers who express a lesser degree of favorability toward accepting the foreign assignment appear more sensitive to workplace fairness, such that when they feel treated unfairly, they demonstrate worse outcomes than those who were in favor of the assignment, and when they feel treated fairly, they demonstrate better outcomes than those who were in favor of the assignment. The net effect of pre-departure opinion appears to be an amplification of the relationship between subsequent fairness and outcomes.

Practical implications

Expatriate managers with a less favorable view of their assignment may harbor deep questions about whether they want to be in this new job capacity, and may therefore be more sensitive to how they are treated. Alternatively, people with a more favorable view of their assignment may have already decided they want to be in the new capacity, and so may be more robust to workplace treatment.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this paper constitutes the first investigation of the effects of expatriate pre-departure opinion (i.e. favorability toward accepting a foreign assignment) on job satisfaction and commitment within the context of organizational justice. Furthermore, the UAE is a highly relevant context to study expatriate behavior.
Absorptive capacity and small family firm performance: exploring the mediation processes
Authors: Chaudhary Sanjay , Batra Safal
Published: May 2018

Purpose

Despite the recognized importance of knowledge management for small family firms, relatively little empirical research has been done so far to understand the mechanisms through which absorptive capacity (AC) assists their performance. The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between absorptive capacity and performance in small family firms.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the authors theoretically argue and empirically validate that AC enables the creation of entrepreneurial, market and technology orientations in small family firms, which, in turn, lead to superior firm performance. They also tested the study’s hypotheses using mediation and multiple linear regression analyses on data collected from 272 small Indian family firms.

Findings

The study’s findings suggest indirect relationship between AC and performance. The strategic orientations provide a mechanism through which investments in small family firms’ AC results in firm performance.

Practical implications

This study offers crucial insights to practitioners and small firm managers regarding the use of knowledge-based capabilities in creating appropriate strategic postures, which, in turn, assist firm performance.

Originality/value

This study is among few research attempts in understanding the knowledge aspects of small family firms. The present research contributes to the existing literature by unravelling the relationship between knowledge management and small family firm performance. Also, by bringing in data from an under-studied context of an emerging economy, this study strengthens the theoretical applicability of knowledge management in different contexts.
The “hero-leader”: a case of leadership in Brazil
Authors: Casado Renata
Published: May 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore what mechanisms a leader uses when promoting change towards a corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework in the particular context of the Brazilian culture.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a qualitative case study undertaken at a private forest management company located in the South of Brazil, which draws on in-depth interviews with employees (n=12) and analysis of secondary data. Content analysis supported by Atlas TI software.

Findings

First, this study illustrates the importance of transformational leadership as an internal organisational antecedent for successful organisational change towards CSR practices and policies. This is particularly because this transformation was grounded in moral values, which were used by the leader to build trust, inspire and motivate followers. Second, this case study provides a glimpse into the implementation of CSR practices in a Brazilian organisational setting, suggesting that characteristics that are typical of the national culture reinforce the importance of the leader as a role model, inside and outside the firm, in various realms of the employees’ lives.

Research limitations/implications

The study makes a contribution in extending the understanding about the relationship between leadership and CSR in the context of Brazilian culture. However, as a qualitative case study, findings from this research should not be generalised. Results must be understood in light of the specific conditions in which the case is embedded.

Practical implications

The paper identifies key messages for international companies interested in promoting change in their Brazilian businesses or operations. It also stimulates reflection on the issue of dependency on the leader and eventual challenges regarding continuity and succession.

Originality/value

The paper offers an in-depth analysis of leadership challenges and mechanisms in an organisation embedded in the Brazilian culture.