bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Molecular origins of asymmetric proton conduction in the influenza M2 channel
Authors: Lazaridis Themis
Published: August 2022

The M2 proton channel of influenza A is embedded into the viral envelope and allows acidification of the virion when the external pH is lowered. In contrast, no outward proton conductance is observed when the internal pH is lowered, although outward current is observed at positive voltage. Residues Trp41 and Asp44 are known to play a role in preventing pH-driven outward conductance but the mechanism for this is unclear. We investigate this issue using classical molecular dynamics simulations with stochastic proton hops. When all key His37 residues are neutral, inward proton movement is much more facile than outward movement if the His are allowed to shuttle the proton. The preference for inward movement increases further as the charge on the His37 increases. Analysis of the trajectories reveals three factors accounting for this asymmetry. First, the Asp44 trap the hydronium by strong electrostatic interactions. Secondly, Asp44 and Trp41 orient the hydronium with the protons pointing inward, hampering outward Grotthus hopping. The Trp41 add to the barrier by weakly H-bonding to potential H+ acceptors. Finally, for charged His, the H3O+ in the inner vestibule tends to get trapped at lipid-lined fenestrations of the cone-shaped channel. Simulations qualitatively reproduce the experimentally observed higher outward conductance of mutants. The ability of positive voltage, unlike proton gradient, to induce outward current appears to arise from its ability to bias H3O+ and the waters around it toward more H-outward orientations.

Significance

The M2 proton channel of influenza A, the best-studied viral ion channel and a proven drug target, conducts protons asymmetrically in response to a pH gradient. That is, protons flow inward when the external pH is low, but not outward when the internal pH is low. Experiments identified residues that play a role in this behavior, but how they do it has not been clear. This work identifies three molecular mechanisms that explain qualitatively the experimentally observed preference for inward conduction. These insights could improve our understanding of proton channels and possibly other key biological systems that exhibit vectorial proton transport.
Pharmacologic Stabilization of Retromer Rescues Endosomal Pathology Induced by Defects in the Alzheimer’s geneSORL1
Authors: Mishra Swati , Knupp Allison , Kinoshita Chizuru , Williams C. Andrew , Rose Shannon E. , Martinez Refugio , Theofilas Panos , Young Jessica E.
Published: August 2022

The Sortilin-related receptor 1 gene (SORL1,SORLA) is strongly associated with risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). SORLA is a regulator of endosomal trafficking in neurons and interacts with retromer, a complex that is a ‘master conductor’ of endosomal trafficking. Pharmacological chaperones stabilize retromerin vitro, enhancing its function. Here we used an isogenic series of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines with either one or two copies ofSORL1or harboring one copy of aSORL1variant linked to increased risk for AD. We treated hiPSC-derived cortical neurons with the established retromer chaperone, TPT-260, and tested whether indicators of AD’s defining endosomal, amyloid, and Tau pathologies were corrected. We observed that the degree of rescue by TPT-260 treatment varied, depending on the number of copies of functionalSORL1and whichSORL1variant was expressed. Using a disease-relevant preclinical model, our work illuminates how theSORL1-retromer pathway can be therapeutically harnessed.
Protein N-Terminomics Reveals Major Proteases in Regulating Beige Adipocyte Differentiation
Authors: Chang Hsin-Yi , Chang Chih-Hsiang , Nishida Hiroshi , Takamuro Kaho , Ogata Kosuke , Peng Kuan-Chieh , Lin Li-Chun , Lo Yii-Jwu , Huang Tsui-Chin , Ishihama Yasushi
Published: August 2022

In this comprehensive study, we present an innovative analytical platform designed to capture the temporal shifts in both the proteome and protein N-terminome during beige adipocyte differentiation. Employing a refined N-terminomics technique, we achieved a high purity of 97% in isolating protein N-terminal peptides. Our data encompassed 7,171 unique N-terminal peptides, with 3,043 from canonical proteins and 4,129 with neo-N-termini. Strikingly, nearly half (44%) of the proteins revealed distinct temporal trajectories between the global proteome and the N-terminome. This underscores the central role of proteolysis in beige adipocyte differentiation. Experimentally, knockdown of either Pmpcb, Plg, or Cstd in preadipocytes attenuated thermogenesis, manifested by reduced levels of beige adipocyte markers like Cidea, Pgc1a, Ucp1, and Tbx1 and an increase in adipogenic proteins, thereby hampering beige adipocyte maturation. A salient discovery was the non-apoptotic role of caspase 8 protease; inhibiting its proteolytic action amplified Ucp1 expression levels. Collectively, our findings spotlight proteases and their proteolytic by-products as vital regulators in beige adipocyte differentiation.
An archetypes approach to malaria intervention impact mapping: a new framework and example application
Authors: Bertozzi-Villa Amelia , Bever Caitlin , Gerardin Jaline , Proctor Joshua L. , Wu Meikang , Harding Dennis , Hollingsworth T. Deirdre , Bhatt Samir , Gething Peter W.
Published: August 2022

Background

As both mechanistic and geospatial malaria modeling methods become more integrated into malaria policy decisions, there is increasing demand for strategies that combine these two methods. This paper introduces a novel archetypes-based methodology for generating high-resolution intervention impact maps based on mechanistic model simulations. An example configuration of the framework is described and explored.

Methods

First, dimensionality reduction and clustering techniques were applied to rasterized geospatial environmental and mosquito covariates to find archetypal malaria transmission patterns. Next, mechanistic models were run on a representative site from each archetype to assess intervention impact. Finally, these mechanistic results were reprojected onto each pixel to generate full maps of intervention impact. The example configuration used ERA5 and Malaria Atlas Project covariates, singular value decomposition, k-means clustering, and the Institute for Disease Modeling’s EMOD model to explore a range of three-year malaria interventions primarily focused on vector control and case management.

Results

Rainfall, temperature, and mosquito abundance layers were clustered into ten transmission archetypes with distinct properties. Example intervention impact curves and maps highlighted archetype-specific variation in efficacy of vector control interventions. A sensitivity analysis showed that the procedure for selecting representative sites to simulate worked well in all but one archetype.

Conclusion

This paper introduces a novel methodology which combines the richness of spatiotemporal mapping with the rigor of mechanistic modeling to create a multi-purpose infrastructure for answering a broad range of important questions in the malaria policy space. It is flexible and adaptable to a range of input covariates, mechanistic models, and mapping strategies and can be adapted to the modelers’ setting of choice.
The late ISC pathway interactome reveals mitosomal-cytoplasmic crosstalk in Giardia intestinalis
Authors: Motyčková Alžběta , Voleman Luboš , Najdrová Vladimíra , Marková Lenka , Benda Martin , Dohnálek Vít , Janowicz Natalia , Malych Ronald , Šuťák Róbert , Ettema Thijs J. G. , Svärd Staffan , Stairs Courtney W. , Doležal Pavel
Published: August 2022

Mitochondrial metabolism is entirely dependent on the biosynthesis of the [4Fe-4S] clusters, which are part of the subunits of the respiratory chain. The mitochondrial late ISC pathway mediates the formation of these clusters from simpler [2Fe-2S] molecules and transfers them to client proteins. Here, we characterized the late ISC pathway in one of the simplest mitochondria, mitosomes, of the anaerobic protist Giardia intestinalis that lost the respiratory chain and other hallmarks of mitochondria. Identification of the late ISC interactome revealed unexpected involvement of the aerobic marker protein BolA and specific interaction of IscA with the outer mitosomal membrane. Although we confirmed that the synthesis of the Fe-S cluster remained the only metabolic role of mitosomes, we also showed that mitosomes lack client proteins that require the [4Fe-4S] cluster. Instead, by knocking out the bolA gene from the G. intestinalis genome, we showed that, unlike aerobic mitochondria, the late ISC mitosomal pathway is involved in the assembly of cytosolic [4Fe-4S] clusters. Thus, this work reveals an unexpected link between the formation of mitochondrial and cytosolic [4Fe- 4S] clusters. This may either be a consequence of mitochondrial adaptation to life without oxygen, or it represents a general metabolic coupling that has not been previously observed in the complex mitochondrial metabolism of aerobes.
Processing of Different Social Scales in the Human Brain
Authors: Roseman Moshe , Dunbar Robin I. M. , Arzy Shahar
Published: August 2022

For an individual to lead a healthy and fulfilling social life, it is essential to have relationships with multiple people who are at different levels of emotional closeness. Based on ethological, sociological and psychological evidence, social networks have been divided into five scales of emotional closeness, gradually increasing in size and decreasing in emotional proximity. Is this division also reflected in different brain processes? During functional MRI, participants compared their emotional closeness to different members of their social network. We examined the brain area that was differentially activated for levels of emotional closeness, and found that its vast majority (78%) showed preference for people who are closest to participants, including the temporoparietal junction, middle temporal gyrus, precuneus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. A different system, which includes the medial temporal lobe, retrosplenial cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex showed preference for all other social scales. Moreover, we found a significant correlation between brain responses to emotionally close people and smaller spaces (room, building) as well as between emotionally distant people and larger spaces (neighborhood, city). Finally, brain activity at the default mode network (DMN) was associated with social scale preference, such that its subnetwork DMN A, related to social processing, showed preference to closer social scales, while DMN C, related to spatiotemporal processing, showed preference to farther social scales. Our results show that the cognitive processing of a few intimately close people differs from the rest of the social network, emphasizing their crucial role in social life.

Significance

We divide the people in our lives according to levels of emotional closeness, called social scales, ranging from the few people who are the closest to us, in which we invest most of our social efforts and time (support clique), to the farthest level of ∼150 acquaintances. Here, we used neuroimaging to investigate the brain processing of different social scales. We found that the area of cortex dedicated to the support clique is much larger than that of all other scales and encompasses different brain regions. Interestingly, this division is similar to the one between processing of small and larger spaces, and processed by different subregions of the default mode network. Our study emphasizes the importance of close relationships in our social lives as found in the brain.
Universal mechanism of hormone and allosteric agonist mediated activation of glycoprotein hormone receptors as revealed by structures of follicle stimulating hormone receptor
Authors: Duan Jia , Xu Peiyu , Zhang Huibing , Luan Xiaodong , Yang Jiaqi , Mao Chunyou , Shen Dan-Dan , Ji Yujie , He Xinheng , Cheng Xi , Jiang Hualiang , Jiang Yi , Zhang Shuyang , Zhang Yan , Xu H. Eric
Published: August 2022

Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is an essential glycoprotein hormone for human reproduction, which functions are mediated by a G protein-coupled receptor, FSHR. Aberrant FSH-FSHR signaling causes infertility and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Here we report cryo-EM structures of FSHR in both inactive and active states, with the active structure bound to FSH and an allosteric agonist compound 21f. The structures of FSHR are similar to other glycoprotein hormone receptors, highlighting a conserved activation mechanism of hormone-induced receptor activation. Compound 21f formed extensive interactions with the TMD to directly activate FSHR. Importantly, the unique residue H6157.42 in FSHR plays an essential role in determining FSHR selectivity for various allosteric agonists. Together, our structures provide a molecular basis of FSH and small allosteric agonist-mediated FSHR activation, which could inspire the design of FSHR-targeted drugs for the treatment of infertility and controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization.
High-throughput profiling of sequence recognition by tyrosine kinases and SH2 domains using bacterial peptide display
Authors: Li Allyson , Voleti Rashmi , Lee Minhee , Gagoski Dejan , Shah Neel H.
Published: August 2022

Tyrosine kinases and SH2 (phosphotyrosine recognition) domains have binding specificities that depend on the amino acid sequence surrounding the target (phospho)tyrosine residue. Although the preferred recognition motifs of many kinases and SH2 domains are known, we lack a quantitative description of sequence specificity that could guide predictions about signaling pathways or be used to design sequences for biomedical applications. Here, we present a platform that combines genetically-encoded peptide libraries and deep sequencing to profile sequence recognition by tyrosine kinases and SH2 domains. We screened several tyrosine kinases against a million-peptide random library and used the resulting profiles to design high-activity sequences. We also screened several kinases against a library containing thousands of human proteome-derived peptides and their naturally-occurring variants. These screens recapitulated independently measured phosphorylation rates and revealed hundreds of phosphosite-proximal mutations that impact phosphosite recognition by tyrosine kinases. We extended this platform to the analysis of SH2 domains and showed that screens could predict relative binding affinities. Finally, we expanded our method to assess the impact of non-canonical and post-translationally modified amino acids on sequence recognition. This specificity profiling platform will shed new light on phosphotyrosine signaling and could readily be adapted to other protein modification/recognition domains.
PRMT5-mediated regulatory arginine methylation of RIPK3
Authors: Chauhan Chanchal , Del Val Ana Martinez , Niedenthal Rainer , Olsen Jesper Velgaard , Kotlyarov Alexey , Bekker-Jensen Simon , Gaestel Matthias , Menon Manoj B.
Published: August 2022

The TNF receptor-interacting protein kinases (RIPK)-1 and 3 are regulators of extrinsic cell death response pathways, where RIPK1 makes the cell-survival or death decisions by associating with distinct complexes mediating survival signaling, caspase activation or RIPK3-dependent necroptotic cell death in a context dependent manner. Using a mass spectrometry-based screen to find new components of the ripoptosome/necrosome, we discovered the protein-arginine methyltransferase (PRMT)-5 as a direct interaction partner of RIPK1. Interestingly, RIPK3 but not RIPK1 was then found a target of PRMT5-mediated symmetric arginine dimethylation. A conserved arginine residue in RIPK3 (R486 in human, R415 in mouse) was identified as the evolutionarily conserved target for PRMT5-mediated symmetric dimethylation and the mutations R486A and R486K in human RIPK3 almost completely abrogated its methylation. Rescue experiments using these non-methylatable mutants of RIPK3 demonstrated PRMT5-mediated RIPK3 methylation to act as an efficient mechanism of RIPK3-mediated feedback control on RIPK1 activity and function. Therefore, this study reveals PRMT5-mediated RIPK3 methylation as a novel modulator of RIPK1-dependent signaling.
Shock drives a highly coordinated transcriptional and DNA methylation response in the endothelium
Authors: Ramos Ramon Bossardi , Martino Nina , Chuy Dareen , Lu Shuhan , Balasubramanian Uma , Di John Portela Iria , Vincent Peter A. , Adam Alejandro P.
Published: August 2022

Endothelial dysfunction is a critical factor in promoting organ failure during septic shock. Organ dysfunction during shock increases the risk of long-term sequelae in survivors through mechanisms that remain unknown. We postulated that vascular dysfunction during shock contributes to the long-term morbidity post shock through transcriptional and epigenetic changes within the endothelium. As we have previously demonstrated that IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling in endothelial cells contributes to the inflammatory response following endotoxin, we performed cross-omics analyses on kidney endothelium from acute endotoxin-challenged mice lacking or not the JAK/STAT3 inhibitor SOCS3. This analysis revealed significant DNA methylation changes upon proinflammatory signaling that was significantly associated with transcriptional activity through AP1, STAT, and IRF families, suggesting a mechanism driving transcription-induced gene-specific methylation changes. In vitro, we demonstrated that IL-6 induces similar changes in DNA methylation. Specific genes showed DNA methylation changes in response to an IL-6+R challenge, and consistently, changes in their expression levels by 72 hours of IL-6+R treatment. Further, changes in the endothelial methylome remain in place for prolonged periods in absence of IL-6, suggesting that this cytokine may elicit transcriptional changes long after the resolution of inflammation. Also, demonstrated that DNA methylation changes could directly alter the expression of these genes and that STAT3 activation had a causal role in this transcriptional response. Our findings provide evidence for a critical role for IL-6 signaling in regulating shock-induced epigenetic changes and sustained endothelial activation, offering a new therapeutic target to limit vascular dysfunction and prevent long-term organ damage.

Abstract Figure
Serological surveillance for wild rodent infection with SARS-CoV-2 in Europe
Authors: Bourret Vincent , Dutra Lara , Alburkat Hussein , Mäki Sanna , Lintunen Ella , Wasniewski Marine , Kant Ravi , Grzybek Maciej , Venkat Vinaya , Asad Hayder , Pradel Julien , Bouilloud Marie , Leirs Herwig , Colombo Valeria Carolina , Sluydts Vincent , Stuart Peter , McManus Andrew , Eccard Jana A. , Firozpoor Jasmin , Imholt Christian , Nowicka Joanna , Goll Aleksander , Ranc Nathan , Castel Guillaume , Charbonnel Nathalie , Sironen Tarja
Published: August 2022

We report serological surveillance for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in 1,237 wild rodents and other small mammals across Europe. All samples were negative with the possible exception of one. Given the ongoing circulation of this virus in humans and potential host jumps, we suggest such surveillance be continued.
The effect of capital structure, operating efficiency and non-interest income on bank profitability: new evidence from Asia
Authors: Mehzabin Saima , Shahriar Ahanaf , Hoque Muhammad Nazmul , Wanke Peter , Azad Md. Abul Kalam
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The Asian banking system has been appreciated with many distinct qualities including consistent in profitability. Many studies have examined the profitability of Asian banking sector from diverse perspectives. However, studies on bank profitability in connection to the capital structure, operating efficiency and non-interest income are only a few. This study investigates the influence of capital structure as estimated by leverage ratio and long-term debt, operating efficiency and non-interest income on the profitability of the banking industry in 28 countries of Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes fixed effect regression model by involving panel data with sample of 492 banks from 28 countries of Asia for the time span of 15 years from 2004 to 2018.

Findings

The results confirm that an increase in total debt ratio increases the profit margin of the bank as supported by the agency cost theory, suggesting that the debt financing increases the profitability of the firm. In addition, the findings reveal that lowering the operating expenses and managing of costs effectively can boost the profitability of bank. Furthermore, non-interest income plays a vital role when the interest rates are lower. Hence the study suggests that a careful investment in this sector can generate income as well as increase the profit margin of the banking arena.

Originality/value

The paper examines the profitability of bank by including impact of leverage ratio and long-term debt as a measure of capital structure along with the influence of operational efficiency and non-interest income which contributes to the understanding of the existing literature.
The antecedents and outcomes of career optimism: a meta-analysis
Authors: Lin Xinqi , Luan Yuxiang , Zhao Kai , Zhao Teng , Zhao Guolong
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Given its importance, career optimism (CO) has drawn much attention from researchers. Fruitful evidence has been accumulated; unfortunately, a quantitative review is still lacking, which would limit the continuous development of this field. To address this, this paper uses the meta-analysis technology to evaluate the links between CO and its antecedents and outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used Hunter–Schmidt method random effect meta-analysis technology to systematically evaluate the true score correlations between CO and its antecedents and outcomes.

Findings

Among the CO antecedents, this study found significant links between CO and agreeableness (ρ = 0.11), career adaptability (ρ = 0.55), career knowledge (ρ = 0.43), career decision self-efficacy (ρ = 0.52), social support (ρ = 0.30), conscientiousness (ρ = 0.54), extraversion (ρ = 0.38), gender (ρ = 0.07), GPA (ρ = 0.11), neuroticism (ρ = −0.42), and openness (ρ = 0.27). Moreover, among the CO outcomes, significant links have been found between CO and academic satisfaction (ρ = 0.43), career choice satisfaction (ρ = 0.44), career decisiveness (ρ = 0.37), depersonalization (ρ = −0.48), and emotional exhaustion (ρ = −0.59).

Originality/value

By conducting the first meta-analysis of CO, our study contributes to the CO literature. Additionally, our study increases the knowledge of CO, which would help leaders in the school or workplace to understand the significance of CO better and thereby take actions to intervene and increase students or employees' CO.
Strategic collaboration in agro-industrial clusters: territorial dynamics within the dairy industry in Uruguay
Authors: Galaso Pablo , Rodríguez Miranda Adrián
Published: August 2022

Purpose

Inquiring about the patterns of interaction within clusters can provide a valuable insight into the cooperation and competition strategies followed by firms. However, such internal patterns are difficult to identify using conventional methods. This study aims to apply a social network analysis approach to identify and analyze different sub-groups of firms within a dairy cluster. These sub-groups seem to respond to different forms of productive organization, with different levels of territorial anchorage.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors study the dairy cluster in the south-west of Uruguay, where one of the country’s main industries is located. The authors use data from semi-structured interviews applied to managing directors of 40 dairy industrial firms. The authors analyze the collaboration network among firms and industry support organizations. Using a community detection algorithm, the authors identify strategic groups of firms and organizations within the network. The authors analyze information from the interviews to delve deeper into the strategies pursued by actors in each of these sub-groups.

Findings

The four groups identified by the algorithm respond to particular logics associated not only with collaborative behavior, but also with territorial distribution and competitive strategies pursued by firms. In particular, these communities show a positive association between the centrality of their nodes in the network, the size of their firms, their export orientation and their innovative capacity. These associations indicate the co-existence, within the cluster, of different local productive systems and other forms of productive organization.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates how different strategies of firms within a cluster can be understood using social network analysis. This approach is particularly interesting in agri-food clusters, where their wider dispersion in the territory often implies their firms following different collaborative and competitive strategies, and different levels of territorial anchorage.
Optimal fiscal policy in a model with reciprocity in labor relations: the case of Bulgaria
Authors: Vasilev Aleksandar
Published: August 2022

Purpose

This paper explores the effects of fiscal policy in an economy with reciprocity in labor relations and fair wages, consumption taxes and a common income tax rate in place.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, a dynamic general-equilibrium model with government sector is calibrated to Bulgarian data (1999–2018). Two regimes are compared and contrasted – the exogenous (observed) vs optimal policy (Ramsey) case. The focus of the paper is on the relative importance of consumption vs income taxation, as well as on the provision of utility-enhancing public services. Bulgarian economy was chosen as a case study due to its major dependence on consumption taxation as a source of tax revenue.

Findings

(1) The optimal steady-state income tax rate is zero; (2) the benevolent Ramsey planner provides the optimal amount of the utility-enhancing public services, which are now three times lower; (3) the optimal steady-state consumption tax needed to finance the optimal level of government spending is 18:7%.

Originality/value

This is the first study on optimal fiscal policy with reciprocity in labor relations.
Robotic process automation adoption: contextual factors from service sectors in an emerging economy
Authors: Sharma Chitra , Bharadwaj Sangeeta Shah , Gupta Narain , Jain Hemant
Published: August 2022

Purpose

The study aimed to examine the robotic process automation (RPA) contextual (center of excellence and scalability) and the multidisciplinary (TOE) determinants of RPA adoption in service industries in the emerging economy.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten factors were identified through literature surveys and popular studies grounded in technology, organization and environment. SPSS AMOS SEM is used for scale measurement and hypotheses testing. A sample of 313 respondents was collected from middle to above middle management executives of service industries from India. The authors tested the hidden layers and non-linear relationships using artificial neural network (ANN) analysis.

Findings

The low complexity, center of excellence (CoE), and industry/business partner pressure were significant to the RPA adoption in service industries in emerging economies. Counterintuitively, the scalability showed a negative influence on the RPA adoption, and the process capability did not show influence. The results of SEM and ANN were consistent.

Research limitations/implications

This research can unfold the RPA adoption scholarly debate to multiple services industries beyond the telecom sector in emerging economies.

Practical implications

RPA is a disruptive technology on the artificial intelligence (AI) continuum. It has the potential to change the ways of working and enable technology-driven transformation. However, despite having thriving service industries that can benefit from RPA, emerging economies lag in adoption compared to the developed nations.

Social implications

The RPA and automation can bring transformation to human society. Large economies such as India and China have large-scale demand for services, and the waiting lines are a common issue struggled by society. RPA can address the scalability issues of several services.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to examine technology-organization-environment (TOE) with RPA, including RPA contextual variables such as the CoE and scalability. Literature reports TOE applications on several emerging technologies of Industry 4.0 such as cloud, blockchain, big data and 3 Dimensional Printing (3DP), but no or little reported studies around RPA in services industries in emerging markets.
Barriers in Nigeria’s public hospital green buildings implementation initiatives
Authors: Ebekozien Andrew , Ayo-Odifiri Solomon Oisasoje , Nwaole Angeline Ngozika Chibuike , Ibeabuchi Aginah Lawrence , Uwadia Felix Ebholo
Published: August 2022

Purpose

The high consumption of energy by buildings may have enhanced land degradation, flooding, air pollution and many other hazardous environmental issues. However, green practices in buildings have been proved as one of the successful technologies to mitigate these issues. Past studies have shown lax green practices in Nigerian buildings. Concerning public hospital buildings, this is yet to be explored. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the barriers to green practices and proffer possible policy solutions to promote hospital green buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

In attaining these objectives, the view of hospital building contractors, design team, hospital management and policymakers in the relevant ministries/agencies was engaged via virtual interviews. The collated data were analysed and presented in the thematic pattern.

Findings

Findings show that green building construction is extremely low in Nigeria, but the worst hit is the health-care buildings across the states. Government/policy-related, organisational/leadership-related, financial-related, technical-related, design team-related and stakeholders’ behaviour-related barriers emerged as the main six themes of barriers affecting public hospital green buildings implementation initiatives. Findings show that proffering possible policies to addressing these barriers may improve public hospital green construction across the states.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to barriers to green buildings implementation in public hospitals in Nigeria, and data collection was through virtual interviews but does not affect the strength of the findings. Thus, this paper suggests that the sub-themes and variables/items that emerged from the collated data as presented in Figure 1 can be further developed quantitatively via questionnaire survey to validate and improve the reliability of results from this paper.

Practical implications

As part of this study’s implications, suggestions from this paper will stir up policymakers’ decisions, to be tailored towards achieving green buildings implementation initiatives in Nigerian public hospitals.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is probably the first that attempted to investigate the barriers to green buildings implementation in public hospitals in Nigeria.
Interdependencies or integration? A qualitative evaluation of a national emergency department improvement programme
Authors: Jones Katie , Rance Jaynie Y.
Published: August 2022

Purpose

In Wales (United Kingdom (UK)), a programme known as the emergency department quality and delivery framework (EDQDF) was launched in 2018 with the purpose of designing a framework of what good looks like for emergency care and then implementing this framework in a measurable and sustainable way.

Design/methodology/approach

A gatekeeper emailed attendees of the EDQDF launch event (n = 70), providing recipients with an information sheet and inviting them to contact the researcher (KJ) if they agreed to be interviewed. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with all respondents (n = 8) after three invitation rounds sent between August and October 2021. The authors used a thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

Findings

Participants agreed with the aims and design of the framework, and the authors identified four themes relating to barriers and to facilitators of implementation. Participants perceive a softening of geographical boundaries through the project, but findings correspond with evidence generated elsewhere regarding emergency departments’ (EDs') system-wide interdependencies and a need for cross-organisational collaboration.

Research limitations/implications

A quality improvement method for health services known as CAREMORE® is found to be a useful approach for the collaborative design of service improvements. Participants perceive a softening of geographical boundaries through the project, but the interviews correspond with evidence generated elsewhere regarding EDs' system-wide interdependencies and a need for cross-organisational collaboration.

Practical implications

This evaluation relies on a relatively small number of participants, but as a qualitative evaluation it does not aim towards broadly generalisable findings but rather contributes to broad field concerned with the production of knowledge on the implementation of health service improvements. The project under evaluation is also on-going, and the findings reflect the period from inception to December 2021, but not beyond that date.

Originality/value

This evaluation builds upon previous work in relation to the application of CAREMORE to design a quality improvement framework in a complex area (see Nelson et al., 2018), but this evaluation considers the implementation process. The findings echo research elsewhere and add to a growing body of research that underlines system interconnectivities that impact upon the emergency department.
Employee branding dimensions and brand citizenship behaviour: exploring the role of mediators in the hospitality context
Authors: Dhiman Praveen , Arora Sangeeta
Published: August 2022

Purpose

Relying on social identity and social exchange perspectives, the present study aims to investigate the role of employee branding dimensions in stimulating employees’ brand citizenship behaviour (BCB) directly and indirectly through job satisfaction and affective brand commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

A field-survey method was used to target customer-contact employees of luxury chain hotels. Regression-based approach and bootstrap method (via PROCESS MACRO, Model 6) were applied to test the direct and indirect effects.

Findings

The results show that perceived external brand prestige has a strong direct effect on BCB. Through mediation analysis, this study observes that job satisfaction and affective brand commitment have significant mediation effects (i.e. individual, parallel and sequential) between employee branding dimensions and BCB. Analysing the results precisely, job satisfaction and affective brand commitment have the lowest sequential mediation effect and the greatest parallel mediation effect concerning the said relationships.

Originality/value

This study is novel in applying a three-path mediation model in the Indian hospitality context, considering a multi-dimensional perspective of employee branding to capture its diverse impact on BCB directly and indirectly through job satisfaction and affective brand commitment. Moreover, this study advances employee branding research by considering the under-investigated mediating (individual, parallel and sequential) role of job satisfaction and affective brand commitment.
Bitcoin's hedging attributes against equity market volatility: empirical evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Grira Jocelyn , Guizani Sana , Kahloul Ines
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the hedging capacity of Bitcoin in relation to the S&P 500 index during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to investigate the hedging features of Bitcoin in relation to the S&P 500 index during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors use the Granger causality applied on a daily sample of observations ranging from January 1st, 2019 to December 31st, 2020. As robustness checks, the authors use autoregressive models to test the validity of the findings.

Findings

Using time series of daily data from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2020, the results show that Bitcoin is not considered as a safe haven because it moves at the same pace as the S&P 500. As a robustness check, the authors use the exponential GARCH model and confirm our previous findings. Overall, the study contributes to the debate on both COVID-19's impact on financial systems and the hypothesis of Bitcoin being a safe haven during extreme global crises.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the debate on both COVID-19's impact on financial systems and the hypothesis of Bitcoin being a safe haven during extreme global crises.
Studying domain structure: a comparative analysis of bibliographic coupling analysis and co-citation analysis considering all authors
Authors: Song Yanhui , Lei Lixin , Wu Lijuan , Chen Shiji
Published: August 2022

Purpose

This paper focuses on the differences in domain intellectual structure discovery between author bibliographic coupling analysis (ABCA) and author co-citation analysis (ACA) considering all authors. The purpose of this study is to examine whether and in what ways these two all-author network approaches yield different results.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample was collected from the database of Web of Science, including all articles published inScientometrics and Journal of Informetricsfrom 2011 to 2020. First, 100 representative authors were selected from each set, and ABCA matrices and ACA matrices were constructed. Second, factor analysis was carried out on the matrices, to detect the intellectual structure of scientometrics and informetrics.

Findings

The intellectual structures identified by ABCA and ACA are similar overall, but the results differ somewhat when it comes to specific structures. The ABCA is more sensitive to some highly collaborative research teams and presents a clearer picture of current intellectual structures and trends while ACA seems to have some advantages in representing the more traditional and proven research topics in the field. The combined use of ABCA and ACA allows for a more comprehensive and specific intellectual structure of research fields.

Originality/value

This paper compares the performance of ABCA and ACA detecting the intellectual structure of the domain from the perspective of all authors, revealing the intellectual structure of scientometrics and informetrics comprehensively.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at:https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-12-2020-0540.
Could you give me some advice? How and when leader consultation sparks employee proactivity
Authors: Zhou Kong , Yin Wen-jun , Hu Xiaofei , Ouyang Xi , Gui Chenglin , Tan Beijing
Published: August 2022

Purpose

This study examined the dynamical and positive effects of leader consultation on employee proactivity from a motivational perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected twice a day from 107 employees in a week by using an experience sampling method.

Findings

On a daily basis, leader consultation had a positive effect on employees’ state work engagement, which in turn promoted employees’ proactivity. Moreover, authoritarian leadership weakened the positive relationship between leader consultation and employees’ state work engagement.

Originality/value

The findings provided a new perspective regarding the potential dynamic motivational effect of leader consultation on employees and generated interesting implications for paradoxical leadership theory.
Comparing willingness‐to‐pay and time‐trade‐off as the measures of burden of psoriasis: A pooled analysis of community, hospital, and web‐based samples in China
Authors: Shen Minxue , Xiao Hui , Zhu Wu , Lu Yan , Jing Danrong , Kuang Yehong , Li Meng , Guan Xin , Sheng Ping , Su Juan , Chen Xiang , Xiao Yi
Published: July 2022

Willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) and time‐trade‐off (TTO) are widely used as measures of disease burden. However, the sensitivity of the metrics has not been compared in psoriasis. This article aims to report WTP and TTO in Chinese psoriasis patients, and to compare the WTPcure (USD), WTPcontrol (%), and TTO regarding the sensitivity in measuring the burden of psoriasis. Patients were recruited from a community‐based cohort, a tertiary hospital, and an online forum. WTP was elicited for two scenarios: WTP for controlling the disease and WTP for curing the disease. WTPcontrol was elicited by asking about the percentage of monthly income that the participant patients would like to pay to fully control the clinical symptoms of psoriasis and WTPcure was elicited as absolute money for curing the disease. The evaluation of WTP and TTO were referred to the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) as the indicator of clinical severity, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) as the measure of impaired quality‐of‐life. Data distribution, concurrent validity, and capability of discriminating moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis (receiver operating characteristic curve, ROC) were compared among the indices. A total of 479 patients were enrolled from the cohort (88), hospital (175), and web (216). WTPcontrol was significantly higher in patients with PASI>10 than those with PASI<10, while TTO was significantly higher in patients with DLQI>10 than those with DLQI<10. WTP control showed a positive association with PASI in mild psoriasis (r = 0.36, p < 0.001), while TTO showed an inverse correlation to DLQI in different severity subgroups, respectively (r = −0.20, p = 0.001). ROC analysis showed consistent results that WTP control was superior in discriminating patients with PASI>10, while WTP control was better in discriminating DLQI>10. WTPcure demonstrated no significant results. WTPcontrol is superior in detecting mild psoriasis compared to TTO, while TTO is more sensitive in measuring the impaired QoL.
Is species richness mediated by functional and genetic divergence? A global analysis in birds
Authors: Crouch Nicholas M. A. , Jablonski David
Published: August 2022

Unravelling why species richness shows such dramatic spatial variation is an ongoing challenge. Common to many theories is that increasing species richness (e.g. with latitude) requires a compensatory trade‐off on an axis of species' ecology. Spatial variation in species richness may also affect genetic diversity if large numbers of coexisting, related species result in smaller population sizes.

Here, we test whether increasing species richness results in differential occupation of morphospace by the constituent species, or decreases species' genetic diversity. We test for two potential mechanisms of morphological accommodation: denser packing in ecomorphological space, and expansion of the space. We then test whether species differ in their nucleotide diversity depending on allopatry or sympatry with relatives, indicative of potential genetic consequences of coexistence that would reduce genetic diversity in sympatry. We ask these questions in a spatially explicit framework, using a global database of avian functional trait measurements in combination with >120,000 sequences downloaded from GenBank.

We find that higher species richness within families is not systematically correlated with either packing in morphological space or overdispersion but, at the Class level, we find a general positive relationship between packing and species richness, but that points sampled in the tropics have comparatively greater packing than temperate ones relative to their species richness. We find limited evidence that geographical co‐occurrence with closely related species or tropical distributions decreases nucleotide diversity of nuclear genes; however, this requires further analysis.

Our results suggest that avian families can accumulate species regionally with minimal tradeoffs or cost, implying that external biotic factors do not limit species richness.

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Deep structure of the Verkhnetovskaya kimberlite pipe in the Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province according to passive seismic and radiological methods
Authors: Danilov K. B. , Yakovlev E. Yu , Afonin N. Yu , Druzhinin S. V.
Published: August 2022

The exploration of kimberlite pipes is difficult. However, information about their deep structure is necessary for tasks such as prospecting, exploration and development of kimberlite pipes. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of deep structure research. In addition, pipes in different territories differ in their properties. The latter requires the study of the peculiarities of the manifestation of pipes in various areas. The Verkhnetovskaya pipe is the only kimberlite object currently known in the Chernoozerskaya area of the Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province. This indicates the need for a comprehensive study of this pipe. The main reason it is difficult to study the pipes of the Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province is the large overburden thickness. In order to increase the efficiency of prospecting, we used a set of methods: microseismic sounding method, passive seismic interferometry, H/V method, gamma spectrometry and emanation mapping. The analysis showed that a new field measurement technique was tested in this research, resulting in more stable data. The main improvement in field measurements is the determination of the optimal accumulation time of microseism when implementing the microseismic sounding method. In addition, the location of the stations in the implementation of passive interferometry made it possible to minimize the influence of the azimuthal distribution of ambient noise sources. The studies made it possible to construct the geophysical image of the investigated pipe and the surrounding medium. As a result, it was shown that the northwestern side has a vertical structure, while according to the drilling data, the side has a uniform slope. In particular, the presence of previously unknown lateral channels was shown. The proposed methodology made it possible to obtain important information with minimal time and technical costs, confirming the applicability of the proposed methodology in the Chernoozerskaya area.