bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Neural Manifold Capacity Captures Representation Geometry, Correlations, and Task-Efficiency Across Species and Behaviors
Authors: Chou Chi-Ning , Arend Luke , Wakhloo Albert J. , Kim Royoung , Slatton Will , Chung SueYeon
Published: February 2024

The study of the brain encompasses multiple scales, including temporal, spatial, and functional aspects. To integrate understanding across these different levels and modalities, it requires developing quantification methods and frameworks. Here, we present effective Geometric measures from Correlated Manifold Capacity theory (GCMC) for probing the functional structure in neural representations. We utilize a statistical physics approach to establish analytical connections between neural co-variabilities and downstream read-out efficiency. These effective geometric measures capture both stimulus-driven and behavior-driven structures in neural population activities, while extracting computationally-relevant information from neural data into intuitive and interpretable analysis descriptors. We apply GCMC to a diverse collection of datasets with different recording methods, various model organisms, and multiple task modalities. Specifically, we demonstrate that GCMC enables a wide range of multi-scale data analysis. This includes quantifying the spatial progression of encoding efficiency across brain regions, revealing the temporal dynamics of task-relevant manifold geometry in information processing, and characterizing variances as well as invariances in neural representations throughout learning. Lastly, the effective manifold geometric measures may be viewed as order parameters for phases related to computational efficiency, facilitating data-driven hypothesis generation and latent embedding.
Emergence of bluetongue virus serotype 3 in western Germany, October 2023, andad-hocmonitoring inCulicoidesbiting midges
Authors: Voigt Anja , Kampen Helge , Heuser Elisa , Zeiske Sophie , Hoffmann Bernd , Höper Dirk , Holsteg Mark , Sick Franziska , Ziegler Sophia , Wernike Kerstin , Beer Martin , Werner Doreen
Published: February 2024

Bluetongue virus serotype 3 emerged in October 2023 in Germany, where Schmallenberg virus is enzootic. BTV-3 was detected in a pool ofCulicoidesbiting midges at the same time as infections were reported from ruminants. Schmallenberg virus was frequently found in vector pools, reflecting the epidemiological situation.

One sentence summary line

Coinciding with the emergence and low-level circulation of bluetongue virus serotype 3 in ruminants in Germany in October 2023, the virus was detected in a pool ofCulicoidesbiting midges of the Obsoletus Group, while enzootic Schmallenberg virus was found in numerous midge pools.
Validation of a glycomics-based test associated with risk of HCC development in cirrhosis
Authors: Verhelst Xavier , Meuris Leander , Colman Roos , Geerts Anja , Van Hecke Annelies , Van Vlierberghe Hans , Callewaert Nico
Published: February 2024

Background

Cirrhosis is the main risk factor for the development of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Six-monthly screening with ultrasound is advocated for the surveillance of cirrhotic patients. We recently showed that a glycomics-based test (GlycoCirrhoTest [GCT]) can provide additional information regarding the risk of HCC development in cirrhotic patients.

Aims

Independent clinical validation of the GCT for the assessment of the risk of HCC development in cirrhosis and exploration of additional clinical parameters to assess HCC risk.

Methods

Validation study on serum samples of patients with established compensated cirrhosis (CHILD Pugh A & B) in a tertiary liver centre. Serum N-glycan profiling was performed and GCT was calculated at baseline. During the follow up period, patients were screened for the presence of HCC every 6 months with ultrasound.

Results

A total of 198 cirrhotic patients were followed in clinical routine for the development of HCC. 29 patients developed HCC and one died during follow up. At baseline, the mean GCT value was significantly higher in patients who developed HCC within 3 years compared to patients who did not develop HCC (Welch’s t-test, p-value 3 years: 0.034). A high GCT at baseline was associated with increased HCC incidence with a HR of 5.8 (95% CI: 0.7 – 48), 4.8 (95% CI: 1.4 – 16) and 3.6 (95% CI: 1.2 – 11) at 3, 5 and 7 years post sampling respectively. Results from this study are in agreement with previous results1, as shown in a meta-analysis. Moreover, we also identified albumin as an independent predictor for developing HCC in a multivariate analysis revealing that low albumin blood levels (< 4g/dL) are also associated with increased HCC incidence with a HR at 7 years of 2.3 (95% CI: 1.1 - 4.9). For subjects with both high GCT and low albumin we found a HR of 9.8 (95% CI: 3.5 to 27) at 7 years.

Conclusions

GCT is a glycomics-based test that provides additional information for risk assessment of HCC development in cirrhosis. This information could be used to develop personalised HCC screening programs in cirrhotic patients according to the value of GCT. Serum albumin levels could provide additional and GCT-independent information which may add to the utility of the test.
Multi-omics data integration to identify metabolism pathways and therapeutic targets for cardiac disease
Authors: de Ruiter Sophie C. , van Vugt Marion , Finan Chris , Providencia Rui , Chopade Sandesh , Grobbee Diederick E. , den Ruijter Hester M. , Peters Sanne A.E. , Schmidt A. Floriaan
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Urinary breakdown products, representing kidney regulated filtration of metabolism end products, contain cardiac disease biomarkers such as NT-proBNP. We set out to integrate plasma proteins with metabolism pathways, as reflected by urinary breakdown products, to identify potentially druggable metabolism pathways for cardiac disease.

Methods

Data was leveraged from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 954 urinary breakdown products. Mendelian randomisation was used to identify urinary breakdown products associating with atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). By interrogating eight independent plasma protein GWAS, jointly including 92,277 participants and 1,562 unique proteins, we identified druggable plasma proteins with a directionally concordant effect on urinary breakdown products and cardiac outcomes.

Results

In total, 38 unique urinary breakdown products associated with cardiac disease, predominantly covering breakdown products from amino acid metabolism (n=12), xenobiotic metabolism (n=5), and unclassified metabolism origins (n=16). Subsequently, we identified 32 druggable proteins expressed in cardiac tissue, which had a directionally concordant association with the identified urinary breakdown products and cardiac outcomes. This included positive control findings, for example higher values of AT1B2 (targeted by digoxin) decreased the risk of HCM, which we were able to link to a novel unclassified urinary breakdown product (X-15497). Additionally, we showed that increased plasma RET values, a mediator of GDF-15 signalling, reduced the risk of HF, and linked this to the novel unclassified urinary breakdown product X-23776.

Conclusion

We have identified amino acid, xenobiotic and unclassified metabolism as important pathways contributing to cardiac disease and prioritised 32 druggable proteins as potential therapeutic targets.
Healthcare Consumers’ Perceptions of Incentive-Linked Prescribing: A Scoping Review of Research
Authors: Noor Muhammad Naveed , Abbasi Haider Safdar , van Der Mark Nina , Azizullah Zahida , Linton Janice , Rahman-Shepherd Afifah , Siddiqui Amna Rehana , Khan Mishal , Hasan Rumina , Shakoor Sadia
Published: February 2024

Incentive-linked prescribing (ILP) is considered a controversial practice universally. If incentivised, physicians may prioritise meeting pharmaceutical sales targets through prescriptions, rather than considering patients’ health and wellbeing. Despite the potential harms of ILP to patients and important stakeholders in the healthcare system, healthcare consumers (HCCs) which include patients and the general public often have far less awareness about the practice of pharmaceutical incentivisation of physicians. We conducted a scoping review to explore what existing research says about HCCs’ perceptions of the financial relationship between physicians and pharmaceutical companies. To conduct this scoping review, we followed Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework: identifying research questions, identifying relevant studies, selecting eligible studies, data charting, and collating, summarising, and reporting results. We also used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’ extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR), as a guide to organise the information in this review. Quantitative and qualitative studies with patients and the general public, published in the English language were identified through searches of Scopus, Medline (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), and Google Scholar. Three themes emerged through the analysis of the 13 eligible studies: understanding of incentivisation, perceptions of hazards linked to ILP, and HCCs’ suggestions to address it. We found documentation that HCCs exhibited a range of knowledge from good to insufficient about the pharmaceutical incentivisation of physicians. HCCs perceived several hazards linked to ILP such as a lack of trust in physicians and the healthcare system, the prescribing of unnecessary medications, and the negative effect on physicians’ reputations in society. In addition to strong regulatory controls, it is critical that physicians self-regulate their behaviour, and publicly disclose if they have any financial ties with pharmaceutical companies. Doing so can contribute to trust between patients and physicians, an important part of patient-focused care and a contributor to user confidence in the wider health system.
Brain volume changes following blast-related mild TBI in service members and veterans: a LIMBIC-CENC study
Authors: Dennis Emily L , Rowland Jared A , Esopenko Carrie , Tustison Nicholas J , Newsome Mary R , Hovenden Elizabeth S , Avants Brian B , Gill Jessica , Hinds Sidney R , Kenney Kimbra , Lindsey Hannah M , Martindale Sarah L , Pugh Mary Jo , Scheibel Randall S , Shahim Pashtun-Poh , Shih Robert , Stone James R , Troyanskaya Maya , Walker William C , Werner Kent , York Gerald E , Cifu David X , Tate David F , Wilde Elisabeth A
Published: February 2024

Importance

Blast-related mild traumatic brain injuries (bTBI), the “signature injury” of post-9/11 conflicts, are associated with clinically-relevant long-term cognitive, psychological, and behavioral dysfunction and disability; however, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear.

Objective

To investigate associations between a history of remote bTBI and regional brain volume in a sample of United States (U.S.) Veterans and Active Duty Service Members (VADSM).

Design

Prospective case-control study of U.S. VADSM of participants from the Long-term Impact of Military-relevant Brain Injury Consortium - Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC), which enrolled over 1,500 participants at five sites used in this analysis between 2014-2023.

Setting

Participants were recruited from Veterans Affairs medical centers across the U.S.

Participants

Seven hundred and seventy-four VADSM of the U.S. military met eligibility criteria for this analysis.

Exposure

All participants had combat exposure, and 82% had one or more lifetime mild TBIs with variable injury mechanisms.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Regional brain volume was calculated using tensor-based morphometry on 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans. TBI history, including history of blast-related injury (bTBI), was assessed by structured clinical interview. Cognitive performance and psychiatric symptoms were assessed with a battery of validated instruments. We hypothesized that regional volume would be smaller in the bTBI group, and that this would be associated with cognitive performance.

Results

Individuals with a history of bTBI had smaller brain volumes in several clusters, with the largest centered bilaterally in the superior corona radiata and globus pallidus. Greater volume deficits were associated with a larger number of lifetime bTBIs. Additionally, causal mediation analysis revealed that these volume differences significantly mediated the association between bTBI and performance on measures of working memory and processing speed.

Conclusions and Relevance

Our results reveal robust volume differences associated with bTBI. Magnetic resonance elastography atlases reveal that the specific regions affected include the stiffest tissues in the brain, which may underlie their vulnerability to pressure waves from blast exposures. Furthermore, these volume differences significantly mediated the association between bTBI and cognitive function, indicating that this may be a helpful biomarker in tracking outcome after bTBI and suggesting potential treatment targets to prevent or limit chronic dysfunction.
Distinct representation of cognitive flexibility and habitual stability in the primate putamen, caudate, and ventral striatum
Authors: An Shin-young , Hwang Seong-Hwan , Lee Keonwoo , Kim Hyoung F.
Published: February 2024

Recent primate studies have demonstrated a functional distinction along the rostral—caudal axis of the striatum, which has challenged the conventional view that flexible adaptation and habitual action differ in processing along the medial—lateral axis. We found that neurons in the rostral putamen, caudate, and ventral striatum encode values flexibly updated for adaptive choices, rather than values stably sustained for visual habit. In the reversal value learning, rostral striatal neurons dynamically updated their value discrimination responses after value reversals, whereas, in the stable value retrieval, most did not encode the value. Notably, caudate neurons were faster to update values after reversal trials than ventral striatum neurons. Slow-learning neurons were identified selectively in the ventral striatum. In each trial, their learning speeds were similar during initial learning, suggesting a parallel value update in each striatal region. Our findings thus indicate that the rostral striatum prioritizes cognitive flexibility over habitual stability.
ACaenorhabditis elegansbased system for high-throughput functional phenotyping of human gut microbiota
Authors: Ambat Achuthan , Valappil Vishnu Thayyil , Ghimire Sudeep , Harnvoravongchai Phurt , Mishra Shalabh , Pillai Viju Vijayan , Kashyap Purna , Scaria Joy
Published: February 2024

Bottoms-up approach of mono or poly colonizing microbes in germfree model is an important tool for mechanistic understanding of human gut microbiota. However, doing this in models such as germfree mouse is expensive and time consuming. To address this problem, we developed aCaenorhabditis elegansbased screening system. We used a gut microbiota culture collection that represents more than 70% functional capacity of the human gut microbiome to anaerobically colonizeC. elegans. We chose colonization resistance as the phenotype of the microbiome for further screening and found that half of the strains, previously identifiedin vitroas inhibitingClostridioides difficile, also did so inC. elegans. When validated using germ-free mouse model, results were in concordance with that obtained fromC. elegansmodel. Our system therefore could be used for screening large number of bacterial species to better understand host-microbiome interaction.
Sequence modeling and design from molecular to genome scale with Evo
Authors: Nguyen Eric , Poli Michael , Durrant Matthew G , Thomas Armin W , Kang Brian , Sullivan Jeremy , Ng Madelena Y , Lewis Ashley , Patel Aman , Lou Aaron , Ermon Stefano , Baccus Stephen A , Hernandez-Boussard Tina , Re Christopher , Hsu Patrick D , Hie Brian L
Published: February 2024

The genome is a sequence that completely encodes the DNA, RNA, and proteins that orchestrate the function of a whole organism. Advances in machine learning combined with massive datasets of whole genomes could enable a biological foundation model that accelerates the mechanistic understanding and generative design of complex molecular interactions. We report Evo, a genomic foundation model that enables prediction and generation tasks from the molecular to genome scale. Using an architecture based on advances in deep signal processing, we scale Evo to 7 billion parameters with a context length of 131 kilobases (kb) at single-nucleotide, byte resolution. Trained on whole prokaryotic genomes, Evo can generalize across the three fundamental modalities of the central dogma of molecular biology to perform zero-shot function prediction that is competitive with, or outperforms, leading domain-specific language models. Evo also excels at multi-element generation tasks, which we demonstrate by generating synthetic CRISPR-Cas molecular complexes and entire transposable systems for the first time. Using information learned over whole genomes, Evo can also predict gene essentiality at nucleotide resolution and can generate coding-rich sequences up to 650 kb in length, orders of magnitude longer than previous methods. Advances in multi-modal and multi-scale learning with Evo provides a promising path toward improving our understanding and control of biology across multiple levels of complexity.
Establishment of an Inhalation Administration Non-invasive Murine Model for Rapidly Testing Drug Activity againstMycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Tian Xirong , Gao Yamin , Ma Wanli , Zhang Jingran , Ju Yanan , Ding Jie , Zeng Sanshan , Adnan Hameed H.M. , Zhong Nanshan , Cook Gregory M. , Hu Jinxing , Zhang Tianyu
Published: February 2024

The efficacy of many compounds againstMycobacterium tuberculosisis often limited when administered via conventional oral or injection routes due to suboptimal pharmacokinetic characteristics. Inhalation delivery methods have been investigated to achieve high local therapeutic doses in the lungs. However, previous models, typically employing wild-typeM. tuberculosisstrains, were intricate, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and with poor repeatability. In this study, we developed an autoluminescence-based inhalation administration model to evaluate drug activity by quantifying relative light units (RLUs) emitted from live mice infected with autoluminescentM. tuberculosis. This novel approach has several improvements: it eliminates the need for anesthesia in mice during administration and simplifies the instrument manipulation; it is cost-effective by utilizing mice instead of larger animals; it shortens time from several months to 16 or 17 days for obtaining result; it is non-invasive by measuring the live RLUs of mice; up to six mice can be administrated daily and simultaneously, even 2-3 times/day; results are relatively objective and repeatable minimizing human factors. Proof-of-concept experiments demonstrated that inhalable rifampicin, isoniazid, and ethambutol showed anti-M. tuberculosisactivity at concentrations as low as 0.5, 0.5, and 0.625 mg/mL, respectively, as evidenced by comparing the live RLUs of mice. Furthermore, consistency between RLUs and colony-forming units of the lungs reaffirms the reliability of RLUs as an indicator of drug efficacy, highlighting the potential of this approach for accurately assessing anti-M. tuberculosisactivityin vivo. This autoluminescence-based and non-invasive inhalation model offers a substantial reduction in the time, effort, and cost required for evaluating the efficacy of screening new drugs and repurposing old drugsin vivovia inhalation administration.
Profound synthetic lethality between SMARCAL1 and FANCM
Authors: Feng Sumin , Liu Kaiwen , Shang Jinfeng , Hoeg Lisa , Yang William , Roy Sabrina , Young Jordan T.F. , Wu Wei , Xu Dongyi , Durocher Daniel
Published: February 2024

DNA replication stress is a threat to genome integrity. The large SNF2-family of ATPases participates in preventing and mitigating DNA replication stress by employing their ATP-driven motor to remodel DNA or DNA-bound proteins. To understand the contribution of these ATPases in genome maintenance, we undertook CRISPR-based synthetic lethality screens with three SNF2-type ATPases: SMARCAL1, ZRANB3 and HLTF. Here we show thatSMARCAL1displays a profound synthetic lethal interaction withFANCM, another ATP-dependent translocase involved in DNA replication and genome stability. Their combined loss causes severe genome instability that we link to chromosome breakage at loci enriched in simple repeats, which are known to challenge replication fork progression. Our findings illuminate a critical genetic buffering mechanism that provides an essential function for maintaining genome integrity.
Machine learning surrogate for charged particle beam dynamics with space charge based on a recurrent neural network with aleatoric uncertainty
Authors: Garcia-Cardona Cristina , Scheinker Alexander
Published: February 2024

In this work, we develop a machine learning (ML) model with aleatoric uncertainty for the low energy beam transport (LEBT) region of the LANSCE linear accelerator in which we model the transport of a space-charge-dominated 750 keV proton beam through a lattice of 22 quadrupole magnets. Our ML model is developed based on data generated by a Kapchinsky–Vladimirsky (KV) envelope model of beam transport. We show that a recurrent neural network can be used as a dynamical surrogate model for fast prediction of the LEBT beam envelope. Furthermore, we endow the model with the prediction of aleatoric uncertainty and compare three different approaches. We demonstrate that the ML-based uncertainty quantification models are well calibrated and produce good estimates of the regions where the model is less certain about its predictions. This ML framework is a necessary step in the development of a real-time virtual diagnostic tool with uncertainty quantification that can be integrated into more complex downstream tasks (e.g., adaptive control or learning flexible control policies via reinforcement learning) for improved efficiency in beam operations. In future work, we plan to expand on this preliminary study by considering more realistic envelope models that include longitudinal momentum spread and dispersive effects in bending magnets, as well as particle tracking codes with 3D space charge (such as and ).

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Determination of the
D→ππ
ratio of penguin over tree diagrams
Authors: Gavrilova Margarita , Grossman Yuval , Schacht Stefan
Published: February 2024

We study the penguin over tree ratio in D→ππ decays. This ratio can serve as a probe for rescattering effects. Assuming the Standard Model and in the isospin limit, we derive expressions that relate both the magnitude and the phase of this ratio to direct CP asymmetries and branching fractions. We find that the current data suggest that rescattering is large. A dedicated experimental analysis with current and future data will be able to significantly reduce the errors on these determinations, and enable us to check if indeed there is significant rescattering in D→ππ decays.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Tree-based algorithms for weakly supervised anomaly detection
Authors: Finke Thorben , Hein Marie , Kasieczka Gregor , Krämer Michael , Mück Alexander , Prangchaikul Parada , Quadfasel Tobias , Shih David , Sommerhalder Manuel
Published: February 2024

Weakly supervised methods have emerged as a powerful tool for model-agnostic anomaly detection at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While these methods have shown remarkable performance on specific signatures such as dijet resonances, their application in a more model-agnostic manner requires dealing with a larger number of potentially noisy input features. In this paper, we show that using boosted decision trees as classifiers in weakly supervised anomaly detection gives superior performance compared to deep neural networks. Boosted decision trees are well known for their effectiveness in tabular data analysis. Our results show that they not only offer significantly faster training and evaluation times, but they are also robust to a large number of noisy input features. By using advanced gradient boosted decision trees in combination with ensembling techniques and an extended set of features, we significantly improve the performance of weakly supervised methods for anomaly detection at the LHC. This advance is a crucial step toward a more model-agnostic search for new physics.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Ising string beyond the Nambu-Goto action
Authors: Baffigo Alberto , Caselle Michele
Published: February 2024

A major result of the effective string theory (EST) description of confinement is the so-called “low-energy universality”, which states that the first few terms of the large distance expansion of any EST are universal and coincide with those of the Nambu-Goto action. Going beyond this approximation is one of the most interesting open problems in the EST. In the higher-order terms beyond Nambu-Goto several important pieces of physical information are encoded, which could improve our understanding of the physical mechanisms behind confinement and of the physical degrees of freedoms which originate the EST. In this paper we evaluate numerically the first two of these corrections in the case of the three-dimensional gauge Ising model. The first of them turns out to be negative; γ3=−0.00048(4), similar (but not equal) to the one recently measured in the SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in three dimensions and compatible with the bootstrap bound γ3≥−1768.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Effect of Ultralight Dark Matter on
g−2
of the Electron
Authors: Evans Jason L.
Published: February 2024

If dark matter is ultralight, the number density of dark matter is very high, and the techniques of zero-temperature field theory are no longer valid. The dark matter number density modifies the vacuum, giving it a non-negligible particle occupation number. For fermionic dark matter, this occupation number can be no larger than one. However, in the case of bosons, the occupation number is unbounded. If there is a large occupation number, the Bose enhancement needs to be taken into consideration for any process involving particles which interact with the dark matter. Because the occupation number scales inversely with the dark matter mass, this effect is most prominent for ultralight dark matter. In fact, the Bose enhancement effect from the background is so significant for ultralight dark matter that, if dark matter is a dark photon, the correction to the anomalous magnetic moment is larger than experimental uncertainties for a mixing parameter of the order of 10−16 and a dark photon mass of the order of 10−20  eV. Furthermore, the constraint on the mixing parameter scales linearly with the dark photon mass, and so new significant constraints can be placed on the dark matter mass all the way up to 10−14  eV. Future experiments measuring g−2 will probe even smaller gauge mixing parameters.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
The collective emotion of mentally ill individuals within Facebook groups during Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Rothschild Nava , Schler Jonathan , Sarne David , Aharony Noa
Published: February 2024

Purpose

People with pre-existing mental health conditions are more likely to be affected by global crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented them with unique challenges, including reduced contact with the psychiatric rehabilitation and support systems. Thus, understanding the emotional experience of this population may assist mental health organizations in future global crises.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, researchers analyzed the discourse of the mentally ill during the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected in Israeli Facebook groups: three private groups and one public group. Researchers explored the language, reactions, emotions and sentiments used in these groups during the year before the pandemic, outbreak periods and remission periods, as well as the period before the vaccine’s introduction and after its appearance.

Findings

Analyzing groups’ discourse using the collective emotion theory suggests that the group that expressed the most significant difficulty was the Depression group, while individuals who suffer from social phobia/anxiety and PTSD were less affected during the lockdowns and restrictions forced by the outbreak.

Originality/value

Findings may serve as a tool for service providers during crises to monitor patients’ conditions, and assist individuals who need support and help.
Forms and strategies of personal influence in “public” relations practices: evidence from Italy
Authors: Valentini Chiara , Sriramesh Krishnamurthy
Published: February 2024

Purpose

Personal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.

Findings

The findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.

Practical implications

This study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.

Originality/value

The study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.
Top management team resource-based faultline and corporate green innovation: empirical evidence from listed Chinese manufacturing companies
Authors: Lv Jingxin , Wang Shiquan
Published: February 2024

Purpose

This study aims to focus on the resource-based faultline of a top management team (TMT) and intends to investigate the impact of TMT resource-based faultline on corporate green innovation, by indicating the environmental management as a mediator and slack resources as a moderator to understand the relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the empirical data of Chinese listed manufacturing companies from 2008 to 2020, this study assesses the hypotheses using an OLS model with fixed effects of time and industry.

Findings

The results indicate that TMT resource-based faultline is significantly negatively correlated with corporate green innovation. The conclusion remains valid after endogeneity tests and robustness checks. Mechanism test shows that environmental management plays a mediating role in the association between TMT resource-based faultline and corporate green innovation. Moreover, slack resources diminish the negative association between TMT resource-based faultline and corporate green innovation.

Originality/value

The study not only expands the theoretical understanding of the deeper motivation of TMT faultline on corporate green innovation, but also provides a practical reference for optimizing the human resource allocation of the TMT and accelerating green transformation development.
Barriers to Industry 4.0 technology adoption in agricultural supply chains: a Fuzzy Delphi-ISM approach
Authors: Chanchaichujit Janya , Balasubramanian Sreejith , Shukla Vinaya
Published: February 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the barriers associated with the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in agricultural supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

The study initially identified thirteen barriers by conducting a literature review and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Subsequently, these barriers were validated and modeled using an integrated Fuzzy Delphi-ISM approach. Finally, MICMAC analysis was employed to categorize the barriers into distinct clusters.

Findings

The results provide considerable insights into the hierarchical structure and complex interrelationships between the barriers as well the driving and dependence power of barriers. Lack of information about technologies and lack of compatibility with traditional methods emerged as the two main barriers which directly and indirectly influence the other ones.

Research limitations/implications

The robust hybrid Fuzzy Delphi and ISM techniques used in this study can serve as a useful model and benchmark for similar studies probing the barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption. From a theoretical standpoint, this study expands the scope of institutional theory in explaining Industry 4.0 adoption barriers.

Practical implications

The study is timely for the post-COVID-19 recovery and growth of the agricultural sector. The findings are helpful for policymakers and agriculture supply chain stakeholders in devising new strategies and policy interventions to prioritize and address Industry 4.0 adoption barriers.

Originality/value

It is the first comprehensive, multi-country and multi-method empirical study to comprehensively identify and model barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption in agricultural supply chains in emerging economies.
The impact of information needs satisfaction on the creativity of visual art teachers
Authors: Kolyvas Spyros , Kostagiolas Petros A. , Martzoukou Konstantina
Published: February 2024

Purpose

The aim of this study is to investigate how the information needs satisfaction of visual art teachers affects their creativity. Visual art teachers’ information seeking behaviour and specifically the association of information needs satisfaction with creativity has been an understudied area, despite competent information seeking being considered essential for high quality practices of art teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was developed addressing the information seeking behaviour of art teachers, informed by Wilson’s model (1981), including visual art teachers’ information needs, information resources, obstacles faced while seeking information and the perceived impact of information needs satisfaction on visual art teachers’ creativity.

Findings

The study included 298 visual art teachers in Greece. The results demonstrated that the key information needs of art teachers were mainly related to materials’ properties, techniques for creating artwork and artwork promotion methods. Online information sources were the preferred sources of art information, followed by colleagues, personal collections and visits to galleries and museums. Our study identified lack of time, lack of specialized libraries and copyright, as the main barriers to information seeking.

Originality/value

Information about art plays a substantial role in visual art education, while visual art teachers’ information needs satisfaction positively influences their creative endeavours. There is a need to further explore the digital information needs of visual art teachers.
Linking sustainable leadership with sustainable project performance: mediating role of knowledge integration and moderating role of top management knowledge values
Authors: Zada Muhammad , Khan Jawad , Saeed Imran , Zada Shagufta , Yong Jun Zhang
Published: February 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sustainable leadership and sustainable project performance. Specifically, the study aims to examine the mediating role of knowledge integration, examining how knowledge integration within an organization influences project outcomes. In addition, the study seeks to explore the moderating role of top management knowledge values, examining how the values and beliefs of top management influence the relationship between sustainable leadership and project performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-wave survey of 392 employees working in construction sector projects in Pakistan used both hierarchical regression analysis and Hayes’ PROCESS macro method to evaluate the hypotheses.

Findings

The study results show that sustainable leadership positively relates to sustainable project performance and knowledge integration mediating this relationship. In addition, the top management knowledge value moderates the indirect effect of sustainable leadership on sustainable project performance via knowledge integration.

Research limitations/implications

Although the model was tested using three-wave data, it is important to note that the data were obtained from a single source. Therefore, it is possible that common method bias may have influenced the results, and this cannot be disregarded.

Practical implications

Organizations seek to prioritize sustainability and integrate sustainability considerations into their project management processes. Organizations can achieve improved sustainable project performance by investing in sustainable leadership development, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and learning, prioritizing top management support for sustainable performance and integrating sustainable considerations into project management processes.

Originality/value

The study’s grounding on organizational learning theory adds an original and valuable perspective to the relationship between sustainable leadership and sustainable project performance. This investigation is original, as it combines sustainable leadership, knowledge integration and the moderating role of top management knowledge value to understand their impact on sustainable project performance. This unique approach contributes to the literature by providing new insights into these relationships and mechanisms in the construction industry.
Impact of source credibility on behavioural responses to a mental health promotion social marketing campaign
Authors: Donovan Robert J. , Jalleh Geoffrey , Drane Catherine
Published: February 2024

Purpose

Source credibility is a key influencing factor across both commercial and social marketing. It is perhaps even more important for the latter given that the issues under consideration generally have substantial implications for both individual and societal health and well-being. The Act-Belong-Commit campaign is a world-first population-wide application of social marketing in the area of positive mental health promotion. This study aims to focus on the perceived credibility of the Act-Belong-Commit campaign as a source of information about mental health as a predictor of three types of behavioural responses to the campaign: adopting mental health enhancing behaviours; seeking information about mental health and mental health problems; and seeking help for a mental health problem.

Design/methodology/approach

A state-wide survey was undertaken of the adult population in an Australian state where the Act-Belong-Commit campaign originated. The survey included measures of the above three behavioural responses to the campaign and measures of respondents’ perceptions of Act-Belong-Commit’s source credibility. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine whether the three behavioural responses can be predicted based on perceived source credibility. The predictive performance of the model was examined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Findings

Greater perceived source credibility was significantly associated with having done something for their mental health and for having sought information, and an increased likelihood, but not significantly so, of having sought help for a mental health problem.

Originality/value

Despite the acknowledged importance of source credibility, there has been little published research that the authors are aware of that has looked at the impact of such on the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first published study of the association between source credibility and behavioural response to a social marketing campaign.
Catalyzing the growth of green bonds: a closer look at the drivers and barriers of the Canadian green bond market
Authors: Saravade Vasundhara , Weber Olaf
Published: February 2024

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the Canadian financial sector’s reaction to opportunities and risks created by the green bond market in a low-carbon and climate-resilient (LCR) economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a concurrent mixed methodological approach that undertakes an online survey and semistructured interviews with critical green bond market stakeholders.

Findings

The most significant market driver in Canada is the reputational benefit for stakeholders, i.e. its ability to meet the high demand for sustainable finance and the marketing potential of its green credentials. The major market barriers are transactional costs, i.e. additional tracking required for reporting purposes, lack of market liquidity and identification of environmental impact or additionality. Canadian green bonds are also more likely to be evaluated on their green impact than their global market peers.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of this study include its focus on Canada, which may exclude or not apply to drivers and barriers in other green bond markets.

Practical implications

The paper helps create an accounting-based conceptual framework for key motivations and barriers that affect financial decision-making regarding green bonds.

Social implications

The authors identify economic and policy-related barriers and drivers for green bonds, addressing the financing gap for the LCR economy.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to identify and compare Canadian green bond market drivers and barriers and to examine relevant stakeholder- and policy-related approaches that can be targeted to scale this market effectively.
Relationships between lean bundles and firm performance: a meta-analysis on the moderating role of national culture differences
Authors: Prashar Anupama
Published: February 2024

Purpose

Evolved from Toyota’s shop floor in Japan, lean bundles are universally accepted for boosting manufacturing performance. However, extant literature shows mixed findings on the effectiveness of lean bundles in non-Japanese settings. This meta-analysis is aimed at understanding the influence of national culture (NC) differences on the lean bundles-performance relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 224 effects from 12,569 observations across 48 empirical studies from 14 countries are meta-analyzed. Also, weighted least squares (WLS) meta-regression using NC scores from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study are conducted to test the moderating effect of NC dimensions.

Findings

The meta-analysis reveals a positive association between the lean bundles and firm performance; though, the strength of the association varies across the individual lean bundles. The meta-regression results show that lean practices are more effective in countries that value high future orientation, high collectivism, low-performance orientation and high assertiveness.

Originality/value

The results contribute to the literature on the role of local cultural influence on strategies and decisions related to the implementation of continuous improvement (CI) programs in cross-cultural settings.
Perennial flower margins reduce orchard fruit damage by rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea (Homoptera: Aphididae)
Authors: Howard Charlotte , Fountain Michelle T. , Brittain Claire , Burgess Paul J. , Garratt Michael P. D.
Published: February 2024

Sown or natural flower strips are a commonly used management practice in agroecosystems and have been demonstrated to increase the abundance of predators of orchard pests. There is less evidence of the extent to which such strips can reduce pest damage in orchards.

Here we examined the effect of managed, perennial flower margins on fruit damage by an economically significant crop pest, Dysaphis plantaginea, rosy apple aphid, in conventional apple orchards over 2 years, compared to orchards without flower margins.

We found orchard flower margins reduced the percentage of apple trees with fruit damage by D. plantaginea, from 80% to 48%. In 2021, a period of severe infestation (65% of trees had fruit damage), there was reduced spread of D. plantaginea on infested apple trees and the number of trees with fruit damage was significantly reduced up to 50 m into orchards. During 2022, a period of lower infestation (25% of trees damaged), fruit damage was significantly reduced up to 10 m from the flower margin.

A significant reduction in predation of aphids from bait cards in flower margin compared with control orchards suggests specialists, rather than generalist predators, may be driving the positive effects of the margin on pest pressure. There was no significant effect of flower margins on abundance of important aphid predators, including Syrphidae (hoverflies) and Coccinellidae (ladybirds).

Synthesis and applications: To our knowledge, this study is the first to detect a reduction in fruit damage by pests at harvest in orchards with a flower margin. We highlight the potential for established perennial flower margins to deliver measurable, sustainable, D. plantaginea control benefits and provide insights into the optimal spatial arrangement of flower strips in orchards.
Epigenome‐wide analysis of frailty: Results from two European twin cohorts
Authors: Mak Jonathan K. L. , Skovgaard Asmus Cosmos , Nygaard Marianne , Kananen Laura , Reynolds Chandra A. , Wang Yunzhang , Kuja‐Halkola Ralf , Karlsson Ida K. , Pedersen Nancy L. , Hägg Sara , Soerensen Mette , Jylhävä Juulia
Published: February 2024

Epigenetics plays an important role in the aging process, but it is unclear whether epigenetic factors also influence frailty, an age‐related state of physiological decline. In this study, we performed a meta‐analysis of epigenome‐wide association studies in four samples drawn from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) and the Longitudinal Study of Aging Danish Twins (LSADT) to explore the association between DNA methylation and frailty. Frailty was defined using the frailty index (FI), and DNA methylation levels were measured in whole blood using Illumina's Infinium HumanMethylation450K and MethylationEPIC arrays. In the meta‐analysis consisting of a total of 829 participants, we identified 589 CpG sites that were statistically significantly associated with either the continuous or categorical FI (false discovery rate <0.05). Many of these CpGs have previously been associated with age and age‐related diseases. The identified sites were also largely directionally consistent in a longitudinal analysis using mixed‐effects models in SATSA, where the participants were followed up to a maximum of 20 years. Moreover, we identified three differentially methylated regions within the MGRN1, MIR596, and TAPBP genes that have been linked to neuronal aging, tumor growth, and immune functions. Furthermore, our meta‐analysis results replicated 34 of the 77 previously reported frailty‐associated CpGs at p < 0.05. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate robust associations between frailty and DNA methylation levels in 589 novel CpGs, previously unidentified for frailty, and strengthen the role of neuronal/brain pathways in frailty.