bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modelling longitudinal binary outcomes with outcome-dependent observation times: an application to a malaria cohort study
Authors: Mugenyi Levicatus , Herzog Sereina A. , Hens Niel , Abrams Steven
Published: January 2018

Inspite of the global reduction of 21% in malaria incidence between 2010 and 2015, the disease still threatens many lives of children and pregnant mothers in African countries. A correct assessment and evaluation of the impact of malaria control strategies still remains quintessential in order to eliminate the disease and its burden. Malaria follow-up studies typically involve routine visits at pre-scheduled time points and/or clinical visits whenever individuals experience malaria-like symptoms. In the latter case, infection triggers outcome assessment, thereby leading to outcome-dependent sampling (ODS). Ordinary methods used to analyse such longitudinal data ignore ODS and potentially lead to biased estimates of malaria-specific transmission parameters, hence, inducing an incorrect assessment and evaluation of malaria control strategies. In this paper, we propose novel methodology to handle ODS using a joint model for the longitudinal binary outcome measured at routine visits and the clinical event times. The methodology is applied to malaria parasitaemia data from a cohort of n = 988 Ugandan children aged 0.5–10 years from 3 regions (Walukuba – 300 children, Kihihi – 355 children and Nagongera – 333 children) with varying transmission intensities (entomological inoculation rate equal to 2.8, 32 and 310 infectious bites per unit year, respectively) collected between 2011–2014. The results indicate that malaria parasite prevalence and force of infection (FOI) increase with age in the region of high malaria intensities with FOI highest in age group 5–10 years. For the region of medium intensity, the prevalence slightly increases with age and the FOI for the routine process is highest in age group 5–10 years yet for the clinically observed infections, the FOI gradually decreases with increasing age. For the region with low intensity, both the prevalence and FOI peak at the age of one year after which the former remains constant with age yet the latter suddenly decreases with age for the clinically observed infections. In all study sites, both the prevalence and FOI are highest among previously asymptomatic children and lowest among their symptomatic counterparts. Using a simulation study inspired by the malaria data at hand, the proposed methodology shows to have the smallest bias, especially when consecutive positive malaria parasitaemia presence results within a time period of 35 days were considered to be due to the same infection.
Ventricular chamber-specific Pitx2 insufficiency leads to cardiac hypertrophy and arrhythmias
Authors: Chinchilla Ana , Esteban Francisco J , Lozano-Velasco Estefanía , Hernandez-Torres Francisco , Dominguez Jorge N , Arànega Amelia E , Franco Diego
Published: January 2018

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified genetic risk variant adjacent to the homeobox transcription factor PITX2 in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Experimental studies demonstrated that Pitx2 insufficiency leads to cellular and molecular substrates that increased atrial arrhythmias susceptibility. Pitx2 expression is present not only in the atrial but also in the ventricular myocytes. This study aims to investigate if insufficiency ofPitx2in the developing and adult ventricular chambers increased susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias. ConditionalPitx2loss-offunction ventricular chamber-specific (Mlc2v-Cre) mouse mutants were generated using Cre/loxP technology.Pitx2insufficiency in the ventricular myocardium leads interventricular septal thickening during cardiogenesis but else mice are viable until adulthood. Adult Mlc2vCre+Pitx2-/-hearts display hypertrophic and dilated ventricular chambers. ECG recordings demonstrated that Mlc2vCre+Pitx2-/-mice display increased QT and QRS intervals. Molecular analyses demonstrate that repolarization but not depolarization is severely impaired in these mutants. Microarrays analysis identified mRNAs and microRNAs altered in Pitx2 ventricular-specific mutants and provide evidences for miR-1 and miR-148 deregulation which in turn modulate Klf4 and distinct ion channel expression linked to cardiac hypertrophy and long QT-like defects. Our data demonstrate that Pitx2 insufficiency play leads to cellular and molecular ventricular remodeling which results in hypertrophic and dilated ventricular chambers and electrophysiological defects resembling long QT syndrome.
Multiple large-scale gene and genome duplications during the evolution of hexapods
Authors: Li Zheng , Tiley George P. , Galuska Sally R. , Reardon Chris R. , Kidder Thomas I. , Rundell Rebecca J. , Barker Michael S.
Published: January 2018

Polyploidy or whole genome duplication (WGD) is a major contributor to genome evolution and diversity. Although polyploidy is recognized as an important component of plant evolution, it is generally considered to play a relatively minor role in animal evolution. Ancient polyploidy is found in the ancestry of some animals, especially fishes, but there is little evidence for ancient WGDs in other metazoan lineages. Here we use recently published transcriptomes and genomes from more than 150 species across the insect phylogeny to investigate whether ancient WGDs occurred during the evolution of Hexapoda, the most diverse clade of animals. Using gene age distributions and phylogenomics, we found evidence for 18 ancient WGDs and six other large-scale bursts of gene duplication during insect evolution. These bursts of gene duplication occurred in the history of lineages such as the Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, and Odonata. To further corroborate the nature of these duplications, we evaluated the pattern of gene retention from putative WGDs observed in the gene age distributions. We found a relatively strong signal of convergent gene retention across many of the putative insect WGDs. Considering the phylogenetic breadth and depth of the insect phylogeny, this observation is consistent with polyploidy as we expect dosage-balance to drive the parallel retention of genes. Together with recent research on plant evolution, our hexapod results suggest that genome duplications contributed to the evolution of two of the most diverse lineages of eukaryotes on Earth.
Onset, Time to Recurrence, and Recurrence Risk Factors of Myocardial Infarction and Ischemic Stroke: 10-Year Nationwide one-Million Population Database
Authors: Jung Kang Jae , Lim Hyun Sun , Kim Hyoung Seop
Published: January 2018

Background and Purpose

We aimed to determine the differences in the pathophysiology of myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke (IS) and present their basic epidemiologic data for public health policy.

Methods

We included patients with a history of admission with diagnostic codes of MI and IS in the National Health Information Database (NHID) of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) Sample Cohort 2002-2013. We investigated the time to primary and secondary events, difference in incidence based on sex, time interval for the secondary event following the primary event in MI and IS, and the relative risk of recurrent events compared with that of primary events.

Results

The mean age of onset of IS was significantly higher than that of MI (65.67±12.25 vs. 60.4±13.07 years;P<0.05). The mean period from primary IS to secondary IS was significantly shorter than that from primary IS to secondary MI (2.09±2.80 vs. 5.35±2.90 years;P=0.016). The mean period from primary MI to secondary MI was significantly shorter than that from primary MI to secondary IS (2.30±2.75 vs. 5.16±3.26 years;P<0.001). The incidence of IS in men was significantly higher than that in women. The relative risk of recurrent IS and MI was greater than that of the primary event. In patients younger than 70 years, the incidence of MI was higher than that of IS, while in those above 70 years it was lower (P<0.05).

Conclusions

The age at onset, time to recurrence, sex, and relative risks are significantly different between ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction, suggesting that the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms might be different between the two.
Socioeconomic status associated with carpal tunnel syndrome: A retrospective nationwide 11-year population-based cohort study in South Korea
Authors: Lee Hong-Jae , Lim Hyun Sun , Kim Hyoung Seop
Published: January 2018

Importance

There have only been a few large-scale studies that have included a risk factor analysis for CTS. No prior study has investigated the relationship between the occurrence of CTS and stratified socioeconomic status, which is closely related to a person’s type of job.

Objective

To confirm the known risk factors for CTS and also to determine the correlation between stratified socioeconomic status and the occurrence of CTS.

Design

We conducted this study using a retrospective cohort model based on the combined databases of the Korean National Health Insurance System from 2003–2013, a database compiled using information from a national periodic health-screening program that is used for reimbursement claims.

Setting

The setting was a population-based retrospective cohort study.

Participants

First, we randomly sampled 514,795 patients who represented 10% of the 5,147,950 people who took part in periodic health screenings from 2002–2003. Existing CTS patients were excluded from this group. Therefore, this study finally included 512,942 participants and followed their medical records from 2003–2013.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Desired outcomes were the incidence rate of CTS and the hazard ratios according to stratified socioeconomic status.

Results

A correlation analysis showed that CTS was more likely to occur in patients from a lower socioeconomic status.

Conclusions and Relevance

CTS was associated with people of a lower socioeconomic status who work in simple but repetitive manual labor jobs. We believe that the results of our study will be helpful to determine the pathophysiology of CTS and to set up a new industrial health policy for this condition.

Key Points

Question

What is the relationship between stratified socioeconomic status and the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)?

Findings

In this retrospective population-based cohort study that included 512,942 participants sampled from the Korean National Health Insurance System(KNHIS) database, the incidence rate and hazard ratios for CTS tended to increase with lower socioeconomic status.

Implications

Low socioeconomic status was identified as a risk factor for the incidence of CTS.
Integrating single-cell RNA-Seq with spatial transcriptomics in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using multimodal intersection analysis
Authors: Moncada Reuben , Wagner Florian , Chiodin Marta , Devlin Joseph C. , Baron Maayan , Hajdu Cristina H. , Simeone Diane M. , Yanai Itai
Published: January 2018

To understand tissue architecture, it is necessary to understand both which cell types are present and the physical relationships among them. Single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) has made significant progress towards the unbiased and systematic identification of cell populations within a tissue, however, the characterization of their spatial organization within it has been more elusive. The recently introduced ‘spatial transcriptomics’ method (ST) reveals the spatial pattern of gene expression within a tissue section at a resolution of a thousand 100 µm spots across the tissue, each capturing the transcriptomes of multiple cells. Here, we present an approach for the integration of scRNA-Seq and ST data generated from the same sample, and deploy it on primary pancreatic tumors from two patients. Applying our multimodal intersection analysis (MIA), we annotated the distinct micro-environment of each cell type identified by scRNA-Seq. We further found that subpopulations of ductal cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and cancer cells have spatially restricted localizations across the tissue, as well as distinct co-enrichments with other cell types. Our mapping approach provides an efficient framework for the integration of the scRNA-Seq-defined subpopulation structure and the ST-defined tissue architecture in any tissue.
Insights from deconvolution of cell subtype proportions enhance the interpretation of functional genomic data
Authors: Kong Yu , Rastogi Deepa , Seoighe Cathal , Greally John M. , Suzuki Masako
Published: January 2018

Cell subtype proportional differences between samples significantly contribute to variation of functional genomic properties such as gene expression or DNA methylation. Current analytical approaches typically deal with cell subtype proportion influences as a nuisance variable to be eliminated. Here we demonstrate how harvesting information about cell subtype proportions from functional genomics data provides insights into the cellular events in human phenotypes. We note a striking concordance between cell subtype proportions estimated from orthogonal genome-wide assays, and demonstrate the potential for single-cell RNA-seq data to be used in tissues for which reference cell subtype functional genomic datasets are not available. Taken together, our results confirm the importance of estimating cell subtype proportions when testing a model of cellular reprogramming in human phenotypic association studies, and the value of simultaneously testing for systematic cell subtype proportional alterations as a separate phenotypic association, gaining extra insights from functional genomic studies.
De novo haplotype reconstruction in viral quasispecies using paired-end read guided path finding
Authors: Chen Jiao , Zhao Yingchao , Sun Yanni
Published: January 2018

Motivation

RNA virus populations contain closely related but different viral strains infecting an individual host. As the selection acts on clouds of mutants rather than single sequences, these viruses have abilities to escape host immune responses or develop drug resistance. Reconstruction of the viral haplotypes is a fundamental step to characterize the virus population, predict their viral phenotypes, and finally provide important information for clinical treatment and prevention. Advances of the next-generation sequencing technologies open up new opportunities to assemble full-length haplotypes. However, error-prone short reads, high similarity between related strains, unknown number of haplotypes pose computational challenges for reference-free haplotype reconstruction. There is still big room to improve the performance of existing haplotype assembly tools.

Results

In this work, we developed a de novo haplotype reconstruction tool PEHaplo for viral quasispecies data, which contains a group of related but different viral strains. PEHaplo employs paired-end reads to distinguish highly similar strains. We applied it to both simulated and real quasispecies data, and the results were benchmarked against several recently published haplotype reconstruction tools. The comparison shows that PEHaplo outperforms the benchmarked tools in a comprehensive set of metrics.

Availability

The source code and the documentation of PEHaplo is available at https://github.com/chjiao/PEHaplo.

Contact

yannisun@msu.edu
PhytoNet: Comparative co-expression network analyses across phytoplankton and land plants
Authors: Ferrari Camilla , Proost Sebastian , Ruprecht Colin , Mutwil Marek
Published: January 2018

Phytoplankton consists of autotrophic, photosynthesizing microorganisms that are a crucial component of freshwater and ocean ecosystems. However, despite being the major primary producers of organic compounds, accounting for half of the photosynthetic activity worldwide and serving as the entry point to the food chain, functions of most of the genes of the model phytoplankton organisms remain unknown. To remedy this, we have gathered publicly available expression data for one chlorophyte, one rhodophyte, one haptophyte, two heterokonts and four cyanobacteria and integrated it into our PlaNet (Plant Networks) database, which now allows mining gene expression profiles and identification of co-expressed genes of 19 species. We exemplify how the co-expressed gene networks can be used to reveal functionally related genes and how the comparative features of PhytoNet allow detection of conserved transcriptional programs between cyanobacteria, green algae, and land plants. Additionally, we illustrate how the database allows detection of duplicated transcriptional programs within an organism, as exemplified by two DNA repair programs within Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. PhytoNet is available from www.gene2function.de.
Interrogation of human hematopoiesis at single-cell and single-variant resolution
Authors: Lareau Caleb A. , Ulirsch Jacob C. , Bao Erik L. , Ludwig Leif S. , Guo Michael H. , Benner Christian , Satpathy Ansuman T. , Salem Rany , Hirschhorn Joel N. , Finucane Hilary K. , Aryee Martin J. , Buenrostro Jason D. , Sankaran Vijay G.
Published: January 2018

Incomplete annotation of cell-to-cell state variance and widespread linkage disequilibrium in the human genome represent significant challenges to elucidating mechanisms of trait-associated genetic variation. Here, using data from the UK Biobank, we perform genetic fine-mapping for 16 blood cell traits to quantify posterior probabilities of association while allowing for multiple independent signals per region. We observe an enrichment of fine-mapped variants in accessible chromatin of lineage-committed hematopoietic progenitor cells. Further, we develop a novel analytic framework that identifies “core gene” cell type enrichments and show that this approach uniquely resolves relevant cell types within closely related populations. Applying our approach to single cell chromatin accessibility data, we discover significant heterogeneity within classically defined multipotential progenitor populations. Finally, using several lines of empirical evidence, we identify relevant cell types, predict target genes, and propose putative causal mechanisms for fine-mapped variants. In total, our study provides an analytic framework for single-variant and single-cell analyses to elucidate putative causal variants and cell types from GWAS and high-resolution epigenomic assays.
Widespread transcriptional pausing and elongation control at enhancers
Authors: Henriques Telmo , Scruggs Benjamin S. , Inouye Michiko O. , Muse Ginger W. , Williams Lucy H. , Burkholder Adam B. , Lavender Christopher A. , Fargo David C. , Adelman Karen
Published: January 2018

Regulation by gene-distal enhancers is critical for cell type-specific and condition-specific patterns of gene expression. Thus, to understand the basis of gene activity in a given cell type or tissue, we must identify the precise locations of enhancers and functionally characterize their behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that transcription is a nearly universal feature of enhancers in Drosophila and mammalian cells and that nascent RNA sequencing strategies are optimal for identification of both enhancers and superenhancers. We dissect the mechanisms governing enhancer transcription and discover remarkable similarities to transcription at protein-coding genes. We show that RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) undergoes regulated pausing and release at enhancers. However, as compared with mRNA genes, RNAPII at enhancers is less stable and more prone to early termination. Furthermore, we found that the level of histone H3 Lys4 (H3K4) methylation at enhancers corresponds to transcriptional activity such that highly active enhancers display H3K4 trimethylation rather than the H3K4 monomethylation considered a hallmark of enhancers. Finally, our work provides insights into the unique characteristics of superenhancers, which stimulate high-level gene expression through rapid pause release; interestingly, this property renders associated genes resistant to the loss of factors that stabilize paused RNAPII.
Crystal structure of N,N′-bis(2,4-difluorobenzoyloxy)benzene-1,2:4,5-tetracarboximide
Authors: Fusco Sandra , Tuzi Angela , Centore Roberto , Carella Antonio
Published: January 2018

Molecules of the title compound, C24H8F4N2O8, have C
i point-group symmetry in the crystal, as they lie on crystallographic inversion centres (Z′ = 1/2). The difluorophenyl ring is disordered over two orientations; the final refined occupancy factors of the two components of disorder are 0.947 (4) and 0.053 (4). In the crystal, some Car—H...F interactions are present, which involve the most acidic H atom of the molecule.
A longitudinal analysis of corporate greenhouse gas disclosure strategy
Authors: Liu Yang Stephanie , Yang Jessica Hong
Published: January 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which greenhouse gas (GHG)-sensitive companies in the FTSE 100 disclose carbon emission information in their annual reports and stand-alone reports during the period of 2004-2012 and how they respond to the launch of legally binding GHG-reduction schemes – the European (EU) Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the Climate Change Act (CCA).

Design/methodology/approach

A 42-item disclosure index is constructed to analyse the quality of corporate GHG disclosures. The authors initially chart the development of corporate GHG disclosure from 2004 to 2012, analyse the trend of disclosure development and compare variances for the convergence of disclosures. Subsequently the authors carry out a t-test to assess the significance of post-EU ETS and -CCA changes and the difference between GHG trading account holders (AH) and non-account holders (NAH).

Findings

The results show that GHG disclosures have been increasing over time, both in number of firms making disclosures and in the amount of information being reported, which indicate the movement towards normativity. The authors also find that the disclosures reach the peak after the enactment of EU ETS and CCA, and firms with carbon trading accounts are more responsive to these schemes than those without accounts. Nevertheless, the quality of the disclosure remains low, which may justify the further government intervention of mandating carbon reporting.

Originality/value

This is the first paper that has examined the regulatory effects on GHG disclosures in an environment where GHG emission triggers direct cost for companies.
Reminding customers to be loyal: does message framing matter?
Authors: Ku Hsuan-Hsuan , Yang Po-Hsiang , Chang Chia-Lun
Published: January 2018

Purpose

Marketers may proactively give customers personalized notices regarding their progress toward certain rewards as a means to stimulate ongoing behaviors. This paper aims to investigate the effect on customer repatronage intention by framed messages concerning either goal-distance or consequences of an action and it also seeks to identify important variables moderating those responses.

Design/methodology/approach

Five between-subjects experiments examined how participants’ repatronage intentions, in response to the framing of goal-distance (Study 1a) and consequences of an action (Study 2a), varied as a function of their level of progress toward goal completion and also tested if the framing effects might be attenuated when relationship benefit was high rather than low (Studies 1b and 2b). They further adopted perceived reciprocity as an underlying mechanism for examining the interplay between these two kinds of framing in stimulating ongoing behavior (Study 3).

Findings

Although messages which emphasized what individuals need to spend more to attain a reward (versus how short they are from earning a reward) or loss following inaction (versus gain following action) were likely to erode intention, such effects were confined to individuals with a moderate level of progress. This intention-eroding effect was further attenuated by attractive reward. The persuasive advantages of short-from-the-end framing of goal-distance over more-to-the-end counterparts were found to be diminished when paired with a loss-framed message concerning consequences of an action. Furthermore, the observed effects on intention were mediated by perceived reciprocity.

Originality/value

The studies add to the current understanding of how the way in which information is presented might enhance loyalty or fail to do so.
Discrete choice and survival models in employee turnover analysis
Authors: Madariaga Rafa , Oller Ramon , Martori Joan Carles
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the capacity of two methodological approaches – discrete choice and survival analysis models – to investigate the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and turnover in a retailing company. A comparison of the estimation results under each model and their interpretation is carried out. The study provides a guide to determine, assess and interpret the effects of different driving factors behind turnover.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a data set containing information about 1,199 workers followed up between January 2007 and December 2009. First, not distinguishing voluntary and involuntary resignation, a binary logistic regression model and a Cox proportional hazards (PH) model for univariate survival data are set up and estimated. Second, distinguishing voluntary and involuntary resignation, a multinomial logistic regression model and a Cox PH model for competing risk data are set up and estimated.

Findings

When no distinction is made, the results point that wage and age exert a negative effect on turnover. Risk of resignation is higher for male, single, not married and Spanish nationals. When the distinction is made, previous results hold for voluntary turnover: wage, age, gender, marital status and nationality are significant. However, when explaining involuntary turnover, all variables except wage lose explaining power. The survival analysis approach is better suited as it measures risk of resignation in a longitudinal way. Discrete choice models only study the risk at a particular cut-off point (24 months in case of this study).

Originality/value

This paper is a systematic application, evaluation and comparison of four different statistical models for analysing employee turnover in a single firm. This work is original because no systematic comparison has been done in the context of turnover.
Responses to job demands: moderating role of worker cooperatives
Authors: Park Rhokeun
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between job demands and job search behavior. The study also explores the moderating role of worker cooperatives in the relationship between job demands and organizational commitment. There is little extant research on the relationships of job demands with employee behaviors, and the roles of worker cooperatives in those relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the multi-level moderated mediation model, this study analyzed surveys conducted in capitalist firms and worker cooperatives in the metropolitan area of Seoul in 2016.

Findings

This study provided evidence that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between job demands and job search behavior in the total sample. The findings revealed that worker cooperatives moderated the relationship between job demands and organizational commitment. In other words, while the negative relationship between job demands and organizational commitment was significant in capitalist firms, it was not maintained in worker cooperatives.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides implications on how job demands are related to job search behavior, and how worker cooperatives may alleviate the adverse effects of job demands on employee attitudes and behaviors. A potential limitation of the present study is that individual-level variables were measured by self-reports.

Originality/value

While previous studies on the JDR model have examined the interaction between job demands and individual levels of resources, the current study investigated the interaction between job demands and organizational levels of resources.
HR practices and employee performance: the mediating role of well-being
Authors: Khoreva Violetta , Wechtler Heidi
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the associations between the skill-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing dimensions of human resource (HR) practices and in-role and innovative job performance. Furthermore, it considers the mediating effects of psychological, physical and social employee well-being on these associations.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze multi-source survey data from a sample of 300 employees and 34 immediate supervisors in a professional service company in Finland.

Findings

The results indicate that whereas physical and social employee well-being partially mediate the association between skill- and opportunity-enhancing HR practices and in-role job performance, psychological employee well-being partially mediates the association between motivation-enhancing HR practices and innovative job performance.

Research limitations/implications

Given its cross-sectional nature, the authors cannot completely exclude the possibility of common method bias influencing the study results. The authors thus call for longitudinal research to examine the nature of causality within the associations analyzed in the study.

Originality/value

This study does not support the notion of trade-offs between HR practices, employee well-being and employee performance. Instead, it illustrates that even though different dimensions of HR practices enhance different dimensions of employee well-being, which, in turn, increase different types of employee performance, the different dimensions of HR practices work in the same direction and do not generate any unintended consequences in terms of reduced employee physical well-being.
Exploring the mediating effects between transformational leadership and organizational performance
Authors: Para-González Lorena , Jiménez-Jiménez Daniel , Martínez-Lorente Angel Rafael
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the possible mediating mechanisms (human resource management (HRM), learning and innovation) that could exist in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance. This topic has been studied only by a few groups of researchers and these researchers have not analyzed all these concepts jointly.

Design/methodology/approach

This research explores the relationships using partial least squares with data from 200 Spanish industrial companies. Analyzing the mentioned relationships in the Spanish context has been done by few researchers before.

Findings

The study reveals that the adoption of transformational leadership styles improves performance when specific systems of HRM practices, learning and innovation are developed in an organization.

Originality/value

This study, therefore, contributes to the understanding of the link between transformational leaders and performance by proposing a model in which it is evinced that this leadership style produces synergies between HRM, learning and innovation, which in the end, affect performance.
To adjust or not to adjust in the host country? Perspective of interactionism
Authors: Hung Chao-Chih , Huan Tzung-Cheng , Lee Chun-Han , Lin Hsin-Mei , Zhuang Wen-Long
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of regulatory foci (promotion focus and prevention focus) to expatriate adjustments (general, interaction, and work adjustments) and explore whether mentoring functions (psychosocial support, role modeling, and career development) moderate the aforementioned relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Using 141 questionnaired primary data (response rate 32.25 percent) gathered from at least six months experienced expatiates of multinational companies in six industries, this study adopts regression method to examine the moderating effect.

Findings

This study found that promotion focus was positively related to the interaction and work adjustment, respectively; prevention focus was positively related to the general, interaction, and work adjustment, respectively. Psychosocial support function moderates the relationship between promotion focus and general adjustment. Career development function moderates the relationships between promotion/prevention foci and work adjustment.

Originality/value

According to the interactionism perspective, behavior is a result of the interaction between personality and situational influences, has a long history in social and personality psychology. This study extends this perspective to the interactive effects of mentorship (situational factor) and expatriates’ regulatory foci (personality factor) on expatriate adjustment.
What determines tourist adoption of smartphone apps?
Authors: Gupta Anil , Dogra Nikita , George Babu
Published: January 2018

Purpose

This study aims to identify factors affecting tourists’ intention of using travel apps installed in their smartphones.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was developed largely based on the available scales in the published literature. A total of 389 participants responded to the survey, out of which 343 valid responses were obtained for statistical analysis.

Findings

Significant predictors of smartphone app usage intention included performance expectancy, social influence, price saving, perceived risk, perceived trust and prior usage habits. Usage behavior was largely mediated by usage intention, except in the case of habits. Contrary to the expectation, factors such as hedonistic motivation, facilitating conditions or effort expectancy did not impact usage intention or behavior.

Practical implications

The study gives app developers vital cues on tourist expectations from the apps. Oftentimes, developers tend to focus entirely on the material utility of their apps, neglecting every other factor influencing use. One particular implication is that despite tourism being a hedonistic activity, travel app usage behavior is not a hedonistic activity.

Originality/value

This is one of the few studies to examine adoption of smartphone travel apps in an emerging economy context by using extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology framework with additional constructs.
Improving corporate disclosure through XBRL
Authors: La Torre Matteo , Valentinetti Diego , Dumay John , Rea Michele Antonio
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential for eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to go beyond static reporting. A taxonomy structure of information is developed for providing a knowledge base and insights for an XBRL taxonomy for integrated reporting (IR).

Design/methodology/approach

Design Science (DS) research, as a pragmatic exploratory research approach, is embraced to create a new “artefact” and thematic content analysis is used to analyse IR in practice.

Findings

Using XBRL for IR allows a shift from static and periodic reporting to more relevant and dynamic corporate disclosure for stakeholders, who can navigate and retrieve customised disclosure information according to their interest by exploiting the multidimensionality of IR and overcome some of its criticisms. The bi-dimensional taxonomy structure the authors’ present allows users to navigate disclosure from two different perspectives (content elements (CE) and capitals), display specific themes of interest, and drill down to more detailed information. Because of its evidence-based nature and levels of disaggregation, it provides flexibility to preparers and users of information. Additionally, the findings demonstrate the need to codify sector-specific information for the CE, so that to direct the efforts toward the development of sector-specific taxonomy extensions in developing an XBRL taxonomy for IR.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of DS research are, first, the artefact design and, second, its effects in practice. The first limitation stems from the social actors’ perspective taken into account to develop the taxonomy structure, which derives from the analysis of the reporting practices rather than a pluralistic approach and dialogic engagement. The second limitation relates to the XBRL taxonomy development process because, since the study is limited to the “design” phase being codification and structuring the knowledge base for an XBRL taxonomy, there is a need to develop a taxonomy in XBRL and then apply it in practice to empirically demonstrate the potential and benefits of XBRL in the IR context.

Practical implications

The taxonomy structure is targeted at entities interested in designing an XBRL taxonomy for IR. This is a call for academics and practitioners to explore the potential of technology to improve corporate disclosure and open up new projections for resurging themes on intellectual capital (IC) reporting with prospects for IC “fourth-stage” research focused on IC disclosure.

Originality/value

This is an interdisciplinary research employing the DS approach, which is rooted in information systems research. It is the first academic study providing pragmatic results for using XBRL in the context of IC and IR.
The impact of Facebook experience on consumers’ behavioral Brand engagement
Authors: Triantafillidou Amalia , Siomkos George
Published: January 2018

Purpose

The aim of the present study is twofold. First, it measures Facebook users’ experience in a holistic way by taking into account the various dimensions of Facebook experience (i.e. entertainment, flow, escapism, challenge, learning, socializing and communitas); second, it tests the effects of these dimensions in relation to consumers’ brand engagement on Facebook.

Design/methodology/approach

Two online surveys were conducted using self-administered questionnaires. Respondents were recruited through the snowball sampling technique.

Findings

The findings suggest that the different experiential elements of Facebook usage have varying effects on the two brand engagement factors (consuming and contributing) on Facebook. Specifically, the passive element (consuming) is positively influenced by the dimensions of flow and communitas (i.e. feelings of belongingness), while escapism is found to be a negative predictor. The active element of engagement (contributing) is positively affected by dimensions such as entertainment, flow, socializing and communitas.

Practical implications

Brand managers should design Facebook pages for their brands that entertain and immerse consumers, while enabling them to socialize and bond with others to increase levels of consumers’ engagement with brands on Facebook. However, brand managers should be cautious regarding the fantasy experience (escapism) offered by their Facebook pages, as this can distract consumers from the content of the brand page.

Originality/value

To date, most studies on Facebook usage have been conducted under the uses and gratifications framework, while the various elements that comprise Facebook users’ experience have not received sufficient attention in previous conceptualizations of Facebook experience. In addition, the present study enhances the research by examining consumers’ brand engagement on Facebook as a potential consequence of the various Facebook experience dimensions.
Connecting the dots in counterterrorism: The consequences of communication setting for shared situation awareness and team performance
Authors: Valaker Sigmund , Hærem Thorvald , Bakken Bjørn Tallak
Published: January 2018

Shared situation awareness (SSA) is critical for counterterrorism teams. We examined whether a rich media condition (co‐located face to face) and a lean media condition (distributed email) differentially influence SSA at levels 1, 2, and 3 and team performance, in 24 co‐located and 27 distributed teams. SSA at level 2—knowing who the terrorist is and their location—mediated and SSA at level 3—projecting future terrorist actions—marginally significantly mediated, a positive relationship between media richness and team performance. SSA at level 1—knowing objects—did not mediate such a positive effect. A co‐located setting leads to more convergence on situation awareness at levels 2 and 3, whereas a distributed setting leads to more convergence on level 1.
Changes in macroelements, trace elements, heavy metal concentrations and chemical composition in milk of Croatian spotted goats during different lactation stages
Authors: Antunović Zvonko , Marić Ivica , Lončarić Zdenko , Novoselec Josip , Mioč Boro , Klir Željka
Published: January 2018

The research was conducted on days 60, 90, 120 and 150 during the lactation with the aim to determine the effect of lactation stage on the concentration of crucial elements and chemical composition in Croatian spotted goats' milk. Milk yield significantly decreased (from 1.15 to 0.76 kg/day), while the concentration of Ca, Mg, P, Zn and Mo in the milk of the goats significantly increased during lactation. The concentrations of Cr, Cd and Pb in milk were very low, with no significant deviations during lactation. The quality of milk from Croatian spotted goats is adequate compared with other breeds in the surrounding area of Croatia.
RNA Sequencing, De novo assembly, functional annotation and SSR analysis of the endangered diving beetle Cybister chinensis (= Cybister japonicus) using the Illumina platform
Authors: Hwang Hee‐Ju , Patnaik Bharat Bhusan , Kang Se Won , Park So Young , Chung Jong Min , Sang Min Kyu , Park Jie Eun , Min Hye Rin , Seong Jiyeon , Jo Yong Hun , Noh Mi Young , Lee Jong Dae , Jung Ki Yoon , Park Hong Seog , Jeong Heon Cheon , Lee Yong Seok
Published: January 2018

Cybister chinensis Motschulsky, 1854 (synonym Cybister japonicus Sharp, 1873) is a beetle found in ponds and irrigation canals near rice fields regulating the aquatic faunal community through predation. However, due to loss of natural habitats, use of pesticides, and invasion of alien species the beetle is threatened. With lack of understanding at the trophic ecology and genomics level, the conservation study is hindered to a larger extent. In the present study, Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform has been used to unravel the whole‐larval transcriptome of the beetle. A total of 20,129 non‐redundant unigenes were assembled from 67,260,666 clean read sequences. About 18,743 unigenes found a homologous match in any one of the databases like PANM, UniGene, Swiss‐Prot, Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), Gene Ontology (GO), KEGG, and InterProScan. While the zinc finger domains topped the unigene hits, about 660 enzymes (2695 sequences) participating in metabolism, environmental information processing, genetic information processing and organismal system pathways were recorded. Furthermore, the HSP70 class, Toll‐like receptors 4, insulin‐receptor substrate, and AMP activated protein kinase showed conspicuous presence in the larval transcriptome. Out of a total of 12,491 unigene sequences examined, 1968 SSRs were detected. Majority of them were dinucleotide repeats with six iterations followed by trinucleotide and tetranucleotide repeats with five and four iterations, respectively. This is the first report of cDNA resources from C. japonicus till date. The data would be crucial for the assessment of the beetle in the wild and making an inventory for utilisation in future genomics and ecological studies.
Chemical Composition of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Seed Oil from Six Saudi Arabian Cultivars
Authors: Nehdi Imeddedine Arbi , Sbihi Hassen Mohamed , Tan Chin Ping , Rashid Umer , Al‐Resayes Saud Ibrahim
Published: January 2018

This investigation aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and physicochemical properties of seed oils from 6 date palm (Phoenix. dactylifera L.) cultivars (Barhi, Khalas, Manifi, Rezeiz, Sulaj, and Sukkari) growing in Saudi Arabia and to compare them with conventional palm olein. The mean oil content of the seeds was about 7%. Oleic acid (48.67%) was the main fatty acid, followed by lauric acid (17.26%), stearic acid (10.74%), palmitic acid (9.88%), and linolenic acid (8.13%). The mean value for free fatty acids content was 0.5%. The P. dactylifera seed oil also exhibited a mean tocol content of 70.75 mg/100 g. α‐Tocotrienol was the most abundant isomer (30.19%), followed by γ‐tocopherol (23.61%), γ‐tocotrienol (19.07%), and α‐tocopherol (17.52%). The oils showed high thermal and oxidative stabilities. The findings indicate that date seed oil has the potential to be used in the food industry as an abundant alternative to palm olein.

Practical Application

This study showed that date seed had great nutritional value due to which it can be used for food applications especially as frying or cooking oil. In addition, date oil has also potential to be used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical practices as well. The extraction of oil from Phoenix dactylifera seed on large scale can create positive socioeconomic benefits especially for rural communities and could also assist to resolve the environmental issues generated by excess date production in large scale date‐producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.
Peroxiredoxin 1, restraining cell migration and invasion, is involved in hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence
Authors: Fang Ying , He Juan , Janssen Harry L.A. , Wu Jian , Dong Ling , Shen Xi Zhong
Published: January 2018

Objective

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high‐burden disease. Peroxiredoxin 1 (PRDX1) is a member of the peroxiredoxin family of antioxidant enzymes. The aim of this study was to assess the value of PRDX1 for predicting HCC recurrence after curative resection and to explore the role of PRDX1 in HCC cell migration and invasion.

Methods

Data of patients with HCC who had undergone complete resection between 2002 and 2006 were collected. Immunohistochemical detection of PRDX1 in HCC tissue and adjacent non‐cancerous tissue was conducted. Kaplan–Meier survival estimate and log–rank test were used to assess the relationship between PRDX1 expression and prognostic significance. HCC cell migration and invasion together with the interaction between PRDX1 and ubiquitin C‐terminal hydrolase 37 (UCH37) were studied in vitro.

Results

PRDX1 was expressed at lower levels in HCC tissues than in adjacent non‐cancerous tissues, and PRDX1 was found to be an independent risk factor for disease‐free survival and overall survival. PRDX1 restrained cell migration and invasion in vitro. PRDX1 was found to interact with UCH37 to affect HCC cell migration and invasion.

Conclusion

PRDX1 restrains cell migration and invasion in HCC cell lines and that may be involved in a UCH37‐relevant pathway, suggesting that PRDX1 may be a new marker for HCC recurrence after surgery.