bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mutations in different pigmentation genes are associated with parallel melanism in island flycatchers
Authors: Uy J. Albert C. , Cooper Elizabeth A. , Cutie Stephen , Concannon Moira R. , Poelstra Jelmer W. , Moyle Robert G. , Filardi Christopher E.
Published: July 2016

The independent evolution of similar traits across multiple taxa provides some of the most compelling evidence of natural selection. Little is known, however, about the genetic basis of these convergent or parallel traits: are they mediated by identical or different mutations in the same genes, or unique mutations in different genes? Using a combination of candidate gene and reduced representation genomic sequencing approaches, we explore the genetic basis of and the evolutionary processes that mediate similar plumage colour shared by isolated populations of theMonarcha castaneiventrisflycatcher of the Solomon Islands. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) that explicitly controlled for population structure revealed that mutations in known pigmentation genes are the best predictors of parallel plumage colour. That is, entirely black or melanic birds from one small island share an amino acid substitution in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), whereas similarly melanic birds from another small island over 100 km away share an amino acid substitution in a predicted binding site of agouti signalling protein (ASIP). A third larger island, which separates the two melanic populations, is inhabited by birds with chestnut bellies that lack the melanicMC1RandASIPallelic variants. FormalFSToutlier tests corroborated the results of the GWAS and suggested that strong, directional selection drives the near fixation of theMC1RandASIPvariants across islands. Our results, therefore, suggest that selection acting on different mutations with large phenotypic effects can drive the evolution of parallel melanism, despite the relatively small population size on islands.
Neofunctionalization of embryonic head patterning genes facilitates the positioning of novel traits on the dorsal head of adult beetles
Authors: Zattara Eduardo E. , Busey Hannah A. , Linz David M. , Tomoyasu Yoshinori , Moczek Armin P.
Published: July 2016

The origin and integration of novel traits are fundamental processes during the developmental evolution of complex organisms. Yet how novel traits integrate into pre-existing contexts remains poorly understood. Beetle horns represent a spectacular evolutionary novelty integrated within the context of the adult dorsal head, a highly conserved trait complex present since the origin of insects. We investigated whetherotd1/2andsix3, members of a highly conserved gene network that instructs the formation of the anterior end of most bilaterians, also play roles in patterning more recently evolved traits. Using ablation-based fate-mapping, comparative larval RNA interference (RNAi) and transcript sequencing, we found thatotd1/2, but notsix3, play a fundamental role in the post-embryonic formation of the adult dorsal head and head horns ofOnthophagusbeetles. By contrast, neither gene appears to pattern the adult head ofTriboliumflour beetles even though all are expressed in the dorsal head epidermis of bothOnthophagusandTribolium. We propose that, at least in beetles, the roles ofotdgenes during post-embryonic development are decoupled from their embryonic functions, and that potentially non-functional post-embryonic expression in the dorsal head facilitated their co-option into a novel horn-patterning network duringOnthophagusevolution.
Differential paralog divergence modulates evolutionary outcomes in yeast
Authors: Sanchez Monica R. , Miller Aaron W. , Liachko Ivan , Sunshine Anna B. , Lynch Bryony , Huang Mei , DeSevo Christopher G. , Pai Dave A. , Tucker Cheryl M. , Hoang Margaret L. , Dunham Maitreya J.
Published: July 2016

Evolutionary outcomes depend not only on the selective forces acting upon a species, but also on the genetic background. However, large timescales and uncertain historical selection pressures can make it difficult to discern such important background differences between species. Experimental evolution is one tool to compare evolutionary potential of known genotypes in a controlled environment. Here we utilized a highly reproducible evolutionary adaptation inSaccharomyces cerevisiaeto investigate whether other yeast species would adopt similar evolutionary trajectories. We evolved populations ofS. cerevisiae, S. paradoxus, S. mikatae, S. uvarum, and interspecific hybrids betweenS. uvarumandS. cerevisiaefor ~200-500 generations in sulfate-limited continuous culture. Wild-typeS. cerevisiaecultures invariably amplify the high affinity sulfate transporter gene,SUL1. However, while amplification of theSUL1locus was detected inS. paradoxusandS. mikataepopulations,S. uvarumcultures instead selected for amplification of the paralog,SUL2. We measured the relative fitness of strains bearing deletions and amplifications of bothSULgenes from different species, confirming that, converse toS. cerevisiae, S. uvarum SUL2contributes more to fitness in sulfate limitation thanS. uvarum SUL1. By measuring the fitness and gene expression of chimeric promoter-ORF constructs, we were able to delineate the cause of this differential fitness effect primarily to the promoter ofS. uvarum SUL1. Our data show evidence of differential sub-functionalization among the sulfur transporters across Saccharomyces species through recent changes in noncoding sequence. Furthermore, these results show a clear example of how such background differences due to paralog divergence can drive significant changes in evolutionary trajectories of eukaryotes.
Antiparallel protocadherin homodimers use distinct affinity- and specificity-mediating regions in cadherin repeats 1-4
Authors: Nicoludis John M. , Vogt Bennett E. , Green Anna G. , Schärfe Charlotta P. I. , Marks Debora S. , Gaudet Rachelle
Published: July 2016

Protocadherins (Pcdhs) are cell adhesion and signaling proteins used by neurons to develop and maintain neuronal networks, relying ontranshomophilic interactions between their extracellular cadherin (EC) repeat domains. We present the structure of the antiparallel EC1-4 homodimer of human PcdhYB3, a member of the γ subfamily of clustered Pcdhs. Structure and sequence comparisons of α, β, and γ clustered Pcdh isoforms illustrate that subfamilies encode specificity in distinct ways through diversification of loop region structure and composition in EC2 and EC3, which contains isoform-specific conservation of primarily polar residues. In contrast, the EC1/EC4 interface comprises hydrophobic interactions that provide non-selective dimerization affinity. Using sequence coevolution analysis, we found evidence for a similar antiparallel EC1-4 interaction in non-clustered Pcdh families. We thus deduce that the EC1-4 antiparallel homodimer is a general interaction strategy that evolved before the divergence of these distinct protocadherin families.
Anti-proliferative therapy for HIV cure: a compound interest approach
Authors: Reeves Daniel B. , Duke Elizabeth R. , Hughes Sean M. , Prlic Martin , Hladik Florian , Schiffer Joshua T.
Published: July 2016

In the era of antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV-1 infection is no longer tantamount to early death. Yet the benefits of treatment are available only to those who can access, afford, and tolerate taking daily pills. True cure is challenged by HIV latency, the ability of chromosomally integrated virus to persist within memory CD4+T cells in a non-replicative state and activate when ART is discontinued. Using a mathematical model of HIV dynamics, we demonstrate that treatment strategies offering modest but continual enhancement of reservoir clearance rates result in faster cure than abrupt, one-time reductions in reservoir size. We frame this concept in terms of compounding interest: small changes in interest rate drastically improve returns over time. On ART, latent cell proliferation rates are orders of magnitude larger than activation and new infection rates. Contingent on subtypes of cells that may make up the reservoir and their respective proliferation rates, our model predicts that coupling clinically available, anti-proliferative therapies with ART could result in functional cure within 2-10 years rather than several decades on ART alone.
Metabolomic-based biomarker discovery for non-invasive lung cancer screening: A case study
Authors: O’Shea Keiron , Cameron Simon J.S. , Lewis Keir E , Lu Chuan , Mur Luis AJ
Published: July 2016

Background

Lung cancer (LC) is one of the leading lethal cancers worldwide, with an estimated 18.4% of all cancer deaths being attributed to the disease. Despite developments in cancer diagnosis and treatment over the previous thirty years, LC has seen little to no improvement in the overall five year survival rate after initial diagnosis.

Methods

In this paper, we extended a recent study which profiled the metabolites in sputum from patients with lung cancer and age-matched volunteers smoking controls using flow infusion electrospray ion mass spectrometry. We selected key metabolites for distinguishing between different classes of lung cancer, and employed artificial neural networks and leave-one-out cross-validation to evaluate the predictive power of the identified biomarkers.

Results

The neural network model showed excellent performance in clas sification between lung cancer and control groups with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.99. The sensitivity and specificity of for detecting cancer from controls were 96% and 94% respectively. Furthermore, we have identified six putative metabolites that were able todiscriminate between sputum samples derived from patients suffering small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer. These metabolites achieved excellent cross validation performance with a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 100% for predicting SCLC.

Conclusions

These results indicate that sputum metabolic profiling may have potential for screening of lung cancer and lung cancer recurrence, and may greatly improve effectiveness of clinical intervention.
The combinatorics of discrete time-trees: theory and open problems
Authors: Gavryushkin Alex , Whidden Chris , Matsen Frederick A
Published: July 2016

Atime-treeis a rooted phylogenetic tree such that all internal nodes are equipped with absolute divergence dates and all leaf nodes are equipped with sampling dates. Such time-trees have become a central object of study in phylogenetics but little is known about the parameter space of such objects. Here we introduce and study a hierarchy of discrete approximations of the space of time-trees from the graph-theoretic and algorithmic point of view. One of the basic and widely used phylogenetic graphs, the NNI graph, is the roughest approximation and bottom level of our hierarchy. More refined approximations discretize the relative timing of evolutionary divergence and sampling dates. We study basic graph-theoretic questions for these graphs, including the size of neighborhoods, diameter upper and lower bounds, and the problem of finding shortest paths. We settle many of these questions by extending the concept of graph grammars introduced by Sleator, Tarjan, and Thurston to our graphs. Although time values greatly increase the number of possible trees, we show that 1-neighborhood sizes remain linear, allowing for efficient local exploration and construction of these graphs. We also obtain upper bounds on ther-neighborhood sizes of these graphs, including a smaller bound than was previously known for NNI.

Our results open up a number of possible directions for theoretical investigation of graph-theoretic and algorithmic properties of the time-tree graphs. We discuss the directions that are most valuable for phylogenetic applications and give a list of prominent open problems for those applications. In particular, we conjecture that the split theorem applies to shortest paths in time-tree graphs, a property not shared in the general NNI case.
A conditional likelihood is required to estimate the selection coefficient in ancient DNA
Authors: Valleriani Angelo
Published: July 2016

Time-series of allele frequencies are a useful and unique set of data to determine the strength of natural selection on the background of genetic drift. Technically, the selection coefficient is estimated by means of a likelihood function built under the hypothesis that the available trajectory spans a sufficiently large portion of the fitness landscape. Especially for ancient DNA, however, often only one single such trajectories is available and the coverage of the fitness landscape is very limited. In fact, one single trajectory is more representative of a process conditioned both in the initial and in the final condition than of a process free to visit the available fitness landscape. Based on two models of population genetics, here we show how to build a likelihood function for the selection coefficient that takes the statistical peculiarity of single trajectories into account. We show that this conditional likelihood delivers a precise estimate of the selection coefficient also when allele frequencies are close to fixation whereas the unconditioned likelihood fails. Finally, we discuss the fact that the traditional, unconditioned likelihood always delivers an answer, which is often unfalsifiable and appears reasonable also when it is not correct.
Abstract spatial, but not body-related, visual information guides bimanual coordination
Authors: Brandes Janina , Rezvani Farhad , Heed Tobias
Published: July 2016

Visual spatial information is paramount in guiding bimanual coordination, but anatomical factors, too, modulate performance in bimanual tasks. Vision conveys not only abstract spatial information, but also informs about body-related aspects such as posture. Here, we asked whether, accordingly, visual information induces body-related, or merely abstract, perceptual-spatial constraints in bimanual movement guidance. Human participants made rhythmic, symmetrical and parallel, bimanual index finger movements with the hands held in the same or different orientations. Performance was more accurate for symmetrical than parallel movements in all postures, but additionally when homologous muscles were concurrently active, such as when parallel movements were performed with differently rather than identically oriented hands. Thus, both perceptual and anatomical constraints were evident. We manipulated visual feedback with a mirror between the hands, replacing the image of the left with that of the right hand and creating the visual impression of bimanual symmetry independent of the right hand’s true movement. Symmetrical mirror feedback impaired parallel, but improved symmetrical bimanual performance compared with regular hand view. Critically, these modulations were independent of hand posture and muscle homology. Thus, vision appears to contribute exclusively to spatial, but not to body-related, anatomical movement coding in the guidance of bimanual coordination.
Association of environmental markers with childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus revealed by a long questionnaire on early life exposures and lifestyle in a case-control study
Authors: Balazard F , Le Fur S , Valtat S ,   Isis-Diab collaborative group, Valleron AJ , Bougnères P
Published: July 2016

Background

The incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) incidence is rising in many countries, supposedly because of changing environmental factors, which are yet largely unknown.

Purpose

To unravel environmental markers associated with T1D. Methods: Cases were children with T1D from the French Isis-Diab cohort. Controls were schoolmates or friends of the patients. Parents were asked to fill a 845-item questionnaire investigating the child’s environment before diagnosis. The analysis took into account the matching between cases and controls. A second analysis used propensity score methods.

Results

We found a negative association of several lifestyle variables, gastroenteritis episodes, dental hygiene, hazelnut cocoa spread consumption, wasp and bee stings with T1D, consumption of vegetables from a farm and death of a pet by old age.

Conclusions

The found statistical association of new environmental markers with T1D calls for replication in other cohorts and investigation of new environmental areas.
Fast genotyping of known SNPs through approximatek-mer matching
Authors: Shajii Ariya , Yorukoglu Deniz , Yu Y. William , Berger Bonnie
Published: July 2016

Motivation

As the volume of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data increases, faster algorithms become necessary. Although speeding up individual components of a sequence analysis pipeline (e.g. read mapping) can reduce the computational cost of analysis, such approaches do not take full advantage of the particulars of a given problem. One problem of great interest, genotyping a known set of variants (e.g. dbSNP or Affymetrix SNPs), is important for characterization of known genetic traits and causative disease variants within an individual, as well as the initial stage of many ancestral and population genomic pipelines (e.g. GWAS).

Results

We introduce LAVA (Lightweight Assignment of Variant Alleles), an NGS-based genotyping algorithm for a given set of SNP loci, which takes advantage of the fact that approximate matching of mid-sizek-mers (withk= 32) can typically uniquely identify loci in the human genome without full read alignment. LAVA accurately calls the vast majority of SNPs in dbSNP and Affymetrix’s Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 up to about an order of magnitude faster than standard NGS genotyping pipelines. For Affymetrix SNPs, LAVA has significantly higher SNP calling accuracy than existing pipelines while using as low as ~5GB of RAM. As such, LAVA represents a scalable computational method for population-level genotyping studies as well as a flexible NGS-based replacement for SNP arrays.

Availability

LAVA software is available athttp://lava.csail.mit.edu.

Contact

bab@mit.edu

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available atBioinformaticsonline.
Using qualitative models to define sustainable management for the commons in data poor conditions
Authors: Mancini Francesca , Coghill George M. , Lusseau David
Published: July 2016

Nearly 50 years after Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons” we have not yet found predictive tools to guide us towards sustainable management of common-pool resources (CPR). We often have a good understanding of the qualitative relationships between the principal actors in socioecological systems (SESs), but classical quantitative approaches require a tremendous amount of data to understand the drivers of SESs sustainability. Here we show that qualitative modelling approaches can provide important governance insights for SESs that are understood but not quantified.

We used Loop Analysis to test the outcomes of different management regimes on a simple nature-based tourism SES described by economic, social and environmental variables. We tested the sustainability of different management scenarios on this system and we identified the necessary conditions to achieve it.

We found that management regimes where property rights and responsibilities are shared between different stakeholders are more likely to be successful. However, the system is generally highly unstable and it is important to tune each strategy to each particular situation.

The conditions for sustainability found across the different systems tested were: a low reinvestment rate of tourist revenues into new infrastructures and a low growth rate of the environment. Management strategies based on maximum sustainable yield, which keep the environment far from its carrying capacity, have less chance to be sustainable.

Qualitative models of SESs are powerful diagnostic tools; they can help identifying variables that play an important role in determining socioecological sustainability in data-poor circumstances and guide the design of efficient data collection programmes. Our results highlight the importance of careful planning when designing management strategies for nature-based tourism. The application of one-size-fits-all solutions to every situation is likely to lead to the failure of the commons; however tourism-based SESs can be sustainable if management strategies are tuned to each particular case.
Integrative analysis with ChIP-seq advances the limits of transcript quantification from RNA-seq
Authors: Liu Peng , Sanalkumar Rajendran , Bresnick Emery H. , Keleş Sündüz , Dewey Colin N.
Published: July 2016

RNA-seq is currently the technology of choice for global measurement of transcript abundances in cells. Despite its successes, isoform-level quantification remains difficult because short RNA-seq reads are often compatible with multiple alternatively spliced isoforms. Existing methods rely heavily on uniquely mapping reads, which are not available for numerous isoforms that lack regions of unique sequence. To improve quantification accuracy in such difficult cases, we developed a novel computational method, prior-enhanced RSEM (pRSEM), which uses a complementary data type in addition to RNA-seq data. We found that ChIP-seq data of RNA polymerase II and histone modifications were particularly informative in this approach. In qRT-PCR validations, pRSEM was shown to be superior than competing methods in estimating relative isoform abundances within or across conditions. Data-driven simulations suggested that pRSEM has a greatly decreased false-positive rate at the expense of a small increase in false-negative rate. In aggregate, our study demonstrates that pRSEM transforms existing capacity to precisely estimate transcript abundances, especially at the isoform level.
Integrated tumor and germline whole-exome sequencing identifies mutations in MAPK and PI3K pathway genes in an adolescent with rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor of the fourth ventricle
Authors: Lin Frank Y. , Bergstrom Katie , Person Richard , Bavle Abhishek , Ballester Leomar Y. , Scollon Sarah , Raesz-Martinez Robin , Jea Andrew , Birchansky Sherri , Wheeler David A. , Berg Stacey L. , Chintagumpala Murali M. , Adesina Adekunle M. , Eng Christine , Roy Angshumoy , Plon Sharon E. , Parsons D. Williams
Published: July 2016

The integration of genome-scale studies such as whole-exome sequencing (WES) into the clinical care of children with cancer has the potential to provide insight into the genetic basis of an individual's cancer with implications for clinical management. This report describes the results of clinical tumor and germline WES for a patient with a rare tumor diagnosis, rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor of the fourth ventricle (RGNT). Three pathogenic gene alterations with implications for clinical care were identified: somatic activating hotspot mutations in FGFR1 (p.N546K) and PIK3CA (p.H1047R) and a germline pathogenic variant in PTPN11 (p.N308S) diagnostic for Noonan syndrome. The molecular landscape of RGNT is not well-described, but these data are consistent with prior observations regarding the importance of the interconnected MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways in this rare tumor. The co-occurrence of FGFR1, PIK3CA, and PTPN11 alterations provides further evidence for consideration of RGNT as a distinct molecular entity from pediatric low-grade gliomas and suggests potential therapeutic strategies for this patient in the event of tumor recurrence as novel agents targeting these pathways enter pediatric clinical trials. Although RGNT has not been definitively linked with cancer predisposition syndromes, two prior cases have been reported in patients with RASopathies (Noonan syndrome and neurofibromatosis type 1 [NF1]), providing an additional link between these tumors and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. In summary, this case provides an example of the potential for genome-scale sequencing technologies to provide insight into the biology of rare tumors and yield both tumor and germline results of potential relevance to patient care.
The DELLA-CONSTANS Transcription Factor Cascade Integrates Gibberellic Acid and Photoperiod Signaling to Regulate Flowering
Authors: Wang Houping , Pan Jinjing , Li Yang , Lou Dengji , Hu Yanru , Yu Diqiu
Published: July 2016

Gibberellin (GA) and photoperiod pathways have recently been demonstrated to collaboratively modulate flowering under long days (LDs). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this collaboration remain largely unclear. In this study, we found that GA-induced expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) under LDs was dependent on CONSTANS (CO), a critical transcription factor positively involved in photoperiod signaling. Mechanistic investigation revealed that DELLA proteins, a group of crucial repressors in GA signaling, physically interacted with CO. The DELLA-CO interactions repressed the transcriptional function of CO protein. Genetic analysis demonstrated that CO acts downstream of DELLA proteins to regulate flowering. Disruption of CO rescued the earlier flowering phenotype of the gai-t6 rga-t2 rgl1-1 rgl2-1 mutant (dellap), while a gain-of-function mutation in GA  INSENSITIVE (GAI, a member of the DELLA gene) repressed the earlier flowering phenotype of CO-overexpressing plants. In addition, the accumulation of DELLA proteins and mRNAs was rhythmic, and REPRESSOR OF GA1-3 protein was noticeably decreased in the long-day afternoon, a time when CO protein is abundant. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the DELLA-CO cascade inhibits CO/FT-mediated flowering under LDs, which thus provide evidence to directly integrate GA and photoperiod signaling to synergistically modulate flowering under LDs.
Crystal structure of the PAS domain of the hEAG potassium channel
Authors: Tang Xue , Shao Juan , Qin Xiaohong
Published: July 2016

KCNH voltage-gated potassium channels play critical roles in regulating cellular functions. The channel is composed of four subunits, each of which contains six transmembrane helices forming the central pore. The cytoplasmic parts of the subunits present a Per–Arnt–Sim (PAS) domain at the N-terminus and a cyclic nucleotide-binding homology domain at the C-terminus. PAS domains are conserved from prokaryotes to eukaryotes and are involved in sensing signals and cellular responses. To better understand the functional roles of PAS domains in KCNH channels, the structure of this domain from the humanether-à-go-gochannel (hEAG channel) was determined. By comparing it with the structures of theHomo sapiensEAG-related gene (hERG) channel and theDrosophilaEAG-like K+(dELK) channel and analyzing the structural features of the hEAG channel, it was identified that a hydrophobic patch on the β-sheet may mediate interaction between the PAS domain and other regions of the channel to regulate its functions.
The way justice unleashes staff’s compassion toward hotel guests
Authors: Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara Pablo , Guerra-Báez Rita M.
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to model staff reactions to a hotel based on the way they perceive hotel’s treatment of customers. It suggests that employees are not motivated to help abused customers in the form of customer-oriented behaviors (COBs) until employees also feel that they are victims of abuse by the hotel. Hence, effects of staff’s unfavorable justice perceptions for customers on employee COBs are expected to be negative until staff’s unfavorable justice perceptions for themselves, interacting in this relationship, turn it positive.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on social exchange and compassion theories, the argument is made that staff members who are also victims of abuse by the hotel can empathize more with guests, turning quid pro quo responses to abuse of customers into compassionate responses.

Findings

Regression results from a field study of 280 employees at ten hotels in the Canary Islands provide general support for our hypotheses.

Practical implications

By understanding when and why (un)fair treatment of guests and staff has consequences for the hotel in the form of COBs, hotel managers can favor a better staff response to hotels’ careful stewardship of the service encounter in terms of COBs. The reversal of the direction in the relationship suggests the unfolding of compassion within a justice framework, which challenges the long-lived perceived incompatibility between compassion and justice in the organizational literature.

Originality/value

The present study is the first one to study COBs stemming either from staff responses to hotels’ abuse of customers or COBs resulting from the interaction between perceived justice for customers and justice perceptions for themselves.
ERP and organizational change
Authors: Hassan Mostafa Kamal , Mouakket Samar
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The study aims to explore the processes of implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in a public service organization operating in an emerging market economy, namely, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on Laughlin’s (1991) model of organizational change to highlight how the introduction of an ERP system, particularly its accounting modules, disrupted the adopting organization’s modes of thinking and its members’ practices. It uses a case study methodology. Data collection methods included semistructured interviews, documentary evidence and personal observation.

Findings

The case study findings show that despite implementation and customization problems, the organization’s employees were forced to use the ERP system. The findings also highlight how the ERP system was acted upon to mobilize the organization’s members toward a new era of information technology. However, the misfit between pre- and post-ERP system accounting practices led to some organizational members to form absorbing groups that questioned accounting-based ERP system organizational changes. The top management’s persistent desire to adopt the ERP system through forcing the organization’s employees to use the system’s modules led the organization to undergo what Laughlin (1991) calls “colonization” organizational change.

Research limitation/implications

The use of a case study methodology inherently limits the generalizability of the study’s findings. The case study was carried out over a relatively short timeframe, namely, ten months. Therefore, the use of a longitudinal case study to examine accounting-based ERP organizational change is recommended.

Practical implications

The study provides insights that can assist top management in formulating organizational change strategies. It also provides insights about emerging economies’ regulatory particularities that influence ERP system implementation.

Originality/value

The study is one of the first studies that utilizes Laughlin’s (1991) model of organizational change to examine accounting-based ERP organizational change in an emerging market economy.
Sensemaking of organizational innovation and change in public research organizations
Authors: Martin-Rios Carlos
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine through a sensemaking lens the transforming nature of scientists’ work role in public research organizations (PROs), resulting from organizational innovations in the form of collaborative culture.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a symbolic-functionalist theory of work role transition, the paper uses interview data from a case study to explore scientists’ sensemaking of work role change.

Findings

Work role transition and identity processes among scientists in traditional PROs reveal tensions regarding organizational restructuring to the extent that organizational innovations are changing scientific work conflict with organizational norms, procedures and reward structures in hierarchical, bureaucratic PROs.

Research limitations/implications

As the paper is based on only one case study, further research should be carried out on the difficulties involved in transforming the nature of the scientific work role and the way scientists recognize, contradict and make sense of changes.

Originality/value

The novelty of this paper is in the un-discussed role of organizational innovations in enabling new work roles for scientists in public research centers and how scientists make sense of and react to these innovations. Therefore, this paper could be beneficial for PROs facing pressure to restructure.
Work role stressors and employee outcomes
Authors: Chhabra Bindu
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to explore the direct effects of work role stressors and subjective fit perceptions on the employee outcomes of job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and turnover intentions. The study further aimed to investigate the moderating role of person-organization (P-O) fit, demands-abilities (D-A) fit and needs supplies (N-S) fit in the relationship between work role stressors and the aforementioned employee outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted using structured questionnaires for measuring the aforementioned variables. The sample of the study was 317 professionals from five sectors. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze the data.

Findings

Hierarchical multiple regression showed that the work role stressors were negatively related to job satisfaction and OCB and positively related to turnover intentions. Subjective fit was seen to be positively related to job satisfaction and OCB and negatively related to turnover intentions. The analysis also found some support for the stress buffering effect of high subjective fit in the prediction of job satisfaction, OCB and turnover intentions.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the organizational behavior literature by focusing on the fact that the negative effects of work role stressors on employee outcomes can be mitigated by identifying the variables which act as a buffer to weaken this effect. The results of the study highlight the importance of the concept of subjective fit for the managers and the employees to help them in coping up with the demands of the job. They provide support for the fact that matching employees to their organization and job can help in the mitigation of employees’ stress, resulting in positive employee outcomes, hence benefiting the organization in the long run.

Originality/value

The study is the first of its kind to investigate the moderating role of P-O fit, D-A fit and N-S perceptions in the relationship between work role stressors and employee outcomes, especially in the Indian context.
Development of the yield-based process capability index, C

py
, to flexibly and accurately measure conformance
Authors: Kenyon George N , Sale R. Samual , Hozak Kurt , Chiou Paul
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop an yield-based process capability index (PCI), C

py
, to overcome the shortcomings of existing PCIs that limit their use and lead to inaccurate measures of quality conformance under a variety of common conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

–C

py
is developed conceptually to flexibly and accurately reflect conformance and then used to numerically measure inaccuracies of C

pk
.

Findings

–C

py
overcomes many of the problems associated with existing PCIs, including C

pk
. The degree of process distribution non-normality, level of quality (the sigma level), and whether the process is centered or shifted left or right affect the direction and size of process capability error produced by C

pk
. The accuracy of C

pk
can be greatly affected by process data that deviate even slightly from normality.

Practical implications

–C

py
offers numerous advantages compared to existing PCIs. It accurately reflects process conformance regardless of the process distribution. It is applicable even if the process has multiple characteristics and with both variable and attribute data. Its calculation is relatively simple and the necessary data for it are likely already captured by most organizations.

Originality/value

– The main contributions are the development of a new PCI, C

py
; a conceptual analysis of its advantages; and a numerical analysis of the improved accuracy of C

py
as compared to C

pk
for shifted and non-shifted process means for normal, nearly normal, and highly non-normal distributions over a range of process variability levels.
Modelling satisfaction-commitment relationship in developing country context
Authors: Fatima Johra Kayeser , Razzaque Mohammed Abdur , Di Mascio Rita
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– Considering the significance of customer satisfaction and commitment in the competitive banking industry of developing countries, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the alternative relationships of satisfaction with various types of commitment, benefits, quality and trust. It also attempts to identify the interrelationships among three types of trust, namely, competence, contractual and goodwill, as well as affective, calculative and normative commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

– Structural equation modelling (AMOS-based) is used to analyse data collected from a survey of 212 bank customers in Bangladesh.

Findings

– Findings show that satisfaction has a significant impact on affective, calculative and normative commitment, as well as on competence, contractual and goodwill trust. While core and relational service qualities, and confidence and social benefits influence the level of satisfaction, tangible service quality and special treatment benefit seem to have no significant effect on satisfaction. Finally, all three types of trust are found to have a strong influence on affective commitment; however, contractual trust and competence trust are found to have no impact on calculative and normative commitment.

Practical implications

– The paper provides insights for bank management in order to understand the relative importance of each type of trust, commitment, quality and benefit, and their relationships with satisfaction.

Originality/value

– It is the first to take the initiative to test a large range of relationships in a single study to better understand customer satisfaction in the banking industry in a developing country context.
Academic leadership and Lean Six Sigma
Authors: Anthony Stephen , Antony Jiju
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the ability to researchers of using design of experiments (DoE) as a structured and systematic approach to performing systematic literature reviews. The authors demonstrate a simple case study illustrating the application of DoE in executing a systematic literature review on two popular topics in higher education: academic leadership and Lean Six Sigma.

Design/methodology/approach

– The methodology involves the systematic literature review of linking academic leadership with terms such as Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, Maturity Model and Continuous Improvement. The main tool used to structure the systematic literature review is a Taguchi Orthogonal Array design, specifically an L16 grid and the method is verified by conducting another review, replacing the term academic leadership with simply leadership.

Findings

– The approach identified at first no research papers linking the terms; however, when academic leadership was replaced with university, 19 research papers where discovered. The verification exercise, linking just leadership with the other search string generated over 1,000 results – demonstrating that the tool can find large volumes of articles if they exist, the search was completed for a ten year time frame – 2004 to 2014.

Research limitations/implications

– The case study focussed on a field which is known to have little current research and the verification exercise deliberately targeted a known large body of research. The authors will continue to use the approach and refine the technique over time.

Practical implications

– This approach would help any researcher despite of their discipline to identify opportunities and gaps in the current literature.

Originality/value

– The paper shows how DoE can be used in an academic research-based process. No other literature review approach currently exists which uses Taguchi approach to DoE to filter the search criteria.
A confirmatory factor analysis of knowledge management assessment instrument in Indian higher educational institutions
Authors: Chawla Ashima , Saxena Shabnam
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the reliability and validity of the knowledge management assessment instrument (KMAI) developed by Lawson (2003) that consists of 24 items.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study involved 225 research scholars and 225 faculties’ members from nine higher educational institutions. The respondents were required to respond to a five-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The collected data were then analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 software packages. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted earlier than performing a confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings

– All constructs revealed the acceptable internal consistency reliability. A good model fit was found for the measurement model using several fit index tests like CMINDF, TLI, GFI AGFI, CFI and RMSEA. The findings showed that all fit indices criteria were accomplished. It also showed the acceptable reliability and construct validity.

Research limitations/implications

– KMAI was examined using confirmatory factor analysis only. A large sample size and sample area can be used.

Practical implications

– This research paper is an endeavor to explore only the reliability and validity of the KMAI. Thus all the three dimensions, namely, “knowledge application”, “knowledge acquisition and creation” and “knowledge storing and sharing” proved out to be reliable and validate when it will be tested in case of any Indian higher educational institutions.

Originality/value

– The main contributions of this study is that all the factors have good acceptable reliability value; each factor can be measured individually depending on the nature of the research.
Knowledge management as intellectual property
Authors: Maldonado-Guzmán Gonzalo , Lopez-Torres Gabriela Citlalli , Garza-Reyes Jose Arturo , Kumar Vikas , Martinez-Covarrubias Juan Luis
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between knowledge management and creation of intellectual property within the context of small and medium size manufacturing enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

A hypothesis was formulated and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected through an instrument that was developed based on key constructs adapted from the literature and that was first validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. A Cronbach’s alpha test was also conducted and the Composite Reliability Index was calculated to ensure reliability of the theoretical model. The instrument was distributed among manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Aguascalientes region of Mexico, from were 125 valid responses were obtained.

Findings

In general, the results indicate that knowledge management has positive effects on the creation of intellectual property in manufacturing SMEs. This suggests that SMEs can create more intellectual property if they dedicate more efforts to the management of knowledge.

Practical implications

The implication of this research and its findings may inform the strategies formulated by policy makers, and the managerial practices that manufacturing SMEs can adopt to protect their knowledge.

Originality/value

Evidence suggests that studies focused on investigating the relationship between knowledge and intellectual property are limited. This paper provides a refined understanding of the relationship between knowledge management and intellectual property creation.
Motivated to change? TMT regulatory focus and strategic change
Authors: Roundy Philip T. , Dai Ye , Bayer Mark A. , Byun Gukdo
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the concept of top management team (TMT) regulatory focus to explain the differences in executive motivation. Upper echelons research has demonstrated that top managers’ willingness to deviate from their current strategies is a key determinant of organizational success. However, it is not clear why some TMTs are motivated to embrace strategic change while others are motivated to favor the strategic status quo.

Design/methodology/approach

Recent work in the psychology of motivation is used to develop a conceptual model explaining how the regulatory focus of TMTs can impact their outlooks toward strategic change.

Findings

It is theorized that there is a positive (negative) relationship between promotion (prevention)-focused TMTs and strategic change. It is also theorized that executives’ performance aspirations, firm maturity and the stability of the environment will influence the relationship between regulatory focus and strategic change.

Originality/value

Although the theoretical explanations provided by past research on top manager motivation are psychological in their general focus, with few exceptions research has not sought to understand the specific deep-level, socio-cognitive characteristics that shape executives’ perceptions of strategic change. By developing an understanding of the psychological determinants of strategic change, as well as the interplay between these determinants and firm- and environment-level factors, this paper represents a step in the direction of explaining why some TMTs are motivated to embrace strategic change while others seem “locked-in” to the status quo.
Formulation and nutritional evaluation of food products supplemented with niger seeds
Authors: Jain Rohini , Singla Neerja
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Due to the high prevalence of malnutrition and iron-deficiency anaemia in children and women, the purpose of this paper is the development and nutritional evaluation of food products supplemented with niger seeds.

Design/methodology/approach

Three products, namely, atta ladoo, mathi and salty biscuits, were developed using standardized recipes with different levels of niger seeds. These products were organoleptically evaluated by a trained panel of 12 judges using an eight-point hedonic rating scale. Nutritional evaluation was also carried out to draw comparison between the developed product and its control counterpart. Proximate composition, in vitro protein digestibility and iron estimation were carried out using standard methods.

Findings

The findings revealed that the products supplemented with niger seeds at a level of 20 per cent were acceptable. The supplemented products were found to have higher protein (13-15 per cent), fat (20-31 per cent), fibre (4.5-5.7 per cent) and iron (11.8-16.1 mg/100 g) content as compared to their control (0 per cent supplementation) counterparts. Along with that, addition of niger seeds resulted in significant (p < 0.05) increase in the in vitro protein digestibility of the supplemented products.

Research limitations/implications

Further, the feeding trials can be conducted by using formulated products so as to check the nutrient bioavailability of these products.

Originality/value

Keeping in view the economic and nutritional benefits of niger seeds, the products supplemented with them can be incorporated in daily diet so as to enhance the nutritional status of an individual. While niger seeds have been used in the animal’s and bird’s feed, limited research has focused on their use in food products used for human consumption in daily diet. Further, their nutritional role in the human diet has not been explored much.