bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The unique role of the trigeminal autonomic reflex and its modulation in primary headache disorders
Authors: Möller Maike , May Arne
Published: March 2019

Purpose of review

The trigeminal autonomic reflex is a physiological reflex with an important protective function which also plays a role in pathophysiological conditions, such as primary headache. It is not understood whether the autonomic symptoms in trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias and migraine are the consequence of severe trigeminal discharge or indeed directly driven by central generators as part of the pathophysiology, underlying these syndromes.

Recent findings

Modulating this reflex, and particularly the parasympathetic reflex arc, has been shown to be effective in treating headache. Among these modulators, left noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation has been shown to bilaterally inhibit the parasympathetic output of the reflex. Furthermore, the peripheral activation of the reflex, resulting in parasympathetic discharge, is not sufficient to provoke headache attacks in cluster headache patients, suggesting a central modulation.

Here, we review the anatomy and physiology of the trigeminal autonomic reflex and its involvement in primary headache. Possible candidates who have a modulating effect, including neurostimulation and pharmacological approaches, are described.
On the existence of elastic minimizers for initially stressed materials
Authors: Riccobelli D. , Agosti A. , Ciarletta P.
Published: March 2019

A soft solid is said to be initially stressed if it is subjected to a state of internal stress in its unloaded reference configuration. In physical terms, its stored elastic energy may not vanish in the absence of an elastic deformation, being also dependent on the spatial distribution of the underlying material inhomogeneities. Developing a sound mathematical framework to model initially stressed solids in nonlinear elasticity is key for many applications in engineering and biology. This work investigates the links between the existence of elastic minimizers and the constitutive restrictions for initially stressed materials subjected to finite deformations. In particular, we consider a subclass of constitutive responses in which the strain energy density is taken as a scalar-valued function of both the deformation gradient and the initial stress tensor. The main advantage of this approach is that the initial stress tensor belongs to the group of divergence-free symmetric tensors satisfying the boundary conditions in any given reference configuration. However, it is still unclear which physical restrictions must be imposed for the well-posedness of this elastic problem. Assuming that the constitutive response depends on the choice of the reference configuration only through the initial stress tensor, under given conditions we prove the local existence of a relaxed state given by an implicit tensor function of the initial stress distribution. This tensor function is generally not unique, and can be transformed according to the symmetry group of the material at fixed initial stresses. These results allow one to extend Ball's existence theorem of elastic minimizers for the proposed constitutive choice of initially stressed materials.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Rivlin's legacy in continuum mechanics and applied mathematics’.
The lncRNA NEAT1_1 is dispensable for normal tissue homeostasis and cancer cell growth
Authors: Adriaens Carmen , Rambow Florian , Bervoets Greet , Silla Toomas , Mito Mari , Chiba Tomoki , Hiroshi Asahara , Hirose Tetsuro , Nakagawa Shinichi , Jensen Torben Heick , Marine Jean-Christophe
Published: March 2019

NEAT1 is one of the most studied lncRNAs, in part because its silencing in mice causes defects in mammary gland development and corpus luteum formation, and protects them from skin cancer development. Moreover, depleting NEAT1 in established cancer cell lines reduces growth and sensitizes cells to DNA damaging agents. However, NEAT1 produces two isoforms and because the short isoform, NEAT1_1, completely overlaps the 5’ part of the long NEAT1_2 isoform, the respective contributions of each of the isoforms to these phenotypes has remained unclear. Whereas NEAT1_1 is highly expressed in most tissues, NEAT1_2 is the central architectural component of paraspeckles, which are nuclear bodies that assemble in specific tissues and cells exposed to various forms of stress. Using dual RNA-FISH to detect both NEAT1_1 outside of paraspeckles and NEAT1_2/NEAT1 inside this nuclear body, we report herein that NEAT1_1 levels are dynamically regulated during the cell cycle and targeted for degradation by the nuclear RNA exosome. Unexpectedly, however, cancer cells engineered to lack NEAT1_1, but not NEAT1_2, do not exhibit cell cycle defects. Moreover, Neat1_1-specific knockout mice do not exhibit the phenotypes observed in Neat1-deficient mice. We propose that NEAT1 functions are mainly, if not exclusively, attributable to NEAT1_2 and, by extension, to paraspeckles.

Graphical abstract
Studying ecosystems with DNA metabarcoding: lessons from aquatic biomonitoring
Authors: Bush Alex , Compson Zacchaeus , Monk Wendy , Porter Teresita M. , Steeves Royce , Emilson Erik , Gagne Nellie , Hajibabaei Mehrdad , Roy Mélanie , Baird Donald J.
Published: March 2019

An ongoing challenge for ecological studies has been the collection of data with high precision and accuracy at a sufficient scale to detect effects relevant to management of critical global change processes. A major hurdle for many workflows has been the time-consuming and challenging process of sorting and identification of organisms, but the rapid development of DNA metabarcoding as a biodiversity observation tool provides a potential solution. As high-throughput sequencing becomes more rapid and cost-effective, a ‘big data’ revolution is anticipated, based on higher and more accurate taxonomic resolution, more efficient detection, and greater sample processing capacity. These advances have the potential to amplify the power of ecological studies to detect change and diagnose its cause, through a methodology termed ‘Biomonitoring 2.0’.

Despite its promise, the unfamiliar terminology and pace of development in high-throughput sequencing technologies has contributed to a growing concern that an unproven technology is supplanting tried and tested approaches, lowering trust among potential users, and reducing uptake by ecologists and environmental management practitioners. While it is reasonable to exercise caution, we argue that any criticism of new methods must also acknowledge the shortcomings and lower capacity of current observation methods. Broader understanding of the statistical properties of metabarcoding data will help ecologists to design, test and review evidence for new hypotheses.

We highlight the uncertainties and challenges underlying DNA metabarcoding and traditional methods for compositional analysis, focusing on issues of taxonomic resolution, sample similarity, taxon misidentification, sample contamination, and taxon abundance. Using the example of freshwater benthic ecosystems, one of the most widely-applied non-microbial applications of DNA metabarcoding to date, we explore the ability of this new technology to improve the quality and utility of ecological data, recognising that the issues raised have widespread applicability across all ecosystem types.
Rational use of Episodic and Working Memory: A Normative Account of Prospective Memory
Authors: Momennejad Ida , Lewis-Peacock Jarrod , Norman Kennneth A. , Cohen Jonathan , Singh Satinder , Lewis Richard L.
Published: March 2019

Abstract

Humans often simultaneously pursue multiple plans at different time scales. The successful realization of non-immediate plans (e.g., post package after work) requires keeping track of a future plan while accomplishing other intermediate tasks (e.g., write a paper), a capacity known as prospective memory. This capacity requires the integration of noisy evidence from perceptual input with evidence from short-term working memory (WM) and longer-term or episodic memory (LTM/EM). Here we formulate a set of dual-task problems in empirical studies of prospective memory as problems of computational rationality, and ask how a rational model should exploit noisy perception and memory to maximize payoffs. The model combines reinforcement learning (optimal action selection) with evidence accumulation (optimal inference) in order to derive good decision parameters for optimal task performance (i.e., performing an ongoing task while monitoring for a cue that triggers executing a second prospective task). We compare model behavior to key accuracy and reaction time phenomena in human performance. Thus, we offer a normative approach to theorizing and modeling these phenomena without assumptions about mechanisms of attention or retrieval. This approach can be extended to study meta-parameters governing the boundedly rational use of memory in planned action in health, as well as compensatory mnemonic strategies that may be rational responses to disturbances of these mechanisms in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Variation in phosphorus and sulfur content shapes the genetic architecture and phenotypic associations within wheat grain ionome
Authors: Fatiukha Andrii , Klymiuk Valentina , Peleg Zvi , Saranga Yehoshua , Cakmak Ismail , Krugman Tamar , Korol Abraham B. , Fahima Tzion
Published: March 2019

Dissection of the genetic basis of ionome is crucial for the understanding of the physiological and biochemical processes underlying mineral accumulation in seeds, as well as for efficient crop breeding. Most of the elements essential for plants are metals stored in seeds as chelate complexes with phytic acid or sulfur-containing compounds. We assume that the involvement of phosphorus and sulfur in metal chelation is the reason for strong phenotypic associations within ionome. Thus, we adjusted element concentrations for the effect of variation in phosphorus and sulfur seed content. The genetic architecture of wheat grain ionome was characterize by QTL analysis using a cross between durum and wild emmer wheat. Adjustment for variation in P and S drastically changed phenotypic associations within ionome and considerably improved QTL detection power and accuracy, resulting in identification of 105 QTLs and 437 QTL effects for 11 elements. A search for candidate genes revealed some strong functional associations of genes involved in transport and metabolism of ions and elements. Thus, we have shown that accounting for variation in P and S is crucial for understanding of the physiological and genetic regulation of mineral composition of wheat grain ionome and can be implemented for other plants.
Enhancing DNA metabarcoding performance and applicability with bait capture enrichment and DNA from conservative ethanol
Authors: Gauthier M. , Konecny-Dupré L. , Nguyen A. , Elbrecht V. , Datry T. , Douady C.J. , Lefébure T.
Published: March 2019

Metabarcoding is often presented as an alternative identification tool to compensate for coarse taxonomic resolution and misidentification encountered with traditional morphological approaches. However, metabarcoding comes with two major impediments which slow down its adoption. First, the picking and destruction of organisms for DNA extraction are time and cost consuming and do not allow organism conservation for further evaluations. Second, current metabarcoding protocols include a PCR enrichment step which induces errors in the estimation of species diversity and relative biomasses. In this study, we first evaluated the capacity of capture enrichment to replace PCR enrichment using controlled freshwater macrozoobenthos mock communities. Then, we tested if DNA extracted from the fixative ethanol (etDNA) of the same mock communities can be used as an alternative to DNA extracted from pools of whole organisms (bulk DNA). We show that capture enrichment provides more reliable and accurate representation of species occurrences and relative biomasses in comparison with PCR enrichment for bulk DNA. While etDNA does not permit to estimate relative biomasses, etDNA and bulk DNA provide equivalent species detection rates. Thanks to its robustness to mismatches, capture enrichment is already an efficient alternative to PCR enrichment for metabarcoding and, if coupled to etDNA, is a time-saver option in studies where presence information only is sufficient.
Metabolic activity affects response of single cells to a nutrient switch in structured populations
Authors: Dal Co Alma , Ackermann Martin , van Vliet Simon
Published: March 2019

Microbes live in ever-changing environments where they need to adapt their metabolism to different nutrient conditions. Many studies have characterized the response of genetically identical cells to nutrient switches in homogenous cultures, however in nature microbes often live in spatially structured groups such as biofilms where cells can create metabolic gradients by consuming and releasing nutrients. Consequently, cells experience different local microenvironments and vary in their phenotype. How does this phenotypic variation affect the ability of cells to cope with nutrient switches? Here we address this question by growing dense populations of Escherichia coli in microfluidic chambers and studying a switch from glucose to acetate at the single cell level. Before the switch, cells vary in their metabolic activity: some grow on glucose while others cross-feed on acetate. After the switch, only few cells can resume growth after a period of lag. The probability to resume growth depends on a cells’ phenotype prior to the switch: it is highest for cells crossfeeding on acetate, while it depends in a non-monotonic way on growth rate for cells growing on glucose. Our results suggest that the strong phenotypic variation in spatially structured populations might enhance their ability to cope with fluctuating environments.
BigBrain 3D atlas of cortical layers: cortical and laminar thickness gradients diverge in sensory and motor cortices
Authors: Wagstyl Konrad , Larocque Stéphanie , Cucurull Guillem , Lepage Claude , Cohen Joseph Paul , Bludau Sebastian , Palomero-Gallagher Nicola , Lewis Lindsay B. , Funck Thomas , Spitzer Hannah , Dicksheid Timo , Fletcher Paul C , Romero Adriana , Zilles Karl , Amunts Katrin , Bengio Yoshua , Evans Alan C.
Published: March 2019

Histological atlases of the cerebral cortex, such as those made famous by Brodmann and von Economo, are invaluable for understanding human brain microstructure and its relationship with functional organization in the brain. However, these existing atlases are limited to small numbers of manually annotated samples from a single cerebral hemisphere, measured from 2D histological sections. We present the first whole-brain quantitative 3D laminar atlas of the human cerebral cortex. This atlas was derived from a 3D histological model of the human brain at 20 micron isotropic resolution (BigBrain), using a convolutional neural network to segment, automatically, the cortical layers in both hemispheres. Our approach overcomes many of the historical challenges with measurement of histological thickness in 2D and the resultant laminar atlas provides an unprecedented level of precision and detail.

We utilized this BigBrain cortical atlas to test whether previously reported thickness gradients, as measured by MRI in sensory and motor processing cortices, were present in a histological atlas of cortical thickness, and which cortical layers were contributing to these gradients. Cortical thickness increased across sensory processing hierarchies, primarily driven by layers III, V and VI. In contrast, fronto-motor cortices showed the opposite pattern, with decreases in total and pyramidal layer thickness. These findings illustrate how this laminar atlas will provide a link between single-neuron morphology, mesoscale cortical layering, macroscopic cortical thickness and, ultimately, functional neuroanatomy.
A deep learning framework for nucleus segmentation using image style transfer
Authors: Hollandi Reka , Szkalisity Abel , Toth Timea , Tasnadi Ervin , Molnar Csaba , Mathe Botond , Grexa Istvan , Molnar Jozsef , Balind Arpad , Gorbe Mate , Kovacs Maria , Migh Ede , Goodman Allen , Balassa Tamas , Koos Krisztian , Wang Wenyu , Bara Norbert , Kovacs Ferenc , Paavolainen Lassi , Danka Tivadar , Kriston Andras , Carpenter Anne E. , Smith Kevin , Horvath Peter
Published: March 2019

Single cell segmentation is typically one of the first and most crucial tasks of image-based cellular analysis. We present a deep learning approach aiming towards a truly general method for localizing nuclei across a diverse range of assays and light microscopy modalities. We outperform the 739 methods submitted to the 2018 Data Science Bowl on images representing a variety of realistic conditions, some of which were not represented in the training data. The key to our approach is to adapt our model to unseen and unlabeled data using image style transfer to generate augmented training samples. This allows the model to recognize nuclei in new and different experiments without requiring expert annotations.
Evaluation of Gene Expression and Phenotypic Profiling Data as Quantitative Descriptors for Predicting Drug Targets and Mechanisms of Action
Authors: Lapins Maris , Spjuth Ola
Published: March 2019

Profiling drug leads by means of in silico and in vitro assays as well as omics is widely used in drug discovery for safety and efficacy predictions. In this study, we evaluate the performance of machine learning models trained on data from gene expression and phenotypic profiling assays, with models trained on chemical structure descriptors, for prediction of various drug mechanisms of action and target proteins. Models for several hundred mechanisms of actions and targets were trained using data on 1484 compounds characterized in both gene expression using L1000 profiles, and phenotypic profiling with cell painting assay. The results indicate that the accuracy of the three profiling technologies varies for different endpoints, and indicate a clear potential synergistic effect if these methods are combined. We also study the effect of predictive accuracy of data from different cell lines for L1000 profiles, showing that the choice of cell line has a non-negligible effect on the predictive accuracy. The results strengthen the idea of integrated approaches for predicting drug targets and mechanisms of action in preclinical drug discovery.
Regulation of hippocampal memory by mTORC1 in somatostatin interneuron: Hippocampal SOM interneurons, mTORC1 and memory
Authors: Artinian J. , Jordan A. , Khlaifia A. , Honoré E. , La Fontaine A. , Racine A-S. , Laplante I. , Lacaille J-C.
Published: March 2019

Translational control of long-term synaptic plasticity via Mechanistic Target Of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) is crucial for hippocampal learning and memory. The role of mTORC1 is well-characterized in excitatory principal cells but remains largely unaddressed in inhibitory interneurons. Here we used cell type-specific conditional knockout strategies to alter mTORC1 function selectively in somatostatin (SOM) inhibitory interneurons (SOM-INs). We found that up- and down-regulation of SOM-IN mTORC1 activity bi-directionally regulates contextual fear and spatial memory consolidation. Moreover, contextual fear learning induced a metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1 (mGluR1) mediated long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory input synapses onto hippocampal SOM-INs, that was dependent on mTORC1. Finally, the induction protocol for mTORC1-mediated late-LTP in SOM-INs regulated Schaffer collateral pathway LTP in pyramidal neurons. Thus, mTORC1 activity in somatostatin interneurons contributes to learning-induced persistent plasticity of their excitatory synaptic inputs and hippocampal memory consolidation, uncovering a role of mTORC1 in inhibitory circuits for memory.
Luciferase-LOV BRET enables versatile and specific transcriptional readout of cellular protein-protein interactions
Authors: Kim Christina K. , Cho Kelvin F. , Kim Min Woo , Ting Alice Y.
Published: March 2019

Technologies that convert transient protein-protein interactions (PPIs) into stable expression of a reporter gene are useful for genetic selections, high-throughput screening, and multiplexing with omics technologies. We previously reported SPARK (Kim et al., 2017), a transcription factor that is activated by the coincidence of blue light and a PPI. Here, we report an improved, second-generation SPARK2 that incorporates a luciferase moiety to control the light-sensitive LOV domain. SPARK2 can be temporally gated by either external light or addition of a small-molecule luciferin, which causes luciferase to open LOV via proximity-dependent BRET. Furthermore, the nested “AND” gate design of SPARK2—in which both protease recruitment to the membrane-anchored transcription factor and LOV domain opening are regulated by the PPI of interest—yields a lower-background system and improved PPI specificity. We apply SPARK2 to high-throughput screening for GPCR agonists and for the detection of trans-cellular contacts, all with versatile transcriptional readout.
Very severe anemia and one year mortality outcome after hospitalization in Tanzanian children: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Chami Neema , Hau Duncan K. , Masoza Tulla S. , Smart Luke R. , Kayange Neema M. , Hokororo Adolfine , Ambrose Emmanuela E. , Moschovis Peter P. , Wiens Matthew O. , Peck Robert N.
Published: March 2019

Background

Africa has the highest rates of child mortality. Little is known about outcomes after hospitalization for children with very severe anemia.

Objective

To determine one year mortality and predictors of mortality in Tanzanian children hospitalized with very severe anemia.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study enrolling children 2-12 years hospitalized from August 2014 to November 2014 at two public hospitals in northwestern Tanzania. Children were screened for anemia and followed until 12 months after discharge. The primary outcome measured was mortality. Predictors of mortality were determined using Cox regression analysis.

Results

Of the 505 children, 90 (17.8%) had very severe anemia and 415 (82.1%) did not. Mortality was higher for children with very severe anemia compared to children without over a one year period from admission, 27/90 (30.0%) vs. 59/415 (14.2%) respectively (Hazard Ratio (HR) 2.42, 95% Cl 1.53–3.83). In-hospital mortality was 11/90 (12.2%) and post-hospital mortality was 16/79 (20.2%) for children with very severe anemia. The strongest predictors of mortality were age (HR 1.01, 95% Cl 1.00–1.03) and decreased urine output (HR 4.30, 95% Cl 1.04 – 17.7).

Conclusions

Children up to 12 years of age with very severe anemia have nearly a 30% chance of mortality following admission over a one year period, with over 50% of mortality occurring after discharge. Post-hospital interventions are urgently needed to reduce mortality in children with very severe anemia, and should include older children.
Analysis of physiological noise in quantitative cardiac magnetic resonance
Authors: Jao Terrence , Nayak Krishna
Published: March 2019

Purpose

To determine the impact of imaging parameters on the temporal signal-to-noise ratio (TSNR) of quantitative cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) in humans, and to determine applicability of the physiological noise covariance (PNC) model for physiological noise (PN).

Methods

We conducted MRI experiments in four healthy volunteers, and obtained series of short-axis cardiac images acquired with snapshot balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) and snapshot gradient echo (GRE) using a broad range of spatial resolutions and parallel imaging acceleration factors commonly used in quantitative cardiac MR. We measured regional SNR and TSNR in these datasets and fit the measurements to the PNC model for PN, which assumes that PN scales with signal strength.

Results

The relationship between SNR and TSNR in human cardiac MR without contrast preparation was well modeled by the PNC model. SNR consistently decreased as the spatial resolution (matrix size) and acceleration factor (R) increased for both GRE and bSSFP imaging. TSNR varied linearly with SNR using GRE imaging, when SNR was low (SNR < 20), and approached an asymptotic limit using bSSFP imaging, when SNR was high (SNR > 40).

Conclusions

The PNC model can be used to guide the choice of matrix size and acceleration factor to optimize TSNR in stable contrast cardiac MR, such as T2-prepared Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent (BOLD) and several variants of Arterial Spin Labeled (ASL) cardiac MR.
Identification of human silencers by correlating cross-tissue epigenetic profiles and gene expression
Authors: Huang Di , Petrykowska Hanna M. , Miller Brendan F. , Elnitski Laura , Ovcharenko Ivan
Published: March 2019

Compared to enhancers, silencers are notably difficult to identify and validate experimentally. In search for human silencers, we utilized H3K27me3-DNase I hypersensitive site (DHS) peaks with tissue specificity negatively correlated with the expression of nearby genes across 25 diverse cell lines. These regions are predicted to be silencers since they are physically linked, using Hi-C loops, or associated, using expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) results, with a decrease in gene expression much more frequently than general H3K27me3-DHSs. Also, these regions are enriched for the binding sites of transcriptional repressors (such as CTCF, MECOM, SMAD4, and SNAI3) and depleted of the binding sites of transcriptional activators. Using sequence signatures of these regions, we constructed a computational model and predicted approximately 10,000 additional silencers per cell line and demonstrated that the majority of genes linked to these silencers are expressed at a decreased level. Furthermore, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in predicted silencers are significantly associated with disease phenotypes. Finally, our results show that silencers commonly interact with enhancers to affect the transcriptional dynamics of tissue-specific genes and to facilitate fine-tuning of transcription in the human genome.
Predicted corrosion rate on outdoor exposed concrete structures
Authors: Pakkala Toni A. , Köliö Arto , Lahdensivu Jukka , Pentti Matti
Published: March 2019

Purpose

A significant part of Finnish concrete building stock is relatively young. Thus methods to adopt the existing building stock to climate change are needed. To plan and correctly timing the service actions there is a need to study the rates of different deterioration mechanisms. The reinforcement corrosion in Finnish outdoor exposed concrete structures is almost solely carbonation-induced corrosion. In former studies, it has been shown that active corrosion phase can also have a major effect on the total service life of the structure. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the effect of climate change on predicted corrosion rate of concrete reinforcement in projected 2050 and 2100 climates compared to present climate were studied to consider adaptation methods for the climate change. The calculations are based on a corrosion propagation model, which takes into account four different climatic factors: wind-driven rain, temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation.

Findings

A significantly higher corrosion rates and thus faster corrosion-induced damage can be expected in the future climate. The increase in corrosion rate is the highest in the late autumn and winter because of the increasing amount of precipitation and weaker conditions for concrete structures to dry. In addition, the duration of high corrosion rate periods is increasing which may shorten the propagation phase. However, corrosion rate is highly dependent on the direction of the greatest climate load and the grade of sheltering which can be taken into account in service life calculations and while planning service actions.

Research limitations/implications

There are different sources of error because of the uncertainties with both the used model and the climate change scenarios. That is why the results are discussed in more general way than comparing the actual numbers with each other.

Originality/value

The propagation model used in this study has not been used before in adaptation studies. The climate change effect on carbonation-induced corrosion has also been limited while the studies have focused on chloride-induced corrosion.
Should I stay or should I go? A study of IT professionals during a national crisis
Authors: Porto Bellini Carlo Gabriel , Palvia Prashant , Moreno Valter , Jacks Tim , Graeml Alexandre
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss two important behaviors related to job mobility in the IT profession, namely, changing jobs to move to another organization (turnover) and changing the profession entirely (turnaway), during a national crisis. Based on the theoretical foundation of the push–pull–mooring perspective, a research model is developed that includes professional self-efficacy (PSE), job insecurity (JI) and job satisfaction (JS) as important antecedents.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a positivist approach and a survey method, the authors analyzed data from IT professionals from different economic segments in Brazil. Data collection occurred in two distinctive moments of the largest crisis in modern Brazilian history – a pre-awareness moment (first half of year 2015) and a crisis-conscious moment (first half of year 2016).

Findings

The findings reveal that PSE negatively influences JI and positively influences JS, JI positively influences turnaway intention, and JS negatively influences both turnover intention and turnaway intention. The effect of the national crisis was observed in that it further accentuated the intention of IT professionals to leave the profession. Another effect was related to age, as older professionals are less willing to turn over but more willing to turn away.

Research limitations/implications

Besides developing a parsimonious model to study both the intention to leave the organization and the intention to leave the profession, the study sheds light on how IT professionals react to economic crises and how the reaction varies by age.

Practical implications

The study puts to question the common belief that IT professionals are secure in the job market due to high demand for their skills and investments made by organizations to keep them on the job. Employers must pay attention to JI and turnover/turnaway intentions.

Originality/value

This study is among the few to study JI and aspects of the theory of human migration in IT. It is also possibly the first to discuss the effects of a national crisis on the mobility patterns of IT professionals.
Institutionalisation of the Cash Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standard in the Central Government of Bangladesh
Authors: Rajib Salah Uddin , Adhikari Pawan , Hoque Mahfuzul , Akter Mahmuda
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine public sector accounting reforms, mainly the adoption and implementation of the Cash Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) in the Central Government of Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the ideas of new institutionalism, the paper investigates the factors which have forced the country to accept the Cash Basis IPSAS but have delayed its implementation in practice.

Findings

Different approaches towards the Cash Basis IPSAS are now distinct in the Central Government of Bangladesh. Differences between Bangladesh and other emerging economies have been narrowed as the potency of institutional pressures has increased, and there is a risk, as experienced in other emerging economies, that the very adoption of the Cash Basis IPSAS may remain more a rhetoric than a reality in Bangladesh. The paper demonstrates that the extent to which professional accountants and their associations participate in reforms determines the public sector accounting reform trajectories in emerging economies.

Practical implications

The paper demonstrates that reforms driven by indigenous administrators can have the potential of becoming more instrumental in emerging economies than the externally propagated reforms, such as IPSASs and accrual accounting. What is important is to advance incrementally those public sector accounting reforms that local administrators have identified as important, that they could cope with their existing knowledge and capacity, and that they are interested in engaging with the reform process.

Originality/value

First, the study has contributed to extending neo-institutional theory by bringing out the responses of different stakeholders responsible for implementing public sector accounting reforms, mainly the Cash Basis IPSAS, in practice. Next, the paper has raised a question as to whether the Cash Basis IPSAS could be an appropriate reform measure for the central government of Bangladesh.
Active film incorporated with clove essential oil on storage of banana varieties
Authors: Alves de Figueiredo Sousa Heloísa , Gonçalves de Oliveira Filho Josemar , Egea Mariana Buranelo , Rosa da Silva Edilsa , Macagnan Dirceu , Pires Marcio , Peixoto José
Published: March 2019

Purpose

Banana is an important tropical fruit with high demand in the market. The ripe fruits are less resistant to transport making logistics difficult. Moreover, as a climacteric fruit, it has a short post-harvest shelf life. Edible coatings/films, including active substances, have been used as an alternative for preserving fruits and vegetables during post-harvest period. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incorporating clove essential oil on the properties of cassava starch films and their effect on the post-harvest quality of different banana varieties.

Design/methodology/approach

Cassava starch films incorporating clove essential oil were developed and the films were characterized with respect to moisture, thickness, solubility, water vapor permeability (WVP), biodegradability, color and in vitro antifungal activity. Cultivars such as Prata-Anã, Grand Nine, BRS Tropical and BRS Conquista were coated with cassava starch, cassava starch film with clove essential oil (CSEO) and polyvinyl polychloride (PVC). The quality of fruits was monitored during eight storage days using mass loss, total soluble solids content (TSS) and titratable acidity (TTA).

Findings

Incorporation of clove essential oil significantly increased film thickness, reduced moisture content, solubility and WVP (p < 0.05) and did not affect the biodegradability and color of the films. The essential oil incorporated films showed antifungal activity against the fungi Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum musae, but not against the yeast Saccharomyces bourladii. CSEO and PVC coating were more efficient in reducing the mass loss, SS content and TTA of the coated fruits in all varieties studied. Both CSEO and PVC coatings improve the quality attributes such as TSS and TTA and reduced mass loss, of the banana varieties such as Prata-Anã, Grand Nine, BRS Tropical and BRS Conquista during storage.

Originality/value

The active film with essential oil showed antifungal activity and essential oil can be incorporated into other food systems. This study approaches a new possibility of film coating with essential oil for a banana that showed minimum weight loss and satisfactory quality and increased shelf life. This film coating demonstrates biodegradable characteristics that could be eco-friendly and sustainable to consumers.
Effects of increasing aridity and chronic anthropogenic disturbance on seed dispersal by ants in Brazilian Caatinga
Authors: Oliveira Fernanda M. P. , Andersen Alan N. , Arnan Xavier , Ribeiro‐Neto José D. , Arcoverde Gabriela B. , Leal Inara R.
Published: March 2019

Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change are the main drivers of biodiversity loss and ecological services around the globe. There is concern that climate change will exacerbate the impacts of disturbance and thereby promote biotic homogenization, but its consequences for ecological services are unknown.

We investigated the individual and interactive effects of increasing chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) and aridity on seed dispersal services provided by ants in Caatinga vegetation of north‐eastern Brazil.

The study was conducted in Catimbau National Park, Pernambuco, Brazil. Within an area of 214 km2, we established nineteen 50 × 20 m plots that encompassed gradients of both CAD and aridity. We offered diaspores of six plant species, three myrmecochorous diaspores and three fleshy fruits that are secondarily dispersed by ants. We then quantified the number of interactions, seed removal rate and dispersal distances, and noted the identities of interacting ant species. Finally, we used pitfall trap data to quantify the abundances of ant disperser species in each plot.

Our results show that overall composition of ant disperser species varied along the gradients of CAD and aridity, but the composition of high‐quality dispersers varied only with aridity. The total number of interactions, rates of removal and mean distance of removal all declined with increasing aridity, but they were not related to CAD. These same patterns were found when considering only high‐quality disperser species, driven by the responses of the dominant disperser Dinoponera quadriceps. We found little evidence of interactive effects of CAD and aridity on seed dispersal services by ants.

Our study indicates that CAD and aridity act independently on ant‐mediated seed dispersal services in Caatinga, such that the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance are unlikely to change under the forecast climate of increased aridity. However, our findings highlight the vulnerability of seed dispersal services provided by ants in Caatinga under an increasingly arid climate due to low functional redundancy in high‐quality disperser species. Given the large number of plant species dependent on ants for seed dispersal, this has important implications for future plant recruitment and, consequently, for the composition of Caatinga plant communities.
The regulatory network of Vibrio parahaemolyticus type VI secretion system 1
Authors: Ben‐Yaakov Rotem , Salomon Dor
Published: March 2019

Type VI secretion systems (T6SSs) are widespread, tightly regulated, protein delivery apparatuses used by Gram‐negative bacteria to outcompete their neighbours. The pathogen, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, encodes two T6SSs. These T6SSs are differentially regulated by external conditions. T6SS1, an antibacterial system predominantly found in pathogenic isolates, requires warm marine‐like conditions and surface sensing for activation. The regulatory network that governs this activation is not well understood. In this work, we devised a screening methodology that allows us to easily monitor the outcome of bacterial competitions and thus to identify mutants that are defective in T6SS1‐mediated bacterial killing. The methodology, termed Bacterial Competition Fluorescence (BaCoF), relies on detection of a fluorescent signal as an indicator of the survival and growth of a T6SS‐sensitive, GFP‐expressing prey that has been co‐cultured with mutants derived from a T6SS+ attacker of interest. Using BaCoF, we screened a random transposon insertion mutant library and identified genes required for V. parahaemolyticus T6SS1 activation, among them TfoY and Tmk. We used epistasis experiments to determine the relationships between the newly identified components and other regulators that were previously described. Thus, we present here a detailed biological understanding of the T6SS1 regulatory network.
Antitoxin HigA inhibits virulence gene mvfR expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Guo Yunxue , Sun Chenglong , Li Yangmei , Tang Kaihao , Ni Songwei , Wang Xiaoxue
Published: March 2019

Toxin/antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous in bacteria and archaea and participate in biofilm formation and stress responses. The higBA locus of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a type II TA system. Previous work found that the higBA operon is cotranscribed and that HigB toxin regulates biofilm formation and virulence expression. In this study, we demonstrate that HigA antitoxin is produced at a higher level than HigB and that higA mRNA is expressed separately from a promoter inside higB during the late stationary phase. Critically, HigA represses the expression of mvfR, which is an important virulence‐related regulator, by binding to a conserved HigA palindrome (5′‐TTAAC GTTAA‐3′) in the mvfR promoter, and the binding of HigB to HigA derepresses this process. During the late stationary phase, excess HigA represses the expression of mvfR and higBA. However, in the presence of aminoglycoside antibiotics where Lon protease is activated, the degradation of HigA by Lon increases P. aeruginosa virulence by simultaneously derepressing mvfR and higB transcription. Therefore, this study reveals that the antitoxin of the P. aeruginosa TA system is integrated into the key virulence regulatory network of the host and functions as a transcriptional repressor to control the production of virulence factors.
Dairy Intensification and Quota Abolition: A Comparative Study of Production in Ireland and the Netherlands
Authors: Läpple Doris , Sirr Gordon
Published: March 2019

The milk quota abolition in 2015 set in motion major adjustments in the EU dairy sector and considerable differences in expansion and contraction of milk production are observed across Member States. Despite significant differences in production methods, Ireland and the Netherlands are among the EU countries that achieved the largest dairy production growth rates. This article compares and contrasts Irish and Dutch dairy farms that intensified and expanded production. To this end, Farm Accountancy Data Network data of specialised dairy farms are used and Principal Component Analysis was performed with a view to assessing common themes and differences in intensification efforts. In both countries, farms that intensified their production have higher gross investments and larger dairy herds, when compared to the average dairy farm in their country. The Principal Component Analysis revealed farm size variables, dairy specialisation and direct payments, as well as investments and financial leverage as common themes of intensification, with differing importance in the two countries. Implications of intensification for policies to ensure longer‐term sustainability are discussed.
Delanzomib, a novel proteasome inhibitor, sensitizes breast cancer cells to doxorubicin‐induced apoptosis
Authors: Wang Mopei , Liang Li , Lu Jiaxiong , Yu Yang , Zhao Yanling , Shi Zhenfeng , Li Hui , Xu Xin , Yan Yuxian , Niu Yan , Liu Zhentao , Shen Lin , Zhang Hong
Published: March 2019

Background

Delanzomib, a novel proteasome inhibitor, has demonstrated promising efficacy and antitumor ability in human multiple myeloma cell lines and patient‐derived cells. However, the potential therapeutic effects of delanzomib on breast cancer remain unknown. In this study, we show that delanzomib has antitumor effects and synergizes with doxorubicin (Dox) in human breast cancer cell lines.

Methods

Cell proliferation assay and flow cytometry were used to evaluate cell viability and apoptosis in eight human breast cancer cell lines after treatment with delanzomib or Dox. Essential molecules of the p53, MAPK, and apoptosis signaling pathways were analyzed by Western blotting.

Results

Delanzomib induced cell death and demonstrated synergism with Dox in all tested breast cancer cell lines. In addition, delanzomib enhanced the Dox‐induced phosphorylation of p38/JNK and the expression of transcriptional target proteins of p53, such as p21, p27, NOXA, and PUMA.

Conclusion

The combined regimen of the proteasome inhibitor delanzomib with Dox chemotherapy may become an effective strategy for breast cancer therapy.
Treatment and re/habilitation of children with cerebral palsy in India: a scoping review
Authors: Jindal Pranay , Macdermid Joy C , Rosenbaum Peter , Direzze Briano , Narayan Amitesh , Nayak Sharada L
Published: March 2019

Aim

To describe the nature and extent of the literature addressing the medical and its re/habilitative management of cerebral palsy (CP) in India.

Method

Online worldwide scholarly databases, research hosting directories, Indian publishing houses, and grey literature were used to identify papers published between 2005 and 2016. We retrieved 144 English language papers that described the medical and rehabilitative management of Indian children with CP.

Results

Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research designs are published by a variety of health care professionals in India. Intervention (45%) and observational studies (30%) predominate. Outcomes were categorized using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework, with body structure and function most reported and activity/participation least reported; 57% described its re/habilitation interventions and 43% were medical interventions.

Interpretation

There is a substantial body of CP research in India that focuses on interventions to reduce impairments, with minimal attention given to activities and participation, environmental, and personal factors. Twenty‐six per cent of studies are published in what appear to be ‘predatory journals’. This paper serves as an alert about the presence of ‘predatory journals’ in medicine that may introduce publication bias, which can distort results reported in those studies individually, or from conclusions drawn in reviews that contain those studies.

What this paper adds

Cerebral palsy research in India focuses on interventions to reduce impairment.

Activities, participation, and environmental factors are minimally addressed.

Quantitative studies are more common than qualitative studies.

Many Indian studies are published in journals that are not indexed in worldwide databases of scholarly journals.
Modulatory effects of cannabinoids on brain neurotransmission
Authors: Cohen Koby , Weizman Abraham , Weinstein Aviv
Published: March 2019

Recreational and chronic cannabis use has been associated with a range of acute and chronic effects including; anti‐nociceptive actions, anxiety, depression, psychotic symptoms and neurocognitive impairments. The mechanisms underlying cannabinoid‐based drugs effects are not fully known but given the neuro‐modulatory functions of the endocannabinoid system, it seems likely that agonistic activity at the cannabinoid type‐1 receptors (CB1) might modulate the functions of other neurotransmitter systems. The present review has summarized the currently available pre‐clinical and clinical data on the interactions of CB1 and cannabinoid type‐2 receptors (CB2) with the central neurotransmitters; dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, GABA, glutamate and opioids. Acute and chronic exposures to cannabinoids exert pharmacological alterations in the mammalian brain that have profound implications for our understanding of the neuropharmacology of cannabinoid‐based drugs and their effects on mental health and the brain. A recent emergence uses of cannabis for medical purpose together with legalization and decriminalization of cannabis and increasing use of highly potent synthetic cannabinoids raise a growing concern over the effects of cannabinoids and their interaction with other neurotransmitters on physical and mental health.