bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Relational Constitution of Agreement (2)
Authors: Campbell David
Published: October 2022

The law of the interpretation of contracts has been markedly improved by the discarding of ‘the old intellectual baggage of “legal” interpretation’ in the 1997 Investors case, for this seemed to show that contextualism was not opposed to, but was required for, ascertaining the intentions of the parties. That the perennial opposition between formalism and contextualism had hardly disappeared was surely signalled by the decision in Investors itself, which sacrificed the parties’ intentions to the pursuit of a social purpose. The fundamental issues, currently explored by the minimalist new contextualism, must be recognised to be, not ones of technical hermeneutics, but of moral respect for the outcomes of the parties’ agreements. But those agreements must be seen to give effect to intentions framed on the basis of mutual recognition, without which agreement is not possible. Good faith is essential, not as the imposition of exogenously determined outcomes, but as a condition of the parties’ intentions ever being able to be expressed in a contract. A complementary economic argument may be made about the necessity of trust for choice and exchange to take place.
The Relational Constitution of Bargain (3)
Authors: Campbell David
Published: October 2022

The contractual devices which have historically been regarded as most acutely posing the problem of inequality of bargaining power are hire purchase and exemption clauses. The response to these gave rise to radical welfarist interventions in the common law which have been overtaken by the growth of a now very extensive consumer legislation. These interventions are believed to be justified because freedom of contract under the classical law extends a licence to solipsistic self-interest. But a common law of contract which institutionalised the mutual advantage which is the only justification of exchange could regulate inequality of bargaining power in a much superior way than could consumer legislation. To do this, the common law would have to incorporate conscious mutual recognition by the contracting parties into the requirements for making enforceable agreements.
The Relational Constitution of Remedy (1)
Authors: Campbell David
Published: October 2022

As the recent argument for recognition of ‘the performance interest’ shows, a focus on the solipsistic self-interest of the claimant leads to a belief that the function of the remedies for breach of contract should, allowing tolerated exceptions, be to enforce the performance of primary obligations. The positive law of remedies for breach of contract poses the problem for the performance interest as it appears absolutely replete with exceptions but this is because its function is radically different. Based on a default remedy of damages quantified so as to compensate for lost expectation, these remedies create ‘the Holmesian choice’ and ‘the efficient breach’. Far from this being a shortcoming, the law of remedies in this way facilitates the optimal response by contracting parties to the breaches which are inevitable when parties contract, as they must, with bounded rationality, so that the risk of error always attends an agreement to undertake primary obligations. The many great difficulties which attend our understanding of even such central doctrines as remoteness and mitigation, indeed that compensatory damages are the default remedy for breach, may be largely solved if we see the law of remedies as shaped by mutual recognition of the interests of both claimants and defendants.
The Spectrum of Contracts
Authors: Campbell David
Published: October 2022

The late Ian Macneil saw the main value of his work to be its demonstration that all contracts are relational. The distinction between discrete and relational contracts that drew such attention to Macneil’s work nevertheless has great value, but it must be interpreted in light of the sense in which all contracts are relational. Discrete contracts are based on the ‘presentiation’ of risk at the time of agreement. This requires the maintenance of strict liability for the allocation of presentiated risk, and so the general excuse of ‘impossibility’ recognised in the doctrines of common mistake and frustration has no role in the law of contract. Relational contracts deal with Knightian uncertainties by agreed contract planning which provides for the adjustment of obligations. This runs into the legal obstacle of the doctrine of the insufficiency of existing obligations. The necessary but ad hoc use of economic duress, promissory estoppel, and practical benefit to accommodate the existing obligations doctrine to relational contracting have left the doctrine completely incoherent. Coherence in this extremely important area requires distinguishing presentiated obligations, which must be strict, from relational obligations, which can be adjusted.
The Rationality of Love
Authors: Naar Hichem
Published: October 2022

The Rationality of Love addresses the question whether love belongs, paradoxically enough, to the realm of reason, whether love belongs to the class of responses, such as belief and action, that admit of norms of justification and rationality. Are there normative reasons to love someone? Can love be an appropriate or fitting response to an individual? Or is love, like perceptual experiences, sensations, and urges, the sort of thing we just have and for which we cannot be normatively criticizable? Ordinary thinking about love seems to pull us in different directions. On the one hand, love—involving as it does lots of non-rational elements—seems to be a good example of a response we shouldn’t assess in terms of rationality. On the other hand, we find it appropriate or fitting to love certain things and not others, and we are not reluctant to ask ourselves why we love certain people. This book defends the view that love is subject to normative standards by carefully assessing the various answers to the normative question about love and by providing its own solution. An extensive critical discussion of the so-called ‘no-reasons’ view of love is given, which helps uncover important issues to be tackled by any advocate of the rationality of love. In addition, the discussion is informed by the philosophy of normativity, an area often neglected in the debate. All in all, this book provides a systematic and up-to-date discussion of a central issue in the philosophy of love.
The Normativity of Love
Authors: Naar Hichem
Published: October 2022

Is love the sort of thing to be justified or rational? Are there reasons to love particular individuals? This chapter introduces the normative question about love. After delineating the phenomenon the book is concerned with, the chapter introduces the distinction between rational and arational responses. It then asks to which category love belongs. Drawing a connection between responses’ normative profile and their nature, the chapter then proposes two broad strategies of response to the normative question. It ends by clarifying the nature of the project and by outlining the book.
Skepticism about Reasons for Love
Authors: Naar Hichem
Published: October 2022

The idea that love is an arational response is common. Indeed, it is a natural view to hold in light of some of love’s aspects. Looking closely at these aspects can make a skeptical view about reasons for love look inescapable. This chapter argues that this temptation should be resisted until we have a proper assessment of the view that love is subject to reasons. To this end, it discusses and assesses common arguments for the No-Reasons View of love, showing them to be inconclusive. These arguments do however motivate a crucial desideratum on any view that countenances reasons for love, namely to provide an account of reasons for love that reveal them to be of the right kind to make love fitting or appropriate.
The Decision-Theoretic Case for Intermediate Criminal Verdicts
Authors: Picinali Federico
Published: October 2022

This chapter studies the circumstances under which issuing an intermediate verdict maximises expected value and is, therefore, justified under decision theory. It starts by presenting the well-known decision-theoretic argument for the selection of the standard of proof in a binary verdict system. On the basis of this argument, the chapter identifies the condition for the superiority of an intermediate verdict with respect to acquittal and conviction – or the ‘superiority condition’. To clarify, the chapter shows that, if an intermediate verdict satisfies this condition, there is a probability range such that issuing the verdict when the probability of guilt falls within this range yields higher expected value than acquitting and convicting and is, therefore, justified on decision-theoretic grounds. The chapter draws from the superiority condition – which is a simple mathematical formula – a heuristic for the identification of a concrete superior intermediate verdict. On the basis of this heuristic, the chapter devises an intermediate verdict, called conditional acquittal, that consists in allowing for the retrial of the defendant in the presence of new incriminating evidence with substantial probative value.
Conclusion
Authors: Picinali Federico
Published: October 2022

This chapter summarises the main conclusions reached in the book and raises a series of questions for further research. In particular, it invites theorists of punishment and evidence law scholars to engage with the question of the justification of intermediate criminal verdicts and, more specifically, of the hypothetical intermediate verdict defended in Chapter 4, conditional acquittal. The chapter argues that, while ‘justice in-between’ is surely not a new idea, there is still value in engaging with it.
Domestic Politics and Investor–State Arbitration
Authors: Phillips Williams Zoe
Published: October 2022

This chapter examines the argument that domestic political contestation contributes to state actors choosing to pursue policy objectives at the expense of investors’ interests. Following in the tradition of international political economy work on trade, this chapter looks at the contribution of domestic interest groups and political institutions to investor–state arbitration cases. Building on the empirical findings presented in Chapter 2 that cases of investor–state arbitration are clustered in highly politicized industries, such as extractives and utilities, this chapter puts forth an argument about which interest groups will advocate for policies that may violate international investment agreements and under what conditions they will do so. This chapter finds significant evidence that links domestic politics with the likelihood of an investment arbitration.
Property Rights and Administrative Limits
Authors: Conticelli Martina
Published: October 2022

Starting from a few words on the general setting that provides the reference framework for this book, id est the common core employed for legal comparison in the field of administrative law, this chapter points out the importance of a research on procedural limits to property rights for comparative studies, the bases of the hypothesis for the comparative effort undertaken in the volume, as well as the limits and boundaries of the investigation. The first part of this chapter explains why the field of property is an interesting terrain for our comparative study. Secondly, the contextual framework, the conceptual map for our cartography, and the boundaries of our research are discussed. The third part focuses on the importance of procedural fairness in proceedings for the restriction of property rights for reasons of public interest. The remaining paragraphs address some methodological issues, including the nature of our 'factual analysis', as well as the choice of the specific legal systems to include in our comparison. Finally, the structure of the book is presented and discussed.
South Africa
Authors: Meili Stephen
Published: October 2022

South Africa combines many of the elements that both contribute to, and detract from, the effective use of constitutionalized human rights laws by refugee lawyers in domestic courts. On the one hand, it features one of the more progressive constitutions in the world, containing several human rights provisions. While that Constitution does not explicitly protect the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers per se, it contains a broad range of rights that apply to “everyone.” It has an active and well-established civil society, including NGOs, law school clinics, and private lawyers who have utilized the Constitution in strategic litigation on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers over the past two decades. South Africa’s judiciary, in particular its highest courts, has struck down various government policies that adversely impact refugees and asylum-seekers because they violate the Constitution. On the other hand, the South African government, particularly the Department of Home Affairs, has consistently failed to abide by court orders resulting from strategic litigation on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers. Government bureaucrats have likely been emboldened in their recalcitrance by xenophobia among the majority of South Africans. Refugee lawyers have developed a well-designed strategy for navigating within this socio-legal framework: starting with “low-hanging fruit,” using sympathetic claimants where possible, and focusing on cases which benefit all South Africans and those which utilize a variety of human rights protections.
Uganda
Authors: Meili Stephen
Published: October 2022

Uganda is something of an outlier in the set of countries examined in this book. It is the only one which offers prima facie refugee recognition to citizens of a particular country (South Sudan). This means that any South Sudanese national who proves their citizenship is automatically entitled to refugee protection within Uganda. On the other hand, Uganda features very little precedent-setting jurisprudence affecting refugees. Its small group of refugee lawyers focuses on direct assistance to individual asylum-seekers rather strategic litigation affecting asylum-seekers more generally. Because of the latter of these differences, there is little to say about how refugee lawyers in Uganda utilize constitutionalized human rights law in any formal setting. There is, however, much to be said about how refugee lawyers faced with obstacles to such formal advocacy can still be effective in enforcing the constitutionalized human rights of refugees, be it through education and training of government officials who work with refugees and various types of informal advocacy. In fact, in some ways, this makes Uganda the most innovative—and perhaps hopeful—of the countries featured in this book.
A Right to Opportunities for Meaningful Relationships
Authors: Couto Alexandra
Published: October 2022

This chapter aims to address questions about the grounds, content, and implications of our social rights. The chapter suggests that there are two ways of interpreting what exactly our social rights ultimately aim to protect: opportunities for basic social interactions (ordinary kinds of interaction, such as the interaction we have with someone at a till) or opportunities for meaningful relationships (such as the relationship we have with family members and friends). The chapter argues that (a) we have a right to have opportunities to meaningful relationships, (b) such a right is distinct from a right focusing only on protecting access to more basic social interactions, and (c) to the extent that we have rights to both kinds of social interactions, the one focused on more meaningful relationships should have priority because it secures an interest of greater importance.
Fair Equality of Opportunity, Social Relationships, and Epistemic Advantage
Authors: Cordelli Chiara
Published: October 2022

Social relationships affect economic opportunities not simply by influencing the development of individuals’ talents and aspirations but also by generating certain relational epistemic goods, which provide employers with reasons for hiring those whom they share a social relationship with. This chapter argues that fair equality of economic opportunity requires fair epistemic opportunity—a fair distribution of opportunities for epistemic advantage, defined in terms of ‘holdings’ of relational epistemic goods. Fair epistemic opportunity can be realized by either (1) regulating upstream opportunities to acquire relational epistemic goods, through policies of social integration and associative inclusion, or (2) cancelling the downstream effects of relational epistemic goods on individual prospects by imposing a norm of anonymity on hiring practices. The chapter argues that there are reasons of justice, efficiency and practicality to prefer the latter strategy. The argument has implications for how the practical requirements of the human right to work should be understood.
Rights to Belong and Rights to be Left Alone?
Authors: Brake Elizabeth
Published: October 2022

A just state should protect and support access to caring relationships. But this suggests a conflict with freedom of association—can rights to access relationships require anyone to enter unwanted relationships? This chapter argues that we have strong interests in avoiding unwanted relationships and that state support for caring relationships risks exacerbating the gendered maldistribution of emotional labour and the burdens of interaction. Providing access through institutions does not resolve the problem. These considerations ground a ‘right to be left alone’; state support for social resources must be combined with stronger protections against harassment, in order not to exacerbate existing injustice.
The Role of Solitude in the Politics of Sociability
Authors: Gheaus Anca
Published: October 2022

This chapter explores a so-far neglected way of avoiding the bads of loneliness: by learning to value solitude, where that is understood as a state of ‘keeping oneself company’, as J. David Velleman puts it. Unlike loneliness, solitude need not involve any deprivation, whether subjective or objective. This chapter considers the various goods to which solitude is constitutive or instrumental, with a focus on the promise that proper valuing of solitude holds for combating loneliness. The overall argument is this: If loneliness significantly detracts from individual wellbeing, and if the ability to value solitude protects against loneliness, then such an ability is obviously valuable to human flourishing. If, further, loneliness raises concerns of justice, then supporting people’s ability to value solitude is a way to implement a desideratum of justice. Individuals can cultivate their ability to value solitude, an ability that others can promote or hinder.
The Familial and the Familiar
Authors: Banerjee Swapna M.
Published: October 2022

Historicizing fatherhood and children from ancient India to the present, this chapter examines a variety of vernacular sources and engages with the current historiographical debates to recover an important topic missing in Indian history. It recuperates the subject-position of educated Indian males, principally the male members of the reformist Bengali Hindu and Brahmo communities of colonial Bengal, as “fathers,” both biological and imaginary, who assumed a moral guardianship of an incipient nation and rested their hopes and dreams on the future generation. The male intellectuals, often subjects of derogatory criticism by the colonial government, were the first to envision new models of womanhood, family, children, nation, and new ideas of fatherhood as well. Ascribing fatherhood to this native group of interlocutors, this chapter demonstrates that both “children” and “fathers,” as plural and unstable categories, are critical for an understanding of childhood, masculinity, and the evolving national identity of India.
Nurse-Detected Congestion Predicts Postdischarge Outcomes in Patients with Heart Failure
Authors: Rosenberg Karen
Published: October 2022

According to this study:

Lung and inferior vena cava assessment by nurses can lead to the detection of congestion and help in postdischarge management of patients with heart failure.
Supplemental Vitamin D Doesn't Reduce Risk of Fracture in Healthy Older Adults
Authors: Rosenberg Karen
Published: October 2022

According to this study:

In a study of healthy midlife and older adults who weren't recruited based on vitamin D deficiency, low bone mass, or osteoporosis, supplemental vitamin D didn't lower the risk of total, nonvertebral, or hip fractures compared with placebo.

Only one dose of vitamin D was evaluated, and the study results may not be generalizable to adults who have osteoporosis.
Genetic Polymorphisms of Estrogen Receptors α and β are Associated with Craniofacial Measurements in Patients With Dentofacial Deformity
Authors: Lago Camila , Okida Débora Kimie Padilha , Cordeiro João Francisco Barbosa , Gerber Jennifer Tsi , Kuchler Erika Calvano , Rebellato Nelson Luis Barbosa , Moro Alexandre , Scariot Rafaela , Sebastiani Aline Monise
Published: October 2022

Dentofacial deformities are characterized by abnormalities in craniofacial development that affects the individual’s skeletal and occlusion, often causing functional and esthetic problems. In literature, there is an involvement of polymorphisms in estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) and estrogen receptor 2 (ESR2) genes in craniofacial measurements. The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible association between polymorphisms in ESR1 (rs2234693 and rs9340799) and ESR2 (rs1256049 and rs4986938) genes with cephalometric measurements in individuals with dentofacial deformities. This cross-sectional study was performed with 158 individuals in the preoperative period of orthognathic surgery. The cephalometric measurements obtained through lateral cephalogram using Dolphin Imaging software. For genetic analysis, the DNA extracted from epithelial cells of the oral mucosa and were genotyped using the real-time polymerase chain reaction. The data found submitted to statistical analysis, through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, using the IBM SPSS software version 24.0. Considered a significance level of 0.05. We found association between polymorphisms and cephalometric measurements just in the female sex. The polymorphisms ESR1/rs9340799 (P=0.003), ESR1/rs2234693 (P=0.026), and ESR2/rs1256049 (P=0.046) were associated with the upper gonial angle (Ar-Go-N). The polymorphism ESR2/rs1256049 was also associated with the facial axis-rickets (NBa-PtGn) (P=0.004), anterior cranial base (SN) (P=0.036), and Y-axis (SGn-SN) (P=0.031).
Cellulomonas dongxiuzhuiae sp. nov., Cellulomonas wangleii sp. nov. and Cellulomonas fengjieae sp. nov., isolated from the intestinal contents of Marmota himalayana
Authors: Zhang Gui , Yang Jing , Lai Xin-He , Jin Dong , Lu Shan , Liu Liyun , Cheng Yanpeng , Pu Ji , Yang Caixin , Liu Yue , Ye Lin , Xu Jianguo
Published: October 2022

Six Gram-stain-positive, aerobic or facultative anaerobic, catalase-positive, urease- and oxidase-negative, rod-shaped bacteria (zg-ZUI157T/zg-ZUI40, zg-ZUI222T/zg-ZUI199 and zg-ZUI188T/ zg-ZUI168) were characterized by a polyphasic approach. Optimal growth of the six strains was observed at pH 7.0 and 28 °C. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene and 247 core genes revealed that they belong to genus

Cellulomonas

. The three type strains have low digital DNA-DNA hybridization (19.3–30.1%) and average nucleotide identity values (78.0-85.5%) with all available genomes in the genus

Cellulomonas

, and a DNA G+C content range of 73.0-74.6 mol%. The major fatty acids detected in strain pairs zg-ZUI157T/zg-ZUI40 and zg-ZUI 222T/zg-ZUI199 were C16:0, anteiso-C15:0 and anteiso A-C15:1, and C16:0, anteiso-C15:0, anteiso A-C15:1 and anteiso-C17:0 in strain pair zg-ZUI188T/zg-ZUI168. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol mannosides were the major polar lipids detected in the three novel species. MK-9(H4) was the predominant quinone detected in strains zg-ZUI222T (87.4 %) and zg-ZUI188T (91.4 %), and MK-9(H4) (49.1 %) and MK-8 (43.4 %) in strain zg-ZUI157T. The cell-wall sugars detected in the three novel species mainly contained rhamnose. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type of the three novel species was A4β, with an inferred l-Orn–d-Asp interpeptide bridge for strains zg-ZUI157T and zg-ZUI222T, and l-Orn–d-Glu for strain zg-ZUI188T. Based on the results of the phenotypic, phylogenetic, genomic hybridization, average nucleotide identity and chemotaxonomic analyses, the six strains should be classified as belonging to three novel

Cellulomonas

species, for which the names Cellulomonas dongxiuzhuiae sp. nov. (zg-ZUI157T=GDMCC 1.2559T=KCTC 49678T), Cellulomonas wangleii sp. nov. (zg-ZUI222T=GDMCC 1.2501T=KCTC 49675T) and Cellulomonas fengjieae sp. nov. (zg-ZUI188T=GDMCC 1.2563T=KCTC 49674T) are proposed.
Patient-derived extracellular matrix demonstrates role of COL3A1 in blood vessel mechanics
Authors: Doherty Elizabeth L. , Aw Wen Yih , Warren Emily C. , Hockenberry Max , Krohn Grace , Howell Stefanie , Diekman Brian O. , Legant Wesley R. , Nia Hadi Tavakoli , Hickey Anthony J. , Polacheck William J.
Published: October 2022

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (vEDS) is a rare autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in theCOL3A1gene, which renders patients susceptible to aneurysm and arterial dissection and rupture. To determine the role ofCOL3A1variants in the biochemical and biophysical properties of human arterial ECM, we developed a method for synthesizing ECM directly from vEDS donor fibroblasts. We found that the protein content of the ECM generated from vEDS donor fibroblasts differed significantly from ECM from healthy donors, including upregulation of collagen subtypes and other proteins related to ECM structural integrity. We further found that ECM generated from a donor with a glycine substitution mutation was characterized by increased glycosaminoglycan content and unique viscoelastic mechanical properties, including increased time constant for stress relaxation, resulting in a decrease in migratory speed of human aortic endothelial cells when seeded on the ECM. Collectively, these results demonstrate that causalCOL3A1mutations lead to the synthesis of ECM that differs in composition, structure, and mechanical properties from healthy donors. These results further suggest that ECM mechanical properties could serve as a prognostic indicator for patients with vEDS, and the insights provided by the approach demonstrate the broader utility of cell-derived ECM in disease modeling.
Transient and delay chemical master equations
Authors: Gorin Gennady , Yoshida Shawn , Pachter Lior
Published: October 2022

The serial nature of reactions involved in the RNA life-cycle motivates the incorporation of delays in models of transcriptional dynamics. The models couple a bursty or switching promoter to a fairly general set of Markovian or deterministically delayed monomolecular RNA interconversion reactions with no feedback. We provide numerical solutions for the RNA copy number distributions the models induce, and solve several systems with splicing and degradation. An analysis of single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing data using these models reveals that the kinetics of nuclear export do not appear to require invocation of a non-Markovian waiting time.
SGC-CAMKK2-1: A chemical probe for CAMKK2
Authors: Wells Carrow , Liang Yi , Pulliam Thomas L. , Lin Chenchu , Awad Dominik , Eduful Benjamin , O’Byrne Sean , Hossain Mohammad Anwar , Catta-Preta Carolina Moura Costa , Ramos Priscila Zonzini , Gileadi Opher , Gileadi Carina , Couñago Rafael M. , Stork Brittany , Langendorf Christopher G , Nay Kevin , Oakhill Jonathan , Mukherjee Debarati , Racioppi Luigi , Means Anthony , York Brian , McDonnell Donald P. , Scott John W. , Frigo Daniel E. , Drewry David H.
Published: October 2022

The serine/threonine protein kinase calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CAMKK2) plays critical roles in a range of biological processes. Despite its importance, only a handful of inhibitors of CAMKK2 have been disclosed. Having a selective small molecule tool to interrogate this kinase will help demonstrate that CAMKK2 inhibition can be therapeutically beneficial. Herein, we disclose SGC-CAMKK2-1, a selective chemical probe that targets CAMKK2.
Natural and synthetic inhibitors of a phage-encoded quorum-sensing receptor affect phage-host dynamics in mixed bacterial communities
Authors: Silpe Justin E. , Duddy Olivia P. , Bassler Bonnie L.
Published: October 2022

Viruses that infect bacteria, called phages, shape the composition of bacterial communities and are important drivers of bacterial evolution. We recently showed that temperate phages, when residing in bacteria (i.e., prophages), are capable of manipulating the bacterial cell-to-cell communication process called quorum sensing (QS). QS relies on the production, release, and population-wide detection of signaling molecules called autoinducers (AI). Gram-negative bacteria commonly employN-acyl homoserine lactones (HSL) as AIs that are detected by LuxR-type QS receptors. Phage ARM81ld is a prophage of the aquatic bacteriumAeromonassp. ARM81, and it encodes a homolog of a bacterial LuxR, called LuxRARM81ld. LuxRARM81lddetects hostAeromonas-produced C4-HSL, and in response, activates the phage lytic program, triggering death of its host and release of viral particles. Here, we show that phage LuxRARM81ldactivity is modulated by non-cognate HSL ligands and by a synthetic small molecule inhibitor. We determine that HSLs with acyl chain lengths equal to or longer than C8 antagonize LuxRARM81ld. For example, the C8-HSL AI produced byVibrio fischerithat co-exists withAeromonadsin marine environments, binds to and inhibits LuxRARM81ld, and consequently, protects the host from lysis. Co-culture ofV. fischeriwith theAeromonassp. ARM81 lysogen suppresses phage ARM81ld virion production. We propose that the cell density and species composition of the bacterial community could determine outcomes in bacterial-phage partnerships.

SIGNIFICANCE

Bacteria use the cell-to-cell communication process called quorum sensing to orchestrate group behaviors. Quorum sensing relies on extracellular molecules called autoinducers. Bacteria-infecting viruses (phages) can possess homologs of bacterial quorum-sensing receptors that detect autoinducers to control lysis-lysogeny transitions. We show that a phage LuxR-type quorum-sensing receptor is activated by the autoinducer produced by its host bacterium and is inhibited by non-cognate autoinducers made by bacteria that naturally co-exist with the phage’s host and by a synthetic quorum-sensing inhibitor. Our findings demonstrate that microbial community composition, mediated through quorum-sensing-communication, influences phage lysis-lysogeny transitions. These results deepen the understanding of host-phage interactions in communities and could inspire new phage-specific, quorum-sensing interventions.
Two forms of asynchronous release with distinctive spatiotemporal dynamics in central synapses
Authors: Malagon Gerardo , Myeong Jongyun , Klyachko Vitaly A
Published: October 2022

Asynchronous release is a ubiquitous form of neurotransmitter release that persists for tens to hundreds of milliseconds after an action potential (AP). How asynchronous release is organized and regulated at the synaptic active zone (AZ) remains debatable. Using nanoscale-precision imaging of individual release events in rat hippocampal synapses, we observed two spatially distinct subpopulations of asynchronous events, ~75% of which occurred inside the AZ and with a bias towards the AZ center, while ~25% occurred outside of the functionally defined AZ, i.e., ectopically. The two subpopulations also differed markedly in temporal properties, with ectopic events occurring at significantly longer time intervals from synchronous events. Both forms of asynchronous release did not, to a large extent, utilize the same release sites as synchronous events. Both asynchronous event subpopulations also differ from synchronous events in some aspects of exo-endocytosis coupling. Specifically, for synchronous but not asynchronous events, coupling with the fast calcium-dependent endocytosis had a gradient decreasing from the AZ center towards its periphery. These results identify two distinct subpopulations of asynchronous release events with distinctive spatiotemporal organization and coupling to endocytic mechanisms.
Exploring critical success factors for collaborative contracting implementation in the Singapore construction industry
Authors: Zhang Na , Hwang Bon-Gang , Deng Xiaopeng , Tay Fiona
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The Singapore construction sector is promoting performance improvement by implementing collaborative contracting (CC). For CC's successful implementation, there is a need to sieve out the critical success factors (CSFs). Hence, this paper aims to explore factors influencing the adoption of CC and investigate the potential performance improvement by implementing CC.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the literature review, 23 CSFs were identified and packaged to a questionnaire to evaluate the CSF's priority as well as CC's potential impact on the project performance. After prior validation, 165 potential respondents were drawn from survey list by using simple random sampling. Finally, 31 valid responses were received.

Findings

The survey result showed that the top five CSFs are mutual trust, all parties to commit fully, openness between parties, commitment to a win–win attitude and resource availability. The majority of respondents hold that CC implementation would improve overall project performance, decision effectiveness, cost, time, quality and risk performance.

Research limitations/implications

Directors, project managers, contractor managers and site engineers have different perceptions of CSFs. Also rather than meeting the same requirements in the implementation of CC, there are differences among projects with different values.

Originality/value

This study provides an in-depth understanding of the CSFs for industry practitioners adopting CC and CC's potential impact on project performance. This study is also helpful for authorities to formulate effective policies to push the implementation of CC.
Slack resources and firm performance: evidence from GCC countries
Authors: Alrashdan Abdullatif , Alnahedh Mishari
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Management research has emphasized the effects of slack resources on the decision-makers’ strategic choices. Behavioral theorists have argued for a positive effect of slack through encouraging search and innovation while agency theorists have emphasized that slack can accentuate the principal–agent problem, which negatively affects firm performance. This paper aims to extend this argument and empirically investigate the separate effects of three types of slack resources (i.e. available, recoverable and potential) on firm performance in an important emerging market, namely, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Design/methodology/approach

The two-step system generalized method of moments (Sys-GMM) is applied to a panel of 360 firms in the six GCC countries, namely, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, over the period between 1999 and 2019.

Findings

The authors find that available and potential slack are both negatively associated with firm performance. The relationship between recoverable slack and performance is quadratic (inverse U-shaped) where recoverable slack improves performance only up to a specific point, but after that level, recoverable slack starts to negatively affect the performance of the firm.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature in three important ways. First, this paper advances a first attempt to differentiate between three separate types of slack on firm performance in the context of the GCC market. Second, this paper empirically investigates the presence of the principal–agent problem in the GCC market and relates it to the ongoing debate on the agency effects of slack resources. Finally, this paper underlines the effects of institutional frameworks and environments on the relationship between slack resources and firm performance.
Informative initiatives as a useful tool to raise awareness of food waste. An application to higher education
Authors: Fraj-Andrés Elena , Herrando Carolina , Lucia-Palacios Laura , Pérez-López Raúl
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Because food waste is a serious problem today, society is currently aiming for more responsible consumption to minimize it, as defined in the 12th goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This study aims to examine whether an informative initiative can help to raise university students’ awareness of food waste consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The initiative consisted of explaining the problem of food waste to students of two marketing subject modules within economics and business administration degrees and asking them to participate in an activity in which they analyzed their own behavior. To assess its impact, two questionnaires about the students’ food waste behaviors were administered, before and after the initiative, adopting an experimental design.

Findings

The results show that the information and awareness activities were successful, because, after the initiative, the students were more aware about the food waste problem and its consequences and were more critical of their behavior regarding the management of leftovers at home.

Research limitations/implications

Despite some circumstances under which the study was conducted (the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown), the practical and social implications are relevant.

Practical implications

This study offers some interesting practical implications for educational institutions that want to inform and train students in more responsible consumption behavior. It shows that an initiative in which students are involved, like collecting data about food waste, in their homes with a diary, and informative sessions can be useful to increase students’ awareness of food waste to behave in a more sustainable way.

Social implications

These findings may be of interest to academics for designing initiatives that try to train and educate young people in making more responsible personal and professional decisions.

Originality/value

This study analyzes the impact of an awareness-raising initiative about food waste in higher education, which is a relatively neglected topic in the literature.
“So how do we balance all of these needs?”: how the concept of AI technology impacts digital archival expertise
Authors: Cushing Amber L. , Osti Giulia
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study aims to explore the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in archival practice by presenting the thoughts and opinions of working archival practitioners. It contributes to the extant literature with a fresh perspective, expanding the discussion on AI adoption by investigating how it influences the perceptions of digital archival expertise.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study a two-phase data collection consisting of four online focus groups was held to gather the opinions of international archives and digital preservation professionals (n = 16), that participated on a volunteer basis. The qualitative analysis of the transcripts was performed using template analysis, a style of thematic analysis.

Findings

Four main themes were identified: fitting AI into day to day practice; the responsible use of (AI) technology; managing expectations (about AI adoption) and bias associated with the use of AI. The analysis suggests that AI adoption combined with hindsight about digitisation as a disruptive technology might provide archival practitioners with a framework for re-defining, advocating and outlining digital archival expertise.

Research limitations/implications

The volunteer basis of this study meant that the sample was not representative or generalisable.

Originality/value

Although the results of this research are not generalisable, they shed light on the challenges prospected by the implementation of AI in the archives and for the digital curation professionals dealing with this change. The evolution of the characterisation of digital archival expertise is a topic reserved for future research.
Understanding gender differences in mHealth apps continuance: a modified protection motivation theory
Authors: Luo Yumei , Mou Jian
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This paper aims that mobile health (mHealth) applications have emerged as a key tool to support public health. However, there are only a few studies examining the influences of health-related ascribes on continuance intention to use mHealth apps and how these influences are contingent on gender in the mHealth app using context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes the protection motivation theory as a theoretical framework to examine the ordered relationship between threat and coping appraisals and their impacts on continuance intention to use mHealth apps. In addition, this study further extends the literature on gender differences into the mHealth app's context to investigate the moderating role of gender. The suggested hypotheses are confirmed by a structural equation modeling approach and multigroup investigation employing survey data of 345 users of Spring Rain Doctor in China, a typical mHealth app.

Findings

The findings suggest that the impact of perceived disease threat on user's continuance intention is mediated entirely by coping appraisals. Furthermore, the three coping appraisals' impacts are contingent upon gender. Specifically, response efficacy is more crucial for male users in forecasting continuance intention, whereas self-efficacy and response cost have a more salient influence on continuance intention for female users.

Originality/value

This study examines the ordered influences of threat and coping appraisal, moderated by gender, on continuance intention on use mHealth apps. These findings could contribute to relevant theoretical and practical implications.
COVID-19 impacts on the AEC industry with a focus on Africa
Authors: Bouhmoud Hanane , Loudyi Dalila , Azhar Salman , Farah Mounia
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The unexpected spread of COVID-19 rapidly switched from a health crisis to an economic one. The Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry experienced drastic impacts, especially in Africa. Several studies investigated COVID-19 impacts on the AEC industry, but very few were conducted in Africa. This study aims to cover this gap, address detailed overview of negative and positive impacts of COVID-19 on the AEC field, especially in the different African regions, and highlight their causes and the measures taken to overcome them.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors combined a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-based Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and a survey involving 87 AEC companies operating in Africa. The SLR initially used four scientific databases; however, considering the limited Africa-related found data, institutional and governmental databases were also included.

Findings

Globally, implementing the mandated restrictive measures against COVID-19 caused significant losses for developers, designers and contractors but helped the information and communication technologies operators to thrive. In the five African regions, the AEC industry experienced 22 heavy impacts that can be split into four categories: financial, managerial/strategic, operational and opportunities. This paper thoughtfully explains the causes of COVID-19 impacts and presents the undertaken measures by the African private and public sectors to overcome them. Generally, the African AEC industry lost 51% of the total sales in 2020.

Originality/value

This paper contains all aspects related to health hazard influences on the AEC industry, especially in Africa. Researchers and decision-makers may use it to build new approaches or strategies related to risk management or design technological solutions.
Job exhaustion among assigned and self-initiated expatriates – the role of effort and reward
Authors: Mäkelä Liisa , Suutari Vesa , Rajala Anni , Brewster Chris
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study explores whether expatriation type (assigned expatriates (AEs) versus self-initiated expatriates (SIEs)) is linked to job exhaustion via possible differences in required efforts for their jobs and the rewards they gain from them, and/or the balance between efforts and rewards. Adopting effort–reward imbalance (ERI) and job demands/resources (JD-R) theories, the authors study the possible role of ERI as a mediator between expatriation type and job exhaustion.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was carried out in co-operation with two Finnish trade unions, providing representative data from 484 assigned and SIEs. The authors test this study’s hypotheses through latent structural equation modelling, and the analysis was conducted with Stata 17.0 software.

Findings

The results show that ERI between them are correlated with the job exhaustion of expatriates in general and there are no direct links between expatriation type and job exhaustion. The required effort from AEs was higher than that from SIEs though no difference was found for rewards, and the match between effort demands and rewards is less favourable for AEs than SIEs. AEs experienced higher job exhaustion than SIEs because of the higher effort demands and greater imbalance between efforts and rewards.

Originality/value

The study examines the work well-being of two types of expatriates and explores the underlying mechanisms that may explain why they may differ from each other.
Open with intention: situating equity pedagogy within open education to advance social justice
Authors: Katz Stacy , Van Allen Jennifer
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This paper is intended to contextualize the major themes of the special issue, “The Intersections of Open Education and Equity Pedagogy” in the Journal for Multicultural Education, by providing a brief history of open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) and highlighting the growing focus on social justice within the field. The purpose of this paper is to generate discussions around the potential of OER and OEP to increase equity within education.

Design/methodology/approach

This featured paper summarizes and reviews a brief history of OER and OEP, discusses the integration of equity pedagogy within open education, elaborates on the rationale and process for developing the special issue and concludes by identifying challenges and ongoing conversations for the field as a response to the need for social justice action.

Findings

Despite increasing acceptance of OER, educators are not aware of how to implement OER and OEP with equity in mind. As OER and OEP continue to expand, teachers across all educational sectors need examples of how to teach effectively with these resources and practices. There is also a rising focus on culturally relevant and sustaining teaching practices, which OEP can complement.

Practical implications

The authors provide this featured piece to contextualize the special issue for those new to open education. The authors hope to further the discussion of social justice and equity pedagogy within open education.

Originality/value

This paper provides background for the special issue, to orient readers to the field of open education.