bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reduced Hippocampal and Amygdala Volumes as Mechanisms of Stress Sensitization to Depression following Childhood Violence Exposure
Authors: Weissman David G. , Lambert Hilary K. , Rodman Alexandra M. , Peverill Matthew , Sheridan Margaret A. , McLaughlin Katie A.
Published: October 2019

OBJECTIVE

Stressful life events are more likely to trigger depression among individuals exposed to childhood adversity. However, the mechanisms underlying this stress sensitization remain largely unknown. Any such mechanism must be altered by childhood adversity and interact with recent stressful life events, magnifying their association with depression. This study investigated whether reduced hippocampal and amygdala volumes are mechanisms of stress sensitization following childhood violence exposure.

METHODS

A sample of 149 youth (aged 8-17 years), with (N=76) and without (N=73) exposure to physical abuse, sexual abuse, or domestic violence participated. Participants completed a structural MRI scan and were assessed for symptoms of depression. Approximately two years later, stressful life events were assessed along with depression symptoms in 120 participants (57 violence-exposed).

RESULTS

Childhood violence exposure was associated with smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes. Stressful life events occurring during the follow-up period predicted worsening depression over time, and this association was magnified among those with smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes. Significant moderated mediation models revealed indirect effects of violence exposure on increasing depression over time through hippocampal and amygdala volumes, particularly among youths who experienced more stressful life events.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide novel evidence for reduced hippocampal and amygdala volumes as mechanisms of stress sensitization to depression following exposure to violence. These findings suggest that hippocampal and amygdala-mediated emotional and cognitive processes may contribute to vulnerability to stressful life events following childhood violence exposure.
ASEP: gene-based detection of allele-specific expression in a population by RNA-seq
Authors: Fan Jiaxin , Hu Jian , Xue Chenyi , Zhang Hanrui , Reilly Muredach P. , Xiao Rui , Li Mingyao
Published: October 2019

Allele-specific expression (ASE) analysis, which quantifies the relative expression of two alleles in a diploid individual, is a powerful tool for identifying cis-regulated gene expression variations that underlie phenotypic differences among individuals. Existing methods for gene-level ASE detection analyze one individual at a time, therefore wasting shared information across individuals. Failure to accommodate such shared information not only loses power, but also makes it difficult to interpret results across individuals. However, ASE detection across individuals is challenging because the data often include individuals that are either heterozygous or homozygous for the unobserved cis-regulatory SNP, leading to heterogeneity in ASE as only those heterozygous individuals are informative for ASE, whereas those homozygous individuals have balanced expression. To simultaneously model multi-individual information and account for such heterogeneity, we developed ASEP, a mixture model with subject-specific random effect accounting for multi-SNP correlations within the same gene. ASEP is able to detect gene-level ASE under one condition and differential ASE between two conditions (e.g., pre-versus post-treatment). Extensive simulations have demonstrated the convincing performance of ASEP under a wide range of scenarios. We further applied ASEP to RNA-seq data of human macrophages, and identified genes showing evidence of differential ASE pre-versus post-stimulation, which were extended through findings in cardiometabolic trait-relevant genome-wide association studies. To the best of our knowledge, ASEP is the first method for gene-level ASE detection at the population level. With the growing adoption of RNA-seq, we believe ASEP will be well-suited for various ASE studies for human diseases.
Two-stage electro-mechanical coupling of a KV channel in voltage-dependent activation
Authors: Hou Panpan , Wei Kang Po , Kongmeneck Audrey Deyawe , Yang Nien-Du , Liu Yongfeng , Shi Jingyi , Xu Xianjin , White Kelli McFarland , Zaydman Mark A. , Kasimova Marina A. , Seebohm Guiscard , Zhong Ling , Zou Xiaoqin , Tarek Mounir , Cui Jianmin
Published: October 2019

In voltage-gated potassium (KV) channels, the voltage-sensing domain (VSD) undergoes sequential activation from the resting state to the intermediate state and activated state to trigger pore opening via electro-mechanical (E-M) coupling. However, the spatial and temporal details underlying E-M coupling remain elusive. Here, we leverage KV7.1’s unique two open states associated with the VSD adopting the intermediate and activated conformations to report a two-stage E-M coupling mechanism in voltage-dependent gating of KV7.1 as triggered by VSD activations to the intermediate and then activated state. When the S4 segment transitions to the intermediate state, the hand-like C-terminus of the VSD-pore linker (S4-S5L) interacts with the pore in the same subunit. When S4 then proceeds on to the fully-activated state, the elbow-like hinge between S4 and S4-S5L engages with the pore to activate conductance. This two-stage “hand-and-elbow” gating mechanism elucidates distinct tissue-specific modulations, pharmacology, and disease pathogenesis of KV7.1, and likely applies to numerous KV channels.
Definition of naturally processed peptides reveals convergent presentation of autoantigenic topoisomerase-I epitopes in scleroderma
Authors: Tiniakou Eleni , Fava Andrea , McMahan Zsuzsanna H. , Guhr Tara , O’Meally Robert N. , Shah Ami A. , Wigley Fredrick M. , Cole Robert N. , Boin Francesco , Darrah Erika
Published: October 2019

Disease-associatedHLA-DRB1alleles are thought to confer risk of developing autoimmunity by favoring the presentation of select autoantigenic epitopes. However, identification of these epitopes and the principles governing their presentation has been hindered by the imprecision of currently available methods, which cannot fully recapitulate the complexity of human pathophysiology. We present a natural antigen processing assay (NAPA), which overcomes these limitations by studying the presentation of autoantigenic CD4+ T cell epitopes by monocyte-derived dendritic cells (mo-DCs) from patients. We applied this strategy to study the processing and presentation of topoisomerase-1 (TOP1), a prevalent autoantigen in scleroderma that is associated with lung fibrosis and high mortality. We found that a common set of 10 epitopes was presented by mo-DCs from patients with diverse HLA-DR variants, including those not previously associated with the disease. Sequence analysis revealed a shared peptide-binding motif within the HLA-DR peptide binding grooves of patients who developed anti-TOP1 autoantibodies. In addition, a subset of naturally presented TOP1 peptides were characterized by immunological promiscuity, as they could bind to diverse HLA-DR peptide binding grooves. NAPA epitopes were immunorelevant: they could stimulate autoreactive CD4+ T cells in patients, and the number of epitopes recognized correlated with lung disease severity. These findings mechanistically implicate presentation of a convergent set of TOP1 epitopes in the development of scleroderma lung disease. Precise identification of autoantigenic epitopes is key to understanding the primordial mechanisms for the loss of tolerance, studying disease-propagating autoreactive T cells, and developing antigen-specific immunotherapy.

One Sentence Summary

Use of a novel natural antigen processing assay reveals a mechanism for the presentation of shared CD4+ T cell epitopes of topoisomerase-I in immunogenetically diverse patients with scleroderma.
High-resolution cryo-EM reconstructions in the presence of substantial aberrations
Authors: Bromberg Raquel , Guo Yirui , Borek Dominika , Otwinowski Zbyszek
Published: October 2019

The beam-image shift method accelerates data acquisition in cryo-EM single particle reconstruction (cryo-EM SPR) by fast repositioning of the imaging area, but at the cost of more severe and complex optical aberrations.

We analyze here how uncorrected anti-symmetric aberrations, such as coma and trefoil, affect cryo-EM SPR results, and then infer an analytical formula quantifying information loss due to their presence that explains why Fourier-shell coefficient (FSC)-based statistics may report significantly overestimated resolution if these aberrations are not fully corrected. We validate our analysis with reference-based aberration refinement for two cryo-EM SPR datasets acquired with a 200 kV microscope in the presence of coma exceeding 40 µm, and obtained 2.3 and 2.7 Å reconstructions for 144 and 173 kDa particles, respectively.

Our results provide a description of an efficient approach for assessing information loss in cryo-EM SPR data acquired in the presence of higher-order aberrations and address inconsistent guidelines regarding the level of aberrations acceptable in cryo-EM SPR experiments.
Ensemble cryo-EM structures demonstrate human IMPDH2 filament assembly tunes allosteric regulation
Authors: Johnson Matthew C. , Kollman Justin M.
Published: October 2019

Inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) mediates the first committed step in guanine nucleotide biosynthesis and plays important roles in cellular proliferation and the immune response. The enzyme is heavily regulated to maintain balance between guanine and adenine nucleotide pools. IMPDH reversibly polymerizes in cells and tissues in response to changes in metabolic demand, providing an additional layer of regulatory control associated with increased flux through the guanine synthesis pathway. Here, we report a series of human IMPDH2 cryo-EM structures in active and inactive conformations, and show that the filament resists inhibition by guanine nucleotides. The structures define the mechanism of filament assembly, and reveal how assembly interactions tune the response to guanine inhibition. Filament-dependent allosteric regulation of IMPDH2 makes the enzyme less sensitive to feedback inhibition, explaining why assembly occurs under physiological conditions, like stem cell proliferation and T-cell activation, that require expansion of guanine nucleotide pools.
Brain Network Constraints and Recurrent Neural Networks reproduce unique Trajectories and State Transitions seen over the span of minutes in resting state fMRI
Authors: Kashyap Amrit , Keilholz Shella
Published: October 2019

Large scale patterns of spontaneous whole brain activity seen in resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI), are in part believed to arise from neural populations interacting through the structural fiber network [18]. Generative models that simulate this network activity, called Brain Network Models (BNM), are able to reproduce global averaged properties of empirical rsfMRI activity such as functional connectivity (FC) [7, 27]. However, they perform poorly in reproducing unique trajectories and state transitions that are observed over the span of minutes in whole brain data [20]. At very short timescales between measurements, it is not known how much of the variance these BNM can explain because they are not currently synchronized with the measured rsfMRI. We demonstrate that by solving for the initial conditions of BNM from an observed data point using Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) and integrating it to predict the next time step, the trained network can explain large amounts of variance for the 5 subsequent time points of unseen future trajectory. The RNN and BNM combined system essentially models the network component of rsfMRI, and where future activity is solely based on previous neural activity propagated through the structural network. Longer instantiations of this generative model simulated over the span of minutes can reproduce average FC and the 1/f power spectrum from 0.01 to 0.3 Hz seen in fMRI. Simulated data also contain interesting resting state dynamics, such as unique repeating trajectories, called QPPs [22] that are highly correlated to the empirical trajectory which spans over 20 seconds. Moreover, it exhibits complex states and transitions as seen using k-Means analysis on windowed FC matrices [1]. This suggests that by combining BNMs with RNN to accurately predict future resting state activity at short timescales, it is learning the manifold of the network dynamics, allowing it to simulate complex resting state trajectories at longer time scales. We believe that our technique will be useful in understanding the large-scale functional organization of the brain and how different BNMs recapitulate different aspects of the system dynamics.
Whole genome sequencing of 358 brown planthoppers uncovers the landscape of their migration and dispersal worldwide
Authors: Hu Qing-ling , Zhuo Ji-Chong , Ye Yu-Xuan , Li Dan-Ting , Lou Yi-Han , Zhang Xiao-Ya , Chen Xuan , Wang Si-Liang , Wang Zhe-Chao , Lu Jia-Bao , Mazlan Norida , Nguyen Huy Chung , San OO San , Thet Thet , Sharma Prem Nidhi , Jauharlina Jauharlina , Mizanur Rahman S.M. , Ansari Naved Ahmad , Chen Ai-Dong , Zhu Zeng-Rong , Heong Kong Luen , Cheng Jia-An , Zhan Shuai , Zhang Chuan-Xi
Published: October 2019

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, is a serious migratory rice pest, which is distributed in the broad area of the tropical and temperate Asian-Pacific region. However, we know little about key aspects regarding its evolution such as how they diverged and dispersed worldwide. By resequencing and analyzing 358 BPH genomes from 92 populations across the world, we uncover the genetic relationships among their worldwide populations and the history of their global dispersal. We recovered five genetic groups representing the major population structures. Of these, Australian BPHs were shown large genetic divergence with Asian BPHs; two distinct groups have formed in South and Southeast/East Asia that show strong genetic admixture in the southwest border regions of China and west Thailand with Myanmar; two local populations in Bangladesh and Fujian province of China, respectively, unexpectedly separated with surrounding populations. We also find the genetic similarity and closely phylogenetic relationships between majority of East Asian BPHs and Indo-china peninsula BPHs, indicating that Southeast Asia mainland is the major insect sources and overwintering sites for East Asia. Our study provides important molecular evidence to address BPH evolution and other key aspects of its biology such as insecticides resistance and rice varieties virulence.
Extracting Super-resolution Structures inside a Single Molecule or Overlapped Molecules from One Blurred Image
Authors: Sheffield Edward Y.
Published: October 2019

In some super-resolution techniques, adjacent points are illuminated at different times. Thereby, their locations and light intensities can be detected even if the images are very blurred due to diffraction. According to conventional theories, the points’ inner details cannot be recovered because the images’ high frequency components are removed due to the diffraction-limit. But this study finds an exception, and full information can be extracted from a diffraction-blurred image. In such a “resolvable condition”, neither profile nor detail information is damaged by diffraction. Thereby, it can be recovered reversibly by solving equation systems in spatial domain or frequency domain. This condition is tightly relevant to the imaging condition of existing super-resolution techniques. Based on the condition, a method is proposed which can achieve unlimited high resolutions in principle, and its effectiveness is demonstrated by both theoretical analysis and simulation experiments. It can also work without any observed image outside the region of interest. Simulation experiments also show its tolerance to certain level of noise.
Validating a screening agar for linezolid-resistant enterococci
Authors: Werner Guido , Fleige Carola , Klare Ingo , Weber Robert E. , Bender Jennifer K.
Published: October 2019

Linezolid is an alternative treatment option for infections with multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria including vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Some countries report an increasing number of isolates with resistance to linezolid. The recent publication of the Commission for Hospital Hygiene in Germany on enterococci/VRE recommends screening for linezolid-resistant enterococci (LRE). However, a suitable selective medium or a genetic test is not available. Our aim was to establish a selective screening agar for LRE detection and validate its application with a comprehensive collection of clinical LRE and linezolid-susceptible enterococci (LSE). We decided to combine the selective power of an enterococcal screening agar with a supplementation of linezolid. Several rounds of analyses with reference, control and test strains pointed towards Enterococcosel agar and a concentration of 2 mg/L linezolid. Finally, we validated our LRE agar with 400 samples sent to our National Reference Centre in 2019.
Hox gene expression during the development of the phoronidPhoronopsis harmeri
Authors: Gąsiorowski Ludwik , Hejnol Andreas
Published: October 2019

Background

Phoronida is a small group of marine worm-like suspension feeders, which together with brachiopods and bryozoans form the clade Lophophorata. Although their development is well studied on the morphological level, data regarding gene expression during this process are scarce and restricted to the analysis of relatively few transcription factors. Here we present a description of the expression patterns of Hox genes during the embryonic and larval development of the phoronidPhoronopsis harmeri.

Results

We identified sequences of 8 Hox genes in the transcriptome ofP. harmeriand determined their expression pattern during embryonic and larval development using whole mountin situhybridization. We found that none of the Hox genes is expressed during embryonic development. Instead their expression is initiated in the later developmental stages, when the larval body is already formed. The Hox genes are expressed in the metasomal sac, posterior mesoderm and junction between midgut and hindgut - structures that represent rudiments of the adult worm, which emerges through the process of drastic metamorphosis. Additionally, two Hox genes are expressed in the posterior telotroch, which develops in the later larval stages.

Conclusions

The lack of Hox gene expression during early development ofP. harmeriindicates that the larval body develops without positional information of the Hox patterning system. Such phenomenon might be a consequence of the evolutionary intercalation of the larval form into an ancestral, direct life cycle of phoronids. Accordingly, the specific actinotrocha larva found only in Phoronida, would represent an evolutionary novelty, for which an alternative molecular mechanism of antrerior-posterior patterning was recruited. Another explanation of the observed Hox gene expression is that the actinotrocha represents a “head larva”, which is composed of the most anterior body region that is devoid of Hox gene expression. This implies that the Hox patterning system is used for the positional information of the trunk rudiments and is, therefore, delayed to the later larval stages. Future investigation on head-specific genes expression is needed to test this hypothesis.
Gene-signatures predict biologically relevant dose-response potencies in phenotypic assays
Authors: Renner Steffen , Bergsdorf Christian , Bouhelal Rochdi , Koziczak-Holbro Magdalena , Marco Amati Andrea , Techer-Etienne Valerie , Flotte Ludivine , Reymann Nicole , Kapur Karen , Hoersch Sebastian , Oakeley Edward J. , Schuffenhauer Ansgar , Gubler Hanspeter , Lounkine Eugen , Farmer Pierre
Published: October 2019

Multiplexed gene-signature-based phenotypic assays are increasingly used for the identification and profiling of small molecule-tool compounds and drugs. Here we introduce a method (provided as R-package) for the quantification of the dose-response potency of a gene-signature as EC50and IC50values.

Two signaling pathways were used as models to validate our methods: beta-adrenergic agonistic activity on cAMP generation (dedicated dataset generated for this study) and EGFR inhibitory effect on cancer cell viability. In both cases, potencies derived from multi-gene expression data were highly correlated with orthogonal potencies derived from cAMP and cell growth readouts, and superior to potencies derived from single individual genes.

Our results show that gene-signature potencies are a novel valid alternative to conventional readouts for compound potency quantification, in particular in scenarios where no other established readouts are available.
Using the eye-tracking method to study consumer online health information search behaviour
Authors: Gwizdka Jacek , Zhang Yan , Dillon Andrew
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce eye tracking as a method for capturing direct and indirect measures of online human information search behaviour. The unique contribution of eye-tracking data in studying information behaviour is examined in the context of health information research.

Design/methodology/approach

The need for multiple methods of data collection when examining human online health information behaviour is described and summarised. The nature of human eye movements in information use and reading is outlined and the emergence and application of contemporary eye-tracking technology are explained.

Findings

The paper summarises key contributions and insights that eye tracking has provided across multiple studies, with examples of both direct data on fixations and gaze durations as well as theoretical assessments of relevance and knowledge gain.

Originality/value

The paper provides a basic introduction to the application of a unique method for information research in general and online health information search in particular and provides readers with an awareness of how such data are captured and interpreted.
Disaster risk reduction
Authors: Saulnier Dell D. , Green Helen K. , Ismail Rohaida , Chhorvann Chhea , Bin Mohamed Norlen , Waite Thomas D. , Murray Virginia
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 calls for a reduction in disaster mortality, yet measuring mortality remains a challenge due to varying definitions of disaster mortality, the quality, availability and diversity of data sources, generating mortality estimates, and how mortality data are interpreted.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses five case studies to provide details around some of the complexities involved with measuring disaster mortality and to demonstrate the clear need for accurate disaster mortality data.

Findings

The findings highlight the benefits of combining multiple data sources for accurate mortality estimates, access to interoperable and readily available global, national, regional and local data sets, and creating standardized definitions for direct and indirect mortality for easier attribution of causes of death.

Originality/value

Countries should find a method of measuring mortality that works for them and their resources, and for the hazards they face. Combining accurate mortality data and estimates and leadership at all levels can inform policy and actions to reduce disaster mortality, and ultimately strengthen disaster risk reduction in countries for all citizens.
Investigation of heat transfer in porous channels
Authors: Mulla Mohammed Fahimuddin , Badruddin Irfan Anjum , Nik-Ghazali N. , Muhamad Mohammed Ridha , C. Ahamed Saleel , Ganesan Poo Balan
Published: October 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the heat transfer in porous channels.

Design/methodology/approach

Finite element method is used to simulate the heat transfer in porous channels.

Findings

The number and width of channels play a key role in determining the heat transfer of the porous channel. The heat transfer is higher around the channel legs. Smaller base height is better to get higher heat transfer capability.

Originality/value

This study represents the original work to investigate heat transfer in a porous domain having multiple channels.
Reliability of Build Back Better at enhancing resilience of communities
Authors: Vahanvati Mittul , Rafliana Irina
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse the reliability of Build Back Better slogan in the context of post-disaster housing reconstruction in developing countries, at enhancing disaster-resilience of housing and its occupants in the long term from socio-ecological systems resilience perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

A predominantly qualitative methodology and multi-disciplinary case study methodology is adopted to compare long-term outcomes of two post-disaster housing reconstruction interventions: post-2008 Bihar Kosi River floods in India and post-2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia.

Findings

Out of the nine generalizable findings, two of the most significant findings include giving freedom of choice or human capabilities to the disaster survivors and sustaining capacity development during and beyond the completion of housing reconstruction. These two processes play a significant role in linking reconstruction to resilience in the long term, especially of those living at- risk and poverty.

Originality/value

This paper further advances the current scholarship on overarching long-term impacts of housing reconstruction efforts, based on longitudinal and empirical studies in India and Indonesia. While these findings represent a snapshot of diverse and complex disaster experiences in the developing-world context, the comparison offers insight into how to turn the rhetoric surrounding “owner-driven” or “built back better” into long-term resilience outcomes.
Marketing local food and cuisine culture online: a case study of DMO’s websites in Egypt
Authors: Mohamed Mohamed E. , Hewedi Mahmoud , Lehto Xinran , Maayouf Magdy
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Given the increased importance of food in tourists’ travel experience, the purpose of this paper is to explore the current and future potential of local food and foodways in marketing Egyptian destinations online.

Design/methodology/approach

The content of 20 Egyptian destination marketing organization (DMO) websites was subject to a content analysis. A checklist was developed based on literature analysis. The frequencies of information related to food culture and cuisine marketing were tallied, followed by a qualitative assessment of contents from the various websites. The results were further discussed with DMO representatives to provide contextualized insights as to the future potential of utilizing local food and food tourism initiatives as a component of DMOs website marketing in Egypt.

Findings

The study noted some initial efforts for Egyptian DMO websites to market food culture and gastronomic practices; however, the results suggest that the usage of food culture on Egyptian DMOs websites is still in its infancy. The study also highlights the challenges that need to be tackled as well as the resources required for food tourism development.

Practical implications

This study illustrates the need and potential capacity of Egyptian DMO websites to market food culture and local cuisines (including traditional foods and table manners). These results are expected to help Egyptian DMOs to strategically embrace local cuisine and food culture as a vehicle for destination marketing.

Originality/value

This case study provides insights for African and other developing economies in their destination marketing. The proposed framework and guidelines are intended to potentially serve as a framework for destination marketers and entrepreneurs to optimize the tourism potential of food culture.
Measuring the degree of difficulty and translation competence
Authors: Akbari Alireza
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the degree of item difficulty in translation multiple-choice items in terms of 1-parameter logistic (1-PL) model of the item response theory (IRT). Also, the paper proposes a hypothesis in which a participant who answers a translation test possesses some amount of translation competence which affects the end-result.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 150 translation students from the Bachelor of Arts in Translation Studies from the three Iranian universities participated in this research paper. The translation participants were requested to answer the questions. The items were formulated in such a way that the question was stated in English and the four choices were written in Farsi. To interpret the obtained results, this research paper employed 1-PL and 2-parameter logistic (2-PL) models using Stata (2016). In addition, to demonstrate results in terms of 1-PL, item characteristic curves (a graphical representation showing the degree of difficulty of each item) was used.

Findings

Using Stata platform, the findings of this research paper showed that through the application of IRT, evaluators were able to calculate the difficulty degree of each items (1-PL) and correspondingly the translation competence (2-PL) of each participant.

Research limitations/implications

One of the limitations is the proportionately small number of translation participants at the Bachelor of Arts.

Originality/value

Although a few number of studies concentered on the role of translation competence, there did not exist any research focusing on translation competence empirically in higher education.
Maintaining business relationships: resilience through institutional work
Authors: Ojansivu Ilkka Tapani , Hermes Jan
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Business relationships are considered long-term and stable. Furthermore, over time, business relationships are expected to become and remain “institutionalized”. The undertone is that this process is deterministic and inevitable. While the authors do not question the long-term nature of business relationships, they argue that the process of “institutionalization” requires more construct clarity. Consequently, they ask the following: What is the source of resilience in business relationships, and how are these relationships maintained over time?

Design/methodology/approach

To unravel these questions, the authors conducted an historical case study of a business relationship between a government buyer and a software seller extending over two decades.

Findings

The authors found that while the network around the business relationship is crumbling and all odds are in favor of relationship dissolution, the active maintenance work of key individuals in the relationship prevented detrimental effects and resulted in not only its continuation but also an increased degree of institutionalization.

Research limitations/implications

The authors contribute to the Industrial Network approach (INA) by providing a non-deterministic approach to the typically taken-for-granted end phase of business relationships.

Practical implications

The findings illustrate that the process of institutionalization is manageable but requires hard work, highlighting managers as the principle vehicle of relationship maintenance.

Originality/value

The authors provide construct clarity around the process of “institutionalization”. In fact, they regard the process as reverse compared to the early interpretation in the INA literature in which a business relationship is assumed to start as a “clean slate” and then begins to represent the industry codes of practice over time. They found that “institutionalization” implies that a business relationship is no longer compared with nor is comparable to the institutional prescriptions; in contrast, the relationship has established its own rules and norms, which have been taken for granted by the buyer and seller organization.
A multi-objective emergency network design problem to carry out disaster relief operations in developing countries
Authors: Babaei Mohsen , Shariat-Mohaymany Afshin , Nikoo Nariman , Ghaffari Ahmad-Reza
Published: October 2019

Purpose

One of the problems in post-earthquake disaster management in developing countries, such as Iran, is the prediction of the residual network available for disaster relief operations. Therefore, it is important to use methods that are executable in such countries given the limited amount of accurate data. The purpose of this paper is to present a multi-objective model that seeks to determine the set of roads of a transportation network that should preserve its role in carrying out disaster relief operations (i.e. known as “emergency road network” (ERN)) in the aftermath of earthquakes.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the total travel time of emergency trips, the total length of network and the provision of coverage to the emergency demand/supply points have been incorporated as three important metrics of ERN into a multi-objective mixed integer linear programming model. The proposed model has been solved by adopting the e-constraint method.

Findings

The results of applying the model to Tehran’s highway network indicated that the least possible length for the emergency transportation network is about half the total length of its major roads (freeways and major arterials).

Practical implications

Gathering detailed data about origin-destination pair of emergency trips and network characteristics have a direct effect on designing a suitable emergency network in pre-disaster phase.

Originality/value

To become solvable in a reasonable time, especially in large-scale cases, the problem has been modeled based on a decomposing technique. The model has been solved successfully for the emergency roads of Tehran within about 10 min of CPU time.
Share and share alike?
Authors: Whalen Elizabeth A. , Belarmino Amanda , Taylor Jr Scott
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The growing trend for online peer-to-peer commerce has changed the way consumers purchase and exchange products and services across a wide variety of industries, including the craft beer industry. The lack of large scale distribution channels for local breweries has led to a growing market for social exchanges across the country. However, these barter systems remain more obscure compared to their mega counterparts in monetary exchange systems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how the set-up of online beer marketplaces impacts the perceptions of source attractiveness as moderated by the perceived risks to encourage exchange behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an established beer exchange community, members appraised the impact of avatar profiles in their decision-making process based on user congruity, product congruity and risk perceptions. The research was conducted using a 2×2 between subjects mixed factorial design.

Findings

Product attractiveness and risk perceptions influenced behavioral intentions while user attractiveness did not. This is counter to past research that emphasizes the importance of relationships in sharing economy contexts.

Originality/value

This research shifts the discourse for sharing economy platforms from monetizing trust to prioritizing the product. While much of the emphasis had previously been on facilitating relationships between the supplier and customers on sharing economy websites, this may indicate that there needs to be a shift to prioritizing the product.
The role of relational coordination in the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance
Authors: Siddique Muhammad , Procter Stephen , Gittell Jody Hoffer
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to look at the role relational coordination might play in understanding the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Research was conducted in a large financial services provider in Pakistan. Across 120 branches of the bank, data on relational coordination and on the practices making up HPWS were obtained from employees by means of a questionnaire survey. Data on branch-level performance were obtained independently of this, from the bank itself.

Findings

Analysis shows relational coordination to be a mediating variable between HPWS and branch performance. Relational coordination is also a mediating variable for each of the three component parts of HPWS: ability-enhancing, motivation-enhancing and opportunity-enhancing HR practices.

Practical implications

These results have important implications from two points of view. From the point of view of relational coordination, they show how the concept might apply in a previously under-researched sector, and also how relational coordination might act as a mediator for HR practices other than those aimed directly at enhancing employee opportunities. Breaking down HPWS into its component parts suggests that individual employee ability and motivation might also play a role.

Originality/value

This suggests that the ability-motivation-opportunity model needs to place greater emphasis on opportunity, and also that more account needs to be taken of the structural aspect of work – in particular, the degree of interdependence.
Investigating the on-demand service characteristics: an empirical study
Authors: van der Burg Robbert-Jan , Ahaus Kees , Wortmann Hans , Huitema George B.
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Technological developments and new customer expectations of immediacy have driven businesses to adopt on-demand service models. The purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics of a range of on-demand services in order to better understand the meaning of “on-demand” and its implications for service management. This enables the on-demand service logic to be applied to other service contexts, where it may add value for customers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study starts with a focused literature review and continues with a multiple case study methodology, as the on-demand service concept is in the early stages of theory development. Seven cases were studied, based on a maximum variation sampling strategy.

Findings

The results show that on-demand services are characterized by three interrelated characteristics: being highly available, responsive and scalable. Analysis further reveals that on-demand services display differences within the conceptual boundaries of these characteristics, i.e. they vary in terms of their availability, responsiveness and scalability.

Originality/value

Drawing on these findings, the study contributes to the service literature by being the first to specifically conceptualize and define the on-demand services concept and reveal three key characteristics that clarify the distinctive nature of this service type. Accordingly, on-demand services are clearly differentiated from other services. Additionally, the paper discusses the variety within on-demand services and develops an on-demand service continuum that gives detailed insights into the conceptual variations within such services.
Rate my firm: cultural differences in service evaluations
Authors: Tsiotsou Rodoula H.
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Cross-cultural research constitutes a pivotal topic for marketing; however, the literature indicates that there are a few studies analyzing social media reviews from a cross-cultural perspective using cultural proximity (supra-national level) as a proxy of culture. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify cross-cultural differences in service evaluations and specifically, in hotel appraisals among tourists from Central, Eastern (including Post-Soviet States), Northern and Southern Europe.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach has been taken by studying online user-generated ratings of hotels on Trip Advisor. In total, 1,055 reviews of five hotels in Greece were used for the study.

Findings

Multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variances results confirm cultural differences in overall service evaluations and attributes (value, location, sleeping quality, rooms, cleanliness and service) of tourists from various European regions. Specifically, Eastern Europeans uploaded more reviews than any other European group, whereas Northern Europeans were more generous in their appraisals than Eastern, Southern and Central Europeans.

Practical implications

The results of the study could be used for segmentation purposes of the European tourism market and for recognizing, which aspects of their services need to be improved based on the segments they serve. Moreover, managers should encourage Northern and Eastern Europeans to upload their reviews as both groups are more generous in their evaluations. Moreover, the findings are useful to marketers of other services.

Originality/value

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examines cross-cultural differences in hotel appraisals from a supra-national perspective including developed (Northern and Western Europe), developing (Southern Europe) and emerging tourism markets (Eastern Europe).
Linking knowledge management processes to innovation
Authors: Teixeira Eduardo Kunzel , Oliveira Mirian , Curado Carla
Published: October 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the relationship between knowledge management processes and innovation (KM-IN) in Brazilian and Portuguese companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The tests were performed using a sequential mixed-method approach. Quantitative analysis was conducted using 341 observations from Brazilian and Portuguese companies and partial least squares techniques. Qualitative analysis was conducted using ten interviews and content analysis techniques.

Findings

Results showed differences between Brazilian and Portuguese companies with respect to the relationship between knowledge sharing process and innovation. Portuguese companies cope with the geographical dispersal of operations and the lack of interpersonal skills by introducing formal knowledge sharing processes.

Practical implications

Findings demonstrate that the transfer of knowledge processes to foreign countries may demand adjustments according to cultural traits. Specifically, the findings will be of interest to firms intending to expand their activities between Brazil and Portugal.

Originality/value

Although researchers have investigated the influence of the national context in many countries, country comparisons are still scarce.
An application of value stream mapping in auto-ancillary industry: a case study
Authors: Jasti Naga Vamsi Krishna , Kota Srinivas , Sangwan Kuldip Singh
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Lean manufacturing (LM) plays a major role in eliminating wastes (activities/resources) in a manufacturing organization. Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the critical tools in LM which will help in identifying wastes in materials and information flow in a specific product family. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the significance of VSM in the auto-ancillary industry in enhancing the productivity and the quality.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach is followed to demonstrate the significance of VSM in identifying various wastes in the auto-ancillary industry. The study has been performed by implementing seven critical steps. A product family is identified based on the customer demand and a cross functional team with specialized experts was formed. The overall processes with sequence are mapped using process flowchart. A cross functional team has been formed to develop the current state of VSM and perform a critical analysis to identify shortcomings. An investigation was performed to overcome the existing shortcomings by identifying opportunities. The relevant kaizens to improve the current state have been proposed. The cross functional team of experts have performed a feasibility study on implementation of proposed kaizens. Finally, a future state of VSM after implementation of feasible kaizens has been reported.

Findings

The results show that future state of VSM brings out the positive impact with respect to process ratio, TAKT time, process inventory level, total lead time and bottleneck time. The proposed improvement also helped to achieve higher customer satisfaction in terms of increased quality, reduced cost and on time delivery.

Research limitations/implications

Present study is focussed on a single product family cell in one of the auto-component organization.

Originality/value

Helps practitioners in the auto-component industry to implement the VSM effectively in their organization.
Online tourism and hospitality distribution: a perspective article
Authors: O’Connor Peter
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Critically examining the development of online distribution in hospitality and tourism, this paper aims to speculate on likely future developments for the next decades.

Design/methodology/approach

The article review prior literature, combining themes with industry insights to speculate about the future.

Findings

The paper speculates on likely future scenarios for online distribution in hospitality and tourism, including further consolidation of major players, blurring of lines between organization types and the substitution of existing systems by mainstream e-commerce players.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides a baseline analysis of the development of online distribution for use by future researchers.

Practical implications

This study speculates about likely future scenarios in hospitality and tourism distribution and their implications for industry practice.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first attempt to extrapolate the likely future of hospitality and tourism online distribution and its implications for industry.
The temporal dimensions of Thinking Black: a comment
Authors: Perry Kennetta Hammond
Published: October 2019

This commentary was delivered at the 2019 Historical Research/Wiley Lecture at Queen Mary University of London on 6 June 2019. It was followed by a conversation with Rob Waters.
Effect of storage time on sensory and instrumental properties of skim‐milk yoghurt obtained with microbial transglutaminase
Authors: García‐Gómez Belén , Romero‐Rodríguez Ángeles , Vázquez‐Odériz Lourdes , Muñoz‐Ferreiro Nieves , Vázquez Manuel
Published: October 2019

Not many studies have examined changes in microbial transglutaminase (MTG) yoghurts during storage. In this work, yoghurts manufactured with skimmed milk and treated with MTG were evaluated in refrigerated storage for 35 days. Instrumental measurements showed that firmness, consistency and pH values in MTG yoghurt experienced a significant increase with the storage time. However, sensory measurements showed that MTG yoghurts were not affected significantly by storage time. Acid taste scores only increased significantly with storage time in the control samples. Microbial transglutaminase treatment showed a positive effect on textural properties and allowed syneresis to be prevented completely during storage.