bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biflavonoid quercetin protects against cyclophosphamide–induced organ toxicities via modulation of inflammatory cytokines, brain neurotransmitters, and astrocyte immunoreactivity
Authors: Onaolapo Adejoke Y. , Ojo Foluso O , Onaolapo Olakunle J.
Published: January 2023

Background

Quercetin’s antioxidative properties make it of potential benefit in many clinical conditions where oxidative stress is implicated in the pathological processes.

Objectives

To investigate the possible protective effects of quercetin on neurobehaviour, brain oxidative status, markers of inflammation, neurotransmitter balance and astrocyte immunoreactivity in healthy rats administered cyclophosphamide.

Methods

Sixty rats were randomly assigned into six groups (n=10). Groups A and D served as normal and cyclophosphamide control respectively and were fed standard rat chow, groups B and E were fed quercetin supplemented diet (100 mg/kg of feed), while those in groups C and F were fed quercetin supplemented diet at 200 mg/kg of feed. Animals in group A-C also received intraperitoneal normal saline on days 1 and 2, while those in groups D-F got intraperitoneal cyclophosphamide (150 mg/kg/day on days 1 and 2). Standard diet and quercetin supplemented diet were administered daily for 21 days. At the end of the experimental period, behavioural tests were carried out, following which animals were sacrificed and blood taken for the assessment of biochemical parameters. Organs were either homogenised or processed for histological study.

Results

Quercetin mitigated CYP-induced weight loss and reduction in food consumption. It also improved total antioxidant capacity while reducing CYP-induced lipid peroxidation and biochemical markers of impaired liver function. A reduction in CYP-induced increase in urea and creatinine was also observed. Interleukin-10 increased, while the CYP-induced increase in interleukin-1 beta and TNF-α were also mitigated following quercetin administration. Open field exploratory activities and grooming increased with CYP and the lowest dose of quercetin. The anxiolytic effects of quercetin was demonstrable in the elevated plus maze; while its memory-enhancing effects were seen in the Y-maze and radial-arm maze. Finally, quercetin improved acetylcholine/dopamine levels and brain-derived neurotropic factor, while reducing serotonin levels and astrocyte immunoreactivity.

Conclusion

The results show quercetin’s ability to protect against CYP-induced changes in rats. They also highlight the possible use of quercetin as a possible adjunct in cancer chemotherapy-induced tissue damage. However, further research will be needed to delineate its exact role in cancer chemotherapy.
Sexually Dimorphic Role for Insular Perineuronal Nets in Aversion-Resistant Ethanol Consumption
Authors: de Carvalho Luana Martins , Chen Hu , Sutter Mason , Lasek Amy W.
Published: January 2023

Compulsive alcohol drinking is a key symptom of alcohol use disorder (AUD) that is particularly resistant to treatment. An understanding of the biological factors that underly compulsive drinking will allow for the development of new therapeutic targets for AUD. One animal model of compulsive alcohol drinking involves the addition of bitter-tasting quinine to an ethanol solution and measuring the willingness of the animal to consume ethanol despite the aversive taste. Previous studies have demonstrated that this type of aversion-resistant drinking is modulated in the insular cortex of male mice by specialized condensed extracellular matrix known as perineuronal nets (PNNs), which form a lattice-like structure around parvalbumin-expressing neurons in the cortex. Several laboratories have shown that female mice exhibit higher levels of aversion-resistant ethanol intake but the role of PNNs in females in this behavior has not been examined. Here we compared PNNs in the insula of male and female mice and determined if disrupting PNNs in female mice would alter aversion-resistant ethanol intake. PNNs were visualized in the insula by fluorescent labeling withWisteria floribundaagglutinin (WFA) and disrupted in the insula by microinjecting chondroitinase ABC, an enzyme that digests the chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan component of PNNs. Mice were tested for aversion-resistant ethanol consumption by the addition of sequentially increasing concentrations of quinine to the ethanol in a two-bottle choice drinking in the dark procedure. PNN staining intensity was higher in the insula of female compared to male mice, suggesting that PNNs in females might contribute to elevated aversion-resistant drinking. However, disruption of PNNs had limited effect on aversion-resistant drinking in females. In addition, activation of the insula during aversion-resistant drinking, as measured by c-fos immunohistochemistry, was lower in female mice than in males. Taken together, these results suggest that neural mechanisms underlying aversion-resistant ethanol consumption differ in males and females.
Anteromedial Thalamus Gates the Selection & Stabilization of Long-Term Memories
Authors: Toader Andrew C. , Regalado Josue M. , Li Yan Ran , Terceros Andrea , Yadav Nakul , Kumar Suraj , Satow Sloane , Hollunder Florian , Bonito-Oliva Alessandra , Rajasethupathy Priya
Published: January 2023

Memories initially formed in hippocampus gradually stabilize to cortex, over weeks-to-months, for long-term storage. The mechanistic details of this brain re-organization process remain poorly understood. In this study, we developed a virtual-reality based behavioral task and observed neural activity patterns associated with memory reorganization and stabilization over weeks-long timescales. Initial photometry recordings in circuits that link hippocampus and cortex revealed a unique and prominent neural correlate of memory in anterior thalamus that emerged in training and persisted for several weeks. Inhibition of the anteromedial thalamus-to-anterior cingulate cortex projections during training resulted in substantial memory consolidation deficits, and gain amplification more strikingly, was sufficient to enhance consolidation of otherwise unconsolidated memories. To provide mechanistic insights, we developed a new behavioral task where mice form two memories, of which only the more salient memory is consolidated, and also a technology for simultaneous and longitudinal cellular resolution imaging of hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex throughout the consolidation window. We found that whereas hippocampus equally encodes multiple memories, the anteromedial thalamus forms preferential tuning to salient memories, and establishes inter-regional correlations with cortex, that are critical for synchronizing and stabilizing cortical representations at remote time. Indeed, inhibition of this thalamo-cortical circuit while imaging in cortex reveals loss of contextual tuning and ensemble synchrony in anterior cingulate, together with behavioral deficits in remote memory retrieval. We thus identify a thalamo-cortical circuit that gates memory consolidation and propose a mechanism suitable for the selection and stabilization of hippocampal memories into longer term cortical storage.
The RPA complex orchestrates K63-linked deubiquitination via ZUP1
Authors: Foster Benjamin , Attwood Martin , Chong Kay , Drake Matthew , Gilroy Ryan , Fournier Marjorie , Gibbs-Seymour Ian
Published: January 2023

Ubiquitin signaling is regulated by deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), which can edit or remove ubiquitin from substrates. Recently, ZUP1 was discovered as the founding and only member of a novel DUB class that cleaves long K63-linked ubiquitin chains, with a putative role in DNA repair. However, ZUP1 has poor activity on its own, suggesting additional mechanisms exist to promote its activity in cells. Here, using a range of cellular, biochemical, and structural proteomics approaches, we show that ZUP1 directly interacts with the RPA complex, a single-stranded DNA binding protein complex involved in DNA replication and multiple DNA repair processes. Functionally, the ZUP1-RPA complex interaction dramatically stimulates ZUP1 K63-linked DUB activity, which occurs through S1 and S1’ site communication. Collectively, our results suggest a mechanism that couples sensing of ssDNA to the activation of K63-linked deubiquitination via the ZUP1-RPA complex.
A Fully Defined Synthetic Medium Mimicking Sugar Cane Molasses
Authors: Eliodório Kevy Pontes , de Gois e Cunha Gabriel Caetano , de Oliveira Lino Felipe Senne , Sommer Morten Otto Alexander , Gombert Andreas Karoly , Giudici Reinaldo , Basso Thiago Olitta
Published: January 2023

Background

Yeast research in the context of food/beverage production and industrial biotechnology faces a dilemma: to use real industrial media or to use fully defined laboratory media? While the former option might lead to experiments closer to industrial conditions, the latter has the advantage of allowing for reproducibility and comparability of results among different laboratories, as well as being suitable for the investigation of how different individual components affect microbial or process performance. It is undoubtable that the development of a synthetic must a few decades ago led to important advances in wine yeast research.

Results

We developed a fully defined medium that mimics sugarcane molasses, a frequently used medium in different industrial processes where yeast is cultivated. The medium, named 2SMol, builds upon a previously published semi-defined formulation and is conveniently prepared from some stock solutions: C-source, organic N, inorganic N, organic acids, trace elements, vitamins, Mg+K, and Ca. We validated the 2SMol recipe in a scaled-down sugarcane biorefinery model, comparing the performance of different yeast strains in different real molasses-based media. We also showcase the flexibility of the medium by investigating the effect of nitrogen availability on the ethanol yield during fermentation.

Conclusions

Here we present in detail the development of a fully defined synthetic molasses medium, and we hope the 2SMol formulation will be valuable to researchers both in academia and industry to obtain new insights and developments in industrial yeast biotechnology.
Measuring and Modeling Macrophage Growth using a Lab-on-CMOS Capacitance Sensing Microsystem
Authors: Smith Kyle , Lin Ching-Yi , Gilpin Yann , Wayne Elizabeth , Dandin Marc
Published: January 2023

We report on the use of a lab-on-CMOS biosensor platform for quantitatively tracking the growth of RAW 264.7 murine Balb/c macrophages. We show that macrophage growth over a wide sensing area correlates linearly with an average capacitance growth factor resulting from capacitance measurements at a plurality of electrodes dispersed in the sensing area. We further show a temporal model that captures the cell evolution in the area of interest over long periods (e.g., 30 hours). The model links the cell numbers and the average capacitance growth factor associated with the sensing area to describe the observed growth kinetics.
Complexity of Guanine Quadruplex Unfolding Pathways Revealed by Atomistic Pulling Simulations
Authors: Stadlbauer Petr , Mlýnský Vojtěch , Krepl Miroslav , Šponer Jiří
Published: January 2023

Guanine quadruplexes (GQs) are non-canonical nucleic acid structures involved in many biological processes. GQs formed in single-stranded regions often need to be unwound by cellular machinery, so their mechanochemical properties are important. Here, we performed steered molecular dynamics simulations of human telomeric GQs to study their unfolding. We examined four pulling regimes, including very slow setup with pulling velocity and force load accessible to high-speed atomic force microscopy. We identified multiple factors affecting the unfolding mechanism. The more the direction of force was perpendicular to the GQ channel axis (determined by GQ topology), the more the base unzipping mechanism happened. If the GQ had either all-antior all-synpattern in a strand, strand slippage mechanism was more likely to occur. Importantly, slower pulling velocity led to richer unfolding pathways including partial refolding attempts. We show that GQ may eventually unfold after force drop under forces smaller than those the GQ withstood before the drop. This suggests that proteinsin vivomight resolve GQs even if their stall forces are smaller than GQ rupture force. Finally, we found out that different unfolding intermediates may have very similar chain end-to-end distance, which reveals some limitations of structural interpretations of single-molecule spectroscopic data.
Structural characterization of HIV-1 Env heterotrimers bound to one or two CD4 receptors reveals intermediate Env conformations
Authors: Dam Kim-Marie A. , Fan Chengcheng , Yang Zhi , Bjorkman Pamela J.
Published: January 2023

HIV-1 envelope (Env) exhibits distinct conformational changes in response to host receptor (CD4) engagement. Env, a trimer of gp120/gp41 heterodimers, has been structurally characterized in a closed, prefusion conformation with closely associated gp120s and coreceptor binding sites on gp120 V3 hidden by V1V2 loops, and in fully-saturated CD4-bound open Env conformations with changes including outwardly rotated gp120s and displaced V1V2 loops. To investigate changes resulting from sub-stoichiometric CD4 binding, we solved 3.4Å and 3.9Å single-particle cryo-EM structures of soluble, native-like Envs bound to one or two CD4 molecules. Env trimer bound to one CD4 adopted the closed, prefusion Env state. When bound to two CD4s, the CD4-bound gp120s exhibited an open Env conformation including a four-stranded gp120 bridging sheet and displaced gp120 V1V2 loops that expose the coreceptor sites on V3. The third gp120 adopted an intermediate, occluded-open state that included gp120 outward rotation but maintained the prefusion, three-stranded gp120 bridging sheet and showed only partial V1V2 displacement and V3 exposure. We conclude that engagement of one CD4 molecule was insufficient to stimulate CD4-induced conformational changes, while binding two CD4 molecules led to Env opening in CD4-bound protomers only. Together, these results illuminate HIV-1 Env intermediate conformations and illustrate the structural plasticity of HIV-1 Env.
Nance-Horan-Syndrome-like 1b controls mesodermal cell migration by regulating protrusion and actin dynamics during zebrafish gastrulation
Authors: Escot Sophie , Elouin Amélie , Mellottee Lucille , David Nicolas B
Published: January 2023

Cell migrations are crucial for embryonic development, wound healing, the immune response, as well as for cancer progression. During mesenchymal cell migration, the Rac1-WAVE-Arp2/3 signalling pathway induces branched actin polymerisation, which protrudes the membrane and allows migration. Fine-tuning the activity of the Rac1-WAVE-Arp2/3 pathway modulates protrusion lifetime and migration persistence. Recently, NHSL1, a novel interactor of the Scar/WAVE complex has been identified as a negative regulator of cell migrationin vitro. We here analysed its functionin vivo,during zebrafish gastrulation, whennhsl1bis specifically expressed in migrating mesodermal cells. Loss and gain of function experiments revealed thatnhsl1bis required for the proper migration of the mesoderm, controlling cell speed and migration persistence. Nhsl1b localises to the tip of actin-rich protrusions where it controls protrusion dynamics, its loss of function reducing the length and lifetime of protrusions, whereas overexpression has the opposite effect. Within the protrusion, Nhsl1b knockdown increases F-actin assembly rate and retrograde flow. These results identify Nhsl1b as a cell type specific regulator of cell migration and highlight the importance of analysing the function of regulators of actin dynamics in physiological contexts.
POLG genotype influences degree of mitochondrial dysfunction in iPSC derived neural progenitors, but not the parent iPSC or derived glia
Authors: Hong Yu , Kristiansen Cecilie Katrin , Chen Anbin , Nido Gonzalo S. , Høyland Lena Elise , Ziegler Mathias , Sullivan Gareth John , Bindoff Laurence A. , Liang Kristina Xiao
Published: January 2023

Diseases caused byPOLGmutations are the most common form of mitochondrial disease and associated with phenotypes of varying severity. Clinical studies have shown that patients with compound heterozygousPOLGmutations have a lower survival rate than patients with homozygous mutations, but the molecular mechanisms behind this remain unexplored. Using an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) model, we investigate differences between homozygous and compound heterozygous genotypes in different cell types, including patient-specific fibroblasts, iPSCs, and iPSC-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) and astrocytes. We found that compound heterozygous lines exhibited greater impairment of mitochondrial function in NSCs than homozygous NSCs, but not in fibroblasts, iPSCs, or astrocytes. Compared with homozygous NSCs, compound heterozygous NSCs exhibited more severe functional defects, including reduced ATP production, loss of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and complex I expression, disturbance of NAD+metabolism, and higher ROS levels, which further led to cellular senescence and activation of mitophagy. RNA sequencing analysis revealed greater downregulation of mitochondrial and metabolic pathways, including the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, in compound heterozygous NSCs. Our iPSC-based disease model can be widely used to understand the genotype-phenotype relationship of affected brain cells in mitochondrial diseases, and further drug discovery applications.

Graphic Abstract
Therapy Development for Microvillus Inclusion Disease using Patient-derived Enteroids
Authors: Kalashyan Meri , Raghunathan Krishnan , Oller Haley , Theres Marie-Bayer , Jimenez Lissette , Roland Joseph T. , Kolobova Elena , Hagen Susan J , Goldsmith Jeffrey D. , Shub Mitchell D. , Goldenring James R. , Kaji Izumi , Thiagarajah Jay R.
Published: January 2023

Microvillus Inclusion Disease (MVID), caused by loss-of-function mutations in the motor protein Myosin Vb (MYO5B), is a severe infantile disease characterized by diarrhea, malabsorption, and acid-base instability, requiring intensive parenteral support for nutritional and fluid management. Human patient-derived enteroids represent a model for investigation of monogenic epithelial disorders but are a rare resource from MVID patients. We developed human enteroids with different loss-of function MYO5B variants and showed that they recapitulated the structural changes found in native MVID enterocytes. Multiplex Immunofluorescence imaging of patient duodenal tissues revealed patient-specific changes in localization of brush border transporters. Functional analysis of electrolyte transport revealed profound loss of Na+/H+exchange (NHE) activity in MVID patient enteroids with near-normal chloride secretion. The chloride channel-blocking anti-diarrheal drug, Crofelemer, dose-dependently inhibited agonist-mediated fluid secretion. MVID enteroids exhibited altered differentiation and maturation versus healthy enteroids. Inhibition of Notch signaling with the γ-secretase inhibitor, DAPT, recovered apical brush border structure and functional Na+/H+exchange activity in MVID enteroids. Transcriptomic analysis revealed potential pathways involved in the rescue of MVID cells including serum- and glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase 2 (SGK2), and NHE regulatory factor 3 (NHERF3). These results demonstrate the utility of patient-derived enteroids for developing therapeutic approaches to MVID.

Conflict-of-interest statement

The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.
Different time encoding strategies within the medial premotor areas of the primate
Authors: Merchant Hugo , Mendoza Germán , Pérez Oswaldo , Betancourt Abraham , Garcia-Saldivar Pamela , Prado Luis
Published: January 2023

The measurement of time in the subsecond scale is critical for many sophisticated behaviors, yet its neural underpinnings are largely unknown. Recent neurophysiological experiments from our laboratory have shown that the neural activity in the medial premotor areas (MPC) of macaques can represent different aspects of temporal processing. During interval categorization, we found that preSMA encodes a subjective category limit by reaching a peak of activity at a time that divides the set of test intervals into short and long. We also observed neural signals associated with the category selected by the subjects and the reward outcomes of the perceptual decision. On the other hand, we have studied the behavioral and neurophysiological basis of rhythmic timing. First, we have shown in different tapping tasks that macaques are able to produce predictively and accurately intervals that are cued by auditory or visual metronomes or when intervals are produced internally without sensory guidance. In addition, we found that the rhythmic timing mechanism in MPC is governed by different layers of neural clocks. Next, the instantaneous activity of single cells shows ramping activity that encode the elapsed or remaining time for a tapping movement. In addition, we found MPC neurons that build neural sequences, forming dynamic patterns of activation that flexibly cover all the produced interval depending on the tapping tempo. This rhythmic neural clock resets on every interval providing an internal representation of pulse. Furthermore, the MPC cells show mixed selectivity, encoding not only elapsed time, but also the tempo of the tapping and the serial order element in the rhythmic sequence. Hence, MPC can map different task parameters, including the passage of time, using different cell populations. Finally, the projection of the time varying activity of MPC hundreds of cells into a low dimensional state space showed circular neural trajectories whose geometry represent the internal pulse and the tapping tempo. Overall, these findings support the notion that MPC is part of the core timing mechanism for both single interval and rhythmic timing, using neural clocks with different encoding principles, probably to flexibly encode and mix the timing representation with other task parameters.
Remote-refocusing light-sheet fluorescence microscopy enables 3D imaging of electromechanical coupling of hiPSC-derived and adult cardiomyocytes in co-culture
Authors: Dvinskikh L , Sparks H , Brito L , MacLeod K , Harding SE , Dunsby C
Published: January 2023

Improving cardiac function through stem-cell regenerative therapy requires functional and structural integration of the transplanted cells with the host tissue. Visualizing the electromechanical interaction between native and graft cells necessitates 3D imaging with high spatio-temporal resolution and low phototoxicity. A custom light-sheet fluorescence microscope was used for volumetric imaging of calcium dynamics in co-cultures of adult rat left ventricle cardiomyocytes and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Aberration-free remote refocus of the detection plane synchronously to the scanning of the light sheet along the detection axis enabled fast dual-channel 3D imaging at subcellular resolution without mechanical sample disturbance at up to 8 Hz over a ∼300 µm × 40 µm × 50 µm volume. The two cell types were found to undergo electrically stimulated and spontaneous synchronized calcium transients and contraction. Electromechanical coupling was found to improve with co-culture duration, with 50% of adult-CM coupled after 24 hours of co-culture, compared to 19% after 4 hours (p = 0.0305). Immobilization with para-nitroblebbistatin did not prevent calcium transient synchronization, with 35% and 36% adult-CM coupled in control and treated samples respectively (p = 0.91), indicating that electrical coupling can be maintained independently of mechanotransduction.
Structural basis for reduced ribosomal A-site fidelity in response to P-site codon-anticodon mismatches
Authors: Nguyen Ha An , Hoffer Eric D. , Fagan Crystal E. , Maehigashi Tatsuya , Dunham Christine M.
Published: January 2023

Rapid and accurate translation is essential in all organisms to produce properly folded and functional proteins. mRNA codons that define the protein coding sequences are decoded by tRNAs on the ribosome in the aminoacyl (A) binding site. The mRNA codon and the tRNA anticodon interaction is extensively monitored by the ribosome to ensure accuracy in tRNA selection. While other polymerases that synthesize DNA and RNA can correct for misincorporations, the ribosome is unable to correct mistakes. Instead, when a misincorporation occurs, the mismatched tRNA-mRNA pair moves to the peptidyl (P) site and from this location, causes a reduction in the fidelity at the A site, triggering post-peptidyl transfer quality control. This reduced fidelity allows for additional incorrect tRNAs to be accepted and for release factor 2 (RF2) to recognize sense codons, leading to hydrolysis of the aberrant peptide. Here, we present crystal structures of the ribosome containing a tRNALysin the P site with a U•U mismatch with the mRNA codon. We find that when the mismatch occurs in the second position of the P-site codon-anticodon interaction, the first nucleotide of the A-site codon flips from the mRNA path to engage highly conserved 16S rRNA nucleotide A1493 in the decoding center. We propose that this mRNA nucleotide mispositioning leads to reduced fidelity at the A site. Further, this state may provide an opportunity for RF2 to initiate premature termination before erroneous nascent chains disrupt the cellular proteome.
In situ X-ray diffraction studies of deformation behavior of ferroelectric triglycine sulfate under uniaxial compression
Authors: Akkuratov Valentin , Kulikov Anton , Pisarevsky Yuri , Blagov Alexander , Kovalchuk Mikhail
Published: January 2023

A combination of high-resolution X-ray diffraction and X-ray diffraction topography was used for analysis and visualization of elastic strain in ferroelectric triglycine sulfate (TGS) single crystals under uniaxial compression. Diffraction peaks and topographs were obtained for both the 400 and 060 reflections of TGS in transmission geometry under gradually increased compression stress up to 3.5 MPa applied along the [100] and [010] crystallographic directions. All the diffraction data from the sample were obtained from the whole crystal volume with wide beam illumination. Analysis of diffraction patterns revealed a nonlinear increase in integral intensity versus stress and a linear increase in peak broadening versus stress for all compression measurement combinations. The topographs confirmed that the formation of uniform and non-uniform strain fields depended on the direction of crystal compression and its relationship with integral intensity. A twinning process was found for the in-plane reflection along the [100] direction. All the effects induced by compression were reversible after decompression of the sample. According to the results, a significant anisotropy of deformation processes depending on the crystallographic direction was observed, which can be explained by the proposed deformation mechanism with superposition of compression stress, the piezoelectric effect and ferroelectric domain evolution.
Psychosocial safety climate and psychological capital for positive customer behavioral intentions in service organizations
Authors: Siami Sahar , Gorji Mohammadbagher , Martin Angela
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to articulate a synergic-mediated model of positive service behaviors enabled by what could be called a “psychosocial resource caravan” for improved customer behavioral intentions to help service organizations especially during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a multi-level approach and is based on positive organizational behavior and occupational health and safety literature. An empirical study of synergic-mediated model of positive service behaviors has been developed and tested using a quantitative approach.

Findings

This paper offers a theoretical framework proposing that a psychosocially safe work environment (psychosocial safety climate (PSC)) interacts with employees' positive psychological capital (PsyCap) to facilitate positive service behaviors that influence customers' behavioral intentions. As PsyCap and PSC have origin, respectively, in different organizational levels, those both can combine and create a context for positive service encounters. The proposed model has been operationalized and then the reliability and validity of the constructs have been examined. A series of CFAs has been conducted and the fitness of the prosed model was compared to other possible models. The model showed a better fitness compared to the other plausible models. All hypotheses of the model were also significant.

Originality/value

The proposed model integrates positive organizational behavior and occupational health and safety literature to consider the conditions for positive service behaviors. High levels of PsyCap among team members and a psychosocially safe working environment, i.e. PSC can impact customers through positive service behaviors. The articulation of the proposed model presented in this paper invites future empirical research on the synergic nature of psychosocial resources. The paper also suggests some key points to operationalize “psychosocial resource caravan.”
A new concept for large additive manufacturing in construction: tower crane-based 3D printing controlled by deep reinforcement learning
Authors: Parisi Fabio , Sangiorgio Valentino , Parisi Nicola , Mangini Agostino M. , Fanti Maria Pia , Adam Jose M.
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Most of the 3D printing machines do not comply with the requirements of on-site, large-scale multi-story building construction. This paper aims to propose the conceptualization of a tower crane (TC)-based 3D printing controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) as the first step towards a large 3D printing development for multi-story buildings. It also aims to overcome the most important limitation of additive manufacturing in the construction industry (the build volume) by exploiting the most important machine used in the field: TCs. It assesses the technology feasibility by investigating the accuracy reached in the printing process.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is composed of three main steps: firstly, the TC-based 3D printing concept is defined by proposing an aero-pendulum extruder stabilized by propellers to control the trajectory during the extrusion process; secondly, an AI-based system is defined to control both the crane and the extruder toolpath by exploiting deep reinforcement learning (DRL) control approach; thirdly the proposed framework is validated by simulating the dynamical system and analysing its performance.

Findings

The TC-based 3D printer can be effectively used for additive manufacturing in the construction industry. Both the TC and its extruder can be properly controlled by an AI-based control system. The paper shows the effectiveness of the aero-pendulum extruder controlled by AI demonstrated by simulations and validation. The AI-based control system allows for reaching an acceptable tolerance with respect to the ideal trajectory compared with the system tolerance without stabilization.

Originality/value

In related literature, scientific investigations concerning the use of crane systems for 3D printing and AI-based systems for control are completely missing. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the proposed research demonstrates for the first time the effectiveness of this technology conceptualized and controlled with an intelligent DRL agent.

Practical implications

The results provide the first step towards the development of a new additive manufacturing system for multi-storey constructions exploiting the TC-based 3D printing. The demonstration of the conceptualization feasibility and the control system opens up new possibilities to activate experimental research for companies and research centres.
Business students' psychological capital and quality of university life: the moderating role of study crafting
Authors: Tho Nguyen Dinh
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This study takes its basis in job demands-resources (JD-R) and psychological resource theories to investigate the role of two personal factors – psychological capital (PsyCap) and study crafting – in the quality of university life of business students.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 806 undergraduate business students in Vietnam was surveyed to collect data. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to validate the measures and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the model and hypotheses.

Findings

The results produced by SEM demonstrated that students' PsyCap had a positive effect on quality of university life. In addition, study crafting positively moderated the relationship between students' PsyCap and quality of university life.

Practical implications

The study findings suggest that universities could complement higher performance standards of universities with efforts to enhance quality of university life by developing and nurturing students' PsyCap and study crafting, enabling students to rise to the challenge posed by higher standards.

Originality/value

The study findings contribute to the literature on business education by confirming the overarching role that PsyCap plays in the quality of university life of students. Further, the study introduces the concept of study crafting and demonstrates that study crafting alone and in combination with PsyCap may help business students enjoy a higher quality of university life.
Examining small bank failures in the United States: an application of the random effects parametric survival model
Authors: Foley Maggie , Cebula Richard J. , Downs John , Liu Xiaowei
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The purpose of the current study is to identify variables that, when integrated into the random effects parametric survival model, could be used to forecast the failure rate of small banks in the USA. A bank’s income production, efficiency and costs were taken into consideration when choosing the internal components. The breakout of the financial crisis, bank regulations that affect how the banking sector operates and the federal funds rate are the primary external variables.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the random effects parametric survival model to investigate the causes of small bank failures in the USA from 1996 to 2019. The study identifies several characteristics that failed banks frequently display. The main indications that may help to identify the elevated risk of small bank failures include the ROA, the cost of funds, the ratio of noninterest income to assets, the ratio of loan and lease losses to assets, noninterest expenses and core capital (leverage) ratio to assets. Economic disruptions, financial market distress and industry-based regulatory redress by the government exacerbate the financial distress borne by small banks.

Findings

The study revealed that a failed bank typically demonstrates a certain number of characteristics. The key factors that might assist identify which bank would be most likely to collapse include the cost of funding earning assets, the yield on earning assets, core Capital (leverage) ratio to assets, loan and lease loss provision to assets, noninterest expense and noninterest income to assets. Additionally, when a financial crisis occurs or the government changes regulations that could raise the cost of compliance for small banks, the likelihood that a bank will fail increases.

Originality/value

Models based on survival theories are more suitable when the authors examine bank failure as a unique event that happens gradually. The authors use a random effects parametric survival model to investigate the internal and external factors that may influence prospective small bank failure. This model has been developed and used in the medicinal research field. The authors do not choose the Cox proportional hazards model because it does not work well with panel data.
The role of market-based transformative service initiatives in service inclusion of refugees
Authors: Eslami Hossein , Kabadayi Sertan , Kozah Alcheikh Edmond
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to empirically investigate the role of market-based transformative service initiatives (TSIs) during the refugee crisis and shed light on how such TSIs increase inclusion of refugees in service systems by using market forces while creating broader benefits for service organizations themselves.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the case of the World Food Program’s (WFP) Dalili smartphone application targeting Syrian refugees in the context of Lebanon. A mixed-methods approach, including in-depth interviews with the retail managers of the local supermarkets and statistical cross- and intra-regional analysis on the retailing mix elements of the local supermarkets was adopted for the empirical investigation.

Findings

The results show that the WFP’s Dalili TSI increases service inclusion of refugees by facilitating their access to the essential food services easier and at affordable prices and helps them integrate into the host community. Furthermore, such market-based TSIs were shown to have broader benefits for other stakeholders in the food retail ecosystem including retailers and nonrefugee shoppers as they are successful in improving the retailing management standards of the participating supermarkets by decreasing the average retail price of the merchandise, increasing their variety and assortment, increasing promotional offers and improving the customer service level.

Research limitations/implications

This research fills the gap in the literature for empirical investigation on the impact mechanism of market-based TSIs on service inclusion and well-being of refugees. In contrast to the majority of TSIs studied in the literature that are designed by governments or nonprofit organizations in the areas such as higher education, health care and humanitarian aids, this study focuses on the case of TSIs developed by supranational organizations using market forces in the food retail ecosystem. Furthermore, the findings suggest that TSIs could also benefit the service organizations that offer such initiatives.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper have implications for service organizations and policymakers and their ability to design effective market-based TSIs during the refugee crisis.

Originality/value

The studied case in the context of TSIs in the food retail ecosystem and the empirical approach used are academically novel. Moreover, focusing on the refugee crisis in the Middle East region is rather understudied in the service research literature.
The impact of impression construction consumption on social identity: a study on Chinese female professionals
Authors: Wang Dan , Song Sigen , Chan Fanny Fong Yee , Feng Linyan
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Expenditures on beauty, fitness and body shaping by females have increased significantly in recent years. Most previous studies examined this from the psychological perspective of self-acceptance and self-liking. However, this phenomenon may also have social implications. This study aims to provide a profound understanding of the social environment for female professionals as well as actionable insights for the government and social institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

A research model was developed based on impression management and social identity theories incorporating impression management motives, impression construction consumption and social identity. A survey study of 419 Chinese female professionals was conducted to test the research model.

Findings

This study surveyed 419 Chinese female professionals and found that impression management motives significantly drove female professionals to spend on their faces and bodies for impression construction, which in turn contributed to the enhancement of their social identities in three dimensions: relational identity, public identity and collective identity.

Originality/value

In a male-dominated society, it has become a norm that females should be cautious about their facial appearance and body shape. Females are often forced to consume to attain physical attractiveness and to construct a favorable social image. This study shows that consumption for impression construction has become a frequently used strategy for impression management and identifies key areas of societal concern.
The role of blockchain-enabled supply chain applications in improving supply chain performance: the case of Jordanian manufacturing sector
Authors: Jum’a Luay
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Blockchain technology has the potential to enhance information and knowledge management among members of the supply chain. This study aims to demonstrate the direct and indirect impact of blockchain adoption on achieving supply chain competitive advantage and improving innovation capabilities to achieve greater supply chain performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study opted for a quantitative research approach. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 284 respondents from various Jordanian manufacturing firms. Smart PLS software was used to conduct structural equation modelling to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The analysis revealed that investing in and using blockchain-enabled supply chain applications improves the ability to achieve higher levels of productivity, lead times, customer service and relationships with supply chain members. Moreover, blockchain technology integration with supply chain management processes has a positive impact on innovative activities that support supply chain operations. Finally, blockchain adoption has enhanced supply chain performance by reducing transaction costs, improving customer service and increasing the speed of supply chain operations.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides guidance for decision-makers and academicians on the use of blockchain adoption to improve supply chain performance. Future studies should use a larger sample size and random sampling techniques to achieve better generalizability of the results.

Originality/value

The study fulfils an identified gap in the application of blockchain technology to improving supply chain performance within a broader context that encompasses supply chain innovation capabilities and competitive advantage.
Using the draw and tell method with adolescents as part of an interpretive descriptive study
Authors: Goodwin John , Savage Eileen , O'Donovan Aine
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Significant advances have been made in using applied methodological approaches. These approaches facilitate critical and creative ways to generate new knowledge, encouraging researchers to explore novel research questions which could not be sufficiently addressed using traditional “branded” methodologies. It is important that, in addition to design, researchers consider the most appropriate methods to collect data. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of the draw and tell method in the context of an interpretive descriptive study.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the challenges associated with eliciting responses from adolescent populations, in addition to the use of a semi-structured interview guide, the authors encouraged adolescent participants to produce drawings as part of an interpretive descriptive study.

Findings

Despite the fact that drawings are seldom used with adolescents during research interviews, the authors found this method promoted conversation and facilitated deep exploration into adolescents' perspectives.

Originality/value

The authors argue that this creative approach to data collection should be embraced by researchers engaging in applied methodological research, particularly with participants who may be challenging to engage. Drawings, although seldom used with adolescent research participants, can stimulate engagement and facilitate conversations.
Knowledge sharing to learn from error: a case study in a professional service triad
Authors: Natarajan Rajaram , Kumar J. Ajith
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Knowledge sharing (KS) helps employees learn from errors, but not much research has highlighted how sharing practices develop and take place in networked organizations. This study aims to explore how the professionals in a service triad develop and execute KS practices to learn from error.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach was adopted that focused on professionals working in a US-based company that was part of a health insurance service triad. The organization (“CaseCo”) processed the insurance claims filed by hospitals and doctors. The authors gathered qualitative data by conducting nine focus group discussions (FGDs) among CaseCo’s professionals. The FGDs involved a total of 51 professionals (17 women and 34 men) working in three centres of CaseCo in India.

Findings

The analyses revealed that error-related knowledge sharing (ERKS) practices emerge in a professional service triad (PST) through a culture of situated learning. They occur in ways that involves the use of repositories on the one hand, and connections between individuals on the other, both within and across the PST’s organizations. Such practices represent a dynamic system of knowledge stocks and flows in the PST.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that brings to the fore how ERKS practices develop and are executed in a professional organization in a triadic network structure.
Coordination of hydraulic and morphological traits across dominant grasses in eastern Australia
Authors: Griffin‐Nolan Robert J. , Chieppa Jeff , Knapp Alan K. , Nielsen Uffe N. , Tissue David T.
Published: January 2023

Leaf hydraulic traits characterize plant drought tolerance and responses to climate change. Yet, plant hydraulics are biased towards northern hemisphere woody species. We collected rhizomes of several perennial grass species along a precipitation gradient in eastern Australia and grew them in an experimental pot study to investigate potential trade‐offs between drought tolerance and plant morphology.

We measured the following leaf hydraulic traits: the leaf water potential (Ψleaf) at 50% and 88% loss of leaf hydraulic conductance (P50Kleaf and P88Kleaf), the Ψleaf at 50% loss of stomatal conductance (P50gs), leaf turgor loss point (TLP), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf modulus of elasticity (ε), and the slope of the relationship between predawn and midday Ψleaf. We also measured basal area, tiller density, seed head density, root collar diameter, plant height, and aboveground biomass of each individual.

As expected, grass species varied widely in leaf‐level drought tolerance, with loss of 88% hydraulic conductance occurring at a Ψleaf ranging from −1.52 to −4.01 MPa. However, all but one species lost leaf turgor, and most reached P50gs before this critical threshold. Taller more productive grass species tended to have drought vulnerable leaves characterized by low LDMC and less negative P88Kleaf. Species with greater tiller production experienced stomatal closure and lost turgor at more negative Ψleaf. Although our sample size was limited, we found no relationships between these species' traits and their climate of origin.

Overall, we identified important hydraulic and morphological trade‐offs in Australian grasses that were surprisingly similar to those observed for woody plants: (1) xylem of taller species was less drought tolerant and (2) turgor loss occurs and stomatal closure begins before significant loss of Kleaf. These data build upon a small yet growing field of grass hydraulics and may be informative of species responses to further drought intensification in Australia.

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