bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urine lipoarabinomannan concentrations among HIV-uninfected adults with pulmonary or extrapulmonary tuberculosis disease in Vietnam
Authors: Hoa Nguyen B. , Fajans Mark , Nguyen Van Hung , Vu Ngoc Bao , Nguyen Viet Nhung , Nguyen Thi Hoa , Thi Huong Lien Tran , Tran Minh Dung , Nguyen Kim Cuong , Thi Tuyet Trinh Ha , Huu Tri Nguyen , Ngoc Diep Bui , Viet Hai Nguyen , Khanh An Tran , Lillis Lorraine , Perez Marcos , Thomas Katherine K. , Peck Roger B. , Cantera Jason L. , Murphy Eileen , Halas Olivia R. , Storey Helen L. , Pinter Abraham , Ruhwald Morten , Drain Paul K. , Boyle David S.
Published: July 2023

Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a Mycobacterial cell wall glycolipid excreted in urine, and a target biomarker of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for tuberculosis (TB) disease. Urine LAM (uLAM) testing by RDT has been approved for people living with HIV, but there is limited data regarding uLAM levels in HIV-negative adults with TB disease. We conducted a clinical study of adults presenting with TB-related symptoms at the National Lung Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. The uLAM concentrations were measured using electrochemiluminescent immunoassays and compared to a microbiological reference standard (MRS) of sputum, GeneXpert Ultra and TB culture. Additional microbiological testing was conducted for possible extrapulmonary TB, when clinically indicated. Among 745 participants enrolled, 335 (44.9 %) participants recruited from the pulmonary TB wards (PR-PTBW) and 6 (11.3%) participants recruited from the EPTB wards (PR-EPTBW) had confirmed TB disease. The MRS positive cohort measured median uLAM concentration for S4-20/A194-01 (S/A) were 14.5 pg/mL and 51.5 pg/mL, respectively. The FIND28/A194-01 (F/A) antibody pair overall and TB-positive cohort measured mean uLAM was 44.4 pg/mL and 78.1 pg/mL, respectively. Overall, the S/A antibody pair had a sensitivity of 39% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.33, 0.44) and specificity of 97% (95% CI 0.96, 0.99) against the MRS. The F/A antibody pair had a sensitivity of 41% (95% CI 0.35, 0.47) and specificity of 79% (95% CI 0.75, 0.84). The areas under the receiver operating curves were 0.748 for S/A and 0.629 for F/A. There was little difference between the S/A median uLAM concentration with pulmonary (55 pg/mL) and extrapulmonary (36 pg/mL) TB disease. With F/A the medians for pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB disease were 79% and 76.5% respectively. Among HIV-negative adults in Vietnam, concentrations of uLAM remained relatively low for people with TB disease, which may present challenges for developing a more sensitive rapid uLAM test.
Arabidopsis Transcription Factor WRKY45 Confers Cadmium Tolerance via ActivatingPCS1andPCS2Expression
Authors: Li Fangjian , Deng Yaru , Liu Yan , Mai Cuishan , Xu Yun , Wu Jiarui , Zheng Xinni , Liang Cuiyue , Wang Jinxiang
Published: July 2023

Cadmium (Cd) has long been recognized as toxic pollutant to crops worldwide. The biosynthesis of glutathione-dependent phytochelatin plays crucial roles in the detoxification of Cd in plants. However, its regulatory mechanism remains elusive. Here, we revealed that Arabidopsis transcription factor WRKY45 confers Cd tolerance via promoting the expression of PC synthesis-related genes PCS1 and PCS2, respectively. Firstly, we found that Cd stress induces the transcript levels of WRKY45 and its protein abundance. Accordingly, in contrast to wild type Col-0, the increased sensitivity to Cd is observed inwrky45mutant, while overexpressing WRKY45 plants are more tolerant to Cd. Secondly, quantitative real-time PCR revealed that the expression of AtPCS1 and AtPCS2 is stimulated in overexpressing WRKY45 plants, but decreased in wrky45 mutant. Thirdly, WRKY45 promotes the expression of PCS1 and PCS2, electrophoresis mobility shift assay analysis uncovered that WRKY45 directly bind to the W-box cis-element of PCS2 promoter. Lastly, the overexpression of WRKY45 in Col-0 leads to more accumulation of PCs in Arabidopsis, and the overexpression of PCS1 or PCS2 inwrky45mutant plants rescues the phenotypes induced by Cd stress. In conclusion, our results show that AtWRKY45 positively regulate Cd tolerance in Arabidopsis via activating PCS1 and PCS2 expression.

Environmental implication

Accumulation of cadmium (Cd) in soils poses a threat to crop productivity and food safety. It has been revealed that phytochelatin (PC) plays an essential role in plants to alleviate Cd toxicity, yet the regulatory mechanisms governing its expression remain unclear. We have demonstrated that the Arabidopsis transcription factorWRKY45directly activates the expression ofPCS1andPCS2, which encode PC synthase, thereby increasing the content of PC and enhancing Arabidopsis tolerance to Cd stress. These findings offer insights into precise regulation strategies for crop Cd tolerance via modulation ofWRKY45homologue in crops.
Host-microbiota interactions contributing to the heterogeneous tumor microenvironment in colorectal cancer
Authors: Li Xiaoyi , Wu Dingfeng , Li Qiuyu , Gu Jinglan , Gao Wenxing , Zhu Xinyue , Yin Wenjing , Zhu Ruixin , Zhu Lixin , Jiao Na
Published: July 2023

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly heterogeneous cancer with four consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs) characterized by distinct tumor microenvironment (TME). We aimed to depict the characteristics of host-microbiota interactions and their contributions to TME in each CMS.

Methods

Host transcriptome and intratumoral microbiome profiles of 594 CRC samples were derived from RNA-Seq data from TCGA. Differential host genes and microbes among CMSs were identified. Immune microenvironments were assessed by CIBERSORTx and ESTIMATE and microbial co-abundance analyses were performed by FastSpar. Host-microbiota associations were evaluated by LASSO penalized regression in each CMS.

Results

Along with distinct host gene signatures, including ferroptosis-related genes and immune microenvironments, 293, 153, 66 and 109 intratumoral differential microbial genera were identified within each of the four CMSs, respectively. Furthermore, the host-microbiota interactions contributed to distinct TME in each CMS, represented by 829, 1,270, 634 and 1,882 robust gene-microbe associations, respectively. The TME in CMS1 was featured with inflammation-related HSF1 activation and interactions between genes of endothelin pathway andFlammeovirga. Integrins-related genes positively correlated withSutterellain CMS2 while CMS3 displayed microbial associations with biosynthetic and metabolic pathways. Genes in collagens biosynthesis positively correlated withSutterella, contributing to homeostasis disturbance in CMS4. Besides, ferroptosis dysregulation was more remarkable in immune-high subtypes, which might partly result from the colonization of tissue microbes.

Conclusions

We systematically profiled the landscapes of TME, of each CMS in CRC, encompassing host genes, intratumoral microbiome and their interactions, which could illuminate novel mechanisms for the heterogeneity in CRC and potential therapeutic targets.
Re-awakening the brain: Forcing transitions in disorders of consciousness by externalin silicoperturbation
Authors: Dagnino Paulina Clara , Escrichs Anira , López-González Ane , Gosseries Olivia , Annen Jitka , Perl Yonatan Sanz , Kringelbach Morten L. , Laureys Steven , Deco Gustavo
Published: July 2023

A fundamental challenge in neuroscience is accurately defining brain states and predicting how and where to perturb the brain to force a transition. The ability to promote a transition from one brain state to another by externally driven stimulation could significantly impact rehabilitation and treatments for patients suffering from complex brain injury cases. Thus, it is crucial to find therapeutic interventions able to re-balance the dynamics of brain disorders towards more healthy regimes. Here, we investigated resting-state fMRI data of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness (DoC) after coma (minimally conscious and unresponsive wakefulness states) and healthy controls. We applied model-free and model-based approaches to help elucidate the underlying brain mechanisms of patients with DoC. The model-free approach allowed us to characterize brain states in DoC and healthy controls as a probabilistic metastable substate (PMS) space. The PMS of each group was characterized by a repertoire of unique patterns (i.e., metastable substates) with different probabilities of occurrence. In the model-based approach, we adjusted the PMS of each DoC group to a causal whole-brain model. This allowed us to explore optimal strategies for promoting a transition to the PMS of the control group by applying off-linein silicoprobing. Furthermore, this approach enabled us to evaluate the impact of all possible local perturbations in terms of their global effects and sensitivity to stimulation, which is a biomarker providing a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying DoC. Our results show that transitions from DoC to more healthy regimes were obtained in a synchronous protocol, in which areas from the motor and subcortical networks were the most sensitive to perturbation. This motivates further work to continue understanding brain function and treatments of disorders of consciousness by external stimulation.

Author summary

We studied disorders of consciousness by defining a brain state as a repertoire of metastable substates with different probabilities of occurrence. We created whole-brain computational models of DoC to uncover the causal mechanisms underlying recovery. These models allowed us to transition from DoC to a control healthy state by studying the effects of artificial individual local perturbations under different protocol regimes. We demonstrated successful transitions in the synchronization protocol and showed that the most sensitive areas were located in the motor network and subcortical regions. We believe this could be very valuable for developing clinical treatments and has a great deal for future therapies.
High-resolution profiling of bacterial and fungal communities using pangenome-informed taxon-specific long-read amplicons
Authors: Stalder Luzia , Maurhofer Monika , Croll Daniel
Published: July 2023

High-throughput sequencing technologies have greatly advanced our understanding of microbiomes, but resolving microbial communities at species and strain levels remains challenging. Here, we developed and validated a pipeline for designing, multiplexing, and sequencing highly polymorphic taxon-specific long-read amplicons. We focused on the wheat microbiome as a proof-of-principle and demonstrate unprecedented resolution for the wheat-associatedPseudomonasmicrobiome and the ubiquitous fungal pathogenZymoseptoria tritici. We achieved an order of magnitude higher phylogenetic resolution compared to existing ribosomal amplicons. The designed amplicons accurately capture species and strain diversity outperforming full-length 16S and ITS amplicons. Furthermore, we tracked microbial communities in the wheat phyllosphere across time and space to establish fine-grained species and strain-specific dynamics. To expand the utility of our approach, we generated pangenome-informed amplicon templates for additional key bacterial and fungal genera. Pangenome-informed microbiome profiling enables the tracking of microbial community dynamics in complex environments and overcomes limitations in phylogenetic resolution.
Contrasting Patterns of Pierce’s Disease Risk in European Vineyards Under Global Warming
Authors: Giménez-Romero Àlex , Iturbide Maialen , Moralejo Eduardo , Gutiérrez José M. , Matías Manuel A.
Published: July 2023

Pierce’s Disease (PD) is a vector-borne disease caused by the bacteriumXylella fastidiosa, which poses a significant threat to grapevines worldwide. Despite its importance, the risk of future PD establishment in Europe remains unclear due to previous incomplete methodologies followed by conflicting results. Here we present a comprehensive approach considering the compound effect of climate change on the pathosystem. Within the general trend of progressively increasing PD risk, we identified the +3ºC scenario as a turning point for potential spreading beyond Mediterranean regions, representing a serious risk for French and Italian viticulture. Our innovative methodology reveals PD risk as a multi-factor multi-scale process, showing contrasting spatial patterns and different risk velocities across regions, as well as a high timing uncertainty. By overcoming previous limitations, our findings contribute to a better understanding of the potential spread of PD in Europe, supporting informed decision-making for disease management and prevention.
Proteasomal cleavage prediction: state-of-the-art and future directions
Authors: Ziegler Ingo , Ma Bolei , Bischl Bernd , Dorigatti Emilio , Schubert Benjamin
Published: July 2023

Epitope vaccines are a promising approach for precision treatment of pathogens, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and allergies. Effectively designing such vaccines requires accurate proteasomal cleavage prediction to ensure that the epitopes included in the vaccine trigger an immune response. The performance of proteasomal cleavage predictors has been steadily improving over the past decades owing to increasing data availability and methodological advances. In this review, we summarize the current proteasomal cleavage prediction landscape and, in light of recent progress in the field of deep learning, develop and compare a wide range of recent architectures and techniques, including long short-term memory (LSTM), transformers, and convolutional neural networks (CNN), as well as four different denoising techniques. All open-source cleavage predictors re-trained on our dataset performed within two AUC percentage points. Our comprehensive deep learning architecture benchmark improved performance by 1.7 AUC percentage points, while closed-source predictors performed considerably worse. We found that a wide range of architectures and training regimes all result in very similar performance, suggesting that the specific modeling approach employed has a limited impact on predictive performance compared to the specifics of the dataset employed. We speculate that the noise and implicit nature of data acquisition techniques used for training proteasomal cleavage prediction models and the complexity of biological processes of the antigen processing pathway are the major limiting factors. While biological complexity can be tackled by more data and, to a lesser extent, better models, noise and randomness inherently limit the maximum achievable predictive performance. All our datasets and experiments are available athttps://github.com/ziegler-ingo/cleavage_benchmark.
A Systematic Identification of RBPs Driving Aberrant Splicing in Cancer
Authors: Gimeno Marian , Lobato-Fernández César , Martín Ane San , Anorbe Ana , Rubio Angel , Ferrer-Bonsoms Juan A.
Published: July 2023

Alternative Splicing (AS) is a post-transcriptional process by which a single RNA can lead to different mRNA and, in some cases, several proteins. Various processes (probably many of them yet to be discovered) are involved in the regulation of alternative splicing. This work focuses on the regulation by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). In addition to splicing regulation, these proteins are related to cancer prognosis and are emerging therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. CLIP-seq experiments target selected RBPs and result in uncovering the loci of the nascent transcriptome to where the RBP binds to. The presence of changes in the splicing status surrounding these loci is a good starting point to establishing a causal relationship. The selection of the specific RBP(s) to target in the CLIP-seq experiment is not straightforward; in many cases, this selection is driven byapriorihypotheses.

In this work, we have developed an algorithm to detect RBPs that are likely related to the splicing changes between conditions. To do this we have integrated several databases of CLIP-seq experiments with an algorithm that detects differential splicing events to discover RBPs that are especially enriched in these events. This is a follow-up of a previous work that is refined by 1) improving the algorithm to predict the splicing events and 2) testing different enrichment statistics, and 3) performing additional validation experiments. As a result, the new method provides more accurate predictions, and it is also included in the Bioconductor package EventPointer.

We tested the algorithm in four different experiments where seven different RBPs were knocked down. The algorithm accurately states the statistical significance of these RBPs using only the alterations in splicing. We also applied the algorithm to study sixteen cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We found relationships between RBPs and several cancer types likeCREBBPandMBNL2alterations in adenocarcinomas of the lung, liver, prostate, rectum, stomach, and colon cancer. Some of these relationships have been validated in the literature but other ones are novel.

Availability

This method is integrated EventPointer, an available Bioconductor R package.
SynLight: a dicistronic strategy for simultaneous active zone and cell labeling in theDrosophilanervous system
Authors: Aimino Michael A. , Humenik Jesse , Parisi Michael J. , Duhart Juan Carlos , Mosca Timothy J.
Published: July 2023

At synapses, chemical neurotransmission mediates the exchange of information between neurons, leading to complex movement behaviors and stimulus processing. The immense number and variety of neurons within the nervous system makes discerning individual neuron populations difficult, necessitating the development of advanced neuronal labeling techniques. InDrosophila, Bruchpilot-Short and mCD8-GFP, which label presynaptic active zones and neuronal membranes, respectively, have been widely used to study synapse development and organization. This labeling is often achieved via expression of two independent constructs by a single binary expression system, but expression can weaken when multiple transgenes are expressed by a single driver. Ensuring adequate expression of each transgene is essential to enable more complex experiments; as such, work has sought to circumvent these drawbacks by developing methods that encode multiple proteins from a single transcript. Self-cleaving peptides, specifically 2A peptides, have emerged as effective sequences for accomplishing this task. We leveraged 2A ribosomal skipping peptides to engineer a construct that produces both Bruchpilot-Short and mCD8-GFP from the same mRNA, which we named SynLight. Using SynLight, we visualized the putative synaptic active zones and membranes of multiple classes of olfactory, visual, and motor neurons and observed correct separation of signal, confirming that both proteins are being generated separately. Furthermore, we demonstrate proof-of-principle by quantifying synaptic puncta number and neurite volume in olfactory neurons and finding no difference between the synapse densities of neurons expressing SynLight or neurons expressing both transgenes separately. At the neuromuscular junction, we determined that synaptic puncta number labeled by SynLight was comparable to endogenous puncta labeled by antibody staining. Overall, SynLight is a versatile tool for examining synapse density in any nervous system region of interest and allows new questions to be answered about synaptic development and organization.
Apis melliferafilamentous virus from a honey bee gut microbiome survey in Hungary
Authors: Papp Márton , Tóth Adrienn Gréta , Békési László , Farkas Róbert , Makrai László , Maróti Gergely , Solymosi Norbert
Published: July 2023

In Hungary, as part of a nationwide, climatically balanced survey for a next-generation sequencing-based study of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) gut microbiome, repeated sampling was carried out during the honey production season (March and May 2019). Among other findings, the presence ofApis melliferafilamentous virus (AmFV) was detected in all samples, some at very high levels. AmFV-derived reads were more abundant in the March samples than in the May samples. In March, a higher abundance of AmFV-originated reads was identified in samples collected from warmer areas compared to those collected from cooler areas. A lower proportion of AmFV-derived reads were identified in samples collected in March from the wetter areas than those collected from the drier areas. AmFV-read abundance in samples collected in May showed no significant differences between groups based on either environmental temperature or precipitation. The AmFV abundance correlated negatively withBartonella apihabitans, Bartonella choladocola, and positively withFrischella perrara, Gilliamella apicola, Gilliamellasp. ESL0443,Lactobacillus apis, Lactobacillus kullabergensis, Lactobacillussp. IBH004. De novo metagenome assembly of four samples resulted in almost the complete AmFV genome. According to phylogenetic analysis based on DNA polymerase, the Hungarian strains are closest to the strain CH-05 isolated in Switzerland.
Enzymatic metabolon improves kinetic efficiency of reaction-limited enzyme pathways
Authors: Ranganathan Srivastav , Liu Junlang , Shakhnovich Eugene
Published: July 2023

In this work we investigate how spatial proximity of enzymes belonging to the same pathway (metabolon) affects metabolic flux. Using off-lattice Langevin Dynamics (LD) simulations in tandem with a stochastic reaction-diffusion protocol and a semi-analytical reaction-diffusion model, we systematically explored how strength of protein-protein interactions, catalytic efficiency and protein-ligand interactions affect metabolic flux through the metabolon. Formation of a metabolon leads to a greater speed up for longer pathways and especially for reaction-limited enzymes while for fully optimized diffusion-limited enzymes the effect is negligible. Notably, specific cluster architectures are not a prerequisite for enhancing reaction flux. Simulations uncover the crucial role of optimal non-specific protein-ligand interactions in enhancing catalytic efficiency of a metabolon. Our theory implies and bioinformatics analysis confirms that longer catalytic pathways are enriched in less optimal enzymes while most diffusion-limited enzymes populate shorter pathways. Our findings point towards a plausible evolutionary strategy where enzymes compensate for less-than-optimal efficiency by increasing their local concentration in the clustered state.
Tepsin binds LC3B to promote ATG9A export and delivery at the cell periphery
Authors: Wallace Natalie S. , Gadbery John E. , Cohen Cameron I. , Kendall Amy K. , Jackson Lauren P.
Published: July 2023

Tepsin is an established accessory protein found in Adaptor Protein 4 (AP-4) coated vesicles, but the biological role of tepsin remains unknown. AP-4 vesicles originate at thetrans-Golgi network (TGN) and target the delivery of ATG9A, a scramblase required for autophagosome biogenesis, to the cell periphery. Usingin silicomethods, we identified a putativeLC3-InteractingRegion (LIR) motif in tepsin. Biochemical experiments using purified recombinant proteins indicate tepsin directly binds LC3B, but not other members, of the mammalian ATG8 family. Calorimetry and structural modeling data indicate this interaction occurs with micromolar affinity using the established LC3B LIR docking site. Loss of tepsin in cultured cells dysregulates ATG9A export from the TGN as well as ATG9A distribution at the cell periphery. Tepsin depletion in a mRFP-GFP-LC3B HeLa reporter cell line using siRNA knockdown increases autophagosome volume and number, but does not appear to affect flux through the autophagic pathway. Re-introduction of wild-type tepsin partially rescues ATG9A cargo trafficking defects. In contrast, re-introducing tepsin with a mutated LIR motif or missing N-terminus does not fully rescue altered ATG9A subcellular distribution. Together, these data suggest roles for tepsin in cargo export from the TGN; delivery of ATG9A-positive vesicles at the cell periphery; and in overall maintenance of autophagosome structure.
Unraveling the palindromic and nonpalindromic motifs of retroviral integration site sequences by statistical mixture models
Authors: Miklík Dalibor , Grim Jiří , Elleder Daniel , Hejnar Jiří
Published: July 2023

A weak palindromic nucleotide motif is the hallmark of retroviral integration site alignments. Given that the majority of target sequences are not palindromic, the current model explains the symmetry by an overlap of the nonpalindromic motif present on one of the half-sites of the sequences. Here, we show that the implementation of multicomponent mixture models allows for different interpretations consistent with the existence of both palindromic and nonpalindromic submotifs in the sets of integration site sequences. We further show that the weak palindromic motifs result from freely combined site-specific submotifs restricted to only a few positions proximal to the site of integration. The submotifs are formed by either palindrome-forming nucleotide preference or nucleotide exclusion. Using the mixture models, we also identify HIV-1-favored palindromic sequences inAlurepeats serving as local hotspots for integration. The application of the novel statistical approach provides deeper insight into the selection of retroviral integration sites and may prove to be a valuable tool in the analysis of any type of DNA motifs.
Consumer self-construal modulates the relevance of E-tail socialness
Authors: Aljukhadar Muhammad , Senecal Sylvain
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The growth in social content such as video facilitates consumer exposure to social information at e-tail settings. Research has recommended enhancing the e-store socialness. Focusing on focal consumer outcomes (flow and purchase intentions), the current research delineates a boundary condition, proposing that e-tail socialness improves outcomes when the consumer interdependent self, rather than the independent self, is activated.

Design/methodology/approach

The experimental approach is employed to test the research thesis. Two experiments (N1 = 303 Females 42.4%; N2 = 387 Females 51.4%) that used different manipulation for socialness and sample frames (USA and Canadian) are performed. Analysis of variance was applied.

Findings

The results generally support the research thesis, suggesting that e-tail socialness enhances consumer flow and purchase intentions when the interdependent self is activated. The effect, however, is marginal for segments with high brand preference.

Practical implications

As more information increase overload and reduce decision quality, e-tail practitioners should focus on providing social information predominately for consumers whose interdependent self is activated. This recommendation is particularly relevant for segments with low brand preference.

Originality/value

So far, studies recommend enhancing the e-store socialness, or increasing the social volume, to achieve better outcomes. Such research stream is giving rise to the “social is better in e-tail” conventional wisdom. The current work contributes by delineating a boundary condition based on consumer self-construal. This work suggests that the use of online socialness is fruitful predominantly for interdependent consumers.
Correlation of microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of granular materials based on a rolling resistance linear model
Authors: Wang Yiwei , Liu Run , Sun Ruohan , Xu Zewei
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The paper aims to find the correlation between the microparameters and the macroparameters of the soil. The study aims to calibrate the macroscale and microscale parameters of rolling resistance contact models to successfully apply the discrete element method to do some research of the geotechnical problem.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper opted for an exploratory study using the PFC3D to simulate the triaxial tests that include more than 50 cases and the coupling analysis method, which considering several effect of various factors.

Findings

The paper provides a quantitative relationship between the macroparameters and microparameters of the rolling resistance linear model and a method for fast calibration of macroscopic parameters is proposed and verified by a triaxial test example.

Originality/value

This paper provides the quantitative relationship of micro and macroparameters in the rolling resistance linear model by studying a single factor and considering the coupling effect of various factors and a fast method for the calibration of microparameters based on the rolling resistance linear model is proposed.
Tracking the literature on strategic alliances in the biotechnology industry: insights from a bibliometric approach over the last 30 years
Authors: Carvajal-Camperos Marisol , Almodóvar Paloma
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify papers that have produced the most significant impact on research on strategic alliances in the biotechnology industry. The authors attempt to illustrate the thematic evolution of its intellectual structure through 616 papers published between 1992 and 2021.

Design/methodology/approach

The present research methodology relies on three distinct techniques, implemented using SciMat software: (1) bibliometric techniques, (2) scientific map analysis and (3) content analysis of research documents from the Web of Science (WoS). In this manner, the authors analyse the intellectual structure of the field of strategic alliances in the biotechnology industry, tracking its evolution over a period of three decades.

Findings

The study emphasises the relevance of “innovation” as a key theme and identifies several potential areas for future research, which could serve as a foundation for further investigations.

Originality/value

This study represents a novel contribution to the literature as it is the first to use the SciMat tool to analyse strategic alliances in the biotechnology industry. This research reveals that while strategic alliances have been assessed extensively across various industries, some topics, such as the types and formation of alliances, have not been specifically studied in the biotechnology industry. These areas as well as the barriers and variables influencing the formation of alliances offer promising avenues for future research in this field.
Natural convection and entropy generation in a trapezoidal region with hybrid nanoliquid under magnetic field
Authors: Roşca Alin V. , Roşca Natalia C. , Pop Ioan , Sheremet Mikhail A.
Published: July 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to study numerically the steady natural convective heat transfer of a hybrid nanosuspension (Ag-MgO/H2O) within a partially heated/cooled trapezoidal region with linear temperature profiles at inclined walls under an effect of uniform Lorentz force. This investigation is useful for researchers studying in the area of cavity flows to know features of the flow structures and nature of hybrid nanofluid characteristics. In addition, a detailed entropy generation analysis has been performed to highlight possible regimes with minimal entropy generation rates.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing equations formulated using the Oberbeck–Boussinesq approach and single-phase nanoliquid model are transformed to a non-dimensional form by using non-dimensional variables. The obtained equations with appropriate boundary conditions are resolved by the finite difference technique. The developed code has been validated comprehensively. Analysis has been performed for a wide range of governing parameters, including Rayleigh number (Ra = 105), Prandtl number (Pr = 6.82), Hartmann number (Ha = 0–100), magnetic field inclination angle (φ = 0–?/2) and nanoparticles volume fraction (φhnf = 0 and 2%).

Findings

It has been shown that inclined magnetic field can be used to manage the energy transport performance. An inclusion of nanoparticles without Lorentz force influence allows forming more stable convective regime with descending heat plume in the central zone, while such a regime was performed for clear fluid only for moderate and high Hartmann numbers. Moreover, the average overall entropy generation can be decreased with a growth of the Hartmann number, while an addition of hybrid nanoparticles allows reducing this parameter for Ha = 30 and 50. The average Nusselt number can be increased with a growth of the nanoparticles concentration for low values of the magnetic field intensity.

Originality/value

Governing equations written using the conservation laws and dimensionless non-primitive variables have been resolved by the finite difference approach. The created numerical code has been verified by applying the grid independence test and computational outcomes of other researchers. The comprehensive analysis for various key parameters has been performed.
Presenting products on websites – the importance of information quality criteria for online shoppers
Authors: Amsl Sarah , Watson Iain , Teller Christoph , Wood Steve
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Online shoppers make product purchase decisions based on product information shown on a retailer's website and potentially in comparison to that seen on competitors' websites. Insufficient, poor quality or missing information about a product can lead to reduced retailer sales. Measuring online product information quality (PIQ) is therefore an essential element in helping retailers maximize their potential success. This paper aims (1) to identify directly quantifiable PIQ criteria, (2) to assess the effects of PIQ and (3) to evaluate the moderating effect of product involvement.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a scenario-based experiment within 3,544 do-it-yourself (DIY) online shoppers from the United Kingdom (UK). Within an 8 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design, the authors manipulated the factors PIQ criteria (8), PIQ level (2) and product type (2).

Findings

The findings support that poor PIQ has a negative impact on consumers online shopping outcomes. The authors also found that the effects of PIQ differ between the various criteria, the product category and the level of consumer involvement in the selling process. In the context of product depiction, title readability and product attribute comparability with other retailers' websites a high level of PIQ is required. Moreover, high involvement products need a higher level of PIQ than low involvement products.

Originality/value

This research expands website quality and service failure literature by introducing PIQ criteria and its effects in the context of online retailing. The authors also establish actionable managerial recommendations to assist retailers to embrace and utilize PIQ to better understand their own potential website and thus business improvements.
Understanding the determinants of technology upgrade: an integration of retrospective and prospective perspectives
Authors: Zhang Yan , Wang Nan , Sun Yongqiang
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Technology upgrade has been adopted as a strategy for technology vendors to modify and improve their incumbent technologies. However, user resistance is widespread in practice. In order to understand user technology upgrade behavior, this study integrates the retrospective and prospective sides of actions and proposes an inertia-mindfulness ambidexterity perspective to explore the antecedents of technology upgrade.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted to collect data from 520 Microsoft Windows users to test this research model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to evaluate measurement model and structural model.

Findings

Inertia can induce individuals' psychological reactance and thus reduce their intention to upgrade. In contrast, mindfulness can decrease users' psychological reactance and then motivate them to upgrade to a new version of technology. Finally, individuals' dissatisfaction with the current version of technology would weaken the negative impact of psychological reactance on upgrade intention.

Originality/value

This study generates an inertia-mindfulness ambidexterity perspective to investigate the factors that influence user technology upgrade intention from both retrospective and prospective sides and then identifies psychological reactance as underlying mechanism to explain how inertia and mindfulness work. Finally, this study posits that user dissatisfaction with current version of technology can moderate the relationship between psychological reactance and technology upgrade intention.
The impact of tighter banking regulation on bank loan loss provisioning: empirical evidence from a quasi-natural experiment
Authors: Luu Hiep Ngoc , Vu Phuong-Tra , Nguyen Dung Thuy Thi , Hoang Thinh Gia
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the impact of tighter banking regulation on banks’ loan loss provisioning in an emerging market context.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors exploit the adoption of the Basel II Accord in Vietnam as a quasi-natural experiment and use Difference-to-Difference (DiD) method to examine the impact of tighter banking regulation on Vietnamese banks’ provisioning during the period of 2010–2019.

Findings

The paper finds that affected banks (i.e. those taking part in the pilot adoption programme) manage to reduce their provisions significantly compared to their control peers in the post-adoption period. More importantly, this paper further finds that the affected banks manage their provisions primarily for incomes smoothing and signalling. This paper also finds that those banks expand their lending significantly and experience an increase in financial performance in the post-adoption period. Overall, the results provide supports for the “borrowing from the future” proposition that banks may perceive that a tighter banking regulation provides them with growth opportunities, so they have the tendency to manipulate their provisions to facilitate their current income.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the established literature on the manipulation of bank provisioning as well as the impact of banking regulation, and especially Basel II on bank economic decisions. As compared to prior literature, the adoption of Basel II in Vietnam provided an ideal shock for us to conduct a DiD design to estimate the causal impact of tighter banking regulation on banks’ provisioning practices.
Healthcare professionals learning when implementing a digital artefact identifying patients’ cognitive impairment
Authors: Svensson Ann , Gustavsson Linn , Svenningsson Irene , Karlsson Christina , Karlsson Tina
Published: July 2023

Purpose

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ practice, where learning is taking place when a digital artefact is implemented for identification of patients’ cognitive impairment. The use of digital artefacts is increasing in various workplaces, to include professionals in healthcare. This paper aims to explore the following research question: How is the professional learning unfolding in patient-based work when a digital artefact transforms the practice?

Design/methodology/approach

Various data collection methods are used for this study, consisting of dialogue meetings, interviews and a reference-group meeting. Thematic analysis is used to inductively bring forth the themes of the collected data.

Findings

Professionals’ knowledge and experience are of vital importance in learning and changing work practices. Together with their ability to reflect on changes, their knowledge and experience constitute the prefiguration when the introduction of a digital application brings about indeterminacy in the work practice.

Originality/value

This paper makes a contribution to practice-based research as it consolidates previous research and identifies professionals knowledge and learning in a healthcare context. This can be used to further explore and advance the field, as well as to establish the evidence-based importance of transforming practices based on implementation of digital artefacts.
Meaningful leadership and sustainable HRM: catalysts for follower calling – a moderated mediational model
Authors: Ahmad Jamil , Fatima Seerat
Published: July 2023

Purpose

The aim of the study is to identify the ways of making work a calling for employees. Based on signaling theory, the authors present an integrated model to develop calling in employees by finding an indirect effect of meaningful leadership on calling through sustainable human resource management (SHRM) practices. Furthermore, the authors predict that meaningful work will moderate this mediating effect.

Design/methodology/approach

In a three-wave time-lagged study, the authors followed 187 workers from multiple organizations across Pakistan to examine how meaningful leadership influences employee calling through SHRM practices in the form of signals. The authors established that this indirect effect is stronger when employees perceive their work as meaningful. The authors used structural equation modeling in MPlus to test a moderated mediational model.

Findings

The results show that meaningful leadership is positively related to calling through SHRM practices, and meaningful work significantly moderates this mediating relationship. Specifically, the indirect effect of meaningful leadership is stronger when meaningful work is high.

Originality/value

The study substantiates the high importance of meaningful leadership as a signaler and provides insight into the mechanism of meaningful work as a contingency to develop a calling. The uniqueness of the study lies in testing meaningful leadership empirically and identifying external antecedents of calling among employees.
Work arrangement “yo-yo”: forced flexibility from the office to home and back again
Authors: Jogulu Uma , Green Nicola , Franken Esme , Vassiley Alexis , Bentley Tim , Onnis Leigh-ann
Published: July 2023

Purpose

This study explored one form of remote working – work from home – to understand the impact of work disruptions on workers and human resource management (HRM) practice and therefore how to adapt to future crises. Specifically, the purpose is to understand the impact of events on employees when they are forced to move back and forth (yo-yoing) between work from home and a central office, using the case of Perth, Western Australia (WA).

Design/methodology/approach

Thirty-nine interviews with leaders, managers and co-workers working in private and public organisations suggest that forced changes to work arrangements affect job content and demands, well-being and potentially career trajectories.

Findings

The authors critically applied and developed the tenets of event system theory (EST) (novelty, disruption and criticality) by analysing an ongoing or “long” event rather than a discrete or time-limited one. The study found that the work-from-home experience influenced the individual perception of whether remote working would suit employees in the future, potentially influencing career paths. In addition, the selection of locations to live, preferred properties (e.g. home office space) and access to services (e.g. broadband infrastructure) has also become dominant features of work decisions.

Research limitations/implications

While the study generated rich data, it is not without limitations. The participants were from one Australian state which may not reflect the COVID-19 experiences of other jurisdictions. In addition, the participants were mostly female so this may offer a different perspective than a more gender-balanced sample. The study was limited to the perspectives of employees and middle managers.

Practical implications

The authors note three areas of implications for practitioners. First, the findings suggest that strong organisational and HRM support assists employees to cope well with change. Second, the importance of technological and social preparedness in improving employee experiences highlights the role of HRM in job design. Third, it is key that salient events are recognised as potential determinants of career pathways.

Originality/value

The evidence from this research broadens the application of EST showing that forced flexibility has an influence on work arrangements by influencing a series of changes in features of work and experiences of employees. As such, this impacts employee's well-being and potentially future career decisions.
Phenological growth stages of Gleditsia sinensis Lam. (Fabaceae) using the extended BBCH scale
Authors: Liu Qiao , Yang Ju , Liu Yupeng , Zhao Yang , Zou Rong , Wang Xiurong
Published: July 2023

Gleditsia sinensis is a species endemic to China, an ecologically economic multipurpose tree with great development potential, which could be used as medicine, food, industrial materials and wood. It is well known that the standardized description of plant development stages according to their phenological characteristics not only is crucial for conduct of various agronomic practices, but also facilitates the exchange of new findings based on the same understanding of the plant. However, a uniform phenology scale of G. sinensis has rarely been reported, despite its expanding plant area and rapid development of this industry over the past few years. Thus, phenological events of G. sinensis were monitored based on the BBCH scale during two consecutive years in this study. Eight of the 10 BBCH stages described in detail by combining numbers and letters based on its species characteristic were accurately recorded, including bud development (0), leaf development (1), shoot development (3), inflorescence emergence (5), flowering (6), pod development (7), maturity of pod (8) and senescence (9). As far as we know, it is the first time that a special phenological rhythm for G. sinensis has been developed using an extended BBCH scale, which not only provides the basis for other basic research, but also assists growers in conducting planting management practices.
Sebaceous carcinoma in Western Australia: A registry‐based study of site‐related outcomes
Authors: Hillan Adeline , Korbl Jasmin , Wood Benjamin Andrew , Trevithick Richard , Harvey Nathan Tobias
Published: July 2023

Sebaceous carcinoma is a rare cutaneous malignancy which is typically regarded as relatively aggressive and has traditionally been subdivided into periorbital or extraorbital tumours. We conducted a retrospective review of all cases of sebaceous carcinoma reported to the Western Australian Cancer Registry between 1987 and May 2019. The incidence of sebaceous carcinoma in Western Australia has increased over the last three decades, with extraorbital tumours being much more common than periorbital tumours. Very few sebaceous carcinomas have led directly to the death of patients; however, adverse outcomes were more likely with periorbital tumours, in particular local recurrence and the need for major surgical intervention.
Corporate environmental efforts, government environmental subsidies, and corporate non‐environmental R&D intensity: Evidence from listed firms
Authors: Chen Weihong , Lv David Diwei , Wong Christina W. Y.
Published: July 2023

Drawing on the behavioral theory, this study examines how the misalignment between a firm's environmental effort and the level of subsidies received from the government in affecting the firm's investment in non‐environmental R&D. Based on a sample of Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2008 to 2019 and using polynomial regression techniques, our findings reveal that firms in the “low effort‐high subsidies” group exhibit lower non‐environmental R&D intensity compared to firms in the “high effort‐low subsidies” group. This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the interplay between corporate environmental efforts, government subsidies, and non‐environmental R&D investment. The findings suggest the importance of aligning the environmental efforts of firms with subsidy levels from the government to effectively allocate resources for different types of R&D. The implications of this research suggest that firms should carefully consider aligning their environmental efforts with government subsidies to optimize their investment in non‐environmental R&D and overall innovation strategy. Furthermore, the study indicates that firms and governments should prudently balance the relationship between environmental R&D and non‐environmental R&D to avoid any negative impact on the latter.