bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antibacterial potency of Type VI amidase effector toxins is dependent on substrate topology and cellular context
Authors: Radkov Atanas , Sapiro Anne L , Flores Sebastian , Henderson Corey , Saunders Hayden , Kim Rachel , Massa Steven , Thompson Samuel , Mateusiak Chase , Biboy Jacob , Zhao Ziyi , Starita Lea M. , Hatleberg William , Vollmer Waldemar , Russell Alistair B. , Simorre Jean-Pierre , Anthony-Cahill Spencer , Brzovic Peter , Hayes Beth , Chou Seemay
Published: February 2022

Members of the bacterialT6SSamidaseeffector (Tae) superfamily of toxins are delivered between competing bacteria to degrade cell wall peptidoglycan. Although Taes share a common substrate, they exhibit distinct antimicrobial potency across different competitor species. To investigate the molecular basis governing these differences, we quantitatively defined the functional determinants of Tae1 fromPseudomonas aeruginosaPAO1 using a combination ofnuclearmagnetic resonance (NMR) and a high-throughputin vivogenetic approach calleddeepmutationalscanning (DMS). As expected, combined analyses confirmed the role of critical residues near the Tae1 catalytic center. Unexpectedly, DMS revealed substantial contributions to enzymatic activity from a much larger, ring-like functional hot spot extending around the entire circumference of the enzyme. Comparative DMS across distinct growth conditions highlighted how functional contribution of different surfaces is highly context-dependent, varying alongside composition of targeted cell walls. These observations suggest that Tae1 engages with the intact cell wall network through a more distributed three-dimensional interaction interface than previously appreciated, providing an explanation for observed differences in antimicrobial potency across divergent Gram-negative competitors. Further binding studies of several Tae1 variants with their cognate immunity protein demonstrate that requirements to maintain protection from Tae activity may be a significant constraint on the mutational landscape oftae1toxicity in the wild. In total, our work reveals that Tae diversification has likely been shaped by multiple independent pressures to maintain interactions with binding partners that vary across bacterial species and conditions.
The Conserved CNOT1 Interaction Motif of Tristetraprolin Regulates ARE-mRNA Decay Independently of the p38 MAPK-MK2 Kinase Pathway
Authors: Carreño Alberto , Lykke-Andersen Jens
Published: February 2022

Regulation of the mRNA decay activator Tristetraprolin (TTP) by the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway during the mammalian inflammatory response represents a paradigm for the regulation of mRNA turnover by signaling. Phosphorylation of TTP by p38 MAPK-activated kinase 2 (MK2) inhibits the association of TTP with the CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex and represses TTP-mediated mRNA decay. Here we present evidence that TTP remains active in the presence of activated MK2 due to its highly conserved CNOT1 Interacting Motif (CIM), which remains unphosphorylated and capable of promoting deadenylation and decay. The CIM recruits the CCR4-NOT complex cooperatively with previously identified conserved tryptophan residues of TTP and deletion of the CIM strongly represses residual association with the deadenylase complex and activity of TTP in conditions of active MK2. A conserved serine in the CIM is not a target of MK2 but is instead phosphorylated by other kinases including the PKCα pathway and regulates TTP activity independently of MK2. These results suggest that kinase pathways regulate TTP activity in a cooperative manner and that the p38 MAPK-MK2 pathway relies on the activation of additional kinase pathway(s) to fully control TTP function.
City-wide wastewater genomic surveillance through the successive emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants
Authors: Brunner F.S. , Brown M.R. , Bassano I. , Denise H. , Khalifa M.S. , Wade M. , Kevill J.L. , Jones D.L. , Farkas K. , Jeffries A.R. ,   The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium, Cairns E. , Wierzbicki C. , Paterson S.
Published: February 2022

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has been essential to provide an evidence base for public health decisions throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Sequencing data from clinical cases has provided data crucial to understanding disease transmission and the detection, surveillance, and containment of outbreaks of novel variants, which continue to pose fresh challenges. However, genomic wastewater surveillance can provide important complementary information by providing estimates of variant frequencies which do not suffer from sampling bias, and capturing all variants circulating in a population. Here we show that genomic SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance can detect fine-scale differences within urban centres, specifically within the city of Liverpool, UK, during the emergence of Alpha and Delta variants between November 2020 and June 2021. Overall, the correspondence between wastewater and clinical variant frequencies demonstrates the reliability of wastewater surveillance. Yet, discrepancies between the two approaches when the Alpha variant was first detected emphasises that wastewater monitoring can also capture missing information resulting from asymptomatic cases or communities less engaged with testing programmes, as found by a simultaneous surge testing effort across the city.
The SARS-CoV2 envelope is distinct from host membranes, exposes pro-coagulant lipids, and can be inactivated in vivo by surfactant-containing oral rinses
Authors: Saud Zack , Tyrrell Victoria J , Zaragkoulias Andreas , Protty Majd B , Statkute Evelina , Rubina Anzelika , Bentley Kirsten , White Daniel A. , Santos Rodrigues Patricia Dos , Murphy Robert C , Köfeler Harald , Griffiths William J , Alvarez-Jarreta Jorge , Brown Richard William , Newcombe Robert G , Heyman James , Pritchard Manon , Mcleod Robert WJ , Arya Arvind , Lynch Ceri-Ann , Owens David , Jenkins P Vince , Buurma Niklaas J. , O’Donnell Valerie B , Thomas David W. , Stanton Richard J.
Published: February 2022

The lipid envelope of SARS-CoV2 is an essential component of the virus, however its molecular composition is unknown. Addressing this knowledge gap could support the design of anti-viral agents, and further understanding of viral interaction with extracellular host proteins, infectivity, pathogenicity, and innate immune system clearance. Lipidomics analysis of SARS-CoV2 particles generated from Vero or A549 cells revealed that the virus envelope comprised mainly of phospholipids (PL), primarily phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylinositol (PI), with very little cholesterol, sphingolipids or other lipids, indicating significant differences from host membranes. Unlike healthy cellular membranes, procoagulant aminoPL (aPL), specifically PE and phosphatidylserine (PS), were present on the external side at levels far exceeding those seen on activated platelets. As a result, purified virions directly promoted coagulation. To investigate whether these differences enabled the viral envelope to be selectively targeted at relevant sites in vivo, we tested whether non-toxic oral rinses containing lipid disrupting chemicals could reduce viral infectivity. Products containing PL-disrupting surfactant solutions (cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) or ethyl lauroyl arginate) met EN14476 virucidal standards in vitro, however products containing essential oils, PVP-I, or Chlorhexidine did not, nor did rinses containing components that altered the critical micelle concentration of CPC. This result was recapitulated in vivo, where a 30-second oral rinse with CPC-mouthwash eliminated live virus in the oral cavity of COVID19 patients for at least 1hr, while PVP-Iodine and saline mouthwashes were ineffective. Thus, the SARS-CoV2 lipid envelope is distinct from the host plasma membrane which may enable design of selective anti-viral approaches, it exposes PE and PS which may influence thrombosis, pathogenicity, and inflammation, and can be selectively targeted in vivo by specific oral rinses.
Inferring monosynaptic connections from paired dendritic spine Ca2+ imaging and large-scale recording of extracellular spiking
Authors: Xue Xiaohan , Buccino Alessio Paolo , Kumar Sreedhar Saseendran , Hierlemann Andreas , Bartram Julian
Published: February 2022

Techniques to identify monosynaptic connections between neurons have been vital for neuroscience research, facilitating important advancements concerning network topology, synaptic plasticity, and synaptic integration, among others. Here, we introduce a novel approach to identify and monitor monosynaptic connections using high-resolution dendritic spine Ca2+ imaging combined with simultaneous large-scale recording of extracellular electrical activity by means of high-density microelectrode arrays (HD-MEAs). We introduce an easily adoptable analysis pipeline that associates the imaged spine with its presynaptic unit and test it on in vitro recordings. The method is further validated and optimized by simulating synaptically-evoked spine Ca2+ transients based on measured spike trains in order to obtain simulated ground-truth connections. The proposed approach offers unique advantages as i) it can be used to identify monosynaptic connections with an accurate localization of the synapse within the dendritic tree, ii) it provides precise information of presynaptic spiking, and iii) postsynaptic spine Ca2+ signals and, finally, iv) the non-invasive nature of the proposed method allows for long-term measurements. The analysis toolkit together with the rich data sets that were acquired are made publicly available for further exploration by the research community.
A small molecule probe elucidates the role of mitochondrial translocase TIMM44 in PINK1/Parkin regulated mitophagy
Authors: Conti Michael A. , Torres Eric , van der Bliek Alexander M. , Koehler Carla M.
Published: February 2022

Neurodegenerative diseases have been linked to a dysfunctional mitochondrial quality control system that is partially maintained by proteins PINK1 and Parkin. Whereas mitophagy pathways are becoming well-characterized, less is known about the molecular mechanisms of PINK1 trafficking in mitochondria. Accordingly, we have used a small molecule probe (MitoBloCK-10/MB-10) that modulates the activity of TIMM44, an essential component of the protein associated motor (PAM) complex for the mitochondrial inner membrane (TIM23) translocase, to characterize PINK1 import. MB-10 did not inhibit the import or degradation of PINK1 in energized mitochondria. However, when mitophagy was induced by the addition of an uncoupler or respiratory inhibitor, MB-10 treatment altered PINK1 trafficking by inhibiting association with the TOM complex and impairing Parkin recruitment and subsequent mitophagy. MB-10 analogs that did not inhibit TIMM44 activity failed to impair mitophagy, thereby assigning specificity to MB-10. Because PINK1 undergoes lateral release from the TIM23 translocon to interact with inner membrane (IM) modulators, our studies support that TIMM44 may be a key regulator and that the PAM complex has a central role in regulating PINK1-dependent mitophagy. Our studies also provide a probe for dissecting PINK1/Parkin events for mitochondria as well as studying PINK1-dependent mitophagy in cell and animal models.
GWAS in the southern African context
Authors: Swart Yolandi , van Eeden Gerald , Uren Caitlin , van der Spuy Gian , Tromp Gerard , Möller Marlo
Published: February 2022

Researchers would generally adjust for the possible confounding effect of population structure by considering global ancestry proportions or top principle components. Alternatively, researchers would conduct admixture mapping to increase the power to detect variants with an ancestry effect. This is sufficient in simple admixture scenarios, however, populations from southern Africa can be complex multi-way admixed populations. Duanet al. (2018) first described local ancestry adjusted allelic (LAAA) analysis as a robust method for discovering association signals, while producing minimal false-positives. Their simulation study, however, was limited to a two-way admixed population. Realizing that their findings might not translate to other admixture scenarios, we simulated a three- and five-way admixed population to compare the LAAA model to other models commonly used in GWAS. We found that, given our admixture scenarios, the LAAA model identifies the most causal variants in most of the phenotypes we tested across both the three-way and five-way admixed populations. The LAAA model also produced a high number of false-positives which was potentially caused by the ancestry effect size that we assumed. Considering the extent to which the various models tested differed in their results and considering that the source of a given association is unknown, we recommend that researchers use multiple GWAS models when analysing populations with complex ancestry.
Prediction of range expansion and estimation of dispersal routes of water deer (Hydropotes inermis) in the transboundary region between China, the Russian Far East and the Korean Peninsula
Authors: Li Ying , Peng Yuxi , Li Hailong , Zhu Weihong , Darman Yury , Lee Dong Kun , Wang Tianming , Sedash Gleb , Pandey Puneet , Borzée Amaël , Lee Hang , Mo Yongwon
Published: February 2022

Global changes may direct species expansion away from their current range. When such an expansion occurs, and a species colonizes a new region, it is important to monitor the habitat used by the species and use the information for updated management strategies. Water deer is listed as Vulnerable species in IUCN Red List and restricted to east central China and the Korean Peninsula. Since 2017 water deer has expanded its range towards northeast China and the Russian Far East. Our research focuses on data collected in northeast China and the Russian Far East during 2017-2021, with the purpose of providing support for a better understanding of habitat use and provide conservation suggestions. We used MaxEnt to model species niche and distribution and predict habitat suitability for water deer and applied the circuitscape to determine possible dispersal routes for the species. There is good quality habitat for water deer in the boundary area of the Yalu and Tumen River estuaries between China, North Korea, and the Russian Far East, as well as the east and west regions of the Korean Peninsula. Elevation, distance to cropland and water sources, and presence of wetlands were the variables that positively contributed to modelling the suitable habitats. Two possible dispersal routes were determined using the circuit theory, one was across the area from North Korea to the downstream Tumen transboundary region, and the other was across North Korea to the boundary region in China and along the tiger national park in northern China. A series of protected areas in North Korea, China, and Russia may support the dispersal of water deer. The establishment of a Northeast Asia landscape conservation network would help establish monitoring and conservation planning at a broad scale, and this study provides an example for the need for such a network
Perceptual consequences of interocular imbalances in the duration of temporal integration
Authors: Chin Benjamin M. , Burge Johannes
Published: February 2022

Temporal differences in visual information processing between the eyes can cause dramatic misperceptions of motion and depth. Processing delays between the eyes cause the Pulfrich effect: oscillating targets in the frontal plane are misperceived as moving along near-elliptical motion trajectories in depth (Pulfrich, 1922). Here, we explain a previously reported but poorly understood variant: the anomalous Pulfrich effect. When this variant is perceived, the illusory motion trajectory appears oriented left- or right-side back in depth, rather than aligned with the true direction of motion. Our data indicate that this perceived misalignment is due to interocular differences in neural temporal integration periods, as opposed to interocular differences in delay. For oscillating motion, differences in the duration of temporal integration dampen the effective motion amplitude in one eye relative to the other. In a dynamic analog of the Geometric effect in stereo-surface-orientation perception (Ogle, 1950), the different motion amplitudes cause the perceived misorientation of the motion trajectories. Forced-choice psychophysical experiments, conducted with either different spatial frequencies and/or different onscreen motion damping in the two eyes, show that the perceived misorientation in depth is associated with the eye having greater motion damping. A target-tracking experiment provided more direct evidence that the anomalous Pulfrich effect is caused by interocular differences in temporal integration and delay. These findings highlight the computational hurdles posed to the visual system by temporal differences in sensory processing. Future work will explore how the visual system overcomes these challenges to achieve accurate perception.
Predator odor (TMT) exposure potentiates interoceptive sensitivity to alcohol and increases GABAergic gene expression in the anterior insular cortex and nucleus accumbens in male rats
Authors: Tyler Ryan E. , Bluitt Maya N. , Van Voorhies Kalynn , Ornelas Laura C. , Weinberg Benjamin Z.S. , Besheer Joyce
Published: February 2022

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) confers enhanced vulnerability to develop comorbid alcohol use disorder (AUD). Exposure to the scent of a predator, such as the fox odor TMT, has been used to model a traumatic stressor with relevance to PTSD symptomatology. Alcohol produces distinct interoceptive (subjective) effects that may influence vulnerability to problem drinking and AUD. As such, understanding the lasting impact of stressor on sensitivity to the interoceptive effects of alcohol is clinically relevant. The present study used a 2-lever, operant drug discrimination procedure to train male, Long-Evans rats to discriminate the interoceptive effects of alcohol (2 g/kg, i.g.) from water. Upon stable performance, rats underwent a 15-min exposure to TMT. Two weeks later, an alcohol dose-response curve was conducted to evaluate the lasting effects of the TMT stressor on the interoceptive effects of alcohol. The TMT group showed a leftward shift in ED50 of the dose response curve compared to controls, reflecting potentiated interoceptive sensitivity to alcohol. TMT exposure did not affect response rate. GABAergic signaling in both the anterior insular cortex (aIC) and the nucleus accumbens (Acb) is involved in the interoceptive effects of alcohol and stressor-induced adaptations. As such, follow-up experiments in alcohol-naïve rats examined neuronal activation (as measured by c-Fos immunoreactivity) following TMT and showed that TMT exposure increased c-Fos expression in the aIC and the nucleus accumbens core (AcbC). 2 weeks after TMT exposure, Gad-1 gene expression was elevated in the aIC and Gat-1 was increased in the Acb compared to controls. Lastly, the alcohol discrimination and alcohol-naïve groups displayed dramatic differences in stress reactive behaviors during the TMT exposure, suggesting that alcohol exposure may alter the behavioral response to predator odor. Together, these data suggest that predator odor stressor results in potentiated sensitivity to alcohol possibly through GABAergic adaptations in the aIC and Acb, which may be relevant to understanding PTSD-AUD comorbidity.
Multi-state occupancy model estimates probability of detection of an aquatic parasite using environmental DNA: Pseudoloma neurophilia in zebrafish aquaria
Authors: Schuster Corbin J. , Kent Michael L. , Peterson James , Sanders Justin L.
Published: February 2022

Detecting the presence of important parasites within a host and its environment is critical to understanding the dynamics that influence a pathogens ability to persist, while accurate detection is also essential for implementation of effective control strategies. Pseudoloma neurophilia is the most common pathogen reported in zebrafish (Danio rerio) research facilities. The only assays currently available for P. neurophilia, are through lethal sampling, often requiring euthanasia of the entire population for accurate estimates of prevalence in small populations. We present a non-lethal screening method to detect Pseudoloma neurophilia in tank water based on detection of environmental DNA (eDNA) from this microsporidum, using a previously developed qPCR assay that was adapted to the digital PCR (dPCR) platform. Using the generated dPCR data, a multi-state occupancy model was also implemented to predict the probability of detection in tank water under different flow regimes and pathogen prevalence. The occupancy model revealed that samples collected in static conditions were more informative than samples collected from flow-through conditions, with a probability of detection at 80% and 47%, respectively. There was also a positive correlation with the prevalence of infection in water and prevalence in fish based on qPCR.
The Genetic and Evolutionary Basis of Gene Expression Variation in East Africans
Authors: Kelly Derek E. , Ramdas Shweta , Ma Rong , Rawlings-Goss Renata A. , Grant Gregory R. , Ranciaro Alessia , Hirbo Jibril B. , Beggs William , Yeager Meredith , Chanock Stephen , Nyambo Thomas B. , Omar Sabah A , Meskel Dawit Wolde , Belay Gurja , Li Hongzhe , Brown Christopher D. , Tishkoff Sarah A.
Published: February 2022

Background

Mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with molecular phenotypes is a powerful approach for identifying the genes and molecular mechanisms underlying human traits and diseases. How the genetic architecture of molecular traits varies across human populations, however, has been less explored. To better understand the genetics of gene regulation in East Africans, we perform expression and splicing QTL mapping in whole blood from a cohort of 162 diverse Africans from Ethiopia and Tanzania. We assess replication of these QTLs in cohorts of predominantly European ancestry and identify candidate genes under selection in human populations.

Results

We find the gene regulatory architecture of African and non-African populations is broadly shared, though there is a considerable amount of variation at individual loci across populations. Comparing our analyses to an equivalently sized cohort of European Americans, we find that QTL mapping in Africans improves the detection of expression QTLs and fine mapping of causal variation. Integrating our QTL scans with signatures of selection, we find several genes related to immunity and metabolism that are highly differentiated between Africans and non-Africans, as well as a gene associated with pigmentation, TMEM216, with evidence of population-specific selection in Nilo-Saharan speaking pastoralists.

Conclusion

Extending QTL-mapping studies beyond groups of European ancestry, particularly to diverse indigenous populations, is vital for a complete understanding of the genetic architecture of human traits and can reveal novel functional variation underlying human traits and disease.
Structural insight into the individual variability architecture of the functional brain connectome
Authors: Sun Lianglong , Liang Xinyuan , Duan Dingna , Liu Jin , Chen Yuhan , Wang Xindi , Liao Xuhong , Xia Mingrui , Zhao Tengda , He Yong
Published: February 2022

Human cognition and behaviors depend upon the brain’s functional connectomes, which vary remarkably across individuals. However, whether and how the functional connectome individual variability architecture is structurally constrained remains largely unknown. Using tractography- and morphometry-based network models, we observed the spatial convergence of structural and functional connectome individual variability, with higher variability in heteromodal association regions and lower variability in primary regions. We demonstrated that functional variability is significantly predicted by a unifying structural variability pattern and that this prediction follows a primary-to-heteromodal hierarchical axis, with higher accuracy in primary regions and lower accuracy in heteromodal regions. We further decomposed group-level connectome variability patterns into individual unique contributions and uncovered the structural-functional correspondence that is associated with individual cognitive traits. These results advance our understanding of the structural basis of individual functional variability and suggest the importance of integrating multimodal connectome signatures for individual differences in cognition and behaviors.
Effectiveness and durability of the mRNA vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immunity in severe asthma patients on biological therapy
Authors: Podrazil Michal , Taborska Pavla , Stakheev Dmitry , Rataj Michal , Lastovicka Jan , Vlachova Alena , Pohunek Petr , Bartunkova Jirina , Smrz Daniel
Published: February 2022

The COVID-19 vaccines effectively elicit humoral and cellular immunity against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a healthy population. This immunity decreases several months after the vaccination. However, the efficacy of the vaccine-induced immunity and its durability in patients with severe asthma on biological therapy is unknown. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness and durability of the mRNA vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immunity in severe asthma patients on biological therapy. The study included 37 patients with severe asthma treated with anti-IgE (omalizumab, n=18), anti-IL5 (mepolizumab, n=14; reslizumab, n=4), or anti-IL5R (benralizumab, n=1) biological therapy. All patients were vaccinated with two doses of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Comirnaty) at a 6-week period between the doses. We found that the COVID-19 vaccination elicited SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immunity, which significantly declined 6 months after the second dose of the vaccine. The type of biological treatment did not affect the vaccine-elicited immunity. However, the patients’ age negatively impacted the vaccine-induced humoral response. On the other hand, no such age-related impact was observed on the vaccine-elicited cellular immunity. Our findings showed that biological therapy of patients with severe asthma does not compromise the effectiveness and durability of the COVID-19 vaccine-induced immunity.
13,13′-Bi(dibenzo[a,i]fluorenylidene)
Authors: Schollmeyer Dieter , Detert Heiner
Published: February 2022

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C42H24, contains two almost identical molecules. The molecules have approximateD2symmetry. They show a largely twisted double bond, the molecular halves enclosing dihedral angles of 62.86 (4) and 61.22 (3)°. The crystal studied was twinned by non-merohedry.
Analyzing competitive market structures based on online consumer-generated content and sales data
Authors: Won Eugene J. S. , Oh Yun Kyung , Choeh Joon Yeon
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This study aims to provide a way to derive inter-brand similarities from user-generated content on online brand forums, which enables the authors to analyze the market structures based on consumers' actual information searching and sharing behavior online. This study further presents a method for deriving inter-brand similarities from data on how the sales of competing brands covary over time. The results obtained by the above two methods are compared to each other.

Design/methodology/approach

In drawing similarities between brands, the authors utilized a newly proposed measure that modified the lift measure. The derived similarity information was applied to multidimensional scaling (MDS) to analyze the perceived market structure. The authors applied the proposed methodology to the imported car market in South Korea.

Findings

In light of some clear information such as the country of origin, the market structure derived from the presented methodology was seen to accurately reflect the consumer's perception of the market. A significant relevance has been found between the results derived from user-generated online content and sales data.

Originality/value

The presented method allows marketers to track changes in competitive market structures and identify their major competitors quickly and cost-effectively. This study can contribute to improving the utilization of the overflowing information in the big data era by proposing methods of linking new types of online data with existing market research methods.
Cognitive cultural intelligence and entrepreneurial alertness: evidence from highly educated, employed immigrants in the USA
Authors: Yang Jie , Yu Mingchuan , Tang Jintong , Ma Jieqiong
Published: February 2022

Purpose

There is a dearth of research on how immigrants' cognitive attributes influence their willingness to be self-employed. To offset this paucity, the current study draws on the insights of social cognitive theory (SCT) to examine the immigrants' entrepreneurial alertness.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors hired Qualtrics to recruit educated, working immigrants in the USA and tested the hypotheses using a sample of 555 highly educated, employed immigrants from 92 home countries.

Findings

This study finds that immigrants' cognitive cultural intelligence (CQ) contributes to entrepreneurial alertness in a positive way. In addition, immigrants' perceived environmental differences and global identity positively moderate the relationship between cognitive CQ and entrepreneurial alertness.

Originality/value

This research provides a clear picture of how cognitive CQ impacts immigrants' entrepreneurial alertness; thus, the findings of this study offer ample implications for policymakers. By applying SCT, the current study extended research on immigrants' entrepreneurial alertness by shifting the focus from their individual (e.g. demographic background) or family characteristics to their cognitive attributes. This study suggests that policymakers and entrepreneurship education programs in the U.S.A. should consider offering various types of cultural training programs.
Impact of transformational leadership on green learning and green innovation in construction supply chains
Authors: Pham Hai Thanh , Pham Tho , Truong Quang Huy , Dang Chau Ngoc
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership on green innovation and green learning in construction supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical framework of research hypotheses between transformational leadership, green learning and green innovation is developed. Using a survey questionnaire, data are collected from construction firms in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling is used to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The results indicate that transformational leadership promotes both green learning and green innovation (i.e. green product innovation and green process innovation) while green learning positively affects green process innovation. Furthermore, it is found that green learning mediates the linkage between transformational leadership and green process innovation.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the development of leadership research in construction by showing the significance of leadership at the supply chain level.

Originality/value

Leadership is regarded as a key factor for most organizations' success and competitive advantages. In construction, leadership has been widely studied at the project and organizational levels while its important role is also explored at the supply chain level. Nevertheless, in terms of construction supply chains, there has been still very limited evidence about the effects of transformational leadership. Thus, this study fills the gap in knowledge by empirically examining the relationships between transformational leadership, green learning and green innovation.
The interaction of social influence and message framing on children’s food choice
Authors: Khan Huda , Lee Richard , Khan Zaheer
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Obesity leads to increased mortality and morbidity among children, as well as when they turn adults. Melding marketing theories in social influence and message framing, this study aims to examine how compliance versus conformance social influence, each framed either prescriptively or proscriptively, may guide children’s choice of healthy versus unhealthy food.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted two experiments in a Pakistani junior school. Experiment 1 exposed children to either a prescriptive or a proscriptive compliance influence. Experiment 2 involved a 2 (prescriptive vs proscriptive compliance influence) × 2 (supportive vs conflicting conformance-influence) between-subjects design. Participants in both studies answered an online survey after being exposed to the social-influence messages.

Findings

Experiment 1 showed proscriptive was stronger than prescriptive compliance influence in nudging children to pick fruits (healthy) over candies (unhealthy). However, frequency of fruits dropped as susceptibility to compliance strengthened. Experiment 2 found that a proscriptive compliance influence reinforced by a supportive conformance-influence led to most children picking fruits. However, a conflicting conformance influence was able to sway some children away from fruits to candies. This signalled the importance of harmful peer influence, particularly with children who were more likely to conform.

Research limitations/implications

Childhood is a critical stage for inculcating good eating habits. Besides formal education about food and health, social influence within classrooms can be effective in shaping children’s food choice. While compliance and conformance influence can co-exist, one influence can reinforce or negate the other depending on message framing.

Practical implications

In developing countries like Pakistan, institutional support to tackle childhood obesity may be weak. Teachers can take on official, yet informal, responsibility to encourage healthy eating. Governments can incentivise schools to organise informal activities to develop children’s understanding of healthy consumption. Schools should prevent children from bringing unhealthy food to school, so that harmful peer behaviours are not observable, and even impose high tax on unhealthy products or subsidise healthy products sold in schools.

Originality/value

This study adopts a marketing lens and draws on social influence and message framing theory to shed light on children’s food choice behaviour within a classroom environment. The context was an underexplored developing country, Pakistan, where childhood obesity is a public health concern.
Relationships among teachers' perceptions on coworker social loafing, organizational justice and task visibility
Authors: Himmetoğlu Beyza , Ayduğ Damla , Bayrak Coşkun
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The main aim of the research is to investigate the relationships among primary school teachers' perceptions on coworker social loafing, organizational justice and task visibility. It is also examined whether teachers' opinions on organizational justice and task visibility are statistically significant predictors of their perceptions on coworker social loafing.

Design/methodology/approach

Research was designed by using correlational survey model. The sample of the study consisted of 656 teachers selected by cluster sampling method among primary school teachers working in Eskisehir.

Findings

Research results showed that teachers' perceptions on their coworkers' social loafing levels were low, while their perceptions on organizational justice and task visibility were high. Furthermore, it was determined that distributive justice and task visibility predicted 13% of teachers' perceptions about their coworkers' social loafing levels. According to this finding, as teachers' perceptions of distributive justice and task visibility increase, their perceptions about coworker social loafing decrease.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in terms of examining the most probable antecedents of social loafing perceptions according to the literature among teachers which are organizational justice and task visibility together in Turkey context. The facts that social loafing studies are rare and hardly encountered among studies in the field of educational administration distinguish this study and make it appropriate to be published in a journal whose scope includes creation of an environment in which the management of resources provides the most efficient outputs.
Energy conservation literacy among households in Sub-Sahara Africa
Authors: Owusu-Manu De-Graft , Quaigrain Rhoda Ansah , Edwards David John , Hammond Mabel , Hammond Mavis , Roberts Chris
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Energy conservation literacy within households is a contemporary and topical issue globally. However, scant research has been conducted on energy-saving literacy amongst Ghanaian households. To substantiate the problem, this paper aims to examine energy conservation literacy and behaviours among Ghanaian households in the Greater Accra Region.

Design/methodology/approach

The study assessed household electricity use and explored determinants of household energy conservation behaviours. Data was collected through a survey administered to households within the target region and analysed using descriptive statistics and Spearmen’s rank correlation.

Findings

Results showed electricity conservation among households is greatly influenced by the number of household occupants, household income levels, and the quality and quantity of appliances. The study also found that conservation behaviours are positively correlated to the number of occupants, household income levels, the quantity of electrical appliances, age of household members, number of rooms and level of urbanization within the home’s geographical region. Cumulatively, the findings suggest households held positive attitudes towards efficient energy practices. Enigmatically, the use of energy-conserving alternative technologies was not widely used by households; hence, this factor does not significantly affect household energy conservation.

Research limitations/implications

Although limited to Ghana’s capital region, the findings can be used to inform policy and regulations at the regional and national levels in designing an efficient and effective mechanism to reduce the country’s overall energy use.

Practical implications

Premised upon the findings, the study recommends an intensification of education and awareness-creation on various energy-saving regulations and initiatives and thorough education on the usage of standardized (approved) refrigerators to promote the consistent adoption of energy conservation measures among households.

Originality/value

This study pioneers investigations into the influence of household demographic variables on overall electricity conservation behaviours exhibited by Ghanaian households
Coping in supply chains: a conceptual framework for disruption management
Authors: Altay Nezih , Pal Raktim
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Attempts to deepen our understanding of the effects of the pandemic on global supply chains mostly offer anecdotal evidences and lack theory grounded research. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to help explain supply chain disruption management.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper and uses a theory building approach. It develops a conceptual framework adapted from coping theory in psychology to explain supply chain disruption management. To refine the framework, the authors independently reviewed extant supply chain disruption management literature. The authors then studied the frameworks on stress theory in psychology. Following the review of both streams of literatures, the authors developed an initial draft of the conceptual model. This draft was then iteratively refined through extensive discussions among the authors.

Findings

Coping theory can help revise supply chain disruption management with an alternative lens that has not been applied before in this domain. The proposed conceptual framework is generic and can be applied to disruption management strategies for any organization in any industry.

Originality/value

The conceptual framework proposed in this paper offers a new theoretical lens to supply chain disruption management discourse. It contributes to the operational understanding of supply chain disruption management.
Proactive personalities, trait competitiveness and well-being among retail employees: job burnout as a mediator
Authors: Wahab Mastura Ab. , Blackman Deborah
Published: February 2022

Purpose

As the literature reveals contrasting arguments regarding the positive effect of a proactive personality on well-being, this paper aims to investigate the negative consequences of a proactive personality on employee well-being. The paper tests the relationships between a proactive personality, trait competitiveness and well-being. It also examines the mediating effect of job burnout on these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 213 employees working in the retail sector across Malaysia. AMOS’s structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses of the study.

Findings

Overall, the findings showed that a proactive personality negatively affected employee well-being. Job burnout had a partially mediating effect on this relationship. However, the effect of trait competitiveness on employee well-being was insignificant and the mediating effect of job burnout on this relationship also found no support.

Originality/value

The main contributions of this study are twofold. First, this study shows that a proactive personality can have negative repercussions for employee well-being. In contrast to many previous findings on the proactive personality, this study tests and verifies the possibility of an adverse impact of being proactive. Second, this study reveals that job burnout can play a vital role in mediating the adverse effect of a proactive personality on well-being. This suggests that depending on the context, being proactive will not always result in desirable outcomes, especially if job burnout is present. Therefore, organizations need to prepare contingency plans to offset the negative effects of such burnout.
A mathematical model and a simulated annealing algorithm for unequal multi-floor dynamic facility layout problem based on flexible Bay structure with elevator consideration
Authors: Zolfi Kamran , Jouzdani Javid
Published: February 2022

Purpose

As far as the authors know, no research has already been carried out on the multi-floor dynamic facility layout problem (MF-DFLP) in the continuous form regarding the flexible bay structure, the number and the variable location of the elevator. Therefore, the present paper models the given problem and attempts to find a sub-optimal solution for it using a meta-heuristic simulated annealing (SA) algorithm.

Design/methodology/approach

The efficient use of resources has always been a prominent matter for decision-makers. Many reasons including land use, construction considerations and proximity of departments have led to the design of multi-floor facilities. On the other hand, their fast-evolving environment calls for dynamic planning. Therefore, in this paper, a model and the SA algorithm for MF-DFLP are presented.

Findings

After presenting a mathematical model, the problem was solved precisely in a small size using the GAMS software. Also, a near-optimal solution method using a SA meta-heuristic algorithm is suggested and the proposed algorithm was run in the MATLAB software. To evaluate the presented model and the proposed solution, some test cases were considered in two aspects. The first aspect was the test cases that are newly generated in small, medium and large sizes to compare the exact optimal solution with the results of the meta-heuristic algorithm. Eight test cases with small sizes were solved using the GAMS software, the optimum solutions were obtained in a reasonable time, and the cost of their solutions was equal to that of the SA algorithm. Eight test cases with medium sizes were run in the GAMS software with the time limit of 80,000 s, and the SA algorithm had performed better for these test cases. Two test cases were also considered in large size that GAMS could not solve them, whereas the SA algorithm successfully found a proper solution for each. The second aspect included the test cases from the literature. The result showed that suggested algorithm is more capable of finding best solutions than compared algorithms.

Originality/value

In this paper, an unequal area MF-DFLP was studied in a continuous layout form in which the location and number of the elevators were considered to be variable, and the layouts were considered with flexible bay structure. These conditions were investigated for the first time.
Loneliness influences avoidable absenteeism and turnover intention reported by adult workers in the United States
Authors: Bowers Anne , Wu Joshua , Lustig Stuart , Nemecek Douglas
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Loneliness is known to adversely impact employee health, performance and affective commitment. This study involves a quantitative cross-sectional analysis of online survey data reported by adults employed in the United States (n = 5,927) to explore how loneliness and other related factors may influence avoidable absenteeism and turnover intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Worker loneliness was assessed using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3). Composite variables were constructed as proxy measures of worker job and personal resources. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine independent variable effects on dependent outcomes of (a) work days missed in the last month due to stress (stress-related absenteeism) and (b) likelihood to quit within the next year (turnover intention).

Findings

The job resources of social companionship, work-life balance and satisfaction with communication had significant negative relationships to loneliness in the SEM, as did the personal resources of resilience and less perceived alienation. Results further show lonely workers have significantly greater stress-related absenteeism (p = 0.000) and higher turnover intention ratings (p = 0.000) compared to workers who are not lonely. Respondent demographics (age, race and gender) and other occupational characteristics also produced significant outcomes.

Practical implications

Study findings underscore the importance of proactively addressing loneliness among workers and facilitating job and personal resource development as an employee engagement and retention strategy.

Originality/value

Loneliness substantially contributes to worker job withdrawal and has negative implications for organizational effectiveness and costs.