bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Visual evoked potentials as an early-stage biomarker in the rTg4510 tauopathy mouse model
Authors: Parka Aleksandra , Volbracht Christiane , Hall Benjamin , Bastlund Jesper F. , Nedergaard Maiken , Laursen Bettina , Botta Paolo , Sotty Florence
Published: October 2022

Tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are characterized by formation of neurofibrillary tangles consisting of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. Early pathophysiological and functional changes related to neurofibrillary tangles formation are considered to occur prior to extensive neurodegeneration. Hyperphosphorylated tau has been detected in postmortem retinas of AD and FTD patients, and the visual pathway is an easily accessible system in a clinical setting. Hence, assessment of the visual function may offer the potential to detect consequences of early tau pathology in patients. In this study we explored the association between the visual system and functional consequences of tau pathology progression using a tauopathy rTg4510 mouse model. To this end, we recorded full-field electroretinography and visual evoked potentials in anesthetized and awake states at different ages. While retinal function remained mostly intact within all the age groups investigated, we detected significant changes in amplitudes of visual evoked potential responses in young rTg4510 mice exhibiting early tau pathology prior to neurodegeneration. These functional alterations in the visual cortex were positively correlated with pathological tau levels. Our findings suggest that visual processing could be useful as a novel electrophysiological biomarker for early stages of tauopathy.
Pathological crosstalk between AQP4-dependent ATP/Adenosine release and dopamine neurotransmission underlying depressive behavior during cocaine withdrawal
Authors: Okada S. , Kobayashi M. , Lee H. , Nuralifah C. , Morita M.
Published: October 2022

Our previous study has demonstrated the AQP4-dependent ATP release and following elevation of extracellular adenosine in hippocampal slices during hypo-osmotic treatment. In the present study, we examined the crosstalk between AQP4-dependent adenosine elevation and dopaminergic neurotransmissions, especially focusing on the mouse depressive behavior during cocaine withdrawal. The depressive behavior was mitigated in AQP4 knockout mice, and was sensitive to adenosine A1receptor antagonists. Thus, the influence of cocaine withdrawal on the adenosine or dopamine elevation in the slices from the striatum or medial prefrontal cortex, which is the focus of depression was analyzed by the originally-developed biosensor cells, which elevates intracellular Ca2+in response to adenosine or dopamine. We have found that the evoked-dopamine release in the striatum is tonically suppressed via A1receptor in a AQP4 dependent manner, and this suppression is augmented by the cocaine withdrawal. In contrast, the evoked dopamine elevation in the medial prefrontal cortex was suppressed by treating slices with adenosine or an A1receptor antagonist, and the cocaine withdrawal abolished the suppression by A1receptor antagonist alone in an AQP4-dependent manner. Since a GABAAor group II metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist occluded the suppression by A1receptor antagonist, it has been suggested that the glutamatergic and GABAergic terminals suppressing dopamine releases have A1receptors, which the cocaine withdrawal down-regulates in a AQP4-dependent manner. These results indicate that astrocytes modulate dopaminergic neurotransmissions via A1receptor in an AQP4-dependent manner, and suggest that cocaine causes depression by changing this modulation.
Time-of-day effects on motor learning
Authors: Truong Charlène , Ruffino Célia , Gaveau Jérémie , White Olivier , Hilt Pauline M. , Papaxanthis Charalambos
Published: October 2022

While the time-of-day significantly impacts motor performance, its effect on motor learning has not yet been elucidated. Here, we investigated the influence of the time-of-day on skill acquisition (i.e., skill improvement immediately after a training-session) and consolidation (i.e., skill retention after a time interval). Three groups were trained at 10 a.m. (G10am), 3 p.m. (G3pm), or 8 p.m. (G8pm) on a finger-tapping task. We recorded the skill (i.e. the ratio between movement duration and accuracy), before and immediately after the training to evaluate skill acquisition, and after 24 hours, to measure skill consolidation. We did not observe any difference in acquisition according to the time of the day. However, we found an improvement in performance 24 hours after the evening training (G8pm) while the morning (G10am) and the afternoon (G3pm) groups deteriorated and stabilized their performance, respectively. Furthermore, two control experiments (G8wake and G8sleep) supported the idea that a night of sleep contributes to the skill consolidation of the evening group. These results show an influence of time-of-day on the consolidation process, with better consolidation when the training is carried out in the evening. This finding may have an important impact on the planning of training programs in sports, clinical, or experimental domains.
Transcriptional profiling of zebrafish identifies host factors controlling susceptibility to Shigella flexneri
Authors: Torraca Vincenzo , White Richard J. , Sealy Ian M. , Mazon-Moya Maria , Duggan Gina , Willis Alexandra , Busch-Nentwich Elisabeth M. , Mostowy Serge
Published: October 2022

Shigella flexneri is a human adapted pathovar of Escherichia coli that can invade the intestinal epithelium, causing inflammation and bacillary dysentery. Although an important human pathogen, the host response to S. flexneri is poorly understood. Zebrafish larvae, highly innovative for genomics, transcriptomics and genetic tractability, represent a valuable animal model to study human infections in vivo. Here we use a S. flexneri-zebrafish infection model to generate mRNA expression profiles of host response to S. flexneri infection at the whole animal level. The signature of early S. flexneri infection (detected at 6 hours post-infection) is dominated by immune response-related processes. Consistent with its clearance from the host, the signature of late S. flexneri infection (detected at 24 hours post-infection) is significantly changed, where only a small set of immune-related genes remain differentially expressed, including gpr84 which encodes a putative G-protein coupled receptor. Using mutant zebrafish lines generated by ENU, CRISPR mutagenesis and the F0 CRISPR knockout method, we show that gpr84-deficient larvae are more susceptible to S. flexneri infection. Together, these results highlight the power of zebrafish to model infection by bacterial pathogens and provide a community resource to investigate host response to S. flexneri infection.
Rapid Evolution of Colistin Resistance in a Bioreactor Model of Infection of Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Jiménez-Castellanos Juan-Carlos , Waclaw Bartlomiej , Meynert Alison , Schneiders Thamarai
Published: October 2022

Synopsis

Objectives

We seek to understand the dynamics of de novo resistant mutations arising during colistin treatment of an antibiotic-naïve population of K. pneumoniae.

Methods

We used a bioreactor model of infection and colistin treatment against the colistin susceptible K. pneumoniae Ecl8. Whole-genome sequencing and MIC profiling was used to characterize genetic and phenotypic state of the bacterial culture at three time points: before treatment, immediately after regrowth following challenge, and at the end point of the experiment. A mathematical model based on the birth-death process was used to gain further insights on the population dynamics of emerging resistant variants.

Results

We find that, after an initial decline, the population recovers within 24h due to the evolution of highly resistant clones which exhibit MICs >100-fold higher than the parental strain. Recovery is caused by a small number of “founder cells” which have single point mutations mainly in the regulatory genes encoding crrB and pmrB. The mutants arise through spontaneous mutations prior to colistin treatment.

Conclusions

Development of colistin resistance during treatment of K. pneumoniae infections is readily achieved if colistin is used as a monotherapy.
A shared neural code for social interaction encoding and memory in the human superior temporal sulcus
Authors: Lee Masson Haemy , Chen Janice , Isik Leyla
Published: October 2022

Recognizing and remembering social information is a crucial cognitive skill. Neural patterns in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) support our ability to perceive others’ social interactions. However, despite the prominence of social interactions in memory, the neural basis of retrieving social interactions is still unknown. To fill this gap, we investigated the brain mechanisms underlying memory of others’ social interactions during free spoken recall of a naturalistic movie. By applying machine learning-based fMRI encoding analyses to densely labeled movie and recall data we found that STS activity patterns evoked by viewing social interactions predicted neural responses to social interaction memories. This finding suggests that the STS contains high-level conceptual, representations of social interactions, and its reactivation underlies our ability to remember others’ interactions.
Carm1 regulates the speed of C/EBPα-induced transdifferentiation by a cofactor stealing mechanism
Authors: Garcia Guillem Torcal , Kowenz-Leutz Elisabeth , Tian Tian V. , Klonizakis Antonios , Lerner Jonathan , de Andrés-Aguayo Luisa , Berenguer Clara , Plana-Carmona Marcos , Vila-Casadesús Maria , Bulteau Romain , Francesconi Mirko , Peiró Sandra , Zaret Kenneth S. , Leutz Achim , Graf Thomas
Published: October 2022

Cell fate decisions are driven by lineage-restricted transcription factors but how they are regulated is incompletely understood. The C/EBPα-induced B cell to macrophage transdifferentiation (BMT) is a powerful system to address this question. Here we describe that C/EBPα with a single arginine mutation (C/EBPαR35A) induces a dramatically accelerated BMT in mouse and human cells. Changes in the expression of lineage-restricted genes occur as early as within 1 hour compared to 18 hours with the wild type. Mechanistically C/EBPαR35Aexhibits an increased affinity for PU.1, a bi-lineage transcription factor required for C/EBPα-induced BMT. The complex induces more rapid chromatin accessibility changes and an enhanced relocation (stealing) of PU.1 from B cell to myeloid gene regulatory elements. Arginine 35 is methylated by Carm1 and inhibition of the enzyme accelerates BMT, similar to the mutant. Our data suggest that the relative proportions of methylated and unmethylated C/EBPα in a bipotent progenitor can determine the velocity of cell fate choice and lineage directionality.
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay of metal-binding activator MAC1 is dependent on copper levels and 3′-UTR length in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Zhang Xinyi , Kebaara Bessie W.
Published: October 2022

The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway was initially identified as a pathway that degrades mRNAs with premature termination codons but is now also recognized as a post-transcriptional gene regulatory pathway which regulates expression of natural mRNAs. Earlier studies demonstrated that regulation of functionally related mRNAs by NMD can be differential and conditional in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we elucidate the regulation of MAC1 mRNAs by NMD in response to copper, and the role MAC1 3′-UTR plays in this regulation. MAC1 is a copper-sensing transcription factor that regulates high affinity copper transport and is activated under low copper conditions in S. cerevisiae. We found that MAC1 mRNAs were regulated by NMD under normal growth conditions but escape NMD under low and high copper conditions. Mac1p regulated genes escape NMD in conditions where MAC1 mRNAs are NMD sensitive. We also found that the MAC1 3′-UTR contributes to the degradation of the mRNAs by NMD and that MAC1 mRNAs lacking 3′-UTR were stabilized in response to copper deprivation. Taken together, our results demonstrate a novel mechanism of regulating a metal sensing transcription factor, where MAC1 mRNA levels are regulated by NMD and copper, while the activity of Ma1p is controlled by copper levels.
An agent-based modeling approach for lung fibrosis in response to COVID-19
Authors: Islam Mohammad Aminul , Getz Michael , Macklin Paul , Versypt Ashlee N. Ford
Published: October 2022

The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has created an emerging need to investigate the long-term effects of infection on patients. Many individuals are at risk of suffering pulmonary fibrosis due to the pathogenesis of lung injury and impairment in the healing mechanism. Fibroblasts are the central mediators of extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition during tissue regeneration, regulated by anti-inflammatory cytokines including transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). The TGF-β-dependent accumulation of fibroblasts at the damaged site and excess fibrillar collagen deposition lead to fibrosis. We developed an open-source, multiscale tissue simulator to investigate the role of TGF-β sources in the progression of lung fibrosis after SARS-CoV-2 exposure, intracellular viral replication, infection of epithelial cells, and host immune response. Using the model, we predicted the dynamics of fibroblasts, TGF-β, and collagen deposition for 15 days post-infection in virtual lung tissue. Our results showed variation in collagen area fractions between 2% and 40% depending on the spatial behavior of the sources (stationary or mobile), the rate of activation of TGF-β, and the duration of TGF-β sources. We identified M2 macrophages as primary contributors to higher collagen area fraction. Our simulation results also predicted fibrotic outcomes even with lower collagen area fraction when spatially-localized latent TGF-β sources were active for longer times. We validated our model by comparing simulated dynamics for TGF-β, collagen area fraction, and macrophage cell population with independent experimental data from mouse models. Our results showed that partial removal of TGF-β sources changed the fibrotic patterns; in the presence of persistent TGF-β sources, partial removal of TGF-β from the ECM significantly increased collagen area fraction due to maintenance of chemotactic gradients driving fibroblast movement. The computational findings are consistent with independent experimental and clinical observations of collagen area fractions and cell population dynamics not used in developing the model. These critical insights into the activity of TGF-β sources may find applications in the current clinical trials targeting TGF-β for the resolution of lung fibrosis.

Author summary

COVID-19 survivors are at risk of lung fibrosis as a long-term effect. Lung fibrosis is the excess deposition of tissue materials in the lung that hinder gas exchange and can collapse the whole organ. We identified TGF-β as a critical regulator of fibrosis. We built a model to investigate the mechanisms of TGF-β sources in the process of fibrosis. Our results showed spatial behavior of sources (stationary or mobile) and their activity (activation rate of TGF-β, longer activation of sources) could lead to lung fibrosis. Current clinical trials for fibrosis that target TGF-β need to consider TGF-β sources’ spatial properties and activity to develop better treatment strategies.
Diverging Neural Dynamics for Syntactic Structure Building in Naturalistic Speaking and Listening
Authors: Giglio Laura , Ostarek Markus , Sharoh Daniel , Hagoort Peter
Published: October 2022

The neural correlates of sentence production have been mostly studied with constraining task paradigms that introduce artificial task effects. In this study, we aimed to gain a better understanding of syntactic processing in spontaneous production vs. naturalistic comprehension. We extracted word-by-word metrics of phrase-structure building with top-down and bottom-up parsers that make different hypotheses about the timing of structure building. In comprehension, structure building proceeded in an integratory fashion and led to an increase in activity in posterior temporal and inferior frontal areas. In production, structure building was anticipatory and predicted an increase in activity in the inferior frontal gyrus. Newly developed production-specific parsers highlighted the anticipatory and incremental nature of structure building in production, which was confirmed by a converging analysis of the pausing patterns in speech. Overall, the results showed that the unfolding of syntactic processing diverges between speaking and listening.
Distinct phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 in human primary cells but no increased host range in cell lines of putative mammalian reservoir species
Authors: Essaidi-Laziosi Manel , Perez Rodriguez Francisco Javier , Alvarez Catia , Sattonnet-Roche Pascale , Torriani Giulia , Bekliz Meriem , Adea Kenneth , Lenk Matthias , Suliman Tasnim , Preiser Wolfgang , Müller Marcel A. , Drosten Christian , Kaiser Laurent , Eckerle Isabella
Published: October 2022

SARS-CoV-2’s genetic plasticity has led to several variants of concern (VOCs). Here we studied replicative capacity for seven SARS-CoV-2 isolates (B.1, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Zeta, and Omicron BA.1) in primary reconstituted airway epithelia (HAE) and lung-derived cell lines. Furthermore, to investigate the host range of Delta and Omicron compared to ancestral SARS-CoV-2, we assessed replication in 17 cell lines from 11 non-primate mammalian species, including bats, rodents, insectivores and carnivores. Only Omicron’s phenotype differedin vitro, with rapid but short replication and efficient production of infectious virus in nasal HAEs, in contrast to other VOCs, but not in lung cell lines. No increased infection efficiency for other species was observed, but Delta and Omicron infection efficiency was increased in A549 cells. Notably replication in A549 and Calu3 cells was lower than in nasal HAE. Our results suggest better adaptation of VOCs towards humans, without an extended host range.
In vivo generation of heart and vascular system by blastocyst complementation
Authors: Coppiello Giulia , Barlabé Paula , Moya-Jódar Marta , Abizanda Gloria , Barreda Carolina , Iglesias Elena , Linares Javier , Arellano-Viera Estibaliz , Ruiz-Villalba Adrian , Larequi Eduardo , Carvajal-Vergara Xonia , Pelacho Beatriz , Prósper Felipe , Aranguren Xabier L.
Published: October 2022

The generation of organs from stem cells by blastocyst complementation is a promising approach to cover the clinical need for transplants. In order to generate rejection-free organs, complementation of both parenchymal and vascular cells must be achieved, as endothelial cells play a key role in graft rejection. Here we used a lineage-specific cell ablation system to produce mouse embryos unable to form both the cardiac and vascular systems. By mouse intraspecies blastocyst complementation we rescued heart and vascular development separately and in combination, obtaining complemented hearts with cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells of exogenous origin. Complemented chimeras were viable and reached adult stage, showing normal cardiac function and no signs of histopathological defects in the heart. Furthermore, we implemented the cell ablation system for rat-to-mouse blastocyst complementation, obtaining xenogeneic hearts whose cardiomyocytes were completely of rat origin. These results represent an advance in the experimentation towards the in vivo generation of transplantable organs.
SARS-CoV-2 ORF3c impairs mitochondrial respiratory metabolism, oxidative stress and autophagic flow
Authors: Mozzi Alessandra , Oldani Monica , Forcella Matilde E. , Vantaggiato Chiara , Cappelletti Gioia , Pontremoli Chiara , Valenti Francesca , Forni Diego , Biasin Mara , Sironi Manuela , Fusi Paola , Cagliani Rachele
Published: October 2022

Coronaviruses encode a variable number of accessory proteins that play a role in host-virus interactions, in the suppression of immune responses, or in immune evasion. Accessory proteins in SARS-CoV-2 consist of at least twelve viral proteins whose roles during infection have been extensively studied. Nevertheless, the role of the ORF3c accessory protein, an alternative open reading frame of ORF3a, has remained elusive. Herein, we characterized ORF3c in terms of cellular localization, host’s antiviral response modulation, and effects on mitochondrial metabolism. We show that ORF3c has a mitochondrial localization and alters mitochondrial metabolism, resulting in increased ROS production, block of the autophagic flux, and accumulation of autophagosomes/autolysosomes. Notably, we also found that ORF3c induces a shift from glucose to fatty acids oxidation and enhanced oxidative phosphorylation. This is similar to the condition observed in the chronic degenerative phase of COVID-19. Altogether these data suggest that ORF3c could be a key protein for SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and that it may play a role in disease progression.
Chemical characterization of inks in skin reactions to tattoo
Authors: Colboc Hester , Bazin Dominique , Reguer Solenn , Lucas Ivan T. , Moguelet Philippe , Amode Reyhan , Jouanneau Chantal , Soria Angèle , Chasset François , Amsler Emmanuelle , Pecquet Catherine , Aractingi Sélim , Bellot-Gurlet Ludovic , Deschamps Lydia , Descamps Vincent , Kluger Nicolas
Published: October 2022

Skin reactions are well described complications of tattooing, usually provoked by red inks. Chemical characterizations of these inks are usually based on limited subjects and techniques. This study aimed to determine the organic and inorganic composition of inks using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) and Raman spectroscopy, in a cohort of patients with cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions to tattoo. A retrospective multicenter study was performed, including 15 patients diagnosed with skin reactions to tattoos. Almost half of these patients developed skin reactions on black inks. XRF identified known allergenic metals – titanium, chromium, manganese, nickel and copper – in almost all cases. XANES spectroscopy distinguished zinc and iron present in ink from these elements in endogenous biomolecules. Raman spectroscopy showed the presence of both reported (azo pigments, quinacridone) and unreported (carbon black, phtalocyanine) putative organic sensitizer compounds, and also defined the phase in which Ti was engaged. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper reports the largest cohort of skin hypersensitivity reactions analyzed by multiple complementary techniques. With almost half the patients presenting skin reaction on black tattoo, the study suggests that black modern inks should also be considered to provoke skin reactions, probably because of the common association of carbon black with potential allergenic metals within these inks. Analysis of more skin reactions to tattoos is needed to identify the relevant chemical compounds and help render tattoo ink composition safer.
Very large-scale diffraction investigations enabled by a matrix-multiplication facilitated radial and azimuthal integration algorithm: MatFRAIA
Authors: Jensen Alexander Bernthz , Christensen Thorbjørn Erik Køppen , Weninger Clemens , Birkedal Henrik
Published: October 2022

As synchrotron facilities continue to generate increasingly brilliant X-rays and detector speeds increase, swift data reduction from the collected area detector images to more workable 1D diffractograms becomes of increasing importance. This work reports an integration algorithm that can integrate diffractograms in real time on modern laptops and can reach 10 kHz integration speeds on modern workstations using an efficient pixel-splitting and parallelization scheme. This algorithm is limited not by the computation of the integration itself but is rather bottlenecked by the speed of the data transfer to the processor, the data decompression and/or the saving of results. The algorithm and its implementation is described while the performance is investigated on 2D scanning X-ray diffraction/fluorescence data collected at the interface between an implant and forming bone.
Orchestration and consolidation in corporate sustainability reporting. The legacy of the Corporate Reporting Dialogue
Authors: Rowbottom N.
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The paper uses theoretical conceptions of power and orchestration to analyse the role of the Corporate Reporting Dialogue on the global standardisation of sustainability reporting.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts an interpretive approach and draws on a qualitative dataset derived from interviews, documentary analysis and observation.

Findings

The paper traces how the Corporate Reporting Dialogue was orchestrated by the International Integrated Reporting Council, with the objective of aligning sustainability reporting standards, but moved to become a vehicle for orchestrating standards consistent with the recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure. Collaboration between the Dialogue's five most active bodies forged the blueprint adopted by the International Sustainability Standards Board's vision of sustainability reporting that prioritised reporting only on those socio-ecological issues deemed to materially affect future enterprise value.

Originality/value

The paper explicates the role of collaborative initiatives in the standardisation of sustainability reporting and shows how these initiatives act as vehicles to subtly undermine the GRI position (presented as one standardiser amongst many whose vision appears as an outlier, despite its position as the dominant sustainability reporting standardiser), and establish the prioritisation of a sustainability reporting worldview based on investor-oriented enterprise value creation. The case also draws attention to the specific orchestrators involved in establishing this prioritisation, and reveals the influence of philanthropic foundations. In doing so, it extends our understanding of legitimacy generation in standard-setting by showing how collaborative initiatives offer private standardisers another means to generate input legitimacy for what, in this case, represented a vision of reporting at odds with most sustainability reporting practice. Finally, the paper extends the sites of power to collaborative initiatives and details the mechanisms through which covert power is exercised but also masked where orchestrators use convening power, funding and membership choices to define the boundaries of discussion by influencing who participates, what is on the agenda and what activity is undertaken. Rather than viewing standardisation as a simple pursuit of conquest between individual standardisers, the paper considers how collaboration provides the opportunity for assimilation.
Cultural murals and the evolving nature of the hero concept: an arts marketing context
Authors: Fillis Ian , Lehman Kim
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The authors provide an understanding of how the hero identity is culturally constructed and evolving. The authors focus on heroism within an arts marketing framework through an interrogation of Northern Ireland murals. In this paper, the authors elaborate on the links between arts marketing thought and the notion of hero and draw conclusions around what the authors see as a fruitful area for arts marketing theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have adopted a narrative approach, incorporating biographical method, visual analysis and ethnography in interpreting cultural murals. The authors assess representative examples in Northern Ireland using a thematic framework.

Findings

The murals the authors assessed have evolved from having a specific community focus to increasing numbers which now represent a “shared”, and therefore more modern version of the hero.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identify an emerging, aesthetically balanced portrayal of cultural murals, with a different set of heroic priorities compared to the past, which should encourage further related research elsewhere.

Practical implications

Northern Ireland murals are no longer the preserve of specific communities and are now also shared spaces which appeal to both the local population and cultural tourists.

Originality/value

Although analysis and evaluation of political murals has been carried out in other disciplines, the authors add to the limited insight from an arts marketing perspective.
Impact of climate change on agricultural productivity: a combination of spatial Durbin model and entropy approaches
Authors: Bai Dongbei , Ye Lei , Yang ZhengYuan , Wang Gang
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Global climate change characterized by an increase in temperature has become the focus of attention all over the world. China is a sensitive and significant area of global climate change. This paper specifically aims to examine the association between agricultural productivity and the climate change by using China’s provincial agricultural input–output data from 2000 to 2019 and the climatic data of the ground meteorological stations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used the three-stage spatial Durbin model (SDM) model and entropy method for analysis of collected data; further, the authors also empirically tested the climate change marginal effect on agricultural productivity by using ordinary least square and SDM approaches.

Findings

The results revealed that climate change has a significant negative effect on agricultural productivity, which showed significance in robustness tests, including index replacement, quantile regression and tail reduction. The results of this study also indicated that by subdividing the climatic factors, annual precipitation had no significant impact on the growth of agricultural productivity; further, other climatic variables, including wind speed and temperature, had a substantial adverse effect on agricultural productivity. The heterogeneity test showed that climatic changes ominously hinder agricultural productivity growth only in the western region of China, and in the eastern and central regions, climate change had no effect.

Practical implications

The findings of this study highlight the importance of various social connections of farm households in designing policies to improve their responses to climate change and expand land productivity in different regions. The study also provides a hypothetical approach to prioritize developing regions that need proper attention to improve crop productivity.

Originality/value

The paper explores the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity by using the climatic data of China. Empirical evidence previously missing in the body of knowledge will support governments and researchers to establish a mechanism to improve climate change mitigation tools in China.
Corporate entrepreneurship champions: mapping the past and present states of the field for future advancements
Authors: Ghura Amarpreet Singh , Sharma Gagan Deep , Pereira Vijay , Islam Nazrul , Chopra Ritika
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to critically examine and review the extant research on corporate entrepreneurship champions in the broader area of corporate entrepreneurship and to uncover the avenues for advancement of the scholarship with the purpose of engaging CE champions towards the upliftment of organisations in particular, and younger workforce in general.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, authors employ bibliometric analysis through a review of 274 papers fetched from Web of Science and Scopus databases.

Findings

The authors set the agenda for future research and policy by elucidating research themes and potential research questions by bringing out twelve themes classified into five basic themes, three niche themes, three motor themes, and one key theme, while also providing the methodological inputs for carrying out this agenda.

Originality/value

This study adopts a unique lens of investigation in contextualising the role of self-efficacy, employee engagement, and career choice for the younger workforce.
Student roles and behaviors in higher education co-creation – a systematic literature review
Authors: Zarandi Negin , Soares Ana Maria , Alves Helena
Published: October 2022

Purpose

In today’s global and highly competitive climate among universities, educational developers and instructors have focused more on trying to make the student experience more engaging. In this manner, student co-creation activities have recently become a major research priority in marketing and higher education (HE) research. The purpose of this study is to present a systematic review of the literature on student co-creation roles and behaviors in HE in order to map extant research on this topic and offer a consolidated view of the co-creation process and approaches that can be employed by HEIs to motivate students to co-create their HE experience.

Design/methodology/approach

A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach was followed to classify, select, synthesize, analyze and assess the most relevant studies on student participation in co-creation in HE.

Findings

This study’s analysis has identified that the co-creation process in HE includes dialog, access, risk and transparency. The main approaches used by higher education institutions (HEIs) to motivate students to co-create their HE experience are student involvement, cognitive engagement, university affiliation and emotional engagement. Our review also shows that student co-creation behaviors are mainly participation and citizenship behavior, and their co-creation roles include those of co-producers, participants, change agents and partners.

Originality/value

This systematic literature review analyses and critically discusses the state of the art in student co-creation roles in HE and the approaches HEIs use. By providing a map of existing research, the paper contributes both to the clarification of student co-creation roles and behaviors in HE and the identification of research gaps and opportunities for further research.
The importance of community support for women in a Gulf Coast Indigenous tribe
Authors: Carlson Tess A. , Liddell Jessica L.
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Community support is an integral aspect of health and well-being for Indigenous peoples. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the valuable role of community support for Indigenous women specifically, who experience reproductive health disparities at alarming rates. This study helps fill an important gap in Indigenous scholarship by centering the resilience of women and Indigenous tribes and by using a framework that is consistent with Indigenous holistic views of health.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for this paper was collected as part of a larger study exploring the reproductive health experiences of a state-recognized Gulf Coast tribe. A total of 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who identify as women and as members of this tribe using qualitative descriptive methodology. This method is recommended for research with Indigenous communities. A community advisory board with representatives from this tribe provided feedback throughout the project.

Findings

Themes expressed by participants included Community Closeness and Support; Community Support in Raising Children; Informal Adoption Common; and Community Values of Mutual Aid and Self-Sufficiency. The findings support current literature noting the value of generational and communal ties for Indigenous peoples. Implications of this research include the need to value and support community networks in programs serving tribes, in addition to meaningfully including Indigenous communities in developing interventions.

Originality/value

This paper centers Indigenous women’s resilience, approaches the health and well-being of Indigenous tribes holistically and helps to fill an important gap in literature describing informal adoption (outside the legal system) in state-recognized Indigenous communities.
A load-balanced hybrid heuristic for allocation of batch of tasks in cloud computing environment
Authors: Shiekh Sophiya , Shahid Mohammad , Sambare Manas , Haidri Raza Abbas , Yadav Dileep Kumar
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Cloud computing gives several on-demand infrastructural services by dynamically pooling heterogeneous resources to cater to users’ applications. The task scheduling needs to be done optimally to achieve proficient results in a cloud computing environment. While satisfying the user’s requirements in a cloud environment, scheduling has been proven an NP-hard problem. Therefore, it leaves scope to develop new allocation models for the problem. The aim of the study is to develop load balancing method to maximize the resource utilization in cloud environment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the parallelized task allocation with load balancing (PTAL) hybrid heuristic is proposed for jobs coming from various users. These jobs are allocated on the resources one by one in a parallelized manner as they arrive in the cloud system. The novel algorithm works in three phases: parallelization, task allocation and task reallocation. The proposed model is designed for efficient task allocation, reallocation of resources and adequate load balancing to achieve better quality of service (QoS) results.

Findings

The acquired empirical results show that PTAL performs better than other scheduling strategies under various cases for different QoS parameters under study.

Originality/value

The outcome has been examined for the real data set to evaluate it with different state-of-the-art heuristics having comparable objective parameters.
Enhanced cipher text-policy attribute-based encryption and serialization on media cloud data
Authors: R. Mohan Naik , Gadiyar H. Manoj T. , M. Sharath S. , Bharathrajkumar M. , K. Sowmya T.
Published: October 2022

Purpose

There are various system techniques or models which are used for access control by performing cryptographic operations and characterizing to provide an efficient cloud and in Internet of Things (IoT) access control. Particularly in cloud computing environment, there is a large-scale distribution of these traditional symmetric cryptographic techniques. These symmetric cryptographic techniques use the same key for encryption and decryption processes. However, during the execution of these phases, they are under the problems of key distribution and management. The purpose of this study is to provide efficient key management and key distribution in cloud computing environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the Cipher text-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption (CP-ABE) technique with proper access control policy which is used to provide the data owner’s control and share the data through encryption process in Cloud and IoT environment. The data are shared with the the help of cloud storage, even in presence of authorized users. The main method used in this research is Enhanced CP-ABE Serialization (E-CP-ABES) approach.

Findings

The results are measured by means of encryption, completion and decryption time that showed better results when compared with the existing CP-ABE technique. The comparative analysis has showed that the proposed E-CP-ABES has obtained better results of 2373 ms for completion time for 256 key lengths, whereas the existing CP-ABE has obtained 3129 ms of completion time. In addition to this, the existing Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) scheme showed 3449 ms of completion time.

Originality/value

The proposed research work uses an E-CP-ABES access control technique that verifies the hidden attributes having a very sensitive dataset constraint and provides solution to the key management problem and access control mechanism existing in IOT and cloud computing environment. The novelty of the research is that the proposed E-CP-ABES incorporates extensible, partially hidden constraint policy by using a process known as serialization procedure and it serializes to a byte stream. Redundant residue number system is considered to remove errors that occur during the processing of bits or data obtained from the serialization. The data stream is recovered using the Deserialization process.
Integrating an evolutionary perspective of “self-concept” in consumer research
Authors: Das Parthasarathi , Pingali Venugopal
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to propose a framework for understanding the dynamism of the human self-system from evolutionary and socio-psychological perspective. The study aims to help scholars interested to use an evolutionary lens for examining consumer behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Relying on the principle of self-cybernetics, the study proposed a general framework explaining the operating mechanism of human self-system. The proposed framework incorporates the socio-psychological and the evolutionary perspective of the human self-concept.

Findings

The framework may help consumer scholars to integrate socio-psychological and evolutionary theories to produce novel and testable hypotheses.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to propose a framework based on the principle of cybernetics to facilitate the use of an evolutionary lens in consumer research.
Role of Industry 4.0 in circular supply chain management: a mixed-method analysis
Authors: Faisal Mohd Nishat
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The major purpose of this study is to investigate the role of Industry 4.0 in circular supply chain management (CSCM). The study also identifies variables that positively influence circular performance of a supply chain and examines the relationships among them.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses a novel mixed-method exploratory methodology with sequential design. To understand the relationships among the enablers and the role of Industry 4.0 in circular performance of supply chain, a qualitative method (interpretive structural modeling) was utilized. Following the qualitative phase, a questionnaire based quantitative study was conducted and the hypothesized mediating relationships were evaluated through smart-PLS structural equation modeling tool.

Findings

The findings of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) model revealed the hierarchical relationships among the enablers of circular supply chain management based on their relative importance. The variables were clustered in three groups of driver, dependent and linkage variables. The results of the structural model indicated that Industry 4.0 play a mediating role between the driver and dependent variables that influence circular performance in a supply chain.

Practical implications

The research offers practical insights for supply chains moving in the direction of zero waste by highlighting the important variables that require actions from different stakeholders. The research also reveals the importance of integrating Industry 4.0 technologies in restorative and regenerative cycles of circular supply chain.

Originality/value

The originality of the research stems from the scarcity of research on circular supply chain management. The authors argue about the critical role that Industry 4.0 can play in achieving circularity in supply chains.
Corporate governance, competition and earnings management: evidence from Asian emerging economies
Authors: Shira Ruba Khalid
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the nexus between corporate governance, competition and earnings management (EM) in Asian emerging economies.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a sample of 116 banks from 10 Asian emerging economies from 2010 to 2021. To measure corporate governance, the board size, chief executive officer duality and ownership concentration are used. Competition is captured with Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and Lerner index (LI). Although earning management is measured through discretionary accruals. The authors use fixed effect regression for hypothesis testing. However, dynamic panel system generalised method of moments estimation is used to confirm the robustness of the results.

Findings

The authors find that corporate governance and competition are significantly related to earning management practices of banks in emerging Asian economies. The authors report similar outcomes with both estimation methods verifying the reliability of results.

Originality/value

The findings of the study have implications for corporate regulatory authorities, management and investors in the Asian emerging economies. Banks in the Asian emerging economies need to pay more attention to factors such as governance and competition to avoid EM.
Embedded finance: assessing the benefits, use case, challenges and interest over time
Authors: Ozili Peterson K.
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This paper presents an overview of embedded finance. It identifies the applications, use case examples, benefits and challenges of embedded finance. The paper also analyzes global interest in embedded finance and compares it with interest in related finance concepts such as open finance, open banking, decentralized finance, financial innovation, Fintech and digital finance.

Design/methodology/approach

Granger causality test and two-stage least square regression were used to assess interest over time in embedded finance.

Findings

The empirical result show that interest in embedded finance increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States, the United Kingdom and India witnessed the highest interest in embedded finance compared to other countries. There is bi-directional Granger causality between interest in information about embedded finance and interest in information about financial innovation. There is uni-directional Granger causality between interest in information about embedded finance and interest in information about digital finance and open finance. The findings also reveal that interest in decentralized finance and open finance are significant determinants of interest in embedded finance. On the other hand, interest in embedded finance is a significant determinant of interest in digital finance, decentralized finance, Fintech and open banking. Also, interest in embedded finance is significantly correlated with interest in digital finance, decentralized finance, open banking and Fintech.

Originality/value

Presently, there is little academic interest in embedded finance despite the fact that embedded finance is part of the on-going digital finance revolution. This paper fills this gap in the literature by assessing the benefits, use case, challenges of embedded finance.