bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Review of Endocrine Therapy in Early-stage Breast Cancer
Authors: Elayoubi Jailan , Chi Jie , Mahmoud Amr A. , Alloghbi Abdurahman , Assad Hadeel , Shekhar Malathy , Simon Michael S.
Published: March 2023

Endocrine therapy (ET) is the standard of care for hormone receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer in the adjuvant setting. However, response to ET can vary across patient subgroups. Historically, hormone receptor expression and clinical stage are the main predictors of the benefit of ET. A “window of opportunity” trials has raised significant interest in recent years as a means of assessing the sensitivity of a patient’s cancer to short-term neoadjuvant ET, which provides important prognostic information, and helps in decision-making regarding treatment options in a time-efficient and cost-efficient manner. In the era of genomics, molecular profiling has led to the discovery and evaluation of the prognostic and predictive abilities of new molecular profiles. To realize the goal of personalized medicine, we are in urgent need to explore reliable biomarkers or genomic signatures to accurately predict the clinical response and long-term outcomes associated with ET. Validation of these biomarkers as reliable surrogate endpoints can also lead to a revolution in the clinical trial designs, and potentially avoid the need for repeated tissue biopsies in the surveillance of disease response. The clinical potential of tumor genomic profiling marks the beginning of a new era of precision medicine in breast cancer treatment.
Changes in Corneal Clouding Over Time in Patients With Mucopolysaccharidosis
Authors: McGrath Orlaith , Sornalingam Krishanthy , Aslam Tariq , Ashworth Jane
Published: March 2023

Purpose:

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are a rare group of lysosomal storage disorders characterized by the accumulation of incompletely degraded glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in multiple organ systems, including the eye. Visual loss occurs in MPS predominantly due to corneal clouding. Despite the success of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in improving many systemic manifestations of MPS, less is known about their effect on corneal clouding. This study prospectively analyses the effect of both ERT and HSCT on corneal clouding using objective measures over time.

Methods:

This is a prospective longitudinal observational study. Corneal clouding was assessed in each participant using slitlamp, digital slit-lamp photographs, and an iris camera (Corneal Opacification Measure [COM] and the Pentacam system).

Results:

Data were collected for 65 participants: 39 MPS I (Hurler), 5 MPS II (Hunter), 12 MPS IV (Morquio), and 9 MPS VI (Maroteaux–Lamy). Follow-up data are available for 45 participants (29 MPS I, 3 MPS II, 6 MPS IV, and 7 MPS VI).

Conclusions:

This study found corneal clouding to be stable in most participants with MPS I, II, IV, and VI over a follow-up period of 5 to 75 months (median of 30 months) when measured with clinical corneal grading systems, graded digital slit-lamp images, and iris camera COMs. For those with Pentacam densitometry measures, there was a progression of corneal clouding, on average, in those with MPS I and MPS VI. There was no apparent difference in progression of corneal clouding between patients who were on ERT, HSCT, or no treatment.
A Literature Review: Violence and Aggression in Neuroscience Nursing
Authors: Woon Caroline
Published: March 2023

BACKGROUND: Violence and aggression is commonly encountered in nursing worldwide and is an increasing concern, although it is largely underreported by staff. Violence and aggression can take many forms, from verbal and physical abuse to sexual assault. This study aims to define agitation, violence, and aggression and to explore the prevalence of violence and aggression among neuroscience patients. This review also examines why violence and aggression occurs for neuroscience patients and to determine the effects on the patients, the environment, and the nursing staff. METHODS: A review of articles was conducted using CINAHL, PubMed, the Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar between 2012 and 2022. DISCUSSION: Agitation can escalate to violence and aggression. The reasons a neuroscience patient may become agitated are multifactorial. An injury to the brain may not cause agitation; however, the effect on the frontal lobe, hypothalamus, and hippocampus may cause a lack of self-control, impulsivity, an inability to control emotions, and an uncontrolled release of hormones, leading to a heightened sympathetic response. The effects of violence and aggression can be detrimental to the patient and include isolation, increased sedation, reduced observations, and even death. The effects on the nurse are profound including a decline in productivity at work, an increased risk of drug errors, and posttraumatic stress disorder or burnout as longer-term consequences. CONCLUSION: Violence and aggression is commonly experienced within neuroscience nursing, and the contributing factors are multifactorial. The effects for the patients and staff can be profound, and this is why prevention of agitation is fundamental to ensure the safety and retention of nursing staff.
Contemporary adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner (AGACNP) practice: Findings from the 2020 American Association of Critical Care Nurses AGACNP practice analysis survey
Authors: Jackson Kristopher , McCauley Paula , Konick-McMahan Joanne , Mirza Cyrus
Published: March 2023

Background:

National standards for nurse practitioner licensure require certification programs to conduct practice analyses to ensure that certified nurse practitioners possess the necessary knowledge for entry-level practice. The practice analysis for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Certification Corporation (AACN Cert Corp) adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner (AGACNP) credential is performed every five years by the AACN Certification Corporation.

Purpose:

The AACN Cert Corp conducted a practice analysis to confirm that current AGACNP practice is reflected in the ACNPC-AG test plan, and the examination is congruent with 2008 consensus model guidelines. This work describes findings from the 2020 AACN Cert Corp practice analysis and changes in AGACNP practice and academic preparation based on the survey data.

Method: :

In 2020, AACN Cert Corp volunteer subject matter experts (SMEs) developed a survey of practice activities and competencies relevant to AGACNP practice. Patient care activities and competencies were rated by AGACNP respondents for criticality and frequency. AACN SMEs reviewed criticality and frequency ratings to determine the patient care problems, skills/procedures, and competencies to include in the updated AACN Cert Corp ACNPC-AG test plan.

Results:

The 2020 AGACNP practice analysis survey and subsequent review resulted in the retention of 33 skills and procedures, 165 patient care problems, and all national competencies in the final ACNPC-AG test plan.

Conclusions and Implications:

The 2020 AACN Cert Corp AGACNP practice analysis survey describes possible changes in AGACNP practice and academic preparation that have occurred since the 2016 survey, findings that may be associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Local Infiltration of Tranexamic Acid in Breast Reduction for Symptomatic Macromastia
Authors: Nichols Georgina , Andrade Erika , Gregoski Mathew , Herrera Fernando A. , Armstrong Milton B.
Published: March 2023

Background

With a surge of tranexamic acid (TXA) use in the plastic surgery community and a constant demand for breast reduction for symptomatic macromastia, questions about the benefits and risks emerge. The aims of this study are to evaluate and compare outcomes of patients undergoing breast reduction while receiving local TXA as opposed to standard procedure without TXA and to assess intraoperative bleeding and operative time.

Methods

A retrospective review of breast reductions at a single institution from June 2020 to December 2021 was performed. The breast was infiltrated with tumescent solution at the time of surgery, with or without TXA. The population was divided into 2 groups: the TXA receiving group and tumescent only group. Demographics, intraoperative bleeding, operative time, complications, and drain duration were compared between groups. T test and χ2 test analyses were performed on IBM SPSS.TM

Results

A total of 81 patients and 162 breasts were included. Mean age among patients was 30 ± 13.44 years. Mean SN-N distance was 32.80 ± 3.62 cm. Average resected breast specimen weight was 903.21 ± 336.50 g. Mean operating room time was 159 minutes. Intraoperative blood loss and operative time were not statistically different between groups (P = 0.583 and P = 0.549, respectively). T-junction dehiscence was lower in the TXA group (P = 0.016). Incidence of suture granulomas was lower in the TXA group (P = 0.05). Drain duration was statistically significantly higher in the TXA group (P = 0.033).

Conclusions

No decreases in intraoperative blood loss, operative time, or hematoma were seen after local administration of TXA during breast reduction. The rate of overall complications was not increased by using TXA, and incidence of T-junction dehiscence was lower in the TXA group lending to TXA's relatively safe profile. More research is necessary to further elucidate the TXA-related benefits in standard breast reductions.
Using an Expanded Cervical Flap With an Overlapping Tissue Expansion Technique to Resurface Middle and Lower Facial Defects
Authors: Luo Si-Si , Li Yang-Qun
Published: March 2023

Background:

Extensive facial burn scars are a tragedy for patients and often pose a great challenge to surgeons because of the high esthetic and functional demands. For patients with healthy skin in the neck region, a cervical flap is highly recommended for facial resurfacing; however, the skin on the midline of the neck often needs more expansion than that on either side, especially for the treatment of large facial defects. The sufficient longitudinal soft tissue in the anterior neck ensures a normal neck shape as well as a normal range of cervical extension, rotation, and lateral flexion. To overcome this, we developed an expanded cervical flap with an overlapping tissue expansion technique to gain more length centrally.

Methods:

First, 2 tissue expanders were embedded in the anterior neck region overlapping each other at the midline of the neck. After adequate inflation of the expander, the expanded flap was dissected and rotated to repair defects in the middle and lower face. The anchor position of the flap was placed on the horizontal line of the thyroid cartilage to restore the cervicomental angle.

Results:

Sixteen patients were treated with this method in this single-center study. All defects affected the middle and lower face, with an area ranging from 135 to 185 cm2, and were caused by a massive facial burn. Among them, 12 patients suffered ectropion of the lower lip, 3 suffered limited mouth opening due to scar contraction, and one patient had a cervicomental adhesion. The area of the expanded flap was approximately 163 to 266 cm2. The average period of expansion was 89.5 days. Patients were followed up after the operation, with the follow-up period ranging from 6 to 12 months. In all cases, good defect coverage was achieved, with primary closure of the donor sites and a good postoperative cervical configuration.

Conclusion:

We conclude that the expanded cervical flap with the overlapping tissue expansion technique proved to be a reliable method for facial skin reconstruction with functional and aesthetic improvement.
Intraspecific genetic variation in host vigour, viral load and disease tolerance during Drosophila C virus infection
Authors: Kutzer Megan A. M. , Gupta Vanika , Neophytou Kyriaki , Doublet Vincent , Monteith Katy M. , Vale Pedro F.
Published: March 2023

Genetic variation for resistance and disease tolerance has been described in a range of species. In
Drosophila melanogaster
, genetic variation in mortality following systemic Drosophila C virus (DCV) infection is driven by large-effect polymorphisms in the restriction factor
pastrel (pst)
. However, it is unclear if
pst
contributes to disease tolerance. We investigated systemic DCV challenges spanning nine orders of magnitude, in males and females of 10
Drosophila
Genetic Reference Panel lines carrying either a susceptible (S) or resistant (R)
pst
allele. We find among-line variation in fly survival, viral load and disease tolerance measured both as the ability to maintain survival (mortality tolerance) and reproduction (fecundity tolerance). We further uncover novel effects of
pst
on host vigour, as flies carrying the R allele exhibited higher survival and fecundity even in the absence of infection. Finally, we found significant genetic variation in the expression of the JAK-STAT ligand
upd3
and the epigenetic regulator of JAK-STAT
G9a.
However, while
G9a
has been previously shown to mediate tolerance of DCV infection, we found no correlation between the expression of either
upd3
or
G9a
on fly tolerance or resistance. Our work highlights the importance of both resistance and tolerance in viral defence.
Arterial wave dynamics preservation upon orthostatic stress: a modelling perspective
Authors: Fois Matteo , Ridolfi Luca , Scarsoglio Stefania
Published: March 2023

Pressure-flow travelling waves are a key topic for understanding arterial haemodynamics. However, wave transmission and reflection processes induced by body posture changes have not been thoroughly explored yet. Current
in vivo
research has shown that the amount of wave reflection detected at a central level (ascending aorta, aortic arch) decreases during tilting to the upright position, despite the widely proved stiffening of the cardiovascular system. It is known that the arterial system is optimized when in the supine position, i.e. propagation of direct waves is enabled and reflected waves are trapped, protecting the heart; however, it is not known whether this is preserved with postural changes. To shed light on these aspects, we propose a multi-scale modelling approach to inquire into posture-induced arterial wave dynamics elicited by simulated head-up tilting. In spite of remarkable adaptation of the human vasculature following posture changes, our analysis shows that, upon tilting from supine to upright: (i) vessel lumens at arterial bifurcations remain well matched in the forward direction, (ii) wave reflection at central level is reduced due to the backward propagation of weakened pressure waves produced by cerebral autoregulation, and (iii) backward wave trapping is preserved.
Interspecific hybridization explains rapid gorget colour divergence inHeliodoxahummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae)
Authors: Eliason Chad M. , Cooper Jacob C. , Hackett Shannon J. , Zahnle Erica , Pequeño Saco Tatiana Z. , Maddox Joseph Dylan , Hains Taylor , Hauber Mark E. , Bates John M.
Published: March 2023

Hybridization is a known source of morphological, functional and communicative signal novelty in many organisms. Although diverse mechanisms of established novel ornamentation have been identified in natural populations, we lack an understanding of hybridization effects across levels of biological scales and upon phylogenies. Hummingbirds display diverse structural colours resulting from coherent light scattering by feather nanostructures. Given the complex relationship between feather nanostructures and the colours they produce, intermediate coloration does not necessarily imply intermediate nanostructures. Here, we characterize nanostructural, ecological and genetic inputs in a distinctiveHeliodoxahummingbird from the foothills of eastern Peru. Genetically, this individual is closely allied withHeliodoxa branickiiandHeliodoxa gularis, but it is not identical to either when nuclear data are assessed. Elevated interspecific heterozygosity further suggests it is a hybrid backcross toH. branickii. Electron microscopy and spectrophotometry of this unique individual reveal key nanostructural differences underlying its distinct gorget colour, confirmed by optical modelling. Phylogenetic comparative analysis suggests that the observed gorget coloration divergence from both parentals to this individual would take 6.6–10 My to evolve at the current rate within a single hummingbird lineage. These results emphasize the mosaic nature of hybridization and suggest that hybridization may contribute to the structural colour diversity found across hummingbirds.
Mechanical energy fluctuation in lower limbs during walking in participants with and without total hip replacement
Authors: Anwar St. Fatimah Zahrah , Wang Ying , Raza Wasim , Arnold Graham , Wang Weijie
Published: March 2023

Mechanical energy fluctuation of the segments of lower limbs during walking has not been fully investigated. It was hypothesized that the segments may work as a pendulum, i.e. the kinetic and potential energies exchanged out of phase. This study aimed to investigate energy changes and recovery during gait in hip replacement patients. The gait data for 12 participants with total hip replacement and 12 age-matched control was compared. The kinetic, potential and rotative energies for whole lower limb and thigh, calf and foot, were calculated. The effectiveness of a pendulum effect was analysed. Gait parameters (speeds and cadence) were calculated. The results showed that the thigh had significant effectiveness as a pendulum during gait with energy recovery coefficient of approximately 40% while the calf and foot were less like a pendulum during gait. In comparison, energy recoveries of lower limbs in the two groups were not significantly different. If the pelvis was considered as an approximate to the centre of mass, however, the control group had a higher energy recovery than total-hip-replacement group by roughly 10%. This study concluded that, unlike centre of mass energy recovery, the mechanical energy recovery mechanism in the lower limbs during walking is not affected after total hip replacement.
Optimal regularity and Uhlenbeck compactness for general relativity and Yang–Mills theory
Authors: Reintjes Moritz , Temple Blake
Published: March 2023

We announce the extension of
optimal regularity
and
Uhlenbeck compactness
to the general setting of connections on vector bundles with non-compact gauge groups over non-Riemannian manifolds, including the Lorentzian metric connections of general relativity (GR). Compactness is the essential tool of mathematical analysis for establishing the validity of approximation schemes. Our proofs are based on the theory of the RT-equations for connections with

L
p

curvature. Solutions of the RT-equations furnish coordinate and gauge transformations which give a non-optimal connection a gain of one derivative over its Riemann curvature (i.e. to optimal regularity). The RT-equations are
elliptic
regardless of metric signature, and regularize singularities in solutions of the
hyperbolic
Einstein equations. As an application, singularities at GR shock waves are removable, implying geodesic curves, locally inertial coordinates and the Newtonian limit all exist. By the extra derivative, we extend Uhlenbeck compactness from Uhlenbeck’s setting of vector bundles with compact gauge groups over Riemannian manifolds, to the case of compact and non-compact gauge groups over non-Riemannian manifolds. Our version of Uhlenbeck compactness can also be viewed as a ‘geometric’ improvement of the Div-Curl Lemma, improving weak continuity of wedge products to
strong
convergence.
Physics-informed dynamic mode decomposition
Authors: Baddoo Peter J. , Herrmann Benjamin , McKeon Beverley J. , Nathan Kutz J. , Brunton Steven L.
Published: March 2023

In this work, we demonstrate how physical principles—such as symmetries, invariances and conservation laws—can be integrated into thedynamic mode decomposition(DMD). DMD is a widely used data analysis technique that extracts low-rank modal structures and dynamics from high-dimensional measurements. However, DMD can produce models that are sensitive to noise, fail to generalize outside the training data and violate basic physical laws. Our physics-informed DMD (piDMD) optimization, which may be formulated as a Procrustes problem, restricts the family of admissible models to a matrix manifold that respects the physical structure of the system. We focus on five fundamental physical principles—conservation, self-adjointness, localization, causality and shift-equivariance—and derive several closed-form solutions and efficient algorithms for the corresponding piDMD optimizations. With fewer degrees of freedom, piDMD models are less prone to overfitting, require less training data, and are often less computationally expensive to build than standard DMD models. We demonstrate piDMD on a range of problems, including energy-preserving fluid flow, the Schrödinger equation, solute advection-diffusion and three-dimensional transitional channel flow. In each case, piDMD outperforms standard DMD algorithms in metrics such as spectral identification, state prediction and estimation of optimal forcings and responses.
Solutions and singularities of the semigeostrophic equations via the geometry of Lagrangian submanifolds
Authors: D’Onofrio Roberto , Ortenzi Giovanni , Roulstone Ian , Rubtsov Volodya
Published: March 2023

By using Monge–Ampère geometry, we study the singular structure of a class of nonlinear Monge–Ampère equations in three dimensions, arising in geophysical fluid dynamics. We extend seminal earlier work on Monge–Ampère geometry by examining the role of an induced metric on Lagrangian submanifolds of the cotangent bundle. In particular, we show that the signature of the metric serves as a classification of the Monge–Ampère equation, while singularities and elliptic–hyperbolic transitions are revealed by degeneracies of the metric. The theory is illustrated by application to an example solution of the semigeostrophic equations.
Stability of a layered reactive channel flow
Authors: Maharana Surya Narayan , Sahu Kirti Chandra , Mishra Manoranjan
Published: March 2023

We analyse the linear stability of a reactive plane Poiseuille flow, where a reactant fluid

A

overlies another reactant

B

in a layered fashion within a two-dimensional channel. Both reactants are miscible and have the same viscosity, while upon reaction, they produce either a less or more-viscous product fluid

C

. The reaction kinetics is of simple

A
+
B
→
C

type, and the production of

C

occurs across the initial contact line of reactants

A

and

B

in a mixed zone of small and finite width. All three fluids have the same density. We demonstrate the effects of various controlling parameters such as the log-mobility ratio, Damköhler number, Schmidt number, Reynolds number, position and thicknesses of the reactive zone on the stability characteristics. We show that a tiny viscosity stratification by the reaction destabilizes the flow at a moderate (10–1000) and even at low Reynolds numbers (0.01–1). The maximum growth occurs for shorter waves than for the Tollmien–Schlichting eigenmode, and the ranges of unstable wavenumbers are wider than that known for non-reactive channel flow systems. In most cases, the instability occurs due to the overlap of the critical layer with the viscosity-stratified layer. Surprisingly for some parameters, it is observed that the reaction can make

σ
M

decrease with increasing Reynolds number.
Explaining flexible continuous speech comprehension from individual motor rhythms
Authors: Lubinus Christina , Keitel Anne , Obleser Jonas , Poeppel David , Rimmele Johanna M.
Published: March 2023

When speech is too fast, the tracking of the acoustic signal along the auditory pathway deteriorates, leading to suboptimal speech segmentation and decoding of speech information. Thus, speech comprehension is limited by the temporal constraints of the auditory system. Here we ask whether individual differences in auditory-motor coupling strength in part shape these temporal constraints. In two behavioural experiments, we characterize individual differences in the comprehension of naturalistic speech as function of the individual synchronization between the auditory and motor systems and the preferred frequencies of the systems. Obviously, speech comprehension declined at higher speech rates. Importantly, however, both higher auditory-motor synchronization and higher spontaneous speech motor production rates were predictive of better speech-comprehension performance. Furthermore, performance increased with higher working memory capacity (digit span) and higher linguistic, model-based sentence predictability—particularly so at higher speech rates and for individuals with high auditory-motor synchronization. The data provide evidence for a model of speech comprehension in which individual flexibility of not only the motor system but also auditory-motor synchronization may play a modulatory role.
Drivers of nematode diversity in forest soils across climatic zones
Authors: Shao Yuanhu , Wang Zuyan , Liu Tao , Kardol Paul , Ma Chengen , Hu Yonghong , Cui Yang , Zhao Cancan , Zhang Weixin , Guo Dali , Fu Shenglei
Published: March 2023

Nematodes are the most abundant multi-cellular animals in soil, influencing key processes and functions in terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, little is known about the drivers of nematode abundance and diversity in forest soils across climatic zones. This is despite forests covering approximately 30% of the Earth's land surface, providing many crucial ecosystem services but strongly varying in climatic conditions and associated ecosystem properties across biogeographic zones. Here, we collected nematode samples from 13 forests across a latitudinal gradient. We divided this gradient into temperate, warm-temperate and tropical climatic zones and found that, across the gradient, nematode abundance and diversity were mainly influenced by soil organic carbon content. However, mean annual temperature and total soil phosphorus content in temperate zones, soil pH in warm-temperate zones, and mean annual precipitation in tropical zones were more important in driving nematode alpha-diversity, biomass and abundance. Additionally, nematode beta-diversity was higher in temperate than in warm-temperate and tropical zones. Together, our findings demonstrate that the drivers of nematode diversity in forested ecosystems are affected by the spatial scale and climatic conditions considered. This implies that high resolution studies are needed to accurately predict how soil functions respond if climate conditions move beyond the coping range of soil organisms.
Challenges on the development of a dengue vaccine: a comprehensive review of the state of the art
Authors: Pintado Silva Jessica , Fernandez-Sesma Ana
Published: March 2023

Dengue virus (DENV) is the mosquito-borne virus of greatest human health concern. There are four serotypes of DENV (1-4) that co-circulate in endemic areas. Each serotype of DENV is individually capable of causing the full spectrum of disease, ranging from self-resolving dengue fever to the more severe dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) or dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Based on data published by the CDC, one in four people who become infected with dengue will become ill. Of those that do develop symptomology, the symptoms can range from mild to severe. Symptoms can vary from rash, ocular aches and pains to more intense symptoms in the manifestation of severe dengue. Roughly, 1 in 20 people who become ill will develop severe dengue, which can result in shock, internal bleeding and death. There is currently no specific treatment for dengue and only one licensed vaccine (Dengvaxia) for children 9 through 16 years of age in just a few countries. Despite its licensure for clinical use, Dengvaxia has performed with low efficacy in children and dengue naïve individuals and critically has resulted in increased risk of developing severe dengue in young, vaccinated recipients. Currently, there are various novel strategies for the development of a dengue vaccine. In this review we have conducted a detailed overview of the DENV vaccine landscape, focusing on nine vaccines in the pipeline to provide a comprehensive overview of the most state-of-the-art developments in strategies for vaccines against DENV.
New Features Surrounding the Cdc42-Ste20 Module that Regulates MAP Kinase Signaling in Yeast
Authors: González Beatriz , Mirzaei Mahnoosh , Basu Sukanya , Prabhakar Aditi , Cullen Paul J.
Published: March 2023

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways regulate multiple cellular responses, including the response to stress and cell differentiation, and are highly conserved across eukaryotes from yeast to humans. In yeast, the canonical activation of several MAPK pathways includes the interaction of the small GTPase Cdc42p with the p21-activated kinase (PAK) Ste20p. We recently found that the active conformation of Cdc42p is regulated by turnover, which impacts the activity of the pathway that regulates filamentous growth (fMAPK). Here, we show that Ste20p is turned over by the 26S proteasome. Ste20p was stabilized when bound to Cdc42p, presumably to sustain MAPK pathway signaling. Ste20p is a major conduit by which signals flow through the fMAPK pathway; however, by genetic approaches we also identified a Ste20p-independent branch of the fMAPK pathway. Ste20p-dependent signaling required the 14-3-3 proteins, Bmh1p and Bmh2p, while Ste20p-independent signaling required the fMAPK pathway adaptor and Cdc42p-interacting protein, Bem4p. Ste20p-independent signaling was inhibited by one of the GTPase-activating proteins for Cdc42p in the fMAPK pathway, Rga1p, which also dampened basal but not active fMAPK pathway activity. Finally, the polarity adaptor and Cdc42p-interacting protein, Bem1p, which also regulates the fMAPK pathway, interacts with the tetra-span protein Sho1p, connecting a sensor at the plasma membrane to a protein that regulates the GTPase module. Collectively, these data reveal new regulatory features surrounding a Rho-PAK module that may extend to other pathways that control cell differentiation.
JINXED: just in time crystallization for easy structure determination of biological macromolecules
Authors: Henkel Alessandra , Galchenkova Marina , Maracke Julia , Yefanov Oleksandr , Klopprogge Bjarne , Hakanpää Johanna , Mesters Jeroen R. , Chapman Henry N. , Oberthuer Dominik
Published: March 2023

Macromolecular crystallography is a well established method in the field of structural biology and has led to the majority of known protein structures to date. After focusing on static structures, the method is now under development towards the investigation of protein dynamics through time-resolved methods. These experiments often require multiple handling steps of the sensitive protein crystals, e.g. for ligand-soaking and cryo-protection. These handling steps can cause significant crystal damage, and hence reduce data quality. Furthermore, in time-resolved experiments based on serial crystallography, which use micrometre-sized crystals for short diffusion times of ligands, certain crystal morphologies with small solvent channels can prevent sufficient ligand diffusion. Described here is a method that combines protein crystallization and data collection in a novel one-step process. Corresponding experiments were successfully performed as a proof-of-principle using hen egg-white lysozyme and crystallization times of only a few seconds. This method, called JINXED (Just IN time Crystallization for Easy structure Determination), promises high-quality data due to the avoidance of crystal handling and has the potential to enable time-resolved experiments with crystals containing small solvent channels by adding potential ligands to the crystallization buffer, simulating traditional co-crystallization approaches.
Direct interpretation of the X-ray and neutron three-dimensional difference pair distribution functions (3D-ΔPDFs) of yttria-stabilized zirconia
Authors: Schmidt Ella Mara , Neder Reinhard B. , Martin James D. , Minelli Arianna , Lemée Marie-Hélène , Goodwin Andrew L.
Published: March 2023

Three-dimensional difference pair distribution functions (3D-ΔPDFs) from X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments are reported for yttria-stabilized zirconia (Zr0.82Y0.18O1.91). A quantitative analysis of the signatures in the three-dimensional difference pair distribution functions is used to establish that oxygen ions neighbouring a vacancy shift by 0.525 (5) Å along 〈1, 0, 0〉 towards the vacancy while metal ions neighbouring a vacancy shift by 0.465 (2) Å along 〈1, 1, 1〉 away from the vacancy. The neutron 3D-ΔPDF shows a tendency for vacancies to cluster along 〈½, ½, ½〉, which results in sixfold coordinated metal ions.
A tetramerization domain in prokaryotic and eukaryotic transcription regulators homologous to p53
Authors: Bernardo Nerea , Crespo Isidro , Cuppari Anna , Meijer Wilfried J. J. , Boer D. Roeland
Published: March 2023

Transcriptional regulation usually requires the action of several proteins that either repress or activate a promotor of an open reading frame. These proteins can counteract each other, thus allowing tight regulation of the transcription of the corresponding genes, where tight repression is often linked to DNA looping or cross-linking. Here, the tetramerization domain of the bacterial gene repressor Rco from Bacillus subtilis plasmid pLS20 (RcopLS20) has been identified and its structure is shown to share high similarity to the tetramerization domain of the well known p53 family of human tumor suppressors, despite lacking clear sequence homology. In RcopLS20, this tetramerization domain is responsible for inducing DNA looping, a process that involves multiple tetramers. In accordance, it is shown that RcopLS20 can form octamers. This domain was named TetDloop and its occurrence was identified in other Bacillus species. The TetDloop fold was also found in the structure of a transcriptional repressor from Salmonella phage SPC32H. It is proposed that the TetDloop fold has evolved through divergent evolution and that the TetDloop originates from a common ancestor predating the occurrence of multicellular life.
Relevance of internal controls for risk management: empirical evidence from the perception of its executors and reviewers in a multinational company
Authors: Beuren Ilse Maria , Machado Vanessa Noguez , Dall Agnol Alexsson Jr
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The perception of the relevance of risk management reports and the system of internal controls permeates the risk management of multinational companies. Shedding light on perceived relevance, on the one hand, can serve as a guide for improvements in communication between headquarters and subsidiaries; on the other hand, it can lead to greater involvement of subsidiaries in company policies. Thus, this study aims to analyze the relevance of internal controls for risk management in the perception of its executors and reviewers in a multinational company.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted with the executors and reviewers of the internal controls of a multinational company. To the collected data, structural equation modeling was applied.

Findings

The perceived relevance of internal controls by the subsidiaries directly and positively influences the perceived relevance of the reporting of their specific and standardized reports for all subsidiaries. In addition, the perception of the relevance of standardized reports for all subsidiaries demonstrates a direct and positive influence on the familiarity with the regulations regarding the reporting of internal controls.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine the relevance of internal controls for risk management in the perception of its executors and reviewers of subsidiaries of a multinational company. In this way, it provides a useful contribution to the literature and insights to promote improvements in the communication process between headquarters and subsidiaries of different countries regarding risk management reports and the system of internal controls.
What happens when leader is ambivalent and employee is indifferent? A moderated mediation model of LMX ambivalence and employee creativity
Authors: Lin Xinyue , Du Juan
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship is a crucial context for individuals’ generation of creative ideas. Unlike the fruit research between LMX quality and employee creativity, the relationship between LMX ambivalence and employee creativity is scarce. This study thus aims to examine the effect of LMX ambivalence on employee creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted an on-site survey of research and development teams in China and distributed paired questionnaires with a time lag of one month. Data from 116 leaders and 484 subordinates were collected and analyzed.

Findings

The results showed that LMX ambivalence was directly negatively or indirectly negatively related to employee creativity via self-efficacy. Employee cynicism acted as a potential personal moderator of the effect of LMX ambivalence, specifically, employee cynicism attenuated the negative influence of LMX ambivalence on employee creativity via self-efficacy.

Originality/value

This study extends our knowledge of the complex effects of LMX relationships by empirically exploring whether and how LMX ambivalence influences employee creativity, with self-efficacy introduced as one crucial underlying mechanism. Meanwhile, this study enriches the existing cynicism literature by demonstrating the role of employee cynicism as a buffer in the relationship between LMX ambivalence and employee creativity.
Wage returns to job tasks and personality traits in Germany
Authors: Rohrbach-Schmidt Daniela , Wehner Caroline , Krueger Sabine , Ebner Christian
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This article aims to examine whether specific job tasks measured at the individual level or personality traits are associated with wages and whether the relationship between personality traits and wages differs depending on the job tasks that individuals perform.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzes the association between job tasks and personality traits, and their interaction, with regard to wages using German employee data from 2017/2018.

Findings

Results suggest that nonroutine manual, interactive or analytic tasks are associated with significantly higher wages compared to routine manual tasks, and while extraversion and emotional stability are related to higher wages, agreeableness and openness tend to be associated with lower wages also within occupations. Moreover, the association between personality traits and wages varies depending on the job task requirements at the workplace. A high degree of extraversion in particular is associated with higher wages when the employee performs nonroutine manual, interactive or analytic tasks.

Originality/value

To date, especially the interaction between individual job tasks and personality traits on wages has not been extensively studied because data on both job tasks and personality at the employee level are scarce. This study contributes to the understanding of wage differences among employees.
How consumers react differently toward humanoid vs. nonhumanoid robots after service failures: a moderated chain mediation model
Authors: Zhang Mengwei , Cui Jinsheng , Zhong Jianan
Published: March 2023

Purpose

With the increasing use of robots in service scenarios in hospitality industries, service failure frequently occurs during the service process, and consumers may react differently toward humanoid vs. nonhumanoid robots due to different performance expectancies. This study focuses on consumers' reactions to service failures by humanoid vs. nonhumanoid robots and the different impacts on brand forgiveness and revisit intentions through performance expectancy for different genders.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a sample of 280 participants to test the moderated chain mediation model. The participants were instructed to report their performance expectancies for humanoid/nonhumanoid robots and imagine a hotel check-in scenario in which a service failure occurs. Brand forgiveness, brand revisit intention and other demographic information were assessed.

Findings

The results show that consumers have higher performance expectancy for nonhumanoid robots. This performance expectancy generates brand forgiveness and revisit intentions for male consumers but does not affect female consumers' forgiveness and revisit behaviors.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by taking a long-term perspective to investigate the outcomes after service failure, providing evidence for pending questions in previous studies and enriching studies of gender differences. Additionally, this study provides practical implications to consider the use of anthropomorphism in robots, advocate for functional confidence in robots and target consumers across genders.
Medical device companies crisis communication response to stakeholders during COVID-19: pre-crisis stage to new normal
Authors: Taneja Bharat , Bharti Kumkum
Published: March 2023

Purpose

During COVID-19, this study aims to evaluate the crisis communication strategies (CCS) of Fortune 500 medical device businesses. These companies’ CCS adoption is evaluated using data from the microblogging site Twitter.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 11,569 tweets were collected over the course of a year, from 31 December 2019 to 31 December 2020, and analysed using COVID-19’s pre-crisis, crisis and new normal stages. The data acquired from Twitter is assessed using latent Dirichlet allocation-based topic modelling, valence aware dictionary for sentiment reasoning sentiment analysis and emotion recognition analysis and then further examined using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to build a configurational model. The findings were compared to Cheng’s (2018, 2020) integrated strategy toolkit for organisational CCS, which included 28 strategies.

Findings

With positive sentiments across stages, companies chose “information providing”, “monitoring” and “good intentions” as the CCS. In the crisis and new normal stages of COVID, the emotion of “depression” was observed.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers would be able to assess the CCS used through visual aids in the future by conducting a cross-industry examination using image analytics. Furthermore, by prolonging the study’s duration, long-term changes in the CCS can be investigated.

Practical implications

Companies should send real-time information to their stakeholders via social media during a pandemic, conveying good intentions and positive sentiments while remaining neutral.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to investigate the CCS patterns used by medical device businesses to communicate via social media during a pandemic.
Inclusive marketing: Muslims’ influence on marketers' behaviour in non-Muslim majority country: evidence from New Zealand
Authors: Wisker Zazli Lily Lily
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Emerging public discourses on Islam and Islamophobia in Western countries have led to religious discrimination among this group. This exploratory study aims to understand how marketers promote anti-discrimination efforts against Muslims on the notion of future collective unity.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory study uses Social Identity theory to explain the behaviour and attitude of vulnerable Muslims. The dimension of racialisation, the Whiteness theory, the oppression model and the ethnocentrism theory were synthesised to explain the practice of racism and oppression. The theory of customer diversity, equity and inclusion was synthesised to understand the importance of inclusive marketing. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 15 senior marketing executives.

Findings

This study observed how the minority Muslims had influenced the marketers' behaviours in combating anti-religious discrimination through various tactics such as extending the corporates' products and services offerings, being inclusive and avoiding stereotyping in their marketing communication styles and shifting the company's processes and systems to meeting this group's cultural needs.

Research limitations/implications

While this study sample's demographics were motivated by senior marketing executives' profiles, most of the participants were highly educated, had similar cultural backgrounds and were mainly from the West.

Originality/value

This study attempts to shed light on the understanding of Muslims’ discrimination or Islamophobia in non-Muslim majority countries. It is hoped that this study acts as a catalyst for collective unity and would galvanise communities, including marketers to tackle discrimination through a better understanding of a targeted group like Muslims in the marketplace. In this current time of racial and religious tension, business leaders and marketers can act as mediators of social change to normalise more positive relations between minority and mainstream consumers.
The optimal capacity decision of the catering merchant in omnichannel – service, production and delivery capacity
Authors: Zhan Wentao , Jiang Minghui , Wang Xueping
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Omnichannel sales have provided new impetus for the development of catering merchants. The authors thus focus on how catering merchants should manage capacities at the ordering, production and delivery stages to meet customers’ needs in different channels under third-party platform delivery and merchant self-delivery. This is of great significance for the development of the omnichannel catering industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper formulates the capacity decisions of omnichannel catering merchants under the third-party platform delivery and merchant self-delivery mode. The authors mainly use queuing theory to analyze the queuing behavior of online and offline customers, and the impact of waiting time on customer shopping behavior. In addition, the authors also characterize the merchant’s capacity by the rate in queuing model.

Findings

The authors find that capacities at ordering stage and food production stage are composed of base capacities and safety capacities, but the delivery capacities only have the latter. And in the self-delivery mode, merchants can develop higher safety capacities by charging delivery fees. The authors prove that regardless of the delivery mode, omnichannel sales can bring higher profits to merchants by integrating demand.

Originality/value

The authors focus on analyzing the capacity management of omnichannel catering merchants at the ordering, production and delivery stages. And the authors also add the delivery process into the omnichannel for analysis, so as to solve the problem of capacity decision-making under different delivery modes. The management of delivery capacity and its impact on other stages’ capacities are not covered in other literature studies, which is one of the main innovations of this paper.