bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tau alters global gene expression affecting chromatin in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Siano G. , Varisco M. , Terrigno M. , Wang C. , Groth Marco , Galas M.C. , Hoozemans Jeroen J.M. , Cellerino A. , Cattaneo A. , Di Primio C.
Published: November 2023

Recent research revealed that Tau plays critical roles in various neuronal functions. Our previous work demonstrated that destabilization and nuclear delocalization of Tau can alter the expression of glutamatergic genes, thereby mediating early neuronal damage.

Upon analysing gene coexpression of AD temporal regions at different stages and the transcriptional output in differentiated neuroblastoma cells, we discovered that changes in Tau availability are linked to global alterations in gene expression that affect multiple neuronal pathways. Comparison with the human AD temporal region showed that the Tau-dependent modulation of gene expression closely resembles an intermediate stage of AD that precedes the definitive AD condition. Furthermore, we identified the chromatin remodelling pathway as being significantly affected by Tau in both our cellular model and AD brains, with reductions in heterochromatin markers.

We propose that Tau is able to globally affect the neuronal transcriptome and that its availability is linked to changes in gene expression during intermediate stages of AD development. In addition, we found that the epigenetic pathway is strongly affected by Tau during the progression of AD.
PVTAD: ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE DIAGNOSIS USING PYRAMID VISION TRANSFORMER APPLIED TO WHITE MATTER OF T1-WEIGHTED STRUCTURAL MRI DATA
Authors: Akhavan Aghdam Maryam , Bozdag Serdar , Saeed Fahad ,   Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
Published: November 2023

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, and timely diagnosis is crucial for early interventions. AD is known to have disruptive local and global brain neural connections that may be instrumental in understanding and extracting specific biomarkers. Previous machine-learning approaches are mostly based on convolutional neural network (CNN) and standard vision transformer (ViT) models which may not sufficiently capture the multidimensional local and global patterns that may be indicative of AD. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel approach called PVTAD to classify AD and cognitively normal (CN) cases using pretrained pyramid vision transformer (PVT) and white matter (WM) of T1-weighted structural MRI (sMRI) data. Our approach combines the advantages of CNN and standard ViT to extract both local and global features indicative of AD from the WM coronal middle slices. We performed experiments on subjects with T1-weighed MPRAGE sMRI scans from the ADNI dataset. Our results demonstrate that the PVTAD achieves an average accuracy of 97.7% and F1-score of 97.6%, outperforming the single and parallel CNN and standard ViT architectures based on sMRI data for AD vs. CN classification.
CellSAM: A Foundation Model for Cell Segmentation
Authors: Israel Uriah , Marks Markus , Dilip Rohit , Li Qilin , Yu Changhua , Laubscher Emily , Iqbal Ahamed , Pradhan Elora , Ates Ada , Abt Martin , Brown Caitlin , Pao Edward , Li Shenyi , Pearson-Goulart Alexander , Perona Pietro , Gkioxari Georgia , Barnowski Ross , Yue Yisong , Van Valen David
Published: November 2023

Cells are a fundamental unit of biological organization, and identifying them in imaging data – cell segmentation – is a critical task for various cellular imaging experiments. While deep learning methods have led to substantial progress on this problem, most models are specialist models that work well for specific domains but cannot be applied across domains or scale well with large amounts of data. In this work, we present CellSAM, a universal model for cell segmentation that generalizes across diverse cellular imaging data. CellSAM builds on top of the Segment Anything Model (SAM) by developing a prompt engineering approach for mask generation. We train an object detector, CellFinder, to automatically detect cells and prompt SAM to generate segmentations. We show that this approach allows a single model to achieve human-level performance for segmenting images of mammalian cells, yeast, and bacteria collected across various imaging modalities. We show that CellSAM has strong zero-shot performance and can be improved with a few examples via few-shot learning. Additionally, we demonstrate how CellSAM can be applied across diverse bioimage analysis workflows. A deployed version of CellSAM is available athttps://cellsam.deepcell.org/.
Elevated blood urea nitrogen to creatinine ratio during hospitalization is associated with 90-day poor outcome in ICH patients
Authors: Wei Yamin , Deng Wenjing , Zhao Yanan , Shao Huijie
Published: November 2023

Background and Purpose

Dehydration is common in hospitalized patients and associated with poor outcome in ischemic stroke patients. Intracerebral hemorrhage patients use hyperosmolar agents frequently after admission, which may lead to dehydration. Since the blood urea nitrogen to creatinine ratio (BUN/Cr) is an indicator of dehydration, it is unknown whether there is a relationship between BUN/Cr ratio during hospitalization and clinical outcome of intracerebral hemorrhage patients.

Mehtods

A total of 211 patients with supratentorial cerebral hemorrhage were included. Clinical data was collected retrospectively. BUN/Cr ratio on day 7 after onset (7dBUN/Cr) was calculated. Poor outcome was defined as 90-day mRS>2. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between 7dBUN/Cr ratio and 90-day poor outcome. Receiver operating curve was used to determine the best cutoff of 7dBUN/Cr ratio for predicting poor outcome.

Results

NIHSS score, hematoma volume and 7dBUN/Cr ratio were independently correlated with 90-day poor outcome. Under receiver operating curve, 7dBUN/Cr ratio exhibited similar prognostic capability, as compared to hematoma volume. The best cutoff for 7dBUN/Cr ratio to predict poor outcome was 22 in the hyperosmolar agents subgroup.

Conclusions

Elevated BUN/Cr ratio at day 7 is associated with 90-day poor outcome in ICH patients. Further prospective study will be required to confirm this result and explore the value of BUN/Cr ratio in the application of hyperosmolar agents and hydration therapy.
High Inspired CO2Target Accuracy in Mechanical Ventilation and Spontaneous Breathing Using the Additional CO2Method
Authors: Magnusson Gustav , Georgiopoulos Charalampos , Cedersund Gunnar , Tobieson Lovisa , Engström Maria , Tisell Anders
Published: November 2023

Cerebrovascular Reactivity Imaging (CVR) is a diagnostic method for assessment of alterations in cerebral blood flow in response to a controlled vascular stimulus. The principal utility is the capacity to evaluate the cerebrovascular reserve, thereby elucidating autoregulatory functioning. Over the past decade, CVR has accumulated large interest, emerging as an expanding research field and application in a diverse spectrum of patient populations. In CVR, CO2gas challenge is the most prevalent method, which elicits a vascular response by alterations in inspired CO2concentrations. While several systems have been proposed in the literature, only a limited number have been devised to operate in tandem with mechanical ventilation, thus constraining the majority CVR investigations to spontaneous breathing individuals. We have developed a new method, denoted Additional CO2, designed to enable CO2challenge in ventilators. The central idea is the introduction of an additional flow of highly concentrated CO2into the respiratory circuit, as opposed to administration of the entire gas mixture from a reservoir. By monitoring the main respiratory gas flow emanating from the ventilator, the CO2concentration in the inspired gas can be manipulated by adjusting the proportion of additional CO2. We evaluated the efficacy of this approach in controlled settings: 1) in a ventilator coupled with a test-lung and 2) in spontaneous breathing healthy volunteers. Additionally, we made a comparative analysis using a conventional method employing a gas reservoir containing a blend of O2, N2, and CO2in varying concentrations. The methods were evaluated by assessment of the precision in attaining target inspired CO2levels and examination of their performance within a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) environment. Our investigations revealed that the Additional CO2method consistently achieved a high degree of accuracy in reaching target inspired CO2levels in both mechanical ventilation and spontaneous breathing. We anticipate that these findings will lay the groundwork for a broader implementation of CVR assessments in mechanically ventilated patients.
Forming nephrons promote nephron progenitor maintenance and branching morphogenesis via paracrine BMP4 signalling under the control ofWnt4
Authors: Moreau Julie L.M. , Williams Sarah , Homman-Ludiye Jihane , Mallett Andrew J. , Combes Alexander N.
Published: November 2023

Kidney development is known to be driven by interactions between stromal, nephron and ureteric epithelium progenitors in the nephrogenic niche. In contrast, the epithelial nephrons generated in this environment have largely been considered a product of niche rather than an active participant in the signalling interactions that maintain it. However, knockout ofWnt4, a gene required for nephron formation and stromal development, results in hypoplastic kidneys. We hypothesised that the forming nephron may play a role in maintaining the nephrogenic niche. In support of this hypothesis, conditional deletion ofWnt4from the nephron lineage resulted in nephron progenitor dispersal and death, reduced branching morphogenesis and nephron progenitor cell number. Bulk and single cell transcriptional profiling ofWnt4mutant kidneys revealed a downregulation of BMP signalling effectorsId1,and Id3in nephron progenitor cells, implicatingWnt4target BMP4 as a paracrine signal mediating feedback from the committing nephron. Recombinant BMP4 restored nephron progenitor compaction in culturedWnt4mutant kidneys and blocked differentiation in wildtype controls mirroring the role of BMP7-MAPK signalling in progenitor self-renewal. Our data supports a revised model of the nephrogenic niche in which forming nephrons promote progenitor maintenance and branching morphogenesis, in part via paracrine BMP4 signalling under the control ofWnt4. This requirement for nephron-derived signals for maintenance of the nephrogenic niche provides new mechanistic insight into kidney morphogenesis and human renal hypodysplasia phenotypes associated with deleteriousWNT4mutations.
Disruption of redox balance in glutaminolytic triple negative breast cancer by inhibition of glutamate export and glutaminase
Authors: Choi Hoon , Gupta Mamta , Hensley Christopher , Lee Hsiaoju , Lu Yu-Ting , Pantel Austin , Mankoff David , Zhou Rong
Published: November 2023

In triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that relies on catabolism of amino acid glutamine, glutaminase (GLS) converts glutamine to glutamate, which facilitates glutathione synthesis by mediating the enrichment of intracellular cystine via xCT antiporter activity. To overcome chemo resistant TNBC, we have tested a strategy of disrupting cellular redox balance by inhibition of GLS and xCT by CB839 and Erastin, respectively. Key findings of our study include: 1. Dual metabolic inhibition (CB839+Erastin) led to significant increases of cellular superoxide level in both parent and chemo resistant TNBC cells, but superoxide level was distinctly lower in resistant cells. 2. Dual metabolic inhibition combined with doxorubicin or cisplatin induced significant apoptosis in TNBC cells and is associated with high degrees of GSH depletion.In vivo, dual metabolic inhibition plus cisplatin led to significant growth delay of chemo resistant human TNBC xenografts. 3. Ferroptosis is induced by doxorubicin (DOX) but not by cisplatin or paclitaxel. Addition of dual metabolic inhibition to DOX chemotherapy significantly enhanced ferroptotic cell death. 4. Significant changes in cellular metabolites concentration preceded transcriptome changes revealed by single cell RNA sequencing, underscoring the potential of capturing early changes in metabolites as pharmacodynamic markers of metabolic inhibitors. Here we demonstrated that 4-(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-L-glutamic acid ([18F]FSPG) PET detected xCT blockade by Erastin or its analog in mice bearing human TNBC xenografts. In summary, our study provides compelling evidence for the therapeutic benefit and feasibility of non-invasive monitoring of dual metabolic blockade as a translational strategy to sensitize chemo resistant TNBC to cytotoxic chemotherapy.
Spatial chromosome organization and adaptation of the radiation-resistant extremophileDeinococcus radiodurans
Authors: Qiu Qin-Tian , Zhang Cai-Yun , Gao Zhi-Peng , Ma Bin-Guang
Published: November 2023

Radiation-resistantDeinococcus radioduransis an extremophilic microorganism capable of withstanding high levels of ionizing radiation and chemical mutagens. It possesses remarkable DNA repair capability and serves as a model organism for studying stress resistance mechanism. However, our understanding on the spatial chromosome organization of this species remains limited. In this study, we employed chromosome conformation capture (3C) technology to determine the 3D genome structure ofD. radioduransand to further investigate the changes of chromosome conformation induced by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. We observed that UV irradiation reduced short-range chromosome interactions, and smaller chromosomal interaction domains (CIDs) merged to form larger CIDs. Integrating transcriptomic data analysis, we found that the majority of upregulated differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched near specific CID boundaries. Specially, we comprehensively elucidated that the nucleoid-associated protein Dr_ebfC may serve as a global regulator for gene expression by altering chromosome structure, thereby influencing the physiological state of the bacterium. Overall, our study revealed the chromosome conformations ofD. radioduransunder different conditions, and offered valuable insights into the molecular responses of this extremophile to environmental stresses.
SpaGRN: investigating spatially informed regulatory paths for spatially resolved transcriptomics data
Authors: Li Yao , Liu Xiaobin , Guo Lidong , Han Kai , Fang Shuangsang , Wan Xinjiang , Xu Xun , Fan Guangyi , Xu Mengyang
Published: November 2023

Cells expressing similar transcriptional regulatory circuits spatially aggregate into distinct cell types or states. However, most existing methods for inferring gene regulatory networks from spatially resolved transcriptomics are devoted to spatial co-expression modules or interactions between transcription factors and target genes, neglecting mediated effects from extracellular signals. Here we introduce SpaGRN, a statistical framework for predicting the comprehensive intracellular regulatory network underlying spatial patterns by integrating spatial expression profiles with prior knowledge on regulatory relationships and signaling paths. We validate and assess SpaGRN using simulated and real datasets, demonstrating its efficiency, performance, and robustness. When applied to 3D datasets of developingDrosophilaembryos and larvae, SpaGRN identifies spatiotemporal variations in specific regulatory patterns, delineating the cascade of events from receptor stimulation to downstream transcription factors and targets, revealing synergetic regulation mechanism during organogenesis. Moreover, SpaGRN provides flexible visualization functions. We construct an online 3D regulatory network atlas database for interactive exploration and sharing.
Microplate Format Protein Nanopatterning for High-Throughput Screening of Cellular Microenvironments
Authors: Shahrokhtash Ali , von Tangen Sivertsen Malthe , Laursen Sara Hvidbjerg , Sutherland Duncan S.
Published: November 2023

An advanced protein nanopatterned cell culture platform is engineered to emulate the extracellular matrix’s complexity, enabling precise nanoscale biomolecule copatterning to mimic environments analogous to native tissue for cellular assays. Nanopatterns fabricated through sparse colloidal lithography, with 100 nm to 800 nm features in separate wells, are seamlessly integrated into standard microplate formats (96-well/384-well). Robust patterns are built from fully PEGylated, passivated thin glass coverslips optimized for minimal nonspecific interactions. Biotin-avidin binding and click chemistry to ensure the accurate and robust localization of bioligands. The transparent, metal-free substrates are free of topographical interference, rendering them ideal for diverse fluorescence microscopy techniques encompassing single-molecule TIRFM and extensive high-throughput imaging. The structural stability of these nanopatterns persists beyond a year in storage and long-term in cell culture conditions, endorsing their application for prolonged experimental studies and potential for widespread academic and industrial use. The platform has been demonstrated for nanopatterning an array of biomolecules, from small molecules to proteins, DNA, and extracellular matrix components, instrumental for studying cell signaling. Experiments with C2C12 cells demonstrated the exceptional specificity of the nanopatterned microplates, with nonspecific adhesion remaining below 2% and the platform’s ability to elicit size-dependent cellular reactions when interfaced with nanopatterned fibronectin.
mtDNA “Nomenclutter” and its Consequences on the Interpretation of Genetic Data
Authors: Bajić Vladimir , Schulmann Vanessa Hava , Nowick Katja
Published: November 2023

Population-based studies of human mitochondrial genetic diversity often require the classification of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes into more than 5400 described haplogroups, and further grouping those into hierarchically higher haplogroups. Such secondary haplogroup groupings (e.g., “macro-haplogroups”) vary across studies, as they depend on the sample quality, technical factors of haplogroup calling, the aims of the study, and the researchers’ understanding of the mtDNA haplogroup nomenclature. Retention of historical nomenclature coupled with a growing number of newly described mtDNA lineages results in increasingly complex and inconsistent nomenclature that does not reflect phylogeny well. This “clutter” leaves room for grouping errors and inconsistencies across scientific publications, especially when the haplogroup names are used as a proxy for secondary groupings, and represents a source for scientific misinterpretation.

Here we explore the effects of phylogenetically insensitive secondary mtDNA haplogroup groupings, and the lack of standardized secondary haplogroup groupings on downstream analyses and interpretation of genetic data. We demonstrate that frequency-based analyses produce inconsistent results when different secondary mtDNA groupings are applied, and thus allow for vastly different interpretations of the same genetic data. The lack of guidelines and recommendations on how to choose appropriate secondary haplogroup groupings presents an issue for the interpretation of results, as well as their comparison and reproducibility across studies.

To reduce biases originating from arbitrarily defined secondary nomenclature-based groupings, we suggest that future updates of mtDNA phylogenies aimed for the use in mtDNA haplogroup nomenclature should also provide well-defined and standardized sets of phylogenetically meaningful algorithm-based secondary haplogroup groupings such as “macro-haplogroups”, “meso-haplogroups”, and “micro-haplogroups”. Ideally, each of the secondary haplogroup grouping levels should be informative about different human population history events. Those phylogenetically informative levels of haplogroup groupings can be easily defined usingTreeCluster, and then implemented into haplogroup callers such asHaploGrep3. This would foster reproducibility across studies, provide a grouping standard for population-based studies, and reduce errors associated with haplogroup nomenclatures in future studies.
PPARγ controls ESCRT-dependent fibroblast-like synoviocyte exosome biogenesis and Alleviates Chondrocyte Osteoarthritis Mediated by Exosomal ANXA1
Authors: Jia Shuangshuo , Yang Yue , Liu Jiabao , Wei Yingliang , Wang Ziyuan , Yue Lingyu , Bai Lunhao
Published: November 2023

Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by synovitis, cartilage degeneration and exercise therapy has been recognized as first line therapy. The exercise related exosome involved in the interaction between fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) and chondrocytes could be a novel promising strategy for treating OA. In this study, PPARγ was upregulated in FLSs under exercise by single cell transcriptome sequencing. Then, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of PPARγ-treated FLSs derived exosome on OA in vivo and vitro. Our data revealed that overexpression PPARγ FLSs derived exosome could ameliorate the OA severity in vivo and vitro. But knockdown PPARγ FLSs derived exosome aggravate OA. Moreover, we found PPARγ controls the endosomal sorting complex required for the transport (ESCRT)-dependent exosome biogenesis pathway. Annexin A1 (ANXA1) was enriched in OE-PPARγ exosome by quantitative proteomics. By Chip-qPCR and Co-IP methods, PPARγ and its coactivator -1α (PGC-1α) acts with ESCRT subunits including HRS, STAM1, TSG101, CHMP7 and promotes their association to cargo ANXA1. As a therapeutic cargo, exosomal ANXA1 was confirmed be internalization by chondrocyte via exosome labeled experiment and ANXA1 could inhibit the phospharylation of ERK to activate the autophagy and decrease chondrocyte apoptosis. While the ANXA1 receptor blocker BOC-2 could reverse the therapic effect. In conclusion, PPARγ/ESCRT – FLSs exosomal ANXA1 – ERK axis provides a deeper theoretical basis for exercise therapy of OA and a new idea for the clinical transformation of exosomes into OA therapy.
The FALCON double-detector Laue diffractometer add-on for grain mapping at POLDI
Authors: Samothrakitis Stavros , Larsen Camilla Buhl , Kaestner Anders , Polatidis Efthymios , Čapek Jan , Hovind Jan , Fazan Andrin , Allibon John , Busi Matteo , Schmidt Søren , Kopeček Jaromír , Strobl Markus
Published: November 2023

Laue 3D neutron diffraction tomography (Laue 3DNDT) is a novel tomographic approach that enables non-destructive resolution of the 3D microstructure of polycrystalline materials, utilizing a high-intensity white beam of neutrons, resulting in high experimental efficiency. This article describes the functionality of the fast-acquisition Laue camera for neutrons (FALCON), a double-detector system setup used for Laue 3DNDT experiments at the pulse-overlap diffractometer (POLDI) at the SINQ neutron source of the Paul Scherrer Institute. The reported commissioning includes standard experimental protocols, strategies for acquiring data and a detailed characterization of the measurement system. Finally, single-crystal measurements for calibration and a full grain map of a CoNiGa oligocrystalline sample, extracted from a pilot study, are presented. A detailed understanding of the performance of the FALCON instrumentation is vital for the future advancement of the Laue 3DNDT algorithm, including, but not limited to, improved morphology reconstructions and strain mapping.
Supply chain management maturity and business models: scientific mapping using SciMAT
Authors: Vasconcelos Lúcio Flavio , Sigahi Tiago F.A.C. , Pinto Jefferson de Souza , Rampasso Izabela Simon , Anholon Rosley
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Organizations and markets are constantly developing and changing, impacting how organizations create value and manage supply chains. This paper aims to identify the motor themes and subthemes of academic research that relate supply chain management (SCM) maturity and business models (BMs).

Design/methodology/approach

The Science Mapping Analysis Tool (SciMAT) was used to conduct a seven-step bibliometric analysis of 889 documents indexed in the Scopus database clustering by relatedness of works and keywords. The methodological approach included content analysis of the literature, longitudinal analysis and strategic diagram analysis.

Findings

The thematic evolution analysis revealed that three themes drive the studies on SCM maturity and BM: industry 4.0 (motor theme), environmental management (transversal theme) and product management (highly developed and isolated theme). The strategic diagrams and co-word networks allowed to graphically identify the main topics connecting SCM maturity and BM. Considering this connection, the scientific mapping emphasizes the significance and strength of the link between digital technologies, technology management and manufacturing management in Industry 4.0. In addition, the connections between the subthemes revealed that circular economy and green human resource management are important concepts to advance theory and practice on the connection between SCM maturity and BM.

Originality/value

This research extends the knowledge base by providing an analysis of the key themes and the links with subthemes in the literature that relate to SCM maturity and BM. Key studies are analyzed and linked with the key topics identified using the SciMAT software. Future research avenues are outlined, providing new insights to advance theory and practice.
Institutional isomorphic pressures: the impact for women on boards
Authors: Ingersoll Alicia R. , Glass Christy , Cook Alison
Published: November 2023

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the connection between institutional isomorphic pressures and both women serving on boards and women’s influence on boards within large American firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines a longitudinal panel data set of all Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 organizations across a seven-year period from 2009 to 2015.

Findings

The analyses affirm that institutional isomorphic pressures impact the prevalence and influence of women on boards. Evidence suggests that coercive and normative pressures strongly impact the number of women serving as corporate directors, whereas the power of women directors is linked only to mimetic pressures.

Practical implications

The research suggests that to increase the number of women serving as directors, the industry must first increase the overall number of women serving in senior management roles. Once women directors gain a critical mass of three women on the board, the association with the total number of women directors, the number of boards upon which they concurrently serve, the power of women directors being selected to board leadership and the influence of women directors increase.

Originality/value

This paper extends existing board diversity work by examining institutional pressures at the international, national and firm levels. By examining the relationship between coercive, normative and mimetic pressures on both the prevalence of women on boards and the influence of women on boards, the authors illuminate certain mechanisms that shape the likelihood of board appointment and placement in more powerful positions.
Academic staff commitment in the face of a role (im)balance between work and personal life: can job satisfaction help?
Authors: Dube Nomusa , Ndofirepi Takawira Munyaradzi
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Keeping happy and committed workers is an imperative goal for organisations in any field, including higher education. Institutions must, however, have a thorough understanding of the elements that influence various organisational commitment levels before they can develop human resource management guidelines and procedures that work. Hence, by using social exchange theory, this study aimed to investigate the connection between work–life balance (WLB), job satisfaction and organisational commitment among a sample of Zimbabwean higher education institutions. These factors have received relatively minimal attention in academic institutions, particularly in developing nations.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey was conducted, using convenience sampling, to examine 224 members of the teaching staff from two universities in western Zimbabwe. The collected data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results revealed that WLB significantly predicted job satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between WLB and affective and normative commitment was found to be indirect and mediated by job satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study suggest that WLB and job satisfaction are crucial factors for higher education institutions that aim to secure their talented faculty's affective and normative commitment. Therefore, universities should implement firm policies and practices that encourage academic staff to maintain a healthy WLB and enhance job satisfaction.

Originality/value

The study's main contribution is the development of a conceptual model that contributes to the ongoing scholarly discourse on how to enhance organisational commitment among academic staff in under-resourced higher education institutions, as well as the concomitant implications for human resource policies within these institutions.
Nexus between monetary policy uncertainty and real estate market volatility in COVID-19 peak and recovery period
Authors: Zou Haobo , Ahmed Mansoora , Raza Syed Ali , Anwar Rija
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Monetary policy has major impacts on macroeconomic indicators of the country. Accordingly, uncertainty regarding monetary policy shifts can cause challenges and risks for businesses, financial markets and investors. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate how real estate market volatility responds to monetary policy uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

The GARCH-MIDAS model is applied in this study to investigate the nexus between monetary policy uncertainty and real estate market volatility. This model was fundamentally instituted to accommodate low-frequency variables.

Findings

The results of this study reveal that increased monetary policy uncertainty highly affects the volatility in real estate market during the peak period of COVID-19 as compared to full sample period and COVID-19 recovery period; hence, a significant decline is evident in real estate market volatility during crisis.

Originality/value

This study is particularly focused on peak and recovery period of COVID-19 considering the geographical region of Greece, Japan and the USA. This study provides a complete perspective on the nexus between monetary policy uncertainty and real estate markets volatility in three distinct economic views.
In my opinion, the TOS… Situating personal data literacy interventions
Authors: Raffaghelli Juliana Elisa , Romero Carbonell Marc , Romeu-Fontanillas Teresa
Published: November 2023

Purpose

It has been demonstrated that AI-powered, data-driven tools’ usage is not universal, but deeply linked to socio-cultural contexts. The purpose of this paper is to display the need of adopting situated lenses, relating to specific personal and professional learning about data protection and privacy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors introduce the results of a case study based on a large educational intervention at a fully online university. The views of the participants from degrees representing different knowledge areas and contexts of technology adoption (work, education and leisure) were explored after engaging in the analysis of the terms and conditions of use about privacy and data usage. After consultation, 27 course instructors (CIs) integrated the activity and worked with 823 students (702 of whom were complete and correct for analytical purposes).

Findings

The results of this study indicated that the intervention increased privacy-conscious online behaviour among most participants. Results were more contradictory when looking at the tools’ daily usage, with overall positive considerations around the tools being mostly needed or “indispensable”.

Research limitations/implications

Though appliable only to the authors’ case study and not generalisable, the authors’ results show both the complexity of privacy views and the presence of forms of renunciation in the trade-off between data protection and the need of using a specific software into a personal and professional context.

Practical implications

This study provides an example of teaching and learning activities that supports the development of data literacy, with a focus on data privacy. Therefore, beyond the research findings, any educator can build over the authors’ proposal to produce materials and interventions aimed at developing awareness on data privacy issues.

Social implications

Developing awareness, understanding and skills relating to data privacy is crucial to live in a society where digital technologies are used in any area of our personal and professional life. Well-informed citizens will be able to obscure, resist or claim for their rights whenever a violation of their privacy takes place. Also, they will be able to support (through adoption) better quality apps and platforms, instead of passively accepting what is evident or easy to use.

Originality/value

The authors specifically spot how students and educators, as part of a specific learning and cultural ecosystem, need tailored opportunities to keep on reflecting on their degrees of freedom and their possibilities to act regarding evolving data systems and their alternatives.
What motivates consumers’ continued usage intentions of food delivery applications in post-COVID-19 outbreak? Comparing Generations X, Y and Z
Authors: Rungruangjit Warinrampai , Charoenpornpanichkul Kitti
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Food delivery applications (FDAs) are becoming more and more well-liked across Generations X, Y and Z, with Asia experiencing the biggest growth. These three generations of consumers have distinct views toward using FDAs because they were influenced by various social environments, cultures and experiences. Therefore, marketers ought to present customers with various values. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the theory of consumption values (TCV) affects the intention of various generational cohorts to continued usage intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

Online surveys were distributed to 745 Thai customers who had previously ordered meals from FDAs to collect information. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis.

Findings

Results reveal that there are significant differences among Generations X, Y and Z, while emotional value is insignificant. Generation X is concerned about functional and conditional value, whereas Generation Y expresses the highest concern on epistemic and social value. Meanwhile, Generation Z pays attention to epistemic, functional and social value.

Originality/value

The novelty of this study contributes to TCV affecting the different FDAs consumption value among Generations X, Y and Z, while the previous research only focused on gender and age difference, and this study firstly combines FDAs with TCV to predict the consumers’ intention to continuously use FDAs in the post-COVID-19 outbreak.
The impact of rural tourism destination attractiveness on tourists’ environmentally responsible behavioral intentions: the mediating role of green self-identity
Authors: Ding Li , Jiang Caifen
Published: November 2023

Purpose

This study aims to explore the impact of tourists’ perceptions of two rural destination attractiveness dimensions on tourists’ environmentally responsible behavioral intentions (ERBI). Further, the mediating effects of tourists’ green self-identity on the relationship between the perception of rural destination attractiveness and ERBI are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected survey data from 188 tourists who had visiting experiences in rural attractions located in the Guangdong Province of China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results found that rural destination specialty fresh food attractiveness perceived by tourists was positively associated with their ERBI. Moreover, tourists’ green self-identity positively mediated the perception of rural destination attractiveness and ERBI.

Originality/value

This study explains how the tourists’ perceptions of two rural destination attractiveness dimensions influence their ERBI. By exploring the mediating role of tourists’ green self-identity, this study also emphasizes the transforming mechanism from tourists’ perceived experience to their ERBI. The study provides insights into nature-based tourism destination management and sustainability practices.
The promise of entrepreneurship ecosystems: a conceptual model for black American entrepreneurs
Authors: Edmondson Vickie Cox , Zebal Mostaque A. , Jackson Faye Hall , Bhuiyan Mohammad A. , Crumbly Jack
Published: November 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to set forth a conceptual model describing the actors and roles in ecosystems created to enable productive black entrepreneurship in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides a systematic literature review of entrepreneurship ecosystems. It further leverages such literature review by using an autoethnographic approach recommended by Guyotte and Kochacka (2016), drawing on the authors’ practical experience in studying, owning, educating or consulting employer businesses owned by persons of color in the USA and abroad.

Findings

Each actor in the ecosystem has practical wisdom and assets that can be shared and leveraged through interacting with the other actors either as role model institutions or capacity development institutions, thus mitigating social inequalities and boosting economic progress by extending entrepreneurial opportunities beyond those that are greatly resourced.

Research limitations/implications

Our literature review is based on selected samples of relevant articles on entrepreneurship ecosystem research and ethnic minority entrepreneurship, and thus, is not exhaustive. The selection was partly influenced by the authors’ opinion of whether a given study was relevant or not to a black entrepreneurship ecosystem. There is the possibility that some relevant studies were excluded. Thus, other actors are encouraged to revise or adapt this model to inform their distinct roles and goals.

Practical implications

The proposed model can help actors involved in the operation or support of a black-owned business make optimal business decisions, enabling each actor to be instrumental in another’s understanding of how to facilitate the success of black American entrepreneurs and business owners and thus, deploy marketing campaigns to boost the visibility and role of each actor. These campaigns play a role in their entrepreneurial marketing efforts.

Originality/value

Responding to Gines and Sampson’s (2020) call, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explicitly provide a comprehensive black entrepreneurship ecosystem model that identifies the actors, roles and activities that can help black Americans address social inequalities that limit their ability to become a successful employer business. The proposed model may aid in deepening the theoretical discussion on entrepreneurial ecosystems and be of inspiration for the future works of scholars and practitioners interested in the entrepreneurship and marketing interface.
Predation risk drives long‐term shifts in migratory behaviour and demography in a large herbivore population
Authors: Williams S. , Hebblewhite M. , Martin H. , Meyer C. , Whittington J. , Killeen J. , Berg J. , MacAulay K. , Smolko P. , Merrill E. H.
Published: November 2023

Migration is an adaptive life‐history strategy across taxa that helps individuals maximise fitness by obtaining forage and avoiding predation risk. The mechanisms driving migratory changes are poorly understood, and links between migratory behaviour, space use, and demographic consequences are rare.

Here, we use a nearly 20‐year record of individual‐based monitoring of a large herbivore, elk (Cervus canadensis) to test hypotheses for changing patterns of migration in and adjacent to a large protected area in Banff National Park (BNP), Canada.

We test whether bottom‐up (forage quality) or top‐down (predation risk) factors explained trends in (i) the proportion of individuals using 5 different migratory tactics, (ii) differences in survival rates of migratory tactics during migration and whilst on summer ranges, (iii) cause‐specific mortality by wolves and grizzly bears, and (iv) population abundance.

We found dramatic shifts in migration consistent with behavioural plasticity in individual choice of annual migratory routes. Shifts were inconsistent with exposure to the bottom‐up benefits of migration. Instead, exposure to landscape gradients in predation risk caused by exploitation outside the protected area drove migratory shifts. Carnivore exploitation outside the protected area led to higher survival rates for female elk remaining resident or migrating outside the protected area.

Cause‐specific mortality aligned with exposure to predation risk along migratory routes and summer ranges. Wolf predation risk was higher on migratory routes than summer ranges of montane‐migrant tactics, but wolf predation risk traded‐off with heightened risk from grizzly bears on summer ranges. A novel eastern migrant tactic emerged following a large forest fire that enhanced forage in an area with lower predation risk outside of the protected area.

The changes in migratory behaviour translated to population abundance, where abundance of the montane‐migratory tactics declined over time. The presence of diverse migratory life histories maintained a higher total population abundance than would have been the case with only one migratory tactic in the population.

Our study demonstrates the complex ways in which migratory populations change over time through behavioural plasticity and associated demographic consequences because of individuals balancing predation risk and forage trade‐offs.
The prediction of social catastrophes: Between necessity and contingency
Authors: Donati Pierpaolo
Published: November 2023

The article argues that social catastrophes are the product of networks of unsaturated social relations that lead to the exponential spread of a social evil (pandemic, poverty, desertification, etc.). In the exponential curve of catastrophe there is an inflection point where, if unsaturated social relations are saturated, the catastrophe can be halted and ultimately avoided. The inflection point can be conceived as a generative relational complex in which both necessity and contingency of social relations are at work. Necessity is due to constitutive mechanisms that are automatic and, therefore, to some extent mathematically predictable. Contingency refers to non‐automatic, in principle unpredictable relational mechanisms. However, contingency can be of two kinds. It can mean “dependence on” other factors, which can have some degree of predictability, or can be understood as the possibility of “being otherwise”, which is less predictable in its outcomes, but can also open up new opportunities to change the catastrophic trend. The reduction of the exponential curve to logistics can be expected if the networks of relationships at the inflection point are saturated in one way or another. This can be achieved by managing the contingent factors of both types in order to steer the morphogenetic processes of the social networks that configure the inflection point as a relational complex.
Optimizing net present values of risk avoidance for mountain railway alignments with seismic performance evaluation
Authors: Song Taoran , Pu Hao , Yang T. Y. , Schonfeld Paul , Li Wei , Hu Jianping
Published: November 2023

Railway alignment optimization in earthquake‐prone mountainous (EPM) regions should quantify and trade off construction investments and seismic risks. Unfortunately, slight attention has been previously devoted to this trade‐off. To this end, based on the FEMA‐P58 methodology, a net present value (NPV) model of risk avoidance is presented and solved. In the model, alignment alternatives are first segmented into structural groups with different probabilistic seismic fragility curves, which are then used to generate structural repair cost and repair time curves. Afterward, a probabilistic seismic hazard curve is introduced to estimate the expected annual repair cost and time for computing railway direct and indirect seismic losses. Hence, the railway total annual loss caused by seismic activity can be obtained. Next, a benefit–cost analysis is performed to combine construction cost and seismic loss as the risk‐cost NPV. To optimize this objective function, a particle swarm algorithm is used as the basic approach. For implementing the probabilistic seismic performance analysis, a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is employed as the risk assessment module. Furthermore, due to the computationally intensive nature of MCS, a CPU‐based parallelization is embedded into the algorithm to expedite the search. Finally, the proposed model and method are applied to a representative real‐world railway case in an EPM region. Their effectiveness is discussed and verified in five experiments, including algorithm convergence analysis, alignment solution comparison, seismic risk interpretation, computational efficiency test, and a specific sensitivity analysis.
Global bounded classical solutions to a parabolic–elliptic chemotaxis model with local sensing and asymptotically unbounded motility
Authors: Jiang Jie , Laurençot Philippe
Published: November 2023

Global existence and boundedness of classical solutions are shown for a parabolic–elliptic chemotaxis system with local sensing when the motility function is assumed to be unbounded at infinity. The cornerstone of the proof is the derivation of ‐estimates on the second component of the system and is achieved by various comparison arguments.
Printed Circuit Board Defect Image Recognition Based on the Multimodel Fusion Algorithm
Authors: Zhang Jiantao , Chang Zhengfang , Xu Haida , Qu Dong , Shi Xinyu
Published: November 2023

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is one of the most important components of electronic products. But the traditional defect detection methods are gradually difficult to meet the requirements of PCB defect detection. The research on PCB defect recognition method based on convolutional neural network is the current trend. The PCB defect image recognition based on DenseNet169 network model is studied in this paper. In order to reduce the omission of PCB defects in actual detection, it is necessary to further improve the sensitivity of the model. Therefore, a classification model based on the multimodel fusion of the DenseNet169 model and the ResNet50 model is proposed. At the same time, the network structure after multimodel fusion is improved. The improved multimodel fusion model Mix-Fusion enables the network to not only retain the recognition accuracy of the ResNet50 model for NG defects and small defect images but also improve the overall recognition accuracy through the feature reuse and bypass settings of the DenseNet169 model. The experimental results show that when the threshold is 0.5, the sensitivity of the improved multimodel fusion network can reach 99.2%, and the specificity is 99.5%. The sensitivity of Mix-Fusion is 1.2% higher than that of DenseNet169. High sensitivity means fewer missed NG images, and high specificity means less workload for employees. The improved model improves sensitivity and maintains high specificity.