bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FIST-nD: A tool forn-dimensional spatial transcriptomics data imputation via graph-regularized tensor completion
Authors: Atkins Thomas Karl , Song Tianci , Kuang Rui
Published: October 2022

Functional interpretation of spatial transcriptomics data usually requires non-trivial pre-processing steps and other supporting data in the analysis due to the high sparsity and incompleteness of spatial RNA profiling, especially in 3D constructions. As a solution, we present a new software tool FIST-nD, Fast Imputation of Spatially-resolved transcriptomes by graph-regularized Tensor completion inn-Dimensions for imputing 3D as well as 2D spatial transcriptomics data. FIST-nD is implemented based on a novel graph-regularized tensor decomposition method, which imputes spatial gene expression data using 4-way high-order tensor structure and relations in spatial and gene functional graphs. The implementation, accelerated by GPU or multicore parallel computing, can efficiently impute high-resolution 3D spatial transcriptomics data within a few minutes. The experiments on three 3D Spatial Transcriptomics datasets and one 3D high-resolution Stereo-seq dataset confirm the high accuracy of the imputation by FIST-nD and demonstrate that the imputed spatial transcriptomes provide a more complete gene expression landscape for downstream analyses such as spatial gene expression clustering and visualizations.
In silicoassessment of the association of pathogenicity and metal-resistance potential ofFusariumspp
Authors: Ballena Gerald Amiel M. , Velarde Michael C. , Dacones Leilani S.
Published: October 2022

GenusFusariumincludes ubiquitous species complexes and are often resistant to multiple stressors. Early epidemiological evidence show that metal resistance genes (MRGs) influence the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in microbial communities. More recent evidence points out that this correlation is due to the physical linkage of these genes. Given the utmost importance ofFusariumpathogenicity to agriculture, and the ever-increasing rise in metal or metalloid displacement in the environment – this paper aims to pioneer the investigation of whether pathogenicity determinants also correlate well with MRGs. To provide probable patterns of horizontal gene transfer or incomplete lineage sorting, a species tree was initially defined.Fusariumis unanimously monophyletic from our phylogenetic analysis of 19 concatenated loci. However, saturation analysis show that most of sequences beyond the Terminal Fusarium Clade (TFC) are saturated and are likely to show erroneous phylogenetic relationships. Further analysis of tree topologies also show discordance among loci. Metal-resistance proteins (MRPs) and pathogenicity-related proteins (PRPs) were present in almost all the genomes tested. Remarkably, correlation between MRPs and PRPs amongFusariumis positive and statistically significant. Moreover, there the some of the MRPs and PRPs co-occur significantly more than chance alone. Overall, this suggests that there is a possibility that pathogenicity and metal tolerance proteins amongFusariummay co-occur.
Flexible IrOxNeural Electrode for Mouse Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Authors: Sun Tao , Tsaava Téa , Peragine Joanne , Crosfield Christine , Lopez Maria Fernanda , Modi Romil , Sharma Rohit , Li Chunyan , Sohal Harbaljit , Chang Eric H. , Rieth Loren
Published: October 2022

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is being actively explored as a treatment for multiple conditions as part of bioelectronic medicine research. Reliable and safe VNS in mouse models is a critical need for understanding mechanisms of these. We report on the development and evaluation of a microfabricated cuff electrode (MouseFlex) constructed of polyimide (PI) and with iridium oxide (IrOx) electrodes that is thermoformed to 86 µm ± 12 µm radius to interface the mouse cervical vagus nerve (r ≈ 50 µm). Innovative bench-top methods were used to evaluated the stimulation stability and electrochemical properties of electrodes. Our aggressive stimulation stability (Stim-Stab) test utilized 1 billion pulses at a 1000 Hz with a current density of 6.28 A/cm2(1.51 mC/cm2/phase) to evaluate electrode lifetimes, and all electrodes remained functional. We also investigated the effects of thermoforming on their impedance, charge storage capacity (CSC), and charge injection capacity (CIC). The modest changes in electrochemical properties indicate that the thermoforming process was well tolerated. Thermoformed electrode safety and efficacy were evaluatedin-vivoby performing acute VNS in mice and monitoring their heart and respiration rate as biomarkers. Their electrochemical properties were also measured before, during and after VNS. Bradycardia and bradypnea were reliably induced at stimulation currents of 100 to 200 µA, well below thein-vivoCIC of ~1250 µA (~0.5 mC/cm2), supporting their safety and efficacy. The electrode impedance increased and CIC decreased duringin-vivouse, but largely reversed these changes inin-vitrotesting after enzymatic cleaning, supporting their tolerance for surgical use.
Border-associated macrophages mediate the neuroinflammatory response in an alpha-synuclein model of Parkinson disease
Authors: Schonhoff AM , Figge DA , Williams GP , Jurkuvenaite AJ , Gallups NJ , Childers GM , Webster JM , Standaert DG , Goldman JE , Harms AS
Published: October 2022

Dopaminergic cell loss due to the accumulation of α-syn is a core feature of PD pathogenesis. Neuroinflammation specifically induced by α-syn has been shown to exacerbate neurodegeneration, yet the role of CNS resident macrophages in this process remains unclear. We found that a specific subset of CNS resident macrophages, border-associated macrophages (BAMs), play an essential role in mediating α-syn related neuroinflammation due to their unique role as the antigen presenting cells necessary to initiate a CD4 T cell response. Surprisingly, the loss of MHCII antigen presentation on microglia had no effect on neuroinflammation. Furthermore, α-syn expression led to an expansion in BAM numbers and a unique damage-associated activation state. Through a combinatorial approach of single-cell RNA sequencing and depletion experiments, we found that BAMs played an essential role in immune cell recruitment, infiltration, and antigen presentation. Furthermore, BAMs were identified in post-mortem PD brain in close proximity to T cells. These results point to a critical role for BAMs in mediating PD pathogenesis through their essential role in the orchestration of the α-syn-mediated neuroinflammatory response.
A human DCC variant causing mirror movement disorder reveals an essential role for the Wave regulatory complex in Netrin/DCC signaling
Authors: Chaudhari Karina , Zhang Kaiyue , Yam Patricia T. , Zang Yixin , Kramer Daniel A. , Schlienger Sabrina , Calabretta Sara , Collins Meagan , Srour Myriam , Chen Baoyu , Charron Frédéric , Bashaw Greg J.
Published: October 2022

The axon guidance cue, Netrin-1, signals through its receptor DCC to attract commissural axons to the midline. Pathogenic variants in DCC frequently lead to congenital mirror movements (CMM), but how these variants impact DCC function is largely unknown. Screening ofDCCin individuals with CMM recently revealed a novel variant located in a conserved motif in the cytoplasmic tail of DCC that is predicted to bind to a central actin nucleation promoting factor, the WAVE regulatory complex (WRC). Here, we use biochemical and axon guidance assays to show that this CMM-associated DCC variant is pathogenic by disrupting the interaction between DCC and the WRC. This DCC-WRC interaction is evolutionarily conserved and is required for Netrin-1 mediated commissural axon outgrowth and guidance. Together, we identify the WRC as a pivotal component of Netrin-1/DCC signaling and further provide a molecular mechanism explaining how genetic variants in DCC may lead to CMM.
Inulin prebiotic reinforces host cancer immunosurveillance via γδ T cell activation
Authors: Boucher Emilie , Plazy Caroline , Richard Mathias L. , Suau Antonia , Mangin Irène , Cornet Muriel , Aldebert Delphine , Toussaint Bertrand , Hannani Dalil
Published: October 2022

The gut microbiota is now recognized as a key parameter affecting the host’s anti-cancer immunosurveillance and ability to respond to immunotherapy. Therefore, optimal modulation for preventive and therapeutic purposes is very appealing. Diet is one of the most potent modulators of microbiota, and thus nutritional intervention could be exploited to improve host anti-cancer immunity. Here, we show that an inulin-enriched diet, a prebiotic known to promote immunostimulatory bacteria, triggers an enhanced Th1-polarized CD4+and CD8+αβ T cell-mediated anti-tumor response and attenuates tumor growth in three preclinical tumor-bearing mouse models. We highlighted that the inulin-mediated anti-tumor effect relies on the activation of both intestinal and tumor-infiltrating γδ T cells that are indispensable for αβ T cell activation and subsequent tumor growth control, in a microbiota-dependent manner. Overall, our data identified these cells as a critical immune subset, mandatory for inulin-mediated anti-tumor immunityin vivo, further supporting and rationalizing the use of such prebiotic approaches, as well as the development of immunotherapies targeting γδ T cells in cancer prevention and immunotherapy.

Significance

Our study reveals that γδ T cells anti-cancer activity can be improved by nutritional intervention, in a microbiota-dependent manner. This work also indicates that γδ T cells are indispensable for reinforcing αβ T cells cancer immunosurveillance and subsequent tumor growth control. We believe that these findings could be of interest to the field of gut microbiota modulation, rationalizing the use of such prebiotic approaches as well as γδ T cells targeting, in cancer prevention and immunotherapy.
Egg size effects on nestling mass in JackdawsCorvus monedula: a cross-foster experiment
Authors: Borger Mirjam J. , Bauch Christina , Boonekamp Jelle J. , Verhulst Simon
Published: October 2022

Variation in developmental conditions is known to affect fitness in later life, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain elusive. We previously found in jackdawsCorvus monedulathat larger eggs resulted in larger nestlings up to fledging. Through a cross-foster experiment of complete clutches we tested whether this association can be attributed to egg size per se, or to more proficient parents producing larger eggs and larger nestlings, with the latter effect being more or less independent of egg size. Due to other manipulations post-hatching, we primarily investigated effects on nestling mass on day 5, which we show to predict survival until fledging. We introduce a new statistical approach to compare the competing hypotheses and conclude that 92% of the association between egg size and nestling mass is attributed to a direct effect of egg size, and that this relationship is not affected by variation in other parental quality. Intriguingly, the effect of egg size on day 5 nestling mass was steeper (1.7 g/cm3) than the effect of egg size on day 1 hatchling mass (0.7 g/cm3). Early growth is exponential, and the difference in effect size may therefore be explained by hatchlings from large eggs being further in their development at hatching. The direct effect of egg size on nestling mass raises the question what causes egg size variation in jackdaws.
The application of an extracellular vesicle-based biosensor in early diagnosis and prediction of chemoresponsiveness in ovarian cancer
Authors: Asare-Werehene Meshach , Hunter Rob , Gerber Emma , Reunov Arkadiy , Brine Isaiah , Chang Chia-Yu , Chang Chia-Ching , Shieh Dar-Bin , Burger Dylan , Anis Hanan , Tsang Benjamin K.
Published: October 2022

Ovarian cancer (OVCA) is the most fatal gynecological cancer with late diagnosis and chemoresistance being the main obstacles of treatment success. Since there is no reliable approach to diagnosing patients at an early stage as well as predicting chemoresponsiveness, there is the urgent need to develop a diagnostic platform for such purposes. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) present as an attractive biomarker given their potential specificity and sensitivity to tumor sites. We have developed a novel sensor which utilizes cysteine functionalized gold nanoparticles to simultaneously bind to cisplatin (CDDP) and EVs affording us the advantage of predicting OVCA chemoresponsiveness, histologic subtypes, and early diagnosis using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. EVs were isolated and characterized from chemosensitive and resistant OVCA cells lines as well as pre-operative patient blood samples. The mechanistic role of plasma gelsolin (pGSN) in EV-mediated CDDP secretion in OVCA chemoresistance was investigated using standard cellular and molecular techniques. We determined that chemoresistant cells secrete significantly higher levels of small EVs (sEVs) and EVs containing CDDP (sEV-CDDP) compared with their sensitive counterparts. pGSN interacted with cortactin (CTTN) and both markers were significantly upregulated in chemoresistant patients’ tumors compared with the sensitive patients. Silencing pGSN decreased EV and EV-CDDP secretions in the resistant cells whereas its over-expression in sensitive cells upregulated EV and EV-CDDP secretion, suggesting the potential role of pGSN in EV-mediated CDDP export. sEV/CA125 ratio outperformed CA125 and sEV individually in predicting early stage, chemoresistance, residual disease, tumor recurrence, and patient survival. These findings highlight pGSN as a potential therapeutic target as well as providing a potential diagnostic platform to detect OVCA earlier and predict chemoresistance; an intervention that will positively impact patients’ survival.
Geriatrics 8 scores as a predictor of postoperative outcome in elderly patients with Head and Neck cancer in Rajavithi Supertertiary Care Hospital
Authors: Lertseree Sirikon , Chindavijak Somjin
Published: October 2022

Background

To determine preoperative Geriatric 8 (G8) score in predicting postoperative complications for elderly head and neck cancer patients.

Material and Methods

The prospective study in elderly head and neck cancer patients who underwent surgery during 30th January 2021-25th January 2022. G8 score were collected before surgery and analysed for the association with complication outcome.

Result

Of 104 patients included in this study, The mean age was 68.84 (SD =6.99 years). The Geriatric 8 (G8)score ≤ 14 which were frail group in 73 cases (70.2%) The Clavien-Dindo complications grade III-IV were 30 patients (28.8%). Among these groups, 26 patients (86.7%) was in frail groups and 4 patients (13.3%) with non frail group which is statistically significant different (p=0.019) and Odd ratio of 3.32, CI =1.01-10.87, p=0.048

Conclusion

The G8 score is a practical tool for prediction post operative complication in elderly Head and Neck Cancer surgery.
A common neural code for meaning in discourse production and comprehension
Authors: Patel Tanvi , Morales Matías , Pickering Martin J. , Hoffman Paul
Published: October 2022

How does the brain code the meanings conveyed by language? Neuroimaging studies have investigated this by linking neural activity patterns during discourse comprehension to semantic models of language content. Here, we applied this approach to the production of discourse for the first time. Participants underwent fMRI while producing and listening to discourse on a range of topics. We used a distributional semantic model to quantify the similarity between different speech passages and identified where similarity in neural activity was predicted by semantic similarity. When people produced discourse, speech on similar topics elicited similar activation patterns in a widely distributed and bilateral brain network. This network was overlapping with, but more extensive than, the regions that showed similarity effects during comprehension. Critically, cross-task neural similarities between comprehension and production were also predicted by similarities in semantic content. This result suggests that discourse semantics engages a common neural code that is shared between comprehension and production. Effects of semantic similarity were bilateral in all three RSA analyses, even while univariate activation contrasts in the same data indicated left-lateralised BOLD responses. This indicates that right-hemisphere regions encode semantic properties even when they are not activated above baseline. We suggest that right-hemisphere regions play a supporting role in processing the meaning of discourse during both comprehension and production.
Low daytime light and bright night-time light are associated with psychiatric disorders: an objective light study in >85,000 UK Biobank participants
Authors: Burns Angus C. , Windred Daniel P. , Rutter Martin K. , Olivier Patrick , Vetter Céline , Saxena Richa , Lane Jacqueline M. , Phillips Andrew J. K. , Cain Sean W.
Published: October 2022

Circadian rhythm disturbance is a common feature of many psychiatric disorders. Light is the primary input to the circadian clock, with daytime light strengthening rhythms and night light disrupting them. Therefore, habitual light exposure may represent an environmental risk factor for susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. We performed the largest to-date cross-sectional analysis of light, sleep, physical activity, and mental health (n= 86,772 adults; aged 62.4 ± 7.4 years; 57% women). We examined the independent association of day and night light exposure with covariate-adjusted risk for psychiatric disorders and self-harm. Greater night light exposure was associated with increased risk for major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and self-harm behavior. Independent of night light, greater day light exposure was associated with reduced risk for major depressive disorder, PTSD, psychosis, and self-harm behavior. These findings were robust to adjustment for sociodemographics, photoperiod, physical activity, and sleep quality. Avoiding light at night and seeking light during the day may be a simple and effective, non-pharmacological means of broadly improving mental health.
The Novel Psychoactive Substances Epidemic: a Scientometric Perspective
Authors: Neoh Michelle Jin Yee , Carollo Alessandro , Lim Mengyu , Corazza Ornella , Coppola Aurora , Esposito Gianluca
Published: October 2022

The unprecedented proliferation of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the illicit drug market has been a public health concern since their emergence in the 2000s. Their consumption can pose a severe health risks as their mechanism of action is poorly understood and their level of toxicity is high mainly due to the diffusion of very potent synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic opioids. This study systemically analyses the evolution of the scientific literature on NPS to gain a better understanding of the areas of major research interests and how they interlink. Findings indicate that the published evidence covers clusters focused on classes of NPS that have received widespread media attention, such as mephedrone and fentanyl, and have largely been concerned with the pharmacological and the toxicological profiles of these substances. This scientometric perspective also provides greater insight into the knowledge gaps within this new and rapidly growing field of study and highlights the need for an interdisciplinary approach in tackling the NPS epidemic.
Making use of an App (Tawakkalna) to track and reduce COVID transmission in KSA
Authors: Bisanzio Donal , Reithinger Richard , Almudarra Sami , Alsukait Reem F. , Dong Di , Zhang Yi , El-Saharty Sameh , Almossawi Hala , Herbst Christopher H. , Alqunaibet Ada
Published: October 2022

Since March 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has launched several digital applications to support the intervention response to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. At the beginning of 2021, the KSA Government introduced a mandatory immunity passport to regulate access to public venues. The passport was part of the strategy of resuming public activities before reaching high vaccination coverage. The passport was implemented as a new service in the Tawakkalna mobile phone application (App). The immunity passport allowed access to public locations only for the users who recovered from COVID-19 or those who were double vaccinated. Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the immunity passport, implemented through the Tawakkalna App, on SARS-CoV-2 spread. We built a spatial-explicit individual-based model to represent the whole KSA population (IBM-KSA) and its dynamic on a national scale. The IBM-KSA was parameterized using country demographic, remote sensing, and epidemiological data. The model included non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccination coverage. A social network was created to represent contact heterogeneity and interaction among age groups of the population. The IBM-KSA also simulated the movement of people across the country based on a gravity model. We used the IBM-KSA to evaluate the effect of the immunity passport on the COVID-19 epidemic’s outcomes. The IBM-KSA results showed that implementing the immunity passport through the Tawakkalna App mitigated the SARS-CoV2 spread. In a scenario without the immunity passport, the KSA could have reported 1,515,468 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 965,725-1,986,966) cases, and 30,309 (95% CI: 19,314-39,739) deaths from March 2021 to November 2021. The comparison of IBM-KSA results with COVID-19 official reporting estimated that the passport effectively reduced the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by 8.7 times, 13.5 times, and 11.9 times, respectively. These results showed that the introduction of the immunity passport through the Tawakkalna App was able to control the spread of the SARS-COV-2 until vaccination reached high coverage. By introducing the immunity passport, The KSA was able to allow to resume most of public activities safely.
An allosteric switch between the activation loop and a c-terminal palindromic phospho-motif controls c-Src function
Authors: Cuesta Nicolás , Contreras Julia , Sánchez-Waldermer Jana , Soriano-Maldonado Pablo , Martín-Hurtado Ana , Muñoz Inés G. , Llimargas Marta , Muñoz Javier , Plaza Menacho Iván
Published: October 2022

Auto-phosphorylation controls the transition between discrete functional and conformational states in protein kinases, yet the structural and molecular determinants underlaying this fundamental process remain unclear. Here we show that c-terminal Tyr 530 is ade factoc-Src auto-phosphorylation site with slow time-resolution kinetics and strong intermolecular component. On the contrary, activation-loop Tyr 419 undergoes fast kinetics and a cis-to-trans phosphorylation-switch that controls c-terminal Tyr 530 auto-phosphorylation, enzyme specificity and strikingly, c-Src non-catalytic function as a substrate. In line with this, we visualize by X-ray crystallography a snapshot of Tyr 530 intermolecular phosphorylation in which a c-terminal palindromic phospho-motif flanking Tyr 530 on the susbtrate molecule engages the P-loop of the active kinase for ready entry prior catalysis. Perturbation of the phospho-motif accounts for c-Src disfunction as indicated by viral and a colorectal cancer (CRC) associated c-terminal deleted variants. We show that c-terminal residues 531 to 536 are required for c-Src Tyr 530 and global auto-phosphorylation, and this detrimental effect is caused by the susbtrate molecule inhibiting allosterically the active kinase. Our work reveals a bi-directional crosstalk between the activation and c-terminal segments that controls the allosteric interplay between susbtrate and enzyme acting kinases during auto-phosphorylation

Highlights

A bi-directional phospho-switch connecting the activation and c-terminal segments controls c-Src function

Activation-loop Tyr 419 is required for c-terminal Tyr 530 auto-phosphorylation, enzyme specificity and non-catalytic function as a substrate

Biochemical and structural visualization of c-Src Tyr 530 intermolecular auto-phosphorylation

A double-phosphorylated c-Src on both the activation and c-terminal segments is a fully active protein

Cancer associated c-terminal deleted variants inhibit allosterically c-Src activity by a dominant negative effect
Accessing abortion in a highly restrictive legal regime: characteristics of women and pregnant people in Malta self-managing their abortion through online telemedicine
Authors: Dibben Andreana , Stabile Isabel , Gomperts Rebecca , Kohout James
Published: October 2022

Objective

To examine the numbers and characteristics of women and pregnant people in Malta seeking at-home medical abortion using online telemedicine from 2017 to 2021.

Design

Population-based study.

Setting

Republic of Malta

Participants

Between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2021, 1090 women and pregnant people requested at-home medical abortion through one online telemedicine provider (Women on Web). Mifepristone and misoprostol were shipped to 658 women (60.4% of requests).

Main Outcome Measures

The numbers and demographics of persons to which abortion pills were shipped, their reasons for termination of pregnancy, and reasons for requesting medical abortion between January 2017 and December 2021 were analysed. Selected data were compared across different groups.

Results

The number of persons in Malta to whom medical abortion pills were shipped increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women and pregnant people requesting medical abortion were diverse with respect to age, pregnancy circumstances and reasons for seeking termination. More than half were mothers and over 90% reached out to Women on Web at < 7 weeks. Among those completing a medical abortion, 63% did not use contraception (n=412), and in 30% (n=197) there was contraception failure. The most common reasons for ordering medical abortion pills online were difficulty accessing abortion because of legal restrictions (73%) and abortion pills not being available (45%) in the country.

Conclusions

Despite a complete ban on abortion, the number of women and pregnant people residing in Malta completing at-home medical abortions is considerable and has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary Boxes

What is already known

Legal restrictions do not impede women and pregnant people from accessing abortion care but make them liable to criminal prosecution.

What this study adds

Since abortion is criminalised in Malta, there are no official statistics related to abortion. This is the first study looking at the number and characteristics of women and pregnant people who access abortion care outside the formal healthcare system in this highly restrictive legal regime.

Despite the abortion ban, women and pregnant people in Malta are increasingly accessing telemedicine and self-managing their abortions.
Validity of gait parameters of healthy young adults using a motion-sensor-based gait analysis system (ORPHE ANALYTICS) during walking and running
Authors: Uno Yuki , Ogasawara Issei , Konda Shoji , Yoshida Natsuki , Tsujii Akira , Nakata Ken
Published: October 2022

Background

Motion sensors are widely used for gait analysis. ORPHE ANALYTICS is a motion-sensor-based gait analysis system. The validity of commercial gait analysis systems is of great interest to clinicians because calculating position/angle-level gait parameters using motion sensor data potentially produces an error in the integration process; moreover, the validity of ORPHE ANALYTICS has not yet been examined.

Research question

How valid are the position/angle-level gait parameters calculated using ORPHE ANALYTICS relative to those calculated using conventional optical motion capture?

Methods

Nine young adults performed gait tasks on a treadmill at speeds of 2–12 km/h. The motion sensors were mounted on the shoe midsole (plantar-embedded) and shoe instep (instep-mounted). The three-dimensional marker position data of the foot as well as the acceleration and angular velocity data of the motion sensors were collected. The position/angle-level gait parameters were calculated from motion sensor data obtained using ORPHE ANALYTICS and optical motion capture data. Intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC(2,1)] were calculated for relative validities, and Bland–Altman plots were plotted.

Results

Eight items, namely, stride duration, stride length, stride frequency, stride speed (plantar-embedded), vertical height (plantar-embedded), stance phase duration, swing phase duration, and sagittal angleIC, exhibited excellent relative validities [ICC(2,1)> 0.9]. In contrast, the sagittal angleTOdemonstrated good relative validity [ICC(2,1)= 0.892–0.833], while the frontal angleICexhibited moderate relative validity [ICC(2,1)= 0.566–0.627].

Significance

ORPHE ANALYTICS, a motion-sensor-based gait analysis system, was found to exhibit excellent relative validity for most gait parameters. This finding suggests its feasibility for gait analysis outside the laboratory setting.

Highlights

Gait-parameter validities were examined for treadmill-based gait tasks at 2–12 km/h.

Most gait parameters showed excellent relative validity with optical motion capture.

Shoe midsole-embedded sensors had higher validities than instep-mounted sensors.

ORPHE ANALYTICS is potentially useful in clinical measurements.
The socially enriched environment test: a new approach to evaluate social behavior in a mouse model of social anxiety disorder
Authors: Boudjafad Zineb , Lguensat Asmae , Elmardadi Kenza , Dahi Asma , Bennis Mohamed , Ba-M'hamed Saadia , Garcia René
Published: October 2022

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common anxiety disorder characterized by a marked fear of social situations. Treatments for SAD, including exposure therapy and medication, are not satisfactory for all patients. This has led to the development of several paradigms to study social fear in rodents. However, there are still some social impairments observed in SAD patients that have never been examined in rodent models. Indeed, social situations avoided by SAD patients include not only social interactions but also public performances and being observed by others. Nevertheless, tests used to assess sociability in rodents evaluate mostly social interaction in pairs. Thus, we developed a new test—a socially enriched environment test—that evaluates sociability within a group of three unfamiliar conspecifics in an enriched environment. In this study, we induced a SAD-like behavior (i.e., social fear) in male mice using social fear conditioning (SFC) and then tested social fear using the socially enriched environment test and the three-chamber test. Finally, we tested the effects of fear extinction and acute diazepam treatment in reversing social fear. Results revealed, in conditioned mice, decreased object exploration in proximity to conspecifics, social interaction, and mouse-like object exploration. Extinction training, but not acute diazepam treatment, reversed SFC-induced behavioral changes. These findings demonstrate that the socially enriched environment test provides an appropriate behavioral approach to better understand the etiology of SAD. This test may also have important implications in the exploration of new treatments.
Single-Pair and Small-Group Crosses ofAedes aegypti
Authors: Wohl Margot P. , McMeniman Conor J.
Published: October 2022

Aedes aegyptiis an emerging model insect species used in genetics studies because of its ease of laboratory rearing, desiccation-resistant eggs, expanding genetic toolkit, and high-quality reference genome. Here, we describe procedures to isolate and sex virgin female and male mosquitoes and establish successful mating crosses. We also detail how to blood feed mosquitoes from these crosses, isolate individual or small groups of females for egg laying, condition these eggs for storage and hatching, and verify female mating status.
Overview ofAedes aegyptiand Use in Laboratory Studies
Authors: Wohl Margot P. , McMeniman Conor J.
Published: October 2022

The yellow fever mosquitoAedes aegyptiis a prolific disease vector. This mosquito has been the subject of scientific investigation for more than a century. Continued research intoAedes aegyptibiology is crucial for understanding how to halt the suite of major arthropod-borne viral diseases this mosquito transmits. Here, we provide an introductory overview ofAedes aegyptilife cycle; evolutionary history, biology, and ecology; genetics and sex differences; vector competence; and laboratory colonization and considerations for rearing this robust mosquito species for use in laboratory research.
Irreversible k-threshold conversion number of some graphs
Authors: Shaheen Ramy , Mahfud Suhail , Kassem Ali
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to study Irreversible conversion processes, which examine the spread of a one way change of state (from state 0 to state 1) through a specified society (the spread of disease through populations, the spread of opinion through social networks, etc.) where the conversion rule is determined at the beginning of the study. These processes can be modeled into graph theoretical models where the vertex set V(G) represents the set of individuals on which the conversion is spreading.

Design/methodology/approach

The irreversible k-threshold conversion process on a graph G=(V,E) is an iterative process which starts by choosing a set S_0?V, and for each step t (t = 1, 2,…,), S_t is obtained from S_(t−1) by adjoining all vertices that have at least k neighbors in S_(t−1). S_0 is called the seed set of the k-threshold conversion process and is called an irreversible k-threshold conversion set (IkCS) of G if S_t = V(G) for some t = 0. The minimum cardinality of all the IkCSs of G is referred to as the irreversible k-threshold conversion number of G and is denoted by C_k (G).

Findings

In this paper the authors determine C_k (G) for generalized Jahangir graph J_(s,m) for 1 < k = m and s, m are arbitraries. The authors also determine C_k (G) for strong grids P_2? P_n when k = 4, 5. Finally, the authors determine C_2 (G) for P_n? P_n when n is arbitrary.

Originality/value

This work is 100% original and has important use in real life problems like Anti-Bioterrorism.
Towards sustainable and resilient short food supply chains: a focus on sustainability practices and resilience capabilities using case study
Authors: Michel-Villarreal Rosario
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study aims to advance current knowledge on resilient and sustainable short food supply chains, by identifying sustainability practices and resilience capabilities and how these interact.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were collected from three cases via 16 semi-structured interviews. This methodological choice answers a call to develop more case studies to better understand perspectives on sustainable and resilient supply chains. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis.

Findings

Sustainability practices may positively enhance the resilience of short food supply chains, and vice versa. Specifically, social sustainability practices are perceived as enablers of resilience capabilities, and production practices can have a positive or negative impact on resilience capabilities.

Originality/value

This research addresses an important gap in the current short food supply chains literature, by looking at sustainability and resilience in an integrated way for the first time. The proposed working hypotheses and conceptual framework illustrate the complex relationship between social, economic and environmental sustainability and five resilience capabilities within short food supply chains.
Bribery and export intensity: the role of formal institutional constraint susceptibility
Authors: Eramudugoda Randika , Ramos Miguel A.
Published: October 2022

Purpose

By distinguishing between types of institutional constraints based on their susceptibility to bribery, this study aims to highlight the different mechanisms through which institutions influence bribery and export intensity. This work highlights the susceptibility of institutional constraints as a key consideration in understanding how bribery influences institutions and has implications for export intensity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilizes firm-level data from World Bank Enterprise Surveys using a fractional logit estimation method.

Findings

An analysis of firm-level data from 26 emerging economies shows support for a positive relationship between permit constraints and firm-level bribery payments. In addition, results provide partial support for a negative relationship between firm-level bribery payments and export intensity. Finally, this study finds partial support for the strengthening impact of financial constraints on the negative relationship between bribery payments and export intensity. However, contrary to our expectations, results indicate that tax rate constraints can weaken the relationship between bribery payments and exports.

Originality/value

This work contributes to international business literature by analyzing how home market institutions influence firms' export intensity. In addition, the study contributes to corruption research by highlighting the importance of heterogeneous susceptibility of formal institutional constraints to bribery. The focus on bribery responds to calls for work on firm misbehavior in international business.
Oil price effect on asset pricing of renewable energy firms in India: a panel quantile regression approach
Authors: Mishra Lalatendu , Acharya Rajesh H.
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the relationship between oil prices and stock returns of renewable energy firms in India under different market conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the panel quantile framework with Fama–French–Carhart’s (1997) four-factor asset pricing model. All renewable energy firms listed in the National Stock Exchange of India are considered in this study. Three oil prices, such as West Texas Intermediate spot price, Europe Brent oil price and Indian basket oil price, are used in the regression. The analysis is done for the whole sample and its subgroups.

Findings

In the whole sample, stock returns of renewable energy firms respond positively to oil price changes in extreme market conditions only. In the subgroups of the renewable energy firms, the relationship between stock returns and oil price is positive and more robust in higher quantiles across all subgroup firms.

Originality/value

The contribution of the study is explained as follows. First, this study helps to explore the relationship between oil and stock returns of the renewable energy sector under different market conditions in the Indian context. Second, existing studies explore the effect of oil prices on stock returns of the renewable energy sector at the industry level, and most of the studies are in developed countries. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the context of India. Third, this is a firm-level study
Resource-based productivity in the closed banking sector: the case of Ethiopian banks
Authors: Tarekegn Yihays Fente , Li Weifeng , Xiao Huilin
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The current paper's goal is to examine the productivity of the closed banking sector evidenced from Ethiopia. In addition, the inclusion of intangibles on productivity was examined in the current paper.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the standard Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) was employed for 13 commercial banks for both stages. Second, by excluding the state-owned commercial bank, the analysis employed a bootstrapped MPI for the robust and comprehensive conclusion. Furthermore, from 2010 to 2019, the fixed effect Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression with balanced panel data was used.

Findings

The standard MPI in both stages shows that the productivity of Ethiopian commercial banks is declining. The technological shock was the main reason for the loss. The catch-up in both stages scored above unity, mainly due to the pure efficiency change. Besides, when combined with tangible resources, the inclusion of resource-based view (RBV) proxy variables reduces technological shock regress and ultimately improves productivity change. The bootstrapped MPI also reveals that technological shock is the primary source of the productivity decline. However, efficiency change also contributes to the productivity decline based on this estimation.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could examine the more extensive productivity analysis by considering the primary sources of data collections for resource-based variables.

Practical implications

According to the study's results, banking regulatory authorities and bank management, including the shareholders, should continue to invest in cutting-edge technology to improve the productivity of the banking sector.

Originality/value

This is the first comprehensive study of productivity for Ethiopian commercial banks based on the standard MPI, bootstrapped MPI, and OLS by incorporating all resources into the analysis.
The prediction of residual life of liquid-storage tank considering the tank wall surface state
Authors: Lai Jiafeng , Wang Yuhan , Wei Yuwei , Liang Jinlu , Liu Xintian
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to predict the residual life of liquid-storage tank to ensure safety and long-term service life of the structure.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper carried out the stress analysis of the wall plate and bottom plate of the liquid-storage tank, and the influence of circumferential stress on the tank is considered. On the other hand, considering the influence of the tank wall surface on the tank life, based on the Paris law, the surface processing coefficient and surface roughness coefficient are introduced to improve the Paris law.

Findings

The effectiveness of the improved model is verified by comparing with theoretical and experimental data, which provide a new method for the prediction of the remaining service life of the tank. Combined with the fatigue crack data in the test report and the calculated circumferential stress, the residual life of the storage tank is predicted.

Originality/value

The improved model provides a new method for the prediction of the remaining service life of the tank.
Implementation of automation system-based model checking for managing imperfect maintenance actions in chemical plant projects
Authors: Ismail Zul-Atfi
Published: October 2022

Purpose

The chemical plant (CP) maintenance industry has been under increasing pressure by process designers to demonstrate its evaluation and information management of model checking (MC) on the durability’s performance and design of plant control instrument. This main problem has been termed as imperfect maintenance actions (IMAs) level. Although IMAs have been explored in interdisciplinary maintenance environments, less is known about what imperfect maintenance problems currently exist and what their causes are, such as the recent explosion in the Beirut city (4 August 2020, about 181 fatalities). The aim of this paper is to identify how CP maintenance environments could integrate MC within their processes.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this aim, a comprehensive literature review of the existing conceptualisation of MC practices is reviewed and the main features of information and communication technology tools and techniques currently being employed on such IMA projects are carried out and synthesised into a conceptual framework for integrating MC in the automation system process.

Findings

The literature reveals that various CP designers conceptualise MC in different ways. MC is commonly shaped by long-term compliance to fulfil the requirement for maintaining a comfortable durability risk on imperfect maintenance schemes of CP projects. Also, there is a lack of common approaches for integrating the delivery process of MC. The conceptual framework demonstrates the importance of early integration of MC in the design phase to identify alternative methods to cogenerate, monitor and optimise MC.

Originality/value

Thus far, this study advances the knowledge about how CP maintenance environments can ensure MC delivery. This paper highlights the need for further research to integrate MC in CP maintenance environments. A future study could validate the framework across the design phase with different CP project designers.
College student loan debt and income inequality in the US: national and regional evidence
Authors: Apergis Nicholas
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study explores the role of rising US student loan debt in explaining income inequality.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modeling approach to explore the short- and long-run impact of college debt on income inequality in the US through quarterly data over the period 2000–2019.

Findings

The results demonstrate the detrimental impact of student debt on national and regional income inequality. Moreover, the regional analysis highlights a more pronounced impact of student debt on income distribution in South and West regions. The findings document that these regions, with the lower student debt proportions, have the lowest average cost of attending college. Finally, the analysis explores two potential channels – i.e. race and homeownership – that could explain the link between college student debt and income inequality.

Practical implications

The results can be helpful for policymakers and researchers to formulate practical approaches for assessing and addressing the rising national student debt and income inequality.

Originality/value

This is the first, to the best of the author's knowledge, study that explores the impact of US college debt on income inequality.
Relationship of total quality management with corporate sustainability in the MSME sector: does innovation capability play a mediating role?
Authors: Hudnurkar Manoj , Ambekar Suhas , Bhattacharya Sonali , Sheorey Pratima Amol
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study attempts to find the structural relationship between Total Quality Management (TQM) and Corporate Sustainability (CS) by analyzing the role of Innovation Capability (IC).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted the study in the context of manufacturing industries in the Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. In the process, The authors attempt to throw light on the significance of TQM and IC in bringing out sustainable practices in organizations. The authors used Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS to study the relationship between TQM and CS.

Findings

The authors measured TQM through product control management, process control, vendor quality management and customer relationship improvement. We did find a direct relationship between TQM and CS, along with its three dimensions: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. TQM was found to be antecedent to IC. IC, measured through product innovation, process innovation and managerial innovation, did not mediate the relation between TQM and CS. However, the link between TQM and social and environmental sustainability partially mediates through IC at the dimension level.

Practical implications

TQM can provide a holistic means of nurturing participation and satisfaction of stakeholders for achieving corporate sustainability and in the process, can create an innovative culture for stimulating a circular social economy.

Originality/value

This study fills the gap in the literature by providing a structural model that explains the relationship between TQM and corporate sustainability and highlights the role of innovation capability in achieving it.