bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Climate change negatively impacts dominant microbes in the sediments of a High Arctic lake
Authors: Colby Graham A. , Ruuskanen Matti O. , St. Pierre Kyra A. , St. Louis Vincent L. , Poulain Alexandre J. , Aris-Brosou Stéphane
Published: July 2019

Temperatures in the Arctic are expected to increase dramatically over the next century, yet little is known about how microbial communities and their underlying metabolic processes will be affected by these environmental changes in freshwater sedimentary systems. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed sediments from Lake Hazen, NU Canada. Here, we exploit the spatial heterogeneity created by varying runoff regimes across the watershed of this uniquely large lake at these latitudes to test how a transition from low to high runoff, used as one proxy for climate change, affects the community structure and functional potential of dominant microbes. Based on metagenomic analyses of lake sediments along these spatial gradients, we show that increasing runoff leads to a decrease in taxonomic and functional diversity of sediment microbes. Our findings are likely to apply to other, smaller, glacierized watersheds typical of polar or high latitude / high altitudes ecosystems; we can predict that such changes will have far reaching consequences on these ecosystems by affecting nutrient biogeochemical cycling, the direction and magnitude of which are yet to be determined.
Liver X Receptor activation regulates genes involved in lipid homeostasis in developing chondrocytes
Authors: Sun Margaret Man-Ger , Beier Frank
Published: July 2019

Objective

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis and causes debilitating symptoms and decreased quality of life. Currently available treatment options target symptoms but do not address the underlying issue of joint tissue degeneration. As such, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms maintaining cartilage health is needed for developing novel therapeutic strategies. Liver X Receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that have been previously shown to offer protection against OA. This is potentially due to suppression of chondrocyte hypertrophy in endochondral bone growth in response to LXR activation. In order to better understand the regulatory mechanisms behind this effect, we aimed to systematically examine LXR’s effects on growth plate chondrocyte gene expression.

Methods

Primary chondrocytes isolated from the long bones of E15.5 mice were treated with the specific LXR agonist, GW3965, and RNA was isolated for Affymetrix microarrays followed by real time qPCR validation. Bioinformatics analyses were performed using Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway analysis. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to examine protein localization of LXR and identified targets in GW3965-treated E15.5 tibiae compared to control.

Results

Activation of LXR in primary growth plate chondrocytes resulted in differential regulations of various genes involved in lipid metabolism, including several genes involved in cholesterol efflux. This pattern was compared to LXR activation in immature murine articular chondrocytes (IMACs), which revealed similar roles in lipid homeostasis. Immunohistochemical analysis of LXR and its identified targets Abca1 and Srebf1 revealed preferential protein localization to pre-hypertrophic and resting chondrocytes in GW3965-treated tibial growth plates compared to controls.

Conclusion

Our findings show for the first time that LXR activation alters expression of lipid metabolism genes in growth plate chondrocytes, in part through activation of molecules responsible for cellular cholesterol efflux. This provides insight into potential mechanisms through which LXR regulates cellular metabolism to alter chondrocyte behavior and phenotype.
Coalescent models at small effective population sizes and population declines are positively misleading
Authors: Lauterbur M. Elise
Published: July 2019

Population genetics employs two major models for conceptualizing genetic relationships among individuals – outcome-driven (coalescent) and process-driven (forward). These models are complementary, but the basic Kingman coalescent and its extensions make fundamental assumptions to allow analytical approximations: a constant effective population size much larger than the sample size. These make the probability of multiple coalescent events per generation negligible. Although these assumptions are often violated in species of conservation concern, conservation genetics often uses coalescent models of effective population sizes and trajectories in endangered species. Despite this, the effect of very small effective population sizes, and their interaction with bottlenecks and sample sizes, on such analyses of genetic diversity remains unexplored. Here, I use simulations to analyze the influence of small effective population size, population decline, and their relationship with sample size, on coalescent-based estimates of genetic diversity. Compared to forward process-based estimates, coalescent models significantly overestimate genetic diversity in oversampled populations with very small effective sizes. When sampled soon after a decline, coalescent models overestimate genetic diversity in small populations regardless of sample size. Such overestimates artificially inflate estimates of both bottleneck and population split times. For conservation applications with small effective population sizes, forward simulations that do not make population size assumptions are computationally tractable and should be considered instead of coalescent-based models. These findings underscore the importance of the theoretical basis of analytical techniques as applied to conservation questions.
Network reaction norms: taking into account network position and network plasticity in response to environmental change
Authors: Bonnell Tyler R. , Vilette Chloé , Henzi S. Peter , Barrett Louise
Published: July 2019

Recent studies have highlighted the link between consistent inter-individual differences in behaviour and consistency in social network position. There is also evidence that network structures can show temporal dynamics, suggesting that consistency in social network position across time does not preclude some form of plasticity in response to environmental variation. To better consider variation in network position and plasticity simultaneously we introduce the network reaction norm (NRN) approach. As an illustrative example, we used behavioural data on chacma baboons, collected over a period of seven years, to construct a time series of networks, using a moving window. Applying an NRN approach with these data, we found that most of the variation in network centrality could be explained by inter-individual differences in mean centrality. There was also evidence, however, for individual differences in network plasticity. These differences suggest that environmental conditions may influence which individuals are most central, i.e., they lead to an individual x environment interaction. We suggest that expanding from measures of repeatability in social networks to network reaction norms can provide a more temporally nuanced way to investigate social phenotypes within groups, and lead to a better understanding of the development and maintenance of individual variation in social behaviour.
Profiling the E. coli Membrane Interactome Captured in Peptidisc Libraries
Authors: Carlson Michael , Stacey R Greg , Young John , Wason Irvin , Zhao Zhiyu , Rattray David G , Scott Nichollas , Kerr Craig , Babu Mohan , Foster Leonard J. , Duong Franck
Published: July 2019

Protein-correlation-profiling (PCP), in combination with quantitative proteomics, has emerged as a high-throughput method for the rapid identification of dynamic protein complexes in native conditions. While PCP has been successfully applied to soluble proteomes, characterization of the membrane interactome has lagged, partly due to the necessary use of detergents to maintain protein solubility. Here, we apply the peptidisc, a ‘one-size fits all’ membrane mimetic, for the capture of the Escherichia coli cell envelope proteome and its high-resolution fractionation in the absence of detergent. Analysis of the SILAC-labeled peptidisc library via PCP allows generation of over 4900 possible binary interactions out of >700,000 random associations. Using well-characterized membrane protein systems such as the SecY translocon, the Bam complex and the MetNI transporter, we find our dataset very useful for identifying transient and surprisingly novel protein interactions. For example, we discover a trans-periplasmic super-complex comprising subunits of the Bam and Sec translocons, including membrane-bound chaperones YfgM and PpiD. We identify RcsF and OmpA as bone fide interactors of BamA, and we show that interaction of MetQ with the ABC transporter MetNI depends on its N-terminal lipid anchor. We also discover NlpA as a novel interactor of MetNIQ. Most of these interactions are largely undetected by standard detergent-based purification. Together, the peptidisc workflow applied to the proteomic field is emerging as a promising novel approach to characterize membrane protein interactions under native expression conditions and without genetic manipulation.
Population structure determined by comparative amplicon gene sequencing in biofilm and planktonic bacterial communities from pesticide-contaminated water
Authors: Lima Jhenifer Yonara , Moreira Cassiano , Costa Gessica , Freitas Paloma Nathane Nunes , Olchanheski Luiz Ricardo , Pileggi Sonia Alvim Veiga , Etto Rafael Mazer , Staley Christopher , Sadowski Michael Jay , Pileggi Marcos
Published: July 2019

Molecular and bioinformatics tools for research are very important for biodiversity characterization in contaminated environments due the presence of a high percentage of nonculturable microorganisms. The wide use of pesticides in agriculture exposes microbiomes to stressful and selective conditions that demand survival strategies such as biofilm formation. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the bacterial population structure in planktonic and biofilm communities of water that was used for washing the packaging of herbicides and stored for six months in tanks. This substance is highly contaminated waste. Samples of water and biofilms from tanks and biofilms developed for short times in flasks were used for DNA isolation and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The physicochemical conditions imposed by water used for washing the containers were inadequate for killing the bacterial genera identified according to water and wastewater standards. The variation in population structure and diversity was lower in the planktonic samples than in the biofilm samples, indicating a possible combination of genetic drift and subsequent selection of individuals surviving under stressful water conditions, such as heating and contact with agrochemicals, over a six-month period. The biofilm formation in water tanks contaminated with pesticides enabled the survival of bacterial genera harboring the essential processes for adaptation to these environments; the presence of these processes was determined according to descriptions obtained from the genomic databases. This study suggests the potential of bacterial genera identified in biofilms obtained from tanks to adapt to contaminated environments through their metabolic complexity. Thus, herbicide biodegradation kinetics can be accessed through a culturable collection obtained from these communities.
Ingestive behaviour of grazing ruminants: meta-analysis of the components linking bite mass to daily intake
Authors: Boval M. , Sauvant D.
Published: July 2019

This meta-analysis shed light on the quantitative adaptive responses of feeding behaviour of Cattle (C) and Small Ruminants (SR), facing variations of sward characteristics, notably of sward height (SH, 18. 7 ± 13.9 cm) and herbage bulk density (HBD, 1.73 ± 1.30 kg DM / m3). All responses expressed a plateau stressing an adaptive limit with extreme values of SH and HBD. The minimum plateau of BR (46.9 ± 14.6 min-1) is around 40 min-1, while IR values (different for C and SR, respectively 69.1 ± 38.1 vs. 99.9 ± 45.7 g/min/kg BW) ranged between a minimum and maximum plateau around 50 and 100 g/min/kg BW. Two other pasture management factors affect IR, namely forage allowance (10.16 ± 6.0, DM % BW) and daily proportion of time spent grazing (0.30 ± 0.08). The results obtained confirm the specifically key role of BM (1.80 ± 127 mg DM/kg BW) on IR. The regressions are IR=145 (1-exp (-b BM), b being equal respectively for C and SR and C to 0.44 vs. 0.54. This literature review has also revealed fundamental differences in behaviour between C and SR although no study to date has attempted to compare them simultaneously. SR have to chew more (2.7 ± 1.2 vs. 1.6 ± 0.5 JM/bite) to ingest the same amount of DM per bite than C, expressed in relation to BW, which allow them to ingest slightly quickly.

Implications

This article, following the previous one of Boval and Sauvant (2019), proposes a quantitative appraisal of the ingestive behaviour of grazing ruminants, based on studies published over 40 years, as well as well robust average values and relationships, considering inter- and intra-study effects and animal species specificities. This knowledge should contribute to a better overall understanding of the behavioural adaptation of ruminants at pasture, to the identification of key threshold values and appropriate parameters of interest to be considered, and to improve the efficiency and sensitivity of automatic devices, which are booming in the context of precision livestock farming at pasture.
Pathway-dependent regulation of sleep dynamics in a network model of the sleep-wake cycle
Authors: Héricé Charlotte , Sakata Shuzo
Published: July 2019

Sleep is a fundamental homeostatic process within the animal kingdom. Although various brain areas and cell types are involved in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, it is still unclear how different pathways between neural populations contribute to its regulation. Here we address this issue by investigating the behavior of a simplified network model upon synaptic weight manipulations. Our model consists of three neural populations connected by excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Activity in each population is described by a firing-rate model, which determines the state of the network. Namely wakefulness, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep or non-REM (NREM) sleep. By systematically manipulating the synaptic weight of every pathway, we show that even this simplified model exhibits non-trivial behaviors: for example, the wake-promoting population contributes not just to the induction and maintenance of wakefulness, but also to sleep induction. Although a recurrent excitatory connection of the REM-promoting population is essential for REM sleep genesis, this recurrent connection does not necessarily contribute to the maintenance of REM sleep. The duration of NREM sleep can be shortened or extended by changes in the synaptic strength of the pathways from the NREM-promoting population. In some cases, there is an optimal range of synaptic strengths that affect a particular state, implying that the amount of manipulations, not just direction (i.e., activation or inactivation), needs to be taken into account. These results demonstrate pathway-dependent regulation of sleep dynamics and highlight the importance of systems-level quantitative approaches for sleep-wake regulatory circuits.

Author Summary

Sleep is essential and ubiquitous across animal species. Over the past half-century, various brain areas, cell types, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides have been identified as part of a sleep-wake regulating circuitry in the brain. However, it is less explored how individual neural pathways contribute to the sleep-wake cycle. In the present study, we investigate the behavior of a computational model by altering the strength of connections between neuronal populations. This computational model is comprised of a simple network where three neuronal populations are connected together, and the activity of each population determines the current state of the model, that is, wakefulness, rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep or non-REM (NREM) sleep. When we alter the connection strength of each pathway, we observe that the effect of such alterations on the sleep-wake cycle is highly pathway-dependent. Our results provide further insights into the mechanisms of sleep-wake regulation, and our computational approach can complement future biological experiments.
Forecasting type-specific seasonal influenza after 26 weeks in the United States using influenza activities in other countries
Authors: Choi S. B. , Kim J. , Ahn I.
Published: July 2019

To identify countries that have seasonal patterns similar to the time series of influenza surveillance data in the United States and other countries, and to forecast the 2018–2019 seasonal influenza outbreak in the U.S. using linear regression, auto regressive integrated moving average, and deep learning. We collected the surveillance data of 164 countries from 2010 to 2018 using the FluNet database. Data for influenza-like illness (ILI) in the U.S. were collected from the Fluview database. This cross-correlation study identified the time lag between the two time-series. Deep learning was performed to forecast ILI, total influenza, A, and B viruses after 26 weeks in the U.S. The seasonal influenza patterns in Australia and Chile showed a high correlation with those of the U.S. 22 weeks and 28 weeks earlier, respectively. The R2 score of DNN models for ILI for validation set in 2015–2019 was 0.722 despite how hard it is to forecast 26 weeks ahead. Our prediction models forecast that the ILI for the U.S. in 2018–2019 may be later and less severe than those in 2017–2018, judging from the influenza activity for Australia and Chile in 2018. It allows to estimate peak timing, peak intensity, and type-specific influenza activities for next season at 40th week. The correlation for seasonal influenza among Australia, Chile, and the U.S. could be used to decide on influenza vaccine strategy six months ahead in the U.S.
First Indian report on Genome-wide Comparison of Multidrug-ResistantEscherichia colifrom Blood Stream Infections
Authors: Devanga Ragupathi Naveen Kumar , Veeraraghavan Balaji , Muthuirulandi Sethuvel Dhiviya Prabaa , Anandan Shalini , Vasudevan Karthick , Neeravi Ayyan Raj , Kumar Daniel Jones Lionel , Sathyendra Sowmya , Iyadurai Ramya , Mutreja Ankur
Published: July 2019

Background

Multidrug-resistant (MDR)E. coliwith extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) is becoming endemic in health care settings around the world. Baseline data on virulence and AMR of specific lineages ofE. colicirculating in developing countries like India is currently lacking.

Methods

Whole-genome sequencing was performed for 60 MDRE. coliisolates. Genome-wide analysis was performed at single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level resolution to identify the relation between the isolates in context of time, virulence and AMR determinants possessed.

Results

Genome comparison revealed the presence of ST-131 global MDR and ST410 as emerging-MDR clades ofE. coli. AMR gene profile for cephalosporin and carbapenem resistance differed between the clades. GenotypesblaCTX-M-15andblaNDM-5were common among cephalosporinases and carbapenemases, respectively. For aminoglycoside resistance,rmtBwas positive for 31.7% of the isolates, of which 30% were co-harboring carbapenemases. Further, the FimH types and virulence gene profile positively correlated with the SNP based phylogeny, which also revealed the evolution of MDR clones among the study population with temporal accumulation of SNPs. The predominant clone was ST167 (blaNDMlineage) followed by ST405 (global clone ST131 equivalent) and ST410 (fast spreading high risk clone).

Conclusions

This is the first report on the whole genome analysis of MDRE. colilineages circulating in India. Data from this study will provide public health agencies a baseline portfolio of AMR and virulence in pathogenicE. coliin the region.
Visualisation of ribosomes in Drosophila axons using Ribo-BiFC
Authors: Singh Anand K , Abdullahi Akilu , Soller Matthias , David Alexandre , Brogna Saverio
Published: July 2019

Rates of protein synthesis and the number of translating ribosomes vary greatly between different cells in various cell states. The distribution of assembled, and potentially translating, ribosomes within cells can be visualised in Drosophila by using Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) to monitor the interaction between tagged pairs of 40S and 60S ribosomal proteins (RPs) that are close neighbours across inter-subunit junctions in the assembled 80S ribosome. Here we describe transgenes that express two novel RP pairs tagged with Venus-based BiFC fragments that considerably increase the sensitivity of this technique that we termed Ribo-BiFC. This improved method should provide a convenient way of monitoring the local distribution of ribosomes in most Drosophila cells and we suggest that could be implemented in other organisms. We visualized 80S ribosomes in larval photoreceptors and in other neurons. Assembled ribosomes are most abundant in the various neuronal cell bodies, but they are also present along the lengths of axons and are concentrated in growth cones of larval and pupal photoreceptors. Surprisingly, there is relatively less puromycin incorporation in the distal portion of axons in the optic stalk, suggesting that some of the ribosomes that have started translation may not be engaged in elongation in axons that are still growing.
The impact of CEO pay and its disclosure on stock price crash risk: evidence from China
Authors: Xu Jiahua , Zou Lan
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether CEO pay is related to stock price crash risk, and how ownership concentration mediates this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors hypothesize that companies who disclose CEO pay would experience lower stock price crash risk than their non-transparent peers. For companies whose CEO pay is published, the authors conjecture that the CEO pay slice is positively related to stock price crash risk. The authors also investigate whether the impact of CEO pay on crash risk would be weaker or stronger under a concentrated ownership structure and a mutual fund ownership structure. This study relies on 14,499 firm-year observations from the Chinese capital market to shed light on these questions.

Findings

The authors demonstrate that the magnitude of CEO pay slice has little effect on stock price crash risk. However, whether CEO pay is disclosed at all is a strong indicator for stock price crash risk.

Originality/value

The paper expands on the literature by adding a new factor to explain the stock price crash risk, which is vital to investor protection and the stability of the financial market. The research also adds to the sparse literature on CEO centrality and has implications for corporate governance and public policy.
On the day-of-the-week effects of Bitcoin markets: international evidence
Authors: Ma Donglian , Tanizaki Hisashi
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the day-of-the-week effects of Bitcoin (BTC) markets on the exchange level from January 2014 to September 2018.

Design/methodology/approach

The in-depth study on the day-of-the-week effects is conducted by using data consisting of Bitcoin prices denominated in 20 fiat currencies from 23 Bitcoin trading exchanges through the method of rolling sample for calendar effect proposed by Zhang et al. (2017).

Findings

It is shown by the empirical results that different patterns of the day-of-the-week effects are observed on Bitcoin denominated in various fiat currencies by referring to the price data collected from exchanges. Furthermore, the patterns of the day-of-the-week effects are also available after adjusting Bitcoin prices denominated in domestic currencies into USD.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the discontinuity of data for some daily return series, estimation with dynamic variance is not applicable. It is assumed that the error item follows normal distribution with constant variance.

Originality/value

The day-of-the-week effects are wide-spread in Bitcoin markets, and they are not mainly caused by movements of foreign exchange rates. Actually, empirical findings in this study provide evidence for inefficiency of Bitcoin markets.
Group- and individual-focused transformational leadership
Authors: Chen Yanyu , Lin Yi-Chieh , Hsu Miao-Sui , Lin Yi-Hsin
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build a new transformational leadership typology by demonstrating high/low degrees of group- and individual-focused transformational leader behaviors – authentic type (high-high), group-oriented type (high-low) and individual-oriented type (low-high) – and to predict that the three types relate differently to follower responses (intention to sacrifice, cognitive trust of supervisor and affective liking).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses an experimental scenario to generate the maximum levels of between-group variance among the three types. A total of 182 mainland Chinese full-time employees participated in the experiment.

Findings

Followers’ intention to sacrifice is equally high under the authentic, group-oriented and individual-oriented types of leadership. In addition, followers’ cognitive trust of supervisor is equally high under the authentic and group-oriented types and the lowest under the individual-oriented type. Finally, followers’ affective liking is equally high under the authentic and individual-oriented types and the lowest for the group-oriented type.

Originality/value

A new transformational leadership typology that combines high and low degrees of group- and individual-focused behaviors is established. Based on this typology, this study shows how the three types distinctively affect followers’ reactions, including intention to sacrifice, cognitive trust of supervisor and affective liking.
Is there such a thing as feminine leadership? Being a leader and not a man in the hospitality industry
Authors: Denizci Guillet Basak , Pavesi Anna , Hsu Cathy H.C. , Weber Karin
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine and discuss whether women executives in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong adopt a feminine, masculine or gender-neutral approach to leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focuses on women with positional power in senior-level leadership roles within the hospitality and tourism industry in Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was taken to capture the multiple dimensions of these female executive’s leadership orientations. The participants included 24 women executives.

Findings

Participants’ representations show that women have a multitude of leadership styles that operate on three continua. Not all women executives display leadership orientations that adhere to their indigenous culture values. Individual differences or differences related to the organizational culture are still relevant.

Research limitations/implications

A low number of women in leadership positions in Hong Kong limited the selection process of participants. There might be a selection bias based on that the participants volunteered to participate in the research study and some declined. Findings are based on participants’ memory to reflect on their leadership styles.

Originality/value

Because of the traditional and conventional definitions of leadership, women leaders might feel that they should behave in a masculine way to be taken seriously as a leader. There is a need to understand whether women executives today manage to defeat these stereotypes and comfortably display a feminine approach to leadership. A culture that values and leverages feminine approaches in addition to masculine approaches is likely to have higher engagement and retention of women.
Conflicts and creative idea endorsement
Authors: Adeel Ahmad , Pengcheng Zhang , Saleem Farida , Ali Rizwan , Batool Samreen
Published: July 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate relationship conflicts and creative idea endorsement to develop the understanding of managerial reactions towards ideas of those who develop relationship conflicts with managers/supervisors at work. Taking a contingency perspective, the authors also investigated role subordinates’ political skills and implementation instrumentality play in determining supervisors’ endorsement of subordinates’ creative ideas.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used two sources of data collected from 243 subordinates and their respective 41 supervisors of a multinational software company operating in an emerging economy (Pakistan) and analyzed the hypothesized model with Mplus using random coefficient modeling.

Findings

With this research, the authors contributed to management literature by investigating how the effects of relationship conflicts on creative idea endorsement depend on subordinates’ political skills and implementation instrumentality. They postulate a negative relationship between relationship conflict and creative ideas endorsement and predict that this negative relationship is augmented by subordinates’ implementation instrumentality but attenuated by subordinates’ political skills. They also give directions to decision makers in organizations that they must inform the managers/supervisors about negative effects of their relationship conflict with their subordinates and train supervisors and subordinates about reducing their relationship conflicts with each other for mutual benefits.

Originality/value

Organizations should take a relationship perspective when creating an environment for creativity: an environment based on mutual trust and respect so that exchange relationships can foster. With this research, the authors extended the list of potential detriment associated with relationship conflicts, that is the endorsement of creative ideas by supervisors. The authors also extended creativity literature by investigating social relationships for selection-focused creativity (idea endorsement) instead of variance-focused creativity (idea generation).
Barriers to foreign direct investment in the power sector: evidence from Bangladesh
Authors: Mahbub Tareq , Jongwanich Juthathip
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that deter firms from pursuing foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh’s power sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a mixed-method approach comprising semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. A quantitative analysis including a one-way analysis of variance and analytical hierarchy process is also included.

Findings

The results reveal that political aspects are the most influential barriers impeding FDI in the power sector, followed by economic and financial, societal and regulatory aspects. Of the individual factors, land acquisition/rent/lease, corruption, political interference, an inadequate gas transmission system and a long independent power producers’ approval process are key obstacles deterring FDI in the power sector. The ownership structure matters in ranking decisions to conduct FDI.

Practical implications

The study can assist managers in identifying key factors that deter FDI in the power sector. It can also assist the government to establish the right policies for the sustainable development of FDI in the power sector.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind in Bangladesh’s power sector that analyzes the key barriers hindering FDI systematically. It also discusses policies on removing these barriers for sustainable development of FDI in the power sector.
Capitalizing on women’s entrepreneurial alertness
Authors: Montiel-Campos Héctor
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how human, social and psychological capital influences women’s entrepreneurial alertness and discover if these influences are moderated by job complexity.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a quantitative research study using a purposive sampling method where data are gathered from a self-report survey. The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 274 female middle managers using a hierarchical moderated regression analysis.

Findings

The results support that women’s human and psychological capital are positively related to each dimension of their entrepreneurial alertness, and that these relationships are moderated by job complexity. Results also indicate that women’s social capital is not related to their entrepreneurial alertness.

Research limitations/implications

The most important limitation of this study is that it only considers women who work as middle managers in established firms without considering the specific responsibilities or duties that influence their entrepreneurial alertness and thus generalizability for other contexts may be limited.

Practical implications

The results show that entrepreneurial alertness represents a capability that can be learned and improved and may offer guidance to aspiring women middle managers in how to mindfully discover opportunities with business potential.

Originality/value

This study adds new empirical evidence that contributes to a better understanding of how women, within the context of established firms, enhance the occurrence of entrepreneurial behavior by being alert to entrepreneurial opportunities.
Ranking the enablers promoting female empowerment in the UAE health care sector
Authors: Mehrajunnisa Mehrajunnisa , Jabeen Fauzia
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify and rank the enablers that promote female empowerment in the health-care sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to rank the enablers that promote female empowerment in the health-care sector. The AHP model was developed with 7 criteria and 28 sub-criteria based on previous literature. Data were collected through interviews of 24 female Emirati medical professionals. The respondents were selected from UAE-based public and private health-care units. The data collected were interpreted, and a priority vector was assigned to each criterion and sub-criterion.

Findings

It is observed that organizational human resource policies, organizational culture and institutional factors take top priority under the main enablers, and training and development, ethical environment and institutional and legal systems were determined to be the three most important sub-enablers that promote female empowerment in the UAE health-care sector.

Research limitations/implications

The major limitation of this study is that it is conducted only in the UAE. Similar studies should be carried out in other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries due to the governmental and cultural homogeneity. The study will help policymakers and health-care organizations in the GCC to adopt the best approaches that transform work cultures and realize the potential of investing in female and their contribution to the national economy.

Originality/value

Female empowerment has been a challenging task for the mainstream literature of gender advancement. This study is the first of its kind to propose an AHP model that ranks the enablers that promote female empowerment in the UAE health-care sector.
The anti-wear and extreme pressure performance of CuO and graphite nanoparticles as an additive in palm oil
Authors: Azman Nurul Farhanah , Samion Syahrullail , Moen Muhammad Amirrul Amin , Abdul Hamid Mohd Kameil , Musa Mohamad Nor
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the anti-wear (AW) and extreme pressure (EP) performances of CuO and graphite nanoparticles as a palm oil additive.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the AW and EP performances of CuO and graphite nanoparticles as additives in palm oil were evaluated using four ball tribotester in accordance to ASTM D4172 and ASTM D2783, respectively. The wear worn surfaces of the steel balls were analysed using high resolution microscope.

Findings

The results obtained demonstrate that CuO and graphite nanoparticles improved the AW and EP performances of the palm oil up to 2.77 and 12 per cent, respectively. The graphite nanoparticles provide better AW and EP performance than that of CuO nanoparticles.

Originality/value

This demonstrates the potential of CuO and graphite nanoparticles for improving AW and EP performances of palm oil base lubricant. Different morphology of nanoparticles will affect the AW and EP performances of nanolubricants.
Performance of polymeric viscosity improver as bio-lubricant additives
Authors: Dandan Muhammad Arif , Samion Syahrullail , Azman Nurul Farhanah , Mohd Zawawi Fazila , Abdul Hamid Mohd Kameil , Musa Mohamad Nor
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of polymeric viscosity improver on the tribological performance of palm kernel methyl ester (PKME).

Design/methodology/approach

Tribological performances of the PKME added with the various concentration of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) were evaluated using four-ball tribotester under extreme pressure condition. The morphologies of the worn surfaces were observed by using the optical microscope.

Findings

The addition of polymeric viscosity improver (EVA copolymer) has produced positive results towards the tribological properties of PKME. In total, 4 per cent of EVA copolymer is found as the optimum concentration by improving the friction reducing properties and anti-wear behaviour due to the formation of film thickness between two rubbing surfaces.

Originality/value

This work might contribute to the development of vegetable oils as a new source of environmental-friendly lubricant.
Elastic-plasticJ-Tzdominance in bending and tension loadings
Authors: Yusof Feizal , Leong Karh Heng
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Crack tip stresses are used to relate the ability of structures to perform under the influence of cracks and defects. One of the methods to determine three-dimensional crack tip stresses is through theJ-Tzmethod. TheJ-Tzmethod has been used extensively to characterize the stresses of cracked geometries that demonstrate positiveT-stress but limited in characterizing negativeT-stresses. The purpose of this paper is to apply theJ-Tzmethod to characterize a three-dimensional crack tip stress field in a changing crack length from positive to negativeT-stress geometries.

Design/methodology/approach

Elastic-plastic crack border fields of deep and shallow cracks in tension and bending loads were investigated through a series of three-dimensional finite element (FE) and analyticalJ-Tzsolutions for a range of crack lengths ranging from 0.1⩽a/W⩽0.5 for two thickness extremes ofB/(W−a)=1 and 0.05.

Findings

Both the FE and theJ-Tzapproaches showed that the combined in-plane and the out-of-plane constraint loss were differently affected by theT-stress and the out-of-plane size effects when the crack length changed from deep to shallow cracks. The conditions of theJ-Tzdominance on the three-dimensional crack front tip were shown to be limited to positiveT-stress geometries, and theJ-Tz-Q2Dapproach can extend the crack border dominance of the three-dimensional deep and shallow bend models along the crack front tip until perturbed by an elastic-plastic corner field.

Practical implications

The paper reports the limitation of theJ-Tzapproach, which is used to calculate the state of three-dimensional crack tip stresses in power law hardening materials. The results from this paper suggest that the characterization of the three-dimensional crack tip stress in power law hardening materials is still an open issue and requires other suitable solutions to solve the problem.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates a thorough analysis of a three-dimensional elastic-plastic crack tip fields for geometries that are initially either fully constrained (positiveT-stress) or unconstrained (negativeT-stress) crack tip fields but, subsequently, theT-stress sign changes due to crack length reduction and specimen thickness increase. TheJ-Tzstress-based method has been tested and its dominance over the crack tip field is shown to be affected by the combined in-plane and the out-of-plane constraints and the corner field effects.
Comment on “Consumer cultural identity…”: global citizenship and reactance
Authors: Batra Rajeev , Wu Yi
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the review paper by Strizhakova and Coulter (“Consumer cultural identity: local and global cultural identities and measurement implications”) and offer several observations that extend the discussion into new territory.

Design/methodology/approach

A short essay.

Findings

The authors pinpoint a lack of research attention within the global consumer culture literature into a manifestation of global identity that can be termed “humanistic global identity.”

Originality/value

The paper contends that the reactance (conflict) Strizhakova and Coulter point to, which may occur between global and local identity and culture, is more likely in a culture and consumption domain than in a “shared-humanity” domain.
Green business strategy and export performance
Authors: Bıçakcıoğlu Nilay , Theoharakis Vasilis , Tanyeri Mustafa
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Building upon the insights of the resource-based view and contingency theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the boundary conditions of green business strategy on the export financial performance of firms from an emerging economy.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative study was conducted to test the conceptual model. In total, 224 questionnaires were collected from exporting manufacturing companies and were analyzed using full information maximum likelihood.

Findings

The results of the study demonstrate that green business strategy has a strong and positive relationship with export financial performance. Also, environmental orientation and cost leadership play a significant and positive moderating role in this relationship. However, green product differentiation is complementary with green business strategy only when a cost leadership strategy is also maintained.

Practical implications

The study has practical implications since it identifies green business strategy as an important lever for emerging export managers. More specifically, they have to be aware of the challenges when they operate outside the cost leadership boundaries and should actively seek to develop the environmental orientation of employees and managers.

Originality/value

This study reveals the relationship between green business strategy and export success for emerging country exporters that are understudied and face unique challenges. In particular, the authors explore the contingency factors that strengthen or weaken the relationship and provide additional insight to the question: “when does it pay to be green?” for exporters from emerging economies.
Environmental turmoil and firms’ core structure dynamism: the moderating role of strategic alliances
Authors: Xue Rui , Qian Gongming , Qian Zhengming , Li Lee
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Much of the extant evidence in the marketing literature posits that firms use strategic alliances to share resources, costs and risks as paths to performance improvements. Drawing from the organizational ecology theory, this study aims to propose a different rationale, namely, that strategic alliances protect a firm’s core structure – its stated goals, authority structure, core technologies and marketing strategies – by mitigating the need for hazardous changes in hostile environments.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected quantitative data using market survey and analyzed the data with the regression method.

Findings

Using Chinese firms in three technology industries as the research setting, this research finds a positive and significant relationship between environmental hostility and core structure dynamism. Although strategic alliances themselves have no direct bearing on core structure dynamism, they are found to moderate this relationship negatively, that is, strategic alliances attenuate the relationship between environmental hostility and structural changes.

Research limitations/implications

This paper argues that strategic alliances have significant moderating effects on firm performance, that is, firms use strategic alliances to outsource competence to partners and, thus, avoid internal turmoil. However, the moderating effect alone cannot explain the complexity of strategic alliances. There could exist other effects that remain unknown. In addition, individual-level factors could have significant impacts on strategic alliance management. Future studies should look into these issues to advance the authors’ knowledge on strategic alliances.

Practical implications

The findings of this study show that managers should outsource competence to partners when they experience turmoil in markets. Adapting to market turmoil internally could lead to market failure.

Originality/value

This study provides a new rationale for strategic alliances, that is, firms use strategic alliances to reduce market uncertainty. This rationale has not been reported in the existing literature.
Acoustic comfort in open-plan offices: the role of employee characteristics
Authors: Roskams Michael , Haynes Barry , Lee Pyoung-Jik , Park Sang-Hee
Published: July 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to determine the extent to which employees’ experiences of acoustic comfort, well-being and productivity in open-plan offices are determined by specific characteristics (including demographic information, task characteristics, and personality traits).

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was distributed to the occupants of three open-plan office sites and was completed by 166 employees in total.

Findings

The results indicated that acoustic comfort in open-plan offices is largely determined by noise sensitivity. Higher noise sensitivity was associated with more negative ratings of acoustical quality, more perceived disturbance by speech and more difficulties in concentration. More negative experiences were also reported by employees with lower interactivity with colleagues.

Practical implications

There is significant inter-individual variability in experiences of acoustic comfort, well-being and productivity in open-plan offices. As such, workplace practitioners should consider acoustic and behavioural solutions for introducing a greater diversity of functional workspaces within the office, so that employees can choose the most suitable working area for their requirements.

Originality/value

Whereas the majority of past acoustics research has been laboratory-based, this study is conducted in real office environments with a representative sample of knowledge workers.