bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Review of Prospective Trials for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy
Authors: Satin Alexander M. , Rush Augustus J. , Derman Peter B.
Published: November 2022

Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is the leading cause of spinal cord dysfunction in adults. DCM refers to a collection of degenerative conditions that cause the narrowing of the cervical canal resulting in neurological dysfunction. A lack of high-quality studies and a recent increase in public health awareness has led to numerous prospective studies evaluating DCM. Studies evaluating the efficacy of surgical intervention for DCM can be characterized by the presence (comparative) or absence (noncomparative) of a nonoperative control group. Noncomparative studies predominate due to concerns regarding treatment equipoise. Comparative studies have been limited by methodological issues and have not produced consistent findings. More recent noncomparative studies have established the safety and efficacy of surgical intervention for DCM, including mild myelopathy. The optimal surgical intervention for DCM remains controversial. A recent randomized clinical trial comparing dorsal and ventral techniques found similar improvements in patient-reported physical function at early follow-up. Recent prospective studies have enriched our understanding of DCM and helped guide current treatment recommendations.
Coddiwomple
Authors: Frost Jody Shapiro
Published: November 2022

This lectureship honors the legacy of Dr. Pauline Cerasoli who was a leader and pioneer in physical therapy education and who reimagined an innovative and bright future for the profession. This 2018 Lectureship titled “Coddiwomple” is divided into 3 mini talks. The first talk takes a 20-year look back on physical therapy education processes/inputs and products/outcomes to understand where we have been and how we arrived at this moment in physical therapy education. A second talk proposes that there are critical sea changes and forces at work seeking to transform physical therapy education as a result of external drivers, namely, disruptive innovation and technologies, big data analytics, and the transformation of health profession relationships. Given these changes, several critical course corrections are proposed for the future to include the implementation of collaborative shared leadership models, application of design thinking, and expanding partnerships for large scale population solutions. In conclusion, this lecture proposes that physical therapy education is cautioned not to default to “Coddiwomple” but rather to travel in a purposeful manner directed toward an intentional future given the many sea changes at work.
Mechanisms of ion selectivity and rotor coupling in the bacterial flagellar sodium-driven stator unit
Authors: Hu Haidai , Popp Philipp F. , Santiveri Mònica , Roa-Eguiara Aritz , Yan Yumeng , Liu Zheyi , Wadhwa Navish , Wang Yong , Erhardt Marc , Taylor Nicholas M. I.
Published: November 2022

Bacteria swim using a flagellar motor that is powered by stator units. These stator units are energized by an ionic gradient across the membrane, typically proton or sodium. The presumed monodirectional rotation of the stator units allows the bidirectional rotation of the flagellar motor. However, how ion selectivity is attained, how ion transport triggers the directional rotation of the stator unit, and how the stator unit is incorporated into the motor remain largely unclear. Here we have determined by cryo-electron microscopy the structure of the Na+-driven type stator unit PomAB from the gram-negative bacteriumVibrio alginolyticusin both lipidic and detergent environments, at a resolution up to 2.5 Å. The structure is in a plugged, auto-inhibited state consisting of five PomA subunits surrounding two PomB subunits. The electrostatic potential map uncovers sodium ion binding sites within the transmembrane domain, which together with functional experiments and explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations, suggest a mechanism for ion translocation and selectivity. Resolved conformational isomers of bulky hydrophobic residues from PomA, in the vicinity of key determinant residues for sodium ion coupling of PomB, prime PomA for clockwise rotation. The rotation is tightly blocked by the trans-mode organization of the PomB plug motifs. The structure also reveals a conformationally dynamic helical motif at the C-terminus of PomA, which we propose regulates the distance between PomA subunit cytoplasmic domains and is involved in stator unit-rotor interaction, concomitant stator unit activation, and torque transmission. Together, our studies provide mechanistic insight for understanding flagellar stator unit ion selectivity and incorporation of the stator units into the motor.
Arabidopsistranscriptome responses to low water potential using high throughput plate assays
Authors: Gonzalez Stephen , Swift Joseph , Yaaran Adi , Xu Jiaying , Miller Charlotte , Illouz-Eliaz Natanella , Nery Joseph R. , Busch Wolfgang , Zait Yotam , Ecker Joseph R.
Published: November 2022

Soil-free assays that induce water stress are routinely used to investigate drought responses in the plantArabidopsis thaliana. Due to their ease of use, the research community often relies on polyethylene glycol (PEG), mannitol and salt (NaCl) treatments to reduce the water potential of agar media, and thus induce drought conditions in the laboratory. However, while these types of stress can create phenotypes that resemble those of water deficit experienced by soil-grown plants, it remains unclear how these treatments compare at the transcriptional level. Here, we demonstrate that these different methods of lowering water potential elicit both shared and distinct transcriptional responses inArabidopsisshoot and root tissue. When we compared these transcriptional responses to those found inArabidopsisroots subject to vermiculite drying, we discovered many genes induced by vermiculite drying were repressed by low water potential treatments on agar plates (and vice versa). Additionally, we also tested another method for lowering water potential of agar media. By increasing the nutrient content and tensile strength of agar, we show the ‘hard agar’ (HA) treatment can be leveraged as a high-throughput assay to investigate natural variation inArabidopsisgrowth responses to low water potential.
Fear-Mouse Tracker (FMT): An open-source toolkit to track innate defensive behaviors with high precision
Authors: Garg Sanket , Pino Gabriela , Acuna Claudio
Published: November 2022

In the past years, machine-learning-based approaches to track animal poses with high spatial and temporal resolution have become available, but toolkits to extract, integrate, and analyze coordinate datasets in a user-friendly manner have lagged behind. Here, we introduce Fear-Mouse Tracker (FMT), a simple and open-source MATLAB-based pipeline to extract and quantitatively analyze DeepLabCut-derived coordinates of mice presented with threatening stimuli that commonly trigger innate defensive responses. This framework allows for unbiased quantitative estimations of stretch-attend posture (SAP) observed during risk assessment behaviors, as well as for measurements of the timing and extent of freezing and escape responses that follow the presentation of threatening stimuli such as a predator odor, or sweeping and looming stimuli resembling predator approaches. FMT is specially designed for users not very experienced in using programming languages, thus making it more accessible to a broader audience.
Multi-drug resistantE. colidisplace commensalE. colifrom the intestinal tract, a trait associated with elevated levels of genetic diversity in carbohydrate metabolism genes
Authors: Connor Christopher H. , Zucoloto Amanda Z. , Yu Ian-Ling , Corander Jukka , McDonald Braedon , McNally Alan
Published: November 2022

Extra-intestinal pathogenicE. coli(ExPEC) can cause a variety of infections outside of the intestine and are a major causative agent of urinary tract infections. Treatment of these infections is increasingly frustrated by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) diminishing the number of effective therapies available to clinicians. Incidence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) is not uniform across the phylogenetic spectrum ofE. coli. Instead AMR is concentrated in select lineages, such as ST131, which are MDR pandemic clones that have spread AMR globally. Using a gnotobiotic mouse model we demonstrate that an MDRE. coliST131 is capable out-competing and displacing non-MDRE. colifrom the gutin vivo. This is achieved in the absence of antibiotic treatment mediating a selective advantage. In mice colonised with non-MDRE. colistrains, challenge with MDRE. colieither by oral gavage or co-housing with MDRE. colicolonized mice results in displacement and dominant intestinal colonization by MDRE. coliST131. To investigate the genetic basis of this superior gut colonization ability by MDRE. coli, we used a functional pangenomic analysis of 19,571E. coligenomes revealing that carriage of AMR genes is associated with increased diversity in carbohydrate metabolism genes. The data presented here demonstrate that independent of antibiotic selective pressures, MDRE. colidisplay a competitive advantage to colonise the mammalian gut and points to a vital role of metabolism in the evolution and success of MDR lineages ofE. colivia carriage and spread.
Neural alpha oscillations and pupil size differentially index cognitive demand under competing audio-visual task conditions
Authors: Kraus Frauke , Tune Sarah , Obleser Jonas , Herrmann Björn
Published: November 2022

Cognitive demand is thought to modulate two often used, but rarely combined, measures: pupil size and neural alpha (8–12 Hz) oscillatory power. However, it is unclear whether these two measures capture cognitive demand in a similar way under complex audio-visual task conditions. Here we recorded pupil size and neural alpha power (using electroencephalography), while human participants of both sexes concurrently performed a visual multiple object-tracking task and an auditory gap-detection task. Difficulties of the two tasks were manipulated independent of each other. Participants’ performance decreased in accuracy and speed with increasing cognitive demand. Pupil size increased with increasing difficulty for both the auditory and the visual task. In contrast, alpha power showed diverging neural dynamics: Parietal alpha power decreased with increasing difficulty in the visual task, but not with increasing difficulty in the auditory task. Furthermore, independent of task difficulty, within-participant trial-by-trial fluctuations in pupil size were negatively correlated with alpha power. Difficulty-induced changes in pupil size and alpha power, however, did not correlate, which is consistent with their different cognitive-demand sensitivities. Overall, the current study demonstrates that the dynamics of the neurophysiological indices of cognitive demand and associated effort are multi-faceted and potentially modality-dependent under complex audio-visual task conditions.

Significance Statement

Pupil size and oscillatory alpha power are associated with cognitive demand and effort, but their relative sensitivity under complex audio-visual task conditions is unclear as is the extent to which they share underlying mechanisms. Using an audio-visual dual-task paradigm, we show that pupil size increases with increasing cognitive demands for both audition and vision. In contrast, changes in oscillatory alpha power depend on the respective task demands: Parietal alpha power decreases with visual demand but not with auditory task demand. Hence, pupil size and alpha power show different sensitivity to cognitive demands, perhaps suggesting partly different underlying neural mechanisms.
All families of transposable elements were active in the recent wheat genome evolution and polyploidy had no impact on their activity
Authors: Papon Nathan , Lasserre-Zuber Pauline , Rimbert Hélène , De Oliveira Romain , Paux Etienne , Choulet Frédéric
Published: November 2022

Abstract

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) is a major crop and its genome is one of the largest ever assembled at reference-quality level. It is 15 Gb, hexaploid, with 85% of transposable elements (TEs). Wheat genetic diversity was mainly focused on genes and little is known about the extent of genomic variability affecting TEs, transposition rate, and the impact of polyploidy. Multiple chromosome-scale assemblies are now available for bread wheat and for its tetraploid and diploid wild relatives. In this study, we computed base pair-resolved, gene-anchored, whole genome alignments of A, B, and D lineages at different ploidy levels in order to estimate the variability that affects the TE space. We used assembled genomes of 13T. aestivumcultivars (6x=AABBDD),T. durum(4x=AABB),T. dicoccoides(4x=AABB),T. urartu(2x=AA), andAegilops tauschii(2x=DD). We show that 5 to 34% of the TE fraction is variable, depending on the species divergence. Between 400 and 13,000 novel TE insertions per subgenome were detected. We found lineage-specific insertions for nearly all TE families in di- tetra- and hexaploids. No burst of transposition was observed and polyploidization did not trigger any boost of transposition. This study challenges the prevailing idea of wheat TE dynamics and is more in agreement with an equilibrium model of evolution.
A RAF-like kinase mediates a deeply conserved, ultra-rapid auxin response
Authors: Kuhn Andre , Roosjen Mark , Mutte Sumanth , Dubey Shiv Mani , Carrasco Polet Carrillo , Monzer Aline , Kohchi Takayuki , Nishihama Ryuichi , Fendrych Matyáš , Friml Jiří , Sprakel Joris , Weijers Dolf
Published: November 2022

The plant signaling molecule auxin triggers both fast and slow cellular responses across the plant kingdom, including both land plants and algae. A nuclear response pathway mediates auxin-dependent gene expression, and controls a range of growth and developmental processes in land plants. It is unknown what mechanisms underlie both the physiological responses occurring within seconds, and the responses in algae, that lack the nuclear auxin response pathway. We discovered an ultra-fast proteome-wide phosphorylation response to auxin across 5 land plant and algal species, converging on a core group of shared target proteins. We find conserved rapid physiological responses to auxin in the same species and identified a RAF-like protein kinase as a central mediator of auxin-triggered phosphorylation across species. Genetic analysis allowed to connect this kinase to both auxin-triggered protein phosphorylation and a rapid cellular response, thus identifying an ancient mechanism for fast auxin responses in the green lineage.
Public goods exploitation is reduced in species-rich microbial communities
Authors: O’Brien Siobhán , Culbert Chris , Barraclough Timothy G.
Published: November 2022

Intraspecific public goods are commonly shared within microbial populations, where the benefits of public goods are largely limited to closely related conspecifics. One example is the production of iron-scavenging siderophores that deliver iron to cells via specific cell envelope receptor and transport systems. Intraspecific social exploitation of siderophore producers is common, since non-producers avoid the costs of production but retain the cell envelope machinery for siderophore uptake. However, little is known about how interactions between species (i.e. interspecific interactions) can shape intraspecific public goods exploitation. Here, we predicted that strong competition for iron between species in diverse communities will increase costs of siderophore cooperation, and hence select for increased intraspecific exploitation. We examined how increasing microbial community species diversity shapes intraspecific social dynamics by monitoring the growth of siderophore producers and non-producers of the plant-growth promoting bacteriumPseudomonas fluorescens, embedded within tree-hole microbial communities ranging from 2-15 species. We find, contrary to our prediction, that siderophore exploitation is reduced in high diversity communities, driven by increased likelihood of encountering key species that reduce the growth of siderophore non-producing (but not producing) strains ofP. fluorescens. Our results suggest that maintaining a healthy soil microbiota could contribute to the maintenance of siderophore production in natural communities.
Chromatin activity identifies differential gene regulation across human ancestries
Authors: Pettie Kade P. , Mumbach Maxwell , Lea Amanda J. , Ayroles Julien , Chang Howard Y. , Kasowski Maya , Fraser Hunter B.
Published: November 2022

Current evidence suggests thatcis-regulatory elements controlling gene expression may be the predominant target of natural selection in humans and other species. Detecting selection acting on these elements is critical to understanding evolution but remains challenging because we do not know which mutations will affect gene regulation. To address this, we devised an approach to search for lineage-specific selection on chromatin activity, transcription factor binding, and chromosomal looping—critical steps in transcriptional regulation. Applying this approach to lymphoblastoid cells from 831 individuals of either European or African descent, we find strong signals of differential chromatin activity linked to gene expression differences between ancestries in numerous contexts, but no evidence of functional differences in chromosomal looping. Moreover, we show that enhancers rather than promoters display the strongest signs of selection associated with sites of differential transcription factor binding. Overall, our study indicates that somecis-regulatory adaptation may be more easily detected at the level of chromatin than DNA sequence. This work provides a vast resource of genomic interaction data from diverse human populations and establishes a novel selection test that will benefit future study of regulatory evolution in humans and other species.
Screening of naturalWolbachiainfection in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from Cape Verde Islands
Authors: Fernandes da Moura Aires Januário , Valadas Vera , Veiga Leal Silvania Da , Sousa Carla A. , Pinto João
Published: November 2022

Background

Wolbachia pipientisis an endosymbiont bacteria that induce cytoplasmic incompatibility and inhibit arboviral replication in mosquitoes. This study aimed at estimating the prevalence and genetic diversity ofWolbachiain different mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) species from Cape Verde.

Methods

Mosquitoes were collected in six islands of Cape Verde using dippers/pipettes, BG-sentinel® traps, CDC light traps, and dorsal aspirators. Samples were identified to species using morphological keys and PCR-based molecular assays.Wolbachiawas detected by amplifying a fragment of the surface protein gene (wsp). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed with five housekeeping genes (coxA, gatB, ftsZ, hcpA and fbpA) and thewsphypervariable region (HVR) for strain identification. Identification ofwPip groups (wPip-I towPip-V) was performed using PCR-RFLP assay on the ankyrin-domain genepk1.

Results

Nine mosquito species were collected, including the major vectorsAedes aegypti, Anopheles arabiensis, Culex pipiens s.s. andCulex quinquefasciatus. Wolbachiawas detected inCx. pipiens s.s. (100% prevalence),Cx. quinquefasciatus (98.3%), Cx. pipiens/quinquefasciatushybrids (100%) andCulex tigripes (100%). Results from MLST andwsphypervariable region typing showed thatWolbachiafromCx. pipiens s.l. belong to Sequence Type 9,wPip clade and supergroup BWolbachia. Phylogenetic analyses indicate thatWolbachiaisolated fromCx. tigripesbelongs to Supergroup B but integrates a distinct clade fromwPip with no attributed MLST profile. PCR-RFLP revealedwPip-II,wPip-III andwPip-IV groups inCulex pipiens s.l. wPip-IV was the dominant group, whilewPip-II andwPip-III were restricted to Maio and Fogo islands, respectively.

Conclusion

Our study showed a high prevalence and diversity ofWolbachiainCx pipiens s.l. from Cape Verde islands and, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to detectWolbachiainCx. tigripes, being represented in this species by a previously undescribed MLST Sequence Type.
Processing of the Same Narrative Stimuli Elicits Common Functional Connectivity Dynamics Between Individuals
Authors: Türker Başak , Belloli Laouen , Owen Adrian M. , Naci Lorina , Sitt Jacobo D.
Published: November 2022

It has been suggested that the richness of conscious experience can be directly linked to the richness of brain state repertories. Brain states change depending on our environment and activities we engage in by taking both external and internally derived information into account. It has been shown that high-level sensory stimulation changes local brain activity and induces neural synchrony across participants. However, the dynamic interplay of cognitive processes that underlie moment-to-moment information processing remains poorly understood. Using naturalistic movies as an ecological laboratory model of the real world, here we assess how the processing of complex naturalistic stimuli alters the dynamics of brain networks’ interactions, and how these in turn support information processing. Participants underwent fMRI recordings during movie watching, scrambled movie watching, and rest. Measuring phase-synchrony between different brain networks, we computed whole-brain connectivity patterns. We showed that specific connectivity patterns were associated with each experimental condition. We found a higher synchronization of brain patterns across participants during movie watching compared to resting state and scrambled movie conditions. Moreover, synchronization increased during the most engaging parts of the movie. The synchronization dynamics across participants were associated with suspense; more suspenseful scenes induced higher synchronization. These results suggest that processing of the same high-level information elicits common neural dynamics among individuals and that whole-brain functional connectivity tracks variations in the processed information and the subjective experience.
Uncovering 2-D toroidal representations in grid cell ensemble activity during 1-D behavior
Authors: Hermansen Erik , Klindt David A. , Dunn Benjamin A.
Published: November 2022

Neuroscience is pushing toward studying the brain during naturalistic behaviors with open-ended tasks. Grid cells are a classic example, where free behavior was key to observing their characteristic spatial representations in two-dimensional environments [1]. In contrast, it has been difficult to identify grid cells and study their computations in more restrictive experiments, such as head-fixed wheel running [2–6]. Here, we challenge this view by showing that shifting the focus from single neurons to the population level changes the minimal experimental complexity required to study grid cell representations. Specifically, we combine the manifold approximation in UMAP [7] with persistent homology [8] to study the topology of the population activity. With these methods, we show that the population activity of grid cells covers a similar two-dimensional toroidal state space during wheel running as in open field foraging [9, 10], with and without a virtual reality setup. Trajectories on the torus correspond to single trial runs in virtual reality and changes in experimental conditions are reflected in the internal representation, while the toroidal representation undergoes occasional shifts in its alignment to the environment. These findings show that our method can uncover latent topologies that go beyond the complexity of the task, allowing us to investigate internal dynamics in simple experimental settings in which the analysis of grid cells has so far remained elusive.
High pathogenicity island,aerandsitoperons: a “ménage à trois” inEscherichia coliextra-intestinal virulence
Authors: Royer Guilhem , Clermont Olivier , Condamine Bénédicte , Dion Sara , Galardini Marco , Denamur Erick
Published: November 2022

The intrinsic virulence of extra-intestinal pathogenicEscherichia coliis attributed to numerous chromosome and/or plasmid-borne virulence associated genes (VAGs), encoding diverse functions as adhesins, toxins, protectins and iron capture systems, which occur in specific genetic backgrounds. Little is however known on their respective contribution to virulence. Here, by analyzing genomes of 232 sequence type complex (STc) 58 strains, we show that virulence quantified in a mouse model of sepsis emerged in a sub-group of STc58 due to the presence of the siderophore encoding high-pathogenicity island (HPI). When extending our analysis to 370Escherichiastrains we show that full virulence is associated with the presence of theaerorsitoperons, in addition to the HPI. The prevalence of these operons, their co-occurrence and genomic location depend on the strain phylogeny. Selection of lineage-dependent specific associations of VAGs argues for strong epistatic interactions shaping the emergence of virulence inE. coli.
Uterine NK cells underexpress receptors recognizing HLA-C2 and HLA-G in reproductive failure
Authors: Woon Ee Von , Nikolaou Dimitrios , MacLaran Kate , Norman-Taylor Julian , Bhagwat Priya , Cuff Antonia O. , Johnson Mark R. , Male Victoria
Published: November 2022

A significant proportion of recurrent miscarriage, recurrent implantation failure and infertility are unexplained, and these conditions have been proposed to have an etiology of immunological dysfunction at the maternal-fetal interface. Uterine Natural Killer cells (uNK) comprise three subsets and are the most numerous immune cells found in the uterine mucosa at the time of implantation. They are thought to play an important role in successful pregnancy by regulation of extravillous trophoblast (EVT) invasion and spiral artery remodelling. Here, we examine the frequency, phenotype and function of uNK1-3 from the uterine mucosa of 16 women with unexplained reproductive failure compared to 11 controls with no reproductive problems, during the window of implantation. We report that KIR2DL1/S1 and LILRB1 expression is lower in the reproductive failure group for both uNK (total uNK, uNK 2 and 3) and pNK. We also show that degranulation activity is significantly reduced in total uNK, and that TNF-α production is lower in all uNK subsets in the reproductive failure group. Taken together, our findings suggest that reproductive failure may be caused by global reduction in expression of uNK receptors important for interaction with HLA-C and HLA-G on EVT during early pregnancy, leading to reduced uNK activation. This is the first study to examine uNK subsets during the window of implantation in women with reproductive failure and will serve as a platform to focus on particular aspects of phenotype and function of uNK subsets in future studies. Further understanding of uNK dysregulation is important to establish potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets in the population of women with unexplained reproductive failure.
Self-Supervised Maize Kernel Classification and Segmentation for Embryo Identification
Authors: Dong David , Nagasubramanian Koushik , Wang Ruidong , Frei Ursula K , Jubery Talukder Z , Lübberstedt Thomas , Ganapathysubramanian Baskar
Published: November 2022

Computer vision and deep learning (DL) techniques have succeeded in a wide range of diverse fields. Recently, these techniques have been successfully deployed in plant science applications to address food security, productivity, and environmental sustainability problems for a growing global population. However, training these DL models often necessitates the large-scale manual annotation of data which frequently becomes a tedious and time-and-resource-intensive process. Recent advances in self-supervised learning (SSL) methods have proven instrumental in overcoming these obstacles, using purely unlabeled datasets to pre-train DL models. Here, we implement the popular self-supervised contrastive learning methods of NNCLR (Nearest neighbor Contrastive Learning of visual Representations) and SimCLR (Simple framework for Contrastive Learning of visual Representations) for the classification of spatial orientation and segmentation of embryos of maize kernels. Maize kernels are imaged using a commercial high-throughput imaging system. This image data is often used in multiple downstream applications across both production and breeding applications, for instance, sorting for oil content based on segmenting and quantifying the scutellum’s size and for classifying haploid and diploid kernels. We show that in both classification and segmentation problems, SSL techniques outperform their purely supervised transfer learning-based counterparts and are significantly more annotation efficient. Additionally, we show that a single SSL pre-trained model can be efficiently finetuned for both classification and segmentation, indicating good transferability across multiple downstream applications. Segmentation models with SSL-pretrained backbones produce DICE similarity coefficients of 0.81, higher than the 0.78 and 0.73 of those with ImageNet-pretrained and randomly initialized backbones, respectively. We observe that finetuning classification and segmentation models on as little as 1% annotation produces competitive results. These results show SSL provides a meaningful step forward in data efficiency with agricultural deep learning and computer vision.
NR5A2 connects genome activation to the first lineage segregation in early mouse development
Authors: Lai Fangnong , Li Lijia , Hu Xiaoyu , Liu Bofeng , Zhu Ziqi , Liu Ling , Fan Qiang , Tian Huabin , Xu Kai , Lu Xukun , Li Qing , Kong Feng , Wang Lijuan , Lin Zili , Deng Hongyu , Li Jinsong , Xie Wei
Published: November 2022

After fertilization, zygotic genome activation (ZGA) marks the beginning of the embryonic program for a totipotent embryo, which further gives rise to the pluripotent embryonic lineages and extraembryonic trophectoderm after the first lineage commitment. While much has been learned about pluripotency regulation, how ZGA is connected to the pluripotency commitment in early embryos remains elusive. Here, we investigated the role of nuclear receptor1family transcription factors (TFs) in mouse pre-implantation embryos, whose motifs are highly enriched in accessible chromatin at the 2-cell (2C) to 8-cell (8C) stages after ZGA. We found NR5A2, an NR TF highly induced upon ZGA, is required for early development, as both the knockdown and knockout ofNr5a2from 1C embryos led to morula arrest. While the zygotic genome was largely activated at the 2C stage, 4-8C-specific gene activation (mid-preimplantation activation) was substantially impaired. Genome-wide chromatin binding and RNA-seq analyses showed NR5A2 preferentially regulates its binding targets including a subset of key pluripotency genes (i.e.,Nanog, Pou5f1, andTdgf1). Finally, NR5A2-occupied sites at the 2C and 8C stages predominantly reside in accessible B1 elements where its motif is embedded. Taken together, these data identify NR5A2 as a key regulator that connects ZGA to the first lineage segregation in early mouse development.
What makes eye movements effective retrieval cue: The contribution of visual and the motor components to memory performance
Authors: Taub Keren , Goshen-Gottstein Yonatan , Yuval-Greenberg Shlomit
Published: November 2022

During memory retrieval, people tend to reenact the same eye movements performed when memorized items were first displayed and to gaze at similar locations. This was hypothesized to reflect the role of eye movements as retrieval cues. However, it is unknown what is it about eye movements that makes them effective retrieval cues. Here, we examine, for the first time, the individual and combined contributions of the visual and the motor components of eye movements to memory retrieval. Results (N=70) revealed a non-additive benefit of both components of eye movements to memory performance. Additionally, we found that individuals who gained from one component, were more likely to gain from the other as well. Together, these findings unravel the central role of eye movements in episodic memory; they show how the visual and motor components are integrated into a single effective memory retrieval cue and how this integration varies among individuals.
Dynamic path through of oil price shocks into inflation in Iran: application of Markov switching and TVP-VAR models
Authors: Rafei Meysam , Mamipour Siab , Bahari Nasim
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic effects of the oil price shocks on Iran’s inflation in the period 1993:2–2018:2

Design/methodology/approach

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic effects of the oil price shocks on Iran’s inflation in the period 1993:2–2018:2 using the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model. The dynamics of the results enable us to study the amount and severity of the impact of the oil price shocks on inflation with the distinction of the sanctioned and non-sanctioned periods. The volume of oil export is used to identify the effective oil sanctions. The period is divided into sanctioned and non-sanctioned periods by Markov switching model.

Findings

The results show that the pass-through of oil price shocks into Iran’s inflation are time-varying, and there are significant differences at sanction period from other time horizons. An increase in oil price has a positive effect on inflation and its effects are stronger during the sanctions period. It is also observed that the producer price index is more sensitive to changes in the oil price than the consumer price index. The necessity of the government’s earnest efforts to improve international relations to lift the sanctions, along with diversification of exports, and making the economy of Iran independent of oil revenues is obvious.

Originality/value

In addition to the exogenous oil price shocks, Iran’s economy faces numerous restrictions for its oil exports due to the sanctions. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics effects of the oil price shocks on Iran’s inflation in the period 1993:2–2018:2 using the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model. The dynamics of the results enable us to study the amount and severity of the impact of the oil price shocks on inflation with the distinction of the sanctioned and non-sanctioned periods. The volume of oil export is used to identify the effective oil sanctions.
A critical safe, supportive space: a collaborative autoethnography of a woman's academic mentoring circle
Authors: Serafini Amy , Calderone Shannon , Lozano Maritza , Martinez Melissa A.
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The study examines the benefits and potential challenges of the mentoring circle as an innovative approach to mentoring among four cisgendered women faculty situated at 4-year universities in various geographic locations in the United States.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing collaborative autoethnography, we ask: How can mentoring circles be beneficial for diverse early- and mid-career faculty women in higher education? Given our varying positionalities and the development of our sustained mentoring relationships, we drew on the concepts of intersectionality and sisterhood as a framework to understand our individual and collective experiences in the circle. Through a collaborative autoethnographic design, we examined data from four 3-h online video reflective discussions as well as relevant documents and communication, such as emails and texts.

Findings

The power dynamics within the circle, fluidity of its borders and how it provided us with a unique ability to read the world contributed to a sense of community and empowerment that were key factors to the circle's success. We created an inclusive space with a defined purpose where trust, authenticity, reciprocity and the expectation for vulnerability served as the solid foundation for relationships. We became sources of holistic support, sharing advice and resources to support our growth as teachers, scholars and community members within our field and beyond.

Originality/value

Our mentoring circle disrupts conventional mentoring structures and highlights the power of a sustainable circle among diverse women faculty rooted in adaptive, flexible and responsive relationships.
Investigating contingent adoption of additive manufacturing in supply chains
Authors: Patil Himali , Niranjan Suman , Narayanamurthy Gopalakrishnan , Narayanan Arunachalam
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to investigate the contingent adoption of Additive Manufacturing (AM) and propose a typology to evaluate its adoption viability within a firm's supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

By conducting semi-structured interviews of practitioners with deep knowledge of AM and supply chains from diverse industries, this research explores the contingent factors influencing AM adoption and their interaction.

Findings

While the AM literature is growing, there is a lack of research investigating how contingent factors influence AM adoption. By reviewing the extant literature on the benefits and barriers of AM, we explain the underlying contingencies that enact them. Further, we use an exploratory approach to validate and uncover underexplored contingent factors that influence AM adoption and group them into technological, organizational and strategic factors. By anchoring to a selected set of contingent factors, a typological framework is developed to explain when and how AM is a viable option.

Research limitations/implications

This study focuses on specific industries such as automotive, machine manufacturing, aerospace and defense. Scholars are encouraged to explore the contextual factors affecting AM adoption in particular industries to expand our findings. The authors also acknowledge that the robustness of their framework can be enhanced by integrating the remaining contingent factors.

Practical implications

The developed typological framework provides a pathway for practitioners to see how and when AM can be useful in their supply chains.

Originality/value

This is the first paper in the supply chain management literature to synthesize contingent factors and identify some overlooked factors for AM adoption. The research is also unique in explaining the interaction among selected factors to provide a typological framework for AM adoption. This research provides novel insights for managers to understand when and where to adopt AM and the key contingent factors involved in AM adoption.
Microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of Ta(C, N) coatings deposited on TA15 substrates with different nitrogen partial pressure
Authors: Ma Yaoyao , Miao Qiang , Liang Wenping , Yu Haiyang , Yin Mengjuan , Zang Kai , Pang Xueqing , Wang Xianfeng
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to obtain the optimal N2/Ar ratio parameters for preparing Ta (C, N) coating. Three coatings with different N2/Ar ratios were prepared on the TA15 substrate, and their effects on the wear properties of the coatings were discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

Ta(C, N) coatings with three different N2/Ar ratios were prepared on TA15 substrates using the double cathode glow metallurgical plasma alloying technique (DGMPA) using a step-by-step diffusion method.

Findings

With the increase of N2/Ar flow ratio, the hardness and elastic modulus of the coating first increase and then decrease. Compared with the S1 sample (N2/Ar gas ratio 25: 75) and the S3 sample (N2/Ar gas ratio 75: 25), the S2 sample (N2/Ar gas ratio 50: 50) has better mechanical properties, with hardness increased by 48.45% and 6.8%, respectively, and elastic strain ratio increased by 22.8% and 28.5%, respectively. Moreover, the wear degree of the S2 sample is less than other samples. The wear rate of the S2 sample was 32.4% lower than the S3 sample at 300°C and 14.3% lower than the S3 sample at 500°C. Therefore, the S2 sample has the best mechanical properties and the best high temperature wear resistance.

Originality/value

Ta(C, N) coatings were prepared by DGMPA technology, and the wear mechanism of Ta(C, N) coatings with different N2/Ar ratios was investigated to reduce the wear rate.
Blockchain innovation ecosystems orchestration in construction
Authors: Papadonikolaki Eleni , Tezel Algan , Yitmen Ibrahim , Hilletofth Per
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Rapid advancements in blockchain technology transform various sectors, attracting the attention of industrialists, practitioners, policymakers and academics, and profoundly affect construction businesses through smart contracts and crypto-economics. This paper explores the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a qualitative study of 23 diverse interviewees, the study explores how open or closed the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction is and who its emerging orchestrators are.

Findings

The data showed that construction aims towards an open innovation blockchain ecosystem, although there are elements of hybridisation and closedness, each system pointing out to different orchestrators.

Practical implications

The study has implications for governments and large companies in construction, showing that open innovation initiatives need to be encouraged by policymakers through rules, regulations and government-sponsored demonstrator projects.

Social implications

The data showed that there is lack of readiness for business model change to support open innovation blockchain ecosystems in construction.

Originality/value

This is the first study applying the open innovation theory in the construction industry and sheds light into the phenomenon of blockchain, suggesting routes for further democratisation of the technology for policymakers and practitioners.
Board attributes and CSR expenditure before and during COVID-19
Authors: Umar Umar Habibu , Jibril Abubakar Isa , Musa Sulaiman
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impact of board attributes on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure of the listed firms before (2019) and during (2020) COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were manually extracted from the annual reports of all the listed companies that published their reports for the years. A total of 266 firm-year observations were generated, comprising 140 and 126 observations for 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Findings

The results indicate that the frequency of board meetings and foreign directors on the board significantly influence CSR expenditure before and during COVID-19. Board independence had a significant positive association with CSR expenditure before COVID-19 but insignificantly positive during it. However, board size and gender diversity do not influence CSR expenditure before and during COVID-19.

Research limitations/implications

The study used secondary data from the annual reports to compare the impact of board attributes on the CSR expenditures of listed firms in Nigeria between 2019 and 2020.

Practical implications

Providing effective CSR regulations and incentives could motivate or mandate the board of directors to incur CSR expenditure within the company’s financial capacity for society’s welfare, particularly under challenging times like COVID-19.

Social implications

Encouraging firms to incur more CSR expenditures to their ability will contribute to poverty alleviation and improve socio-economic development.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few that investigated the effects of board characteristics on CSR expenditure for the welfare of the poor and the needy. Besides, it uniquely focused on comparing the results before and during COVID-19.
From titular to radical empathy: conceptualizing empathy through the lens of youth organizing
Authors: Burgess Deanna , Diaz Ashley , Patterson Ashley
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims to explore how youth express empathy as an aspect of social action. Social empathy was investigated among adolescents participating in a youth organizing initiative.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used elements of critical discourse analysis to examine participant expression of social empathy through examination of participant journal entries. The social empathy model was used as a conceptual framework to guide the analysis and interpretation of themes.

Findings

Two core themes emerged from the analysis: characterization of empathy and empathy as a desired trait. Overall, results indicate that social empathy may be expressed differentially according to one’s development of empathy and critical consciousness. Thus, this study classifies dimensions of empathetic expression as existing across a continuum.

Originality/value

Before youth can engage in meaningful social action, they must first understand an issue from differing social and affective perspectives, defined as social empathy. While existing research highlights the role of social empathy in social action initiatives, there are no known studies that investigate the performative expressions of social empathy among youth organizing participants. Building from these results, this study offers a continuum that elucidates the multidimensionality of empathy expression among youth engaged in a social action initiative.
The institutional effects of public–private partnerships on competition: unsolicited proposal projects
Authors: Moon Weh-Sol , Ku Sukmo , Jo Hyejung , Sim Jina
Published: November 2022

Purpose

In many countries that allow unsolicited proposals (USPs) for public–private partnership (PPP) projects, incentives are awarded to the initial proponent of the USP projects during the tendering process as rewards for initially making a proposal. Because of such a reward system, including the bonus system, USPs are commonly known to involve fewer tender participants. This paper aims to investigate the empirical relationship between the number of tender participants and the institutional factors of PPPs. Specifically, two institutional factors are examined: the use of USPs and the bonus system for initial USP proponents.

Design/methodology/approach

The ordinary least squares (OLS) and Poisson regression analysis is used in this study to analyze PPP data in South Korea.

Findings

This paper demonstrated that USP projects have fewer bidders participating in tenders than solicited projects. Meanwhile, the analysis showed that the bonus system as another component of the institutional framework did not account for the number of bidders in tendering. In the analysis by three different facility types (“Roads,” “Environmental facilities” and “Other” types) of whether the bonus system discouraged participation in the bidding, the authors found heterogeneous responses among the types. For “Roads” and “Other” types of projects, the existence of the bonus system reduced the number of bidders for USP projects, while for “Environmental facilities,” there was no negative relationship between bonus points and the number of bidders. In the analysis of whether there were fewer bidders when no bonus points were awarded, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of bidders for “Roads” and “Environmental facilities.”

Social implications

This study shows the possibility that other institutional factors apart from bonus points affect competition. The characteristic factors of USPs can affect the decision to participate in the tender from the perspective of potential bidders.

Originality/value

Recent studies on USPs have mainly focused on the strategies that ensure the effective management of USPs for PPP implementation. However, quantitative effects of USPs on the tendering process have not yet been addressed. The quantitative effect refers to something that may be estimated by quantity or that relates to the describing or measuring of quantity, such as the present attempt to account for the number of bidders.