bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
White matter neuroanatomical predictors of aphasic verb retrieval
Authors: Dresang Haley C. , Hula William D. , Yeh Fang-Cheng , Warren Tessa , Dickey Michael Walsh
Published: October 2020

Background

Current neurocognitive models of language function have been primarily built from evidence regarding object naming, and their hypothesized white matter circuit mechanisms tend to be coarse-grained.

Methods

In this cross-sectional, observational study, we used novel correlational tractography to assess the white matter circuit mechanism behindverb retrieval, measured via action picture-naming performance in adults with chronic aphasia.

Results

The analysis identified tracts implicated in current neurocognitive dual-stream models of language function, including the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and arcuate fasciculus. However, the majority of tracts associated with verb retrieval were not ones included in dual-stream models of language function. Instead, they were projection pathways that connect frontal and parietal cortices to subcortical regions associated with motor functions, including the left corticothalamic pathway, frontopontine tract, parietopontine tract, corticostriatal pathway, and corticospinal tract.

Conclusions

These results highlight that cortico-subcortical projection pathways implicated in motor functions may be importantly related to language function. This finding is consistent with grounded accounts of cognition and may furthermore inform neurocognitive models.

Impact Statement

This study suggests that in addition to traditional dual-stream language fiber tracts, the integrity of projection pathways that connect frontal and parietal cortices to subcortical motor regions may be critically associated with verb-retrieval impairments in adults with aphasia. This finding challenges neurological models of language function.
Differential effects of emotional valence on mnemonic performance with greater hippocampal maturity
Authors: Kimbler Adam , McMakin Dana , Tustison Nicholas J. , Mattfeld Aaron T.
Published: October 2020

The hippocampal formation (HF) facilitates the creation of declarative memories, with subfields providing unique contributions to the discriminability and generalizability of events. The HF itself and its connections with other structures exhibit a protracted development. Maturational differences across subfields facilitate a shift towards memory specificity, with peri-puberty sitting at the inflection point. Peri-puberty also happens to be a sensitive period in the development of anxiety disorders. Taken together, we believe HF development is critical to negative overgeneralization, a common feature of anxiety disorders. To investigate the role of the HF in behavioral discrimination and generalization we examined the relation between behavior and cross-sectional indices of HF maturity derived from subfield volume. Participants aged 9-14 years, recruited from clinical and community sources, performed a recognition task with emotionally valent (positive, negative) and neutral images. T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted structural scans were collected. Partial least squares correlations were used to derive a singular metric of maturity for both HF volume and structural connectivity. We found our volumetric HF maturity index was positively associated with discrimination for neutral images and generalization for negative images. Hippocampal-medial prefrontal cortex structural connectivity maturity metric evidenced a similar trend with behavior as the HF volumetric approach. These findings are important because they reflect a novel developmentally related balance between discrimination and generalization behavior supported by the hippocampus and its connections with other regions. Maturational shifts in this balance may contribute to negative overgeneralization, a common feature of anxiety disorders that escalates during the same developmental window.

Significance Statement

The hippocampal formation (HF) facilitates declarative memory specificity and is composed of subfields whose development during adolescence overlaps with the onset of anxiety disorders. Aberrations in mechanisms governing memory specificity may contribute to negative overgeneralization in anxious youth. Participants completed an emotional memory discrimination task while in the scanner. Using a multivariate maturity metric based on subfield volume we found individuals with more “mature” HF were better at differentiating similar neutral images and more likely to generalize similar negative images. These findings are important because they capture a novel developmental mechanism related to the balance between discrimination and generalization. Shifts in this balance, may contribute to negative overgeneralization, a common feature of anxiety disorders.
Assessment of Software Methods for Estimating Protein-Protein Relative Binding Affinities
Authors: Gonzalez Tawny R. , Martin Kyle P. , Barnes Jonathan E. , Patel Jagdish Suresh , Ytreberg F. Marty
Published: October 2020

A growing number of computational tools have been developed to accurately and rapidly predict the impact of amino acid mutations on protein-protein relative binding affinities. Such tools have many applications, for example, designing new drugs and studying evolutionary mechanisms. In the search for accuracy, many of these methods employ expensive yet rigorous molecular dynamics simulations. By contrast, non-rigorous methods use less exhaustive statistical mechanics, allowing for more efficient calculations. However, it is unclear if such methods retain enough accuracy to replace rigorous methods in binding affinity calculations. This trade-off between accuracy and computational expense makes it difficult to determine the best method for a particular system or study. Here, eight non-rigorous computational methods were assessed using eight antibody-antigen and eight non-antibody-antigen complexes for their ability to accurately predict relative binding affinities (ΔΔG) for 654 single mutations. In addition to assessing accuracy, we analyzed the CPU cost and performance for each method using a variety of physico-chemical structural features. This allowed us to posit scenarios in which each method may be best utilized. Most methods performed worse when applied to antibody-antigen complexes compared to non-antibody-antigen complexes. Rosetta-based JayZ and EasyE methods classified mutations as destabilizing (ΔΔG < −0.5 kcal/mol) with high (83-98%) accuracy and a relatively low computational cost for non-antibody-antigen complexes. Some of the most accurate results for antibody-antigen systems came from combining molecular dynamics with FoldX with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.46, but this was also the most computationally expensive method. Overall, our results suggest these methods can be used to quickly and accurately predict stabilizing versus destabilizing mutations but are less accurate at predicting actual binding affinities. This study highlights the need for continued development of reliable, accessible, and reproducible methods for predicting binding affinities in antibody-antigen proteins and provides a recipe for using current methods.
Similar sensorimotor transformations control balance during standing and walking
Authors: Afschrift Maarten , De Groote Friedl , Jonkers Ilse
Published: October 2020

Standing and walking balance control in humans relies on the transformation of sensory information to motor commands that drive muscles. Here, we evaluated whether sensorimotor transformations underlying walking balance control can be described by task-level center of mass kinematics feedback similar to standing balance control. We found that delayed feedback of center of mass position and velocity, but not local feedback of joint positions and velocities, can explain reactive ankle muscle activity and joint moments in response to perturbations of walking across protocols (discrete and continuous platform translations and discrete pelvis pushes). Feedback gains were modulated during the gait cycle and decreased with walking speed. Our results thus suggest that similar task-level variables, i.e. center of mass position and velocity, are controlled across standing and walking but that feedback gains are modulated during gait to accommodate changes in body configuration during the gait cycle and in stability with walking speed. These findings have important implications for modelling the neuromechanics of human balance control and for biomimetic control of wearable robotic devices. The feedback mechanisms we identified can be used to extend the current neuromechanical models that lack balance control mechanisms for the ankle joint. When using these models in the control of wearable robotic devices, we believe that this will facilitate shared control of balance between the user and the robotic device.
The impact of water deficit and heat stress combination on the molecular response, physiology and seed production of soybean
Authors: Cohen Itay , Zandalinas Sara I. , Fritschi Felix B. , Sengupta Soham , Fichman Yosef , Azad Rajeev K. , Mittler Ron
Published: October 2020

A combination of drought and heat stress, occurring at the vegetative or reproductive growth phase of many different crops, can have a devastating impact on yield. In soybean (Glycine max), a considerable effort has been made to develop genotypes with enhanced yield production under conditions of drought or heat stress. However, how these genotypes perform in terms of growth, physiological responses and most importantly seed production, under conditions of drought and heat combination is mostly unknown. Here, we studied the impact of water deficit and heat stress combination on the physiology, seed production and yield per plant of two soybean genotypes, Magellan and Plant Introduction (PI) 548313, that differ in their reproductive responses to heat stress. Our findings reveal that although PI 548313 produced more seeds than Magellan under conditions of heat stress, under conditions of water deficit and heat stress combination its seed production decreased. Because number of flowers and pollen germination of PI 548313 remained high under heat or water deficit and heat combination, the reduced seed production exhibited by PI 548313 under the stress combination could be a result of processes that occur at the stigma, ovaries and/or other parts of the flower following pollen germination.

Highlight

Tolerance to heat stress was found not to confer tolerance to a combination of water deficit and heat stress in soybean, highlighting the need for breeding strategies targeting the stress combination.
Hallmarks ofAlpha- andBetacoronavirusnon-structural protein 7+8 complexes
Authors: Krichel Boris , Bylapudi Ganesh , Schmidt Christina , Blanchet Clement , Schubert Robin , Brings Lea , Koehler Martin , Zenobi Renato , Svergun Dmitri , Lorenzen Kristina , Madhugiri Ramakanth , Ziebuhr John , Uetrecht Charlotte
Published: October 2020

Coronaviruses infect many different species including humans. The last two decades have seen three zoonotic coronaviruses with SARS-CoV-2 causing a pandemic in 2020. Coronaviral non-structural proteins (nsp) built up the replication-transcription complex (RTC). Nsp7 and nsp8 interact with and regulate the RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase and other enzymes in the RTC. However, the structural plasticity of nsp7+8 complex has been under debate. Here, we present the framework of nsp7+8 complex stoichiometry and topology based on a native mass spectrometry and complementary biophysical techniques of nsp7+8 complexes from seven coronaviruses in the generaAlpha- andBetacoronavirusincluding SARS-CoV-2. Their complexes cluster into three groups, which systematically form either heterotrimers or heterotetramers or both, exhibiting distinct topologies. Moreover, even at high protein concentrations mainly heterotetramers are observed for SARS-CoV-2 nsp7+8. From these results, the different assembly paths can be pinpointed to specific residues and an assembly model is proposed.
Validation of Functional Polymorphisms Affecting Maize Plant Height by Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) allows Novel Temporal Phenotypes
Authors: Adak Alper , Murray Seth C. , Conrad Clarissa , Chen Yuanyuan , Anderson Steven , Subramanian Nithya , Wilde Scott
Published: October 2020

Plant height (PHT) in maize (Zea maysL.) has been scrutinized genetically and phenotypically due to relationship with other agronomically valuable traits (e.g. yield). Heritable variation of PHT is determined by many discovered quantitative trait loci (QTLs); however, phenotypic effects of such loci often lack validation across environments and genetic backgrounds, especially in the hybrid state grown by farmers rather than the inbred state preferred by geneticists. A previous genome wide association study using a hybrid diversity panel identified two novel quantitative trait variants (QTVs) controlling both PHT and grain yield. Here, heterogeneous inbred families demonstrated that these two loci, characterized by two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), cause phenotypic variation in inbred lines, but that size of these effects were variable across four different genetic backgrounds, ranging from 1 to 10 cm. Weekly unoccupied aerial system flights demonstrated both SNPs had larger effects, varying from 10 to 25 cm, in early growth while SNPs effects decreased towards the end of the season. These results show that allelic effect sizes of economically valuable loci are both dynamic in temporal growth and dynamic across genetic backgrounds resulting in informative phenotypic variability overlooked following traditional phenotyping methods. Public genotyping data shows recent favorably selection in elite temperate germplasm with little change across tropical backgrounds. As these loci remain rare in tropical germplasm, with effects most visible early in growth, they are useful for breeding and selection to expand the genetic basis of maize.
Immune Lag Is a Major Cost of Prokaryotic Adaptive Immunity During Viral Outbreaks
Authors: Weissman Jake L. , Alseth Ellinor O. , Meaden Sean , Westra Edze R. , Fuhrman Jed A.
Published: October 2020

CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems enable bacteria and archaea to efficiently respond to viral pathogens by creating a genomic record of previous encounters. These systems are broadly distributed across prokaryotic taxa, yet are surprisingly absent in a majority of organisms, suggesting that the benefits of adaptive immunity frequently do not outweigh the costs. Here, combining experiments and models, we show that a delayed immune response which allows viruses to transiently redirect cellular resources to reproduction, which we call “immune lag”, is extremely costly during viral outbreaks, even to completely immune hosts. Critically, the costs of lag are only revealed by examining the early, transient dynamics of a host-virus system occurring immediately after viral challenge. Lag is a basic parameter of microbial defense, relevant to all intracellular, post-infection antiviral defense systems, that has to-date been largely ignored by theoretical and experimental treatments of host-phage systems.
Cardiolipin targets a dynamin related protein to the nuclear membrane
Authors: Kar Usha Pallabi , Dey Himani , Rahaman Abdur
Published: October 2020

Dynamins are large cytoplasmic GTPases that are targeted to specific cellular membranes which they remodel via membrane fusion or fission. Although the mechanism of target membrane selection by dynamins has been studied, the molecular basis of conferring specificity to bind specific lipids on the target membranes is not known in any of the family members. Here, we report a mechanism of nuclear membrane recruitment of Drp6 that is involved in nuclear remodeling inTetrahymena thermophila. Recruitment of Drp6 depends on a domain that binds to cardiolipin-rich bilayers. Consistent with this, the nuclear localization of wildtype Drp6 was inhibited by depleting cardiolipin in the cell. Cardiolipin binding was blocked with a single amino acid substitution (I553M) in the membrane-binding domain of Drp6. Importantly, the I553M substitution was sufficient to block nuclear localization without affecting other properties of Drp6. Consistent with this result, co-expression of wildtype Drp6 was sufficient to rescue the localization defect of I553M variant inTetrahymena. Inhibition of cardiolipin synthesis or perturbation in Drp6 recruitment to nuclear membrane caused defects in the formation of new macronuclei post-conjugation. Taken together, our results elucidate a molecular basis of target membrane selection by a nuclear dynamin, and establish the importance of a defined membrane-binding domain and its target lipid in facilitating nuclear expansion.
The discriminator sequence is a primary determinant in the supercoiling response of bacterial promoters
Authors: Forquet Raphaël , Pineau Maïwenn , Nasser William , Reverchon Sylvie , Meyer Sam
Published: October 2020

DNA supercoiling acts as a global transcriptional regulator, which contributes to the rapid transcriptional response of bacteria to many environmental changes. Although a large fraction of promoters from distant species respond to superhelical variations, the sequence or structural determinants of this behaviour remain elusive. Here, we propose the sequence of the “discriminator” element located downstream of the −10 hexamer to play an important role in this response, by modulating the facility of open-complex formation during transcription initiation. We develop a quantitative model of this regulatory mechanism relying on known parameters of DNA thermodynamics, and show that its predictions quantitatively match thein vitroandin vivosupercoiling response of stable RNA promoters previously measured, as well as thein vivoresponse of selected mRNA promoters with mutated discriminator sequences. We then test the universality of this mechanism by statistical analysis of promoter sequences in transcriptomes of phylogenetically distant bacteria under conditions of supercoiling variations, (1) by gyrase inhibitors, (2) by environmental stresses, (3) inherited in the longest-running evolution experiment. In all cases, we identify a robust and significant sequence signature in the discriminator region, suggesting that promoter opening underpins an ubiquitous regulatory mechanism in the prokaryotic kingdom, based on the fundamental mechanical properties of DNA.
An information-theoretic approach to single cell sequencing analysis
Authors: Casey Michael J. , Fliege Jörg , Sánchez-García Rubén J. , MacArthur Ben D.
Published: October 2020

Single-cell sequencing (sc-Seq) experiments are producing increasingly large data sets. However, large data sets do not necessarily contain large amounts of information. Here, we formally quantify the information obtained from a sc-Seq experiment and show that it corresponds to an intuitive notion of gene expression heterogeneity. We demonstrate a natural relation between our notion of heterogeneity and that of cell type, decomposing heterogeneity into that component attributable to differential expression between cell types (inter-cluster heterogeneity) and that remaining (intra-cluster heterogeneity). We test our definition of heterogeneity as the objective function of a clustering algorithm, and show that it is a useful descriptor for gene expression patterns associated with different cell types. Thus, our definition of gene heterogeneity leads to a biologically meaningful notion of cell type, as groups of cells that are statistically equivalent with respect to their patterns of gene expression. Our measure of heterogeneity, and its decomposition into inter- and intra-cluster, is non-parametric, intrinsic, unbiased, and requires no additional assumptions about expression patterns.
A most formidable arsenal: genetic technologies for building a better mouse
Authors: Clark James F. , Dinsmore Colin J. , Soriano Philippe
Published: October 2020

The mouse is one of the most widely used model organisms for genetic study. The tools available to alter the mouse genome have developed over the preceding decades from forward screens to gene targeting in stem cells to the recent influx of CRISPR approaches. In this review, we first consider the history of mice in genetic study, the development of classic approaches to genome modification, and how such approaches have been used and improved in recent years. We then turn to the recent surge of nuclease-mediated techniques and how they are changing the field of mouse genetics. Finally, we survey common classes of alleles used in mice and discuss how they might be engineered using different methods.
Small-Scale Preparations of Yeast DNA
Authors: Heintz Nathaniel , Gong Shiaoching
Published: October 2020

In this protocol, yeast DNA is prepared by digestion of the cell wall and lysis of the resulting spheroplasts with SDS. This method reproducibly yields several micrograms of yeast DNA that can be efficiently cleaved by restriction enzymes and used as a template in polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Note that yeast colonies can also be used directly in PCR, without purifying yeast DNA.
The role of servitization in the capabilities – performance path
Authors: Manresa Alba , Prester Jasna , Bikfalvi Andrea
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Firms innovate and sophisticate their offerings to remain competitive. This sophistication often finds opportunities in servitization. Given that many customers expect the service offering from manufacturing companies, it is crucial to research what capabilities drive service offerings and their impact on performance. The purpose of this paper is to test the capabilities–service–performance chain.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual model is proposed and the research hypothesis is tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) performed on a data set corresponding to 205 Spanish and Croatian manufacturing firms.

Findings

Using SEM, this research analyses the causal model between manufacturing, organizational and digital capabilities on base, intermediate and advanced services, and their impact on both service and financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study has some limitations: the advanced service construct was mostly developed on case-based research. Some constructs have low convergent validity and reliability. The relative smallness of the data set used and its two-country provenance could raise issues about the international nature and generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications

Digital capabilities are important for the provision of all three groups of services in terms of using digital devices in data acquisition, helping to make the manufacturing company more agile.

Originality/value

The present study also contributes to the conceptual framework of servitization by providing a new and more up-to-date definition of capabilities and services, also considering digital capabilities, which are less explored. It also contributes to being the first to explore the entire manufacturing sector [nomenclature statistique des activités and économiques dans la Communauté éuropéenne (NACE) 10–31].
Transformation of social housing kitchens over time: Nicosia Göçmenköy social houses as a case study
Authors: Inançoğlu Selda , Uzunoglu Semra Sema
Published: October 2020

Purpose

In this study, it was aimed to determine the changes made by users in kitchens of social housing units of Nicosia Göçmenköy and to determine the user satisfaction with a questionnaire survey.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the renovations in the residential kitchens were determined by on-site observation. Revisions in the kitchens compared to the standard kitchen are expressed by drawings. In the second stage, 49 people who lived in these dwellings and accepted to participate were asked questions to determine the satisfaction levels of the users of existing kitchens through a questionnaire.

Findings

As a result of on-site observations, it was seen that changes and enlargements in kitchen spaces did not add value to the spaces in terms of function in many examples, but rather they made a negative impact on the kitchen activities. It is also a fact that random and optional additions and enlargements cause the creation of architecturally useless areas and extended circulation areas instead of the expected benefits. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, it was determined that the users of the kitchens who renovated their kitchens were very satisfied with the current kitchens.

Originality/value

When the recent studies in world literature are examined, it can be seen that research on kitchen spaces is not so much. There is no detailed study on the transformation of social housing kitchens in Cyprus so far. This study aims to determine the transformations in Göçmenköy social housing kitchens, which are the first social residences built by the state in the Nicosia Göçmenköy region. Since the studies on social housing kitchens are very limited, this study is very valuable in terms of shedding light on future researches.
Stock prices and macroeconomic information in Ghana: speed of adjustment and bi-causality analysis
Authors: Queku Isaac Cliford , Gyedu Seth , Carsamer Emmanuel
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the causal relationships and speed of adjustment of stock prices to changes in macroeconomic information (MEI) in Ghana from 1996 to 2018 using monthly data. The paper seeks to conduct the investigation at individual MEI level rather than the composite MEI.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative approach was used in this paper. Monthly data span of 1996–2018 was used. The delay and half-life technique was used to determine the speed with which the information resulting from the changes in the macroeconomic are evident in the stock price. Thereafter, Toda–Yamamoto Granger no-causality approach was used to examine the causal relationship amongst variables.

Findings

The paper revealed that although the market adjustment to MEI has improved, the speed is till slow. The exchange rate exhibited the slowest speed in respect of the market reaction while the market reaction to money supply was the fastest. Toda–Yamamoto Granger no-causality estimation also revealed a bi-directional causality between MEI (gross domestic product, interest rate and money supply) and stock price and uni-directional relationship flowing from MEI (the exchange rate and foreign direct investment) to stock price. The paper also found no causality between inflation and stock price.

Research limitations/implications

The findings although revealed improved level of market efficiency in comparison with the earlier data, the speed of adjustment is still undesirable. Rigorous approach should be adopted for the implementation of major reforms such as alternative market so as to increase the number of share listing and to increase the scope of investors' participation to enhancing trading volume and marketability and ultimately speed up information diffusion.

Practical implications

The practical implication of the low level of information processing rate of Ghana Stock Exchange (averagely more than a month) is that astute investors and market analysts could employ MEI to outperform the market prior to their infusion onto the stock market.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few studies in the Ghanaian literature that has extended the investigation of the speed of adjustment beyond composite or aggregate macroeconomic level estimation to estimation at individual variable level. This contribution is very relevant since each macroeconomic variable has unique characteristics and require specific policy framework, it is important to consider the speed of adjustment from the perspective of each of the individual variables.
Technological affordance discovery in enterprise social media success
Authors: Ng Keng Hong , Yee Rachel W.Y.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to build on affordance theory from a discovery perspective, to illustrate how motivations and goals behind enterprise social media adoption by companies in the fashion and apparel industries are discovered and realized in performance. Enterprise social media and its exogenous technological affordances are introduced as action opportunities in an organization during implementation, to be discovered and acted upon by users to effect various performance outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach was adopted. Data was collected on five fashion companies that have implemented enterprise social media for their internal communication.

Findings

The findings show that fashion companies adopt enterprise social media offered by external vendors to actively seek more effective internal communication and collaboration among their employees. However, fashion companies embark on different pathways of discovering and actualizing the affordances from the newly implemented enterprise social media. As a result, these firms achieved various kinds of performance benefits, which range from improved customer loyalty to enhanced innovation performance.

Originality/value

This study is the first to introduce a discovery perspective to affordance theory and systematically document the success of enterprise social media appropriation by companies in the fashion and apparel industries.
Overwhelmed and powerless: staff perspectives on mother – infant separations in English prisons
Authors: Powell Claire , Ciclitira Karen , Marzano Lisa
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Imprisoned mothers are at increased risk for poor psychological health and psychological distress when separated from their children, so staff need to be highly skilled to support the women. However, there is a paucity of research focusing on staff experiences around sensitive issues such as mother–child separation. This study aims to understand the challenges faced by staff and how these might be addressed.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative interview study explored the views and experiences of 24 prison-based staff in England working with female prisoners separated from their infants.

Findings

Staff emphasised the challenges of working with separated mothers, specifically the emotional impact of this work, and the impact of the wider criminal justice system on their sense of agency.

Originality/value

A focus on the experience of separation highlights the broader problem of incarcerating women in general. Reducing the number of mother–child separations would mitigate the impact on both women and staff.
Does government expenditure reduce unemployment in Egypt?
Authors: Abouelfarag Hanan AbdelKhalik , Qutb Rasha
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This research seeks to empirically examine the impact of government expenditure on the unemployment rate in Egypt during the period of 1980–2017. In addition, it examines whether the distinction between discretionary and nondiscretionary items of government expenditure have a different effect on unemployment.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs the Johansen cointegration test to ensure the long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables, then the vector error correction model (VECM) to explore the dynamic short and long-run effects.

Findings

The empirical results of this research reveal that increasing government expenditure causes an increase in the unemployment rate in the long-run. Both discretionary expenditures and nondiscretionary expenditures increase the growth of unemployment by approximately the same coefficient. The worsening impact of discretionary expenditures on unemployment is highly attributed to the compensation of employees and the government subsidies. Investment expenditure has an insignificant effect because of its minor percentage in government expenses.

Practical implications

Redirecting the unnecessary expenditures toward labor-intensive public investments is recommended, in addition to reducing domestic and foreign debts. The government has to work hard to increase the economic growth rate, as it has a vital role in reducing unemployment.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first attempts to analyze the effect of government expenditure on the unemployment rate in Egypt. Moreover, this research distinguishes between the effects related to discretionary and nondiscretionary items of government expenditure.
For better or for worse? Handling the side effects of organizational change on workplace discrimination
Authors: Palumbo Rocco , Manna Rosalba
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Organizational change (OC) triggers uncertainty and ambiguity, which have side effects for individual and groups. Even though scholars and practitioners have generally conceived OC as a remedy for workplace discrimination (WD), it may determine opportunistic behaviors, which increase the risks of discrimination at work. The article discusses the direct and indirect effects of OC on WD, investigating the moderating role of organizational meaningfulness (OM) and employees' involvement (EI).

Design/methodology/approach

Secondary data were collected from the Eurofound's European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). The sample included 33,024 European employees. A double moderation analysis based on the bootstrapping method was designed to collect evidence on the direct effects of OC on WD and on the indirect effects moderated by OM and EI.

Findings

OC was found to generate greater discrimination at work. People who were not informed about change and those who were not allowed to express their opinion about change were more likely to report discrimination. OM and EI performed as significant moderators of the side effects of OC on WD.

Practical implications

Restructurings and reorganizations are tricky processes. The uncertainty and ambiguity produced by OC might negatively affect interpersonal relationships at work and organizational practices, paving the way for overt and/or explicit discrimination. The construction of clear and shared senses around change is crucial to curb the drawbacks of organizational transitions on workplace discrimination. EI is essential to improve organizational sensemaking of change processes and to establish a positive organizational climate, which prevent the occurrence of WD.

Originality/value

Literature has overlooked the negative implications of OC on WD. The study findings emphasize that organizational transitions may trigger discrimination, creating greater uncertainty and ambiguity in the workplace. OM and EI allow overcoming ambiguity and increase the employees' ability to deal with uncertainty, addressing the side effects of OC on WD.
Understanding the customer experience with smart services
Authors: Gonçalves Luisa , Patrício Lia , Grenha Teixeira Jorge , Wünderlich Nancy V.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This article provides an in-depth understanding of customer experience with smart services, examines customer perceptual responses to smart and connected service environments and enriches this understanding by outlining how contextual factors (in terms of goals, activities, actors and artifacts) influence the customer experience.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a qualitative approach in order to understand customer experience in the smart energy service setting. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 31 participants forming three groups of energy service customers: advanced smart energy (ASE) customers, electric mobility (EM) customers and high-consumption (HC) customers.

Findings

The findings show that customer experience with smart services involves a multidimensional set of perceptual responses, comprising specific smart service dimensions (e.g. controllability, visibility, autonomy); relationship dimensions (relationships with the service provider and with the community); and traditional technology-enabled service dimensions (e.g. ease of use, accessibility). The analysis of contextual factors such as goals, activities, actors and artifacts shows that smart services enable a more autonomous experience, wherein customers can integrate a myriad of actors and artifacts and expect the main service provider to support them in taking the lead.

Originality/value

Smart technologies have profoundly changed the service environment, but research on customer experience with smart services is scarce. This study characterizes smart services, provides an in-depth understanding of customer experience in this new context, and discusses relevant implications for management and service research.
NanoSIMS sample preparation decreases isotope enrichment: magnitude, variability and implications for single‐cell rates of microbial activity
Authors: Meyer Nicolette R. , Fortney Julian L. , Dekas Anne E.
Published: October 2020

The activity of individual microorganisms can be measured within environmental samples by detecting uptake of isotope‐labelled substrates using nano‐scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS). Recent studies have demonstrated that sample preparation can decrease 13C and 15N enrichment in bacterial cells, resulting in underestimates of activity. Here, we explore this effect with a variety of preparation types, microbial lineages and isotope labels to determine its consistency and therefore potential for correction. Specifically, we investigated the impact of different protocols for fixation, nucleic acid staining and catalysed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD‐FISH) on >14 500 archaeal and bacterial cells (Methanosarcina acetivorans, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and Pseudomonas putida) enriched in 13C, 15N, 18O, 2H and/or 34S. We found these methods decrease isotope enrichments by up to 80% – much more than previously reported – and that the effect varies by taxa, growth phase, isotope label and applied protocol. We make recommendations for how to account for this effect experimentally and analytically. We also re‐evaluate published nanoSIMS datasets and revise estimated microbial turnover times in the marine subsurface and nitrogen fixation rates in pelagic unicellular cyanobacteria. When sample preparation is accounted for, cell‐specific rates increase and are more consistent with modelled and bulk rates.
FgPal1 regulates morphogenesis and pathogenesis in Fusarium graminearum
Authors: Yin Jinrong , Hao Chaofeng , Niu Gang , Wang Wei , Wang Guanghui , Xiang Ping , Xu Jin‐Rong , Zhang Xue
Published: October 2020

Ascospores are the primary inoculum in Fusarium graminearum, a causal agent of wheat head blight. In a previous study, FgPAL1 was found to be upregulated in the Fgama1 mutant and important for ascosporogenesis. However, the biological function of this well‐conserved gene in filamentous ascomycetes is not clear. In this study, we characterized its functions in growth, differentiation and pathogenesis. The Fgpal1 mutant had severe growth defects and often displayed abnormal hyphal tips. It was defective in infectious growth in rachis tissues and spreading in wheat heads. The Fgpal1 mutant produced conidia with fewer septa and more nuclei per compartment than the wild type. In actively growing hyphal tips, FgPal1‐GFP mainly localized to the subapical collar and septa. The FgPal1 and LifeAct partially co‐localized at the subapical region in an interdependent manner. The Fgpal1 mutant was normal in meiosis with eight nuclei in developing asci but most asci were aborted. Taken together, our results showed that FgPal1 plays a role in maintaining polarized tip growth and coordination between nuclear division and cytokinesis, and it is also important for infectious growth and developments of ascospores by the free cell formation process.
The quality of (in)justice in London's magistrates' courts
Authors: CAMPBELL JOHN R.
Published: October 2020

Concerns about structural racism and policing have fuelled public demands in the US, UK and elsewhere to ‘defund’ and demilitarize the police. However, given the interlinked nature of the entire criminal justice system – the police, courts and prisons – further thought needs to be given to how the system should be reformed. This article summarizes research on the nature of injustice experienced in magistrates’ courts in London from the point of view of defendants from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities and ‘the precariat’.
Anthropology of exile: Mapping territories of experience
Authors: FERREIRA SÓNIA
Published: October 2020

While it is possible to define exile broadly as a specific type of mobility – ‘forced migration’ – the expression is subject to multiple definitions. In this article, the author looks at exile by drawing on ethnographic examples from the Associação de Exilados Políticos Portugueses (Association of Portuguese Political Exiles, AEP61‐74), founded in Lisbon in 2015. The author suggests that the concept of exile should not be a mere label for a particular type of person or situation (present in classic literary examples), but rather a conceptual category that can include a multitude of socio‐economic, historical, psychological and biographical realities.
What to do with conspiracy theories?: Insights from contemporary Turkey
Authors: SAGLAM EROL
Published: October 2020

This article presents ethnographic insights into the everyday lives of people who circulate conspiratorial narratives through an ethnographic study of ultranationalist men in contemporary Turkey. Drawing on the findings of this research, the author suggests that conspiratorial discourses should be examined not solely in terms of their (anti‐)truth qualities but as social practices through which masculine subjectivities and socialities are engendered. The author then explores how the circulation of conspiratorial narratives forges agency and political subjectivity for the men involved, while also inducing sociopolitical effects such as vigilantism and paramilitary violence. This article contends that through the circulation of conspiratorial narratives and everyday engagements with vigilantism and extralegal violence, the men reconfigure sovereignty and the way that the state operates in contemporary Turkey. The findings of this research suggest that the focus should be moved away from the epistemological shortcomings of conspiratorial narratives or strategies to debunk them – such as fact‐checking – which presume that exposure of ‘the truth’ would lead to the dissolution of ‘untruthful’ conspiracies. Rather, the author suggests that researchers attend to the particular forms conspiracies take in concrete situations, how they mould political subjectivities and social groups and reconfigure the ways that the state operates alongside the law in other similar settings.
Do females on boards affect acquisition outcomes and target selection: a replication and extension of Levi, Li and Zhang (2014)
Authors: Bachmann Rebecca L. , Spiropoulos Helen
Published: October 2020

We replicate and extend the 2014 study by Levi, Li and Zhang in the Australian setting and examine whether female representation on corporate boards affects acquisition outcomes. Consistent with the original study, we find that bidders with female representation on their boards make fewer acquisitions and pay lower premiums, on average. We also document that bidders with female representation on their boards prefer to select target firms that also have female representation on their boards. These results are robust to propensity score matching and instrumental variable estimation.
Awake endoscopic assessment of the upper airway during tidal breathing: Definition of anatomical features and comparison with drug‐induced sleep endoscopy
Authors: Van de Perck Eli , Vroegop Anneclaire V. , Op de Beeck Sara , Dieltjens Marijke , Verbruggen Annelies E. , Van de Heyning Paul H. , Braem Marc J. , Vanderveken Olivier M.
Published: October 2020

Objectives

Awake nasopharyngoscopy is routinely performed in the assessment of patients who require treatment for sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB). However, the applicability and accuracy of Müller's manoeuvre, the main evaluation method for this purpose, are disputable. The current study aimed to introduce an alternative method for awake nasopharyngoscopy in patients with SDB.

Design

We defined qualitative anatomical features during tidal breathing at the levels of the soft palate, oropharynx, tongue base, epiglottis and hypopharynx, and compared these awake features to the sites and patterns of collapse as observed during drug‐induced sleep endoscopy (DISE).

Setting

Tertiary care academic centre.

Participants

Seventy‐three patients diagnosed with SDB.

Main outcome measures

The primary outcome measure was the Kendall's tau correlation coefficient (τ) between observations during awake nasopharyngoscopy and DISE. Kappa‐statistics (κ) were calculated to assess the agreement on awake endoscopic features with a second observer.

Results

In contrast to epiglottis shape, the modified Cormack‐Lehane scale was significantly associated with epiglottis collapse during DISE (P < .0001; τ = .45). Other upper airway features that were correlated with DISE collapse were the position of the soft palate (P = .007; τ = .29), crowding of the oropharynx (P = .026; τ = .32) and a posteriorly located tongue base (P = .046; τ = .32). Interobserver agreement of endoscopic features during tidal breathing was moderate (0.60 ≤ κ < 0.80).

Conclusion

The current study introduces a comprehensive and reliable assessment method for awake nasopharyngoscopy based on anatomical features that are compatible with DISE collapse patterns.
A hybrid recurrent neural network‐logistic chaos‐based whale optimization framework for heart disease prediction with electronic health records
Authors: Priyanga P. , Pattankar Veena V. , Sridevi S.
Published: October 2020

Heart disease, known interchangeably as “Cardio Vascular Disease,” blocks the blood vessels in the heart and causes heart attack, chest pain, and stroke. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and it is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality globally and a trending topic in clinical data analysis. Assessing risk factors related to heart disease is considered as an important step in diagnosing the disease at an early stage. Clinical data present in the form of electronic health records (EHR) can be extracted with the aid of machine learning (ML) algorithms to provide valuable decisions and predictions. ML approaches also play a vital role in early diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of heart disease. Several research works have been carried out recently to predict heart disease. To this end, we propose a novel hybrid recurrent neural network (RNN)‐logistic chaos‐based whale optimization (LCBWO) structured hybrid framework for predicting heart disease within 5 years using EHR data. Meanwhile, in the hybrid model established multilayer bidirectional LSTM is used for feature selection, LCBWO algorithm for structural improvement and fast convergence, and LSTM for disease prediction. This research used 10 cross‐validations to obtain generalized accuracy and error values. The findings and observations provided here are focused on the knowledge obtained from the EHR report. The results show that the proposed novel hybrid RNN‐LCBWO framework achieves a higher accuracy of 98%, a specificity of 99%, precision of 96%, Mathews correlation coefficient of 91%, F‐measure of 0.9892, an area under the curve value of 98%, and a prediction time of 9.23 seconds. The accurate predictions obtained from the comparative analysis shows the significant performance of our proposed framework.