bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resolving exit strategies of mycobacteria by combining high-pressure freezing with 3D-correlative light and electron microscopy
Authors: Franzkoch Rico , Anand Aby , Breitsprecher Leonhard , Psathaki Olympia E. , Barisch Caroline
Published: April 2023

The infection course ofMycobacterium tuberculosisis highly dynamic and comprises sequential stages that require damaging and crossing of several membranes to enable the translocation of the bacteria into the cytosol or their escape from the host. Many important breakthroughs such as the restriction of vacuolar and cytosolic mycobacteria by the autophagy pathway and the recruitment of sophisticated host repair machineries to theMycobacterium-containing vacuole have been gained in theDictyostelium discoideum/M. marinumsystem. Despite the availability of well-established light and advanced electron microscopy techniques in this system, a correlative approach that integrates both methodologies with almost native ultrastructural preservation is still lacking at the moment. This is most likely due to the low ability ofD. discoideumto adhere to surfaces, which results in cell loss even after fixation. To address this problem, we improved the adhesion of cells and developed a straightforward and convenient workflow for 3D-correlative light and electron microscopy. This approach includes high-pressure freezing, which is an excellent technique for preserving membranes. Thus, our method allows to monitor the ultrastructural aspects of vacuole escape which is of central importance for the survival and dissemination of bacterial pathogens.
Learning shapes neural geometry in the prefrontal cortex
Authors: Wójcik Michał J. , Stroud Jake P. , Wasmuht Dante , Kusunoki Makoto , Kadohisa Mikiko , Buckley Mark J. , Myers Nicholas E. , Hunt Laurence T. , Duncan John , Stokes Mark G.
Published: April 2023

The relationship between the geometry of neural representations and the task being performed is a central question in neuroscience1–6. The primate prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a primary focus of inquiry in this regard, as under different conditions, PFC can encode information with geometries that either rely on past experience7–13or are experience agnostic3,14–16. One hypothesis is that PFC representations should evolve with learning4,17,18, from a format that supports exploration of all possible task rules to a format that minimises the encoding of task-irrelevant features4,17,18and supports generalisation7,8. Here we test this idea by recording neural activity from PFC when learning a new rule (‘XOR rule’) from scratch. We show that PFC representations progress from being high dimensional, nonlinear and randomly mixed to low dimensional and rule selective, consistent with predictions from constrained optimised neural networks. We also find that this low-dimensional representation facilitates generalisation of the XOR rule to a new stimulus set. These results show that previously conflicting accounts of PFC representations can be reconciled by considering the adaptation of these representations across different stages of learning.
Analysis of antennal responses to motion stimuli in the honey bee by automated tracking using DeepLabCut
Authors: Kohno Hiroki , Kamata Shuichi , Kubo Takeo
Published: April 2023

Considering recent developments in gene manipulation methods for honey bees, establishing simple, robust, and indoor assay systems which can analyze behavioral components in detail is important for the rise of honey bee behavioral genetics. We focused on the movements of antennae of the honey bee, which are used for not only multimodal sensory perception but also interactions between individuals. We developed an experimental system for analyzing the antennal responses (ARs) of the honey bee using DeepLabCut, a markerless posture-tracking tool using deep learning. The tracking of antennal movements during the presentation of vertical (downward and upward) motion stimuli using DeepLabCut successfully detected the ARs reported in the previous studies, where bees tilted their antennae in the direction opposite to the motion stimuli. In addition, we successfully detected ARs in response to horizontal (forward and backward) motion stimuli. An investigation of the developmental maturation of honey bee ARs showed that ARs to motion stimuli were not detected in bees immediately after emergence but became detectable through post-emergence development in an experience-independent manner. Furthermore, unsupervised clustering analysis using multidimensional data created by processing tracking data using DeepLabCut classified antennal movements into different clusters, suggesting that data-driven behavioral classification can apply to AR paradigms. These results reveal novel AR to visual stimuli and developmental maturation of ARs and suggest the efficacy of data-driven analysis for behavioral classification in behavioral studies of the honey bee.

Summary statement

Automated tracking using DeepLabCut was successfully applied to measure the antennal response to motion stimuli and unsupervised classification of antennal movements in honey bees.
A guide to thein vitroreconstitution of Cdc42 GTPase activity and its regulation
Authors: Tschirpke Sophie , van Opstal Frank , van der Valk Ramon , Daalman Werner K-G. , Laan Liedewij
Published: April 2023

Cdc42 is a small Rho-type GTPase and the main regulator of cell division in eukaryotes. It is surrounded by a large network of regulatory proteins. To understand the processes around cell division, in-depth understanding of Cdc42 and its regulation is required.In vitroreconstitutions are a suitable tool for such detailed mechanistic studies, as they allow a high level of control over the conditions and components used and. For these Cdc42 and its regulators need to be expressed, purified, and tested for their activity. There are many methods described for this, but their details, possible difficulties, and points of failure are rarely discussed. This makesin vitrostudies on Cdc42 less accessible to scientists that have a background different from biochemistry. We here present our experience with working with Cdc42in vitro. We describe the recombinant expression and purification behaviour of 12 Cdc42, six Cdc42-mNeonGreenSWand four Cdc42-sfGFPSWconstructs inE. coli. We explore Cdc42 dimerisationin vitroand assess its activity using GTPase Glo assays and Flag-pulldown assays. GTPase Glo assays turn out to be a reliable tool to quantitatively asses GTPase activities, wheareas pulldown experiments are more error prone. We find that most Cdc42 constructs, with the exception of those with an N-terminal Twin-Step-tag, show a similar GTPase activity and interaction with the GDP/GTP exchange factor Cdc24. We close with using enterokinase and TEV protease to generate untagged Cdc42. Enterokinase also cuts Cdc42 in an undesired position. TEV protease leads to the desired product, which retains its GTPase activity but shows a reduced Cdc24 interaction. The work presented here acts as a guide for scientists desiring to work with Cdc42in vitrothrough describing Cdc42’s properties in detail and examining assays that can be used to study its behaviour or act as activity checks.

Graphical abstract
Refined Tamoxifen Administration in Mice by Encouraging Voluntary Consumption of Palatable Formulations
Authors: Vanhecke Dominique , Bugada Viola , Buch Thorsten
Published: April 2023

Drug administration in preclinical rodent models is essential for research and development of novel therapies. Compassionate administration methods have been developed, but these are mostly incompatible with water-insoluble drugs such as tamoxifen or do not allow for precise timing or dosing of the drugs. For more than two decades, tamoxifen has been administered by oral gavage or injection to CreERT2/loxP gene-modified mouse models to spatiotemporally control gene expression, with the numbers of such models steadily increasing in recent years. Animal-friendly procedures for accurately administering tamoxifen or other water-insoluble drugs would therefore have an important impact on animal welfare. Based on a previously published micropipette feeding protocol, we developed palatable formulations to encourage voluntary consumption of tamoxifen. We evaluated the acceptance of the new formulations by mice during training and treatment and assessed the efficacy of tamoxifen-mediated induction of CreERT2/loxP dependent reporter genes. Both sweetened milk and syrup-based formulations encouraged mice to consume tamoxifen voluntarily, but only sweetened milk formulations were statistically non-inferior to oral gavage in inducing CreERT2-mediated gene expression. Serum concentrations of tamoxifen metabolites, quantified using an in-house developed cell assay, confirmed the lower efficacies of syrup- as compared to sweetened milk-based formulations. We found dosing with a micropipette to be more accurate, with the added advantage that the method requires little training for the experimenter. The new palatable solutions encourage voluntary consumption of tamoxifen without loss of efficacy compared to oral gavage and thus represent a refined administration method.
3D reconstructions of brain from MRI scans using neural radiance fields
Authors: Iddrisu Khadija , Malec Sylwia , Crimi Alessandro
Published: April 2023

The advent of 3D Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has revolutionized medical imaging and diagnostic capabilities, allowing for more precise diagnosis, treatment planning, and improved patient outcomes. 3D MRI imaging enables the creation of detailed 3D reconstructions of anatomical structures that can be used for visualization, analysis, and surgical planning. However, these reconstructions often require many scan acquisitions, demanding a long session to use the machine and requiring the patient to remain still, with consequent possible motion artifacts. The development of neural radiance fields (NeRF) technology has shown promising results in generating highly accurate 3D reconstructions of MRI images with less user input. Our approach is based on neural radiance fields to reconstruct 3D projections from 2D slices of MRI scans. We do this by using 3D convolutional neural networks to address challenges posed by variable slice thickness; incorporating multiple MRI modalities to ensure robustness and extracting the shape and volumetric depth of both surface and internal anatomical structures with slice interpolation. This approach provides more comprehensive and robust 3D reconstructions of both surface and internal anatomical structures and has significant potential for clinical applications, allowing medical professionals to better visualize and analyze anatomical structures with less available data, potentially reducing times and motion-related issues.
A crucial role for dynamic expression of components encoding the negative arm of the circadian clock
Authors: Wang Bin , Zhou Xiaoying , Kettenbach Arminja N. , Mitchell Hugh D. , Markillie Lye Meng , Loros Jennifer J. , Dunlap Jay C.
Published: April 2023

In theNeurosporacircadian system, the White Collar Complex (WCC) drives expression of the principal circadian negative arm componentfrequency(frq). FRQ interacts with FRH (FRQ-interacting helicase) and CK-1 forming a stable complex that represses its own expression by inhibiting WCC. In this study, a genetic screen identified a gene, designated asbrd-8, that encodes a conserved auxiliary subunit of the NuA4 histone acetylation complex. Loss ofbrd-8reduces H4 acetylation and RNA polymerase (Pol) II occupancy atfrqand other known circadian genes, and leads to a long circadian period, delayed phase, and defective overt circadian output at some temperatures. In addition to strongly associating with the NuA4 histone acetyltransferase complex, BRD-8 is also found complexed with the transcription elongation regulator BYE-1. Expression ofbrd-8, bye-1, histone hH2Az, and several NuA4 subunits is controlled by the circadian clock, indicating that the molecular clock both regulates the basic chromatin status and is regulated by changes in chromatin.

Taken together, our data identify new auxiliary elements of the fungal NuA4 complex having homology to mammalian components, which along with conventional NuA4 subunits, are required for timely and dynamicfrqexpression and thereby a normal and persistent circadian rhythm.
Risks of digestive diseases in long COVID: Evidence from a large-scale cohort study
Authors: Ma Yuying , Zhang Lijun , Wei Rui , Dai Weiyu , Zeng Ruijie , Luo Dongling , Jiang Rui , Wu Huihuan , Zhuo Zewei , Yang Qi , Li Jingwei , Leung Felix W , Duan Chongyang , Sha Weihong , Chen Hao
Published: April 2023

Objectives

This study aims to evaluate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the long-term risk of digestive diseases in the general population.

Design

Large-scale population-based cohort study based on a prospective cohort.

Setting

UK Biobank cohort linked to multiple nationwide electronic health records databases.

Participants

The cohort consisted of 112,311 individuals who survived the initial 30 days following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, as well as two control groups: a contemporary group (n = 359,671) without any history of COVID-19, and a historical control group (n = 370,979) that predated the COVID-19 outbreak.

Main outcome measures

Main outcomes were predefined digestive diseases. Hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed utilizing the Cox regression models after inverse probability weighting.

Results

Compared with the contemporary control group, patients with previous COVID-19 infection had higher risks of digestive diseases, including functional gastrointestinal disorders (hazard ratios [HR] 1.95 (95% CI 1.62 to 2.35)); peptic ulcer disease (HR 1.27 (1.04 to 1.56)); gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (HR 1.46 (1.34 to 1.58)); inflammatory bowel diseases (HR 1.40 (1.02 to 1.90)); gallbladder disease (HR 1.28 (1.13 to 1.46)); severe liver disease (HR 1.46 (1.12 to 1.90)); non-alcoholic liver disease (HR 1.33 (1.15 to 1.55)); and pancreatic disease (HR 1.43 (1.17 to 1.74)). The risks of GERD were stepwise increased with severity of the acute phase of COVID-19 infection. The results were consistent when using the historical cohort as the control group.

Conclusions

Our study provides important insights into the association between COVID-19 and the long-term risk of digestive system disorders. COVID-19 patients are at a higher risk of developing gastrointestinal disorders, with stepwise increased risk with the severity and persisting even after one year follow-up.
Epistasis between mutator alleles contributes to germline mutation spectra variability in laboratory mice
Authors: Sasani Thomas A. , Quinlan Aaron R. , Harris Kelley
Published: April 2023

Maintaining germline genome integrity is essential and enormously complex. Although many proteins are involved in DNA replication, proofreading, and repair [1],mutator alleleshave largely eluded detection in mammals.

DNA replication and repair proteins often recognize sequence motifs or excise lesions at specific nucleotides. Thus, we might expect that the spectrum ofde novomutations — the frequencies of C>T, A>G, etc. — will differ between genomes that harbor either a mutator or wild-type allele. Previously, we used quantitative trait locus mapping to discover candidate mutator alleles in the DNA repair geneMutyhthat increased the C>A germline mutation rate in a family of inbred mice known as the BXDs [2,3].

In this study we developed a new method to detect alleles associated with mutation spectrum variation and applied it to mutation data from the BXDs. We discovered an additional C>A mutator locus on chromosome 6 that overlapsOgg1, a DNA glycosylase involved in the same base-excision repair network asMutyh[4]. Its effect depended on the presence of a mutator allele nearMutyh, and BXDs with mutator alleles at both loci had greater numbers of C>A mutations than those with mutator alleles at either locus alone. Our new methods for analyzing mutation spectra reveal evidence of epistasis between germline mutator alleles and may be applicable to mutation data from humans and other model organisms.
Optimized replication of arrayed bacterial mutant libraries increase access to biological resources
Authors: Willett Julia L. E. , Barnes Aaron M. T. , Brunson Debra N. , Lecomte Alexandre , Robertson Ethan B. , Dunny Gary M.
Published: April 2023

Biological collections, including arrayed libraries of single transposon or deletion mutants, greatly accelerate the pace of bacterial genetics research. Despite the importance of these resources, few protocols exist for the replication and distribution of these materials. Here, we describe a protocol for creating multiple replicates of an arrayed bacterial Tn library consisting of approximately 6,800 mutants in 73 × 96-well plates. Our protocol provides multiple checkpoints to guard against contamination and minimize genetic drift caused by freeze/thaw cycles. This approach can also be scaled for arrayed culture collections of various sizes. Overall, this protocol is a valuable resource for other researchers considering the construction and distribution of arrayed culture collection resources for the benefit of the greater scientific community.

Importance

Arrayed mutant collections drive robust genetic screens, yet few protocols exist for replication of these resources and subsequent quality control. Increasing distribution of arrayed biological collections will increase accessibility to and use of these resources. Developing standardized techniques for replication of these resources is essential for ensuring their quality and usefulness to the scientific community.
An energy costly architecture of neuromodulators for human brain evolution and cognition
Authors: Castrillon Gabriel , Epp Samira , Bose Antonia , Fraticelli Laura , Hechler André , Belenya Roman , Ranft Andreas , Yakushev Igor , Utz Lukas , Sundar Lalith , Rauschecker Josef P , Preibisch Christine , Kurcyus Katarzyna , Riedl Valentin
Published: April 2023

Humans spend more energy on the brain than any other species. However, the high energy demand cannot be fully explained by brain size scaling alone. We hypothesized that energy-demanding signaling strategies may have contributed to human cognitive development. We measured the energy distribution along signaling pathways using multimodal brain imaging and found that evolutionarily novel connections have up to 67% higher energetic costs of signaling than sensory-motor pathways. Additionally, histology, transcriptomic data, and molecular imaging independently reveal an upregulation of signaling at G-protein coupled receptors in energy-demanding regions. We found that neuromodulators are predominantly involved in complex cognition such as reading or memory processing. Our study suggests that the upregulation of neuromodulator activity, alongside increased brain size, is a crucial aspect of human brain evolution.
Root branching in salt requires auxin-independent modulation of LBD16 function
Authors: Zhang Yanxia , Li Yiyun , de Zeeuw Thijs , Duijts Kilian , Kawa Dorota , Lamers Jasper , Munzert Kristina S. , Li Hongfei , Zou Yutao , Meyer A. Jessica , Yan Jinxuan , Verstappen Francel , Wang Yixuan , Gijsberts Tom , Wang Jielin , Gigli-Bisceglia Nora , Engelsdorf Timo , van Dijk Aalt D.J , Testerink Christa
Published: April 2023

Salinity stress constrains lateral root (LR) growth and severely impacts plant growth. Auxin signaling is indispensable for the regulation of LR formation. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism of how salinity affects root auxin signaling and whether salt would steer alternative pathway(s) to regulate LR development is unknown. Here we show that the auxin- regulated transcription factor LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARY DOMAIN (LBD)16, known as an essential player for LR development under control conditions, is regulated by an alternative non-canonical pathway under salinity. Salt represses auxin signaling but in parallel activates an upstream transcriptional activator of LBD16, ZINC FINGER OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA 6 (ZAT6). ZAT6 modulates the activity ofLBD16to contribute to downstream cell wall remodeling, and promotes LR development under salinity stress. Our study thus shows that root developmental plasticity in response to salt stress is achieved by integration of auxin- dependent repressive and salt-activated auxin-independent pathways converging on LBD16 to modulate root branching modulation under salinity.
Direction-dependent neural control of finger dexterity in humans
Authors: Rajchert Ohad , Ofir-Geva Shay , Melul Yoel , Khoury-Mireb Mona , Bar-Sela Orit Wonderman , Granot Osnat , Caspi Tom , Toledo Silvi Frenkel , Soroker Nachum , Mawase Firas
Published: April 2023

Humans, more than all other species, skillfully flex and extend their fingers to perform delicate motor tasks. This unique dexterous ability is a product of the complex anatomical properties of the human hand and the neural mechanisms that control it. Yet, the neural basis that underlies human dexterous hand movement remains unclear. Here we characterizedindividuation(fine control) andstrength(gross control) during flexion and extension finger movements, isolated the peripheral passive mechanical coupling component from the central neuromuscular activity involved in dexterity and then applied voxel-based lesion mapping in first-event sub-acute stroke patients to investigate the causal link between the neural substrates and the behavioral aspects of finger dexterity. We found substantial differences in dexterous behavior, favoring finger flexion over extension. These differences were not caused by peripheral factors but were rather driven by central origins. Lesion-symptom mapping identified a critical brain region for finger individuation within the primary sensory-motor cortex (M1, S1), the premotor cortex (PMC), and the corticospinal (CST) fibers that descend from them. Although there was a great deal of overlap between individuated flexion and extension, we were able to identify distinct areas within this region that were associated exclusively with finger flexion. This flexion-biased differential premotor and motor cortical organization was associated with the finger individuation component, but not with finger strength. Conversely, lesion mapping revealed slight extension-biases in finger strength within descending tracts of M1. From these results we propose a model that summarizes the distinctions between individuation and strength and between finger movement in flexion and extension, revealed in human manual dexterity.
Inhibitory neurons control the consolidation of neural assemblies via adaptation to selective stimuli
Authors: Bergoin Raphaël , Torcini Alessandro , Deco Gustavo , Quoy Mathias , Zamora-López Gorka
Published: April 2023

Brain circuits display modular architecture at different scales of organization. Such neural assemblies are typically associated to functional specialization but the mechanisms leading to their emergence and consolidation still remain elusive. In this paper we investigate the role of inhibition in structuring new neural assemblies driven by the entrainment to various inputs. In particular, we focus on the role of partially synchronized dynamics for the creation and maintenance of structural modules in neural circuits by considering a network of excitatory and inhibitoryθ-neurons with plastic Hebbian synapses. The learning process consists of an entrainment to temporally alternating stimuli that are applied to separate regions of the network. This entrainment leads to the emergence of modular structures. Contrary to common practice in artificial neural networks – where the acquired weights are typically frozen after the learning session – we allow for synaptic adaptation even after the learning phase. We find that the presence of inhibitory neurons in the network is crucial for the emergence and the post-learning consolidation of the modular structures. Indeed networks made of purely excitatory neurons or of neurons not respecting Dale’s principle are unable to form or maintain the modular architecture induced by the entrained stimuli. We also demonstrate that the number of inhibitory neurons in the network is directly related to the maximal number of neural assemblies that can be consolidated, supporting the idea that inhibition has a direct impact on the memory capacity of the neural network.
The A domain of clonal complex 1-type fibronectin binding protein B promotes adherence and biofilm formation inStaphylococcus aureus
Authors: Henderson Sara R. , Geoghegan Joan A.
Published: April 2023

Adhesive interactions betweenStaphylococcus aureusand the host rely on cell wall-anchored proteins such as fibronectin binding protein B (FnBPB). Recently we showed that the FnBPB protein expressed by clonal complex (CC) 1 isolates ofS. aureusmediates bacterial adhesion to corneodesmosin. The proposed ligand binding region of CC1-type FnBPB shares just 60% amino acid identity with the archetypal FnBPB protein from CC8. Here we investigated ligand binding and biofilm formation by CC1-type FnBPB. We found that the A domain of FnBPB binds to fibrinogen and corneodesmosin and identified residues within the hydrophobic ligand trench in the A domain that are essential for the binding of CC1-type FnBPB to ligands and during biofilm formation. We further investigated the interplay between different ligands and the influence of ligand binding on biofilm formation. Overall, our study provides new insights into the requirements for CC1-type FnBPB-mediated adhesion to host proteins and FnBPB-mediated biofilm formation inS. aureus.
Individual word representations dissociate from linguistic context along a cortical unimodal to heteromodal gradient
Authors: Eisenhauer Susanne , Gonzalez Alam Tirso Rene del Jesus , Cornelissen Piers L. , Smallwood Jonathan , Jefferies Elizabeth
Published: April 2023

Language comprehension involves multiple hierarchical processing stages across time, space, and levels of representation. When processing a word, the sensory input is transformed into increasingly abstract representations that need to be integrated with the linguistic context. Thus, language comprehension involves both input-driven as well as context-dependent processes. While neuroimaging research has traditionally focused on mapping individual brain regions to the distinct underlying processes, recent studies indicate that whole-brain distributed patterns of cortical activation might be highly relevant for cognitive functions, including language. One such pattern, based on resting-state connectivity, is the ‘principal cortical gradient’, which dissociates sensory from heteromodal brain regions. The present study investigated the extent to which this gradient provides an organizational principle underlying language function, using a multimodal neuroimaging dataset of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings from 102 participants during sentence reading. We found that the brain response to individual representations of a word (word length, orthographic distance and word frequency), which reflect visual, orthographic, and lexical properties, gradually increases towards the sensory end of the gradient. Although these properties showed opposite effect directions in fMRI and MEG, their association with the sensory end of the gradient was consistent across both neuroimaging modalities. In contrast, MEG revealed that properties reflecting a word’s relation to its linguistic context (semantic similarity and position within the sentence) involve the heteromodal end of the gradient to a stronger extent. This dissociation between individual word and contextual properties was stable across earlier and later time windows during word presentation, indicating interactive processing of word representations and linguistic context at opposing ends of the principal gradient. To conclude, our findings indicate that the principal gradient underlies the organization of a range of linguistic representations while supporting a gradual distinction between context-independent and context-dependent representations. Furthermore, the gradient reveals convergent patterns across neuroimaging modalities (similar location along the gradient) in the presence of divergent responses (opposite effect directions).
Mycobacterium tuberculosisemploys atypical and different classes of B12switches to control separate operons
Authors: Kipkorir Terry , Polgar Peter , Barker Declan , D’Halluin Alexandre , Patel Zaynah , Arnvig Kristine B.
Published: April 2023

Vitamin B12(B12), an essential cofactor in all domains of life, is producedde novoby only a small subset of prokaryotes, but B12-sensing riboswitches are some of the most widely distributed riboswitches in bacteria.Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of the ongoing tuberculosis pandemic, encodes two distinct vitamin B12riboswitches. One controls the expression ofmetE, encoding a B12-independent methionine synthase, while the other is located upstream ofppe2,a PE/PPE family gene whose function is still unresolved. Here, we analyse ligand sensing, secondary structure architecture, and gene expression control mechanisms of these two riboswitches. Our results provide the first evidence of direct ligand binding bymetEandppe2riboswitches and show that the two switches exhibit different preferences for natural isoforms of B12, use distinct regulatory and structural elements, and act as translational OFF switches. Based on our results, we propose that theppe2switch represents a new Class IIc of B12-sensing riboswitches. Moreover, we have identified small translated open reading frames (uORFs) upstream of bothmetEandppe2, which modulate the expression of the respective downstream genes in opposite directions. Translation of themetEriboswitch uORF suppresses MetE expression, while translation of the uORF in theppe2switch is essential for PPE2 expression via the synthesis of a uORF-PPE2 fusion protein. In summary, our findings reveal an unexpected diversity and complexity of B12-dependentcis-regulation inM. tuberculosis, with potential implications for host-pathogen interactions.
Synthesis and crystal structure of catena-poly[[[aqua{2-[(E)-(1-cyano-2-imino-2-methoxyethylidene)hydrazinyl]benzenesulfonato}sodium]-di-μ-aqua] dihydrate]
Authors: Aliyeva Vusala A. , Aliyeva Fargana S. , Akkurt Mehmet , Yıldırım Sema Öztürk , Bhattarai Ajaya
Published: April 2023

In the polymeric title compound, {[Na(C10H9N4O4S)(H2O)3]·2H2O}
n
, sixfold coordinated Na+ cations are linked into a chain parallel to [010] by sharing common water molecules. Next to the four bridging water molecules, each Na+ cation of the chain is bonded to the O atom of a terminal water molecule and an O atom of the SO3
− group of the sulfonate anion. Classical O—H...O, O—H...N and N—H...O hydrogen bonds and additional π–π interactions connect these chains into a three-dimensional network.
When the leader carries your career: a serial mediation testing on the role of servant leadership in career competencies and career adaptability of followers
Authors: Samo Asif Hussain , Bughio Moomal Baig , Ahmed Quratulain Nazeer , Shah Muzafar Ali , Ahmed Shafique
Published: April 2023

Purpose

The literature on leadership is quite extensive; however, this study explains the impact of leadership styles on career success, career competence and career adaptability in the health sector. It explains the impact of servant leadership on career competence and career adaptability with a serial mediating impact of psychological safety and proactive behavior as well as self-efficacy and proactive behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

It is a quantitative study, and it tested the suggested model in hospitals in Pakistan. The data were collected from 310 health practitioners from the hospitals, and it was analyzed with partial least square structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings suggest that psychological safety and proactive behavior serially mediate the impact of servant leaders on career competence and career adaptability; hence, servant leadership tends to increase career competence and career adaptability of individuals. One more serial mediation has been tested with positive results between servant leadership and career competence and career adaptability.

Originality/value

The study takes a very well theoretically linked model which tests the serial mediating path of servant leadership to career competencies and career adaptability.
Food interests, preferences and behaviours: a profile of the sustainable food consumer
Authors: O'Neill Claire , McCarthy Mary Brigid , O'Reilly Seamus , Alfnes Frode
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Sustainability challenges are omnipresent. This study aims to identify consumer segments based on food consumption practices from purchasing to disposal. A priori work identified quality attributes, food responsibility, dietary choices and food organisation and management within the home as key influences. Each represents an opportunity for consumers to employ more sustainable food behaviours. A priori work identified several indicators for each of these influences. This study explored the suitability of these indicators for measuring the identified key influences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used an online survey of 324 Irish food consumers in January 2021 to address online food interests, purchasing preferences and purchase behaviour linked to food sustainability.

Findings

The authors identify four consumer segments – food dabblers, food appreciators, pro-sus and pressured – which present a holistic view of the sustainable behaviours practiced by food consumers. The findings provide insight into the range of sustainability-related food behaviours actioned by consumers – from interest in meat-free products, organics and local produce to having an organised stock at home and minimising waste. The findings shed light on how consumers integrate elements of sustainability into their food lifestyles.

Originality/value

This study captures sustainability-related food behaviours from the point of purchase through to consumption and disposal and identifies four new consumer segments based on interests, preferences and behaviours.
Ethical leadership and employee creativity among engineering employees: evidence from a developing economy
Authors: Tetteh Stephen , Dei Mensah Rebecca , Opata Christian Narh , Mensah Claudia Nyarko
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Based on the trait activation theory, the current study systematically integrates how autonomy interacts with proactivity to influence the relationship between ethical leadership style and employee creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

Using simple random sampling and questionnaires, a sample of 475 engineering employees of 3 leading telecommunication companies in Ghana were obtained. The analysis was done using structured equation modeling (SEM), using SmartPLS.

Findings

The results showed that ethical leadership style provides employees with job autonomy which facilitates individual creativity. Employee proactivity also moderates a positive relationship between autonomy and creativity such that high-proactive employees are well placed to produce more creative outcomes when given autonomy. At the individual level, personal characteristics determine the degree of creativity.

Practical implications

The current study implies that telecommunication companies should put in more efforts to train and encourage leaders to be ethical in leaders' dealings with employees and employees must be rewarded for taking initiative.

Originality/value

With a focus on the integrative approach from a developing economy, this work is novel in exploring how contextual and personal features impact creativity.
Knowledge management processes toward organizational performance – a knowledge-based view perspective: an analogy of emerging and developing economies
Authors: Sahibzada Umar Farooq , Mumtaz Ayesha
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Constructed upon knowledge-based view theory, this study investigates the influence of internal marketing (IM) on knowledge management (KM) processes in higher educational institutes (HEIs) in China and Pakistan. The study investigates the direct link between KM processes and organizational performance and indirect links via knowledge workers' productivity (KWP).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from HEIs in China and Pakistan, and 784 survey responses were reported from academic and administrative staff (HEIs).

Findings

The result revealed that IM has a significant impact on KM processes, and KM processes impact organizational performance via the partial mediating effect of KWP in China, Pakistan and the overall sample. The multi-group analysis confirmed the substantial differential effect of KM processes on KWP in culturally different HEIs.

Originality/value

A lack of research establishes the inter-relationship between KM enabler (IM), KM processes, KWP and organizational performance in culturally diverse environments. This is one of the initial studies that examine the relationship between IM, KM processes, KWP and organizational performance in HEIs. Furthermore, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by conducting an in-depth empirical examination of IM, KM processes, KWP and OP in culturally diverse environments (i.e. China and Pakistan).

Key Points

This research examines the influence of internal marketing (IM) on knowledge management (KM) processes by using knowledge workers' productivity (KWP) as a mediator between knowledge management (KM) and organizational performance.

Through the partly mediating effect of KWP, it was discovered that IM considerably influenced knowledge management processes and organizational performance in China, Pakistan and throughout the sample.

The multi-group analysis indicates that KMPs have a statistically significant influence on KWP.
Critical success factors for public–private partnerships in smart city infrastructure projects
Authors: Almarri Khalid , Boussabaine Halim
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Scaling up smart city infrastructure projects will require a large financial investment. Using public–private partnerships is one of the most effective ways to address budget constraints. Numerous factors have varying degrees of influence on the performance of Public private partnerships (PPP) projects; certain PPP factors are more crucial to the success of a smart city infrastructure project than others, and their influence can be greatly increased when they are fulfilled collectively. This study aims to find out what factors are unique to smart city PPP initiatives, as well as how these factors work together, so that successful smart city infrastructure PPP projects can be scaled up.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology included three sequential stages: identifying the critical success factors (CSF) of PPP for smart cities based on an extensive literature review, collecting data from a sample of 90 PPP practitioners using a Likert scale questionnaire and estimating interrelationships among the CSF and their emergent clusters using structural equation modelling.

Findings

The best fit model developed in this study demonstrated the significance of each factor and their interrelationships within their categories in enhancing the performance of PPPs in smart city infrastructure projects. Five categories of critical success factors for PPPs in smart city infrastructure projects have been established: partnership and collaboration; financial sustainability; contractual duties and outsourcing; smart integration; and contract governance.

Practical implications

The proposed model represented the causal interrelationships among relevant critical success factors derived from literature, which may help in directing the organization’s attention and resources to more critical areas, leading to the effective fulfilment of the smart city infrastructure project’s objectives. In addition to the theoretical and methodological contributions, this study produced a usable and readily adaptable list and clusters of critical success factors for research in the area of the implementation of PPP in smart city infrastructure projects.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to identify PPP critical success factors and their themed clusters for smart city infrastructure projects.
Returnee entrepreneurs’ effects on external and internal CSR in China: the moderating role of market embeddedness and government endorsement
Authors: Li Lun , Qi Jiguo , Li Jizhen
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Little attention has been given to the effects of returnee entrepreneurs on external and internal corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study aims to investigate whether returnee entrepreneurs engage in more external or internal CSR and to further explore the contingency effects of foreign market embeddedness and local government endorsement.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses 11,967 startups in China to examine the relationship between returnee entrepreneurs and external and internal CSR. The authors use an ordinary least square regression and propensity scoring matching approach to analyze the data.

Findings

The empirical results show that returnee entrepreneurs are more likely to undertake external CSR but less likely to undertake internal CSR. Foreign market embeddedness and local government endorsement have opposite moderating effects on these relationships.

Practical implications

This study has important implications for returnee entrepreneurs’ strategic choice between external and internal CSR and also provides theoretical support for policymakers to make effective and enforceable CSR policies.

Originality/value

This study discusses how returnee entrepreneurs implement external or internal CSR in China, answering the call to distinguish between external and internal CSR. Drawing on a legitimacy perspective, the authors find interesting and seemingly counterintuitive effects of returnees on external and internal CSR, which also necessitates distinguishing between these two types of CSR. In addition, the authors find different moderating roles of foreign market embeddedness and local government endorsement.
Barcelona hotel employees and their conception of fair work. An exploratory study
Authors: Crespi-Vallbona Montserrat , Noguer-Juncà Ester , Louzao Nuria , Coromina Lluís
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5 and 8, respectively, indicate that decent work and gender equality are challenges that business organizations must face in order to achieve the social well-being and sustainable development of communities. Considering these goals, the present article aims to define the concept of fair work and examine the current degree of knowledge among staff in the hotel sector in Barcelona about the indicators of the Fair Labor Responsible Hotels (HJLR) certification.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed methodology is used to analyze the primary data. A survey of 248 employees is complemented by nine semi-structured interviews with experts, general managers and heads of department of independently owned hotels and national and international chains.

Findings

The results show that this certification is necessary for the economic and social sustainability of the hospitality sector and to raise awareness that fair work is an urgent need. However, these currently tend to be little more than artificial actions.

Originality/value

The paper aims to emphasize the perspective of real actors in hotel industry about the actors' considerations of fair work to enhance the actors' job involvement and satisfaction.
Sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces: the case of Japanese call centres
Authors: Sato Hidenori , Oki Kiyohiro
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the consequences of middle managers’ sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces, where middle managers are given insufficient resources because of receiving low attention from top management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a case study of three call centres in the Japanese non-life insurance industry. To collect data, the authors conducted interviews with ten stakeholders and made multiple field observations.

Findings

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as their top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

Originality/value

First, this study contributes to the body of research on the effects of sensegiving on organisational change. It shows the new problems hidden behind organisational change, which existing research merely regards as independent successes. Second, this study identifies middle managers’ behaviour during organisational change in neglected workplaces. Instead of focusing on the factors necessary for successful organisational change, as in existing studies, this study extends the knowledge of the role of middle managers in organisational change by focusing on their behaviours when success factors are not aligned.
Government support, employee motivation and job performance in the COVID-19 times: evidence from Turkish SMEs during the short work period
Authors: Uzkurt Cevahir , Ceyhan Semih , Ekmekcioglu Emre Burak , Akpinar Musab Talha
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the effect of government support (short work allowances – SWA) on SME employees' job performance and employee motivation perceptions, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from 2,781 employees working in SMEs registered to Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (SMEDO) in Turkey. The relationships were assessed through structural equation modeling with bootstrap estimation.

Findings

The results support the proposed framework illustrating the positive effect of government support on employees' perceived motivation and job performance. Findings indicate that employee motivation has exhibited a mediating effect between government support and job performance. Another important finding is that, contrary to the classical understanding of Herzberg's two-factor theory, SWA system was able to perform as a motivating factor during the pandemic by meeting the hygiene needs.

Research limitations/implications

Since this is a cross-sectional research study, causal inferences cannot be derived from the research results.

Originality/value

There is a lack of empirical study on SME employees' perceptions on the government support during the pandemic, especially on the perspectives of emerging economies are infrequent. Turkey's case is unique in terms of providing insights on how perceived employee motivation is increased by the government supports (SWA) in Turkey, and how this motivation mediates the job performance perceptions. Besides, the impacts of government support are mostly studied at the firm or macro-levels, this study's unit of analysis is at individual level. Regarding the criticism from the motivation perspective of two-factor theory, COVID-19 context and its impact on the motivation needs have not been elaborated before. This article starts new discussions on how crisis contexts influence individual motivator factors.