bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Insights into energy balance dysregulation from a mouse model of methylmalonic aciduria
Authors: Lucienne Marie , Gerlini Raffaele , Rathkolb Birgit , Calzada-Wack Julia , Forny Patrick , Wueest Stephan , Kaech Andres , Traversi Florian , Forny Merima , Bürer Céline , Aguilar-Pimentel Antonio , Irmler Martin , Beckers Johannes , Sauer Sven , Kölker Stefan , Dewulf Joseph P. , Bommer Guido T. , Hoces Daniel , Gailus-Durner Valerie , Fuchs Helmut , Rozman Jan , Froese D Sean , Baumgartner Matthias R. , de Angelis Martin Hrabě
Published: December 2021

Inherited disorders of mitochondrial metabolism, including isolated methylmalonic aciduria (MMAuria), present unique challenges to energetic homeostasis by disrupting energy producing pathways. To better understand global responses to energy shortage, we investigated a hemizygous mouse model of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (Mmut) type MMAuria. We found Mmut mutant mice to have reduced appetite, energy expenditure and body mass compared to littermate controls, along with a relative reduction in lean mass but increase in fat mass. Brown adipose tissue showed a process of whitening, in line with lower body surface temperature and lesser ability to cope with cold challenge. Mutant mice had dysregulated plasma glucose, delayed glucose clearance and a lesser ability to regulate energy sources when switching from the fed to fasted state, while liver investigations indicated metabolite accumulation and altered expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and Fgf21-controlled pathways. Together, these indicate hypometabolism, energetic inflexibility and increased stores at the expense of active tissue as energy shortage consequences.
Thymosin β4 preserves vascular smooth muscle phenotype in atherosclerosis via regulation of Low Density Lipoprotein Related Protein 1 (LRP1)
Authors: Munshaw Sonali , Redpath Andia , Pike Benjamin , Smart Nicola
Published: December 2021

Objective

Atherosclerosis is a progressive, degenerative vascular disease and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. In response to endothelial damage, platelet derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB induced phenotypic modulation of medial smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) promotes atherosclerotic lesion formation and destabilisation of the vessel wall. VSMC sensitivity to PDGF-BB is determined by endocytosis of Low density lipoprotein receptor related protein 1 (LRP1)-PDGFRβ complexes to balance receptor recycling with lysosomal degradation. Consequently, LRP1 is implicated in various arterial diseases. Having identified Tβ4 as a regulator of LRP1-mediated endocytosis to protect against aortic aneurysm, we sought to determine whether Tβ4 may additionally function to protect against atherosclerosis, by regulating LRP1-mediated growth factor signalling.

Approach and Results

By single cell transcriptomic analysis, Tmsb4x, encoding Tβ4, strongly correlated with contractile gene expression and was significantly down-regulated in cells that adopted a modulated phenotype in atherosclerosis. We assessed susceptibility to atherosclerosis of global Tβ4 knockout mice using the ApoE-/- hypercholesterolaemia model. Inflammation, elastin integrity, VSMC phenotype and signalling were analysed in the aortic root and descending aorta. Tβ4KO; ApoE-/- mice develop larger atherosclerotic plaques than control mice, with medial layer degeneration characterised by accelerated VSMC phenotypic modulation. Defects in Tβ4KO; ApoE-/- mice phenocopied those in VSMC-specific LRP1 nulls and, moreover, were underpinned by hyperactivated LRP1-PDGFRβ signalling.

Conclusions

We identify an atheroprotective role for endogenous Tβ4 in maintaining differentiated VSMC phenotype via LRP1-mediated PDGFRβ signalling.
Rapid and efficient adaptation of the dTAG system in mammalian development reveals stage specific requirements of NELF
Authors: Abuhashem Abderhman , Hadjantonakis Anna-Katerina
Published: December 2021

Targeted protein degradation methods offer a unique avenue to assess a protein’s function in a variety of model systems. Recently, these approaches have been applied to mammalian cell culture models, enabling unprecedented temporal control of protein function. However, the efficacy of these systems at the tissue and organismal levels in vivo is not well established. Here, we tested the functionality of the degradation tag (dTAG) degron system in mammalian development. We generated a homozygous knock-in mouse with a FKBPF36V tag fused to Negative elongation factor b (Nelfb) locus, a ubiquitously expressed protein regulator of transcription. In the first validation of targeted endogenous protein degradation across mammalian development, we demonstrate that irrespective of the route of administration the dTAG system is safe, rapid, and efficient in embryos from the zygote to midgestation stages. Additionally, acute early depletion of NELFB revealed a specific role in zygote-to-2-cell development and Zygotic Genome Activation (ZGA).

HIGHLIGHTS

genetically engineered mouse model harboring a FKBPF36V knock-in to evaluate kinetics and efficacy of the dTAG degron system in vivo

system is non-toxic, and allows acute and efficient degradation of a FKBPF36V- tagged endogenous protein during in utero embryo development

system nables fine temporal degradation and reversibility of depletion across embryonic stages

stage-specific depletion reveals a role for NELFB during mouse ZGA
Rolling Circle RNA Synthesis Catalysed by RNA
Authors: Kristoffersen Emil Laust , Burman Matthew , Noy Agnes , Holliger Philipp
Published: December 2021

RNA-catalysed RNA replication is widely considered a key step in the emergence of life’s first genetic system. However, RNA replication can be impeded by the extraordinary stability of duplex RNA products, which must be dissociated for re-initiation of the next replication cycle. Here we have explored rolling circle synthesis (RCS) as a potential solution to this strand separation problem. RCS on small circular RNAs - as indicated by molecular dynamics simulations - induces a progressive build-up of conformational strain with destabilisation of nascent strand 5’ and 3’ ends. At the same time, we observe sustained RCS by a triplet polymerase ribozyme on small circular RNAs over multiple orbits with strand displacement yielding concatemeric RNA products. Furthermore, we show RCS of a circular Hammerhead ribozyme capable of self-cleavage and re-circularisation. Thus, all steps of a viroid-like RNA replication pathway can be catalysed by RNA alone. Our results have implications for the emergence of RNA replication and for understanding the potential of RNA to support complex genetic processes.
Microglial MorphOMICs unravel region- and sex-dependent morphological phenotypes from postnatal development to degeneration
Authors: Colombo Gloria , Cubero Ryan John A. , Kanari Lida , Venturino Alessandro , Schulz Rouven , Scolamiero Martina , Agerberg Jens , Mathys Hansruedi , Tsai Li-Huei , Chachólski Wojciech , Hess Kathryn , Siegert Sandra
Published: December 2021

Microglia contribute to tissue homeostasis in physiological conditions with environmental cues influencing their ever-changing morphology. Strategies to identify these changes usually involve user-selected morphometric features, which, however, have proved ineffective in establishing a spectrum of context-dependent morphological phenotypes. Here, we have developed MorphOMICs, a topological data analysis approach to overcome feature-selection-based biases and biological variability. We extracted a spatially heterogeneous and sexually-dimorphic morphological phenotype for seven adult brain regions, with ovariectomized females forming their own distinct cluster. This sex-specific phenotype declines with maturation but increases over the disease trajectories in two neurodegeneration models, 5xFAD and CK-p25. Females show an earlier morphological shift in the immediately-affected brain regions. Finally, we demonstrate that both the primary- and the short terminal processes provide distinct insights to morphological phenotypes. MorphOMICs maps microglial morphology into a spectrum of cue-dependent phenotypes in a minimally-biased and semi-automatic way.
Detecting DNA of novel fungal pathogens using ResNets and a curated fungi-hosts data collection
Authors: Bartoszewicz Jakub M. , Nasri Ferdous , Nowicka Melania , Renard Bernhard Y.
Published: December 2021

Background

Emerging pathogens are a growing threat, but large data collections and approaches for predicting the risk associated with novel agents are limited to bacteria and viruses. Pathogenic fungi, which also pose a constant threat to public health, remain understudied. Relevant data remains comparatively scarce and scattered among many different sources, hindering the development of sequencing-based detection workflows for novel fungal pathogens. No prediction method working for agents across all three groups is available, even though the cause of an infection is often difficult to identify from symptoms alone.

Results

We present a curated collection of fungal host range data, comprising records on human, animal and plant pathogens, as well as other plant-associated fungi, linked to publicly available genomes. We show that it can be used to predict the pathogenic potential of novel fungal species directly from DNA sequences with either sequence homology or deep learning. We develop learned, numerical representations of the collected genomes and visualize the landscape of fungal pathogenicity. Finally, we train multi-class models predicting if next-generation sequencing reads originate from novel fungal, bacterial or viral threats.

Conclusions

The neural networks trained using our data collection enable accurate detection of novel fungal pathogens. A curated set of over 1,400 genomes with host and pathogenicity metadata supports training of machine learning models and sequence comparison, not limited to the pathogen detection task.

Availability

The data, models and code are hosted at https://zenodo.org/record/5846345, https://zenodo.org/record/5711877, and https://gitlab.com/dacs-hpi/deepac.
Functional analysis of the polar amino acid in the TatA transmembrane helix
Authors: Hao Binhan , Zhou Wenjie , Theg Steven M.
Published: December 2021

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway utilizes the proton-motive force (pmf) to transport folded proteins across cytoplasmic membranes in bacteria and archaea, as well as across the thylakoid membrane in plants and the inner membrane in mitochondria. In most species, the minimal components required for Tat activity consist of three subunits, TatA, TatB, and TatC. Previous studies have shown that a polar amino acid is present at the N-terminus of the TatA transmembrane helix (TMH) across many different species. In order to systematically assess the functional importance of this polar amino acid in the TatA TMH in Escherichia coli, a complete set of 19-amino-acid substitutions was examined. Unexpectedly, although being preferred overall, our experiments suggest that the polar amino acid is not necessary for a functional TatA. Hydrophobicity and helix stabilizing properties of this polar amino acid were found to be highly correlated with the Tat activity. Specifically, change in charge status of the amino acid side chain due to pH resulted in a shift in hydrophobicity, which was demonstrated to impact the Tat transport activity. Furthermore, a four-residue motif at the N-terminus of the TatA TMH was identified by sequence alignment. Using a biochemical approach, the N-terminal motif was found to be functionally significant, with evidence indicating a potential role in the preference for utilizing different pmf components. Taken together, these findings yield new insights into the functionality of TatA and its potential role in the Tat transport mechanism.
Heterogeneous Tissue Modulus Improved Prediction of Mechanical Behavior in Osteoporotic Vertebral Cancellous Bone
Authors: Cox Jason M. , Smith Joshua D. , van der Meulen Marjolein C. H. , Cole Jacqueline H.
Published: December 2021

The structural integrity of cancellous bone, which is essential to its skeletal load-bearing capacity, is governed chiefly by apparent density, trabecular architecture, and tissue material properties. Metabolic bone disorders such as osteoporosis can affect each of these factors, resulting in compromised load-bearing function and fracture. While the impact of apparent density and architecture on bone structural behavior is well-documented, much less is known about the influence of tissue material properties, particularly in osteoporotic bone. In this work, we isolated the influence of tissue modulus on normal and osteoporotic cancellous bone structural integrity, indicated by the apparent elastic modulus under uniaxial compression and patterns of internal tissue strain. Finite element (FE) models derived from 3D micro-computed tomography images were compared to physical testing data of the same samples. Three sets of FE models with increasing material detail were studied: 1) universal tissue elastic modulus (20 GPa), 2) specimen-specific average tissue modulus, and 3) heterogeneous tissue modulus. Applying a universal modulus resulted in overestimation of osteoporotic bone apparent modulus; applying specimen-specific material properties, either as a single average tissue modulus or heterogeneous distribution of tissue moduli, prevented significant apparent modulus overestimation. The greatest improvement in apparent modulus prediction resulted from incorporating a specimen-specific average tissue modulus, though using a specimen-specific heterogeneous tissue modulus provided the most reliable prediction of apparent modulus overall. In addition, median element strain in heterogeneous models also trended lower than in homogeneous models. This finding suggests that heterogeneous material properties may play a role in protective strain-concentrating mechanisms observed in cancellous bone. We conclude that future work exploring trabecular bone mechanics through finite element analysis should incorporate specimen-specific average tissue modulus at a minimum, but heterogeneous tissue modulus is recommended to maximize the functional similarity of boneinsilico with bonein vivo.
Structural predictions of the SNX-RGS proteins suggest they belong to a new class of lipid transfer proteins
Authors: Paul Blessy , Weeratunga Saroja , Tillu Vikas A. , Hariri Hanaa , Henne W. Mike , Collins Brett M.
Published: December 2021

Recent advances in protein structure prediction using machine learning such as AlphaFold2 and RosettaFold presage a revolution in structural biology. Genome-wide predictions of protein structures are providing unprecedented insights into their architecture and intradomain interactions, and applications have already progressed towards assessing protein complex formation. Here we present detailed analyses of the sorting nexin proteins that contain regulator of G-protein signalling domains (SNX-RGS proteins), providing a key example of the ability of AlphaFold2 to reveal novel structures with previously unsuspected biological functions. These large proteins are conserved in most eukaryotes and are known to associate with lipid droplets (LDs) and sites of LD-membrane contacts, with key roles in regulating lipid metabolism. They possess five domains, including an N-terminal transmembrane domain that anchors them to the endoplasmic reticulum, an RGS domain, a lipid interacting phox homology (PX) domain and two additional domains named the PXA and PXC domains of unknown structure and function. Here we report the crystal structure of the RGS domain of sorting nexin 25 (SNX25) and show that the AlphaFold2 prediction closely matches the experimental structure. Analysing the full-length SNX-RGS proteins across multiple homologues and species we find that the distant PXA and PXC domains in fact fold into a single unique structure that notably features a large and conserved hydrophobic pocket. The nature of this pocket strongly suggests a role in lipid or fatty acid binding, and we propose that these molecules represent a new class of conserved lipid transfer proteins.
Image recognition based on deep learning in Haemonchus contortus motility assays
Authors: Žofka Martin , Nguyen Linh Thuy , Mašátová Eva , Matoušková Petra
Published: December 2021

Poor efficacy of some anthelmintics and rising concerns about the widespread drug resistance have highlighted the need for new drug discovery. The parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus is an important model organism widely used for studies of drug resistance and drug screening with the current gold standard being the motility assay. We applied a deep learning approach Mask R-CNN for analysing motility videos containing varying rates of motile worms and compared it to other commonly used algorithms with different levels of complexity, namely the Wiggle Index and the Wide Field-of-View Nematode Tracking Platform. Mask R-CNN consistently outperformed the other algorithms in terms of the detection of worms as well as the precision of motility forecasts, having a mean absolute percentage error of 7.6% and a mean absolute error of 5.6% for the detection and motility forecasts, respectively. Using Mask R-CNN for motility assays confirmed the common problem with algorithms that use non-maximum suppression in detecting overlapping objects, which negatively impacts the overall precision. The use of intersect over union as a measure of the classification of motile / non-motile instances had an overall accuracy of 89%, indicating that it is a viable alternative to previously used methods based on movement characteristics, such as body bends. In comparison to the existing methods evaluated here, Mask R-CNN performed better and we anticipate that this method will broaden the number of possible approaches to video analysis of worm motility.
Neighborhood micro-renewal: a perspective of gene in China
Authors: Zhao Guochao , Yu Xiaofen , Zhang Juanfeng , Li Wenxia , Wu Peiyi
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Improvement of the environment quality and human development has become the main focus of modern urban development. Micro-renewal is a relatively people-oriented model of urban transformation compared with traditional renewal modes. To improve the theoretical system of neighborhood micro-renewal from a microcosmic perspective, a comprehensive analysis of neighborhood residents' cognition is needed. The purpose of the study is to explore the possibilities and methods of applying gene theory into the study of neighborhood micro-renewal.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the meme theory, the research explores the genetic analysis of neighborhood micro-renewal. The cross-over studies with “gene theory” from natural science to social science are analyzed and the neighborhood micro-renewal system was constructed from the perspective of micro-participants and micro-objects. Moreover, the concept of neighborhood “micro-renewal gene” was put forward. Finally, the authors show three application scenarios of public participation with a specific neighborhood micro-renewal project.

Findings

The cross research on urban studies with gene theory could be divided into three scales and four research fields. The characteristics of carrying out neighborhood micro-renewal in China could be summarized as micro-participants and micro-objects. Residents' cognition could be considered as “micro-renewal gene” in refer to meme theory. The application scenarios of introducing “micro-renewal gene” into the study of neighborhood renewal are of great potentialities.

Originality/value

Neighborhood micro-renewal system was constructed from the perspective of micro-participants and micro-objects. Moreover, neighborhood “micro-renewal gene” was proposed and applied into the study of this system in refer to meme theory.
Cascading vulnerability analysis of unsafe behaviors of construction workers from the perspective of network modeling
Authors: Duan Pinsheng , Zhou Jianliang
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The construction industry is an industry with a high incidence of safety accidents, and the interactions of unsafe behaviors of construction workers are the main cause of accidents. The neglect of the interactions may lead to serious underestimation of safety risks. This research aims to analyze the cascading vulnerability of unsafe behaviors of construction workers from the perspective of network modeling.

Design/methodology/approach

An unsafe behavior network of construction workers and a cascading vulnerability analysis model were established based on 296 actual accident cases. The cascading vulnerability of each unsafe behavior was analyzed based on the degree attack strategy.

Findings

Complex network with 85 unsafe behavior nodes is established based on the collected accidents in total. The results showed that storing in improper location, does not wear a safety helmet, working with illness and working after drinking are unsafe behaviors with high cascading vulnerability. Coupling analysis revealed that differentiated management strategies of unsafe behaviors should be applied. Besides, more focus should be put on high cascading vulnerability behaviors.

Originality/value

This research proposed a method to construct the cascading failure model of unsafe behavior for individual construction workers. The key parameters of the cascading failure model of unsafe behaviors of construction workers were determined, which could provide a reference for the research of cascading failure of unsafe behaviors. Additionally, a dynamic vulnerability research framework based on complex network theory was proposed to analyze the cascading vulnerability of unsafe behaviors. The research synthesized the results of dynamic and static analysis and found the key control nodes to systematically control unsafe construction behaviors.
Selecting the field hospital location for earthquakes: an application for Ankara Province in Turkey
Authors: Barutcu Inanç , Ic Yusuf Tansel
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The authors present a location selection model for the field hospital to build after a possible earthquake in Ankara, Turkey using the VIKOR method.

Design/methodology/approach

Companies or governments that make location selection decisions to improve their performance in new investment decisions for different service industries. On the other hand, disasters, especially earthquakes, force the governments to evaluate their existing potentialities and develop action plans to improve their middle and long-term preparations. This paper proposes a VIKOR method-based location selection model for the field hospital to build after a possible earthquake. Also, the authors present a methodology using the VIKOR method that how government agencies take action for the field hospital's location selection process via VIKOR methodology.

Findings

The modeling and application results show that the field hospital's location selection decision-making process improves considerably using the VIKOR model. This paper shows that the proposed VIKOR-based model can rank alternatives suitability at various criteria targeting to minimize the possible earthquake's impact and obtains a single overall ranking score to select the best alternative.

Research limitations/implications

The study does not consider the uncertain nature of the field hospital selection problem. The application part is restricted to the Ankara case. But the proposed model can easily extend for different locations in the world.

Originality/value

This paper presents the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework study of the establishment of field hospitals and demonstrates its importance when criteria diversity is restricted.
Unemployment and its scarring effect on wages in Germany: evidence from linked employer-employee data
Authors: Jost Oskar
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Assess and compare scarring effects of unemployment in Germany to other countries and to consider firm heterogeneity.

Design/methodology/approach

The author uses linked employer-employee data to analyze the effect of unemployment and its duration on future wages in Germany. Using administrative data on workers and firms in Germany and considering registered and unregistered unemployment episodes, the results show long-lasting wage losses caused by unemployment incidences. Furthermore, the estimations indicate that unemployment duration as well as selectivity into firms paying lower wages is of particular relevance for the explanation of wage penalties of re-employed workers.

Findings

Unemployment causes massive and persistent wage declines in the future, which depend on the unemployment duration. Furthermore, reduced options of unemployed workers and selectivity in firms contribute to a large part of unemployment scarring.

Practical implications

Findings are relevant for current debates on unemployment and can help design measures to avoid huge costs of unemployment.

Originality/value

This paper analyses long-term unemployment scarring by considering not only unemployment duration but also selectivity in firms and its effect on the scarring effect.
Economic study on the export of cape gooseberry produced by Colombian indigenous communities in post-conflict areas to Spain and Europe
Authors: Gomez Ligia , Duran Julian , Tobasura Isaias
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to estimate and analyze the production and export viability of organic cape gooseberry to Spain, cultivated by indigenous communities in post-conflict areas.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on interviews with indigenous people who grow organic cape gooseberry in post-conflict areas and information from official platforms, the data are systematized, and a matrix of costs, expenses, productivity and income from the production and export of Cape gooseberry is calculated. Financial indicators of profitability are calculated: net profit, net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). Finally, with a regression model, the trend of the behavior of the quantity and cost of Cape gooseberry exports from Colombia to Europe and Spain is estimated.

Findings

The production and export of organic cape gooseberry is profitable for indigenous communities in post-conflict areas, favored by a special price on the European market and by the use of family labor in cultivation, which improves the profitability of the product. Because of these factors, it is likely to become an alternative to partially replace illicit crops in post-conflict areas.

Research limitations/implications

This research was carried out in conflict areas, so conducting interviews in that territory put the integrity of the researchers at risk.

Originality/value

Studies known about organic cape gooseberry production reveal the benefits of the fruit for human health, but not the viability of production and export to Spain. This study demonstrates the financial viability of the production and export of cape gooseberry grown by indigenous people and therefore constitutes an alternative for substituting illicit crops.
Multicriteria decision-making to support preventive maintenance of built heritage in the historic center of Sobral, Brazil
Authors: Olimpio Luiz Carlos Magalhães , Campos Vanessa Ribeiro , Mesquita Esequiel Fernandes Teixeira
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The study aims to identify and evaluate relevant criteria in the proposal and support of public administration policies for preventive maintenance comprised in a conservation approach to built heritage and aligned with local sustainable development of the historic center of the city of Sobral, in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel multicriteria decision model adopting the Bayesian best-worst method is presented and its application and results are described. Though a systematic procedure, criteria were selected in order to protect the tangible and intangible values of cultural heritage, as well as its sustainable development. Then experts evaluate these criteria through an elicitation instrument.

Findings

The results show that for the decision problem over preventive maintenance, social contribution and historical record of built heritage are more important than its structural vulnerability, while architecture is less relevant. Due to the low restrictions, the subcriterion related to this property has the least influence. The weights can assist in the characterization of measures and policies for the protection of the built cultural heritage.

Originality/value

The use of a novel decision-making method in cultural heritage is an important initiative, given the frequent use of simple and inefficient methods. The identified and weighted criteria are important data to characterize the scenario and the topic. The results contribute to protection and development of the built heritage, encouraging the implementation of preventive conservation in the historic center, conferring to the public administration valuable information to support and propose initiatives.
Supplier management by distributing orders among new and existing suppliers: the methodology and its application to a fast fashion company
Authors: Acar Alagoz Betul , Testik Murat Caner , Dinler Derya
Published: December 2021

Purpose

This study aims to create a reliable, collaborative and sustainable business environment with suppliers of a company for providing high-quality and low-cost products on time. A supplier management system that sustains existing suppliers by sharing work based on systematic performance evaluation while developing the supplier base with potential suppliers is proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

Built on quantitative approaches, supplier management functions are integrated in the designed system. A quantitative strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis is adapted for evaluating potential suppliers. A multi-objective integer linear programming (ILP) model is developed for the distribution of orders among selected potential and existing suppliers. A performance evaluation scheme based on an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) is proposed to evaluate and monitor suppliers' performance over time.

Findings

Proposed system develops a supplier base by methodically selecting and approving new suppliers, and a sustainable relationship with both new and existing suppliers is established based on performance over time. Decisions on retaining or removing suppliers from the base are objectively made by quantitative evaluations. Orders are fairly distributed among suppliers under the constraints imposed by the management. Dependence on a certain set of suppliers and its associated risks are reduced while agility in offering goods is enabled.

Originality/value

Business processes for selecting new suppliers, distributing orders among all suppliers, evaluating and monitoring performance over time are quantitatively integrated to add value in operational decision-making. The proposed system is original in the holistic approach for managing and sustaining multiple suppliers of a company based on performance.
Police stops, suspicion and the influence of police department cultures: a look into the Belgian context
Authors: Saudelli Inès , De Kimpe Sofie , Christiaens Jenneke
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how suspicion that leads to a police stop is developed by police officers in Belgium, and the way in which police department culture influences the creation of suspicion.

Design/methodology/approach

The data on which this article is based are the result of an ethnographic study within two local Belgian police forces. In total, the researcher has observed for a total amount of 750 h the day-to-day practices of police officers in different police services. Next to that, 37 in-depth interviews were taken from police officers employed in the same services that participated in the observations.

Findings

While the creation of suspicion in a police officer's mind is a complex process that is influenced by various factors such as the individual characteristics of the police officer and the applicable legislation, the impact of police department culture is equally important and can be responsible for maintaining discriminatory and stereotypical mindsets.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper lies in the fact that it offers insight into the Belgian police stop practice, a topic about which not much is known on an international level. In addition, it also focuses on the role of departmental cultures in the actions of police officers.
Let's play with emojis! How to make emojis more effective in social media advertising using promocodes and temporal orientation
Authors: Huang Xiao , Kader Mohammad Shahidul , Kim Seeun
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The authors aim to examine how the construal level, either as an individual temporal orientation or temporal distance of promotion, moderates the effects of emojis' emotional intensity on consumers' purchase intentions in social media advertising.

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments are used to test four hypotheses.

Findings

The results of two experimental studies show that present-oriented participants reveal greater purchase intentions when low (vs high) emotionally intense emojis are embedded in a social media ad; but future-oriented consumers showed no difference when viewing ads with the two different emojis. In Study 2, participants indicate greater purchase intentions when a social media ad includes a distant-future promocode and high (vs low) emotionally intense emojis and an ad with a near-future promocode and low (vs high) emotionally intense emojis.

Originality/value

The current study advances our understanding how emojis with different emotional intensities can be effectively used in social media ads. This study also provides theoretical implications to construal level theory (CLT) by examining how emojis interact with construal level, either as a chronic tendency or simulated by psychological distance, can influence consumer response.
A new trust management framework based on the experience of users in industrial cloud computing using multi-criteria decision making
Authors: Khoruzhy Liudmila Ivanovna , Petrovich Bulyga Roman , Yuryevna Voronkova Olga , Vasyutkina Lidia Vladimirovna , Ryafikovna Saenko Natalya , Leonidovich Poltarykhin Andrey , Aravindhan Surendar
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Nowadays, cloud platforms are used in many fields, including e-commerce, web applications, data storage, healthcare, gaming, mobile social networks, etc. However, security and privacy are still two significant concerns in this area. The target of this paper is to present a system for trust management in industrial cloud computing using the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach. MCDM techniques have been developed to accommodate a wide range of applications. As a result, hundreds of approaches have been generated with even minor variations on current approaches spawning new study fields.

Design/methodology/approach

Cloud computing provides a fully scalable, accessible and flexible computing platform for various applications. Due to the multiple applications that cloud computing has found in numerous life features, users and providers have considered providing security in cloud communications. Due to its distributive nature, dynamic space and lack of transparency in performing cloud computing, it faces many challenges in providing security. For security improvement, trust management can play a very influential role. This paper proposes a generic analytical methodology that uses a series of assessment criteria to evaluate current trust management testing prototypes in industrial cloud computing and related fields. The authors utilize a MCDM approach in the present article. Due to the multi-dimensionality of the sustainability objective and the complexities of socio-economic and biophysical processes, MCDM approaches have become progressively common in decision-making for sustainable energy.

Findings

The results of comparing and evaluating the performance of this model show its ability to manage trust and the ability to adapt to changes in the behavior of service providers quickly. Using a simulation, all results are confirmed. The results of simulations and evaluation of the present paper indicate that the proposed model provides a more accurate evaluation of the credibility of cloud service providers than other models.

Practical implications

The number of cloud services and customers is vast and extremely competitive in cloud environments, where novel cloud services and customers can join at any time, while others can withdraw whenever they want. Because of cloud services' highly dynamic and dispersed design, trust management mechanisms must be highly flexible to obtain feedback and update trust outcomes as quickly as possible. The model presented in this article tries to improve users' trust in the cloud industry.

Originality/value

Using a method (MCDM) to find the best trust management solution based on user experience in industrial cloud computing is the novelty of this paper.
Anthropology and blockchain
Authors: Kosmarski Artyom , Gordiychuk Nikolay
Published: December 2021

Blockchain and its related technologies break away from the contemporary dystopian imaginaries of control and exploitation endemic in IT. This editorial considers the relevance of blockchain for anthropologists, why they should care, and what the technology brings. After sketching the evolution of blockchain, we draw attention to its potential as a playground – a plethora of projects reimagining and remaking the basic stuff of political economy, including the meaning of money, collectivities, exchange and voting. Blockchain's utility for rethinking the basic rules of the game in academia also deserves attention.
Towards fully automated investing? How venture capitalists are making the economic future old‐fashioned
Authors: Lenhard Johannes
Published: December 2021

Finance is increasingly datafied and automated. Anthropologists (and sociologists) have worked towards a nuanced understanding of how investing remains social and driven by people despite this observable development. My research with venture capitalists – equity investors in technology startups behind companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and so on – shows a more extreme case. They are still investing the ‘old‐school’ way, driven exclusively by Keynesian animal spirits of gut feeling, herding and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). This resistance to datafication is in their own best interest as it allows them to reproduce themselves as an elite industry and the economic inequality in the startups they fund.
Was Allyn Young a Marshallian?
Authors: Chandra Ramesh
Published: December 2021

This paper argues that although Allyn Young was influenced by Alfred Marshall, he was an original economic thinker in his own right. The objective of this paper is to bring out their similarities as well as differences. This theoretical comparison will throw light on questions such as whether increasing returns are microeconomic or macroeconomic or whether they arise due to economies of scale at the firm level or are due to other factors. Marshall and Young had many similarities like both had an evolutionary perspective towards society, both had a process view of competition, both had almost common views on the method of economics and both saw economics as useful in solving practical problems. However, while Marshall emphasised statics (by assuming ceteris paribus) and analysed change mostly at the microeconomic level, Young emphasised disequilibrium and had a generalised conception of increasing returns.
Biological effect of two plant extracts against house flies (Musca domestica L.) as a sustainable approach for vector disease control
Authors: Alghamdi Tariq Saeed
Published: December 2021

The house fly, Musca domestica (L.) has a worldwide distribution and acts as a source of nuisance and a common vector for several diseases in humans and livestock. The present study aimed to investigate the biological activity of plant extracts (Juniperus procera and Ficus palmata) along with their synthesized silver nanoparticle (AgNP) solutions against the second larval stage of house flies. Larval bioassay experiments were conducted using feeding and dipping methods at various concentrations. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by visual observation, UV–visible and FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed biochemical effects of the tested extracts on the treated larvae and different growth stages of the house fly. Using the feeding and dipping methods, the concentration required to inhibit 50% of the adult fly emergence (IC50 value) was 2.62% and 4.19% with J. procera and 0.71% and 1.29% with F. palmata, respectively. The crude extracts mixed with silver nanoparticles showed significantly decreased IC50 values at 1.09% and 1.23% for J. procera and 0.32% and 0.45% for F. palmata using the feeding and dipping methods, respectively. Further, the feeding method with both crude extracts showed about 1.60 and 1.80 times more effective control against the larval stages compared to that in case of the dipping method. In addition, the F. palmata extract was about 3.66 and 3.20‐fold more effective against flies compared to J. procera using the feeding and dipping method, respectively. Overall, this study suggests using of the tested extracts of plants as promising biological agents and safe options for sustainable pest management.
Head and neck cancers: Monitoring quality and reporting outcomes
Authors: Chilkuri Madhavi , Vangaveti Venkat , Smith Justin
Published: December 2021

Introduction

Head and neck cancers (HNC) require high level multidisciplinary care to achieve optimal outcomes. Reporting of quality indicators (QIs) has been instigated by some health services in an effort to improve quality of care. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of care provided to patients with HNC at a single institution by analysing compliance with QIs and to explore the feasibility and utility of collecting this data.

Methods

This was a single institution retrospective chart review of all patients with squamous cell HNC at Townsville Hospital who were treated with curative intent between June 2011 and June 2019. Data was entered into a RedCap database and then exported to Stata V16 for analysis.

Results

A total of 537 patients were included in the overall study, with six patients who had a synchronous non‐HNC and two patients who received previous radiotherapy (RT) to the head and neck region excluded from the outcome analysis. Overall, compliance with pre‐treatment, treatment and post‐treatment QIs was high, with the exception of smoking cessation support (66%), post‐treatment dental review and time to post‐operative RT (33% of patients within 6 weeks). The 5‐year overall survival was 69.4% (CI; 64–73.2%). The cumulative incidence of locoregional relapse for the overall study cohort was 18% (CI; 14.8–21.4%).

Conclusion

Collecting and evaluating quality metrics is feasible and helps identify areas for improvement. Centres treating HNC patients should strive towards monitoring quality against benchmarks and demonstrate transparency in outcome data.
A generalizable speech emotion recognition model reveals depression and remission
Authors: Hansen Lasse , Zhang Yan‐Ping , Wolf Detlef , Sechidis Konstantinos , Ladegaard Nicolai , Fusaroli Riccardo
Published: December 2021

Objective

Affective disorders are associated with atypical voice patterns; however, automated voice analyses suffer from small sample sizes and untested generalizability on external data. We investigated a generalizable approach to aid clinical evaluation of depression and remission from voice using transfer learning: We train machine learning models on easily accessible non‐clinical datasets and test them on novel clinical data in a different language.

Methods

A Mixture of Experts machine learning model was trained to infer happy/sad emotional state using three publicly available emotional speech corpora in German and US English. We examined the model's predictive ability to classify the presence of depression on Danish speaking healthy controls (N = 42), patients with first‐episode major depressive disorder (MDD) (N = 40), and the subset of the same patients who entered remission (N = 25) based on recorded clinical interviews. The model was evaluated on raw, de‐noised, and speaker‐diarized data.

Results

The model showed separation between healthy controls and depressed patients at the first visit, obtaining an AUC of 0.71. Further, speech from patients in remission was indistinguishable from that of the control group. Model predictions were stable throughout the interview, suggesting that 20–30 s of speech might be enough to accurately screen a patient. Background noise (but not speaker diarization) heavily impacted predictions.

Conclusion

A generalizable speech emotion recognition model can effectively reveal changes in speaker depressive states before and after remission in patients with MDD. Data collection settings and data cleaning are crucial when considering automated voice analysis for clinical purposes.
Spectral fundus autofluorescence peak emission wavelength in ageing and AMD
Authors: Schultz Rowena , Schwanengel Linda , Klemm Matthias , Meller Daniel , Hammer Martin
Published: December 2021

Purpose

To investigate the spectral characteristics of fundus autofluorescence (FAF) in AMD patients and controls.

Methods

Fundus autofluorescence spectral characteristics was described by the peak emission wavelength (PEW) of the spectra. Peak emission wavelength (PEW) was derived from the ratio of FAF recordings in two spectral channels at 500–560 nm and 560–720 nm by fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy. The ratio of FAF intensity in both channels was related to PEW by a calibration procedure. Peak emission wavelength (PEW) measurements were done in 44 young (mean age: 24.0 ± 3.8 years) and 18 elderly (mean age: 67.5 ± 10.2 years) healthy subjects as well as 63 patients with AMD (mean age: 74.0 ± 7.3 years) in each pixel of a 30° imaging field. The values were averaged over the central area, the inner and the outer ring of the ETDRS grid.

Results

There was no significant difference between PEW in young and elderly controls. However, PEW was significantly shorter in AMD patients (ETDRS grid centre: 571 ± 26 nm versus 599 ± 17 nm for elderly controls, inner ring: 596 ± 17 nm versus 611 ± 11 nm, outer ring: 602 ± 16 nm versus 614 ± 11 nm). After a mean follow‐up time of 50.8 ± 10.8 months, the PEW in the patients decreased significantly by 9 ± 19 nm in the inner ring of the grid. Patients, showing progression to atrophic AMD in the follow up, had significantly (p ≤ 0.018) shorter PEW at baseline than non‐progressing patients.

Conclusions

Peak emission wavelength (PEW) is related to AMD pathology and might be a diagnostic marker in AMD. Possibly, a short PEW can predict progression to retinal and/or pigment epithelium atrophy.