bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Differential haplotype expression in class I MHC genes during SARS-CoV-2 infection of human lung cell lines
Authors: Francisco Junior Ronaldo da Silva , Temerozo Jairo R. , Ferreira Cristina dos Santos , Martins Yasmmin , Souza Thiago Moreno L. , Medina-Acosta Enrique , de Vasconcelos Ana Tereza Ribeiro
Published: November 2022

Cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 causes genome-wide disruption of the transcriptional profiles of genes and biological pathways involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Expression allelic imbalance is characterized by a deviation from the Mendelian expected 1:1 expression ratio and is an important source of allele-specific heterogeneity. Expression allelic imbalance can be measured by allele-specific expression analysis (ASE) across heterozygous informative expressed single nucleotide variants (eSNVs). ASE reflects many regulatory biological phenomena that can be assessed by combining genome and transcriptome information. ASE contributes to the interindividual variability associated with disease. We aim to estimate the transcriptome-wide impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection by analyzing eSNVs. We compared ASE profiles in the human lung cell lines Calu-3, A459, and H522 before and after infection with SARS-CoV-2 using RNA-Seq experiments. We identified 34 differential ASE (DASE) sites in 13 genes (HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, BRD2, EHD2, GFM2, GSPT1, HAVCR1, MAT2A, NQO2, SUPT6H, TNFRSF11A, UMPS), all of which are enriched in protein binding functions and play a role in COVID-19. Most DASE sites were assigned to the MHC class I locus and were predominantly upregulated upon infection. DASE sites in the MHC class I locus also occur in iPSC-derived airway epithelium basal cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. Using an RNA-Seq haplotype reconstruction approach, we found DASE sites and adjacent eSNVs in phase (i.e., predicted on the same DNA strand), demonstrating differential haplotype expression upon infection. We found a bias towards the expression of the HLA alleles with a higher binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 epitopes. Independent of gene expression compensation, SARS-CoV-2 infection of human lung cell lines induces transcriptional allelic switching at the MHC loci. This suggests a response mechanism to SARS-CoV-2 infection that swaps HLA alleles with poor epitope binding affinity, an expectation supported by publicly available proteome data.
Optogenetic dissection of transcriptional repression in a multicellular organism
Authors: Zhao Jiaxi , Lammers Nicholas C. , Alamos Simon , Kim Yang Joon , Martini Gabriella , Garcia Hernan G.
Published: November 2022

Transcriptional control is fundamental to cellular function. However, despite knowing that transcription factors can repress or activate specific genes, how these functions are implemented at the molecular level has remained elusive. Here we combine optogenetics, single-cell live-imaging, and mathematical modeling to study how a zinc-finger repressor, Knirps, induces switch-like transitions into long-lived quiescent states. Using optogenetics, we demonstrate that repression is rapidly reversible (∼1 minute) and memoryless. Furthermore, we show that the repressor acts by decreasing the frequency of transcriptional bursts in a manner consistent with an equilibrium binding model. Our results provide a quantitative framework for dissecting thein vivobiochemistry of eukaryotic transcriptional regulation.
Deep Coverage and Quantification of the Bone Proteome Provides Enhanced Opportunities for New Discoveries in Skeletal Biology and Disease
Authors: Rose Jacob P. , Schurman Charles A. , King Christina D. , Bons Joanna , Burton Jordan B. , Patel Sandip K. , O’Broin Amy , Alliston Tamara , Schilling Birgit
Published: November 2022

Dysregulation of cell signaling in chondrocytes and in bone cells, such as osteocytes, osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and an elevated burden of senescent cells in cartilage and bone, are implicated in osteoarthritis (OA). Mass spectrometric analyses provides a crucial molecular tool-kit to understand complex signaling relationships in age-related diseases, such as OA. Here we introduce a novel mass spectrometric workflow to promote proteomic studies of bone and cartilage. This workflow uses highly specialized steps, including extensive overnight demineralization, pulverization, and incubation for 72 h in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride and EDTA, followed by proteolytic digestion. Analysis on a high-resolution Orbitrap Eclipse and Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer using Data-Independent Acquisition (DIA) provides deep coverage of the bone proteome, and preserves post-translational modifications, such as hydroxyproline. A spectral library-free quantification strategy, directDIA, identified and quantified over 2,000 protein groups (with ≥ 2 unique peptides) from calcium-rich bone matrices. Key components identified were proteins of the extracellular matrix (ECM), bone-specific proteins (e.g., secreted protein acidic and cysteine rich, SPARC, and bone sialoprotein 2, IBSP), and signaling proteins (e.g., transforming growth factor beta-2, TGFB2), and lysyl oxidase homolog 2 (LOXL2), an important protein in collagen crosslinking. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) were identified without the need for specific enrichment. This includes collagen hydroxyproline modifications, chemical modifications for collagen self-assembly and network formation. Multiple senescence factors were identified, such as complement component 3 (C3) protein of the complement system and many matrix metalloproteinases, that might be monitored during age-related bone disease progression. Our innovative workflow yields in-depth protein coverage and quantification strategies to discover underlying biological mechanisms of bone aging and to provide tools to monitor therapeutic interventions. These novel tools to monitor the bone proteome open novel horizons to investigate bone-specific diseases, many of which are age-related.
Single-cell multi-omics reveals dynamics of purifying selection of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA across human immune cells
Authors: Lareau Caleb A. , Dubois Sonia M. , Buquicchio Frank A. , Hsieh Yu-Hsin , Garg Kopal , Kautz Pauline , Nitsch Lena , Praktiknjo Samantha D. , Maschmeyer Patrick , Verboon Jeffrey M. , Gutierrez Jacob C. , Yin Yajie , Fiskin Evgenij , Luo Wendy , Mimitou Eleni , Muus Christoph , Malhotra Rhea , Parikh Sumit , Fleming Mark D. , Oevermann Lena , Schulte Johannes , Eckert Cornelia , Kundaje Anshul , Smibert Peter , Satpathy Ansuman T. , Regev Aviv , Sankaran Vijay G. , Agarwal Suneet , Ludwig Leif S.
Published: November 2022

Cells experience intrinsic and extrinsic pressures that affect their proclivity to expand and persistin vivo. In congenital disorders caused by loss-of-function mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), metabolic vulnerabilities may result in cell-type specific phenotypes and depletion of pathogenic alleles, contributing to purifying selection. However, the impact of pathogenic mtDNA mutations on the cellular hematopoietic landscape is not well understood. Here, we establish a multi-omics approach to quantify deletions in mtDNA alongside cell state features in single cells derived from Pearson syndrome patients. We resolve the interdependence between pathogenic mtDNA and lineage, including purifying selection against deletions in effector/memory CD8 T-cell populations and recent thymic emigrants and dynamics in other hematopoietic populations. Our mapping of lineage-specific purifying selection dynamics in primary cells from patients carrying pathogenic heteroplasmy provides a new perspective on recurrent clinical phenotypes in mitochondrial disorders, including cancer and infection, with potential broader relevance to age-related immune dysfunction.
Systematic Approach Identifies Multiple Transcription Factor Perturbations That Rejuvenate Replicatively Aged Human Skin Fibroblasts
Authors: Sengstack Janine , Zheng Jiashun , Mobaraki Michael , Lin Jue , Deng Changhui , Li Hao
Published: November 2022

Rejuvenation, long a quixotic dream, recently became a possibility through exciting new approaches to counteract aging. For example, parabiosis and partial reprogramming through overexpressing four stem cell transcription factors (Yamanaka factors) both rejuvenate organisms and cells1–5. We hypothesize there are many other genetic solutions to human cell rejuvenation, and some solutions may be safer and more potent than current gene targets. We set out to develop a systematic approach to identify novel genes that, when overexpressed or repressed, reprogram the global gene expression of a cell back to a younger state. Using the Hayflick model of human cell replicative aging, we performed a Perturb-seq screen of 200 transcription factors (TFs) selected through a combination of bioinformatic analysis and literature search. We identified dozens of potentially rejuvenating TFs—those that when overexpressed or repressed in late passage cells reprogrammed global gene expression patterns back to an earlier passage state. We further validated four top TF perturbations through molecular phenotyping of various aging hallmarks. Late passage cells either overexpressing EZH2 or E2F3 or repressing STAT3 or ZFX had more cell division, less senescence, improved proteostasis, and enhanced mitochondrial function. These TF perturbations led to similar downstream gene expression programs. In addition, the rejuvenating effects of these TFs were independent of telomeres. We believe our general approach for identifying rejuvenating factors can be applied to other model systems, and some of the top TF perturbations we discovered will lead to future research in novel, safer rejuvenation therapies.
Moving from theory to practice: exploring power and power sharing in participatory health research partnerships: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Burduladze Nino , Jones Laundette P. , Jones Brian D. , Msowoya Uchizi , Salsberg Jon , Whitney Anna , Gilfoyle Meghan
Published: November 2022

Introduction

Participatory health research (PHR) as a research paradigm, guides the research process and strives to achieve positive change in society in the interest of people’s health. In this scoping review, PHR will be used as an umbrella term considering a wide range of collaborative research approaches in the health context. PHR is conducted ‘with’ or ‘by’ those it intends to benefit, as opposed to ‘on’ and ‘for’ them. Their involvement throughout the research process seeks to shift power and decision-making from where they traditionally lay within academia toward community, patient and public end-users. Research cannot be truly participatory without concurrently addressing power dynamics within the partnership and power imbalances in decision making. Therefore, power sharing can be defined as a major factor in building effective academic-community collaborations. This scoping review aims to identify, clarify, and map existing literature on power and power sharing in PHR from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Specifically, we will explore how is power conceptualised throughout the literature, and how power and power sharing are applied and addressed in real-life PHR partnerships.

Materials and methods

This scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Reviewer’s Manual. This scoping review will consider both empirical and non-empirical research that report on understanding power and power sharing in participatory health research partnerships. All appropriate studies will be retrieved from the following five electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycINFO, SocIndex. This review will be limited to articles published in English and from January 1998 to April 2022. As the scoping review aims to capture more than peer-reviewed and published literature, it will also include grey literature such as theses and dissertations, reports, conference proceedings, and editorials. Data from the included literature will be extracted based on the data extraction tool, defined in advance.

Ethics and dissemination

As primary data will not be collected, ethical approval is not required to conduct the scoping review. The findings of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications.
Accurate intensity integration in the twinned γ-form of o-nitroaniline
Authors: Lutz Martin , Kroon-Batenburg Loes
Published: November 2022

o-Nitroaniline, C6H6N2O3, is known to be polymorphic. The α-form is probably amorphous, while the β- and γ-forms are crystalline. Difficulties with the unit-cell determination of the γ-form were reported as a consequence of twinning. In this paper, newly recorded diffraction data of the γ-form of o-nitroaniline are described that were processed taking into account the two twin lattices. Data were partly deconvoluted and much better agreement was obtained in terms of R
1 values and C—C bond precision. The availability of raw data and proper reprocessing using twin lattices is by far superior to efforts to de-twin processed structure factors.
Decoding influencer marketing from a community perspective: typologies and marketing management implications
Authors: Wang Rang , Chan-Olmsted Sylvia
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Since influencer marketing becomes more sophisticated, it is difficult for brands to manage the strategy and process of this marketing practice. With a practical focus, this study aims at helping marketers cope with the challenge by developing conceptual typologies for influencers and followers and suggesting marketing implications for each type of influencer and follower.

Design/methodology/approach

This study subscribes to the perspectives of virtual community and social information processing to develop conceptual typologies for influencers and followers based on their essential characteristics.

Findings

Based on levels of expertise and interactivity, influencers can be categorized as broadcasters, leaders, friends and companions. Each type has advantages in certain branding objectives (e.g. increasing awareness, inducing judgments and feelings, building brand and user imagery, encouraging pro-brand behaviors and managing relationships) and is associated with certain marketing limitations (e.g. reach, domain breadth, informational support, brand congruence and relationship management). Based on levels of behavioral engagement and the point of attachment, followers are categorized into spectators, participants, admirers and advocators, with specific marketing communication strategies most effective for each type (e.g. strategies of content, narratives, engagement and co-branding).

Originality/value

The study translates the idea of influencer community into a practically useful framework for practitioners to best leverage influencer marketing and an innovative perspective for scholars to further investigate the phenomenon.
CBDC, Fintech and cryptocurrency for financial inclusion and financial stability
Authors: Ozili Peterson K.
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to discuss the role of central bank digital currency (CBDC), Fintech and cryptocurrency for financial inclusion and financial stability.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used critical discourse analysis to identify the benefits and risks of CBDC, Fintech and cryptocurrency for financial inclusion and financial stability.

Findings

Fintech, CBDC and cryptocurrency can increase financial inclusion by providing an alternative channel through which unbanked adults can access formal financial services. CBDC and Fintech services have the potential to preserve financial stability, while cryptocurrency presents financial stability risks that can be mitigated through effective regulation. This paper also identified some problems of CBDC, Fintech and cryptocurrency for financial inclusion and financial stability. This paper offered some insight about the future of financial inclusion and the future of financial stability.

Practical implications

Although CBDC, Fintech or cryptocurrency can extend financial services to unbanked adults and offer cost-efficient advantages, there are risk considerations that need to be taken into account when using CBDC, Fintech and cryptocurrency to increase financial inclusion and to preserve financial stability.

Originality/value

The literature has not identified the combined role of CBDC, Fintech and cryptocurrency for financial inclusion and financial stability. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first paper to assess the combined role of CBDC, Fintech and cryptocurrency for financial inclusion and financial stability.
Explaining the effect of artificial intelligence on the technology acceptance model in media: a cloud computing approach
Authors: Tavakoli Seyed Shahramadin , Mozaffari Afsaneh , Danaei Abolfazl , Rashidi Ehtesham
Published: November 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain the effect of the technology acceptance model in the media environment by using the mediating role of artificial intelligence and the cloud computing approach.

Design/methodology/approach

After reviewing the theoretical foundations, a conceptual model framework and research hypotheses were formed. The statistical population of the study included managers, deputies and experts from the National Iranian Oil Company, and a statistical sample of 368 people was selected by simple random sampling.

Findings

The results of structural equation modelling with PLS 2.0 software show a positive and significant effect on the artificial intelligence variable in the technology acceptance model with the cloud approach. Artificial intelligence has opened a new space in the digital world, especially in the media, so that its profound impact is quite evident and has affected people’s lives.

Originality/value

The acceleration of various technologies has severely challenged the approach of organizations, especially the media. The media environment with word of the technologies of the Industry 4.0, especially cloud computing technology, has changed the ways of accessing and using products and services.
Conceptualising feminist resistance in the postfeminist terrain
Authors: Berglund Karin , Ahl Helene , Pettersson Katarina , Tillmar Malin
Published: November 2022

Purpose

In this paper, women entrepreneurs are seen as leaders and women leaders as entrepreneurial, making both groups an easy target of postfeminist expectations, governed by calls to embody the entrepreneurial self. Acknowledging that the entrepreneurial self has its roots in the universal, rational and autonomous subject, which was shaped in a male form during the Enlightenment, the purpose of this study is to conceptualise feminist resistance as a process through which the autonomous subject can be de-stabilised.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirically, this study draws on an extensive research project on women’s rural entrepreneurship that includes 32 in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs in rural Sweden. This study interpreted expressions of resistance from the women by using an analytical framework the authors developed based on Jonna Bornemark’s philosophical treatise.

Findings

Feminist resistance unfolds as an interactive and iterative learning process where the subject recognises their voice, strengthens their voice and beliefs in a relational process and finally sees themselves as a fully fledged actor who finds ways to overcome obstacles that get in their way. Conceptualising resistance as a learning process stands in sharp contrast to the idea of resistance as enacted by the autonomous self.

Research limitations/implications

This study helps researchers to understand that what they may have seen as a sign of weakness among women, is instead a sign of strength: it is a first step in learning resistance that may help women create a life different from that prescribed by the postfeminist discourse. In this way, researchers can avoid reproducing women as “weak and inadequate”.

Originality/value

Through the re-writing of feminist resistance, the masculine entrepreneurship discourse including the notion of the autonomous self is challenged, and a counternarrative to the postfeminist entrepreneurial woman is developed. Theorising resistance as a learning practice enables a more transforming research agenda, making it possible to see women as resisting postfeminist expectations of endless competition with themselves and others.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems and actor legitimacy
Authors: Lechner Christian , Delanoë-Gueguen Servane , Gueguen Gaël
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study contributes to a better understanding of the important actor-specific, micro-level legitimacy dimensions in dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs).

Design/methodology/approach

Using an embedded case study approach and rich longitudinal data collected over 16 years within a French EE, the study analyzes the legitimacy gaining process of two actors coming from opposite founding conditions.

Findings

Three dimensions of legitimacy (3L) are necessary to be accepted as functional actors within EEs: institutional legitimacy (IL) refers to the EE's acceptance of an actor as an institution active in the field of entrepreneurship; cultural legitimacy (CL) means that the actor is recognized as possessing and promoting values considered appropriate by the entrepreneurial community; relational legitimacy (RL) relates to the willingness of the entrepreneurial community to interact with the actor. These are complementary dimensions that members of EEs need to possess to acquire full legitimacy. Different paths are possible to achieve this full legitimacy.

Research limitations/implications

Replicating the study with a comparative approach including more actors could represent an interesting avenue for research.

Practical implications

This research provides insights into the underlying dimensions of legitimacy in EEs, how various actors gain legitimacy in such contexts and how this influences the dynamics of EEs.

Originality/value

The results provide novel insights into the issue of legitimacy in EEs and legitimacy theory in general.
Chinese cross-border acquisitions: stylised facts and new directions
Authors: Hu Shuang , Gunessee Saileshsingh , Liu Chang
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Chinese multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) unprecedented, aggressive cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs) have led to several studies examining Chinese CBMAs, which importantly has also led to some degree of “theorising”. This study aims to undertake a “non-theoretical” fact-finding exercise before any theorising and empirical “causal” examination for a better understanding of the phenomenon (the rise of Chinese CBMAs).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a “stylised facts” approach which documents “empirical regularities” concerning Chinese CBMAs and thus guides new research questions.

Findings

Several facts are documented. Firstly, both the value and frequency of Chinese CBMAs are catching up to greenfield investments, with CBMA deals being larger in scale but lower in frequency. Secondly, Chinese CBMAs show a global reach away from the regional orientation of their early years. Thirdly, Chinese MNEs are possibly transforming their value chain with industrial upgrading as an aim. Fourthly, Chinese “full” acquisitions of targets have surged, especially in OECD countries, suggestive of Chinese MNEs’ “radical” acquisition approaches.

Originality/value

The gathered facts lend support to the view of the need for such fact-finding exercises to explicate and shed “new” light on the phenomenon (beyond our “current” views/beliefs). An understanding of the underlying trends beyond bare facts can also identify new knowledge, which can in turn provide new directions for research.
Organizational resilience under COVID-19: the role of digital technology in R&D investment and performance
Authors: Guan Feiyang , Tienan Wang , Tang Liqing
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims at the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, which had an unprecedented negative impact on the Chinese economy, with firms being affected most. Firms differ in terms of their specific internal environment, shaping their ability to respond to the outbreak, so the impact may also vary.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper Chinese listed firms are selected as samples to investigate the mediating effect of prior digital technology on the relationship between R&D (research and development) investment (funds and staff) and firm performance during the epidemic. Firm size and diversification are then introduced as moderating variables to explore the conditional mediating effect of digital technology.

Findings

The results indicate that the higher the firm's prior R&D investment, the higher its digital technology level, and thus the stronger its resistance to the epidemic. Moreover, compared with large-scale firms, small-scale firms have the advantage of strategic flexibility to technological changes, which can help them accumulate experience from R&D activities for digital transformation, thus attenuating the negative impact of the COVID-19 on firm performance. Finally, the results also show that digital technology mediates more strongly between R&D investment and firm performance in diversified firms than in centralized firms.

Originality/value

The study builds a mediation model to reveal the process mechanism through which R&D investment affects firm performance via digital technology. Firm size and diversification are then innovatively introduced as situational factors to build the moderated mediation model, which opens up a new perspective for understanding the effect of firm internal factors on the relationship between R&D investment, digital transformation and firm performance.
Impact of supervisor developmental feedback on employee innovative behavior: roles of psychological safety and face orientation
Authors: Cai Liling , Xiao Zengrui , Ji Xiaofen
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study aims to examine the relationship between supervisor developmental feedback and employee innovative behavior, incorporating with the mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of face orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted in 15 manufacturing companies in China. The participants comprised 302 employees. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The mediating effects and the moderated mediating effects are further examined with bias-corrected bootstrapping method.

Findings

Supervisor developmental feedback has a positive effect on employee innovative behavior through psychological safety, and this mediating effect is weakened by protective face orientation (fear of losing face), while the moderating effect of acquisitive face orientation (desire to gain face) is not significant.

Practical implications

Organizations should create a development-oriented and safe innovation atmosphere for employees. In addition, leaders should adopt differentiated feedback and communication methods according to subordinates' face orientation.

Originality/value

The study has demonstrated the positive effect of supervisor developmental feedback on employee innovative behavior, which is different from previous studies on performance feedback and leadership types. Meanwhile, this study has also explored the mediating effect of psychological safety and the moderating effect of face orientation, which provides more insights on the mechanism and boundary conditions of the effect of supervisor developmental feedback.
Efficiency evaluation and loan assessment of fashion upcyclers in Liberia using fuzzy, DEA and FIS models
Authors: Sumo Peter Davis , Ji Xiaofen , Cai Liling
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Studies on textile upcycling in Africa are rare, particularly in Liberia, where extensive upcycling designs are appreciated throughout the country. This study aims to contribute to the upcycling literature from the perspective of Liberia’s fashion upcyclers by assessing their coping strategies and understanding the challenges confronting fashion upcycling in Monrovia’s four largest markets.

Design/methodology/approach

A fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and data envelopment analysis (DEA) models were used to assess labor input, delivery and flexibility, technological and innovation capability, financial capability, pricing of finished products, customer service and quality outputs of upcycled fashions. The fuzzy inference system model assessed upcyclers’ loaning eligibility.

Findings

The results highlight that Liberia’s fashion upcycling is expanding with varying innovative designs. The quality of upcycled fashions was deemed most important in the proposed AHP model. However, many upcycling businesses lack sufficient capital to make long-term investments. With the necessary investment, the innovation of these upcyclers could be a new line of fashion brands with great potential. In addition, using a fair judgment in assessing the little loaning funds available is paramount to enhancing their growth.

Research limitations/implications

Only 34 decision-making units were assessed. Future research could expand this scope using other models with more practical loaning strategies.

Originality/value

This study presents a wealth of managerial and policy implications. The proposed hybrid model is adequate for developing managerial decisions for fashion upcyclers. The proposed framework can manage ambiguity, inaccuracy and the complexity of making decisions based on numerous criteria, making it applicable in unearthing robust strategies for enhancing the fashion upcycling sectors and other industries in developing countries. In addition, the proposed fuzzy Mamdani system could also be extended to other sectors, such as agriculture, for a more transparent allocation of resources.
Understanding mobile e-wallet consumers’ intentions and user behavior
Authors: Esawe Ahmed Taher
Published: November 2022

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the factors that influence behavioral intention (BI) and usage of e-wallets by extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) with constructs, namely, mobile self-efficacy, perceived enjoyment and satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

This quantitative study used partial least squares structural equation modeling on a sample of 576 mobile e-wallet users surveyed online.

Findings

The key findings indicate that the model can explain 58.8% of the variance in behavioral intention and 53.8% in usage. Moreover, mobile self-efficacy has a significant influence on perceived enjoyment. Perceived enjoyment significantly affects satisfaction, effort expectancy and performance expectancy. Furthermore, effort expectancy significantly influences customer satisfaction in contrast to performance expectancy. In addition, although performance expectancy, social influence and satisfaction significantly impact consumers’ behavioral intention, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions condition have an insignificant influence on consumers’ behavioral intention. E-wallet stakeholders can use the findings of this study to make strategic decisions regarding the e-wallet ecosystem.

Originality/value

Although previous studies have independently addressed the impact of mobile self-efficacy, perceived enjoyment and satisfaction on consumers’ behavioral intention and usage behavior, the expanded framework with the possible relationships proposed in this study has never been adequately studied in previous research in the context of e-wallets in developing countries based on an empirical analysis. This study represents one of the first attempts to improve the UTAUT by empirically analyzing these relationships.
Removal of strong noise in magnetotelluric data using grey wolf optimized wavelet threshold
Authors: Li Jin , Liu Shanshan , Zhang Xian , Tang Jingtian , Li Nianchun
Published: November 2022

Traditional magnetotelluric signal processing usually uses time–frequency transformation method. Wavelet is also a time–frequency transformation method that used to suppress the magnetotelluric noise. However, the selection of the threshold is very significant, and the unsuitable threshold will lead to excessive distortion of the reconstructed signal. Thus, we propose a method for magnetotelluric noise suppression using grey wolf optimized wavelet threshold. First, the magnetotelluric signal is decomposed by wavelet with appropriate wavelet basis and decomposition layers. The generalized cross‐validation criterion is used as the fitness function of grey wolf optimizer algorithm, which optimizes the threshold of each decomposition layer. Then, the detail coefficients of each layer and the maximum layer of the approximation coefficients are used in the optimized threshold. Next, the inverse wavelet transform is performed. Finally, the noise contour is obtained through iteratively searching for the optimal threshold, and the useful magnetotelluric signal is reconstructed. Simulation experiments and measured magnetotelluric data processing show that the large‐scale interference can effectively be suppressed, and the reconstructed magnetotelluric signal retains the more abundant low‐frequency of useful information. Compared with the remote reference method, fixed threshold method and Birge–Massart layered threshold method, the proposed method realizes the wavelet denoising with adaptive threshold selection in the magnetotelluric noise suppression. The results obtained show smoother and more continuous apparent resistivity–phase curves, which verifies the effectiveness of the optimization.
Fifty years of reduction in sulphur deposition drives recovery in soil pH and plant communities
Authors: Seaton Fiona M. , Robinson David A. , Monteith Don , Lebron Inma , Bürkner Paul , Tomlinson Sam , Emmett Bridget A. , Smart Simon M.
Published: November 2022

Sulphur deposition through rainfall has led to species loss and ecosystem degradation globally, and across Europe huge reductions in sulphur emissions since the 1970s were expected to promote the recovery of acidified ecosystems. However, the rate and ecological impact of recovery from acidification in terrestrial ecosystems is still unclear as is the influence of management and climate, as to date there has been no long‐term spatially extensive evaluation of these changes.

Here, we present data from thousands of sites across Great Britain (pH range 3.3–8.7) surveyed repeatedly from 1978–2019 and assess change in soil pH and plant acidity preference (Ellenberg R) in response to atmospheric deposition of sulphur and nitrogen. We analyse change in grasslands managed for pasture, referred to as high‐intensity habitats, and compare to seminatural habitats comprising rough grassland, broadleaved woodland, bog and heathland, referred to as low‐intensity habitats.

Soil pH increased from 1978 to 2007 but then decreased between 2007 and 2019, resulting in a net increase of ~0.2 pH units in low‐intensity habitats but no change in high‐intensity habitats. The community average Ellenberg R increased in seminatural habitats by ~0.2 units but remained stable in intensive grasslands.

In seminatural habitats, but not intensive grasslands, these changes in plant community composition were associated with the soil pH changes which were in turn linked to decreasing sulphur deposition and differences in rainfall.

Nitrogen deposition, which was relatively stable over the survey period, showed no additional effect upon soil acidity once sulphur deposition was accounted for.

Synthesis: Our results provide conclusive evidence that reductions in acid emissions are stimulating the gradual recovery of chronically acidified terrestrial ecosystems at a whole‐country scale, while also suggesting this recovery is being compromised by changing climate and land management.
Sex ed for social justice: Using principles of hip-hop–based education to rethink school-based sex education
Authors: Guanci Sin R
Published: November 2022

Forming and sustaining healthy relationships of any kind requires empathy, thought, communication and effort, all of which are learned skills. Many of these skills can and should be learned in a variety of places, including and especially in schools. One of the most appropriate venues for teaching interpersonal relationship skills in school is through ‘sex ed’ classes. I argue that student-centred, anti-racist, culturally affirming and appropriate, inclusive, egalitarian and relationship-based learning environments are necessary for sex education that benefits all students. The principles of hip-hop-based pedagogies, including Christopher Emdin's Reality Pedagogy, Bettina Love's Abolitionist Pedagogy and Rawls and Robinson's Youth Culture Pedagogy can serve as a useful theoretical framework around which to build sex education curriculum and policy. School-based sex education (SBSE) based on these principles may prove extremely beneficial not only to all students and their individual sense of identity and sexual autonomy but also to the general welfare of the public in the long run.
Introduction to the Suite: Political education for human transformation
Authors: Saito Naoko , Laugier Sandra
Published: November 2022

This is a brief introduction to the second part of a suite of papers on the theme ‘Political Education for Human Transformation’. Sceptical of the familiar and somewhat narrow frameworks for citizenship education, this East-West collaboration looks again at the very idea, and the possible means, of education for democracy. It examines the principle of an equality of voices as crucial to mature democratic citizenship, expanding on this through the idea of the ‘education of one's experience’. This is a matter not of introspection but rather of turning attention outward—towards the language we use, the way others are treated, works of art and popular culture—in order to be more critically awake and to experience more fully how the world comes to light. We introduce papers by Alexis Gibbs and Léa Boman, which respectively consider the reflections of de Tocqueville on democracy in the United States and Emerson's essay ‘Self-Reliance’. Together, these essays contribute to an understanding of the manner in which we are always already implicated in structures of power. They offer a redefinition of political subjectivity.
The gendered division of paid and domestic work under lockdown
Authors: Andrew Alison , Cattan Sarah , Costa Dias Monica , Farquharson Christine , Kraftman Lucy , Krutikova Sonya , Phimister Angus , Sevilla Almudena
Published: November 2022

This paper provides novel empirical evidence on the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the division of labour between parents of school‐aged children in two‐parent opposite‐gender families. In line with existing evidence, we find that mothers’ paid work took a larger hit than that of fathers, and that mothers spent substantially longer doing childcare and housework than their partners. We go further to show that these gender differences cannot be explained by gender differences in the industries and occupations in which parents worked prior to the lockdown. Nor can they be explained by gender differences in earnings prior to the crisis: independently of which parent earned the most before the pandemic, it tended to be the mothers who adjusted time spent on paid and unpaid work more significantly. This is the case even in households where only one partner remained active in paid work. While we cannot fully rule out that these asymmetric responses are explained by gender differences in productivity in domestic work, our results do suggest that other factors, such as gender norms, may play an important role.
Understanding the rising trend in female labour force participation
Authors: Hérault Nicolas , Kalb Guyonne
Published: November 2022

Female labour force participation has increased tremendously since World War II in developed countries. Prior research provides piecemeal evidence identifying some drivers of change but largely fails to present a consistent story. Using a rare combination of data and modelling capacity available in Australia, we develop a new decomposition approach to explain rising female labour force participation since the mid‐1990s. The approach allows us to identify the role of tax and transfer policy reforms as well as three other factors that have been shown to matter by earlier studies: (i) changes in real wages; (ii) population composition changes; and (iii) changes in labour supply preference parameters. For the first time, all these factors are identified through a single consistent decomposition framework. A key result is that – despite the ongoing emphasis of public policy on improved work incentives for women in Australia and elsewhere – changes in financial incentives due to tax and transfer policy reforms have contributed relatively little to achieve these large increases in participation. Instead, the other three factors drive the increased female labour force participation.
What's Happened to our Chocolate Bar?
Authors: Fletcher Michael
Published: November 2022

What's happened to our chocolate bar? Plus the solution to last issue's teaser
Editorial
Authors: Britten Anna
Published: November 2022

Kick bait
Molecular profiles of single circulating tumor cells from early breast cancer patients with different lymph node statuses
Authors: Pang Shuyun , Xu Shu , Wang Lulu , Wu Haiping , Chu Yanan , Ma Xueping , Li Yujiao , Zou Bingjie , Wang Shaohua , Zhou Guohua
Published: November 2022

Background

Characterization of early breast cancer circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may provide valuable information on tumor metastasis.

Methods

We used immunomagnetic nanospheres to capture CTCs from the peripheral blood of eight early breast cancer patients and then performed single‐cell RNA sequencing using our proposed bead‐dd‐seq method.

Results

CTCs displayed obvious tumor cell characteristics, such as the activation of oxidative stress, proliferation, and promotion of metastasis. CTCs were clustered into two subtypes significantly correlated with the lymph node metastasis status of patients. CTCs in subtype 1 showed a strong metastatic ability because these CTCs have the phenotype of partial epithelial‐mesenchymal transition and enriched transcripts, indicating breast cancer responsiveness and proliferation. Furthermore, DNA damage repair pathways were significantly upregulated in subtype 1. We performed in vitro and in vivo investigations, and found that cellular oxidative stress and further DNA damage existed in CTCs. The activated DNA damage repair pathway in CTCs favors resistance to cisplatin. A checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor sensitized CTCs to cisplatin in mouse models of breast cancer metastasis.

Conclusion

The present study dissects the molecular characteristics of CTCs from early‐stage breast cancer, providing novel insight into the understanding of CTC behavior in breast cancer metastasis.
Rapid and reliable collection of tumor tissue for successful gene panel in a patient with advanced stage lung cancer: A case report
Authors: Kunimasa Kei , Inoue Takako , Kai Yugo , Kanzaki Ryu , Kawagishi Sachi , Yoshida Ken‐ichi , Honma Keiichiro , Tamiya Motohiro , Kawamura Takahisa , Nishino Kazumi
Published: November 2022

Rapid and reliable identification of targetable driver mutations in patients with advanced stage lung cancer is essential. Adequate amount of tumor tissue biopsies (i.e., genomic biopsies) are required to successfully analyze the gene panel. In the present case, we performed three pleural fluid investigations, including transbronchial biopsy of the primary tumor, transesophageal endoscopic ultrasound‐guided fine needle aspiration (EUS‐FNA) of lymph node metastasis, and thoracoscopic biopsy of the pleural seeding sites. Among the three investigations, thoracoscopic biopsy alone successfully obtained a sufficient amount of tissue. Thus, it is important to determine the technique and site of biopsy, as multiple biopsies are not only burdensome to the patient, but also lead to significant delays in therapy induction.
Genome polarisation for detecting barriers to geneflow
Authors: Baird Stuart J. E. , Petružela Jan , Jaroň Izar , Škrabánek Pavel , Martínková Natália
Published: November 2022

Semi‐permeable barriers to geneflow in principle allow distantly related organisms to capture and exchange pre‐adapted genes potentially speeding adaptation. However, describing barriers to geneflow on a genomic scale is non‐trivial.

We extend classic diagnostic allele counting measures of geneflow across a barrier to the case of genome‐scale data. Diagnostic index expectation maximisation (diem) polarises the labelling of bistate markers with respect to the sides of a barrier. An initial state of ignorance is enforced by starting with randomly generated marker polarisations. This means there is no prior on population or taxon membership of the genomes concerned. Using a deterministic data labelling, small numbers of classic diagnostic markers can be replaced by large numbers of markers, each with a diagnostic index. Individuals' hybrid indices (genome admixture proportions) are then calculated genome wide conditioned on marker diagnosticity; within diploid, haplodiploid and/or haploid genome compartments; or indeed over any subset of markers, allowing classical cline width/barrier strength comparisons along genomes. Along‐genome barrier strength heterogeneity allows for barrier regions to be identified. Furthermore, blocks of genetic material that have introgressed across a barrier are easily identified with high power.

diem indicates panmixis among Myotis myotis bat genomes, with a barrier separating low data quality outliers. In a Mus musculus domesticus/Mus spretus system, diem adds multiple introgressions of olfactory (and vomeronasal) gene clusters in one direction to previous demonstrations of a pesticide resistance gene introgressing in the opposite direction across a strong species barrier.

diem is a genome analysis solution, which scales over reduced representation genomics of thousands of markers to treatment of all variant sites in large genomes. While the method lends itself to visualisation, its output of markers with barrier‐informative annotation will fuel research in population genetics, phylogenetics and association studies. diem can equip such downstream applications with millions of informative markers.
Drivers of collapse of fire‐killed trees
Authors: Lindenmayer David , McBurney Lachlan , Blanchard Wade
Published: November 2022

Large quantities of dead wood can be generated by disturbances such as wildfires. Dead trees created by disturbances play many critical ecological roles in forest ecosystems globally. The ability of deadwood to serve its ecological roles is contingent, in part, on the length of time trees remain standing following disturbance. Here, we briefly outline the results of a 10‐year study that aimed to quantify the rate of collapse of trees killed in a major wildfire in the wet ash forests of mainland south‐eastern Australia. We also quantified the factors associated with dead tree collapse. Our analyses revealed that 23% of 417 measured trees collapsed between 2011 and 2021. The most parsimonious model of the factors influencing tree collapse revealed a strong effect of diameter; smaller diameter trees were more likely to collapse over the 10 years of our study than larger diameter trees. In addition, trees in small and large patches were more likely to collapse than trees in contiguous forest (where there had been no logging in the surrounding area). If current rates of tree fall are maintained, then many of trees initially measured will have collapsed by 2030. Such losses of dead trees will have major negative effects on key values of ash‐type forests such as biodiversity conservation.