bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Environmental Influences on Childhood Asthma Prevalence in Philadelphia
Authors: Mulloth Raeva N. , Blackley Alexander J , Koszuta Peter J. , Nemes Kaitlyn M. , Vail Maddison M. , Zhang Monglin L.
Published: June 2021

Background

In 2019, the American Lung Association found that, for the second year in a row, the Philadelphia metro has worsened the surrounding area’s air quality, due to worsening ozone smog. This spike in unhealthy air quality in Philadelphia has affected the health of the city’s population. Unhealthy air quality can be exacerbated by asbestos, which has been found in many Philadelphia elementary schools. Although asbestos usage is now highly regulated, it can still be found in consumer products and construction material today. Among the many factors contributing to asthma onset and other lung diseases, air pollution and dangerous air particles such as asbestos are important contributors. Children in these asbestos infected schools became exposed and ultimately sick which led to their school’s eventual closure. Due to children’s immature and more vulnerable airways, this exposure may have led to increasing cases of respiratory distress.

Methods

This research study analyzed publicly available asbestos data from Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) reports from four Philadelphia elementary schools (Laura H. Carnell, James J. Sullivan, Clara Barton, and Thomas M. Peirce) from 2016-2018 to further understand the influence of asbestos particles on asthma in children. Secondary data analysis determined the levels of asbestos contamination in each elementary school and the severity of the condition for each school. This was compared to children’s asthma prevalence during the selected time period.

Results

Asbestos was mainly found in the 2-6 inch pipe insulation and tiles within each school. Between 0.06 and 1.18% asbestos damage was found in 2-6inch pipe insulation in schools closed for asbestos abatement. An r2 of 0.9997 was found when comparing the 206inch pipe damage percentage and the newly friable material found in each school. Thomas M. Pierce Elementary was determined to be the highest concern according to the analysis of the AHERA reports.

Conclusion

Children exposed to asbestos in elementary schools, and with a predisposition to asthma, were more likely to suffer from respiratory distress, due to the multiple contributing environmental factors.
Fitness barriers to spread of colistin resistance overcome by first establishing niche in patients with enhanced colistin exposure
Authors: Lapp Zena , Han Jennifer H , Choudhary Divya , Castaneda Stuart , Pirani Ali , Alby Kevin , Tolomeo Pam C , Goldstein Ellie JC , Lautenbach Ebbing , Snitkin Evan S
Published: June 2021

There is an urgent need to improve our understanding of how new antibiotic resistant organisms emerge and spread. A high-priority resistance threat is the ST258 lineage of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Here, we studied resistance to the last-line drug colistin among ST258 by tracking its evolution across 21 U.S. hospitals over the course of a year. Phylogenetic analysis supported a significant fitness cost being associated with resistance, as resistance emergence was common but resistance variants were rarely transmitted. Furthermore, several resistance variants that were transmitted had acquired secondary variants that reverted the strain to susceptible. The exceptions to the general pattern of instability associated with resistance were two large clusters of resistant strains in one sublineage (clade IIB) present across Southern California hospitals. Quantification of transmission fitness in the healthcare environment indicated that, while resistant isolates from other clades were less fit than their susceptible counterparts, clade IIB resistant isolates were more fit, despite having similar resistance variants. Additional analyses supported the increased fitness of colistin-resistant clade IIB isolates being driven by a lineage-defining variant that increased clade IIB’s association with patient subpopulations with enhanced colistin exposure. These results show that a favorable genetic background and sustained selective pressure led to the emergence and spread of a colistin-resistant ST258 sublineage across a regional healthcare network. These findings highlight the utility of integrating pathogen genomic and corresponding clinical data from regional healthcare networks to detect emerging antibiotic resistance threats and understand the clinical practices and patient populations that drive their spread.

Significance Statement

Selective pressure in hospitals leads to frequent antibiotic resistance evolution. However, emergent resistance alleles are often not transmitted to other individuals because of fitness costs associated with resistance. Due to the difficulty of studying pathogen fitness in humans, our understanding of how resistant organisms circumvent these costs is limited. We integrate genomic and clinical data to understand the evolutionary trajectories leading to transmissible resistance for the last-line antibiotic colistin. While colistin resistance is generally associated with a fitness cost that hinders transmission, this cost was mitigated in a sublineage that had previously acquired mutations increasing its association with patient populations more likely to receive colistin, suggesting a key role for historical contingency in the emergence and spread of stable resistance.
Canada’s human footprint reveals large intact areas juxtaposed against areas under immense anthropogenic pressure
Authors: Hirsh-Pearson Kristen , Johnson Chris J. , Schuster Richard , Wheate Roger D. , Venter Oscar
Published: June 2021

Efforts are underway in Canada to set aside terrestrial lands for conservation, thereby protecting them from anthropogenic pressures. Here we produce the first Canadian human footprint map to identify intact and modified lands and ecosystems. Our results showed strong spatial variation in pressures across the country, with just 18% of Canada experiencing measurable human pressure. However, some ecosystems are experiencing very high pressure, such as the Great Lakes Plains and Prairies national ecological areas which have over 75% and 56% of their areas, respectively, with a high human footprint. In contrast, the Arctic and Northern Mountains have less than 0.02% and 0.2% under high human footprint. A validation of the final map resulted in a Cohen Kappa statistic of 0.911, signifying an ‘almost perfect’ agreement between the human footprint and the validation data set. By increasing the number and accuracy of mapped pressures, our map demonstrates much more widespread pressures in Canada than were indicated by previous global mapping efforts, demonstrating the value in specific national data applications. Ecological areas with immense anthropogenic pressure, highlight challenges that may arise when planning for ecologically representative protected areas.
A Framework for Brain Atlases: Lessons from Seizure Dynamics
Authors: Revell Andrew Y. , Silva Alexander B. , Arnold T. Campbell , Stein Joel M. , Das Sandhitsu R. , Shinohara Russell T. , Bassett Dani S. , Litt Brian , Davis Kathryn A.
Published: June 2021

Brain maps, or atlases, are essential tools for studying brain function and organization. The abundance of available atlases used across the neuroscience literature, however, creates an implicit challenge that may alter the hypotheses and predictions we make about neurological function and pathophysiology. Here, we demonstrate how parcellation scale, shape, anatomical coverage, and other atlas features may impact our prediction of the brain’s function from its underlying structure. We show how network topology, structure-function correlation (SFC), and the power to test specific hypotheses about epilepsy pathophysiology may change as a result of atlas choice and atlas features. Through the lens of our disease system, we propose a general framework and algorithm for atlas selection. This framework aims to maximize the descriptive, explanatory, and predictive validity of an atlas. Broadly, our framework strives to provide empirical guidance to neuroscience research utilizing the various atlases published over the last century.
Heterogeneity in effective size across the genome: effects on the Inverse Instantaneous Coalescence Rate (IICR) and implications for demographic inference under linked selection
Authors: Boitard Simon , Arredondo Armando , Noûs Camille , Chikhi Lounès , Mazet Olivier
Published: June 2021

The relative contribution of selection and neutrality in shaping species genetic diversity is one of the most central and controversial questions in evolutionary theory. Genomic data provide growing evidence that linked selection, i.e. the modification of genetic diversity at neutral sites through linkage with selected sites, might be pervasive over the genome. Several studies proposed that linked selection could be modelled as first approximation by a local reduction (e.g. purifying selection, selective sweeps) or increase (e.g. balancing selection) of effective population size (Ne). At the genome-wide scale, this leads to variations ofNefrom one region to another, reflecting the heterogeneity of selective constraints and recombination rates between regions. We investigate here the consequences of such genomic variations ofNeon the genome-wide distribution of coalescence times. The underlying motivation concerns the impact of linked selection on demographic inference, because the distribution of coalescence times is at the heart of several important demographic inference approaches. Using the concept of Inverse Instantaneous Coalescence Rate, we demonstrate that in a panmictic population, linked selection always results in a spurious apparent decrease ofNealong time. Balancing selection has a particularly large effect, even when it concerns a very small part of the genome. We also study more general models including genuine population size changes, population structure or transient selection and find that the effect of linked selection can be significantly reduced by that of population structure. The models and conclusions presented here are also relevant to the study of other biological processes generating apparent variations ofNealong the genome.
Interpretable modeling of genotype-phenotype landscapes with state-of-the-art predictive power
Authors: Tonner Peter D. , Pressman Abe , Ross David
Published: June 2021

Large-scale measurements linking genetic background to biological function have driven a need for models that can incorporate these data for reliable predictions and insight into the underlying biochemical system. Recent modeling efforts, however, prioritize predictive accuracy at the expense of model interpretability. Here, we present LANTERN (https://github.com/usnistgov/lantern), a hierarchical Bayesian model that distills genotype-phenotype landscape (GPL) measurements into a low-dimensional feature-space that represents the fundamental biological mechanisms of the system while also enabling straightforward, explainable predictions. Across a benchmark of large-scale datasets, LANTERN equals or outperforms all alternative approaches, including deep neural networks. LANTERN furthermore extracts useful insights into the landscape including its inherent dimensionality, a latent space of additive mutational effects, and novel metrics of landscape structure. LANTERN facilitates straightforward discovery of fundamental mechanisms in GPLs, while also reliably extrapolating to unexplored regions of genotypic-space.
Monoclonal antibodies against cell wall chitooligomers as accessory tools for the control of cryptococcosis
Authors: Figueiredo Alexandre Bezerra Conde , Fonseca Fernanda L. , de Paiva Conte Fernando , Arissawa Marcia , Rodrigues Marcio L.
Published: June 2021

Therapeutic strategies against systemic mycoses can involve antifungal resistance and significant toxicity. Thus, novel therapeutic approaches to fight fungal infections are urgent. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are promising tools to fight systemic mycoses. In this study, mAbs of the IgM isotype were developed against chitin oligomers. Chitooligomers derive from chitin, an essential component of the fungal cell wall and a promising therapeutic target, as it is not synthesized by humans or animals. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays and cell-binding tests showed that the mAbs recognizing chitooligomers have high affinity and specificity for the chitin derivatives. In vitro tests showed that the chitooligomer mAbs increased the fungicidal capacity of amphotericin B against Cryptococcus neoformans. The chitooligomer-binding mAbs interfered with two essential properties related to cryptococcal pathogenesis: biofilm formation and melanin production. In a murine model of C. neoformans infection, the combined administration of the chitooligomer-binding mAb and subinhibitory doses of amphotericin B promoted disease control. The data obtained in this study support the hypothesis that chitooligomer antibodies are of great potential as accessory tools in the control of cryptococcosis.
Evolution of Selective RNA Processing and Stabilization operons in cellulosome-harboring Clostridium spp
Authors: Bhaskar Yogendra , Heidari B. Mohammadhadi , Xu Chenggang , Xu Jian
Published: June 2021

In selective RNA processing and stabilization (SRPS) operons, the stoichiometry of encoded proteins is determined by their respective 3’-end stem-loops (SLs), yet the evolution of this mechanism remains elusive. In cellulosomal operons of Clostridium spp., we show that the SLs and their associated genes form a monogamy companionship during the operon evolution. Based on ΔG of such SLs, we propose CoSLOE (Composite SL-based Operon Evolution) model with evolutionary ratio (ER) >1 or <1 for positive or negative selection of SRPS operons. In the composite SL-ΔG-based tree (CoSL-tree) of cellulosomal operons, when traversing from leafs to the root nodes, ERs reveal diversifying/positive selection towards a less efficient cellulosomal system, consistent with glycoside-hydrolase gene variation both in-operon and genome-wide. A similar pattern is followed by the ATPase operon and the majority of orthologous SRPS operons genome-wide, suggesting conservation among operons in such selection. Thus SRPS operons via their transcript-stabilizing non-coding elements are highlighting a link between operon stoichiometry and operon evolution.
Genetic structure in patchy populations of a candidate foundation plant: a case study ofLeymus chinensis(Poaceae) using genetic and clonal diversity
Authors: Guo Jian , Richards Christina L. , Holsinger Kent E. , Fox Gordon A. , Zhang Zhuo , Zhou Chan
Published: June 2021

PREMISE

The distribution of genetic diversity on the landscape has critical ecological and evolutionary implications. This may be especially the case on a local scale for foundation plant species since they create and define ecological communities, contributing disproportionately to ecosystem function.

METHODS

We examined the distribution of genetic diversity and clones, which we defined first as unique multi-locus genotypes (MLG), and then by grouping similar MLGs into multi-locus lineages (MLL). We used 186 markers from inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) across 358 ramets from 13 patches of the foundation grassLeymus chinensis. We examined the relationship between genetic and clonal diversities, their variation with patch-size, and the effect of the number of markers used to evaluate genetic diversity and structure in this species.

RESULTS

Every ramet had a unique MLG. Almost all patches consisted of individuals belonging to a single MLL. We confirmed this with a clustering algorithm to group related genotypes. The predominance of a single lineage within each patch could be the result of the accumulation of somatic mutations, limited dispersal, some sexual reproduction with partners mainly restricted to the same patch, or a combination of all three.

CONCLUSIONS

We found strong genetic structure among patches ofL. chinensis. Consistent with previous work on the species, the clustering of similar genotypes within patches suggests that clonal reproduction combined with somatic mutation, limited dispersal, and some degree of sexual reproduction among neighbors causes individuals within a patch to be more closely related than among patches.
Glycolytic inhibitor 2-Deoxy-D-glucose attenuates SARS-CoV-2 multiplication in host cells and weakens the infective potential of progeny virions
Authors: Bhatt Anant Narayan , Kumar Abhishek , Rai Yogesh , Kumari Neeraj , Vedagiri Dhiviya , Harshan Krishnan H. , Chinnadurai Vijayakumar , Chandna Sudhir
Published: June 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing public health emergency of international concern. While a lot of efforts are being invested in vaccinating the population, there is also an emergent requirement to find potential therapeutics to effectively counter this fast mutating SARS-CoV-2 virus-induced pathogenicity. Virus-infected host cells switch their metabolism to a more glycolytic phenotype. This switch induced by the virus is needed for faster production of ATP and higher levels of anabolic intermediates, required for new virion synthesis and packaging. In this study, we used 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) to target and inhibit the metabolic reprogramming induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our results showed that virus infection induces glucose influx and glycolysis resulting in selective high accumulation of the fluorescent glucose/2-DG analogue, 2-NBDG in these cells. Subsequently, 2-DG inhibits glycolysis in infected cells thereby reducing the virus multiplication and alleviates the cells from virus induced cytopathic effect (CPE) and cell death. Herein, we demonstrate that the crucial Nglycosites (N331 and N343) of RBD in spike protein of progeny virions produced from 2-DG treated cells were found unglycosylated and defective with compromised infectivity potential. In line with earlier reported observations, our study also showed that 2-DG mediated metabolic inhibiton can attenuate SARS-COV-2 multiplication. In addition, mechanistic study revealed that the inhibition of SARS-COV-2 multiplication is attributed to 2-DG induced un-glycosylation of spike protein. Our findings strengthen the notion that 2-DG effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 multiplication. Therefore, based on its previous human trials in different types of Cancer and Herpes patients, it could be a potential molecule to study in COVID-19 patients.
Tangential high-density electrode insertions allow to simultaneously measure neuronal activity across an extended region of the visual field in mouse superior colliculus
Authors: Sibille Jérémie , Gehr Carolin , Teh Kai Lun , Kremkow Jens
Published: June 2021

The superior colliculus (SC) is a midbrain structure that plays a central role in visual processing. Although we have learned a considerable amount about the function of single SC neurons, the way in which sensory information is represented and processed on the population level in awake behaving animals and across a large region of the retinotopic map is still largely unknown. Partially because the SC is anatomically located below the cortical sheet and the transverse sinus, it is technically difficult to measure neuronal activity from a large population of neurons in SC. To address this, we propose a tangential recording configuration using high-density electrode probes (Neuropixels) in mouse SC in vivo that permits a large number of recording sites (~200) accessibility inside the SC circuitry. This approach thereby provides a unique opportunity to measure the activity of SC neuronal populations composing up to ~2 mm of SC tissue and characterized by receptive fields covering an extended region in the visual field. Here we describe how to perform tangential recordings along the anterior-posterior and the medio-lateral axis of the mouse SC in vivo and how to combine this approach with optogenetic tools for cell-type identification on the population level.
Exposure route, sex, and age influence disease outcome in a golden Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Authors: Griffin Bryan D. , Warner Bryce M. , Chan Mable , Mendoza Emelissa J. , Tailor Nikesh , Banadyga Logan , Leung Anders , He Shihua , Boese Amrit S. , Audet Jonathan , Cao Wenguang , Moffat Estella , Garnett Lauren , Tierney Kevin , Tran Kaylie N. , Albietz Alixandra , Manguiat Kathy , Soule Geoff , Bello Alexander , Vendramelli Robert , Lin Jessica , Deschambault Yvon , Zhu Wenjun , Safronetz David , Wood Heidi , Mubareka Samira , Strong James E. , Embury-Hyatt Carissa , Kobasa Darwyn
Published: June 2021

The emergence of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the resultant pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to over one hundred million confirmed infections, greater than three million deaths, and severe economic and social disruption. Animal models of SARS-CoV-2 are critical tools for the pre-clinical evaluation of antivirals, vaccines, and candidate therapeutics currently under urgent development to curb COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality. The golden (Syrian) hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection recapitulates key characteristics of severe COVID-19, including high-titer viral replication in the upper and lower respiratory tract and the development of pathogenic lesions in the lungs. In this work we examined the influence of the route of exposure, sex, and age on SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in golden hamsters. We report that delivery of SARS-CoV-2 primarily to the nasal passages (low-volume intranasal), the upper and lower respiratory tract (high-volume intranasal), or the digestive tract (intragastric) results in comparable viral titers in the lung tissue and similar levels of viral shedding during acute infection. However, low-volume intranasal exposure results in milder weight loss during acute infection while intragastric exposure leads to a diminished capacity to regain body weight following the period of acute illness. Further, we examined both sex and age differences in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Male hamsters, and to a greater extent older male hamsters, display an impaired capacity to recover from illness and a delay in viral clearance compared to females. Lastly, route of exposure, sex, and age were found to influence the nature of the host inflammatory cytokine response, but they had a minimal effect on both the quality and durability of the humoral immune response as well as the susceptibility of hamsters to SARS-CoV-2 re-infection. Together, these data indicate that the route of exposure, sex, and age have a meaningful impact SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in hamsters and that these variables should be considered when designing pre-clinical challenge studies.
Monitoring fish spawning sites in freshwater ecosystems using low-cost UAV data: A case study of salmonids in lakes in Iceland
Authors: Ponsioen Lieke , Kapralova Kalina H. , Holm Fredrik , García Martínez Silvia , Hennig Benjamin D.
Published: June 2021

Low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), widely known as drones, have become ubiquitous and improved considerably in their technical capabilities and data quality. This opens new opportunities for their utilisation in scientific research that can help to reduce equipment and data collection costs. Remote sensing methods in ecological fieldwork can be a suitable approach to complementing, augmenting or even replacing certain aspects of fieldwork. In this study we tested the suitability of UAV for the detection of salmonid spawning grounds in two lakes in Iceland, Thingvallavatn and Ellidavatn. Salmonids are very susceptible to environmental changes, especially during embryonic development when highly oxygenated water flow and low temperatures are required. Monitoring the changes of the redd density over time will help understand the population dynamics of salmonid species and create strategies for species conservation. As part of this pilot study, we conducted aerial surveys during the spawning seasons in both locations in 2018 recording standard photographs in the visible spectrum (red, green, blue) to fully cover the respective areas of interest. Different flight altitudes were recorded to test the effects of image resolution on the final analyses. The images were then processed by applying standard remote sensing analyses in the software ENVI. The maximum likelihood classification combined with post-classification improvement methods resulted in satisfactory accuracies that are valuable for further monitoring efforts. From these findings we established a workflow that allows the implementation of UAV in ecological fieldwork for regular long-term observations. We discuss our experiences with regards to their utility, their limitations and identify future directions of research for implementing the potential that low-cost approaches have in supporting ecological studies of freshwater ecosystems.
Transcriptome features of striated muscle aging and predictability of protein level changes
Authors: Han Yu , Li Lauren Z. , Kastury Nikhitha L. , Thomas Cody T , Lam Maggie P. Y. , Lau Edward
Published: June 2021

RNA and protein levels correlate only partially and some transcripts are better correlated with their protein counterparts than others. This suggests that in aging and disease studies, some transcriptomics markers may carry more information in predicting protein-level changes. Here we applied a computational data analysis workflow to predict which transcriptomic changes are more likely relevant to protein-level regulation in striated muscle aging. The protein predictability of each transcript is estimated from existing large proteogenomics data sets, then transferred to new total RNA sequencing data comparing skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle in young adult (~4 months) mice vs. early aging (~20 months) mice. Aging cardiac and skeletal muscles both invoke transcriptomic changes in innate immune system and mitochondria pathways but diverge in extracellular matrix processes. On an individual gene level, we identified 611 age-associated signatures in skeletal and cardiac muscles at 10% FDR, including a number of myokine and cardiokine encoding genes. We estimate that about 48% of the aging-associated transcripts may predict protein levels well (r ≥ 0.5). In parallel, a comparison of the identified aging-regulated genes with public human transcriptomics data showed that only 35–45% of the identified genes show an age-dependent expression in corresponding human tissues. Finally, integrating both RNA-protein correlation and human conservation across data sources, we nominate 134 prioritized aging striated muscle signature genes that are predicted to correlate strongly with protein levels and that show age-dependent expression in humans. These prioritized signatures may hold promise to understanding heart and skeletal muscle physiology in human and mouse aging.
Coordinated multivoxel coding beyond univariate effects is not likely to be observable in fMRI data
Authors: Pakravan Mansooreh , Ghazizadeh Ali
Published: June 2021

Simultaneous recording of activity across brain regions can contain additional information compared to regional recordings done in isolation. In particular, multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) across voxels has been interpreted as evidence for distributed coding of cognitive or sensorimotor processes beyond what can be gleaned from a collection of univariate responses (UVR) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Here, we argue that regardless of patterns revealed, conventional MVPA is merely a decoding tool with increased sensitivity arising from considering a large number of ‘weak classifiers’ (i.e. single voxels) in higher dimensions. We propose instead that ‘real’ multivoxel coding should result in changes in higher-order statistics across voxels between conditions such as second-order multivariate responses (sMVR). Surprisingly, analysis of conditions with robust multivariate responses (MVR) revealed by MVPA failed to show significant sMVR in two species (humans and macaques). Further analysis showed that while both MVR and sMVR can be readily observed in the spiking activity of neuronal populations, the slow and nonlinear hemodynamic coupling and low spatial resolution of fMRI activations make the observation of higher-order statistics between voxels highly unlikely. These results reveal inherent limitations of fMRI signals for studying coordinated coding across voxels. Together, these findings suggest that care should be taken in interpreting significant MVPA results as representing anything beyond a collection of univariate effects.
NMPylation and de-NMPylation of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp9 by the NiRAN domain
Authors: Wang Bing , Svetlov Dmitri , Artsimovitch Irina
Published: June 2021

Nsp12, the catalytic subunit of SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), contains two active sites that catalyze nucleotidyl-monophosphate (NMP) transfer (NMPylation). RNA synthesis is mediated by the RdRp active site that is conserved among all RNA viruses and has been a focus of mechanistic studies and drug discovery. The second active site resides in a Nidovirus RdRp-Associated Nucleotidyl transferase (NiRAN) domain. Both catalytic reactions are essential for viral replication, but the mechanism and targets of NiRAN are poorly characterized. One recent study showed that NiRAN transfers NMP to the first residue of RNA-binding protein Nsp9. Another study reported a structure of SARS-CoV-2 replicase with an extended Nsp9 in the NiRAN active site but observed NMP transfer to RNA instead. We show that SARS-CoV-2 Nsp12 efficiently and reversibly NMPylates the native but not the extended Nsp9. Substitutions of the invariant NiRAN residues abolish NMPylation, whereas a substitution of a catalytic RdRp Asp residue does not. NMPylation is inhibited by nucleotide analogs, pyrophosphate, and bisphosphonates, suggesting a path for rational design of NiRAN inhibitors. We hypothesize that Nsp9 remodels both active sites of Nsp12 to support initiation of RNA synthesis by RdRp and subsequent capping of the product RNA by the NiRAN domain.
Metacommunity dynamics and the detection of species associations in co-occurrence analyses: why patch disturbance matters
Authors: Calcagno Vincent , Cunniffe Nik , Hamelin Frederic M
Published: June 2021

Many statistical methods attempt to detect species associations — and so infer inter-specific interactions — from species co-occurrence patterns. Habitat heterogeneity and out-of-equilibrium colonization histories are well recognized as potentially causing species associations, even when interactions are absent. The potential for patch disturbance, a classical component of metacommunity dynamics, to also drive spurious species associations has however been over-looked. Using a new general metacommunity model, we derive mathematical predictions regarding how patch disturbance would affect the patterns of species 26 associations detected in null co-occurrence matrices. We also conduct numerical simulations to test our predictions and to compare the performance of several widespread statistical methods, including direct tests of pairwise independence, matrix permutation approaches and joint species distribution modelling. We show how classical metacommunity dynamics can produce statistical associations, both positive and negative, even when species do not interact, when there is no habitat heterogeneity, and at equilibrium. This occurs as soon as there is some rate of patch disturbance (i.e. simultaneous extinction of several species in a patch) and/or a finite life-span of patches, a common feature of a broad range of plant, animal or microbial systems. Patch disturbance can compromise species co-occurrence analyses and cause the artefactual detection of species associations if not taken into account. Including patch age (i.e. the time since the last patch disturbance event) as a covariate in a joint species distribution model can resolve the artefact. However, this requires additional data that often are not available in practice. We argue that the consequences of patch disturbance should not be underestimated when analysing species distribution patterns in metacommunity-like systems.
Interphase microtubule disassembly is a signaling cue that drives cell rounding at mitotic entry
Authors: Leguay Kévin , Decelle Barbara , Elkholi Islam E. , Bouvier Michel , Côté Jean-François , Carréno Sébastien
Published: June 2021

Reorganization of the cortical actin cytoskeleton at mitotic entry is essential to increase membrane tension for cell rounding1,2. This spherical shape is necessary for the biogenesis and organization of the mitotic spindle2-6. Proteins of the Ezrin, Radixin, Moesin (ERM) family play essential roles in mitotic morphogenesis by linking actomyosin forces to the plasma membrane2,3,7-10. While ERMs drive metaphase cell rounding, the cell-cycle signals that prompt their conformational activation in mitosis are unknown11. We screened a library of small molecules using novel ERM biosensors12 and we unexpectedly found that drugs that disassemble microtubules promote ERM activation. Remarkably, cells disassemble their interphase microtubules while entering mitosis13. We further discovered that this disassembly of microtubules acts as a cell-cycle signal that directs ERM activation and metaphase cell rounding. We show that GEF-H1, a Rho-GEF inhibited by microtubule binding, acts downstream of microtubule disassembly to activate ERMs via RhoA and its kinase effector SLK. In addition, we demonstrate that GEF-H1 and Ect2, another Rho-GEF responsible for the generation of mitotic actomyosin forces6,14, act together to drive metaphase ERM activation and cell rounding. In summary, we report microtubule disassembly as a cell cycle signal that triggers a signaling network ensuring that actomyosin forces are efficiently integrated at the plasma membrane to promote cell rounding at mitotic entry.
Determination of organisational essential needs as the basis for developing amaṣlaḥah-based performance measurement
Authors: Firdaus Achmad
Published: June 2021

Purpose

The purpose of the study is twofold: first, it is to develop each aspect ofmaṣlaḥah ḍarūriyah(essential needs), i.e.dīn(faith/religion),nafs(soul),ʿaql(intellect),naṣl(descendants) and mal (wealth), into various aspects of organisational essential needs; second, it is to formulatemaṣlaḥah-based performance measurement.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is an exploratory study that uses a two-stage design: defining the research question and developing the research design. The research question is how each element ofmaṣlaḥah ḍarūriyahcan become an element of organisational essential needs. The research design developed is to formulatemaṣlaḥah-based performance measurement.

Findings

The study concludes thatmaṣlaḥah ḍarūriyahcould be developed as a basis for identifying organisational essential needs. The five elements ofmaṣlaḥah ḍarūriyahare developed into the following organisational essential needs: worship orientation, internal process orientation, talent orientation, learning orientation, customer orientation and wealth orientation.Maṣlaḥah-based performance measurement uses five variables: strategic objective, measure, formula, target and strategic initiatives and applies the modified plan – do – check – action cycle: performance planning, performance implementation, performance evaluation and performance action.

Practical implications

Organisational essential needs can be developed by Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) into performance measurement. IFIs have six essential needs that can be developed into performance variables. Key performance indicators that can be developed for each need are worship orientation (social responsibility, regulatory compliance and Sharīʿah compliance); internal process orientation (innovation process, digital adaptation and employee satisfaction); talent orientation (career development, talent pool, compensation and benefits); learning orientation (training programme, training evaluation and return on training investment); customer orientation (customer engagement, customer satisfaction, customer survey and promotion programme); wealth orientation (profitability, cost-cutting, share prices, dividends, cost efficiency and financial sustainability).

Originality/value

This paper contributes to new knowledge. The study attempts to discuss the organisational essential needs based on themaṣlaḥah ḍarūriyahconcept, while previous studies discussed organisational needs based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In developing performance measurement, organisational performance is measured in a balanced manner. According to the concept ofmaṣlaḥah, not only financial factors but also worship, internal processes, talents, learning and customers define organisational needs. Thus, organisational needs are considered not only in terms of material factors but also in terms of spiritual (worship) factors.
Ethical values adaptation in international B2B relationships: case of Russian immigrant entrepreneurs in Finland
Authors: Dziubaniuk Olga , Ivanova-Gongne Maria
Published: June 2021

Purpose

This study aims to explore how Russian-origin immigrant entrepreneurs manage to adapt their business-to-business (B2B) relationship management practices and moral concerns to the business ethics of their country of origin and of the host country via the prism of ethical relativism. By focusing on the ethical values of immigrant entrepreneurs in a business relationship context, the study aims to extend the currently limited understanding of these issues in the B2B marketing field.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach is applied to provide findings from eight in-depth interviews with first-generation Russian entrepreneurs living and doing business in Finland. A narrative approach to the data analysis is used, in particular by applying a thematic analysis of the collected interviews because of the focus on the personal experiences of the interviewees.

Findings

The results illustrate how the immigrant entrepreneurs adapt to ethical values and norms in Russia and Finland and how they enact those values in B2B relationship management in the countries. Immigrant entrepreneurs share several national and ethical backgrounds, which may influence their interaction in international markets, helping them adapt to country-specific business ethics.

Practical implications

The results imply that managers should acquire knowledge on ethical norms at the global level and at the national level, where they aim to expand their business. Productive business relationships involve the premises of honesty, transparency, fairness toward business partners and minimizing opportunism. However, business relations between developed and emerging markets may demand relativism when addressing ethical behavior.

Originality/value

This is one of the few studies that explore the ethical values of immigrant entrepreneurs in the context of international business relationships. The study contributes to the limited literature on ethics in the fields of B2B marketing and immigrant entrepreneurship. The authors encourage further research on ethical values adoption by immigrant entrepreneurs, which is an essential topic in times of increased workforce immigration.
Digital transformation: why companies resist what they need for sustained performance
Authors: Magnusson Johan , Elliot Viktor , Hagberg Johan
Published: June 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to contribute to firms’ capabilities of digital transformation through the identification of strategies for digital decoupling and recoupling.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports from multiple studies using a combination of methods such as case studies and clinical studies. The method of analysis involves the revisiting of vignettes from interactions with practitioners with the purpose of analyzing patterns in responses to digital transformation.

Findings

The findings consist of four strategies used by organizations and individuals in the decoupling of digital from their existing operations. Digital decoupling affords the organization the possibility of remaining largely unaffected by digital transformation. The authors also present four digital recoupling strategies that are used to succeed with digital transformation.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited by the analytical approach of drawing from multiple previous studies. The research implications consist primarily of a contribution to a better understanding of why and how digital transformation is constrained.

Practical implications

The four strategies of digital decoupling can be used to identify behavior in organizations that limit digital transformation. The four strategies of digital recoupling can be used to instigate a more successful digital transformation.

Originality/value

According to the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to identify digital decoupling strategies as a micro-foundation for organizational resistance to digital transformation.
The mobile phone in governance for environmental sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Asongu Simplice , Nting Rexon
Published: June 2021

Purpose

In this study, we assess how the mobile phone can be leveraged upon to improve the role of governance in environmental sustainability in 44 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The Generalised Method of Moments is used to establish policy thresholds. A threshold is a critical mass or level of mobile phone penetration at which the net effect of governance on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions changes from positive to negative.

Findings

Mobile phone penetration thresholds associated with negative conditional effects are: 36 (per 100 people) for political stability/no violence; 130 (per 100 people) for regulation quality; 146.66 (per 100 people) for government effectiveness; 65 (per 100 people) for corruption-control and 130 (per 100 people) for the rule of law. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Originality/value

The study provides thresholds of mobile phone penetration that are critical in complementing governance dynamics to reduce CO2 emissions.
The role of inventories for the propagation of aggregate fluctuations: lessons for Bulgaria (1999–2019)
Authors: Vasilev Aleksandar
Published: June 2021

Purpose

In this study, inventories are introduced as a productive input into a real-business-cycle (RBC) setup augmented with the government.

Design/methodology/approach

The model is calibrated to Bulgarian data for the period 1999–2019. The quantitative importance of the presence of inventories is investigated.

Findings

The quantitative effect of inventories is found to be important: decreasing consumption volatility and increasing employment variability. Those results, however, are at the expense of decreasing wage volatility and increasing investment volatility, and generally worsening the contemporaneous correlations of the main variables with output.

Originality/value

Fluctuations in inventory levels matter for business cycle fluctuations in Bulgaria, which is a novel result. Still, there is a need for more research on the incorporation of inventories into RBC models to better fit the Bulgarian experience.
Discovering the global landscape of fraud detection studies: a bibliometric review
Authors: Mansour Ala'a Zuhair , Ahmi Aidi , Popoola Oluwatoyin Muse Johnson , Znaimat Asma
Published: June 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to present a bibliometric analysis of publications from the Scopus database on fraud detection studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The current research used Microsoft Excel to conduct the frequency analysis, VOSviewer for data visualisation and Harzing’s Publish or Perish for citation metrics and analysis.

Findings

In alignment with these research results, the publications on fraud detection studies have been consistently increasing since 2005. India was rated first as the most active country in fraud detection research. Tongji University from China was the most active institution that published significant publications related to fraud detection research. A total of 160 scholars from 89 various countries and 160 different institutions published several fraud detections studies with multi-authors’ participation in different languages.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors knowledge, this study is the first study to review fraud detections publications in the Scopus science database.
COVID effect on retailing: a study on consumers’ retailer preferences during economic recession periods: evidence from Turkey as a predominantly Muslim society
Authors: Baran Tamer
Published: June 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore consumers’ retailer preferences during economic growth and recession periods in a Muslim-intensive country, and to compare the efficiency of retailers of different formats.

Design/methodology/approach

The data of the retailers operating in different formats in the first two quarters of 2018–2020 are used in the study. The data are analyzed by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The inputs of the DEA model are personnel expenses, rent costs and advertising expenses; and the outputs are sales and profits, which are the main objective of businesses. Because of the structure of the data, the non-oriented approach is used. The efficiency of retailers is determined in the study with super efficiency, which allows retailers to rank their productivity.

Findings

Findings of study present that consumers exhibited price-oriented behaviors during economic recession periods. DEA findings shows that discount stores are the most efficient retailers. However, study findings also reveal that retailers who support cost-reduction strategies with promotion activities are more efficient than others during economic recession periods.

Practical implications

Recommendations are made for the decision makers of the retailers in line with the findings of the study.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature by evaluating the consumer preferences and the efficiency of retailers in COVID-19 outbreak period, which is one of the most special periods in world history.
How external stakeholders drive the green public procurement practice? An organizational learning perspective
Authors: Liu Junqi , Ma Yanlin , Appolloni Andrea , Cheng Wenjuan
Published: June 2021

Purpose

This study aims to uncover the black box of the influence mechanism between external stakeholder drivers and green public procurement practice, and meanwhile to explore the moderating role of administrative level in this process. Green public procurement (GPP) has been widely implemented. Existing literature has found that external stakeholder drivers can affect public sectors' GPP practice, however, the definition of its connotation is still unclear, and how external stakeholders affect GPP practice has remained a black box.

Design/methodology/approach

After defining the major external stakeholders, this study develops a multiple mediation theoretical model using survey data from 142 Chinese local public sectors. It aims to uncover the black box of the influence mechanism between external stakeholder drivers and GPP practice and meanwhile explore the moderating effect of administrative levels in this process.

Findings

The results show that external stakeholder drivers have a positive relationship with GPP practices. The knowledge of GPP implementation policies and the knowledge of GPP benefits can both mediate this relationship. This study also finds that the administrative level of public sectors can positively moderate the mediating effect produced by the knowledge of GPP implementation policies and negatively moderate the mediation effect produced by the knowledge of GPP benefits.

Social implications

Local governments need to better encourage public sectors to implement GPP. Managers of public sectors need to pay attention to organizational learning to acquire relevant knowledge on GPP.

Originality/value

This study makes a theoretical contribution to a better understanding of the influence mechanism for GPP practice. This study also provides comparisons of GPP implementation policies between China and European Union.