bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring the design space of recombinase logic circuits.
Authors: Guiziou Sarah , Perution-Kihli Guillaume , Ulliana Federico , Leclere Michel , Bonnet Jerome
Published: July 2019

Logic circuits operating in living cells are generally built by mimicking electronic layouts, and scale-up is accomplished using additional layers of elementary logic gates like NOT and NOR gates. Recombinase-based logic, in which logic is implemented using DNA inversion or excision, allows for highly efficient, compact and single-layer design architectures. However, recombinase logic architectures depart from electronic design principles, and gate design performed empirically is challenging for an increasing number of inputs. Here we used a combinatorial approach to explore the design space of recombinase logic devices. We generated combinations and permutations of recombination sites, genes, and regulatory elements, for a total of ~19 million designs supporting the implementation of all 2- and 3-input logic functions and up to 92% of 4-input logic functions. We estimated the influence of different design constraints on the number of executable functions, and found that the use of DNA inversion and transcriptional terminators were key factors to implement the vast majority of logic functions. We provide a user-friendly interface, called RECOMBINATOR (http://recombinator.lirmm.fr/index.php), that enable users to navigate the design space of recombinase-based logic, find architectures implementing a specific logic function and sort them according to various biological criteria. Finally, we define a set of 16 architectures from which all 256 3-input logic functions can be derived. This work provides a theoretical foundation for the systematic exploration and design of single-layer recombinase logic devices.
The most common RNF43 mutant G659Vfs41 is fully functional in inhibiting Wnt signaling and unlikely to play a role in tumorigenesis
Authors: Tu Jianghua , Park Soohyun , Yu Wangsheng , Zhang Sheng , Wu Ling , Carmon Kendra , Liu Qingyun J.
Published: July 2019

RNF43 is an E3 ligase that inhibits Wnt signaling by ubiquitinating Wnt receptors for degradation. It is mutated in various cancer types with the most recurrent mutation being the frameshift G659Vfs41 with frequencies of ~5-8% in colon, stomach and endometrial cancers. The mutation has always been assumed to be loss-of-function that would lead to increased Wnt signaling and tumorigenesis, yet no functional characterization has been reported. We analyzed the distribution of the G659Vfs41 mutation and its association with other cancer gene mutations, and found that the mutation occurred nearly exclusively in tumors with low expression of the DNA mismatch repair gene MLH1. Mutant RNF43-G659Vfs41 was no different from wild type RNF43 in expression, localization, R-spondin binding, promotion of Wnt receptor degradation, inhibition of Wnt signaling. We also found that colon tumors with RNF43-G659Vfs41 had low expression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling markers and were frequently mutated in BRAF. A colon cancer cell line with RNF43-G659Vfs41 and BRAF-V600E mutations was uniquely sensitively to activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. These findings indicate that RNF43-G659Vfs41 is likely a passenger mutation in MLH1-down regulated tumors, not a loss-of-function driver mutation that facilitates tumorigenesis. Tumors with RNF43-G659Vfs41 and BRAF-V600E may be susceptible to activators of Wnt signaling.
Modelling of pH-dependence to develop a strategy for stabilising mAbs at acidic steps in production
Authors: Hebditch Max , Kean Ryan , Warwicker Jim
Published: July 2019

Abstract

Engineered proteins are increasingly being required to function or pass through environmental stresses for which the underlying protein has not evolved. A major example in health are antibody therapeutics, where a low pH step is used for purification and viral clearance. In order to develop a computational model for analysis of pH-stability, predictions are compared with experimental data for the relative pH-sensitivities of antibody domains. The model is then applied to proteases that have evolved to be functional in an acid environment, showing a clear signature for low pH-dependence of stability in the neutral to acidic pH region, largely through reduction of saltbridges. Interestingly, an extensively acidic protein surface can maintain contribution to structural stabilisation at acidic pH through replacement of basic sidechains with polar, hydrogen-bonding groups. These observations form a design principle for engineering acid-stable proteins.
Force-exerting lateral protrusions in fibroblastic cell contraction
Authors: Padhi Abinash , Singh Karanpreet , Franco-Barraza Janusz , Marston Daniel J. , Cukierman Edna , Hahn Klaus M. , Kapania Rakesh K. , Nain Amrinder S.
Published: July 2019

Aligned extracellular matrix fibers enable fibroblasts to undergo myofibroblastic activation and lead to elongated cell morphology. The fibroblasts in turn contract to cause alignment of the extracellular matrix. This feedback process is critical in pathological occurrences such as desmoplasia and is not well understood. Using engineered fiber networks that serve as force sensors, we identify lateral protrusions with specific functions and morphology that are induced by elongated fibroblastic cells and which apply extracellular fiber-deflecting contractile forces. Lateral projections, named twines, produce twine bridges upon interacting with neighboring parallel fibers. These mature into “perpendicular lateral protrusions” (PLPs) that enable cells to spread laterally and effectively contract. Using quantitative microscopy, we show that the twines originate from the stratification of cyclic actin waves traversing the entire length of the cell. The primary twines swing freely in 3D and engage neighboring extracellular fibers. Once engaged, a lamellum extends from the primary twine and forms a second twine, which also engages with the neighboring fiber. As the lamellum fills in the space between the two twines, a sheet-like PLP is formed to contract effectively. By controlling the geometry of extracellular networks we confirm that anisotropic fibrous environments enable PLP formation, and these force-generating PLPs are oriented perpendicular to the parent cell body. PLP formation kinetics indicated mechanisms analogous to other/known actin-based structures. Our identification of force-exerting PLPs in anisotropic fibrous environments suggests an explanation for cancer-associated desmoplastic expansion at single-cell resolution, providing possible new clinical intervention opportunities.
Disulfide chaperone knock-outs enable in-vivo double spin-labeling of an outer-membrane transporter
Authors: Nilaweera T. D. , Nyenhuis D. A. , Nakamoto R. K. , Cafiso D. S.
Published: July 2019

Recent advances in the application of EPR spectroscopy have demonstrated that it is possible to obtain structural information on bacterial outer-membrane proteins in intact cells from extracellularly labeled cysteines. However, in the Escherichia coli outer-membrane vitamin B12 transport protein, BtuB, the double labeling of many cysteine pairs is not possible in a wild-type K12-derived E. coli strain. It has also not yet been possible to selectively label single or paired cysteines that face the periplasmic space. Here we demonstrate that the inability to produce reactive cysteine residues in pairs is a result of the disulfide bond formation system, which functions to oxidize pairs of free-cysteine residues. Mutant strains that are dsbA or dsbB null facilitate labeling pairs of cysteines. Moreover, we demonstrate that the double labeling of sites on the periplasmic facing surface of BtuB is possible using a dsbA null strain. BtuB is found to exhibit different structures and structural changes in the cell than it does in isolated outer membranes or reconstituted systems, and the ability to label and perform EPR in cells is expected to be applicable to a range of other bacterial outer-membrane proteins.

Statement of Significance

EPR spectroscopy is an important method to characterize the structure and dynamics of membrane proteins, and recent efforts demonstrate that pulse EPR can be used to examine the extracellular surface of outer membrane proteins in live bacteria. In the present work, we show that pairs of cysteine residues in the Escherichia coli vitamin B12 transporter, BtuB, cannot be spin-labeled in wild-type strains, but can be labeled with the use of certain null mutants in the periplasmic disulfide bond formation, Dsb, system. These mutants also facilitate efficient spin-labeling of cysteines located on the periplasmic surface of BtuB. Distance measurements using pulse EPR provide evidence that the behavior of BtuB is different in the bacterial cell than it is in purified systems.
Genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease predicts hippocampal volume through the lifespan
Authors: Walhovd Kristine B , Fjell Anders M. , Sørensen Øystein , Mowinckel Athanasia Monica , Reinbold Céline Sonja , Idland Ane-Victoria , Watne Leiv Otto , Franke Andre , Dobricic Valerijia , Kilpert Fabian , Bertram Lars , Wang Yunpeng
Published: July 2019

INTRODUCTION

It is unknown whether genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents a stable influence on the brain from early in life, or whether effects are age-dependent. It is critical to characterize the effects of genetic risk factors on the primary neural substrate of AD, the hippocampus, throughout life.

METHODS

Relations of polygenic risk score (PGS) for AD, including variants in Apolipoprotein E (APOE) with hippocampal volume and its change were assessed in a healthy longitudinal lifespan sample (n = 1181, 4-95 years), followed for up to 11 years with a total of 2690 MRI scans.

RESULTS

AD-PGS showed a significant negative effect on hippocampal volume. Offset effects of AD-PGS andAPOEε4 were present in hippocampal development, and interactions between age and genetic risk on volume change were not consistently observed. DISCUSSION: Endophenotypic manifestation of polygenic risk for AD may be seen across the lifespan in healthy persons.

Highlights

Genetic risk for AD affects the hippocampus throughout the lifespan

APOEε4 carriers have smaller hippocampi in development

Different effects of genetic risk at different ages were not consistently observed

Genetic factors increasing risk for AD impact healthy persons throughout life

A broader population and age range are relevant targets for attempts to prevent AD
Functional annotation of rare structural variation in the human brain
Authors: Han Lide , Zhao Xuefang , Benton Mary Lauren , Perumal Thaneer , Collins Ryan L. , Hoffman Gabriel E. , Johnson Jessica S. , Sloofman Laura , Wang Harold Z. ,   CommonMind Consortium, Brennand Kristen J. , Brand Harrison , Sieberts Solveig K. , Marenco Stefano , Peters Mette A. , Lipska Barbara K. , Roussos Panos , Capra John A. , Talkowski Michael , Ruderfer Douglas M.
Published: July 2019

Structural variants (SVs) contribute substantially to risk of many brain related disorders including autism and schizophrenia. However, annotating the potential contribution of SVs to disease remains a major challenge. Here, we integrated high resolution SV calling from genome-sequencing in 755 human post-mortem brains with dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex RNA-sequencing from a subset of 629 samples to quantify the dosage and regulatory effects of SVs. We show that genic (p = 5.44×10−9) and regulatory SVs (enhancer p = 3.22×10−23, CTCF p = 3.86×10−18) are present at significantly lower frequencies than intergenic SVs after correcting for SV length. Copy number variants (CNVs)—deletions and duplications—exhibit a significant quantitative and directional relationship between the proportion of genic and regulatory content altered and gene expression, and the size of the effect is inversely correlated with the loss-of-function intolerance of the gene. We trained a joint linear model that leverages genic and regulatory annotations to predict expression effects of rare CNVs in independent samples (R2= 0.21-0.41). We further developed a regulatory disruption score for each CNV that aggregates the predicted expression across all affected genes weighted by the genes’ intolerance score and applied it to an independent set of SVs from 14,891 genome-sequenced individuals. Pathogenic deletions implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders by ClinGen had significantly more extreme regulatory disruption scores than the rest of the SVs. Rank ordering based on the most extreme regulatory disruption scores prioritized pathogenic deletions that would not have been prioritized by frequency or length alone. This work points to the deleteriousness of regulatory SVs, particularly those altering CTCF sites. We further provide a simple approach for functionally annotating the regulatory effects of SVs in the human brain that has potential to be useful in larger SV studies and should improve as more regulatory annotation data is generated.
Contrast invariant tuning in human perception of image content
Authors: Fruend Ingo , Patel Jaykishan , Stalker Elee D.
Published: July 2019

Higher levels of visual processing are progressively more invariant to low-level visual factors such as contrast. Although this invariance trend has been well documented for simple stimuli like gratings and lines, it is difficult to characterize such invariances in images with naturalistic complexity. Here, we use a generative image model based on a hierarchy of learned visual features—a Generative Adversarial Network—to constrain image manipulations to remain within the vicinity of the manifold of natural images. This allows us to quantitatively characterize visual discrimination behaviour for naturalistically complex, non-linear image manipulations. We find that human tuning to such manipulations has a factorial structure. The first factor governs image contrast with discrimination thresholds following a power law with an exponent between 0.5 and 0.6, similar to contrast discrimination performance for simpler stimuli. A second factor governs image content with approximately constant discrimination thresholds throughout the range of images studied. These results support the idea that human perception factors out image contrast relatively early on, allowing later stages of processing to extract higher level image features in a stable and robust way.
Residue-Residue Mutual Work Analysis of Retinal-Opsin Interaction in Rhodopsin: Implications for Protein-Ligand Binding
Authors: Li Wenjin
Published: July 2019

Energetic contributions at single-residue level to retinal-opsin interaction in rhodopsin were studied by combining molecular dynamics simulations, transition path sampling, and a newly developed energy decomposition approach. The virtual work at an infinitesimal time interval was decomposed into the work components on one residue due to its interaction with another residue, which were then averaged over the transition path ensemble along a proposed reaction coordinate. Such residue-residue mutual work analysis on 62 residues within the active center of rhodopsin resulted in a very sparse interaction matrix, which is generally not symmetric but anti-symmetric to some extent. 14 residues were identified to be major players in retinal relaxation, which is in excellent agreement with an existing NMR study. Based on the matrix of mutual work, a comprehensive network was constructed to provide detailed insights into the chromophore-protein interaction from a viewpoint of energy flow.
Improving the specificity of adenine base editor using high-fidelity Cas9
Authors: Hong Ruisha , Ma Sidi , Wang Feng
Published: July 2019

Adenine base editor (ABE) mediates the conversion of A to G in genomic DNA. In human, approximately 47.8% of known pathogenic SNPs can be corrected by A to G conversion, indicating that ABE have tremendous potential in gene therapy. However, the off-target activity of ABE limits its clinical application. ABE off-target activity in DNA is depended on the bonding of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) on off-target sites [1, 2]. Therefore, using high-fidelity Cas9 should be able to improve the specificity of ABE. Based on this, we replaced the wild-type SpCas9 in ABE7.10 with four high-fidelity Cas9s to improve its specificity. The analysis of target deep sequencing data demonstrate that the specificity of e-ABE is substantially improved compared to conventional ABE7.10 in four test sites. But the broad editing window of ABE hampers its application, ABE needs to be optimized to get variants with narrow editing window.
Divulging diazotrophic bacterial community structure in Kuwait desert ecosystems and their N2-fixation potential
Authors: Suleiman M. K. , Quoreshi A. M. , Bhat N. R. , Manuvel A. J. , Sivadasan M. T.
Published: July 2019

Kuwait is a semi-arid region with harsh climatic conditions with poor available soil nutrient essential for the growth of plants. Kuwait’s ecosystem is relatively N-poor ecosystem when compared to the other ecosystems. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is a spontaneous process in which diazotrophic bacteria fixes the atmospheric nitrogen directly in to the bionetwork. At present, there is limited information on free-living and root associated nitrogen-fixing bacteria, their potential to fix nitrogen to aid natural plant communities in the desert of Kuwait. In this study, free-living N2-fixing bacteria were enriched and isolated from the rhizospheric soil of three keystone native plant species of Kuwait; such asRhanterium epapposum, Farsetia aegyptia, andHaloxylon salicornicum. Root associated bacteria were directly isolated from the root nodules ofVachellia pachyceras. In this study, a number of free-living and root associated dizotrophs were isolated from various rhizospheric soils of three native shrubs and root nodules from one tree species. The screened isolates were assessed for nitrogen-fixing ability and identified using Acetylene Reduction Assay (ARA) and 16s rRNA gene sequencing, respectively. Our study successfully identified all the 50 nitrogen-fixers isolated initially and out of that, 78% were confirmed as nitrogen-fixers using ARA. Among the identified nitrogen fixers, the genusRhizobiumis dominant in rhizospheric soil ofRhanterium epapposum, whereasPseudomonasandRhizobiumare dominant in the rhizospheric soil ofFarsetia aegyptia, andHaloxylon salicornicumrespectively. The speciesAgrobacterium tumefaciensis found dominant in the root nodules ofV. pachyceras. The current results indicate that plant species and their rhizospheric effects are important drivers for specificity of microbial diversity in arid soils. To our knowledge, this study is the first investigation of culture-based isolation, molecular identification, and evaluation of N2-fixing ability of diazotrophs from Kuwait desert environment.
Cardiovascular parameters in capitive blue-fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva, Linnaeus, 1758) with varying body condition scores
Authors: dos Santos Gisele Junqueira , Aleixo Amanda Sarita Cruz , Silva Jeana Pereira Da , Hippólito Alícia Giolo , Ferro Bárbara Sardela , Oliveira Elton Luis Ritir , Okamoto Priscylla Tatiana Chalfun Guimarães , Lourenço Maria Lucia Gomes , de Vasconcelos Machado Vania Maria , Melchert Alessandra
Published: July 2019

This study aims at determining the echocardiographic, radiographic and tomographic parameters of blue-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva) with varying body condition scores. Thirty-five birds grown in captivity were included in the study and allocated into groups according to their respective body condition scores: Lean, Ideal and Obese. The echocardiographic evaluation revealed that obese parrots presented lower right ventricle dimensions in diastole than lean parrots. The fractional shortening was considerably lower in obese parrots than in parrots with lean and ideal body condition scores, but without statistical significance. The flow rate and the aortic pressure gradient were lower in the lean group than in the ideal group. No differences were observed between the groups when comparing the radiographic and tomographic measurements. Therefore, as is the case in mammals, we can conclude that alterations in the nutritional state of blue-fronted amazon parrots lead to cardiovascular dysfunctions detected only through an echocardiographic evaluation, which represents an important diagnostic tool for these animals. Computed tomography scans allowed a better identification of the structures of the cardiovascular system without the overlaying structures of the celomatic cavity observed in radiographic images. However, radiographic examinations should still be considered the standard screening examination to identify cardiac alterations such as increased or reduced organ dimensions. Standardizing the technique and describing the measurements obtained in this study may serve as a basis for further research.
Olaparib and Enzalutamide synergistically suppress HCC progression via the AR-mediated miR-146a-5p/BRCA1 signaling
Authors: Zhao Jie , Sun Yin , Lin Hui , Chou Fuju , Xiao Yao , Jin Ren’an , Cai Xiujun , Chang Chawnshang
Published: July 2019

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of most common malignant tumors worldwide, however, the treatment for advanced HCC remains unsatisfactory. Here we found that Olaparib, a FDA approved PARP inhibitor, could enhance the cytotoxicity in HCC cells with a lower BRCA1 expression, and suppressing the AR with either Enz or AR-shRNA could further increase the Olaparib sensitivity to better suppress the HCC cell growth via a synergistic mechanism that may involve suppressing the expression of BRCA1 and other DNA damage response (DDR) genes. Mechanism studies revealed that Enz/AR signaling might transcriptional regulting the miR-146a-5p expression via binding to the AREs on its 5’ promoter region, which could then lead to suppress the homologous recombination-related BRCA1 expression via direct binding to its 3’ UTR of mRNA. Preclinical study using an in vivo mouse model also proved that combined Enz plus Olaparib led to better suppression of the HCC progression. Together, these in vitro/in vivo data suggest that combining Enz and Olaparib may help in the development of a novel therapy to better suppress the HCC progression.
Glucocorticoid receptor quaternary structure drives chromatin occupancy and transcriptional outcome
Authors: Paakinaho Ville , Johnson Thomas A. , Presman Diego M. , Hager Gordon L.
Published: July 2019

Most transcription factors, including nuclear receptors, are widely modeled as binding regulatory elements as monomers, homodimers, or heterodimers. Recent findings in live cells show that the glucocorticoid receptor NR3C1 (also known as GR) forms tetramers on enhancers, owing to an allosteric alteration induced by DNA binding, and suggest that higher oligomerization states are important for the gene regulatory responses of GR. By using a variant (GRtetra) that mimics this allosteric transition, we performed genome-wide studies using a GR knockout cell line with reintroduced wild-type GR or reintroduced GRtetra. GRtetra acts as a super receptor by binding to response elements not accessible to the wild-type receptor and both induces and represses more genes than GRwt. These results argue that DNA binding induces a structural transition to the tetrameric state, forming a transient higher-order structure that drives both the activating and repressive actions of glucocorticoids.
1-(2-Amino-5-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoroethan-1-one
Authors: Gao Jie , Pan Yangdan , Li Yahong , Li Yafei
Published: July 2019

In the title compound, C8H5ClF3NO, the F—C—C=O grouping shows a syn conformation [torsion angle = 1.1 (3)°] and an intramolecular N—H...O hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring. In the crystal, N—H...F and N—H...O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into [010] chains.
Does extreme rainfall lead to heavy losses in the food industry?
Authors: Lucas Edimilson Costa , Mendes-Da-Silva Wesley , Araujo Gustavo Silva
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Managing the risks associated to world food production is an important challenge for governments. A range of factors, among them extreme weather events, has threatened food production in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of extreme rainfall events on the food industry in Brazil, a prominent player in this industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the AR-GARCH-GPD hybrid methodology to identify whether extreme rainfall affects the stock price of food companies. To do so, the authors collected the daily closing price of the 16 food industry companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange (B3), in January 2015.

Findings

The results indicate that these events have a significant impact on stock returns: on more than half of the days immediately following the heavy rain that fell between 28 February 2005 and 30 December 2014, returns were significantly low, leading to average daily losses of 1.97 per cent. These results point to the relevance of the need for instruments to hedge against weather risk, particularly in the food industry.

Originality/value

Given that extreme weather events have been occurring more and more frequently, financial literature has documented attempts at assessing the economic impacts of weather changes. There is little research, however, into assessing the impacts of these events at corporate level.
Understanding the cultural concerns of libraries based on automatic image analysis
Authors: Ding Heng , Lu Wei , Jiang Tingting
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Photographs are a kind of cultural heritage and very useful for cultural and historical studies. However, traditional or manual research methods are costly and cannot be applied on a large scale. This paper aims to present an exploratory study for understanding the cultural concerns of libraries based on the automatic analysis of large-scale image collections.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, an image dataset including 85,023 images preserved and shared by 28 libraries is collected from the Flickr Commons project. Then, a method is proposed for representing the culture with a distribution of visual semantic concepts using a state-of-the-art deep learning technique and measuring the cultural concerns of image collections using two metrics. Case studies on this dataset demonstrated the great potential and promise of the method for understanding large-scale image collections from the perspective of cultural concerns.

Findings

The proposed method has the ability to discover important cultural units from large-scale image collections. The proposed two metrics are able to quantify the cultural concerns of libraries from different perspectives.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first automatic analysis of images for the purpose of understanding cultural concerns of libraries. The significance of this study mainly consists in the proposed method of understanding the cultural concerns of libraries based on the automatic analysis of the visual semantic concepts in image collections. Moreover, this paper has examined the cultural concerns (e.g. important cultural units, cultural focus, trends and volatility of cultural concerns) of 28 libraries.
Strategic talent management scholarship: a review of current foci and future directions
Authors: Anlesinya Alex , Dartey-Baah Kwasi , Amponsah-Tawiah Kwesi
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review strategic talent management (STM) research with the aim of providing major insights into the under-explored themes, issues, theories and methods.

Design/methodology/approach

The method included a systematic review of studies from 2007 to 2019 in five reputable academic databases. In total, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analysed.

Findings

STM can be leveraged to achieve several positive employee, organisational and macro-level outcomes. However, the realisation of these positive outcomes can be threatened by several challenges, which need to be addressed through the creation of conditions critical for the success of talent management strategies. Moreover, effective talent management strategy regime does not lie on the shoulders of just one individual but a collective responsibility of multiple stakeholders. The study also highlighted the digitalisation of STM, integration of ethical and responsible management principles into talent management strategies, and strategic management of unconventional of talent pools as key trends. Finally, several major weaknesses in the current STM scholarship from theoretical, content, context and methodological perspectives are discussed.

Research limitations/implications

Although the studies included in the analysis may not include all studies published during the study period, it is assumed that they provide a good representation of such studies.

Originality/value

Since no systematic study was conducted specifically on STM, this study contributes to the talent management literature by identifying several research issues and gaps while defining future directions of the field. It can, therefore, enrich STM debates, practices and policy making.
A full comparison study of service discovery approaches for internet of things
Authors: Aziez Meriem , Benharzallah Saber , Bennoui Hammadi
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the Internet of Things (IoT) service discovery problem and investigate the existing solutions to tackle this problem in many aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an overview of IoT services aiming at providing a clear understanding about their features because this term is still ambiguous for the IoT service discovery approaches. Besides, a full comparison study of the most representative service discovery approaches in the literature is presented over four perspectives: the IoT information model, the mechanism of IoT service discovery, the adopted architecture and the context awareness. These perspectives allow classifying, comparing and giving a deeper understanding of the existing IoT service discovery solutions.

Findings

This paper presents a new definition and a new classification of IoT services and citation of their features comparing with the traditional Web services. This paper discusses the existing solutions, as well as the main challenges, that face the service discovery issue in the IoT domain. Besides, two classifications of the approaches are adopted on the basis of their service description model and their mechanism of discovery, and a set of requirements that need to be considered when defining an IoT service are proposed.

Originality/value

There are few number works that survey the service discovery approaches in the IoT domain, but none of these surveys discuss the service description models in the IoT or the impact of the context awareness aspect in the service discovery solution. There are also few works that give a comprehensive overview of IoT services to understand their nature to facilitate their description and discovery. This paper fills this gap by performing a full comparison study of multi-category and recent approaches for service discovery in the IoT over many aspects and also by performing a comprehensive study of the IoT service features.
Advertising music: an alternative atmospheric stimulus to retail music
Authors: Raja Md Washim , Anand Sandip , Allan David
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Studying the role of advertising music (ad music) in a retail context can be an emergence of new marketing practices. The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential usage and utility of ad music as an atmospheric stimulus in contrast to music (retail music) as an atmospheric stimulus. This paper also aims to provide a model, which depicts how ad music could be an alternative to retail music in retail settings with regard to consumers’ attitudinal influence and its optimistic correlation with related marketing outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviewed the literature related to the role of retail music as an atmospheric stimulus and studies related to the role of music in the ad.

Findings

Advertising music as an atmospheric stimulus is more likely to influence consumers’ attitude towards advertising music, towards advertising and towards the advertised brand. Contrary to retail music, advertising music as an atmospheric stimulus may help a consumer for ad recall, ad message/brand information recall, brand recall, brand identification and brand recognition. Consequently, advertising music may always have an advantage over retail music with regard to purchase intent, brand choice and financial return.

Practical implications

This work may encourage the advertisers for the proper usage of ad music as an atmospheric stimulus that may holistically magnify the saliency of advertising theoretically and practically.

Originality/value

This study is a novel attempt to conceptualise the potential scope of utilisation of ad music in the retail context.
Why do online grocery shoppers switch or stay? An exploratory analysis of consumers’ response to online grocery shopping experience
Authors: Singh Reema
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to add to current knowledge of online customer experience (OCE) by examining various drivers and outcomes of online grocery shopping experience that can help researchers and retailers answer the pressing question: “Why do online grocery customers stay or switch?”

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied netnography and critical incident analysis to a pool of 1,004 reviews captured from forum and review sites dedicated to online grocery shopping.

Findings

Two broad dimensions of OCE, four attributes and 13 factors corresponding to shoppers’ psychological states and their utilitarian and hedonic orientations emerged from the data analysis. The proposed framework, containing these four attributes and corresponding 13 factors, captures the consumers’ intention to stay with the current retailer or switch.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to existing knowledge of OCE by providing a dynamic and yet holistic framework that encompasses experiential states and utilitarian or hedonic orientations in an online grocery context. Although its contributions are valuable to both researchers and practitioners, further quantitative analysis is needed to validate the findings.

Practical implications

In addition to providing superior customer experience by implementing the various drivers of OCE identified here, online grocery retailers can use the study findings as a strategic guide toward building a frictionless and pleasurable shopping experience.

Originality/value

The study employs netnography and critical incident technique to identify experiential attributes such as reliability, responsiveness, return and refund, which are unique OCE attributes in online grocery, a relatively unexamined field of retailing.
Social entrepreneurship for sustainable heritage management – the case of open-air museums
Authors: Olinsson Sascha Bjarnø , Fouseki Kalliopi
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the specific potentials of open-air museum and heritage crafts cooperation by using social entrepreneurial approaches as a sustainable growth enabler.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilised literature, reports, questionnaires, interviews and two in-depth case studies to examine the extent and success of current cooperation and the barriers to success affecting both fields on their own. Finally, the study utilised the recently developed social entrepreneurial tool the “modified Social Entrepreneurial Problem and Objective tree (mSEPOT)” in order to test the models ability to analyse a real-world case and demonstrate solutions and improvement to future cooperation in a heritage context.

Findings

While the tool has not been validated in practice, the study offers the first conceptualization of utilising the tool arguing that innovative future approaches to sustainable heritage development are possible and that heritage managers in the mSEPOT have a tool enabling them to engage with social entrepreneurial approaches, ensuring sustainability of development projects in culture and heritage.

Originality/value

While the tool has not been validated in practice, the study offers the first conceptualization of utilising the tool arguing that innovative future approaches to sustainable heritage development are possible and that heritage managers in the mSEPOT have a tool enabling them to engage with social entrepreneurial approaches, ensuring sustainability of development projects in culture and heritage.
Conceptualizing human resource management in the gig economy
Authors: Meijerink Jeroen , Keegan Anne
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Although it is transforming the meaning of employment for many people, little is known about the implications of the gig economy for human resource management (HRM) theory and practice. The purpose of this paper is to conceptually explore the notion of HRM in the gig economy, where intermediary platform firms design and implement HRM activities while simultaneously trying to avoid the establishment of employment relationships with gig workers.

Design/methodology/approach

To conceptualize HRM in the gig economy, the authors offer a novel ecosystem perspective to develop propositions on the role and implementation of HRM activities in the gig economy.

Findings

The authors show that HRM activities in the gig economy are designed to govern platform ecosystems by aligning the multilateral exchanges of three key gig economy actors: gig workers, requesters and intermediary platform firms, for ensuring value co-creation. The authors argue that the implementation of HRM activities in the gig economy is contingent on the involvement and activities of these gig economy actors. This means that they are not mere recipients of HRM but also actively engaged in, and needed for, the execution of HRM activities.

Originality/value

The study contributes to research by proposing a theoretical framework for studying the design of HRM activities, and their implementation, in the gig economy. From this framework, the authors derive directions for future research on HRM in the gig economy.
A failure to supervise: the SEC casts a shadow over internal investigations
Authors: Nowak John P. , Zaccaro Thomas A. , Solomon Katherine K.
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to highlight a recent settlement by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in which it alleged that a regulated entity failed to supervise a representative principally because the entity did not establish clear guidance as to how its personnel should investigate red flags of a representative’s potential misconduct (e.g., how to follow up on the red flags and define the scope of any inquiry).

Design/methodology/approach

This article provides an overview of failure-to-supervise liability for broker-dealers and investment advisers, and highlights key takeaways from the SEC’s recent enforcement resolution that may be applied in establishing compliance procedures relating to internal investigations going forward.

Findings

The article concludes that the SEC appears to expect regulated entities to implement procedures guiding employees on “how to investigate” suspicious activity. Companies, however, should define such procedures in general terms to allow for flexibility in investigations, which can present unique or unforeseen situations. Internal procedures must also account for and preserve attorney-client privilege and attorney work product protections.

Originality/value

This article provides expert analysis and practical guidance from experienced lawyers in the Investigations and White Collar Defense and Securities Enforcement practices
Using analytic geometry to quantify the period-to-period changes in an array of values
Authors: Nigrini Mark J. , Karstens William
Published: July 2019

Purpose

This paper develops a vector variation score that quantifies the change in an array of data points from period-to-period. The array could be the amounts reported on an income tax return, the closing stock prices for a set of listed companies, the monthly sales amounts for retail locations or the monthly balances in general ledger accounts.

Design/methodology/approach

The score is grounded in analytic geometry. The angle θ measures whether the changes were uniformly spread across the line items. The item(s) with the largest contribution(s) to the score can be identified. Line items can be weighted such that they contribute less than fully to the score.

Findings

The method can identify tax returns with large year-on-year changes. The method can identify the fact that the price movements during earnings season are less dependent than is usually the case. The method can identify anomalies in reported sales amounts. The method should be able to identify ledger accounts’ large abnormal changes.

Research limitations/implications

Auditors will need to be trained to interpret the results and to reduce the number of false positives.

Practical implications

The score could be used in both external and internal audit applications where auditors want to quantify and rank period-on-period changes in a search for outliers.

Originality/value

The change score is normalized to the [0, 1] range. The results can be plotted as a polar plot for display on an auditing dashboard. The contribution of a single line item can be calculated and line items can be weighted to prevent them from having an undue influence on the results.
Evaluation of techniques to quantify the effectiveness of powder bed fusion residue removal protocols
Authors: Hernandez Sanchez Jorge , Coburn James
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) has facilitated the production of medical devices with intricate geometries and patient-matched features. The medical industry especially has leveraged complex geometries for orthopedic applications. However, these geometries increase the difficulty of manufacturing residue removal. Furthermore, PBF-specific methods for residue removal and quantification have not been developed yet. This study aims to assess the use of a novel challenge assembly to evaluate PBF residue removal protocols.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel modular PBF challenge assembly was evaluated for its ability to resolve differences in the residue removal techniques. Several metrics were adapted from consensus standards and applied to evaluate their suitability. Though the challenge assembly can incorporate multiple complex geometries and reticulated structures, this study used the test case of regular lattice structures and two generic residue removal protocols (RRPs).

Findings

The challenge assembly successfully represented increasingly complex residue removal scenarios, showing increasing amounts of residue remaining in parts of increasing density. Simultaneous examination of multiple geometries with different residue removal difficulties can be used to design production processes. Indirect estimates of extracted residue provided some information on residue remaining. However, they were not sufficient to evaluate the part because of the high variability and uncertainty. Additional metrics proved necessary to corroborate the results during a verification phase. A carefully selected panel of metrics could provide adequate information to validate a process.

Originality/value

This study evaluated and demonstrated a framework to assess RRPs for complex geometries. It showed that the results of single indirect metrics such as extracted residues may provide ambiguous results across a range of parts. PBF-specific metrics for residue removal and quantification would greatly improve repeatability and certainty.
A model to predict deposition parameters for directed energy deposition: part I theory and modeling
Authors: Knapp Cameron Myron , Lienert Thomas J. , Burgardt Paul , Hochanadel Patrick Wayne , Kovar Desiderio
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Directed energy deposition (DED) with laser powder-feed is an additive manufacturing process that is used to produce metallic components by simultaneously providing a supply of energy from a laser and mass from a powder aerosol. The breadth of alloys used in DED is currently limited to a very small range as compared to wrought or cast alloys. The purpose of this paper is to develop the new alloys for DED is limited because current models to predict operational processing parameters are computationally expensive and trial-and-error based experiments are both expensive and time-consuming.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, an agile DED model is presented to predict the geometry produced by a single layer deposit.

Findings

The utility of the model is demonstrated for type 304 L stainless steel and the significance of the predicted deposition regimes is discussed. The proposed model incorporates concepts from heat transfer, welding and laser cladding; and integrates them with experimental fits and physical models that are relevant to DED.

Originality/value

The utility of the model is demonstrated for type 304 L stainless steel and the significance of the predicted deposition regimes is discussed.
Grafting: “the boyz” just doing business? Deviant entrepreneurship in street gangs
Authors: Hesketh Robert Francis , Robinson Grace
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to disseminate street gang research by Hesketh (2018) that has identified young people’s perceptions between employment and criminality in areas of Merseyside becoming blurred. In particular, disenfranchised young males are turning to involvement with drug dealing street gangs as a substitute for employment.

Design/methodology/approach

The research involved the use of a hybrid design using an adapted version of Wengraf’s (2001) biographic narrative interpretive method as the means for data collection with Strauss and Corbin’s (1995) grounded theory approach as the means of analysis.

Findings

Such is the demand for Class A drugs in night-time economies that street gangs in areas close to such economies are adding a dark business-like dimension for which Hesketh (2018) has termed “Deviant Entrepreneurship”. This can range from selling drugs on behalf of adult organised crime figures (known on the streets of Liverpool as “grafting”) to self-employment as sole trading deviant group enterprises having several “grafts” that recent research by Robinson, McLean and Densley (2018) has noted, has extended into the annals of Criminal Child Exploitation.

Research limitations/implications

Data were derived from a sample of young males, thus, no observations can be made about females involved in gangs.

Practical implications

The research highlights the need for more gang interventions that focus on building opportunities within marginalised areas. It also suggests as Andell (2019) points out a need for a fresh approach to countering gang culture.

Social implications

The paper concludes by suggesting that Merseyside is only one in many marginalised areas of the UK facing a similar problem as young people involved in street gangs attempt to realise their potential not through legitimate employment means but through dark entrepreneurial techniques learnt from older peers and adult figures.

Originality/value

The findings are taken from a PhD thesis by Robert F. Hesketh University of Chester.