bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Systematic silencing of oncogenic fusion transcripts with ultra-precise CRISPR-Cas13b
Authors: Hu Wenxin , Chen Honglin , Casan Joshua ML , Shembrey Carolyn , He Steven , Brown Lauren M , Hughes Timothy P. , White Deborah L. , De Weck Antoine , Voskoboinik Ilia , Trapani Joseph A , Ekert Paul G , Sadras Teresa , Fareh Mohamed
Published: February 2025

Oncogenic gene fusions are key drivers of cancer, yet most remain untargetable by current therapies. Here, we establish CRISPR-PspCas13b as a personalizable platform for systematic silencing of various fusion transcripts. We reveal that recognition and cleavage of the breakpoint sequence by PspCas13b disrupts the fusion transcript, resulting in unexpected RNA nicking and ligation near the cleavage site, which generates out-of-frame, translation-incompetent transcripts. This approach efficiently degrades canonical and drug-resistant BCR::ABL1 mutants (e.g., T315I), a primary cause of resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and relapse in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Silencing T315I BCR::ABL1 mRNA in drug-resistant CML cells triggers extensive transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic remodelling, causing erythroid differentiation and apoptosis. Beyond BCR-ABL1 mutants, personalized design ofPspCas13b effectively silences other undruggable fusions, including RUNX1::RUNX1T1 and EWSR1::FLI1, key drivers in acute myeloid leukemia and in Ewing sarcoma, respectively. Collectively, this study establishes a framework for systematic, precise, and personalizable targeting of otherwiseundruggableor drug-resistant oncogenic transcripts.
Specific cell states underlie complex tissue regeneration in spiny mice
Authors: Rivadeneira Emilio Oviedo , Allen Robyn , Adam Mike , Seifert Ashley W.
Published: February 2025

Cell proliferation is an elemental feature of epimorphic regeneration in vertebrate taxa. We previously reported that in contrast to fibrotic repair observed in laboratory mouse (Mus) strains, highly regenerative spiny mice (Acomysspp.) exhibit cell cycle progression and cell proliferation to faithfully replace missing tissue. However, little is known about proliferation dynamics, and specific cell types and states that may contribute to complex tissue regeneration in mammals. Using temporal pulse-chase experiments, we show that stromal cells inAcomys dimidiatusrapidly re-enter the cell cycle in response to injury and maintain tight spatiotemporal control of cell cycle progression to restrict the proliferative population to a distal area relative to the injury. Conversely,Musstromal cells incorporate thymidine analogs without cell division supporting an S-phase arrest after D10. Deploying immunostaining and scRNA-seq, we identify several key cell types (CRABP1+, αSMA+) differentially associated with regenerating versus scar tissue. Importantly, our single cell data revealed distinct gene expression profiles for cross-species stromal cell types, identifying cell states specific for regenerative or fibrotic healing. While CRABP1+ fibroblasts are enriched inAcomysears before and after injury, similar fibroblasts enriched in young, postnatalMusears remain unable to promote regeneration. Our data underscore the finely regulated dynamics of proliferating cells during regeneration and emphasize that regeneration depends on multiple factors including the presence of specific cell types and the ability of cells to acquire specific states.

Key Conclusions

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Differentiated cells inAcomys,MusandDaniore-enter the cell cycle in response to injury, while homeostatic cycling cells contribute to blastema formation inAmbystoma

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Pulse-chase thymidine analog labeling shows tight spatiotemporal control of proliferating stromal cells during regeneration inAcomys.

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Following injury, CRABP1 and αSMA are expressed in distinct stromal cell populations inAcomysbut are co-expressed inMusstromal cell populations.

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Species-specific cell states underlie regenerative and fibrotic repair

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CRABP1+ cells are lost during embryonic development inMusear pinna but are retained inAcomysto adulthood.

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Young neonatalMuswith abundant CRABP1+ cells still fail to execute regenerative healing

SUMMARY STATEMENT

Comparing regenerative vs. fibrotic healing, we identify injury-induced cell states associated with persistent cell cycle progression and complex tissue regeneration in mammals.
Pallidal prototypic neuron and astrocyte activities regulate flexible reward-seeking behaviors
Authors: Kang Shinwoo , Yang Minsu Abel , Bennett Aubrey , Kang Seungwoo , Lee Sang Wan , Choi Doo-Sup
Published: February 2025

Behavioral flexibility allows animals to adjust actions to changing environments. While the basal ganglia are critical for adaptation, the specific role of the external globus pallidus (GPe) is unclear. This study examined the contributions of two major GPe cell types—prototypic neurons projecting to the subthalamic nucleus (ProtoGPe→STNneurons) and astrocytes—to behavioral flexibility. Using longitudinal operant conditioning with context reversals, we found that ProtoGPe→STNneurons dynamically represent contextual information correlating with behavioral optimality. In contrast, GPe astrocytes exhibited gradual contextual encoding independent of performance. Deleting ProtoGPe→STNneurons impaired adaptive responses to changing action-outcome contingencies without altering initial reward-seeking acquisition, highlighting their specific role in enabling behavioral flexibility. Furthermore, we discovered that ProtoGPe→STNneurons integrate inhibitory striatal and excitatory subthalamic inputs, modulating downstream basal ganglia circuits to support flexible behavior. This research elucidates the complementary roles of ProtoGPe→STNneurons and astrocytes in cellular mechanisms of flexible reward-seeking behavior.
Development of the zebrafish anterior lateral line system is influenced by underlying cranial neural crest
Authors: Venkataraman Vishruth , McGrory Noel H. , Christiansen Theresa J. , Acedo Joaquin Navajas , Coates Michael I. , Prince Victoria E.
Published: February 2025

The mechanosensory lateral line system of aquatic vertebrates comprises a superficial network of distributed sensory organs, the neuromasts, which are arranged over the head and trunk and innervated by lateral line nerves to allow detection of changes in water flow and pressure. While the well-studied zebrafish posterior lateral line has emerged as a powerful model to study collective cell migration, far less is known about development of the anterior lateral line, which produces the supraorbital and infraorbital lines around the eye, as well as mandibular and opercular lines over the jaw and cheek. Here we show that normal development of the zebrafish anterior lateral line system from cranial placodes is dependent on another vertebrate-specific cell type, the cranial neural crest. We find that cranial neural crest and anterior lateral lines develop in close proximity, with absence of neural crest cells leading to major disruptions in the overlying anterior lateral line system. Specifically, in the absence of neural crest neither supraorbital nor infraorbital lateral lines fully extend, such that the most anterior cranial regions remain devoid of neuromasts, while supernumerary ectopic neuromasts form in the posterior supraorbital region. Both neural crest and cranial placodes contribute neurons to the lateral line ganglia that innervate the neuromasts and in the absence of neural crest these ganglia, as well as the lateral line afferent nerves, are disrupted. Finally, we establish that as ontogeny proceeds, the most anterior supraorbital neuromasts come to lie within neural crest-derived frontal and nasal bones in the developing cranium. These are the same anterior supraorbital neuromasts that are absent or mislocated in specimens lacking neural crest cells. Together, our results establish that cranial neural crest and cranial placode derivatives function in concert over the course of ontogeny to build the complex cranial lateral line system.

Highlights

The anterior lateral line and cranial neural crest develop in close proximity

Absence of neural crest disrupts anterior lateral line development

Absence of neural crest disrupts lateral line ganglion morphology and innervation

Early interactions of neural crest and placodes prefigure later anatomical interactions
Probing New Bosons and Nuclear Structure with Ytterbium Isotope Shifts
Authors: Door Menno , Yeh Chih-Han , Heinz Matthias , Kirk Fiona , Lyu Chunhai , Miyagi Takayuki , Berengut Julian C. , Bieroń Jacek , Blaum Klaus , Dreissen Laura S. , Eliseev Sergey , Filianin Pavel , Filzinger Melina , Fuchs Elina , Fürst Henning A. , Gaigalas Gediminas , Harman Zoltán , Herkenhoff Jost , Huntemann Nils , Keitel Christoph H. , Kromer Kathrin , Lange Daniel , Rischka Alexander , Schweiger Christoph , Schwenk Achim , Shimizu Noritaka , Mehlstäubler Tanja E.
Published: February 2025

In this Letter, we present mass-ratio measurements on highly charged Yb42+ ions with a precision of 4×10−12 and isotope-shift measurements on Yb+ on the S21/2→D5/22 and S21/2→F7/22 transitions with a precision of 4×10−9 for the isotopes Yb168,170,172,174,176. We present a new method that allows us to extract higher-order changes in the nuclear charge distribution along the Yb isotope chain, benchmarking nuclear structure calculations. Additionally, we perform a King plot analysis to set bounds on a fifth force in the keV/c2 to MeV/c2 range coupling to electrons and neutrons.

Published by the American Physical Society
2025
Entanglement-Enhanced Atomic Gravimeter
Authors: Cassens Christophe , Meyer-Hoppe Bernd , Rasel Ernst , Klempt Carsten
Published: February 2025

Interferometers based on ultracold atoms enable an absolute measurement of inertial forces with unprecedented precision. However, their resolution is fundamentally restricted by quantum fluctuations. Improved resolutions with entangled or squeezed atoms were demonstrated in internal-state measurements for thermal and quantum-degenerate atoms and, recently, for momentum-state interferometers with laser-cooled atoms. Here, we present a gravimeter based on Bose-Einstein condensates with a sensitivity of −1.7−0.5+0.4  dB beyond the standard quantum limit. Interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates combined with delta-kick collimation minimizes atom loss in and improves scalability of the interferometer to very-long-baseline atom interferometers.

Published by the American Physical Society
2025
Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, DFT and molecular docking studies of 4′-(benzyloxy)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-3-carboxylic acid
Authors: Kumar M. Harish , Vinduvahini M. , Srinivasa H. T. , Devarajegowda H. C. , Palakshamurthy B. S.
Published: February 2025

In the title compound, C20H16O3, intramolecular C— H...O hydrogen bonds are observed. The dihedral angles between the aromatic benzoic acid ring and the two adjacent aromatic rings are 26.09 (4) and 69.93 (8)°, while the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings connected by the C—O—C—C [torsion angle = −175.9 (2)°] link is 89.11 (3)°. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of O—H...O hydrogen bonds generate R
2
2(8) ring motifs. These dimers are further linked by C—H...π interactions, forming molecular sheets along (010). The molecular structure was optimized by density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6–311+ G(d,p) level and the bond lengths, angles and torsion angles were compared with experimental values obtained by X-ray diffraction. The HOMO and LUMO were calculated, the energy gap between them being 4.3337 eV. Further, the intermolecular interactions were quantified using Hirshfeld surface analysis and fingerprint plots and energy frameworks were generated. The two-dimensional fingerprint plots indicate that the major contributions to the crystal packing are from H...H (39.7%), H...C (39.0%) and H...O (18.0%) interactions. The energy framework calculations reveal that the dispersion energy (E
dis= 201.0 kJ mol−1) dominates the other energies. Molecular docking studies were carried out for the title compound as a ligand and the SARS-Covid-2 (PDB ID:8BEC) protein, specifically the Omicron variant, was used as a receptor giving a binding affinity of −7.6 kcal mol−1.
Do CEO and board characteristics matter in the ESG performance of their firms?
Authors: Oyinlola Blessing
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study investigates the impact of chief executive officers (CEOs’) and board members’ personal characteristics on their firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 120,834 firm-year observations, this study used fixed-effect ordinary least squares regression analysis to empirically identify which characteristics of the CEO and board members are linked to ESG performance.

Findings

The results from analyzing archival data of privately held Finnish firms show that education level positively influences ESG performance, while age and income negatively affect total ESG performance.

Research limitations/implications

The findings highlight the importance of these characteristics in promoting ESG practices in private firms. Therefore, it will enable regulators to encourage diversity among the board members and the CEO, thereby helping to identify potential areas for improvement in corporate governance and leadership practices. The results also provide insights into how organizations can better align their actions with their values and goals.

Originality/value

This study adds to existing literature on corporate governance and ESG performance by identifying the specific personal characteristics of the directors, such as previous conviction, age, income and marital status, and their influences on ESG performance in privately held firms in Finland.
Growth, trade, institutions, and geography: new empirical evidence
Authors: Fabris Thiago Rocha , Azevedo André Filipe Zago de , Reis Magnus Dos
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study investigates the implications of trade, institutional and geographical variables on economic growth. The proposed analytical framework extends the seminal works of Frankel and Romer (1999), Rodrik et al. (2004), Silva and Tenreyro (2006) and Squalli and Wilson (2011).

Design/methodology/approach

Applying a comprehensive panel database that includes 133 countries during the period 1996–2014. Our estimators encompass three dimensions (fixed effects) and use the Pseudo Poisson Maximum Likelihood (PPML) approach to create an instrument for trade. This approach effectively addresses the issues associated with endogenous regressors.

Findings

Findings from this study demonstrate a significant correlation between economic growth and the variables of trade, institutions and geography, with trade surfacing as the most influential factor. Notably, the impact of these factors appears to be diminished in low-income countries, especially in the parameters that reflect the role of institutions on per capita income.

Originality/value

The originality of the study is underscored by four key aspects: the employment of a unique econometric approach, the use of a three-dimensional panel database with fixed effect estimators and PPML, the inclusion of a novel measure of trade openness diverging from the conventional literature in the bilateral trade equation, and finally, the implementation of robustness tests probing the sensitivity of per capita income to institutions, trade and geography.
Assessing digital transformation in SMEs: using the canvas model in China and Indonesia
Authors: Sultan Abdulsatar Abduljabbar , Riyadh Hosam Alden
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study aims to assess and analyse the phenomenon of digitalization, which is characterized by the regular emergence of new technologies and their continuous potential for development. It focuses on the selection of technologies that can sustainably enhance efficiency or confer competitive advantages for companies, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a survey among 96 SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The survey is based on semi-structured interviews with SME management representatives. The authors then process the collected data by examining the average rate of digital transformation in each block, the mode and the median. The focus was on developments and changes in enterprise digital transformation.

Findings

The process model is a systematic framework for integrating new technologies in businesses, helping identify key technologies for sustainable efficiency and competitive advantage. This paper demonstrates the evolution of digital transformation in different building blocks of the BM Canvas for SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The average digital transformation rate has decreased for the Channels block, whereas other blocks have increased and will continue to grow.

Practical implications

The findings offer practical insights for SMEs looking to adopt digital transformation strategies. By using the technology evaluation canvas (TEC), businesses can make informed decisions about technology investments, ensuring a strategic approach to digitalization that aligns with their operational goals and capabilities.

Originality/value

This study presents an innovative approach to technology evaluation tailored for SMEs, addressing the challenges of limited resources and the need for strategic digitalization. The integration of the TEC into the process model enhances its applicability and value, providing a unique contribution to the field of business model development and digital transformation.
Evaluating video game moods and their separability based on user-generated reviews
Authors: Cho Hyerim , Lee Wan-Chen , Thach Heather , Hirt Juliana
Published: February 2025

Purpose

The aboutness (a subject matter of resource) of information has been strongly emphasized when organizing and searching for different types of media resources. For video games, mood is one of the critical subjective elements that supports users in finding games of interest. The current study examines a previously developed video game mood controlled vocabulary (CV) to empirically test its applicability and evaluate the individual terms’ separability and distinctiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The research team collected user reviews from Steam, an online game database. Three different games were selected for triangulation to represent each of the 17 moods identified in the existing CV, resulting in the selection of 51 games. Collected reviews were tokenized and investigated from individual, terminological and categorical levels of text analyses.

Findings

Through the application of multiple analysis techniques (frequency, cluster and network), findings confirm the intuitiveness and usefulness of the existing CV. Additionally, opportunities for increased category separability and distinctness are identified for three moods: Aggressive, Quirky and Intense.

Originality/value

The current study adopts a user-centered perspective to evaluate the existing metadata framework created based on literature analysis. This study aims to complement the literature-based framework with users’ perspectives to enhance the metadata for interactive multimedia resources, such as video games.
The impact of economic factors on environmental degradation: price instability, monetary growth and renewable energy investments
Authors: Aydın Aslı
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study examines the complex relationship between price stability, monetary growth and renewable energy investments. The pursuit of environmentally sustainable economies is intertwined with the need to maintain price stability and poses a complex challenge for global policymakers.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a comprehensive review, this study seeks answers to how price stability affects pollution, particularly carbon emissions, through various economic channels. Employing panel data analysis for 84 countries between 1999 and 2020, we find a multifaceted effect of price instability on carbon emissions.

Findings

According to system-GMM estimation results, we find (1) price stability has no significant direct effect on carbon emissions. However, it emerges as a crucial environmental factor through consumption, investment and monetary policy channels. (2) Moreover, price stability reverses the positive effects of renewable energy investments on carbon emissions, and it slows down the carbon emissions-increasing effect of energy consumption. (3) Monetary expansion combined with price stability increases environmental pollution. These findings underscore the complexity of balancing economic stability and environmental sustainability and highlight the need for comprehensive policy approaches to address these global challenges effectively.

Originality/value

There is a significant gap in the existing literature examining the impact of price stability on carbon emissions. Most of the studies observe the impact of carbon emissions on inflation. However, the complex interaction between economic and environmental factors reveals inflation as a factor affecting pollution, particularly the amount of carbon emissions.
Driving firm performance with green intellectual capital: the key role of business sustainability in SMEs
Authors: Shahbaz Muhammad Hamid , Malik Shahab Alam
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study aims to explore the profound relationship between green intellectual capital (GIC) and firm performance, emphasizing the mediating role of business sustainability within food small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

The study assessed manufacturing enterprises across industrial cities of Punjab using a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The purposive sampling technique was implemented for non-probability sampling. In this research, the 287 respondents encompassed a diverse cadre of managers, non-managers and employees of food manufacturing enterprises, providing a multi-perspective insight into the role of GIC in firm performance.

Findings

The study revealed a strong correlation between GIC and firm performance. GIC significantly enhanced firm performance, with business sustainability acting as a mediator. It underscores its vital role in the environmental stewardship of manufacturing enterprises. The study contributes unique insights into how manufacturing enterprises’ managers and employees in Pakistan can leverage GIC and sustainability to anticipate and manage potential issues, build trust, bolster reputation and enhance value proposition in the sustainable market.

Originality/value

This research reinforces the importance of cultivating and capitalizing on GIC for bolstered performance while underscoring the essence of sustainable practices within the competitive landscape of Pakistani food manufacturing enterprises. It provides a novel perspective on GIC a robust tool for enhancing performance and environmental credentials.
Using sustainable enclothed cognition and envisioning sustainable learning to enhance relational capital in the fashion industry
Authors: Cegarra-Navarro Juan-Gabriel , Martínez-Martínez Aurora , Cegarra-Sánchez Jorge , Muñoz Faus Jaume
Published: February 2025

Purpose

External relational capital is the value created by an organization’s relationships with outside stakeholders, such as customers. This study introduces and examines the concept of sustainable enclothed cognition to support it, aligning rational reasons, personal values and emotions with sustainable clothing choices not only fosters envisioning sustainable learning from a user perspective but also holds the potential to help companies quickly adapt and find alternative solutions, thereby minimizing production impacts on the environment and promising the future for sustainable fashion in the industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study aims to explore how sustainable enclothed cognition, combined with envisioning sustainable learning, can enhance external relational capital in the fashion industry by fostering deeper connections between fashion brands and environmentally conscious consumers. Data collection took place between May and September 2021. A survey of 211 young workers was conducted, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The findings demonstrate that prioritizing sustainable enclothed cognition can satisfy consumer demands, strengthen customer relationships and enhance competitive positioning in the fashion industry. Furthermore, the study provides actionable strategies for implementing envisioning sustainable learning, highlighting its transformative role in turning consumer alignment into external relational capital. This insight inspires a new perspective on the potential of sustainable learning in the fashion industry.

Originality/value

This research offers a deeper understanding of how companies can strategically manage their external customer relationships by using sustainable enclothed cognition to drive eco-innovation and enhance relational capital in the sustainable fashion industry. Findings support that textile companies provide fresh insights into their innovative capacity by aligning consumer rational reasons, values and emotions with learning practices. The study also underscores the pivotal role of envisioning sustainable learning in embedding sustainability into the core of fashion industry practices, delivering both theoretical and practical guidance on achieving long-term business success through sustainability.
The essence of geographic information systems (GIS) in sustainable tourism, public leadership and inclusive community participation in remote-African rural societies
Authors: Ramaano Azwindini Isaac
Published: February 2025

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the probable role of geographic information systems (GIS) in sustainable tourism, rural community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) and inclusive community development and participation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa naturally and many rural areas elsewhere abroad.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses narrative literature and document reviews to assess African and global environmental and rural tourism resource management procedures. The data analysis was done manually from the narrative and general literature reviews of the older and latest research. It links CBNRM, GIS and conjoining tools to sustainable tourism, public leadership, subsistence and local community empowerment applications.

Findings

This examination displays a possible association between tourism and rural and agricultural enterprises that GIS, its associative procedures and tools, and the concept of CBNRM can strengthen while enhancing public leadership and sustainability and spurring livelihoods, especially in remote areas. Therefore, it underscores the need for a reputable and myriad tourism strategy to develop and empower the relevant environs in many rural and marginalized areas within the continent.

Originality/value

Numerous remote rural neighborhoods in Sub-Saharan Africa, southern Africa and Africa usually live in low-income areas with meager socioeconomic programs. However, such localities thrive on natural biodiversity, including tourism destination sites. Information systems and information technology, such as GIS and remote sensing, with sustainable tourism, CBNRM and inclusive public leadership can synergize local community development schemes within their settings.
Unlocking environmental management accounting and environmental performance: a mediated moderation model through green technology innovation and environmental strategy
Authors: Thanh Thuy Ngoc Tran
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study aims to examine the intricate connections between environmental management accounting (EMA) and environmental performance (ENP) through the mediating and moderating roles of green technology innovation, including green process innovation (GSI), green product innovation (GPI) and environmental strategy (EST). The study uses a mediated moderation model with the lenses of legitimacy theory and the natural resource-based view to explore how these constructs interact. It then offers insights into how organizations can improve ENP by integrating EMA, green technology innovation and EST.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a quantitative approach and collects data from a survey of 325 senior managers and chief accountants of manufacturing firms in Vietnam. The author conducts validation and reliability assessments using SmartPLS4 software and uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to validate the research hypotheses.

Findings

The results indicate significant positive correlations between EMA, GSI, GPI and ENP. Additionally, the findings reveal that two forms of green technology innovation, namely, GSI and GPI, mediate the relationship between EMA and ENP. Finally, this study confirms that EST moderates the connections between GSI and ENP, as well as GPI and ENP.

Originality/value

This study offers novel perspectives on how organizations address the effective harmonization of diverse green assets, such as EMA, GSI, GPI and EST, to enhance ENP. Therefore, the findings of this research provide a valuable understanding of the correlations between EMA, GSI, GPI, EST and ENP for the manufacturing sector in the emerging economy.
Customized Robo-Advisor: analysis of the inclusion of cash assets
Authors: Rico-Perez Hector , Arenas-Parra Mar , Quiroga-García Raquel
Published: February 2025

Purpose

A Robo Advisor (RA) is a fully automated investment advisory service. Its development in recent years has been very relevant within the financial industry. Although most RAs comply with most investment principles (diversification, cost efficiency, personalization and contextualization of investment opportunities to the current environment), their need for standardization reduces their ability to find portfolios that fit the investors’ constraints or needs. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the possibility of eliminating this shortcoming of the RA by including new types of financial instruments or generating different investment portfolios.

Design/methodology/approach

This study performs a bottleneck analysis of all activities related to the management of financial instruments to detect the most affected activities when incorporating new types of instruments. This study also presents a case study on including fixed-income bonds to increase RA personalization and proposes two types of investment portfolios to promote personalization.

Findings

The bottleneck analysis has allowed us to identify that “instrument data validation” and “order management” are the most affected activities if new types of instruments are incorporated. In addition, the liquidity level of financial instruments is a critical variable that must be integrated into an RA.

Originality/value

The results indicate the possibility of designing a new RA with a higher level of personalization. This study helps to understand the difficulties and opportunities when customizing an RA.
Medical tourism research in Poland: a scoping review
Authors: Lubowiecki-Vikuk Adrian , Białk-Wolf Anna
Published: February 2025

Purpose

The interest in medical tourism is due to the increasing number of scholarly publications on the subject. Polish researchers are progressively contributing to this discourse, shedding light on various research contexts within one of the prominent medical tourism destinations in Central and Eastern Europe. This article is aimed at mapping the knowledge of and outlining the directions for developing medical tourism research in Poland.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in the form of a bibliometric review, including performance analysis and science mapping. The analysis included texts by Polish researchers indexed in the international Web of Science and Scopus databases and the Polish BazEkon database. In addition, publications found in Google Scholar, Nauka Polska (Polish Science) and Biblioteka Nauki (Library of Science) were included. VOSviewer was used for the bibliometric analysis.

Findings

A total of 97 scientific publications from 2003–2023 were studied. The analysis provided an insight into the main themes of Polish researchers from the perspective of the discipline they represent. Five clusters were identified: (1) “global aspects of medical tourism,” (2) “medical tourist,” (3) “development of medical tourism,” (4) “Poland as a medical tourism destination” and (5) “medical tourism destinations worldwide.” On the one hand, an interdisciplinary approach to medical tourism makes it possible to gain broader knowledge that goes beyond one scientific discipline. On the other hand, the results show the diversity of medical tourism research and the dilemmas involved.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this article is the analysis chosen, which does not consider the scientific quality of the articles studied. Instead, we identify leading and future issues that should be of interest to researchers and used by practitioners and managers of medical tourism destinations.

Originality/value

The review and subsequent mapping of scientific output made it possible (1) to understand the different perspectives on the definition of medical tourism, (2) to assess the 20-year contribution of Polish researchers to the development of medical tourism research and (3) to identify key contexts for further research.
Significance of Cattaneo–Christov model on the systematic flow of Williamson nanofluid in a porous medium
Authors: Tharapatla Gladys , Tharapatla Glory , Kumar Jaladi Rajendra
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the numerical simulation of MHD flow of Williamson hybrid nanofluid over a porous stretched sheet. Cattaneo–Christov thermal and specie fluxes were used in the model. Partial differential equations are exploit to model the underlying physics of the situation (PDEs).

Design/methodology/approach

Using an acceptable similarity functions, these equations were changed into total differential equations (ODEs). The spectral relaxation method (SRM) was used to solve the linked and nonlinear altered ODEs. The Gauss–Seidel procedure is used to figure out how to use Chebyshev pseudospectral techniques in SRM. This is an iterative process.

Findings

Increasing the heat relaxation flow increases temperature distributions; increasing the mass relaxation flux increases concentration distributions. A higher value of thermal radiation heat generation and Eckert number was noticed to improve temperature and velocity distributions. Due to the imposed electromagnetic force, a higher magnetic field is detected to cause an elevation in the velocity distribution. Also, a higher thermal radiation is observed to upsurge the velocity in company with temperature distributions.

Originality/value

This research benefits from biomedical engineering, biological sciences, astrophysics and geophysics. The rheological applications of Williamson fluid finds usefulness in biological sciences. The nanoparticles as considered in this study finds applications in the field of biomedical engineering. Also, the application of the imposed electromagnetic field and magnetic field strength is very useful in the area of astrophysics. A good agreement may be found in the literature on this study’s findings.
Integration of geological and geophysical techniques in groundwater mapping within Lokoja – Jakura schist belt, North Central, Nigeria
Authors: Musa Kizito Ojochenemi , Ibrahim Abdulbariu , Aigbadon Godwin Okumagbe , Akudo Ernest Orji , Akakuru Obinna , Akpah Fabian Apeh , Jimoh Jacob Bolaji , Adegbola Moses , Baba Aminu Mu’awiya
Published: February 2025

Purpose

This study aims to employ an integrated approach of geology, aeromagnetic and electrical resistivity techniques to evaluate the potential causes of abortive or low groundwater yield in most boreholes.

Design/methodology/approach

The process involved mapping geology and acquiring and processing aeromagnetic and vertical electrical sounding (VES) data. Oasis Montaj software was used for tasks like Reduction to the Equator (RTE), Upward Continuation (UC), Residual Magnetic Anomaly (RMA) and Euler Deconvolution (S. I = 1.0 and S. I = 2.0). VES utilized the Schlumberger array method, and field data underwent iterative analysis using Resist2Win software.

Findings

Total magnetic intensity (TMI) and RMA values range from −209.2 nT/m to 150.4 nT/m and −61.0 nT/m and 20.6 nT/m, respectively. High amplitude magnetic anomalies are observed in the northern and southwestern areas, indicating potential groundwater zones. Depth estimates for SI = 1.0 and 2.0 range from 11.1 m to 76.1 m and 16.4 m to 112.9 m, respectively, indicating varying overburden thickness and rock boundaries. Lineament reveals NE-SW and NW-SE trends, with hydro-lineament density ranging from low to very high. VES data identifies layers with resistivity and thickness values: topsoil (15.5–523.2 Om, 0.4–12.3 m), weathered basement (93.3–1655.7 Om, 19.0–54.7 m), fractured basement aquifer (242.7–9413.0 Om, 20.3–42.7 m) and fresh basement (62.8–935.3 Om).

Practical implications

Maps and conclusion generated from the study will serve as a baseline to solving completely the perennial problem of abortive and low groundwater yield.

Social implications

Insecurity and other vices suffered during the acquisition of data.

Originality/value

The geophysical data correlates with geological mapping, verifying that areas with dense hydro-lineaments like porphyritic granites and granite gneiss are promising aquifers. This suggests that groundwater presence is influenced by structural factors, offering valuable insights for future groundwater exploration in the study area.
Realized flower constancy in bumble bees: Optimal foraging strategy balancing cognitive and travel costs and its possible consequences for floral diversity
Authors: Takagi Kentaro , Ohashi Kazuharu
Published: February 2025

Pollinating insects often exhibit flower constancy, that is, the tendency to make consecutive visits to the same flower species while disregarding others. This behaviour is commonly attributed to the cost of retrieving visual or motor memories from long‐term storage while switching between flowers with distinct colours and shapes. Accordingly, researchers often predict co‐flowering species to exhibit significantly greater phenotypic diversity than random expectation, thereby minimizing heterospecific pollen transfer. However, field observations have not consistently supported this notion.

The observed inconsistencies may arise from variations in travel costs, which depend on the interaction between the foragers' constancy level and the spatial mixing of plant species. If species are evenly mixed, constant pollinators incur higher levels of travel cost due to the frequent skipping of neighbouring flowers. In contrast, if species are patchily distributed, constant pollinators experience lower levels of travel cost, as most neighbours are of the same species. Considering this, ‘realized flower constancy’ may be determined as an optimal strategy for balancing cognitive and travel costs, which dynamically vary across different degrees of spatial species mixing. Here we test this possibility in indoor experiments with bumble bees foraging from two differently coloured artificial flowers (‘species’) arranged at three mixing levels.

First, bees dramatically reduced flower constancy as species mixing increased, irrespective of flower spacing. Second, bees were less inclined to switch species after accumulating consecutive visits to one species, suggesting a rapid decay of another species' information in short‐term memory back to long‐term storage. This effect may have additionally contributed to the increased flower constancy observed in species with patchy distributions. Third, bees showed minimal constancy for similarly coloured, evenly mixed flower species, suggesting that these flowers were operated with shared short‐term memory. The constancy level was hardly affected by colour similarity when species were patchily distributed.

Results support our initial hypothesis that realized flower constancy reflects an optimal foraging strategy rather than a fixed outcome of cognitive limitation. Notably, bees' constancy increased significantly with greater colour differences only when species were evenly mixed, suggesting a novel perspective: spatial mixing promotes the evolution and maintenance of floral diversity.

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Water economics of African savanna herbivores: How much does plant moisture matter?
Authors: Van Driessche Jeremy A. , Chamaillé‐Jammes Simon , Nutter Ciara M. , Potter Arjun B. , Pringle Robert M. , Long Ryan A.
Published: February 2025

Water is an essential and often limiting resource that pervades all aspects of animal ecology. Yet, water economics are grossly understudied relative to foraging and predation, leaving ecologists ill‐equipped to predict how the intensifying disruption of hydrological regimes worldwide will impact communities. For savanna herbivores, reliance on surface water can increase exposure to predators and competitors, and thus strategies that reduce the need to drink are advantageous. Yet, the extent to which increasing dietary water intake while decreasing water loss enables animals to forego drinking remains unknown.

We studied water budgets of sympatric African savanna antelopes that differ in size, bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus, ~35 kg) and kudu (T. strepsiceros, ~140 kg). We hypothesized that both species compensate for seasonally declining water availability by increasing consumption of moisture‐rich plants and reducing faecal water loss, and that these adjustments are sufficient for small‐bodied—but not large‐bodied—herbivores to avoid spending more time near permanent water sources as the dry season advances. We tested our predictions using temporally explicit data on antelope movements, diets, plant traits and drinking behaviour in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique.

Water content declined between the early and late dry seasons in roughly half of plant taxa consumed by antelope. Although both species reduced faecal water loss and shifted their diets towards relatively moisture‐rich plants as the dry season progressed, dietary water intake still declined. Contrary to expectation, kudu reduced selection for surface water in the late dry season without adjusting total time spent drinking, whereas bushbuck increased selection for surface water.

We developed a generalizable approach for parsing the importance of dietary and surface water for large herbivores. Our results underscore that variation in surface‐water dependence is a key organizing force in herbivore communities, that simple allometric predictions about the behavioural and ecological consequences of this variation are unreliable. Understanding wildlife water economics is a research frontier that will be essential for predicting changes in species distribution and community composition as temperatures rise and droughts intensify.
Fast‐growing annual plants drive disease spillover in multi‐host communities
Authors: Simon Margaret W. , Barfield Michael , Kortessis Nicholas , Flory S. Luke , Clay Keith , Holt Robert D.
Published: February 2025

Emerging infectious plant diseases threaten natural, agricultural and urban systems. Predicting pathogen spillover from one host species to another can reduce disease impacts, but traditional compartment models poorly explain plant disease because plants often experience localized rather than systemic disease. Thus, the amount of infection should be tracked within each host individual, rather than characterizing a host as infected or uninfected. Additionally, annual plants can grow and complete their life cycle on timescales comparable to disease progression, thereby creating potential for feedbacks between tissue growth and pathogen spread that could be important to disease spillover.

We hypothesized that, for two plant species that differ in individual‐level growth rates and share a pathogen, the faster‐growing host supports higher pathogen levels that spill onto, and negatively affect, the slower‐growing host. This prediction follows classical apparent competition theory in which prey species with high intrinsic growth rates sustain greater predator abundances, which then suppress other, slower‐growing, prey in the community. We explored whether this theory applies to plants sharing pathogens by developing an intra‐annual host–pathogen model tracking size structure of, and degree of infection in, plant hosts. We asked how growth rates of annual plant species alter spillover from a reservoir host to focal host species, and disease amplification or dilution in annual plant communities.

We found that faster‐growing host individuals supported the greatest pathogen loads compared with slower‐growing host individuals, yet they experienced smaller pathogen‐driven reductions in end‐of‐season biomass. Consistent with apparent competition predictions, pathogen spillover from reservoir to focal host species caused greatest declines in end‐of‐season biomass in focal individuals when the reservoir host was fast‐growing and focal host was slow‐growing. In communities with both fast and slow‐growing species, slower‐growing hosts generally diluted disease, while faster hosts amplified it.

Synthesis. The model predicts that faster‐growing hosts are likely to be high impact reservoirs for spillover and could amplify disease in multi‐host communities. Slower‐growing hosts are likely to bear the greater impact of pathogen spillover via reduced end‐of‐season biomass. Thus, plant growth rates could be an important factor in driving outcomes of infectious disease spillover in multi‐host annual plant communities.
Development and Validation of a Comprehensive Risk Prediction Model for Polypoid Lesions of the Gallbladder
Authors: Dou Chunxu , Han Yanzhi , Lin Lu , Wen Jiancheng , Zhao Wang , Yang Yang , Guan Shaoting , Li Xiaofeng , Gao Minzhao , Lu Jing
Published: February 2025

Polypoid lesions of the gallbladder (PLG) represent localised protrusions of the gallbladder wall, which can be either benign or malignant. Although malignant PLG is relatively rare, its prognosis is adverse. Cholecystectomy is the most efficacious treatment for malignant PLG; however, its suitability varies among PLG patients, and its indications remain controversial. To offer guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment of PLG, 461 patients were included and classified into three subgroups based on postoperative pathological results. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the risk factors for PLG (the number of lesions, gallbladder wall thickness, gallbladder stones, and clinical symptoms), malignant PLG (age, polyp size, colour Doppler blood flow signal, gallbladder volume, and cholecystitis), and adenomatous PLG (CA199, the number of lesions, and gallbladder wall thickness). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to construct clinical prediction models for PLG (model A, containing the number of lesions, gallbladder wall thickness, gallbladder stones, and clinical symptoms), malignant PLG (model B, containing age, polyp size, CA199, and gallbladder volume), and adenomatous PLG (model C, containing CA199, the number of lesions, and gallbladder wall thickness). Subsequently, corresponding nomograms were developed. The AUC values of all models exceeded 0.7, indicating excellent predictive efficacy. Calibration curves and DCA curves affirmed the models' reliability and validity. In conclusion, the models derived from this study demonstrate significant predictive efficacy for PLG, malignant PLG, and adenomatous PLG, respectively. They are anticipated to offer guidance for the diagnosis of PLG and provide a reliable foundation for subsequent treatment strategies.