bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gramicidin increases lipid flip-flop in symmetric and asymmetric lipid vesicles
Authors: Doktorova M. , Heberle F. A. , Marquardt D. , Rusinova R. , Sanford L. , Peyear T. A. , Katsaras J. , Feigenson G. W. , Weinstein H. , Andersen O. S.
Published: August 2018

Unlike most transmembrane proteins, phospholipids can migrate from one leaflet of the membrane to the other. Because this spontaneous lipid translocation (flip-flop) tends to be very slow, cells facilitate the process with enzymes that catalyze the transmembrane movement and thereby regulate the transbilayer lipid distribution. Non-enzymatic membrane-spanning proteins with unrelated primary functions have also been found to accelerate lipid flip-flop in a nonspecific manner and by various hypothesized mechanisms. Using deuterated phospholipids, we examined the acceleration of flip-flop by gramicidin channels which have well-defined structures and known function, features that make them ideal candidates for probing the protein-membrane interactions underlying lipid flip-flop. To study compositionally and isotopically asymmetric proteoliposomes containing gramicidin, we expanded a recently developed protocol for the preparation and characterization of lipid-only asymmetric vesicles. Channel incorporation, conformation, and function were examined with small-angle X-ray scattering, circular dichroism and a stopped-flow spectrofluorometric assay, respectively. As a measure of lipid scrambling we used differential scanning calorimetry to monitor the effect of gramicidin on the melting transition temperatures of the two bilayer leaflets. The two calorimetric peaks of the individual leaflets merged into a single peak over time suggestive of scrambling activity, and the effect of the channel on the transbilayer lipid distribution in both symmetric POPC and asymmetric POPC/DMPC vesicles was quantified from proton NMR measurements. Our results show that gramicidin increases lipid flip-flop in a complex, concentration-dependent manner. To determine the molecular mechanism of the process we used molecular dynamics simulations and further computational analysis of the trajectories to estimate the amount of membrane deformation in the samples. Together, the experimental and computational approaches were found to constitute an effective means for studying the effects of transmembrane proteins on lipid distribution in both symmetric and asymmetric model membranes.
Powerful and Efficient Strategies for Genetic Association Testing of Symptom and Questionnaire Data in Psychiatric Genetic Studies
Authors: Holleman Aaron M. , Broadaway K. Alaine , Duncan Richard , Almli Lynn M. , Bradley Bekh , Ressler Kerry J. , Ghosh Debashis , Mulle Jennifer G. , Epstein Michael P.
Published: August 2018

Genetic studies of psychiatric disorders often deal with phenotypes that are not directly measurable. Instead, researchers rely on multivariate symptom data from questionnaires and surveys like the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to indirectly assess a latent phenotype of interest. Researchers subsequently collapse such multivariate questionnaire data into a univariate outcome to represent a surrogate for the latent phenotype. However, when a causal variant is only associated with a subset of collapsed symptoms, the effect will be challenging to detect using the univariate outcome. We describe a more powerful strategy for genetic association testing in this situation that jointly analyzes the original multivariate symptom data collectively using a statistical framework that compares similarity in multivariate symptom-scale data from questionnaires to similarity in common genetic variants across a gene. We use simulated data to demonstrate this strategy provides substantially increased power over standard approaches that collapse questionnaire data into a single surrogate outcome. We also illustrate our approach using GWAS data from the Grady Trauma Project and identify genes associated with BDI not identified using standard univariate techniques. The approach is computationally efficient, scales to genome-wide studies, and is applicable to correlated symptom data of arbitrary dimension (thereby aligning with National Institute of Mental Health’s Research Domain Criteria).
A scoping review of health-based survey instruments validated in Brunei Darussalam
Authors: Alhaji Mohammed M. , Tan Jackson , Naing Lin , Tuah Nik AA
Published: August 2018

This study sought to map and review validated health-based survey instruments in Brunei Darussalam. A scoping search of relevant articles was carried out. Six health-based survey tools have been psychometrically evaluated in Brunei Darussalam, 4 in Brunei-Malay (SF-36v2, EQ-5D/VAS, CPQπ_14, and m-SEQ-12) and 2 in English (OFER and WPBA) languages. Two studies (m-SEQ-12, CPQ11–14) translated tools in English into Brunei-Malay. Two studies (SF-36v2, EQ-5D) cross-culturally adapted the Malaysian and Singaporean versions of the tools into Brunei-Malay. Four studies were adult- and hospital-based, among healthcare workers (OFER,WPBA) and patients with chronic diseases (SF-36v2, EQ-5D); and 2 studies (m-SEQ-12, CPQ11–14) were non-adult-and secondary school-based. Pretesting was carried out in 4 studies (SF-36v2, EQ-5D, CPQ11–14, and m-SEQ-12) on a sample of 5 to 20 volunteers. The sample size for validation ranged from 40 to 457. Reliability tests, Cronbach’s alpha and intra-class coefficient (n=3), Cohen’s Kappa (n=1), and 5-point scale qualitative assessment (n=1) were measured. Validity tests included face validity (n=2), discriminant validity (n=2), convergent validity (n=2), construct validity (n=2), factorial validity (n=2), and 5-point scale qualitative assessment (n=1). There is a need for more psychometric evaluation of questionnaires in Brunei Darussalam. Importantly, large heterogeneous participants, more languages, and varied psychometric tests should be considered.
Opposing Roles of the Fork-head box genes FoxM1 and FoxA2 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Chand Vaibhav , Pandey Akshay , Kopanja Dragana , Guzman Grace , Raychaudhuri Pradip
Published: August 2018

The fork-head box transcription factor FoxMl is essential for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and its overexpression coincides with poor prognosis. Here, we show that the mechanisms by which FoxM1 drives HCC progression involve overcoming the inhibitory effects of the liver differentiation gene FoxA2. First, the expression patterns of FoxM1 and FoxA2 in human HCC are opposite. We show that FoxM1 represses expression of FoxA2 in G1 phase, a phase in the cell cycle in which cells can undergo differentiation. Repression of FoxA2 in G1 phase is important, as it is capable of inhibiting expression of the pluripotency genes that are expressed mainly in S/G2 phases. Using a transgenic mouse model for oncogenic Ras-driven HCC, we provide genetic evidence for a repression of FoxA2 by FoxM1. Conversely, FoxA2 inhibits expression of FoxM1, and inhibits FoxM1-induced tumorigenicity of HCC cells. Moreover, expression of FoxA2 in mouse liver expressing activated Ras inhibits FoxM1 expression and inhibits HCC progression. The observations provide strong genetic evidence for an opposing role of FoxM1 and FoxA2 in HCC progression.

AUTHOR SUMMARY

Liver cancer remains untreatable because it is diagnosed at a stage when the cancer is aggressive and resistant to therapeutics. The mechanism that drives aggressive liver cancer is poorly understood. These cancers are made up of poorly differentiated cancer cells. Interestingly, the FoxM1 gene is overexpressed in the aggressive liver cancers. Although FoxM1 is important for expression of the proliferation genes, it does not explain why it is overexpressed mainly in the undifferentiated cancers. The current study addresses this puzzle. Our previous studies demonstrated that FoxM1 increases expression of the pluripotency genes that are expressed mainly in the stem-like cells. In the current manuscript we show that, in addition to activating the pluripotency genes, FoxM1 inhibits expression of the liver differentiation gene FoxA2. Overexpression of FoxM1 is important for this inhibition function, as it involves the retinoblastoma family of proteins, which are often inactivated in cancer cells, and thus, are of low-abundance. Moreover, the inhibition of FoxA2 is significant because FoxA2 could inhibit expression of the pluripotency genes as well as FoxM1. The observations provide new insights into how FoxM1 drives progression of aggressive liver cancer.
Torpor duration, more than temperature, is key to hummingbird nighttime energy savings
Authors: Shankar A , Schroeder RJ , Wethington SM , Graham CH , Powers DR
Published: August 2018

Torpor is an important energy saving strategy in small endotherms, but it has been insufficiently studied in natural field conditions. Building on what we know from laboratory studies, we compared torpor use across hummingbird species and different natural temperature regimes to explore predominant hypotheses about torpor use and evaluate the possible effects of environmental variation on energy management.

We found that the probability of an individual entering torpor was correlated with mass and unrelated to nighttime temperature, and that hummingbirds at both warm tropical and cooler temperate sites used torpor.

Energy savings in torpor were maximized as ambient temperatures approached a species’ minimum body temperature consistent with laboratory studies; energy savings ranged between 65-92% of energy per hour in torpor compared to normothermy.

However, variation in total nighttime energy expenditure was more significantly influenced by torpor bout duration than by the variation in energy savings in torpor.

Our results show that a small endotherm’s nighttime energy management in its natural habitat is more affected by torpor bout duration, which is linked to photoperiod, than by temperature. This result suggests that in their natural environments, hummingbirds are able to save energy in torpor across a range nighttime temperature, indicating that they may have sufficient physiological flexibility to tolerate climatic variation.
The Mechanical Power of Protein Folding
Authors: Eckels Edward C. , Haldar Shubhasis , Tapia-Rojo Rafael , Rivas Pardo Jaime Andres , Fernández Julio M.
Published: August 2018

The delivery of mechanical power, a crucial component of animal motion, is constrained by the universal compromise between force and velocity of its constituent molecular systems. Here we demonstrate a switchable power amplifier in an Ig domain of the massive muscle protein titin. Titin is composed of many tandem repeats of individually foldable Ig domains, which unfold and extend during muscle stretch and readily refold when the force on titin is quenched during a contraction. Cryptic cysteine residues are common in elastic proteins like titin where they can oxidize to form intra-domain disulfide bonds, limiting the extensibility of an unfolding domain. However, the functional significance of disulfide-bonds in titin Ig domains remains unknown and may be fundamental to muscle mechanics. Here we use ultra-stable magnetic tweezers force spectroscopy to study the elasticity of a disulfide bonded modular titin protein operating in the physiological range, with the ability to control the oxidation state of the protein in real time using both organic reagents and oxidoreductase enzymes. We show that presence of an oxidized disulfide bond allows the parent Ig domain to fold at much higher forces, shifting the midpoint folding probability from 4.0 pN to 12.8 pN after formation. The presence of disulfide bonds in titin regulates the power output of protein folding in an all-or-none manner, providing for example at 6.0 pN, a boost from 0 to 6,000 zeptowatts upon oxidation. At this same force, single molecular motors such as myosin are typically stalled and perform little to no work. We further demonstrate that protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) readily reintroduces disulfide bonds into unfolded titin Ig domains, an important mechanism for titin which operates under a resting force of several pNin vivo. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the functional significance of disulfide bonds as potent power amplifiers in titin and provide evidence that protein folding can generate substantial amounts of power to supplement the myosin motors during a contraction.
Individual differences in dopamine are associated with reward discounting in clinical groups but not in healthy adults
Authors: Castrellon Jaime J. , Seaman Kendra L. , Crawford Jennifer L. , Young Jacob S. , Smith Christopher T. , Dang Linh C. , Hsu Ming , Cowan Ronald L. , Zald David H. , Samanez-Larkin Gregory R.
Published: August 2018

abstract

Some people are more willing to make immediate, risky, or costly reward-focused choices than others, which has been hypothesized to be associated with individual differences in dopamine (DA) function. In two studies using PET imaging, one empirical (Study 1: N=144 males and females across 3 samples) and one meta-analytic (Study 2: N=307 across 12 samples), we sought to characterize associations between individual differences in DA and time, probability, and physical effort discounting in human adults. Study 1 demonstrated that individual differences in DA D2-like receptors were not associated with time or probability discounting of monetary rewards in healthy humans, and associations with physical effort discounting were inconsistent across adults of different ages. Meta-analytic results for temporal discounting corroborated our empirical finding for minimal effect of DA measures on discounting in healthy individuals, but suggested that associations between individual differences in DA and reward discounting depend on clinical features. Addictions were characterized by negative correlations between DA and discounting but other clinical conditions like Parkinson’s Disease, obesity, and ADHD were characterized by positive correlations between DA and discounting. Together the results suggest that trait differences in discounting in healthy adults do not appear to be strongly associated with individual differences in D2-like receptors. The difference in meta-analytic correlation effects between healthy controls and individuals with psychopathology suggests that individual difference findings related to DA and reward discounting in clinical samples may not be reliably generalized to healthy controls, and vice-versa.

Significance Statement

Decisions to forgo large rewards for smaller ones due to increasing time delays, uncertainty, or physical effort have been linked to differences in dopamine (DA) function, which is disrupted in some forms of psychopathology. It remains unclear whether alterations in DA function associated with psychopathology also extend to explaining associations between DA function and decision making in healthy individuals. We show that individual differences in dopamine D2 receptor availability are not consistently related to monetary discounting of time, probability, or physical effort in healthy individuals across a broad age range. By contrast, we suggest that psychopathology accounts for observed inconsistencies in the relationship between measures of dopamine function and reward discounting behavior.
Faded visual afterimages reappear after TMS over early visual cortex
Authors: T. Engelen , R.L. Rademaker , A.T Sack
Published: August 2018

In the complete absence of small transients in visual inputs (e.g. by experimentally stabilizing an image on the retina, or in everyday life during intent staring), information perceived by the eyes will fade from the perceptual experience. While the mechanisms of visual fading remain poorly understood, one possibility is that higher-level brain regions actively suppress the stable visual signals via targeted inhibitory feedback onto Early Visual Cortex (EVC). Here, we used positive afterimages and multisensory conflict to induce gestaltlike fading of participants’ own hands. In two separate experiments, participants rated the perceived quality of their hands both before and after Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was applied over EVC. In a first experiment, triple pulse TMS was able to make a faded hand appear less faded after the pulses were applied, compared to placebo pulses. A second experiment demonstrated that this was because triple pulse TMS inoculated the removed hand from fading over time. Interestingly, TMS similarly affected the left and right hand, despite being applied only over right EVC. Together, our results suggest that TMS can lift inhibitory processes in EVC and reverse the effects of visual fading. And it might do so by crossing transcollosal connections, or via multimodal integration sites in which both hands are represented.
Overgrowth syndromes and pediatric cancers: how many roads lead
to IGF2?
Authors: Bharathavikru Ruthrothaselvi , Hastie Nicholas D.
Published: August 2018

Overgrowth syndromes such as Perlman syndrome and associated pediatric cancers, including Wilms tumor, arise through genetic and, in certain instances, also epigenetic changes. In the case of the Beckwith-Wiedemann overgrowth syndrome and in Wilms tumor, increased levels of IGF2 have been shown to be causally related to the disease manifestation. In the previous issue of Genes & Development, Hunter and colleagues (pp. 903–908) investigated the molecular mechanisms by which mutations in the gene encoding the RNA degradation component DIS3L2 lead to Perlman syndrome. By analyzing nephron progenitor cells derived from their newly created Dis3l2 mutant mouse lines, the investigators showed that DIS3L2 loss of function leads to up-regulation of IGF2 independently of the let7 microRNA pathway. In a second study in this issue of Genes & Development, Chen and colleagues (pp. 996–1007) show that microRNA processing gene mutations in Wilms tumor lead to an increase in the levels of transcription factor pleomorphic adenoma gene 1 (PLAG1) that in turn activates IGF2 expression. Thus, augmented IGF2 expression seems to be a common downstream factor in both tissue overgrowth and Wilms tumor through several alternative mechanisms.
Creating Insertions or Deletions Using Overlap Extension Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Mutagenesis
Authors: Forloni Matteo , Liu Alex Y. , Wajapeyee Narendra
Published: August 2018

Overlap extension polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mutagenesis can be used for the generation of a specific point mutation, insertion, or deletion within a particular DNA sequence of interest. It requires relatively little preparation compared with other mutagenesis methods and does not require the use of restriction enzymes. Because of its versatility, the method has become widely used. Unlike methods of random mutagenesis, directed mutagenesis requires that the researcher already have a specific mutation in mind to implement. Traditional overlap extension PCR mutagenesis protocols remain limited in several critical ways, especially when it comes to generating insertions and deletions. For example, traditional protocols require that all sequence alterations be embedded within the primer itself, which makes it difficult to make insertions >30 nt. This protocol describes an overlap extension PCR mutagenesis method that is more versatile than its predecessors. Using this method, one can essentially make insertions and deletions of any size at any position within a given DNA sequence. To generate an insertion mutation, first prepare an insertion fragment and two flanking fragments by PCR. In the secondary PCR, the insertion fragment is recombined with two flanking fragments derived from the original template. This method can also be used to generate deletions, which is discussed in the latter part of the protocol.
Realization of a scanning soft X-ray microscope for magnetic imaging under high magnetic fields
Authors: Kotani Yoshinori , Senba Yasunori , Toyoki Kentaro , Billington David , Okazaki Hiroyuki , Yasui Akira , Ueno Wakana , Ohashi Haruhiko , Hirosawa Satoshi , Shiratsuchi Yu , Nakamura Tetsuya
Published: August 2018

For the purpose of imaging element- and shell-specific magnetic distributions under high magnetic fields, a scanning soft X-ray microscope has been developed at beamline BL25SU, SPring-8, Japan. The scanning X-ray microscope utilizes total electron yield detection of absorbed circularly polarized soft X-rays in order to observe magnetic domains through the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism effect. Crucially, this system is equipped with an 8 T superconducting magnet. The performance and features of the present system are demonstrated by magnetic domain observations of the fractured surface of a Nd14.0Fe79.7Cu0.1B6.2sintered magnet.
Crystal structure of the effector-binding domain of Synechococcus elongatus CmpR in complex with ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate
Authors: Mahounga Didel M. , Sun Hui , Jiang Yong-Liang
Published: August 2018

The CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM) has evolved to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis in autotrophic cyanobacteria. CmpR, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator (LTTR) from Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, was found to regulate CCM-related genes under low-CO2 conditions. Here, the dimeric structure of the effector-binding domain of CmpR (CmpR-EBD) in complex with the co-activator ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) is reported at 2.15 Å resolution. One RuBP molecule binds to the inter-domain cleft between the two subunits of the CmpR-EBD dimer. Structural comparison combined with sequence analyses demonstrated that CmpR-EBD has an overall structure similar to those of LTTRs of known structure, but possesses a distinctly different effector-binding pattern.
Management controls and pressure groups: the mediation of overflows
Authors: Jollands Stephen , Akroyd Chris , Sawabe Norio
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Organisations produce effects that go beyond the economic framing within which they operate, referred to as overflows in this paper. When an organisation comes under pressure to address these overflows they must decide how to respond. Previous research has placed social and environmental reporting as an important tool organisations mobilise in their attempts to mediate these pressures and the groups that give rise to them. However, these reports are typically only released once a year while the pressures that organisations face can arise at any time and are ongoing and constant. The purpose of this paper is to explore situated organisational practices and examine if and how management controls are mobilised in relation to the actions of pressure groups.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper takes a case study approach to understand how an organisation attempts to mediate the pressures from a number of overflows: carbon emissions, changing lifestyles, aspartame and obesity. To undertake this research a performative understanding of management control is utilised. This focusses the research on if and how management controls are mobilised to assist with attempts to mediate pressures.

Findings

Analysis of the data shows that many different management controls, beyond just reports, were mobilised during the attempts to mediate the pressure arising from the actions of groups affected by the overflows. The management controls were utilised to: identify pressures, demonstrate how the pressure had been addressed, alleviate the pressure or to dispute the legitimacy of the pressure.

Originality/value

This paper shows the potential for new connections to be made between the management control and social and environmental accounting literatures. It demonstrates that future research may gain much from examining the management controls mobilised within the situated practices that constitute an organisations response to the pressures it faces.
When does motivation to learn reduce innovative behavior? An examination of mediated-moderation model
Authors: Yu Ming-Chuan , Zheng Xiao-Tao , Wang Greg G. , Dai Yi , Yan Bingwen
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test and explain the context where motivation to learn (MTL) reduces innovative behavior in the organizational context.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used questionnaire survey to collect data in a field study. In order to test the moderating effect of transfer climate, MTL on the relationship between MTL and innovative behavior, a sample of 606 employees was analyzed to examine the theoretical expectation by using multiple regression and bootstrapping.

Findings

The authors found employees motivated to learn showed less innovative behavior when perceived transfer climate is less favorable. The authors further revealed that motivation to transfer mediates the moderating effect of transfer climate for the relationship between MTL and innovative behavior.

Research limitations/implications

One suggestion for further research is to investigate the relationship among the four constructs by using multi-source, multi-wave and multi-level method.

Practical implications

This study provides several useful guidance of how organization and manager avoid the negative effects of MTL through encouraging employees to learn new knowledge and skills, and providing employee opportunities to use their acquired knowledge and skills.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the motivational literature by taking a step further to understand the effect of MTL. The authors propose and confirm that employee MTL can lead to negative outcomes when individuals perceived transfer climate is low. The results offer new insight beyond previous findings on positive or non-significant relationship between MTL and innovative behavior. The results further show that this interactive effect is induced by motivation to transfer. Particularly, low transfer climate reduces individuals’ motivation to transfer, and individuals with high MTL have low innovative behavior when they are less motivated to transfer.
The “silent killers” of a STEM-professional woman’s career
Authors: Ruel Stefanie
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to provide a plausible answer to how there are so few science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-professional women managers in the Canadian space industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The author showcased one such individual and her experiences of the exclusionary order in this industry, by focusing on her discourses and those of her former supervisor. The author applied the critical sensemaking (CSM) framework to unstructured interview data and to various collected written documentation. To guide the author’s application of this CSM framework, the author asked and answered the following questions: what is the range of identity anchor points associated with, and available to, a STEM-professional woman within the Canadian space industry? What is the relationship between these anchor points and organizational rules and social values? And, how do these anchor points and their relationship with rules and social values influence the exclusion of STEM-professional women from management positions within this industry?

Findings

The author surfaced a STEM-professional woman’s range of ephemeral identities, captured within her range of attributed anchor points. The author also revealed some of the rules and social values of the organizational context she worked in. The author then analyzed the how of her exclusionary social order, by studying the relationship between these anchor points and these rules and social values.

Social implications

In addition to addressing the lack of STEM-professional women in management and to filling a gap in the literature, this study made a contribution to our understanding of social-identities, represented by anchor points, and to their discursive reproduction within organizational contexts. The author also suggested micro-political resistances to undo this social order for one particular individual.

Originality/value

This study’s value can be measured by its contribution to the postpositivist cisgender and diversity literature focused on intersectionality scholarship, specifically in the area of identity anchor points and their (re)creation within social interactions.
A new method for the prediction of network security situations based on recurrent neural network with gated recurrent unit
Authors: Feng Wei , Wu Yuqin , Fan Yexian
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to solve the shortage of the existing methods for the prediction of network security situations (NSS). Because the conventional methods for the prediction of NSS, such as support vector machine, particle swarm optimization, etc., lack accuracy, robustness and efficiency, in this study, the authors propose a new method for the prediction of NSS based on recurrent neural network (RNN) with gated recurrent unit.

Design/methodology/approach

This method extracts internal and external information features from the original time-series network data for the first time. Then, the extracted features are applied to the deep RNN model for training and validation. After iteration and optimization, the accuracy of predictions of NSS will be obtained by the well-trained model, and the model is robust for the unstable network data.

Findings

Experiments on bench marked data set show that the proposed method obtains more accurate and robust prediction results than conventional models. Although the deep RNN models need more time consumption for training, they guarantee the accuracy and robustness of prediction in return for validation.

Originality/value

In the prediction of NSS time-series data, the proposed internal and external information features are well described the original data, and the employment of deep RNN model will outperform the state-of-the-arts models.
Do religiosity, gender and educational background influence zakat compliance? The case of Malaysia
Authors: Abdullah Mazni , Sapiei Noor Sharoja
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of religiosity, gender and Islamic educational background of Muslims on zakat compliance. It also aims to identify which dimensions of religiosity are significantly related to zakat compliance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to working Muslims individuals in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Analysis of the data was based on 690 usable questionnaires.

Findings

The findings show that religiosity had a significant influence on zakat compliance and three dimensions of religiosity, namely obligation, virtues and vices, and optional ritual, were significantly related to zakat compliance. Gender was also significantly related to zakat compliance, but in a negative direction, suggesting that Muslim working females are less compliant to zakat obligations compared to their male counterparts. It is found that formal Islamic educational background had no significant influence on zakat compliance.

Practical implications

Given the importance of zakat collection to the growth of the economy and society, the findings of this paper might provide some insights to Muslim-majority countries and zakat institutions which areas require more attention to encourage zakat payment among Muslims.

Originality/value

Compared to prior zakat studies, the findings of this study were derived from a larger sample size of Muslim working respondents. Furthermore, this study also identifies which dimensions of religiosity are significantly related to zakat compliance. Hence this study enriches the scarce literature on zakat and religiosity.
Social networks and unemployment exit in Great Britain
Authors: Sousounis Panos , Lanot Gauthier
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect employed friends have on the probability of exiting unemployment of an unemployed worker according to his/her educational (skill) level.

Design/methodology/approach

In common with studies on unemployment duration, this paper uses a discrete-time hazard model.

Findings

The paper finds that the conditional probability of finding work is between 24 and 34 per cent higher per period for each additional employed friend for job seekers with intermediate skills.

Social implications

These results are of interest since they suggest that the reach of national employment agencies could extend beyond individuals in direct contact with first-line employment support bureaus.

Originality/value

Because of the lack of appropriate longitudinal information, the majority of empirical studies in the area assess the influence of social networks on employment status using proxy measures of social interactions. The current study contributes to the very limited empirical literature of the influence of social networks on job attainment using direct measures of social structures.
Identifying critical success factors for sustainable growth of Indian banking sector using interpretive structural modeling (ISM)
Authors: Shamshad Mohd , Sarim Mohd , Akhtar Asif , Tabash Mosab I.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors for sustainable growth of the Indian banking sector and develop a model for Indian banks by using interpretive structural modelling (ISM). It suggests some of the critical measures of sustainability for Indian banks.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to establish a relationship among the factors of sustainable banking through the opinion of experts from the banking sector. ISM approach is applied to bring down the complexity of relationship among factors. ISM ranked the factors as per their ability to facilitate and dependence on other factors and helps to develop a comprehensive, systematic model based on the relationship amongst those factors. After developing the model, second reviews by the experts are conducted for their comments and thus, the final model comes into existence.

Findings

Legal and environmental compliance is determined as the key factor which is driving the other factors of sustainable banking. It will surely going to pose a challenge for business concerns for initiating various sustainable steps that will be a motivational factor for generating business opportunities and sustainable collaboration.

Practical implications

The study provides a comprehensive framework of sustainable banking which can be applied to various Indian banks. It helps to develop coherence between conventional and sustainable dimensions of banking.

Originality/value

The ISM is applied for the first time in case of sustainability in the banking sector to bring about a model for sustainable banking in India.
Between social democracy and communism: an institutional and socioeconomic perspective
Authors: Sabry Mohamed Ismail
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore which socioeconomic and institutional factors are responsible for different societies’ ideological choices, with reference to Marxist socialism. Which factors led to the rise of the popularity of socialism? And which factors made a socialist variant relatively more successful in one society but not the other, with social democracy and communism being the focus of the study?

Design/methodology/approach

Conducting a global theoretical and empirical study on the period between the late 1890s and 1945. The theoretical part discusses various perspectives presented in the literature, accounting for the works of major sociologists (e.g.: M. Mann, Lipset) and political theorists (e.g.: Marx, Engels, Lenin). The empirical part uses a number of OLS multivariate panel regressions using voting to various socialist movements as dependent variables, and socioeconomic and institutional factors as independent variables.

Findings

Some of the findings of the conducted empirical study are that: democracy, industrialization, high population growth rates, low linguistic or religious homogeneity, more years of schooling and less years since independence or creation increase the social democrat (SD) vote. The communist vote was affected positively by more urbanization; higher population growth; less years of schooling; more years since independence; recent experience of war; and the presence of insignificant religious minorities. Inequality seemed also to have been a strong significant factor for raising the popularity of various socialist parties, especially when countries were long-established or created. Countries which had a fresh experience with war devastation or which were highly urbanized while having higher levels of inequality witnessed an increasing vote share for the communists. More votes went to SD; however, when inequality existed in highly industrialized countries. High GDP growth, matched with higher inequalities, did not seem to have encouraged voting for various socialist parties, and even affected the communist vote negatively.

Research limitations/implications

There were data limitations on the available proxies.

Practical implications

This study suggests welfarism, public spending on education, social inclusion and democratization as remedies for radicalism, regardless of the ideological origins of such radicalism.

Originality/value

Its novelty is attributed to the deep analytical dimension for the issue done here, combining theory, an empirical study made possible by the newly available rich historical data.
Empirical investigation of the relationship between organizational factors and organizational commitment in service organizations
Authors: Rahman Safayet , Islam Md. Zahidul , Ahad Abdullah Annie Dayani , Sumardi Wardah Azimah
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of organizational factors such as culture, leadership, structure and top management support on organizational commitment in Bangladeshi service sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on empirical findings administered on 217 managerial personnel in the service organizations based in Bangladesh.

Findings

Findings of this study reveal that among the variables that are hypothesized in this study; team orientation, stability, transformational leadership, transactional leadership, decentralization, formalization and top management support have an influence on organizational commitment.

Research limitations/implications

This study has identified and integrated factors that can influence organizational commitment in Bangladeshi service sector. Larger sample size including multiple country or culture may bring more explanatory power, comparability and increased generalizability.

Practical implications

The outcome of this study will help business managers to identify and understand the organizational factors that can influence organizational commitment.

Originality/value

This study extends current research on organizational commitment by identifying and integrating the organizational factors and providing a simplistic model for the relationship between organizational factors and organizational commitment in the context of Bangladeshi service organizations.
Information technology capabilities and organizational agility
Authors: Cepeda Juan , Arias-Pérez José
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Currently, it is commonly accepted that information technology capabilities (ITC) positively influence organizational agility. Nevertheless, studies have recently started to demonstrate that different organizational factors mediate this relation under the controvertible assumption that companies are capable of responding quickly to market changes using their IT in combination with other internal resources. Therefore, companies have given very little attention to collaborative work with external partners. The purpose of this study is to analyze the mediating effects of the acquisition and exploitation capabilities of open innovation on the information technology capabilities – organizational agility relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model with survey data from a multinational corporation that operates in South American emerging economies in the pension and savings businesses.

Findings

This study found that only the open innovation capability of exploitation has a partial mediating effect. This means that this organizational ability serves as a bridge so that IT capabilities can have a positive incidence on organizational agility.

Originality/value

This paper adopts a more novel study focus that emphasizes the importance of collaborative work and of the use of external resources that are implicit in open innovation capability. On the other hand, this organizational ability implies external embeddedness, which is usually approached mainly from the network theory in the international business literature; however, this study offers a more interesting study focus in which externally oriented organizational abilities such as open innovation are more important for external embeddedness than are the size and quality of the external network.
Professionalism among employees in Lebanon: the Lebanese University
Authors: Abou Arraj Hala
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The present paper tries to assess empirically the level of professionalism. In addition, this paper tries to analyze the factors affecting professionalism. For this reason, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide an empirical assessment of professionalism in a bureaucracy, and second, to assess the relationship of age and education, on the one hand, and bureaucratic professionalism, on the other hand. Because whims make a poor basis for change, an objective empirical assessment of the level of professionalism is provided and that is where the strength of this paper lies.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for this study are obtained from a survey administered to employees.

Findings

The findings of this paper are as follows: low professionalism among civil servants in Lebanon, no relationship between professionalism and age of employees and the direct relationship between professionalism and education of employees.

Practical implications

It is true that the woes of the administration lie in the confessional political system of the country; however, concentrating on contextual and behavioral variables that can be controlled could alleviate the problem.

Social implications

Recruiting educated employees based on their competency levels may alleviate the behavioral problem and may lead to improved professionalism.

Originality/value

No previous work was done in this regard.
Zapotec innovation in a Mexican village: Building an autonomous mobile network
Authors: GONZÁLEZ ROBERTO J.
Published: August 2018

In 2013, a Zapotec village in the Mexican state of Oaxaca drew international attention when its citizens successfully created an autonomous mobile phone network. Using open‐source software and with technical assistance from an NGO (non‐governmental organization), the people of Talea de Castro obtained antennae, a base station and software that enabled them to build a fully functional mobile network with global reach. This article examines theoretical questions about the nature of innovation and the conditions that might help promote it. It also places the network in broad historical and social contexts. The article reviews the political, legal and technical processes by which villagers were able to create the network. For many years, Talea has been a centre of technological creativity and experimentation. The network might be seen as the village's latest innovation in a centuries‐long process in which creative problem‐solving is integrated with indigenous patterns of mutual aid, reciprocal labour and cooperativism. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges facing the network and its users.
IMMORTALITY YET? Or, the permanence of Mary Douglas
Authors: Fardon Richard
Published: August 2018

There is no absolute measure for the lasting impact of work by anthropologists. However, the scholarship of Mary Douglas has achieved wide‐ranging interdisciplinary recognition. Here the author considers ways in which her work has impacted scholarship.
The adoption and impact of engineering‐type measures to address climate change: evidence from the major grain‐producing areas in China
Authors: Song Chunxiao , Liu Ruifeng , Oxley Les , Ma Hengyun
Published: August 2018

Employing an endogenous switching regression model, we investigate the drivers underlying the adaptations made by farm households and their impacts on crop net incomes for adopters and nonadopters, based on a large panel survey data set across the major grain‐producing provinces in China. The results show that: (i) access to public climate information and technical or physical support increases the likelihood that farmers adapt to climate change by undertaking irrigation and/or drainage measures; and (ii) decisions to adapt increased crop yield, but they did not significantly increase crop profit margins. This point appears to have been ignored by previous studies. Based on these new empirical results, the paper suggests that government should continue to provide climate information and various types of supports to improve farmers’ adaptation abilities and help to reduce the levels of factor input by, for example, substituting organic for chemical fertiliser inputs. Such government‐led policies should be supported alongside the implementation of domestic agricultural supply‐side reform.
Patent transactions in the marketplace: Lessons from the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset
Authors: Graham Stuart J. H. , Marco Alan C. , Myers Amanda F.
Published: August 2018

Transaction records involving U.S. patent documents have been maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for over 40 years, but have not been extensively used by scholars. One explanation is that these data have not been in a form amenable for research. To help remedy this deficiency and to foster scholarship, the USPTO Office of Chief Economist is curating internal agency records to release a series of datasets in research‐ready formats. This article describes theUSPTO Patent Assignment Dataset(UPAD), a relational database of roughly 6 million assignments, licenses, securitizations, and other conveyances involving about 10 million U.S. patents and patent applications, recorded 1970–2014. To promote research uses, this article provides a comprehensive data description and presents stylized facts derived from the records. Although this article discusses several limitations inherent in using these data, the release of theUPADcreates opportunities to conduct original research, particularly relating to intellectual property collateralization and the markets for technology and innovation.
Making the patent scope consistent with the invention: Evidence from Japan
Authors: Okada Yoshimi , Naito Yusuke , Nagaoka Sadao
Published: August 2018

It is a crucial function of patent examination to make the patent scope consistent with the contribution of the invention to the state of the art. We assess this function using newly developed data on the scope of Japanese patent applications and grants. We find that the scope was narrowed in two thirds of the grants, both the incidence and the extent of narrowing increased when the applicant chose broad initial scope and decreased when the quality of the applicant's disclosure of prior art was high, and that important applications experienced narrowing more frequently, as one expects from rational examination.