bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
L-arabinose induces the formation of viable non-proliferatingVibrio choleraespheroplasts
Authors: Espinosa Elena , Daniel Sandra , Hernández Sara B. , Cava Felipe , Barre François-Xavier , Galli Elisa
Published: July 2020

A general survival strategy of many life forms faced with harmful growth conditions is to enter into a non-proliferating state until conditions suitable for growth are restored. In bacteria, this survival strategy is associated with antimicrobial tolerance, chronic infections and environmental dispersion. In particular, the agent of the deadly human disease cholera,Vibrio cholerae, undergoes a morphological transition from a rod-shaped proliferative form to a spherical non-proliferating form after exposure to cold or cell wall targeting antibiotics. Growth is resumed when the adverse conditions have ceased.

Here, we show that a component of the hemicellulose and pectin of terrestrial plants, L-arabinose, triggers the formation of non-proliferatingV. choleraespherical cells, which are able to return to growth when L-arabinose is removed from the growth medium. We found that the cell wall of L-arabinose treatedV. choleraecells has a peptidoglycan composition similar to the cell wall of spheroplasts and that they revert to a wild-type morphology through the formation of branched cells like L-forms. Unlike L-forms, however, they are osmo-resistant. Through a random Tn genetic screen for mutants insensitive to L-arabinose, we identified genes involved in the uptake and catabolism of galactose and in glycolysis. We hypothesize that L-arabinose is enzymatically processed by the galactose catabolism and glycolysis pathways until it is transformed in a product that cannot be further recognized byV. choleraeenzymes. Accumulation of this enzymatic by-product triggers the formation of viable non-dividing cell wall deficient spherical cells.
Defining the function of OmpA in the Rcs stress response
Authors: Létoquart Juliette , Dekoninck Kilian , Laguri Cédric , Demange Pascal , Bevernaegie Robin , Simorre Jean-Pierre , Dehu Olivia , Iorga Bogdan I. , Elias Benjamin , Cho Seung-Hyun , Collet Jean-François
Published: July 2020

OmpA, a protein commonly found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, has served as a paradigm for the study of β-barrel proteins for several decades. InEscherichia coli, OmpA was previously reported to form complexes with RcsF, a surface-exposed lipoprotein that triggers the Rcs stress response when damage occurs in the outer membrane and the peptidoglycan. How OmpA interacts with RcsF and whether this interaction allows RcsF to reach the surface has remained unclear. Here, we integratedin vivoandin vitroapproaches to establish that RcsF interacts with the C-terminal, periplasmic domain of OmpA, not with the N-terminal β-barrel, thus implying that RcsF does not reach the bacterial surfaceviaOmpA. Our results reveal a novel function for OmpA in the cell envelope: OmpA competes with the inner membrane protein IgaA, the downstream Rcs component, for RcsF binding across the periplasm, thereby regulating the Rcs response.
Establishment of Reference Intervals of Clinical Chemistry Analytes for the Adult Population in Egypt
Authors: Baz Heba , Ichihara Kiyoshi , Selim May , Awad Ahmed , Aglan Sarah , Ramadan Dalia , Hassab Amina , Mansour Lamia , Elgaddar Ola
Published: July 2020

Background

This is the first Egyptian nationwide study for derivation of reference intervals (RIs) for 34 major chemistry analytes. It was conducted as a part of the global initiative by the IFCC Committee on Reference Intervals and Decision Limits (C-RIDL) for establishing country-specific RIs based on a harmonized protocol.

Methods

691 apparently healthy volunteers aged ≥18 years were recruited from multiple regions in Egypt. Serum specimens were analyzed in two centers. The harmonization and standardization of test results were achieved by measuring value-assigned serum panel provided by C-RIDL. The RIs were calculated by parametric method. Sources of variation of reference values (RVs) were evaluated by multiple regression analysis. The need for partitioning by sex, age, and region was judged primarily by standard deviation ratio (SDR).

Results

Gender-specific RIs were required for six analytes including total bilirubin (TBil), aspartate and alanine aminotransferase (AST, ALT). Seven analytes required age-partitioning including glucose and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)., Regional differences were observed between northern and southern Egypt for direct bilirubin, glucose, and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) with all their RVs lower in southern Egypt. Compared with other collaborating countries, the features of Egyptian RVs were lower HDL-C and TBil and higher TG and C-reactive protein. In addition, BMI showed weak association with most of nutritional markers. These features were shared with two other Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Conclusion

The standardized RIs established by this study can be used as common Egyptian RI, except for a few analytes that showed regional differences. Despite high prevalence of obesity among Egyptians, their RVs of nutritional markers are less sensitive to increased BMI, compared to other collaborating countries.
Subjective optimality in finite sequential decision-making
Authors: Shin Yeonju , Seon HeeYoung , Shin Yun Kyoung , Kwon Oh-Sang , Chung Dongil
Published: July 2020

Many decisions in life are sequential and constrained by a time window. Although mathematically derived optimal solutions exist, it has been reported that humans often deviate from making optimal choices. Here, we used a secretary problem, a classic example of finite sequential decision-making, and investigated the mechanisms underlying individuals’ suboptimal choices. Across three independent experiments, we found that a dynamic programming model comprising subjective value function explains individuals’ deviations from optimality and predicts the choice behaviors under fewer opportunities. We further identified that pupil dilation reflected the levels of decision difficulty and subsequent choices to accept or reject the stimulus at each opportunity. The value sensitivity, a model-based estimate that characterizes each individual’s subjective valuation, correlated with the extent to which individuals’ physiological responses tracked stimuli information. Our results provide model-based and physiological evidence for subjective valuation in finite sequential decision-making, rediscovering human suboptimality in subjectively optimal decision-making processes.
Strain-specific genome evolution inTrypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease
Authors: Wang Wei , Peng Duo , Baptista Rodrigo P. , Li Yiran , Kissinger Jessica C. , Tarleton Rick L.
Published: July 2020

The protozoanTrypanosoma cruzialmost invariably establishes life-long infections in humans and other mammals, despite the development of potent host immune responses that constrain parasite numbers. The consistent, decades-long persistence ofT. cruziin human hosts arises at least in part from the remarkable level of genetic diversity in multiple families of genes encoding the primary target antigens of anti-parasite immune responses. However, the highly repetitive nature of the genome – largely a result of these same extensive families of genes – have prevented a full understanding of the extent of gene diversity and its maintenance inT. cruzi. In this study, we have combined long-read sequencing and proximity ligation mapping to generate very high-quality assemblies of twoT. cruzistrains representing the apparent ancestral lineages of the species. These assemblies reveal not only the full repertoire of gene family members in the two strains, demonstrating extreme diversity within and between isolates, but also provide evidence of the processes that generate and maintain that diversity, including extensive gene amplification, dispersion of copies throughout the genome and diversification via recombination andin situmutations. These processes also impact genes not required for or involved in immune evasion, creating unique challenges with respect to preserving core genome function while maximizing genetic diversity.
TRIAGE: A web-based iterative analysis platform integrating pathway and network approaches optimizes hit selection from high-throughput assays
Authors: Katz Samuel , Song Jian , Webb Kyle P. , Lounsbury Nicolas W. , Bryant Clare E. , Fraser Iain D.C.
Published: July 2020

Comprehensive and efficient gene hit selection from high throughput assays remains a critical bottleneck in realizing the potential of genome-scale studies in biology. Widely used methods such as setting of cutoffs, prioritizing pathway enrichments, or incorporating predicted network interactions offer divergent solutions yet are associated with critical analytical trade-offs, and are often combined in anad hocmanner. The specific limitations of these individual approaches, the lack of a systematic way by which to integrate their rankings, and the inaccessibility of complex computational approaches to many researchers, has contributed to unexpected variability and limited overlap in the reported results from comparable genome-wide studies. Using a set of three highly studied genome-wide datasets for HIV host factors that have been broadly cited for their limited number of shared candidates, we characterize the specific complementary contributions of commonly used analysis approaches and find an optimal framework by which to integrate these methods. We describe Throughput Ranking by Iterative Analysis of Genomic Enrichment (TRIAGE), an integrated, iterative approach which uses pathway and network statistical methods and publicly available databases to optimize gene prioritization. TRIAGE is accessible as a secure, rapid, user-friendly web-based application (https://triage.niaid.nih.gov).

Graphical Abstract
The Neural Correlates of Semantic Control Revisited
Authors: Jackson Rebecca L.
Published: July 2020

Semantic control, the ability to selectively access and manipulate meaningful information on the basis of context demands, is a critical component of semantic cognition. The precise neural correlates of semantic control are disputed, with particular debate surrounding parietal involvement, the spatial extent of the posterior temporal contribution and network lateralisation. Here semantic control is revisited, utilising improved analysis techniques and a decade of additional data to refine our understanding of the network. A meta-analysis of 876 peaks over 121 contrasts illuminated a left-focused network consisting of inferior frontal gyrus, posterior middle temporal gyrus, posterior inferior temporal gyrus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This extended the temporal region implicated, and found no parietal involvement. Although left-lateralised overall, relative lateralisation varied across the implicated regions. Supporting analyses confirmed the multimodal nature of the semantic control network and situated it within the wider set of regions implicated in semantic cognition.

Highlights

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A multimodal semantic control network was delineated with formal meta-analyses

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Semantic control recruits inferior and medial frontal and posterior temporal cortex

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A large extent of posterior temporal cortex was implicated and no parietal regions

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Semantic control is left-lateralised but regions show differential lateralisation

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The semantic control regions were situated in the context of the wider semantic network
Isolation, culture and maintenance of rabbit intestinal organoids, and organoid-derived cell monolayers
Authors: Kardia Egi , Frese Michael , Strive Tanja , Zeng Xi-Lei , Estes Mary , Hall Robyn N.
Published: July 2020

Organoids emulate many aspects of their parental tissue and have been used to study pathogen-host interactions, tissue development and regeneration, metabolic diseases, and other complex biological processes. Here, we report a robust protocol for the isolation, maintenance and differentiation of rabbit small intestinal organoids and organoid-derived cell monolayers. We also report conditions that sustain an intestinal stem cell population in spheroid culture. Rabbit intestinal spheroids and monolayer cultures propagated and expanded most efficiently in L-WRN-conditioned medium that contained the signalling factors Wnt, R-spondin and Noggin, and that had been supplemented with ROCK and TGF-β inhibitors. Organoid and monolayer differentiation was initiated by switching to a medium that contained less of the L-WRN-conditioned medium and was supplemented with ROCK and Notch signalling inhibitors. Using immunofluorescence staining and RT-qPCR, we demonstrate that organoids contained enterocytes, enteroendocrine cells, goblet cells and Paneth cells. These findings demonstrate that our rabbit intestinal organoids have many of the multi-cellular characteristics of, and closely resemble, an intestinal epithelium. This newly established organoid culture system will provide a useful tool to study rabbit gastrointestinal physiology and disease. For example, organoids and organoid-derived cells may be used to propagate and study caliciviruses and other enterotropic pathogens that cannot be grown in conventional cell culture systems.
Single nucleus RNA-sequencing defines unexpected diversity of cholinergic neuron types in the adult mouse spinal cord
Authors: Alkaslasi Mor R. , Piccus Zoe E. , Silberberg Hanna , Chen Li , Zhang Yajun , Petros Timothy J. , Le Pichon Claire E.
Published: July 2020

In vertebrates, motor control relies on cholinergic neurons in the spinal cord that have been extensively studied over the past hundred years, yet the full heterogeneity of these neurons and their different functional roles in the adult remain to be defined. Here, we developed a targeted single nuclear RNA sequencing approach and used it to identify an array of cholinergic interneurons, visceral and skeletal motor neurons. Our data expose markers for distinguishing these classes of cholinergic neurons and their extremely rich diversity. Specifically, visceral motor neurons, which provide autonomic control, could be divided into more than a dozen transcriptomic classes with anatomically restricted localization along the spinal cord. The complexity of the skeletal motor neurons was also reflected in our analysis with alpha, beta, and gamma subtypes clearly distinguished. In combination, our data provide a comprehensive transcriptomic description of this important population of neurons that control many aspects of physiology and movement and encompass the cellular substrates for debilitating degenerative disorders.
An amino-terminal BRAF deletion accounting for acquired resistance to RAF/EGFR inhibition in colorectal cancer
Authors: Tung Jack K. , Neishaboori Nastaran , Haraldsdottir Sigurdis , Suarez Carlos J.
Published: July 2020

Although combination therapy with RAF and EGFR inhibitors has improved the survival outcomes of patients with BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer (CRC), acquired resistance invariably develops. The mechanisms of acquired resistance to RAF inhibitors have been largely attributed to activating mutations in RASgenes, MAP2K mutations, and amplifications in BRAF, RAS genes, and EGFR. In this report, we describe a patient with BRAF-mutated CRC who acquired an amino-terminal BRAF deletion involving the Ras-binding domain (RBD) after treatment with RAF/EGFR inhibitor therapy. Amino-terminal BRAF deletions involving the RBD are a rare mechanism of acquired resistance to RAF inhibitors, particularly in CRC for which there is only one prior report in the literature.
Assessment of structure factors for analysis of small-angle scattering data from desired or undesired aggregates
Authors: Larsen Andreas Haahr , Pedersen Jan Skov , Arleth Lise
Published: July 2020

Aggregation processes are central features of many systems ranging from colloids and polymers to inorganic nanoparticles and biological systems. Some aggregated structures are controlled and desirable, e.g. in the design of size-controlled clustered nanoparticles or some protein-based drugs. In other cases, the aggregates are undesirable, e.g. protein aggregation involved in neurodegenerative diseases or in vitro studies of single protein structures. In either case, experimental and analytical tools are needed to cast light on the aggregation processes. Aggregation processes can be studied with small-angle scattering, but analytical descriptions of the aggregates are needed for detailed structural analysis. This paper presents a list of useful small-angle scattering structure factors, including a novel structure factor for a spherical cluster with local correlations between the constituent particles. Several of the structure factors were renormalized to get correct limit values in both the high-q and low-q limit, where q is the modulus of the scattering vector. The structure factors were critically evaluated against simulated data. Structure factors describing fractal aggregates provided approximate descriptions of the simulated data for all tested structures, from linear to globular aggregates. The addition of a correlation hole for the constituent particles in the fractal structure factors significantly improved the fits in all cases. Linear aggregates were best described by a linear structure factor and globular aggregates by the newly derived spherical cluster structure factor. As a central point, it is shown that the structure factors could be used to take aggregation contributions into account for samples of monomeric protein containing a minor fraction of aggregated protein. After applying structure factors in the analysis, the correct structure and oligomeric state of the protein were determined. Thus, by careful use of the presented structure factors, important structural information can be retrieved from small-angle scattering data, both when aggregates are desired and when they are undesired.
Contemporary restructuring trends in European multinational corporations: rationale and impact on labour and workers’ participation
Authors: Dörrenbächer Christoph , Geppert Mike , Hoffmann Aline
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This paper addresses the so far hardly understood contemporary restructuring trends in European Multinational corporations (MNCs), their rationales and their labour-related implications.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a systematic evaluation of academic and non-academic literature, as well as on more than 30 in-depth interviews with academic experts, management consultants, trade union consultants and workers’ representatives.

Findings

European MNCs continue to grow bigger, mostly through debt financed mergers and acquisitions. This triggers intensive cross-border standardization and reorganization activities that most prominently materialize as a sustained move towards global factories; a new wave of cross-border standardization in Human Resource Management, information technology and Big Data-driven, as well as compliance-induced reorganization measures.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to empirically map contemporary restructuring trends in European MNCs in a comprehensive way. Moreover, it addresses the managerial rationale underlying these restructuring trends. Based on these insights the paper assesses labour related implications that are both positive and negative.
Renewable energy in international business
Authors: Kaartemo Valtteri , Gonzalez-Perez Maria Alejandra
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this guest editorial is to introduce the special issue entitled “Renewable energy in international business.”

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a research agenda for the topic of the special issue and provides an overview of the articles included.

Findings

This guest editorial contains a discussion of the themes related to the topic, with a particular focus on the global production and adoption of renewable energies and dark sides of international renewable energy.

Research limitations/implications

This guest editorial considers how the articles included in the special issue contribute to research on renewable energy in international business and provides an avenue for future studies for a broader impact.

Originality/value

The discussion raises two important research streams that have remained overlooked in international business research, namely, global production and adoption of renewable energies and dark sides of international renewable energy. This guest editorial also highlights the potential of international business research to become more relevant by incorporating conceptual, methodological and empirical insights that inform the multidisciplinary community of renewable energy researchers.
Countering a masculinity contest culture at work: the moderating role of organizational justice
Authors: Workman-Stark Angela
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test whether organizational justice (i.e. fair treatment) can mitigate the harmful effects of a “masculinity contest culture (MCC)” (i.e. norms, rituals and belief systems valorizing social dominance, work above other parts of life, physical strength and the avoidance of weakness).

Design/methodology/approach

Through an analysis of secondary survey data collected from a Canadian police organization (N = 488), this study tested the moderating effects of organizational justice on the relationship between employee perceptions of their workplace as a masculinity contest, and a negative outcome variable, harassment.

Findings

The results of this study suggest that a MCC was significantly related to harassment, which in turn contributed to lower psychological wellbeing and increased turnover intentions. Independently, organizational justice moderated the effect of a MCC on harassment, suggesting that harassment is less prevalent in the workplace when there is a greater focus on treating all employees fairly.

Originality/value

Despite the increase in both scholarly and practitioner interest in the effects of organizational cultures in which employees seek to maintain their own status at all costs, there has been little research examining the interactions of these harmful workplace cultures and the factors that might counter them. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is one of the rare studies to investigate possible interventions for harmful workplace cultures.
Increasing students’ social engagement during COVID-19 with Net.Create: collaborative social network analysis to map historical pandemics during a pandemic
Authors: Craig Kalani , Humburg Megan , Danish Joshua A. , Szostalo Maksymilian , Hmelo-Silver Cindy E. , McCranie Ann
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The authors explored shifts in social interactions, content engagement and history learning as students who were studying one pandemic simultaneously experienced another. This paper aims to understand how the Net.Create network visualization tool would support students as they tried to understand the many complex interactions in a historical text in a remote learning environment and how sustained knowledge building using Net.Create would shape student attitudes toward remote learning, collaboration and engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper explores changes in engagement and learning in a survey-level history course on the black death after a shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors used activity theory to focus the adaptation of Net.Create, a web-based collaborative social-network-analysis tool and to understand how it supported group-based remote learning. The authors describe how the redesigned activities sustained engagement with historical content and report coded student network entries, reading responses and surveys to illustrate changes in engagement and learning.

Findings

The results suggest that students benefit from personal connections to historical content and their peers. Net.Create supported both through collaborative knowledge-building activities and reflection on how their quarantine experiences compared to the historical content they read. It is possible to avoid student frustrations with traditional “group work” even in a remote environment by supporting collaborative learning using Net.Create and a mix of individual and group contributions.

Originality/value

This is the first use of a collaborative network visualization tool to support large classroom interaction and engagement with history content at the undergraduate level.
Linking serial homicide – towards an ecologically valid application
Authors: Pakkanen Tom , Sirén Jukka , Zappalà Angelo , Jern Patrick , Bosco Dario , Berti Andrea , Santtila Pekka
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Crime linkage analysis (CLA) can be applied in the police investigation-phase to sift through a database to find behaviorally similar cases to the one under investigation and in the trial-phase to try to prove that the perpetrator of two or more offences is the same, by showing similarity and distinctiveness in the offences. Lately, research has moved toward more naturalistic settings, analyzing data sets that are as similar to actual crime databases as possible. One such step has been to include one-off offences in the data sets, but this has not yet been done with homicide. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how linking accuracy of serial homicide is affected as a function of added hard-to-solve one-off offences.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample (N = 117–1160) of Italian serial homicides (n = 116) and hard-to-solve one-off homicides (n = 1–1044, simulated from 45 cases) was analyzed using a Bayesian approach to identify series membership, and a case by case comparison of similarity using Jaccard’s coefficient. Linking accuracy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristics and by examining the sensitivity and specificity of the model.

Findings

After an initial dip in linking accuracy (as measured by the AUC), the accuracy increased as more one-offs were added to the data. While adding one-offs made it easier to identify correct series (increased sensitivity), there was an increase in false positives (decreased specificity) in the linkage decisions. When rank ordering cases according to similarity, linkage accuracy was affected negatively as a function of added non-serial cases.

Practical implications

While using a more natural data set, in terms of adding a significant portion of non-serial homicides into the mix, does introduce error into the linkage decision, the authors conclude that taken overall, the findings still support the validity of CLA in practice.

Originality/value

This is the first crime linkage study on homicide to investigate how linking accuracy is affected as a function of non-serial cases being introduced into the data.
The trouble with diverse books, part I: on the limits of conceptual analysis for political negotiation in Library & Information Science
Authors: Lawrence E. E.
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The term diverse books is increasingly popular yet persistently nebulous. The purpose of this paper – Part I of II – is to illuminate both that the concept is in need of a unified account and that conceptual analysis, though at first seemingly quite promising, fails as a method for identifying one.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes traditional (or intuitive) conceptual analysis to specify the respective clusters of necessary and sufficient conditions that constitute four broad candidate accounts of diverse books.

Findings

Though diverse books is a concept in need of a definition, conceptual analysis is not an appropriate method for adjudicating between the definitions we have on offer. This is because the concept is fundamentally political, serving as a resource for re-shaping collective social arrangements and ways of life. The conceptual problem outlined here requires for its resolution a method that will move us from a descriptive project to an explicitly normative one, wherein we consider what we properly work to achieve with and through the concept in question.

Originality/value

This paper initiates a systematic analytical project aimed at defining diverse books. In illustrating a moment of methodological failure, it paves the way for a critical alternative – namely, Part II's proposal of an analytical intervention in which political concepts are defined partially in terms of their benefits vis-á-vis informational justice.
Muslims and non-Muslims intention to hold Shariah-compliant credit cards: a SmartPLS approach
Authors: Johan Zaimy Johana , Hussain Mohd Zainee , Mohd Rohani , Kamaruddin Badrul Hisham
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, religiosity, knowledge and Shariah-compliance with intention to hold Shariah-compliant credit card (SCCC) amongst Muslims and non-Muslims.

Design/methodology/approach

Researchers used survey questionnaire to collect data and applied a purposive sampling method, then analyzing the data using descriptive statistics and also multi-group analysis of SmartPLS.

Findings

For Muslims, attitude, subjective norm, Shariah-compliance, knowledge and religiosity are positively significant. While for non-Muslims, only attitude and subjective norm are positively significant to intention to hold SCCCs.

Research limitations/implications

The behavioural study only focusses on intention to hold Islamic credit cards, which is constraining the extended model of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) without the actual performance of the behaviour, which is holding SCCCs. Secondly, the research caters for a single method, namely, quantitative without including the qualitative method to better understand and explore other factors affecting consumers’ behavioural intention. The qualitative part can be carried out by conducting interviews with practitioners, regulators and customers. Thirdly, the cultural dimensions are not combined as parts of TPBs’ antecedents for extended model that could be affecting intention, as Malaysia has diverse ethnic groups with different religious background.

Practical implications

In terms of managerial implications, the findings will further assist financial service providers to develop more effective marketing strategies for Islamic financial products not just to cater for the Muslims but also the non-Muslims, who are increasingly attracted to Islamic banking. As many Muslims are still holding conventional credit cards, it is timely for the Islamic financial institutions to attract them with the SCCCs.

Social implications

Financial marketers are expected to be qualified and well-versed on the different Islamic product structures and also the conventional products. By having such enables them to enlighten and create awareness amongst the targeted consumers in seeking Shariah-compliant financial-related products.

Originality/value

The research will contribute to new theoretical knowledge of an extended behavioural model in relation to customers’ perception towards SCCCs’ acceptance.
Global or local brand? Hotel selection in global travel context
Authors: Oh Haemoon , Lee Misoon , Lee Seonjeong Ally
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how and why traveling consumers choose globally branded/operated, instead of locally branded, hotels when traveling to another country.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on signaling theory, the authors conceptualize a model to explain the consumer process of selecting global hotel brands and test the model empirically with South Korean international consumers through a self-administered survey.

Findings

The data support the relationships of selected brand signals, such as brand credibility, brand liability, decision heuristic and anticipated satisfaction, with brand attitude and purchase likelihood.

Practical implications

The results imply how global hotel brand managers could enhance the effect of global hotel branding on the consumer’s hotel choice.

Originality/value

The study adds to the literature by proposing a new, empirically supported model of global branding for the tourism and hospitality industry.
Barriers to radical process innovation: a case of environmental technology in the oil industry
Authors: Radnejad Amir Bahman , Osiyevskyy Oleksiy , Vredenburg Harrie
Published: July 2020

Purpose

While a radical innovation can be embedded in new products or new processes, most studies to date have concentrated on barriers to radical product innovations, with little insights available about the challenges for implementation of radical process innovations.

Design/methodology/approach

We theorize a set of barriers to radical process innovation based on a critical case study of an oil company. Our study employs data from 14 semi-structured interviews, one complete participant-observer in the process and access to all corporate documentation. The organization being studied was eventually unable to bring the new process technology to commercialization despite the technology having both technical feasibility and substantive cost savings potential.

Findings

We identify five groups of challenges that the company faced: (1) challenges in resource mobilization, (2) challenges in piloting strategy, (3) innovation leadership tensions, (4) tensions in managing shareholders' expectations and (5) product-process innovation tension (i.e. a unique situation when a company implementing a radical process innovation and simultaneously pursues the path to commercialize it as a product innovation).

Practical implications

Sustainable development is one of the major challenges in our era. Process innovations are crucial for achieving sustainability without changing the final product. By providing a list of challenges that executives face in the process of commercializing a radical process innovation, we can help them to achieve sustainability more effectively.

Originality/value

The paper responds to the call to increase our understanding of radical process innovations by utilizing a unique ethnographic research methodology of active participant-observation complemented by independent third-party face-to-face interviews.
Hybrid Balanced Justified Treynor ratio
Authors: Tajdini Saeid , Mehrara Mohsen , Tehrani Reza
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Risk and return are the most important components in the financial and investment world and the existence of a better balance between them with the goal of the best solution for investing in different assets has always been studied and discussed by researchers. For this purpose in this study introduced the Hybrid Balanced Justified Treynor ratio (HBJTR) criterion.

Design/methodology/approach

This study introduced the HBJTR criterion, which has three major attributes, including combination of both the frequency and severity of the risk using Markov regime switching model which was modeled on the Justified Beta (Jßi). The second is the merger of data of both the cycles of boom and recession, which was modeled on the Hybrid Justified Treynor Ratio (HJTR). The third was the balancing act in two periods of boom and recession, which was introduced on the HBJTR model.

Findings

Based on a weighted averaging of the Justified Treynor ratio of both the cycles of boom and recession, which was introduced by the HJTR term in this study, the superiority in the first grade related to the two indexes were sugar index (0.0096) and insurance index (0.0053). Finally, using the final model in this study, namely HBJTR, the overall advantage was the defensive index, i.e. the insurance index of 1.23.

Originality/value

In other words, the HBJTRi criterion consists of three steps: first, the Justified Beta (Jßi) and Justified Treynor ratio of each index using two regimes of Markov switching model were calculated for each of the cycles of boom and recession separately according to formulas 8 and 9. In the second step, the weighted average was taken from both Justified Treynor ratios of boom and recession cycles, which was called the HJTR. In the third step, to calculate the HBJTR criterion
Library consortia contributing to college affordability: collection and OER initiatives in the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois
Authors: Sweet Christopher , Clarage Elizabeth C.
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) consists of 128 libraries. This paper aims to present an analysis of collection and open educational resources (OER) initiatives undertaken by CARLI over the past decade that contribute to improving college affordability.

Design/methodology/approach

After reviewing important literature pertaining to library consortia and college affordability, this paper presents a detailed case study of CARLI’s collection and OER initiatives.

Findings

Owing to their economies of scale, library consortia have the potential to make substantial contributions to improving college affordability.

Originality/value

Compared to the efforts of individual libraries to improve college affordability, library consortium efforts have received far less attention in the professional literature. The work of the CARLI consortium documented here can provide a template for other library consortia that are working to improve college affordability.
The concept of subjective well-being: its origins an application in tourism research: a critical review with reference to China
Authors: Liang Zengxian , Luo Hui , Liu Chenxi
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The subject of “well-being” has attracted attention from tourism scholars, but differences and misuses in approach have meant that academic contributions and knowledge accumulation to the tourism literature remain relatively little. This paper attempts to clarify the theoretical source of subjective well-being, and critically reflect on the problems existing in the study of well-being when applied to tourism. It is suggested that subjective well-being belongs to the category of “quality of life” and has multiple philosophical foundations and theoretical sources including theories of hedonism, expectation, happiness and various itemised lists of emotions. A hybrid research method is suggested when applying the concept to tourism.
Effects of tea polyphenol ester with different fatty acid chain length on camellia oil‐based oleogels preparation and its effects on cookies properties
Authors: Pan Li‐Hua , Wu Xiao‐ling , Luo Shui‐Zhong , He Hong‐Ying , Luo Jian‐Ping
Published: July 2020

Oleogels were prepared by emulsion template method through 3.0% tea polyphenol ester (Tp‐ester) particles with four fatty acid chain length (Tp‐laurate [C12], Tp‐myristate [C14], Tp‐palmitate [C16], and Tp‐stearate [C18]) and 2.5% citrus pectin, and then were used in cookie production as fat replacer. Effects of the fatty acid chain length on the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of Tp‐ester, on the appearance, microstructure, and firmness of dried products, on rheological features of oleogels, on the dynamic viscoelasticity and textural characteristics of cookies dough, and on cookies qualities were revealed. With the increase in the fatty acid chain length, the θo and θw values of four Tp‐esters increased, the firmness of dried products with smaller oil droplets got larger, and the gel intensity of oleogels increased, but the quality scores, spread ratio, and break strength of the cookies did not change significantly. With the increase in the replacement levels of butter with oleogels, the harder cookie dough with weaker gel strength and the softer cookies with lower hedonic scores and crispness were found. At 25% and 50% replacement levels, cookies prepared with oleogels using Tp‐palmitate or Tp‐stearate particles exhibited similar hedonic scores, break strength, spread ratio, and storage stabilities to that of butter cookies.

Practical Application

Cookies are relished by all age groups due to their taste and crispness, but include high content of saturated fatty acids that are harmful to people's health. The result of this study will help the industry to better design cookies through oleogels with tea polyphenols ester and pectin, and will provide healthy cookies with little or no butter for consumers.
Nucleolin and nucleophosmin expression patterns in pulmonary adenocarcinoma invading the pleura and in pleural malignant mesothelioma
Authors: Masiuk Marek , Waloszczyk Piotr , Lewandowska Magdalena , Dobak Ewa , Urasinska Elzbieta
Published: July 2020

Background

Visceral pleural invasion (VPI) in adenocarcinoma of the lung is considered a poor prognostic factor. The purpose of this study was to analyze nucleolin and nucleophosmin expression in pulmonary adenocarcinoma (PA) with VPI and in pleural malignant mesothelioma.

Methods

The study was conducted on the basis of 19 pathologically‐confirmed cases of adenocarcinoma of the lung and 29 cases of epithelioid malignant mesothelioma. The nucleolin and nucleophosmin expression was assessed immunohistochemically and analyzed with image analysis software.

Results

Nucleolin expression was lower while nucleophosmin was higher in pleural invasion of pulmonary adenocarcinoma than in the central part of the tumor. Differences in subpopulations of cells with different expression of proteins studied were also found. Malignant mesothelioma showed lower nucleolin expression than adenocarcinoma of the lung but no differences in nucleophosmin expression were found.

Conclusions

The results of our study suggested that lower nucleolin and higher nucleophosmin expression may be related to higher invasiveness of adenocarcinoma of the lung. Differences in nucleolin expression between pulmonary adenocarcinoma and malignant mesothelioma indicate another aspect of biology of these pleura‐invading cancers that requires further study.

Key points

Significant findings of the study

Differences in nucleolin and nucleophosmin expression in pleura invading pulmonary adenocarcinoma indicate the involvement of these proteins in its locoregional spread while differences in nucleolin expression between pulmonary adenocarcinoma and malignant mesothelioma suggest another aspect of biology of these cancers.

What this study adds

This is the first study on nucleolin and nucleophosmin expression in pleural malignant mesothelioma and pleura‐invading pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Our findings may assist in understanding the mechanisms of locoregional spread of adenocarcinoma and differences between these two pleura‐invading cancers.
Treatment strategies for new‐onset atrial fibrillation in critically ill patients: Protocol for a systematic review
Authors: Wetterslev Mik , Granholm Anders , Haase Nicolai , Hassager Christian , Hylander Møller Morten , Perner Anders
Published: July 2020

Background

New‐onset atrial fibrillation is frequent in critically ill patients and associated with poorer outcomes in these patients. Numerous interventions are used for the management of new‐onset atrial fibrillation, but it is unknown if these interventions improve patient‐important outcomes as compared with placebo or no active intervention in adult critically ill patients.

Methods/design

We will conduct a systematic review with meta‐analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomized clinical trials assessing pharmacological and non‐pharmacological interventions of new‐onset atrial fibrillation as compared with placebo or no active intervention in adult critically ill patients. The primary outcomes are mortality, adverse events and health‐related quality of life. We will search the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, Science Citation Index and BIOSIS and follow the recommendations by the Cochrane Collaboration and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We will evaluate the overall certainty of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Discussion

New‐onset atrial fibrillation is common in adult critically ill patients. However, the balance between the desirable and undesirable effects of pharmacological and non‐pharmacological interventions is unknown. The outlined systematic review aims to provide updated data on this topic.

Registration

Submitted to PROSPERO (CRD42020187178 ).

Status: accepted.
Risk Factors for Disability After Emergency Department Discharge in Older Adults
Authors: Nagurney Justine M. , Han Ling , Leo‐Summers Linda , Allore Heather G. , Gill Thomas M.
Published: July 2020

Objectives

We have previously shown that older adults discharged from the emergency department (ED) experience an increased disability burden within a 6‐month time period after ED discharge. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with increased disability burden among older adults discharged from the ED.

Methods

This study is part of an ongoing longitudinal study of 754 community‐living persons aged ≥70 years. The analytic sample included 813 ED visits without hospitalization from 430 participants who had at least one visit to an ED during a 14‐year follow‐up period (1998–2012). Information on ED visits and disability burden in 13 functional activities was collected during monthly interviews. Twenty‐nine candidate risk factors were evaluated for their independent associations with increased disability burden using a longitudinal multivariable model.

Results

In the multivariable analyses, age ≥85 (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05 to 1.24), being unmarried (aRR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.27), lower‐extremity weakness (aRR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.07 to 1.34), and physical frailty (aRR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.37) were associated with increased disability burden. As the number of risk factors increased, the predicted mean disability burden (on a scale of 0 to 13) also increased, ranging from a value of 1.80 (95% CI = 1.43 to 2.27) for 0 risk factors to a value of 8.59 (95% CI = 7.93 to 9.29) for four risk factors.

Conclusions

Among older adults discharged from the ED, several risk factors were associated with increased disability burden over the following 6 months, including age ≥85, being unmarried, lower‐extremity weakness, and physical frailty. Further research is needed to evaluate whether risk stratification based on nonmodifiable factors or interventions targeting modifiable risk factors improve functional outcomes for older adults discharged from the ED.