bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting Syndesmotic Injury in OTA/AO 44-B2.1 (Danis–Weber B) Fractures
Authors: Kellam Patrick J. , Dekeyser Graham J. , Haller Justin M. , Rothberg David L. , Higgins Thomas F. , Marchand Lucas S.
Published: January 2021

Objective:

To establish if preoperative radiographs could predict the rate of syndesmotic injury.

Setting:

Level 1 trauma center.

Design:

Retrospective cohort study.

Patients/Participants:

There were 548 OTA/AO 44-B2.1 fractures that were reviewed, and 287 patients were included in the study.

Main Outcome Measurements:

Ankle radiographs were used to determine the zone of distal extent of the proximal fracture fragment. Syndesmotic injury was defined as positive intraoperative stress examination that required syndesmotic fixation.

Results:

There were 191 zone 1 (ending below the plafond) injuries, 57 zone 2 (ending between the physeal scar and the plafond) injuries, and 39 zone 3 (ending above the physeal scar) injuries. Of these, 17% (33 patients) of zone 1, 42% (24) of zone 2, and 74% (29) of zone 3 fractures had syndesmotic injuries. The relative risk of syndesmotic injury of zone 1 compared with zone 2 was 2.4 (P < 0.001), zone 1 to zone 3 was 4.3 (P < 0.001), and zone 2 to zone 3 was 1.8 (P = 0.002). The interobserver and intraobserver reliability was excellent (κ = 0.86, 0.94).

Conclusion:

OTA/AO 44-B2.1 fractures have a varying rate of syndesmotic injury. Weber B fractures that end between the level of the plafond and the physeal scar (zone 2) are 2.4 times more likely to have a syndesmotic injury compared with those that end below the plafond (zone 1). This is magnified in those injuries ending above the scar (zone 3). This simple classification of OTA/AO 44-B2.1 fractures is predictive of syndesmotic injury and may aid in preoperative counseling and planning.

Level of Evidence:

Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
The Silent Pandemic COVID-19 in the Asymptomatic Population
Authors: Stout Robert L. , Rigatti Steven J.
Published: January 2021

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world there is a great need to understand the dynamics of spread. Currently the seroprevalence of asymptomatic COVID-19 doubles every 3 months, this silent epidemic of new infections may be the main driving force behind the rapid increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases.

Public health official quickly recognized that clinical cases were just the tip of the iceberg. In fact a great deal of the spread was being driven by the asymptomatically infected who continued to go out, socialize and go to work. While seropositivity is an insensitive marker for acute infection it does tell us about the prevalence COVID-19 in the population.

Objective

Describe the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States over time.

Methodology

Repeated convenience samples from a commercial laboratory dedicated to the assessment of life insurance applicants were tested for the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, in several time periods between May and December of 2020. US census data were used to estimate the population prevalence of seropositivity.

Results

The raw seroprevalence in the May-June, September, and December timeframes were 3.0%, 6.6% and 10.4%, respectively. Higher rates were noted in younger vs. older age groups. Total estimated seroprevalence in the US is estimated at 25.7 million cases.

Conclusions

The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates a significantly larger pool of individuals who have contract COVID-19 and recovered, implying a lower case rate of hospitalizations and deaths than have been reported so far.
eSPRESSO: a spatial self-organizing-map clustering method for single-cell transcriptomes of various tissue structures using graph-based networks
Authors: Mori Tomoya , Takase Toshiro , Lan Kuan-Chun , Yamane Junko , Alev Cantas , Osafune Kenji , Yamashisa Jun , Fujibuchi Wataru
Published: January 2021

Animal cells are spatially organized as tissues and cellular gene expression data contain such information that governs body structure and morphogenesis during developmental process. Although several computational tissue reconstruction methods using transcriptomic data have been proposed, those methods are insufficient with regard to arranging cells in their correct positions in tissues or organs unless spatial information is explicitly provided. Here, we propose eSPRESSO, a powerfulin silicothree-dimensional (3D) tissue reconstruction method using stochastic self-organizing map (stochastic-SOM) clustering, together with optimization of gene set by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) framework, to estimate the spatial domain structure of cells in any topology of tissues or organs from only their transcriptome profiles. We confirmed the performance of eSPRESSO by mouse embryo, embryonic heart, adult cortical layers, and human pancreas organoid with high reproducibility (success rate = 72.5–100%), while discovering morphologically important spatial discriminator genes (SDGs). Furthermore, we applied eSPRESSO to analysis of human adult heart diseases by virtual gene knockouts, and revealed candidate mechanisms of deformation of heart structure. The eSPRESSO may provide novel methods to analyze the mechanisms of 3D structure formation and morphology-based disease mechanisms.
Putative mobilized colistin resistance genes in the human gut microbiome
Authors: Andrade Bruno G. N. , Goris Tobias , Afli Haithem , Coutinho Felipe H. , Davila Alberto M.R. , Cuadrat Rafael R. C.
Published: January 2021

Background

The high incidence of bacterial genes that confer resistance to last-resort antibiotics, such as colistin caused by MCR genes, poses an unprecedented threat to our civilization’s health. To understand the spread, evolution, and distribution of such genes among human populations, with the final goal of diminishing their occurrence in human environments should be a priority. To tackle this problem, we investigated the distribution and prevalence of potential mcr genes in the human gut microbiome we used a set of bioinformatics tools to screen the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome (UHGG) collection for the presence, synteny and phylogeny of putative mcr genes, and co-located antibiotic resistance genes.

Results

A total of 2,079 ARGs were classified as different MCR in 2,046 Metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs), present in 1,596 individuals from 41 countries, of which 215 MCRs were identified in plasmidial contigs. The genera that presented the largest number of MCR-like genes wereSuterellaandParasuterella, prevalent human gut bacteria of whichSuterella wadsworthensisis associated with autism. Other potential pathogens carrying MCR genes belonged to the genusVibrio,EscherichiaandCampylobacter. Finally, we identified a total of 22,746 ARGs belonging to 21 different classes in the same 2,046 MAGs, suggesting multi-resistance potential in the corresponding bacterial strains, increasing the concern of ARGs impact in the clinical settings.

Conclusion

This study uncovers the diversity of MCR-like genes in the human gut microbiome. We showed the cosmopolitan distribution of these genes in individuals worldwide and the co-presence of other antibiotic resistance genes, including Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL). Also, we described mcr-like genes fused to a PAP2-like domain inS. wadsworthensis. Although these novel sequences increase our knowledge about the diversity and evolution of mcr-like genes, their activity and a potential colistin resistance in the corresponding strains has to be experimentally validated.
Fast and Robust 2D Inverse Laplace Transformation of Single-Molecule Fluorescence Lifetime Data
Authors: Talele Saurabh , King John T.
Published: January 2021

Fluorescence spectroscopy at the single-molecule scale has been indispensable for studying conformational dynamics and rare states of biological macromolecules. Single-molecule 2D-fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (sm-2D-FLCS) is an emerging technique that holds great promise for the study of protein and nucleic acid dynamics as it 1) resolves conformational dynamics using a single chromophore, 2) measures forward and reverse transitions independently, and 3) has a dynamic window ranging from microseconds to seconds. However, the calculation of a 2D fluorescence relaxation spectrum requires an inverse Laplace transition (ILT), which is an ill-conditioned inversion that must be estimated numerically through a regularized minimization. The current methods for performing ILTs of fluorescence relaxation can be computationally inefficient, sensitive to noise corruption, and difficult to implement. Here, we adopt an approach developed for NMR spectroscopy (T1-T2 relaxometry) to perform 1D and 2D-ILTs on single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy data using singular-valued decomposition and Tikhonov regularization. This approach provides fast, robust, and easy to implement Laplace inversions of single-molecule fluorescence data.

Significance Statement

Inverse Laplace transformations are a powerful approach for analyzing relaxation data. The inversion computes a relaxation rate spectrum from experimentally measured temporal relaxation, circumventing the need to choose appropriate fitting functions. They are routinely performed in NMR spectroscopy and are becoming increasing used in single-molecule fluorescence experiments. However, as Laplace inversions are ill-conditioned transformations, they must be estimated from regularization algorithms that are often computationally costly and difficult to implement. In this work, we adopt an algorithm first developed for NMR relaxometry to provide fast, robust, and easy to implement 1D and 2D inverse Laplace transformations on single-molecule fluorescence data.
Effect of public health interventions during the first epidemic wave of COVID-19 in Cyprus: a modelling study
Authors: Gountas Ilias , Quattrocchi Annalisa , Mamais Ioannis , Tsioutis Constantinos , Christaki Eirini , Fokianos Konstantinos , Nikolopoulos Georgios
Published: January 2021

Background

Cyprus addressed the first wave of SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) by implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions. The aims of this study were: a) to estimate epidemiological parameters of this wave including infection attack ratio, infection fatality ratio, and case ascertainment ratio, b) to assess the impact of public health interventions, and c) to examine what would have happened if those interventions had not been implemented.

Methods

A dynamic, stochastic, individual-based Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered (SEIR) model was developed to simulate COVID-19 transmission and progression in the population of the Republic of Cyprus. The model was fitted to the observed trends in COVID-19 deaths and intensive care unit (ICU) bed use.

Results

By May 8 2020th, the infection attack ratio was 0.31% (95% Credible Interval (CrI): 0.15%, 0.54%), the infection fatality ratio was 0.71% (95% CrI: 0.44%, 1.61%), and the case ascertainment ratio was 33.2% (95% CrI: 19.7%, 68.7%). If Cyprus had not implemented any public health measure, the healthcare system would have been overwhelmed by April 14th. The interventions averted 715 (95% CrI: 339, 1235) deaths. If Cyprus had only increased ICU beds, without any social distancing measure, the healthcare system would have been overwhelmed by April 19th.

Conclusions

The decision of the Cypriot authorities to launch early non-pharmaceutical interventions limited the burden of the first wave of COVID-19. The findings of these analyses could help address the next waves of COVID-19 in Cyprus and other similar settings.
Urban-adapted mammal species have more known pathogens
Authors: Albery Gregory F. , Carlson Colin J. , Cohen Lily E. , Eskew Evan A. , Gibb Rory , Ryan Sadie J. , Sweeny Amy R. , Becker Daniel J.
Published: January 2021

The world is rapidly urbanising, inviting mounting concern that urban environments will experience increased zoonotic disease risk. Urban animals could have more frequent contact with humans, and therefore may transmit more zoonotic parasites; however, these animals have a specific set of underlying traits that may determine their parasite burdens while predisposing them to urban living, and they may be subject to more intense research effort, both of which could complicate our ability to reliably identify the role of urbanisation in driving zoonotic risk. Here, we test whether urban mammal species host more known zoonotic parasites, investigating the potential underlying drivers while accounting for a correlated suite of phenotypic, taxonomic, and geographic predictors. We found that urban-adapted mammals have more documented parasites, and more zoonotic parasites specifically: despite comprising only 157 of the 2792 investigated species (6%), urban mammals provided 39% of known host-parasite combinations and showed consistently higher viral discovery rates throughout the last century. However, contrary to predictions, much of the observed effect was attributable to research effort rather than to urban adaptation status itself, and urban-adapted species in fact hosted fewer zoonoses than expected given their total observed parasite richness. We conclude that extended historical contact with humans has had a limited impact on the number of observed zoonotic parasites in urban-adapted mammals; instead, their greater observed zoonotic richness likely reflects sampling bias arising from proximity to humans, which supports a near-universal underlying pattern of conflation between zoonotic risk, research effort, and synanthropy. These findings underscore the need to resolve the ecological mechanisms underlying links between anthropogenic change, sampling bias, and observed wildlife disease dynamics.
Neuromolecular and behavioral effects of ethanol deprivation inDrosophila
Authors: D’Silva Natalie M. , McCullar Katie S. , Conard Ashley M. , Blackwater Tyler , Azanchi Reza , Heberlein Ulrike , Larschan Erica , Kaun Karla R.
Published: January 2021

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by loss of control in limiting alcohol intake. This may involve intermittent periods of abstinence followed by alcohol seeking and, consequently, relapse. However, little is understood of the molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of alcohol deprivation on behavior. Using a newDrosophila melanogasterrepeated intermittent alcohol exposure model, we sought to identify how ethanol deprivation alters spontaneous behavior, determine the associated neural structures, and reveal correlated changes in brain gene expression. We found that repeated intermittent ethanol-odor exposures followed by ethanol-deprivation dynamically induces behaviors associated with a negative affect state. Although behavioral states broadly mapped to many brain regions, persistent changes in social behaviors mapped to the mushroom body and surrounding neuropil. This occurred concurrently with changes in expression of genes associated with sensory responses, neural plasticity, and immunity. Like social behaviors, immune response genes were upregulated following three-day repeated intermittent ethanol-odor exposures and persisted with one or two days of ethanol-deprivation, suggesting an enduring change in molecular function. Our study provides a framework for identifying how ethanol deprivation alters behavior with correlated underlying circuit and molecular changes.
Analysis of the intensity of the COVID-19 epidemic in Berlin towards an universal prognostic relationship
Authors: Below D. , Mairanowski J. , Mairanowski F.
Published: January 2021

The present work is a continuation and development of research on prediction and analysis of the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The proposed model adequately describes the development of the coronavirus epidemic with insufficient adherence to quarantine and social distancing. The transition from the absolute number of infected persons to their relative number per inhabitant of a settlement makes it possible to obtain universal calculation ratios.

In performing the calculations, the choice of the date of the beginning of the epidemic is of great importance. Recommendations are given on how to determine the date of the beginning of the epidemic based on the analysis of statistical data on the spread of the epidemic. The coefficient of virus transmission rate k included in the calculated prognostic relation depends on the population size and the type of virus strain in the settlement in question. A simple ratio for calculating this coefficient as a function of population size is proposed.

Control calculations performed using only a single empirical coefficient showed high accuracy. The calculated curves for Germany, Berlin, and its districts agree well with the corresponding statistical data. The correlation coefficients between the corresponding curves reach values of 0.93 to 0.97. The further development of the model should thus go in the direction of identifying causal links between the intensity of the epidemic and the main factors affecting this process. Some of these factors are related to the characteristics of the population’s behaviour and the infrastructure of cities. The increase in the incidence in areas with a large percentage of the population rooted in Islamic countries is one of the main factors determining the development of the epidemic in Berlin. In order to explain and clarify this conclusion, it is necessary to make further assumptions about the possible emergence of a new strain of coronavirus in Berlin and in Germany and, accordingly, about the possibility of new epidemic waves. A preliminary ratio for predicting the spread of the epidemic under conditions of simultaneous existence of both strains of coronavirus is given.

Simplicity of the proposed prognostic method and high accuracy of the results allow to recommend it as an effective tool for operative analysis of various measures aimed to control the spread of COVID-19 epidemic including mass vaccination of population.
Pan-genome Analysis in Sorghum Highlights the Extent of Genomic Variation and Sugarcane Aphid Resistance Genes
Authors: Wang Bo , Jiao Yinping , Chougule Kapeel , Olson Andrew , Huang Jian , Llaca Victor , Fengler Kevin , Wei Xuehong , Wang Liya , Wang Xiaofei , Regulski Michael , Drenkow Jorg , Gingeras Thomas , Hayes Chad , Armstrong J. Scott , Huang Yinghua , Xin Zhanguo , Ware Doreen
Published: January 2021

Sorghum bicolor, one of the most important grass crops around the world, harbors a high degree of genetic diversity. We constructed chromosome-level genome assemblies for two important sorghum inbred lines, Tx2783 and RTx436. The final high-quality reference assemblies consist of 19 and 18 scaffolds, respectively, with contig N50 values of 25.6 and 20.3 Mb. Genes were annotated using evidence-based andde novogene predictors, and RAMPAGE data demonstrate that transcription start sites were effectively captured. Together with other public sorghum genomes, BTx623, RTx430, and Rio, extensive structural variations (SVs) of various sizes were characterized using Tx2783 as a reference. Genome-wide scanning for disease resistance (R) genes revealed high levels of diversity among these five sorghum accessions. To characterize sugarcane aphid (SCA) resistance in Tx2783, we mapped the resistance region on chromosome 6 using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and found a SV of 191 kb containing a cluster of R genes in Tx2783. Using Tx2783 as a backbone, along with the SVs, we constructed a pan-genome to support alignment of resequencing data from 62 sorghum accessions, and then identified core and dispensable genes using this population. This study provides the first overview of the extent of genomic structural variations and R genes in the sorghum population, and reveals potential targets for breeding of SCA resistance.
Imaging Multiple Sclerosis Pathology at 160μm Isotropic Resolution by Human Whole-BrainEx VivoMagnetic Resonance Imaging at 3T
Authors: Matthias Weigel , Peter Dechent , Riccardo Galbusera , Erik Bahn , Govind Nair , Ludwig Kappos , Wolfgang Brück , Christine Stadelmann , Cristina Granziera
Published: January 2021

Postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the fixed healthy and diseased human brain facilitates spatial resolutions and image quality that is not achievable within vivoMRI scans. Though challenging - and almost exclusively performed at 7T field strength - depicting the tissue architecture of the entire brain in fine detail is invaluable since it enables the study of neuroanatomy and uncovers important pathological features in neurological disorders. The objectives of the present work were (i) to develop a 3D isotropic ultra-high-resolution imaging approach for human whole-brainex vivoacquisitions working on a standard clinical 3T MRI system, and (ii) to explore the sensitivity and specificity of this concept for specific pathoanatomical features of multiple sclerosis. The reconstructed images demonstrate unprecedented resolution and soft tissue contrast of the diseased human brain at 3T, thus allowing visualization of sub-millimetric lesions in the different cortical layers and in the cerebellar cortex, as well as unique cortical lesion characteristics such as the presence of incomplete / complete iron rims, and patterns of iron accumulation. Further details such as the subpial molecular layer, the line of Gennari, and some intrathalamic nuclei are also well distinguishable.
Controllability boosts neural and cognitive signatures of changes-of-mind in uncertain environments
Authors: Rouault Marion , Weiss Aurélien , Lee Junseok K. , Drugowitsch Jan , Chambon Valérian , Wyart Valentin
Published: January 2021

In uncertain environments, seeking information about alternative choice options is essential for adaptive learning and decision-making. However, information seeking is usually confounded with changes-of-mind about the reliability of the preferred option. Here, we exploited the fact that information seeking requires control over which option to sample to isolate its behavioral and neurophysiological signatures. We found that changes-of-mind occurring with control require more evidence against the current option, are associated with reduced confidence, but are nevertheless more likely to be confirmed on the next decision. Multimodal neurophysiological recordings showed that these changes-of-mind are preceded by stronger activation of the dorsal attention network in magnetoencephalography (MEG), and followed by increased pupil-linked arousal during the presentation of decision outcomes. Together, these findings indicate that information seeking increases the saliency of evidence perceived as the direct consequence of one’s own actions.

Highlights

Exploration-exploitation dilemmas confound information seeking with changes-of-mind.

Unlike changes-of-mind, information seeking requires control over information sampling.

Information seeking is associated with reduced confidence and active hypothesis testing.

Stronger neurophysiological correlates of attention and arousal during information seeking.
A mutational hotspot that determines highly repeatable evolution can be built and broken by silent genetic changes
Authors: Horton James S. , Flanagan Louise M. , Jackson Robert W. , Priest Nicholas K. , Taylor Tiffany B.
Published: January 2021

Mutational hotspots can determine evolutionary outcomes and make evolution repeatable. Hotspots are products of multiple evolutionary forces including mutation rate heterogeneity, but this variable is often hard to identify. In this work we reveal that a powerfully deterministic genetic hotspot can be built and broken by a handful of silent mutations. We observed this when studying homologous immotile variants of the bacteriaPseudomonas fluorescens, AR2 and Pf0-2x. AR2 resurrects motility through highly repeatablede novomutation of the same nucleotide in >95% lines in minimal media (ntrBA289C). Pf0-2x, however, evolves via a number of mutations meaning the two strains diverge significantly during adaptation. We determined that this evolutionary disparity was owed to just 6 synonymous variations within thentrBlocus, which we demonstrated by swapping the sites and observing that we were able to both break (>95% to 0% in AR2) and build (0% to 80% in Pf0-2x) a powerfully deterministic mutational hotspot. Our work reveals a fundamental role for silent genetic variation in determining adaptive outcomes.
Cryo-EM structure of the yeast TREX complex and coordination with the SR-like protein Gbp2
Authors: Xie Yihu , Clarke Bradley P. , Kim Yong Joon , Ivey Austin L. , Hill Pate S. , Shi Yi , Ren Yi
Published: January 2021

The evolutionarily conserved TREX complex plays central roles during mRNP (messenger ribonucleoprotein) maturation and export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. In yeast, TREX is composed of the THO sub-complex (Tho2, Hpr1, Tex1, Mft1, and Thp2), the DEAD box ATPase Sub2, and Yra1. Here we present a 3.7 Å cryo-EM structure of the yeast THO•Sub2 complex. The structure reveals the intimate assembly of THO revolving around its largest subunit Tho2. THO stabilizes a semi-open conformation of the Sub2 ATPase via interactions with Tho2. We show that THO interacts with the SR-like protein Gbp2 through both the N-terminal domain and RRM domains of Gbp2. Crosslinking mass spectrometry analysis supports the extensive interactions between THO and Gbp2, further revealing that RRM domains of Gbp2 are in close proximity to the C-terminal domain of Tho2. We propose that THO serves as a landing pad to configure Gbp2 to facilitate its loading onto mRNP.
Stroke-related alterations in inter-areal communication
Authors: Allegra Michele , Favaretto Chiara , Metcalf Nicholas , Corbetta Maurizio , Brovelli Andrea
Published: January 2021

Beyond causing local ischemia and cell damage at the site of injury, stroke strongly affects long-range anatomical connections, perturbing the functional organization of brain networks. Several studies reported functional connectivity abnormalities parallelling both behavioral deficits and functional recovery across different cognitive domains. FC alterations suggest that long-range communication in the brain is altered after stroke. However, standard FC analyses cannot reveal the directionality and time scale of inter-areal information transfer. We used resting-state fMRI and covariance-based Granger causality analysis to quantify network-level information transfer and its alteration in stroke. Two main large-scale anomalies were observed in stroke patients. First, inter-hemispheric information transfer was significantly decreased with respect to healthy controls. Second, stroke caused inter-hemispheric asymmetries, as information transfer within the affected hemisphere and from the affected to the intact hemisphere was significantly reduced. Both anomalies were more prominent in resting-state networks related to attention and language, and they correlated with impaired performance in several behavioral domains. Overall, our findings support the hypothesis that stroke provokes asymmetries between the affected and spared hemisphere, with different functional consequences depending on which hemisphere is lesioned.
Separation of RNA according to Size: Electrophoresis of RNA through Denaturing Urea Polyacrylamide Gels
Authors: Green Michael R. , Sambrook Joseph
Published: January 2021

Thin (0.4–1.5 mm) polyacrylamide-urea gels provide high resolution of RNAs up to 1000 nt in size and are capable of resolving single-stranded fragments of RNA that differ in length by as little as 1 nt. The polyacrylamide gel is cast between two glass plates that are separated by two thin Teflon or nylon spacers. A so-called shark's tooth comb or, less frequently, a standard slotted comb forms the sample wells into which the RNA samples are loaded before electrophoresis. In contrast to electrophoresis using agarose gels, which occurs while the gel is horizontal, polyacrylamide gels are run while in the vertical position. Gels are also typically run at 45°C–55°C, which is the melting temperature of RNA, and in the presence of 6–8 m urea. The gel recipe and protocol presented here for 8 m urea/TBE polyacrylamide gels can be used for a variety of applications including mapping RNA with nuclease S1, ribonuclease protection assay, or analysis of RNA by primer extension.
An experimental parametric study on planar sheared wings tip devices for low-to-moderate aspect ratio wings
Authors: Santos Lourelay Moreira dos , Gomes Guilherme Ferreira , Coimbra Rogerio F.
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a low-to-moderate-aspect-ratio, tapered, untwisted, unswept wing, equipped of sheared wing tips.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, wind tunnel tests were made to study the influence in aerodynamic characteristics over a typical low-to-moderate-aspect-ratio wing of a general aviation aircraft, equipped with sheared – swept and tapered planar – wing tips. An experimental parametric study of different wing tips was tested. Variations in its leading and trailing edge sweep angle as well as variations in wing tip taper ratio were considered. Sheared wing tips modify the flow pattern in the outboard region of the wing producing a vortex flow at the wing tip leading edge, enhancing lift at high angles of attack.

Findings

The induced drag is responsible for nearly 50% of aircraft total drag and can be reduced through modifications to the wing tip. Some wing tip models present complex geometries and many of them present benefits in particular flight conditions. Results have demonstrated that sweeping the wing tip leading edge between 60 and 65 degrees offers an increment in wing aerodynamic efficiency, especially at high lift conditions. However, results have demonstrated that moderate wing tip taper ratio (0.50) has better aerodynamic benefits than highly tapered wing tips (from 0.25 to 0.15), even with little less wing tip leading edge sweep angle (from 57 to 62 degrees). The moderate wing tip taper ratio (0.50) offers more wing area and wing span than the wings with highly tapered wing tips, for the same aspect ratio wing.

Originality/value

Although many studies have been reported on the aerodynamics of wing tips, most of them presented complex non-planar geometries and were developed for cruise flight in high subsonic regime (low lift coefficient). In this work, an exploration and parametric study through wind tunnel tests were made, to evaluate the influence in aerodynamic characteristics of a low-to-moderate-aspect-ratio, tapered, untwisted, unswept wing, equipped of sheared wing tips (wing tips highly swept and tapered).
The role of customer familiarity in evaluating green servicescape: an investigation in the coffee shop context
Authors: Jang Yoon Jung
Published: January 2021

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of green atmospheric and communicative servicescape dimensions on customers’ emotional and behavioral outcomes and explores the moderating effect of customer familiarity.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from coffee shop customers in the USA. Structural equation modeling and a multigroup analysis were used for analysis.

Findings

The findings indicated that the atmospheric dimensions of green coffee shops have a greater impact than communicative dimensions on customers’ green place attachment and loyalty. However, the effects of green servicescape depend on customer familiarity. The impact of the communicative servicescape on customers’ attachment and loyalty is significantly greater in a high-familiarity group than in a low-familiarity group.

Practical implications

The findings provide coffee shop managers with insights into effective design of a green service environment. Although managers focus on both dimensions, they may use customer familiarity as a segmenting or targeting tool in designing the green service environment and developing a sustained relationship with customers with different levels of familiarity.

Originality/value

This study extends the existing servicescape models by incorporating green place attachment as a construct to comprehend customers’ inner evaluations. It also contributes to the literature on attachment by demonstrating the clear linkage between both green servicescape dimensions and place attachment. This study highlights customer familiarity construct that should be a critical issue in advancing the understanding of customer behavior in the green servicescape context.
A capacity needs assessment to integrate MOOC-based climate change education with the higher education institutions in Europe and developing countries in Asia: findings of the focused group survey in PCHEI under the BECK project
Authors: Senevirathne Malith , Priyankara H.A.C. , Amaratunga Dilanthi , Haigh Richard , Weerasinghe Nandasiri , Nawaratne Champa , Kaklauskas Arturas
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The extreme climatic events are a result of modern human lifestyles and activities. Climate literacy is one of the significant factors to redefine aggravated human behaviours related to climate change and energy efficiency. Therefore, education relevant to energy efficiency and climate change is identified as a vital requirement in the present education sector. This study aims to identify existing capacity needs for integrating massive open online courses (MOOC)-based climate education in the partner institutions education systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The integrating education with consumer behavior relevant to energy efficiency and climate change at the Universities of Russia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (BECK) project funded by the Erasmus+ programme aimed to address this research gap by introducing new harmonized MOOC modules to the higher education curricular of four European, five Russian and five Asian higher education institutions (partner country higher education institutions). A series of focus group surveys and workshops were carried out to identify the present capacity development needs relevant to the subject topic.

Findings

Accordingly, infrastructure development, awareness-raising, curricular development, capacity building, integration and networking, research and development and financial needs have been identified as the key areas requiring capacity development to integrate energy efficiency and climate change into the higher education curricular. The results have recognized that a MOOC system in curricular will allow better opportunities for research, awareness and capacity development initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

The relevant European best practices can be adopted into the Asian education systems to allow more opportunities in infrastructure, research and networking development. The project continues to implement the MOOC modules in the partner institutions following a contextual research study and a cross-institutional module sharing assessment.

Originality/value

The research outcomes identify the significant facts for formulating the BECK project objectives, which provide wider opportunity for climate literacy improvements and education initiatives in the partner countries.
Time out of cell and time in purposeful activity and adverse mental health outcomes amongst people in prison: a literature review
Authors: Stephenson Thomas , Leaman Jane , O’Moore Éamonn , Tran Anh , Plugge Emma
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to synthesise the available peer-reviewed literature on the impact of time out of cell (TOOC) and time in purposeful activity (TIPA) on adverse mental outcomes amongst people in prison.

Design/methodology/approach

The outcomes of interest of this literature review were mental health, suicide, deliberate self-harm (DSH) and violence. Exposures of interest were TOOC, TIPA or a partial or indirect measure of either. In total, 14 studies were included. An abbreviated review methodology was used because of time constraints.

Findings

There was consistent evidence of an association between lower TOOC and TIPA and worse mental health and higher suicide risk. Limited evidence suggests a link between TOOC and DSH. No evidence was identified regarding the relationship between TOOC/TIPA and violence.

Research limitations/implications

A lack of longitudinal studies prevents conclusions regarding causality. Significant heterogeneity of mental health outcomes limits the comparability of studies.

Practical implications

These findings highlight the importance of considering the impact of TOOC and TIPA on adverse mental outcomes for prisoners when designing prison regimes, including during urgent adaptation of such regimes in response to Covid-19. They are likely to be of interest to practitioners and policymakers concerned with prison regime design.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to synthesise the existing literature on the impact of TOOC and TIPA on mental health outcomes.
Moving from service to sustainable services: a healthcare case study
Authors: Williams Sharon J. , Radnor Zoe J.
Published: January 2021

Purpose

Worldwide, healthcare systems struggle to sustain the delivery of services at a time of increasing demand, limited resources and growing expectations from users, coupled with dealing with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the threat of other outbreaks. There has never been a more important time to sustain innovation and improvements. Using an illustrative case, the authors assess the application of two existing frameworks to identify the key propositions and dimensions required to deliver sustainable services.

Design/methodology/approach

This illustrative case study focuses on a service provided by a chronic disease, multidisciplinary community healthcare team in the UK. Experienced-based interviews were conducted with health professionals, patients and relatives to provide a rich account of a care pathway design. A high-level process map is used to visualise the key touch points.

Findings

The authors identify all seven propositions of the SERVICE framework being present along with additional dimensions relating to sustaining innovation and improvement.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited to a chronic disease care pathway. However, the authors believe the results could be applicable to other medical conditions, which are supported by a similar multi-disciplinary service delivery model.

Practical implications

The authors provide a sustainable public service operations SERVICES framework for health professionals and managers to consider when (re)designing care pathways.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the emerging discipline of public service operations research by empirically testing for the first time the SERVICE framework within healthcare. The authors have included additional factors associated with innovation and improvement and recommended further development of the framework to include factors, such as economic sustainability, highly relevant to the context of universal healthcare systems.
ISM and fuzzy logic approach to model and analyze the variables in downstream supply chain for perfect order fulfillment
Authors: Sharma Rajiv Kumar
Published: January 2021

Purpose

As we move up in the supply chain (SC) from retailer to supplier, amplification in the fluctuation of order increased. To minimize this amplification, understanding of key decision variables which affects the SC is essential. So, in the present work the authors developed a novel approach to examine the structural dependencies among variables responsible for perfect order fulfillment (POF).

Design/methodology/approach

Interpretive structural modeling approach has been used to model the structural relationship among the key SC variables. Further, to study the driver-dependence dynamics among variables MICMAC analysis has been used. In the second phase, the influence of driver variables on the POF is investigated by using fuzzy logic.

Findings

From the results, it is observed that the variables’ delivery time, number of echelons, data accuracy and information sharing have high driving power which may help the organizations to meet challenges offered by POF. The results showed that for POF is said to be at optimum level when the number of echelons should be low and data accuracy should be high, and information sharing among all partners should also be very high.

Research limitations/implications

Research on SC is classified into three categories, i.e. operational, design and strategic. In the present study authors discussed strategic variables responsible for POF which is the main limitation of the study. The work can be extended by including operational and design variables.

Practical implications

POF in SC network is affected by various variables. The in-depth understanding of contextual association among the variables helps the managers to improve the efficiency of the SC and reduce the bullwhip effect across the downstream SC network.

Originality/value

The study presents a hybrid approach to analyze the key POF dimensions, i.e. forecasting, number of echelons, information sharing, cycle time and delivery time, critical to POF in downstream SC network by developing various case settings.
Controller involvement in a project management setting: effects on project functions and performance
Authors: Malagueño Ricardo , Gomez-Conde Jacobo , de Harlez Yannick , Hoffmann Olaf
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The authors examine the extent to which a controller's involvement in project functions (namely definition and scope, organization, constraints management and risk management) cascades down to project performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test the study’s framework using survey data from a sample of project leaders in German and Swiss firms. Responses were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) technique.

Findings

The authors find that controllers contribute to project success via the previously described project functions. Further, the study reveals the crucial role of controllers in managing uncertainty and project risks.

Research limitations/implications

Although the arguments used in this research were not country specific and suggest that the findings of this study also apply to the controller professional in general, this study clearly acknowledges that further research is needed to address the effects of this role in different jurisdictions given the specific characteristics of controllers acting in German-speaking countries.

Practical implications

The authors provide insights on the role of controllers at an operational level, like project management, highlighting the need for controllers to support an effective project governance.

Originality/value

The authors add to the literature by examining the role of controllers in highly knowledge-intensive, highly pressured, task-driven, interdependent and dynamic operational settings, thus contributing to a better understanding of how controllers function at an operational level. The authors also strengthen a broader role of controllers in project management that goes beyond their historical controlling activities to include more modern functions, extending previous studies analyzing their professional identity.
A call to technologists to ensure that responsible outcomes arise from their innovations
Authors: Seth Aaditeshwar
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to encourage technologists, those who design and manage technology systems, to collectivize and get closely involved in defining the priorities of their organizations, their countries, and the world, so that responsible outcomes can arise from their labour.

Design/methodology/approach

The author examines this problem from three viewpoints: From a design perspective about what is missing in most design practices to build information systems that undesirable outcomes still happen; from an ethics perspective about how to incorporate values in building and managing information systems; and from a political economy perspective about why ensuring responsible outcomes from technology is not easy. The author describes several limitations faced by technologists in achieving this, ranging from gaps in the design methods in use currently, a piecemeal approach to following ethical principles in the design and management of technologies, influence of the organizational culture and structure and the wider political economy of technology itself.

Findings

The author suggests several measures to address these challenges and conclude with a call to technologists to collectivize and engage politically to influence their organizations and governments to invest in meaningful objectives for a just and equitable world, and design and manage the solutions in ethically consistent ways.

Research limitations/implications

It is argued that a new paradigm of information systems is needed for digital platforms, which is grounded in ethics-based guidelines that should be followed by the designers and managers of these platforms to help ensure responsible outcomes.

Practical implications

Having such a paradigm is especially important in today’s winner-takes-all digital platform era because these platforms are governed by only a few people; therefore, it is imperative to build guardrails to responsibly manage these platforms, and to have technologists who design and manage these platforms to play a role in their governance.

Social implications

Information systems have the potential to alter power relationships in society, and it is suggested that they should be designed to empower the weak.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is a unique perspective that draws from his personal experience as a researcher and practitioner designing technologies for social good, and examines the problem from many different viewpoints.
Identification of environmental supply chain bottlenecks: a case study of the Ethiopian healthcare supply chain
Authors: Jæger Bjørn , Menebo Mesay Moges , Upadhyay Arvind
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The increasing rate of environmental concern and awareness by society has attracted attention from researchers and organisations to consider how to proceed towards green supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to identify operational bottlenecks in the multi-tier supply chain to guide organisations towards where to concentrate their efforts to address their supply chain environmental challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a literature review identifying green supply chain challenges of multi-tier supply chains. Following the literature review is a case study of the Ethiopian health supply chain with 11 interviews, 11 international and 6 national surveys and data from public health information systems. An analysis based on multi-tier supply chain modelling is used to identify environmental supply chain bottlenecks.

Findings

This research found that the supply chain actors face severe challenges towards enhanced green supply chain performance mainly because of poor inventory management (IN), inefficient tracking and tracing (TR) and fake or sub-standard products in the supply chain, especially counterfeit medicines (CO). Specific environmental bottlenecks within each of the challenge areas IN, TR and CO where identified serving as recommendations for where supply chain actors should focus their work towards greener supply chains.

Research limitations/implications

The data come from participants in a single country, Ethiopia; although the supply chain challenges are common for developing countries in general.

Practical implications

This research presents a modelling approach to identify supply chain activities considered as environmental bottlenecks in multi-tier supply chains. The environmental bottlenecks pinpoint supply chain activities to focus on for a transition towards green supply chains for manufacturers, public and private health organisations, hospitals and health care units.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on GSCM by developing a multi-tier modelling approach for identifying environmental supply chain bottlenecks. The applicability of the model is demonstrated by the identification of environmental bottlenecks in a healthcare supply chain supporting decisions on what challenges a green supply chain strategy should address. It serves as a basis for future research on where to implement GSCM practices in supply chains (SCs).