bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Complex+: Aided Decision-Making for the Study of Protein Complexes
Authors: Oghbaie Mehrnoosh , Šulc Petr , Fenyö David , Pennock Michael , LaCava John
Published: August 2019

Proteins are the chief effectors of cell biology and their functions are typically carried out in the context of multi-protein assemblies; large collections of such interacting protein assemblies are often referred to as interactomes. Knowing the constituents of protein complexes is therefore important for investigating their molecular biology. Many experimental methods are capable of producing data of use for detecting and inferring the existence of physiological protein complexes. Each method has associated pros and cons, affecting the potential quality and utility of the data. Numerous informatic resources exist for the curation, integration, retrieval, and processing of protein interactions data. While each resource may possess different merits, none are definitive and few are wieldy, potentially limiting their effective use by non-experts. In addition, contemporary analyses suggest that we may still be decades away from a comprehensive map of a human protein interactome. Taken together, we are currently unable to maximally impact and improve biomedicine from a protein interactome perspective – motivating the development of experimental and computational techniques that help investigators to address these limitations. Here, we present a resource intended to assist investigators in (i) navigating the cumulative knowledge concerning protein complexes and (ii) forming hypotheses concerning protein interactions that may yet lack conclusive evidence, thus (iii) directing future experiments to address knowledge gaps. To achieve this, we integrated multiple data-types/different properties of protein interactions from multiple sources and after applying various methods of regularization, compared the protein interaction networks computed to those available in the EMBL-EBI Complex Portal, a manually curated, gold-standard catalog of macromolecular complexes. As a result, our resource provides investigators with reliable curation of bona fide and candidate physical interactors of their protein or complex of interest, prompting due scrutiny and further validation when needed. We believe this information will empower a wider range of experimentalists to conduct focused protein interaction studies and to better select research strategies that explicitly target missing information.
Refinement and reactivation of a taste-responsive hippocampal network
Authors: Herzog Linnea E. , Katz Donald B. , Jadhav Shantanu P.
Published: August 2019

Animals need to remember the locations of nourishing and toxic food sources for survival, a fact that necessitates a mechanism for associating taste experiences with particular places. We have previously identified such responses within hippocampal place cells [1], the activity of which is thought to aid memory-guided behavior by forming a mental map of an animal’s environment that can be reshaped through experience [2–7]. It remains unknown, however, whether taste-responsiveness is intrinsic to a subset of place cells, or emerges as a result of experience that reorganizes spatial maps. Here, we recorded from neurons in the dorsal CA1 region of rats running for palatable tastes delivered via intra-oral cannulae at specific locations on a linear track. We identified a subset of taste-responsive cells that, even prior to taste exposure, had larger place fields than non-taste-responsive cells overlapping with stimulus delivery zones. Taste-responsive cells’ place fields then contracted, as a result of taste experience, leading to a stronger representation of stimulus delivery zones on the track. Taste-responsive units exhibited increased sharp-wave ripple co-activation during the taste delivery session and subsequent rest periods, which correlated with the degree of place field contraction. Our results reveal that novel taste experience evokes responses within a preconfigured network of taste-responsive hippocampal place cells with large fields, whose spatial representations are refined by sensory experience to signal areas of behavioral salience. This represents a possible mechanism by which animals identify and remember locations where ecologically relevant stimuli are found within their environment.
Machine learning based imputation techniques for estimating phylogenetic trees from incomplete distance matrices
Authors: Bhattacharjee Ananya , Bayzid Md. Shamsuzzoha
Published: August 2019

Background

Due to the recent advances in sequencing technologies and species tree estimation methods capable of taking gene tree discordance into account, notable progress has been achieved in constructing large scale phylogenetic trees from genome wide data. However, substantial challenges remain in leveraging this huge amount of molecular data. One of the foremost among these challenges is the need for efficient tools that can handle missing data. Popular distance-based methods such as neighbor joining and UPGMA require that the input distance matrix does not contain any missing values.

Results

We introduce two highly accurate machine learning based distance imputation techniques. One of our approaches is based on matrix factorization, and the other one is an autoencoder based deep learning technique. We evaluate these two techniques on a collection of simulated and biological datasets, and show that our techniques match or improve upon the best alternate techniques for distance imputation. Moreover, our proposed techniques can handle substantial amount of missing data, to the extent where the best alternate methods fail.

Conclusions

This study shows for the first time the power and feasibility of applying deep learning techniques for imputing distance matrices. The autoencoder based deep learning technique is highly accurate and scalable to large dataset. We have made these techniques freely available as a cross-platform software (available at https://github.com/Ananya-Bhattacharjee/ImputeDistances).
Intrinsically ball retrieving wolf puppies reveal standing ancestral variation for human-directed play behaviour
Authors: Wheat Christina Hansen , Temrin Hans
Published: August 2019

Domestication dramatically alters phenotypes. Standing variation among ancestral populations often drives phenotypic change during domestication, but some changes are caused by novel mutations. Dogs (Canis familiaris) engage in interspecific play with humans and it has specifically been suggested that the ability to interpret social-communicative behaviour expressed by humans is a novel dog-specific skill. Thus, wolves (Canis lupus) are not expected to engage in interspecific play with a human based on social-communicative cues. Here we report the observation of three eight week-old wolf puppies spontaneously responding to social-communicative behaviours from a stranger by retrieving a ball. This unexpected and novel observation has significant implications for our understanding and expectations of the genetic foundations of dog behaviour. Importantly, our observations indicate that behavioural responses to human social-communicative cues are not unique to dogs. This suggests that, while probably rare, standing variation in the expression of human-directed behaviour in ancestral populations could have been an important target for early selective pressures exerted during dog domestication.
Trueness of digital intraoral impression in reproducing multiple implant position
Authors: Kim Ryan Jin-Young , Benic Goran I. , Park Ji-Man
Published: August 2019

The aim of this study was to evaluate the trueness of 5 intraoral scanners (IOSs) for digital impression of simulated implant scan bodies in a complete-arch model. A 3D printed full-arch mandible model made of Co-Cr with a total of 6 bilaterally positioned cylinders in the canine, second premolar, and second molar area served as the study model. Digital scans of the model were made with a reference scanner (steroSCAN neo) and 5 IOSs (CEREC Omnicam, CS3600, i500, iTero Element, and TRIOS 3) (n=10). For each IOS’s dataset, the XYZ coordinates of the cylinders were obtained from the reference point and the deviations from the reference scanner were calculated using a 3D reverse engineering program (Rapidform). The trueness values were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney post hoc test. Direction and amount of deviation differed among cylinder position and among IOSs. Regardless of the IOS type, the cylinders positioned on the left second molar, nearest to the scanning start point, showed the smallest deviation. The deviation generally increased further away from scanning start point towards the right second molar. TRIOS 3 and i500 outperformed the other IOSs for complete-arch digital impression. The accuracy of the CEREC Omnicam, CS3600, and iTero Element were similar on the left side, but they showed more deviations on the right side of the arch when compared to the other IOSs. The accuracy of IOS is still an area that needs to be improved.
The nuclear receptor NR4A1 is regulated by SUMO modification to induce autophagic cell death
Authors: Zárraga-Granados Gabriela , Muciño-Hernández Gabriel , Sánchez-Carbente María R. , Villamizar-Gálvez Wendy , Peñas-Rincón Ana , Arredondo Cristian , Andrés María E. , Wood Christopher , Covarrubias Luis , Castro-Obregón Susana
Published: August 2019

NR4A is a nuclear receptor protein family whose members act as sensors of cellular environment and regulate multiple processes such as metabolism, proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and autophagy. Since the ligand binding domains of these receptors have no cavity for ligand interaction, their function is most likely regulated by protein abundance and post-translational modifications. In particular, NR4A1 is regulated by protein abundance, phosphorylation, and subcellular distribution (nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation), and acts both as a transcription factor and as a regulator of other interacting proteins. SUMOylation is a post-translational modification that can affect protein stability, transcriptional activity, alter protein-protein interactions and modify intracellular localization of target proteins. In the present study we evaluated the role of SUMOylation as a posttranslational modification that can regulate the activity of NR4A1 to induce autophagy-dependent cell death. We focused on a model potentially relevant for neuronal cell death and demonstrated that NR4A1 needs to be SUMOylated to induce autophagic cell death. We observed that a triple mutant in SUMOylation sites has reduced SUMOylation, increased transcriptional activity, altered intracellular distribution, and more importantly, its ability to induce autophagic cell death is impaired.

Summary Statement

The modification of the nuclear receptor NR4A1 by SUMO regulates its transcriptional activity, intracellular localization and is required to induce autophagic cell death.
Spatial and temporal partitioning and tree preference in California woodland ants
Authors: MacArthur-Waltz Dylan , Nelson Rebecca , Lee Gail , Gordon Deborah M.
Published: August 2019

Spatial and temporal partitioning of habitat may facilitate diversity and have important impacts on ant communities. To investigate niche overlap in an ant community in a northern California oak woodland, we observed ant foraging on trees in 4 seasonal surveys, each lasting 2 weeks, in a 9.5-hectare plot over the course of a year. Foraging activity in all 5 observed ant species differed by season, time of day, and/or the genera of trees used. Of the 3 ant species most frequently observed,Camponotus semitestaceuswas most active during spring and summer nights,Formica mokiwas most active during spring and summer days, andPrenolepis impariswas most active during both day and night of fall and winter. All ant species preferred native trees to exotic trees and preferred evergreen trees to deciduous trees. Our results suggest that native evergreen oaks such asQuercus agrifolia, currently threatened by sudden oak death (Phytophthora ramorum), may be important for supporting ant biodiversity.
A single cell transcriptome atlas of the developing zebrafish hindbrain
Authors: Tambalo Monica , Mitter Richard , Wilkinson David G.
Published: August 2019

Segmentation of the vertebrate hindbrain leads to the formation of rhombomeres, each with a distinct anteroposterior identity. Specialised boundary cells form at segment borders that act as a source or regulator of neuronal differentiation. In zebrafish, there is spatial patterning of neurogenesis in which non-neurogenic zones form at bounderies and segment centres, in part mediated by Fgf20 signaling. To further understand the control of neurogenesis, we have carried out single cell RNA sequencing of the zebrafish hindbrain at three different stages of patterning. Analyses of the data reveal known and novel markers of distinct hindbrain segments, of cell types along the dorsoventral axis, and of the transition of progenitors to neuronal differentiation. We find major shifts in the transcriptome of progenitors and of differentiating cells between the different stages analysed. Supervised clustering with markers of boundary cells and segment centres, together with RNA-seq analysis of Fgf-regulated genes, has revealed new candidate regulators of cell differentiation in the hindbrain. These data provide a valuable resource for functional investigations of the patterning of neurogenesis and the transition of progenitors to neuronal differentiation.
Single-crystal time-of-flight neutron Laue methods: application to manganese catalase from Thermus thermophilus HB27
Authors: Yamada Taro , Yano Naomine , Hosoya Takaaki , Kusaka Katsuhiro
Published: August 2019

The IBARAKI biological crystal diffractometer (iBIX) was used in single-crystal time-of-flight neutron diffraction experiments on manganese catalase from Thermus thermophilus. The unit-cell dimensions were 133 × 133 × 133 Å, which is close to the designed maximum limitation of iBIX (135 × 135 × 135 Å). The optimum integration box sizes were set and the degree of integration box overlap was calculated for each Laue spot. Using the overlap ratio as the criterion, the selection of the diffraction intensity data was performed to give a minimum R
p.i.m.. Subsequently, diffraction intensity data from Laue spots with overlap ratios ≤0.1 were selected and a complete reflection data set with d
min = 2.35 Å was obtained. Joint X-ray and neutron structure refinements were also successfully performed. It was difficult to determine the structures and protonation states of all the oxygen atoms in the manganese cluster owing to the disordered structure. No hydrogen atom was observed on the ordered μ-bridging oxygen atom O1003. Instead, this oxygen atom probably forms a hydrogen bond with Thr39. In addition, the refinements clearly showed the protonation states of the amino acid residues and hydrogen bonds, as observed in Tyr192, Glu167 and Glu280. This first neutron crystal structure of manganese catalase shows that iBIX can provide acceptable diffraction data for neutron single-crystal analyses of at least 2.4 Å resolution within the original targeted unit-cell dimensions of 135 × 135 × 135 Å.
A comparison of gas stream cooling and plunge cooling of macromolecular crystals
Authors: Harrison Kaitlin , Wu Zhenguo , Juers Douglas H
Published: August 2019

Cryocooling for macromolecular crystallography is usually performed via plunging the crystal into a liquid cryogen or placing the crystal in a cold gas stream. These two approaches are compared here for the case of nitrogen cooling. The results show that gas stream cooling, which typically cools the crystal more slowly, yields lower mosaicity and, in some cases, a stronger anomalous signal relative to rapid plunge cooling. During plunging, moving the crystal slowly through the cold gas layer above the liquid surface can produce mosaicity similar to gas stream cooling. Annealing plunge cooled crystals by warming and recooling in the gas stream allows the mosaicity and anomalous signal to recover. For tetragonal thermolysin, the observed effects are less pronounced when the cryosolvent has smaller thermal contraction, under which conditions the protein structures from plunge cooled and gas stream cooled crystals are very similar. Finally, this work also demonstrates that the resolution dependence of the reflecting range is correlated with the cooling method, suggesting it may be a useful tool for discerning whether crystals are cooled too rapidly. The results support previous studies suggesting that slower cooling methods are less deleterious to crystal order, as long as ice formation is prevented and dehydration is limited.
High-pressure nuclear inelastic scattering with backscattering monochromatization
Authors: Sergueev Ilya , Glazyrin Konstantin , Herrmann Markus G. , Alexeev Pavel , Wille Hans-Christian , Leupold Olaf , May Andrew F. , Pandey Tribhuwan , Lindsay Lucas R. , Friese Karen , Hermann Raphael P.
Published: August 2019

The capability to perform high-pressure low-temperature nuclear inelastic scattering on 125Te and 121Sb with a sapphire backscattering monochromator is presented. This technique was applied to measure nuclear inelastic scattering in TeO2 at pressures up to 10 GPa and temperatures down to 25 K. The evaluated partial Te densities of phonon states were compared with theoretical calculations and with Raman scattering measured under the same conditions. The high-pressure cell developed in this work can also be used for other techniques at pressures up to at least 100 GPa.
ASPW-DRL: assembly sequence planning for workpieces via a deep reinforcement learning approach
Authors: Zhao Minghui , Guo Xian , Zhang Xuebo , Fang Yongchun , Ou Yongsheng
Published: August 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to automatically plan sequence for complex assembly products and improve assembly efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

An assembly sequence planning system for workpieces (ASPW) based on deep reinforcement learning is proposed in this paper. However, there exist enormous challenges for using DRL to this problem due to the sparse reward and the lack of training environment. In this paper, a novel ASPW-DQN algorithm is proposed and a training platform is built to overcome these challenges.

Findings

The system can get a good decision-making result and a generalized model suitable for other assembly problems. The experiments conducted in Gazebo show good results and great potential of this approach.

Originality/value

The proposed ASPW-DQN unites the curriculum learning and parameter transfer, which can avoid the explosive growth of assembly relations and improve system efficiency. It is combined with realistic physics simulation engine Gazebo to provide required training environment. Additionally with the effect of deep neural networks, the result can be easily applied to other similar tasks.
Academics’ experience of copyright
Authors: Chauhan Vikee , Willett Peter
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to obtain a snapshot of attitudes and comprehension of the University of Greenwich (UoG) academics towards copyright and the impact of same on their teaching, complementing this with a survey of the experience of academic librarians (ALs) throughout the UK when dealing with faculty and copyright.

Design/methodology/approach

Two questionnaires were created and circulated to capture information from two sampled groups: the UoG academic staff and UK-wide ALs. A total of 55 responses were received to the questionnaire distributed to the former, and 83 responses were received to the questionnaire distributed to the latter.

Findings

The majority of the UoG academics believed they possessed a fair, or better than fair, understanding of copyright, with numerous respondents self-taught on the subject. Nevertheless, a significant number thought they might have broken copyright when teaching, while also revealing the belief that copyright was a limitation on their teaching. The AL survey suggested an average comprehension of copyright among academics, while noting that some of the latter felt a degree of antipathy towards copyright.

Originality/value

Although focused on a single institution, this study implies that copyright instruction for academic staff needs to be substantially improved, and it suggests the need for greater visibility of training programmes.
Artificial bee colony algorithm for feature selection and improved support vector machine for text classification
Authors: Balakumar Janani , Mohan S. Vijayarani
Published: August 2019

Purpose

Owing to the huge volume of documents available on the internet, text classification becomes a necessary task to handle these documents. To achieve optimal text classification results, feature selection, an important stage, is used to curtail the dimensionality of text documents by choosing suitable features. The main purpose of this research work is to classify the personal computer documents based on their content.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a new algorithm for feature selection based on artificial bee colony (ABCFS) to enhance the text classification accuracy. The proposed algorithm (ABCFS) is scrutinized with the real and benchmark data sets, which is contrary to the other existing feature selection approaches such as information gain and χ2 statistic. To justify the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, the support vector machine (SVM) and improved SVM classifier are used in this paper.

Findings

The experiment was conducted on real and benchmark data sets. The real data set was collected in the form of documents that were stored in the personal computer, and the benchmark data set was collected from Reuters and 20 Newsgroups corpus. The results prove the performance of the proposed feature selection algorithm by enhancing the text document classification accuracy.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a new ABCFS algorithm for feature selection, evaluates the efficiency of the ABCFS algorithm and improves the support vector machine. In this paper, the ABCFS algorithm is used to select the features from text (unstructured) documents. Although, there is no text feature selection algorithm in the existing work, the ABCFS algorithm is used to select the data (structured) features. The proposed algorithm will classify the documents automatically based on their content.
Relationship conflict, task conflict and teams’ transactive memory systems
Authors: Riley Jason M. , Ellegood William A.
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how task conflict and relationship conflict influence teams’ transactive memory systems (TMS) and by extension team performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Leveraging experiential learning theory and a popular operations management simulation tool, survey data from 341 students, who worked on 117 simulation teams, are collected. To examine the present hypotheses bootstrapping analysis and SPSS were used.

Findings

Both task and relationship conflict can significantly diminish TMS development, which in turn, inhibits team performance. Thus, when teams disagree on how to approach a task, conflict could diminish TMS formation. In addition, when one team member has a personal conflict with one or more members that it further amplifies the influence of task conflict. To address the negative influence of both task and relationship conflict, teams should develop processes to better utilize members’ specialized knowledge and work together in a coordinated manner.

Research limitations/implications

The research adds to the literature by articulating the mediating influence that relationship conflict has on task conflict. Furthermore, it highlights how teams can develop TMS as a means to improve team performance when using simulation tools as a teaching device.

Originality/value

This work broadens our understanding of the conditions under which educators can teach students about teams and teamwork capabilities. In addition, the authors expand the use of simulations as an experiential learning tool.
A comprehensive examination of antecedents of cultural intelligence amongst students
Authors: Kadam Raavee , Rao Srinivasa , Kareem Abdul Waheed , Jabeen Shazi Shah
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the various antecedents that impact the development of cultural intelligence (CQ) among students. The study also explores how growing up as a third culture kid (TCK) or a monoculture kid (MCK) impacts the relationship between the antecedents and CQ.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from 307 students consisting of both TCKs and MCKs, the authors test the direct effects and moderation model amongst the antecedents and CQ. Convenience sampling was employed to choose the participants for the study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and administered to the students via e-mail.

Findings

The results indicated that short-term trips abroad, undertaking a cross-cultural management course, local culture proficiency, watching films from other cultures, language of work proficiency, having friends from other cultures and interaction with people from different nationalities had a significant effect on CQ.

Practical implications

This study provides a list of variables that facilitate the development of intercultural competence amongst students, which can be used as a base by academic institutions to develop various courses, classroom activities and university programs. Also, classifying students as TCKs and MCKs helps us understand which CQ antecedents are more important for which category of students.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies on antecedents of CQ, which explores the impact of being a TCK or MCK on the development of students’ CQ.
An e-government crowdsourcing framework: suspect investigation and identification
Authors: El Alaoui El Abdallaoui Hasna , El Fazziki Abdelaziz , Ennaji Fatima Zohra , Sadgal Mohamed
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The pervasiveness of mobile devices has led to the permanent use of their new features by the crowd to perform different tasks. The purpose of this paper is to exploit this massive consumption of new information technologies supported by the concept of crowdsourcing in a governmental context to access citizens as a source of ideas and support. The aim is to find out how crowdsourcing combined with the new technologies can constitute a great force to enhance the performance of the suspect investigation process.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides a structured view of a suspect investigation framework, especially based on the image processing techniques, including the automatic face analysis. This crowdsourcing framework is mainly based on the personal description as an identification technique to facilitate the suspect investigation and the use of MongoDB as a document-oriented database to store the information.

Findings

The case study demonstrates that the proposed framework provides satisfying results in each step of the identification process. The experimental results show how the combination between the crowdsourcing concept and the mobile devices pervasiveness has fruitfully strengthened the identification process with the use of automatic face analysis techniques.

Originality/value

A review of the literature has shown that previous work has focused mainly on the presentation of forensic techniques that can be used in the investigation process steps. However, this paper implements a complete framework whose whole strength is based on the crowdsourcing concept as a new paradigm used by institutions to solve many organizational problems.
Antecedents of cross-functional integration level and their organizational impact
Authors: Ferreira Ana Cristina , Pimenta Marcio Lopes , Wlazlak Paraskeva
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to predict the antecedents of the integration level among marketing, logistics and production, considering the influence of formal and informal factors that generate integration and the existence of conflicts.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 179 participants from all regions of Brazil was conducted. A parsimonious model including four dimensions and 34 variables was developed through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The field data corroborate studies dealing with the impact of various formal and informal integration factors on the cross-functional integration level as a construct. Furthermore, this paper concludes that the level of cross-functional can be defined as: the intensity of the relationship among internal functions which can be measured by the mutual existence of formal and informal factors and the absence of manifest conflicts.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this paper cannot be generalized because of the convenience sampling. Future research could apply a probabilistic sampling and try to explore other geographical settings in both national and international contexts.

Practical implications

The proposed model can generate important information for managers by pointing out variables that can predict the integration level and their impacts on the organizational performance. The paper concludes with examples about how the model could be useful in several practical situations.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a model with reasonable accuracy to predict the integration level and overcomes prior research limitations with respect to models to predict the antecedents of the integration level, particularly the role of conflicts in the integration processes.
The role of serendipity in the story ideation process of print media journalists
Authors: Bird-Meyer Matthew , Erdelez Sanda , Bossaller Jenny
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build upon the studies of journalism from an LIS perspective by exploring and differentiating the purposive behavior of newspaper reporters from their serendipitous encounters with information that lead to new story ideas. This paper also provides a path toward pedagogical improvements in training the modern journalism workforce in being more open to creative story ideas.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized semi-structured telephone interviews. Participants were recruited via e-mail after collecting contact information through the Cision database. The study sample was drawn from newspaper reporters who work at or freelance for the top 25 metropolitan newspapers in the USA, in terms of circulation size, based on data from the Alliance for Audited Media. A total of 15 participants were interviewed.

Findings

This paper provides insight into the story ideation process of journalists in that the study participants generally do not think about how they are coming up with story ideas as much as they are striving to place themselves in situations where, based on their experience and interests, they know they are more likely to encounter a good idea. Each encounter proved meaningful in some powerful fashion, which speaks to the historical importance of serendipity in achieving breakthroughs and discoveries in a wide variety of fields.

Research limitations/implications

The sampling frame for this study was relatively small, representing 8 percent of the total number of working newspaper journalists from the top 25 newspapers in the USA, in terms of circulation size. Therefore, the findings are not generalizable to the entire population of journalists in this country.

Practical implications

The findings point to the importance of a prepared mind in facilitating serendipitous episodes. In the case of journalism, that means developing a heightened news sense and cultivating routines where they place themselves in trigger-rich environments. Pedagogically, journalism education must include courses in creative storytelling to help train the modern newspaper workforce in an ever-expanding and competitive media landscape. These courses, ideally paired with techniques and models from the field of information science and learning technologies, could help train young journalists in methods that enhance their ability to identify, seek and pursue serendipitous stories.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills a need in journalism studies in finding variability in news routines by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach that combines journalism studies and library and information science models to probe how journalists encounter ideas incidentally. Previous research in this area has focused on how news consumers serendipitously encounter information. This paper takes a fresh approach to explore how creative ideas are encountered serendipitously in the construction of news.
Outsourcing, information symmetry and governance
Authors: Rosin Anna Frieda , Stubner Stephan , Chaurasia Sushil S. , Verma Surabhi
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of retailers’ organizational controls and controls of their boundary personnel on manufacturers’ outsourcing performance. It further assesses the moderating impact of information symmetry in this context.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 230 Indian apparel manufacturers engaged in outsourcing activities with two international retailers. Organizational control is scrutinized as formal and informal controls, and outsourcing performance is studied in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The partial least squares approach is used to test the proposed research model.

Findings

First, the retailers’ and the boundary person’s formal controls have a direct, positive effect on outsourcing efficiency. Second, although no significant effect of the boundary person’s formal controls on outsourcing effectiveness is identified, a significant effect of retailers’ formal controls on effectiveness is seen. Third, the boundary person’s informal controls are associated with a decrease in efficiency, whereas they have a positive effect on effectiveness. Fourth, although the retailers’ informal controls enhance outsourcing effectiveness, they negatively affect efficiency. Fifth, information symmetry is statistically significant in enhancing outsourcing efficiency and effectiveness.

Practical implications

The results have important implications for retailers and retailers’ boundary persons who are keen to improve their relations with manufacturers. This paper offers practical insights into the ways that manufacturers, boundary personnel and retailers can exercise control mechanisms in order to achieve effective and efficient outsourcing outcomes.

Originality/value

The effect of organizational control and information symmetry on outsourcing performance in typical outsourcing practices in manufacturer‒retailer relationships is shown.
Understanding the determinants of mobile banking continuance usage intention
Authors: Foroughi Behzad , Iranmanesh Mohammad , Hyun Sunghyup Sean
Published: August 2019

Purpose

The quality of people life and efficiency of banks can be improved by mobile banking (m-banking). The long-term success of m-banking depends on its constant use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of m-banking continuance intention to use, using the technology continuance theory (TCT) by including the self-efficacy and channel preference.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data from 369 Malaysian users who had prior experience with mobile banking were analysed, using partial least squares technique.

Findings

The results confirmed that the TCT model had a high exploratory power in explaining users’ perceived usefulness (PU), satisfaction, attitude and intentions to continue to use m-banking. Furthermore, self-efficacy and channel importance were important drivers of continuance intention in the context of m-banking. According to the results, perceived ease of use has no effect on PU and attitude in the post-adoption stage.

Practical implications

The findings help bank managers to understand the importance of meeting customers’ needs and expectations as a prerequisite in enhancing their satisfaction and favourable attitude towards m-banking and consequently their continuance intention.

Originality/value

Based on the TCT model, this study contributes to the limited body of research on continuance intention to use m-banking. Furthermore, self-efficacy and channel preferences were added to the TCT model and the results confirmed the importance of enriching the TCT model to explain continuance intention to use information systems by adding contextual factors.
The mediating effect of brand image on the relationships between social media advertising content, sales promotion content and behaviuoral intention
Authors: Raji Ridwan Adetunji , Rashid Sabrina , Ishak Sobhi
Published: August 2019

Purpose

This study aims to answer an important question of how brand-related communications, including advertising and sales promotion contents, which are disseminated on social media platforms, can enhance positive brand image and evoke favourable behavioural intention from consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveys 615 consumers of automotive brands across Malaysia. The data were analysed with AMOS, which was used to specify both the measurement and structural models. The mediating effect of both hedonic and functional brand images was tested using the bootstrapping approach in AMOS and Sobel test.

Findings

The findings reported in this research demonstrate that there are positive and significant relationships between social media advertising content, social media sales promotion content, hedonic brand image, functional brand image and behavioural intention. Both hedonic and functional brand images have significant mediating effects on social media advertising content, social media sales promotion content and behavioural intention. However, the relationship between social media advertising content and behavioural intention is insignificant.

Practical implications

This paper proffers insights to brand managers and marketers on how to leverage on social media contents by unearthing the roles of traditional marketing communications such as social media advertising and promotional information in enhancing brand preference and improving consumers’ purchase intention.

Originality/value

This research advances the discussions in the realm of social media communications and branding by examining the mediating effects of both hedonic and functional brand images of automotive brands. In addition, this study focuses on two essential marketing communications, advertising and sales promotions, which are commonly disseminated by brand managers on social media platforms.
The intellectual core and structure of international business strategies (IBS)
Authors: Bhattacharyya Som Sekhar , Verma Surabhi
Published: August 2019

Purpose

International Business Strategies (IBS) literature deliberated on the strategic planning and strategy implementation of home country firms in foreign markets. IBS had become a very potent growth strategy for firms. IBS as a body of knowledge had become substantial in the last few decades of research. To this end, and as a complex field of study, this paper aims to conceptually map this IBS literature. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present a visual mapping of intellectual structure in two dimensions and to identify the subfields of IBS through co-citation analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

All the citation documents were included in the Web of Knowledge (WoK) database between the years 1993 and 2018. For the multivariate analysis, this study applied a sequence of statistical analyses including factor analysis, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Through these techniques, this research study tried to summarize the condition and status of IBS research by classifying the IBS literature into four categories.

Findings

IBS literature has been classified into four categories, namely, evolutionary aspects of IBS; firm strategic objectives and IBS; institutional theory and IBS in emerging economies; and foreign market entry strategies for internationalization.

Research limitations/implications

Based upon the basis of the analysis of extant research in IBS, the current and future extension research topics have been presented. This would help future researchers to understand the white spots for undertaking research in future.

Originality/value

This was one of the very first studies that mapped the International Business Strategy literature and categorized IBS literature.
The effects of subcontracting forms on the sustenance of SMEs
Authors: Nwokocha Victor Chukwunweike , Nwankwo Christopher
Published: August 2019

Purpose

Despite the potential of SMEs in economic development, their activities have remained largely unsustainable in Nigeria. These enterprises are constrained by a number of challenges- high cost of production, poor power supply, high infrastructural deficit etc. which have made there operations largely unproductive. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of production subcontracting forms on the sustenance of small and medium enterprises as a panacea for achieving the targets of goal 8 of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopted a number of methods comprising of field observations, a reference to relevant literature and a questionnaire survey of 96 SMEs. The paper also adopted a quantitative approach comprising of simple descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation as well as regression analysis to analyze the data.

Findings

This paper found that the three forms of production subcontracting (supplier, specialized and capacity subcontracting) identified in the paper were used by SMEs to achieve sustenance (cost reduction, risk reduction and access to resources) in their operations. The paper suggests that the sustenance of SMEs through the utilisation of the different forms of subcontracting can become a strategy towards achieving the targets of SDG 8 in Nigeria.

Practical implications

This paper has shown that the prevalent high cost of production and ever-increasing production risks, which are the common features of SMEs in Nigeria, can be mitigated through the various forms of production subcontracting analysed in this paper. SMEs, through seminars, workshops, entrepreneurship and business fares, can be encouraged to take up this strategy, considering its ability to address their various operational bottlenecks.

Originality/value

This study adds to the limited available evidence concerning the effects of subcontracting forms on the sustenance of SMEs in Nigeria. This study is the first to consider subcontracting forms and how they have led to sustenance SMEs in Nigeria.
Linking habitat composition, local population densities and traffic characteristics to spatial patterns of ungulate‐train collisions
Authors: Jasińska Karolina D. , Żmihorski Michał , Krauze‐Gryz Dagny , Kotowska Dorota , Werka Joanna , Piotrowska Diana , Pärt Tomas
Published: August 2019

The total length of railways worldwide exceeds 1 million kilometres and recent railway development directly impacts wildlife because of animal‐train collisions. Few studies, however, have analysed factors driving ungulate‐train collisions.

We analysed over 3,500 ungulate‐train collisions including roe deer, red deer, wild boar, and moose collected in 2012–2015 in Poland. We compared train traffic characteristics (e.g. traffic intensity, speed, rail curvature), land‐use and habitat characteristics (e.g. share of forests and build‐up areas) and local ungulate population densities at collision sites and random sites distributed along the rail network.

Forest coverage generally increased, while urban areas decreased ungulate collision risk. Local density of ungulate species had a strong positive relation to the relative collision risk in all four ungulate species, but above certain densities, the risk levelled off for all four species.

Train speed and train traffic intensity were positively associated with elevated collision risk in all four species, but the latter in a nonlinear manner reached an asymptote at the level of c. 10 trains per day. Rail curvature also increased probability of collisions with roe deer and red deer and possibly also wild boar.

Mortality rate of ungulates on railways in Poland is estimated to be 0.13%–0.42% of annual hunting bags of studied species assuming that only one individual is killed at each occasion and ignoring undetected collisions. These values are expected to increase in the near future due to increasing train speed in Central European countries.

Synthesis and applications. Ungulate‐train collisions spots are characterized by surrounding forest, rail curvature, high train speed, and a moderate to high train traffic intensity. To reduce collision risk in a cost‐effective way, we suggest prioritization of mitigation actions at sections of the railway characterized by those factors, for example, by fencing and various warning devices. Due to nonlinear correlation between collision risk and population density, reducing density of ungulates will most likely reduce collision risk only marginally, and only in regions of low population densities where collision risk is relatively low anyway.
People and Power: Democracy after Brexit
Authors: Ainsley Claire
Published: August 2019

The result of the 2016 European Union (EU) referendum revealed a disconnect between policy makers and the public, particularly those who could be considered part of Britain’s contemporary working class. Whilst there has been significant attention paid to the parliamentary activity to agree the terms under which Britain will leave the EU, there has been comparatively less attention paid to the causes of the vote, and what can be done to improve public trust in democracy. This article proposes a new public attitudes‐led policy‐making model, using democratic innovations and design thinking, to reconnect policy making to the public and improve political equality.
Pilot Study to Detect Changes in Blood Flow in the External Auditory Meatus During Hemodialysis
Authors: Yoowannakul Suree , Leung Terence S , Davenport Andrew
Published: August 2019

Blood flow to internal organs is reported to fall during hemodialysis (HD). As such, noninvasive monitoring devices are required to detect changes in perfusion, which could then be used for therapeutic interventions. We report on a pilot study monitoring blood flow in the outer auditory meatus. We measured the maximum pulse wave amplitude and indicators of blood flow by analyzing red and green color changes in the outer auditory meatus from video recordings made using an otoscope fitted with a digital camera during HD treatments. We studied 61 patients, 43 (71.5%) male, mean age 64.9 ± 12.7 years. Weight fell from 72.8 ± 22.5 kg predialysis to 71.5 ± 22.1 kg postdialysis (P < 0.001). BP did not significantly change (predialysis 142 ± 29/67 ± 18 to 143 ± 25/68 ± 17 mm Hg postdialysis). The maximum pulse wave amplitude in the external auditory meatus fell from 0.21 (0.1–0.55) to 0.14 (0.04–0.4) after 90 min, P < 0.001, and remained low thereafter, and the change at the end of the dialysis session was associated with percentage weight loss (r = −0.37, P = 0.003). Green and red pixel values did not change (predialysis 0.339 [0.333–0.345] to 0.302 [0.291–0.33] post, and 0.301 [0.293–0.328] predialysis to 0.339 [0.334–0.347] post, respectively). This pilot study showed that the maximum pulse wave amplitude measured in the external auditory meatus fell during the dialysis session, and that the fall was associated with fluid removal. This could potentially lead to the development of a monitoring device, which could fit in the ear and record during the dialysis session.