bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A practical framework RNMF for the potential mechanism of cancer progression with the analysis of genes cumulative contribution abundance
Authors: Li Zhenzhang , Liang Haihua , Zhang Shaoan , Luo Wen
Published: August 2021

Mutational signatures can reveal the mechanism of tumorigenesis. We developed theRNMFsoftware for mutational signatures analysis, including a key model of cumulative contribution abundance (CCA) which was designed to highlight the association between genes and mutational signatures. Applied it to 1073 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and found that APOBEC signatures (SBS2* and SBS13*) mediated the occurrence ofPIK3CAE545k mutation. Furthermore, we found that age signature is strongly linked to theTP53R342* mutation. In addition, the CCA matrix image data of genes in the signatures New, SBS3* and SBS17b* were helpful for the preliminary evaluation of shortened survival outcome. In a word,RNMFcan successfully achieve the correlation analysis of genes and mutational signatures, proving a strong theoretical basis for the study of tumor occurrence and development mechanism and clinical adjuvant medicine.
A Meta-Analytic Single-Cell Atlas of Mouse Bone Marrow Hematopoietic Development
Authors: Harris Benjamin D. , Lee John , Gillis Jesse
Published: August 2021

The clinical importance of the hematopoietic system makes it one of the most heavily studied lineages in all of biology. A clear understanding of the cell types and functional programs during hematopoietic development is central to research in aging, cancer, and infectious diseases. Known cell types are traditionally identified by the expression of proteins on the surface of the cells. Stem and progenitor cells defined based on these markers are assigned functions based on their lineage potential. The rapid growth of single cell RNA sequencing technologies (scRNAseq) provides a new modality for evaluating the cellular and functional landscape of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. The popularity of this technology among hematopoiesis researchers enables us to conduct a robust meta-analysis of mouse bone marrow scRNAseq data. Using over 300,000 cells across 12 datasets, we evaluate the classification and function of cell types based on discrete clustering,in silicoFACS sorting, and a continuous trajectory. We identify replicable signatures that define cell types based on genes and known cellular functions. Additionally, we evaluate the conservation of signatures associated with erythroid and monocyte lineage development across species using co-expression networks. The co-expression networks predict the effectiveness of the signature at identifying erythroid and monocyte cells in zebrafish and human scRNAseq data. Together, this analysis provides a robust reference, particularly marker genes and functional annotations, for future experiments in hematopoietic development.

Key Points

Meta-analysis of 9 mouse bone marrow scRNAseq identifies markers for cell types and hematopoietic development

Characterize a replicable functional landscape of cell types by exploiting co-expression
Tissue-wide metabolomics reveals wide impact of gut microbiota on mice metabolite composition
Authors: Zarei Iman , Koistinen Ville M. , Kokla Marietta , Klåvus Anton , Babu Ambrin Farizah , Lehtonen Marko , Auriola Seppo , Hanhineva Kati
Published: August 2021

The essential role of gut microbiota in health and disease is well-recognized, but the biochemical details underling beneficial impact remain largely undefined. Dysbiosis of gut bacteria results in the alteration of certain microbial and host metabolites, and identifying these markers could enhance the early detection of certain diseases. We report LC-MS based non-targeted metabolic profiling to demonstrate a large effect of gut microbiota on mammalian tissue metabolites. It was hypothesized that gut microbiota influences the overall biochemistry of the host metabolome and this effect is tissue-specific. Thirteen different tissues from germ-free and conventional mice were selected and their metabolic differences were analyzed. Our study demonstrated a large effect of the microbiome on mammalian biochemistry at different tissue levels and resulted in significant modulation of metabolites from multiple metabolic pathway (p ≤ 0.05). A vast metabolic response of host to metabolites generated by the microbiota was observed, Hundreds of molecular features were detected exclusively in one mouse group, with the majority of these being unique to specific tissue, suggesting direct impact gut microbiota on host metabolism.
Identification and validation of E3 ubiquitin ligase XIAP as a novel substrate of deubiquitinase USP7 (HAUSP) - Implication towards oncogenesis
Authors: Saha Gouranga , Sarkar Sibani , Mohanta Partha S , Kumar Krishna , Chakraborty Saikat , Ghosh Mrinal K
Published: August 2021

The induction of apoptosis upon USP7 (HAUSP) inhibition is established in cancers that contain a wild-type p53 (p53Wt) through the ‘USP7-Mdm2-p53’ axis, but no clear explanation has yet been reported for the same to occur in cancers containing mutant 53 (p53Mut) or even p53 null (p53Null) systems. Instead of this ‘USP7-Mdm2-p53’ axis USP7 also works through an alternative new pathway identified in this study. Here in this study, we observed that the magnitude of apoptosis induction in response to USP7 inhibition was remarkably similar between cancer cells showing p53Nullor p53Mutand those with p53Wt. Through a proteomics-based approach, we were able to identify XIAP as a novel interacting partner for USP7. XIAP is a potent and well-characterized member of the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), which function through caspase inhibition. We successfully identified USP7 as a positive regulator of XIAP at post-translational but not at its transcriptional level. Using molecular modelling coupled with domain deletion studies, we show that the first three Ubl domains in association with the catalytic domain of USP7 interact with the BIR2 and the linker region between BIR2 and BIR3 domains of XIAP. Modulation of expression and catalytic activity of USP7 in multiple type of cancer cell lines showed that USP7 stabilizes XIAP through its deubiquitinase activity. We have also observed that USP7 sensitizes cells against chemotherapeutic drugs through stabilization of XIAP. Thus, USP7 promotes tumorigenesis in multiple cancers,viastabilization of XIAP that results in apoptosis inhibition in caspase dependent pathway. Moreover, we observed that combinatorial inhibition of USP7 and XIAP can induce cellular apoptosis in a higher magnitude than their individual inhibition. Additionally, our results indicates that nanoformulated P5091 and P22077 showed higher potency for killing C6 cells in comparison to normal drugs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on identification and validation of XIAP, a crucial E3 ubiquitin ligase, as a novel substrate of the deubiquitinase USP7 and they together involve in empowerment of the tumorigenic potential of cancer cells.
Structurally distinct polymorphs of Tau aggregates revealed by nanoscale infrared spectroscopy
Authors: Banerjee Siddhartha , Ghosh Ayanjeet
Published: August 2021

Aggregation of the tau protein plays a central role in several neurodegenerative diseases collectively known as tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Tau misfolds into fibrillar beta sheet structures that constitute the paired helical filaments found in Neurofibrillary tangles. It is known that there can be significant structural heterogeneities in tau aggregates associated with different diseases. However, while structures of mature fibrils have been studied, the structural distributions in early stage tau aggregates is not well understood. In the present study, we use AFM-IR to investigate nanoscale spectra of individual tau fibrils at different stages of aggregation and demonstrate the presence of multiple fibrillar polymorphs that exhibit different secondary structures. We further show that mature fibrils contain significant amounts of antiparallel beta sheets. Our results are the very first application of nanoscale infrared spectroscopy to tau aggregates and underscore the promise of spatially resolved infrared spectroscopy for investigating protein aggregation.
A-GHN: Attention-based Fusion of Multiple GraphHeat Networks for Structural to Functional Brain Mapping
Authors: Oota Subba Reddy , Yadav Archi , Dash Arpita , Bapi Raju S. , Sharma Avinash
Published: August 2021

Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in learning the mapping from structural connectivity (SC) to functional connectivity (FC) of the brain. The spontaneous fluctuations of the brain activity during the restingstate as captured by functional MRI (rsfMRI) contain rich non-stationary dynamics over a relatively fixed structural connectome. Among the modeling approaches, graph diffusion-based methods with single and multiple diffusion kernels approximating static or dynamic functional connectivity have shown promise in predicting the FC given the SC. However, these methods are computationally expensive, not scalable, and fail to capture the complex dynamics underlying the whole process. Recently, deep learning methods such as GraphHeat networks along with graph diffusion have been shown to handle complex relational structures while preserving global information. In this paper, we propose a novel attention-based fusion of multiple GraphHeat networks (A-GHN) for mapping SC-FC. A-GHN enables us to model multiple heat kernel diffusion over the brain graph for approximating the complex Reaction Diffusion phenomenon. We argue that the proposed deep learning method overcomes the scalability and computational inefficiency issues but can still learn the SC-FC mapping successfully. Training and testing were done using the rsfMRI data of 100 participants from the human connectome project (HCP), and the results establish the viability of the proposed model. Furthermore, experiments demonstrate that A-GHN outperforms the existing methods in learning the complex nature of human brain function.
Sclerostin Small Molecule Inhibitors Promote Osteogenesis by Activating Canonical Wnt and BMP Pathways
Authors: Sangadala Sreedhara , Kim Chi Heon , Fernandes Lorenzo M. , Makkar Pooja , Boden Scott D. , Beck George R. , Drissi Hicham , Presciutti Steven M.
Published: August 2021

Background

The healing environment within the posterolateral lumbar spine is one of the most clinically challenging bone healing environments in all of orthopaedics due to a lack of a contained space and the need to formde novobone in a non-bony environment. Our group has previously published data that suggests that sclerostin in expressed locally at high levels throughout the process of a spinal fusion mass maturing.

Methods

We computationally identified multiple FDA-approved drugs, as well as a novel drug, for their ability to disrupt the interaction between sclerostin and its receptor, LRP5/6. The drugs were tested in several in vitro biochemical assays using murine MC3T3 and MSCs, assessing their ability to (1) enhance canonical Wnt signaling, (2) promote the accumulation of the active (non-phosphorylated) form of β-catenin, and (3) enhance the intensity and signaling duration of BMP signaling. These drugs were then tested subcutaneously in rats as standalone osteoinductive agents on plain collagen sponges. Finally, the top drug candidates (called VA1 and C07) were tested in a rabbit posterolateral spine fusion model for their ability to achieve a successful fusion.

Results

We show that by controlling GSK3b phosphorylation, these SMIs simultaneously enhance canonical Wnt signaling and potentiate canonical BMP signaling intensity and duration. We also demonstrate that the SMIs produce dose-dependent ectopic mineralizationin vivoin rats as well as significantly increase posterolateral spine fusion rates in rabbitsin vivo, both as standalone osteogenic drugs and in combination with autologous iliac crest bone graft.

Conclusions

Few if any osteogenic small molecules have been described that possess the osteoinductive potency of BMP itself – that is, the ability to formde novoectopic bone as a standalone agent, particularly in stringentin vivoenvironments. Herein, we describe two such SMIs that have this unique ability and thus may have potential application as novel cost-effective biologic bone graft substitutes for achieving consistent spinal fusion or even or critical-sized fracture defects.

Funding

This work was supported by a Veteran Affairs Career Development Award (IK2-BX003845).
Predicting the distributions ofPouteria adolfi-friedericiandPrunus africanaiconic tree species under current and future climate change scenarios in Ethiopia
Authors: Tadesse Zerihun , Nemomissa Sileshi , Lemessa Debissa
Published: August 2021

The distributions of the potential adaptive ranges of iconic plant species are not yet fully known especially in regions such as Ethiopia where high climatic variability and vegetation types are found. This study was undertaken to predict the distributions of the potential suitable habitats ofPouteria adolfi-friedericiandPrunus africanatree species under the current and two future climate scenarios (i.e., RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 in 2050 and 2070) using MaxEnt software (version: 3.4.4.). Eleven less correlated environmental variables (r<0.7) were identified and used to make the prediction models. Elevational shifts of the highly suitable habitats, effects of elevation, solar radiation and topographic position in relation to the current and future climatic scenarios on the habitats were statistically analyzed using independent t-test and linear model. Under all climate scenarios, we found a decrease in the proportion of areas of highly suitable habitats for both study species. High potentials of suitable habitats forPouteria adolfi-friedericiare predicted to be confined to southwest, west central and south parts of Ethiopia in fragmented moist afromontane forest patches, while it is in the southwest and west central parts of Ethiopia forPrunus africana. On basis of vegetation types of the country, potential suitable habitats forPouteria adolfi-friedericiare predicted to occur in moist evergreen forest, dry evergreen forest and grassland complex andCombretum-Terminaliawoodland vegetation types. Whereas, moist evergreen forest, dry evergreen forest and grassland complex and riverine vegetation types are predicted to comprise potential suitable habitats forPrunus africana,showing considerable spatial dynamics. Overall, our results suggest that the strategies deem to design biodiversity conservation should take into account the dynamics of the suitable niches of different species under different future climate scenarios.
Mixed selectivity in the cerebellar Purkinje-cell response during visuomotor association learning
Authors: Sendhilnathan Naveen , Ipata Anna E. , Goldberg Michael E.
Published: August 2021

Although the cerebellum has been traditionally considered to be exclusively involved in motor control, recent anatomical and clinical studies show that it also has a role in reward-processing. However, the way in which the movement related and the reward related neural activity interact at the level of the cerebellar cortex and contribute towards learning is still unclear. Here, we studied the simple spike activity of Purkinje cells in the mid-lateral cerebellum when monkeys learned to associate a right or left-hand movement with one of two visual symbolic cues. These cells had distinctly different discharge patterns between an overtrained symbol-hand association and a novel symbol-hand association, responding in association with the movement of both hands, although the kinematics of the movement did not change between the two conditions. The activity change was not related to the pattern of the visual symbols, the movement kinematics, the monkeys’ reaction times or the novelty of the visual symbols. The simple spike activity changed with throughout the learning process, but the concurrent complex spikes did not instruct that change. Although these neurons also have reward-related activity, the reward-related and movement-related signals were independent. We suggest that this mixed-selectivity may facilitate the flexible learning of difficult reinforcement learning problems.
The effect of weak clonal interference on average fitness trajectories in the presence of macroscopic epistasis
Authors: Guo Yipei , Amir Ariel
Published: August 2021

Adaptation dynamics on fitness landscapes is often studied theoretically in the strong-selection, weak-mutation (SSWM) regime. However, in a large population, multiple beneficial mutants can emerge before any of them fixes in the population. Competition between mutants is known as clonal interference, and how it affects the form of long-term fitness trajectories in the presence of epistasis is an open question. Here, by considering how changes in fixation probabilities arising from weak clonal interference affect the dynamics of adaptation on fitness-parameterized landscapes, we find that the change in the form of fitness trajectory arises only through changes in the supply of beneficial mutations (or equivalently, the beneficial mutation rate). Furthermore, a depletion of beneficial mutations as a population climbs up the fitness landscape can speed up the functional form of the fitness trajectory, while an enhancement of the beneficial mutation rate does the opposite of slowing down the form of the dynamics. Our findings suggest that by carrying out evolution experiments in both regimes (with and without clonal interference), one could potentially distinguish the different sources of macroscopic epistasis (fitness effect of mutations vs. change in fraction of beneficial mutations).
Screening for Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults at Primary Care Visits: the VITAL-AF Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Lubitz Steven A. , Atlas Steven J. , Ashburner Jeffrey M. , Lipsanopoulos Ana T. Trisini , Borowsky Leila H. , Guan Wyliena , Khurshid Shaan , Ellinor Patrick T. , Chang Yuchiao , McManus David D. , Singer Daniel E.
Published: August 2021

Background

Undiagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF) may cause preventable strokes. Guidelines differ regarding AF screening recommendations. We tested whether point-of-care screening with a handheld single lead electrocardiogram (ECG) at primary care practice visits increases diagnoses of AF.

Methods

We randomized 16 primary care clinics 1:1 to AF screening using a handheld single-lead ECG (AliveCor KardiaMobile) during vital sign assessments, or usual care. Patients included were aged ≥ 65 years. Screening results were provided to primary care clinicians at the encounter. All confirmatory diagnostic testing and treatment decisions were made by the primary care clinician. New AF diagnoses over one-year follow-up were ascertained electronically and manually adjudicated. Proportions and incidence rates were calculated. Effect heterogeneity was assessed.

Results

Of 30,715 patients without prevalent AF (n=15,393 screening [91% screened], n=15,322 control), 1.72% of individuals in the screening group had new AF diagnosed at one year versus 1.59% in the control group (risk difference [RD] 0.13%, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.16–0.42, P=0.38). New AF diagnoses in the screening and control groups differed by age with the greatest effect observed for those aged ≥ 85 years (5.56% versus 3.76%, respectively, RD 1.80%, 95% CI 0.18–3.30). The difference in newly diagnosed AF between the screening period and the prior year was marginally greater in the screening versus control group (0.32% versus −0.12%, RD 0.43%, 95% CI −0.01–0.84). The proportion of individuals with newly diagnosed AF who were initiated on oral anticoagulants was similar in the screening (n=194, 73.5%) and control (n=172, 70.8%) arms (RD 2.7%, 95% CI −5.5–10.4).

Conclusions

Screening for AF using a single-lead ECG at primary care visits was not associated with a significant increase in new AF diagnoses among individuals aged 65 years or older compared to usual care. However, screening may be associated with an increased likelihood of diagnosing AF among individuals aged 85 years or older and warrants further evaluation.

This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov,NCT03515057

Funding

Bristol Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance
How did people cope during the COVID-19 pandemic? A Structural Topic Modelling Analysis of Free-Text Data from 11,000 UK Adults
Authors: Wright Liam , Fluharty Meg E , Steptoe Andrew , Fancourt Daisy
Published: August 2021

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial impacts on lives across the globe. Job losses have been widespread, and individuals have experienced significant restrictions on their usual activities, including extended isolation from family and friends. While studies suggest population mental health worsened from before the pandemic, not all individuals appear to have experienced poorer mental health. This raises the question of how people managed to cope during the pandemic. Methods: To understand the coping strategies individuals employed during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used structural topic modelling, a text mining technique, to extract themes from free-text data on coping from over 11,000 UK adults, collected between 14 October and 26 November 2020. Results: We identified 16 topics. The most discussed coping strategy was 'thinking positively' and involved themes of gratefulness and positivity. Other strategies included engaging in activities and hobbies (such as doing DIY, exercising, walking and spending time in nature), keeping routines, and focusing on one day at a time. Some participants reported more avoidant coping strategies, such as drinking alcohol and binge eating. Coping strategies varied by respondent characteristics including age, personality traits and sociodemographic characteristics and some coping strategies, such as engaging in creative activities, were associated with more positive lockdown experiences. Conclusion: A variety of coping strategies were employed by individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The coping strategy an individual adopted was related to their overall lockdown experiences. This may be useful for helping individuals prepare for future lockdowns or other events resulting in self-isolation.
Transcriptional profiling of early differentiation of primary human mesenchymal stem cells into chondrocytes
Authors: Schwarzl Thomas , Keogh Andrea , Shaw Georgina , Krstic Aleksandar , Clayton Elizabeth , Murphy Mary , Higgins Desmond G , Kolch Walter , Barry Frank
Published: August 2021

Articular cartilage has only very limited regenerative capacities in humans. Tissue engineering techniques for cartilage damage repair are limited in the production of hyaline cartilage. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells and can be differentiated into mature cartilage cells, chondrocytes, which could be used for repairing damaged cartilage. Chondrogenesis is a highly complex, relatively inefficient process lasting over 3 weeks in vitro. In order to better understand chondrogenic differentiation, especially the commitment phase, we have performed transcriptional profiling of MSC differentiation into chondrocytes from early timepoints starting 15 minutes after induction to 16 hours and fully differentiated chondrocytes at 21 days. Transcriptional gene regulatory networks (GRN) were identified using time-course clustering and upstream-regulator predictions which revealed that cells start epigenetic reprogramming as early as 2 hours after induction and commit to differentiation within 4-6 hours. After that they adapt their gene expression to cater for differentiation specific protein production. These results suggest that interventions to improve the frequency and efficiency of differentiation should target early processes.
A fast algorithm to find reduced hyperplane unit cells and solve N-dimensional Bézout's identities
Authors: Cayron Cyril
Published: August 2021

Deformation twinning on a plane is a simple shear that transforms a unit cell attached to the plane into another unit cell equivalent by mirror symmetry or 180° rotation. Thus, crystallographic models of twinning require the determination of the short unit cells attached to the planes, or hyperplanes for dimensions higher than 3. Here, a method is presented to find them. Equivalently, it gives the solutions of the N-dimensional Bézout's identity associated with the Miller indices of the hyperplane.
Experimental observation of carousel-like phason flips in the decagonal quasicrystal Al60Cr20Fe10Si10
Authors: He Zhanbing , Maurice Jean-Luc , Ma Haikun , Wang Yanguo , Li Hua , Zhang Tiantian , Ma Xiuliang , Steurer Walter
Published: August 2021

Quasicrystals have special crystal structures with long-range order, but without translational symmetry. Unexpectedly, carousel-like successive flippings of groups of atoms inside the ∼2 nm decagonal structural subunits of the decagonal quasicrystal Al60Cr20Fe10Si10 were directly observed using in situ high-temperature high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging. The observed directionally successive phason flips occur mainly clockwise and occasionally anticlockwise. The origin of these directional phason flips is analyzed and discussed.
1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tribromido(triphenylphosphane-κP)nickelate(II) butan-1-ol hemisolvate
Authors: Peppel Tim , Köckerling Martin
Published: August 2021

The solvated title salt, (C8H15N2)[NiBr3(P(C6H5)3)]·0.5C4H10O, was obtained in the form of single crystals directly from the reaction mixture. The molecular structure consists of separated 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cations, tribromido(triphenylphosphane)nickelate(II) anions and half a solvent molecule of 1-butanol, all connected via multiple hydrogen contacts to form a three-dimensional network. The co-crystallized 1-butanol molecule is disordered and adopts two orientations. The central C—C bonds of both orientations are located on an inversion centre (Wyckoff site 2b of space group P21/n). Thereby, each orientation has again two orientations with the OH group being located either on one or the other side of the C4 alkyl chain. The dried solvent-free compound exhibits a relatively low melting point (m.p. = 412 K).
Sound sellers: musicians' strategies for marketing to industry gatekeepers
Authors: Sanders Ariel , Phillips Barbara J. , Williams David E.
Published: August 2021

Purpose

The relationship between musicians and the music industry has often been depicted as a dichotomy between creativity and commerce with musicians conflicted between their roles as artists and their roles as marketers of sound. Recently, marketing researchers have problematized this dichotomy and suggested musicians perceive these roles as inevitable and indivisible. However, the processes of how musicians market their sound to the industry gatekeepers remain unclear. This study seeks to find the key industry gatekeepers for musicians and how musicians sell their personal sound to them.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, ten interviews with professional musicians across different music genres provided insight into the strategies musicians use to market their sound to industry gatekeepers.

Findings

In total, three key gatekeepers and the five strategies that musicians use to sell their sound are identified. The gatekeepers are record labels, other musicians and consumers. Musicians sell their sound to these gatekeepers through the externally directed strategies of using social media to build relationships, defining their personal sound through genre and creating a unique sound, and through the internally directed strategies of keeping motivated through sound evolution and counting on luck.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are limited by the small number of musicians interviewed and the heterogeneous representation of music genres.

Originality/value

The study contributes to theoretical understandings of how musicians as cultural producers market their sound in a commercial industry.
Sold—to the Highest Bidder in Japan: Operational Challenges and Culture
Authors: Yemen Gerry , Behfar Kristin J. , Elias Allison
Published: August 2021

Most talented executives can recognize when an acquisition has strategic or financial benefits, and in this case, the decision to be acquired was an appropriate exit strategy for a successful start-up. Peter Street’s start-up had been growing quickly and was building a reputation for reliability in a booming industry when a Japanese firm offered to pay a premium for the U.S. firm. Having done business in Japan (and extensively with the acquiring company) before the sale of his company, Street entered the acquisition with enthusiasm. As part of the deal, Street’s former company would continue to operate in the United States as a division of its parent company and Street would remain as CEO. A few months into the transition, however, Street discovered a huge difference between working with and working for the Japanese firm. Cultural norms for confronting seemingly small problems quickly became bigger operational issues, and Street experienced a growing dichotomy between corporate (in Japan) and his division (in the United States). This case focuses on the challenges of implementing a cross-border acquisition.
Transforming the construction sector: an institutional complexity perspective
Authors: Oti-Sarpong Kwadwo , Pärn Erika Anneli , Burgess Gemma , Zaki Mohamed
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Government initiatives to improve construction have increasingly become more focused on introducing a repertoire of technologies to transform the sector. In the literature on construction industry transformation through policy-backed initiatives, how firms will respond to the demands to adopt and use innovative technologies and approaches is taken for granted, and there is scarcely any attention given to the institutional implications of transformation agenda. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these gaps and offer directions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a synthesis of literature on the UK’s industry transformation agenda, the authors use the concepts of institutional logics, arrangements, complexity and strategic responses to suggest seven research questions that are at the nexus of policy-backed transformation and institutional theory.

Findings

In this paper, the authors argue that increasing demands for the adoption and use of digital technologies, platforms, manufacturing approaches and other “industry-4.0”-related technologies will reconfigure existing logics and arrangements in the construction industry, creating a problem of institutional complexity for general contracting firms in particular.

Originality/value

The questions are relevant for our understanding of the nature of institutional complexities, change, strategic firm responses, field-level dynamics and implications for the construction industry in relation to the transformation agenda. This paper is positioned to spur future research towards exploring the consequences of industry transformation through the lens of institutional theory.
Marginalised identities between fatalism and desperation – experiences of low-level cannabis street dealers in Frankfurt
Authors: Werse Bernd
Published: August 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to research people who sell cannabis in public spaces known as “drug places” in Frankfurt, Germany. A particular focus is set to the relations of identity formation, relations to other dealers and law enforcement, taking into account the concept of “street capital” as social and cultural capital accumulated in the practice of drug dealing in public.

Design/methodology/approach

Nine biographically oriented qualitative interviews were conducted directly within the respective “drug places” in the inner city and the margins of the local open drug scene with exclusively male subjects. Interviews were conducted in German, audio-recorded and transcribed. Data was analysed with structured qualitative content analysis.

Findings

All respondents had some degree of migration background, ranging from German citizens up to refugees with illegal residence permit status. Social deprivation, socio-cultural conflicts with parents, combined with often early own drug use (mainly cannabis and cocaine) and stigma had contributed to a precarious existence. Experiences of criminalisation did not discourage the respondents from the continuation of their selling activity. Violence in these settings was likely but assessed in highly different ways depending on attitudes and experiences. The same is true for diverging experiences with police, however, the threat of being criminalised is always present.

Originality/value

As mostly independent and solitary dealers, this study researched a rarely investigated group. While these respondents have developed skills or street capital to survive in the respective setting, they are caught between unfavourable social conditions, social exclusion, violence, law enforcement and own drug use, leading to a desperate and fatalistic mindset. Somewhat paradoxically, this fatalism may be regarded as a result of keeping control over their own actions.
Taylor-rider-based deep convolutional neural network for image forgery detection in 3D lighting environment
Authors: Vinolin V. , Sucharitha M.
Published: August 2021

Purpose

With the advancements in photo editing software, it is possible to generate fake images, degrading the trust in digital images. Forged images, which appear like authentic images, can be created without leaving any visual clues about the alteration in the image. Image forensic field has introduced several forgery detection techniques, which effectively distinguish fake images from the original ones, to restore the trust in digital images. Among several forgery images, spliced images involving human faces are more unsafe. Hence, there is a need for a forgery detection approach to detect the spliced images.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a Taylor-rider optimization algorithm-based deep convolutional neural network (Taylor-ROA-based DeepCNN) for detecting spliced images. Initially, the human faces in the spliced images are detected using the Viola–Jones algorithm, from which the 3-dimensional (3D) shape of the face is established using landmark-based 3D morphable model (L3DMM), which estimates the light coefficients. Then, the distance measures, such as Bhattacharya, Seuclidean, Euclidean, Hamming, Chebyshev and correlation coefficients are determined from the light coefficients of the faces. These form the feature vector to the proposed Taylor-ROA-based DeepCNN, which determines the spliced images.

Findings

Experimental analysis using DSO-1, DSI-1, real dataset and hybrid dataset reveal that the proposed approach acquired the maximal accuracy, true positive rate (TPR) and true negative rate (TNR) of 99%, 98.88% and 96.03%, respectively, for DSO-1 dataset. The proposed method reached the performance improvement of 24.49%, 8.92%, 6.72%, 4.17%, 0.25%, 0.13%, 0.06%, and 0.06% in comparison to the existing methods, such as Kee and Farid's, shape from shading (SFS), random guess, Bo Peng et al., neural network, FOA-SVNN, CNN-based MBK, and Manoj Kumar et al., respectively, in terms of accuracy.

Originality/value

The Taylor-ROA is developed by integrating the Taylor series in rider optimization algorithm (ROA) for optimally tuning the DeepCNN.
Reflecting on languaging in written narratives to enact personal relations
Authors: Beach Richard , Caraballo Limarys
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Unlike formalist and functional approaches to literacy and teaching writing, a languaging theory approach centers on the dynamic and interpersonal nature of writing. The purpose of this study was to determine students’ ability to engage in explicit reflection about their languaging actions in response to their personal narrative writing to determine those types of actions they were most versus less likely to focus on for enacting relations with others, as well as how they applied their reflections to subsequent interactions with others.

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative study, thirty seven 12th grade students were asked to write personal narratives and then reflect in writing on their use of languaging actions in their narratives based on specific prompts. Students’ explicit reflections about their narratives were coded based on their reference to seven different types of languaging actions for enacting relations with others.

Findings

Students were most likely to focus their reflections on making connections, understandings, collaboration and support by and for others as well as expression of emotions, getting feelings out, sharing issues; followed by references to conflicts, arguing, stress, negative perceptions or exclusion; references to ideas or impressions about ethics, respect, values, morals; use of “insider language;” slang, jargon, dialects; use of humor, joking, parody; and references to adult and authorities’ perceptions or influences.

Research limitations/implications

This research was limited to students’ portrayals of their languaging actions through writing as opposed to observations of their lived-world interactions with others.

Practical implications

These results suggest the value of having students engage in explicit reflections about their languaging actions portrayed in narratives as contributing to their growth in use of languaging actions for enacting relations with others.

Social implications

Students’ ability to reflect on their language actions enhances their ability to enact social relations.

Originality/value

A languaging perspective provides an alternative approach for analyzing reflections on types of languaging actions.
The pandemic and homeless people in the Turin area: the level of housing adequacy shapes experiences and well-being
Authors: Leonardi Daniela , Stefani Silvia
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Considering the case study presented, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the pandemic in local services for homeless people. Drawing from the concept of ontological security, it will be discussed how different services’ levels of “housing adequacy” shaped remarkably different experiences of the pandemic for homeless people and social workers in terms of health protection and agency.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper focuses on a case study concerning homeless services for people during the COVID-19 pandemic in the metropolitan and suburban area of Turin, in Northern Italy. In-depth interviews with social workers and participant observation during online meetings of workers from the shelters constitute the empirical data that have been collected during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy.

Findings

According to the findings, the pandemic showed shelters as unsafe places that reduce homeless people’s decision power and separate them from the rest of the citizenship. Instead, Housing First projects emerged as imore inclusive and safermore inclusive and safer spaces, able to enhance people’s power over their own lives. The pandemic did not create emerging issues in the homeless services system or discontinuities: rather, it amplified pre-existing problematic aspects.

Originality/value

The case study presented provides empirical insights to recognise at the political and organisational level the importance of housing as a measure of individual and collective security, calling for an intervention to tackle homelessness in terms of housing policies rather than exclusively social and emergency treatment.
Insights on the glass ceiling for immigrant women entrepreneurs in the technology sector
Authors: Pugalia Sancheeta , Cetindamar Dilek
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Technology sector is the pivotal element for innovation and economic development of any country. Hence, the present article explores past researches looking into challenges faced by immigrant women entrepreneurs in technology sector and their corresponding response strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) technique to collate all the relevant literature looking into the challenges and strategies from immigrant women entrepreneur's perspective and provide a comprehensive picture. Overall, 49 research articles are included in this SLR.

Findings

Findings indicate that immigrant status further escalates the human, financial and network disadvantages faced by women who want to start a technology-based venture.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature by categorizing the barriers and strategies on a 3 × 2 matrix reflecting the origins of the barrier or strategy (taking place at the individual, firm or institutional level) versus the type of the barrier or strategy (arising from being an immigrant woman and being a woman in the technology sector). After underlining the dearth of studies in the literature about the complex phenomenon of immigrant WEs in the technology sector, the paper points out several neglected themes for future research.
The effects of tourism on housing prices: applying a difference-in-differences methodology to the Portuguese market
Authors: Cunha António Manuel , Lobão Júlio
Published: August 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the effects of a surge in tourism short-term rentals (STR) on housing prices in municipalities within Portugal’s two largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies the difference-in-differences (DiD) methodology by using a feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimator in a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) equation model.

Findings

The results show that the liberalization of STR had a significant impact on housing prices in municipalities where a higher percentage of housing was transferred to tourism. This transfer led to a leftward shift in the housing supply and a consequent increase in housing prices. These price increases are much higher than those found in previous studies on the same subject. The authors also found that municipalities with more STR had low housing elasticities, which indicates that adjustments to the transfer of real estate from housing to tourism were made by increasing house prices, and not by increasing supply quantities.

Practical implications

The study suggests that an unforeseen consequence of allowing property owners to transfer the use of real estate from housing to other services (namely, tourism) was extreme housing price increases due to inelastic housing supply.

Originality/value

This is the first time that the DiD methodology has been applied in real estate markets using FGLS in a SUR equation model and the authors show that it produces more precise estimates than the baseline OLS FE. The authors also find evidence of a supply shock provoked by STR.
Instructional coaches' framing of a mathematics reform
Authors: Higgins Joanna , Parsons Ro
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Instructional coaches are pivotal to articulating the agenda of system-wide reform, yet their role remains largely unexamined. Their approach with educators is contextually situated within the schooling system in which they work to reflect the historical and sociocultural system influences. Given the downward trend in New Zealand's international test scores for mathematics, it is timely to review the role of instructional coaches.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors draw on qualitative data derived from interviews with experienced coaches to investigate how they brokered the vision and pedagogy of a system-level reform in mathematics. Using a sensemaking lens we specifically examined the collective stories they employed as explanatory tools.

Findings

The analysis revealed that coaches drew on factors from school and classroom contexts of professional development practice and from collective beliefs about effective practice, alongside the project materials incorporated in the design of the project. System-level stories of reading reform influenced coaches' leadership of professional practice in implementing the New Zealand Numeracy Development Project, a progressively scaled-up professional learning and development initiative designed to improve teacher knowledge and pedagogy.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the critical importance of coaches' knowledge and expertise, the complexity of the implementation process and the coherence of the infrastructure that supports them in instructional reform.
Financial expert CEOs, political intervention, and corporate investment decisions: evidence from the anti-corruption campaign
Authors: Anderson Hamish D. , Liao Jing , Yue Shuai
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Employing the anti-corruption campaign as an exogenous political shock, this paper examines how political intervention shapes the impact of financial expert CEOs on firm investment decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a sample of 2,808 Chinese firms listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2003 to 2016. Panel data is used for conducting the analysis controlling for firm, industry, and year fixed effects.

Findings

The authors found that CEOs with financial expertise are sensitive to political intervention when making investment decisions. First, financial expert CEOs spend more on R&D expenditure in private-owned companies and they are associated with less R&D expenditure in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Second, financial expert CEOs are associated with higher investment expenditure in general, but they become less likely to invest more in the post-anti-corruption period. The reduction in investment expenditure due to the anti-corruption campaign is more pronounced in SOEs than in private-owned companies. Third, the anti-corruption campaign promotes R&D investment in general, but in SOEs, expert CEOs tend to be less likely to invest more on R&D after the anti-corruption shock.

Originality/value

This paper enriches the growing literature on the impact of political intervention and the role of the anti-corruption campaign on corporate behaviour.
Evaluating interaction between internal hospital supply chain performance indicators: a rough-DEMATEL-based approach
Authors: Soto Lopez Daniel , Garshasbi Maryam , Kabir Golam , Bari A.B.M. Mainul , Ali Syed Mithun
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Previous studies on hospital supply chain performance have attempted to measure the performance of the hospital supply chain either by the measurement of performance indicators or the performance of specific activities. This paper attempts to measure the internal hospital supply chain's performance indicators to find their interdependencies to understand the relationship among them and identify the key performance indicators for each of those aspects of the logistics process toward improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, a systematic assessment and analysis method under vagueness is proposed to assess, analyze and measure the internal health care performance aspects (HCPA). The proposed method combines the group Decision-Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method and rough set theory.

Findings

The study results indicate that the most critical aspects of hospital supply chain performance are completeness of treatment, clinical care process time and no delay in treatment.

Originality/value

The causal relationship from rough-DEMATEL can advise management officials that to improve the completeness of treatment toward patient safety, clinical care process time should be addressed initially and with it, patient safety aspects such as free from error, clinical care productivity, etc. should be improved as well. Improvement of these aspects will improve the other aspects they are related to.