bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Variability Within Optic Nerve Optical Coherence Tomography Measurements Distinguishes Papilledema From Pseudopapilledema
Authors: Flowers Alexis M. , Longmuir Reid A. , Liu Yuhan , Chen Qingxia , Donahue Sean P.
Published: November 2020

Background:

To report a linear risk score obtained using clock-hour optical coherence tomography (OCT) data from papilledema and pseudopapilledema nerves that differentiates between the 2 diagnoses with high sensitivity and specificity.

Methods:

Patients presenting to a single neuro-ophthalmologist with papilledema or pseudopapilledema were included for a retrospective review. The absolute consecutive difference in OCT retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness between adjacent clock hours and the mean magnitude of thickness for clock hours 1–12 were compared between the 2 groups using mixed-effect models adjusting for age and clock hour with a random intercept for subjects and eyes (nested within subject). The area under the curve (AUC) for the receiver operating characteristics curve and a separate calibration curve was used to evaluate potential clinical usage.

Results:

Forty-four eyes with papilledema and 72 eyes with pseudopapilledema, 36 of whom had optic nerve drusen met criteria. The papilledema group had a higher mean RNFL thickness (papilledema = 163 ± 68 µm, pseudopapilledema = 82 ± 22 µm, P < 0.001). The papilledema groups also had more variability between consecutive clock hours (papilledema = 57 ± 20 µm, pseudopapilledema = 26 ± 11 µm, P < 0.001). A linear combination of each patient's averaged values separated the 2 groups with an AUC of 98.4% (95% CI 95.5%–100%) with an optimized sensitivity of 88.9% and specificity of 95.5% as well as good calibration (mean absolute error = 0.015).

Conclusions:

Patients with papilledema have higher intrinsic variability and magnitude within their OCT, and this finding reliably distinguishes them from those with pseudopapilledema.
Ostomy Care During Hospital Stay for Ostomy Surgery and the United Ostomy Associations of America Patient Bill of Rights
Authors: Miller Leslie Riggle
Published: November 2020

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether ostomy patients are receiving ostomy care pre- and postoperatively in accordance with the United Ostomy Associations of America Ostomy and Continent DiversionPatient Bill of Rights.

DESIGN:

Descriptive, quantitative study.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING:

The sample comprised 325 participants with an ostomy living in the United States. All participants underwent ostomy surgery in the United States.

METHODS:

Participants were recruited through a purposive, nonprobability sampling method based on the presence of an ostomy and the ability to read and understand English. Data were collected between summer 2017 and fall 2018 from ostomy support groups (online and in-person support groups). Respondents completed a self-administered online questionnaire, which included closed-ended and open-ended questions.

RESULTS:

Forty percent (n = 127) of participants reported not being supervised changing their pouch before discharge. Forty-two percent (n = 137) reported receiving only hands-on instruction on how to care for their ostomy after surgery (no reading materials, nor video tutorial). Slightly more than half (52%; n = 170) reported not receiving support group information, and only 14% (n = 46) indicated participating in a discussion on intimacy concerns.

CONCLUSIONS:

The study demonstrates that ostomy care at the hospital can improve. Receiving an ostomy is a life-changing operation, and the first line of support for ostomy patients is their provider. Future research should examine ostomy care from providers' perspectives and, prospectively, in order to test care measures on patient health outcomes.
From sequence to information
Authors: Popa Ovidiu , Oldenburg Ellen , Ebenhöh Oliver
Published: November 2020

Today massive amounts of sequenced metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data from different ecological niches and environmental locations are available. Scientific progress depends critically on methods that allow extracting useful information from the various types of sequence data. Here, we will first discuss types of information contained in the various flavours of biological sequence data, and how this information can be interpreted to increase our scientific knowledge and understanding. We argue that a mechanistic understanding of biological systems analysed from different perspectives is required to consistently interpret experimental observations, and that this understanding is greatly facilitated by the generation and analysis of dynamic mathematical models. We conclude that, in order to construct mathematical models and to test mechanistic hypotheses, time-series data are of critical importance. We review diverse techniques to analyse time-series data and discuss various approaches by which time-series of biological sequence data have been successfully used to derive and test mechanistic hypotheses. Analysing the bottlenecks of current strategies in the extraction of knowledge and understanding from data, we conclude that combined experimental and theoretical efforts should be implemented as early as possible during the planning phase of individual experiments and scientific research projects.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
Individual variation and interactions explain food web responses to global warming
Authors: Gårdmark Anna , Huss Magnus
Published: November 2020

Understanding food web responses to global warming, and their consequences for conservation and management, requires knowledge on how responses vary both among and within species. Warming can reduce both species richness and biomass production. However, warming responses observed at different levels of biological organization may seem contradictory. For example, higher temperatures commonly lead to faster individual body growth but can decrease biomass production of fishes. Here we show that the key to resolve this contradiction is intraspecific variation, because (i) community dynamics emerge from interactions among individuals, and (ii) ecological interactions, physiological processes and warming effects often vary over life history. By combining insights from temperature-dependent dynamic models of simple food webs, observations over large temperature gradients and findings from short-term mesocosm and multi-decadal whole-ecosystem warming experiments, we resolve mechanisms by which warming waters can affect food webs via individual-level responses and review their empirical support. We identify a need for warming experiments on food webs manipulating population size structures to test these mechanisms. We stress that within-species variation in both body size, temperature responses and ecological interactions are key for accurate predictions and appropriate conservation efforts for fish production and food web function under a warming climate.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation'.
Cross-continental analysis of coastal biodiversity change
Authors: Rishworth Gavin M. , Adams Janine B. , Bird Matthew S. , Carrasco Nicola K. , Dänhardt Andreas , Dannheim Jennifer , Lemley Daniel A. , Pistorius Pierre A. , Scheiffarth Gregor , Hillebrand Helmut
Published: November 2020

Whereas the anthropogenic impact on marine biodiversity is undebated, the quantification and prediction of this change are not trivial. Simple traditional measures of biodiversity (e.g. richness, diversity indices) do not capture the magnitude and direction of changes in species or functional composition. In this paper, we apply recently developed methods for measuring biodiversity turnover to time-series data of four broad taxonomic groups from two coastal regions: the southern North Sea (Germany) and the South African coast. Both areas share geomorphological features and ecosystem types, allowing for a critical assessment of the most informative metrics of biodiversity change across organism groups. We found little evidence for directional trends in univariate metrics of diversity for either the effective number of taxa or the amount of richness change. However, turnover in composition was high (on average nearly 30% of identities when addressing presence or absence of species) and even higher when taking the relative dominance of species into account. This turnover accumulated over time at similar rates across regions and organism groups. We conclude that biodiversity metrics responsive to turnover provide a more accurate reflection of community change relative to conventional metrics (absolute richness or relative abundance) and are spatially broadly applicable.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
Ecological limits to evolutionary rescue
Authors: Klausmeier Christopher A. , Osmond Matthew M. , Kremer Colin T. , Litchman Elena
Published: November 2020

Environments change, for both natural and anthropogenic reasons, which can threaten species persistence. Evolutionary adaptation is a potentially powerful mechanism to allow species to persist in these changing environments. To determine the conditions under which adaptation will prevent extinction (evolutionary rescue), classic quantitative genetics models have assumed a constantly changing environment. They predict that species traits will track a moving environmental optimum with a lag that approaches a constant. If fitness is negative at this lag, the species will go extinct. There have been many elaborations of these models incorporating increased genetic realism. Here, we review and explore the consequences of four ecological complications: non-quadratic fitness functions, interacting density- and trait-dependence, species interactions and fundamental limits to adaptation. We show that non-quadratic fitness functions can result in evolutionary tipping points and existential crises, as can the interaction between density- and trait-dependent mortality. We then review the literature on how interspecific interactions affect adaptation and persistence. Finally, we suggest an alternative theoretical framework that considers bounded environmental change and fundamental limits to adaptation. A research programme that combines theory and experiments and integrates across organizational scales will be needed to predict whether adaptation will prevent species extinction in changing environments.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
Marine conservation: towards a multi-layered network approach
Authors: Jacob Ute , Beckerman Andrew P. , Antonijevic Mira , Dee Laura E. , Eklöf Anna , Possingham Hugh P. , Thompson Ross , Webb Thomas J. , Halpern Benjamin S.
Published: November 2020

Valuing, managing and conserving marine biodiversity and a full range of ecosystem services is at the forefront of research and policy agendas. However, biodiversity is being lost at up to a thousand times the average background rate. Traditional disciplinary and siloed conservation approaches are not able to tackle this massive loss of biodiversity because they generally ignore or overlook the interactive and dynamic nature of ecosystems processes, limiting their predictability. To conserve marine biodiversity, we must assess the interactions and impacts among biodiversity and ecosystem services (BD-ES). The scaling up in complexity from single species to entire communities is necessary, albeit challenging, for a deeper understanding of how ecosystem services relate to biodiversity and the roles species have in ecosystem service provision. These interactions are challenging to map, let alone fully assess, but network and system-based approaches provide a powerful way to progress beyond those limitations. Here, we introduce a conceptual multi-layered network approach to understanding how ecosystem services supported by biodiversity drive the total service provision, how different stressors impact BD-ES and where conservation efforts should be placed to optimize the delivery of ecosystem services and protection of biodiversity.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
Impacts of stormwater on coastal ecosystems: the need to match the scales of management objectives and solutions
Authors: Levin Phillip S. , Howe Emily R. , Robertson James C.
Published: November 2020

Despite their limited area relative to the global ocean, coastal zones—the regions where land meets the sea—play a disproportionately important role in generating ecosystem services. However, coastal ecosystems are under increasing pressure from human populations. In particular, urban stormwater is an increasingly important threat to the integrity of coastal systems. Urban catchments exhibit altered flow regimes that impact ecosystem processes and coastal foodwebs. In addition, urban stormwater contains complex and unpredictable mixtures of chemicals that result in a multitude of lethal and sublethal impacts on species in coastal systems. Along the western coast of the United States, we estimate that hundreds of billions of kilograms of suspended solids flow off land surfaces and enter the Northern California Current each year. However, 70% of this pollution could be addressed by treating only 1.35% of the land area. Determining how to prioritize treatment of stormwater in this region requires a clear articulation of objectives—spatial distribution of appropriate management actions is dependent on the life histories of species, and management schemes optimized for one species may not achieve desired objectives for other species. In particular, we highlight that the scale of stormwater interventions must match the ecological scale relevant to species targeted by management. In many cases, management and policy will require mechanisms in order to ensure that local actions scale-up to efficiently and effectively achieve management objectives. In the face of rapid urbanization of coastal zones, failure to consider the match of management and ecological scales will result in the continued decline of coastal ecosystems and the species they support.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
A non-olfactory shark adenosine receptor activates CFTR with unique pharmacology and structural features
Authors: Bhanot Sumeet , Hemminger Gabriele , Martin Cole L. , Aller Stephen G. , Forrest John N.
Published: November 2020

Adenosine receptors (ADORs) are G-protein coupled purinoceptors that have several functions including regulation of chloride secretion via CFTR in human airway and kidney. We cloned an ADOR fromSqualus acanthias(shark) that likely regulates CFTR in the rectal gland. Phylogenic- and expression- analyses indicate that elasmobranch ADORs are non-olfactory, and appear to represent extant predecessors of mammalian ADORs. We therefore designate the shark ADOR as the A0receptor. We co-expressed A0with CFTR inXenopus laevisoocytes and characterized the coupling of A0to the chloride channel. Two electrode voltage clamping was performed and current-voltage (I-V) responses were recorded to monitor CFTR status. Only in A0- and CFTR- co-injected oocytes did adenosine analogs produce a significant concentration-dependent activation of CFTR consistent with its electrophysiological signature. A pharmacological profile for A0was obtained for ADOR agonists and antagonists that differed markedly from all mammalian ADOR subtypes (agonists: R-PIA > S-PIA > CGS21680 > CPA > 2ClADO > CV1808 = DPMA > NECA) and (antagonists: DPCPX > PD115199 > 8PT > CGC > CGS15943). Structures of human ADORs permitted a high-confidence homology model of the shark A0core which revealed unique structural features of ancestral receptors. We conclude: (1) A0is a novel and unique adenosine receptor ancestor by functional and structural criteria; (2) A0likely activates CFTRin vivoand this receptor activates CFTR in oocytes indicating an evolutionary coupling between ADORs and chloride secretion; and (3) A0appears to be a non-olfactory evolutionary ancestor of all four mammalian ADOR subtypes.

Significance Statement

We have cloned and characterized an ancient adenosine receptor from sharks that is unlikely to be olfactory in function. The shark receptor, which we designate as A0, has a unique pharmacological profile, characteristic structural features, and is also highly likely to be the dominant ADOR regulator of the shark ancient ortholog of the Cystic Fibrosis chloride channel, called CFTR.
MondoA Drives Malignancy in cALL through Enhanced Adaptation to Metabolic Stress
Authors: Sipol Alexandra , Hameister Erik , Xue Busheng , Petry Andreas , Prexler Carolin , Barenboim Maxim , Rubio Rebeca Alba , Baldauf Michaela C. , Franchina Davide G. , Schmaeh Juliane , Richter Guenther , Cario Gunnar , Grünewald Thomas G.P. , Görlach Agnes , Brenner Dirk , Ruland Jürgen , Sorensen Poul H. , Burdach Stefan E.G.
Published: November 2020

Cancer cells are in most instances characterized by rapid proliferation and uncontrolled cell division. Hence, they must adapt to proliferation-induced metabolic stress through intrinsic or acquired anti-metabolic stress responses to maintain homeostasis and survival. One mechanism to achieve this is to reprogram gene expression in a metabolism-dependent manner. MondoA (also known as MLXIP), a member of the MYC interactome, has been described as an example of such a metabolic sensor. However, the role of MondoA in malignancy is not fully understood and the underlying mechanism in metabolic responses remains elusive. By assessing patient data sets we found that MondoA overexpression is associated with a worse survival in pediatric common acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL). Using CRISPR/Cas9 and RNA interference approaches, we observed that MondoA depletion reduces transformational capacity of cALL cellsin vitroand dramatically inhibits malignant potential in anin vivomouse model. Interestingly, reduced expression of MondoA in patient data sets correlated with enrichment in metabolic pathways. The loss of MondoA correlated with increased tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity. Mechanistically, MondoA senses metabolic stress in cALL cells by restricting oxidative phosphorylation through reduced PDH activity. Glutamine starvation conditions greatly enhance this effect and highlight the inability to mitigate metabolic stress upon loss of MondoA in cALL. Our findings give a novel insight into the function of MondoA in pediatric cALL and support the notion that MondoA inhibition in this entity offers a therapeutic opportunity and should be further explored.

Key Points

MondoA maintains aggressiveness and leukemic burden in common ALL, modulating metabolic stress response.
A lightweight segmentation and lineage tracking tool for noisy, low frame rate 4D fluorescence microscopy data
Authors: Qureshi Haseeb Khalid , Magony Andor , Hadzhiev Yavor , Wozniak Kacper , Jasiulewicz Alexandra , Müller Ferenc , Sik Attila
Published: November 2020

4D fluorescence microscopy allows the study of spatiotemporal cell dynamics in embryonic development in unprecedented detail, yet the uneven scattering of light within developing embryos presents challenges in discerning fine details. We present a tool which pre-processes largein vivo4D microscopy datasets and can then track the movements and lineage histories of rapidly dividing embryonic stem cells. This solution offers a robust, simple segmentation technique to segment high intensity fluorescent features in highly scattered datasets, such as from deep within a developing zebrafish embryo. This tool then offers lineage tracing functionality by tracking rapidly dividing nuclei and their progeny, while also accounting for the jumps rapidly moving features make between frames in low frame rate data. Based on the user having prior knowledge of their imaging subject, this tool has applications in datasets with limitations with signal to noise, and frame rate. It can provide information regarding the position and movement of rapidly dividing nuclei. We demonstrate this pipeline in developing early zebrafish embryos.
CRISPR-Cas13 mediated Knock Down inDrosophilacultured cells
Authors: Viswanatha Raghuvir , Zaffagni Michela , Zirin Jonathan , Perrimon Norbert , Kadener Sebastian
Published: November 2020

Manipulation of gene expression is one of the best approaches for studying gene functionin vivo. CRISPR-Cas13 has the potential to be a powerful technique for manipulating RNA expression in diverse animal systemsin vivo, includingDrosophila melanogaster. Studies using Cas13 in mammalian cell lines for gene knockdown showed increased on-target efficiency and decreased off-targeting relative to RNAi. Moreover, catalytically inactive Cas13 fusions can be used to image RNA molecules, install precise changes to the epitranscriptome, or alter splicing. However, recent studies have suggested that there may be limitations to the deployment of these tools inDrosophila, so further optimization of the system is required. Here, we report a new set of PspCas13b and RfxCas13d expression constructs and use these reagents to successfully knockdown both reporter and endogenous transcripts inDrosophilacells. As toxicity issues have been reported with high level of Cas13, we effectively decreased PspCas13b expression without impairing its function by tuning down translation. Furthermore, we altered the spatial activity of both PspCas13b and RfxCas13d by introducing Nuclear Exportation Sequences (NES) and Nuclear Localization Sequences (NLS) while maintaining activity. Finally, we generated a stable cell line expressing RfxCas13d under the inducible metallothionein promoter, establishing a useful tool for high-throughput genetic screening. Thus, we report new reagents for performing RNA CRISPR-Cas13 experiments inDrosophila, providing additional Cas13 expression constructs that retain activity.
Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Gram-positive Bacterium to Gram-negative Bacterium
Authors: Manohar Prasanth , Shanthini Thamaraiselvan , Bozdogan Bulent , Lundborg Cecilia Stalsby , Tamhankar Ashok J , Palaniyar Nades , Ramesh Nachimuthu
Published: November 2020

The emergence of antibiotic resistance due to uncontrolled use of antibiotics in non-humans, poses a major threat for treating bacterial infections in humans. Added to this is the possibility of transfer of resistance from Gram-positive bacteria to Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, the possibility of resistance gene transfer from a non-human originated pathogenic bacterium to a pathogenic bacterium infecting humans needs evaluation. In this study, poultry litter samples collected from Tamil Nadu, India were screened for the presence of meropenem- and cefotaxime-resistantStaphylococcus sciuri. Standard microbiological techniques and 16S rRNA analysis were used to confirmS. sciuri. In the resistant isolates, resistance genes such asblaNDM-1,blaOXA-48-like,blaKPC,blaVIM,blaIMPandblaCTX-Mwere screened. Transconjugation studies were performed using donor,S. sciuriand recipient,E. coliAB1157 (Strr). A total of 26 meropenem-resistant and 24 cefotaxime resistantS. sciuriwere isolated from poultry litter samples. The presence ofblaNDM-1(n=2),blaIMP(n=8),blaCTX-M-9(n=5) andblaCTX-M-2(n=1) was detected. Transconjugation results confirmed thatS. sciuricarrying plasmid-borne resistance geneblaNDM-1conjugated toE. coliAB1157. The transferability of resistance genes fromS. sciuritoE. colicould be another possible reason for spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans.
The alternative macrophage relay: STAT6 passes the baton to EGR2
Authors: Liao Jingwen , Hargreaves Diana C.
Published: November 2020

Alternative polarization of macrophages induced by IL-4 is important for homeostasis and tissue repair. Downstream from IL-4 receptor signaling, STAT6 activation is transient, but induces stable transcriptional changes. These data suggest that STAT6 induces second messengers to carry out the alternative transcriptional program. In this issue of Genes & Development, Daniel and colleagues (pp. 1474–1492) identify EGR2 as a downstream regulator of STAT6 with broad functionality that further induces many transcription factors associated with alternative polarization. Identification of high EGR2 expression in a subset of mouse and human alveolar macrophages further highlights EGR2 as a conserved marker of alternatively activated macrophages.
Cloning in Plasmid Vectors: Blunt-End Cloning
Authors: Green Michael R. , Sambrook Joseph
Published: November 2020

This protocol describes procedures for cloning blunt-ended DNA fragments into linearized plasmid vectors. To obtain the maximum number of “correct” ligation products when cloning blunt-ended target fragments, the two components of DNA in the ligation reaction must be present at an appropriate ratio. If the molar ratio of plasmid vector to target DNA is too high, then the ligation reaction may generate an undesirable number of circular empty plasmids, both monomeric and polymeric; if too low, the ligation reaction may generate an excess of linear and circular homopolymers and heteropolymers of varying sizes, orientations, and compositions. For this reason, the orientation of the foreign DNA and the number of inserts in each recombinant clone must always be validated by restriction endonuclease mapping or some other means.
Imaging the Dynamic Branching and Synaptic Differentiation of Xenopus Optic Axons In Vivo
Authors: Santos Rommel Andrew , Rio Rodrigo Del , Cohen-Cory Susana
Published: November 2020

In the developing Xenopus tadpole visual system, the targeting and branching of optic axons in the brain is a dynamic process that is closely intertwined with the morphological differentiation and maturation of their postsynaptic neurons and with the formation, stabilization, and elimination of functional synapses. The coordinated addition and retraction of axonal and dendritic branches guides the gradual recognition between pre- and postsynaptic neuronal partners, which subsequently allows synaptic connections to be formed. Axon and dendrite branching and selective synapse formation and stabilization are developmental mechanisms largely orchestrated by an array of signaling molecules that interact in vivo for the proper formation of functional visual circuits. In vivo real-time imaging of individual fluorophore-labeled neurons in living Xenopus tadpoles has allowed investigation of molecular and cellular mechanisms mediating circuit assembly at a cellular level in the intact organism. In this protocol, we describe the use of bulk and single-cell electroporation to rapidly and efficiently transfect individual retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) with different reagents and to simultaneously visualize optic axon arbor morphology and presynaptic sites in real time. Similar techniques for labeling and visualizing RGC axons can be combined with the use of morpholino antisense oligonucleotides, as we describe here, to alter gene expression cell autonomously.
Immunoprecipitation
Authors: DeCaprio James , Kohl Thomas O.
Published: November 2020

Immunoprecipitation, commonly referred to as IP, involves the binding of proteinaceous antigen in solution by an antigen-specific antibody followed by purification of the antigen–antibody complex via attachment to a solid-phase matrix such as Protein A or G agarose. This rather simplistic and rapid technique yields highly purified immune complexes from multifactorial solutions, including cell lysates or homogenized tissues, and is most commonly used to identify and determine the relative abundance of interacting proteins, referred to as coimmunoprecipitation or co-IP. Although methods encompassing immunoblotting or western blotting of cell lysate preparations can also be applied to determine the presence and quantity of a specific antigen, its relative molecular weight, rate of synthesis or degradation, and state of target-specific posttranslational modification, immunoprecipitation can significantly increase the sensitivity for these methodologies.
Early entrants attract better customer evaluations: evidence from the digital camera industry
Authors: Kirjavainen Johanna , Mäkinen Saku J. , Dedehayir Ozgur
Published: November 2020

Purpose

In addition to pioneering, empirical work on entry order increasingly addresses fast followers and laggards and the potential advantages they are able to capture. There is also a growing consensus in the academia, that current measures of firm performance used in the entry order literature to study these advantages are inadequate. This study analyzes the relationship between entry order and customer evaluations, which, depicting the performance of the firm's products in the market, are used as a proxy for firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is set in the digital camera industry, analyzing entries into each new technology level, in terms of the sensor resolution of compact and bridge cameras. The complete dataset consisted of 1,816 digital camera models introduced between January 1996 and December 2017. The data are analyzed using hierarchical multiple linear regression.

Findings

The study finds evidence of early-mover advantage for the compact product category. In the compact camera consumer market, both first-movers and fast followers outperform late movers. Furthermore, the difference in performance in comparison to laggards is greater for first-movers than for fast followers. However, in the bridge category which consists of a more heterogeneous set of products, no significant entry-order effects are detected.

Originality/value

The results clearly indicate that there exists an early mover advantage. Furthermore, the results are not consistent across different product categories within an industry; hence, caution needs to be exercised when analyzing industry dynamics and entry order effects. Finally, our novel conceptualization of firm performance measured as online customer evaluation add new opportunities to investigate firm success
Intercultural service encounters: a systematic review and a conceptual framework on trust development
Authors: Vrontis Demetris , Leonidou Erasmia , Christofi Michael , Kaufmann Hans Ruediger , Kitchen Philip J.
Published: November 2020

Purpose

A significant body of research has now been accumulated in the intercultural service encounter (ICSE) literature. However, no study to date has provided scholars and practitioners with a systematic review to map and better understand the ICSE domain.

Design/methodology/approach

To fill this gap, the authors systematically review and critically examine the state of academic research on ICSE.

Findings

Based on a systematic review of 31 journal articles published over the last two decades, the results illustrate that ICSE research is a vibrant and rapidly growing stream of the broader international business domain, and it is topically and methodologically diverse. This review also identifies significant knowledge gaps related to the adoption of different theoretical orientations by researchers examining ICSE at different levels of analysis, a lack of contextual positioning, as well as poor methodological rigor.

Originality/value

Based on the findings, the authors introduce a multilevel and multidisciplinary conceptual framework that integrates the concepts of emotional intelligence (EI) and intercultural communication competence (ICC) as the key variables that explain trust development during the interaction between two key culturally different stakeholders: service providers (employees) and service receivers (customers). Finally, the authors discuss the contributions and implications for both academics and practitioners.
Affective intensities: Emotion, race, gender and the push and pull of bodies
Authors: Schmidt Kimberly McDavid , Beucher Rebecca
Published: November 2020

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the ways affective intensities arise in the intra-actions within an assemblage (three Black girls, objects such as computers and hoodies, institutionalized discourse associated with race and successful participation in schools) as the girls create multimodal responses to literature. This paper shows how the intra-actions among the girls and material objects produce affective intensities or new ways of being and becoming through which youth reauthor themselves as central and peripheral participants.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors present an illustrative case of the ways girls’ embodied literacy identities emerge when Jillian, Isa, and Rhianna intra-act with materials in an assemblage that includes their material-discursive positionings through qualitative and multimodal interaction analysis.

Findings

The analysis describes the ways the girls agentively participate through play, composing and moments of becoming (fluid subjectivities) that include emotive acts such as acts of solidarity, loving connectedness and possible frustration that inform who counts and who can be successful in the classroom.

Research limitations/implications

This single case study gives a descriptive, in-depth analysis of the ways affective intensities emerge as three girls respond to literature to understand their embodied and discursive practices within the composing process.

Originality/value

To fully understand agency and the students’ emergent subjectivities, the authors combine embodiment and material-discursive analysis to understand affective intensities that evolve during three Black girls’ composing processes and the ways the girls’ subjectivities shift within the intra-actions.
Learning analytics stakeholders' expectations in higher education institutions: a literature review
Authors: Mahmoud Mai , Dafoulas Georgios , Abd ElAziz Rasha , Saleeb Noha
Published: November 2020

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the literature on learning analytics (LA) stakeholders' expectations to reveal the status of ongoing research in this area and to highlight gaps in research.

Design/methodology/approach

Conducting a literature review is a well-known method to establish knowledge and interpret the domain under examination (Snyder, 2019). In this paper, a descriptive approach was used to investigate the different research methods used to tackle LA stakeholders' expectations, which depends on summarising the studies' content and minimising the reviewer's interpretation.

Findings

Most of the studies have used interviews and focus groups without testing isolated variables. Moreover, it was concluded that LA awareness and perception are affected by a lack of resources, technical skills, trustworthiness, data availability, accessibility, organisational culture, integration and lack of technology. 10;This paper sheds light on research on LA stakeholders' expectations and highlights the need for investigating developing countries' context in order to test the perception and impact of LA. The study has focussed mainly on papers published in journals, which may have led to missing some previous research papers.

Originality/value

Literature review studies provide an overview of the existing LA literature from general focus to analytical methods. As it is a broad topic, this paper focuses on reviewing studies about stakeholders, which will give a fuller understanding of how their expectations are being discussed beyond the currently assumed benefits of LA.
The impact of fair value estimates on audit fees: evidence from the financial sector in Jordan
Authors: Alqatamin Rateb Mohammad , Ezeani Ernest
Published: November 2020

Purpose

This study investigates the association between the estimates of fair value and external auditor's fees.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 32 Jordanian financial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) over the period 2005–2018. We employ random effect models to test our hypothesis.

Findings

We found a positive relationship between audit fees and the proportion of fair value assets, which implies that external auditors are more likely to spend more effort for complex estimates, thereby increasing audit fees. We examined the relationship between audit fees and three levels of fair value inputs and found a positive relationship between the level of effort spent on assessment of higher uncertainty fair value inputs and audit fees. The findings are consistent with the expectation that more audit effort is required in a highly regulated environment due to the possibility of a higher cost of litigation.

Practical implications

The findings of this study could be beneficial for a number of users of financial information, such as investors, regulators, auditors. This group of users might consider the results of this study when they are using a company's financial information, and consequently, better able to make the right decisions.

Originality/value

Although prior studies have researched fair value, no study to date among developing countries has investigated its relationship with audit fees. This study, therefore, provides new empirical evidence that the complexity and risk of fair value estimates significantly influences auditors' motivation to expend additional effort, resulting in higher audit cost.
Academic incivility on job satisfaction and depressivity: can supervisory support be the antidote?
Authors: Abas Nurul Ain Hidayah , Lin Mei-Hua , Otto Kathleen , Idris Izazol , Ramayah T.
Published: November 2020

Purpose

Academia is known for its high competitiveness, with prestige and diverse responsibilities and achievements being decisive determinants of success resulting in academic incivility. This paper extends Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress by examining the moderating role of interpersonal justice (IJ) , as supervisory support, on academics' job satisfaction and depressivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The study recruited 185 academics from a public university in Malaysia to participate in a survey. Using the partial least squares- structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis, academic incivility was negatively related to job satisfaction, whilst positively related to depressivity.

Findings

As hypothesized, it was found that the predicted detrimental effect of academic incivility on job satisfaction was buffered by perceiving high IJ from their immediate supervisors, i.e. deans or heads of department. An unanticipated finding was that there was a stronger relationship between academic incivility and depressivity for those academics who perceived high supervisory IJ.

Practical implications

Further, academic management can formulate and revise zero-incivility policies and promote awareness explaining the detrimental impacts of incivility, despite support systems in academia.

Originality/value

This study provides the first empirical evidence showing the differential impact of supervisory IJ on two conditions of incivility–well-being relationships. Work culture and various sources of incivility should be considered for future research.
Cultural landscapes: exploring local people's understanding of cultural practices as “heritage”
Authors: Settimini Elena
Published: November 2020

Purpose

A vital testimony of human presence landscape is recognised and protected by international, national and local documents as an identity resource and one of the factors that contribute to the identity building processes (UNESCO, 1994; European Landscape Convention, 2000). The validation of landscape as cultural heritage presents not only new challenges but also opportunities for the heritage sector. In fact, a landscape plays a dual role: as part of the cultural heritage, which has to be preserved for its values, and as a “living” site, where individuals and groups live and work. This implies that the acknowledgement of its cultural significance should not be exclusively determined on the basis of discipline-driven frameworks and benchmarks but should rather be the result of a shared awareness within local communities.

Design/methodology/approach

Through the analysis of the vineyard landscape of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato (Italy), the author discusses how the selection of a World Heritage site driven by “outstanding universal values” risks presenting a top-down approach to heritage processes.

Findings

In this article, the author explores how people living in this cultural landscape articulate their understandings of heritage values, and she addresses issues concerning their participation in decision-making processes, questioning whose values and meanings do the “outstanding universal value” legitimise or not.

Originality/value

What the author argues is that the World Heritage listing's focus on extraordinary values risks constructing heritage around a consensus that privileges only some actors, whose voices and stories enliven the prestige of the wine production of this cultural landscape, omitting other values, memories and practices from the identity and meaning making processes. Does the identification and representation processes validated through World Heritage status capture how a landscape is understood by individuals and groups living within it? If not, how do these differences affect people's engagement? A further point of discussion is whether individuals and groups want to be engaged in decision-making processes and on which terms.
Physical appearance stereotypes for service occupations
Authors: Dean Dwane H.
Published: November 2020

Purpose

This series of of five exploratory studies aims to investigate the idea that consumers have visual appearance expectations (stereotypes) for service providers in different occupations and how these visual stereotypes might affect provider choice.

Design/methodology/approach

Subjects were given color photos of white men and a list of service occupations and asked to infer the most likely occupation for each photo. A separate group of subjects reported the visual elements they most associated with the typical appearance of providers in various occupations. Other groups chose from a set of photos the depicted individual they would most want as their attorney or accountant.

Findings

Two studies confirmed that photo was a significant predictor of inferred service occupation, suggesting that consumers have visual appearance stereotypes for what a service provider should look like. A counter-intuitive finding was that the most stereotypical appearing service provider in an occupation was significantly less desired by subjects as their service provider than a less stereotypical appearing provider displaying a Duchenne (genuine) smile.

Research limitations/implications

Only visual stereotypes of male service providers were explored, confined to the un-met provider condition. Also, the reported studies were exploratory, using small samples.

Originality/value

The results imply that impression formation and relationship marketing begin with the viewing of an un-met service provider’s photo by a potential client at a business website or social media. Further, the findings suggest that providers will want to display a Duchenne smile in their photo, as this visual element is favorably interpreted by consumers.
Multi-agency safeguarding arrangements: overcoming the challenges of Covid-19 measures
Authors: Driscoll Jennifer , Lorek Ann , Kinnear Elise , Hutchinson Aisha
Published: November 2020

Purpose

Information sharing and joint working between agencies undertaking direct work with children have long been recognised as fundamental to robust and effective safeguarding and child protection arrangements. The public health response to Covid-19 disrupted those arrangements abruptly. This study aims to identify some of the innovative practices that have been implemented and how responses might inform planning for multi-agency working in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

This study presents reflections on preliminary fieldwork from a study of how agencies in London are responding to the challenges for multi-agency safeguarding arrangements created by the Covid-19 measures. It draws on the experience of expert practitioners in the research team as well as interviews with 17 senior professionals from local authorities, safeguarding partnerships and health.

Findings

The study participants endorsed known concerns around increased risks to children and raised new concerns about particular groups of children that under normal circumstances would not have been at risk. They identified some unexpected benefits derived from new arrangements, especially in relation to engagement with remote working.

Originality/value

Early insights are offered into promising initiatives to preserve strong multi-agency arrangements in crises and strengthen the resilience of the child protection system.
Moral re-armament: toward a better understanding of the society-corporation relationship before the emergence of “corporate social responsibility”
Authors: Dent Eric B. , Randall Craig
Published: November 2020

Purpose

This study aims to introduce moral re-armament’s (MRA) role as a mediator in several labor/management disputes in industries primarily in the 1940s and 1950s. In this study, MRA was guided by a social responsibility framed in language that was a precursor to corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study features the case of the Miami-based airlines serving Latin America, who had experienced the longest airline labor strike to that date.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, both artifacts and literary interpretations are used to inform an institutional-theory-based approach to a broad social movement, one player in that movement and its impact on an industry. Actions at one time can be shown to relate to activity and behavior at another time (Wadhwani and Bucheli, 2014). Thus, this paper has combined these perspectives in the approach to historically examine a precursor phenomenon of CSR.

Findings

MRA’s approach shared some methods, such as story-telling, with modern change management. This paper proposes that other methods that were important for that historical context played a significant role in MRA’s success. Today, these methods are no longer used. These include “intimacy” (MRA employees lived with members of labor and management while they were mediating), “theater” (they showed plays to all of those involved) and confessional sharing (their training was mostly a series of testimonies by those who previously were combative, but became collaborative when they accepted MRA’s principles).

Originality/value

This historical case may inspire those promoting CSR to expand their methods to have even greater success today.