bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A trimeric autotransporter enhances biofilm cohesiveness inYersinia pseudotuberculosisbut not inYersinia pestis
Authors: Calder Joshua T. , Christman Nicholas D. , Hawkins Jessica M. , Erickson David L. 
Published: April 2020

ABSTRACTCohesion of biofilms made byYersinia pestisandYersinia pseudotuberculosis(Yptb) has been attributed solely to an extracellular polysaccharide matrix encoded by thehmsgenes (Hms-ECM). However, mutations in theYptbBarA/UvrY/CsrB regulatory cascade enhance biofilm stability without dramatically increasing Hms-ECM production. We found that treatment with proteinase K enzyme effectively destabilizedYptb csrBmutant biofilms, suggesting that cell-cell interactions might be mediated by protein adhesins or extracellular matrix proteins. We identified an uncharacterized trimeric autotransporter lipoprotein (YPTB2394), repressed bycsrB, which has been referred to as YadE. Biofilms made by a ΔyadEmutant strain were extremely sensitive to mechanical disruption. Overexpression ofyadEin wild-typeYptbincreased biofilm cohesion, similar to biofilms made bycsrBoruvrYmutants. We found that the Rcs signaling cascade, which represses Hms-ECM production, activated expression ofyadE. TheyadEgene appears to be functional inYptbbut is a pseudogene in modernY. pestis strains. Expression of functionalyadEinY. pestisKIM6+ altered the production of Hms-ECM and weakened biofilms made by these bacteria. This suggests that although the YadE autotransporter protein increasesYptbbiofilm stability, it may be incompatible with Hms-ECM production that is essential forY. pestisbiofilm production in fleas. Inactivation ofyadEinY. pestismay be another instance of selective gene loss in the evolution of flea-borne transmission by this species.IMPORTANCEThe evolution ofYersinia pestisfrom itsY. pseudotuberculosis(Yptb) ancestor involved gene acquisition and gene losses, leading to differences in biofilm production. Characterizing the unique biofilm features of both species may provide better understanding of how each adapts to its specific niches. This study identifies a trimeric autotransporter YadE that promotes biofilm stability ofYptbbut which has been inactivated inY. pestis, likely because it is not compatible with Hms polysaccharide that is crucial for biofilms inside fleas. We also reveal that the Rcs signaling cascade, which represses Hms expression inY. pestis, activates YadE inYptb. The ability ofYptbto use polysaccharide or YadE protein for cell-cell adhesion may help it produce biofilms in different environments.
Transformational leadership and employee efficiency: knowledge sharing as mediator
Authors: Dwivedi Preeti , Chaturvedi Vijit , Vashist Jugal Kishore 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThis research aims to examine the influence of transformational leadership on employee efficiency. The research also examines the role of knowledge sharing as a mediator between transformational leadership and employee efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on the survey conducted among 200 employees of logistics firms. Exploratory Factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) approaches are used for the evaluation.FindingsThe study found that transformational leadership has positive and significant influence on employee efficiency. The research also demonstrates that after introducing knowledge sharing, it fully mediated the influence of transformational leadership on employee efficiency. The study suggests that, if leaders share their knowledge and expertise among the team, employees have a propensity to be highly effective and efficient than without knowledge sharing.Research limitations/implicationsBlue collar staff and unskilled labors of the firms are not included in the study. So, the study is limited to white collar staff only which can further be expanded by considering other ground staff. Also few or no such researches have been conducted in logistics firms, particularly in Indian logistics firms. So, the result of this study can be used as reference to explore the area. This study can be replicated in the logistics firms of other regions also.Practical implicationsThe finding of the study will help the top management of the organizations to formulate strategies to enhance its senior-subordinate relationship through knowledge sharing. The study also suggests that regular dissemination of knowledge among the team improves the efficiency of the team members and hence the performance of the organization.Originality/valueThis research examines the degree to which knowledge sharing acts as a mediator between transformational leadership and employee efficiency, which has not been found in previous studies.
Perceptions of the effectiveness of health care for probationers
Authors: Sirdifield Coral , Marples Rebecca , Denney David , Brooker Charlie 
Published: April 2020

Purpose
This study aims to investigate the views of commissioners, providers and criminal justice staff on how effective current health-care provision is at meeting the health needs of people on probation. Understanding perceptions of what constitutes effective provision, where barriers are encountered and where improvements could be made is an important step towards improving access to care for this hard-to-reach group.

Design/methodology/approach
The research was part of a wider study. This paper focusses on findings from case studies conducted via semi-structured telephone interviews with 24 stakeholders in a purposive sample from six geographical areas of England. Interviews were conducted by researchers from a variety of backgrounds and an individual with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings
Participants provided examples of effective health-care provision, which largely involved multi-agency partnership working. It was apparent that there are many barriers to providing appropriate health-care provision to people on probation, which are underpinned by the complexity of this population’s health-care needs, the complexity of the health-care landscape and problematic commissioning processes.

Practical implications
Improvements are needed to provide appropriate and accessible health care that meets the needs of people on probation, thereby reducing health inequalities. These include shared targets, improved funding, clearer pathways into care and giving probation a voice in commissioning.

Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of commissioner, provider and criminal justice staffs’ views on the effectiveness of current health-care provision at meeting the health needs of people on probation.
How relational drivers affect relationship value in key exporter-importer relationships: a dark side perspective
Authors: Miocevic Dario 
Published: April 2020

Purpose
B2B marketing scholarship has acknowledged that relational capital and relationship-specific investments (RSIs) are critical relational drivers for explaining the success of business relationships, especially those in an export-import (E-I) context. However, the literature is still inconclusive on whether E-I partners should accentuate relational drivers to the fullest in order to increase relationship value. By drawing on relational view of competitive advantage and literature that explored the dark side of business relationships, the author builds a conceptual model exploring the boundary conditions (historical ties and relational capabilities) upon which relational drivers enhance or diminish relationship value in key E-I relationships.

Design/methodology/approach
To test the proposed model, a survey was conducted among 114 industrial exporters from Croatia. The data was analyzed with the use of confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression.

Findings
This study contributes to the international B2B literature in two ways. First, the findings show that in the case of strong historical ties between E-I partners, relational capital has an inverted U-shape association with the relationship value, whereas in the case of weak historical ties this relationship becomes linear. Second, the findings show that an importer’s RSI will lead to the highest relationship value when an exporter reciprocates through employing relational capabilities through which the exporter adapts his business model to the needs of the importer. In case of an exporter’s weak relational capabilities, the relationship between an importer’s RSIs and the relationship value flips into an inverted U-shape.

Originality/value
This study extends the literature on dark side of business relationships by offering insights into the boundary conditions that are essential for sustaining the relationship value in key E-I relationships. The study reveals that historical ties and relational capabilities represent boundary conditions that offer a more detailed explanation what is the optimal configuration of relational drives that would increase the relationship value between key E-I partners.
Why is everything old new again? Revisiting debates about the form and function of research in educational administration
Authors: Donmoyer Robert 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThis paper has a twofold purpose: (1) to demonstrate, largely with historical evidence, that, contrary to what some have argued, thinking about educational research articulated at the start of the twenty-first century was not really “new wine in new bottles” but, rather, a continuation of the so-called paradigm wars about, ultimately, unresolvable methodological and epistemological issues that occurred during the twentieth century; (2) to suggest a way members of the educational administration field might transcend, or at least circumvent, time-consuming and distracting battles about unresolvable methodological and epistemological issues in the future while keeping their focus on issues of practice.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quasi-historical essay that uses influential literature during the historical periods focused on as evidence to support the essay's arguments.FindingsThe paper demonstrates that twentieth century philosophical disagreements about research methods and the role that educational research can play in policy and practice decision making were not resolved but, rather, were largely reenacted during the first decade of the twenty-first century, again without a resolution. The paper proposes a way that administrators, policymakers and researchers can manage this situation and still use research to make policy and practice decisions.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests a new role for both school administrators and policymakers to play. If administrators/policymakers play this role successfully, all types of research can inform decision making about policy and practice, and researchers can concentrate on doing their research rather than engaging in unresolvable philosophical disputes.Originality/valueAlthough a great deal has been written about the twentieth century's theory movement and paradigm wars and the twenty-first century's so-called science wars, the link between these phenomena has not been discussed in the literature. In addition, there have been few attempts to articulate an operational strategy for managing unresolvable philosophical disputes about research methods and the role that research can play in decision making. This paper tackles both matters.
Family firms’ sustainable longevity: the role of family involvement in business and innovation capability
Authors: Ahmad Shabir , Omar Rosmini , Quoquab Farzana 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe objective of this research is to investigate the influence of family involvement in business and innovation capability on sustainable longevity of family firms.Design/methodology/approachData collected from 553 executives of 200 family firms that survived to the second generation and beyond was analyzed using partial least square (PLS) approach of structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypotheses and validate the model.FindingsThe results provided evidence of the significant influence of family involvement in business on sustainable longevity of family firms and partial mediation of innovation capability between family involvement in business and corporate sustainable longevity.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample included family firms owned and governed by the owner family. The future researchers may focus on professionally managed or publicly listed family firms.Practical implicationsThe path to family firms' sustainable longevity goes through innovation capability apart from effective family control, succession, commitment to the business and family enrichment. That requires the family firm to be proactive in innovation capability.Originality/valueFamily firms are the dominant form of business representing around 80% of global business structure that strives for survival and consistently pursues sustainable longevity strategies. In the current globally competitive environment, innovation capability has become a matter of life and death for any firm. Based on the transaction cost economics (TCE) theory of family firms, this study proposes an integrative model of sustainable longevity for family firms.
Organization theory in humanitarian operations: a review and suggested research agenda
Authors: Prakash Chandra , Besiou Maria , Charan Parikshit , Gupta Sumeet 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the current application of organization theory (OT) in the humanitarian supply chain (HSC) and identify the future OT-based research opportunities that can advance knowledge of humanitarian operations.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a systematic literature review methodology to identify the current status and future direction of the OT-based study in HSC literature. The applied theories are those that have been mentioned in at least two research articles in the HSC literature. The proposed theories are either adopted from the top four referred organizational theories in the supply chain literature or those that can explain the issue of information asymmetry in HSC.FindingsThe study identifies and describes eight organizational theories and their possible future research questions in HSC. Among these, the first four theories (i.e. resource-based theory, resource dependence theory, social exchange theory and contingency theory) have already been initially applied in the humanitarian field, while the remaining theories (i.e. institutional theory, stakeholder theory, transactional cost theory and information theory) have potential for future application.Research limitations/implicationsThe reviewed literature is limited to peer-reviewed journals listed in Thomson Reuters’ journal citation reports.Practical implicationsThis study may help future researchers better understand and solve, using organizational theory, the behavioral challenges faced by humanitarian operations.Originality/valueThe study presents current applications of and future prospects for OT-based research in HSC, effectively providing the first review of OT applications in this area. The novel framework and new theories proposed herein may enable fresh directions for HSC research.
Self-efficacy as a resource: a moderated mediation model of transformational leadership, extent of change and reactions to change
Authors: Bayraktar Secil , Jiménez Alfredo 
Published: April 2020

PurposeDrawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study empirically tests the impact of transformational leadership on commitment to and intention to support organizational change, proposing self-efficacy as a mediating mechanism. This study also aims to study whether the extent of change in the organization moderates the proposed relationship between transformational leadership, self-efficacy and change reactions.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with a sample of 298 employees going through a major organizational change. The proposed moderated mediation relationship was tested by using PROCESS macro.FindingsThe findings showed that self-efficacy mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and reactions to change. Moreover, the extent of changes experienced by the employees moderated the relationship between self-efficacy and outcome variables. In other words, in high change contexts, self-efficacy appeared as a more salient and instrumental resource leading to positive reactions.Practical implicationsThe results guide change managers to display a transformational leadership style to enhance self-efficacy of change recipients to generate positive attitudes and behaviors during change. Also, this study shows that self-efficacy particularly gains importance when the extent of change is high.Originality/valueThis study makes several important contributions to the organizational change literature. First, it shows that leaders play a crucial role in generating resources that enhance employees' positive reactions to change. Second, the conditional factor of the extent of change has not received much attention in the literature. This study raises attention to the fact that the importance of such resources may differ across low versus high extent of change contexts.
Does extracorporeal membrane oxygenation attenuate hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in a porcine model of global alveolar hypoxia?
Authors: Holzgraefe Bernhard , Larsson Anders , Eksborg Staffan , Kalzén Håkan 
Published: April 2020

BackgroundDuring severe respiratory failure, hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is partly suppressed, but may still play a role in increasing pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). Experimental studies suggest that the degree of HPV during severe respiratory failure is dependent on pulmonary oxygen tension (PvO2). Therefore, it has been suggested that increasing PvO2 by veno‐venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V‐V ECMO) would adequately reduce PVR in V‐V ECMO patients.ObjectiveWhether increased PvO2 by V‐V ECMO decreases PVR in global alveolar hypoxia.MethodsNine landrace pigs were ventilated with a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. After 15 minutes of stable ventilation and hemodynamics, the animals were cannulated for V‐V ECMO. Starting with alveolar normoxia, the fraction of inspiratory oxygen (FIO2) was stepwise reduced to establish different degrees of alveolar hypoxia. PvO2 was increased by V‐V ECMO.ResultsV‐V ECMO decreased PVR (from 5.5 [4.5‐7.1] to 3.4 [2.6‐3.9] mm Hg L−1 min, P = .006) (median (interquartile range),) during ventilation with FIO2 of 0.15. At lower FIO2, PVR increased; at FIO2 0.10 to 4.9 [4.2‐7.0], P = .036, at FIO2 0.05 to 6.0 [4.3‐8.6], P = .002, and at FIO2 0 to 5.4 [3.5 ‐ 7.0] mm Hg L−1 min, P = .05.ConclusionsThe effect of increased PvO2 by V‐V ECMO on PVR depended highly on the degree of alveolar hypoxia. Our results partly explain why V‐V ECMO does not always reduce right ventricular afterload at severe alveolar hypoxia.
Livestock browsing affects the species composition and structure of cloud forest in the Dhofar Mountains of Oman
Authors: Ball Lawrence , Tzanopoulos Joseph 
Published: April 2020

AbstractQuestionsIt is frequently reported that overstocking of camels, cattle and goats is degrading the Anogeissus cloud forest, which is endemic to a 200‐km stretch of coastal mountains in southern Arabia. However, livestock impacts on the vegetation have not been assessed. Furthermore, we have a limited understanding of the impacts of large‐bodied browsing livestock, such as camels, in woodland and forest rangelands. Therefore, in this study, we examine the effects of livestock browsing on the species composition, density, and phytomorphology of woody vegetation in the Anogeissus cloud forests in the Dhofar Mountains of Oman.LocationData were collected at 30 sites in the Jabal Qamar mountain range in western Dhofar, Oman.MethodsThe point‐centred quarter method was used to sample the composition, density and structure of woody vegetation. Constrained correspondence analysis was used to quantify the effects of livestock browsing on woody plant species composition, whilst effects on plant density were analysed using mixed‐effects models. Standardised major axis regression was used to examine differences in height–diameter allometry (stunting) under different stocking rates.ResultsFog density, topographic position and long‐term stocking rates were found to be important factors affecting woody species composition. We found lower species diversity and plant density, and higher frequencies of unpalatable species, under higher stocking rates. Juveniles showed a stronger response to stocking rates than adults, and several common species exhibited stunted morphology under high stocking rates.ConclusionsBrowsing by large‐bodied livestock, such as camels and cattle, can substantially alter the species composition, structure, and phytomorphology of woody vegetation in semi‐arid woodlands and forests. Juveniles are particularly susceptible to browsing which alters woody vegetation demography and inhibits regeneration potential. Our results support previous suggestions of overstocking in Dhofar and highlight the importance of swift measures to reduce livestock browsing pressure in the Anogeissus cloud forests.
Polygalasaponin F inhibits neuronal apoptosis induced by oxygen‐glucose deprivation and reoxygenation through the PI3K/Akt pathway
Authors: Xie Wei , Wulin Hade , Shao Guo , Wei Liqin , Qi Ruifang , Ma Baohui , Chen Naihong , Shi Ruili 
Published: April 2020

AbstractCerebral ischaemia is a common cerebrovascular disease and often induces neuronal apoptosis, leading to brain damage. Polygalasaponin F (PGSF) is one of the components in Polygala japonica Houtt, and it is a triterpenoid saponin monomer. This research focused on anti‐apoptotic effect of PGSF during oxygen‐glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R) injury in rat adrenal pheochromocytoma cells (PC12) and primary rat cortical neurons. OGD/R treatment reduced viability of PC12 cells and primary neurons. This reduced viability was prevented by PGSF, as shown by MTT assay. OGD/R insult decreased expression of Bcl‐2/Bax both in PC12 cells and primary neurons but elevated levels of caspase‐3 in primary neurons. However, PGSF may up‐regulate expression of Bcl‐2/Bax and down‐regulate caspase‐3 in these particular cells. Furthermore, Bcl‐2/Bax and the ratio between phosphorylated Akt and total Akt were decreased in PC12 cells treated with OGD/R, and both were increased by PGSF. Moreover, increase in the ratios of Bcl‐2/Bax and phosphorylated Akt/total Akt in PC12 cells was suppressed by phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K) inhibitor. Data suggest PGSF might prevent OGD/R‐induced injury via activation of PI3K/Akt signalling. The ability of PGSF to block the effects of OGD/R appears to involve regulation of Bcl‐2, Bax and caspase‐3, which are related to apoptosis.
Does Modernizing Union Administrative Practices Promote or Hinder Union Revitalization? A Comparative Study of US, UK and Australian Unions
Authors: Clark Paul F. , Bamber Greg J. , Whitehead Paul V. , Gray Lois S. , Cockfield Sandra , Gilbert Kay 
Published: April 2020

AbstractCan a union be both democratic and administratively efficient, or are these goals always at odds? Building on the Webbs’ focus on this critical question, this article analyses and compares the changing administrative policies and practices of US, UK and Australian trade unions over a 25‐year period. We conducted surveys of unions in all three countries to gather information on union policies and practices involving the unions’ human resources, hiring, budgeting and strategic planning. Using these novel longitudinal data, we contribute to industrial relations scholarship by showing that unions have increasingly adopted formal, systematic practices in these areas. The article is grounded in theory and also has practical relevance given the important implications that our findings may have for the revitalization of unions in the three countries and beyond.