bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Infrastructure development and industrial sector productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Azolibe Chukwuebuka Bernard , Okonkwo Jisike Jude 
Published: March 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine whether the state of infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa actually stimulates industrial sector productivity, using a panel data set of 17 countries spanning from 2003 to 2018.Design/methodology/approachThe study used panel least square estimation technique to examine the relationship between the variables.FindingsThe result of the study indicates that the major factor that influences industrial sector productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa is their quantity and quality of telecommunication infrastructure. Analysis shows that the relatively low level of industrial sector productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa is largely due to their poor electricity and transport infrastructure and underutilization of water supply and sanitation infrastructure.Practical implicationsThe government should partner with other developed countries of the world such as Germany, Japan, Sweden, Netherlands, Austria, Singapore, United States of America, United Kingdom, Switzerland and United Arab Emirates, which are the top ten countries in infrastructure ranking as currently released by the World Bank, to equally extend their quality infrastructure to their own country for enhanced industrialization.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research lies on the fact it is a cross-country study as against the few empirical studies that focused only on a single country. Also, the study made use of the four main indicators of infrastructure development in an economy, which are electricity infrastructure, transport infrastructure, telecommunication infrastructure and water supply and sanitation infrastructure, to examine its effect on industrial sector productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Modeling the contingent role of technological optimism on customer satisfaction with self-service technologies
Authors: Othman Abdul Kadir , Hamzah Muhammad Iskandar , Abu Hassan Lailatul Faizah 
Published: March 2020

PurposeBased on the E-Service Quality (E-SQ) model, this study investigates the effects of self-service technology (SST) quality attributes, specifically automated teller machines (ATMs), on customer satisfaction. The interaction effects of technological optimism on the abovementioned link are also examined. SST usage is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct that consists of five dimensions (reliability, security, convenience, functionality and responsiveness).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through a survey of a sample of Malaysian participants who used cash-recycling ATMs. The proposed theoretical model was tested using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results suggest that reliability, convenience, and functionality are critical factors that affect customer satisfaction in using ATMs. Technological optimism was found to weaken the relationship between reliability and customer satisfaction.Practical implicationsConsidering the relative novelty of cash-recycling ATMs in the market, banks should ensure a smooth, error-free and accessible functioning of the system. Special attention has to be given to tech-savvy consumers whose higher level of optimism, with an increase of perceptions of reliability, may suppress their heighten sense of fulfillment. This customer group could be offered interactive digital engagement through mobile applications and social networking channels.Originality/valueThe E-SQ model is a helpful tool to understand the reasons underlying user satisfaction with cash-recycling ATMs. The results also contribute to the theoretical development of the E-SQ model through the integration of technological optimism as a contingent factor.
Emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and team decision making
Authors: Zhou Wencang , Zhu Zhu , Vredenburgh Donald 
Published: March 2020

PurposeAs teamwork becomes more prevalent in organizational decision-making, the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on team decision-making process demands more research attention. This study aims to investigate the impact of EI on team psychological safety and decision-making performance.Design/methodology/approachTeam decision-making performance and decision quality from a team decision task were obtained from 54 decision-making teams composed of 241 undergraduate business students from a Mid-Atlantic university. Regression analyses were used to test individual and team’s EI relationship with team decision performance and the mediation effect of psychological safety.FindingsThis study provides empirical evidence that individual EI is positively related to individual influence on team decisions. Team-level EI improves team decision-making performance through increases in psychological safety.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is relatively small, and the participants were business students; therefore, the research results may lack generalizability. Future research is encouraged to explore this topic further.Practical implicationsAs teamwork becomes more prevalent in organizational decision-making, the influence of EI on team decision-making process demands more research and managerial attention. The findings of this paper provide insights on the importance of individual/team EI and psychological safety in team decision performance.Originality/valueThis study furthers research showing that emotions are pertinent to social interactions, including group decision-making, and therefore suggests the desirability of investigating other social processes affecting group decision-making.
Context and person-oriented leader in teams: a meta-analytical review
Authors: Ceri-Booms Meltem 
Published: March 2020

Purpose
The research studies the role of contextual moderating variables on the relationship between person-oriented leadership behaviors (POLBs) and team performance. The authors claim that the varying effect sizes between POLBs and team performance are large because of the context the team is functioning in. Therefore, based on the framework of Johns (2006), this paper aims to investigate the moderating role of the relevant demographic (leader gender), social (in-group collectivism and team size), task (skill differentiation) and methodological (common method bias and the rater of the team performance) contextual variables in the study.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors accumulated evidence from 48 independent primary studies (N team = 4,276) to run the meta-analytic analyses. The authors followed the procedures described by Schmidt and Hunter (2015). For the categorical moderators, the analyzes were aided by the Hunter–Schmidt meta-analysis programs (2.0) (Schmidt and Le, 2014), which is an interactive software using a random-effects model. In the analyzes for the continuous moderators, the authors used Lipsey and Wilson’s (2001) statistical package for the social sciences macros and run meta-regressions using a random-effects model with unrestricted maximum likelihood.

Findings
The results indicate that the relationship weakens when female leaders exhibit these behaviors and when the team size increases. On the other hand, in-group collectivism strengthens the relationship. The study also found that the common method bias and the assessment method of the team performance are significant moderators altering the relationship.

Practical implications
The study highlights the perceptual differences and biases based on leader gender. Acknowledging these biases may help practitioners to appreciate the female qualities in leadership and decrease the undervaluation of female effectiveness. To create high-performing teams, leaders in high in-group collectivist countries are expected to develop a family feeling in the team by showing their concern for personal issues and build close interpersonal relationships. Researchers should use multiple sources to assess the predictor and criterion variables and also opt for more objective assessment methods for team performance.

Originality/value
With this study, the authors follow a substantively different perspective compared to the past meta-analytic reviews on this relationship. Rather than testing the inquiry whether there is a relationship between the two variables, the authors specifically focus on the role of contextual moderating variables. Several researchers have acknowledged that contextual considerations are critical in leadership-team performance research. Nevertheless, the body of research remains to be not cohesive. Thus, the study answers a call in the leadership area for a more context-based and cohesive understanding of the effects of leadership on team performance.
Population asynchrony alone does not explain stability in species‐rich soil animal assemblages: The stabilizing role of forest age on oribatid mite communities
Authors: Caruso Tancredi , Melecis Viesturs , Kagainis Ugis , Bolger Tom 
Published: March 2020

Abstract

The importance of microbial and plant communities in the control of the diversity and structure of soil animal communities has been clarified over the last decade. Previous research focused on abiotic factors, niche separation and spatial patterns. Significant gaps still exist in our knowledge of the factors that control the stability of these communities over time.

We analysed a 9‐year dataset from the national Long‐term Ecological Research Network of Latvia. We focused on 117 oribatid species from three Scots pine forests of different age (<40, 65 and >150 years) and structure. For each forest type, 100 samples were collected each year, providing very high replication and long time series for a soil community. We assessed different aspects of stability: we used a dynamic null model, parameterized on observed growth rates, to test the hypothesis that asynchrony in species populations stabilizes total community size; we also analysed alpha and beta diversity over time to test the hypothesis that temporal variation in species composition and relative abundances is controlled by forest attributes.

Real communities can be more stable than their stochastic counterparts if species are asynchronous, confirming for the first time the role of asynchrony in stabilizing soil communities. Yet, while some real communities were more stable and had higher abundance and growth rates than others, they were not necessarily more asynchronous than the less stable communities. Species composition and relative abundances were also less variable in the more stable communities.

Species asynchrony generally stabilizes species‐rich communities but is not sufficient to explain the different levels of stability between forests. Forest age is a key factor explaining the different levels of overyielding and so stability. Data suggest that both asynchrony and high diversity of microhabitat structure of Scots pine forests promote the stability of soil animal communities.
Life and labor on the internal colonial edge: Political economy of kolberi in Rojhelat
Authors: Soleimani Kamal , Mohammadpour Ahmad 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThrough the investigation of kolberi (cross‐border labor), this paper sheds light on the state’s policy of de‐development (or internal colonialization) of the Kurdish region (known as Rojhelat) in Iran. While the most dangerous form of labor, kolberi has become a dominant employment opportunity for Rojhelat Kurds in the last decade. There are no Iranian state laws criminalizing kolberi, and yet those laborers die on a regular basis—being shot or thrown off mountain cliffs by the state forces, stepping into minefields, and so forth. Nevertheless, there is not a single scholarly paper on this subject. Using the mixed methods research approach, our study analyzes the existing data along with in‐depth interviews with 20 people who are currently engaged in kolberi to contextualize this understudied phenomenon. Our finding demonstrates that kolberi is a direct outcome of a uni‐ethno‐religious policies of development and part and parcel of the state's Perso‐Shi‘ification strategy in Kurdistan. Therefore, kolberi is more of a political phenomenon than an economic one.
One‐carbon metabolism, folate, zinc and translation
Authors: Danchin Antoine , Sekowska Agnieszka , You Conghui 
Published: March 2020

SummaryThe translation process, central to life, is tightly connected to the one‐carbon (1‐C) metabolism via a plethora of macromolecule modifications and specific effectors. Using manual genome annotations and putting together a variety of experimental studies, we explore here the possible reasons of this critical interaction, likely to have originated during the earliest steps of the birth of the first cells. Methionine, S‐adenosylmethionine and tetrahydrofolate dominate this interaction. Yet, 1‐C metabolism is unlikely to be a simple frozen accident of primaeval conditions. Reactive 1‐C species (ROCS) are buffered by the translation machinery in a way tightly associated with the metabolism of iron–sulfur clusters, zinc and potassium availability, possibly coupling carbon metabolism to nitrogen metabolism. In this process, the highly modified position 34 of tRNA molecules plays a critical role. Overall, this metabolic integration may serve both as a protection against the deleterious formation of excess carbon under various growth transitions or environmental unbalanced conditions and as a regulator of zinc homeostasis, while regulating input of prosthetic groups into nascent proteins. This knowledge should be taken into account in metabolic engineering.
Residual volatile anesthetics after workstation preparation and activated charcoal filtration
Authors: Müller‐Wirtz Lukas M. , Godsch Christine , Sessler Daniel I. , Volk Thomas , Kreuer Sascha , Hüppe Tobias 
Published: March 2020

BackgroundVolatile anesthetics potentially trigger malignant hyperthermia crises in susceptible patients. We therefore aimed to identify preparation procedures for the Draeger Primus that minimize residual concentrations of desflurane and sevoflurane with and without activated charcoal filtration.MethodsA Draeger Primus test workstation was primed with 7% desflurane or 2.5% sevoflurane for 2 hours. Residual anesthetic concentrations were evaluated with five preparation procedures, three fresh gas flow rates, and three distinct applications of activated charcoal filters. Finally, non‐exchangeable and autoclaved parts of the workstation were tested for residual emission of volatile anesthetics. Concentrations were measured by multicapillary column–ion mobility spectrometry with limits of detection/quantification being <1 part per billion (ppb) for desflurane and <2.5 ppb for sevoflurane.ResultsThe best preparation procedure included a flushing period of 10 minutes between removal and replacement of all parts of the ventilator circuit which immediately produced residual concentrations <5 ppm. A fresh gas flow of 10 L/minute reduced residual concentration as effectively as 18 L/minute, whereas flows of 1 or 5 L/minute slowed washout. Use of activated charcoal filters immediately reduced and maintained residual concentrations <5 ppm for up to 24 hours irrespective of previous workstation preparation. The fresh gas hose, circle system, and ventilator diaphragm emitted traces of volatile anesthetics.ConclusionIn elective cases, presumably safe concentrations can be obtained by a 10‐minute flush at ≥10 L/minute between removal and replacement all components of the airway circuit. For emergencies, we recommend using an activated charcoal filter.
Inhibition of Receptor Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase β/ζ Reduces Alcohol Intake in Rats
Authors: Calleja‐Conde Javier , Fernández‐Calle Rosalía , Zapico José M. , Ramos Ana , de Pascual‐Teresa Beatriz , Bühler Kora‐Mareen , Echeverry‐Alzate Victor , Giné Elena , Rodríguez de Fonseca Fernando , López‐Moreno Jose Antonio , Herradón Gonzalo 
Published: March 2020

BackgroundPleiotrophin (PTN) and midkine (MK) are cytokines that are up‐regulated in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) after alcohol administration and have been shown to reduce alcohol intake and reward. Both cytokines are endogenous inhibitors of receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase (RPTP) β/ζ (a.k.a. PTPRZ1). Recently, a new compound named MY10 was designed with the aim of mimicking the activity of PTN and MK. MY10 has already shown promising results regulating alcohol‐related behaviors in mice.MethodsWe have now tested the effects of MY10 on alcohol operant self‐administration and Drinking In the Dark‐Multiple Scheduled Access (DID‐MSA) paradigms in rats. Gene expression of relevant genes in the PTN/MK signaling pathway in the PFC was analyzed by real‐time PCR.ResultsMY10, at the highest dose tested (100 mg/kg), reduced alcohol consumption in the alcohol operant self‐administration paradigm (p = 0.040). In the DID‐MSA paradigm, rats drank significantly less alcohol (p = 0.019) and showed a significant decrease in alcohol preference (p = 0.002). We observed that the longer the exposure to alcohol, the greater the suppressing effects of MY10 on alcohol consumption. It was demonstrated that the effects of MY10 were specific to alcohol since saccharin intake was not affected by MY10 (p = 0.804). MY10 prevented the alcohol‐induced down‐regulation of Ptprz1 (p = 0.004) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (Alk; p = 0.013) expression.ConclusionsOur results support and provide further evidence regarding the efficacy of MY10 on alcohol‐related behaviors and suggest the consideration of the blockade of RPTPβ/ζ as a target for reducing excessive alcohol consumption.
Crocodylian conservation and evolution insights from an anatomical and histological examination of phalli from male false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii)
Authors: Moore Brandon C. , Fitri Wan‐Nor , Augustine Lauren 
Published: March 2020

AbstractAs wild population threats for the endangered false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii) persist, conservation breeding programs, including developing semen collection techniques for subsequent artificial insemination, are becoming important species conservation measures. Developing reproductive biology understanding of a species is important to developing best practices and hopefully maximizing reproductive successes. However, information on crocodylians functional copulatory anatomy in general is lacking. To that end, zoological facilities and conservation centres have the exceptional opportunity to contribute new understandings that may not otherwise be attainable regarding crocodylian reproductive anatomy, particularly during routine physical examinations or post‐mortem necropsies. Therefore, to better understand T. schlegelii reproductive biology, to contribute knowledge in support of zoo breeding conservation efforts and to contribute to what is known overall about crocodylian reproduction, we investigated phallic anatomy of adult male Tomistoma from two zoological populations, the St. Louis Zoo, USA and Sungai Dusun Wildlife Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Here, we present the gross anatomical features and histological analysis of underlying tissue‐level details in pursuit of a better understanding of copulatory function and associated gamete transfer mechanisms. While much of the overall Tomistoma phallic morphology and inferred function corresponds to that of other crocodylian species and speaks to conserved aspects of functional anatomy across taxa, species‐specific aspects of glans and glans tip morphology are also identified. These novelties are discussed in a general function and overall broader evolutionary contexts.
Retinal microvascular attenuation in mental cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease by optical coherence tomography angiography
Authors: Wu Jing , Zhang Xiaojun , Azhati Guliqiwaer , Li Tingting , Xu Guoxing , Liu Fang 
Published: March 2020

AbstractPurposeTo explore regional variation of the macular microvasculature in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), also to detect the association between retinal macular microvascular parameters and the progress of preclinical AD.MethodsProspective study of healthy controls, patients with MCI and patients with AD by using Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT‐A). We quantified foveal avascular zone (FAZ) areas, densities of the superficial retinal capillary plexuses (SRCP) and deep retinal capillary plexuses (DRCP). The SRCP and DRCP were divided into inner (3 mm) and external (6 mm) annular rings, each containing four quadrants (SI, II, TI, NI, SE, IE, TE and NE). The data were analysed statistically by using SPSS 22 software.ResultsTotally, 60 subjects including 21 HC (33 eyes), 21 patients with MCI (32 eyes) and 18 AD patients (28 eyes) were recruited. The microvascular densities of DRCP at all quadrants of the parafovea and perifovea were significantly lower in AD patients compared to HC group (p < 0.05). Compared to the HCs, MCI patients showed significant microvascular loss in most sectors of the parafovea and the SE sector of the DRCP (p < 0.05), but not in the parafovea (p = 0.829) or perifovea (p = 0.824) of the SRCP. No significant difference was found in microvascular density of SRCP among the groups, except at SI between the AD and HC groups (p = 0.048).ConclusionOur findings demonstrated the macular microvascular attenuation in MCI and AD patients. Both AD and MCI patients showed retinal microvascular density loss, which is more significant in the deep retinal capillary plexuses. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT‐A) can be used to identify early microvascular abnormalities in AD and MCI. Quantified microvascular density in the DRCP might serve as potential biomarkers of early sign of AD then contribute to forestall the progression of preclinical AD.
Comparison studies of the chemical, physical, technological, and microbiological characteristics of the European roe deer, boar, red deer, and beaver hunted wild game meat
Authors: Klupsaite Dovile , Buckiuniene Vilija , Sidlauskiene Sonata , Lele Vita , Sakiene Vytaute , Zavistanaviciute Paulina , Klementaviciute Jolita , Viskontaite Ema , Bartkiene Elena 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe aim of this research was to perform comparison studies of the chemical, physical, technological, and microbiological characteristics, including biogenic amines (BAs) and volatile compounds (VC), of the European roe deer (RDM), boar (BoM), red deer (ReDM), and beaver (BM) hunted wild game meat (HWGM). The outcome of this study showed a significant effect (p < .05) of animal species on protein content, pH, drip loss, shear force, cooking loss, color coordinates, total count of enterobacteria, and most of the VC. ReDM had the highest protein content (23.15%), cooking loss, L* and b* values. The lowest protein and cholesterol content and L* value and the highest pH, shear force, drip loss, and fat content were established in BM having the highest content of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) (64.12% from total FA). The total UFA content in ReDM and BM was almost twofold higher, compared with saturated FA. Small amounts of main BAs (<7.8 mg/kg) were found in ReDM and BM, while a higher content of putrescine in RDM and BoM was established. The main VCs in HWGM were acetoin, pelargonic, and acetic acid. These findings provide a valuable data about the HWGM quality characteristics and might aid food manufacturers to improve and enhance the processing of the HWGM.