bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A genetic screen to identify factors affected by undecaprenyl phosphate recycling uncovers novel connections to morphogenesis inEscherichia coli
Authors: Jorgenson Matthew A. , Bryant Joseph C. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractUndecaprenyl phosphate (Und-P) is an essential lipid carrier that ferries cell wall intermediates across the cytoplasmic membrane in bacteria. Und-P is generated by dephosphorylating undecaprenyl diphosphate (Und-PP). InEscherichia coli, BacA, PgpB, YbjG, and LpxT dephosphorylate Und-PP and are conditionally essential. To identify vulnerabilities that arise when Und-P metabolism is defective, we developed a genetic screen for synthetic mutations in combination with ΔybjGΔlpxTΔbacA. The screen uncovered system-wide connections, including novel connections to cell division, DNA replication and repair, signal transduction, and glutathione metabolism. Further analysis revealed several new morphogenes; loss of one of these,qseC, caused cells to enlarge and lyse. QseC is the sensor kinase component of the QseBC two-component system. In the absence of QseC, the QseB response regulator is overactivated by PmrB cross-phosphorylation. Here, we show that deletingqseBcompletely reverses the shape defect of ΔqseCcells, as does overexpressingrprA(a small RNA). Surprisingly, deletingpmrBonly partially suppressedqseC-related shape defects. Thus, QseB is activated by multiple factors in the absence of QseC and functions ascribed to QseBC may be related to cell wall defects. Altogether, our findings provide a framework for identifying new determinants of cell integrity that could be targeted in future therapies.
Understanding the Human Brain using Brain Organoids and a Structure-Function Theory
Authors: Silva Gabriel A. , Muotri Alysson R. , White Christopher 
Published: July 2020

AbstractA basic neurobiology-clinical trial paradigm motivates our use of constrained mathematical models and analysis of personalized human-derived brain organoids toward predicting clinical outcomes and safely developing new therapeutics. Physical constraints imposed on the brain can guide the analyses an interpretation of experimental data and the construction of mathematical models that attempt to make sense of how the brain works and how cognitive functions emerge. Development of these mathematical models for human-derived brain organoids offer an opportunity for testing new hypotheses about the human brain. When it comes to testing ideas about the brain that require a careful balance between experimental accessibility, manipulation, and complexity, in order to connect neurobiological details with higher level cognitive properties and clinical considerations, we argue that fundamental structure-function constraints applied to models of brain organoids offer a path forward. Moreover, we show these constraints appear in canonical and novel math models of neural activity and learning, and we make the case that constraint-based modeling and use of representations can bridge to machine learning for powerful mutual benefit.
Nonlinear effects of intrinsic dynamics on temporal encoding in a model of avian auditory cortex
Authors: Fehrman Christof , Robbins Tyler D , Meliza C Daniel 
Published: July 2020

AbstractNeurons exhibit diverse intrinsic dynamics, which govern how they integrate synaptic inputs to produce spikes. Intrinsic dynamics are often plastic during development and learning, but the effects of these changes on stimulus encoding properties are not well known. To examine this relationship, we simulated auditory responses to zebra finch song using a linear-dynamical cascade model, which combines a linear spectrotemporal receptive field with a dynamical, conductance-based neuron model, then used generalized linear models to estimate encoding properties from the resulting spike trains. We focused on the effects of a low-threshold potassium current (KLT) that is present in a subset of cells in the zebra finch caudal mesopallium and is affected by early auditory experience. We found that KLTaffects both spike adaptation and the temporal filtering properties of the receptive field. The direction of the effects depended on the temporal modulation tuning of the linear (input) stage of the cascade model, indicating a strongly nonlinear relationship. These results suggest that small changes in intrinsic dynamics in tandem with differences in synaptic connectivity can have dramatic effects on the tuning of auditory neurons.Author summaryExperience-dependent developmental plasticity involves changes not only to synaptic connections, but to voltage-gated currents as well. Using biophysical models, it is straightforward to predict the effects of this intrinsic plasticity on the firing patterns of individual neurons, but it remains difficult to understand the consequences for sensory coding. We investigated this in the context of the zebra finch auditory cortex, where early exposure to a complex acoustic environment causes increased expression of a low-threshold potassium current. We simulated responses to song using a detailed biophysical model and then characterized encoding properties using generalized linear models. This analysis revealed that this potassium current has strong, nonlinear effects on how the model encodes the song’s temporal structure, and that the sign of these effects depend on the temporal tuning of the synaptic inputs. This nonlinearity gives intrinsic plasticity broad scope as a mechanism for developmental learning in the auditory system.
Oscillation-based connectivity architecture is dominated by an intrinsic spatial organization, not cognitive state or frequency
Authors: Mostame Parham , Sadaghiani Sepideh 
Published: July 2020

AbstractFunctional connectivity (FC) of neural oscillations (~1-150Hz) is thought to facilitate neural information exchange across brain areas by forming malleable neural ensembles in the service of cognitive processes. However, neural oscillations and their FC are not restricted to certain cognitive demands and continuously unfold in all cognitive states. To what degree is the spatial organization of oscillation-based FC affected by cognitive state or governed by an intrinsic architecture? And what is the impact of oscillation frequency and FC mode (phase-versus amplitude coupling)? Using ECoG recordings of 18 presurgical patients, we quantified the state-dependency of oscillation-based FC in five canonical frequency bands and across an array of 6 task states. For both phase- and amplitude coupling, static FC analysis revealed a spatially largely state-invariant (i.e. intrinsic) component in all frequency bands. Further, the observed intrinsic FC pattern was spatially similar across all frequency bands. However, temporally independent FC dynamics in each frequency band allow for frequency-specific malleability in information exchange. In conclusion, the spatial organization of oscillation-based FC is largely stable over cognitive states, i.e. primarily intrinsic in nature, and shared across frequency bands. The state-invariance is in line with prior findings at the other temporal extreme of brain activity, the infraslow range (~<0.1Hz) observed in fMRI. Our observations have implications for conceptual frameworks of oscillation-based FC and the analysis of task-related FC changes.
Micro-foundations of small business internationalization: introduction to the Special Section
Authors: Vanderstraeten Johanna , Loots Ellen , Hamelin Anaïs , van Witteloostuijn Arjen 
Published: July 2020

PurposeWe introduce and summarize the selected papers of the Special Section on the “Micro-Foundations of Small Business Internationalization and briefly summarize the state-of-the-art of this literature stream.Design/methodology/approachWe briefly summarize the state-of-the-art of the literature regarding the micro-foundations of small business internationalization. Then, we summarize the selected papers of the Special Section, highlighting their main contributions. We end with suggesting future research avenues.FindingsWe move beyond the usual suspects such as gender, education and experience to bring together internationalization studies that open up the individual lens to small business internationalization. To do so, we selected papers examining deeper-level behavioural and psychological constructs impacting the internationalization process, going from internationalization intention to internationalization behaviour and eventually leading to internationalization performance.Originality/valueWe stress the importance of the entrepreneur as a person to better understand small business internationalization. We address the current lack of attention attributed to psychological and behavioural drivers (e.g. motives, attitudes, ambitions and aspirations) throughout the internationalization process, and we urge future researchers to further develop this research stream.
The awareness and application of multimedia tools for information literacy instruction at an African university
Authors: Mashiyane Dina Mokgadi , Bangani Siviwe , Van Deventer Kirchner 
Published: July 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine academic librarians’ awareness and application of multimedia content for information literacy (IL) instruction at the North-West University in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThis study used both the survey and focus group interviews to gather data from the university's faculty librarians.FindingsThe results of this study show that despite the majority of librarians being aware of the existence and benefits of multimedia tools that can complement their traditional instructional practices, very few actually apply the tools for IL instructional practices. Among the multimedia tools that the librarians often use for the IL instruction, LibGuides were the most favourable because of their ease of use. The main reasons for not using the multimedia tools cited by librarians include the lack of infrastructure and insufficient skills.Practical implicationsThis study recommends the reskilling of librarians by training them in the use of multimedia tools for IL instruction.Social implicationsThe paper sheds light on the current strategies being implemented by faculty librarians in providing IL using multimedia tools. It also outlines the importance of multimedia tools in enhancing eLearning endeavours. Multimedia skills for librarians can also be essential during times of crisis such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak.Originality/valueThis study is a welcome contribution to the role of ICTs in enhancing library activities during the 4IR. The voice of the librarians in this area has also been minimally represented. This study, therefore, seeks to address these gaps in published scholarly literature.
Nature-inspired hybrid deep learning for race detection by face shape features
Authors: Sukumaran Asha , Brindha Thomas 
Published: July 2020

PurposeThe humans are gifted with the potential of recognizing others by their uniqueness, in addition with more other demographic characteristics such as ethnicity (or race), gender and age, respectively. Over the decades, a vast count of researchers had undergone in the field of psychological, biological and cognitive sciences to explore how the human brain characterizes, perceives and memorizes faces. Moreover, certain computational advancements have been developed to accomplish several insights into this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper intends to propose a new race detection model using face shape features. The proposed model includes two key phases, namely. (a) feature extraction (b) detection. The feature extraction is the initial stage, where the face color and shape based features get mined. Specifically, maximally stable extremal regions (MSER) and speeded-up robust transform (SURF) are extracted under shape features and dense color feature are extracted as color feature. Since, the extracted features are huge in dimensions; they are alleviated under principle component analysis (PCA) approach, which is the strongest model for solving “curse of dimensionality”. Then, the dimensional reduced features are subjected to deep belief neural network (DBN), where the race gets detected. Further, to make the proposed framework more effective with respect to prediction, the weight of DBN is fine tuned with a new hybrid algorithm referred as lion mutated and updated dragon algorithm (LMUDA), which is the conceptual hybridization of lion algorithm (LA) and dragonfly algorithm (DA).FindingsThe performance of proposed work is compared over other state-of-the-art models in terms of accuracy and error performance. Moreover, LMUDA attains high accuracy at 100th iteration with 90% of training, which is 11.1, 8.8, 5.5 and 3.3% better than the performance when learning percentage (LP) = 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80%, respectively. More particularly, the performance of proposed DBN + LMUDA is 22.2, 12.5 and 33.3% better than the traditional classifiers DCNN, DBN and LDA, respectively.Originality/valueThis paper achieves the objective detecting the human races from the faces. Particularly, MSER feature and SURF features are extracted under shape features and dense color feature are extracted as color feature. As a novelty, to make the race detection more accurate, the weight of DBN is fine tuned with a new hybrid algorithm referred as LMUDA, which is the conceptual hybridization of LA and DA, respectively.
Work–life conflict and burnout among working women: a mediated moderated model of support and resilience
Authors: Gupta Pragya , Srivastava Shalini 
Published: July 2020

PurposeUsing job demand-control-support (JDCS) model as its foundation, the purpose of this paper is to examine the important, but under-explored, relationship between perceptions of work–life conflict and burnout being mediated and moderated by support systems and resilience among female employees in India.Design/methodology/approachA total of 270 female employees belonging to various sectors such as Information Technology/ Information Technology enabled services, retail, bank and hospitality located in Northern India were surveyed. The study used stratified sampling method for good coverage from different departments of the organizations. The structural equation method was used to test the direct effect, and for the mediation effects, they were tested by the method of indirect effects (Preacher and Hayes, 2004).FindingsThe results supported the hypothesized model that there exists a significant and positive relationship of work–life conflict with burnout, and work–life conflict has a negative association with both family support and organizational support. The findings also supported the hypothesis that family support and organizational support mediate the relationship of work–life conflict and burnout. This analysis expectedly confirmed that resilience not only displayed a negative relationship with burnout but also exhibited a moderated relationship with organizational and family support.Research limitations/implicationsThe research design was co-relational and cross-sectional, so inferring causality is not possible. Future research must incorporate a longitudinal design to investigate the causal effects of work–life conflict on employees’ experiences of burnout and whether it gets buffered by availability of workplace support and family support.Practical implicationsIt is imperative for the organizations to take substantial steps to reduce job burden and deadline pressure on the female employees, nurture decision autonomy at all levels of hierarchy and encourage amiable relationships of employees with their supervisors and peers based on mutual trust and support.Originality/valueAlthough most of the research studies on work–life conflict have been unidirectional, i.e. investigating spillover of work demands on to family domains (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Byrne and Barling, 2017), these conflicts have been found to be bidirectional, meaning thereby that family issues do spill over into work realm (Makela and Suutari, 2011). This study examines both directions of work–life conflict.
Application of smart electronic systems, firm characteristics and efficient energy consumption – a case of public universities in Uganda
Authors: Isingoma-Wakaisuka Juliet , Ibanda Charles Kalvin Kikwanga , Naluwooza Ruqqaiya , Namaganda Christine 
Published: July 2020

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between the application of smart electronic systems, firm characteristics and efficient energy consumption: a case of public universities in Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted both quantitative and qualitative approach as well as descriptive cross-sectional survey design tantamounting to an experimental-observation approach. A sample of four public academic universities were explored using primary data. A semi-structured questionnaire together with an evaluation form and a tested experimental kit (from one of the leading electronics centres in Uganda) was used to examine the consumption rates of different electronic appliances of less than 30 Amps. Further, a Pearson product moment correlation (r) analysis was also used to determine the direction of a relationship among the variables together with a linear relationship (regression) to predict a linear association of one or more variables. Recommendations were also given.FindingsSmart electronic systems make a significant determining factor to both firm characteristics (age, number of students, administrative staff and support staff) as well as efficient energy consumption. Nonetheless, there is no significant difference of efficient energy consumption as far as firm characteristics are concerned.Research limitations/implicationsResults support the contributions of the theory of technology and acceptance model by affirming that a number of factors influence the usefulness and ease of use of the smart electronic systems, which in turn influence energy consumption.Practical implicationsUniversities' management should endeavour to install smart electronic systems. But still, government should try to lower taxes on smart electronic systems and genuine agents should be named for easy and affordable access of the users, universities inclusive.Originality/valueThe study contributes towards a theoretical position by affirming the usefulness of technology acceptance model for efficient energy consumption in public universities.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2019-0083
Principals' systems thinking attribute: exploring a principal–middle leader relational demography perspective
Authors: Benoliel Pascale , Shaked Haim , Nadav Nehama , Schechter Chen 
Published: July 2020

PurposeRelying on information processing and attribution theories, which relate to the formation of leadership perceptions and attributes, the current study seeks to examine the relationship between demographic variables and principals' systems thinking (PST) in an integrated model. The present study purpose was threefold: first, the study seeks to examine whether attributions middle leaders make about PST may show substantial and systematic variance in a management team. Second, the study seeks to investigate the influence of principal–middle leaders’ relational demography variables (gender, education and tenure) (dis)similarity on middle leaders’ PST attribute. Finally, the study seeks to explore the moderating role of duration of principal- principal–middle leader acquaintance in the relationship of demographic (dis)similarity to PST.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 305 dyads (middle leaders and their principals) from 101 schools. MANOVA analysis and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis.FindingsFindings showed that it is both appropriate and important to examine group-level effects when studying PST effects. Also, PST levels were higher in gender-similar relationships than in gender-dissimilar ones. Finally, duration of acquaintance was found to moderate the relationship between principal–middle leaders’ gender (dis)similarity and PST appraisal.Originality/valueFocusing on principal–middle leader relationships, which are explicitly relational, with a consideration for level relationships may potentially highlight the need to consider multiple levels of analysis in order to understand how PST attribution occurs. This focus can help us to capture the core of PST social dynamics among the dyad, as well as highlighting the distinction, if any, between in-groups and out-groups. Acknowledging that school faculty are motivated by their interpersonal relationships with their principals and how such relationships are contingent upon demography (dis)similarity and the duration of acquaintance between dyads may help to broaden the understanding regarding potential antecedents of middle leaders' PST attribution and its implication for school organizations.
Corporate governance and earnings forecast accuracy in IPO prospectuses: an empirical analysis
Authors: Ben Ahmed Faten , Salhi Bassem , Jarboui Anis 
Published: July 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to present an extension to the research area dealing with the Tunisia initial public offering (IPO) associated earnings management forecasts, by an examination of the corporate governance mechanisms and earnings forecast accuracy relating impacts.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a multiple regression technique (FGLS) to estimate the effect of corporate governance structures and audit quality on earnings forecast accuracy. A sample of 33 IPO companies (165 firm-year observations) collected over the period ranging between 2011 and 2015 was applied.FindingsThe finding of this study reveals that the companies displaying a respectable audit committee size have a significant level of earnings forecast accuracy. Similarly, the accuracy level associated with IPO earnings forecasts is positively influenced by the use of the brand-name auditor.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a small sample from a single jurisdiction and limited time period. In fact, the findings examine how financial statements are measured and reported and assess additional regulation to protect investors and understand as well as manage earnings forecast accuracy in IPO prospectuses.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study provide some implications for regulators, financial analysts, investors and users of financial statements, particularly who are investigating in potentially IPO firms. This study has an implication for market regulators who suggest that a requirement to publish very detailed forecast information would improve market efficiency by reducing the forecast error.Originality/valuePrevious studies on this subject carried out in other countries with a regulatory framework differ from that of Tunisia, which obligatorily obliges the publication of the forecasts in the prospectus of IPO and capital increase. This is one of the most important studies that simultaneously tests the impacts of corporate governance and audit quality on earnings forecast accuracy in an emerging market, and the results of this study may give strength to Tunisian as well as other developing countries.