bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Glycocalyx crowding with synthetic mucin mimetics strengthens interactions between soluble and virus-associated lectins and cell surface glycan receptors
Authors: Honigfort Daniel J. , Altman Meghan O. , Gagneux Pascal , Godula Kamil 
Published: May 2021

AbstractMembrane-associated mucins protect epithelial cell surfaces against pathogenic threats by serving as non-productive decoys that capture infectious agents and clear them from the cell surface and by erecting a physical barrier that restricts their access to target receptors on host cells. However, the mechanisms through which mucins function are still poorly defined due to a limited repertoire of tools available for tailoring their structure and composition in living cells with molecular precision. Using synthetic glycopolymer mimetics of mucins, we modeled the mucosal glycocalyx on red blood cells (RBC) and evaluated its influence on lectin (SNA) and virus (H1N1) adhesion to endogenous sialic acid receptors. The glycocalyx inhibited the rate of SNA and H1N1 adhesion in a size- and density-dependent manner, consistent with current view of the mucins as providing a protective shield against pathogens. Counterintuitively, increasing density of the mucin mimetics enhanced the retention of bound lectins and viruses. Careful characterization of SNA behavior at the RBC surface using a range of biophysical and imaging techniques revealed lectin-induced crowding and reorganization of the glycocalyx with concomitant enhancement in lectin clustering, presumably through the formation of a more extensive glycan receptor patch at the cell surface. Our findings indicate that glycan-targeting pathogens may exploit the biophysical and biomechanical properties of mucins to overcome the mucosal glycocalyx barrier.SignificanceLike other animal hosts, humans are constantly challenged by pathogens. This has led to an evolution of physical barriers coating all mucosal tissues, which are most vulnerable to infection. An important part of this defense is a dense brush of large proteins, called mucins, which are heavily decorated with sugars and keep pathogens at bay. Deciphering how pathogens overcome the mucin barrier is necessary to understand early stages of infection and to develop more effective treatments. By artificially installing the mucin-like shield on the surfaces of cells using synthetic sugar-bearing polymers, we have discovered a new physical mechanism by which proteins and viruses can exploit this barrier to more strongly adhere to their targets.
Quantitative comparison ofin vitro and in vivoembryogenesis at a single cell resolution
Authors: Tan Yuqi , Spangler Abby , Farid Michael , Peng Da , Cahan Patrick 
Published: May 2021

AbstractStem cell engineering is a powerful platform to address numerous challenges in regenerative medicine and developmental biology. Typically, engineered populations are derived by exposing pluripotent stem cells to a series of signaling cues meant to recapitulate developmental milestones, such as the induction of the primitive streak. Morphologic, genetic, transcriptomic, and functional differences between fully differentiated in vivo and engineered populations have long been recognized. However, the correspondence between engineered and native embryonic progenitors has been relatively less well characterized, largely due to their transient and highly heterogenous nature, and therefore many studies have relied on expression of a few canonical markers to ensure that their cells are on the correct path. To address this challenge, we first generated anin vivogastrulation mouse single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) reference data set and used it to train a collection of computational tools for comparing cell types, states, regulators, and trajectories across studies. Then we used these tools to evaluate a commonly used protocol designed to promote mesoderm derivation, as well as four previously published biomimetic protocols. Finally, we diversified our toolkits to reach a broader scientific community by implementing our primary analysis tool in Python and as an interactive web application.
Visualization of trigeminal ganglion sensory neuronal signaling regulated by Cdk5
Authors: Hu Minghan , Doyle Andrew , Yamada Kenneth M. , Kulkarni Ashok B. 
Published: May 2021

SummaryThe mechanisms underlying facial and oral pain are still incompletely understood, posing major therapeutic challenges. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a key neuronal kinase involved in pain signaling. However, the regulatory roles of Cdk5 in orofacial pain signaling and the possibility of therapeutic intervention at the level of mouse trigeminal ganglion primary neurons remain elusive. In this study, we used optimized intravital imaging to directly compare trigeminal neuronal activities after mechanical, thermal, and chemical stimulation. We then tested whether facial inflammatory pain in mice could be alleviated by the Cdk5 inhibitor peptide TFP5. We demonstrated regulation of total Ca2+intensities by Cdk5 activity using transgenic and knockout mouse models. In mice with orofacial inflammation, application of TFP5 specifically decreased total Ca2+intensities in response to noxious stimuli. It also alleviated inflammation-induced allodynia by inhibiting activation of trigeminal peripheral sensory neurons. Cdk5 inhibitors may provide promising non-opioid candidates for pain treatment.
ATRX promotes heterochromatin formation to protect cells from G-quadruplex DNA-mediated stress
Authors: Teng Yu-Ching , Sundaresan Aishwarya , O’Hara Ryan , Gant Vincent U. , Li Minhua , Martire Sara , Warshaw Jane N. , Basu Amrita , Banaszynski Laura A. 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACTATRX is a tumor suppressor that has been associated with protection from DNA replication stress, purportedly through resolution of difficult-to-replicate G-quadruplex (G4) DNA structures. While several studies demonstrate that loss of ATRX sensitizes cells to chemical stabilizers of G4 structures, the molecular function of ATRX at G4 regions during replication remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that ATRX associates with the MCM replication complex and that loss of ATRX leads to G4 structure accumulation at newly synthesized DNA. We show that both the helicase domain of ATRX and its H3.3 chaperone function are required to protect cells from G4-induced replicative stress. Furthermore, these activities are upstream of heterochromatin formation mediated by the histone methyltransferase, ESET, which is the critical molecular event that protects cells from G4-mediated stress. In support, tumors carrying mutations in either ATRX or ESET show increased mutation burden at G4-enriched DNA sequences. Overall, our study provides new insights into mechanisms by which ATRX promotes genome stability with important implications for understanding impacts of its loss on human disease.
Corrosion inhibition of AA3003 aluminum alloy by self-assembled layers of myristic acid
Authors: Puc-Oxté María V. , Pech-Canul Máximo A. 
Published: May 2021

PurposeThis paper aims to prepare highly hydrophobic films on aluminum AA3003 using myristic acid (MA) and evaluate its corrosion protection efficiency in a low-chloride solution.Design/methodology/approachThe aluminum surface was initially treated with boiling water to develop a porous nanostructure, and then surface modification was carried out in ethanolic solutions with different concentrations of MA. The surface morphology, wetting behavior and film composition were first characterized, and then, the corrosion behavior was evaluated with electrochemical techniques.FindingsThe best hydrophobicity and corrosion resistance were obtained with 50 mM of MA. For such concentration, a water contact angle of 140° and protective efficiency of 96% were achieved. A multilayer structure was revealed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.Originality/valueThe results of this work shed light on the anticorrosion performance of fatty acid self-assembled multilayers on the surface of Al–Mn alloys.
Social performance and social media activity in times of pandemic: evidence from COVID-19-related Twitter activity
Authors: Baboukardos Diogenis , Gaia Silvia , She Chaoyuan 
Published: May 2021

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine corporate disclosure of stakeholder-oriented actions on Twitter in response to COVID-19 during the pandemic outbreak and to empirically investigate whetherfirms’ social performance and their financial resilience impact on their engagement in, and communication of, stakeholder-oriented COVID-19 actions.

Design/methodology/approach
This study scrapes a sample of tweets communicated by major global listed firms between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020 and identifies disclosures that mention firm engagement in stakeholder-oriented actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between firms’ social performance and the number of tweets they post about stakeholder-oriented COVID-19 actions. Further, firms’ financial resilience is examined as a moderating factor of this relationship.

Findings
The results show that firms with better social performance are more likely to engage in and, hence, communicate stakeholder-oriented actions for the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter. Moreover, it is evident that firms with better social performance communicate more stakeholder-oriented actions only when they belong to industries that have not been severely impacted by the pandemic.

Originality/value
This study has two important contributions. First, this study provides contemporary evidence of corporate disclosure of firms and their stakeholder-oriented actions on Twitter in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the initial outbreak period. Second, it reveals insights into what characteristics drive firms to engage in costly corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, and promote them on social media, in a period characterized by high economic uncertainty.
Public health awareness: knowledge, attitude and behaviors of the public on health risks during COVID-19 pandemic in sultanate of Oman
Authors: Abdel Fattah Fadi Abdel Muniem , Dahleez Khalid Abed , Mohamed Abdul Hakim H.M. , Okour Mohammad Khaleel , AL Alawi Abrar Mohammed Mubarak 
Published: May 2021

Purpose
This study aims to measure the level of public awareness about the threat of the emerging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic among the Omani population. It also aims to investigate the mediating effect of the Omanis’ attitudes and behaviors with underlying conditions of COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data via an online survey of Omani citizens and residents from various geographic areas in Oman, 305 responses were received. SPSS and partial least square-structural equation modeling were used for data analysis.

Findings
The study revealed that public awareness regarding the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly influenced by people’s perceived risk, information source and health-related knowledge. Further, preventive behavior during the disease spread has a significant direct and indirect impact on their awareness. However, an insignificant mediation effect of public attitude was found between the source of information and public awareness.

Research limitations/implications
This study is limited by the scarcity of related literature in the Omani context. It is recommended that future research complete an in-depth study of public awareness regarding COVID-19, using other constructs and/or other data collection techniques.

Practical implications
This research will provide governmental health authorities and policymakers with a guideline to establish more efficient pandemic containment strategies to control public behavior toward the COVID-19 pandemic and curb viral prevalence.

Social implications
This research will help in improving prevention measures against COVID-19 are recommended to be more educated through a more effective mechanism to raise public attitude regarding pandemic prevalence positively.

Originality/value
The originality of this research can be drawn from key findings that indicate that people overall gained knowledge about how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the accuracy of information significantly impacts public awareness.
Do vulnerability mitigation strategies influence firm performance: the mediating role of supply chain risk
Authors: Ali Zulqurnain , Gongbing Bi , Mehreen Aqsa 
Published: May 2021

PurposeCurrently, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing different types of risk, and mitigating these risks is the primary concern for the emerging firms. This study intends to investigate “do vulnerability mitigation strategies (VMSs) predict firm performance (FP)”? Moreover, it explores the mediation mechanism of supply chain risk (SCR) in the association between VMSs and FP.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey method, the authors recruited 355 textile SME entrepreneurs and tested their proposed model and hypotheses in AMOS.FindingsThe findings depict that all VMSs significantly minimize SCR, which subsequently enhances FP. Moreover, he atudy also identifies supply chain finance (SCF), a new VMS in the context of textile SMEs.Practical implicationsThe findings help SME officials to minimize SCR through proper implementation of VMSs in the firm's daily operations. SCF is strongly recommended to SMEs because it optimizes working capital and minimizes the risk of default.Social implicationsThis research supports SMEs to overcome vulnerabilities using VMSs and provide sustainable employment to individuals in the society.Originality/valueThis study reviews four VMSs and how these strategies simultaneously mitigate SCR and enhance SME performance in the emerging market context, which was skipped in the literature of supply chain management. Moreover, the study identifies SCF as a significant risk mitigation strategy for SMEs.
A knowledge organization framework for influencing tourism-centered place-making
Authors: Ghosh Shiv Shakti , Chatterjee Sunil Kumar 
Published: May 2021

PurposeThis study demonstrates the synthesis of a knowledge organization framework from tourist reviews and an ontological model with its implementation in graph database, which is based on this framework. The aim is to influence place-making outcomes at tourist destinations.Design/methodology/approachThe faceted classification approach has been used for generating and validating the framework based on online reviews about urban tourism parks. The framework was used to develop an ontology using Protégé ontology editor that was implemented using GraphDB.FindingsThree fundamental facet categories, namely Component, Aspect and Outcome, each consisting of several sub-facets, were synthesized from the analyses of the reviews. Besides helping in constructing the ontology, the analysis also helped in calculating an importance-score for the reviews that helped in ranked information retrieval.Research limitations/implicationsThe analyses of the reviews were done manually and may carry human bias. But it is robust as it is based on a canonical faceted methodology.Practical implicationsIt is envisaged that this study will help tourist destination planners in decision-making by easing the utilization of tourist generated reviews by the knowledge management systems they use. Opinions of tourists will be induced in destination planning thereby helping in the production of quality “places.”Originality/valueThe presented faceted framework aims to specifically aid knowledge organization pertaining to online reviews related to tourist destinations. The focus is on organizing knowledge to facilitate tourism development for better place-making outcomes, which is an important area of research though it has little contributions.
Fraudulent financial reporting motivations in emerging markets
Authors: Sallal Farqad , Bagherpour Velashani Mohammad Ali , Saei Mohammad Javad 
Published: May 2021

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study comparatively motivations for committing fraud in financial statements in two emerging markets including Iran and Iraq.

Design/methodology/approach
The research is a descriptive survey and statistical population consists of independent auditors. The field survey and questionnaire were used for data collection.

Findings
Findings can raise auditors’ awareness of management fraud motivations. It can help regulators and authorities in both countries as well as other emerging markets for establishing suitable rules and regulation.

Originality/value
This paper’s contribution was in identifying and comparing management’s motivations to commit financial reporting fraud in two emerging markets including Iraq and Iran.
The relevance of compliance audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements
Authors: Thottoli Mohammed Muneerali 
Published: May 2021

PurposeThis paper examines the relevance of compliance audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements with special reference to the case of companies registered in the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), Oman.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a direct measure of compliance prescribed and published in the annual report of Capital Market Authority (CMA) and its executive regulation from period 2011 to 2019.FindingsThe finding shows that there is a positive association with audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements that enrich companies to ensures adherence to regulatory guidelines of Oman.Practical implicationsThe key limitation of the study is that it depends on a transparency indicator from a secondary source. Further, this might encourage companies to appoint qualified compliance officer which will be a value addition for best practice of corporate governance (CG) of the organizations.Originality/valueThe evidence recommends that audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements is a significant factor that helps the company to enhance its financial performance and provides assurance to the government that the company follows applicable rules and regulations. It also recommends that the appointment of designated compliance officer assures adherence to companies’ regulatory guidelines of Oman. Besides, conducting research in audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements brings novelty in the literature in emerging countries. As per best knowledge of the researchers, there has been no empirical study (within the literature) observed, which inspires much encouragement to do this study.
Improvements to healthcare waste management at regional referral hospitals in Tanzania using the KAIZEN approach
Authors: Ishijima Hisahiro , Miyamoto Noriyuki , Masaule Fares , John Raynold 
Published: May 2021

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to see how the 5S-KAIZEN-TQM approach can contribute to improve the management of healthcare waste (HCW) in the regional level public hospitals in Tanzania.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed an explanatory case study framework and focused on improvement of HCW management by assessing the information obtained through the direct observation and systematic interviewing during the consultation visits and external hospital performance assessment (EHPA) and the self-administrated questionnaires as sources of evidence.FindingsBased on the observations, 100% adoption of the 5S approach was observed in 25 of 28 regional referral hospitals (RRHs). At these RRHs, segregation of HCW management has been improved by applying color codes and symbols for establishing self-explanatory system on proper segregation. In addition, seven out of 28 RRHs applied the KAIZEN process and reduced occurrences of improper waste segregation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has the following limitations in terms of the information. The data were collected through the direct observation. Moreover, areas for the implementation of the KAIZEN vary from hospital to hospital, and only 25% of RRHs completed the KAIZEN processes for improvement of HCW management. Caveats are, therefore, needed in extrapolating the study results to other settings. Despite these caveats, the findings will provide important insights for implementing the 5S-KAIZEN approach in Tanzania and other African countries for improvement of HCW management.Originality/valueThis is an original study to provide evidence about the usefulness of the 5S-KAIZEN-TQM approach for improving HCW management in a low-income country in Africa.
Evaluation of microhardness and wear properties of Al 6063 composite reinforced with yttrium oxide using stir casting process
Authors: Butola Ravi , Yuvaraj N. , Singh Ravi Pratap , Tyagi Lakshay , Khan Faim 
Published: May 2021

Purpose
This study aims to analyse the changes in mechanical and wear performance of aluminium alloy when yttrium oxide particles are incorporated. The microstructures are studied to analyse the change in the grain structures. Worn surfaces are observed via scanning electron microscope to study the wear mechanism in detail.

Design/methodology/approach
Stir casting is used to incorporate varying composition of yttrium particles, having an average particle size of 25 micrometer, in aluminium alloy 6063 matrix. Wear testing is carried out by DUCOM manufactured high temperature rotatory tribometer, and an indentation test is used for analysing the microhardness of the fabricated samples.

Findings
Microhardness of the material is increased with the increasing content of particulate addition. With the increasing content of reinforcement, more refined grains are produced. The load is transferred from the matrix to more rigid yttrium oxide particles. These factors contributed to escalated microhardness of the reinforced samples. Particulate addition enhanced the wear performance of the material; this might be attributed to increased microhardness and formation of an oxide layer.

Originality/value
Aluminium composites are finding wide applications in various industries, and there is always a requirement of material with enhanced tribological properties. Yttrium oxide particles exhibit improved mechanical properties, and their interaction with the aluminium matrix has not been studied much in the past. So, in this work, yttrium oxide incorporated aluminium matrix is studied.
Image recognition of COVID-19 using DarkCovidNet architecture based on convolutional neural network
Authors: Kumar Pankaj , Bajpai Bhavna , Gupta Deepak Omprakash , Jain Dinesh C. , Vimal S. 
Published: May 2021

Purpose
The purpose of this study/paper To focus on finding COVID-19 with the help of DarkCovidNet architecture on patient images.

Design/methodology/approach
We used machine learning techniques with convolutional neural network.

Findings
Detecting COVID-19 symptoms from patient CT scan images.

Originality/value
This paper contains a new architecture for detecting COVID-19 symptoms from patient computed tomography scan images.