bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exploring the Role of Microbiome in Susceptibility, Treatment Response and Outcome among Tuberculosis Patients from Pakistan; Study Protocol for a Prospective Cohort Study (Micro-STOP)
Authors: Shahzad Muhammad , Haq Zia Ul , Andrews Simon C 
Published: November 2021

AbstractIntroductionTuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a common infectious disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in low and middle-income countries. Successful treatment of the disease requires prolonged intake (6 – 8 months) of multiple antibiotics with potentially detrimental consequences on the composition and functional potential of the human microbiome. The protocol described in the current study aims to identify microbiome (oral and gut) signatures associated with TB pathogenesis, treatment response and, outcome in humans.Methods and analysisFour hundred and fifty, newly diagnosed TB patients from three district levels (Peshawar, Mardan, Swat) TB diagnosis and treatment centers will be recruited in this non-interventional, prospective cohort study and will be followed and monitored until treatment completion. Demographic and dietary intake data, anthropometric measurement and blood, stool and salivary rinse samples will be collected at baseline, day 15, month-2 and end of the treatment. Additionally, we will recruit age (± 3 years) and sex-matched healthy controls (n=30). Blood sampling will allow monitoring of the immune response during the treatment, while salivary rinse and fecal samples will allow monitoring of dynamic changes in oral and gut microbiome diversity. Within this prospective cohort study, a nested case-control study design will be conducted to assess perturbations in oral and gut microbiome diversity (microbial dysbiosis) and immune response and compare between the patients groups (treatment success vs failure).Ethics and disseminationThe study has received ethics approval from the Ethic Board of Khyber Medical University Peshawar, and administrative approval from Provincial TB Control Program of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study results will be presented in national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT04985994; pre-resultsStrengths and limitations of the studyProspective study design.Large sample size, several sampling time points, and samples taken before, during and after anti-tuberculosis treatment will ensure capture of an accurate picture of any emerging microbial dysbiosis and immune modulation; this will provide new understanding of how these two factors are mutually influenced and how they are impacted by treatment and outcome in TB patients.In addition to microbial signatures, collection of socio-demographic, anthropometric, nutrition and co-morbidities data will permit further subgroup analysis and meaningful results that will be shared with the scientific community.A potential weakness is that not all patients may be able to provide samples for all of the specified time points.Another weakness is the raised likelihood that some participants will withdraw since the study is carried out in resource poor communities
SHP2 promotes NETosis through ERK5 pathway and mediates the development of psoriasis
Authors: Ding Yan , Qu Jiao , Zhang Chenyang , Zhu Yuyu , Xu Qiang , Sun Yang 
Published: November 2021

AbstractPsoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease which infiltrated a large number of neutrophils among skin lesions. Here, we investigated the contribution of tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 in neutrophils, as well as it’s pathogenesis in psoriasis. We combined single-cell RNA sequencing with experimental verification to declare that SHP2 in neutrophils could promote the NETs formation through the ERK5 pathway, and resulted in the infiltration of inflammatory immune cells, which leads to psoriasis. Our study provides evidence for the role of SHP2 in NETosis in the progression of psoriasis, and SHP2 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of psoriasis.
Rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing and species identification for mixed infections
Authors: Kandavalli Vinodh , Karempudi Praneeth , Larsson Jimmy , Elf Johan 
Published: November 2021

AbstractAntimicrobial resistance is an increasing problem globally. Rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is urgently needed in the clinic to enable personalized prescription in high-resistance environments and limit the use of broad-spectrum drugs. Previously we have described a 30 min AST method based on imaging of individual bacterial cells. However, current phenotypic AST methods do not include species identification (ID), leaving time-consuming plating or culturing as the only available option when ID is needed to make the sensitivity call. Here we describe a method to perform phenotypic AST at the single-cell level in a microfluidic chip that allows subsequent genotyping by in situ FISH. By stratifying the phenotypic AST response on the species of individual cells, it is possible to determine the susceptibility profile for each species in a mixed infection sample in 1.5 h. In this proof-of-principle study, we demonstrate the operation with four antibiotics and a mixed sample with four species.
Corporate governance and financial performance of state-owned enterprises in Kenya
Authors: Abang’a Albert Ochien’g , Tauringana Venancio , Wang’ombe David , Achiro Laura Obwona 
Published: November 2021

PurposeThis paper aims to report the results of an investigation into the effect of aggregate and individual corporate governance factors on the financial performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Kenya.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses balanced panel data regression analysis on a sample of 45 SOEs in Kenya for a four-year period (2015–2018).FindingsThe panel data analysis results show that board meetings, board skill and gender diversity individual provisions of corporate governance are significantly and positively associated with capital budget realization ratio (CBRR). Moreover, the study finds that aggregate corporate governance disclosure index, board sub-committees, board size and independent non-executive directors are positive but insignificantly related to CBRR.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study is based on secondary data, other methods of knowledge inquiry such as interviews and questionnaires may provide additional insights on the effectiveness of corporate governance on financial performance.Practical implicationsOverall, the results imply that corporate governance influences the performance of SOEs in Kenya. The results suggest that Mwongozo Code of Corporate Governance provisions should be changed to increase the number of women representations on board and the number of directors with doctoral qualifications because of their positive impact on the financial performance of SOEs in Kenya. Also, policymakers with remit over SOEs should re-evaluate why other corporate governance appear not to have an impact with a view of making the necessary changes.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the dearth of literature on the efficacy of corporate governance on the financial performance of SOEs in developing countries.
Career indecision: an integrative review and research agenda
Authors: Bian Xinyi 
Published: November 2021

Purpose
The current review sought to bring light to the issue of an underexplored career phenomenon – career indecision. Career indecision is a significant developmental stage in one’s career life and has been a prominent topic in vocational psychology research in the past decades. However, it has received scant scholarly attention in the human resource development (HRD) field. Besides, the career indecision literature, in general, is lacking theoretical refinement and analytical review. The present study aims to stimulate HRD scholars’ interests by providing an introductory context for understanding the richness and potentialities of researching career indecision in the HRD area.

Design/methodology/approach
To address the gap, the author conducted an integrative review (Torraco, 2005, 2016) of 60 peer-reviewed articles and synthesized the existing knowledge of career indecision. More importantly, antecedent and outcome factors associated with career indecision were identified and analyzed.

Findings
A nomological network about career indecision was provided. Besides, the results of the integrative review revealed several omissions in the career indecision literature. Building upon that, implications for HRD research and practice are presented and discussed.

Originality/value
As an initial attempt to synthesize career indecision literature, this study sought to stimulate HRD professionals’ interest in examining this underexplored career phenomenon.
Non-mortgage loans in the Chinese residential real estate market
Authors: Liu Kerry 
Published: November 2021

Purpose
From January 2021, the potential flow of Chinese household non-mortgage loans, including business loans and short-term consumption loans to the residential real estate market, has attracted the attention of the regulatory authorities. This study aims to examine the effects of household non-mortgage loans on the Chinese residential real estate market.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on a monthly data set between July 2011 and December 2019, this study adopts a cointegration analysis.

Findings
This study finds that household non-mortgage loans do play a significant role in driving residential real estate prices in China.

Originality/value
While many studies have examined the Chinese real estate market and its linkage with the financial system and the economy, this study is the first of its kind in the academic literature that exclusively focusses on the role of non-mortgage loans in real estate prices, and makes an original contribution.
Enhanced RSA key encryption application for metering data in smart grid
Authors: Philips Anita , Jayaraj Jayakumar , F.T. Josh , P. Venkateshkumar 
Published: November 2021

Purpose
Digitizing of the electrical power grid promotes the advantages of efficient energy management alongside the possibilities of major vulnerabilities. A typical inadequacy that needs critical attention to ensure the seamless operation of the smart grid system remains in the data transmission between consumer premises smart devices and the utility centres. Many researches aim at establishing security protocols to ensure secure and efficient energy management resulting in perfect demand–supply balance.

Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authentication of the smart meter data has been proposed with enhanced Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) key encryption using an efficient way of generating large prime numbers. The trapdoor one-way function applied in the RSA algorithm makes it almost impossible for the reverse engineering attempts of cracking the key pair.

Findings
The algorithm for generating prime numbers has been tested both with the convention method and with the enhanced method of including a low-level primality test with a first few hundred primes. The combination of low-level and high-level primality tests shows an improvement in execution time of the algorithm.

Originality/value
There is a considerable improvement in the time complexities when using the combination method. This efficient generation of prime numbers can be successfully applied to the smart meter systems, thereby increasing the strength and speed of the key encryption.
Higher education amid COVID-19 pandemic: contributions from resilience, positive orientation and grit
Authors: Ghanizadeh Afsaneh 
Published: November 2021

PurposeThe major purpose of the present study is to investigate the contribution of academic resilience in accounting for two motivational and attitudinal constructs ? Grit and positive orientation and also probe the predictive power of all these constructs in academic achievement of university students in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19.Design/methodology/approach521 university students participated in an online survey. To measure academic resilience, a scale designed and validated by Kim and Kim (2016) comprising 26 items was employed. The scale contains five sub-factors: perceived happiness, empathy, sociability, persistence and self-regulation. Grit was assessed via an 8-item scale comprising two facets: perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI). It was designed by Duckworth and Gross (2014). Positive orientation was determined through positivity scale developed by Caprara et al. (2010), consisting of eight items.FindingsThe results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that resilience positively and significantly predicted both grit (β = 0.56, t = 6.41) and positive orientation (β = 0.54, t = 6.35). Resilience also predicted academic achievement directly (β = 0.71, t = 9.12) and indirectly via its impact on grit and positive orientation. It was also found that positive orientation and grit are positively and highly associated (β = 0.77, t = 9.28).Originality/valueThe pandemic COVID-19 brought about substantial changes in university students' education and their overall life style. Many university students around the globe experienced virtual education. Balancing personal and academic roles in these unprecedented conditions seems to be a tough challenge for every university student.
Shifting identities in the public sector: portraying the “new” public manager in the Italian setting
Authors: Spanò Rosanna , Tomo Andrea , Parker Lee D. 
Published: November 2021

Purpose
This paper aims to understand how training programs fostering discourses centred on individuals’ identity construction may turn resistance into a generative and enabling force to elicit more relationally and negotiated solutions of change.

Design/methodology/approach
The study used Foucault’s conceptualisation of “regimes of truth” to show how even potentially resistant public managers may generatively contribute to change processes if given the chance to restate the macro discourses of the hegemonic new public management movement at their own micro level. It relied upon an ethnographic approach based on verbal interviews, photo-elicitation, DiSC behavioural tests and observation of 29 Italian public managers participating in a training course.

Findings
The findings allow us to unveil how helping public managers to think about their self-identity in new ways enabled them to approach changing processes differently turning their resistance efforts into a generative force.

Originality/value
The paper offers a noteworthy contribution to the literature on public sector change by examining neglected issues relating to the identity of change agents and the implications of their multiple roles. It presents an alternative to the deterministic view of resistance as impeding or dysfunctionally shaping change under the new public management approach. This has important implications for both practice and policymaking.
Reporting of discontinued operations and dividend payout policy
Authors: Guragai Binod , Henke Trent , Young Glen 
Published: November 2021

Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship between the types of discontinued operations (i.e. income-increasing versus income-decreasing) and a firm’s dividend payout policy. The authors extend our analysis to examine whether equity investors react differently to dividend payout changes that are preceded by the reporting of different types of discontinued operations.

Design/methodology/approach
Ordinary least squares regressions are used to test the association between discontinued operations and dividend payouts. The investor response test uses cumulative abnormal return around the announcement of dividend payout changes.

Findings
The authors find that firms temporarily increase (decrease) their dividend payout in the quarter following the reporting of income-increasing (income-decreasing) discontinued operations. The authors further find that these results are stronger when the magnitude of the income increase or income decrease is larger and when firms report disposal gains or losses. Although prior literature finds evidence that dividend increases are associated with a significant positive market reaction, the results show that investors do not react positively to dividend increases that are preceded by reporting income-increasing discontinued operations.

Originality/value
This study adds to the literature on the effects of financial reporting (i.e. the types of discontinued operations) on a firm’s payout policy (i.e. dividend payout). The authors also add to the literature that examines investors’ perceptions of a firm’s payout changes when such changes are transitory in nature.
Long‐term progression of inbreeding depression in a Mediterranean ornithophilous shrub
Authors: Valtueña Francisco Javier , Rodríguez‐Riaño Tomás , Pérez‐Bote José Luis , López Josefa , Ortega‐Olivencia Ana 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe ornithophilous species Anagyris foetida L. is a Mediterranean shrub with highly fragmented populations and a mixed mating system. In a previous study, we analyzed the first 3 years of the life cycle of two progenies (selfed and outcrossed) grown from seed obtained by hand pollination and planted in an experimental garden in 2005. In that study, we found that inbreeding depression (ID) was manifested both reproductively and vegetatively throughout the life cycle, with male reproductive function being the most affected trait. In the present study, our main aim was to check the progression of the two progenies 12 years after transplantation. For this we analyzed their survival and their vegetative and reproductive traits. According to our results, levels of ID were similar to those obtained in the previous study, with some factors decreased and thus varying with the age of the studied individuals. Vegetative parameters were found to have a greater influence than reproductive ones (δ = 0.56 vs. δ = 0.36) on overall ID. As indicated by the global ID (δ = 0.72) the populations have a mating system that is intermediate between outcrossing and a mixed system. Furthermore, the lower male reproductive capacity of the selfed individuals has been maintained over time. Our study also demonstrates the importance of studying the ID value throughout the life cycle of plants.
Cocaine esterase occurrence in global wastewater microbiomes and potential for biotransformation of novel psychoactive substances
Authors: de Campos Eduardo G. , de Almeida Otávio G. G. , De Martinis Bruno S. , De Martinis Elaine C. P. 
Published: November 2021

SummaryThe analysis of drugs in wastewater for forensic purposes has been constantly increasing and the investigation of the potential interaction between drugs or metabolites and sewage microbiota is important. The results demonstrated that cocaine esterase genes were widely distributed in 1142 global wastewater samples collected from 64 countries and linked to several bacterial species. In addition, in silico predictions indicated that carfentanil, 4F‐MDMB‐BINACA, 5F‐MDMB‐PICA, MDMB‐4en‐PINACA and mitragynine might also undergo microbial hydrolysis, in a similar fashion of cocaine degradation by cocaine esterase. In conclusion, it was demonstrated the microbial potential to hydrolyze drugs of abuse in wastewater environments, contributing to the critical evaluation of potential metabolites as biomarkers for microbial and human transformation of drugs in wastewater.
Different management practices influence growth of small plants in species‐rich hay meadows through shading
Authors: Boob Meike , Elsaesser Martin , Thumm Ulrich , Hartung Jens , Lewandowski Iris 
Published: November 2021

AbstractAimsThe intensification of grassland management can cause a loss of biodiversity via alteration of the structure and micro‐environmental conditions within the sward. The species richness of hay meadows protected within the Natura 2000 network is often endangered by high levels of fertilisation and relatedly, increased cutting frequency, which leads to decreased light availability for small plants and seedlings at ground level. The purpose of this study is to analyse how management practices and the interaction of fertilisation and cutting regime affect light distribution in grassland canopies as well as the growth of small plants.LocationSouth Germany.MethodsThis was investigated by measuring the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and dry matter yield (DMY) of the first growth cycle over 2 years at two sites of a 5‐year‐old hay meadow trial. To calculate the relative light intensity, PAR was measured above the canopy and at ground level. Two factors, fertilisation (none, PK, NPK) and date of first cut (based on phenological stages), were manipulated.ResultsOur results show that the date of the first cut had no influence on light availability during the first growth cycle, whereas fertilisation decreased light availability for small plants due to a denser canopy. Fertilisation increased the DMY of the first growth cycle significantly. We show that NPK fertilisation (35 kg N, 35 kg P2O5 and 120 kg K2O ha−1 a−1) decreased both the number and proportion of small plant species.ConclusionNPK fertilisation can lead to a loss of biodiversity. These results are of relevance for the improvement and management of species‐rich hay meadows. Because of its effect on competition for light, the supply of plant‐available nitrogen is a key driver in obtaining or restoring biodiversity in species‐rich hay meadows. Therefore, careful site‐adapted fertilisation is a basic requirement in maintaining the ecological value of grassland.
Identifying biomarkers for prenatal diagnosis of neural tube defects based on “omics”
Authors: Huang Wanqi , Gu Hui , Yuan Zhengwei 
Published: November 2021

AbstractNeural tube defects (NTDs) are the most severe birth defects and the main cause of newborn death; posing a great challenge to the affected children, families, and societies. Presently, the clinical diagnosis of NTDs mainly relies on ultrasound images combined with certain indices, such as alpha‐fetoprotein levels in the maternal serum and amniotic fluid. Recently, the discovery of additional biomarkers in maternal tissue has presented new possibilities for prenatal diagnosis. Over the past 20 years, “omics” techniques have provided the premise for the study of biomarkers. This review summarizes recent advances in candidate biomarkers for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal NTDs based on omics techniques using maternal biological specimens of different origins, including amniotic fluid, blood, and urine, which may provide a foundation for the early prenatal diagnosis of NTDs.