bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Xdrop: targeted sequencing of long DNA molecules from low input samples using droplet sorting
Authors: Madsen Esben Bjørn , Kvist Thomas , Höijer Ida , Ameur Adam , Mikkelsen Marie Just 
Published: September 2018

AbstractLong-read sequencing can resolve regions of the genome that are inaccessible to short reads, and therefore such technologies are ideal for genome-gap closure, solving structural rearrangements and sequencing through repetitive elements. Here we introduce the Xdrop technology: a novel microfluidic-based system that allows for targeted enrichment of long DNA molecules starting from only a few nanograms of genomic DNA. Xdrop is based on isolation of long DNA fragments in millions of double emulsion (DE) droplets, where the DE droplets containing a target sequence of interest are fluorescently labeled and sorted using flow cytometry. The final product from the Xdrop procedure is an enriched population of long DNA molecules that can be investigated by sequencing. To demonstrate the capability of Xdrop, we performed enrichment of the human papilloma virus (HPV) 18 integrated in the genome of human HeLa cells. The enriched DNA was sequenced both on long-read (PacBio and Oxford Nanopore) and short-read (Illumina) platforms. Analysis of the sequencing reads resolved three HPV18-chr8 integrations at base pair resolution, and the captured fragments extended up to 30 kb into the human genome at the integration sites. In summary, our results show that Xdrop is an efficient enrichment technology for studying complex regions of the genome where long-range information is required.
Structural ensembles based on NMR parameters suggest a complex pathway of ligand binding in human gastrotropin
Authors: Harmat Zita , Szabó András L. , Toke Orsolya , Gáspári Zoltán 
Published: September 2018

AbstractGastrotropin, the intracellular carrier of bile salts in the small intestine, binds two ligand molecules simultaneously in its internal cavity. The molecular rearrangements required for ligand entry are not yet fully clear. To improve our understanding of the binding process we combined molecular dynamics simulations with available structural and dynamic NMR parameters. The resulting ensembles reveal two distinct modes of barrel opening with one corresponding to the transition between theapoandholostates, whereas the other affecting different protein regions in both ligation states. Comparison of the calculated structures with NMR-derived parameters reporting on slow conformational exchange processes suggests that the protein undergoes partial unfolding along a path related to the second mode of the identified barrel opening motion.
In vitro activity of a novel antifungal compound, MYC-053, against clinically significant antifungal-resistant strains of Candida glabrata, Candida auris, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Pneumocystis spp
Authors: Tetz G , Collins M , Vikina D , Tetz V 
Published: September 2018

ABSTRACTAn urgent need exists for new antifungal compounds to treat fungal infections in immunocompromised patients. The aim of the current study was to investigate the potency of a novel antifungal compound, MYC-053, against the emerging yeast and yeast-like pathogens Candida glabrata, Candida auris, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Pneumocystis spp. MYC-053 was equally effective against the susceptible control strains, clinical isolates, and resistant strains, with the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 0.125–4.0 μg/mL. Notably, unlike other antifungal compounds, MYC-053 was effective against Pneumocystis isolates. MYC-053 was highly effective against preformed 48-h-old yeast biofilms, with the minimal biofilm eradication concentrations equal to 1–4 times MIC. The compound was not cytotoxic against L2 and A549 cell lines at concentrations over 100 μg/ml. Further, it possessed no apparent hemolytic activity up to 1000 μg/ml (the highest concentration tested). Overall, these data indicated that MYC-053 has a broad therapeutic window and may be developed into a promising antifungal agent for the treatment and prevention of invasive fungal infections caused by yeasts and yeast-like fungi in neutropenic patients.
A High Avidity Biosensor Reveals PI(3,4)P2 is Predominantly a Class I PI3K Signaling Product
Authors: Goulden Brady D. , Pacheco Jonathan , Dull Allyson , Zewe James P. , Deiters Alexander , Hammond Gerald R. V. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractClass I PI 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling is central to animal growth and metabolism, and disruption of this pathway occurs frequently in cancer and diabetes. However, the specific spatial/temporal dynamics and signaling roles of its minor lipid messenger, phosphatidylinositol (3,4)-bisphosphate [PI(3,4)P2], are not well understood. This owes principally to a lack of tools to study this scarce lipid. Here, we developed a high sensitivity genetically encoded biosensor for PI(3,4)P2, demonstrating high selectivity and specificity of the sensor for the lipid. We show that despite clear evidence for class II PI3K in PI(3,4)P2-driven function, the overwhelming majority of the lipid accumulates through degradation of class I PI3K-produced PIP3. However, we show that PI(3,4)P2 is also subject to hydrolysis by the tumor suppressor lipid phosphatase PTEN. Collectively, our results show that PI(3,4)P2 is potentially an important driver of class I PI3K-driven signaling, and provides powerful new tools to begin to resolve the biological functions of this lipid downstream of class I and II PI3K.
IPM adoption, cooperative membership and farm economic performance
Authors: Ma Wanglin , Abdulai Awudu 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on farmers’ decisions to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) technology and to estimate the impact of IPM adoption on farm economic performance.

Design/methodology/approach
An endogenous switching probit model that addresses the sample selection bias issue arising from both observed and unobserved factors is used to estimate the survey data from a sample of 481 apple households in China. A treatment effects model is employed to estimate the impact of IPM adoption on apple yields, net returns and agricultural income. In order to address the potential endogeneity associated with off-farm work variable in estimating both cooperative membership choice specification and IPM adoption specifications, a control function approach is used.

Findings
The empirical results show that cooperative membership exerts a positive and significant impact on the adoption of IPM technology. In particular, farmers’ IPM adoption decision is significantly associated with household and farm-level characteristics (e.g. education, farm size and price knowledge). IPM adoption has a positive and statistically significant impact on apple yields, net returns and agricultural income.

Practical implications
The findings indicate that agricultural cooperatives can be a transmission route in the efforts to proliferate the adoption and diffusion of IPM technology, and increased IPM adoption tends to improve the economic performance of farm households.

Originality/value
Despite the widespread evidence of health and environmental benefits associated with IPM technology, the adoption rate of this technology remains significantly low. This paper provides a first attempt by investigating to what extent and how agricultural cooperative membership affects IPM adoption and how IPM adoption influences farm economic performance.
Real earnings management and financial statement fraud: evidence from Malaysia
Authors: Md Nasir Noorul Azwin binti , Ali Muhammad Jahangir , Razzaque Rushdi M.R. , Ahmed Kamran 
Published: September 2018

PurposeWe examine whether the fraud firms are engaged in real earnings management and accrual earnings management prior to the fraud year in the Malaysian context.Design/methodology/approachOur sample comprises of 65 financial statement fraud and 65 non-fraud firms over a period of eight years from 2001 to 2008.FindingsUsing the abnormal cash flow from operations (CFO) and abnormal production costs as the proxies for real earnings management, we find that financial statement fraud firms engage in manipulating production costs during preceding two years of the fraud event. However, our results show that financial fraud firms engage in manipulating CFO prior to the fraud event. Additionally, we find that financial statement fraud firms prefer to manipulate earnings using accruals relative to real earnings prior to the fraud year.Originality/valueOur results demonstrate that real earnings management is more aggressive in financial statement fraud firms compared to the non-fraud firms in the four years prior to fraud.
Malware at its worst: death and destruction
Authors: Brody Richard G. , Chang Harold U. , Schoenberg Erich S. 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
Most people are probably aware of malware, but they may not be aware of malware in what may be its most dangerous form, i.e. causing physical harm, even death, to individuals. This paper aims to document how software can cause malicious harm to individuals by attacking modern systems that appear to be neglected and under-researched.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper will review some of the most significant areas of concern with respect to end of days malware, i.e. malware that has a dangerous intent. The areas included are automobiles, medical devices and air traffic control systems.

Findings
The potential harmful effects of malware are often not well known by consumers and businesses around the world. These issues are not limited to just financial harm. Lives can actually be in danger. Underestimating the importance of cybersecurity and understanding the dangers that are associated with advancing technology are global issues that will continue unless there is enough awareness to force businesses and governments to address these issues. It is critical that safeguards are established.

Originality/value
While many papers have been written about malware and the implications of having malicious software infect a computer or a network, little attention has been paid to “end of days” malware. With advancing technology, malware now has the ability to cause serious injury or death to individuals who have minimal or no knowledge of the potential consequences of, for example, driving in an automobile, wearing or having an internal medical device or flying on an airplane. It is up to businesses and governments to address these issues.
Financial statement effects of adopting IFRS: the Canadian experience
Authors: Jermakowicz Eva K. , Chen Chun-Da , Donker Han 
Published: September 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effects of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on financial statements of the largest Canadian firms (S&P/TSX 60) listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).Design/methodology/approachThis study investigates the financial statement effects of 46 companies from the S&P/TSX 60 index which report under IFRS in 2011 and switched to IFRS from CGAAP. This study used panel data analysis, which can be considered as more powerful when conducting cross-sectional and in time analysis among companies. Because of weakness of Cramer statistic on R-square, the authors used interaction terms as suggested by Hope (2007).FindingsConsistent with the authors’ perceptions, this study finds that significant effects of adopting IFRS are associated with industry practices. The empirical results show that the adoption of IFRS in Canada created more relevant financial reporting for book value of equity and net income in the post-adoption periods.Originality/valueThis study should be of interest to the US regulators considering IFRS adoption by US publicly traded companies as well as to regulators, standard setters and listed companies in all countries worldwide that are in transition to IFRS.
The region-of-origin effect in the choice of banks
Authors: García-Gallego José Manuel , Chamorro Mera Antonio 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how variables such as the region’s overall image, the perceived quality of its financial entities, and consumer ethnocentrism affect the intention to choose regional banks. Special attention is paid to the moderating role played by familiarity.

Design/methodology/approach
A structural equation model was used with a survey of 427 bank customers.

Findings
The results show direct and indirect effects of regional image, perceived quality of regional banks and consumer ethnocentrism on the intention to choose regional banks. The moderating effect of familiarity is not confirmed.

Practical implications
The financial crisis experienced in southern European countries has forced them to carry out a restructuring of the banking sector based on mergers that provide greater solvency and stability. In Spain, this has meant small regional banks merging with each other to form larger national banks. This involves a loss of their regional identity and a change in their positioning to date. It is interesting to understand the value to customers of the regional attribute when choosing a bank and the possible consequences of merging with other banks.

Originality/value
Globalisation has made origin an attractive attribute that can be used to differentiate products. However, there are still gaps in this field, especially in relation to region-of-origin (ROO) and the influence of certain moderating variables on this effect. This paper sheds some light on the study of the ROO effect in the financial sector, a field that is still relatively unexplored in this context.
Customer participation and the roles of self-efficacy and adviser-efficacy
Authors: Wang Chung-Yu 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how customers derive value and switching costs from their own participation conditional on their perceived efficacy of themselves (self-efficacy) and their advisers (adviser-efficacy) in financial services.

Design/methodology/approach
Student interviewers approached customers exiting banks with a skip interval of two. The respondents received the questionnaire items translated into Chinese. The final survey sample consists of 220 respondents.

Findings
Empirical results confirm that customer participation influences switching costs through customer value. The synergistic effect of self-efficacy and adviser-efficacy moderates the relationships among customer participation, customer value and switching costs. The incongruent levels of self-efficacy and adviser-efficacy can increase customer value and switching costs.

Originality/value
This study looks beyond self-efficacy to demonstrate that the synergistic roles of self-efficacy and adviser-efficacy significantly influence the relationships among customer participation, customer value and switching costs.
A review of urban landscape adaptation to the challenge of climate change
Authors: Alizadeh Behdad , Hitchmough James 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
Urban landscapes play a significant role in supporting municipal, ecological and social systems. Besides, valuable environmental services and urban green spaces provide social and psychological services, very important for the liveability of modern cities and the well-being of urban residents. It is clear that the area of green space in a city, the method of designing urban landscape and access to urban green space potentially affect the health, happiness, comfort, safety and security of urban dwellers. Urban landscape plays a significant role in providing habitats for wildlife, and an important vegetation type in doing this is species-rich herbaceous vegetation that provides pollen and nectar plus physical habitat for native fauna. Any factor that makes an impression on the urban landscape (such as climate change) will affect people’s lives directly or indirectly. There is a universal consensus that the temperature has increased in most of the world over the past century the investigation of climate change impacts on the urban landscape is the purpose of this study.

Findings
Understanding the process of climate change adaptation is necessary to design plant communities for use in public landscapes. Increased CO2 and air temperature in conjunction with the changing rainfall conditions, as the three important factors of climate change, potentially alter almost all world ecosystems. Climate change provides new opportunities, and in some cases, an obligate need to use non-native plant species in conjunction with native plant species, not only to reduce the side effects of climate change but also to increase the species diversity and aesthetic value in meadow-like naturalistic planting design.

Originality/value
The authors confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere. In this paper, the authors report on the effects of climate change on urban landscape and suggest different kind of solutions to reduce the effects. The paper should be of interest to readers in the areas of landscape architecture, landscape ecologist, landscape planner, landscape managers and environmental designer.
How economic growth in Australia reacts to CO2emissions, fossil fuels and renewable energy consumption
Authors: Leal Patrícia H. , Marques Antonio Cardoso , Fuinhas Jose Alberto 
Published: September 2018

PurposeAustralia is one of the ten largest emitters of greenhouse gases but stands out from the others due to its economic growth without recession for 26 consecutive years. This paper aims to focus on the energy-growth nexus and the effects of energy consumption on the environment in Australia.Design/methodology/approachThis analysis is performed using annual data from 1965 to 2015 and the autoregressive distributed lag model.FindingsThe paper finds empirical evidence of a trade-off between economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO2) intensity. The results show that increased gross domestic product (GDP) in Australia increased investment in renewable energy sources (RESs), although the renewable technology is limited and has no impact on reducing CO2intensity in the long run. In contrast to investment in RES, fossil fuels, coal and oil, are decreased by GDP. However, oil consumption increased renewable energy consumption, and this reflects the pervading effect of the growing economy.Originality/valueOverall, this paper contributes to the literature by analysing the behaviour of both energy consumption and the environment on the growing Australian economy. In addition, this paper goes further by studying the impact of economic growth on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, as well as on CO2emissions. The study is conducted on a single country for which literature is scarce, using a recent approach and a long time period.
Adaptive education applied to higher education for sustainability
Authors: Earl Allison , VanWynsberghe Robert , Walter Pierre , Straka Timothy 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to present an interpretive case study in education for sustainability (EfS) that applies VanWynsberghe and Herman’s (2015, 2016) adaptive education as pedagogy. Dewey’s theory of behaviour change is applied to educative experiences based on habit disruption and real-world learning, leading to creativity in the formation of new habits. The programme presented inverts dominant conceptions of knowledge to design innovative sustainability pedagogy. Instead knowledge resides alongside experience, cases, intuition, advice, experimentation and dialogue in the individual and collective effort to address daily sustainability challenges.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports on the outcomes of an interpretive case study (Merriam, 1998) of a higher education programme in sustainability pedagogy. It presents a series of reflections by instructors and participants in discussing the programme’s relationship with the core themes of habit, disruption, creative action and dialogue framed within the five features of adaptive education: stakeholders, real-world learning, off campus, transdisciplinarity and non-traditional rewards.

Findings
Through this examination, the authors found that adaptive education offered a pedagogy that simultaneously addressed the need for increased sustainability knowledge, whilst inverting its dominance. As a long-term project, the extent of the programme’s impact will be evident beyond the programme’s completion.

Research limitations/implications
This interpretive case study is analysed through high-level conceptual and theoretical aspects of the pedagogy rather than the particularities of the case. By putting the centrality of knowledge into question, the authors are advocating for a more experimental role for higher education in its teaching and learning. These questions are broadly applicable.

Social implications
There are research, learning and social benefits to this programme. Adaptive education builds capacity for future leaders and educators of sustainability.

Originality/value
The paper concludes with a discussion for further theorizing and research on adaptive education and EfS in higher education. This research will contribute to broader discussions of the evolving role of education in sustainability.
University halls plastics recycling: a blended intervention study
Authors: Cheung Tsz Yan , Fok Lincoln , Cheang Chi-Chiu , Yeung Chi Ho , So Wing-Mui Winnie , Chow Cheuk-Fai 
Published: September 2018

PurposeThe problem of plastic wastes is serious nowadays worldwide, although plastic wastes recycling is already in practice. To promote sustainability in plastic waste recycling, the quality of wastes collected should be maintained well, resulted from a good recycling practice. This paper aims to study a new plastic recycling bin (PRB) and poster interventions on the enhancement of university hall residential students’ proenvironmental knowledge, attitudes and intended behaviours (KAB) and actual recycling behaviours; informative and feedback posters were used as interventions.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a quasi-experimental setting to examine the effects of the new PRB on students’ KAB and actual behaviours in recycling, whereas the quality of the recycled plastic was measured according to the extent of cleanliness (CLE), separation (SEP), compression (COM) and sortedness (SOR).FindingsResults showed that significant positive enhancements in KAB only happened with the use of blended interventions, which included promotion through the PRB and posters, suggesting that the use of the PRB and posters was useful in achieving better recycling behaviour.Originality/valueBlended intervention study by using new design plastic recycling bin and poster on the effect of students’ proenvironmental and recycling KAB.