bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Agronomic, physiological and molecular characterization of rice mutants revealed key role of ROS and catalase in high temperature stress tolerance
Authors: Zafar Syed Adeel , Hameed Amjad , Ashraf Muhammad , Khan Abdus Salam , Zia-ul-Qamar  , Li Xueyong , Siddique Kadambot H.M. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractPlants adapt to harsh environments particularly high temperature stress by regulating their physiological and biochemical processes, which are key tolerance mechanisms. Thus, identification of heat-tolerant rice genotypes and reliable selection indices are crucial for rice improvement programs. Here, we evaluated the response of a rice mutant population for high-temperature stress at the seedling and reproductive stages based on agronomic, physiological and molecular traits. The estimate of variance components revealed significant differences (P<0.001) among genotypes, treatments and their interaction for almost all traits. Principal component analysis showed significant diversity among the genotypes and traits under high-temperature stress. The mutant ‘HTT-121’ was identified as the most heat tolerant mutant with higher grain yield, panicle fertility, cell membrane thermo-stability (CMTS) and antioxidant enzyme levels under heat stress conditions. Various seedling-based morpho-physiological traits (leaf fresh weight, relative water contents, malondialdehyde, CMTS) and biochemical traits (superoxide dismutase, catalase and hydrogen peroxide) explained variations in grain yield that could be used as selection indices for heat tolerance in rice at early growth stages. Notably, heat sensitive mutants showed a significant accumulation of ROS level, reduced activities of catalase and upregulation ofOsSRFP1expression under heat stress, suggesting their key role in regulating heat tolerance in rice. The heat-tolerant mutants identified in this study could be used in breeding programs and the development of mapping populations to unravel the underlying genetic architecture for heat-stress adaptability.Summary text for table of contentsHeat stress probably due to changing climate scenario has become a serious threat for global rice production. On the other side, efforts to develop high yielding cultivars have led to the reduced genetic variability to withstand harsh environmental conditions. This study aimed to identify novel heat tolerant mutants developed through gamma irradiation which will provide a unique genetic resource for breeding programs. Further, we have identified reliable selection indices for screening heat-tolerant rice germplasm at early growth stages.
Human colon-on-a-chip enables continuous in vitro analysis of colon mucus layer accumulation and physiology
Authors: Sontheimer-Phelps Alexandra , Chou David B. , Tovaglieri Alessio , Ferrante Thomas C. , Duckworth Taylor , Fadel Cicely , Frismantas Viktoras , Jalili-Firoozinezhad Sasan , Kasendra Magdalena , Stas Eric , Weaver James C. , Richmond Camilla A. , Levy Oren , Prantil-Baun Rachelle , Breault David T. , Ingber Donald E. 
Published: August 2019

ABSTRACTBackground & AimsThe mucus layer in the human colon protects against commensal bacteria and pathogens, and defects in its unique bilayered structure contribute to intestinal disorders, such as ulcerative colitis. However, our understanding of colon physiology is limited by the lack of in vitro models that replicate human colonic mucus layer structure and function. Here, we investigated if combining organ-on-a-chip and organoid technologies can be leveraged to develop a human-relevant in vitro model of colon mucus physiology.MethodsA human colon-on-a-chip (Colon Chip) microfluidic device lined by primary patient-derived colonic epithelial cells was used to recapitulate mucus bilayer formation, and to visualize mucus accumulation in living cultures non-invasively.ResultsThe Colon Chip supports spontaneous goblet cell differentiation and accumulation of a mucus bilayer with impenetrable and penetrable layers, and a thickness similar to that observed in human colon, while maintaining a subpopulation of proliferative epithelial cells. Live imaging of the mucus layer formation on-chip revealed that stimulation of the colonic epithelium with prostaglandin E2, which is elevated during inflammation, causes rapid mucus volume expansion via an NKCC1 ion channel-dependent increase in its hydration state, but no increase in de novo mucus secretion.ConclusionThis study is the first to demonstrate production of colonic mucus with a physiologically relevant bilayer structure in vitro, which can be analyzed in real-time non-invasively. The Colon Chip may offer a new preclinical tool to analyze the role of mucus in human intestinal homeostasis as well as diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and cancer.
The influence of pulsed gas metal arc welding on the fatigue and corrosion-fatigue properties of wrought aluminium 6061-T651
Authors: Du Toit Madeleine , Mutombo Kalenda 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
This paper aims to characterise the hardness, tensile properties, corrosion behaviour and fatigue properties (in air and in a 3.5 per cent NaCl solution) of aluminium 6061-T651 in the as-received and as-welded conditions.

Design/methodology/approach
Aluminium 6061-T651 plate material, prepared with double-V or square butt joint preparations was welded using semi-mechanised or mechanised pulsed gas metal arc welding. Magnesium-alloyed ER5356 or ER5183 filler material or silicon-alloyed ER4043 filler wire was used. The material was characterised in the as-supplied and as-welded conditions, and fatigue tests were performed in air and in a 3.5 per cent NaCl solution. The fatigue results were compared to the reference fatigue design curves for aluminium published in Eurocode 9 – Part 1-3.

Findings
Significant softening, attributed to the partial dissolution and coarsening of precipitates, grain growth and recrystallisation during welding, was observed in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the 6061-T651 welds. During tensile testing, failure occurred in the HAZ of all 6061 welds tested. Welding reduced the room temperature fatigue life of all specimens evaluated. In 6061 welds, failure occurred preferentially in the softened HAZ of the welds. The presence of a corrosive environment (a 3.5 per cent NaCl solution in this investigation) during fatigue testing reduced the fatigue properties of all the samples tested. Corrosion pits formed preferentially at second phase particles and reduced the overall fatigue life by accelerating fatigue crack initiation.

Originality/value
The fatigue properties of welded aluminium structures under dynamic loading conditions have been studied extensively. Welding is known to create tensile residual stresses, to promote grain growth, recrystallisation and softening in the HAZ, and to introduce weld defects that act as stress concentrations and preferential fatigue crack initiation sites. Several fatigue studies of aluminium welds emphasised the role of precipitates, second phase particles and inclusions in initiating fatigue cracks. When simultaneously subjected to a corrosive environment and dynamic loading, the fatigue properties are often adversely affected and even alloys with good corrosion resistance may fail prematurely under conditions promoting fatigue failure. The corrosion-fatigue performance of aluminium welds has not been systematically examined to date.
Sintering and hot corrosion of yttria silicate tablets in molten salts prepared by spark plasma sintering
Authors: Navarro Villanueva Merlina A. , Soto Hernández Luis A. , Vicente Mendoza Melquisedec , Morales Ramírez Ángel de J. , Juárez López Fernando 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
This paper aims to study the microstructural hot corrosion behaviour of the sintered Y2SiO5 ceramic silicate under a Na2SO4 + V2O5 mixture at an engine representative temperature of 1150°C. Y2SiO5 is a promising candidate for thermal barrier coatings (TBC) due to its excellent chemical stability at high temperatures. As a continuous source of Y3+, it is expected that Y2SiO5 environmental barrier coating may prolong the lifetime of TBC systems by stopping the degradation caused by the loss of the Y2O3 stabilizer.

Design/methodology/approach
Two routes were chosen for the yttria silicate powder synthesis by sol-gel from TEOS and APTES precursors as the difference in Si source changed the ratio of Y2SiO5/Y2Si2O7 phases. Hot corrosion studies using Na2SO4 and V2O5 mixtures were conducted on both surfaces of APTES and TEOS tablets at 1150°C for 8 h in atmospheric air. The morphology and microstructure analyses of the silicate samples after hot corrosion tests were carried out using a SEM and X-ray diffraction analyse techniques.

Findings
Based on the degradation, the general status of the APTES tablet after hot corrosion presents a better hot corrosion resistance at a temperature of 1150°C than does that of the TEOS tablet. In the TEOS tablet, the crystal morphology of NaY9Si60O26 woodchip shapes with a size of 60 µm is developed on the surface for finally initiating some cracks. In the APTES case, the crystal morphology of rod-like shapes with a size of 100 µm is developed; hence, a dense thick layer predominately postpones the reaction of V2O5 and Na2SO4 with yttria silicate, and consequently, less damage is observed.

Originality/value
Coating yttria silicate preparation is very complicated; the problems of a high synthesis temperature, long production period and low yield still need to be solved. Under these perspectives, ceramics prepared via spark plasma sintering (SPS) can reach theoretical high densities and a fine grain size can be retained after the SPS process; hence, well resistance to the corrosion in molten salts is expected to obtain for the sintered yttria silicate tablets.
Designing a balanced scorecard using a scenario approach
Authors: González Miguel Angel , Quezada Luis , Palominos Pedro 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design a method or process that relates dynamic environmental conditions with the strategic objectives present in a company’s strategy map, thereby allowing rapid analysis and the generation of new strategies that the company can adopt in a timely manner in order to maintain and/or improve its competitive position in the market.

Design/methodology/approach
One training session and three workshops were run involving the company staff. The intervention team reviewed and analyzed the results achieved and prepared the final presentation. Finally, they were asked to evaluate the intervention methodology with respect to usefulness and ease of use.

Findings
The developed methodology allows companies to obtain a broader vision of their future prospects. The executives’ participation in the process provided them a vision and understanding of the most relevant and sensitive variables of their environment.

Research limitations/implications
The proposed methodology is easy to use. It provides a simple and agile mechanism to adapt the strategy of an organization to the changes in the market and environment.

Social implications
This process will provide social benefit for the global community, from both a methodological perspective and a practical one, as it will provide a tool that will positively impact competitiveness and quality of life for workers and the wider community.

Originality/value
This paper allows the identification of the possible scenarios and their incorporation into a strategy map, which may help companies deal with the changes in their competitive environment. The strategy maps generated for each of the scenarios provide useful information with respect to presented events.
Entrepreneurial Innovation Management: the joint Italy–Colombia master’s degree
Authors: della Volpe Maddalena 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge the value of joint educational entrepreneurship programs: universities impact on economic growth by building collaborative networks in order to encourage innovation through interdisciplinary training schemes. The case of the master’s degree in Entrepreneurial Innovation Management, set up jointly by the University of Salerno and the Universidad Católica de Pereira, is presented.

Design/methodology/approach
In order to conduct a competitive market analysis, the latest data on master’s degrees in economics and information technologies management have been collected by means of a scraping procedure in order to build a data set for analysis. The authors have considered the masters’ degrees offered in Bogotá, where most universities of Colombia are located.

Findings
The data point out that current master’s degree courses do not recognize the importance of interdisciplinary training, which is in great demand in the world of work: economics and computer science never run together and rarely do universities collaborate within a network to set up joint programs.

Practical implications
The entrepreneurial culture could yield economic and social benefits by training students for a dynamic, global and increasingly digital job market. The case study represents a first step in building a network, which could be extended to other countries in the future.

Originality/value
The originality of the study lies in the proposal of a joint Italy–Colombia master’s degree, which is set up within a higher education network and may prove useful in creating job opportunities in both countries involved. Moreover, the learning path balances two traditionally separated disciplinary fields: economics and computer engineering.
Bank diversification and performance in an emerging market
Authors: Duho King Carl Tornam , Onumah Joseph Mensah , Owodo Raymond Agbesi 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of diversification on profitability, profit efficiency and financial stability of Ghanaian banks.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed a panel regression technique on a data set of 32 banks from 2000 to 2015. The data envelopment analysis is used to compute profit efficiency scores with credit risk accounted for.

Findings
The results suggest that income diversification decreases profit, profit efficiency and financial stability. The impact on profit and stability is U-shaped. The impact of asset diversification was found to be insignificant. High competition reduces both profitability and profit efficiency which is inconsistent with the quiet-life hypothesis of Hicks (1935), but financial stability increases with competition. High investment in tangible assets is associated with poor performance. Non-banking financial institutions that later became universal banks are not financially stable. Competition, size, age, government ownership and leverage which are controlled for and a sensitivity analysis conducted also provided relevant insights.

Practical implications
The results are relevant in understanding the events in the Ghanaian banking industry in 2017–2018. Income diversification strategy is essential in determining the performance of banks. Management has to figure out the extent and scope of their diversification to benefit from the strategy.

Originality/value
The authors examined diversification from the view-point of both the income statement and statement of financial position while most prior studies focused on only one aspect. The study is one of the few studies that employed the risk-adjusted profit efficiency measure in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Luxury fashion and sustainability: looking good together
Authors: Campos Franco Jacqueline , Hussain Dildar , McColl Rod 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight critical sustainability challenges facing luxury fashion firms and to describe examples of best practice in responding to these challenges.

Design/methodology/approach
The research approach combines a detailed literature review with multiple-case examples. The paper adopts the triple bottom line framework for structuring the analysis and findings, which suggests reporting sustainability efforts in three categories of actions – social, environmental and economic.

Findings
Prior research suggests that luxury fashion marketing and principles of sustainability may represent contradictory philosophies. However, this paper of case examples suggests that this may no longer be the case. We identify six lessons in guiding future sustainability practices.

Practical implications
The findings have implications for managers operating in luxury fashion, but the findings are also pertinent to managers in other industries.

Originality/value
Prior research in luxury fashion has generally focused on the industry’s poor record in sustainability and how luxury and sustainability may be incompatible. In this paper, we conclude that most luxury fashion firms are aware of the need to integrate sustainability into their business models. By uncovering examples of best practice in sustainability, we demonstrate how luxury fashion firms have responded to these challenges with lessons for other industry sectors.
Microaggressive classroom language and diminished cognitive functioning
Authors: Banks Brea M. , Cicciarelli Kara 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
The current literature has not provided insight into the effects of using racially derogatory words in the context of academic instruction or when reviewing historical texts. This study aims to examine the impact of such microaggressive language on cognitive performance among university students.

Design/methodology/approach
Using experimental methodologies, the participants were recruited to the research lab and assigned to one of the three conditions, as they were exposed to a derogatory word, heard a replacement of the word or did not hear it at all. Given the results of prior studies, researchers hypothesized that participants holding marginalized racial/ethnic identities would experience greater levels of cognitive depletion, as measured by the Stroop (1935) color-naming task, when compared to their white counterparts, as it was expected that students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds would be more affected by use of such language.

Findings
The primary hypothesis was supported, as students from underrepresented backgrounds who were exposed to the microaggressive language displayed diminished Stroop (1935) performance as compared to those not exposed and their white counterparts who heard the same language.

Originality/value
This study adds to the literature surrounding the immediate impact of microaggression of university students holding marginalized racial/ethnic identities.
Friction spot lap joining of the anodized aluminium alloy 6061 with high-density polyethylene sheets
Authors: Ali Ghadanfer Hussein , Hussein Sabah Khammass 
Published: August 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to join an anodized aluminium alloy AA6061 sheet with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) using friction spot process.

Design/methodology/approach
The surface of AA6061 sheet was anodized to increase the pores’ size. A lap joint configuration was used to join the AA6061 with HDPE sheets by the friction spot process. The joining process was carried out using a rotating tool of different diameters: 14, 16 and 18 mm. Three tool-plunging depths were used – 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mm – with three values of the processing time – 20, 30 and 40 s. The joining process parameters were designed according to the Taguchi approach. Two sets of samples were joined: the as-received AA6061/HDPE and the anodized AA6061/HDPE.

Findings
Frictional heat melted the HDPE layers near the lap joint line and penetrated it through the surface pores of the AA6061 sheet via the applied pressure of the tool. The tool diameter exhibited higher effect on the joint strength than processing time and the tool-plunging depth. Specimens of highest and lowest tensile force were failed by necking the polymer side and shearing the polymer layers at the lap joint, respectively. Molten HDPE was mechanically interlocked into the pores of the anodized surface of AA6061 with an interface line of 18-m width.

Originality/value
For the first time, HDPE was joined with the anodized AA6061 by the friction spot process. The joint strength reached an ideal efficiency of 100 per cent.
The class II benzoyl‐coenzyme A reductase complex from the sulfate‐reducing Desulfosarcina cetonica
Authors: Anselmann Sebastian E. L. , Löffler Claudia , Stärk Hans‐Joachim , Jehmlich Nico , von Bergen Martin , Brüls Thomas , Boll Matthias 
Published: August 2019

SummaryBenzoyl‐CoA reductases (BCRs) catalyse a key reaction in the anaerobic degradation pathways of monocyclic aromatic substrates, the dearomatization of benzoyl‐CoA (BzCoA) to cyclohexa‐1,5‐diene‐1‐carboxyl‐CoA (1,5‐dienoyl‐CoA) at the negative redox potential limit of diffusible enzymatic substrate/product couples (E°′ = −622 mV). A 1‐MDa class II BCR complex composed of the BamBCDEGHI subunits has so far only been isolated from the Fe(III)‐respiring Geobacter metallireducens. It is supposed to drive endergonic benzene ring reduction at an active site W‐pterin cofactor by flavin‐based electron bifurcation. Here, we identified multiple copies of putative genes encoding the structural components of a class II BCR in sulfate reducing, Fe(III)‐respiring and syntrophic bacteria. A soluble 950 kDa Bam[(BC)2DEFGHI]2 complex was isolated from extracts of Desulfosarcina cetonica cells grown with benzoate/sulfate. Metal and cofactor analyses together with the identification of conserved binding motifs gave rise to 4 W‐pterins, two selenocysteines, six flavin adenine dinucleotides, four Zn, and 48 FeS clusters. The complex exhibited 1,5‐dienoyl‐CoA‐, NADPH‐ and ferredoxin‐dependent oxidoreductase activities. Our results indicate that high‐molecular class II BCR metalloenzyme machineries are remarkably conserved in strictly anaerobic bacteria with regard to subunit architecture and cofactor content, but their subcellular localization and electron acceptor preference may differ as a result of adaptations to variable energy metabolisms.
Paradoxical leadership in public sector organisations: Its role in fostering employee resilience
Authors: Franken Esme , Plimmer Geoff , Malinen Sanna 
Published: August 2019

AbstractGovernment organisations, and their employees, need to be resilient to manage challenges such as resource constraints, rising demands, and the tensions and contradictions that underlie much public sector work, often stemming from the need to balance different stakeholder interests. Employee resilience, defined as the capacity to continuously adapt and flourish, even in the face of challenge, is an individual level construct that also benefits organisations. Despite its benefits, little is known about how to foster it. This paper explores whether paradoxical leadership (PL) can contribute to employee resilience. PL – the ability to balance competing structural and relational demands over time – may be one means of supporting employee resilience, as it corresponds to the tensions and paradoxes that exist in public sector work. This correspondence between PL and tensions in public administration work means that PL may also help employees behave resiliently. Findings from a quantitative survey (n = 233) in a large New Zealand public sector organisation indicate that PL antecedes resilience. The effect of PL facets on employee resilience is partially mediated by perceptions of organisational support.