bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
DdcA antagonizes a bacterial DNA damage checkpoint
Authors: Burby Peter E. , Simmons Zackary W. , Simmons Lyle A. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractBacteria coordinate DNA replication and cell division, ensuring that a complete set of genetic material is passed onto the next generation. When bacteria encounter DNA damage or impediments to DNA replication, a cell cycle checkpoint is activated to delay cell division by expressing a cell division inhibitor. The prevailing model for bacterial DNA damage checkpoints is that activation of the DNA damage response and protease mediated degradation of the cell division inhibitor is sufficient to regulate the checkpoint process. Our recent genome-wide screens identified the geneddcAas critical for surviving exposure to a broad spectrum of DNA damage. TheddcAdeletion phenotypes are dependent on the checkpoint enforcement protein YneA. We found that expression of the checkpoint recovery proteases could not compensate forddcAdeletion. Similarly, expression ifddcAcould not compensate for the absence of the checkpoint recovery proteases, indicating that DdcA function is distinct from the checkpoint recovery step. Deletion ofddcAresulted in sensitivity toyneAoverexpression independent of YneA protein levels or stability, further supporting the conclusion that DdcA regulates YneA through a proteolysis independent mechanism. Using a functional GFP-YneA we found that DdcA inhibits YneA activity independent of YneA localization, suggesting that DdcA may regulate YneA access to its target. These results uncover a regulatory step that is important for controlling the DNA damage checkpoint in bacteria, and suggests that the typical mechanism of degrading the checkpoint enforcement protein is insufficient to control the rate of cell division in response to DNA damage.Author SummaryAll cells coordinate DNA replication and cell division. When cells encounter DNA damage, the process of DNA replication is slowed and the cell must also delay cell division. In bacteria, the process has long been thought to occur using two principle modes of regulation. The first, is RecA coated ssDNA transmits the signal of DNA damage through inactivation of the repressor of the DNA damage (SOS) response regulon, which results in expression of a cell division inhibitor establishing the checkpoint. The second principle step is protease mediated degradation of the cell division inhibitor relieving the checkpoint. Recent work by our lab and others has suggested that this process may be more complex than originally thought. Here, we investigated a gene of unknown function that we previously identified as important for survival when the bacteriumBacillus subtilisis exposed to DNA damage. We found that this gene negatively regulates the cell division inhibitor, but is functionally distinct from the checkpoint recovery process. We provide evidence that this gene functions as an antagonist to establishing the DNA damage checkpoint. Our study uncovers a novel layer of regulation in the bacterial DNA damage checkpoint process challenging the longstanding models established in the bacterial DNA damage response field.
Integrative analysis of transcriptomic and clinical data uncovers the tumor suppressive activity of MITF in prostate cancer
Authors: Valcarcel-Jimenez Lorea , Macchia Alice , Martín-Martín Natalia , Cortazar Ana Rosa , Schaub-Clerigué Ariane , Pujana-Vaquerizo Mikel , Fernández-Ruiz Sonia , Lacasa-Viscasillas Isabel , Santos-Martin Aida , Loizaga-Iriarte Ana , Unda-Urzaiz Miguel , Hermanova Ivana , Astobiza lanire , Graupera Mariona , Starkova Julia , Sutherland James , Barrio Rosa , Aransay Ana M. , Carracedo Arkaitz , Torrano Verónica 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe dysregulation of gene expression is an enabling hallmark of cancer. Computational analysis of transcriptomics data from human cancer specimens, complemented with exhaustive clinical annotation, provides an opportunity to identify core regulators of the tumorigenic process. Here we exploit well-annotated clinical datasets of prostate cancer for the discovery of transcriptional regulators relevant to prostate cancer. Following this rationale, we identify Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) as a prostate tumor suppressor among a subset of transcription factors. Importantly, we further interrogate transcriptomics and clinical data to refine MITF perturbation-based empirical assays and unveil Crystallin Alpha B (CRYAB) as an unprecedented direct target of the transcription factor that is, at least in part, responsible for its tumor suppressive activity in prostate cancer. This evidence was supported by the enhanced prognostic potential of a signature based on the concomitant alteration of MITF and CRYAB in prostate cancer patients. In sum, our study provides proof-of-concept evidence of the potential of the bioinformatics screen of publicly available cancer patient databases as discovery platforms, and demonstrates that the MITF-CRYAB axis controls prostate cancer biology.
Optogenetic entrainment of the septo-hippocampal circuit is state conditional and attenuates spatial accuracy
Authors: Mouchati Philippe R. , Holmes Gregory L. , Kloc Michelle L. , Barry Jeremy M. 
Published: August 2018

SummaryThe manipulation of pattern generators in order to impose temporal organization on target nodes while accounting for dynamic changes in behavior and cognitive demand remains a significant challenge for the use of neurostimulation as a therapeutic treatment option. While perturbation through optogentic stimulation can reveal circuit mechanisms that create and locally integrate temporal organization, it is unclear whether superseding endogenous signals with artificial oscillations would benefit or impede hippocampus-dependent cognition or how cognitive demand might affect artificial septo-hippocampal entrainment. Optogenetic MS stimulation in wild-type rats in 3 conditions showed that septal input is more likely to supersede endogenous hippocampal LFP oscillations when animals are at rest or performing a hippocampus-dependent spatial accuracy task. Stimulation during a hippocampus-independent task, however, resulted in compensatory endogenous oscillations. Although stimulation effects on the inter-spike interval of hippocampal pyramidal cells mirrored task-conditional theta entrainment of the LFP, place field properties were unaffected. Analyses of spatial behavior indicate that optogenetic stimulation can attenuate performance and specific measures of goal zone estimation accuracy but otherwise does not affect the rat’s ability to navigate to the target quadrant. The results suggest that the behavioral effect of temporally organizing the septo-hippocampal circuit relative to an artificial theta signal is limited to the accuracy of the rat’s approximation of the goal zone location. These results have significant implications for the therapeutic use of optogenetic stimulation as a means of attenuating cognitive deficits associated with temporal discoordination.
Site-specific K63 ubiquitinomics reveals post-initiation regulation of ribosomes under oxidative stress
Authors: Back Songhee , Vogel Christine , Silva Gustavo M. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractDuring oxidative stress, K63-linked polyubiquitin chains accumulate in the cell and modify a variety of proteins including ribosomes. Knowledge of the precise sites of K63 ubiquitin is key to understanding its function during the response to stress. To identify the sites of K63 ubiquitin, we developed a new mass-spectrometry based method that quantified >1,100 K63 ubiquitination sites in yeast responding to oxidative stress induced by H2O2. We determined that under stress, K63 ubiquitin modified proteins involved in several cellular functions including ion transport, protein trafficking, and translation. The most abundant ubiquitination sites localized to the head of the 40S subunit of the ribosome, modified assembled polysomes, and affected the binding of translation factors. The results suggested a new pathway of post-initiation control of translation during oxidative stress and illustrated the importance of high-resolution mapping of noncanonical ubiquitination events.
Making sustainability meaningful: aspirations, discourses and reporting practices
Authors: Busco Cristiano , Giovannoni Elena , Granà Fabrizio , Izzo Maria Federica 
Published: August 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the enabling role of accounting and reporting practices as discourses about sustainability unfold inside organizations. In particular, the authors investigate how managers attempt to connect the concept of “sustainability” to their specific experience, as they seek to make sustainability meaningful (i.e. filling it with unfolding meaning) through accounting and within particular discursive spaces.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors rely upon the case of LOGIC, a large international oil and gas company operating in more than 70 countries worldwide. The authors analyze the evolution of discourses concerning sustainability inside the company, as well as the changing accounting and reporting practices, with a particular focus on integrated reporting.

Findings
The authors show that accounting and reporting practices (such as integrated reporting within LOGIC) provide the conditions for “sustainability”—as a discursive concept—to become meaningful, while evolving themselves as they are attached to this concept. They do so by enabling individuals (the management team within LOGIC) to connect their diverse experiences and aspirations to the concept of sustainability. Rather than filling sustainability with stable meaning, the authors observed that individuals are attracted by the gaps left by accounting representations, leading to the development of new practices and unfolding meanings within specific discursive spaces.

Originality/value
Most of the literature on sustainability accounting and reporting practices concentrate on the need for these practices to mirror what companies do about sustainability. Differently, the authors add to the very few studies on “aspirational” reporting that have emphasized the enabling effects of the gap between what companies say and do about sustainability. The authors do so by demonstrating that accounting is “aspirational” not only because it stimulates corporate efforts toward an imaginary better future, but also because it attracts managers’ particular aspirations through its representational gap. The authors show that this gap enables meaningful connections between individuals (their particular experience and aspirations) and “sustainability,” bringing this concept into their specific discursive space and, thereby, leading to the emergence of new practices.
Entrepreneurial education, self-efficacy and intentions in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Puni Albert , Anlesinya Alex , Korsorku Patience Dzigbordi Akosua 
Published: August 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and intention in Ghana, Africa.

Design/methodology/approach
In all, 357 questionnaires from final year undergraduate students at a public university in Ghana are analysed using linear multiple regression.

Findings
The study reveals that entrepreneurship knowledge acquisition and opportunity recognition as dimensions of entrepreneurship education positively affect entrepreneurial intention (EI) and self-efficacy. Also, ESE increases the development of EI. The results further show that ESE mediated the relationship between the two measures of entrepreneurship education and EI.

Practical implications
The findings imply that when students are exposed to entrepreneurship knowledge and opportunity recognition skills via entrepreneurship education, they can develop high ESE and intention to engage in venture creation. Findings therefore urge stakeholders in the education sector in Africa to formulate policy guidelines for the design and teaching of entrepreneurship education. Such policies and guidelines should emphasise more students’ acquisition of adequate knowledge in venture creation and management, and the development of skills for identifying business opportunities while instilling confidence in their abilities to become successful entrepreneurs.

Originality/value
The mediating role of ESE in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and intention has been under-researched globally not just in Africa. Hence, this first study to the best of the knowledge in a Sub-Saharan African context, contributes further empirical evidence by demonstrating that ESE is a central psychological mechanism that can convert entrepreneurship education into EI. Besides, the study defies some of the findings in advanced economies by indicating that a theoretical entrepreneurship education course in Africa may work differently than in advanced economies and may actually foster the development of EI unlike in advanced economies.
Factors explaining participation in WhatsApp groups: an exploratory study
Authors: Gazit Tali , Aharony Noa 
Published: August 2018

PurposeTo date, only a limited number of studies have considered WhatsApp groups. The purpose of this paper is to focus on single WhatsApp groups and explore their special characteristics and dynamics. The present study used the social support perspective, Big Five model and narcissism paradigm to predict the level of participation in WhatsApp groups with these variables.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted in Israel during the Spring semester of the 2017 academic year and encompassed 127 students. Researchers used eight questionnaires to gather data: a demographic questionnaire; a perceived social support questionnaire; three characteristics from the BIG5 questionnaire: extroversion, openness to experience and neuroticism; a narcissistic questionnaire; questions about WhatsApp usage; questions about one meaningful WhatsApp group; participation level in the meaningful group; and group importance.FindingsThe findings confirmed that psychological factors such as social support, extroversion and narcissism significantly predict the level of participation in WhatsApp groups. It was also found that age, the level of group importance, being the group’s manager, WhatsApp usage and group’s subject play an important role in the participation level.Originality/valueThese results affirmed the importance of psychological factors when exploring new technological platforms, as the paper proposes that individuals may behave differently in various technological environments due to their psychological characteristics. The study expanded current research about a popular communication tool, WhatsApp, by examining it within the special context of WhatsApp groups. This focus enables researchers to follow the special dynamics that take place in a new technological platform.
Workplace spirituality: a new imperative in Indian manufacturing sector
Authors: Singh Nishant , Rangnekar Santosh 
Published: August 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to illustrate the need for workplace spirituality (WPS) through the planned implementation of strategies in the Indian manufacturing sector.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a viewpoint based on literature review.

Findings
WPS is useful for reducing employee turnover as well as increasing satisfaction, commitment, and engagement among employees. Employees feel empowered if they get ample opportunities and challenging tasks to grow in a positive environment.

Originality/value
The latest prevalent issues of industry have been addressed, and the strategies to overcome these problems are suggested.
Learning nuggets, personalized eLearning (PeL) and product training for professionals with niche skills: a case study from India
Authors: Roy Shirshendu , Bhattacharya Samar , Das Prasun 
Published: August 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to describe the impact of personalized eLearning (PeL) using small videos and simulations. It sets out the results of a research project carried out across four Indian organizations.

Design/methodology/approach
This is an empirical study. The respondents completed product training using small videos and simulations as training content. The courses were assigned to learners using PeL concept. An online survey was conducted to capture feedback on learning content and process, followed by structural equation modeling (SEM) to explain the acceptance.

Findings
The research concluded that flexibility and engagement play an important role in competency development using eLearning. It also revealed the positive role of small videos, simulations, and PeL to improve product knowledge. The research findings are consistent with earlier studies.

Research limitations/implications
The pilot study was a part of a thesis topic for a doctoral program. The study is limited to four domains, namely, aerospace engineering, biological science, thermodynamics, and nuclear research. More studies are required to generalize results. Data were collected through self-responses and focus group discussion. Hence, the “perception” of respondents has some influence on the overall outcome.

Practical implications
The foundation’s result will help learning & development (L&D) professionals and courseware designers to identify important factors for small video and simulation-based learning in an Indian context. The recommendations will help practitioners design effective PeL content for product training.

Originality/value
This research increases the knowledge base related to competency development using eLearning for product training in an Indian context.
Ghana’s decentralized governance system: the role of Chiefs
Authors: Honyenuga Ben Quarshie , Wutoh Edem Happy 
Published: August 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which Chiefs are involved in Ghana’s decentralization process and assess the benefits and challenges associated with the formal inclusion of Chiefs in local governance in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study applied a qualitative inductive approach and employed interviews and focus group discussions to gather data from selected traditional areas within the Volta Region of Ghana.FindingsThe findings reveal conflicting roles being performed by Chiefs and local government actors leading to role conflicts.Research limitations/implicationsThough the study is limited with respect to its scope, it opens up the debate regarding the position of Chiefs in Ghana’s decentralized local governance system and also serves as a useful point of reference for future research in the decentralization process and the Chieftaincy institution.Practical implicationsThe paper provides an opportunity for stakeholders in Ghana’s decentralized local governance system to review the current decentralization policy to take care of the concerns of the traditional authorities at the grassroots. The recommendations, among others, call for a great deal of consensus building between the Chiefs and local government actors to enhance the success of the decentralization process.Originality/valueThe paper provides evidence regarding the loopholes in the structure of Ghana’s decentralized local governance system which appear to exclude the traditional authorities thereby affecting the smooth running of that system.
The impact of lean practices on the operational performance of SMEs in India
Authors: Yadav Vinod , Jain Rakesh , Mittal Murari Lal , Panwar Avinash , Lyons Andrew 
Published: August 2018

PurposeAlthough lean thinking is deemed to be a gold standard of modern production management, a lot of scepticism still remains regarding its applicability in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to understand the perception of lean in SMEs and establish the relationship between lean adoption and operational performance.Design/methodology/approachWith the help of a survey, data were collected from 425 SMEs in India and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsOperational performance of the firms was found to be positively related to lean implementation.Originality/valueThis study also furnishes practitioners with a better understanding of lean thinking in SMEs and its impact on performance.
What makes you feel attached to smartwatches? The stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) perspectives
Authors: Cho Woo-Chul , Lee Kyung Young , Yang Sung-Byung 
Published: August 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to answer the question of whether smartwatches will survive and gain their own niche within the consumer electronics market. Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework, this study identifies and validates the impacts of both technological and fashion-related factors (interactivity, autonomy, visual aesthetics and self-expression) on product attachment towards smartwatches through user satisfaction and pleasure derived from their smartwatches.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected the survey data via online surveys from 198 respondents and tested measurement and structural models with the partial least square technique.FindingsThe authors found that both technological characteristics (interactivity and autonomy) and fashion-related characteristics (visual aesthetics and self-expression) have an impact on product attachment through pleasure.Research limitations/implicationsSeveral other important characteristics of traditional wrist-watches such as durability or workmanship are not considered in this study, but should be included in future studies. The three-item measure of autonomy may be insufficient for more sophisticated wearable devices in the future. In future studies, the impact of product attachment on users’ continued usage should be examined.Practical implicationsThis study provides important practical implications for smartwatch makers interested in product development, as users were found to consider fashion-related characteristics to be as important as technological characteristics.Originality/valueThis study is the first study that considers both aesthetic and technological factors for IT acceptance in the context of wearable devices. Also, instead of traditional IT acceptance measures such as continued use, this study investigates users’ product attachment, which is more relevant to the case of wearable devices.
The relationship between intellectual capital and big data: a review
Authors: De Santis Federica , Presti Claudia 
Published: August 2018

PurposeThis paper aims to give an integrated framework for analysing the main opportunities and threats related to the exploitation of Big Data (BD) technologies within intellectual capital (IC) management.Design/methodology/approachBy means of a structured literature review (SLR) of the extant literature on BD and IC, the study identified distinctive opportunities and challenges of BD technologies and related them to the traditional dimensions of IC.FindingsThe advent of BD has not radically changed the risks and opportunities of IC management already highlighted in previous literature. However, it has significantly amplified their magnitude and the speed with which they manifest themselves. Thus, a revision of the traditional managerial solutions needed to face them is required.Research limitations/implicationsThe developed framework can contribute to academic discourse on BD and IC as a starting point to understanding how BD can be turned into intangible assets from a value creation perspective.Practical implicationsThe framework can also represent a useful decision-making tool for practitioners in identifying and evaluating the main opportunities and threats of an investment in BD technologies for IC management.Originality/valueThe paper responds to the call for more research on the integration of BD discourse in the fourth stage of IC research. It intends to improve this understanding of how BD technologies can be exploited to create value from an IC perspective, focussing not only on the potential of BD for creating value but also on the challenges that it poses to organizations.