bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Unraveling the response of a biomimetic actin cortex to electric pulses in vesicles
Authors: Perrier Dayinta L. , Vahid Afshin , Kathavi Vaishnavi , Stam Lotte , Rems Lea , Mulla Yuval , Muralidharan Aswin , Koenderink Gijsje H. , Kreutzer Michiel T. , Boukany Pouyan E. 
Published: June 2018

ABSTRACTWe study the role of a biomimetic actin cortex during the application of electric pulses that induce electroporation or electropermeabilization, using giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) as a model system. The actin cortex, a subjacently attached interconnected network of actin filaments, regulates the shape and mechanical properties of the plasma membrane of mammalian cells, and is a major factor influencing the mechanical response of the cell to external physical cues. We demonstrate that the presence of an actin shell inhibits the formation of macropores in the electroporated GUVs. Additionally, experiments on the uptake of dye molecules after electroporation show that the actin network slows down the resealing process of the permeabilized membrane. We further analyze the stability of the actin network inside the GUVs exposed to high electric pulses. We find disruption of the actin layer that is likely due to the electrophoretic forces acting on the actin filaments during the permeabilization of the GUVs. Our findings on the GUVs containing a biomimetic cortex provide a step towards understanding the discrepancies between the electroporation mechanism of a living cell and its simplified model of the empty GUV.
Species-level bacterial community profiling of the healthy sinonasal microbiome using Pacific Biosciences sequencing of full-length 16S rRNA genes
Authors: Earl Joshua P. , Adappa Nithin D. , Krol Jaroslaw , Bhat Archana S. , Balashov Sergey , Ehrlich Rachel L. , Palmer James N. , Workman Alan D. , Blasetti Mariel , Sen Bhaswati , Hammond Jocelyn , Cohen Noam A. , Ehrlich Garth D. , Mell Joshua Chang 
Published: June 2018

AbstractBackgroundPan-bacterial 16S rRNA microbiome surveys performed with massively parallel DNA sequencing technologies have transformed community microbiological studies. Current 16S profiling methods, however, fail to provide sufficient taxonomic resolution and accuracy to adequately perform species-level associative studies for specific conditions. This is due to the amplification and sequencing of only short 16S rRNA gene regions, typically providing for only family- or genus-level taxonomy. Moreover, sequencing errors often inflate the number of taxa present. Pacific Biosciences’ (PacBio’s) long-read technology in particular suffers from high error rates per base. Herein we present a microbiome analysis pipeline that takes advantage of PacBio circular consensus sequencing (CCS) technology to sequence and error correct full-length bacterial 16S rRNA genes, which provides high-fidelity species-level microbiome dataResultsAnalysis of a mock community with 20 bacterial species demonstrated 100% specificity and sensitivity. Examination of a 250-plus species mock community demonstrated correct species-level classification of >90% of taxa and relative abundances were accurately captured. The majority of the remaining taxa were demonstrated to be multiply, incorrectly, or incompletely classified. Using this methodology, we examined the microgeographic variation present among the microbiomes of six sinonasal sites, by both swab and biopsy, from the anterior nasal cavity to the sphenoid sinus from 12 subjects undergoing trans-sphenoidal hypophysectomy. We found greater variation among subjects than among sites within a subject, although significant within-individual differences were also observed.Propiniobacterium acnes(recently renamedCutibacterium acnes[1]) was the predominant species throughout, but was found at distinct relative abundances by site.ConclusionsOur microbial composition analysis pipeline for single-molecule real-time 16S rRNA gene sequencing (MCSMRT,https://github.com/jpearl01/mcsmrt) overcomes deficits of standard marker gene based microbiome analyses by using CCS of entire 16S rRNA genes to provide increased taxonomic and phylogenetic resolution. Extensions of this approach to other marker genes could help refine taxonomic assignments of microbial species and improve reference databases, as well as strengthen the specificity of associations between microbial communities and dysbiotic states.
The effects of habits on motor skill learning
Authors: Popp Nicola J. , Yokoi Atsushi , Gribble Paul L. , Diedrichsen Jörn 
Published: June 2018

AbstractSkill learning involves the formation of stable motor patterns. In musical and athletic training, however, these stable motor habits can also impede the attainment of higher levels of performance. We developed an experimental paradigm to induce a specific motor pattern in the context of a discrete sequence production task and to investigate how these habits affect performance over a 3-week training period. Participants initially practiced small segments of 2 to 3 finger movements (“chunks”) and then learned longer sequences composed of these chunks. This initial training induced a persistent temporal pattern during execution, with shorter inter-press-intervals within a chunk and longer ones at chunk boundaries. This pattern remained stable during the subsequent 10 days of training, in which participants were asked to produce the sequence as fast as possible from memory. The habit was also preserved when the sequences were directly displayed, removing the need for memory recall. We were able to induce chunking patterns that were either beneficial or detrimental to performance by taking into consideration the biomechanical constraints of the sequences. While we observed an overall reduction in the detrimental effect of the disadvantageous chunking instructions with training, our results show that the degree to which these detrimental chunk structures were maintained, was predictive of lower levels of final performance. In sum, we were able to induce beneficial and detrimental motor habits in a motor sequence production task and show that these initial instructions influenced performance outcomes over a prolonged period of time.Significance StatementA habit is defined as an automatized action that resists modification once sufficiently established. Preventing bad habits, while reinforcing good habits, is a key objective when teaching new motor skills. While habit formation is an integral part of motor skill acquisition, previous research has focused on habit formation in terms of action selection. In this paper, we examine habit formation in terms of motor skill execution, after the action has been selected. We were able to induce beneficial or detrimental motor habits in the production of motor sequences. Habits were stable over a prolonged training period. Our results demonstrate how cognitive instruction can lead to persistent motor habits and we explore how these habits are potentially modified with training.
Timing of readiness potentials reflect a decision-making process in the human brain
Authors: Lui Kitty K. , Nunez Michael D. , Cassidy Jessica M. , Vandekerckhove Joachim , Cramer Steven C. , Srinivasan Ramesh 
Published: June 2018

AbstractDecision-making in two-alternative forced choice tasks has several underlying components including stimulus encoding, perceptual categorization, response selection, and response execution. Sequential sampling models of decision-making are based on an evidence accumulation process to a decision boundary. Animal and human studies have focused on perceptual categorization and provide evidence linking brain signals in parietal cortex to the evidence accumulation process. In this exploratory study, we use a task where the dominant contribution to response time is response selection and model the response time data with the drift-diffusion model. EEG measurement during the task show that the Readiness Potential (RP) recorded over motor areas has timing consistent with the evidence accumulation process. The duration of the RP predicts decision-making time, the duration of evidence accumulation, suggesting that the RP partly reflects an evidence accumulation process for response selection in the motor system. Thus, evidence accumulation may be a neural implementation of decision-making processes in both perceptual and motor systems. The contributions of perceptual categorization and response selection to evidence accumulation processes in decision-making tasks can be potentially evaluated by examining the timing of perceptual and motor EEG signals.
Manifold-tiling Localized Receptive Fields are Optimal in Similarity-preserving Neural Networks
Authors: Sengupta Anirvan M. , Tepper Mariano , Pehlevan Cengiz , Genkin Alexander , Chklovskii Dmitri B. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractMany neurons in the brain, such as place cells in the rodent hippocampus, have localized receptive fields, i.e., they respond to a small neighborhood of stimulus space. What is the functional significance of such representations and how can they arise? Here, we propose that localized receptive fields emerge in similarity-preserving networks of rectifying neurons that learn low-dimensional manifolds populated by sensory inputs. Numerical simulations of such networks on standard datasets yield manifold-tiling localized receptive fields. More generally, we show analytically that, for data lying on symmetric manifolds, optimal solutions of objectives, from which similarity-preserving networks are derived, have localized receptive fields. Therefore, nonnegative similarity-preserving mapping (NSM) implemented by neural networks can model representations of continuous manifolds in the brain.
Repeat elements organize 3D genome structure and mediate transcription in the filamentous fungusEpichloë festucae
Authors: Winter David J , Ganley Austen RD , Young Carolyn A , Liachko Ivan , Schardl Christopher L , Dupont Pierre-Yves , Berry Daniel , Ram Arvina , Scott D Barry , Cox Murray P 
Published: June 2018

AbstractStructural features of genomes, including the three-dimensional arrangement of DNA in the nucleus, are increasingly seen as key contributors to the regulation of gene expression. However, studies on how genome structure and nuclear organization influence transcription have so far been limited to a handful of model species. This narrow focus limits our ability to draw general conclusions about the ways in which three-dimensional structures are encoded, and to integrate information from three-dimensional data to address a broader gamut of biological questions. Here, we generate a complete and gapless genome sequence for the filamentous fungus,Epichloë festucae. Coupling it with RNAseq and HiC data, we investigate how the structure of the genome contributes to the suite of transcriptional changes that anEpichloëspecies needs to maintain symbiotic relationships with its grass host. Our results reveal a unique “patchwork” genome, in which repeat-rich blocks of DNA with discrete boundaries are interspersed by gene-rich sequences. In contrast to other species, the three-dimensional structure of the genome is anchored by these repeat blocks, which act to isolate transcription in neighbouring gene-rich regions. Genes that are differentially expressed in planta are enriched near the boundaries of these repeat-rich blocks, suggesting that their three-dimensional orientation partly encodes and regulates the symbiotic relationship formed by this organism.
Employee learning and development in virtual HRD: focusing on MOOCs in the workplace
Authors: Park Sunyoung , Jeong Shinhee , Ju Boreum 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of using massive open online courses (MOOCs) for employee learning and development in organizational settings by reviewing the literature and examining several cases from a virtual human resource development (HRD) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach
To collect information on MOOCs in the workplace, the authors reviewed peer- and non-peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, books, white papers, corporate websites and blogs, and business magazines published between 2008 and 2018.

Findings
A total of 18 cases were summarized to present the use of MOOCs in organizational settings for training and development, organizational development, career development, and professional development. For a more in-depth review, three cases were selected and the details were introduced in terms of context, process/progress, and outcomes: McAfee, Rabobank, and Library and Information Science.

Practical implications
When organizations decide to use MOOCs for their employee development and learning, practitioners could also establish the selection criteria of MOOCs for specific purposes based on their organizational contexts by assessing the effectiveness of existing MOOC programs.

Originality/value
This study highlights the use of MOOCs in organizations to examine their potential as a support tool for virtual HRD to facilitate employee learning and development in the workplace.
From theoretical concept to organizational tool for public sector improvement
Authors: Ernst Jette , Hindhede Anette Lykke , Andersen Vibeke 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine, first, how social capital was crafted and transformed from a theoretical concept to an organizational tool for public sector improvement that was adopted by a Danish region and implemented in all regional hospitals. Second, the paper examines the application of social capital in one of these hospitals and, further, in a department of the hospital with the purpose of showing how it was applied by the managerial levels and responded to by the nurses of the department.

Design/methodology/approach
A Bourdieusian ethnographic approach was used for understanding the local and subjective understandings of social capital as well as the wider context in which the new tool was crafted.

Findings
Social capital as a tool for organizational improvement was constructed in a gray zone between science and consultancy. The paper demonstrates that the application of social capital in practice is connected with paradoxes because the concept is inherently ambiguous and Janus-faced in that its official representation is “soft” and voluntary with a working environment focus yet, it envelopes concealed steering intentions. These contrary working features of the concept produce a pressure on the department management and the nurses.

Originality/value
The explanatory critical framework combined with the ethnographic approach is a useful approach for theorizing and understanding social capital as an example of the emergence and consequences of new managerial tools in public organizations.
Is auditing the new evaluation? Can it be? Should it be?
Authors: Pierre Jon , Peters B. Guy , de Fine Licht Jenny 
Published: June 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the changing relationship between auditing and evaluation. Over the past several years, supreme auditing institutions (SAIs) in a number of advanced democracies have evolved from conventional auditing institutions to becoming increasingly concerned with assisting policy change and administrative reform in the public sector; tasks that are traditionally associated with evaluation. The paper discusses the potential consequences of this development for the SAIs themselves as well as for the audited and reforming institutions and for policy-making.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses qualitative method and draws on the extensive literature on auditing and evaluation. The analysis has also benefitted from the authors’ recent comparative research on SAIs.FindingsThe findings, summarized in six points, are that the growth of auditing in areas previously assigned to evaluators, has led to a shortened time perspective; stronger emphasis on the administration of policies; increased focus on efficiency of the audited entity; greater independence from the evaluated organizations; a shift in receiver of information toward the legislature and/or the public; and improved communication.Practical implicationsEvaluation as a professional and scholarly field has developed theories and advanced methods to assess the effectiveness of public programs. The growth of auditing may thus change the focus and quality of policy evaluation.Originality/valueThe paper speaks to both scholars and practitioners. To the best of the knowledge a similar analysis has not been done before.
Balancing financial autonomy and control in agencification
Authors: Waluyo Budi 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the practices of financial autonomy and control the emerging issue of agencification in the higher education sector.

Design/methodology/approach
The practices are investigated using case studies from seven semi-autonomous state universities in Indonesia. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 respondents including university officials, policymakers, and experts. The interview results were analysed using an inductive-deductive approach.

Findings
This research highlights an unstable balance between financial autonomy and control practices in the universities. Autonomy supports agencification mainly by simplifying financial procedures and control is seen by university managers to be overemphasised compared to in the other state universities. Despite successes in introducing a business-like atmosphere within bureaucratic universities, questions about balancing financial autonomy and control remain.

Research limitations/implications
The small number of cases implies limited generalisability. The two characteristics used, size and parent ministries do not represent all university variabilities.

Practical implications
Agencification has become a key reform practice for state universities. Rather than using a “one size fits all” approach, the government needs a repertoire of models for these institutions.

Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence of agencification in the higher education sector with an emphasis on the financial dimension of autonomy and control in a developing country setting.
Matching survey responses with anonymity in environments with privacy concerns
Authors: Vogel Dominik 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
In many cases, public management researchers’ focus lies in phenomena, embedded in a hierarchical context. Conducting surveys and analyzing subsequent data require a way to identify which responses belong to the same entity. This might be, for example, members of the same team or data from different organizational levels. It can be very difficult to collect such data in environments marked by high concerns for anonymity and data privacy. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a procedure for matching survey data without compromising respondents’ anonymity.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper explains the need for data collection procedures, which preserve anonymity and lays out a process for conducting survey research that allows for responses to be clustered, while preserving participants’ anonymity.

Findings
Survey research, preserving participants’ anonymity while allowing for responses to be clustered in teams, is possible if researchers cooperate with a custodian, trusted by the participants. The custodian assigns random identifiers to survey entities but does not get access to the data. This way neither the researchers nor custodians are able to identify respondents. This process is described in detail and illustrated with a factious research project.

Originality/value
Many public management research questions require responses to be clustered in dyads, teams, departments, or organizations. The described procedure makes such research possible in environments with privacy concerns; this is the case with many public administrations.
Wear of different material pairings for the cylinder liner – piston ring contact
Authors: Wopelka Thomas , Cihak-Bayr Ulrike , Lenauer Claudia , Ditrói Ferenc , Takács Sándor , Sequard-Base Johannes , Jech Martin 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the wear behaviour of different materials for cylinder liners and piston rings in a linear reciprocating tribometer with special focus on the wear of the cylinder liner in the boundary lubrication regime.

Design/methodology/approach
Conventional nitrided steel, as well as diamond-like carbon and chromium nitride-coated piston rings, were tested against cast iron, AlSi and Fe-coated AlSi cylinder liners. The experiments were carried out with samples produced from original engine parts to have the original surface topography available. Radioactive tracer isotopes were used to measure cylinder liner wear continuously, enabling separation of running-in and steady-state wear.

Findings
A ranking of the material pairings with respect to wear behaviour of the cylinder liner was found. Post-test inspection of the cylinder samples by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed differences in the wear mechanisms for the different material combinations. The results show that the running-in and steady-state wear of the liners can be reduced by choosing the appropriate material for the piston ring.

Originality/value
The use of original engine parts in a closely controlled tribometer environment under realistic loading conditions, in conjunction with continuous and highly sensitive wear measurement methods and a detailed SEM analysis of the wear mechanisms, forms an intermediate step between engine testing and laboratory environment testing.
Nonlinear effects of fiscal policy on national saving
Authors: Bui Duy-Tung 
Published: June 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of fiscal policy, namely, net tax and government expenditure on national saving and its nonlinearity. The author first investigates whether the impacts of fiscal policy on national saving have changed after the global financial crisis of 2008. Then, the author tests the nonlinearity of the relationship by taking account of the economic cycle, namely, economic expansion (boom) and economic recession (bust).

Design/methodology/approach
The empirical model bases on a reduced-form equation with national saving as a dependent variable, lagged value of national saving, output gap and fiscal policy as independent variables. The two-step system GMM approach was employed to estimate the empirical model, using a panel of 23 emerging Asian economies in the period of 1990-2015.

Findings
The empirical results show that tax policy and expenditure policy follow the predictions of the overlapping generation model with finite horizon and the Keynesian view. The nonlinearity of fiscal policy is twofold. The conduct of fiscal policy in the period after 2008 seems effective, while the effect is insignificant in the period before 2008. Likewise, fiscal policy tends to have more significant effects in bust cycle. The effect of tax policy is increased during recession, while the effect of government spending is more pronounced during economic downturn.

Originality/value
The contributions of this paper are twofold. First, it is shown that fiscal policies in the region had more impacts on national saving after the global financial crisis of 2008. Second, the research confirms nonlinear impact of fiscal policy on saving behavior during economic recession and economic boom.