bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Overexpression of a DENND1A isoform produces a polycystic ovary syndrome theca phenotype
Authors: McAllister Jan M. , Modi Bhavi , Miller Bruce A. , Biegler Jessica , Bruggeman Richard , Legro Richard S. , Strauss Jerome F. 
Published: April 2014

SignificanceFamily-based studies revealed that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrinopathy of women, has a genetic basis. Genome-wide association studies identifiedDENND1Aas a PCOS locus, but its role in PCOS was unknown. We report that an alternatively spliced form ofDENND1A(DENND1A.V2) is increased in PCOS theca cells, the source of the excess androgens that characterizes PCOS. Forced expression of DENND1A.V2 in normal theca cells increased expression of genes encoding steroidogenic enzymes, leading to augmented androgen biosynthesis, whereas silencing of DENND1A.V2 in PCOS theca cells reverts them to a normal phenotype. Our findings establish that increased DENND1A.V2 expression is sufficient to promote a PCOS phenotype in human theca cells, information that can inform development of diagnostic tests as well as novel therapeutic interventions.
A frameshifting stimulatory stem loop destabilizes the hybrid state and impedes ribosomal translocation
Authors: Kim Hee-Kyung , Liu Fei , Fei Jingyi , Bustamante Carlos , Gonzalez Ruben L. , Tinoco Ignacio 
Published: April 2014

SignificanceA ribosomal frameshift occurs when the ribosome slips by one or more nucleotides on the messenger RNA (mRNA) during translation. Programmed ribosomal frameshifting produces more than one protein from a single mRNA and is tightly regulated by mRNA sequence and structure. Using single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer, we studied the effects of a frameshifting stimulatory mRNA structure on the ribosomal conformational dynamics and translocation rate. Our results show that the structure shifts the conformational equilibrium of ribosomal complexes away from conformations that favor the translocation process, resulting in slowed translocation. We propose that the downstream structure traps ribosomal complexes in the fluctuating conformational states of the translocation process and thus allows more opportunities for frameshifting.
Iyengar Yoga for Adolescents and Young Adults With Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Authors: Evans Subhadra , Lung Kirsten C. , Seidman Laura C. , Sternlieb Beth , Zeltzer Lonnie K. , Tsao Jennie C.I. 
Published: April 2014

ABSTRACTObjectives:Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, disabling condition that greatly compromises patient functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a 6‐week twice per week Iyengar yoga (IY) program on IBS symptoms in adolescents and young adults (YA) with IBS compared with a usual‐care waitlist control group.Methods:Assessments of symptoms, global improvement, pain, health‐related quality of life, psychological distress, functional disability, fatigue, and sleep were collected pre‐ and posttreatment. Weekly ratings of pain, IBS symptoms, and global improvement were also recorded until 2‐month follow‐up. A total of 51 participants completed the intervention (yoga = 29; usual‐care waitlist = 22).Results:Baseline attrition was 24%. On average, the yoga group attended 75% of classes. Analyses were divided by age group. Relative to controls, adolescents (14–17 years) assigned to yoga reported significantly improved physical functioning, whereas YA (18–26 years) assigned to yoga reported significantly improved IBS symptoms, global improvement, disability, psychological distress, sleep quality, and fatigue. Although abdominal pain intensity was statistically unchanged, 44% of adolescents and 46% of YA reported a minimally clinically significant reduction in pain following yoga, and one‐third of YA reported clinically significant levels of global symptom improvement. Analysis of the uncontrolled effects and maintenance of treatment effects for adolescents revealed global improvement immediately post‐yoga that was not maintained at follow‐up. For YA, global improvement, worst pain, constipation, and nausea were significantly improved postyoga, but only global improvement, worst pain, and nausea maintained at the 2‐month follow‐up.Conclusions:The findings suggest that a brief IY intervention is a feasible and safe adjunctive treatment for young people with IBS, leading to benefits in a number of IBS‐specific and general functioning domains for YA. The age‐specific results suggest that yoga interventions may be most fruitful when developmentally tailored.
Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance
Authors: J. Anitha 
Published: March 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify the key determinants of employee engagement and their predictability of the concept. It also studies the impact of employee engagement on employee performance.Design/methodology/approach– Causal study was done to study the impact of relationships. A survey questionnaire was developed and validated using a pilot data (a=0.975). Simple random sampling was used to select the employees from middle and lower managerial levels from small-scale organisations. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed and 383 valid responses collected. Regression and structural equation modelling were used to predict and estimate the relationships.Findings– It was found that all the identified factors were predictors of employee engagement (r2, 0.672), however, the variables that had major impact were working environment and team and co-worker relationship. Employee engagement had significant impact on employee performance (r2, 0.597).Practical implications– Special focus and effort is required specifically on the factors working-environment and team and co-worker relationship as they have shown significantly higher impact on employee engagement and hence employee performance. Organisations shall focus on presenting a great environment for employees to work and promote programmes that would enhance peer relationships.Social implications– The determinants of employee engagement connote a healthy working atmosphere that reflects on the social impact created by the organisation. Employees would enjoy considerable attention in terms of the determinants being addressed.Originality/value– The research emphasises the growing importance and need for crystallisation of the concept of employee engagement. The research is unique in respect to the comprehensive model that is developed and validated.
Why continuous improvement initiatives fail in manufacturing environments? A systematic review of the evidence
Authors: McLean Richard , Antony Jiju 
Published: March 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present the core themes derived from literature that contribute to the failure of continuous improvement initiatives in the manufacturing industry.

Design/methodology/approach
– The approach taken was to complete a systematic review of literature, grouping the failure factors through the use of idea maps and affinity diagrams into the core themes reported.

Findings
– From the review it is evident that continuous improvement initiatives can fail due to a multitude of factors; but that these can be grouped under eight core themes. The themes found to contribute to the failure of continuous improvement initiatives are: Motives and Expectations, Organizational Culture and Environment, The Management Leadership, Implementation Approach, Training, Project Management, Employee Involvement Levels, and Feedback and Results. These themes have been further categorized into a three-stage model.

Research limitations/implications
– The review was carried out using a selection of high-quality journals, although this may have restricted the findings. The research is also limited to manufacturing, so it is unknown if the same factors impact initiatives in the service or public sectors. Continuous improvement is defined for the purpose of the study as TQM, Lean, and Six Sigma.

Originality/value
– From a practical perspective, the research findings create awareness for organizations of the complexity of organizational change in the form of continuous improvement implementation.
Modifying the cash conversion cycle: revealing concealed advance payments
Authors: Talonpoika Anna-Maria , Monto Sari , Pirttilä Miia , Kärri Timo 
Published: March 2014

Purpose
– The cash conversion cycle (CCC) is widely used in the academic studies of working capital management and supply chain efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a modification of this measure that takes into account advance payments as a component of operational working capital.

Design/methodology/approach
– A new measure, the modified cash conversion cycle (mCCC) is introduced and tested with empirical data of companies in Helsinki Stock Exchange.

Findings
– The mCCC reveals the real efficiency of operational working capital in companies that receive advance payments to a remarkable extent.

Research limitations/implications
– The mCCC can be used in empirical analysis in academic studies. In this paper, the empirical data are used only for testing the mCCC. The paper concerns received advance payments, but the mCCC can also be extended also to other components of operational working capital ignored by the traditional CCC.

Practical implications
– The paper offers insights into the variations of CCC for class teachers, and business practitioners, particularly financiers, who deal with operational working capital, cash flow predictions and calculations.

Originality/value
– There are current items that may have a remarkable effect on operational working capital, but traditionally only inventories, accounts receivable and accounts payable are discussed. The authors argue that also other current items should be taken into account, if they affect the efficiency of operational working capital. The new mCCC is encouraged to be used instead of the CCC when observing working capital management.
Building loyalty through functional and hedonic quality
Authors: Del Mar Alonso-Almeida Maria , Bernardo Merce , Llach Josep , Marimon Frederic 
Published: March 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to propose and test an e-quality model for leisure products purchased online. Two dimensions are considered in order to configure the scale: functional quality and hedonic quality.

Design/methodology/approach
– Based on a survey conducted on a sample of 1,109 online customers who had bought travel leisure products, the model and hypotheses were validated using structural equation modeling analysis.

Findings
– The results reveal that both quality dimensions, through an e-quality second order dimension, are critical to obtaining loyalty through perceived value. In terms of functional quality, however, privacy is not significant for consumers because security programs have improved. Moreover, the e-quality – perceived value – loyalty service chain has been confirmed. In addition, a partial mediating effect of perceived value between e-quality and loyalty has been detected.

Practical implications
– e-Service managers must be aware of the importance of hedonic quality in seeking to attract and retain customers on their web sites. On the other hand, it has to be considered not only direct effects for evaluating customer loyalty, but also the mediator effect of perceived value is needed.

Originality/value
– From now on, the paper forecasts that “hedonics” will be present in future scales designed to assess e-quality, although what is really valued as important is still functional quality.
Emotions and ERP information sourcing: the moderating role of expertise
Authors: Leger Pierre-Majorique , Riedl René , vom Brocke Jan 
Published: March 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to report on a laboratory experiment in which the paper investigated how expert and novice users differ in their emotional responses during use of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in a decision-making context, and how such a difference affects information sourcing behavior.

Design/methodology/approach
– In a simulated SAP business environment, participants’ emotional responses were physiologically measured based on electrodermal activity (EDA) while they made business decisions.

Findings
– Results show that both expert and novice users exhibit considerable EDA activity during their interaction with the ERP system, indicating that ERP use is an emotional process for both groups. However, the findings also indicate that experts’ emotional responses led to their sourcing information from the ERP, while novices’ emotional responses led to their sourcing information from other people.

Research limitations/implications
– From an academic standpoint, this paper responds to the recent call for more research on the role of emotions for information systems behavior.

Practical implications
– The paper discusses the implications of this finding for the development of ERP system trainings.

Originality/value
– Because emotions often do not reach users’ awareness level, the paper used EDA, a neurophysiological measure, to capture users’ emotional responses during ERP decision making, instead of using self-report measures that depend on conscious perception. Based on this method, the paper found that emotions can lead to different behavioral reactions, depending on whether the user is an expert or novice.
Founder-key leaders, group-level decision teams, and the international expansion of business groups
Authors: Lin Wen-Ting 
Published: March 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to draw the perspective of dynamic adjustment costs, the author developed hypotheses regarding the relationships between the internationalization of business groups and first, key leaders of business groups who helped found the groups (i.e. founder-key leaders); second, business groups’ group-level decision teams where the majority of positions are held by members of the founding family (i.e. family-dominated decision teams); and third, business groups’ group-level decision teams where strong ties exist among these teams (i.e. strong-tie decision teams) because group-level top managers are simultaneously top managers of group affiliates.Design/methodology/approach– This study used generalized least squares fixed-effects models to test its arguments about longitudinal data pertaining to 173 Taiwanese business groups’ foreign direct investments over a period of five years (2004-2008).Findings– The results show that the presence of a founder-key leader and strong-tie group-level decision teams in a business group can positively affect the internationalization of business groups. However, family-dominated group-level decision teams in a business group can adversely affect the internationalization of business groups.Research limitations/implications– Using a dynamic managerial-capacities perspective, this study provides alternative explanations regarding the degree of business groups’ internationalization to demonstrate the links among business groups’ key leaders, group-level decision teams, and internationalization.Practical implications– When deciding whether to expand abroad, managers at a given business group should carefully consider the characteristics of the group's management team because business groups engaging in such expansion are likely to incur dynamic adjustment costs. In this case, the dynamic managerial capacities of a business group play an important role in enabling the group to decrease dynamic adjustment costs. The differences among a group-level key leader's traits, a family-dominated group-level decision team's traits, and a strong-tie group-level decision team's traits will lead to distinct levels of dynamic managerial capacities within the group.Originality/value– Given the increasing number of business groups entering international markets, this paper rests on the perspective of dynamic managerial capabilities and uses group-level evidence to clarify how the characteristics of key leaders and the characteristics of group-level decision teams in business groups affect the groups’ international expansion.
Assistant principal leadership development: a narrative capture study
Authors: Petrides Lisa , Jimes Cynthia , Karaglani Anastasia 
Published: March 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge base on the ways in which assistant principals view their roles, and on the potential challenges involved in a distributed leadership model.Design/methodology/approach– The study employed a narrative capture method, in which assistant principals from two large urban school districts were asked to relate and self-interpret two leadership stories through a web-based narrative capture form. A total of 90 stories were collected from 45 assistant principals. Participants rated their stories based on a set of leadership indicators (including method of decision making and type of teacher interaction present in the story, among others); the results were analyzed statistically.Findings– Overall, participants tended to view their roles in terms of instructionally focussed leadership. However, leadership challenges emerged in several areas of leadership practice, including operational management and teacher professional development (PD). Demographic factors were found to influence leadership perceptions and practices.Research limitations/implications– This study begins to fill the empirical gap on assistant principal leadership roles, practices, and perceptions. Further research, using other methods (e.g. observation), is needed to collect evidence ofin situleadership practices of assistant principals, and how those practices impact and relate to school objectives for teaching and learning.Practical implications– The study sheds light on the leadership development needs of assistant principals and on the importance of ongoing, tailored PD, based on factors including where leaders are in their careers and how they envision their roles.Originality/value– This paper contributes to nascent scholarship regarding assistant principal school leadership.
Salient characteristics of high-performing Turkish elementary schools
Authors: Kondakci Yasar , Sivri Hakan 
Published: March 2014

Purpose
– Considering student achievement in a nation-wide examination as an indicator of school effectiveness, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the common characteristics across nine highly performing schools.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study was designed as a multiple-case study. Semi-structured interviews with teachers and administrators were conducted when collecting the data. Content analysis was implemented in analyzing the interview transcripts.

Findings
– The findings of the study basically suggest building a vision of achievement and sharing this vision with different constituencies, structuring positive instructional environment and implementing positive classroom managerial practices, educational leadership identifying the needs of school environment and responding to these needs, investing in positive school climate, monitoring pupils’ progress, ensuring the contribution of parents in schooling practices, and structuring a safe physical environment and providing necessary materials are instrumental activities for positive student outcomes.

Research limitations/implications
– Although it is not uncommon in the literature, the study relies on students’ scores in a nation-wide examination as an indicator of school effectiveness. However, this was inevitable because of the fact that Turkish education system does not suggest behavioral or organizational effectiveness indicators. Hence, further research in Turkish context may identify multiple indicators and focus on school wide as well as environmental dynamics of effectiveness.

Originality/value
– The current study produced similar themes characterizing effective schools with the rest of the literature. However, the Turkish context exhibits a different understanding in relation to what causes effectiveness. The uniqueness of the Turkish context is largely related to the cultural context which has largely been shaped by conservatist philosophical orientations and centralized structure.
Research trend of joint ventures in construction: a two-decade taxonomic review
Authors: Hong Yuming , W.M. Chan Daniel 
Published: March 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to systematically and critically explore the research trend of construction joint ventures (CJVs) in some selected leading construction journals over the past two decades between 1993 and 2012. It is also expected that some valuable insights into the extended application of JVs to facilities service management and maintenance could be generated from the research findings.Design/methodology/approach– A powerful search engine “Scopus” was selected to identify those journals that have published CJV-related articles. The papers related to CJVs, as retrieved from the selected journals, were first classified based on their relevance to CJV study and were then analyzed in terms of the annual number of CJV-related publications, research focus of CJV studies and the applied research methods and techniques. Future research directions are suggested to enrich and add value to the extant literature about CJVs.Findings– An apparent increasing trend of research on CJVs has been witnessed over the past two decades. A critical analysis of the two-decade research outputs indicated that research topics of CJVs published in the selected journals consist of several key areas: theory and model development; motives, benefits and other strategic demands of application; performance measurement or management; risk assessment or management; influential factors for practice; problematic issues and challenges in practice; and managerial practices of CJVs in the industry. This study also identified that the research methods employed in CJV studies are predominantly questionnaire survey, case study, literature review/analysis, and interview. Research techniques applied in CJV studies were classified into seven main groups, with rank-order analysis, structural equation modelling and regression analysis being the three mostly adopted analytical tools.Research limitations/implications– The critical review of CJV literature reveals several inherent limitations of the existing research and practices of CJVs, The research findings also help visualize future research directions associated with the identification of barriers to the adoption and successful operation of CJVs, investigation of the appropriateness and effectiveness of CJV contracting strategies, and exploration into possible strategies for improving the industrial applications in future.Originality/value– Joint ventures have been extensively used in the construction sector, which calls for the need of more rigorous and meaningful research to guide the appropriate and effective use of it. The findings of this taxonomic review could provide useful insights towards researchers into shaping their research foci under the umbrella of CJVs to suit the demands of both the literature base and the real construction market.