bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cognitive load dissonance and personality factors: an empirical analysis in organizational settings
Authors: Francesco Di Gruttola , Antonio Mastrogiorgio , Donata Orfei M. , Sonia D’Arcangelo , Nicola Lattanzi , Emiliano Ricciardi , Andrea Malizia P. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractPrevious research that aimed at characterizing the importance of workers’ personological traits in coping with stress in organizational settings is often biased by the potential inconsistency (i.e., dissonance) between subjective perception and objective experience of workload. This study explored the relationship between the subjective, self-reported and objective physiological measures of cognitive load, and the possible confounding role of personality traits on a representative population (call center operators) in ecological settings (daily working routines consisting in inbound and outbound calls). With this aim, the personality traits of 30 call center operators were preliminarily characterized using the Ten Item Personality Inventory. Then, objective heart rate variability and electrodermal activity were measured during their inbound and outbound calls. Finally, a subjective self-evaluation of the experienced cognitive load was acquired. No significant correlations were found between subjective and objective measures of cognitive load except when controlling for personality traits. In particular, a negative correlation was found between the subjective perception of cognitive load and the psychophysiological indices of the parasympathetic tone. Specifically, the personality factors of Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Emotional Stability have a significant influence on the subjective perception of cognitive load, without predicting the objective psychophysiological expression. Our study emphasizes the importance of studying the dissonance between subjectively-perceived feelings and their objective physiological instantiation, along with the influence of personality factors, in organizational settings.
Bone mineral density assessment in patients with cystinuria
Authors: D’Ambrosio Viola , Capolongo Giovanna , Caletti Chiara , Vietri Maria Teresa , Ambrogio Martina , Lombardi Gianmarco , Perna Alessandra F , Orefice Giuseppe , Gremese Elisa , Varriano Valentina , Gatti Davide , Fassio Angelo , Capasso Giovambattista , Gambaro Giovanni , Ferraro Pietro Manuel 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIntroductionCystinuria is a rare genetic disease characterized by impaired tubular transport of cystine. Clinical features of cystinuria include mainly nephrolithiasis and its complications, although cystinuric patients may present with other comorbidities. There are currently no data on bone features of patients with cystinuria. Our aim is to characterize bone mineral density (BMD) in cystinuria.MethodsOur study included adult cystinuric patients followed at 3 specialized outpatient clinics in Italy (Rome, Naples and Verona). Markers of bone turnover were analyzed in a centralized laboratory. Clinical, biochemical and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) data were collected from September 2021 to December 2022. One sample t-tests were used to assess whether BMD Z-scores were significantly different from 0.Results39 patients were included in the study. Mean (SD) age was 38 (15) years, 40% were women. Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 92 mL/min/1.73 m2. Serum parameters associated with bone remodeling (parathyroid hormone, FGF23, calcium and phosphate) were all in the normal range, with only 4 patients showing mild hypophosphatemia. Prevalence of low BMD, defined as T-score < −1 at any site, was 65%, higher at the femur and lumbar spine. Average Z-scores were negative across most sites.ConclusionsOur data show a high prevalence of low BMD in cystinuric patients, despite having normal (or moderately impaired) kidney function and being relatively young.
A 6-week randomized-controlled field study: Effect of isokinetic eccentric resistance training on strength, flexibility and muscle structure for the shoulder external rotator in male junior handball players
Authors: Vetter Sebastian , Witt Maren , Hepp Pierre , Schleichardt Axel , Schleifenbaum Stefan , Roth Christian , Denecke Timm , Henkelmann Jeanette , Köhler Hans-Peter 
Published: December 2023

AbstractBackgroundTeam handball involves a tremendous amount of shoulder motion with high forces during repeated extended external range of motion. Shoulder complaints are a common problem in youth handball players. While eccentric training for the lower extremity shows preventive effects by improving strength, range of motion and fascicle length, there is a research gap for the shoulder joint and for advanced tissue characterization using diffusion tensor imaging.ObjectivesTo investigate the effects of six-week eccentric isokinetic resistance training on the strength, flexibility, and fiber architecture characteristics of the external rotators compared to an active control group in junior handball players.Methods15 subjects were randomly assigned to the eccentric training group and 14 subjects to the active control group (conventional training). Primary outcome measures were eccentric and concentric isokinetic strength of the external rotators, range of motion, and muscle fascicle length and fascicle volume.ResultsThe intervention group, showed significant changes in eccentric strength (+15 %). The supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles showed significant increases in fascicle length (+13 % and +8 %), and in fractional anisotropy (+9 % and 6 %), which were significantly different from the control group.ConclusionsEccentric isokinetic training has a significant effect on the function and macroscopic structure of the shoulder external rotators in male junior handball players. While strength parameters and muscle structure improved, range of motion did not change. Future research is needed for more convenient field exercises in this context.
An integrated mathematical model of the neuromuscular activity of a motor unit
Authors: Ivanova Zdravka D. , Ivanov Tihomir B. , Raikova Rositsa T. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractIn the present work, we propose a new integrated mathematical model for the neuromuscular activation of a motor unit, describing the four consecutive processes, leading to muscle contraction—neural impulse propagation, acetylcholine transport in the neuromuscular junction, calcium release in the muscle cell, and force generation. We connect in an appropriate way models of the respective processes, known from the literature, and validate the resulting model by showing that it can reproduce with high accuracy experimental data for two motor unit twitches on a rat medial gastrocnemius muscle and can numerically restore the sequence of events that result in force generation. Sensitivity analysis for some of the model parameters is further performed to study their effect on the model solutions and to show that they can be related to known malfunctions or treatments of the neuromuscular system.
Structural Basis of μ-Opioid Receptor-Targeting by a Nanobody Antagonist
Authors: Yu Jun , Kumar Amit , Zhang Xuefeng , Martin Charlotte , Raia Pierre , Koehl Antoine , Laeremans Toon , Steyaert Jan , Manglik Aashish , Ballet Steven , Boland Andreas , Stoeber Miriam 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe μ-opioid receptor (μOR), a prototypical member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, is the molecular target of opioid analgesics such as morphine and fentanyl. Due to the limitations and severe side effects of currently available opioid drugs, there is considerable interest in developing novel modulators of μOR function. Most GPCR ligands today are small molecules, however biologics, including antibodies and nanobodies, are emerging as alternative therapeutics with clear advantages such as affinity and target selectivity. Here, we describe the nanobody NbE, which selectively binds to the μOR and acts as an antagonist. We functionally characterize NbE as an extracellular and genetically encoded µOR ligand and uncover the molecular basis for µOR antagonism by solving the cryo-EM structure of the NbE-µOR complex. NbE displays a unique ligand binding mode and achieves µOR selectivity by interactions with the orthosteric pocket and extracellular receptor loops. Based on a β-hairpin loop formed by NbE that deeply inserts into the µOR and centers most binding contacts, we design short peptide analogues that retain µOR antagonism. The work illustrates the potential of nanobodies to uniquely engage with GPCRs and describes novel μOR ligands that can serve as a basis for therapeutic developments.
Scalable Genotyping of Microbial Colonies
Authors: Chen Arnold , Nchinda Nkazi , Cira Nate 
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACTThe sequence of the 16S region is taxonomically informative and widely used for genotyping microbes. While it is easy and inexpensive to genotype several isolates by Sanger sequencing the 16S region, this method becomes quite costly if scaled to many isolates. High throughput sequencing provides one potential avenue for obtaining 16S sequences at scale, but presents additional challenges. First, DNA purification workflows for high-throughput sample preparation are labor intensive and expensive. Second, cost-effective multiplexing and library preparation schemes are difficult to implement for many libraries on a single sequencing run. Therefore, we implemented a scalable protocol for isolate genotyping involving colony polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with simple cell lysis as well as a four barcode indexing scheme that enables scalable multiplexing and streamlined library preparation by amplifying with four primers simultaneously in a single reaction. We tested this protocol on 93 colonies cultured from environmental samples, and we were able to ascertain the identity of ∼90% of microbial isolates.
Boundary effects cause false signals of range expansions in population genomic data
Authors: Kemppainen Petri , Schembri Rhiannon , Momigliano Paolo 
Published: December 2023

AbstractStudying range expansions (REs) is central for understanding genetic variation through space and time as well as for identifying refugia and biological invasions. Range expansions are characterized by serial founder events causing clines of decreasing diversity away from the center of origin and asymmetries in the two-dimensional allele frequency spectra. These asymmetries, summarized by the directionality index (ψ), are sensitive to REs and persist for longer than clines in genetic diversity. In continuous and finite meta-populations, genetic drift tends to be stronger at the edges of the species distribution. Such boundary effects (BEs) are expected to affect geographic patterns in ψ as well as genetic diversity. With simulations we show that BEs consistently cause high false positive rates in equilibrium meta-populations when testing for REs. In the simulations, the absolute value of ψ (|ψ|) in equilibrium data sets was proportional to the fixation index (FST). By fitting signatures of REs as a function of ɛ=|ψ|/FSTand geographic clines in ψ, strong evidence for REs could be detected in data from a recent rapid invasion of the cane toad,Rhinella marina, in Australia, but not in 28 previously published empirical data sets from Australian scincid lizards or the Indo-Australasian blacktip shark that were significant for the standard RE tests. Thus, while clinal variation in ψ is still the most sensitive statistic to REs, in order to detect true signatures of REs in natural populations, its magnitude needs to be considered in relation to the overall levels of genetic structuring in the data.
Identification of the molecular components of enhancer-mediated gene expression variation in multiple tissues regulating blood pressure
Authors: Yaacov Or , Mathiyalagan Prabhu , Berk-Rauch Hanna H. , Ganesh Santhi K. , Zhu Luke , Hoffmann Thomas J. , Iribarren Carlos , Risch Neil , Lee Dongwon , Chakravarti Aravinda 
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACTInter-individual variation in blood pressure (BP) arises in part from sequence variants within numerous enhancers modulating expression of an unknown number of causal genes. We propose that these genes are active in tissues relevant to BP physiology and can be identified from tissue epigenomic data and genotypes of BP-phenotyped individuals. We used the ENCODE project’s H3K27ac and ATAC-seq data from the heart, adrenal gland, kidney, and artery to comprehensively identify all cis regulatory elements (CREs) in these tissues to estimate the impact of all common human single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in CREs on gene expression, using machine learning methods. To identify specific genes, we integrated these results through a gene-wise association test against BP. We conducted analyses in two separate large-scale cohorts: 77,822 individuals from the Genetic Epidemiology Research on Adult Health and Aging (GERA) of Kaiser Permanente North California and 315,270 individuals from the UK Biobank (UKB).We identified 309, 259, 331 and 367 genes (FDR<0.05) for diastolic BP (DBP), and 191, 184, 204, and 204 genes for systolic BP (SBP), in the artery, kidney, heart, and adrenal gland, respectively, in GERA; 50-70% of these genes were replicated in the UKB and is significantly higher than the 12-15% expected by chance (P <10-4). These results enabled the prediction of tissue expression of these 988-2,875 putative BP-genes in individual participants of both cohorts to construct an expression polygenic score (exPGS). This score explained ∼27% of the reported SNV heritability (h2, 21%), substantially higher than that expected from prior studies. Additionally, we utilized these methods to provide dual-modality supporting evidence, CRE and expression-based, for the causality of genes previously detected by GWAS.
The impact of patient-centered care on quality of life and hope among patients receiving home medical care: The Zaitaku Evaluative Initiatives and Outcome Study
Authors: Iida Hidekazu , Hayashi Shinu , Yasunaka Masakazu , Tsugihashi Yukio , Hirose Misaki , Shirahige Yutaka , Kurita Noriaki ,   the ZEVIOUS group
Published: December 2023

AbstractObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the correlation between the quality of patient-centered care and quality of life and hope among patients receiving home medical care.DesignMulticenter cross-sectional studySetting and ParticipantsThis study was part of the Zaitaku Evaluative Initiatives and Outcome Study involving 29 home care clinics in Japan. The participants were patients receiving home medical care who were judged capable of responding to the questionnaire survey by their attending physician.MethodsPatient centeredness, the exposure variable, was measured using the Japanese version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool–Short Form (JPCAT-SF). Outcomes, namely quality of life and hope, were measured utilizing the Quality of Life-Home Care (QOL-HC) and Health-Related Hope (HR-Hope) scales, respectively. Mixed-effects linear regression models were applied, incorporating covariates such as age, sex, education, family member presence, comorbidities (primary and other), depressive symptoms, residence type, and patient life expectancy.ResultsAmong the 194 participants, a notable association was found, wherein a higher JPCAT-SF total score correlated with an elevated QOL-HC score (adjusted mean difference per 10-point increase: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.17–0.42). Within the JPCAT-SF domains, elevated scores for first contact, longitudinality, comprehensiveness, and community orientation were correlated with higher QOL-HC scores. Additionally, a higher JPCAT-SF total score was associated with elevated HR-Hope levels (adjusted mean difference per 10-point increase: 5.1, 95% CI: 3.2–7). Higher scores for first contact, longitudinality, coordination, comprehensiveness, and community orientation were associated with higher HR-Hope scores.Conclusions and ImplicationsThe findings underscore that higher quality patient-centered care is positively associated with enhanced quality of life and hope among home medical care patients. This study highlights the importance of strengthening patient centeredness in daily clinical practice.
A Small Genome Amidst the Giants: Evidence of Genome Reduction in a Small Tubulinid Free-Living Amoeba
Authors: Tekle Yonas I. , Tefera Hanna 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThis study investigates the genomic characteristics ofEchinamoeba silvestris, a small-sized amoeba within the Tubulinea clade of the Amoebozoa supergroup. Despite Tubulinea’s significance in various fields, genomic data for this clade have been scarce. E. silvestrispresents the smallest free-living amoeba genome within Tubulinea and Amoebozoa to date. Comparative analysis reveals intriguing parallels with parasitic lineages in terms of genome size and predicted gene numbers, emphasizing the need to understand the consequences of reduced genomes in free-living amoebae. Functional categorization of predicted genes inE. silvestrisshows similar percentages of ortholog groups to other amoebae in various categories, but a distinctive feature is the extensive gene contraction in orphan (ORFan) genes and those involved in biological processes. Notably, among the few genes that underwent expansion, none are related to cellular components, suggesting adaptive processes that streamline biological processes and cellular components for efficiency and energy conservation. The investigation delves into genomic structural evidence, including gene content and repetitive elements, illuminating the distinctive genomic traits ofE. silvestrisand providing reinforcement for its compact genome size. Overall, this research underscores the diversity within Tubulinea, highlights knowledge gaps in Amoebozoa genomics, and positionsE. silvestrisas a valuable addition to genomic datasets, prompting further exploration of complexities in Amoebozoa diversity and genome evolution.
Corrosion and protection of friction stir welding of magnesium alloy
Authors: Zhou Ziru , Zheng Songlin , Chen Jiahuan , Zhang Ting , He Zhen , Wang Yuxin 
Published: December 2023

Purpose
The high specific strength makes magnesium alloys have a wide range of applications in aerospace, military, automotive, marine and construction industries. However, its poor corrosion resistance and weldability have limited its development and application. Friction stir welding (FSW) can effectively avoid the defects of fusion welding. However, the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of FSW joints in magnesium alloys vary among different regions. The purpose of this paper is to review the corrosion of magnesium alloy FSW joints, and to summarize the protection technology of welded joints.

Design/methodology/approach
The corrosion of magnesium alloy FSW joints includes electrochemical corrosion and stress corrosion. This paper summarizes corrosion protection techniques for magnesium alloys FSW joints, focusing on composition, microstructure changes and surface treatment methods.

Findings
Currently, this research is mainly focused on enhancing the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy FSW joints by changing compositions, structural modifications and surface coating technologies. Refinement of the grains can be achieved by adjusting welding process parameters, which in turn minimizes the effects of the second phase on the alloy’s corrosion resistance.

Originality/value
This paper presents a comprehensive review on the corrosion and protection of magnesium alloys FSW joints, covering the latest research advancements and practical applications. It aims to equip researchers with a better insight into the field and inspire new studies on this topic.
India Someday: weaving glorious memories amidst hurdles
Authors: Menezes Stacy , Saha Tanaya 
Published: December 2023

Expected learning outcomes
This case study aims to stimulate the students’ thoughts about the introduction of sustainability and its importance in the travel and tourism industry and introduce the concept of resilience and building of dynamic capability of a venture from the perspective of an entrepreneur.

Case overview/synopsis
Established in 2009, India Someday was a fledgling travel company based in Mumbai, India. The team comprised passionate travellers who provided planning assistance for those willing to explore India independently. The company offered customised, personalised and tailor-made trips to create a memorable travel experience for travellers with differing budgets and age groups. Upon the launch of Asia Someday, an extension of the travel venture India Someday, Mr Asif Munshi shared a moment of relief as he shook hands with his co-founder, Mr Harsh Shirodkar. The pandemic significantly impacted the tourism industry, yet it fortified their entrepreneurial spirit and inspired them to bounce back with a dynamic and vigorous comeback and further strengthened the foundation of the endeavour. The expansion of their entrepreneurial venture marked the initiation of the second innings of their enterprise. Although the company had managed to stay afloat because of savings, it was soon depleted. But the withdrawal of the no-fly list and the gradual opening of borders brought a ray of hope for India Someday. Munshi was preoccupied with his thoughts about the future steps of his dream venture. With emails from his previous clients regarding travel plans to India, he could see that the prior impact of India Someday had not gone in vain. Although relieved with the commencement of people travelling, the future was uncertain and the founders knew that they had to be prepared to successfully operate their venture.

Subject area
Tourism and hospitality courses/entrepreneur courses

Study level/applicability
Beginner

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code
CSS 12: Tourism and hospitality.