bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Species-associated bacterial diversity increases along a gradient of habitat degradation
Authors: Hanhimäki Elina , Linna Susanna , Beraldo Camila , Englund Mikael , Rezola Uxue , Cardoso Pedro , Thorogood Rose , Saastamoinen Marjo , Duplouy Anne 
Published: January 2024

AbstractAlterations of microbial communities have evident impacts on development, digestion, fecundity, metabolism, immunity, and diverse other biological functions of their hosts. Yet, the factors affecting microbial communities associated with wild species often remain uncharacterized. For example, the impact of the host’s habitat degradation due to anthropogenic activities has received little attention, which contrasts with the large literature showing how such habitat degradation is at least partly responsible for the on-going global patterns of macro-biodiversity erosion. Here, we use metacommunities of herbivorous insect species specialized in feeding onPlantago lanceolatain the fragmented landscape of the Åland Islands, Finland, as a model system to test whether and how bacterial communities associated with wild species change along a gradient of habitat degradation. We evaluated microbial species diversity and community composition in two sympatric insect species sampled from local meadow habitats with various levels of human disturbance within or around these habitats (e.g. forests, roads, agriculture fields, buildings). Counter to our expectations, we found that bacterial diversity can increase with habitat degradation, with individuals from more degraded habitats hosting more rare bacterial species. In contrast, as the dominant microbial species remain similar across habitats, the community composition and function of the microbiota persist under habitat degradation. In this system, the strength of human activities might induce changes in habitat heterogeneity rather than changes in overall habitat quality, thus allowing local insects to encounter and host more rare microbes rather than trigger local microbial extinction.
Air pollution drives macrophage senescence through a phagolysosome-15-lipoxygenase pathway
Authors: Thomas Sarah A. , Yong Hwan Mee , Rule Ana M. , Gour Naina , Lajoie Stephane 
Published: January 2024

AbstractUrban particulate matter (uPM) poses significant health risks, particularly to the respiratory system. Fine particles, such as PM2.5, can penetrate deep into the lungs and exacerbate a range of health problems, including emphysema, asthma, and lung cancer. PM exposure is also linked to extra-pulmonary disorders like heart and neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, prolonged exposure to elevated PM levels can reduce overall life expectancy. Senescence is a dysfunctional cell state typically associated with age but can also be precipitated by environmental stressors. This study aimed to determine whether uPM could drive senescence in macrophages, an essential cell type involved in particulate phagocytosis-mediated clearance. While it is known that uPM exposure impairs immune function, this deficit is multi-faceted and incompletely understood, partly due to the use of particulates such as diesel exhaust particle (DEP) as a surrogate for true uPM. uPM was collected from several locations in the USA, including Baltimore, Houston, and Phoenix. Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) were stimulated with uPM or reference particulates (e.g.,DEP) to assess senescence-related parameters. We report that uPM-exposed BMDMs adopt a senescent phenotype characterized by increased IL-1α secretion, senescence- associated β-galactosidase activity, and diminished proliferation. Exposure to allergens failed to elicit such a response, supporting a distinction between different types of environmental exposures. uPM-induced senescence was independent of key macrophage activation pathways, specifically inflammasome and scavenger receptor. However, inhibition of the phagolysosome pathway abrogated senescence markers, supporting this phenotype’s attribution to uPM phagocytosis. These data suggest uPM exposure leads to macrophage senescence, which may contribute to immunopathology.
Differential endothelial cell cycle status in postnatal retinal vessels revealed using a novel PIP-FUCCI reporter and zonation analysis
Authors: Liu Ziqing , Tanke Natalie T , Neal Alexandra , Yu Tianji , Branch Tershona , Cook Jean G , Bautch Victoria L 
Published: January 2024

ABSTRACTCell cycle regulation is critical to blood vessel formation and function, but how the endothelial cell cycle integrates with vascular regulation is not well-understood, and available dynamic cell cycle reporters do not precisely distinguish all cell cycle stage transitionsin vivo. Here we characterized a recently developed improved cell cycle reporter (PIP-FUCCI) that precisely delineates S phase and the S/G2 transition. Live image analysis of primary endothelial cells revealed predicted temporal changes and well-defined stage transitions. A new inducible mouse cell cycle reporter allele was selectively expressed in postnatal retinal endothelial cells upon Cre-mediated activation and predicted endothelial cell cycle status. We developed a semi-automated zonation program to define endothelial cell cycle status in spatially defined and developmentally distinct retinal areas and found predicted cell cycle stage differences in arteries, veins, and remodeled and angiogenic capillaries. Surprisingly, the predicted dearth of proliferative tip cells at the vascular front was accompanied by an unexpected enrichment for endothelial tip cells in G2, suggesting G2 stalling as a contribution to tip-cell arrest. Thus, this improved reporter precisely defines endothelial cell cycle statusin vivoand reveals novel G2 regulation that may contribute to unique aspects of blood vessel network expansion.
Unraveling the genetic legacy of commercial whaling in bowhead whales and narwhals
Authors: de Greef Evelien , Müller Claudio , Thorstensen Matt J. , Ferguson Steven H. , Watt Cortney A. , Marcoux Marianne , Petersen Stephen D. , Garroway Colin J. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractCommercial whaling decimated many whale populations over several centuries. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and narwhal (Monodon monoceros) have similar habitat requirements and are often seen together in the Canadian Arctic. Although their ranges overlap extensively, bowhead whales experienced significantly greater whaling pressure than narwhals. The different harvest histories but similar habitat requirements of these two species provide an opportunity to examine the demographic and genetic consequences of commercial whaling. We whole-genome resequenced Canadian Arctic bowhead whales and narwhals to delineate population structure and reconstruct demographic history. Bowhead whale effective population size sharply declined contemporaneously with the intense commercial whaling period. Narwhals instead exhibited recent growth in effective population size, reflecting limited opportunistic commercial harvest. Although the genetic diversity of bowhead whales and narwhals was similar, bowhead whales had more genetic diversity prior to commercial whaling and will likely continue to experience significant genetic drift in the future. In contrast, narwhals appear to have had long-term low genetic diversity and may not be at imminent risk of the consequences of the erosion of genetic diversity. This work highlights the importance of considering population trajectories in addition to genetic diversity when assessing the genetics of populations for conservation and management purposes.
Towards digital approach for managing request for information (RFI) in construction projects: a literature review
Authors: Afzal Muneeb , Wong Johnny Kwok Wai , Ahmadian Fard Fini Alireza 
Published: January 2024

Purpose
Request for information (RFI) documents play a pivotal role in seeking clarifications in construction projects. However, perceived as inevitable “non-value adding” tasks, they harbour risks like schedule delays and increased project costs, underlining the importance of strategic RFI management in construction projects. Despite this, a lack of literature dissecting RFI processes impedes a full understanding of their intricacies and impacts. This study aims to bridge the gap through a comprehensive literature review, delving into RFI intricacies and implications, while emphasising the necessity for strategic RFI management to prevent project risks.

Design/methodology/approach
This research study systematically reviews RFI-related papers published between 2000 and 2023. Accordingly, the review discusses key themes related to RFI management, yielding best practices for industry stakeholders and highlighting research directions and gaps in the body of knowledge.

Findings
Present RFI management platforms exhibit deficiencies and lack analytics essential for streamlined RFI processing. Complications arise in building information modelling (BIM)-enabled projects due to software disparities and interoperability hurdles. The existing body of knowledge heavily relies on manual content analysis, an impractical approach for the construction industry. The proposed research direction involves automated comprehension of unstructured RFI content using advanced text mining and natural language processing techniques, with the potential to greatly elevate the efficiency of RFI processing.

Originality/value
The study extends the RFI literature by providing novel insights into the problemetisation with the RFI process, offering a holistic understanding and best practices to minimise adverse effects. Additionally, the paper synthesises RFI processes in traditional and BIM-enabled project settings, maps a causal-loop diagram to identify associated issues and summarises approaches for extracting knowledge from the unstructured content of RFIs. The outcomes of this review stand to offer invaluable insights to both industry practitioners and researchers, enabling and promoting the refinement of RFI processes within the construction domain.
Confirmatory factor analysis of the positive factors influencing the performance of Ghanaian construction projects
Authors: Akomah Benjamin Boahene , Ramani Prasanna Venkatesan 
Published: January 2024

Purpose
This paper aims to identify the unidimensionality and reliability of 84 factors that influence the performance of construction projects and develop a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model.

Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a deductive research approach and started by identifying the positive factors that influence construction project performance. This was followed by the modification of the identified factors. After that, a questionnaire was developed out of the factors for data collection. Exploratory factor analysis was used to establish the factor structure of the positive factors, and this was verified using CFA afterwards. A model fit analysis was performed to determine the goodness of fit of the hypothesised model, followed by the development of the confirmatory model.

Findings
The study demonstrated substantial correlation in the data, sufficient unidimensionality and internal reliability. In addition, the estimated fit indices suggested that the postulated model adequately described the sample data.

Practical implications
The paper revealed that performance can be enhanced if stakeholders identify and leverage the positive factors influencing performance. The paper suggests that project stakeholders, particularly government, project owners, consultants and construction firms, can improve project performance by critically examining economic and financial systems (EFS), regulation and policy-making systems (RPS), effective management practices (EMP) and project implementation strategies (PIS).

Originality/value
The contribution of this paper to the present literature is identifying the positive factors and developing the confirmatory factor model. The model comprised 42 positive variables under four indicators: EMP, RPS, PIS and EFS.
Parallel and automatic mesh sizing field generation for complicated CAD models
Authors: Leng Juelin , Xu Quan , Liu Tiantian , Yang Yang , Zheng Peng 
Published: January 2024

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an automatic approach for mesh sizing field generation of complicated computer-aided design (CAD) models.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors present an automatic approach for mesh sizing field generation. First, a source point extraction algorithm is applied to capture curvature and proximity features of CAD models. Second, according to the distribution of feature source points, an octree background mesh is constructed for storing element size value. Third, mesh size value on each node of background mesh is calculated by interpolating the local feature size of the nearby source points, and then, an initial mesh sizing field is obtained. Finally, a theoretically guaranteed smoothing algorithm is developed to restrict the gradient of the mesh sizing field.FindingsTo achieve high performance, the proposed approach has been implemented in multithreaded parallel using OpenMP. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach is remarkably efficient to construct reasonable mesh sizing field for complicated CAD models and applicable for generating geometrically adaptive triangle/tetrahedral meshes. Moreover, since the mesh sizing field is defined on an octree background mesh, high-efficiency query of local size value could be achieved in the following mesh generation procedure.Originality/valueHow to determine a reasonable mesh size for complicated CAD models is often a bottleneck of mesh generation. For the complicated models with thousands or even ten thousands of geometric entities, it is time-consuming to construct an appropriate mesh sizing field for generating high-quality mesh. A parallel algorithm of mesh sizing field generation with low computational complexity is presented in this paper, and its usability and efficiency have been verified.
The factors affecting work readiness during the transition from university student to physiotherapist in Australia
Authors: Lawton Vidya , Pacey Verity , Jones Taryn M. , Dean Catherine M. 
Published: January 2024

PurposeWork readiness is an important aspect of the transition from higher education to professional practice. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of work readiness of individuals transitioning into physiotherapy practice in Australia and identify any association with personal, education and work factors.Design/methodology/approachPurpose-built surveys were distributed to final-year students and graduates of physiotherapy programmes nationally. Work readiness was measured using the recently validated Work Readiness Scale for Allied Health Professionals 32 (WRS-AH32), which captures the following four domains: Practical Wisdom, Interpersonal Capabilities, Personal Attributes and Organisational Acumen. The surveys also included personal, education and work data. Work readiness was expressed as percentages for total work readiness and within each domain. Independent t-tests were used to examine the influence of personal, education and work factors on work readiness.Findings176 participant responses were analysed (84 students and 92 graduates). Total work readiness was 80% [standard deviation (SD)8], with Practical Wisdom the highest scoring domain (91%, SD8) and Personal Attributes the lowest scoring domain (65%, SD14). Considering overall work readiness, individuals reporting some psychological symptoms scored lower than asymptomatic individuals [mean difference 7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 4 to 9)] and final-year students scored less than graduates [mean difference 3% (95%CI 0 to 5)].Practical implicationsAll stakeholders, including individuals, universities and employers, need to consider further strategies to develop aspects of work readiness, particularly within the domain of Personal Attributes and those with psychological symptoms.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that physiotherapy students and graduates perceive themselves to be well prepared to transition to the workforce.
Framing external environmental dimensions as institutional constraints on adopting Islamic financial transactions: empirical evidence from: Libyan commercial banks
Authors: Bin Idrees Salwa , Alhabshi Syed Musa , Sharofiddin Ashurov , Othman Anwar Hasan Abdullah 
Published: January 2024

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to frame the dimensions of the external institutional environment, namely, cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative dimensions as the main actors in the organisational field. More precisely, Libyan commercial banks have been identified as empirical evidence, to identify constraints of the institutional environment governing the behaviour and decision-making of commercial banks, when adopting Islamic financial transactions.

Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire has been designed for 14 Libyan commercial banks which is distributed to the Board of Directors, managers, directors of departments, and personnel. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the measurement model by using the first-order and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) have been applied as essential steps to embody the conceptual framework and test the research hypotheses.

Findings
The results of the EFA indicated sufficient correlation among the dimensions of the external environment. The CFA supported this study’s hypotheses. The modelling showed that the cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative dimensions are institutional constraints impeding Libyan commercial banks’ adoption of Islamic financial transactions. Interestingly, the findings of the CFA align with the EFA findings in supporting the conceptual framework of the research. They portrayed that the cultural-cognitive dimension has been identified by explicit and implicit cognition.

Originality/value
This study systematically embodies the dimensions of the external institutional environment, namely, cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative dimensions, as the main factors in the organisational field to be conceptually rich lenses to investigate social considerations to reinforce institutional thought broadly. The results of this study were consistent with extant Islamic financial literature, reflecting symmetry and similarity across commercial banks, particularly at the first stage of adopting Islamic financial transactions.
Motivational profile and knowledge creation in eSports: examining the roles of mutualistic co-presence
Authors: Kong Joseph Siu-Lung , Kwok Ron Chi-Wai , Lai Gabriel Chun-Hei , Law Monica 
Published: January 2024

PurposeResearch on knowledge creation within eSports learning is scarce. This study extends the understanding of competition-oriented collaborative learning in eSports by examining the relationship between the dynamics of knowledge creation modes and the continuum of the motivational profile, along with the moderating effects of mutualistic co-presence therein.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were recruited from the community of massively multiplayer online gamers (MMOGs). Through a quantitative survey, their motivations (i.e. self-extrinsic, self-intrinsic, peer-extrinsic and peer-intrinsic motivations), knowledge creation involvements (i.e. internalization, externalization, combination and socialization) and perception of mutualistic benefit of self and peers were captured for hypothesis testing.FindingsSignificant and positive direct relationships were observed between four motivations and four knowledge creation modes. The mutualistic co-presence positively moderated the positive relationship between the self-extrinsic, peer-extrinsic and peer-intrinsic motivations and socialization. When mutualistic self-benefit were outweighed, peer-extrinsic motivated gamers became less likely to perform internalization, whereas self-extrinsic and peer-extrinsic motivated gamers were less likely to perform combination.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to rationalize the relationship between motivational profile and the dynamics of knowledge creation in eSports learning. The conceptualization of the new construct – mutualistic co-presence – using the ecological concept of symbiosis is uncommon in prior literature. The findings also demonstrate that the four modes of knowledge creation in eSports learning are continuous and interwoven; they can be initiated at any point and do not necessarily occur in a specific sequence.
Reverse contagion: role of empathy, narrative appeal, and intensity of previous misbehavior
Authors: Jayasimha K.R. , Srivastava Himanshu Shekhar , Sivakumar K. , Sivaraman Manoharan 
Published: January 2024

Purpose
This study aims to explore consumer motivations to mitigate the contagion effect in access-based consumption after instances of prior customer misbehavior. Reverse contagion, demonstrated through customer citizenship behavior, entails using both firm-provided and personal resources to cocreate value, even in the presence of norm violations by others. The research delves into the influence of empathy, narrative appeal and past misbehavior severity on customer behavior, specifically in the context of reverse contagion.

Design/methodology/approach
Two scenario-based studies and a field study were used within the context of scooter-sharing to assess the conceptual model. Study 1 (n = 156) and Study 2 (n = 97) were conducted through surveys. Study 3 (n = 54) was a field study.

Findings
The results emphasize the crucial role of empathy in breaking the cycle of misbehavior contagion. Specifically, the findings suggest that narrative appeals have the potential foster greater empathy, encouraging customers to counteract the contagion. However, the intensity of prior misbehavior lessens the efficacy of narrative appeals in triggering reverse contagion, thereby moderating the mediating effect of empathy.

Originality/value
This study investigates reverse contagion stemming from customer misbehavior in accessed-based consumption. It delves into the impact of empathy, narrative appeal and previous misbehavior on the dynamics of value codestruction and cocreation. This comprehensive examination of these factors within a unified framework represents a new contribution to the literature. The results illuminate this intricate phenomenon, offering valuable insights for managers to address adverse customer behavior and harness the positive aspects of reverse contagion.