bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The interaction of the F-like plasmid-encoded TraN isoforms with their cognate outer membrane receptors
Authors: Low Wen Wen , Seddon Chloe , Beis Konstantinos , Frankel Gad 
Published: February 2023

AbstractHorizontal gene transfer via conjugation plays a major role in bacterial evolution. In F-like plasmids, efficient DNA transfer is mediated by close association between donor and recipient bacteria. This process, known as mating pair stabilization (MPS), is mediated by interactions between the plasmid-encoded outer membrane (OM) protein TraN in the donor and chromosomally-encoded OM proteins in the recipient. We have recently reported the existence of seven TraN sequence types, which are grouped into four structural types, we named TraNα, TraNβ, TraNγ, TraNδ. Moreover, we have shown specific pairing between TraNα and OmpW, TraNβ and OmpK36 ofKlebsiella pneumoniae, TraNγ and OmpA and TraNδ and OmpF. In this study we found that although structurally similar, TraNα encoded by the pSLT plasmid (TraNα2) binds OmpW in bothEscherichia coliandCitrobacter rodentiumwhile TraNα encoded by the R100-1 plasmid (TraNα1) only binds OmpW inE. coli. AlphaFold2 predictions suggested that this specificity is mediated by a single amino acid difference in loop 3 of OmpW, which we confirmed experimentally. Moreover, we show that single amino acids insertions into loop 3 of OmpK36 affect TraNβ-mediated conjugation efficiency of theK. pneumoniaeresistance plasmid pKpQIL. Lastly, we report that TraNβ can also mediate MPS by binding OmpK35, making it the first TraN variant that can bind more than one OM protein in the recipient. Together, these data show that subtle sequence differences in the OM receptors can impact TraN-mediated conjugation efficiency.ImportanceConjugation plays a central role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes amongst bacterial pathogens. Efficient conjugation is mediated by formation of mating pairs via a pilus, followed by mating pair stabilisation (MPS), mediated by tight interactions between the plasmid encoded outer membrane protein (OMP) TraN in the donor (of which there are seven sequence types grouped into the four structural isoforms α, β, γ, δ) and an OMP receptor in the recipient (OmpW, OmpK36, OmpA and OmpF, respectively). In this study we found that subtle differences in OmpW and OmpK36 have significant consequences on conjugation efficiency and specificity, highlighting the existence of selective pressure affecting plasmid-host compatibility and the flow of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria.
Time to lysis determines phage sensitivity to a cytidine deaminase toxin/antitoxin bacterial defense system
Authors: Hsueh Brian Y. , Sanath-Kumar Ram , Bedore Amber M. , Waters Christopher M. 
Published: February 2023

ABSTRACTToxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous two-gene loci that bacteria use to regulate cellular processes such as phage defense. Here, we demonstrate the mechanism by which a novel type III TA system,avcID, is activated and confers resistance to phage infection. The toxin of the system (AvcD) is a deoxycytidylate deaminase that converts deoxycytidines (dC) to dexoyuridines (dU), while the RNA antitoxin (AvcI) inhibits AvcD activity. We have shown that AvcD deaminated dC nucleotides upon phage infection, but the molecular mechanism that activated AvcD was unknown. Here we show that the activation of AvcD arises from phage-induced shutoff of host transcription, leading to degradation of the labile AvcI. AvcD activation and nucleotide depletion not only decreases phage replication but also increases the formation of defective phage virions. Surprisingly, infection of phages such as T7 that are not inhibited by AvcID also lead to AvcI RNA antitoxin degradation and AvcD activation, suggesting that depletion of AvcI is not sufficient to confer protection against some phage. Rather, our results support that phage with a longer lysis time like T5 are sensitive to AvcID-mediated protection while those with a shorter lysis time like T7 are resistant.AUTHOR’S SUMMARYNumerous diverse antiphage defense systems have been discovered in the past several years, but the mechanisms of how these systems are activated upon phage infection and why these systems protect against some phage but not others are poorly understood. The AvcID toxin-antitoxin phage defense system depletes nucleotides of the dC pool inside the host upon phage infection. We show that phage inhibition of host cell transcription activates this system by depleting the AvcI inhibitory sRNA, which inhibits production of phage and leads to the formation of defective virions. Additionally, we determined that phage lysis time is a key factor that influences sensitivity to AvcID with faster replicating phage exhibiting resistance to its effects. This study has implications for understanding the factors that influence bacterial host/phage dynamics.
Neuropeptide Y-expressing dorsal horn inhibitory interneurons gate spinal pain and itch signalling
Authors: Boyle Kieran A. , Polgár Erika , Gutierrez-Mecinas Maria , Dickie Allen C. , Cooper Andrew H. , Bell Andrew M. , Evelline Jumolea M. , Casas-Benito Adrian , Watanabe Masahiko , Hughes David I. , Weir Greg A. , Riddell John S. , Todd Andrew J. 
Published: February 2023

ABSTRACTSomatosensory information is processed by a complex network of interneurons in the spinal dorsal horn. It has been reported that inhibitory interneurons that express neuropeptide Y (NPY), either permanently or during development, suppress mechanical itch, with no effect on pain. Here we investigate the role of interneurons that continue to express NPY (NPY-INs) in adulthood. We find that chemogenetic activation of NPY-INs reduces behaviours associated with acute pain and pruritogen-evoked itch, whereas silencing them causes exaggerated itch responses that depend on cells expressing the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor. As predicted by our previous studies, silencing of another population of inhibitory interneurons (those expressing dynorphin) also increases itch, but to a lesser extent. Importantly, NPY- IN activation also reduces behavioural signs of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. These results demonstrate that NPY-INs gate pain and itch transmission at the spinal level, and therefore represent a potential treatment target for pathological pain and itch.
Mapping knowledge assets categories for successful crowdfunding strategies
Authors: Lerro Antonio , Santarsiero Francesco , Schiuma Giovanni , Bartuseviciene Ilona 
Published: February 2023

PurposeCrowdfunding models recently emerged as relevant enhancing systems aimed at fostering innovation and entrepreneurial dynamics. Accordingly, great attention has been paid to seeker firms' characteristics and platforms. For this reason, adopting a holistic knowledge-based perspective on crowdfunding is essential. This paper first identifies and categorizes the potential knowledge-based dimensions grounding crowdfunding and technological scouting strategies to provide a theoretically-grounded framework potentially useful for driving decision-making processes. Then, it is applied to interpret a real crowdfunding strategy developed by an Italian platform in the field of the real estate sector.Design/methodology/approachThe paper combines deductive and inductive approaches. After elaborating a conceptual framework identifying the potential knowledge-based dimensions for a crowdfunding strategy, it is tested and applied by re-interpreting a real crowdfunding strategy.FindingsThe study identifies the potential knowledge assets dimensions grounding a crowdfunding strategy through elaborating a dedicated conceptual framework. Then, the case study enriches the proposed conceptual arguments with a set of empirical evidence.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a conceptual framework capable of fostering a specific research stream and carrying out a first holistic and systematic knowledge-based perspective. The authors believe that their research may provide a relevant contribution to the existing literature, depicting a comprehensive picture of the intellectual capital components that seekers have to identify and manage in crowdfunding. While doing so, the study significantly addresses the challenge launched by Troise et al. (2021) in order to enrich prior but highly fragmented studies on the role of intellectual capital components in crowdfunding.Practical implicationsThe analysis of the models and tools developed and discussed can be useful to support the elaboration and the application of practical knowledge-based approaches, protocols and routines for the value generation in the crowdfunding field and to drive the designer of crowdfunding platforms and strategies to develop more effective and impactful initiatives and campaigns. Accordingly, when elaborating a crowdfunding strategy, it should be effectively highlighted that seekers have and are capable of managing intellectual capital in different manners. This is particularly true for new ventures that are generally challenged to provide information about their quality, in particular about founders, their previous experiences, potential and real networks and partnerships, innovation capacity.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the further development of the crowdfunding literature according to a knowledge-based perspective.
The motility of posted workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: policies, trends and worker experiences in Austria
Authors: Danaj Sonila , Kayran Elif Naz , Geyer Leonard 
Published: February 2023

PurposeTo analyse the policies, posting trends and worker experiences during the pandemic, this study uses the concept of motility, i.e. workers' mobility capital, and examines how posted workers' geographical mobility, their access to and conditions of employment and social protection were impacted. The authors discuss how the measures against the pandemic undertaken at the European Union (EU) and national level have affected labour mobility, the impact these measures have had on macro trends of posting to Austria, and lastly, how the pandemic and the actions against it have influenced the lives of posted workers at the individual level.Design/methodology/approachIn this article, the authors focus on the specific case of posting to Austria. The authors ask whether, and if so, how EU and national policies which came about during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the motility of posted workers, and how these workers used their mobility capital in this unfolding context. The authors address the research questions with analyses of EU and national level policies, use administrative data on posting, and individual-level data based on interviews with posted workers and public authorities.FindingsThe authors find that the Austrian government's public health and economic priorities were jointly influential on the motility of cross-border workers. The specific case of the posted workers shed new light on the limits to such a national sovereignty approach when it comes to economic interests in an increasingly interdependent European labour market. This study’s findings show that despite the access provided at the policy levels, the motility of posted workers was also affected by their individual circumstances, or competences, which produced different forms of appropriation.Originality/valueThe authors apply the theoretical framework of motility by studying policy developments through the element of access options and conditions, and the posting trends to Austria and worker experiences at the individual level through the lenses of appropriation and competences. The authors find that while the EU and national public policy in enhancing access options have been successful during the COVID-19 period, amelioration attempts in access conditions have not been realised as observed in our analysis of the competence and appropriation dimensions of the posted workers in Austria. This highlights the need for a more integrated approach in the study of policies by exploring beyond the national and EU level policies and focussing on the implementation and observations at the individual level.
Seeing is buying: should offline retailers use shelf-based scarcity to sell products?
Authors: Ezhil Kumar Madhumitha , Pandey Shivendra Kumar , Sharma Dheeraj P. , Rathore Himanshu 
Published: February 2023

Purpose
This study aims to examine the moderating role of two product-related variables – product type and product involvement on the relationship between shelf-based scarcity (SBS) and purchase intention.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors used four 2 × 2 between-subject experiments to test the proposed moderation.

Findings
Results from the four experimental studies provide the following insights. SBS enhances customers’ purchase intentions for utilitarian products and decreases purchase intentions for hedonic products. The positive influence of SBS cues on purchase intentions is more pronounced for low-involvement products than for high-involvement products. Perceived popularity and perceived quality mediate the relationship between SBS and perceived consumption risk for utilitarian products but not hedonic products.

Research limitations/implications
This study builds on prior research on scarcity by investigating the impact of product-related factors on the SBS-purchase intention relationship through the elaboration likelihood model.

Practical implications
The results suggest that retailers benefit from using SBS cues for utilitarian and low-involvement products to increase purchase intention. Retailers can avoid SBS cues for hedonic products to prevent them from seeming commonplace. Furthermore, retailers can boost purchase intentions by highlighting the popularity and quality of utilitarian and low-involvement products.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first study to examine the interaction between SBS and product-related attributes, along with the serial mediation of perceived popularity, quality and consumption risk.
Positive faultlines: an unconventional perspective on team compositional dynamics
Authors: Kaur Manpreet , Ren Hong 
Published: February 2023

PurposeFaultline literature has been extensively examined for its effect on various outcomes. Barring a few exceptions, this research has primarily inferred the adverse impact of such splits. The purpose of this theoretical paper is to assert that these divisions can also be formed based on positive psychological capacities, which will cause a divide, but eventually help increase performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper offers a conceptual model that links employee psychological capital with the faultline literature and suggests its impact on team performance. It also explores the positive moderating effect of time and team goal orientation.FindingsThe study asserts that there will be an initial divide, but the positive faultlines will improve team performance. Several propositions are formulated that provide the opportunity for further examination.OriginalityThis paper makes a contemporary and important conceptual contribution to the faultline literature by proposing a new notion: “positive faultlines.” To view the effect of faultlines from a positive perspective, a pioneering endeavor is made to explore the impact of employees’ psychological capital in teams. By integrating the faultline literature with positive organizational behavior, this study offers an alternative line of thinking on team compositional dynamics.
Analysis of the acoustic seismic energy flux propagated through synthetic models formed by different structures
Authors: Chacón‐Hernández Francisco 
Published: February 2023

AbstractSeismic‐acoustic wavefield propagations on synthetic 2D models formed by different structural backgrounds are analysed in four test cases. These test cases were carried out employing staggered‐grid finite differences and absorbing boundaries of the convolutional perfectly matched layers type, which allowed analysing in a time of 7.0 s: (a) the seismic‐acoustic wavefield behaviour, (b) the kinetic seismic energy flux and potential seismic energy flux and (c) the energy differences (ΔKEF/ΔPEF) due to each type of proposed structure. In the first two test cases, a relationship was observed between average kinetic seismic energy flux/potential seismic energy flux values and the different structural densities ε of each synthetic model, which were formed by a similar type of structure (fractures). The average kinetic seismic energy flux values increased when ε decreased, whereas the average potential seismic energy flux values decreased when ε also decreased. The largest ΔKEF/ΔPEF values were observed for those models with more structures, reaching up to 0.2 × 108/0.21 × 108 J/m2 in the first test case and up to 1.95 × 108/1.91 × 108 J/m2 in the second test case. Meanwhile, for those models with less number of structures was 0.04 × 108/0 J/m2 in test case 1 and 0.26 × 108/0.61 × 108 J/m2 in test case 2. In the third test case, a relationship was observed between the average potential seismic energy flux values and the ε values, but not with the average kinetic seismic energy flux values, the synthetic models of which were formed by different types of structures (lobes and fractures under different shapes and sizes). The kinetic seismic energy fluxes were more affected by structures closer to each other than by those further apart. Meanwhile, the potential seismic energy fluxes were more affected by larger structures, maintaining a relationship with the seismic frequency and wavelength. The largest ΔKEF/ΔPEF values reached up to 3.42 × 108/3.24 × 108 J/m2 in model with the highest ε value, whereas up to 0.49 × 108/0.67 × 108 J/m2 in the model with the lowest ε value. In the fourth test case, similar types of structures (fractures) were analysed under different orientations in each model. The kinetic seismic energy fluxes/potential seismic energy fluxes were higher in the model formed by better‐oriented structures or parallel with respect to the propagation direction of the seismic‐acoustic wavefield. These energy differences between each test case show how not only the number of structures in a model and the ε values influenced the seismic‐acoustic wavefield and the kinetic seismic energy flux/potential seismic energy flux, but also the structural aspects, the intrinsic elastic properties (e.g. the density used in structures), location (separation between structures) and orientation of structures.
Genotyping of two congeneric bitterling fish species by nuclear SNP markers and the detection of hybridization in a sympatric region
Authors: Hata Hiroki , Taniguchi Rintaro , Yamashita Naoki , Hashiguchi Yasuyuki , Nakajima Jun , Takeyama Tomohiro 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBitterling fish species (subfamily: Acheilognathinae) are endangered in Japan due to habitat loss. The decline of freshwater mussels also enhances the decrease of bitterlings because bitterlings lay eggs in the gills of freshwater mussels. Furthermore, loss of unionid mussels causes hybridization between bitterling species. This study aims to analyze the frequency of hybridization between congeneric species of bitterlings—Tanakia lanceolata and Tanakia limbata—at a well‐preserved site, where both species occur naturally and compare this with other regions more severely impacted by human intervention. One part of the irrigation streams of the Asahi River System, Okayama, is inhabited by a natural monument species of Japan, a benthic cobitid, Parabotia curtus, and therefore, the natural substratum and the structurally heterogeneous stream banks are maintained. We collected Tanakia individuals and surveyed mussel density at this well‐preserved site. We also developed six nuclear single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers on different chromosomes to distinguish T. lanceolata and T. limbata. These SNP markers effectively determined individuals as being either one of these species or a hybrid. Based on genotyping, eight individuals were determined to be hybrids, whereas 90 and 173 individuals were determined as purebreds of T. lanceolata and T. limbata, respectively. The proportion of hybrid individuals was 3.0% and was relatively low compared to other regions. In addition, five species of unionids were densely distributed in this stream. Prezygotic isolation between sympatric T. lanceolata and T. limbata was established at this well‐preserved site, where unionid mussels are densely populated and provide enough breeding substrate for both species.
Suspending failure: temporalities, ontologies, and gigantism in fusion energy development
Authors: Alexander Catherine 
Published: February 2023

AbstractTracing the history of terrestrial fusion energy to a giant multinational experimental fusion facility under construction reveals a series of consequential failures, re‐evaluations of once defunct designs, but also persistence. To account for how this vast enterprise, dogged by failure, endures, I suggest that different ontological narratives re‐orientate the enterprise both temporally and vis‐à‐vis different forms and valences of failure. Thus the rhetoric of mission‐driven project vies with that of open‐ended, present‐focused experiment: the former is positioned as the crucial solution to the threat of climate change; the latter ‘bakes in’ virtuous failure as integral to creative practice. Visionary promise moves to a focus on the meanwhile. Finally, the sheer unfurling size to which attention is constantly drawn offers a disorientating spectacle, denying perspective or closure and acting to suspend judgements of failure.
Pre‐set estimation‐based in‐silico silhouette‐based methodology for improving the robustness to viewing direction difference for assisting forensic gait analysis
Authors: Imoto Daisuke , Hirabayashi Manato , Honma Masakatsu , Kurosawa Kenji 
Published: February 2023

AbstractForensic gait analysis is used to visually and quantitatively analyze information regarding the appearance and style of walking that can be presented as evidence in the court. The demand for analyzing CCTV pedestrian footage in video surveillance has been increasing. The dependence of the accuracy of semiautomatic silhouette‐based analysis, often used in forensic science, on the differences in the viewing directions is a very challenging issue that is yet to be resolved for real case applications. Currently, the different viewing directions used in comparison footage significantly decrease the accuracy of same person analysis when using the silhouette‐based method, often used in the Japanese forensic science domain. A calibration‐based method was previously prosed to resolve this problem, but it requires performing an elaborate measurement procedure at the camera installation site for an accurate analysis. In this study, we propose a novel in‐silico silhouette‐based analysis method that significantly expands the number of viewing direction pre‐set settings to 900 from the 24 used in the previous method. Several software tools have been developed to ensure that all the procedures can be executed on a computer. The experimental results confirm that the accuracy of the proposed method is comparable to that of the calibration‐based method. Furthermore, the practical comparison results from actual consultation confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method under existing viewing direction differences. We therefore anticipate that the proposed method will be beneficial for improving the analysis accuracy in real cases and therefore serve as a substitute of the previous method.