bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Functioning human lung organoids model pulmonary tissue response from carbon nanomaterial exposures
Authors: Issa Rahaf , Lozano Neus , Kostarelos Kostas , Vranic Sandra 
Published: April 2023

AbstractHuman lung organoids (HLOs) are increasingly used to model development and infectious diseases, however their ability to recapitulate functional pulmonary tissue response to nanomaterial (NM) exposures has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we established a lung organoid exposure model that utilises microinjection to present NMs into the lumen of organoids. Our model assures efficient, reproducible and controllable exposure of the apical pulmonary epithelium, emulating real-life human exposure scenario. By comparing the impact of two well studied carbon-based NMs, graphene oxide sheets (GO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), we validated lung organoids as tools for predicting pulmonary NM-driven responses. In agreement with establishedin vivodata, we demonstrate that MWCNT, but not GO, elicit adverse effects on lung organoids, leading to a pro-fibrotic phenotype. Our findings reveal the capacity and suitability of HLOs for hazard assessment of NMs, aligned with the much sought-out 3Rs (animal research replacement, reduction, refinement) framework.
Deletion of arrestin-3 does not improve compulsive drug-seeking behavior in a longitudinal paradigm of oral morphine self-administration
Authors: Gooding Sarah Warren , Felth Lindsey , Foxall Randi , Rosa Zachary , Ireton Kyle , Sall Izabella , Gipoor Joshua , Gaur Anirudh , King Madeline , Dirks Noah , Whistler Cheryl A. , Whistler Jennifer L. 
Published: April 2023

ABSTRACTOpioid drugs are potent analgesics that mimic the endogenous opioid peptides, endorphins and enkephalins, by activating the µ-opioid receptor. Opioid use is limited by side effects, including significant risk of opioid use disorder. Improvement of the effect/side effect profile of opioid medications is a key pursuit of opioid research, yet there is no consensus on how to achieve this goal. One hypothesis is that the degree of arrestin-3 recruitment to the µ-opioid receptor impacts therapeutic utility. However, it is not clear whether increased or decreased interaction of the µ-opioid receptor with arrestin-3 would reduce compulsive drug-seeking. To examine this question, we utilized three genotypes of mice with varying abilities to recruit arrestin-3 to the µ-opioid receptor in response to morphine in a novel longitudinal operant self-administration model. We demonstrate that arrestin-3 knockout and wild type mice have highly variable drug-seeking behavior with few genotype differences. In contrast, in mice where the µ-opioid receptor strongly recruits arrestin-3, drug-seeking behavior is much less varied. We created a quantitative method to define compulsivity in drug-seeking and found that mice lacking arrestin-3 were more likely to meet the criteria for compulsivity whereas mice with enhanced arrestin-3 recruitment did not develop a compulsive phenotype. Our data suggest that opioids that engage both G protein and arrestin-3, recapitulating the endogenous signaling pattern, will reduce abuse liability.
DECREASED VARIATION IN ESOPHAGEAL ACID CONCENTRATION IN DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES OF SYMPTOMATIC GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE
Authors: Gardner Jerry D. 
Published: April 2023

ABSTRACTBackgroundHomeostatic physiologic systems are regulated to maintain a particular variable such as blood pressure within a restricted range with relatively low variation, and this variation is increased with disease. Fractal physiologic systems, on the other hand, are characterized by wide, complex variation of variables such as heart rate or the walking stride interval, and this variation is decreased with disease. The present report examines time-series recordings of esophageal pH from normal subjects and different GERD phenotypes to measure the distributions of esophageal pH values and the distributions of changes in esophageal acid concentrations.MethodsUsing Lyon consensus definitions of symptomatic GERD phenotypes, I analyzed 24-hour esophageal pH recordings from normal subjects (n=20), Functional Heartburn subjects (n=20), Reflux Hypersensitivity subjects (n=20), and nonerosive esophageal reflux disease (NERD) subjects (n=20). For each subject I calculated the distribution of pH values as well as the distribution of changes in esophageal acid concentrations.ResultsEsophageal pH values have a power law distribution in both normal and symptomatic GERD phenotypes, and esophageal acid concentrations vary over four orders of magnitude in each group. The variation in esophageal acid concentrations decreased progressively from normal subjects to Functional Heartburn subjects to Reflux Hypersensitivity subjects to NERD subjects.ConclusionsThe decreased variation in esophageal acid concentration in symptomatic GERD phenotypes represents changes associated with disease in a fractal physiologic system that shares characteristic features with other fractal systems where disease states have been associated with decreased variation of heart rate or walking stride interval.
Trends in weight gain recorded in English primary care before and during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic: an observational cohort study using the OpenSAFELY platform
Authors: Samuel Miriam , Park Robin Y , Eastwood Sophie V , Eto Fabiola , Morton Caroline E , Stow Daniel , Bacon Sebastian , Mehrkar Amir , Morley Jessica , Dillingham Iain , Inglesby Peter , Hulme William J , Khunti Kamlesh , Mathur Rohini , Valabhji Jonathan , MacKenna Brian , Finer Sarah ,   The OpenSAFELY Collaborative
Published: April 2023

AbstractBackgroundWe investigated which clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were associated with unhealthy patterns of weight gain amongst adults living in England during the pandemic.MethodsWith the approval of NHS England we conducted an observational cohort study of Body Mass Index (BMI) changes between March 2015 and March 2022 using the OpenSAFELY-TPP platform. We estimated individual rates of weight gain before and during the pandemic, and identified individuals with rapid weight gain (>0·5kg/m2/year) in each period. We also estimated the change in rate of weight gain between the prepandemic and pandemic period and defined extreme-accelerators as the ten percent of individuals with the greatest increase (>1·84kg/m2/year). We estimated associations with these outcomes using multivariate logistic regression.FindingsWe extracted data on 17,742,365 adults (50·1% female, 76·1% White British). Median BMI increased from 27·8kg/m2[IQR:24·3-32·1] in 2019 (March 2019 to February 2020) to 28·0kg/m2[24·4-32·6] in 2021. Rapid pandemic weight gain (n=3,214,155) was associated with female sex (male vs female: aOR 0·76 [95%CI:0·76-0·76]); younger age (50-59-years vs 18–29-years: aOR 0·60 [0·60-0·61]); White British ethnicity (Black Caribbean vs White British: aOR 0·91 [0·89-0·94]); deprivation (least-deprived-IMD-quintile vs most-deprived: aOR 0·77 [0·77-0·78]); and long-term conditions, of which mental health conditions had the greatest effect (e.g. depression (aOR 1·18[1·17-1·18])). Similar characteristics increased risk of extreme acceleration (n=2,768,695).InterpretationWe found female sex, younger age, deprivation and mental health conditions increased risk of unhealthy patterns of pandemic weight gain. This highlights the need to incorporate sociodemographic, physical, and mental health characteristics when formulating post-pandemic research, policies, and interventions targeting BMI.FundingNIHR
Revisiting the role ofAcinetobacterspp. in EBPR systems
Authors: Yan Yuan , Hana IL , Lee Jangho , Li Guangyu , Srinivasan Varun , McCullough Kester , Klaus Stephanie , Kang Da , Wang DongQi , Patel Anand , McQuarrie Jim , Stinson Beverley M. , deBarbadillo Christine , Dombrowski Paul , Bott Charles , Gu April Z. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractSide-stream Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (S2EBPR) has been incorporated with B-stage process to enable simultaneous phosphorus and nitrogen removal. However, the dominating phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs) in this novel configuration has not been evaluated. The dominance of Acinetobacter was confirmed by 16S sequencing. In addition, single cell Raman spectrum (SCRS) analysis in couple with in situ fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was applied to obtain the feature spectrum and verify the phosphorus release/uptake activity of Acinetobacter spp. The phenotypic profiling further suggested the dominance of Acinetobacter-like organisms among all poly-phosphorus containing organisms and only certain phenotypic Acinetobacter (oligotype 1) contribution to P-removal in a unique HRAS-P(D)N-S2EBPR system. The findings suggest that Acinetobacter may outcompete other heterotrophic organisms in EBPR systems due to their sensitivity to operational conditions. However, stable P-removal was only observed during a specific section of the operation period, coinciding with an increase in the VFA/P ratio. Further research is needed to identify the phenotypes of Acinetobacter responsible for P-removal in EBPR systems. The study contributes to a better understanding of the microbial ecology and engineering aspects of EBPR systems and wastewater treatment in general.
The adhesion GPCRs CELSR1-3 and LPHN3 engage G proteins via distinct activation mechanisms
Authors: Huong Bui Duy Lan , Roach Andrew , Li Jingxian , Bandekar Sumit J. , Orput Elizabeth , Raghavan Ritika , Araç Demet , Sando Richard 
Published: April 2023

SummaryAdhesion GPCRs (aGPCRs) are a large GPCR class that direct diverse fundamental biological processes. One prominent mechanism for aGPCR agonism involves autoproteolytic cleavage, which generates an activating, membrane-proximal tethered agonist (TA). How universal this mechanism is for all aGPCRs is unclear. Here, we investigate G protein induction principles of aGPCRs using mammalian LPHN3 and CELSR1-3, members of two aGPCR families conserved from invertebrates to vertebrates. LPHNs and CELSRs mediate fundamental aspects of brain development, yet CELSR signaling mechanisms are unknown. We found that CELSR1 and CELSR3 are cleavage-deficient, while CELSR2 is efficiently cleaved. Despite differential autoproteolysis, CELSR1-3 all engage GαS, and CELSR1 or CELSR3 TA point mutants retain GαS coupling activity. CELSR2 autoproteolysis enhances GαS coupling, yet acute TA exposure alone is insufficient. These studies support that aGPCRs signal via multiple paradigms and provide insights into CELSR biological function.
Crystal structure of the engineered endolysin mtEC340M
Authors: Wang Jee-Min , Seok Seung-Hyeon , Yoon Won-Su , Kim Ji-Hun , Seo Min-Duk 
Published: April 2023

Endolysins produced by bacteriophages play essential roles in the release of phage progeny by degrading the peptidoglycan layers of the bacterial cell wall. Bacteriophage-encoded endolysins have emerged as a new class of antibacterial agents to combat surging antibiotic resistance. The crystal structure of mtEC340M, an engineered endolysin EC340 from the PBEC131 phage that infects Escherichia coli, was determined. The crystal structure of mtEC340M at 2.4 Å resolution consists of eight α-helices and two loops. The three active residues of mtEC340M were predicted by structural comparison with peptidoglycan-degrading lysozyme.
Institutional repository infrastructure: a survey of Ghanaian public universities
Authors: Imoro Osman , Saurombe Nampombe 
Published: April 2023

Purpose
Ghanaian public universities have fully embraced the concept of open access. This is evident in the increasing numbers of institutional repositories (IRs) by universities in Ghana. However, to ensure the sustainability of these IRs, it is vital the current IR infrastructure is capable of responding to current and future demands. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability of the current IR infrastructure of public universities in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach
The convergent parallel mixed methods design was adopted. A total of 830 respondents comprising IR managers, library staff (digitisation and e-resources units), postgraduate students, lecturers and university librarians from five public universities in Ghana were sampled for this study. A questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide were the main instruments used for data collection.

Findings
The findings of this study revealed that the IR infrastructure of public universities in Ghana is robust and has the capacity to expand when the need arises. However, funding, cost of internet connectivity, personnel and erratic power supply were identified as major challenges confronting IRs in Ghana.

Originality/value
This study highlighted Ghana's existing IR infrastructure situation. This study is a significant contribution to the literature from West Africa because there is not much research on IR infrastructure from this part of the world.
Female top managers and credit risk: evidence from Italian firms
Authors: Manello Alessandro , Falavigna Greta , Isaia Eleonora , Rossi Maria Cristina 
Published: April 2023

Purpose
The recent literature on corporate governance and gender diversity underlines that those differences may go beyond a pure or direct effect on firms’ performance and in this vein, this study aims to investigate whether the presence of women in leading positions can affect the credit rating indicators.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors focus on Italian manufacturing firms, as well as small and medium firms (SMEs), that are often under-represented in previous studies, despite their importance in many economies. The authors extract data on directors and top managers as well as rating classes and credit score indicators, and using a fixed-effects model, the authors analyze the relationship between credit risk mitigation and the inclusion of women among top managers, consistently with the rising empirical literature focused on risk perceptions.

Findings
The authors find a significant negative relationship between female participation in top management and credit risk, with a greater impact associated with smaller firms, where the presence of a female top manager might make the difference. The results are robust to different model specifications and estimation strategies, and the authors find different magnitudes of the effects also according to the geographical location of the firm.

Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen sample of manufacturing firms, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to expand the study and test the approach elsewhere.

Originality/value
The authors add new and more robust empirical evidence of a negative relationship between female participation in the top management and credit risk by focusing on the entire population of Italian nonlisted manufacturing firms.
Social expenditure, business responsibility reporting score and firm performance: empirical evidence from India
Authors: Bhatnagar Chandra Shekhar , Bhatnagar Dyal , Bhullar Pritpal Singh 
Published: April 2023

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure and business responsibility report (BRR) on a firm’s financial performance. Additionally, the study explores whether CSR expenditure and firm performance are related linearly or otherwise. The study also assesses the influence of mandating CSR expenditure on a firm’s performance.

Design/methodology/approach
The study is set in India and uses a nine-year data set from 165 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Data compilation and analysis are done by using content analysis and panel data regressions.

Findings
The main findings of the study are that the effect of CSR expenditure on firm performance in India is non-linear and can be characterized as parabolic for investigated firms. While some performance indicators suggest a U-shaped relationship, others show an inverted U-type pattern, making a definitive conclusion elusive in either direction. BRR scores themselves have a positive impact on firm performance. Mandatory CSR expenditure affects the financial performance negatively, but the market performance improves in general.

Originality/value
The study provides new insights on the relationship between CSR expenditure, BRR scores and firm performance from India, which is not only a notable emerging market but also has other gripping characteristics. It has a prolific history of philanthropy, and yet, it is the first country in the world to mandate CSR expenditure in recent times. The equation between reported economic progress and general quality of life remains intriguing, and yet the number of studies on the effects of CSR expenditure on firm performance are no match to the volume of ongoing and completed works in more developed markets. This study attempts to trim the gap and provide some useful insights for managers, policymakers and stakeholders, apart from prompting further research.
Connecting organizational learning strategies to organizational resilience
Authors: Douglas Stephanie , Haley Gordon 
Published: April 2023

Purpose
The objective of this study is to analyze the conceptual and domain overlap of organizational learning and organizational resilience; specifically, the adaptation or renewal domain in organizational resilience. From the findings, strategies to foster collective learning leading to organizational resilience are identified and outlined.

Design/methodology/approach
Recent organizational resilience conceptual models were analyzed to identify the conceptual overlap between the renewal and adaptation domain of organizational resilience and organizational learning. From the analysis of the models, implications were drawn based on the conceptual overlap found in organizational learning and the adaptable or renewal domain of organizational resilience.

Findings
To build the renewal or adaptation domain of organizational resilience, organizations must embody learning into a capability. Systems are then required for learning to remain continuous and foster knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation, and organizational memory that leads to dynamic capabilities for renewal and adaptation. The learning strategies must then focus renewing what is known in traditional approaches to organizational learning that supports experiential learning, developing systematic approaches to learning, and creating contexts to facilitate organizational learning. When this knowledge is aggregated to an organizational level, it contributes to resilience.

Originality/value
As organizational resilience grows in attention and importance; it is necessary to investigate similarities and conceptual domain overlap. This study contributes to this need and identifies what can be implemented in learning strategies for organizations’ resilience capacity.
The mediating role of carbon emissions in the relationship between the board attributes and ESG performance: European evidence
Authors: Alkurdi Amneh , Al Amosh Hamzeh , Khatib Saleh F.A. 
Published: April 2023

PurposeThis study seeks to investigate the impact of board attributes on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, along with exploring the mediating role of carbon emissions in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachTo address this objective, the panel data approach was used to analyze the data were collected from 1,621 European companies from 2017 to 2021.FindingsThis study shows that board gender diversity, audit committee independence, expertise and board meeting attendance help enhance ESG performance. On the contrary, board size and composition do not affect ESG performance. The findings also showed that board gender diversity, audit committee independence, expertise and board meeting attendance are negatively related to carbon emissions performance. However, board size is related positively to carbon emissions performance. This indicates that the larger boards of directors may have diverse experiences that enhance the environmental performance of companies. Furthermore, the finding showed companies that contribute to lowering carbon emissions are more willing to improve their ESG performance. Also, carbon emissions mediate the relationship between the board's attributes and ESG performance.Originality/valueThe study's results have significant implications for firm managers in enhancing the efficiency of board decisions in determining environmental practices that matter to various groups of stakeholders. In addition, this study provides valuable input to regulators and policymakers regarding strengthening the regulations and controlling tools that enhance environmental performance.
Mentoring underrepresented racially minoritized undergraduate students in an education research apprenticeship program: strategies for success
Authors: Hankerson Shenika , Williams Olivia 
Published: April 2023

PurposeThis study examined the characteristics of research mentors that successfully support underrepresented racially minoritized undergraduate (URMU) students in education research.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory case study approach was employed to gain insight into the characteristics. The data sources used to inform this study included surveys and artifacts from eight URMU students who participated in a national grant-funded research apprenticeship fellowship program.FindingsResults revealed three key findings about the characteristics that research mentors need to possess to successfully support URMU students in education research. These characteristics include a willingness to (1) invest time and effort in the mentor–mentee relationship, (2) share relevant knowledge and expertise about education research and (3) serve as sponsors to support and promote their mentees' educational research goals and endeavors.Practical implicationsThe results have the potential to improve the quality of successful research mentorship opportunities for URMU students in education research by demonstrating the qualities and importance of these mentoring relationships. Higher quality mentoring relationships have the power to encourage URMU students to persist into graduate school and/or the education research profession via knowledge sharing, support and social capital. This is particularly important as education research – which still largely privileges Eurocentric research perspectives and methods – continues to take much needed steps toward racial and cultural diversity.Originality/valueMost undergraduate research mentorship literature – and especially that literature highlighting the needs of URMU students – focuses on students in STEM, leaving gaps in knowledge related to students in education research. By focusing on the latter, this study seeks to extend our knowledge of the research mentorship needs of URMU students in education research.