bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Highly efficient cellular expression of circular mRNA enables prolonged protein expression
Authors: Unti Mildred J. , Jaffrey Samie R. 
Published: July 2023

SUMMARYA major problem with mRNA therapeutics is the limited duration of protein expression due to the short half-life of mRNA. New approaches for generating highly stable circular mRNA in vitro have allowed increased duration of protein expression. However, it remains difficult to genetically encode circular mRNAs in mammalian cells, which limits the use of circular mRNA in cell-derived therapeutics. Here we describe the adaptation of the Tornado (Twister-optimized RNA for durable overexpression) system to achieve in-cell synthesis of circular mRNAs. We identify the promoter and internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) that result in high levels of protein expression in cells. We then show that these circular mRNAs can be packaged into virus-like particles (VLPs) thus enabling prolonged protein expression. Overall, these data describe a platform for synthesis of circular mRNAs and how these circular mRNAs can markedly enhance the ability of VLPs to function as a mRNA delivery tool.
Purification of functional mouse skeletal muscle mitochondria using Percoll density gradient centrifugation
Authors: Anunciado-Koza Rea Victoria P. , Guntur Anyonya R. , Vary Calvin P. , Gartner Carlos A. , Nowak Madeleine , Koza Robert A. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectiveOur goal was to isolate purified mitochondria from mouse skeletal muscle using a Percoll density gradient and to assess bioenergetic function and purity via Seahorse Extracellular Flux (XF) Analyses and mass spectrometry.ResultsMitochondria isolated from murine quadriceps femoris skeletal muscle using a Percoll density gradient method allowed for minimally contaminated preparations with time from tissue harvest to mitochondrial isolation and quantification in about 3-4 hours. Percoll purification from 100-200 mg fresh tissue yielded ∼200-400 ug protein. Mitochondrial bioenergetics evaluated using the Seahorse XFe96 analyzer, a high-throughput respirometry platform, showed optimum mitochondrial input at 500 ng with respiratory control ratio ranging from 3.9-7.1 using various substrates demonstrating a high degree of functionality. Furthermore, proteomic analysis of Percoll-enriched mitochondria isolated from skeletal muscle using this method showed significant enrichment of mitochondrial proteins indicating high sample purity. This study established a methodology that ensures sufficient high quality mitochondria for downstream analyses such as mitochondrial bioenergetics and proteomics.
A technopreneurial venture’s dilemma with product selection
Authors: Pujari Purvi , Gupta Nimit , Kumar Anuj 
Published: July 2023

Learning outcomes
This case is designed to provide learners with strategic decision-making skills. It also introduces the various nuances of establishing a technopreneurial venture and creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. The setting allows learners to comprehend the significance of assessing the business environment and the advantage of being a first mover in any business sector. The case allows a rare glimpse into the strategic decision framework of a scale-wise relatively much small tech firm that is competing with global giants and creating waves, and winning accolades for its performance. The case also allows learners to understand the analysis and decision-making parameters studied by a company while selecting a product. After working through and discussing this case, learners should be able to identify the strategic decision framework in which Aeron undertakes a product selection decision; analyze the conditions in the operating environment that made Aeron possess a competitive advantage; and design the product choice strategy for Aeron.

Case overview/synopsis
This case is about the journey of two friends, Abhijeet Bokil and Ashwani Shukla, who started a company together in Pune, India, in 2008 and achieved great success. The case discusses their tryst with different products and industrial sectors. It unfolds the journey of their startups and their finding the desired product category. It also discusses the various hurdles they face while establishing the business. The journey was tough as it occurred in the unpredictable background of the dynamic international technology and policy environment. The common challenges to entrepreneurship were present throughout their journey. The team encountered various financial and technological trials during these years. The case explains how excellent strategic choices made the team overcome those challenges. The biggest dilemma faced by the team was to select between two of their products. The one who gave them visibility and success or the new upcoming one with more entry barriers. The case deals with the issue of product selection in the sectors of telematics and weather monitoring.

Complexity academic level
The case is appropriate for courses in Business management, Strategy management programs & innovation and Entrepreneurship management courses. The case would suit BBA and MBA students learning various management models.

Supplementary material
Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code
CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
Agency appraisal of emotions and brand trust
Authors: Sung Billy , La Macchia Stephen , Stankovic Michelle 
Published: July 2023

Purpose
This study aims to examine how the appraisal of both incidental and direct positive other-agency emotions (vs self-agency emotions) enhances brand trust and, subsequently, brand attitudes.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents three experiments that examine the effect of other-agency emotions (vs self-agency emotions) on brand trust and brand attitudes by both Australian and USA consumers. Studies 1 and 2 compared the effect of self- and other-agency emotions evoked through an irrelevant reflective task. Study 3 used real-world marketing communication to evoke self- or other-pride.

Findings
Gratitude (Study 1) and other-pride (Study 2) evoked through an irrelevant, reflective task enhanced brand trust and attitudes for both familiar and unfamiliar brands. The authors replicated these effects using marketing communications that evoked other-pride (Study 3) and showed how these findings can be applied in a marketing context.

Research limitations/implications
There are contradictory findings in the literature on how positive emotions influence brand trust and attitudes. The findings show that other-agency appraisal is a crucial appraisal within a marketing context and reveals why not all positively valenced emotions increase brand trust and brand attitudes. The findings highlight the importance of examining the effects of emotions on brand trust and attitudes beyond the consideration of their valence.

Practical implications
The research provides significant implications for marketers to improve brand trust and brand attitudes through the elicitation of other-agency emotions. The findings also demonstrate that different components of emotions, such as appraisal structure, may influence consumer trust and attitudes towards marketing and branding communications.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate how other-agency appraisals of emotions can influence consumer brand trust and attitudes in a marketing context.
Teachers' TPACK during the Covid-19 crisis: an ecological perspective on Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel
Authors: Masry-Herzallah Asmahan , Stavissky Yuliya 
Published: July 2023

PurposeThis research examined correlations between contextual factors: frequency of online teaching (OT) (number of hours per week), Transformational Leadership Style (TLS) and TPACK (TPACK) among Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel after more than a year of teaching online during the Covid-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative methodology elicited data from 437 questionnaires. An online questionnaire was first sent to Israeli Arab and Jewish teachers studying for M.A degrees in three randomly selected higher education institutes in Israel, and then the questionnaire was sent to other teachers, selected through the snowball method. After data collection common method variance was precluded.FindingsThe findings of this research indicated a positive correlation between frequency of OT, TLS and TPACK among Israeli teachers. Major differences were found between Arab and Jewish teachers: Arab teachers (AT) reported more improvement of TPACK, although they taught fewer hours than Jewish teachers (JT). In addition, TLS and sector (Arab/Jewish) moderated the positive correlation between the frequency of OT and TPACK among ATs.Originality/valueThe findings of this research validate the opportunity created by the Covid-19 crisis for cultivation of teachers’ TPACK through OT. This research contributes to extant relevant literature and practice concerning the influence of contextual factors on teachers' improvement of their TPACK while performing OT during the Covid-19 crisis and can inform the design of ecological and culturally appropriate education policies in the post-COVID-19 period. The research was built on the theories of TLS, which is a crucial component supporting the influence of technology integration. The findings strengthen existing knowledge on the unique capacity of TLS to buffer negative external influences imposed on teachers' TPACK and motivate them.
Fabrication of CNTs-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite film with tailored structural, surface chemical and optical properties
Authors: Lateef Abdul , Raza Zulfiqar Ali , Aslam Muhammad , Rehman Muhammad Shoaib Ur , Iftikhar Asma , Zahir Abdul 
Published: July 2023

Purpose
This study aims to fabricate multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-mediated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite films using the solution casting approach.

Design/methodology/approach
The prepared films were evaluated for diverse structural, surface, optical and electrical attributes using advanced analytical techniques, i.e. electron microscopy for surface morphology, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for tracing chemical functionalities, x-ray diffraction (XRD) for crystal patterns, water contact angle (WCA) analysis for surface wettability and UV visible spectroscopy for optical absorption parameters. The specimens were also investigated for certain rheological, mechanical and electrical properties, where applicable.

Findings
The surface morphology results expressed a better dispersion of MWCNTs in the resultant PVA-based nanocomposite film. The XRD analysis exhibited that the nanocomposite film was crystalline. The surface wettability analysis indicated that with the inclusion of MWCNTs, the WCA of the resultant nanocomposite film improved to 89.4° from 44° with the pristine PVA film. The MWCNTs (1.00%, w/w) incorporated PVA-based film exhibited a tensile strength of 54.0 MPa as compared to that of native PVA as 25.3 MPa film. There observed a decreased bandgap (from 5.25 to 5.14 eV) on incorporating the MWCNTs in the PVA-based nanocomposite film.

Practical implications
The MWCNTs’ inclusion in the PVA matrix could enhance the AC conductivity of the resultant nanocomposite film. The prepared nanocomposite film might be useful in designing certain optoelectronic devices.

Originality/value
The results demonstrated the successful MWCNTs mediation in the PVA-based composite films expressed good intercalation of the precursors; this resulted in decreased bandgap, usually, desirable for optoelectronic applications.
Digitization of Indigenous knowledge systems in Africa: the case of South Africa’s National Recorded System (NRS)
Authors: Balogun Tolulope 
Published: July 2023

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to highlight the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) preservation efforts in South Africa, with a focus on the National Recordal System and the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Documentation Centres (IKSDCs) across South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach
Anchored in the interpretivist paradigm, the qualitative research approach was adopted to explore the objectives of the study. The multiple case study method was considered appropriate and adopted for the study. The data for this study was collected through comprehensive face-to-face interviews and Web content analysis. The population of the study consisted of the staff at the IKSDCs in the selected academic institutions. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the following set of participants in each academic institution: IKS managers/coordinators, digitization officers and online collection administrators.

Findings
The findings provide an in-depth understanding of the IKS landscape in South Africa. The findings and recommendations of this paper would be useful to researchers who wish to know more about digitization efforts in South Africa. It would also be useful to all stakeholders and policymakers.

Originality/value
The paper brings to the fore the efforts of the South African government in preserving IKS through documentation and digitization. The paper highlights the sources of indigenous knowledge, types of indigenous knowledge captured, how the indigenous knowledge is ingested in the repositories and how the data is captured. Generally, the roles of the IKSDCs in the capture and preservation of IKS are highlighted.
Reproductive strategies of native plant populations altered by a plant invasion
Authors: Dostál Petr 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Invasive plant transformers substantially change the abiotic environment of invaded ecosystems and thus habitat suitability to resident species. Post‐invasion environmental alteration can also modify the selective pressure acting on native plants. Here, I explored whether the decrease in light availability due to an invasion of Heracleum mantegazzianum drives evolution of reproductive strategies of Veronica chamaedrys, a perennial plant combining sexual and clonal reproduction.

Using a common garden experiment with plant material of V. chamaedrys from 23 sites with distinct invasion history and light conditions, I searched for changes in reproductive allocation. I also asked whether evolution of the two modes can be constrained by the genetic trade‐off between them. Furthermore, the phenotypic trade‐off between the two modes was explored in a field experiment.

I found that invaded populations increased investments in clonal reproduction, a shift that was driven by decreased light availability, particularly in the early invasion phases. However, as light availability rebounded in the more advanced phases of invasion, so decreased allocation to clonal structures. In terms of relative allocation, increased investment in ramets was paralleled by reduced seed production, and the changes were underpinned by genetic trade‐off. Finally, the phenotypic trade‐off was demonstrated in the field experiment by showing that plants producing more ramets were also less likely to flower.

These results suggest that an exotic plant invasion can drive evolution of reproductive allocation, here observed on a timescale of tens of years. This knowledge is important not only for the prediction of long‐term invasion impacts, but also, more generally, for the provision of novel insights into the process of adaptation of plants to changing abiotic conditions.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Parental experiences of accessing assessments for special educational needs
Authors: Starkie Zoe 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAn individual is considered to have special educational needs (SEN) if they require special educational provision to enable them to access education (British Educational Research Journal, 2011, 37, 421). In 2014, a new SEN code of conduct was established, which saw further amendments the following year (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398815/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf, 2015). Research has suggested that, prior to these reforms, many parents were dissatisfied with the process of accessing SEN assessments. Literature focusing on parental experiences since the reforms remains limited and often only relates to children with an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP). This phenomenological research aims to provide an insight into the experiences of parents who have tried to access assessments for their child's possible SEN since the 2014 SEN reforms. Five participants, who had engaged with the SEN system, were selected using purposive sampling. Semi‐structured interviews were used to gain in‐depth qualitative data surrounding their experiences. Thematic analysis of the data indicates that parents are having to persistently fight to access assessments, which can affect the well‐being of the whole family.
Automated detection of regions of interest in cartridge case images using deep learning
Authors: Le Bouthillier Marie‐Eve , Hrynkiw Lynne , Beauchamp Alain , Duong Luc , Ratté Sylvie 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis paper explores a deep‐learning approach to evaluate the position of circular delimiters in cartridge case images. These delimiters define two regions of interest (ROI), corresponding to the breech face and the firing pin impressions, and are placed manually or by an image‐processing algorithm. This positioning bears a significant impact on the performance of the image‐matching algorithms for firearm identification, and an automated evaluation method would be beneficial to any computerized system. Our contribution consists in optimizing and training U‐Net segmentation models from digital images of cartridge cases, intending to locate ROIs automatically. For the experiments, we used high‐resolution 2D images from 1195 samples of cartridge cases fired by different 9MM firearms. Our results show that the segmentation models, trained on augmented data sets, exhibit a performance of 95.6% IoU (Intersection over Union) and 99.3% DC (Dice Coefficient) with a loss of 0.014 for the breech face images; and a performance of 95.9% IoU and 99.5% DC with a loss of 0.011 for the firing pin images. We observed that the natural shapes of predicted circles reduce the performance of segmentation models compared with perfect circles on ground truth masks suggesting that our method provide a more accurate segmentation of the real ROI shape. In practice, we believe that these results could be useful for firearms identification. In future work, the predictions may be used to evaluate the quality of delimiters on specimens in a database, or they could determine the region of interest on a cartridge case image.
Medical student deployment to a single metropolitan hospital during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A mixed methods analysis
Authors: Mazzochi Katelyn , Aldridge Emogene , Hackett Liam , Miller Joseph , Leach Deborah , Lukins Jane , Jordan Peter , Buntine Paul 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectivesTo explore student and staff satisfaction with the use of medical students as a surge workforce during the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodWe conducted a mixed methods analysis of staff and student experiences with the medical student workforce at a single metropolitan ED over an 8‐month period between December 2021 and July 2022, using an online survey tool. Students were invited to complete the survey fortnightly, whereas senior medical and nursing staff were invited weekly.ResultsThere was a 32% response rate for surveys sent to medical student assistants (MSAs) and 18% and 15% for medical and nursing staff, respectively. Most students felt well prepared and supported in the role and would recommend it to other students. They reported that the role allowed them to gain experience and confidence within the ED, especially after much of their learning had moved online throughout the pandemic. Senior nurses and doctors found MSAs to be useful members of the team, largely through their assistance with task completion. Both staff and students recommended a more comprehensive orientation, changes to the supervision model and increased clarity in the students' scope of practice.ConclusionsThe results of the present study provide insight into the use of medical students as an emergency surge workforce. Responses from medical students and staff suggested that the project was beneficial for both groups as well as for overall departmental performance. These findings are likely to be translatable beyond the COVID‐19 pandemic setting.
The effect of diabetes mellitus on tuberculosis in eastern China: A decision‐tree analysis based on a real‐world study
Authors: Ling Yuxiao , Chen Xinyi , Zhou Meng , Zhang Mengdie , Luo Dan , Wang Wei , Chen Bin , Jiang Jianmin 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectivesThe public health system faces major challenges due to the double burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) in China. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and impact of diabetes on patients with TB.MethodsStratified cluster sampling was used to select 13 counties as study sites in the Zhejiang province. Patients who visited designated TB hospitals in these areas participated in this study between 1 January 2017 and 28 February 2019. Multiple logistic regression models were performed to investigate the association between DM and bacteriological and imaging results. A decision tree was used to predict the bacteriology and imaging results under the influence of DM.ResultsOf 5920 patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis, 643 (12.16%) had DM. Patients with pulmonary TB and DM were more likely to have pulmonary cavities (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.81; 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]: 2.35–3.37) and higher rates of positive bacteriological tests (aOR, 2.32; 95% CI:1.87–2.87). Decision‐tree analysis showed similar results.ConclusionsConcurrence of DM and pulmonary TB makes patients more likely to have positive bacteriological results and pulmonary cavities. Therefore, appropriate measures are necessary to promptly identify and manage patients with TB and DM.
In Situ Rb‐Sr Dates of Muscovite and Sulfur Isotope of Pyrite from the Yangshan Gold Deposit in Western Qinling, China
Authors: HUANG Yong , QI Xianmao , WU Qingsong , LI Jianzhong , REN Minghua , DUAN Liu'an , XIONG Tao , YANG Zhonghu , ZHAO Yang , CIREN Lamu , WEI Wei , DUAN Jilin , YAN Mengmeng 
Published: July 2023

AbstractLocated along the southern part of the West Qinling orogenic belt, the Yangshan gold deposit is one of the largest in China. The major gold ores of Yangshan are disseminated in metasedimentary host rocks with minor native gold amounts in stibnite‐gold quartz veins. Pyrite and arsenopyrite are the major Au‐bearing minerals. Hydrothermal muscovite from gold‐bearing quartz veins was dated using the in situ Rb‐Sr method to determine the formation age of the Yangshan gold deposit. The Rb‐Sr isochron date of the muscovite yielded 210.1 ± 5.6 Ma (MSWD = 1.2). This date is near the lower end of the period of the mineralized granitic dykes (210.49–213.10 Ma). Two stages of gold enriching process are recognized in the gold‐bearing pyrite: the first is incorporated with the Co, Cu, As, Ni enrichment; and the second is accompanied by Bi, Co, Ni, Pb, Cu, Sb concentration. The in‐situ sulfur isotopic values of pyrites show a restricted Δ34s range of –1.43 ‰ to 2.86 ‰ with a mean value of 0.43 ‰. Trace‐element mapping and in‐situ sulfur isotopic analysis of pyrite suggest that the sulfur deposits are likely derived from a magmatic source and likely assimilated by sulfur from the sedimentary bedrock. Thus, magmatism plays a critical role in the formation of the Yangshan gold deposit.