bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Private Equity Acquisition in Ophthalmology and Optometry: A Time Series Analysis of the Pre-COVID, COVID Pre-Vaccine, and COVID Post-Vaccine Eras
Authors: Patil Sachi A. , Vail Daniel G. , Cox Jacob T. , Chen Evan M. , Mruthyunjaya Prithvi , Tsai James C. , Parikh Ravi 
Published: February 2022

AbstractObjectiveTo identify temporal and geographic trends in private equity (PE) backed acquisitions of ophthalmology and optometry practices in the United States from 2012 to 2021.DesignCross-sectional time series analysis using acquisition data from 10/21/2019 to 9/1/2021 compared to previously published data from 1/1/2012-10/20/2019. Acquisition data was compiled from 6 financial databases, 5 industry news outlets, and publicly available press releases. Linear regression models were used to compare rates of acquisition.Subjects245 PE acquisitions of ophthalmology and optometry practices in the United States between 10/21/2019 and 9/1/2021.MeasuresNumber of total acquisitions, practice type, locations, provider details, and geographic footprint.Results245 practices associated with 614 clinical locations and 948 ophthalmologists or optometrists were acquired by 30 PE-backed platform companies. 18 of 30 platform companies were new compared to our prior study. Of these acquisitions from 10/21/2019 - 9/1/2021, 127, 29, and 89 were comprehensive, retina, and optometry practices, respectively. From 2012 to 2021, monthly acquisitions increased by 0.947 acquisitions per year (p<0.001*). Texas, Florida, Michigan, and New Jersey were the states with the greatest number of PE acquisitions with 55, 48, 29, 28 clinic acquisitions, respectively. Average monthly PE acquisitions were 5.71 per month from 1/1/2019 - 2/29/2020 (pre-COVID), 5.30 per month 3/1/2020-12/31/2020 (COVID pre-vaccine, p=0.8072), and were 8.78/month 1/1/2021-9/1/2021 (COVID post-vaccine, p=0.1971).ConclusionPE acquisitions increased from 2012-2021 as companies continue to utilize both regionally focused and multi-state models of add-on acquisitions.
p53 mutation in normal esophagus promotes multiple stages of carcinogenesis but is constrained by clonal competition
Authors: Murai Kasumi , Dentro Stefan , Ong Swee Hoe , Sood Roshan , Fernandez-Antoran David , Herms Albert , Kostiou Vasiliki , Hall Benjamin A , Gerstung Moritz , Jones Philip H 
Published: February 2022

SummaryAging normal human epithelia, such as the esophagus, accumulate a substantial burden of TP53 mutant clones. These are the origin of most esophageal squamous carcinomas, in which biallelic TP53 disruption is almost frequent. However, the cellular mechanisms by which p53 mutants colonize the esophagus and participate in the subsequent stages of transformation are unclear. Here we show that inducing the p53R245W mutant in single esophageal progenitor cells in transgenic mice confers a proliferative advantage that drives clonal expansion but does not disrupt normal epithelial structure or function. Loss of the remaining p53 allele in mutant cells does not increase their competitive fitness, creating a bottleneck to the development of chromosomally unstable p53R245W/null epithelium. In carcinogenesis, p53 mutation does not initiate tumor formation, but tumors developing from areas with p53 mutation and LOH are larger and show extensive chromosomal instability compared to lesions arising in wild type epithelium. We conclude that p53 has distinct functions at different stages of carcinogenesis and that LOH within p53 mutant clones in normal epithelium is a critical step in malignant transformation.
Meis1 supports leukemogenesis through stimulation of ribosomal biogenesis and Myc
Authors: Garcia-Cuellar Maria-Paz , Prinz Andreas , Slany Robert K. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe homeobox transcription factors HoxA9 and Meis1 are causally involved in the etiology of acute myeloid leukemia. While HoxA9 immortalizes cells, cooperation with Meis1 is necessary to induce malignancy. Here, we apply degron techniques to elucidate the leukemogenic contribution of Meis1. ChIP-seq demonstrated that Meis1 localized mainly to H3K27ac and H3K4me1 modified enhancers pre-bound by HoxA9. HoxA9 was epistatic to Meis1 as degradation of HoxA9 caused an immediate release of Meis1 from chromatin. Nascent-RNA sequencing revealed the Meis1 gene expression pattern to be dominated by Myc, ribosome biogenesis and rRNA synthesis. While Myc accounted for cell-cycle stimulation, it could not substitute the leukemogenic effects of Meis1. Enhanced ribosomal biogenesis was accompanied by elevated resistance against RNA polymerase I and translation blocking inhibitors without affecting steady-state protein synthesis. HoxA9 and Meis1 protein stability was controlled by casein kinase 2 (CK2). CK2 inhibition caused rapid degradation of HoxA9 and Meis1 suggesting a potentially exploitable regulatory pathway.
Real-time luminescence enables continuous drug-response analysis in adherent and suspension cell lines
Authors: Wandishin Clayton M. , Robbins Charles John , Tyson Darren R. , Harris Leonard A. , Quaranta Vito 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe drug-induced proliferation (DIP) rate is a metric of in vitro drug response that avoids inherent biases in commonly used metrics such as 72h viability. However, DIP rate measurements rely on direct cell counting over time, a laborious task that is subject to numerous challenges, including the need to fluorescently label cells and automatically segment nuclei. Moreover, it is incredibly difficult to directly count cells and accurately measure DIP rates for cell populations in suspension. As an alternative, we use real-time luminescence measurements derived from the cellular activity of NAD(P)H oxidoreductase to efficiently estimate drug response in both adherent and suspension cell populations to a panel of known anticancer agents. For the adherent cell lines, we collect both luminescence reads and direct cell counts over time simultaneously to assess their congruency. Our results demonstrate that the proposed approach significantly speeds up data collection, avoids the need for cellular labels and image segmentation, and opens the door to significant advances in high-throughput screening of anticancer drugs.
Ecological insights into soil health according to the life-history traits and environment-wide associations of bacteria in agricultural soils
Authors: Wilhelm Roland C. , Amsili Joseph P. , Kurtz Kirsten S.M. , van Es Harold M. , Buckley Daniel H. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractSoil health assessment may be enhanced by monitoring changes in bacterial populations that are indicators of various biological, physical, and chemical properties of soil. However, the lack of ecological information for many abundant bacteria in agricultural soils limits our understanding of indicator responses and, thus, their utility for guiding management. We identified bacterial indicators of twelve conventional measures of soil health, and tillage intensity, from a 16S rRNA gene-based survey of farmland across North America. We then analyzed trends according to bacterial life-history frameworks and an environment-wide association survey (EWAS) to gain ecological insights. Life-history traits were assessed using genomic traits inferred from taxonomic classifications and included: genome size,rrncopy number, and coding density. An EWAS was conducted using 89 studies of agricultural land management. Most bacterial indicators were positively correlated with biological measures and negatively correlated with physical and chemical measures of soil health, revealing broad differences in the way management shapes bacterial associations with soil health. High soil health ratings corresponded with life-history traits associated with metabolic dependency (smaller genome and lower coding density), while lower health scores corresponded with traits selected for by environmental instability and disturbance (larger genome and multiplerrn). Trade-offs in community-weighted genome size explained most variation in overall health score. EWAS confirmed the importance of disturbance-adapted bacterial indicators, underscoring the impacts of tillage on soil bacterial communities. These findings provide insights into the ecological relationships between bacterial indicators and soil health and illustrate new approaches for interpreting patterns in microbiome data.
Reconstitution reveals friction-driven membrane scission by the human ESCRT-III proteins CHMP1B and IST1
Authors: Cada A. King , Pavlin Mark R. , Castillo Juan P. , Tong Alexander B. , Larsen Kevin P. , Ren Xuefeng , Yokom Adam , Tsai Feng-Ching , Shiah Jamie , Bassereau Patricia M. , Bustamante Carlos J. , Hurley James H. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) system is an ancient and ubiquitous membrane scission machinery that catalyzes the budding and scission of membranes. ESCRT-mediated scission events, exemplified by those involved in the budding of HIV-1, are usually directed away from the cytosol (‘reverse-topology’), but they can also be directed towards the cytosol (‘normal-topology’). Of the ESCRT complexes 0-III, ESCRT-III is most directly implicated in membrane severing. Various subunits of ESCRT-III recruit the AAA+ ATPase VPS4, which is essential for ESCRT disassembly and reverse topology membrane scission. The ESCRT-III subunits CHMP1B and IST1 can coat and constrict positively curved membrane tubes, suggesting that these subunits could catalyze normal topology membrane severing, perhaps in conjunction with a AAA+ ATPase. CHMP1B and IST1 bind and recruit the microtubule-severing AAA+ ATPase spastin, a close relative of VPS4, suggesting that spastin could have a VPS4-like role in normal topology membrane scission. In order to determine whether CHMP1B and IST1 are capable of membrane severing on their own or in concert with VPS4 or spastin, we sought to reconstitute the process in vitro using membrane nanotubes pulled from giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) using an optical trap. CHMP1B and IST1 copolymerize on membrane nanotubes, forming stable scaffolds that constrict the tubes, but do not, on their own, lead to scission. However, CHMP1B-IST1-scaffolded tubes were severed when an additional extensional force was applied, consistent with a friction-driven scission mechanism. Spastin colocalized with CHMP1B enriched sites but did not disassemble the CHMP1B-IST1 coat from the membrane. VPS4 resolubilized CHMP1B and IST1 but did not lead to scission. These data show that the CHMP1B and IST1 tubular coat contributes to membrane scission. Constriction alone is insufficient for scission. However, the dynamical extension of the coated tube does lead to scission. Finally, we find that in the normal topology setting analyzed here, scission is independent of VPS4 and spastin. These observations show that the CHMP1B-IST1 ESCRT-III combination is capable of severing membranes by a friction-driven mechanism.
An exploratory study into manufacturing supply chain vulnerability and its drivers
Authors: Deshpande Sujeet , Hudnurkar Manoj , Rathod Urvashi 
Published: February 2022

PurposeManufacturing supply chains (SCs) across the world have become increasingly vulnerable to disruptions due to the increasing fragmentation of business functions and tasks across many firms located within the country and abroad. Despite the numerous instances of SC disruptions being reported in the literature, the study of SC vulnerability lacks adequate conceptual and empirical support. This study aims to address this research gap.Design/methodology/approachThe concept of SC vulnerability was examined considering the outcome and contextual models of vulnerability, which are well established in extant multi-disciplinary vulnerability literature. An exploratory Delphi study was then conducted to understand the extent of vulnerability of various manufacturing SCs in India, drivers of this vulnerability and the key hazards exploiting this vulnerability.FindingsThe study confirms the increasing vulnerability of manufacturing SCs in India. It also highlights the lack of top management commitment to risk mitigation as the key vulnerability driver and frequent changes in government laws and regulations as the key hazard being faced by the manufacturing SCs in India.Originality/valueThis study highlights the utility of outcome and contextual models of vulnerability as conceptual frameworks for understanding SC vulnerability. These conceptual insights along with the key manufacturing SC vulnerability drivers and hazards identified in the study should provide a basis for SC redesign for vulnerability reduction and the selection of SC risk mitigation strategies.
Narrowing ideal self-discrepancy: the roles of organizational career management and protean career orientation
Authors: Zhu Linna , Wang Lan 
Published: February 2022

PurposeThis study investigated the joint impact of organizational and individual career management on employees' ideal self-discrepancy. Drawing on the identity literature, the authors aimed to uncover the mechanism and boundary condition of this impact, focusing on how organizations influence ideal and actual selves of employees with different protean career orientation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a four-wave time-lagged study over eight months, with a sample of 331 employees from various organizations.FindingsPerceived organizational career management negatively influenced ideal self-discrepancy via organizational identification, and such relationship was strengthened by protean career orientation. Employees with stronger protean career orientation saw a stronger moderating effect of individual career management on the relationship between organizational identification and ideal self-discrepancy, whereas their counterparts saw an opposite effect.Practical implicationsThis study highlighted the essential role of organization in narrowing employees' ideal self-discrepancy in the protean career era. It suggested that organizations should set differentiated career practices depending on employees' protean career orientation levels.Originality/valueBy integrating vocational psychology and organizational scholarship, this study extended the ideal self-discrepancy literature by offering a nuanced understanding of the mechanism and boundary condition of the role of organizational career management in narrowing ideal self-discrepancy in the protean career era. It identified the joint efforts of organization and employee as a fascinating avenue for future studies.
Assessing the impacts of climate change on cereal production in Bangladesh: evidence from ARDL modeling approach
Authors: Chandio Abbas Ali , Jiang Yuansheng , Fatima Tehreem , Ahmad Fayyaz , Ahmad Munir , Li Jiajia 
Published: February 2022

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impacts of climate change (CC), measured average annual rainfall, average annual temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2e) on cereal production (CPD) in Bangladesh by using the annual dataset from 1988–2014, with the incorporation of cereal cropped area (CCA), financial development (FD), energy consumption (EC) and rural labor force as important determinants of CPD.Design/methodology/approachThis study used an auto-regressive distributive lag (ARDL) model and several econometric approaches to validate the long- and short-term cointegration and the causality directions, respectively, of the scrutinized variables.FindingsResults of the bounds testing approach confirmed the stable long-term connections among the underlying variables. The estimates of the ARDL model indicated that rainfall improves CPD in the short-and long-term. However, CO2e has a significantly negative impact on CPD both in the short-and long-term. Results further showed that temperature has an adverse effect on CPD in the short-term. Among other determinants, CCA, FD and EC have significantly positive impacts on CPD in both cases. The outcomes of Granger causality indicated that a significant two-way causal association is running from all variables to CPD except temperature and rainfall. The connection between CPD and temperature is unidirectional, showing that CPD is influenced by temperature. All other variables also have a valid and significant causal link among each other. Additionally, the findings of variance decomposition suggest that results are robust, and all these factors have a significant influence on CPD in Bangladesh.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings have important policy implications for Bangladesh and other developing countries. For instance, introduce improved cereal crop varieties, increase CCA and familiarizes agricultural credits through formal institutions on relaxed conditions and on low-interest rates could reduce the CPD’s vulnerability to climate shocks.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to examine the short- and long-term impacts of CC on CPD in Bangladesh over 1988–2014. The authors used various econometrics techniques, including the ARDL approach, the Granger causality test based on the vector error correction model framework and the variance decomposition method.
What research tells us about leadership styles, digital transformation and performance in state higher education?
Authors: Carvalho Alba , Alves Helena , Leitão João 
Published: February 2022

Purpose Considering the current importance of leadership, digital transformation and performance in the changes state higher education institutions (HEIs) have been subject to, this study aims to present an analysis of how these three concepts have been related in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes to study the state-of-the-art of research on leadership styles, digital transformation and performance in a single study, through a systematic literature review using two major databases, ISI Web of Science and Scopus.FindingsThe results reveal that the most common leadership style in the articles analysed is transformational; the most studied dimension of performance is the one representing teaching and learning activities; and the most discussed aspects of digital transformation are those concerning online learning systems and various types of technology. Identifying gaps in the literature, a future research agenda is formulated.Originality/value Amongst the theoretical implications of this study are the importance of understanding leadership styles and digital transformation for better understanding of state HEIs' performance as well as its dimensions, considering the relations found between these constructs. Therefore, there is greater theoretical advancement in the study of transformational leadership, diverse educational technologies, online teaching systems, global performance and teaching/learning.
The impact of social class and service type on preference for AI service robots
Authors: Yao Qi , Wu Zhangjian , Zhou Wenkai 
Published: February 2022

PurposeThe research aims to explore the interaction effect of consumer social class and service type on consumers' preference for robot services, as well as the mediating role of risk aversion in this interaction effect.Design/methodology/approachExperiment 1 is a field experiment with service type being the independent variable. The participants were divided into two groups based on the services they received (diagnostic dental services vs. hotel room services). 93 consumers participated voluntarily in the blind experiment and were asked if they would choose to allow a robot to perform the focal services. Experiment 2 employs a 2 × 2 factorial design: personal fitness trainer services at the gym vs wait staff services in a casual dining restaurant × higher- vs lower-social class, with 196 participants.FindingsResults from the two experiments show that participants in the higher-social classes were more willing than participants in the lower-social classes to choose robot services in credence-based service settings. More significantly, risk aversion mediated the interaction effect of social class and service type on participants' preference for robot services.Originality/valueBased on the credence-experience typology, this research is the first to discuss the weight of social class in consumer decision-making regarding preference for different types of robot services. Furthermore, by extending risk aversion to the robot services field, the current research sheds new light on this underlying mechanism that can inform future studies.
Determinants of medical tourism: application of Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process
Authors: Guru Sunita , Sinha Anamika , Kautish Pradeep 
Published: February 2022

PurposeThe study aims to facilitate the medical tourists visiting emerging countries for various kinds of ailments by ranking the possible destinations to avail medical treatments.Design/methodology/approachA Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP) with a mixed-method approach is applied to analyze data collected from patients and substantiate it with medical tour operators in India to gain managerial insights on the choice-making patterns of the patients.FindingsIndia is a preferred emerging market location due to the low cost and high medical staff quality. India offers value for money, whereas Singapore and Thailand are preferred destinations for quality and technology.Research limitations/implicationsThe study will facilitate the emerging markets' governments, hospitals and medical tourists to understand the importance of various determinants responsible for availing medical treatment outside their country.Practical implicationsThe study recommends that cost and quality care are the patients' prime focus; government policies must provide clear guidelines on what the hospitals and country environment can offer and accordingly align the marketing strategies.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to rank various factors affecting medical tourism using the FAHP approach.