bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MALE-MALE SOCIAL BONDING, COALITIONARY SUPPORT AND REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN WILD GUINEA BABOONS
Authors: Dal Pesco Federica , Trede Franziska , Zinner Dietmar , Fischer Julia 
Published: April 2022

AbstractMale-male bonds may confer substantial fitness benefits. The adaptive value of these relationships is often attributed to coalitionary support, which aids in rank ascension and female defence, ultimately resulting in greater reproductive success. We investigated the link between male-male sociality and both coalitionary support and reproductive success in wild Guinea baboons. This species lives in a tolerant multi-level society with reproductive units comprising a male and 1-6 females at the core. Males are philopatric, form differentiated, stable, and equitable affiliative relationships (‘strong bonds’) with other males, and lack a clear rank hierarchy. Here, we analysed behavioural and paternity data for 30 males and 50 infants collected over four years in the Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal. Strongly bonded males supported each other more frequently during conflicts, but strong bonds did not promote reproductive success. Instead, males that spent less time socializing with other males were associated with a higher number of females and sired more offspring. Notably, reproductively active males still maintained bonds with other males, but adjusted their social investment in relation to life-history stage. Long-term data will be needed to test if the adaptive value of male bonding lies in longer male tenure and/or in promoting group cohesion.
Sex-dependent transcriptional control of cardiac electrophysiology by histone acetylation modifiers based on the GTEx database
Authors: Pressler Michael P. , Horvath Anelia , Entcheva Emilia 
Published: April 2022

AbstractDevelopment of safer drugs based on epigenetic modifiers, e.g. histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), requires better understanding of their effects on cardiac electrophysiology. Using RNAseq data from the genotype-tissue-expression database (GTEx), we created models that link the abundance of chromatin modifiers, such as histone acetylation enzymes (HDAC/SIRT/HATs), and the gene expression of ion channels (IC) via select cardiac transcription factors (TFs) in male and female adult human hearts (left ventricle, LV). Gene expression data (transcripts per million, TPM) from GTEx donors (21 to 70 y.o.) were filtered, normalized and transformed to Euclidian space to allow quantitative comparisons in 84 female and 158 male LVs. Sex-specific partial least-square (PLS) regression models, linking gene expression data for HDAC/SIRT/HATs to TFs and to ICs gene expression, revealed tight co-regulation of cardiac ion channels by HDAC/SIRT/HATs, with stronger clustering in the male LV. Co-regulation of genes encoding excitatory and inhibitory processes in cardiac tissue by the histone modifiers may help their predominantly net-neutral effects on cardiac electrophysiology.ATP1A1, encoding for the Na/K pump, represented an outlier - with orthogonal regulation by the histone modifiers to most of the ICs. The HDAC/SIRT/HAT effects were mediated by strong (+) TF regulators of ICs, e.g.MEF2AandTBX5, in both sexes. Furthermore, for male hearts, PLS models revealed a stronger (+)/(-) mediatory role on ICs forNKX25andTGF1B/KLF4, respectively, whileRUNX1exhibited larger (-) TF effects on ICs in females. Male-trained PLS models of HDAC/SIRT/HAT effects on ICs underestimated the effects on some ICs in females. Insights from the GTEx dataset about the co-expression and transcriptional co-regulation of histone-modifying enzymes, transcription factors and key cardiac ion channels in a sex-specific manner can help inform safer drug design.
Engineering and characterization of a long half-life relaxin receptor RXFP1 agonist
Authors: Erlandson Sarah C. , Wang Jialu , Jiang Haoran , Rockman Howard A. , Kruse Andrew C. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractRelaxin-2 is a peptide hormone with important roles in human cardiovascular and reproductive biology. Its ability to activate cellular responses such as vasodilation, angiogenesis, and anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects have led to significant interest in using relaxin-2 as a therapeutic for heart failure and several fibrotic conditions. However, recombinant relaxin-2 has a very short serum half-life, limiting its clinical applications. Here we present protein engineering efforts targeting the relaxin-2 hormone in order to increase its serum half-life, while maintaining its ability to activate the G protein-coupled receptor RXFP1. To achieve this, we optimized a fusion between relaxin-2 and an antibody Fc fragment, generating a version of the hormone with a circulating half-life of up to five days in mice while retaining potent agonist activity at the RXFP1 receptor both in vitro and in vivo.
Prolonged dexamethasone exposure enhances zebrafish lateral-line regeneration but disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis and hair cell function
Authors: Saettele Allison L. , Wong Hiu-tung C , Kindt Katie S , Warchol Mark E , Sheets Lavinia 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone is commonly used to treat inner ear disorders. Previous work in larval zebrafish has shown that dexamethasone treatment enhances hair cell regeneration, yet dexamethasone has also been shown to inhibit regeneration of peripheral nerves after lesion. We therefore used the zebrafish model to determine the impact of dexamethasone treatment on lateral-line hair cells and primary afferents. To explore dexamethasone in the context of regeneration, we used copper sulfate (CuSO4) to induce hair cell loss and retraction of nerve terminals, and then allowed animals to recover in dexamethasone for 48 hours. Consistent with previously work, we observed significantly more regenerated hair cells in dexamethasone-treated larvae. Importantly, we found that the afferent processes beneath neuromasts also regenerated in the presence of dexamethasone and formed an appropriate number of synapses, indicating that innervation of hair cells was not inhibited by dexamethasone. In addition to regeneration, we also explored the effects of prolonged dexamethasone exposure on lateral-line homeostasis and function. Following dexamethasone treatment, we observed hyperpolarized mitochondrial membrane potentials (ΔΨm) in neuromast hair cells and supporting cells. Hair cells exposed to dexamethasone were also more vulnerable to neomycin-induced cell death. In response to a fluid-jet delivered saturating stimulus, calcium influx through hair cell mechanotransduction channels was significantly reduced, yet presynaptic calcium influx was unchanged. Cumulatively, these observations indicate that dexamethasone enhances hair cell regeneration in lateral-line neuromasts, yet also disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis, making hair cells more vulnerable to ototoxic insults and possibly impacting hair cell function.
First detection of Leptospira santarosai in the reproductive track of a boar: a potential threat to swine production and public health
Authors: Diaz Eduardo A. , Luna Ligia , Burgos-Mayorga Ana , Donoso Gustavo , Guzman Diego A. , Baquero María Ines , Pearson Talima , Barragan Veronica 
Published: April 2022

AbstractBackgroundLeptospirosis causes significant economic losses and is an occupational risk in the swine industry, especially in developing tropical regions where social and geoclimatic conditions are favorable for the transmission of this disease. Although vaccination can reduce infection risk, efficacy is diminished if local genetic and antigenic variants of the pathogen are not accounted for in the vaccine. Identifying and characterizing strains that circulate in different populations is therefore critical for public health mitigation practices.Methodology/Principal findingsOur study was conducted on a rural breeding farm in Ecuador, where we identified, for the first time, Leptospira santarosai in the kidneys, testicles, and ejaculate of a vaccinated boar. L. santarosai was detected with a PCR assay that targets lipL32, and identified by target MLST gene sequencing using an Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencer.Conclusions/SignificanceAs L. santarosai is pathogenic in other livestock species and humans, our finding highlights the need to evaluate the prevalence and epidemiological significance of this pathogen in pigs. In addition, further studies are needed to identify and characterize local serovars that may impact diagnosis and vaccination programs to better control leptospirosis in pigs and spillover into the human population.Author summaryLeptospirosis poses a significant threat to human and animal health. In tropical countries, leptospirosis is very common, and responsible of economic losses in the livestock industry. In peridomestic and rural farms, the spillover of leptospira to humans is particularly likely as humans live and work in close proximity to animals. Although animal vaccination can reduce risk of infection, efficacy is diminished when local variants are not included in the vaccine. This report describes, for the first time, the presence of Leptospira santarosai in the reproductive tract of a vaccinated domestic boar from a rural farm in Ecuador. We detected the pathogen in its semen and urine, and despite no tissue damage, was observed in the kidneys, testes or epididymis. The farm veterinarian reported reproductive problems in sows inseminated with the semen from this boar. Our results highlight the importance of recognizing locally circulating serovars and species so that they can be included in vaccines to prevent infection and disease. Effective control of leptospirosis in livestock not only reduces economic losses for breeders, but also reduces the risk of infection and disease in humans.
Speciation without gene-flow in hybridising deer
Authors: Kessler Camille , Wootton Eric , Shafer Aaron B.A. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractUnder the ecological speciation model, divergent selection acts on ecological differences between populations, gradually creating barriers to gene flow and ultimately leading to reproductive isolation. Hybridisation is part of this continuum and can both promote and inhibit the speciation process. Here, we used white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (O. hemionus) to investigate patterns of speciation in hybridising sister species. We quantified genome-wide historical introgression and performed genome scans to look for signatures of four different selection scenarios. Despite ample modern evidence of hybridisation, we found negligible patterns of ancestral introgression and no signatures of divergence with gene flow, rather localised patterns of allopatric and balancing selection were detected across the genome. Genes under balancing selection were related to immunity, MHC and sensory perception of smell, the latter of which is consistent with deer biology. The deficiency of historical gene-flow suggests that white-tailed and mule deer were spatially separated during the glaciation cycles of the Pleistocene and genome wide differentiation accrued via genetic drift. Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities and selection against hybrids are hypothesised to be acting, and diversity correlations to recombination rates suggests these sister species are far along the speciation continuum.
Business process conceptualizations and the flexibility-support tradeoff
Authors: Antunes Pedro , Tate Mary 
Published: April 2022

PurposeMany organizations struggle to achieve their desired levels of business process flexibility and support. However, these two capabilities conflict with each other and different tradeoffs have to be made. In this paper, the authors analyze different process conceptualizations and discuss their implications. The authors argue that the conceptualizations people adopt to think (conceptualize) about business processes affect the way they model them, which in turn result in different flexibility-support tradeoffs.Design/methodology/approachA set of properties is proposed to compare process conceptualizations: dominant concept, contract, and existential and representational properties. Using these properties, several process conceptualizations are analyzed and integrated in a comparison chart, which highlights different flexibility-support tradeoffs. The storytelling method is adopted to support the analytic process.FindingsThe authors show how different process conceptualizations result in different flexibility-support tradeoffs. The authors suggest that we need to intervene on a set of properties of process conceptualizations to achieve different flexibility-support tradeoffs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to understanding the relationships between process conceptualizations, process modeling, and the flexibility-support tradeoff. A comparison chart helps organizations analyze their desired levels of flexibility and support using a set of properties.Originality/valueThe extent of covered viewpoints makes this study unique in the process management field. Such effort provides a contribution towards a more multidisciplinary discussion of process models, which integrates different process conceptualizations.
Nonlinear impact of market segmentation on the upgrading of Chinese manufacturing enterprises
Authors: Yuan Sai , Pan Xiongfeng 
Published: April 2022

Purpose
Prior studies have confirmed market segmentation as an important shackle to China's macroeconomy upgrade, but the systematic analysis of microenterprise upgrade remains inadequate. This paper aims to investigate the nonlinear impact of market segmentation on microenterprise upgrade.

Design/methodology/approach
The price method was applied to calculate China's provincial market segmentation, including commodity, capital, labor and energy. The generalized method of moments was employed to examine the nonlinear impact of market segmentation on the upgrading of manufacturing enterprises based on microenterprise data from 2003 to 2019.

Findings
First, China’s heterogeneous market segmentations have been significantly reduced. Macroeconomics and policies are critical factors in market integration. Second, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between China’s total market segmentation and the upgrading of manufacturing enterprises. Third, the relationship between the commodity market segmentation, labor market segmentation, energy market segmentation and manufacturing enterprises' upgrade is shown as an inverted U-shaped. Nevertheless, the relationship between the capital market segmentation and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises exhibits a U-shape.

Originality/value
The impact of market segmentation on the upgrading of manufacturing enterprises in China performs nonlinearly. An inverted U-shaped relationship exists between market segmentation in commodity, labor and energy and the upgrading of manufacturing enterprises, while a U-shaped relationship prevails between capital market segmentation and the upgrading of manufacturing enterprises.
Customers' annual report tone and suppliers' innovation decisions: evidence from China
Authors: Xin Yingying , Zeng Xiao , Luo Zhengying 
Published: April 2022

PurposeThis paper examines whether and how customers' annual report tone affects suppliers' innovation decisions.Design/methodology/approachUsing the data from disclosed information on top five customers and annual report tone by Chinese listed firms, this paper used a two-way fixed effect model and intermediary effect model tests to explore the impact of customers' annual report tone on suppliers' innovation decisions.FindingsThe results indicate that the more positive the tone of customer annual reports is, the higher the suppliers' technological innovation level. The customers' annual report tone affects suppliers' innovation decisions through alleviating financing constraints and reducing the bullwhip effect. In addition, the authors find that the worse the supplier's bargaining power and the higher the customer's media coverage, the more significant the impact of positive customer annual report tone on the level of corporate technological innovation.Practical implicationsFor downstream customers, to improve the quality of their text information disclosure. For upstream suppliers, the tone of customers' annual reports has incremental information, so the attention to customers' text information should be strengthened. As far as the market is concerned, it is recommended that regulators should strictly require the quality of text information disclosure and introduce relevant penalty mechanisms better to regulate the quality of corporate text information disclosure.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first to expand the research related to textual information from a supply chain innovation perspective. The textual information can provide incremental information, and spillover effects may occur among supply chains, affecting suppliers' innovation decisions. And it clarifies the specific mechanism by which the supply chain tone spillover effect affects corporate innovation, enriching the relevant research on supply chain influence mechanisms.
English teaching as an evangelical tool for two-by-two missionaries
Authors: Wargo Jennifer 
Published: April 2022

Purpose
The purpose of this narrative is to share insights on the little-known two-by-two evangelical sect, specifically its use of English teaching in South Korea and China as a missionary tool of conversion.

Design/methodology/approach
This narrative is written in memoir-style, with sections that analyze the author’s experiences. The analysis looks at the two-by-two sect through the lens of Gee’s Theory of Discourse.

Findings
Based on the author’s experiences as an insider for 35 years in the two-by-two evangelical sect, four of those in China and S. Korea, she discusses the use of English teaching as a missionary tool of conversion. The paper questions the ethicality of this practice.

Practical implications
The author suggests that global English teachers should carefully examine their own religiosity to make sure they are not ethically compromising opportunities for their students in an effort to create converts.

Originality/value
This paper sheds light on the global nature of the two-by-two sect, a religion that has very little written about it in the scholarly realm.
Shades of innovation: is there an East-West cultural divide in the European Union?
Authors: Akhmadi Saltanat , Tsakalerou Mariza 
Published: April 2022

Purpose
Innovation output around the world is concentrated in very few economies possessing the requisite skills, knowledge and market acumen to capitalize on emerging technologies. Within the broader European Union, Central and Eastern Europe countries persistently lag in innovation rankings compared to their Western Europe counterparts. The existence of cultural barriers to innovation has been offered as an explanation for the lag, in the sense that perceptions about innovation affect innovation performance. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based analysis on whether there are divergent perceptions at the firm level between East and West.

Design/methodology/approach
The focus is on four countries with distinct socioeconomic profiles (Germany, Poland, Portugal and North Macedonia) for which innovation data of sufficient granularity exist. Using Probit analysis across the regressors of firm size, sector and innovativeness, a detailed picture of perceptions of innovation emerges naturally.

Findings
The analysis demonstrates that there is no discernible East-West cultural divide but rather a palette of shades regarding perceptions of innovation, entrenched in firm-level characteristics. Specifically, firm size colors perceptions of innovation and such perceptions in turn are moderated by whether a firm is involved or not in innovation activities.

Originality/value
A better understanding of innovation culture at the firm level is essential to drive policy interventions aiming to remove barriers to innovation. The results of this study provide sufficient clues for more refined interventions, both internal (“procedures”) and external (“policies”) to the firm, targeting well-defined size segments as well as addressing differently innovative and non-innovative companies.
The moderating impact of product shadows on ad effectiveness perceptions for gestalt versus component product frames, product presentation color, and consumer visual processing modes
Authors: Sharma Nazuk , Stock James R. 
Published: April 2022

Purpose
This research aims to investigate the moderating impact of product shadows in gestalt versus component product frames on ad effectiveness perceptions. It offers insights on shadow-compatible and incompatible modes of product presentation color as well as consumer visual processing modes that offer optimal advertising effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach
This research begins with a content analysis of some popular print magazines and builds on qualitative findings from interviews conducted with two industry executives. It then undertakes four experiments to test the proposed hypotheses following a more deductive approach.

Findings
Results reveal that incorporating product shadows increase ad effectiveness for gestalt products presented in black-and-white, but lower ad effectiveness for component products presented in color. Additionally, ad effectiveness for a gestalt (component) product presented in black-and-white (color) increases (decreases) in the presence of product shadow when consumers are currently processing in a compatible, gestalt (component) visual mode.

Research limitations/implications
In addition to extending the limited marketing research on product shadows, this research contributes to the literature studying information communication theory (ICT) and advertising effectiveness, Construal-Level Theory (CLT), Heuristic–Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing and stylistic visual cues used in advertising.

Practical implications
This research is focused on advertising effectiveness, providing a tangible outcome of interest to practitioners. An optimal use of this simple, inexpensive and stylistic ad element can help managers design effective communications without forgoing established brand equity.

Originality/value
Limited marketing research on product shadows has only looked at their impact on product luxury implications (Sharma, 2016), experiential versus functional brand evaluations (Sharma, 2018) and product heaviness perceptions (Sharma and Romero, 2020). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first to investigate specific gestalt versus component product contexts and the role of black-and-white and colored product presentations, along with specific consumer visual processing modes where shadows either increase or decrease the overall ad effectiveness.