bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
NudF-boosted strategy to improve the yield of DXS pathway
Authors: Prasanna Devi , Shantier Shaza Wagiealla , Runthala Ashish 
Published: March 2022

AbstractBackgroundTerpenoids form a large pool of highly diverse organic compounds possessing several economically important properties, including nutritional, aromatic, and pharmacological properties. The DXP pathway’s end enzyme, nuclear distribution protein (NudF), interacting with isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP), is critical for the synthesis of isoprenol/prenol/downstream compounds. The enzyme is yet to be thoroughly investigated to increase the overall yield of terpenoids in the Bacillus subtilis, which is widely used in industry and is generally regarded as safe (GRAS) bacterium. The study aims to analyze the evolutionary conservation across the active site, and map the key residues for mutagenesis studies. The study would allow us customize the metabolic load towards the synthesis of prenol or isoprenol or any of the downstream molecules.ResultsThe 37-sequence dataset, extracted from 103 Bacillus subtilis entries, show a high phylogenetic divergence, and only six one-motif sequences ASB92783.1, ASB69297.1, ASB56714.1, AOR97677.1, AOL97023.1, and OAZ71765.1 show monophyly relationship, unlike a complete polyphyly relationship between the other 31 three-motif sequences. Further, only 47 of 179 residues of the representative sequence CUB50584.1 are observed to be significantly conserved. Docking analysis shows a preferential bias of ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase towards IPP, and a nearly 3-fold energetic difference is observed between IPP and DMAPP. Computational saturation mutagenesis of the seven hotspot residues identifies two key positions LYS78 and PHE116, encoded within loop1 and loop7, majorly interact with the ligands DMAPP and IPP, and their mutants K78I/K78L and PHE116D/PHE116E are found to stabilize the overall conformation. The loops are hereby shown to play a regulatory role in guiding the promiscuity of NudF towards a specific ligand.ConclusionThe study map the phylogenetic relationship between the 37 representative B.subtiis NudF sequences, and through sequence conservation, structural contact map, topological flexibility, and saturation mutagenesis of the active site residues, the essential residues regulating the interaction of NudF with IPP/DMAPP are deciphered. The study robustly screens its mutational landscape and localizes the two crucial residues LYS78 and PHE116 for directing the mutagenesis studies. The preliminary docking and simulation results also suggest a preferential bias of ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase towards IPP over DMAPP. The findings would pave the way for the development of novel enzyme variants with highly improved catalytic ability for the large-scale bioproduction of specific terpenoids with significant neutraceutical or commercial value.
Π-Π Interactions Stabilize PeptoMicelle-Based Formulations of Pretomanid Derivatives Leading to Promising Therapy Against Tuberculosis in Zebrafish and Mouse Models
Authors: Dal Nils-Jørgen K. , Schäfer Gabriela , Thompson Andrew M. , Schmitt Sascha , Redinger Natalja , Alonso-Rodriguez Noelia , Johann Kerstin , Ojong Jessica , Wohlmann Jens , Best Andreas , Koynov Kaloian , Zentel Rudolf , Schaible Ulrich E. , Griffiths Gareth , Barz Matthias , Fenaroli Federico 
Published: March 2022

ABSTRACTTuberculosis is the deadliest bacterial disease globally, threatening the lives of millions every year. New antibiotic therapies that can shorten the duration of treatment, improve cure rates, and impede the development of drug resistance are desperately needed. Here, we used polymeric micelles to encapsulate four second-generation derivatives of the antitubercular drug pretomanid that had previously displayed much better in vivo activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis than pretomanid itself. Because these compounds were relatively hydrophobic, we expected that such micellar formulations would increase drug bioavailability, reduce toxicities, and improve therapeutic outcomes. The polymeric micelles were based on polypept(o)ides (PeptoMicelles) and were stabilized in their hydrophobic core by π-π interactions, allowing the efficient encapsulation of aromatic pretomanid derivatives. The stability of these π-π-stabilized PeptoMicelles was demonstrated in water, blood plasma, and lung surfactant by fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy and was further supported by prolonged circulation times of several days in the vasculature of zebrafish larvae. The pretomanid derivative with the best in vitro potency against Mycobacterium marinum (“drug D”) was also the most efficacious PeptoMicelle formulation tested in the zebrafish larvae infection model, almost completely eradicating the bacteria at non-toxic doses. This lead formulation was further assessed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the susceptible C3HeB/FeJ mouse model, which develops human-like necrotic granulomas. Following intravenous administration, the drug D micellar formulation significantly reduced bacterial burden and inflammatory responses in the lungs and spleens of infected mice.
Crystal structure of the putative cell-wall lipoglycan biosynthesis protein LmcA from Mycobacterium smegmatis
Authors: Patel Onisha , Brammananth Rajini , Dai Weiwen , Panjikar Santosh , Coppel Ross L. , Lucet Isabelle S. , Crellin Paul K. 
Published: March 2022

The bacterial genus Mycobacterium includes important pathogens, most notably M. tuberculosis, which infects one-quarter of the entire human population, resulting in around 1.4 million deaths from tuberculosis each year. Mycobacteria, and the closely related corynebacteria, synthesize a class of abundant glycolipids, the phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannosides (PIMs). PIMs serve as membrane anchors for hyperglycosylated species, lipomannan (LM) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM), which are surface-exposed and modulate the host immune response. Previously, in studies using the model species Corynebacterium glutamicum, NCgl2760 was identified as a novel membrane protein that is required for the synthesis of full-length LM and LAM. Here, the first crystal structure of its ortholog in Mycobacterium smegmatis, MSMEG_0317, is reported at 1.8 Å resolution. The structure revealed an elongated β-barrel fold enclosing two distinct cavities and one α-helix extending away from the β-barrel core, resembling a `cone with a flake' arrangement. Through xenon derivatization and structural comparison with AlphaFold2-derived predictions of the M. tuberculosis homolog Rv0227c, structural elements were identified that may undergo conformational changes to switch from `closed' to `open' conformations, allowing cavity access. An AlphaFold2-derived NCgl2760 model predicted a smaller β-barrel core with an enclosed central cavity, suggesting that all three proteins, which were collectively termed LmcA, may have a common mechanism of ligand binding through these cavities. These findings provide new structural insights into the biosynthetic pathway for a family of surface lipoglycans with important roles in mycobacterial pathogenesis.
Heuristic optimization applied to ANN training for predicting renewable energy sources production
Authors: Lorenti Gianmarco , Mariuzzo Ivan , Moraglio Francesco , Repetto Maurizio 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
This paper aims to compare stochastic gradient method used for neural network training with global optimizer without use of gradient information, in particular differential evolution.

Design/methodology/approach
This contribute shows the application of heuristic optimization algorithms to the training phase of artificial neural network whose aim is to predict renewable power production as function of environmental variables such as solar irradiance and temperature. The training problem is cast as the minimization of a cost function whose degrees of freedom are the parameters of the neural network. A differential evolution algorithm is substituted to the more usual gradient-based minimization procedure, and the comparison of their performances is presented.

Findings
The two procedures based on stochastic gradient and differential evolution reach the same results being the gradient based moderately quicker in convergence but with a lower value of reliability, as a significant number of runs do not reach convergence.

Research limitations/implications
The approach has been applied to two forecasting problems and, even if results are encouraging, the need for extend the approach to other problems is needed.

Practical implications
The new approach could open the training of neural network to more stable and general methods, exploiting the potentialities of parallel computing.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the research presented is fully original for the part regarding the neural network training with differential evolution.
State-owned enterprises’ performance in Indonesia: a strategic typology perspective
Authors: Apriyantopo Wahyu , Aprianingsih Atik , Kitri Mandra Lazuardi 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
State-owned enterprises’ (SOEs) goals are perceived as two-sided blades, providing goods or services to the public on one side and escalating the government’s wealth on the other side. Treating the SOEs, government encounters the problem of injection strategy or privatize them. At the same time, managers have the option to formulate the SOEs strategy to boost performance. By using Miles and Snow’s typology strategy and the above factors, this paper investigates those impacts on Indonesia’s SOEs’ performance. This study aims to propose strategic typology as the main predictor with other variables such as the size, ownership structure, market competitiveness and capital subsidy on SOEs.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses archived SOEs’ financial data from 2014 to 2018 to predict the financial performance using ordinal logistic regression analysis. The additional factors, such as firm size, ownership structure, market concentration and capital subsidy, are incorporated.

Findings
The result demonstrates that SOEs strategic typology, market concentration, size, ownership structure and capital subsidy significantly affect Indonesia’s SOEs’ performance.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first elaborating government policies for SOEs, such as capital subsidy and state ownership, on the perspective of Miles and Snow’s strategy-performance relationship. Correspondingly, the paper contributes to examine the Indonesian characteristic SOE type with the performance. No single study has previously explored this relationship in the context of SOE in Indonesia.
Does the cashless transaction work? An analysis of policy challenges in an emerging economy
Authors: Panda Debadutta Kumar , Reddy Sriharsha , Vaithianathan Sridhar 
Published: March 2022

PurposeThis paper aims to study the adoption of a public policy (cashless transaction system by implementing demonetization) from the institutional and technology adoption theories.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-method approach was followed and data was collected from 900 samples randomly selected from different cities in India. The content analysis method was applied to analyze responses collected from personal interviews, and descriptive statistics and cluster analysis methods were used to process the data.FindingsThe determinants of the cashless transaction policy adoption were institutional issues and technology-related issues. The non-adopters were falling into either technology antagonist or technology ignorant, whereas the adopters perceived user-friendliness, necessity and usefulness. Institutional bottlenecks and perceived security issues were serious concerns.Originality/valueThis study examined the factors influencing the adoption and non-adoption of mobile payments for two reasons. First, the nature of adoption here is more of a forced adoption rather than organic/natural adoption. Second the context – emerging market, India – also demands that it would be more useful to carry out exploratory study and understand the factors from the stakeholders – merchants and customers – themselves than examining existing technology adoption theories.
Academic supports, motivation to learn, motivation to transfer and transfer of training: a comparative analysis of public and private universities
Authors: Sharif Shahbaz , Braimah Mary , Dogbey Alice Emmanuela 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
Public and private universities keep facilitating knowledge transfer and sharing within academic institutions. Multiple factors have been investigated to strengthen the infrastructure of these universities; however, the researchers have always been trying to explore the best one. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of academic supports on motivation to learn (MTL) and transfer, in turn, influence transfer of training (TOT). Interestingly, the sector (i.e. public or private universities) unveils TOT to see whether the public sector has best practices or private.

Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts valid measurement instruments from the literature studies. This study pretests the validity and reliability of the instruments. This study administers the designed survey questionnaire among the faculty members of both public and private universities. This study uses a convenient sampling approach using a quantitative research method. By applying Smart partial least square (PLS) 3.3.3, this study uses structural equation modeling.

Findings
This study supports that organization, supervisor and peer support significantly and positively influence TOT. Additionally, MTL and motivation to transfer (MTT) significantly and positively mediate the link between TOT and organizational, supervisor and peer support. MTL also significantly and positively influences MTT. Most interestingly, the sector significantly and positively moderates the link between TOT and organizational, supervisor and peer support, MTL and transfer.

Practical implications
The results support the public and private universities that they should develop the infrastructure containing learning motivation and transfer for easy TOT. This would be more effective if the in higher educational institutions (HEIs) follow research findings.

Originality/value
This study empirically tests the impacts of academic supports on MTL and transfer, which boosts the TOT. The novelty of the research can be implemented in HEIs’ rules and regulations.
Design optimisation of reinforced concrete pile foundation using generalised reduced gradient algorithm
Authors: Dauda Jamiu Adetayo , Rahmon Suraj A. , Tijani Ibrahim A. , Mohammad Fouad , Okegbenro Wakeel O. 
Published: March 2022

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to find the optimum design of Reinforced Concrete (RC) pile foundation to enable efficient use of structural concrete with greater consequences for global environment and economy.Design/methodology/approachA non-linear optimisation technique based on the Generalised Reduced Gradient (GRG) algorithm was implemented to find the minimum cost of RC pile foundation in frictional soil. This was achieved by obtaining the optimum pile satisfying the serviceability and ultimate limit state requirements of BS 8004 and EC 7. The formulated structural optimisation procedure was applied to a case study project to assess the efficiency of the proposed design formulation.FindingsThe results prove that the GRG method in Excel solver is an active, fast, accurate and efficient computer programme to obtain optimum pile design. The application of the optimisation for the case study project shows up to 26% cost reduction compared to the conventional design.Research limitations/implicationsThe design and formulation of design constraints will be limited to provisions of BS 8004 and EC 7.Practical implicationsSince the minimum quantity of concrete was attained through optimisation, then minimum cement will be used and thus result in minimum CO2 emission. Therefore, the optimum design of concrete structures is a vital solution to limit the damage to the Earth's climate and the physical environment resulting from high carbon emissions.Originality/valueThe current study considers the incorporation of different soil ground parameters in the optimisation process rather than assuming any pile capacity value for the optimisation process.
Bibliometric analysis of fake news indexed in Web of Science and Scopus (2001-2020)
Authors: Patra Raj Kishore , Pandey Neha , Sudarsan Desul 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the scholarly contribution of literature published on the much-hyped term fake news and associated terms such as misinformation, disinformation and post-truth in various disciplines, which contributes heavily to information disorder.

Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted a bibliometric inquiry of literature published in Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases (2001-2020) and steered in-depth quantitative content analysis of top-cited publications. The data mining covers 1,776 and 1,056 publications from WoS and Scopus databases, respectively. Bibliometrix R-package, VOSviewer Software tool and Microsoft Excel were used for analysis.

Findings
The study concluded that the past seven years (2014–2020) are the most productive period in studying fake news and its associated terms due to the unprecedented rise of social media and digital media. The prominent themes of the study were conducted in political, health, technology, media and social media space, whereas the output is minor in the pure science field. It is also inferred that both databases are contributing consistently in the domain of fake news literature.

Practical implications
The study helps in expansion of knowledge based on the research topic as well as in understanding the evolution of fake news in support of further research in this area.

Originality/value
Mapping scholarly contributions of scientific research provides a guiding approach and helps counter the information chaos stimulated by fake news phenomena in the digital era.
The effect of earnings management on external loan price: evidence from China
Authors: Huang Rong , Lin Xiaojun , Xi Xunzhuo , Yuen Desmond Chun Yip 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
This paper aims to explore how external creditors assess firms’ financial aggressiveness in China.

Design/methodology/approach
Using bank loan-specific data, the authors investigate whether firms exhibit greater costs of bank loans when they engage in earnings manipulation and whether this association changes when restrictions on lenders’ compensation are promulgated.

Findings
The authors find compelling evidence that bank executives charge higher premiums on firms with accrual earnings management to compensate for additional financial risk but do not charge extra loan prices for firms conducting real earnings management (REM). The authors also find that the enactment of Robust Bank Executive Compensation (REBC) enhances the vigilance of bank executives on the overall client firms’ earnings manipulation, with the exception of REM conducted by state-owned firms.

Originality/value
The authors extend the current literature on the cost of external loans by focusing on bank loans and the influence of REBC. This study offers implications for policymakers in China and other emerging economics to control loan default and financial risk.
A meta-analysis of eWallet adoption using the UTAUT model
Authors: Bommer William H. , Rana Shailesh , Milevoj Emil 
Published: March 2022

PurposeThis study aims to integrate extant research on eWallet adoption to better understand the key antecedents to eWallet use intention and examine whether the relationships differ across multiple moderators.Design/methodology/approachTo integrate eWallet adoption findings, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and its extensions were utilized. Meta-analyses estimated the relationships between eWallet use intention and seven antecedents and the intercorrelations between antecedents. A total of 28 effects were calculated, utilizing 48 studies and 444 individual effect sizes, using 14,802 subjects. Using meta-analytically derived values, regression and relative weight analysis then determined each antecedent's relative utility. Furthermore, moderator analyses examined whether eight theoretically based moderators influenced the relationships between the antecedents and eWallet use intention.FindingsPrice value, hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions and social influence had the strongest relationships with the intention to use eWallets, accounting for virtually all the unique variance. The three weakest antecedents, however, still explained a large percentage of variance. No relationships were significantly moderated.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the lack of data in primary studies, some UTAUT moderators could not be analyzed. Also, common method variance may impact the findings because the primary studies used cross-sectional surveys.Practical implicationsThis study provides guidance regarding how companies can increase eWallet adoption rates, which have lagged in certain countries. These recommendations include specific techniques for tailoring messages and emphasizing features and benefits.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first integrative meta-analysis conducted on eWallet use. Combining meta-analysis, regression and relative weight analysis, this study provides an integration of what is currently known about eWallet use intentions.
Assessing employees’ job motivation using BWM method and fuzzy goal programming: a case study of a petrochemical company
Authors: Banihashemi Sayyid Ali , Khalilzadeh Mohammad 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
Recognizing the factors affecting employees’ job motivation is one of the necessities that can improve people’s performance and increase their effectiveness. This study aims to determine the factors affecting job motivation and to examine effective strategies to increase motivation through identifying internal and external factors.

Design/methodology/approach
In this descriptive study, the statistical population was the employees of the largest petrochemical company in Iran. The questionnaire was randomly distributed to the organization’s employees and managers based on Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. To analyze the obtained data, first, the best and the worst factors were identified using SPSS software and then were ranked using best–worst method (BWM).

Findings
The results demonstrated that the highest rank among the motivational factors of employees is related to working environment conditions and the lowest rank is related to career advancement and development indicator. In the second stage, the best strategies for motivational factors were determined using the fuzzy goal programming method. The findings showed that 12 out of the 17 proposed solutions have the highest motivation among employees, the implementation of which can increase employee productivity in the petrochemical company under study.

Originality/value
Further to the best of the authors’ knowledge, job motivation factors in the petrochemical industry have never been examined and ranked by using the BWM method so far. Also, the goal programming approach has never been applied to determine strategies for increasing job motivation and ultimately productivity.