bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Brainstem speech encoding is dynamically shaped online by fluctuations in corticalαstate
Authors: Lai Jesyin , Price Caitlin N. , Bidelman Gavin M. 
Published: April 2022

ABSTRACTExperimental evidence in animals demonstrates cortical neurons innervate subcortex bilaterally to tune brainstem auditory coding. Yet, the role of the descending (corticofugal) auditory system in modulating earlier sound processing in humans during speech perception remains unclear. Here, we measured EEG activity as listeners performed speech identification tasks in different noise backgrounds designed to tax perceptual and attentional processing. Brainstem speech coding might be tied to attention and arousal states (indexed by corticalαpower) that actively modulate the interplay of brainstem-cortical signal processing. When speech-evoked brainstem frequency-following responses (FFRs) were categorized according to corticalαstates, lowαFFRs in noise were found to be weaker, correlated positively with behavioral response times, more “decodable” via classifiers, and associated indirectly with other signal-in-noise perceptual performance. Our data provide evidence for online corticofugal interplay in humans and establish that brainstem sensory representations are continuously yoked to the ebb and flow of cortical states to dynamically update perceptual processing.
Long non-coding RNA G23Rik attenuates fasting-induced lipid accumulation in the liver
Authors: Kim Donghwan , Kim Bora , Brocker Chad N. , Karri Kritika , Waxman David J. , Gonzalez Frank J. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPeroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is a key mediator of lipid metabolism and metabolic stress in the liver. A recent study revealed that PPARα-dependent long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in modulating metabolic stress and inflammation in the livers of fasted mice. Here hepatic lncRNA 3930402G23Rik (G23Rik) was found to have active peroxisome proliferator response elements (PPREs) within its promoter and is directly regulated by PPARα. Although G23Rik RNA was expressed to varying degrees in several tissues, the PPARα-dependent regulation of this lncRNA was only observed in the liver. Pharmacological activation of PPARα induced PPARα recruitment at the G23Rik promoter and a pronounced increase in hepatic G23Rik lncRNA expression. A G23Rik-null mouse line was developed to further characterize the function of this lncRNA in the liver. G23Rik-null mice were more susceptible to hepatic lipid accumulation in response to acute fasting. Histological analysis further revealed a pronounced buildup of lipid droplets and a significant increase in neutral triglycerides and lipids as indicated by enhance oil red O staining of liver sections. Hepatic cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acid, and triglyceride levels were significantly elevated in G23Rik-null mice and associated with induction of the lipid-metabolism related gene Cd36. These findings provide evidence for a lncRNA dependent mechanism by which PPARα attenuates hepatic lipid accumulation in response to metabolic stress through lncRNA G23Rik induction.Key points3930402G23Rik (G23Rik) is a liver-enriched long non-RNA.G23Rik is a PPARA target gene.Loss of G23Rik increases hepatic lipid accumulation during fasting
Neuronal activity regulates Matrin 3 levels and function in a calcium-dependent manner through calpain cleavage and calmodulin binding
Authors: Malik Ahmed M. , Wu Josephine J. , Gillies Christie A. , Doctrove Quinlan A. , Li Xingli , Huang Haoran , Shakkottai Vikram G. , Barmada Sami 
Published: April 2022

AbstractRNA-binding protein (RBP) dysfunction is a fundamental hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related neuromuscular disorders. Abnormal neuronal excitability is also a conserved feature in ALS patients and disease models, yet little is known about how activity-dependent processes regulate RBP levels and functions. Mutations in the gene encoding the RBP Matrin 3 (MATR3) cause familial disease, and MATR3 pathology has also been observed in sporadic ALS, suggesting a key role for MATR3 in disease pathogenesis. Here, we show that glutamatergic activity drives MATR3 degradation in a NMDAR-, Ca2+-, and calpain-dependent mechanism. The most common pathogenic MATR3 mutation renders it resistant to calpain degradation, suggesting a link between activity-dependent MATR3 regulation and disease. We also demonstrate that Ca2+ regulates MATR3 through a non-degradative process involving the binding of Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM) to MATR3 and inhibition of its RNA-binding ability. These findings indicate that neuronal activity impacts both the abundance and function of MATR3, and provide a foundation for further study of Ca2+-coupled regulation of RBPs implicated in ALS and related neurological diseases.
Typical hippocampal transcriptional response across estrous is dysregulated by Cnih3 gene deletion
Authors: Mulvey Bernard , Frye Hannah E. , Lintz Tania , Fass Stuart , Tycksen Eric , Nelson Elliot C. , Morón Jose A. , Dougherty Joseph D. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThe hippocampus is a critical brain region for coordinating learning, memory, and behavior. In females, the estrous cycle alters these functions through steroid hormone activity, with well-characterized effects on cellular physiology and behavior. However, the molecular basis of these outcomes has not been systematically explored. Therefore, we profiled the transcriptome of dorsal hippocampi from female mice in each estrous cycle stage, and contrasted it with that of males. We identify only subtle sex differences in gene expression between the sexes on average, yet comparing males to individual estrous stages reveals up to thousands of genes deviating from male expression patterns at specific estrous stages. These estrous-responsive genes are especially enriched in gene markers of oligodendrocytes and the dentate gyrus, and in functional gene sets relating to estrogen response, potassium channels, and synaptic gene splicing. Next we profiled Cnih3 knockouts across estrous to provide insight into their previously reported estrous-dependent phenotypes in hippocampal synaptic plasticity, composition, and learning and memory behaviors. Surprisingly, Cnih3 knockouts showed far broader transcriptomic differences between estrous cycle stages and males. Moreover, Cnih3 knockout drove subtle but extensive expression changes accenting sex differential expresssion at diestrus and estrus. Altogether, our profiling constitutes both a resource characterizing estrous-specific gene expression patterns in the adult hippocampus, which can provide insights into mechanisms of sex differential neuropsychiatric functions and dysfunctions, while also highlighting roles of Cnih3 as a buffer against transcriptional effects of estrous and providing insights into the molecular mechanisms that may underlie estrous-dependent phenotypes with its loss.
Critical Role of Insertion Preference for Invasion Trajectory of Transposons
Authors: Munasinghe Manisha , Springer Nathan M , Brandvain Yaniv J 
Published: April 2022

AbstractTransposable elements (TEs) are mobile DNA sequences that have been highly successful at invading eukaryotic genomes. It is unclear how TE families reach high copy number given the expectation that some novel insertions will be deleterious. It has been hypothesized that TE families may evolve to target and insert into specific DNA sequences to adjust the underlying distribution of fitness effects for new insertions. Preferentially inserting into neutral sites could minimize the cumulative deleterious load of a TE family, allowing the mean TE copy number to increase with less risk for host population extinction. To test this hypothesis, we constructed simulations to explore how the transposition probability and insertion preference of a TE family influence the evolution of mean TE copy number and host population size, allowing for extinction. We find that extinction is most common in our simulations under high transposition probabilities, but, as we reduce transposition rates, the risk of extinction persists while the preference for neutral insertion sites is high. In the absence of mechanisms that regulate TE transposition, a preference for neutral insertion sites is not protective and, in fact, actively accelerates both an increase in TE copy number and the time to population extinction.
An intrinsically disordered transcription activation domain alters the DNA binding affinity and specificity of NFκB p50/RelA
Authors: Baughman Hannah E.R. , Narang Dominic , Chen Wei , Villagrán Suárez Amalia C. , Lee Joan , Bachochin Maxwell , Gunther Tristan R. , Wolynes Peter G. , Komives Elizabeth A. 
Published: April 2022

ABSTRACTMany transcription factors contain intrinsically disordered transcription activation domains (TADs), which mediate interactions with co-activators to activate transcription. Historically, DNA-binding domains and TADs have been considered as modular units, but recent studies have shown that TADs can influence DNA binding. We biophysically characterized the NFκB p50/RelA heterodimer including the RelA TAD and investigated the TAD’s influence on NFκB-DNA interactions. In solution the RelA TAD is disordered but compact, with helical tendency in two regions that interact with co-activators. The presence of the TAD increased the stoichiometry of NFκB-DNA complexes containing promoter DNA sequences with tandem κB recognition motifs by promoting the binding of NFκB dimers in excess of the number of κB sites. We measured the binding affinity of p50/RelA for DNA containing tandem κB sites and single κB sites. While the presence of the TAD enhanced the binding affinity of p50/RelA for all κB sequences tested, it increased the affinity for non-specific DNA sequences by over 10-fold, leading to an overall decrease in specificity for κB DNA sequences. Our results reveal a novel function of the RelA TAD in promoting binding to non-consensus DNA previously observed by in vivo studies of NFκB-DNA binding in response to strong inflammatory signals.
Stair Recognition for Robotic Exoskeleton Control using Computer Vision and Deep Learning
Authors: Kurbis Andrew Garrett , Laschowski Brokoslaw , Mihailidis Alex 
Published: April 2022

AbstractComputer vision can be used in robotic exoskeleton control to improve transitions between different locomotion modes through the prediction of future environmental states. Here we present the development of a large-scale automated stair recognition system powered by convolutional neural networks to recognize indoor and outdoor real-world stair environments. Building on the ExoNet database - the largest and most diverse open-source dataset of wearable camera images of walking environments – we designed a new computer vision dataset, called StairNet, specifically for stair recognition with over 515,000 images. We then developed and optimized an efficient deep learning model for automatic feature engineering and image classification. Our system was able to accurately predict complex stair environments with 98.4% classification accuracy. These promising results present an opportunity to increase the autonomy and safety of human-exoskeleton locomotion for real-world community mobility. Future work will explore the mobile deployment of our automated stair recognition system for onboard real-time inference.
Extended Brain Sources Estimation via Unrolled Optimization Neural Network
Authors: Jiao Meng , Xian Xiaochen , Ghacibeh Georges , Liu Feng 
Published: April 2022

AbstractElectroencephalography (EEG)/Magnetoencephalography (MEG) source imaging aims to seek an estimation of underlying activated brain sources to explain the observed EEG/MEG recording. Due to the ill-posed nature of inverse problem, solving EEG/MEG Source Imaging (ESI) requires design of regularization or prior terms to guarantee a unique solution. Traditionally, the design of regularization terms is based on preliminary assumptions on the spatio-temporal structure in the source space. In this paper, we propose a novel paradigm to solve the ESI problem by using Unrolled Optimization Neural Network (UONN) (1) to improve the efficiency compared to traditional iterative algorithms; (2) to establish a data-driven way to model the source solution structure instead of using hand-crafted regularizations; (3) to learn the hyperparameter automatically in a data-driven manner. The proposed framework is based on unfolding of the iterative optimization algorithm with neural network modules. The proposed new learning framework is the first one that use the unrolled optimization neural network to solve the ESI problem. The newly designed framework can effectively learn the source extents pattern and achieved significantly improved performance compared to benchmark algorithms.
A deep learning-based automated closed-loop optogenetic system for neuromodulation during seizures
Authors: Batabyal Tamal , Brodovskaya Anastasia , Williamson John , Kapur Jaideep 
Published: April 2022

AbstractClosed-loop electrical brain stimulation is becoming a popular technique proposed for use as a treatment alternative to surgical resection of brain tissue for drug-resistant seizures in epilepsy patients. Closed-loop optogenetic stimulation is an experimental alternative to electrical stimulation since it can stimulate or inhibit neurons. The closed-loop part contains an online seizure detection algorithm, which, based on the design, can detect the onset of a seizure or evaluate a running window for seizure membership. Conventional configurations of closed-loop optogenetics have several limitations, ranging from the adaptability of hardware-based implementation to inadequate, customized feature selection of seizures, among others. Here we provide a detailed description of our closed-loop components. We used a sequential, fully convolutional neural network regressor for complex feature selection of seizures against the controls from local field potential recordings. Our modular design kept the local field potential-recording headset and optical probe separate. The seizure detection and execution of light delivery are fast and can be precisely timed. This automated system is robust to noise, modular in design, flexible in use, and simple execution. When applied in vivo, the proposed work shows efficacy over the state of the arts in terms of improved seizure detection and reduction in false positives.
Evolution of nasal and olfactory infection characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 variants
Authors: Chen Mengfei , Pekosz Andrew , Villano Jason S. , Shen Wenjuan , Zhou Ruifeng , Kulaga Heather , Li Zhexuan , Beck Sarah E. , Witwer Kenneth W. , Mankowski Joseph L. , Ramanathan Murugappan , Rowan Nicholas R. , Lane Andrew P. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 infection of the upper airway and the subsequent immune response are early, critical factors in COVID-19 pathogenesis. By studying infection of human biopsies in vitro and in a hamster model in vivo, we demonstrated a transition in tropism from olfactory to respiratory epithelium as the virus evolved. Analyzing each variants revealed that SARS-CoV-2 WA1 or Delta infects a proportion of olfactory neurons in addition to the primary target sustentacular cells. The Delta variant possesses broader cellular invasion capacity into the submucosa, while Omicron displays longer retention in the sinonasal epithelium. The olfactory neuronal infection by WA1 and the subsequent olfactory bulb transport via axon is more pronounced in younger hosts. In addition, the observed viral clearance delay and phagocytic dysfunction in aged olfactory mucosa is accompanied by a decline of phagocytosis related genes. Furthermore, robust basal stem cell activation contributes to neuroepithelial regeneration and restores ACE2 expression post-infection. Together, our study characterized the nasal tropism of SARS-CoV-2 strains, immune clearance, and regeneration post infection. The shifting characteristics of viral infection at the airway portal provides insight into the variability of COVID-19 clinical features and may suggest differing strategies for early local intervention.
What are the fundamental knowledge-sharing drivers of small family businesses in the restaurant and fast-food industry?
Authors: Rezaei Mojtaba , Giovando Guido , Rezaei Shahrbanou , Sadraei Razieh 
Published: April 2022

PurposeDespite the undoubted role of knowledge in the small family business (FB) in the restaurant and fast-food industry, there are some main challenges in the knowledge-sharing (KS) orientation for promoting their business. This study tries to recognise and explore the drivers influencing these enterprises' KS processes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied combined exploratory and confirmatory analysis in two studies. In the first study, by the Delphi method, the 22 experts consisting of managers, FB owners and academic professors explore and forecast significant items and drivers. The second study is a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for validating the first study's indicators using the survey collected amongst 218 restaurants and fast foods employees.FindingsThe findings indicate 23 indicators in three main drivers of individual, organisational and technological, are critical for KS in small FBs in the investigated industry.Originality/valueThis research supports the understanding of knowledge management and the FB and contributes to recognising the influential factors for KS amongst small and medium-sized family businesses in the food-related industry. Also, by identifying and ranking the most significant factors, this research will help entrepreneurs facilitate FB entrepreneurship. Finally, the results provide practical implications for current and future KM and FB decision-makers.
Proto-institutional work: the “special treatments for special matters” in institutional transition
Authors: Yan Zheng Joseph , Luo Jin , Chen Ziran 
Published: April 2022

Purpose
This study aims to examine an important mechanism in the policy-led institutional transitions in China, namely, Te Shi Te Ban (Special Treatments for Special Matters) – an institutional device that facilitates policy implementation. The discussions are contextualized based on the latest chapter of China’s institutional transition, known as the reform initiative of Fang Guan Fu (i.e. the FGF reform: delegate power, streamline administration and optimize government services), which is a policy regime introduced in 2018 to improve the state-market relationship for better socioeconomic development.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on the theoretical lens of proto-institutions and institutional work and using real-life examples from mass media, this perspective paper examines the effects of the Special Treatments in the institutional transition under the FGF Reform.

Findings
The Special Treatments are the proto-institutions purposively adopted by the regulators in China to innovate, supervise and renovate the rules and norms during policy implementation. They produce both incremental and radical institutional effects which allow for a more efficient and effective policy-led institutional transition.

Originality/value
This study contributes to institutional theory in the Chinese management context. Foremost, this study introduces the concept of proto-institutional work and shows how proto-institutions can serve as a mechanism to support and manage the process of institutional transition. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to study the FGF Reform – the latest reform initiative in China and theorize an under-researched but important mechanism in its institutional environment – the Special Treatments for Special Matters.
A dynamic adaptive hybrid surrogate-assisted particle swarm optimization algorithm for complex system design optimization
Authors: You Xiongxiong , Zhang Mengya , Niu Zhanwen 
Published: April 2022

PurposeSurrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms (SAEAs) are the most popular algorithms used to solve design optimization problems of expensive and complex engineering systems. However, it is difficult for fixed surrogate models to maintain their accuracy and efficiency in the face of different issues. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate surrogate model remains a significant challenge. This paper aims to propose a dynamic adaptive hybrid surrogate-assisted particle swarm optimization algorithm (AHSM-PSO) to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachA dynamic adaptive hybrid selection method (AHSM) is proposed. This method can identify multiple ensemble models formed by integrating different numbers of excellent individual surrogate models. Then, according to the minimum root-mean-square error, the best suitable surrogate model is dynamically selected in each generation and is used to assist PSO.FindingsExperimental studies on commonly used benchmark problems, and two real-world design optimization problems demonstrate that, compared with existing algorithms, the proposed algorithm achieves better performance.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this work is the proposal of a dynamic adaptive hybrid selection method (AHSM). This method uses the advantages of different surrogate models and eliminates the shortcomings of experience selection. Furthermore, the empirical results of the comparison of the proposed algorithm (AHSM-PSO) with existing algorithms on commonly used benchmark problems, and two real-world design optimization problems demonstrate its competitiveness.
Can hotel employees arise internal whistleblowing intentions? Leader ethics, workplace virtues and moral courage
Authors: Mkheimer Ibrahim M. , Selem Kareem M. , Shehata Ali Elsayed , Hussain Kashif , Perez Perez Marta 
Published: April 2022

PurposeThis study investigates the relationship between leaders' ethical behaviors and internal whistleblowing among hotel employees through the mediation role of organizational virtuousness. According to the conceptual framework, ethical leadership creates a virtuous workplace and encourages whistleblowing.Design/methodology/approachA survey approach with responses of 442 employees from Egyptian five-star hotels was used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses proposed based on leader–member exchange (LMX) and ethical leadership theories.FindingsEthical leadership has a favorable impact on organizational virtuousness and, as a result, has a significant impact on whistleblowing intention. The ethical leaders–subordinates' intents to whistleblow association partially mediated organizational virtuousness. To assist them in reporting ethics violations, most hotel employees require organizational characteristics, such as organizational climate and psychological empowerment, in addition to individual characteristics, such as moral bravery and ethical efficacy.Originality/valueThe conceptual framework of this paper adds a new guide for future research related to the hospitality literature, which is how employees' intent to internal whistleblowing. As such, senior management should serve as a moral role model for hotel employees, inspiring them to be moral and allowing them to participate in decision-making.