bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
βII-spectrin is required for synaptic positioning during retinal development
Authors: Goswami-Sewell Debalina , Bagnetto Caitlin , Anderson Joseph T , Maheshwari Akash , Zuniga-Sanchez Elizabeth 
Published: December 2022

SUMMARYNeural circuit assembly is a multi-step process where synaptic partners are often born at distinct developmental stages, and yet they must find each other and form precise synaptic connections with one another. This developmental process often relies on late-born neurons extending their processes to the appropriate layer to find and make synaptic connections to their early-born targets. The molecular mechanism responsible for the integration of late-born neurons into an emerging neural circuit remains unclear. Here we uncovered a new role for the cytoskeletal protein βII-spectrin in properly positioning pre- and post-synaptic neurons to the developing synaptic layer. Loss of βII-spectrin disrupts retinal lamination, leads to synaptic connectivity defects, and results in impaired visual function. Together, these findings highlight a new function of βII-spectrin in assembling neural circuits in the mouse outer retina.HighlightsEstablished a new role for βII-spectrin in assembling retinal circuitsβII-spectrin positions pre- and post-synaptic neurons to the developing synaptic layerEarly positioning of processes to the OPL is required for synaptogenesisLoss of βII-spectrin disrupts synaptic connectivity and impairs visual function
Reduced SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine immunogenicity and protection in mice with diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance
Authors: O’Meara Timothy R. , Nanishi Etsuro , McGrath Marisa E. , Barman Soumik , Dong Danica , Dillen Carly , Menon Manisha , Seo Hyuk-Soo , Dhe-Paganon Sirano , Ernst Robert K. , Levy Ofer , Frieman Matthew B. , Dowling David J. 
Published: December 2022

ABSTRACTBackgroundObesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) are associated with an increased risk of severe outcomes from infectious diseases, including COVID-19. These conditions are also associated with distinct responses to immunization, including an impaired response to widely used SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.ObjectiveTo establish a connection between reduced immunization efficacy via modeling the effects of metabolic diseases on vaccine immunogenicity that is essential for the development of more effective vaccines for this distinct vulnerable population.MethodsWe utilized a murine model of diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance to model the effects of comorbid T2DM and obesity on vaccine immunogenicity and protection.ResultsMice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) developed obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and glucose intolerance. Relative to mice fed a normal diet (ND), HFD mice vaccinated with a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine exhibited significantly lower anti-spike IgG titers, predominantly in the IgG2c subclass, associated with a lower type 1 response, along with a 3.83-fold decrease in neutralizing titers. Furthermore, enhanced vaccine-induced spike-specific CD8+T cell activation and protection from lung infection against SARS-CoV-2 challenge were seen only in ND mice but not in HFD mice.ConclusionWe demonstrate impaired immunity following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA immunization in a murine model of comorbid T2DM and obesity, supporting the need for further research into the basis for impaired anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity in T2DM and investigation of novel approaches to enhance vaccine immunogenicity among those with metabolic diseases.Capsule summaryObesity and type 2 diabetes impair SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine efficacy in a murine model.
Meta-omics profiling of full-scale groundwater rapid sand filters explains stratification of iron, ammonium and manganese removals
Authors: Corbera-Rubio Francesc , Laureni Michele , Koudijs Nienke , Müller Simon , van Alen Theo , Schoonenberg Frank , Lücker Sebastian , Pabst Martin , van Loosdrecht Mark C.M. , van Halem Doris 
Published: December 2022

AbstractRapid sand filters (RSF) are an established and widely applied technology for groundwater treatment. Yet, the underlying interwoven biological and physical-chemical reactions controlling the sequential removal of iron, ammonia and manganese remain poorly understood. To resolve the contribution and interactions between the individual reactions, we studied two full-scale drinking water treatment plant configurations, namely (i) one dual-media (anthracite and quartz sand) filter and (ii) two single-media (quartz sand) filters in series.In situandex situactivity tests were combined with mineral coating characterization and metagenome-guided metaproteomics along the depth of each filter. Both plants exhibited comparable performances and process compartmentalization, with most of ammonium and manganese removal occurring only after complete iron depletion. Within each compartment, the homogeneity of the media coating and genome-based microbial composition highlighted the effect of backwashing on filter media mixing. In stark contrast, intra-compartment contaminant removal was highly stratified following decreasing substrate availability along the filter height. This apparent and long-standing conflict was resolved by quantifying the expressed proteome at different filter heights, revealing a consistent stratification of proteins catalysing ammonia oxidation and protein-based relative abundances of nitrifying genera. This implies that microorganisms adapt their protein pool to the available nutrient load at a faster rate than the backwash mixing frequency. Ultimately, these results show the unique and complementary potential of metaproteomics to understand metabolic adaptations and interactions in highly dynamic ecosystems.
Asymmetric coding of reward prediction errors in human insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
Authors: Hoy Colin W. , Quiroga-Martinez David R. , King-Stephens David , Laxer Kenneth D. , Weber Peter , Lin Jack J. , Knight Robert T. 
Published: December 2022

ABSTRACTThe signed value and unsigned salience of reward prediction errors (RPEs) are critical to understanding reinforcement learning (RL) and cognitive control. Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and insula (INS) are key regions for integrating reward and surprise information, but conflicting evidence for both signed and unsigned activity has led to competing proposals for the nature of RPE representations in these brain areas. Recently, the distributional RL theory (dRL) has been used to explain RPE coding diversity in the rodent midbrain by proposing that dopaminergic neurons have differential sensitivity to positive and negative RPEs. Here, we use intracranially recorded high frequency activity (HFA) to show that thisasymmetric scalingstrategy captures RPE coding diversity in human dMPFC and INS. We found neural populations responding to valence-specific positive and negative RPEs, as well as unsigned RPE salience, which are spatially interleaved within each region. Furthermore, directional connectivity estimates suggest a leading role of INS in communicating positive and unsigned RPEs to dMPFC. These findings support asymmetric scaling across distinct but intermingled neural populations as a core principle in RPE coding, expand the scope of dRL, and reconcile longstanding theoretical debates on the role of dMPFC and INS in RL and cognitive control.
Neutrophil-driven cardiac damage during invasiveStreptococcus pneumoniaeinfection is regulated by CD73
Authors: Bhalla Manmeet , Ravi Vijay R. , Lenhard Alexsandra , Tchalla Essi Y. I. , Lang Jennifer K , Ghanem Elsa N. Bou 
Published: December 2022

AbstractStreptococcus pneumoniae(pneumococcus)-induced cardiac events are one of the life-threatening infection outcomes of invasive pneumococcal disease.S. pneumoniaehas the ability to invade the myocardium and damage cardiomyocytes, however the contribution of the immune response during this process is not fully understood. We previously found that polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) are crucial for host defense againstS. pneumoniaelung infection and that extracellular adenosine (EAD) production, by exonucleosidases CD39 and CD73, controlled the anti-bacterial functions of these cells. The objective of this study was to explore the role of PMNs and the EAD-pathway in host cardiac damage during invasive pneumococcal infection. Upon intra-peritoneal (i.p.) injection with invasiveS. pneumoniaeTIGR4 strain, hearts of C57BL/6 mice showed an increased influx of PMNs as determined by flow cytometry. However, the increased PMN numbers failed to contain the bacterial burden in the heart and showed positive correlation with serum levels of the cardiac damage marker Troponin-1. Influx of PMNs into the heart was associated with constant presence of neutrophil degranulation products in the cardiac tissue. Depletion of PMNs prior infection reduced pneumococcal burden in the heart and lowered the Troponin-1 levels thus, indicating their role in cardiac damage. While exploring the mechanisms underlying the damaging PMN response, we found that by 24hpi, there was a significant reduction in the expression of CD39 and CD73 on cardiac PMNs. The role of CD73 in regulating cardiac damage was testedin vivousing CD73-/-mice which had significantly higher bacterial burden and cardiac damage compared to wild type mice despite similar PMN numbers. The role of CD73 expression on PMNs was also testedex vivousing the HL-1 cardiomyocyte cell line which uponS. pneumoniaeinfection, showed increased cell death in presence of CD73-/-PMNs. Our findings have identified a detrimental role for PMNs in cardiac damage during invasive pneumococcal infection that is in part driven by reduced expression of EAD-producing enzymes in late disease stages.
Task learning is subserved by a domain-general brain network
Authors: Yeon Jiwon , Larson Alina Sue , Rahnev Dobromir , D’Esposito Mark 
Published: December 2022

AbstractOne of the most important human faculties is the ability to acquire not just new memories but the capacity to perform entirely new tasks. However, little is known about the brain mechanisms underlying the learning of novel tasks. Specifically, it is unclear to what extent learning of different tasks depends on domain-general and/or domain-specific brain mechanisms. Here human subjects (N=45) learned to perform six new tasks while undergoing functional MRI. The different tasks required the engagement of perceptual, motor, and various cognitive processes (attention, expectation, speed-accuracy tradeoff, and metacognition). We found that a bilateral frontoparietal network was more active during the initial compared to the later stages of task learning, and that this effect was stronger for task variants requiring more new learning. Critically, the same frontoparietal network was engaged by all six tasks, demonstrating its domain generality. Finally, although task learning decreased the overall activity in the frontoparietal network, it increased the connectivity strength between the different nodes of that network. These results demonstrate the existence of a domain-general brain network whose activity and connectivity reflect learning for a wide variety of new tasks, and thus may underlie the human capacity for acquiring new abilities.
Mild SARS-CoV-2 infection results in long-lasting microbiota instability
Authors: Upadhyay Vaibhav , Suryawanshi Rahul , Tasoff Preston , McCavitt-Malvido Maria , Kumar G. Renuka , Murray Victoria Wong , Noecker Cecilia , Bisanz Jordan E. , Hswen Yulin , Ha Connie , Sreekumar Bharat , Chen Irene P. , Lynch Susan V , Ott Melanie , Lee Sulggi , Turnbaugh Peter J. 
Published: December 2022

ABSTRACTViruses targeting mammalian cells can indirectly alter the gut microbiota, potentially compounding their phenotypic effects. Multiple studies have observed a disrupted gut microbiota in severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection that require hospitalization. Yet, despite demographic shifts in disease severity resulting in a large and continuing burden of non-hospitalized infections, we still know very little about the impact of mild SARS-CoV-2 infection on the gut microbiota in the outpatient setting. To address this knowledge gap, we longitudinally sampled 14 SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects who remained outpatient and 4 household controls. SARS-CoV-2 cases exhibited a significantly less stable gut microbiota relative to controls, as long as 154 days after their positive test. These results were confirmed and extended in the K18-hACE2 mouse model, which is susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. All of the tested SARS-CoV-2 variants significantly disrupted the mouse gut microbiota, including USA-WA1/2020 (the original variant detected in the United States), Delta, and Omicron. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the Omicron variant caused the least severe symptoms in mice, it destabilized the gut microbiota and led to a significant depletion inAkkermansia muciniphila. Furthermore, exposure of wild-type C57BL/6J mice to SARS-CoV-2 disrupted the gut microbiota in the absence of severe lung pathology.IMPORTANCETaken together, our results demonstrate that even mild cases of SARS-CoV-2 can disrupt gut microbial ecology. Our findings in non-hospitalized individuals are consistent with studies of hospitalized patients, in that reproducible shifts in gut microbial taxonomic abundance in response to SARS-CoV-2 have been difficult to identify. Instead, we report a long-lasting instability in the gut microbiota. Surprisingly, our mouse experiments revealed an impact of the Omicron variant, despite producing the least severe symptoms in genetically susceptible mice, suggesting that despite the continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 it has retained its ability to perturb the intestinal mucosa. These results will hopefully renew efforts to study the mechanisms through which Omicron and future SARS-CoV-2 variants alter gastrointestinal physiology, while also considering the potentially broad consequences of SARS-CoV-2-induced microbiota instability for host health and disease.
Revisiting public relations function in the digital era: a study on public relations and marketing practitioners in Hong Kong
Authors: Tong Suk Chong , Chan Fanny Fong Yee 
Published: December 2022

PurposeBased on both quantitative and qualitative analyses, this study revisits public relations (PR) and marketing practitioners' perceptions of PR function and its relationship with marketing function in the digital context.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey targeting 234 PR and marketing practitioners was first conducted, followed by a total of 27 in-depth interviews with PR and marketing practitioners.FindingsResults from the two phases of analysis show that both PR and marketing practitioners perceive market functions as sales-oriented, whereas media relations is interpreted as more of a PR function. Content marketing and influencer marketing via digital communication channels help to enhance the convergence of PR and marketing functions. PR and marketing practitioners believe that PR and marketing functions are integrative, and they are willing to work flexibly for both functions within workplaces.Originality/valueThis study presents a continuum of PR and marketing functions in the digital era that illustrates the role of digital communication in the convergence of PR and marketing functions. The results help to advance the theoretical discussion on both the functional (excellent PR practices and relationship management) and critical (the social role of PR in the participatory culture) approaches of PR in the digital context. Managerial implications are also discussed in addition to the theoretical contributions.
Understanding the impact of learning orientation and the mediating role of new product development capability on social enterprises' performances
Authors: Tasavori Misagh , Bhattarai Charan Raj 
Published: December 2022

PurposeSocial enterprises (SEs) offer a unique context as they have the challenge of finding solutions that not only improve their economic performance but also their social performance, simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether learning orientation and new product development capability can support SEs to enhance both their economic and social performances.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research design has been employed and data have been collected from a sample of 164 SEs in the UK.FindingsThe findings of this study illustrate that if SEs want to enhance their economic performance, they should ensure that learning orientation leads to new product development capability. Otherwise, learning orientation cannot improve their economic performance. However, surprisingly, learning orientation can impact SEs' performance not only by developing new product development capability but also by having a direct impact on their social performance.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the social entrepreneurship literature by illustrating the role of learning orientation and new product development capability in enhancing the economic as well as the social performance of SEs.
What do border disputes cost? Evidence from an emerging market
Authors: Kumari Vineeta , Pandey Dharen Kumar , Kumar Satish , Xu Emma 
Published: December 2022

PurposeThe study aims to examine the impact of six events related to the escalating Indo-China border conflicts in 2020 on the Indian stock market, including the role of firm-specific variables.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs an event-study method on a sample of 481 firms from August 23, 2019 to March 3, 2022. A cross-sectional regression is employed to examine the association between event-led abnormal returns and firm characteristics.FindingsThe results show that, although the individual events reflect heterogeneous effects on stock market returns, the average impact of the event categories is negative. The study also found that net working capital, current ratio, financial leverage and operating cash flows are significant financial performance indicators and drive cumulative abnormal returns. Further, size anomaly is absent, indicating that more prominent firms are resilient to new information.Research limitations/implicationsThe ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is an example of how these disagreements can devolve into a disaster for the parties to the war. Although wars have an impact on markets at the global level, the impacts of border disputes are local. Border disputes are ongoing, and the study's findings can be used to empower investors to make risk-averting decisions that make their portfolios resilient to such events.Originality/valueThis study provides firm-level insight into the impacts of border conflicts on stock markets. The authors compare the magnitude of such impacts on two types of events, namely injuries and casualties due to country-specific border tensions and a government ban on Chinese apps. Key implications for policymakers, stakeholders and academics are presented.
Online flight booking: digital nudging to decrease aviation-related carbon emissions
Authors: Meske Christian , Amojo Ireti , Müller Christoph 
Published: December 2022

PurposeOnline flight booking websites compare airfares, convenience and other consumer relevant attributes. Environmental concerns are typically not addressed, even though aviation is the most emission-intensive mode of transportation. This article demonstrates the potential for digital nudges to facilitate more environmentally friendly decision-making on online flight booking websites.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used the digital nudging design process to implement two nudging interventions in an experimental setting on a fictitious flight booking website. The two nudging interventions are (1) an informational nudge, presented as an emission label, and (2) an understanding mapping nudge, presented as an emission converter.FindingsThis article finds that both digital nudges are useful interventions in online choice environments; however, emission labels more effectively encourage sustainable booking behavior.Originality/valueThe contributions of this article are twofold. In contribution to research, this article builds on existing research in sustainability contexts and successfully evaluates the effectiveness of anchoring and understanding mapping heuristics to influence sustainable decision-making in virtual environments. Furthermore, in contribution to practice, this article contributes knowledge to nudge design and provides hands on examples for designers or website operators on how to put nudge designs to practice in virtual choice environments. Additionally, this article contributes relevant considerations in a high-impact research field with growing importance given the global climate crisis.
Understanding how mindfulness sustains customer cocreation effort and transforms service value to well-being
Authors: Le Nguyen-Hau , Mai My-Quyen Thi , Pham Tram-Anh 
Published: December 2022

Purpose
Mindfulness, while being suggested as an important psychological cognitive capability of customers, has received insufficient attention in studies of transformative services characterized by challenging cocreation behaviors. It is unclear about the contributions of mindfulness to customers’ cocreation and transformative outcomes. This study aims to investigate the direct, indirect, mediating and moderating relationships to explain how mindfulness sustains cocreation effort, increases perceived service value and ultimately enhances the diffusion from the service value to customer well-being.

Design/methodology/approach
A structural model was developed and tested using the CB-SEM method. Data were surveyed from two transformative service industries, yoga training and higher education (N = 283 and 273 cases, respectively).

Findings
Customer mindfulness has a positive relationship with cocreation effort, which in turn positively associates with perceived value. Additionally, mindfulness has a direct relationship with perceived value, which then is the full mediator in the relationships between mindfulness, cocreation effort and life satisfaction. Mindfulness also moderates the transformation from service value (immediate outcome) to life satisfaction (long-term outcome).

Practical implications
Transformative service providers and policymakers should acknowledge and develop strategies to cultivate customers’ mindfulness, which subsequently fosters their value cocreation effort and enhances their well-being.

Originality/value
This research puts forward the concept of mindfulness, a trainable cognitive capability of customers, and shows its importance in transformative service cocreation. This paper provides a full structural mechanism explaining how mindfulness helps cocreate a transformative service and diffuse its immediate value to customer life satisfaction.