bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Catch bond models may explain how force amplifies TCR signaling and antigen discrimination
Authors: Choi Hyun-Kyu , Cong Peiwen , Ge Chenghao , Natarajan Aswin , Liu Baoyu , Zhang Yong , Li Kaitao , Rushdi Muaz Nik , Chen Wei , Lou Jizhong , Krogsgaard Michelle , Zhu Cheng 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACTCentral to T cell biology, the T cell receptor (TCR) integrates forces in its triggering process upon interaction with peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC)1-3. Phenotypically, forces elicit TCR catch-slip bonds with strong pMHCs but slip-only bonds with weak pMHCs4-10. While such correlation is commonly observed, the quantitative bond pattern and degree of “catchiness” vary. We developed two models based on the structure, elastic properties, and force-induced conformational changes of the TCR–pMHC-I/II complexes to derive from their bond characteristics more intrinsic parameters that underlie structural mechanisms, predict T cell signaling, and discriminate antigens. Applying the models to 55 datasets of 12 αβTCRs and their mutants interacting with corresponding pMHCs without coreceptor engagement demonstrated the ability for structural and physical parameters to quantitatively integrate and classify a broad range of bond behaviors and biological activities. Comparing to the generic two-state model for catch-slip bond that also fits the data, our models can distinguish class I from class II MHC systems and their best-fit parameters correlate with the TCR/pMHC potency to trigger T cell activation, which the generic model cannot. The models were tested by mutagenesis using structural analysis, bond profile measurement, and functional assay of a MHC and a TCR mutated to alter conformation changes. The extensive comparisons between theory and experiment provided strong validation of the models and testable hypothesis regarding specific conformational changes that control bond profiles, thereby suggesting structural mechanisms for the inner workings of the TCR mechanosensing machinery and plausible explanation of why and how force may amplify TCR signaling and antigen discrimination.
Tracking Genomic Characteristics across Oceanic Provinces: Contrasting Early and Mature Plastic Biofilm Communities
Authors: Bos Ryan P. , Kaul Drishti , Zettler Erik R. , Hoffman Jeffrey M. , Dupont Christopher L. , Amaral-Zettler Linda A. , Mincer Tracy J. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractWhile plastic has become omnipresent in the marine environment, knowledge of how plastic biofilm communities develop from functional metabolic and phylogenetic perspectives is nascent, although these data are central to understanding microbial ecology surrounding plastic substrates in the ocean. By incubating virgin microplastics during oceanic transects and comparing with naturally occurring plastic litter at the same locations, we constructed functional gene catalogs to contrast the metabolic differences between early and mature biofilm communities. Early colonization incubations were consistently dominated by Alteromonadaceae and harbored significantly higher proportions of genes associated with adhesion, biofilm formation, chemotaxis, defense, iron acquisition and utilization, and motility. Comparative genomic analyses with Alteromonas, Marinobacter, and Marisediminitalea metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) spotlighted the importance of the mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin operon, adhesive genes genetically transposed from intestinal pathogens, for early colonization of hydrophobic plastic surfaces. Synteny alignments of the former operon also demonstrated apparent positive selection for mshA alleles across all MAGs. Early colonizers varied little in terms of large-scale genomic characteristics, despite the presence of latitudinal, salinity, and temperature gradients. Mature plastic biofilms, composed of predominantly Rhodobacteraceae followed by Flavobacteriaceae, that are critically important for carbon turnover in oceanic ecosystems, displayed significantly higher proportions of genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, phosphonate metabolism, photosynthesis, secondary metabolism, and Type IV secretion. Our metagenomic analyses provide insight into early biofilm formation on virgin surfaces in the marine environment, as well as how early colonizers self-assemble, compared to mature, taxonomically, and metabolically diverse biofilms.Significance StatementLittle is known about plastic biofilm assemblage dynamics and successional changes over time. Our results demonstrate that highly reproducible and predictable types of bacteria, with similar genomic characteristics, can initially colonize plastic in the marine environment across varying environmental gradients. The key gene sets involved in foundational bacterial colonization may have broad impacts for biofilm formation on plastic surfaces used in agriculture, biomedicine, environmental science, and food science. Genomic characteristics of early colonizers may metabolically underpin the origin of the ordered succession observed in marine microbial communities and be useful for predicting microbial community membership and biogeochemical processes.
Bridging the divide: understanding collaborative action in disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction through socio-cultural activity theory
Authors: Pertiwi Pradytia P. 
Published: January 2022

PurposeThis paper presents a methodological reflection on the use of socio-cultural activity theory (SCAT) as a framework to understand collaborative action and problem-solving between people with disabilities and non-disabled stakeholders in three disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives led by Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) in Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on case study research, using a multiple case design. It looks at the conception and implementation of three DPO-led DRR projects in Indonesia. It focuses hereby on the processes and outcomes of collaborations between DPOs and non-disabled stakeholders. It presents a reflection as to what extent the six elements of SCAT were present.FindingsThe investigation of SCAT's six elements captured the co-construction of DPO-led DRR projects and constant changes and transformation in implementation. The findings reveal the dynamics of the collaboration between DPOs and non-disabled stakeholders (e.g. funding donors, DRR experts, government and community groups) and its outcomes and learning points.Practical implicationsSCAT can provide a better understanding of collaborative learning processes and associated outcomes between DPOs and DRR actors. Such collaborations facilitate the timely and relevant inclusion of people with disabilities in DRR initiatives through DPOs' leadership in DRR. Furthermore, such initiatives can promote the realisation of the disability-inclusion principle of the Sendai Framework for DRR, which is underpinned by the all-of-society approach to DRR.Originality/valueThis paper presents a reflection on the use of SCAT in inclusive disaster studies, thereby enabling further investigation and understanding of how the collaboration between disabled and non-disabled stakeholders occurs, and its implication. This is a topic that has been rarely tackled in the disability and disaster studies literature and practice.
How does intelligent technology investment affect employment compensation and firm value in Chinese financial institutions?
Authors: Lai Zhoujing , Luo Hang (Robin) 
Published: January 2022

PurposeThe authors intend to expand the literature on the relationship between intelligent technology and human resources in operating cost, and firm value of financial institutions in emerging markets by integrating the influence of intelligent technology and contribute to a growing body of literature on the determinants of firm value.Design/methodology/approachThis paper empirically investigates the impact of intelligent technology investment on employment compensation and firm value using a sample of 86 listed financial institutions in China from 2010 to 2019.FindingsThis paper reports robust evidence that an increase in intelligent technology investment has a significantly negative effect on employment compensation in financial institutions. In addition, this inhibitory effect is persistent. The increase in intelligent investment has a significant two-year lag effect on firm value, which is positive and sustained. This indicates that intelligent technology investment has a short-term “useless” effect but brings long-term “gains” for Chinese financial institutions.Originality/valueThese findings may shed light on the decision-making processes of financial institutions, which helps practitioners better understand that firms need to reasonably deal with the subsequent cost of growth caused by intelligent technology input. Alternatively, they may wish to select the appropriate accounting method of depreciation or amortization to smooth its impact.
Feature selection for measurement models
Authors: Mueller Tobias , Segin Alexander , Weigand Christoph , Schmitt Robert H. 
Published: January 2022

PurposeIn the determination of the measurement uncertainty, the GUM procedure requires the building of a measurement model that establishes a functional relationship between the measurand and all influencing quantities. Since the effort of modelling as well as quantifying the measurement uncertainties depend on the number of influencing quantities considered, the aim of this study is to determine relevant influencing quantities and to remove irrelevant ones from the dataset.Design/methodology/approachIn this work, it was investigated whether the effort of modelling for the determination of measurement uncertainty can be reduced by the use of feature selection (FS) methods. For this purpose, 9 different FS methods were tested on 16 artificial test datasets, whose properties (number of data points, number of features, complexity, features with low influence and redundant features) were varied via a design of experiments.FindingsBased on a success metric, the stability, universality and complexity of the method, two FS methods could be identified that reliably identify relevant and irrelevant influencing quantities for a measurement model.Originality/valueFor the first time, FS methods were applied to datasets with properties of classical measurement processes. The simulation-based results serve as a basis for further research in the field of FS for measurement models. The identified algorithms will be applied to real measurement processes in the future.
Effects of learning and uncertainty on crowdsourcing performance of solvers: insights from performance feedback theory
Authors: Ye Hua (Jonathan) 
Published: January 2022

PurposeIn crowdsourcing contests, the capabilities and performance of individual workers (solvers) determine whether seeker firms can obtain satisfactory solutions from the platform. It is noted that solvers may learn such skills in crowdsourcing from doing (experiential learning) or observing (vicarious learning). However, it remains unclear if such learning can be materialized into improved performance considering the unique settings of crowdsourcing contests. The study aims to understand how experiential learning and vicarious learning enhance solver performance and under what conditions.Design/methodology/approachThe model was tested using survey and archival data from 261 solvers on a large contest platform in China.FindingsResults support the premise that experiential learning and vicarious learning separately and jointly enhance solver performance. Moreover, perceived task uncertainty strengthens the effect of vicarious learning but weakens the effect of experiential learning, whereas perceived competition uncertainty weakens the effect of vicarious learning.Originality/valueThe current study enriches the understanding of the impacts of experiential learning and vicarious learning and offers a more nuanced understanding of the conditions under which solvers can reap the performance benefits from learning in crowdsourcing contests. The study also provides practical insights into enhancing solver performance under perceived task uncertainty and perceived competition uncertainty.
Board of director's effectiveness, audit quality and ownership structure: impact on audit risk-Tunisian evidence
Authors: Fakhfakh Imen , Jarboui Anis 
Published: January 2022

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential influence of internal and external corporate governance mechanisms on audit risk in Tunisian companies.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of Tunisian non-financial firms listed on the Tunisian Stock Exchange (TSE) over the periods 2005 to 2010 (pre- 2011 revolution) and 2011 to 2017 (post −2011 revolution), consisting of 371 observations for the whole period, the authors apply the generalized least square (GLS) to test the research hypotheses and model.FindingsThe results are consistent with the agency theory suggesting that efficient corporate governance is able to control and reduce a company’s agency problem. Evidence reveals that the effectiveness of the director’s board/ownership structure and audit quality have the most influence on audit risk before than after the 2011 revolution, although governance mechanisms should play a more active role in encouraging companies to be more transparent in the post-revolution period. Moreover these findings are confirmed when identifying a composite measure of corporate governance.Practical implicationsSignificant implications are provided for analysts, investors, regulators and academics. First, findings can help Tunisian regulators determine corporate governance disclosure requirements. Second, this research will make investors and stakeholders aware of the fact that minimizing auditor risk will be effective in reducing agency problems in emerging markets like Tunisia. Then, this work can help researchers better understand and realize the corporate governance role in the quality of audit process and financial statements and encourage them to deeply and broadly investigate this issue on other emerging markets.Originality/valueThis study stands for an extension of the existing research on corporate governance and audit risk. It fills a research gap in the local context. In fact, the considered data are those of the pre- and post-revolution Tunisian market, mainly in periods of instability. Although emerging markets make up the vast majority of economic activity around the world, they have received limited attention in academic research.
Auditing ethics: the pricing of Shariah non-compliant business activities
Authors: Azizan Sarini , Abdul Kader Malim Nurhafiza 
Published: January 2022

Purpose
This study aims to investigate whether firms’ involvement in socially provocative business activities or businesses that are inconsistent with Shariah principles affect auditor’s perceived risk associated with the financial reporting information.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a median regression with measures that are consistent with prior literature. This study comprises of 11,799 firm-year observations obtained from MSCI environmental, sustainable and governance STATS database.

Findings
The results provide evidence indicating that auditors relatively charge higher audit fees for Shariah non-compliant firms except for firms that are involved with alcohol and gambling businesses. Firms that are involved in gambling activities report relatively lower audit fees, whereas firms with high involvement in alcohol business activities report non-significant relationship with audit fees.

Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that on average, ethical contextualisation on perceived acceptable behaviours is relatively consistent across beliefs and the severe lack of it has implications on auditors’ business risk assessment. However, as a social construct, the conception of ethical behaviour is highly dependent on the change in the societal values and therefore this explains the variance in the expected findings for gambling and alcohol business activities.

Originality/value
This study adds to the existing business risk literature, by examining the under-explored association between Shariah non-compliant risk and auditors’ perceived risk, measured by audit fees in a non-Muslim majority setting.
Parameter-free strain-energy function which automatically and accurately matches benchmark test data for soft elastic solids
Authors: Xiao Heng , Yan Wei-Hao , Zhan Lin , Wang Si-Yu 
Published: January 2022

PurposeA new and explicit form of the elastic strain-energy function for modeling large strain elastic responses of soft solids is constructed based on Hencky's logarithmic strain tensor.Design/methodology/approachWell-designed invariants of the Hencky strain are introduced for characterizing deformation modes and, furthermore, a new interpolating technique is proposed for combining piecewise splines into a single smooth function.FindingsWith this new form and this new technique, objectives in three respects may be achieved for the first time.Originality/valueFirst, no adjustable parameters need to be treated. Second, large strain responses for three benchmark modes are derivable in a decoupled sense without involving strongly nonlinear coupling effects. Finally, large strain data may be automatically and accurately matched for three benchmark modes, including uniaxial, equi-biaxial and plane-strain extension. Numerical examples are presented and compared with usual approaches.
Life‐history traits of the fairy shrimp Branchinella kugenumaensis are highly variable between neighboring rice paddies in Japan
Authors: Yasui Yukio 
Published: January 2022

AbstractIn addition to unpredictable natural ephemeral wetlands (e.g., temporal pools after rainfall), artificial environments such as subdivided rice paddies in Japan are challenging environments regarding organism adaptation because of remarkable spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Because different paddies are managed by different farmers, the timing, duration of irrigation, and application of agrochemicals are largely different among neighboring paddies. I investigated the occurrence, adult body size, and female fecundity of the fairy shrimp Branchinella kugenumaensis in a terraced rice field (31 selected from approximately 100 paddies in a valley approximately 1200 m in length) in Kyoto, Japan. The duration of inundation varied from 47 to 86 days, which was sufficiently long for the sexual maturation of the shrimp. At most stations, shrimps repeated oviposition during an approximately 20‐day adult lifespan with adult growth. At a few stations with the longest inundation, located in the uppermost part of the river, the shrimps continued adult growth and reproduction for approximately 40 days (long‐reproducing type [LR]). At a few stations with the shortest inundation, located at the mouth of the valley, the shrimps seldom showed adult growth, and the second generation occurred after drainage and reirrigation (short‐reproducing type [SR]). In the early days of adulthood, the SR females produced significantly more eggs than the LR females of the same body length, but the LR females achieved maximal body size and fecundity at the end. The SR may perform conservative bet‐hedging (early reproduction in small size), but the LR could be results of genetic differentiation or phenotypic plasticity.
Chemical composition analysis, antioxidant activity, and target cell‐based screening of the potential active components in jujube and its fermented product
Authors: Ren Wei , Ma Yue , Liu Dan , Liang Pan , Du Junfeng , Yang Sijin , Tang Lina , Wu Yongjiang 
Published: January 2022

AbstractIn this study, the chemical constituents of jujube and jujube fermentation broth were compared by chromatography tandem high‐resolution mass spectrometry for the first time. A total of 68 compounds were detected, and six of them were quantified. The results showed that rutin was hydrolyzed and converted into quercetin during the fermentation process. Further, the antioxidant experiments in vitro were carried out, and the IC50 value of the fermentation broth was lower than that of the jujube extract. Twenty‐three potential bioactive components from jujube samples were identified by a target cell‐based screening method, and triterpenic acid compounds exhibited high cell binding property. These results will help to understand the different biological activities of jujube and its fermented products and will benefit the discovery of new functional components.
Phytotoxicity in aqueous methanolic extracts of rice against junglerice and total activities of identified phytotoxic compounds
Authors: Ho Thi L. , Nguyen Van L. , Phan Linh K. , Nguyen Cuong T. , Nguyen Trang H. D. , Van Vang L. , Reid Smeda J. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThis study examined phytotoxic activities of several Vietnam localised OM rice (Oryza sativa L. OM) cultivars on junglerice (Echinochloa colona (L.) Link), an invasive weed threatening rice production, and identified allelochemicals and their activities for OM 4498, the most allelopathic cultivar. The aqueous MeOH extracts of all rice cultivars inhibited root and shoot growth of junglerice at a concentration as low as 0.01 g ml−1. Inhibitory effects were greatest in OM 380, OM 2395 and OM 4498, with the average effective doses (EDs) of extracts required for 90% inhibition (ED90) on junglerice as low as 0.981, 0.632 and 0.702 g ml−1, respectively. The phytotoxic substances salicylic acid, vanillic acid, p‐coumaric acid, 2,4‐dimethoxybenzoic acid, benzoic acid, p‐hydrobenzoic acid, trans‐cinnamic acid and coumarin were identified in OM 4498 at concentrations ranging from 0.066 to 11.412 mg in 100 g fresh weight of rice tissue. Two of these substances, 2,4‐dimethoxybenzoic acid and coumarin, have never previously been identified in rice. Compared to other compounds, p‐coumaric acid may have the greatest weed‐suppressant potential on junglerice, with the average ED50 being 0.28 mM. The total activities of salicylic acid, vanillic acid, p‐coumaric acid, trans‐cinnamic acid and 2,4‐dimethoxybenzoic acid in an OM 4498 rice plant on junglerice seedlings were 59.60, 0.78, 3.47, 2.52 and 0.61 mM/mM, respectively. The results clearly suggest that OM 4498 rice extract is an excellent source for allelochemicals against junglerice, and this rice cultivar should be considered in rice production areas invaded by junglerice.
The impact of acute surgical unit rostering on National Emergency Access Targets during the COVID‐19 pandemic: a single hospital experience
Authors: Corbitt Matthew , Wiener Jonathan H. , Swift Kate , Do Phuc (Richard) , Wu Roxanne 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackgroundSurgical departments have been dramatically impacted by the novel coronavirus 19 (COVID‐19) pandemic, with the cancellation of elective cases and changes to the provision of emergency surgical care. The aim of this study was to determine whether structural changes made within our facility's surgical department during COVID‐19 altered National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) times and impacted on patient outcomes.MethodsEmergency surgical cases over a 4‐month time period were retrospectively collected and statistically analysed, divided into pre‐ and mid‐COVID‐19 pandemic.ResultsBaseline characteristics between the groups were comparable. There was a significant increase in consultant presence in theatre in the COVID group. There were also statistically significant reductions in NEAT times at each timepoint, although these did not meet national guidelines. There was no change in emergency surgical workload, complication rate or mortality rates within 30 days.ConclusionAny significant change to services requires a coordinated hospital‐wide approach, not just from a single department, and clinicians must continue to be wary of benchmarked times as the overall feasibility and safety of NEAT times has also been highlighted again.