Specific Manner Research Articles

Vendors Capability: A Way for Winning the Contract in a B2B Relationship

A Business-to-Business commercial (B2B) transaction is different from normal retail transactions with customers. Organisations engage with each other and vendors in a specific manner in a B2B purchase environment. Organisations, big or small, spend money to keep up with their business operations. This requires them to deal with many other business units called vendors/suppliers to help them with necessary input resources for their business operations. In B2B transactions, organisations deal with each other to purchase goods and services. These associations work on long-term business relationships. The vendor organisations hire sales teams and relationship managers to work with the client organisation in order to maintain healthy business relationships. It is a point of debate whether the relationship that exists between the vendor and the client is because of the personnel who is responsible for the relationship or is it the vendor organisation as a whole that has built its capability and experience over the years has been successful in maintaining business relationships with the client. A client who engages with a vendor will have certain criteria for selection and engagement with a vendor. With this view, we have decided to study this phenomenon by comparing the two factors – sales person’s relationship and vendor’s capability and check which of the two factors influences the awarding of contracts from the clients. Purchase is more process driven it evaluates the vendors strongly on their capability to deliver on the purchase terms. The data analysis and the hypothesis testing results obtained indicate that evaluating vendors by their capabilities for awarding contracts is a more pragmatic way of supplier selection.

Astrocyte-Neuron Interactions in Alzheimer's Disease.

Besides its two defining misfolded proteinopathies-Aβ plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles-Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an exemplar of a neurodegenerative disease with prominent reactive astrogliosis, defined as the set of morphological, molecular, and functional changes that astrocytes suffer as the result of a toxic exposure. Reactive astrocytes can be observed in the vicinity of plaques and tangles, and the relationship between astrocytes and these AD neuropathological lesions is bidirectional so that each AD neuropathological hallmark causes specific changes in astrocytes, and astrocytes modulate the severity of each neuropathological feature in a specific manner. Here, we will review both how astrocytes change as a result of their chronic exposure to AD neuropathology and how those astrocytic changes impact each AD neuropathological feature. We will emphasize the repercussions that AD-associated reactive astrogliosis has for the astrocyte-neuron interaction and highlight areas of uncertainty and priorities for future research.

European agricultural soil management: Towards climate‐smart and sustainability, knowledge needs and research approaches

AbstractCurrent soil‐ and land degradation seriously challenge our societies; it contributes to climate change, loss of biodiversity and loss of agricultural productions. Yet, soils are also seen as a major part of the solution, if maintained or restored to provide ecosystem services. Climate‐smart sustainable management of soils can provide options for soil health maintenance and restoration. In the European Union, the resource management and sustainability challenge are addressed in the Green Deal that, among other goals, aspires towards a healthy climate‐resilient agricultural sector that will produce sufficient products without damaging ecosystems and contribute to better biodiversity and mitigate climate change. The European Joint Programme (EJP) SOIL was set up to contribute to these goals by developing knowledge, tools and an integrated research community to foster climate‐smart sustainable agricultural soil management that provides a diversity of ecosystem service, such as adapting to and mitigating climate change, allowing sustainable food production, and sustaining soil biodiversity. This paper provides an overview of the potential of climate‐smart sustainable soil management research to the targets of the Green Deal that are related to soils most directly. The EJP SOIL EU‐wide consultation (interviews and questionnaires) and literature analysis (national and international reports and papers) done in the first year (2020–2021) generated a wealth of data. This data showed that there are specific manners to do research that are essential for it to be effective and efficient and that can actively contribute to the Green Deal targets. We concluded that research needs to be: (i) interdisciplinary, (ii) long‐term, (iii) multi‐scaled, from plot to landscape, (iv) evaluating trade‐offs of selected management options for ecosystem services and (v) co‐constructed with key stakeholders. Research on climate‐smart sustainable soil management should be developed (1) on plot scale when mobilizing soil processes and on landscape scale when addressing sediment and water connectivity and biodiversity management; and (2) address the enabling conditions through good governance, social acceptance and viable economic conditions.

Characterization of temperature-sensitive alleles of Schizosaccharomyces pombe septation initiation network components.

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe septation initiation network (SIN) promotes cytokinesis and septation. Comprised of a protein kinase cascade triggered by activation of a small GTPase and inhibited by a two-component GAP that localize to the spindle pole bodies in a cell cycle specific manner. Here, we characterized temperature-sensitive mutants isolated in the 1990s in four SIN components. We determined the mutations within each cdc14 , cdc16 , sid1 , and sid2 mutant allele and analyzed their growth at different temperatures compared with known mutant alleles. The new mutants described here expand the toolkit for studying SIN signaling.

Vitamin D and cancer.

The role of vitamin D in the prevention of chronic diseases including cancer, has received a great deal of attention during the past few decades. The term "Cancer" represents multiple disease states with varying biological complexities. The strongest link between vitamin D and cancer is provided by ecological and studies like observational, in preclinical models. It is apparent that vitamin D exerts diverse biological responses in a tissue specific manner. Moreover, several human factors could affect bioactivity of vitamin D. The mechanism(s) underlying vitamin D initiated anti-carcinogenic effects are diverse and includes changes at the muti-system levels. The oncogenic environment could easily corrupt the traditional role of vitamin D or could ensure resistance to vitamin D mediated responses. Several researchers have identified gaps in our knowledge pertaining to the role of vitamin D in cancer. Further areas are identified to solidify the role of vitamin D in cancer control strategies.

Modulation of Staphylococcus aureus gene expression during proliferation in platelet concentrates with focus on virulence and platelet functionality.

Staphylococcus aureus is a well-documented bacterial contaminant in platelet concentrates (PCs), a blood component used to treat patients with platelet deficiencies. This bacterium can evade routine PC culture screening and cause septic transfusion reactions. Here, we investigated the gene expression modulation within the PC niche versus trypticase soy media (TSB) of S. aureus CBS2016-05, a strain isolated from a septic reaction, in comparison to PS/BAC/317/16/W, a strain identified during PC screening. RNA-seq analysis revealed upregulation of the capsule biosynthesis operon (capA-H), surface adhesion factors (sasADF), clumping factor A (clfA), protein A (spa), and anaerobic metabolism genes (pflAB, nrdDG) in CBS2016-05 when grown in PCs versus TSB, implying its enhanced pathogenicity in this milieu, in contrast to the PS/BAC/317/16/W strain. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of S. aureus CBS2016-05 on platelet functionality in spiked PCs versus non-spiked PC units. Flow cytometry analyses revealed a significant decrease in glycoprotein (GP) IIb (CD41) and GPIbα (CD42b) expression, alongside increased P-selectin (CD62P) and phosphatidylserine (annexin V) expression in spiked PCs compared to non-spiked PCs (p = 0.01). Moreover, spiked PCs exhibited a drastic reduction in MitoTrack Red FM and Calcein AM positive platelets (87.3% vs. 29.4%, p = 0.0001 and 95.4% vs. 24.7%, p = 0.0001) in a bacterial cell density manner. These results indicated that S. aureus CBS2016-05 triggers platelet activation and apoptosis, and compromises mitochondrial functionality and platelet viability, in contaminated PCs. Furthermore, this study enhanced our understanding of the effects of platelet-bacteria interactions in the unique PC niche, highlighting S. aureus increased pathogenicity and deleterious effect on platelet functionality in a strain specific manner. Our novel insights serve as a platform to improve PC transfusion safety.

Monitoring Autophagy During Drosophila Oogenesis.

Macroautophagy (autophagy hereafter) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that maintains the health of cells by degrading toxic proteins and damaged organelles within the lysosomes. Tissues like ovary are made up of heterogeneous cell types and each cell type has distinct levels of autophagy. Studying autophagy in a cell-type specific manner helps better understand the role of autophagy during oogenesis. Here, we describe assays for monitoring autophagy during oogenesis in Drosophila using the two protein markers, Atg8a and Ref(2)P.

Analysis of Proliferation, Apoptosis, and Motility in Mouse Embryonic Melanocytic Precursor Cells.

In this chapter, we provide a method to purify and culture embryonic melanocytic stem cells that express green fluorescent protein in a cell-type specific manner. Isolation of melanocytic lineage cell populations that are >98% pure is accomplished through the use of GFP-based fluorescence activated cell sorting. We also provide a method to culture the purified melanoblasts and to analyze their proliferation, apoptosis, and motility properties.

Inter and intralaminar excitation of parvalbumin interneurons in mouse barrel cortex.

Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons are inhibitory fast-spiking cells with essential roles in directing the flow of information through cortical circuits. These neurons set the balance between excitation and inhibition and control rhythmic activity. PV interneurons differ between cortical layers in their morphology, circuitry, and function, but how their electrophysiological properties vary has received little attention. Here we investigate responses of PV interneurons in different layers of primary somatosensory barrel cortex (BC) to different excitatory inputs. With the genetically-encoded hybrid voltage sensor, hVOS, we recorded voltage changes in many L2/3 and L4 PV interneurons simultaneously, with stimulation applied to either L2/3 or L4. A semi-automated procedure was developed to identify small regions of interest corresponding to single responsive PV interneurons. Amplitude, half-width, and rise-time were greater for PV interneurons residing in L2/3 compared to L4. Stimulation in L2/3 elicited responses in both L2/3 and L4 with longer latency compared to stimulation in L4. These differences in latency between layers could influence their windows for temporal integration. Thus, PV interneurons in different cortical layers of BC respond in a layer specific and input specific manner, and these differences have potential roles in cortical computations.

Overview: Research on the Genetic Architecture of the Developing Cerebral Cortex in Norms and Diseases.

The human brain is characterized by high cell numbers, diverse cell types with diverse functions, and intricate connectivity with an exceedingly broad surface of the cortex. Human-specific brain development was accomplished by a long timeline for maturation from the prenatal period to the third decade of life. The long timeline makes complicated architecture and circuits of human cerebral cortex possible, and it makes human brain vulnerable to intrinsic and extrinsic insults resulting in the development of variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. Unraveling the molecular and cellular processes underlying human brain development under the elaborate regulation of gene expression in a spatiotemporally specific manner, especially that of the cortex will provide a biological understanding of human cognition and behavior in health and diseases. Global research consortia and the advancing technologies in brain science including functional genomics equipped with emergent neuroinformatics such as single-cell multiomics, novel human models, and high-volume databases with high-throughput computation facilitate the biological understanding of the development of the human brain cortex. Knowing the process of interplay of the genome and the environment in cortex development will lead us to understand the human-specific cognitive function and its individual diversity. Thus, it is worthwhile to overview the recent progress in neurotechnology to foresee further understanding of the human brain and norms and diseases.

De novo design of peptides that bind specific conformers of α-synuclein.

Insoluble amyloids rich in cross-β fibrils are observed in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Depending on the clinicopathology, the amyloids can adopt distinct supramolecular assemblies, termed conformational strains. However, rapid methods to study amyloids in a conformationally specific manner are lacking. We introduce a novel computational method for de novo design of peptides that tile the surface of α-synuclein fibrils in a conformationally specific manner. Our method begins by identifying surfaces that are unique to the conformational strain of interest, which becomes a "target backbone" for the design of a peptide binder. Next, we interrogate structures in the PDB with high geometric complementarity to the target. Then, we identify secondary structural motifs that interact with this target backbone in a favorable, highly occurring geometry. This method produces monomeric helical motifs with a favorable geometry for interaction with the strands of the underlying amyloid. Each motif is then symmetrically replicated to form a monolayer that tiles the amyloid surface. Finally, amino acid sequences of the peptide binders are computed to provide a sequence with high geometric and physicochemical complementarity to the target amyloid. This method was applied to a conformational strain of α-synuclein fibrils, resulting in a peptide with high specificity for the target relative to other amyloids formed by α-synuclein, tau, or Aβ40. This designed peptide also markedly slowed the formation of α-synuclein amyloids. Overall, this method offers a new tool for examining conformational strains of amyloid proteins.

Indigenous Values of Short Stories in Indonesian Fictional Prose in Higher Education: Implication on Language Education

This research was qualitative research that analyzed the concept of indigenous values in the short story "Rumah Amangboru" by Hasan Al Banna. The main aim of this research is to deepen the understanding of how local wisdom is reflected in the values, traditions and culture of the Batak people which form the background of the story. This research was carried out using a literary analysis approach by examining elements of local wisdom revealed in story narratives, such as respect for ancestors, the role of women in Batak society, and the relationship between humans and nature. The results of this research illustrate that local wisdom is not only an element of the story, but also reflects the depth of cultural wealth and traditional wisdom possessed by the community. In the short story "Amangboru Rumah", five values were found. First, religious value related to a concept of respect, Second, the value of local wisdom which is also related to natural phenomena that occur in a real and specific manner within the scope of society. Third, the value is found in the customs of the community which is associated with the value of art. Fourth, honoring the dead or what is known as non-religious social values. Fifth, the value of love for the country. This research contributes to the understanding of how literature can be a medium for celebrating and telling the story of a society's cultural heritage, as well as offering valuable insights for research on Indonesian culture and literature

FAKTOR PENYEBAB KETIDAKTEPATAN KODE DIAGNOSA SEBAGAI SYARAT PENGAJUAN KLAIM PASIEN RAWAT INAP PESERTA BADAN PENYELENGGARA JAMINAN SOSIAL KESEHATAN DI RUMAH SAKIT UMUM SURYA HUSADHA DENPASAR

Background: Writing a complete diagnosis can produce the right coding because the diagnosis is written in a complete, clear, specific, and consistent manner. Writing clear, complete, and consistent diagnoses can produce quality data (Hatta, 2008). Based on observations made for 1 month from 23 January to 23 February 2023, 39 claim files were returned by the Health Social Security Administering Body due to inaccuracies in the diagnosis code.. This was caused by the doctor's notes that were not clearly legible in 24 (61.5%) claim files and the use of abbreviations in patient diagnoses in 15 (38.5%) claim files, while the purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between doctor's notes that were not clearly legible and the use of abbreviations for patient diagnoses for inaccuracies in the diagnosis code as a condition for filing claims for inpatient patients participating in the Health Social Security Administration at Surya Husadha General Hospital. Methods: The design in this study used a quantitative analytic descriptive research design and porpusive sampling research type, and the sample in this study were all inpatient claim files returned by Health Social Security Administering Body claims for inaccuracies in the diagnosis code totaling 39 claim files. Doctor's notes were illegible in 24 (61.5%) claim files and the use of abbreviations in patient diagnoses in 15 (38.5%) claim files. Result: From the results of this study it was found that there was a relationship between illegible doctor's notes and inaccuracy of the diagnostic code with a p value of 0.001 <0.05 and the use of abbreviations in patient diagnoses for inaccuracy of patient diagnosis codes with a p value of 0.003 <0.05.

Flavonoidlerin Beyin Fonksiyonu Üzerindeki Potansiyellerini Keşfetmek: Üç Fenolik Bileşiğin Beyin Elektriksel Aktivitesi Üzerindeki Etkileri

Background: The most common polyphenolic compounds taken up by the organism through the food chain are flavonoids. Known to cross the blood-brain barrier, 7,8-DHF, L-theanine and Fisetin are re-ported to have neuronal effects as well as therapeutic potential for neurodegenerative diseases. How-ever, little is known on their acute effects of neuronal function. This study aims to describe the effects of the mentioned flavonoids on the total ECoG activities and band analyzes of healthy mice. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, 3 different groups consisting of 7 subjects were created for each flavonoid administration. After the baseline electrophysiological recordings, flavonoid administra-tion was performed and acute effects were determined. Results: 7.8-DHF increased the theta, alpha and beta band activities while decreasing the total ECoG power. L-theanine and Fisetin did not significantly alter the total ECoG activity. However, L-theanine statistically increased theta, alpha and beta band activities. Conclusions: In conclusion, our data showed that flavonoids could acutely modulate the ECoG respons-es in a band specific manner. They can be considered as candidate molecules for drug discovery studies for central nervous system disorders.

Environmental Enrichment during Abstinence Reduces Oxycodone Seeking and c-Fos Expression in a Subpopulation of Medial Prefrontal Cortex Neurons

BackgroundSeveral preclinical studies have demonstrated that environmental enrichment (EE) during abstinence reduces drug seeking for psychostimulant and opioid drugs. Drug seeking is dependent on activity within the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and enrichment has been able to reduce drug seeking-associated increases in c-Fos in this region. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that EE during abstinence from oxycodone self-administration would reduce drug seeking and c-Fos immunoreactivity within the prefrontal cortex in a cell-type specific manner. MethodsMale rats self-administered oxycodone in two-hours sessions for three weeks, then underwent an initial drug seeking test under extinction conditions after one week of forced abstinence. Following this test, rats received either EE or remained individually housed in their home cage, then a second drug seeking test, with tissue collection immediately afterward. ResultsCompared to rats in standard housing, environmentally enriched rats had lower oxycodone seeking. In the prelimbic and infralimbic prefrontal cortices, the number of c-Fos+ cells was reduced, and this reduction was predominantly in inhibitory cells neurons, as evidenced by a reduction in the proportion of c-Fos+ cells in GAD+, but not CamKII+ cells. There was also a robust positive relationship between the number of c-Fos+ cells and persistence of oxycodone seeking in both the PrL and IL. ConclusionsThese findings further support the effectiveness of enriched environments to reduce reactivity to drug-associated stimuli and contexts and provide a potential mechanism by which this occurs.

Structural Trends and State Capacities in Regenerative Medicine in Brazil: Science, Innovation, Regulation, Governance and Social Inclusion

Regenerative medicine has transformed conventional practises in medicine. It focuses on the repair and regeneration of cells, tissue, and genes. Regenerative medicine has led to new forms of regulation of biological inputs and required the upgrading of some state capacities at the public, private, national and supranational levels, as well as the inclusion of new social sectors in the governance of the area. However, there are still many matters of concern on diminishing risks and uncertainties that have not been completely resolved either globally or nationally. The aims of the present study are to analyse the specific manner in which innovation and regulation in regenerative medicine have developed in Brazil; which state capacities are facilitated or hindered and how different social groups participate in the sector. At the methodological level, the research consists of a bibliographical and documentary study that mainly uses secondary data to develop a qualitative analysis of information and a quantitative analysis of statistics. In addition, interviews were conducted with associated social actors, including representatives from patient organisations, on which content analysis of narratives was performed. Public policies present lacunae in the regulation of clinical trials, the inclusion of private capital, and the promotion of local patents, as well as a lack of coordination between public agencies. A set of state dynamic capacities have been developed gradually in Brazil over the last ten years, but mission-oriented public policy has been almost inexistent, state aims are unfocused, and the legitimation of state action is still under development.

The “Grand Tour” of the Communist: Wilhelm Mach’s Queer Travel Writing*

The articles addresses three problems referring to Wilhelm Mach’s travelogues: first of all, the relation between the act of writing and the quest for the truth of the self; secondly, the pivotal role of intimate memory and experience in the understanding of transnational political movements and in the third place, the unique point of view of a queer person who dissent from the dominant stereotypes and epistemic habits. Mach answers to all those questions in a very specific and unique manner – he disrupts the structure of the narrative, giving way to different techniques of registration and notation. Thus he pushes his travel writing in the liminal area of creative non-fiction which is a fascinating reaction to the oppressive rules of realism posed to the artists by communist regime. Mach’s travelogues about India and Bulgaria are discussed here in particular because they are an example of the writer’s personal ‘Grand Tour’ although it is a ‘Grand Tour’ organized under the constrictions of a totalitarian regime and experienced by a Marxist. Those historical and philosophical circumstances determine the peculiar image of both India and Bulgaria created by Mach. Under the political correctness required by the Stalinist censorship Mach’s texts are subversive and non-canonical.

Webs of Self, Webs of Meaning. Three Female Fragmentary Portraits in Post-Digital Print Comics

The present paper analyses the work of three contemporary, independent women artists active in the Portuguese comics scene: Hetamoé, Joana Mosi, and Ana Margarida Matos. It provides a close formal reading of their work by following Peter Wollen's seminal article on counter-cinema. Despite the caveats of adopting whole cloth and in a clearcut manner notions from different media, there are enough commonalities and narratological features that provide stimulating comparisons. As in cinema, comics also have a broadly accepted normative understanding of comics' way of creating meaning, against which these three authors present what one can call, after Wollen, resisting formal strategies. Portuguese comics have had a troubled history, which entails a difficult economic development and the lack of wider social recognition (as a culturally relevant field). However, its most independent realms and sub-cultures have provided ample proof of engaged, informed, and inventive individual creators. Women creators are no exception to this, and this particular group shows three potentialities of opening up the field, both politically and aesthetically. Moreover, these same de/re/constructive strategies broach issues associated with identity, self-portrait, bodily matters, memory, and the very meaning-making processes at the core of their work. The feminist dimensions of their work, albeit quite varied, allow one to detect intense interpretations of the self and the role of womanhood in a broader process of self-actualization and social life. Thus, I will use Sianne Ngai's notions of "cuteness" and "animatedness" to understand the three author's specific manners of doing so, as depicted and constructed within the medium of comics.

Dietary aflatoxin B1 and zearalenone contamination affected growth performance, intestinal and hepatopancreas gene expression profiles and histology of the intestine and gill in goldfish, Carassius auratus

The effects of dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and/or zearalenone (ZEA) contamination on goldfish, was investigated. Total of 540 fingerlings, 6.25 ± 0.12 g, were randomly allocated to experimental groups comprised of factorial designation of different dietary AFB1 (0, 50 and 100 ppb) and ZEA (0, 500 and 1000 ppb) concentrations for 60 days. Each treatment was conducted in triplicate. Results showed dietary AFB1 and/or ZEA depressed the growth performance of fish; the highest and lowest weight gain (WG), final body weight, thermal growth coefficient (TGC) and daily growth coefficient (DGC) were observed in control group and AFB50ZEA1000, respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, dietary AFB1 and/or ZEA significantly affected the gene expressions of Caspase 3, Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1, Glutathione S-transferases (GST) and Heat shock proteins 70 (HSP70) in a dose-dependent and tissue specific manner (hepatopancreas or intestine) (P < 0.05). In the hepatopancreas, the highest relative expression of Caspase 3 (2.08 ± 0.43), CYP1A1 (2.73 ± 1.18), GST (32.86 ± 4.03) and HSP70 (7.55 ± 2.35) genes were observed in AFB100ZEA1000, AFB50ZEA0, AFB0ZEA1000 and AFB0ZEA1000 groups, respectively (P < 0.05). However, the highest relative expression of Caspase 3 (39.70 ± 10.98), CYP1A1 (966.4 ± 68.6), GST (175.8 ± 37.1) and HSP70 (1.01 ± 0.22) genes in the intestinal tissue were observed in AFB100ZEA1000, AFB0ZEA1000, AFB100ZEA500 AFB0ZEA0 groups (P < 0.05). The highest scores of the intestine tissue inflammation (4.0 ± 0.75) and necrosis (4.0 ± 0.75) were observed in AFB100ZEA500 group (P < 0.05). The results indicated the significant contribution of the intestine in metabolism/excretion of the feed-born toxins. Furthermore, the results revealed that dietary AFB1 and/or ZEA contamination could negatively affect fish performance and detoxifying genes expression profiles at concentrations even lower than those indicated in the literature as the safe feed mycotoxin thresholds.

Intron retention is a mechanism of erythropoietin regulation in brain cell models

Intron retention is a mechanism of post-transcriptional gene regulation, including genes involved in erythropoiesis. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a hormone without evidence of intracellular vesicle storage that regulates erythropoiesis. We hypothesize that EPO uses intron retention as a mechanism of post-transcriptional regulation in response to hypoxia and ischemia. Cell models of hypoxia and ischemia for kidney, liver, and brain cells were examined for intron retention by real time quantitative PCR. EPO expression increased in most cells except for blood brain barrier and liver cells. The intron retained transcript ratio decreased in brain cells, except for Astrocytes, but showed no change in kidney or liver after 24 h of ischemia. The shift in intron ratio was maintained when using poly (A) enriched cDNA, suggesting that intron retention is not due to immature transcripts. The expression of EPO was elevated at variable time points amongst cell models with the intron ratio also changing over a time course of 2 to 16 h after ischemia. We conclude that intron retention is a mechanism regulating EPO expression in response to ischemia in a tissue specific manner.