scholarly journals Microcolonies: a novel morphological form of pathogenicMycoplasmaspp

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina V. Rakovskaya ◽  
Svetlana A. Ermolaeva ◽  
Galina A. Levina ◽  
Olga I. Barkhatova ◽  
Andrey Ya. Mukhachev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Type Strain ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Mycoplasma Species ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Hyperimmune Serum ◽  
Morphological Form ◽  
The Future

AbstractThe work describes a novel morphological form found in 5 species ofMollicutes:Mycoplasma hominis, M. fermentans, M. gallisepticum, M. pneumoniae, Acholeplasma laidlawii. The form, which is referred to as microcolonies (MCs) in contrast to typical colonies (TCs), was characterized by tiny propeller-shaped colonies formed by rod-like cells tightly packed in parallel rows. MCs were observed within routinely cultivated type strain cultures of the listed species, and rod-like cells could be seen ewith SEM within TCs of the “fried-egg” type. Pure MC cultures were obtained by treatment of Mycoplasma cultures with hyperimmune serum, antibiotics or argon non-thermal plasma. Appearance of MCs was observed 7-12 days post plating while TCs appeared 24-48 h post plating. MCs derived from theM. hoministype strain H-34 were characterized in details. MCs did not differ from the parental culture in the MLST, direct fluorescent and epifluorescent tests and Western-blotting with a monospecific camel-derived nanoantibody aMh-FcG2a. Meanwhile, MCs derived from this strain and other listed species were resistant to at least 9 antibiotics and did not hydrolyze arginine and/or glucose in standard bacteriological tests. MC cultures that belonged toM. hominis(n=70),M. pneumoniae(n=2),M. fermentans(n=2),Mycoplasmaspp (n=5) were isolated from clinical samples of serum, synovial liquid and urina of patients with inflammatory urogenital tract diseases, asthma, arthritis. The reported MCs might be similar to “small colony variants” (SCVs) described in other bacterial species. However, in contrast to SCVs, MCs have never reverted to TCs. Multiple consecutive re-plating steps (for up to 3 years) were not sufficient to provide appearance of TCs within a pure MC culture. An unknown role of MCs in infection pathology along with their prominent antibiotic resistance makes them a challenge for the future studies ofMollicutes.Author summaryHere we demonstrated that Mycoplasma species form small size colonies (referred to as minicolonies, MCs). MC size is ten times less than the size of typical Mycoplasma colonies (TCs). MCs are very slow growing: it was required 9-10 days for MCs to form in contrast to 24-72 h required for TCs to form. The presents a system of evidences that MCs are formed by the same species as TCs, which they have been obtained from. Pure culture of MCs might be obtained from TC cultures by treatment with the hyperimmune serum, antibiotic and non-thermal gas plasma. MCs of all species were resistant to antibiotics effective against TCs. MCs did not hydrolyze arginine and glucose in standard bacteriological tests. MCs of different Mycoplasma species were isolated from clinical samples of sera, urea and synovial fluids from patients with urolithiasis, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. MCs never have reverted to TCs even after three years passing. A role of MCs in infectious pathology has not been established yet. Nevertheless, ability to persist in the human body and extreme antibiotic resistance make MCs to be a challenge for the future research.

scholarly journals The evolution of predictive models and tourism

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Najmeh Gharibi
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Acceptance Models ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Outcomes ◽  
Tourism Services

Purpose This study aims to investigate the predictive technology acceptance models and their evolution in the tourism context. These predictive models make a knowledgeable decision about the possibility of future outcomes by analysing data. As futurists are interested in making a prediction about the likelihood of different behaviours over time, researchers of these predictive models have focussed on behaviour and predicting the intentions of users. This study proposes to demonstrate the revolution of these models and how are changed overtime. It also indicates the role of them in future studies. Design/methodology/approach By reviewing the predictive models and literature, this study looks in-depth in the process of alteration of these models. Findings This study explores the reasons of the evolution of predictive models and how they are changed. It shed light on the role of predictive models in future research and will suggest new directions for forthcoming studies. Research limitations/implications One of the main limitations of this study is that as the world is currently struggling with COVID-19 and predictability of these models will be changed. As the future is disruptive, it cannot be concluded that how these models will be altered in future. Practical implications Role of predictive behavioural models of tourists is fundamentally crucial in assessing the performance of planners and marketers of tourism services in the future. It will also vastly helps the successful development of tourism sectors, and it has practical value for all tourism stakeholders. Originality/value Few studies have focussed on the evaluation of these models and their role in future research.

scholarly journals Relationships between Interpersonal Trust and Knowledge Sharing in Workplace: The Mediational Role of Prosocial Motives

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weixu Ding ◽  
Eugene Choi ◽  
Atsushi Aoyama
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Interpersonal Trust ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Emotional Factors ◽  
Prosocial Motives ◽  
The Future ◽  
Mediational Role ◽  
The Relationship

This study is different from the usual cases that testing the intuitive factor as rewarding that affects the employees’ knowledge sharing. In this study, the focus shifts to concentrating on the emotional factors such as interpersonal trust and the prosocial motives. Empirical methods are used to test the hypotheses, and the results show that interpersonal trust affects employees’ knowledge sharing significantly. Moreover, the prosocial motives have been evidenced that it moderately mediates the relationship between interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing. This study has well evidenced all the hypotheses and gives suggestions for the future research at the end.

scholarly journals How Far That Little Candle Throws His Beams! An Interview With Mats Isaksson

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-419
Author(s):  
Alessandro Merendino ◽  
Marc Goergen
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Policy Maker ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
The Future

This article adopts a policy-maker perspective on corporate governance, while exploring the role of academia in influencing corporate governance principles, the reasons for the boilerplate approach to governance rules typically adopted by most companies, and the reasons for a possible disconnect between research and corporate governance policies. The article ends with some key lessons about corporate governance and the future research agenda.

Influence of mission and vision on the state development: a case of Pakistan

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadeem Yousaf
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
State Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of mission and vision in the process of state development. Using the case of Pakistan, it will be argued that state organizations do not develop and find the right direction without outlining a clear mission and vision which will be beneficial to all citizens, who are the real stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – Yin (2003) and Baxter and Jack (2008) argue that case study is an enriched method to explore a complex relationship. The complex relationship may be understood better by qualitative methods than quantitative. Following their suggestion, case study method will be adopted to understand the relationship between the mission and vision and state development. In this study, Pakistan will be used as a case. Moreover, the technique of historical analysis will be employed to understand this relationship. Historical analysis is important because the repercussions of current actions can only be evaluated in the future. Findings – The paper shows the importance of “mission and vision” for state development. Using Pakistan as the case, it is argued that a state can lose its direction without having a clear mission and vision. It is further contended that it is not erection of institutions or verbal/written pronouncements and slogans, but a strong commitment to the mission and the vision brings the required change, which helps to develop a state. In the future research, the researcher can further examine the role of mission and vision in relation to state development. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this study is that it has only focussed on the leadership and politics of Pakistan. In the future, a comparative study investigation may be useful. Practical implications – The research is useful for political leaders, political scientists and public management researchers. Originality/value – The research is unique and original that it evaluates the role of leadership and the development of the state from the perspective of mission and vision, which has not been done in the earlier research. Moreover, the paper elaborates the concept of state development.

scholarly journals The role of mRNA in the development, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of neural tumors

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiyang Zheng ◽  
Yanyan Luo ◽  
Xixi Chen ◽  
Huiting Li ◽  
Baojun Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Genetic Disorders ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Benign Tumors ◽  
Central Nervous System Tumors ◽  
Nervous System Tumors ◽  
The Future

AbstractNeural tumors can generally be divided into central nervous system tumors and peripheral nervous tumors. Because this type of tumor is located in the nerve, even benign tumors are often difficult to remove by surgery. In addition, the majority of neural tumors are malignant, and it is particular the same for the central nervous system tumors. Even treated with the means such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, they are also difficult to completely cure. In recent years, an increasingly number of studies have focused on the use of mRNA to treat tumors, representing an emerging gene therapy. The use of mRNA can use the expression of some functional proteins for the treatment of genetic disorders or tissue repair, and it can also be applied to immunotherapy through the expression of antigens, antibodies or receptors. Therefore, although these therapies are not fully-fledged enough, they have a broad research prospect. In addition, there are many ways to treat tumors using mRNA vaccines and exosomes carrying mRNA, which have drawn much attention. In this study, we reviewed the current research on the role of mRNA in the development, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of neural tumors, and examine the future research prospects of mRNA in neural tumors and the opportunities and challenges that will arise in the future application of clinical treatment.

scholarly journals A Bibliometric Analysis of Pyroptosis From 2001 to 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Ma ◽  
Bin Yang ◽  
Baoyi Guan ◽  
Luxia Song ◽  
Qiyu Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Pyrin Domain ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Related Pathway ◽  
Receptor Family

BackgroundPyroptosis is a new programmed cell death discovered in recent years. Pyroptosis plays an important role in various diseases. Nevertheless, there are few bibliometric analysis systematically studies this field. We aimed to visualize the research hotspots and trends of pyroptosis using a bibliometric analysis to help understand the future development of basic and clinical research.MethodsThe articles and reviews regarding pyroptosis were culled from Web of Science Core Collection. Countries, institutions, authors, references and keywords in this field were visually analyzed by using CtieSpace and VOSviewer software.ResultsA total of 2845 articles and reviews were included. The number of articles regarding pyroptosis significantly increased yearly. These publications mainly come from 70 countries led by China and the USA and 418 institutions. We identified 605 authors, among which Thirumaladevi Kanneganti had the most significant number of articles, and Shi JJ was co-cited most often. Frontiers in immunology was the journal with the most studies, and Nature was the most commonly cited journal. After analysis, the most common keywords are nod like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome, apoptosis, cell death, gasdermin D, mechanism, caspase-1, and others are current and developing areas of study.ConclusionResearch on the pyroptosis is flourishing. Cooperation and exchanges between countries and institutions must be strengthened in the future. The related pathway mechanism of pyroptosis, the relationship between pyroptosis and other types of programmed cell deaths as well as the role of pyroptosis in various diseases have been the focus of current research and developmental trends in the future research.

The role of information systems for digital transformation in the private sector: a review of Egyptian SMEs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noura Metawa ◽  
Mohamed Elhoseny ◽  
Maha Mutawea
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Full Automation

PurposeThis paper aims to provide insights regarding the state of the art of digital transformation for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt and propose avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approachA proposed framework for the digitization process in SMEs is developed by providing three layers of working steps toward full automation. The paper also provides an extensive analysis of the main requirements for improving the existing traditional information systems' performance in these enterprises. The challenges of digital transformation and the future research direction are discussed as well.FindingsThis paper provided an overview of the importance of digital transformation in real-life applications. The role of the information systems in building a digitalized information processing environment is covered as well. Also, a framework for the shifting process from the traditional approaches to the digitalized systems is proposed. Besides, the paper overviewed the future research directions related to digital transformation in SMEs, especially in Egypt. These research directions are related to technical challenges during the digital transformation process, such as cybersecurity, big data analytics and multimodality data.Originality/valueDespite the significant governmental and institutions' steps toward full automation and digital transformation, the traditional information systems, infrastructures, and unequipped employees make the digitizing process on-the-fly an open challenge. A technology shift that is not supported by a similar cultural change threatens digital business initiatives and increases the risk of their failure. This paper aims to provide insights regarding the state of the art of digital transformation for SMEs in Egypt and propose avenues for future research.

scholarly journals A meta-analytic investigation of the role of reward on inhibitory control

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110088
Author(s):  
Sam Burton ◽  
Graeme Knibb ◽  
Andrew Jones
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Search Strategy ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Transient State ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Behavioural Intervention ◽  
Influential Cases

Contemporary theories predict that inhibitory control (IC) can be improved when rewards are available for successfully inhibiting. In non-clinical samples empirical research has demonstrated some support; however, “null” findings have also been published. The aim of this meta-analysis was to clarify the magnitude of the effect of reward on IC and identify potential moderators. A total of 73 articles (contributing k = 80 studies) were identified from PubMed, PsycInfo, and Scopus, published between 1997 and 2020, using a systematic search strategy. A random effects meta-analysis was performed on effect sizes generated from IC tasks, which included rewarded and non-rewarded inhibition trials. Moderator analyses were conducted on clinical samples (vs “healthy controls”), task type (go/no-go vs stop signal vs Flanker vs Simon vs Stroop vs Anti-saccade), reward type (monetary vs points vs other), and age (adults vs children). The prospect of reward for successful inhibition significantly improved IC (SMD = 0.429, 95% CI = 0.288, 0.570, I2 = 96.7%) compared with no reward conditions/groups. This finding was robust against influential cases and outliers. The significant effect was present across all IC tasks. There was no evidence of the effect moderated by type of reward, age, or clinical samples. Moderator analyses did not resolve the considerable heterogeneity. The findings suggest that IC is a transient state that fluctuates in response to motivations driven by reward. Future research might examine the potential of improving IC through rewards as a behavioural intervention.

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