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This study aims to develop a theoretical model of how supervisor’s cultural differences moderate the relationship between proactive behavior of employees and the supervisor’s favorable evaluations. We first review the literature and define the constructs. Then, we describe how the relationship between proactive behavior of an employee and the supervisor’s favorable assessment level could be moderated by the differences between the models of independent or individualistic culture vs. interdependent or collectivistic culture and the cultural tightness-looseness of the supervisor. The conceptual framework and theoretical models of this relationship and moderating effects are proposed. The theoretical model of this study contributes to the organizational and strategic management literature by proposing the moderating effects of supervisor’s cultural differences in assessing different aspects of employee’s proactive behavior.

Educational reform has been performed with respect to the integration of technology in daily classroom practices at higher education level in Myanmar. Digital technologies and digital classrooms become the most significant and dynamic issues in the education sector. Since Myanmar is a lower level income country at the very early stage of ICT development, many challenges and barriers would be inevitably experienced both by teachers and students. This study aims to examine the perceptions of university teachers to technology integration in classroom practices and possible barriers and supports for creating digital classrooms. With this aim, through the identification of individual, professional, institutional and contextual barriers, this study seeks to reveal the perceptions, barriers and challenges and supports needed for implementing digital classrooms at university level. Online survey was used to collect data. The language used in the survey is English. Two hundred fifty-two university teachers participated in the survey to examine potential barriers and supports to integrate technology in classrooms at higher education level in Myanmar. The data was analysed by using mixed method, involving quantitative analysis method and qualitative analysis method. This paper aims to meet the needs of the educational reform performing at higher educational level in Myanmar.

Organizational resilience (OR) has been studied as an important construct for maintaining an organization’s sustainability in today’s dynamic business world. However, the exact way to systematically achieve OR in real organizational settings is still unknown. In this paper, the scholars elucidate how OR can be fostered by developing knowledge absorptive capacity based on the knowledge-based view and dynamic capability theory. The paper highlights the significance of knowledge resources for a firm’s survival nowadays and provides conceptual clarity of how a firm’s ACAP could reinforce fostering OR. Thereby, this review fills the knowledge gaps of previous studies. Based on the review corpus, scholars also address other prominent antecedents for nurturing OR, such as leadership styles, dynamic capabilities, organizational learning, unlearning, networks, and social capital. Lastly, a conceptual model was developed for future organizational studies. In addition to the aforementioned contributions, the study’s novelty also lies in the review method, which is systematically conducted in an integrated manner by combining a bibliometric analysis and a scoping review. Furthermore, the study analyzes a more expansive database that includes 823 documents and covers documents published more recently, from 1992 to 2021.

UTCC International Journal of Business and Economics, 13, 3, 97-108

Protocol to purify 6xHis-tagged recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli using Ni-NTA pull-down.

We describe our efforts at developing a one-step quantitative reverse-transcription (qRT)-PCR protocol to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA directly from saliva samples, without RNA purification. We find that both heat and the presence of saliva impairs the ability to detect synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Buffer composition (for saliva dilution) was also crucial to effective PCR detection. Using the SG2 primer pair, designed by Sigma-Aldrich, we were able to detect the equivalent of 1.7×106 viral copies per mL of saliva after heat inactivation; approximately equivalent to the median viral load in symptomatic patients. This would make our assay potentially useful for rapid detection of high-shedding infected individuals. We also provide a comparison of the PCR efficiency and specificity, which varied considerably, across 9 reported primer pairs for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Primer pairs SG2 and CCDC-N showed highest specificity and PCR efficiency. Finally, we provide an alternate primer pair to use as a positive control for human RNA detection in SARS-CoV-2 assays, as we found that the widely used US CDC primers (targeting human RPP30) do not span an exon-exon junction and therefore does not provide an adequate control for the reverse transcription reaction.

Protocol for recombinant protein expression in E. coli for protein purification and subsequent enzyme assays, protein crystallography etc.

Protocol for recombinant protein expression in E. coli for protein purification and subsequent enzyme assays, protein crystallography etc.

Protocol for generating chemically compotent (ie. for heat shock transformation) E. coli cells for transformation (e.g. heterologous protein expression, cloning).

Background CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has facilitated the generation of knockout mice, providing an alternative to cumbersome and time-consuming traditional embryonic stem cell-based methods. An earlier study reported up to 16% efficiency in generating conditional knockout (cKO or floxed) alleles by microinjection of 2 single guide RNAs (sgRNA) and 2 single-stranded oligonucleotides as donors (referred herein as “two-donor floxing” method). Results We re-evaluate the two-donor method from a consortium of 20 laboratories across the world. The dataset constitutes 56 genetic loci, 17,887 zygotes, and 1718 live-born mice, of which only 15 (0.87%) mice contain cKO alleles. We subject the dataset to statistical analyses and a machine learning algorithm, which reveals that none of the factors analyzed was predictive for the success of this method. We test some of the newer methods that use one-donor DNA on 18 loci for which the two-donor approach failed to produce cKO alleles. We find that the one-donor methods are 10- to 20-fold more efficient than the two-donor approach. Conclusion We propose that the two-donor method lacks efficiency because it relies on two simultaneous recombination events in cis, an outcome that is dwarfed by pervasive accompanying undesired editing events. The methods that use one-donor DNA are fairly efficient as they rely on only one recombination event, and the probability of correct insertion of the donor cassette without unanticipated mutational events is much higher. Therefore, one-donor methods offer higher efficiencies for the routine generation of cKO animal models.

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology has considerably facilitated the generation of mouse knockout alleles, relieving many of the cumbersome and time-consuming steps of traditional mouse embryonic stem cell technology. However, the generation of conditional knockout alleles remains an important challenge. An earlier study reported up to 16% efficiency in generating conditional knockout alleles in mice using 2 single guide RNAs (sgRNA) and 2 single-stranded oligonucleotides (ssODN) (2sgRNA-2ssODN). We re-evaluated this method from a large data set generated from a consortium consisting of 17 transgenic core facilities or laboratories or programs across the world. The dataset constituted 17,887 microinjected or electroporated zygotes and 1,718 live born mice, of which only 15 (0.87%) mice harbored 2 correct LoxP insertions in cis configuration indicating a very low efficiency of the method. To determine the factors required to successfully generate conditional alleles using the 2sgRNA-2ssODN approach, we performed a generalized linear regression model. We show that factors such as the concentration of the sgRNA, Cas9 protein or the distance between the placement of LoxP insertions were not predictive for the success of this technique. The major predictor affecting the method’s success was the probability of simultaneously inserting intact proximal and distal LoxP sequences, without the loss of the DNA segment between the two sgRNA cleavage sites. Our analysis of a large data set indicates that the 2sgRNA–2ssODN method generates a large number of undesired alleles (>99%), and a very small number of desired alleles (

Protocol for recombinant protein expression in E. coli for enzyme assays, protein crystallography etc.

A recently published research article reported that the extreme halophile archaebacterium Natronobacterium gregoryi Argonaute enzyme (NgAgo) could cleave the cellular DNA under physiological temperature conditions in cell line and be implemented as an alternative to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. We assessed this claim in mouse zygotes for four loci (Sptb, Tet-1, Tet-2 and Tet-3) and in the human HEK293T cell line for the EMX1 locus. Over 100 zygotes were microinjected with nls-NgAgo-GK plasmid provided from Addgene and various concentrations of 5’- phosphorylated guide DNA (gDNA) from 2.5 ng/μl to 50 ng/μl and cultured to blastocyst stage of development. The presence of indels was verified using T7 endonuclease 1 assay (T7E1) and Sanger sequencing. We reported no evidence of successful editing of the mouse genome. We then assessed the lack of editing efficiency in HEK293T cell line for the EMX1 endogenous locus by monitoring the NgAgo protein expression level and the editing efficiency by T7E1 assay and Sanger sequencing. We reported that the NgAgo protein was expressed from 8 hours to a maximum expression at 48 hours post-transfection, confirming the efficient delivery of the plasmid and the gDNA but no evidence of successful editing of EMX1 target in all transfected samples. Together our findings indicate that we failed to edit using NgAgo.

Carotenoids are mostly C40 terpenoids, a class of hydrocarbons that participate in various biological processes in plants, such as photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, photoprotection, and development. Carotenoids also serve as precursors for two plant hormones and a diverse set of apocarotenoids. They are colorants and critical components of the human diet as antioxidants and provitamin A. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the genes and enzymes involved in carotenoid metabolism and describe recent progress in understanding the regulatory mechanisms underlying carotenoid accumulation. The importance of the specific location of carotenoid enzyme metabolons and plastid types as well as of carotenoid-derived signals is discussed.