Innovation in manufacturing SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic: How does environmental dynamism reinforce employee proactive behavior?

In a turbulent environment such as during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, employee proactive behavior is imperative for innovation initiatives in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We ask whether and how turbulent environments motivate employees to proactively engage in innovative behavior. This study argues that employees' perceptions of environmental dynamism reinforce employee proactive innovation behavior. Using a sample comprising 262 innovative employees from 40 manufacturing SMEs in Taiwan, this study tests a moderated-mediation model in which environmental dynamism is expected to increase the indirect effect of creative self-efficacy on employee innovative behavior through knowledge acquisition. The results confirm the mediating role of knowledge acquisition and the positive moderating effect of environmental dynamism. This study sheds light on the issue of employee proactive behavior in response to changing environments.

Conditionally ablated Pten in prostate basal cells promotes basal-to-luminal differentiation and causes invasive prostate cancer in mice.

Prostate glands comprise two major epithelial cell types: luminal and basal. Luminal cells have long been considered the cellular origin of prostate cancer (CaP). However, recent evidence from a prostate regeneration assay suggests that prostate basal cells can also give rise to CaP. Here, we characterize Pten-deficient prostate lesions arising from keratin 5-expressing basal cells in a temporally controlled system in mice. Pten-deficient prostate lesions arising from basal cells exhibited luminal phenotypes with higher invasiveness, and the cell fate of Pten-deficient basal cells was traced to neoplastic luminal cells. After temporally ablating Pten in keratin 8-expressing luminal cells, luminal-derived Pten-deficient prostate tumors exhibited slower disease progression, compared with basal-derived tumors, within 13 weeks after Pten ablation. Cellular proliferation was significantly increased in basal-derived versus luminal-derived Pten-deficient prostate lesions. Increased tumor invasion into the smooth muscle layer and aberrantly regulated aggressive signatures (Smad4 and Spp1) were identified exclusively in basal-derived Pten-deficient lesions. Interestingly, p63-expressing cells, which represent basal stem and progenitor cells of basal-derived Pten-deficient prostate lesions, were significantly increased, relative to cells of the luminal-derived prostate lesion. Furthermore, castration did not suppress cellular proliferation of either basal-derived or luminal-derived Pten-deficient prostate tumors. Taken together, our data suggest that, although prostate malignancy can originate from both basal and luminal populations, these two populations differ in aggressive potential.

Mass spectrometry-based analyses for identifying and characterizing S-nitrosylation of protein tyrosine phosphatases.

All members in the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) family of enzymes contain an invariant Cys residue which is absolutely indispensable for catalysis. Due to the unique microenvironment surrounding the active center of PTPs, this Cys residue exhibits an unusually low pKa characteristic, thus being highly susceptible to oxidation or S-nitrosylation. While oxidation-dependent regulation of PTP activity has been extensively examined, the molecular details and biological consequences of PTP S-nitrosylation remain unexplored. We hypothesized that the catalytic Cys residue is targeted by proximal nitric oxide (NO) and its derivatives collectively termed reactive nitrogen species (RNS), leading to nitrosothiol formation concomitant with reversible inactivation of PTPs. To test this hypothesis, we have developed novel strategies to examine the redox status of Cys residues of purified PTP1B that was exposed to NO donor S-Nitroso-N-penicillamine (SNAP). A gel-based method in conjunction with mass spectrometry (MS) analysis revealed that the catalytic Cys215 of PTP1B was reversibly modified when PTP1B was briefly treated with SNAP. In order to further identify the exact mode of NO-induced modification, we employed an online LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis incorporating a mass difference-based, data-dependent acquisition function that effectively mapped the S-nitrosylated Cys residues. Our results demonstrated that treating PTP1B with SNAP led to S-nitrosothiol formation of the catalytic Cys215. Interestingly, SNAP-induced modifications were strictly reversible as highly oxidized Cys derivatives (Cys-SO(2)H or Cys-SO(3)H) were not identified by MS analyses. Thus, the methods introduced in this study provide direct evidence to prove the direct link between S-nitrosylation of the catalytic Cys residue and reversible inactivation of PTPs.

[Effect of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation on treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors affecting the effect of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) on treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: According to the disease-induced factors, patients with ARDS were divided into two groups: group A (pulmonary factors), group B (extra-pulmonary factors). Different kinds of ventilator s were used in the course of NIPPV via facial or nasal mask. The mode, biphasic intermittent positive airway pressure (BiPAP, BiPAP vision), pressure support ventilation (PSV) + positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) or synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) + PSV + PEEP, was administered. After 3-10 hours, the patients who were not fit to NIPPV were conducted intubation. RESULTS: Group A had 9 cases, of whom 5 cases were treated with NIPPV all the time, while in group B, 14 cases, of whom 12 cases The cure rate of group A by NIPPV was 55.6% (5/9), while that of group B was 85.7% (12/14), P<0.05. CONCLUSION: Selecting proper indication, reasonable ventilator mode and parameters, and improving the unfavorable factors can contribute to the decrease of intubation rate.