bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Daring Diversity – Why There Is Nothing Wrong with ‘Fragmentation’ in International Criminal Procedures
Authors: NERLICH VOLKER
Published: September 2013

International criminal law has made impressive strides over the past twenty years. The 1990s and 2000s saw the establishment of ad hoc international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR), the coming into being of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC), and the birth of several internationalized ‘hybrid’ jurisdictions, notably the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). However, the dynamic development of international criminal law into a new branch of public international law has also led to some problems and confusion. The rules and principles developed by the newly founded international criminal tribunals have sometimes seemed at odds with accepted views on public international law more generally – raising fears about the ‘fragmentation’ of the law. Perhaps the best-known example of this is the controversy over the ‘overall-control’ test developed by the ICTY Appeals Chamber in the Tadić case to determine under which circumstances armed forces may be considered to be acting on behalf of a third state, rendering an internal armed conflict international. The Tadić test differed from the ‘effective-control’ test developed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Nicaragua case and confirmed in the Bosnia Genocide case, where the ICJ specifically rejected the ICTY approach. Also more generally, the discussion on ‘fragmentation’ and international criminal law continues; recently, Elies van Sliedregt set out in these pages her vision of legal pluralism in international criminal law.
Attention Difficulties in a Contemporary Geographic Cohort of Adolescents Born Extremely Preterm/Extremely Low Birth Weight
Authors: Wilson-Ching Michelle , Molloy Carly S. , Anderson Vicki A. , Burnett Alice , Roberts Gehan , Cheong Jeanie L.Y. , Doyle Lex W. , Anderson Peter J.
Published: September 2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate attention difficulties in a contemporary geographic cohort of adolescents born extremely preterm (EP, <28 weeks’ gestation) or extremely low birth weight (ELBW, birth weight <1000 g). The EP/ELBW group included 228 adolescents (mean age = 17.0 years) born in Victoria, Australia in 1991 and 1992. The control group were 166 adolescents (mean age = 17.4 years) born of normal birth weight (birth weight >2499 g) who were recruited in the newborn period and matched to the EP/ELBW group on date of birth, gender, language spoken and health insurance status. Participants were assessed on measures of selective, sustained, and executive (shift and divided) attention, and parents and participants completed behavioral reports. The EP/ELBW group performed more poorly across tests of selective and executive attention, had greater rates of clinically significant difficulties compared with the control group, and also had greater behavioral attention problems as reported by parents. Neonatal risk factors were weakly associated with attention outcomes. In conclusion, higher rates of attention impairments are observed in individuals born EP/ELBW well into adolescence and may have consequences for their transition to adulthood. (JINS, 2013,19, 1–12)
Prozedurale Fairness als Mediator zwischen transformationaler Führung und psychischer Beanspruchung am Arbeitsplatz
Authors: Holstad Torsten J. , Rigotti Thomas , Otto Kathleen
Published: September 2013

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht prozedurale Fairness als Mediator zwischen transformationaler Führung und psychischer Beanspruchung am Arbeitsplatz, konzeptualisiert als emotionale Erschöpfung und kognitive Irritation. In einer Querschnittstudie in Deutschland, Finnland und Schweden wurden Mehrebenendaten von 2092 Beschäftigten aus 271 Teams erhoben. Prozedurale Fairness konnte als ein Mediator des Zusammenhangs zwischen transformationaler Führung und psychischer Beanspruchung am Arbeitsplatz auf individueller Ebene bestätigt werden (Effekt und Mediation auf individueller Ebene). Zusätzlich konnte ein indirekter Effekt eines transformalen Führungsklimas über die individuelle Wahrnehmung prozeduraler Fairness und auch über ein Klima prozeduraler Fairness auf die psychische Beanspruchung am Arbeitsplatz bestätigt werden (indirekter Effekt auf Individual- und Teamebene). Dabei wurde für die individuelle Führungseinschätzung und bei indirektem Effekt auf Teamebene auch für individuelle Fairnesseinschätzungen kontrolliert. Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Bedeutung prozeduraler Fairness für die Gesundheit von Beschäftigten und zeigen, dass prozedurale Fairness nicht nur ein individuelles Phänomen ist.
Role of the C-terminal domain in the structure and function of tetrameric sodium channels
Authors: Bagnéris Claire , DeCaen Paul G. , Hall Benjamin A. , Naylor Claire E. , Clapham David E. , Kay Christopher W. M. , Wallace B. A.
Published: September 2013

Voltage-gated sodium channels have essential roles in electrical signalling. Prokaryotic sodium channels are tetramers consisting of transmembrane (TM) voltage-sensing and pore domains, and a cytoplasmic carboxy-terminal domain. Previous crystal structures of bacterial sodium channels revealed the nature of their TM domains but not their C-terminal domains (CTDs). Here, using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy combined with molecular dynamics, we show that the CTD of the NavMs channel from Magnetococcus marinus includes a flexible region linking the TM domains to a four-helix coiled-coil bundle. A 2.9 Å resolution crystal structure of the NavMs pore indicates the position of the CTD, which is consistent with the EPR-derived structure. Functional analyses demonstrate that the coiled-coil domain couples inactivation with channel opening, and is enabled by negatively charged residues in the linker region. A mechanism for gating is proposed based on the structure, whereby splaying of the bottom of the pore is possible without requiring unravelling of the coiled-coil.
Structure of a helicase–helicase loader complex reveals insights into the mechanism of bacterial primosome assembly
Authors: Liu Bin , Eliason William K. , Steitz Thomas A.
Published: September 2013

During the assembly of the bacterial loader-dependent primosome, helicase loader proteins bind to the hexameric helicase ring, deliver it onto the oriC DNA and then dissociate from the complex. Here, to provide a better understanding of this key process, we report the crystal structure of the ~570-kDa prepriming complex between the Bacillus subtilis loader protein and the Bacillus stearothermophilus helicase, as well as the helicase-binding domain of primase with a molar ratio of 6:6:3 at 7.5 Å resolution. The overall architecture of the complex exhibits a three-layered ring conformation. Moreover, the structure combined with the proposed model suggests that the shift from the ‘open-ring’ to the ‘open-spiral’ and then the ‘closed-spiral’ state of the helicase ring due to the binding of single-stranded DNA may be the cause of the loader release.
Improving Stethoscope Disinfection at a Children's Hospital
Authors: Zaghi Justin , Zhou Jing , Graham Dionne A. , Potter-Bynoe Gail , Sandora Thomas J.
Published: September 2013

Objective.

Stethoscopes are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria and pose a risk for transmission of infections, but few clinicians disinfect their stethoscope after every use. We sought to improve stethoscope disinfection rates among pediatric healthcare providers by providing access to disinfection materials and visual reminders to disinfect stethoscopes.

Design.

Prospective intervention study.

Setting.

Inpatient units and emergency department of a major pediatric hospital.

Participants.

Physicians and nurses with high anticipated stethoscope use.

Methods.

Baskets filled with alcohol prep pads and a sticker reminding providers to regularly disinfect stethoscopes were installed outside of patient rooms. Healthcare providers' stethoscope disinfection behaviors were directly observed before and after the intervention. Multivariable logistic regression models were created to identify independent predictors of stethoscope disinfection.

Results.

Two hundred twenty-six observations were made in the preintervention period and 261 in the postintervention period (83% were of physicians). Stethoscope disinfection compliance increased significantly from a baseline of 34% to 59% postintervention (P < .001). In adjusted analyses, the postintervention period was associated with improved disinfection among both physicians (odds ratio [OR], 2.3 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4-3.5]) and nurses (OR, 14.3 [95% CI, 4.6-44.6]). Additional factors independently associated with disinfection included subspecialty unit (vs general pediatrics; OR, 0.5 [95% CI, 0.3-0.8]) and contact precautions (OR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.2-4.1]).

Conclusions.

Providing stethoscope disinfection supplies and visible reminders outside of patient rooms significantly increased stethoscope disinfection rates among physicians and nurses at a children's hospital. This simple intervention could be replicated at other healthcare facilities. Future research should assess the impact on patient infections.
Crystal bases for the quantum queer superalgebra and semistandard decomposition tableaux
Authors: Grantcharov Dimitar , Jung Ji Hye , Kang Seok-Jin , Kashiwara Masaki , Kim Myungho
Published: September 2013

In this paper, we give an explicit combinatorial realization of the crystal

B
(
λ
)

B(\lambda )

for an irreducible highest weight

U
q

(

q

(
n
)
)

U_q(\mathfrak {q}(n))

-module

V
(
λ
)

V(\lambda )

in terms of semistandard decomposition tableaux. We present an insertion scheme for semistandard decomposition tableaux and give algorithms for decomposing the tensor product of

q

(
n
)

\mathfrak {q}(n)

-crystals. Consequently, we obtain explicit combinatorial descriptions of the shifted Littlewood-Richardson coefficients.
Shaping the interaction landscape of bioactive molecules
Authors: Gfeller David , Michielin Olivier , Zoete Vincent
Published: September 2013

Motivation: Most bioactive molecules perform their action by interacting with proteins or other macromolecules. However, for a significant fraction of them, the primary target remains unknown. In addition, the majority of bioactive molecules have more than one target, many of which are poorly characterized. Computational predictions of bioactive molecule targets based on similarity with known ligands are powerful to narrow down the number of potential targets and to rationalize side effects of known molecules.

Results: Using a reference set of 224 412 molecules active on 1700 human proteins, we show that accurate target prediction can be achieved by combining different measures of chemical similarity based on both chemical structure and molecular shape. Our results indicate that the combined approach is especially efficient when no ligand with the same scaffold or from the same chemical series has yet been discovered. We also observe that different combinations of similarity measures are optimal for different molecular properties, such as the number of heavy atoms. This further highlights the importance of considering different classes of similarity measures between new molecules and known ligands to accurately predict their targets.

Contact:  olivier.michielin@unil.ch or vincent.zoete@unil.ch

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
DHX9 helicase is involved in preventing genomic instability induced by alternatively structured DNA in human cells
Authors: Jain Aklank , Bacolla Albino , del Mundo Imee M. , Zhao Junhua , Wang Guliang , Vasquez Karen M.
Published: September 2013

Sequences that have the capacity to adopt alternative (i.e. non-B) DNA structures in the human genome have been implicated in stimulating genomic instability. Previously, we found that a naturally occurring intra-molecular triplex (H-DNA) caused genetic instability in mammals largely in the form of DNA double-strand breaks. Thus, it is of interest to determine the mechanism(s) involved in processing H-DNA. Recently, we demonstrated that human DHX9 helicase preferentially unwinds inter-molecular triplex DNA in vitro. Herein, we used a mutation-reporter system containing H-DNA to examine the relevance of DHX9 activity on naturally occurring H-DNA structures in human cells. We found that H-DNA significantly increased mutagenesis in small-interfering siRNA-treated, DHX9-depleted cells, affecting mostly deletions. Moreover, DHX9 associated with H-DNA in the context of supercoiled plasmids. To further investigate the role of DHX9 in the recognition/processing of H-DNA, we performed binding assays in vitro and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays in U2OS cells. DHX9 recognized H-DNA, as evidenced by its binding to the H-DNA structure and enrichment at the H-DNA region compared with a control region in human cells. These composite data implicate DHX9 in processing H-DNA structures in vivo and support its role in the overall maintenance of genomic stability at sites of alternatively structured DNA.
Co-regulated gene expression by oestrogen receptor α and liver receptor homolog-1 is a feature of the oestrogen response in breast cancer cells
Authors: Lai Chun-Fui , Flach Koen D. , Alexi Xanthippi , Fox Stephen P. , Ottaviani Silvia , Thiruchelvam Paul T.R. , Kyle Fiona J. , Thomas Ross S. , Launchbury Rosalind , Hua Hui , Callaghan Holly B. , Carroll Jason S. , Charles Coombes R. , Zwart Wilbert , Buluwela Laki , Ali Simak
Published: September 2013

Oestrogen receptor α (ERα) is a nuclear receptor that is the driving transcription factor expressed in the majority of breast cancers. Recent studies have demonstrated that the liver receptor homolog-1 (LRH-1), another nuclear receptor, regulates breast cancer cell proliferation and promotes motility and invasion. To determine the mechanisms of LRH-1 action in breast cancer, we performed gene expression microarray analysis following RNA interference for LRH-1. Interestingly, gene ontology (GO) category enrichment analysis of LRH-1–regulated genes identified oestrogen-responsive genes as the most highly enriched GO categories. Remarkably, chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to massively parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq) to identify genomic targets of LRH-1 showed LRH-1 binding at many ERα binding sites. Analysis of select binding sites confirmed regulation of ERα−regulated genes by LRH-1 through binding to oestrogen response elements, as exemplified by the TFF1/pS2 gene. Finally, LRH-1 overexpression stimulated ERα recruitment, while LRH-1 knockdown reduced ERα recruitment to ERα binding sites. Taken together, our findings establish a key role for LRH-1 in the regulation of ERα target genes in breast cancer cells and identify a mechanism in which co-operative binding of LRH-1 and ERα at oestrogen response elements controls the expression of oestrogen-responsive genes.
School Segregation, Educational Attainment, and Crime: Evidence from the End of Busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg *
Authors: Billings Stephen B. , Deming David J. , Rockoff Jonah
Published: September 2013

We study the end of race-based busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools (CMS). In 2001, school boundaries in CMS were redrawn dramatically, and half of students received a new assignment. Using addresses measured prior to the policy change, we compare students in the same neighborhood that lived on opposite sides of a newly drawn boundary. We find that both white and minority students score lower on high school exams when they are assigned to schools with more minority students. We also find decreases in high school graduation and four-year college attendance for whites and large increases in crime for minority males. We conclude that the end of race-based busing widened racial inequality, despite efforts by CMS to mitigate the effect of segregation through compensatory resource allocation.
First Cases of Dominant Optic Atrophy in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Galvez-Ruiz Alberto , Neuhaus Christine , Bergmann Carsten , Bolz Hanno
Published: September 2013

Background:

Fifty to 60% of patients with dominant optic atrophy (DOA) have mutations of the OPA1 gene, which encodes dynamin-related GTPase, a protein of the internal mitochondrial membrane. To date, more than 200 OPA1 mutations in the OPA1 gene have been described. However, DOA is genetically heterogeneous with certain families linked to other chromosomal loci, that is, OPA3, OPA4, OPA5, and OPA7.

Methods:

This study describes a clinical series of 40 patients from Saudi Arabia with a positive DOA phenotype (i.e., decreased visual acuity during the first 2 decades of life, temporal or global optic disc pallor, and absence of other neurological or ophthalmological diseases that could explain the optic neuropathy) who underwent molecular genetic testing for OPA1 (and, in some cases, for OPA3).

Results:

This study describes for the first time 4 OPA1 mutations in DOA patients from Saudi Arabia, including 2 novel OPA1 mutations in 2 different patients.

Conclusion:

The question remains whether certain patients in Saudi Arabia with a clearly defined DOA phenotype may be due to mutations in chromosomal loci other than OPA1 and OPA3. It is likely that genetic alterations associated with different loci will be discovered in the future.
Paraneoplastic Dermatomyositis Related to a Chondrosarcoma Involving the Cavernous Sinus
Authors: Patel Mrinali M. , Stacy Rebecca C.
Published: September 2013

Approximately one third of all cases of dermatomyositis may be associated with malignancy. We describe a patient with unexplained rash, joint pain, and muscle weakness, who subsequently developed a cavernous sinus syndrome due to a central nervous system chondrosarcoma. Discovery of this tumor and further dermatologic evaluation, including skin biopsy, resulted in diagnosis of paraneoplastic dermatomyositis due to cavernous sinus chondrosarcoma.
On the propagation of errors
Authors: Jaskolski Mariusz
Published: September 2013

The policy of the Protein Data Bank (PDB) that the first deposition of a small-molecule ligand, even with erroneous atom numbering, sets a precedent over accepted nomenclature rules is disputed. Recommendations regarding ligand molecules in the PDB are suggested.
Cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety in a man with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and social phobia
Authors: Paul Wright Kevin
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This paper evaluates the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in the treatment of social anxiety with a 19-year-old man with intellectual disabilities (ID) and autistic spectrum disorders.

Design/methodology/approach

– The intervention was evaluated using an A-B single case design. An idiosyncratic measure was developed to measure anxiety symptoms on a daily basis. The brief symptom inventory (BSI; Derogatis, 1975) measured symptom patterns across nine psychological dimensions and was administered at initial assessment, pre-intervention and post-intervention.

Findings

– Visual and statistical analysis of the data showed that anxiety severity dramatically reduced throughout the course of therapy, reaching and maintaining zero and this was statistically significant. Data seemed to show that sudden gains in the reduction of anxiety severity occurred during the relaxation and cognitive phases of intervention. This sudden gain coincided with an increase in daily activities, and exposure to more anxiety provoking events which was also statistically significant. Global anxiety scores, as measured by the BSI, showed a notable reduction at post-treatment.

Originality/value

– This paper demonstrates that CBT can bring about meaningful improvements in the treatment of anxiety in people with ID and autism and suggests that further exploration with the wider population is needed.
From denial to acceptance of sexually offending behaviour: a psychodynamic approach
Authors: Beail Nigel
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Offenders who have intellectual disabilities like any one else may deny their offence. This paper reports a case study of a man who admitted his offence and them accepted probation with a condition of treatment. However, when he attended treatment he denied the offence. Thus do those providing treatment send them back into the criminal justice system or work with them try and help them accept what they have done and provide appropriate treatment to help them reduce future risk of offending.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this case study the assimilation model was used to understand the process of change and monitor change through exploratory psychotherapy. The psychotherapeutic model was psychodymnamic.

Findings

– The client demonstrated gains through the stages of the model toward acceptance of his problematic behaviour and continued to work on this through further psychotherapy.

Originality/value

– The assimilation model offers a useful approach to monitor change in psychotherapy; but especially when the client does not accept the problem the rest of the world feels they have.
The effects of nutrient ad disclosures of fast food menu items on consumer selection behaviors regarding subjective nutrition knowledge and body mass index
Authors: Hwang Jungjin
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is: to examine how the nutrient ad disclosures (i.e. absolute and evaluative disclosure) of fast food menu items influence consumers' evaluation behaviors of those foods; to investigate how consumers' subjective nutrition knowledge and BMI influence their evaluation behaviors of fast food meals with nutrient ad disclosures.

Design/methodology/approach

– Two 2×2 experiment designs were used to investigate the influences of nutrient ad disclosures, subjective nutrition knowledge, and BMI on consumers' evaluation behavior.

Findings

– The findings indicate that: the evaluative disclosure led to significantly less favorable consumer evaluations of selected fast food menu items than did the absolute disclosure; consumers who had high subjective nutrition knowledge and who were low BMI (i.e. people who have normal BMI) conducted significantly more critical evaluations of focal fast food meals with nutrient ad disclosures than did their counterparts.

Practical implications

– Those findings imply that policy makers should develop a new format of nutrition information on fast food meals based on the evaluative disclosure in order to help consumers choose healthful foods.

Originality/value

– Even though the effectiveness of the new menu-labeling regulation of the fast food industry is still controversial, only a few studies have been conducted to find a more effective nutrition information format than the current format. Thus, this study provides valuable implications to policy makers in terms of developing a more effective nutrition information format.
Delivery of probiotic bacteria in long life ambient stable foods using a powdered food ingredient
Authors: Nag Arup , Das Shantanu
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The authors aim to report a novel encapsulation technology for probiotic bacteria, through which L. casei CRL431 cells have been successfully delivered in shelf stable dry and intermediate moisture foods.

Design/methodology/approach

– Manufacturing of the probiotic ingredient involved a proprietary technique using combination of controlled fermentation of the L. casei CRL431 cells, encapsulation in a food grade matrix and drying under controlled parameters.

Findings

– The developed ingredient was stored at 25°C for a period of 12 months. The loss in cell viability was 1.9 log cfu g-1 after 12 months and maintained at 8.3 log cfu g-1. In vitro gastric juice and bile salts incubation revealed that the probiotic cells were better protected within the encapsulated than in the free form. The survival of the encapsulated cells was 5.0 and 2.1 log cycles higher than free cells in gastric juice and bile salt solution respectively. Fortification of probiotic bacteria did not have any negative impact on the sensory qualities of the foods mentioned above.

Research limitations/implications

– The developed technology is only applicable for fortifying dried or intermediate moisture foods with beneficial probiotic bacteria. The water activity of the products needs to be ranged from 0.2 to 0.5. A higher moisture contained food will lead to bacterial proliferations, product spoilage and loss in storage viability of the fortified probiotic cells.

Practical implications

– A general guideline issued by FAO/WHO states that any good effect of probiotic bacteria on human health can be obtained only if consumed at a level of 10^7 to 10^8 viable cells per day. Delivery of such a concentration of live probiotic cells is particularly challenging in the case of long shelf life foods. As shown in the results, the authors' probiotic powder is able to deliver over 100 million live cells per gram after 12 months of ambient storage. Even the foods fortified with this powder are able to deliver over 1 million cells per gram after six months of ambient storage.

Social implications

– The developed technology rightly identified the gap for fortifying probiotic bacteria into foods stored under ambient conditions which is a real hindrance to reach out to consumers particularly in the developing countries where refrigerated supply chain and storage are not yet established in an efficient way. It is believed that millions of people in developing countries with a tropical climate would be benefited with the goodness of probiotic bacteria using the help of this technology.

Originality/value

– The research work presented here is completely original and in-house research output of the Riddet Institute, Massey University, New Zealand. A successful commercialization of this new novel technology is deemed to be of very high value to any institution.
Winding functions in transient magnetoquasistatic field-circuit coupled simulations
Authors: Schöps Sebastian , De Gersem Herbert , Weiland Thomas
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review the mutual coupling of electromagnetic fields in the magnetic vector potential formulation with electric circuits in terms of (modified) nodal and loop analyses. It aims for an unified and generic notation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The coupled formulation is derived rigorously using the concept of winding functions. Strong and weak coupling approaches are proposed and examples are given. Discretization methods of the partial differential equations and in particular the winding functions are discussed. Reasons for instabilities in the numerical time domain simulation of the coupled formulation are presented using results from differential-algebraic-index analysis.

Findings

– This paper establishes a unified notation for different conductor models, e.g. solid, stranded and foil conductors and shows their structural equivalence. The structural information explains numerical instabilities in the case of current excitation.

Originality/value

– The presentation of winding functions allows to generically describe the coupling, embed the circuit equations into the de Rham complex and visualize them by Tonti diagrams. This is of value for scientists interested in differential geometry and engineers that work in the field of numerical simulation of field-circuit coupled problems.
Experimental verification of metamaterial loaded small patch antennas
Authors: Boratay Alici Kamil , Deniz Caliskan Mehmet , Bilotti Filiberto , Toscano Alessandro , Vegni Lucio , Ozbay Ekmel
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Metamaterial unit cells composed of deep subwavelength resonators brought up new aspects to the antenna miniaturization problem. The paper experimentally demonstrates a metamaterial-inspired miniaturization method for circular patch antennas. In the proposed layouts, the space between the patch and the ground plane is filled with a proper metamaterial composed of either multiple split-ring or spiral resonators (SRs). The authors have manufactured two different patch antennas, achieving an electrical size of λ/3.69 and λ/8.26, respectively. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The operation of such a radiative component has been predicted by using a simple theoretical formulation based on the cavity model. The experimental characterization of the antenna has been performed by using a HP8510C vector network analyzer, standard horn antennas, automated rotary stages, coaxial cables with 50 Ω characteristic impedance and absorbers. Before the characterization measurements we performed a full two-port calibration.

Findings

– Electrically small circular patch antennas loaded with single layer metamaterials experimentally demonstrated to acceptable figures of merit for applications. The proposed miniaturization technique is potentially promising for antenna applications and the results presented in the paper constitute a relevant proof for the usefulness of the metamaterial concepts in antenna miniaturization problems.

Originality/value

– Rigorous experimental characterization of several meta material loaded antennas and proof of principle results were provided.
Wine tourism phenomena in China: an emerging market
Authors: Zhang Qiu Hanqin , (Jessica) Yuan Jingxue , Haobin Ye Ben , Hung Kam
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The aims of this study were to investigate the influencing factors of wine tourism development in China, assess the marketing efforts made by the wine-tourism stakeholders, and provide constructive suggestions for the development of China's wine tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

– A qualitative approach was adopted for the purposes of this research. The study site is the Bohai Bay wine region in Shandong Province, the birthplace of China's modern wine industry and the largest wine-producing area in China. Chateau Changyu-Castel and Chateau Junding were visited in June 2010. Qualitative data were collected in the forms of observations of the wineries, interviews with wine tourists, focus groups with tourism practitioners, and analyses of travel blogs, document excerpts, and official web sites. Content analysis produced a thematic framework on people, promotion, and place.

Findings

– A number of facilitating and detrimental factors were revealed pertaining to China's wine tourism development on the three themes: people, promotion, and place.

Research limitations/implications

– The number of wine tourists being interviewed is relatively small, and the wineries chosen are relatively large ones. Results may not be generalized to other wine tourists and wineries in China.

Practical implications

– The paper includes implications for the development of wine tourism in China, such as food and wine pairing that combines wine with local (Chinese) cuisine at the wineries, positioning, and genuine government support.

Originality/value

– Research on wine tourism and wine tourists in China is scant. The current research fills a research gap by examining China's wine tourism phenomena from multiple perspectives, including those of tourists, tourism practitioners, and wine tourism destinations.
Constructive controversy research in the business organizational context
Authors: Vollmer Albert , Seyr Sarah
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present the state-of-the-art in empirical research on constructive controversy in the context of business organizations and to outline strategic implications both for research and practical application.

Design/methodology/approach

– Literature search on constructive controversy in relevant databases identified 33 empirical publications from 1980 to 2009. The paper analyzes and summarizes characteristics of the studies, methodological approaches, and empirical findings.

Findings

– The literature review reveals that most studies are conducted in the industrial and service sector. Authors mostly apply a quantitative approach using interviews, experiments, and surveys. Empirical findings show that constructive controversy supports decision making, learning, interpersonal relationships, and productivity. In most cases goal interdependence is taken as independent variable.

Research limitations/implications

– There is a need for further consolidating the findings either by experimental verification or by field studies. A processual and longitudinal approach should be emphasized and the methodical repertory should be expanded by applying qualitative methods like observation. There is a need for expanding the scope of constructs and analyzing post-modern collaboration forms. Linking controversy to organizational processes like organizational learning would lead to a deeper understanding of innovation processes in organizations.

Practical implications

– The implementation of the controversy procedure can support organizational processes like decision making, problem solving, learning, and innovation. This offers opportunities to expand the research field.

Originality/value

– This article provides a systematic review on constructive controversy in the business context for the first time.
A literature review of cognitive biases in negotiation processes
Authors: Caputo Andrea
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– What is the discipline's current grasp of cognitive biases in negotiation processes? What lessons can be drawn from this body of literature? The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the limited research on cognitive biases in the context of negotiations.

Design/methodology/approach

– This article reviews research from judgment and decision-making, conflict management, psychology, and management literatures to systematize what we already know about cognitive biases in negotiations.

Findings

– Decision-making studies have mainly identified 21 biases that may lead to lower quality decisions. Only five of those biases have been studied relating to negotiations: the anchoring, the overconfidence, the framing, the status quo and the self-serving bias. Moreover, negotiation literature has identified five additional biases that affect negotiation processes: the fixed-pie error, the incompatibility error, the intergroup bias, the relationship bias and the toughness bias. Biased behavior differs across cultures and emotional mood.

Research limitations/implications

– Implications for future research include building comprehensive models of how negotiators can overcome cognitive biases, studying interconnections between different biases, and increasing complexity of the studies to provide practitioners with more practical advice.

Originality/value

– The literature reviewed in this paper spans diverse disciplines and perspectives. This paper can be a starting point for researchers interested in understanding how cognitive biases affect negotiations. Moreover, it could be a starting point for future research on this field.
Influence of crack tip and crack offset distance on crack interaction and growth direction in multiple cracks
Authors: Gope Deepayan , Chandra Gope Prakash , Thakur Aruna
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to deal with the study of interaction between multiple cracks in an aluminum alloy under static loading. Self-similar as well as non-self-similar crack growth has been observed which depends on the relative crack positions defined by crack offset distance and crack tip distance. On the basis of experimental observations, the conditions for crack coalescence, crack shielding, crack interaction, crack initiation, etc. are discussed with respect to crack position parameters. Considering crack tip distance, crack offset distance, crack size and crack inclination with loading axis as input parameter and crack initiation direction as output parameter, an artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed. The model results were then compared with the experimental results. It was observed that the model predicts the crack initiation direction under monotonic loading within a scatter band of ±0.5°.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is based on the experimental observations. Growth studies are made from the growth initiation from two cracks in a rectangular aluminium plate under static loading. The present study is focused on the influence of crack position defined by crack offset distance and crack tip distance on growth direction. In addition to this, ANN has been used to predict crack growth direction in multiple crack geometry under static loading. The predicted results have been compared with the experimental data.

Findings

– The influence of the interaction between multiple cracks on crack extension angle greatly depends on the relative position of cracks defined by crack tip distance S, crack offset distance H and crack inclinations with respect to loading direction. The intensity of the crack interaction can be described according to degree of crack extension angle and relative crack position factors. It is also observed that the progress of the outer and inner crack tip direction is different which mainly depends on the relative crack position.

Research limitations/implications

– It is limited to static loading only. Under fatigue loading findings may differ.

Practical implications

– It is important to investigate the growth behaviour under multiple cracks and also to know the effect of crack statistics on the growth behaviour to estimate the component life. The study also focused on the development of a high quality predictive method.

Originality/value

– The results show trends that vary with crack geometry condition and the ANN and empirical solution provides a possible solution to assess crack initiation angle under multiple crack geometry.
Crack propagation curves on flexure adhesion tests
Authors: de Barros Silvio , Champaney Laurent
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Two different methods to obtain crack propagation curves are considered in this work. In an analytical approach, the adhesion between the plates is considered perfect. In such case, the interface stiffness is not taken into account and the classic beam theory is used to study the behavior of the plates during the delamination. The second approach is numerical and the bonded interface is now considered elastic. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The propagation curves are obtained with the aid of the finite element code CAST3M by taking the structural response for a given value of initial crack length at a time.

Findings

– A good fit is achieved when analytical and numerical curves are compared. Finally, mechanical tests results are presented to validate the numerical method and to identify the critical energy release rate (Gc
).

Originality/value

– More than an easier method to obtain propagation curves, the numerical method presented in this paper is an important tool to selection of optimized test geometries.
Embedded resources and knowledge transfer among R&D employees
Authors: Kang Minhyung , Kim Byoungsoo
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This paper suggests embedded resources as a new dimension of social capital and aims to prove its value in the knowledge transfer context.

Design/methodology/approach

– Hierarchical multiple regression was adopted to analyse survey responses from 337 R&D employees. Barron and Kenny's mediation test was also conducted to test an indirect effect of embedded resources.

Findings

– In addition to the traditional three dimensions of social capital, the embedded resources dimension showed direct and indirect effects on knowledge transfer. Additionally, cognitive similarity among R&D employees was from the professional tenure rather than company tenure.

Research limitations/implications

– Despite the limitations of cross-sectional study and R&D focused sample, this study successfully extended existing research on social capital in the knowledge transfer context by validating the role of embedded resources as a new dimension of social capital.

Practical implications

– Facilitating social networks among employees is not enough for active knowledge transfer. Each employee should be guided to connect to the right experts who have the right knowledge (i.e. embedded resources) for his or her job.

Originality/value

– Traditional dimensions of social capital were biased towards social relationships. This paper emphasized social assets (i.e. embedded resources) as a new dimension of social capital.
Balancing codification and personalization for knowledge reuse: a Markov decision process approach
Authors: Liu Hongmei , Chai Kah-Hin , F. Nebus James
Published: September 2013

Purpose

–This paper aims to provide a systematic framework for organizations to analyze their knowledge reuse processes, and balance codification and personalization within their knowledge strategy according to cost/benefit analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

–This paper divides knowledge reuse process into a sequence of five stages, and accordingly analyzes costs/benefits under codification and personalization strategies. Markov decision process, a mathematical framework for multi-stage decision-making, is employed to optimize a mixed strategy for knowledge reuse processes within an organization.

Findings

–Organizations need to consider factors such as the number of reusable knowledge items, reuse patterns, and intra-organizational interest alignment which are critical to determine their optimal mix between codification and personalization. Companies should determine a knowledge strategy based on their knowledge reuse contexts instead of following success cases blindly.

Research limitations/implications

–This paper presents an illustrative example to show how this framework might be applied by an organization. However, the validity and reliability of strategic decision-making also depends on the accuracy of the model's parameter values. Firms can adopt many methods as surveys, Delphi method, to determine the parameter values.

Practical implications

–The proposed framework offers an opportunity for firms to gain insights by setting the model's parameters to their own reuse contexts/characteristics and conducting what-if analysis.

Originality/value

–This paper proposes a formal framework for analyzing knowledge reuse processes and offers organizations guidelines about decision-making of knowledge strategies.
Do you know your valuable customers?
Authors: Wilhelm Stefan , Gueldenberg Stefan , Güttel Wolfgang
Published: September 2013

Purpose

–Customer knowledge has not yet been recognized as a possible source of strategic competitive advantage in expansion of the knowledge-based view. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to gain initial insights into the strategic dimension of customers knowledge in order to enable companies to define, identify and motivate the right customers and work with them together on a strategically successful level.

Design/methodology/approach

–The following single case study is based on semi-structured interviews with nine employees and strategic customers as well as a document analysis in an entrepreneurially oriented smaller firm equipped with limited resources.

Findings

–The findings demonstrate that strategic customers take on a valuable position within the company. It appears that the strategic customer is more aware of his/her value than the company itself. A definition and first criteria of strategic customers could be determined and a systematic identification of strategic customers is possible with the help of this study.

Research limitations/implications

–The paper is an empirical contribution to the existing customer knowledge management literature and aids in gaining further insight into the definition, identification and motivation of strategic customers. A definition is derived based on a literature study and developed further through the results of the empirical analysis. An additional result of the empirical study showed that customer oriented knowledge management is a promising bridge between the knowledge- and market-based view.

Originality/value

–The apparent lack of resources in entrepreneurially oriented smaller firms can be overcome through the addition of external knowledge resources, which the paper refers to as strategic customers.
Historic horizons of Frederick Taylor's scientific management
Authors: Grachev Mikhail , Rakitsky Boris
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of the article is to historically position F. Taylor's scientific management in a broad socio-economic landscape, arguing that Taylorism was predetermined by the distinctive industrial type of economic growth and shaped by a political environment of an industrial economy. The authors further aim to discuss how scientific management transcended national boundaries and to analyse the case of Russia, with the focus on the rise and fall of Taylorism in that country in response to political transformations in the twentieth century.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors summarize key attributes of F. Taylor's scientific management as a systemic theoretical approach to efficiency with prioritized practical programmatic orientation and perceived social effects. The discussion on how scientific management fits the industrial economic growth and responds to the political environment follows. The authors conduct archival research and aggregate major literature on the history of Taylorism in twentieth century Russia.

Findings

– The key findings of the study include: a summary of F. Taylor's management paradigm; Taylorism as the product of the industrial type of economic growth; how the political environment in Russia modified the unique cycle of scientific management with its emergence in the 1910s, rise in the 1920s, fall in the 1930s, and rebirth on a technocratic basis in the late 1950s.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper contributes to the general discussion on Taylorism and provides unique assessments of its historic development in Russia. The results of the study have both academic and educational implications.

Originality/value

– The findings of the study enrich the discussion about Taylorism and its application in other countries. The archival and analytic results of the study permit conclusions at a high level of aggregation; highlight conflicting positions on the history of Taylorism in Russia in the literature; provide the framework to better understand the scope of scientific management in a historic socio-economic landscape; and display original arguments to support major findings.
Alliances in networks: insights from blockmodeling
Authors: Cimon Yan
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Economic agents in systems (individuals, firms, government organizations, etc.) engage in a wide range of cooperative activities that may be mapped as networks. This paper aims at determining whether alliances embedded in such networks show higher densities of interaction between agents than other network subsets.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper uses the blockmodeling technique on a unique sample of armed forces that have engaged in repeated cooperative behaviour over a decade.

Findings

– This study finds that the alliance in the sample does exhibit a significantly higher density of interaction than the rest of the network.

Research limitations/implications

– Using blockmodeling may be necessary, but not sufficient, to ascertain the presence of undisclosed alliances in networks.

Practical implications

– This work is useful for the detection of potential or actual collusive behaviour in the form of higher densities of interactions between agents in systems.

Originality/value

– Blockmodeling, as a technique, and agents like armed forces, as a sample, are uncommon occurrences in the contemporary cybernetics and general systems literature. This paper provides novel insights to research on collaborative behaviour.