bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Environmental Kuznets Curve
Authors: Stern David I.
Published: September 2016

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is a hypothesized relationship between environmental degradation and GDP per capita. In the early stages of economic growth, pollution emissions and other human impacts on the environment increase, but beyond some level of GDP per capita (which varies for different indicators), the trend reverses, so that at high income levels, economic growth leads to environmental improvement. This implies that environmental impacts or emissions per capita are an inverted U-shaped function of GDP per capita. The EKC has been the dominant approach among economists to modeling ambient pollution concentrations and aggregate emissions since Grossman and Krueger introduced it in 1991 and is even found in introductory economics textbooks. Despite this, the EKC was criticized almost from the start on statistical and policy grounds, and debate continues. While concentrations and also emissions of some local pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, have clearly declined in developed countries in recent decades, evidence for other pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, is much weaker. Initially, many understood the EKC to imply that environmental problems might be due to a lack of sufficient economic development, rather than the reverse, as was conventionally thought. This alarmed others because a simplistic policy prescription based on this idea, while perhaps addressing some issues like deforestation or local air pollution, could exacerbate environmental problems like climate change. Additionally, many of the econometric studies that supported the EKC were found to be statistically fragile. Some more recent research integrates the EKC with alternative approaches and finds that the relation between environmental impacts and development is subtler than the simple picture painted by the EKC. This research shows that usually, growth in the scale of the economy increases environmental impacts, all else held constant. However, the impact of growth might decline as countries get richer, and richer countries are likely to make more rapid progress in reducing environmental impacts. Finally, there is often convergence among countries, so that countries that have relatively high levels of impacts reduce them more quickly or increase them more slowly, all else held constant.
Air Pollution and Weather Interaction in East Asia
Authors: Ding Aijun , Huang Xin , Fu Congbin
Published: September 2016

Air pollution is one of the grand environmental challenges in developing countries, especially those with high population density like China. High concentrations of primary and secondary trace gases and particulate matter (PM) are frequently observed in the industrialized and urbanized regions, causing negative effects on the health of humans, plants, and the ecosystem.

Meteorological conditions are among the most important factors influencing day-to-day air quality. Synoptic weather and boundary layer dynamics control the dispersion capacity and transport of air pollutants, while the main meteorological parameters, such as air temperature, radiation, and relative humidity, influence the chemical transformation of secondary air pollutants at the same time. Intense air pollution, especially high concentration of radiatively important aerosols, can substantially influence meteorological parameters, boundary layer dynamics, synoptic weather, and even regional climate through their strong radiative effects.

As one of the main monsoon regions, with the most intense human activities in the world, East Asia is a region experiencing complex air pollution, with sources from anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, dust storms, and biogenic emissions. A mixture of these different plumes can cause substantial two-way interactions and feedbacks in the formation of air pollutants under various weather conditions. Improving the understanding of such interactions needs more field measurements using integrated multiprocess measurement platforms, as well as more efforts in developing numerical models, especially for those with online coupled processes. All these efforts are very important for policymaking from the perspectives of environmental protection and mitigation of climate change.
Order restricted inference for oscillatory systems for detecting rhythmic signals
Authors: Larriba Yolanda , Rueda Cristina , Fernández Miguel A , Peddada Shyamal D
Published: September 2016

Motivation

Many biological processes, such as cell cycle, circadian clock, menstrual cycles, are governed by oscillatory systems consisting of numerous components that exhibit rhythmic patterns over time. It is not always easy to identify such rhythmic components. For example, it is a challenging problem to identify circadian genes in a given tissue using time-course gene expression data. There is a great potential for misclassifying non-rhythmic as rhythmic genes and vice versa. This has been a problem of considerable interest in recent years. In this article we develop a constrained inference based methodology called Order Restricted Inference for Oscillatory Systems (ORIOS) to detect rhythmic signals. Instead of using mathematical functions (e.g. sinusoidal) to describe shape of rhythmic signals, ORIOS uses mathematical inequalities. Consequently, it is robust and not limited by the biologist's choice of the mathematical model. We studied the performance of ORIOS using simulated as well as real data obtained from mouse liver, pituitary gland and data from NIH3T3, U2OS cell lines. Our results suggest that, for a broad collection of patterns of gene expression, ORIOS has substantially higher power to detect true rhythmic genes in comparison to some popular methods, while also declaring substantially fewer non-rhythmic genes as rhythmic.

Availability and Implementation

A user friendly code implemented in R language can be downloaded from http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/bb/staff/peddada/index.cfm.

Contact

peddada@niehs.nih.gov
Topographic viscous fingering: fluid–fluid displacement in a channel of non-uniform gap width
Authors: Woods Andrew W. , Mingotti Nicola
Published: September 2016

We consider the displacement of one fluid by a second immiscible fluid through a long, thin permeable channel whose thickness and permeability decrease away from the axis of the channel. We build a model that illustrates how the shape of the fluid–fluid interface evolves in time. We find that if the injected fluid is of the same viscosity as the original fluid, then the cross-channel variations in permeability and thickness tend to focus the flow along the centre of the channel. If the viscosity of the injected fluid is smaller than the original fluid, then this flow focusing intensifies, leading to very poor sweep of the original fluid in the system, with the injected fluid bypassing much of the channel. We also show that if the viscosity ratio of the injected fluid to the original fluid is sufficiently large, then a blunt nose may develop at the leading edge of the injected fluid, whereas the remainder of the fluid–fluid interface becomes stretched out along the edges of the channel. This leads to a much more efficient sweep of the original fluid from the channel. We generalize the model to illustrate how buoyancy forces and capillary pressure affect the evolution of the system and compare our model predictions with some simple laboratory experiments. This partial stabilization of a fluid interface in a channel of non-uniform width represents a generalization of the classical Saffman–Taylor instability, and our nonlinear solutions for the evolution of the interface highlight the importance of cross-channel variations in permeability and thickness in modelling flow in channelled reservoirs.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Energy and the subsurface’.
Effects of rock mineralogy and pore structure on stress-dependent permeability of shale samples
Authors: Al Ismail Maytham I. , Zoback Mark D.
Published: September 2016

We conducted pulse-decay permeability experiments on Utica and Permian shale samples to investigate the effect of rock mineralogy and pore structure on the transport mechanisms using a non-adsorbing gas (argon). The mineralogy of the shale samples varied from clay rich to calcite rich (i.e. clay poor). Our permeability measurements and scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the permeability of the shale samples whose pores resided in the kerogen positively correlated with organic content. Our results showed that the absolute value of permeability was not affected by the mineral composition of the shale samples. Additionally, our results indicated that clay content played a significant role in the stress-dependent permeability. For clay-rich samples, we observed higher pore throat compressibility, which led to higher permeability reduction at increasing effective stress than with calcite-rich samples. Our findings highlight the importance of considering permeability to be stress dependent to achieve more accurate reservoir simulations especially for clay-rich shale reservoirs.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Energy and the subsurface’.
Introduction: energy and the subsurface
Authors: Christov Ivan C. , Viswanathan Hari S.
Published: September 2016

This theme issue covers topics at the forefront of scientific research on energy and the subsurface, ranging from carbon dioxide (CO
2
) sequestration to the recovery of unconventional shale oil and gas resources through hydraulic fracturing. As such, the goal of this theme issue is to have an impact on the scientific community, broadly, by providing a self-contained collection of articles contributing to and reviewing the state-of-the-art of the field. This collection of articles could be used, for example, to set the next generation of research directions, while also being useful as a self-study guide for those interested in entering the field. Review articles are included on the topics of hydraulic fracturing as a multiscale problem, numerical modelling of hydraulic fracture propagation, the role of computational sciences in the upstream oil and gas industry and chemohydrodynamic patterns in porous media. Complementing the reviews is a set of original research papers covering growth models for branched hydraulic crack systems, fluid-driven crack propagation in elastic matrices, elastic and inelastic deformation of fluid-saturated rock, reaction front propagation in fracture matrices, the effects of rock mineralogy and pore structure on stress-dependent permeability of shales, topographic viscous fingering and plume dynamics in porous media convection.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Energy and the subsurface’.
Ultrasensitive detection of TCR hypervariable region in solid-tissue RNA-seq data
Authors: Li Bo , Li Taiwen , Wang Binbin , Dou Ruoxu , Pignon Jean-Chrisophe , Choueiri Toni K. , Signoretti Sabina , Liu Jun S , Liu Xiaole Shirley
Published: September 2016

Characterization of tissue-infiltrating T cell repertoire is critical to understanding tumor-immune interactions and autoimmune disease etiology. We present TRUST, an open source algorithm for calling the TCR transcript hypervariable CDR3 regions using unselected RNA-seq data profiled from solid tissues. TRUST achieved high sensitivity in CDR3 calling even for samples with low sequencing depth and has demonstrated utilities in its application to large tumor cohorts.
Improving the temporal accuracy of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Janssen Niels , Hernández-Cabrera Juan A. , Ezama Foronda Laura
Published: September 2016

A major drawback of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) concerns the lack of temporal accuracy of the measured signal. Although this limitation stems in part from the neuro-vascular nature of the fMRI signal, it also reflects particular methodological decisions in the fMRI data analysis pathway. Here we show that the temporal accuracy of fMRI is affected by the specific way in which whole-brain volumes are created from individually acquired brain slices. Specifically, we show how the current volume creation method leads to whole-brain volumes that contain within-volume temporal distortions and that are available at a low temporal resolution. To address these limitations, we propose a new framework for fMRI data analysis. The new framework creates whole-brain volumes from individual brain slices that are all acquired at the same point in time relative to a presented stimulus. These whole-brain volumes contain no temporal distortions, and are available at a high temporal resolution. Statistical signal extraction occurs on the basis of a novel time point-by-time point approach. We evaluated the temporal characteristics of the extracted signal in the standard and new framework with simulated and real-world fMRI data. The new slice-based data-analytic framework yields greatly improved temporal accuracy of fMRI signals.
Improved assemblies and comparison of two ancientYersinia pestisgenomes
Authors: Luhmann Nina , Doerr Daniel , Chauve Cedric
Published: September 2016

Yersinia pestisis the causative agent of the bubonic plague, a disease responsible for several dramatic historical pandemics. Progress in ancient DNA (aDNA) sequencing rendered possible the sequencing of whole genomes of important human pathogens, including the ancientYersinia pestisstrains responsible for outbreaks of the bubonic plague in London in the 14th century and in Marseille in the 18th century among others. However, aDNA sequencing data are still characterized by short reads and non-uniform coverage, so assembling ancient pathogen genomes remains challenging and prevents in many cases a detailed study of genome rearrangements. It has recently been shown that comparative scaffolding approaches can improve the assembly of ancient Yersinia pestis genomes at a chromosome level. In the present work, we address the last step of genome assembly, the gap-filling stage. We describe an optimization-based method AGapEs (Ancestral Gap Estimation) to fill in inter-contig gaps using a combination of a template obtained from related extant genomes and aDNA reads. We show how this approach can be used to refine comparative scaffolding by selecting contig adjacencies supported by a mix of unassembled aDNA reads and comparative signal. We apply our method to two data sets from the London and Marseilles outbreaks of the bubonic plague. We obtain highly improved genome assemblies for both the London strain and Marseille strain genomes, comprised of respectively five and six scaffolds, with 95% of the assemblies supported by ancient reads. We analyze the genome evolution between both ancient genomes in terms of genome rearrangements, and observe a high level of synteny conservation between these two strains.
Precise label-free quantitative proteomes in high-throughput by microLC and data-independent SWATH acquisition
Authors: Vowinckel Jakob , Zelezniak Aleksej , Kibler Artur , Bruderer Roland , Muelleder Michael , Reiter Lukas , Ralser Markus
Published: September 2016

While quantitative proteomics is a key technology in biological research, the routine industry and diagnostics application is so far still limited by a moderate throughput, data consistency and robustness. In part, the restrictions emerge in the proteomics dependency on nanolitre/minute flow rate chromatography that enables a high sensitivity, but is difficult to handle on large sample series, and on the stochastic nature in data-dependent acquisition strategies. We here establish and benchmark a label-free, quantitative proteomics platform that uses microlitre/minute flow rate chromatography in combination with data-independent SWATH acquisition. Being able to largely compensate for the loss of sensitivity by exploiting the analytical capacities of microflow chromatography, we show that microLC-SWATH-MS is able to precisely quantify up to 4000 proteins in an hour or less, enables the consistent processing of sample series in high-throughput, and gains quantification precisions comparable to targeted proteomic assays. MicroLC-SWATH-MS can hence routinely process hundreds to thousands of samples to systematically create precise, label free quantitative proteomes.
Intrinsic brain connectivity after partial sleep deprivation in young and older adults: results from the Stockholm Sleepy Brain study
Authors: Nilsonne Gustav , Tamm Sandra , Schwarz Johanna , Almeida Rita , Fischer Håkan , Kecklund Göran , Lekander Mats , Fransson Peter , Åkerstedt Torbjörn
Published: September 2016

Sleep deprivation has been reported to affect intrinsic brain connectivity, notably reducing connectivity in the default mode network. Studies to date have however shown inconsistent effects, in many cases lacked monitoring of wakefulness, and largely included young participants. We investigated effects of sleep deprivation on intrinsic brain connectivity in young and older participants. Participants aged 20–30 (n=30) and 65–75 (n=23) years underwent partial sleep deprivation (3h sleep) in a cross-over design, with two 8-minutes eyes-open resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) runs in each session, monitored by eye-tracking. We assessed intrinsic brain connectivity using independent components analysis (ICA) as well as seed-region analyses of functional connectivity, and also analysed global signal variability, regional homogeneity, and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations. Sleep deprivation caused increased global signal variability. In our study, changes in investigated resting state networks and in regional homogeneity were not statistically significant. Younger participants had higher connectivity in most examined networks, as well as higher regional homogeneity in areas including anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. In conclusion, we found that sleep deprivation caused increased global signal variability. We speculate that this may be caused by wake-state instability.
An efficient extension of N-mixture models for multi-species abundance estimation
Authors: Gomez Juan Pablo , Robinson Scott K. , Blackburn Jason K. , Ponciano José Miguel
Published: September 2016

1. In this study we propose an extension of the N-mixture family of models that targets an improvement of the statistical properties of rare species abundance estimators when sample sizes are low, yet typical size for tropical studies. The proposed method harnesses information from other species in an ecological community to correct each species’ estimator. We provide guidance to determine the sample size required to estimate accurately the abundance of rare tropical species when attempting to estimate the abundance of single species.

2. We evaluate the proposed methods using an assumption of 50-m radius plots and perform simulations comprising a broad range of sample sizes, true abundances and detectability values and a complex data generating process. The extension of the N-mixture model is achieved by assuming that the detection probabilities of a set of species are all drawn at random from a beta distribution in a multi-species fashion. This hierarchical model avoids having to specify a single detection probability parameter per species in the targeted community. Parameter estimation is done via Maximum Likelihood.

3. We compared our multi-species approach with previously proposed multi-species N-mixture models, which we show are biased when the true densities of species in the community are less than seven individuals per 100-ha. The beta N-mixture model proposed here outperforms the traditional Multi-species N-mixture model by allowing the estimation of organisms at lower densities and controlling the bias in the estimation.

4. We illustrate how our methodology can be used to suggest sample sizes required to estimate the abundance of organisms, when these are either rare, common or abundant. When the interest is full communities, we show how the multi-species approaches, and in particular our beta model and estimation methodology, can be used as a practical solution to estimate organism densities from rapid inventory datasets. The statistical inferences done with our model via Maximum Likelihood can also be used to group species in a community according to their detectabilities.
Controlling secretion to limit chemoresistance
Authors: Georgilis Athena , Gil Jesús
Published: September 2016

The tumor microenvironment influences cancer progression and therapy outcome by mechanisms not yet fully understood. In this issue of Genes & Development, Bent and colleagues (pp. 1811–1821) show how chemotherapy causes endothelial senescence. Interestingly, senescent endothelial cells do not mount a typical senescence-associated secretory phenotype but instead acutely secrete IL-6, promoting chemoresistance. This study unveils a physiological switch involving PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling that restrains the senescence secretory responses to limit the detrimental consequences of persistent inflammation.
Crystal structure of 9,9′-{(1E,1′E)-[1,4-phenylenebis(azanylylidene)]bis(methanylylidene)}bis(2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H,5H-pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-8-ol)
Authors: Faizi Md. Serajul Haque , Ali Akram , Potaskalov Vadim A.
Published: September 2016

The whole molecule of the title compound, C32H34N2O2, is generated by inversion symmetry; the central benzene ring being situated about the crystallographic inversion center. The aromatic ring of the julolidine moiety is inclined to the central benzene ring by 33.70 (12)°. There are two intramolecular O—H...N hydrogen bonds in the molecule, generating S(6) ring motifs. The conformation about the C=N bonds is E. The fused non-aromatic rings of the julolidine moiety adopt half-chair conformations. In the crystal, adjacent molecules are linked by pairs of C—H...π interactions, forming a ladder-like structure propagating along the a-axis direction.
Crystal structures of 2-acetyl-4-ethynylphenol and 2-acetyl-4-(3-hydroxy-3-methylbut-1-yn-1-yl)phenol
Authors: Hübscher Jörg , Rosin Robert , Seichter Wilhelm , Weber Edwin
Published: September 2016

In the title compounds, C10H8O2, (I), and C13H14O3, (II), the 2-acetyl-4-ethynylphenol unit displays a planar geometry, which is stabilized by an intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bond. The crystal structure of (I) is constructed of infinite strands, along [101], of C—H...O=C hydrogen-bonded molecules, which in turn are linked by C—H...π interactions. In the crystal of (II), which crystallized with three independent molecules per asymmetric unit, the non-polar parts of the molecules form hydrophobic layered domains, parallel to (10-1), which are separated by the polar groups. While the 2-acetylphenol part of the molecules are involved in O—H...O=C hydrogen bonding, the ternary OH groups creates a cyclic pattern of O—H...O hydrogen bonds.
Crystal structure of (OC)5W(μ-dppe)W(CO)5
Authors: Drake Hannah F. , Wheeler Kraig A. , Bellott Brian J.
Published: September 2016

The centrosymmetric title complex, [μ-ethane-1,2-diylbis(diphenylphosphane)-κ2
P:P′]bis[pentacarbonyltungsten(0)], [W2(C26H24P2)(CO)10], consists of two W(CO)5 moieties bridged by a bis(diphenylphosphanyl)ethane (dppe) ligand. The W0 atom has a slightly distorted octahedral coordination environment consisting of 5 carbonyl ligands and one P atom from the bridging dppe ligand with the nearest W0 atom 5.625 (5) Å away. The complex resides on a center of symmetry.
Supramolecular interactions in the 1:2 co-crystal of 4,4′-bipyridine and 3-chlorothiophene-2-carboxylic acid
Authors: Prajina Olakkandiyil , Thomas Muthiah Packianathan , Geiger David K.
Published: September 2016

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, 2C5H3ClO2S·C10H8N2, is comprised of a molecule of 3-chlorothiophene-2-carboxylic acid (3TPC) and half of a molecule of 4,4′-bipyridine (BPY). A distinctive O—H...N-based synthon is present. Cl...Cl and π–π stacking interactions further stabilize the crystal structure, forming a two-dimensional network parallel to the bc plane.
Crystal structure of dichlorido{2-methyl-2-[(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]propan-1-ol-κ3
N,N′,O}copper(II) from synchrotron data
Authors: Shin Jong Won , Lee Dong Won , Kim Dae-Woong , Moon Dohyun
Published: September 2016

The title compound, [CuCl2(C10H16N2O)], has been synthesized and characterized by synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction and FT–IR spectroscopy. The 2-methyl-2-[(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]propan-1-ol (mpmapOH) ligand, including pyridine, amine and hydroxy groups, was synthesized by the reaction of 2-amino-2-methylpropan-1-ol with pyridine-2-carbaldehyde and was characterized by NMR spectroscopy. In its CuII complex, the metal ion has a distorted square-pyramidal coordination geometry with two N and one O atom of the mpmapOH ligand and one chloride anion in the equatorial plane, and the second chloride in an axial position. The bond lengths involving the CuII ion range from 1.9881 (10) to 2.0409 (9) for the Cu—N and Cu—O bonds, and from 2.2448 (5) to 2.5014 (6) Å for the equatorial and axial Cu—Cl bonds, respectively. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds (N—H...Cl and O—H...Cl) and face-to-face π–π interactions stabilize the molecular structure and give rise to a two-dimensional supramolecular structure extending parallel to (101).
Crystal structure of trans-diaquabis(4-cyanobenzoato-κO)bis(N,N-diethylnicotinamide-κN)zinc(II)
Authors: Akduran Nurcan , Necefoğlu Hacali , Aydoğdu Ömer , Hökelek Tuncer
Published: September 2016

In the title complex, [Zn(C8H4NO2)2(C10H14N2O)2(H2O)2], the ZnII cation, located on an inversion centre, is coordinated by two water molecules, two 4-cyanobenzoate (CB) anions and two diethylnicotinamide (DENA) ligands in a distorted N2O4 octahedral geometry. In the molecule, the dihedral angle between the planar carboxylate group and the adjacent benzene ring is 9.50 (14)°, while the benzene and pyridine rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 56.99 (5)°. The water molecules exhibit both an intramolecular hydrogen bond [to the non-coordinating carboxylate O atom, enclosing an S(6) hydrogen-bonding motif, where O...O = 2.6419 (19) Å] and an intermolecular hydrogen bond [to the amide carbonyl O atom, enclosing an R
2
2(16) ring motif, where O...O = 2.827 (2) Å]; the latter lead to the formation of supramolecular chains propagating along the [110] direction.
Crystal structure of 2-[2-(2,5-dichlorobenzyloxy)-2-(furan-2-yl)ethyl]-2H-indazole
Authors: Özel Güven Özden , Türk Gökhan , Adler Philip D. F. , Coles Simon J. , Hökelek Tuncer
Published: September 2016

In the title compound, C20H16Cl2N2O2, the indazole ring system is approximately planar [maximum deviation = 0.033 (1) Å], its mean plane is oriented at dihedral angles of 25.04 (4) and 5.10 (4)° to the furan and benzene rings, respectively. In the crystal, pairs of C—Hind...Obo (ind = indazole and bo = benzyloxy) hydrogen bonds link the molecules into centrosymmetric dimers with graph-set motif R
2
2(12). Weak C—H...π interactions is also observed. Aromatic π–π stacking between the benzene and the pyrazole rings from neighbouring molecules [centroid–centroid distance = 3.8894 (7) Å] further consolidates the crystal packing.
Crystal structure of 3,4a,7,7,10a-pentamethyl-3-vinyldodecahydro-1H-benzo[f]chromen-9-ol isolated from Sideritis perfoliata
Authors: Çelik Ísmail , Ersanlı Cem Cüneyt , Köseoğlu Rahmi , Akşit Hüseyin , Erenler Ramazan , Demirtaş Ibrahim , Akkurt Mehmet
Published: September 2016

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C20H34O2, contains two crystallographically independent molecules (1 and 2) with similar conformations. In both molecules, the cyclohexane rings adopt a chair conformation, while the oxane rings are also puckered. In the crystal, O—H...O hydrogen bonds connect adjacent molecules, forming C(6) helical chains located around a 21 screw axis and running along the crystallographic a axis. The packing of these chains is governed only by van der Waals interactions. Semi-empirical PM3 quantum chemical calculations are in a satisfactory agreement with the structural results of the X-ray structure analysis. The absolute structure was indeterminate in the present experiment.
Crystal structure of a second polymorph of tricarbonyl(N-methylpyridine-2-carboxamide-κ2
N
1,O)(thiocyanato-κN)rhenium(I)
Authors: Lyczko Krzysztof
Published: September 2016

A new polymorph of the title compound, [Re(NCS)(C7H8N2O)(CO)3], crystallizing in the space group P21/n, has been obtained and structurally characterized by the experiment and DFT calculations. In this complex, the rhenium(I) cation is octahedrally coordinated by three carbonyl groups in a facial configuration, the N,O-bidentate N-methylpyridine-2-carboxamide ligand and the N-bonded thiocyanate anion. Neighbouring molecules are linked into a three-dimensional network by intermolecular N—H...S and C—H...S interactions.
4-Methoxy-N,N′-diphenylbenzamidinium nitrate
Authors: Silva Renata S. , Sena Jonathan X. , Rodrigues-Santos Claudio Eduardo , Echevarria Aurea , Guedes Guilherme P. , Herbst Marcelo H.
Published: September 2016

The asymmetric unit of the title saltN,N′-diphenyl-4-methoxybenzamidinium nitrate, C20H19N2O+·NO3−, comprises two independentN,N′-diphenyl-4-methoxybenzamidinium cations and two nitrate anions. The crystal structure features N—H...O hydrogen bonds and C—H...O contacts responsible for the packing.
The effect of quality determinants on house prices of eight capital cities in Australia
Authors: Peng Ti-Ching , Chen Chien-Fu
Published: September 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effects of “quality” as well as fundamentals on house prices in eight capital cities in Australia from 1985-2011. Two types of quality are considered: housing quality, proxied by “value of alterations and additions”, “value of new residential buildings”, “floor area” and “site area”; and living environment quality, proxied by “overall crime rate”.

Design/methodology/approach

The application of dynamic panel model, in which the lagged values of house prices are considered, is to reveal the dynamic persistence of house prices over time and to investigate the heterogeneity of house prices across cities in Australia.

Findings

Fundamental variables including “unemployment rate”, introduction of “GST” (Goods and Service Tax), “real mortgage rate” and “price-to-rent ratio” demonstrated their consistent and expected effects on property prices in Australia. More importantly, “value of new residential buildings” – indicating housing quality – and “overall crime rate” – representing environmental living quality – also demonstrated statistically significant effects on house prices.

Originality/value

As one of the few studies that attempt to take housing/living-environment quality into account in analysing house prices, it gives households, researchers and policy-makers a better understanding of the role of “quality” in the variation of house prices.
The Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL)
Authors: Proctor Frederick , Balakirsky Stephen , Kootbally Zeid , Kramer Thomas , Schlenoff Craig , Shackleford William
Published: September 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to describe an information model, the Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL), which provides a high-level description of robot tasks and associated control and status information.

Design/methodology/approach

A common representation of tasks was used that is understood by all of the resources required for the job: robots, tooling, sensors and people.

Findings

Using CRCL, a manufacturer can quickly develop robotic applications that meet customer demands for short turnaround, enable portability across a range of vendor equipment and maintain investments in application development through reuse.

Originality/value

Industrial robots can perform motion with sub-millimeter repeatability when programmed using the teach-and-playback method. While effective, this method requires significant up-front time, tying up the robot and a person during the teaching phase.
Academics’ e-learning adoption in higher education institutions: a matter of trust
Authors: Martins Jorge Tiago , Baptista Nunes Miguel
Published: September 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how academics enact trust in e-learning through an inductive identification of perceived risks and enablers involved in e-learning adoption, in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs).

Design/methodology/approach

Grounded Theory was the methodology used to systematically analyse data collected in semi-structured interviews with 62 academics. Data analysis followed the constant comparative method and its three-staged coding approach: open, axial and selective coding.

Findings

The resulting trajectory of trust factors is presented in a Grounded Theory narrative where individual change and integration through shared collective understanding and institutionalisation are discussed as stages leading to the overcoming of e-learning adoption barriers.

Originality/value

The paper proposes that the interplay between institutionalism and individualism has implications in the success or failure of strategies for the adoption of e-learning in HEIs, as perceived by academics. In practical terms, this points to the need for close attention to contextually sensitive trust-building mechanisms that promote the balance between academics’ commitments, values and sense of self-worth and centrally planned policy, rules, resources and exhortations that enable action.
Spatial scale and intraspecific trait variability mediate assembly rules in alpine grasslands
Authors: Chalmandrier Loïc , Münkemüller Tamara , Colace Marie‐Pascale , Renaud Julien , Aubert Serge , Carlson Bradley Z. , Clément Jean‐Christophe , Legay Nicolas , Pellet Gilles , Saillard Amélie , Lavergne Sébastien , Thuiller Wilfried
Published: September 2016

Assembly of grassland communities has long been scrutinized through the lens of functional diversity. Studies generally point to an overwhelming influence of climate on observed patterns of functional diversity, despite experimental evidence demonstrating the importance of biotic interactions. We postulate that this is because most observational studies neglect both scale dependencies of assembly processes and phenotypic variation between individuals. Here, we test for changes in the importance of abiotic filtering and biotic interactions along a stress gradient by explicitly accounting for different scales. In addition to quantifying intraspecific trait variability (ITV), we also vary the two components of spatial scale, including grain (i.e. community size) and extent (i.e. the geographical area that defines the species pool).

We sampled 20 grassland communities in ten sites distributed along a 975‐m elevation gradient. At each site, we measured seven functional traits for a total of 2020 individuals at different spatial grains. We related community functional diversity metrics to the main environmental gradient of our study area, growing season length (GSL), and assessed the dependence of these relationships on spatial grain, spatial extent and ITV.

At large spatial grain and extent, the imprint of environmental filtering on functional diversity became more important with increasing stress (i.e. functional diversity decreased with shorter GSL). At small spatial grain and extent, we found a convex relationship between functional diversity and GSL congruent with the hypothesis that competition is dominant at low‐stress levels while facilitative interactions are dominant at high‐stress levels (i.e. high functional diversity at both extremes of the stress gradient). Importantly, the effect of intraspecific variability on assembly rules was noticeable only at small spatial grain and extent.

Synthesis. Our study reveals how the combination of abiotic stress and biotic interactions shapes the functional diversity of alpine grasslands at different spatial scales, and highlights the importance of phenotype variation between individuals for community assembly processes at fine spatial scale. Our results suggest that studies analysing trait‐based assembly rules but ignoring ITV and focusing on a single spatial scale are likely to miss essential features of community diversity patterns.
Constraining or Enabling Green Capability Development? How Policy Uncertainty Affects Organizational Responses to Flexible Environmental Regulations
Authors: Teeter Preston , Sandberg Jörgen
Published: September 2016

Despite their growing popularity, flexible environmental regulations are increasingly characterized by high levels of policy uncertainty. This uncertainty poses numerous challenges for managers, policymakers and researchers, for we still have a poor understanding of how such uncertainty affects organizational responses and the ability of organizations to generate unique capabilities. This paper presents findings of a qualitative study of how organizations respond to the introduction of flexible environmental regulations amidst extremely high levels of policy uncertainty. Through an investigation of Australia's complex, and ultimately brief, carbon pricing scheme, we find that policy uncertainty forces organizations to focus their responses on short‐term investments and dealing with that very uncertainty, thereby precluding the development of green capabilities and preventing flexible regulations from achieving their intended policy results. However, we also find that organizations are able to develop innovative regulatory coping capabilities and that variation in regulatory response results in a variation in these capabilities.
Measurement invariance and validity of a brief questionnaire on reading motivation in elementary students
Authors: Stutz Franziska , Schaffner Ellen , Schiefele Ulrich
Published: September 2016

In order to initiate more research on the role of reading motivation during the initial stages of learning to comprehend texts, we developed the Reading Motivation Questionnaire for Elementary Students (RMQ‐E). The sample comprised 1497 elementary students in Grades 1–3. By means of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, three factors were determined: Curiosity, involvement and competition. The three‐factor structure of the RMQ‐E was found to be invariant across grade levels (scalar invariance) and across female and male students (strict invariance). As was anticipated, students in higher grades and male students were lower in curiosity and involvement than students in lower grades and female students. Whereas competitive reading motivation did not differ across grade levels, it was higher for boys than for girls. Moreover, the contributions of involvement and competition to reading amount and reading competence were in accordance with the hypotheses. The predictive validity of curiosity, however, was not confirmed.
Hypotheses and trends on how body size affects trophic interactions in a guild of South American killifishes
Authors: Ortiz Esteban , Arim Matías
Published: September 2016

A chief structuring force in food webs is the hierarchy of trophic interactions, where bigger animals feed on smaller ones. The anatomic and physiological explanations of why body size determines this hierarchy are embodied within the concept of gape limitation. The relaxation of gape limitation and an increase in energetic demands due to predators' larger body size determine the size and diversity of prey species. However, these patterns may be related to further trends in trophic interactions with body size, which have been less considered. Specifically, the passive incorporation of prey should involve a nested distribution of prey among predator size classes. However, predators avoid smaller resources because of their low energy return, with a clumped distribution of prey potentially generating modular organization with qualitative changes in prey identity (e.g. zooplankton, macroinvertebrates and fishes). Finally, size‐mediated interactions (such as direct and indirect competition) may cause predators of similar body size to differentiate among prey organisms, resulting in a checkerboard distribution of prey identity. Consequently, nestedness, modularity and checkerboard distributions of prey among predators of different size classes should form emergent network structures that are directly related to clear ecological mechanisms. We analyse these predictions in a killifish guild, where trends in trophic positions, prey richness, evenness and the number of energy sources systematically scale with body size. We found significant nestedness and segregation in diet among different size classes, supporting the progressive incorporation of prey items coupled with prey differentiation among similar classes. However, we also detected an ‘anti‐modular’ trend, which contradicts theoretical expectations and previous results. We hypothesize that this anti‐modularity is determined by the high biodiversity of the system and the continuous representation of prey size classes. These results reinforce the concept of size‐mediated interactions and its connection with community biodiversity as a main structuring force of food webs.
Review: Genetic and environmental risk factors for alcohol use disorders in American Indians and Alaskan Natives
Authors: Enoch Mary‐Anne , Albaugh Bernard J.
Published: September 2016

Background and Objectives

Genetic and environmental predictors for alcohol use disorder (AUD) are both important in the general population. As a group, American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals (AI/AN) are at increased risk for alcohol‐related morbidity /mortality, early onset problem drinking and AUD.

Methods

Alcohol consumption behaviors amongst AI/AN tribes, environmental stressors and genetic studies in AI/AN and European‐ancestry individuals are reviewed followed by an analysis of unique difficulties for undertaking research with AI/AN.

Results

Some AI/AN tribes have high rates of childhood trauma that predict psychopathology including AUD. The deleterious effects of historical trauma and forced placement in boarding schools cross generations to the present day. There are scanty numbers of genetic studies of AUD in AI/AN and these derive from only a few tribes. However, it is important to note that the results are largely similar to findings in European‐ancestry individuals indicating that AI/AN do not have increased genetic risk for AUD. Conducting AI/AN genetic studies has been challenging, in part because of tribe disillusionment and mistrust over past experiences and unique hurdles in getting consent from tribes, each a sovereign nation. However, it is encouraging that a new way forward has been established—community‐based participatory research with tangible health benefits and a focus on strength‐based approaches.

Conclusions and Scientific Significance

Given the high prevalence of AUD in many AI/AN tribes and limited knowledge about genetic risk‐resilience factors, it is important for our understanding of prevention and treatment that AI/AN research progresses and that more tribes are represented. (Am J Addict 2017;26:461–468)
When chronic conditions become emergencies – a report from regional Queensland
Authors: Harriss Linton R. , Thompson Fintan , Dey Arindam , Mills Jane , Watt Kerrianne , McDermott Robyn
Published: September 2016

Objective

To describe chronic conditions and injuries as a proportion of total emergency presentations to a large public hospital in regional Queensland, and to investigate differences in presentation rates associated with Indigenous status.

Design

Cross‐sectional analysis using Emergency Department Information System data between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2014.

Setting

Regional Queensland, Australia.

Participants

A total of 95 238 emergency presentations were generated by 50 083 local residents living in the 10 statistical local areas (SLAs) immediately around the hospital.

Main outcome measures

Emergency presentations for chronic conditions and injuries identified from discharge ICD‐10‐AM principal diagnosis. Age‐standardised presentation rates were calculated using the Australian 2001 reference population.

Results

Approximately half of all presentations were for chronic conditions (20.2%) and injuries (28.8%). Two‐thirds of all chronic condition presentations were for mental and behavioural disorders (34.6%) and circulatory diseases (33.2%). Head injuries accounted for the highest proportion of injuries (18.9%). Age‐standardised rates for major diagnostic groups were consistently higher for Indigenous residents, whose presentations were lower in mean age (95% CI) by 7.7 (7.3–8.1) years, 23% less likely to be potentially avoidable GP‐type presentations [RR (95% CI) = 0.77 (0.75–0.80)], 30% more likely to arrive by ambulance [1.31 (1.28–1.33)] and 11% more likely to require hospital admission [1.11 (1.08–1.13)].

Conclusions

Opportunities exist to enhance current coordinated hospital avoidance and primary health services in regional Queensland targeting common mental and circulatory disorders, especially for Indigenous Australians.
Pachychoroid neovasculopathy: aspect on optical coherence tomography angiography
Authors: Azar Georges , Wolff Benjamin , Mauget‐Faÿsse Martine , Rispoli Marco , Savastano Maria‐Cristina , Lumbroso Bruno
Published: September 2016

Purpose

To describe and interpret the features of pachychoroid neovasculopathy (PNV) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) technique.

Methods

This is an observational case series of patients who presented with PNV. Best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA), anterior segment examination, dilated funduscopic examination, infrared and autofluorescence fundus images and spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT; B‐scan, ‘en‐face’ and OCTA) were carried out for all patients. Choroid thickness was measured using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) mode. Colour fundus photographs, fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were not performed systematically. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) features of PNV are described and interpreted.

Results

Five eyes of five patients with a mean age of 62.2 years (range, 53–73 years) presenting with PNV were analysed. They all presented pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy (PPE) with choroidal thickening and dilated choroidal vessels as seen with EDI‐OCT. Fluorescein angiography (FFA) was performed in three patients showing multiple areas of retinal pigment epithelium atrophy and fundus lesions suggestive of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy. Indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in one patient confirmed the presence of large choroidal veins and choroidal hyperpermeability seen beneath the area of the neovascular tissue. Two eyes had the appearance of polypoidal structures within the neovascular tissue, with the characteristic aspect of the polypoidal lesions on B‐scan and ‘en‐face’. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) showed the appearance of tangled filamentous vascular network in all eyes.

Conclusion

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a safe, highly sensitive and specific examination for the detection of type 1 neovascularization associated with PPE. Features are characteristic of tangled filamentous vessels overlying a focal area of thickened choroid.