bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Parasite Extinction Assessment & Red List: an open-source, online biodiversity database for neglected symbionts
Authors: Carlson Colin J. , Muellerklein Oliver C. , Phillips Anna J. , Burgio Kevin R. , Castaldo Giovanni , Cizauskas Carrie A. , Cumming Graeme S. , Dallas Tad A. , Doña Jorge , Harris Nyeema , Jovani Roger , Miao Zhongqi , Proctor Heather , Yoon Hyun Seok , Getz Wayne M.
Published: September 2017

Parasite conservation is a rapidly growing field at the intersection of ecology, epidemiology, parasitology, and public health. The overwhelming diversity of parasitic life on earth, and recent work showing that parasites and other symbionts face severe extinction risk, necessitates infrastructure for parasite conservation assessments. Here, we describe the release of the Parasite Extinction Assessment & Red List (PEARL) version 1.0, an open-access database of conservation assessments and distributional data for almost 500 macroparasitic invertebrates. The current approach to vulnerability assessment is based on range shifts and loss from climate change, and will be expanded as additional data (e.g., host-parasite associations and coextinction risk) is consolidated in PEARL. The web architecture is also open-source, scalable, and extensible, making PEARL a template for more eZcient red listing for other high-diversity, data-de1cient groups. Future iterations will also include new functionality, including a user-friendly open data pository and automated assessment and re-listing.
Empirical patterns of time value decay in options
Authors: McKeon Ryan
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical analysis of the pattern of time value decay in listed equity options, considering both call and put options and different moneyness and maturity levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design is empirical, with great attention paid to creating a standardized measure of time value that can be both tracked over time for an individual option contract and meaningfully compared across two or more different option contracts.

Findings

The author finds that moneyness classification at the beginning of the holding period is the key determinant of the pattern of subsequent time decay. The type of option, call or put, and the maturity of the contract have surprisingly little relevance to the pattern of time decay “out-the-money contracts having similar patterns on average, regardless of whether they are calls or puts, 30-day or 60-day contracts.” More detailed analysis reveals that In-the-money and out-the-money contracts have slow time decay for most of the contract life, with a significant percentage of the time decay concentrated on the final day of the option. At-the-money contracts experience strong decay early in the life of the option.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited by not having intra-day data included to analyze more frequent price movements.

Practical implications

The results reported in the paper provide insight into issues of active management facing options traders, specifically choices such as the initial maturity of the option contract and rollover frequency.

Originality/value

Very few studies examine the important issue of how option time value behaves. Time value is the subjective part of the option contract value, and therefore very difficult to predict and understand. This paper provides insight into typical empirical patterns of time value behavior.
Extent of employee turnover in Nigerian SMEs
Authors: Siyanbola Tejumade Omowumi , Gilman Mark W.
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the magnitude of employee turnover (E-turnover) in Nigerian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with particular focus on the manufacturing and service firms adjudged as central to the growth and development of Nigerian economy.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 602 employees and 94 owner/managers of SMEs located in three Southwestern Nigerian states were collected through survey questionnaire and analysed quantitatively.

Findings

Employees’ and management’s responses indicated that E-turnover still pervades the Nigerian SMEs surveyed with most employees leaving their jobs in less than a year of employment. Multiple exits also occurred; additionally, employees were more prone to exiting if they were male, older, had a smaller family size and/or worked in the manufacturing rather than service SMEs.

Research limitations/implications

More needs to be done to comprehend owner-managers’ apparent deliberate disguise of employee over-casualisation in the SMEs studied, an act that appeared to limit the interpretation of status-related turnover extent among employees.

Practical implications

Twenty-first century businesses need to stimulate sustainable cost-effective employment relationship capable of thwarting the threat accompanying high E-turnover in businesses.

Originality/value

Through this research, extant global E-turnover literature (largely on western businesses) is enriched by dedicated empirical data on Nigerian SMEs that this study offers.
Pay reductions and work attitudes: the moderating effect of employee involvement practices
Authors: Wang Wen , Seifert Roger
Published: September 2017

Purpose

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the UK workforce in general has experienced a period of stagnant and falling wages in both nominal and real terms. The main parties involved remain unsure of the consequences from such a historically unusual phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the main effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment of those employees who had experienced pay reductions (nominal wage cuts or pay freezes under a positive inflation rate) as compared with those who experienced nominal pay rises during the recent recession; and second, to examine the moderating effect of employee involvement (EI) practices on that relationship. This was done by using aggregated employee perception data to measure organizational EI practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Employee-employer matched data were used, involving 8,489 employees and their associated 497 organizations (medium or large sized). The number of employees from each organization was between 15 and 25. The data used were extracted from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study in the UK to which the authors applied hierarchical linear regression in STATA 13.

Findings

The results indicate that when compared with those employees who had nominal pay rises during the recession, employees who had wage cuts or freezes (with 5 percent inflation rate) are significantly and negatively associated with their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, even when controlling for important variables such as perception of job insecurity and the degree of adverse impact caused by recession on the organization studied. That is to say, facing the same perception of job loss, those who experienced pay reductions are significantly unhappier and less committed than those who had pay rises. However, the adverse effect of pay reductions on employees’ work attitudes is much less in workplaces characterized by a high, as opposed to a low level, of EI practices.

Research limitations/implications

Implications, limitations, and further research issues are discussed in light of current employment relations’ practices.

Originality/value

The intention is to extend the current debate on employment relations under adverse changes such as pay reductions. Thus, the unique contribution of this study is to examine the value of EI in modifying extreme employee reactions to adverse changes.
German temporary agency workers’ SWB: the impact of POS provided by agencies
Authors: Imhof Susanne , Andresen Maike
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the specific relationship between temporary agency workers (TAWs) and their employing temporary work agencies in Germany that is characterized – in contrast to other European countries – by agencies’ central role in employment and the prevalence of permanent contracts. The study addresses a research gap in understanding the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) provided by temporary work agencies in the relationship between employment-specific antecedents and TAWs’ subjective well-being (SWB).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 350 TAWs in Germany, the mediating role of POS provided by agencies is analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The authors show that procedural justice, performance feedback and social network availability positively relate to POS while perceived job insecurity shows the expected negative influence and distributive justice has no impact on POS. POS, in turn, positively relates to SWB. The partially mediating effect of POS between employment-specific antecedents and SWB is also confirmed.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on cross-sectional data and self-reported measures; this may limit causal inferences.

Practical implications

The results highlight the importance of agencies creating POS and reducing perceived job insecurity for improving TAWs’ SWB.

Originality/value

The study contributes to previous POS research by focusing on the agencies’ role and by showing the mediating effect of POS on TAWs’ SWB in Germany.
Do multinational subsidiaries demonstrate a convergence across their HRM practices in a less developed host-country?
Authors: Ayentimi Desmond Tutu , Burgess John , Dayaram Kantha
Published: September 2017

Purpose

Using an institutionalist perspective, and through a case study analysis, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether subsidiaries of MNEs demonstrate a convergence across their HRM practices in a less developed host-country context.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports on an exploratory qualitative study involving five MNEs subsidiaries that operate in Ghana and originate from the UK, France, Germany, and India. The authors applied thematic and cross-case analysis techniques to explore similarities and differences in their HRM practices by drawing data from in-depth face-to-face interviews and document analyses.

Findings

Findings suggest that MNE subsidiaries demonstrate more convergence across their HRM practices as well as other HRM characteristics. Despite the similarities in their HRM practices, the evidence suggests that MNE subsidiaries’ HRM practices were similar to corporate headquarters HRM practices. It appears that the host-country has less influence in driving their convergence but rather the country-of-origin effect; competitive isomorphic pressure and global integration benefits were driving their convergence across their HRM practices.

Originality/value

This study makes a contribution to the convergence-divergence literature in the international HRM (IHRM) domain with specific focus on addressing an under-researched context of less developed host-countries. One of the puzzles in comparative and IHRM literature yet to be resolved is the convergence-divergence thesis of firms’ HRM practices.
Organizational support
Authors: Ye Xiaoqian , Li Ling , Tan Xuejun
Published: September 2017

Purpose

Drawing on recent literature and empirical data, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), perceived overqualification (POQ) and turnover intentions (TI) in repatriates working in multinational corporations (MNCs).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from 145 repatriates who had been contacted beforehand from MNCs in China. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression are used to examine the data.

Findings

It is shown that POQ and POS both affect repatriates TI, with POQ having the stronger effect, while POS plays a mediatory role between POQ and TI. Specifically, under the same POQ, repatriates TI will decrease as the POS increases.

Research limitations/implications

The study design is cross-sectional and based on self-reporting, which makes causal explanations of the results difficult.

Practical implications

POQ and POS are both shown to influence TI, with POQ having the greater effect. This means managers can offset the effect of repatriates POQ on TI by providing better support and assistance, which can help MNCs reduce repatriates TI and retain employees.

Originality/value

This paper examines the antecedents of TI, and adds valuable new insights to the literature on repatriation through its research data, offering further evidence that managers in transnational corporations should pay more attention to organizational support policy on repatriates in order to reduce their turnover.
Onboarding is a change
Authors: Karambelkar Mohan , Bhattacharya Shubhasheesh
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the onboarding process with reference to the change management model ADKAR to improve effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

Change management phases and project management phases of the ADKAR model are applied to onboarding process, and onboarding activities are analyzed.

Findings

The change management approach and project management approach provide a systematic design and implementation plan for onboarding.

Originality/value

HR professionals can plan a customized, systematic, and holistic onboarding program covering technical and non-technical aspects in terms of knowledge, skills, abilities, and behavior.
Using management control to understand public sector corporate governance changes
Authors: Ferry Laurence , Ahrens Thomas
Published: September 2017

Purpose

Within the context of recent post-localism developments in the English local government, this paper aims to show, first, how management controls have become more enabling in response to changes in rules of public sector corporate governance and, secondly, how changes in management control systems gave rise to new corporate governance practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Theoretically, the paper mobilises the concept of enabling control to reflect on contemporary changes in public sector corporate governance. It draws on the International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) new public sector governance and management control system model and data gathered from a longitudinal qualitative field study of a local authority in North East England. The field study used interviews, observation and documentation review.

Findings

This paper suggests specific ways in which the decentralisation of policymaking and performance measurement in a local authority (present case) gave rise to enabling corporate governance and how corporate governance and management control practices went some way to aid in the pursuit of the public interest. In particular, it shows that the management control system can be designed at the operational level to be enabling. The significance of global transparency for supporting corporate governance practices around public interest is observed. This paper reaffirms that accountability is but one element of public sector corporate governance. Rather, public sector corporate governance also pursues integrity, openness, defining outcomes, determining interventions, leadership and capacity and risk and performance management.

Practical implications

Insights into uses of such enabling practices in public sector corporate governance are relevant for many countries in which public sector funding has been cut, especially since the 2007/2008 global financial crisis.

Originality/value

This paper introduces the concept of enabling control into the public sector corporate governance and control debate by fleshing out the categories of public sector corporate governance and management control suggested recently by IFAC and CIPFA drawing on observed practices of a local government entity.
Affective commitment, loyalty to supervisor andguanxi
Authors: Wong Yui-tim
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This study aims to investigate and compare the relationships of affective commitment, loyalty to supervisor andguanxiamong Chinese workers in joint ventures (JVs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed model, job security is considered as an antecedent of affective commitment, and subordinate–supervisorguanxiis viewed as an antecedent of loyalty to supervisor. The model further suggests that affective commitment will affect employees’ turnover intention and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and that loyalty to supervisor will affect employees’ OCB. A data set consisting of 255 employees in three JVs and 253 employees in three SOEs in China is used to test the hypotheses empirically.

Findings

The LISREL results support the hypotheses and show the major differences of employees’ attitudes and behaviour in JVs and SOEs today.

Research limitations/implications

This study shows the differences of effects of commitment on OCB in JVs and SOEs and also clarifies the mixed and inconsistent findings of the effects of affective commitment and commitment to supervisor on OCB in the previous literature.

Practical implications

Given that the effects of affective commitment and loyalty to supervisor on OCB are different in JVs and SOEs, different policies should be adopted to enhance the OCB in these two types of organisations.

Originality/value

The research results show the major differences of employees’ attitudes and behaviour in JVs and SOEs today. The comparison of the results has implications to the extant literature.
The impact of pay-for-performance perception and pay level satisfaction on employee work attitudes and extra-role behaviors
Authors: Ren Ting , Fang Ruolian , Yang Zhen
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the impact of pay-for-performance (PFP) perception and pay level satisfaction on work attitudes (job satisfaction, turnover intention and affective commitment) and extra-role behaviors (discretionary effort and interpersonal helping), and further, how three aspects of conditional factors – intrinsic motivation, leader–member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) – moderate the main-effect relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted at a Chinese private-owned company in the beauty industry, and a survey was conducted with the frontline employees in each office, asking information about their perceptions and attitudes toward the PFP scheme implemented in the company, work attitudes and performance, individual characteristics and their perceptions of group and organizational characteristics.

Findings

Results show that PFP perception and pay level satisfaction are significant predictors of work attitudes and extra-role behaviors. Further, depending on the specific work outcome examined, the three conditioning factors are found to strengthen the hypothesized main-effect relationships. The findings of the study have important theoretical and practical implications for the implementation of PFP schemes in organizations.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to the scholarship on PFP schemes in two ways. First, the findings show that PFP perception and pay level satisfaction are important for understanding employee work attitudes and extra-role behaviors. Second, the investigation of the moderating roles that intrinsic motivation, LMX and POS play in the relationships of PFP perception and pay level satisfaction with the work outcomes provides evidence to the limited understanding about the conditions that may strengthen or weaken the effectiveness of PFP schemes.
Value diversity and performance in small groups
Authors: Busse Ronald
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to contributes to the literature on team diversity, both in general as well as relating to Chinese managers. Previous studies largely focused on the link between work group heterogeneity in terms of different ages, genders or nationalities of the members and performance. It adds to this body of knowledge by investigating the relationship between the composition of value priorities of team members and achievement, team identity and intra-team communication. The assumption behind this is that differences in value priorities represent the underlying latent source for team diversity, which is only insufficiently represented by the above observable demographic variables.

Design/methodology/approach

To test for optimal value priority composition, a series of experiments was conducted with 29 project teams and four team types comprising 174 Chinese expatriates at a German business school.

Findings

The general result is that (in the long run) highly heterogeneous teams and (in the short run) highly homogeneous teams outperform moderately heterogeneous work groups. However, the major contribution is that the relation between value diversity and performance has a modified upright U-shaped format. It specifically requires the attempt to close as many value gaps as possible.

Originality/value

This new insight, which has not been adequately explained by previous studies, results from the existence of a circular structure in which values are organised. Based on this specific outcome, the paper provides recommendations for practicing managers both in China and elsewhere, admits limitations and paves the way for future research avenues.
Employee imagination and implications for entrepreneurs
Authors: Talat Usman , Chang Kirk
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine employee imagination and implications for entrepreneurs of China. In 2015, the European Group of Organization Studies released a call for papers highlighting poor knowledge of employee imagination in organizations. To address this need, the current study hypothesizes employee imagination consisting of seven conditions common to the organizational experience of Chinese Entrepreneurs.

Design/methodology/approach

The current paper reviews the Chinese enterprising context. Cases from China are used to illustrate the effects of proposed conditions and their value for entrepreneurs and innovators in businesses undergoing change.

Findings

Employee imagination underpins and conditions how Chinese employees make sense of their organizations and better understand the process of organizational change. From the viewpoint of human resource management, emphasis on coaching and developing imagination enables businesses to stay competitive and adapt to environmental demands such as lack of information, too much information or the need for new information.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed conditions apply to the Chinese context; however, their application to wider contexts is suggested and requires attention.

Practical implications

Employee imagination was found to be a powerful tool, which facilitates the process of organizational change management.

Originality/value

Theoretically, the research adds new insights to knowledge of a poorly understood organizational behavior topic – employee imagination. Practically, the research findings provide mangers with knowledge of conditions, which could be adopted as powerful tools in facilitating organizational change management.
Non library oriented MOOCs useful for LIS professionals and students
Authors: Sawant Sarika
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compile a list of non-library and information science (LIS) massive open online courses (MOOCs) useful for LIS professionals and students.

Design/methodology/approach

Major MOOC platforms were scanned to check which are useful MOOCs that LIS professionals can take up.

Findings

Around 12 different courses were identified by the researcher in various fields such as management, technology, marketing and research.

Research limitations/implications

Only three MOOC platforms were consulted.

Originality/value

The paper gives an overview of MOOCs other than the LIS field and how they can enrich the LIS professionals' knowledge and skills.
Financial market contagion: selective review of reviews
Authors: Seth Neha , Sighania Monica
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review and organize the status of research already conducted on financial market contagion so as to provide easy access to future researchers. Additional objective of the study is to classify the available literature and provide a complete bibliography on the subject and analyze the findings of the studies considered for review.

Design/methodology/approach

A number of resources were looked at to review the past literature and out of hundreds of papers, 104 research papers form the sample for the present study. These 104 research papers are further classified on the basis of various variables so as to know the status of research done on the topic.

Findings

This paper classifies the past research done on financial market contagion and found that the research work in this field has increased significantly during recent times, particularly between 2011 and 2015. Apart from the above finding, many other findings were revealed by the studies used for this paper.

Practical implications

This paper presents the concise view of available literature. It helps the future researchers with the same research interest. This is the major implication of such literature review paper.

Originality/value

This paper provides collection, classification and comprehensive bibliography on financial market contagion. This paper is surely going to be of great value for academicians, practitioners and future researchers who study the existing research work as well as for conducting future research in the same subject.
Hiyal in Islamic finance: a recognition of genuine economic need or circumvention of Riba?
Authors: Syed Ehsanullah Agha , Omar Mustafa
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a Sharīʿah framework for using ḥiyal in Islamic finance. Ḥīlah (singular of ḥiyal) is an Islamic juristic term which refers to the application of acumen and ingenuity to avoid hardship in one’s commitment to Islamic rulings. It has been used as a legal device in Islamic jurisprudence to actualize a legitimate objective. Particularly, it plays a significant role in financial engineering, as it alleviates financial predicaments with remedies.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted qualitative method of research by using content analysis approach. Inductive reasoning is applied to drive legal provisions from Sharīʿah sources that would be used as basic principles to develop an objective measure for using ḥiyal in Islamic banking and finance.

Findings

This study attempted to identify the distinctive features of legitimate ḥiyal for the purpose of developing a Sharīʿah framework. It is observed that a ḥīlah would be considered permissible in Islamic finance if it meets the prescribed criteria of (1) Sharīʿah objectives, (2) user’s motivation, (3) means, (4) benefit and (5) concessionary rules. This proposed framework may serve as an ‘objective measure’ that will determine whether a ḥīlah based financial engineering aims to actualize a genuine economic need or to circumvent the prohibition of ribā.

Practical implications

The proposed standard of ḥiyal will enable Sharīʿah advisors, economists, financial engineer, legal experts and policy makers to develop comprehensive guidelines for using ḥiyal in Islamic financial engineering.

Originality/value

Islamic financial institutions rely heavily on ḥiyal to operate in a predominant conventional financial system. The application of these legal stratagems in Islamic finance has been the center of an intense debate between Islamic economists and jurists. The former argues that over-reliance on ḥiyal not only divorces morality from technicality but also defeats the noble purposes of Islamic economics. This paper provides a synthesis of the diverse views on the subject to facilitate a minimum level of convergence among scholars on the permissibility of ḥiyal.
Linking environmental strategy to environmental performance
Authors: Solovida Grace T. , Latan Hengky
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to test a conceptual framework that describes the relationship between environmental strategy, environmental management accounting and environmental performance. In this paper, the authors argue that environmental strategy can directly influence environmental performance through environmental management accounting.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the survey responses of general managers, operations managers, financial managers and environmental managers in an ISO 14001 certified company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The hypotheses were tested using a consistent partial least squares approach and bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals to test the significance between variables.

Findings

In general, the proposed framework obtains adequate goodness-of-fit statistics. Furthermore, the results support the argument that there is a positive and significant effect of environmental strategies on the environmental performance of companies and that the role of environmental management accounting can mediate their relationship.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of this study relate to the small sample size, as environmental results are still regarded as confidential by many companies. A causal relationship cannot be confirmed for the results. The instrument used is fully adopted from previous research, without unidimensional re-testing. This study contributes to the natural resource-based view literature by responding to recent calls to test the combined effect of resources on environmental performance.

Practical implications

This result could serve as a specific reference for policymaking at firms to continuously improve their environmental performance. This study also has important implications for management practices by illustrating the potential of environmental strategies and environmental management accounting to improve environmental performance.

Social implications

This result indicates that the improving green accounting in Indonesia would appear to require more mandated pressure from, particularly, governmental powers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the corporate environmental accounting literature by providing empirical evidence linking environmental strategy with environmental performance through the implementation of environmental management accounting.
The relationship between CSR disclosure and competitive advantage
Authors: Yu Hui-Cheng , Kuo Lopin , Kao Mao-Feng
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This study aims to apply signaling theory to examine whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure can deliver effective signals to stakeholders to increase a firm’s competitive advantage in China. Whether ownership patterns or environmental sensitivity causes a significant difference in the relationship between a firm’s CSR disclosure and competitive advantage is also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

Data analysis is based on a regression model. Content analysis is performed to convert qualitative CSR information of Chinese firms into quantitative data, while intellectual capital (IC) is used as a proxy variable for competitive advantage.

Findings

The difference in competitive advantage impairment between environmentally sensitive industries (ESIs) and non-environmentally sensitive industries (NESIs) is significant. Further comparisons on the relationship between overall CSR disclosure and competitive advantage among state-owned enterprises, privately owned enterprises, ESIs and NESIs suggest that the relationship is negative.

Research limitations/implications

The study extends research of strategic CSR to signaling theory and competitive advantage. In particular, a research using IC as a proxy for competitive advantage is rare. It also contributes to the literature on competitive advantage and strategic CSR by examining the effects of both CSR disclosure and IC.

Originality/value

This paper provides evidence related to stakeholders’ reaction to managers’ various CSR strategies in China. The contribution of this study is that it confirms that different CSR initiatives have different effects on the competitiveness of enterprises in China.
Nowhere to hide: Effects of linear features on predator–prey dynamics in a large mammal system
Authors: DeMars Craig A. , Boutin Stan
Published: September 2017

Rapid landscape alteration associated with human activity is currently challenging the evolved dynamical stability of many predator–prey systems by forcing species to behaviourally respond to novel environmental stimuli.

In many forested systems, linear features (LFs) such as roads, pipelines and resource exploration lines (i.e. seismic lines) are a ubiquitous form of landscape alteration that have been implicated in altering predator–prey dynamics. One hypothesized effect is thatLFs facilitate predator movement into and within prey refugia, thereby increasing predator–prey spatial overlap.

We evaluated this hypothesis in a large mammal system, focusing on the interactions between boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and their two main predators, wolves (Canis lupus) and black bears (Ursus americanus), during the calving season of caribou. In this system,LFs extend into and occur within peatlands (i.e. bogs and nutrient‐poor fens), a habitat type highly used by caribou due to its refugia effects.

Using resource selection analyses, we found thatLFs increased predator selection of peatlands. Female caribou appeared to respond by avoidingLFs and areas with highLFdensity. However, in our study area, most caribou cannot completely avoid exposure toLFs and variation in female response had demographic effects. In particular, increasing proportional use ofLFs by females negatively impacted survival of their neonate calves.

Collectively, these results demonstrate howLFs can reduce the efficacy of prey refugia. Mitigating such effects will require limiting or restoringLFs within prey refugia, although the effectiveness of mitigation efforts will depend upon spatial scale, which in turn will be influenced by the life‐history traits of predator and prey.
‘A good neighbour is not one that gives’: detachment, ethics, and the relational self in Kenya
Authors: Neumark Tom
Published: September 2017

Since Mauss, anthropologists have been drawn to gifts because they are understood to index the moral, often in contrast to the amorality of the market. Giving is considered to bring people closer together, weaving them into the fabric of sociality. However, in Korogocho, a low‐income informal settlement in Nairobi, women recognize the dangers of giving and of closeness. Not only could others be a burden on them, but they could also be a burden on others. Thus, women seek ways in which they can detach from one another. Beginning with the assumption of the relational self, I argue that this detachment is an ethical practice that can be best understood as what I term a ‘care for relationships’. In making this argument, this article aims to contribute to debates within the anthropology of ethics and morality concerning social relationships by showing the way in which relationships might be the explicit object of ethical practices.
Real Geographies, Real Economies and Soft Spatial Imaginaries: Creating a ‘More than Manchester’ Region
Authors: Hincks Stephen , Deas Iain , Haughton Graham
Published: September 2017

This article develops a framework for analysing region‐building processes as spatiotemporal constructs, involving competing spatial imaginaries and attempts at consolidating these through institution building. Central here is the performative role of what we refer to as ‘soft space imaginaries’ in the ‘phased’ building of regions for planning and economic development over time. We demonstrate how this understanding can be used to examine the phased enactment of successive waves of region‐building by tracing the evolution of multiple soft spatial imaginaries in north‐west England. The analysis exposes the variable logics, alliances of actors, and tactics used to build momentum and secure legitimacy around preferred imaginaries which advocates often promoted on the grounds that they somehow reflected ‘real geographies’ or ‘real economies’. In this context, soft space imaginaries are seen to play an integral role in intellectual case making about the contemporaneous form and purpose of subnational governance. Yet our analysis also exposes the durability of past soft space imaginaries and their continued impact on efforts to build new soft spaces. What emerges is an understanding of soft space imaginaries as more than just superficial representations. They can help determine where government investment is channelled and into what kinds of policies.
Using Weighted Hospital Service Area Networks to Explore Variation in Preventable Hospitalization
Authors: Falster Michael O. , Jorm Louisa R. , Leyland Alastair H.
Published: September 2017

Objective

To demonstrate the use of multiple‐membership multilevel models, which analytically structure patients in a weighted network of hospitals, for exploring between‐hospital variation in preventable hospitalizations.

Data Sources

Cohort of 267,014 people aged over 45 in NSW, Australia.

Study Design

Patterns of patient flow were used to create weighted hospital service area networks (weighted‐HSANs) to 79 large public hospitals of admission. Multiple‐membership multilevel models on rates of preventable hospitalization, modeling participants structured within weighted‐HSANs, were contrasted with models clustering on 72 hospital service areas (HSAs) that assigned participants to a discrete geographic region.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Linked survey and hospital admission data.

Principal Findings

Between‐hospital variation in rates of preventable hospitalization was more than two times greater when modeled using weighted‐HSANs rather than HSAs. Use of weighted‐HSANs permitted identification of small hospitals with particularly high rates of admission and influenced performance ranking of hospitals, particularly those with a broadly distributed patient base. There was no significant association with hospital bed occupancy.

Conclusion

Multiple‐membership multilevel models can analytically capture information lost on patient attribution when creating discrete health care catchments. Weighted‐HSANs have broad potential application in health services research and can be used across methods for creating patient catchments.
Inhibition of Inflammatory Cytokines and Induction of Myeloid‐Derived Suppressor Cells by the Effects of Granulocyte and Monocyte Adsorption Apheresis
Authors: Sakanoue Masanao , Higashi Yuko , Kanekura Takuro
Published: September 2017

Pro‐inflammatory cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases attributable to activated neutrophils and macrophages. Myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play an important role in the regulation of the immune response and possess strong immunosuppressive and anti‐inflammatory properties. Granulocyte and monocyte adsorption apheresis (GMA), an extracorporeal apheresis instrument featuring columns containing cellulose acetate (CA) beads, is designed to remove pathogenic myeloid lineage cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of GMA on cytokine production and MDSC induction. The serum level of various inflammatory cytokines and the incidence of MDSCs in peripheral blood before and after GMA treatment were recorded. Cytokines were assayed with the suspension‐array method in 38 patients. The incidence of MDSCs was analyzed by FACS in eight patients and the effect of GMA on in vitro MDSC induction was examined using a mini‐column system that mimics GMA. The serum level of IL‐2Rα (P = 0.030), IL‐8 (P = 0.018), and MIF (P = 0.0002) was significantly decreased by GMA and the incidence of MDSCs was increased (P = 0.030). With the mini‐column system, MDSCs were induced in the peripheral blood of five healthy volunteers; the in vitro induction was significantly inhibited by inactivation of the complement component iC3b. The clinical effectiveness of GMA may be attributable to the inhibition of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and the induction of anti‐inflammatory MDSCs by iC3b activation via the CA beads in the GMA column.
How do caterpillars cope with xenobiotics? The case of Mythimna unipuncta, a species with low susceptibility to Bt
Authors: López C. , Muñoz P. , Pérez‐Hedo M. , Moralejo M. , Eizaguirre M.
Published: September 2017

Mythimna unipuncta is a species with low susceptibility to the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin, and this insect occasionally causes devastating damage to maize. In the study region, M. unipuncta‐developed larvae were observed moving from a non‐Bt crop to a nearby Bt crop. Although the first response of many caterpillars to xenobiotics, such as the Bt toxin, is to reduce food intake and prolong development, few studies have focused on the causes and consequences of this response in terms of resistance evolution. To clarify the causes of this response, this work compared changes in the feeding behaviour, cytochrome P450 expression and juvenile hormone titre during the last larval instar of M. unipuncta after Bt ingestion. Four P450 enzymes related to the xenobiotic metabolism of the CYP9 and CYP6 families were identified. Developed larvae fed the Bt diet reduced their food intake and CYP9 expression, experienced prolonged development and presented an altered juvenile hormone balance. The CYP9s were not increased in the larvae that consumed Bt, as previously expected, although their highest expression was observed when larval feeding increased. The high recovery capacity of the larvae contributed to their development when they were fed a non‐Bt diet. The efficiency of responses that act jointly as a defence mechanism against Bt might favour the development of field resistance to the toxin. Therefore, these responses should be further investigated for resistance management programmes.
Genetic interaction with temperature is an important determinant of nematode longevity
Authors: Miller Hillary , Fletcher Marissa , Primitivo Melissa , Leonard Alison , Sutphin George L. , Rintala Nicholas , Kaeberlein Matt , Leiser Scott F.
Published: September 2017

As in other poikilotherms, longevity in C. elegans varies inversely with temperature; worms are longer‐lived at lower temperatures. While this observation may seem intuitive based on thermodynamics, the molecular and genetic basis for this phenomenon is not well understood. Several recent reports have argued that lifespan changes across temperatures are genetically controlled by temperature‐specific gene regulation. Here, we provide data that both corroborate those studies and suggest that temperature‐specific longevity is more the rule than the exception. By measuring the lifespans of worms with single modifications reported to be important for longevity at 15, 20, or 25 °C, we find that the effect of each modification on lifespan is highly dependent on temperature. Our results suggest that genetics play a major role in temperature‐associated longevity and are consistent with the hypothesis that while aging in C. elegans is slowed by decreasing temperature, the major cause(s) of death may also be modified, leading to different genes and pathways becoming more or less important at different temperatures. These differential mechanisms of age‐related death are not unlike what is observed in humans, where environmental conditions lead to development of different diseases of aging.
Time‐dependent neuronal changes associated with craving in opioid dependence: an fMRI study
Authors: Murphy Anna , Lubman Dan I. , McKie Shane , Bijral Prun S. , Peters Lesley A. , Faiz Qasim , Holmes Sophie E. , Anderson Ian M. , Deakin Bill , Elliott Rebecca
Published: September 2017

Relapse after initially successful treatment is a significant problem facing the treatment of opioid dependence. Evidence suggests craving elicited by re‐exposure to drug cues may precipitate relapse. Attempts to identify neural biomarkers of cue‐elicited craving have yielded inconsistent findings. We aimed to apply a novel continuous functional magnetic resonance imaging technique to follow the minute‐to‐minute evolution of brain responses, which correlate with the waxing and waning of craving. Newly detoxified male opioid‐dependent patients and healthy control participants attended two separate, counterbalanced, functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning sessions during which they viewed a 10‐minute video (drug cue or neutral cue) followed by 5 minutes of fixation. Participants rated the intensity of their craving throughout each session. We hypothesized that subcortical/ventral prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions and dorsal PFC regions would show different associations with craving reflecting their putative roles in appetitive processing versus cognitive control. Compared with controls, drug cue (minus neutral cue) video recruited the left amygdala and was temporally correlated with craving. In contrast, dorsal anterior cingulate blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent signal time course was higher than controls only during a period after cue exposure when craving levels were declining. Against expectations, neither the ventral striatum nor ventral PFC was significantly recruited by drug cue exposure. Findings suggest that the amygdala has a central role in craving, whereas the dorsal anterior cingulate may control craving in treatment‐seeking patients. Time course analysis yielded new insights into the neural substrates of craving that could objectively validate development of psychological and pharmacological approaches to sustained abstinence.
Red Bull® energy drink increases consumption of higher concentrations of alcohol
Authors: Roldán Marta , Echeverry‐Alzate Victor , Bühler Kora‐Mareen , Sánchez‐Diez Israel J. , Calleja‐Conde Javier , Olmos Pedro , Boehm Stephen L. , Maldonado Rafael , Rodríguez de Fonseca Fernando , Santiago Catalina , Gómez‐Gallego Felix , Giné Elena , López‐Moreno Jose Antonio
Published: September 2017

Mixing alcohol with caffeinated energy drinks is a common practice, especially among young people. In humans, the research on this issue has mainly focused on the use of the mass‐marketed energy drinks themselves, whereas in animal models, it has focused on the individual effects of their active ingredients (i.e. caffeine). Here, we have characterized how Red Bull®, one of the most consumed caffeinated energy drink worldwide, modulates operant alcohol self‐administration in Wistar rats. We found that animals readily and steadily responded for Red Bull (mean: 90 responses, 30 minutes and fixed‐ratio 1), which was accompanied by locomotor stimulating effects (26 percent increase). The higher the concentration of alcohol (3–20 percent), the higher the consumption of alcohol (g/kg) and associated blood alcohol levels (91.76 percent) in the mixed Red Bull–alcohol group (60 percent increase). Blood caffeine levels in the Red Bull group were 4.69 μg/ml and 1.31 μg/ml in the Red Bull–alcohol group after the 30‐minute session. Because Red Bull also contains 11 percent sucrose, we examined the time course of blood glucose as well as insulin and corticosterone. The correlation between intake of Red Bull and blood glucose levels was higher at 90 minutes than 5 minutes after its consumption, and there was no relationship with blood insulin or blood corticosterone levels. Red Bull did not alter extinction and reacquisition of responding for alcohol nor did it affect relapse‐like drinking. Overall, our results suggest that Red Bull might be a vulnerability factor to develop alcoholism given that it intensifies the consumption of higher concentrations of alcohol.