bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pace of life, predators and parasites: predator-induced life-history evolution in Trinidadian guppies predicts decrease in parasite tolerance
Authors: Stephenson J. F. , van Oosterhout C. , Cable J.
Published: November 2015

A common evolutionary response to predation pressure is increased investment in reproduction, ultimately resulting in a fast life history. Theory and comparative studies suggest that short-lived organisms invest less in defence against parasites than those that are longer lived (the pace of life hypothesis). Combining these tenets of evolutionary theory leads to the specific, untested prediction that within species, populations experiencing higher predation pressure invest less in defence against parasites. The Trinidadian guppy,
Poecilia reticulata
, presents an excellent opportunity to test this prediction: guppy populations in lower courses of rivers experience higher predation pressure, and as a consequence have evolved faster life histories, than those in upper courses. Data from a large-scale field survey showed that fish infected with
Gyrodactylus
parasites were of a lower body condition (quantified using the scaled mass index) than uninfected fish, but only in lower course populations. Although the evidence we present is correlational, it suggests that upper course guppies sustain lower fitness costs of infection, i.e. are more tolerant, than lower course guppies. The data are therefore consistent with the pace of life hypothesis of parasite defence allocation, and suggest that life-history traits mediate the indirect effect of predators on the parasites of their prey.
Shear-induced orientational dynamics and spatial heterogeneity in suspensions of motile phytoplankton
Authors: Barry Michael T. , Rusconi Roberto , Guasto Jeffrey S. , Stocker Roman
Published: November 2015

Fluid flow, ubiquitous in natural and man-made environments, has the potential to profoundly impact the transport of microorganisms, including phytoplankton in aquatic habitats and bioreactors. Yet, the effect of ambient flow on the swimming behaviour of phytoplankton has remained poorly understood, largely owing to the difficulty of observing cell–flow interactions at the microscale. Here, we present microfluidic experiments where we tracked individual cells for four species of motile phytoplankton exposed to a spatially non-uniform fluid shear rate, characteristic of many flows in natural and artificial environments. We observed that medium-to-high mean shear rates (1–25 s
−1
) produce heterogeneous cell concentrations in the form of regions of accumulation and regions of depletion. The location of these regions relative to the flow depends on the cells' propulsion mechanism, body shape and flagellar arrangement, as captured by an effective aspect ratio. Species having a large effective aspect ratio accumulated in the high-shear regions, owing to shear-induced alignment of the swimming orientation with the fluid streamlines. Species having an effective aspect ratio close to unity exhibited little preferential accumulation at low-to-moderate flow rates, but strongly accumulated in the low-shear regions under high flow conditions, potentially owing to an active, behavioural response of cells to shear. These observations demonstrate that ambient fluid flow can strongly affect the motility and spatial distribution of phytoplankton and highlight the rich dynamics emerging from the interaction between motility, morphology and flow.
Evolution of lineage-specific functions in ancient
cis
-regulatory modules
Authors: Pauls Stefan , Goode Debbie K. , Petrone Libero , Oliveri Paola , Elgar Greg
Published: November 2015

Morphological evolution is driven both by coding sequence variation and by changes in regulatory sequences. However, how
cis
-regulatory modules (CRMs) evolve to generate entirely novel expression domains is largely unknown. Here, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of a lens enhancer located within a CRM that not only predates the lens, a vertebrate innovation, but bilaterian animals in general. Alignments of orthologous sequences from different deuterostomes sub-divide the CRM into a deeply conserved core and a more divergent flanking region. We demonstrate that all deuterostome flanking regions, including invertebrate sequences, activate gene expression in the zebrafish lens through the same ancient cluster of activator sites. However, levels of gene expression vary between species due to the presence of repressor motifs in flanking region and core. These repressor motifs are responsible for the relatively weak enhancer activity of tetrapod flanking regions. Ray-finned fish, however, have gained two additional lineage-specific activator motifs which in combination with the ancient cluster of activators and the core constitute a potent lens enhancer. The exploitation and modification of existing regulatory potential in flanking regions but not in the highly conserved core might represent a more general model for the emergence of novel regulatory functions in complex CRMs.
A contribution on the modular modelling of multibody systems
Authors: Matarazzo Orsino Renato Maia , Hess-Coelho Tarcisio Antonio
Published: November 2015

Over the past half-century, the increasing use of computational tools for mathematical modelling and simulation was responsible for significant advances in the area of Multibody System Dynamics. However, there is still a high dependence on the use of proprietary software in this area. Noticing that most of the complex multibody systems share many components and subsystems, this paper aims to propose a modular modelling methodology in which the starting points are some already known mathematical models of subsystems and the corresponding descriptions of the constraints existing among them. The proposed algorithm is based on the computation of some orthogonal complements of Jacobian matrices, derived from the constraint equations among the subsystems, leading to a minimal system of equations without requiring the use of undetermined multipliers or generalized constraint forces. Such an algorithm can be implemented using general-purpose (eventually open source) software packages or programming languages. Another remarkable advantage of this methodology stems from the fact that even when different (Classical or Analytical Mechanics) formalisms have been used in the modelling of subsystems, it is still possible to use the proposed algorithm. Well-known examples and a rederivation of the Whipple bicycle model are used to illustrate applications of this novel methodology.
Community control in cellular protein production: consequences for amino acid starvation
Authors: Heldt Frank S. , Brackley Chris A. , Grebogi Celso , Thiel Marco
Published: November 2015

Deprivation of essential nutrients can have stark consequences for many processes in a cell. We consider amino acid starvation, which can result in bottlenecks in mRNA translation when ribosomes stall due to lack of resources, i.e. tRNAs charged with the missing amino acid. Recent experiments also show less obvious effects such as increased charging of other (non-starved) tRNA species and selective charging of isoaccepting tRNAs. We present a mechanism which accounts for these observations and shows that production of some proteins can actually increase under starvation. One might assume that such responses could only be a result of sophisticated control pathways, but here we show that these effects can occur naturally due to changes in the supply and demand for different resources, and that control can be accomplished through selective use of rare codons. We develop a model for translation which includes the dynamics of the charging and use of aminoacylated tRNAs, explicitly taking into account the effect of specific codon sequences. This constitutes a new control mechanism in gene regulation which emerges at the community level, i.e. via resources used by all ribosomes.
Causal information quantification of prominent dynamical features of biological neurons
Authors: Montani Fernando , Baravalle Roman , Montangie Lisandro , Rosso Osvaldo A.
Published: November 2015

Neurons tend to fire a spike when they are near a bifurcation from the resting state to spiking activity. It is a delicate balance between noise, dynamic currents and initial condition that determines the phase diagram of neural activity. Many possible ionic mechanisms can be accounted for as the source of spike generation. Moreover, the biophysics and the dynamics behind it can usually be described through a phase diagram that involves membrane voltage versus the activation variable of the ionic channel. In this paper, we present a novel methodology to characterize the dynamics of this system, which takes into account the fine temporal ‘structures’ of the complex neuronal signals. This allows us to accurately distinguish the most fundamental properties of neurophysiological neurons that were previously described by Izhikevich considering the phase-space trajectory, using a time causal space: statistical complexity versus Fisher information versus Shannon entropy.
Layer–layer competition in multiplex complex networks
Authors: Gómez-Gardeñes J. , de Domenico M. , Gutiérrez G. , Arenas A. , Gómez S.
Published: November 2015

The coexistence of multiple types of interactions within social, technological and biological networks has moved the focus of the physics of complex systems towards a multiplex description of the interactions between their constituents. This novel approach has unveiled that the multiplex nature of complex systems has strong influence in the emergence of collective states and their critical properties. Here we address an important issue that is intrinsic to the coexistence of multiple means of interactions within a network: their competition. To this aim, we study a two-layer multiplex in which the activity of users can be localized in each of the layers or shared between them, favouring that neighbouring nodes within a layer focus their activity on the same layer. This framework mimics the coexistence and competition of multiple communication channels, in a way that the prevalence of a particular communication platform emerges as a result of the localization of user activity in one single interaction layer. Our results indicate that there is a transition from localization (use of a preferred layer) to delocalization (combined usage of both layers) and that the prevalence of a particular layer (in the localized state) depends on the structural properties.
Combination of drainage and chemotherapy for treatment of a Staphylococcus aureus brain abscess in a pre-term infant
Authors: Suárez Marta , Costa Marta , Solís Gonzalo , Fernández Belén , García Enrique , Arias Rosa , Peña Jorge , Coto Daniel
Published: November 2015

Introduction:

Neonatal brain abscess is an uncommon intracranial suppuration that usually occurs as a complication of bacterial meningitis or septicaemia. Staphylococcus aureus rarely causes brain abscesses during the first months of life.

Case presentation:

A case of a premature infant who developed cerebellar, left temporal and left occipital lobe abscesses after S. aureus sepsis is presented. The pus provided the same S. aureus strain of the sepsis. The patient was treated with vancomycin for 37 days, accompanied by extraction of the purulent material. The abscesses resolved and no sequelae remained.

Conclusion:

It appears that long antibiotic treatment regimes, when associated with early pus drainage, are effective in resolving infection and abscesses caused by S. aureus in neonates.
Evaluation of hybrid and non-hybrid methods for de novo assembly of nanopore reads
Authors: Sović Ivan , Križanović Krešimir , Skala Karolj , Šikić Mile
Published: November 2015

Recent emergence of nanopore sequencing technology set a challenge for the established assembly methods not optimized for the combination of read lengths and high error rates of nanopore reads. In this work we assessed how existingde novoassembly methods perform on these reads. We benchmarked three non-hybrid (in terms of both error correction and scaffolding) assembly pipelines as well as two hybrid assemblers which use third generation sequencing data to scaffold Illumina assemblies. Tests were performed on several publicly available MinION and Illumina datasets ofE. coliK-12, using several sequencing coverages of nanopore data (20x, 30x, 40x and 50x). We attempted to assess the quality of assembly at each of these coverages, to estimate the requirements for closed bacterial genome assembly. Results show that hybrid methods are highly dependent on the quality of NGS data, but much less on the quality and coverage of nanopore data and perform relatively well on lower nanopore coverages. Furthermore, when coverage is above 40x, all non-hybrid methods correctly assemble theE. coligenome, even a non-hybrid method tailored for Pacific Bioscience reads. While it requires higher coverage compared to a method designed particularly for nanopore reads, its running time is significantly lower.
Crystal structure of ethyl 5-[3-(dimethylamino)acryloyl]-2-{[(dimethylamino)methylidene]amino}-4-methylthiophene-3-carboxylate
Authors: Krishnamurthy M. S. , Prasad N. L. , Nagarajaiah H. , Begum Noor Shahina
Published: November 2015

In the title compound, C16H23N3O3S, the dihedral angles between the thiophene ring and the almost planar dimethylamino-methyleneamino (r.m.s. deviation = 0.005 Å) and dimethylamino-acryloyl (r.m.s. deviation = 0.033 Å) substituents are 6.99 (8) and 6.69 (7)°, respectively. The ester CO2group subtends a dihedral angle of 44.92 (18)° with the thiophene ring. An intramolecular C—H...O hydrogen bond generates anS(6) ring. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of C—H...O hydrogen bonds generateR22(14) loops. In addition, a weak C—H...π interaction is observed.
Crystal structure of bis(acetonyltriphenylphosphonium) tetrachloridocobaltate(II)
Authors: Diop Mouhamadou Birame , Diop Libasse , Oliver Allen G.
Published: November 2015

The complex title salt, (C21H20OP)2[CoCl4], is the reaction product of CoCl2with acetonyltriphenylphosphonium chloride in acetonitrile. In the anion, the CoIIatom exhibits a typical tetrahedral environment, with Co—Cl distances ranging from 2.2721 (6) to 2.2901 (6) Å, and with Cl—Co—Cl angles ranging from 106.12 (2) to 112.24 (2)°. The two phosphonium cations likewise show the expected tetrahedral configuration, with P—C distances ranging from 1.785 (2) to 1.8059 (18) Å and C—P—C angles ranging from 106.98 (8) to 112.85 (15)°. The molecules interact in the lattice mainly through Coulombic and van der Waals forces because there is no particular polarity to the charges carried by the cations or anion. In the crystal, the cations and anions are arranged in sheets parallel to (001).
Crystal structure of 4-[(E)-(4-fluorobenzylidene)amino]-3-methyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione
Authors: Manjula P. S. , Sarojini B. K. , Narayana B. , Byrappa K. , Madan Kumar S.
Published: November 2015

The title compound, C10H9FN4S, crystallizes with two molecules (AandB) in the asymmetric unit. The dihedral angle between the planes of the trizole and fluorobenzene rings is 7.3 (3)° in moleculeAand 41.1 (3)° in moleculeB. MoleculeAfeatures an intramolecular C—H...S hydrogen bond, which closes anS(6) ring. In the crystal,A+Bdimers linked by pairs of N—H...S hydrogen bonds occur, generatingR22(8) loops. Weak π–π stacking contacts [centroid–centroid separation = 3.739 (6) Å] are also observed.
Crystal structures of bis- and hexakis[(6,6′-dihydroxybipyridine)copper(II)] nitrate coordination complexes
Authors: Gerlach Deidra L. , Nieto Ismael , Herbst-Gervasoni Corey J. , Ferrence Gregory M. , Zeller Matthias , Papish Elizabeth T.
Published: November 2015

Two multinuclear complexes synthesized from Cu(NO3)2and 6,6′-dihydroxybipyridine (dhbp) exhibit bridging nitrate and hydroxide ligands. The dinuclear complex (6,6′-dihydroxybipyridine-2κ2N,N′)[μ-6-(6-hydroxypyridin-2-yl)pyridin-2-olato-1:2κ3N,N′:O2](μ-hydroxido-1:2κ2O:O′)(μ-nitrato-1:2κ2O:O′)(nitrato-1κO)dicopper(II), [Cu2(C10H7N2O2)(OH)(NO3)2(C10H8N2O2)] or [Cu(6-OH-6′-O-bpy)(NO3)(μ-OH)(μ-NO3)Cu(6,6′-dhbp)], (I), with a 2:1 ratio of nitrate to hydroxide anions and one partially deprotonated dhbp ligand, forms from a water–ethanol mixture at neutral pH. The hexanuclear complex bis(μ3-bipyridine-2,2′-diolato-κ3O:N,N′:O′)tetrakis(6,6′-dihydroxybipyridine-κ2N,N′)tetrakis(μ-hydroxido-κ2O:O′)bis(methanol-κO)tetrakis(μ-nitrato-κ2O:O′)hexacopper(II), [Cu6(C10H6N2O2)2(CH4O)2(OH)4(NO3)4(C10H8N2O2)4] or [Cu(6,6′-dhbp)(μ-NO3)2(μ-OH)Cu(6,6′-O-bpy)(μ-OH)Cu(6,6′dhbp)(CH3OH)]2, (II), with a 1:1 NO3–OH ratio and two fully protonated and fully deprotonated dhbp ligands, was obtained by methanol recrystallization of material obtained at pH 3. Complex (II) lies across an inversion center. Complexes (I) and (II) both display intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonding. Intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonding links symmetry-related molecules forming chains along [100] for complex (I) with π-stacking along [010] and [001]. Complex (II) forms intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen-bonded chains along [010] with π-stacking along [100] and [001].
Crystal structure of 1,3-bis(2,3-dimethylquinoxalin-6-yl)benzene
Authors: Diesendruck Charles E. , Rubin Gabrielle , Bertke Jeffery A. , Gray Danielle L. , Moore Jeffrey S.
Published: November 2015

The title compound, C26H22N4(I), was synthesized by C—H iridium-catalyzed borylation followed by Suzuki coupling. The molecular structure of (I) consists of a central benzene ring with 3-dimethylquinoxalin-6-yl groups at the 1 and 3 positions. These 2,3-dimethylquinoxalin-6-yl groups twist significantly out of the plane of the benzene ring. There are intermolecular π–π interactions which result in a two-dimensional extended structure. The layers extend parallel to theabplane and stack along thecaxis.
Crystal structure of (Z)-3-allyl-5-(4-methylbenzylidene)-2-sulfanylidene-1,3-thiazolidin-4-one
Authors: El Ajlaoui Rahhal , Rakib El Mostapha , Chigr Mohammed , Saadi Mohamed , El Ammari Lahcen
Published: November 2015

In the title compound, C14H13NOS2, the atoms of the allyl group are disordered over two sets of sites, with an occupancy ratio of 0.559 (10):0.441 (10). The rhodanine ring makes a dihedral angle of 5.51 (12)° with the mean plane through thep-tolyl group. There are no specific intermolecular interactions in the crystal packing.
Crystal structure of tris(piperidinium) hydrogen sulfate sulfate
Authors: Lukianova Tamara J. , Kinzhybalo Vasyl , Pietraszko Adam
Published: November 2015

In the title molecular salt, 3C5H12N+·HSO4−·SO42−, each cation adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, the hydrogen sulfate ion is connected to the sulfate ion by a strong O—H...O hydrogen bond. The packing also features a number of N—H...O hydrogen bonds, which lead to a three-dimensional network structure. The hydrogen sulfate anion accepts four hydrogen bonds from two cations, whereas the sulfate ion, as an acceptor, binds to five separate piperidinium cations, forming seven hydrogen bonds.
Magnetic field effect on the unsteady natural convection in a right-angle trapezoidal cavity filled with a nanofluid
Authors: Bondareva N.S. , Sheremet M. A. , Pop I.
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– Unsteady natural convection of water-based nanofluid within a right-angle trapezoidal cavity under the influence of a uniform inclined magnetic field using the mathematical nanofluid model proposed by Buongiorno is presented. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The left vertical and right inclined walls of the enclosure are kept at constant but different temperatures whereas the top and bottom horizontal walls are adiabatic. All boundaries are assumed to be impermeable to the base fluid and to nanoparticles. In order to study the behavior of the nanofluid, a non-homogeneous Buongiorno’s mathematical model is taken into account. The physical problems are represented mathematically by a set of partial differential equations along with the corresponding boundary conditions. By using an implicit finite difference scheme the dimensionless governing equations are numerically solved.

Findings

– The governing parameters are the Rayleigh, Hartmann and Lewis numbers along with the inclination angle of the magnetic field relative to the gravity vector, the aspect ratio and the dimensionless time. The effects of these parameters on the average Nusselt number along the hot wall, as well as on the developments of streamlines, isotherms and isoconcentrations are analyzed. The results show that key parameters have substantial effects on the flow, heat and mass transfer characteristics.

Originality/value

– The present results are new and original for the heat transfer and fluid flow in a right-angle trapezoidal cavity under the influence of a uniform inclined magnetic field using the mathematical nanofluid model proposed by Buongiorno. The results would benefit scientists and engineers to become familiar with the flow behavior of such nanofluids, and the way to predict the properties of this flow for possibility of using nanofluids in advanced nuclear systems, in industrial sectors including transportation, power generation, chemical sectors, ventilation, air-conditioning, etc.
Numerical study on the pressure drop of fluid flow in rough microchannels via the lattice Boltzmann method
Authors: Bo Zheng , Zhao Qi , Shuai Xiaorui , Yan Jianhua , Cen Kefa
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative assessment on the effect of wall roughness on the pressure drop of fluid flow in microchannels.

Design/methodology/approach

– The wall roughness is generated by the method of random midpoint displacement (RMD) and the lattice Boltzmann BGK model is applied. The influences of Reynolds number, relative roughness and the Hurst exponent of roughness profile on the Poiseuille number are investigated.

Findings

– Unlike the smooth channel flow, Reynolds number, relative roughness and the Hurst exponent of roughness profiles play critical roles on the Poiseuille number Po in rough microchannels. Modeling results indicate that, in rough microchannels, the rough surface configuration intensifies the flow-surface interactions and the wall conditions turn to dominate the flow characteristics. The perturbance of the local flows near the channel wall and the formation of recirculation regions are two main features of the flow-surface interactions.

Research limitations/implications

– The fluid flow in parallel planes with surface roughness is considered in the current study. In other words, only two-dimensional fluid flow is investigated.

Practical implications

– The LBM is a very useful tool to investigate the microscale flows.

Originality/value

– A new method (RMD) is applied to generate the wall roughness in parallel plane and LBM is conducted to investigate the pressure drop characteristics in rough microchannels.
Logical acquisition and analysis of data from android mobile devices
Authors: Srivastava Himanshu , Tapaswi Shashikala
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach that helps in acquisition of live data as well as data stored in the internal/external memory of android mobile device considering that the data on the device are not much altered during the extraction process. Also, the emphasis is laid on testing the validity of existing forensic tools against the data obtained manually and by using this approach. Smartphones have spurred the mobile computing technology, and Android is widely used as an Operating System in these devices. These days, users store most of their personal information like emails, images, contacts etc., on Phones/Tablets as their data would be readily accessible and thus convenient for them.

Design/methodology/approach

– Android Operating System is built on the Linux Kernel and scripts to extract data from Android Mobile Device with the use of Android Debugging Bridge have been written. The approach is more focused on the logical acquisition of data from devices rather than acquisition using physical methods.

Findings

– Live data of the Facebook application running on the device can be extracted. Also, the password of the LuksManager application (used to create an encrypted volume on the device), which is stored in the internal memory, is also extracted and identified.

Research limitations/implications

– The study has been conducted in an academic environment, thereby limiting external validity. Another limitation is the limited edition of some of the software forensics tools that are used. The full access to these software tools are restricted by Law enforcement and Investigation policies. The research provides a different approach which could aid in criminal investigation activities on mobile devices.

Practical implications

– The devices which have the latest versions of Android not only store messages and mails, but a lot of information about GPS, as well as information about popular applications like Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. This could practically help a lot in criminal investigation.

Originality/value

– This study is important because very few works have been done on recent versions (Jellybean and Kitkat) of Android. The proposed approach could extract large amounts of information as compared to earlier approaches with the newer versions of Android having larger memory and new features.
Taxonomy of technological risks of open source software in the enterprise adoption context
Authors: Silic Mario , Back Andrea , Silic Dario
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify the technological risks in the context of open source software (OSS) and suggest an integrative OSS risk taxonomy.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conducted an extensive literature review followed by expert interviews and applied the method for taxonomy development.

Findings

– This research has identified an integrative OSS risk taxonomy composed of 8 categories with 51 risk items.

Originality/value

– This taxonomy is a very useful tool for practitioners during the decision-making process when evaluating, assessing and calculating risks related to OSS adoption. Moreover, researchers can use it as a starting point for future studies to better understand the OSS phenomenon.
Towards a framework for the potential cyber-terrorist threat to critical national infrastructure
Authors: Alqahtani Abdulrahman
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The main purpose of this research is to produce the most accurate theoretical framework of the potential threat of cyberterrorism to the national security, compared to conventional terrorism. So it aims to identify the theoretical framework that best explains the threat of cyberterrorism and conventional terrorism to national security derived from empirical data, using grounded theory, and to validate the developed grounded theory statistically by quantitative data.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper presents the results of the quantitative study survey. It provides in the beginning basic information about the data. To purify the data, reliability and exploratory factor analysis, as well as confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), were performed. Then, structural equation modelling was utilised to test the final model of the theory and to assess the overall goodness-of-fit between the proposed model and the collected data set.

Findings

– The first study, as a qualitative exploratory study, gives a rich data set that provides the foundation of the development of the second study, as a quantitative confirmatory study. In the researcher’s previous qualitative study, it provides a better theoretical understanding of the potential threat of cyber and conventional terrorism to Saudi national security. Also, it provides the development of the grounded theory of the study (Figure 1). It also has led to the development of the conceptual framework and the hypotheses for the second phase of the study (i.e. survey).

Originality/value

– It is original study based on empirical data collected from Saudi military and security officials and experts in the critical infrastructures.
3D fabric dynamic simulation based on Mapreduce
Authors: Shi Hengliang , Bai Xiaolei , Duan Jianhui
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– In cloth animation field, the collision detection of fabric under external force is very complex, and difficult to satisfy the needs of reality feeling and real time. The purpose of this paper is to improve reality feeling and real-time requirement.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper puts forward a mass-spring model with building bounding-box in the center of particle, and designs the collision detection algorithm based on Mapreduce. At the same time, a method is proposed to detect collision based on geometric unit.

Findings

– The method can quickly detect the intersection of particle and triangle, and then deal with collision response according to the physical characteristics of fabric. Experiment shows that the algorithm improves real-time and authenticity.

Research limitations/implications

– Experiments show that 3D fabric simulation can be more efficiency through parallel calculation model − Mapreduce.

Practical implications

– This method can improve the reality feeling, and reduce calculation quantity.

Social implications

– This collision-detection can be used into more fields such as 3D games, aero simulation training and garments automation.

Originality/value

– This model and method have originality, and can be used to 3D animation, digital entertainment, and garment industry.
Connexion
Authors: Bai Zi-qian , Tan Jeanne , Johnston Clare Frances , Tao Xiao-Ming
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how electronic components can be utilized and integrated into polymeric optical fibre (POF) textiles to refine the design aesthetic, tactile quality and initiate the interaction of textiles with the users; and to study the design process of interactive products by using a novel design process model.

Design/methodology/approach

– Fashion and textile design methods, textile technology are used in combination with modern technologies such as laser engraving, sensing, short-distance communication technology, throughout the entire process of development of interactive photonics creations.

Findings

– The results of evaluation indicate that the engineered prototypes can enhance the interactive function of interior furnishing. The usability of interactive POF cushions is optimized by innovative design methods considering both design and technology.

Originality/value

– This research explores to combine knowledge from different disciplines, including textile, electronics, sensor and laser to create interactive soft furnishings. The inter-disciplinary research provides a new perspective on how POF fabric can be utilized as a new media to change the way people interact with their living surroundings. The interior soft furnishings are no longer unresponsive to people, but can react to them, adapt to their behaviors, change color according to their preferences and therefore merge into our daily life. The developed prototypes reshape interior soft furnishing, and therefore have both theoretical and practical significance.
Determinants of industrial land prices in The Netherlands: a behavioural approach
Authors: Ploegmakers Huub , de Vor Friso
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the specification of hedonic pricing models can be improved by using insights generated from qualitative research. In doing so, it seeks to address one of the main problems in the specification of hedonic models, namely that theory yields little guidance in the selection of the characteristics that should be included on the right-hand side.

Design/methodology/approach

– Building on the behavioural tradition in real estate research, this paper introduces a research approach that integrates insights from qualitative analysis in an econometric model of land values. The empirical segment explores the way in which asking prices of building plots for industrial purposes are determined in The Netherlands. It draws from interviews with municipal land developers, who dominate supply in this market. The information secured during these interviews relates to the characteristics considered important and the kind of information used in the valuation process. Based on these qualitative data, an econometric model is developed and estimated.

Findings

– The estimation results confirm qualitative evidence that the typical developer considers only a limited number of features of the land in the valuation process and that the primary source of information in setting asking prices relates to the prices charged in neighbouring municipalities.

Originality/value

– This paper represents a novel attempt to examine the determination of land and property values by merging qualitative and quantitative, econometric analyses.
Market forces or institutional factors: what hinders housing development on brownfield land?
Authors: Hutchison Norman , Disberry Alan
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the barriers to housing development on brownfield land in the UK, making clear the distinction between market and institutional factors and identify appropriate public and private sector solutions to encourage more residential development.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this research, the city of Nottingham in the East Midlands of England was chosen as the case study city. The research was based on secondary literature review of relevant local authority reports, Internet searches, consultancy documents and policy literature. Detailed case studies were undertaken of 30 sites in Nottingham which included a questionnaire survey of developers. Officials from Nottingham City Council assisted with the gathering of planning histories of the sites. The investigation took place in 2014.

Findings

– Based on the evidence from Nottingham, the most frequently occurring significant constraint was poor market conditions. At the local level, it is clear that there are options that can be promoted to help reduce the level of friction in the market, to reduce delay and cost and, thus, to encourage developers to bring forward schemes when the market allows. Securing planning permission and agreeing the terms of a S106 agreement is recognised as a major development hurdle which requires time to achieve.

Practical implications

– Market forces were clearly the dominant factor in hindering development on brownfield sites in Nottingham. The local authority should be more circumspect in the use of S106 agreements in market conditions where brownfield development is highly marginal. Imposing additional taxation on specific developments in weak markets discourages development and is counterproductive.

Originality/value

– This detailed study of 30 development sites is significant in that it provides a better understanding of the barriers to residential development on brownfield land in the UK.
The association between accounting performance and constituent response in political markets
Authors: Bradbury Michael , Scott Tom
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether constituents respond to local government accounting data. Since 2006, New Zealand local authorities (councils) have been required to disclose long-term accounting data relating to forecast operating revenue and expenses.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors test whether the difference between the actual operating expenditure as reported in the annual report and as forecasted is associated with electoral outcomes.

Findings

– The authors find that accounting performance and the sign of accounting performance (i.e. expenditure over-runs) are associated with greater councilor re-election. Furthermore, accounting performance is also associated with greater voter turnout.

Originality/value

– The production and disclosure of council planning data is based on the perceived accountability of the council to its constituents. The authors find that accounting, in an electoral context, has both information content and conveys good/bad news about accounting performance to voters.
The role of management control systems in situations of institutional complexity
Authors: Schäffer Utz , Strauss Erik , Zecher Christina
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– This study investigates in depth how decision-making of different organisational members is shaped by various management control systems (MCSs) that reflect different institutional logics, how the entire organisation deals with the arising institutional complexity and which role different management controls as a system play in such situations.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case study was conducted on a German Mittelstand firm whose MCSs were shaped by three different logics over time: a family logic, a stakeholder logic and a shareholder logic.

Findings

– This paper shows how different actors of an organisation confronted with institutional complexity used selective coupling of different MCS components and compartmentalizing MCS components to deal with clashing institutional logics. Thereby, it was possible for the actors to balance different sub-communities within the firm that were shaped by conflicting but yet complementary logics that were required for organisational survival.

Research limitations/implications

– This study contributes to the understanding of how an MCS can be exploited for organisational structural responses to multiple logics. Due to this research design, the present study deals with challenges ofex postrationalization.

Practical implications

– The results show options for organisational leaders to deal with different kind of worldviews (i.e. logics) that shape employees’ behaviour. Particularly, this paper explains how leaders can restructure their MCSs to influence human behaviour in times of radical change.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to the literature on MCSs by showing what role MCSs play in structural responses to institutional complexity.
Unpacking the package
Authors: Evans Mark , Tucker Basil Phillip
Published: November 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which both formal and informal control, operating as a package, are implicated in responding to organisational change arising from the introduction of the Australian Federal Government’s Clean Energy Act (2011).

Design/methodology/approach

– This investigation is based on a review of archival data, and semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 staff at different hierarchical levels within an Australian renewable energy company.

Findings

– Although formal management control systems and informal control both played important roles in the organisation’s reorientation to organisational change, it was the latter form of control that predominated over the former. The influence of the prevailing organisational culture, however, was pivotal in orchestrating both formal and informal control efforts within this organisation.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to management control theory and practice in two ways: first, it provides much needed empirical evidence about the ways in which management controls act as a package; second, it offers insights into the relative importance of the components of a management control package in the context of a particular organisational change. In addition, it responds to Laughlin’s (1991) call for empirical “flesh” to be added to the skeletal framework he advocates to make this conceptualisation of organisational change, “more meaningful”.
Spatial and temporal aridity gradients provide poor proxies for plant–plant interactions under climate change: a large‐scale experiment
Authors: Metz Johannes , Tielbörger Katja
Published: November 2015

Plant–plant interactions may critically modify the impact of climate change on plant communities. However, the magnitude and even direction of potential future interactions remains highly debated, especially for water‐limited ecosystems. Predictions range from increasing facilitation to increasing competition with future aridification.

The different methodologies used for assessing plant–plant interactions under changing environmental conditions may affect the outcome but they are not equally represented in the literature. Mechanistic experimental manipulations are rare compared with correlative approaches that infer future patterns from current observations along spatial climatic gradients.

Here, we utilize a unique climatic gradient in combination with a large‐scale, long‐term experiment to test whether predictions about plant–plant interactions yield similar results when using experimental manipulations, spatial gradients or temporal variation. We assessed shrub–annual interactions in three different sites along a natural rainfall gradient (spatial) during 9 years of varying rainfall (temporal) and 8 years of dry and wet manipulations of ambient rainfall (experimental) that closely mimicked regional climate scenarios.

The results were fundamentally different among all three approaches. Experimental water manipulations hardly altered shrub effects on annual plant communities for the assessed fitness parameters biomass and survival. Along the spatial gradient, shrub effects shifted from clearly negative to mildly facilitative towards drier sites, whereas temporal variation showed the opposite trend: more negative shrub effects in drier years.

Based on our experimental approach, we conclude that shrub–annual interaction will remain similar under climate change. In contrast, the commonly applied space‐for‐time approach based on spatial gradients would have suggested increasing facilitative effects with climate change. We discuss potential mechanisms governing the differences among the three approaches.

Our study highlights the critical importance of long‐term experimental manipulations for evaluating climate change impacts. Correlative approaches, for example along spatial or temporal gradients, may be misleading and overestimate the response of plant–plant interactions to climate change.
Phase‐dependent climate–predator interactions explain three decades of variation in neonatal caribou survival
Authors: Bastille‐Rousseau Guillaume , Schaefer James A. , Lewis Keith P. , Mumma Matthew A. , Ellington E. Hance , Rayl Nathaniel D. , Mahoney Shane P. , Pouliot Darren , Murray Dennis L.
Published: November 2015

Climate can have direct and indirect effects on population dynamics via changes in resource competition or predation risk, but this influence may be modulated by density‐ or phase‐dependent processes. We hypothesized that for ungulates, climatic conditions close to parturition have a greater influence on the predation risk of neonates during population declines, when females are already under nutritional stress triggered by food limitation.

We examined the presence of phase‐dependent climate–predator (PDCP) interactions on neonatal ungulate survival by comparing spatial and temporal fluctuations in climatic conditions, cause‐specific mortality and per capita resource limitation. We determined cause‐specific fates of 1384 caribou (Rangifer tarandus) from 10 herds in Newfoundland, spanning more than 30 years during periods of numerical increase and decline, while exposed to predation from black bears (Ursus americanus) and coyotes (Canis latrans).

We conducted Cox proportional hazards analysis for competing risks, fit as a function of weather metrics, to assess pre‐ and post‐partum climatic influences on survival on herds in population increase and decline phases. We used cumulative incidence functions to compare temporal changes in risk from predators.

Our results support our main hypothesis; when caribou populations increased, weather conditions preceding calving were the main determinants of cause‐specific mortality, but when populations declined, weather conditions during calving also influenced predator‐driven mortality. Cause‐specific analysis showed that weather conditions can differentially affect predation risk between black bears and coyotes with specific variables increasing the risk from one species and decreasing the risk from the other.

For caribou, nutritional stress appears to increase predation risk on neonates, an interaction which is exacerbated by susceptibility to climatic events. These findings support the PDCP interactions framework, where maternal body condition influences susceptibility to climate‐related events and, subsequently, risk from predation.
Ecologically diverse and distinct neighbourhoods trigger persistent phenotypic consequences, and amine metabolic profiling detects them
Authors: Hennion Françoise , Litrico Isabelle , Bartish Igor V. , Weigelt Alexandra , Bouchereau Alain , Prinzing Andreas
Published: November 2015

Global change triggers rapid alterations in the composition and diversity of plant communities which may change ecosystem functioning. Do changes in community diversity also change traits persistently, that is does coexistence with numerous or functionally or phylogenetically distinct species trigger, in a given focal species, trait shifts that persist?

We studied the grass Dactylis glomerata. Dactylis was grown in experimental plots with different species compositions for 5 years, sampled, cloned and grown in a common garden. We studied amines, regulators integrating growth responses of organisms to their environment.

We found that the mean levels and variances of most amines depended on the diversity of the source community, notably the species richness and the phylogenetic and functional distinctness from Dactylis, unbiased by species identity or biomass shifts.

Synthesis. Our results suggest that different levels of ambient diversity can, within a few years, select for different genotypes which have different compositions of growth regulators. Our study also suggests that a plant species can evolve in response to the diversity or distinctness of the surrounding plant community. Evolutionary changes of plant phenotypes might mediate an impact of past biological diversity on present ecosystem functioning.
Agricultural land usage transforms nitrifier population ecology
Authors: Bertagnolli Anthony D. , McCalmont Dylan , Meinhardt Kelley A. , Fransen Steven C. , Strand Stuart , Brown Sally , Stahl David A.
Published: November 2015

Application of nitrogen fertilizer has altered terrestrial ecosystems. Ammonia is nitrified by ammonia and nitrite‐oxidizing microorganisms, converting ammonia to highly mobile nitrate, contributing to the loss of nitrogen, soil nutrients and production of detrimental nitrogen oxides. Mitigating these costs is of critical importance to a growing bioenergy industry. To resolve the impact of management on nitrifying populations, amplicon sequencing of markers associated with ammonia and nitrite‐oxidizing taxa (ammonia monooxygenase‐amoA, nitrite oxidoreductase‐nxrB, respectively) was conducted from long‐term managed and nearby native soils in Eastern Washington, USA. Native nitrifier population structure was altered profoundly by management. The native ammonia‐oxidizing archaeal community (comprised primarily by Nitrososphaera sister subclusters 1.1 and 2) was displaced by populations of Nitrosopumilus, Nitrosotalea and different assemblages of Nitrososphaera (subcluster 1.1, and unassociated lineages of Nitrososphaera). A displacement of ammonia‐oxidizing bacterial taxa was associated with management, with native groups of Nitrosospira (cluster 2 related, cluster 3A.2) displaced by Nitrosospira clusters 8B and 3A.1. A shift in nitrite‐oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was correlated with management, but distribution patterns could not be linked exclusively to management. Dominant nxrB sequences displayed only distant relationships to other NOB isolates and environmental clones.