bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perception of climate change and adaptation strategies in Vietnam
Authors: Mishra Ashok K. , Pede Valerian O.
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to first examine the factors affecting the intra-household perception of climate change. Second, the study investigates the impact of the perception of climatic stress on the operators’ and spouses’ intra-household adaptation strategies (farm and household financial strategies).

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses household survey data from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The study uses probit and negative binomial count data approaches to evaluate the empirical model.

Findings

Results confirm the existence of intra-household gender differences in the adaptation strategies. The authors found that although spouses perceive climatic stress, they are less likely to adapt to such stresses when it comes farming enterprise, but more likely to adapt to household financial strategies. In contrast, farm operators, in the presence of climatic stresses, undertake both farm and household finance adaptation strategies.

Practical implications

Investment in climate smart agriculture can help households in managing climatic stresses.

Originality/value

A farmer in Asia, and Vietnam in particular, faces significant risks from climatic changes. In Vietnam, agriculture is easily affected by natural disasters and climatic changes. This study provides insights into the perception of climatic changes by operators and spouses in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Perceived changes in the climate have a greater impact on women because they typically lack the necessary tools to adapt to climate change. The current findings could be useful in managing climatic risk in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta and be helpful to policymakers in designing risk management strategies in response to climatic changes.
Analysis of the extreme heat events in Iran
Authors: Yazdanpanah Hojjatollah , Eitzinger Josef , Baldi Marina
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the spatial and temporal variations of extreme hot days (H*) and heat wave frequencies across Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used daily maximum temperature (Tmax) data of 27 synoptic stations in Iran. These data were standardized using the mean and the standard deviation of each day of the year. An extreme hot day was defined when the Z score of daily maximum temperature of that day was equal or more than a given threshold fixed at 1.7, while a heat wave event was considered to occur when the Z score exceeds the threshold for at least three continuous days. According to these criteria, the annual frequency of extreme hot days and the number of heat waves were determined for all stations.

Findings

The trend analysis of H* shows a positive trend during the past two decades in Iran, with the maximum number of H* (110 cases) observed in 2010. A significant trend of the number of heat waves per year was also detected during 1991-2013 in all the stations. Overall, results indicate that Iran has experienced heat waves in recent years more often than its long-term average. There will be more frequent and intense hot days and heat waves across Iran until 2050, due to estimated increase of mean air temperature between 0.5-1.1 and 0.8-1.6 degree centigrade for Rcp2.6 and Rcp8.8 scenarios, respectively.

Originality/value

The trend analysis of hot days and heat wave frequencies is a particularly original aspect of this paper. It is very important for policy- and decision-makers especially in agriculture and health sectors of Iran to make some adaptation strategies for future frequent and intense hot days over Iran.
An investigation of the effects of storage assignment and picker routing on the occurrence of picker blocking in manual picker-to-parts warehouses
Authors: Franzke Torsten , Grosse Eric H. , Glock Christoph H. , Elbert Ralf
Published: June 2017

Purpose

Order picking is one of the most costly logistics processes in warehouses. As a result, the optimization of order picking processes has received an increased attention in recent years. One potential source for improving order picking is the reduction of picker blocking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate picker blocking under different storage assignment and order picker-route combinations and evaluate its effects on the performance of manual order picking processes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops an agent-based simulation model (ABS) for order picking in a rectangular warehouse. By employing an ABS, we are able to study the behaviour of individual order pickers and their interactions with the environment.

Findings

The simulation model determines shortest mean throughput times when the same routing policy is assigned to all order pickers. In addition, it evaluates the efficiency of alternative routing policies–storage assignment combinations.

Research limitations/implications

The paper implies that ABS is well-suited for further investigations in the field of picker blocking, for example, with respect to the individual behaviour of agents.

Practical implications

Based on the results of this paper, warehouse managers can choose an appropriate routing policy that best matches their storage assignment policy and the number of order pickers employed.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to comprehensively study the effects of different combinations of order picker routing and storage assignment policies on the occurrence of picker blocking.
Employees prefer information more than free food
Authors: Street Tamara D. , Lacey Sarah J. , Grambower Jade A.
Published: June 2017

Purpose

Nutrition behaviours have been linked to an increased risk of poor health and reduced productivity at work. Therefore, the workplace is a logical setting to implement nutrition-related programmes. Many existing workplace health promotion programmes (WHPPs) employ a standardised approach that typically attracts those who are already healthy or highly motivated to change. Understanding the factors that influence an individual’s desire to improve health and participate in nutrition WHPP will facilitate the development of highly engaging programmes that appeal to the greatest number of workers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 881 employees of an Australian mining company participated in a self-report health survey aimed at investigating employee predictors of desire to improve personal nutrition, desire for assistance with improving personal nutrition, and intention to participate in nutrition WHPPs.

Findings

Overall, females and older employees were most likely to intend to participate, with group information sessions garnering the widest appeal to employees.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that practitioners ought to include a group-based educational component designed to increase awareness particularly to employees who are nutritionally deficient and unlikely to voluntarily participate in strategies.

Originality/value

The innovative psychosocial research findings and recommendations outlined herein may be applied immediately to increase employee participation in workplace nutrition strategies.
Analyzing key success factors of local economic development in several remote areas in Indonesia
Authors: Rokhim Rofikoh , Wahyuni Sari , Wulandari Permata , Pinagara Fajar Ayu
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the potential of remote areas in Indonesia and find out the important variables that influence key success factors of Local Economic Regional Development (LERD) program in several areas.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of structured interviews were conducted with the chairman and staff of local government, academician, private sectors and locals who are induced to work together to improve quality of life, create new opportunities and fight poverty in Bau-Bau, Singkawang and Kupang. Subsequently, the results from the structured interviews were analyzed using qualitative analysis to arrive at the model of LERD in Indonesia.

Findings

The findings show that variables that influence the key success factors of LERD in this research are resources endowment, social capital and local support as independent variables; entrepreneurial strategy as moderating variable; and perceived performance as dependent variable.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted only in Indonesia which focused on local economic regional development in Indonesia. Despite this limitation, the findings of this study enable the construction of a general model that highlights LERD in chosen areas. The model is also expected to give an idea of how to develop economic region.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the literature on LERD by enabling researchers and practitioners to understand the model of LERD in Indonesia.
The rise of the Chinese regional cluster specializing in fashion in Lombardy
Authors: Ganzaroli Andrea , De Noni Ivan
Published: June 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the rise of a Chinese fashion cluster in Lombardy.

Design/methodology/approach

Three approaches and descending levels of analysis are integrated: a quantitative analysis based on demographic data to highlight the evolution of the regional distribution of the Chinese community and Chinese entrepreneurship in Lombardy; a literature review to reconstruct the historical development of Chinatown in Milan; and few in-depth interviews and a survey to represent how the Chinese living in Chinatown perceive the changing role of the enclave.

Findings

The Chinese in Lombardy are rising as a regional ethnic fashion cluster. This cluster is rising out of three major drivers: ethnic social capital as a source of community-based entrepreneurship; the crisis of traditional industrial districts in the 1990s as a trigger opportunity; and the trans-regionalization of the fashion industry as a main driver of its current development. The rise of this cluster is bottom-up.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on a single case study. There are evidences showing that the Chinese are rising as regional and/or inter-regional clusters in other institutional settings. However, this study may benefit from comparisons with other institutional and national contexts.

Practical implications

Chinese entrepreneurship may foster regional growth as a complementary source of cultural variety, internationalization and multi-regional co-specialization.

Social implications

Entrepreneurship may foster social cohesion and collaboration.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to existing literature by proposing a would-be theory of the evolution of regional ethnic clusters.
Capital structure management differences in Latin American and US firms after 2008 crisis
Authors: Rodrigues Santiago Valcacer , Moura Heber José de , Santos David Ferreira Lopes , Sobreiro Vinicius Amorim
Published: June 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the capital structure determining factors of Latin American and US corporations after the crisis of 2008, as a means of comparing theoretical assumptions and empirical results in markets of different efficiency levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The study sample comprises 1,091 companies belonging to the six largest economies in Latin America plus the USA, in the years 2009 to 2013. The authors performed a regression with data from a balanced overview, which were obtained by using the criterion of minimum weighted square.

Findings

The results demonstrated differences in determining factors of capital structure between companies from Latin America and from the USA. The pecking order theory was mostly observed in Latin American companies and the trade-off theory greater was closely aligned with US firms.

Originality/value

This research brings new contributions to the issue, once the differences and determinative of the debt profile in companies from different economic contexts are compared.
Using a naive Bayesian classifier methodology for loan risk assessment
Authors: Krichene Aida
Published: June 2017

Purpose

Loan default risk or credit risk evaluation is important to financial institutions which provide loans to businesses and individuals. Loans carry the risk of being defaulted. To understand the risk levels of credit users (corporations and individuals), credit providers (bankers) normally collect vast amounts of information on borrowers. Statistical predictive analytic techniques can be used to analyse or to determine the risk levels involved in loans. This paper aims to address the question of default prediction of short-term loans for a Tunisian commercial bank.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have used a database of 924 files of credits granted to industrial Tunisian companies by a commercial bank in the years 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The naive Bayesian classifier algorithm was used, and the results show that the good classification rate is of the order of 63.85 per cent. The default probability is explained by the variables measuring working capital, leverage, solvency, profitability and cash flow indicators.

Findings

The results of the validation test show that the good classification rate is of the order of 58.66 per cent; nevertheless, the error types I and II remain relatively high at 42.42 and 40.47 per cent, respectively. A receiver operating characteristic curve is plotted to evaluate the performance of the model. The result shows that the area under the curve criterion is of the order of 69 per cent.

Originality/value

The paper highlights the fact that the Tunisian central bank obliged all commercial banks to conduct a survey study to collect qualitative data for better credit notation of the borrowers.
Homeownership rates of financially constrained households
Authors: Enström-Öst Cecilia , Söderberg Bo , Wilhelmsson Mats
Published: June 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to examine tenure choice in the Swedish housing market with explicit consideration of households’ credit constraints in combination with age and ethnic background.

Design/methodology/approach

Observations of some 940,000 households were used to analyse the Stockholm housing market in 2008, prior to the implementation of the mortgage cap. The tenure choice models were estimated using a two-stage instrument variable (IV) logit and probit model with ownership or renting as outcome.

Findings

The results suggest, as expected, that being financially restricted is negatively related to owning. In particular, financial restriction is more binding for young households and households with a foreign background than for other types of households. These two sub-groups are also known to have difficulties establishing themselves in the rental housing market, and are therefore specifically vulnerable to further financial constraints such as borrowing restrictions or amortization requirements.

Originality/value

The government in Sweden has become concerned with the rapid growth in household indebtedness. As a response, a 0.85 loan-to-value ratio mortgage cap was introduced in 2010. However, critics are concerned with the effects this may have on the possibility for certain households to purchase a dwelling.
Cyclical capitalization and lag vacancy
Authors: d’Amato Maurizio
Published: June 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a new valuation method for income producing properties. The model originally called cyclical dividend discount models (d’Amato, 2003) has been recently proposed as a family of income approach methodologies called cyclical capitalization (d’Amato, 2013; d’Amato, 2015; d’Amato, 2017).

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed methodology tries to integrate real estate market cycle analysis and forecast inside the valuation process allowing the appraiser to deal with real estate market phases analysis and their consequence in the local real estate market.

Findings

The findings consist in the creation of a methodology proposed for market value and in particular for mortgage lending determination, as the model may have the capability to reach prudent opinion of value in all the real estate market phase.

Research limitations/implications

Research limitation consists mainly in a limited number of sample of time series of rent and in the forecast of more than a cap rate or yield rate even if it is quite commonly accepted the cyclical nature of the real estate market.

Practical implications

The implication of the proposed methodology is a modified approach to direct capitalization finding more flexible approaches to appraise income producing properties sensitive to the upturn and downturn of the real estate market.

Social implications

The model proposed can be considered useful for the valuation process of those property affected by the property market cycle, both in the mortgage lending and market value determination.

Originality/value

These methodologies try to integrate in the appraisal process the role of property market cycles. Cyclical capitalization modelling includes in the traditional dividend discount model more than one g-factor to plot property market cycle dealing with the future in a different way. It must be stressed the countercyclical nature of the cyclical capitalization that may be helpful in the determination of mortgage lending value. This is a very important characteristic of such models.
The effect of supply chain management practices on supply chain and manufacturing firms’ performance
Authors: Al-Shboul Moh’d Anwer Radwan , Barber Kevin D. , Garza-Reyes Jose Arturo , Kumar Vikas , Abdi M. Reza
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to theorise and develop seven dimensions (strategic supplier partnership, level of information sharing, quality of information sharing, customer service management, internal lean practices, postponement and total quality management) into a supply chain management (SCM) practices (SCMPs) construct and studies its causal relationship with the conceptualised constructs of supply chain performance (SCP) and manufacturing firms’ performance (MFP). The study also explores the causal relationship between SCP and MFP.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 249 Jordanian manufacturing firms. The relationships proposed in the developed theoretical framework were represented through three hypotheses:H1– there is a significant relationship between SCMPs and SCP;H2– there is a significant relationship between SCMPs and MFP; andH3– there is a significant relationship between SCP and MFP. Linear regression, ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to test the hypotheses. The results were further validated using structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results indicate that SCMPs have a positive effect on SCP (H1), which in turn also positively affect MFP (H3). Despite this intermediary positive effect of SCMP on MFP through SCP, the study also suggests that SCMPs have a direct and positive effect on MFP (H2).

Practical implications

This study provides hard evidence indicating that higher levels of SCMPs can lead to enhanced supply chain and firms’ performance. It also provides SC managers of manufacturing firms with a multi-dimensional operational measure of the construct of SCMPs for assessing the comprehensiveness of the SCMPs of their firms.

Originality/value

This study is among the very first SCM researches conducted on the Jordanian manufacturing sector, particularly, in relation to the practices that manufacturing firms in this country need to adopt to make their supply chains a solid competitive vehicle for their development. The results have broader implications for all manufacturing companies, particularly in developing economies where the growth of manufacturing and the development of integrated supply chains are key stages in economic development.
The relationship between novice and experienced EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and their burnout
Authors: Kalantari Soha , Kolahi Sholeh
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between novice and experienced English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ reflective teaching, and their burnout.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants who took part in this study included 158 (78 novice/80 experienced) EFL teachers of different ages (22-50) and teaching experience (1-25) from Tehran and Hamedan. They completed the English Language Teacher Reflective Inventory developed by Akbari et al. (2010), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator’s Survey developed by Maslach et al. (1996). The participants were selected via convenience sampling.

Findings

The results of two separate Pearson product-moment coefficients revealed that reflective teaching had a significant negative relationship with both novice and experienced EFL teachers’ burnout. Furthermore, the results of two separate regressions indicated that reflective teaching was a significant predictor of both novice and experienced EFL teachers’ burnout.

Originality/value

The findings of this study can help teacher educators and curriculum developers grasp a better picture of novice and experienced EFL instructors’ means of professional development (i.e. reflective teaching) and its relationship with educational and practical aspects of their career (i.e. burnout).
Promoting Muslims’ cooperation with police in counter-terrorism
Authors: Murphy Kristina , Madon Natasha S. , Cherney Adrian
Published: June 2017

Purpose

Procedural justice is important for fostering peoples’ willingness to cooperate with police. Theorizing suggests this relationship results because procedural justice enhances perceptions that the police are legitimate and entitled to be supported. The purpose of this paper is to examine how legitimacy perceptions moderate the effect of procedural justice policing on Muslims’ willingness to cooperate with police.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from 800 Muslims in Australia are used.

Findings

This study shows Muslims’ procedural justice perceptions are positively associated with two types of cooperation: willingness to cooperate with police in general crime control efforts; and willingness to report terror threats to police. Muslims’ perceptions of police legitimacy and law legitimacy also influence willingness to cooperate. Specifically, police legitimacy is more important for predicting general willingness to cooperate with police, while law legitimacy is more important for predicting Muslims’ willingness to report terror threats. Importantly, legitimacy perceptions moderate the relationship between procedural justice and both types of cooperation. Specifically, procedural justice promotes cooperation more strongly for those who question the legitimacy of police or the legitimacy of counter-terrorism laws, but the moderation effects differ across the two cooperation contexts. The findings have implications for procedural justice scholarship and for counter-terrorism policing.

Originality/value

The current paper examines an under-explored aspect of legitimacy; it examines police legitimacy perceptions, but also examines how people view the legitimacy of laws police enforce (i.e. law legitimacy). It is argued that perceptions about law legitimacy can also impact people’s willingness to cooperate with police.
Psychosocial safety climate versus team climate
Authors: Lee Michelle Chin Chin , Idris Mohd. Awang
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The importance of organizational climates in enhancing employees’ job performance is well studied in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and team climate on job performance, particularly through job engagement, by using a multilevel survey. The study also predicted that only PSC (and not team climate) predicted job resources (i.e. role clarity and performance feedback).

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 412 employees from 44 teams (72.6 per cent response rate) in Malaysian private organizations participated in the current study.

Findings

Research findings revealed that performance feedback and role clarity mediate the relationship between PSC and job engagement, and that there is no direct effect between the variables, team climate, and job resources. As expected, the study also discovered that job engagement mediates the relationship between PSC and team climate related to job performance.

Practical implications

This paper suggests the importance of PSC as the precursor to better working conditions (i.e. job resources) and to indirectly boosting employees’ engagement and job performance.

Originality/value

The study compared two distinctive organizational climate constructs that affect the different types of job resources using multilevel approach within the Asian context.
I hate my workplace but I am very attached to it: workplace attachment style
Authors: Scrima Fabrizio , Rioux Liliane , Di Stefano Giovanni
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether different patterns of workplace attachment exist and to explore the relations between adult attachment styles and the level of workplace attachment.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were 351 Italian employees who completed a questionnaire composed of the Workplace Attachment Scale and the Relationship Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using correspondence analysis.

Findings

The results showed that high scores on workplace attachment correlated significantly with secure attachment style, while low scores correlated with insecure attachment styles. These results shed light on different workplace attachment styles.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation in this study mostly concern the use of self-reporting instruments to measure the participants’ attachment style, since they may be susceptible to distortions. However, the distribution of attachment styles in this sample is similar to the worldwide distribution, which supports the authors’ choice.

Practical implications

To the extent that it is possible to identify a specific workplace attachment style, it should also be possible to change some of the human resource management practices inducing employees to develop a workplace secure attachment style.

Originality/value

Researchers tended to ignore the extension of the adult attachment behavioral system to examine core environmental relationships. The present study, applying attachment theory to workplace attachment, provides theoretical support that the bonds that an individual forms with workplace can be classified as attachment bonds.
The role of spiritual leadership in fostering inclusive workplaces
Authors: Gotsis George , Grimani Katerina
Published: June 2017

Purpose

Inclusion is of critical importance to creating healthier workplaces, if the ongoing dynamic of workforce diversity is taken for granted. The purpose of this paper is to designate the role of spiritual leadership in fostering more humane and inclusive workplaces.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors review the extant literature on two distinct research streams, inclusion and inclusive leadership, and spiritual leadership, elaborate a mediation model, identify antecedents and outcomes, and articulate a set of propositions reflecting key findings.

Findings

The authors advance a conceptual model according to which inclusive practices founded on spiritual values will mediate the positive relationship between spiritual leadership and a climate for inclusion. They argue that calling and membership as components of spiritual wellbeing will reinforce employees’ experience of both uniqueness and belongingness, thus affecting their perceptions of inclusion and inducing multi-level beneficial outcomes.

Practical implications

Spiritual leadership assumes a preeminent role in embracing and valuing diversity: it embodies a potential for positioning inclusive ideals more strategically, in view of enabling employees unfold their genuine selves and experience integration in work settings.

Social implications

Spiritual leadership helps inclusive goals to be situated in their societal context; inclusion is thus viewed as both an organizational and societal good, embedded in social contexts, and pertinent to corporate vision, mission and philosophy.

Originality/value

The paper examines spiritual leadership as a predictor of climates for inclusion. Drawing on spiritual values, spiritual leaders display a strong potential for inclusion, facilitating diverse employees to experience feelings of both belongingness and uniqueness in work settings that assume high societal relevance.
Attitude of bank credit managers and analysts towards firm diversification in Mozambique
Authors: Ibekwe Ibeawuchi
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to survey bank credit managers and analysts in Mozambique regarding their attitude toward firm diversification.

Design/methodology/approach

Forty-five credit managers and analysts from 23 banks in Mozambique were surveyed about their views on diversification and diversified firms. Questionnaires were used. Data were analyzed using chi-square test and binomial test.

Findings

Credit analysts and managers in Mozambique have a generally positive attitude toward diversification. This is mainly due to the coinsurance effects and stability of cash flows that diversification could provide. They, however, prefer moderately diversified to highly diversified firms and related to unrelated diversified firms. This is a puzzle, given the expectation that greater unrelated diversification is better able to provide coinsurance.

Practical implications

The study provides information that is useful for understanding the diversification–cost of capital relationship and could help corporate managers in making capital structure decisions.

Originality/value

Previous researchers have not studied the attitude of credit managers/analysts toward diversification in Mozambique using the survey approach. The study contributes to the literature on diversification and access to external finance, the diversification discount and cash holding behavior of firms.
Exotic flower visitors exploit large floral trait spaces resulting in asymmetric resource partitioning with native visitors
Authors: Kuppler Jonas , Höfers Maren K. , Trutschnig Wolfgang , Bathke Arne C. , Eiben Jesse A. , Daehler Curtis C. , Junker Robert R.
Published: June 2017

Exotic species often cause severe alterations in native communities due to their ability to rapidly and efficiently utilize a broad spectrum of resources. In flower–visitor interactions, the breadth of resource use by native and exotic animals as well as the partitioning of resources among them is often estimated based on the number of (shared) plant species used as resources. However, whether a flower visitor is able to exploit plant resources has been shown to be delimited by functional floral traits such as morphological barriers or attractive or repellent chemical cues. Each of the ecologically relevant traits can be viewed as a dimension of a Hutchinsonian n‐dimensional hypervolume, which characterizes the range of phenotypes exploitable by a species.

In this study, we quantified the sizes and overlaps of n‐dimensional hypervolumes defined by floral traits that are exploited by native and exotic flower visitors (afterwards referred to as exploited space, ES). In the heavily invaded Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, USA, we phenotyped 40 native and exotic plant species and recorded flower–visitor interactions. To quantify the size and overlap of ES, we applied dynamic range boxes.

On average, exotic flower visitors were more generalized in resource use (larger ES) than natives ones, which is additionally indicated by the absence of native flower visitors on exotic flowering plant species. In particular, ES based on floral scent emission was larger for exotic flower visitors compared to native ones. The unevenly expanded ES of native and exotic animals led to an asymmetric overlap of floral ES where exotic flower visitors shared only a small proportion of their ES with natives but occupied a large proportion of the ES of natives.

The asymmetry in resource use of native and exotic flower visitors suggests a potential advantage in resource exploitation of the latter, potentially explaining their success in Hawaiian ecosystems. Predicted range expansion of exotic plant and animal species may further increase the competition for and reduce the availability of resources for native animals. This may lead to further declines of native species and increasing threats for Hawaiian ecosystems.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Multiple Pseudomonas species secrete exolysin‐like toxins and provoke Caspase‐1‐dependent macrophage death
Authors: Basso Pauline , Wallet Pierre , Elsen Sylvie , Soleilhac Emmanuelle , Henry Thomas , Faudry Eric , Attrée Ina
Published: June 2017

Pathogenic bacteria secrete protein toxins that provoke apoptosis or necrosis of eukaryotic cells. Here, we developed a live‐imaging method, based on incorporation of a DNA‐intercalating dye into membrane‐damaged host cells, to study the kinetics of primary bone marrow‐derived macrophages (BMDMs) mortality induced by opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa expressing either Type III Secretion System (T3SS) toxins or the pore‐forming toxin, Exolysin (ExlA). We found that ExlA promotes the activation of Caspase‐1 and maturation of interleukin‐1β. BMDMs deficient for Caspase‐1 and Caspase‐11 were resistant to ExlA‐induced death. Furthermore, by using KO BMDMs, we determined that the upstream NLRP3/ASC complex leads to the Caspase‐1 activation. We also demonstrated that Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas protegens and the Drosophila pathogen Pseudomonas entomophila, which naturally express ExlA‐like toxins, are cytotoxic toward macrophages and provoke the same type of pro‐inflammatory death as does ExlA+ P. aeruginosa. These results demonstrate that ExlA‐like toxins of two‐partner secretion systems from diverse Pseudomonas species activate the NLRP3 inflammasome and provoke inflammatory pyroptotic death of macrophages.
Compositional and functional dynamics of the bovine rumen methanogenic community across different developmental stages
Authors: Friedman Nir , Jami Elie , Mizrahi Itzhak
Published: June 2017

Methanogenic archaea in the bovine rumen are responsible for the reduction of carbon molecules to methane, using various electron donors and driving the electron flow across the microbial food webs. Thus, methanogens play a key role in sustaining rumen metabolism and function. Research of rumen methanogenic archaea typically focuses on their composition and function in mature animals, while studies of early colonization and functional establishment remain scarce. Here, we investigated the metabolic potential and taxonomic composition of the methanogenic communities across different rumen developmental stages. We discovered that the methanogenesis process changes with age and that the early methanogenic community is characterized by a high activity of methylotrophic methanogenesis, likely performed by members of the order Methanosarcinales, exclusively found in young rumen. In contrast, higher hydrogenotrophic activity was observed in the mature rumen, where a higher proportion of exclusively hydrogenotrophic taxa are found. These findings suggest that environmental filtering acts on the archaeal communities and select for different methanogenic lineages during different growth stages, affecting the functionality of this ecosystem. This study provides a better understanding of the compositional and metabolic changes that occur in the rumen microbiome from its initial stages of colonization and throughout the animals' life.
Growth‐independent cross‐feeding modifies boundaries for coexistence in a bacterial mutualism
Authors: McCully Alexandra L. , LaSarre Breah , McKinlay James B.
Published: June 2017

Nutrient cross‐feeding can stabilize microbial mutualisms, including those important for carbon cycling in nutrient‐limited anaerobic environments. It remains poorly understood how nutrient limitation within natural environments impacts mutualist growth, cross‐feeding levels and ultimately mutualism dynamics. We examined the effects of nutrient limitation within a mutualism using theoretical and experimental approaches with a synthetic anaerobic coculture pairing fermentative Escherichia coli and phototrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris. In this coculture, E. coli and R. palustris resemble an anaerobic food web by cross‐feeding essential carbon (organic acids) and nitrogen (ammonium) respectively. Organic acid cross‐feeding stemming from E. coli fermentation can continue in a growth‐independent manner during nitrogen limitation, while ammonium cross‐feeding by R. palustris is growth‐dependent. When ammonium cross‐feeding was limited, coculture trends changed yet coexistence persisted under both homogenous and heterogenous conditions. Theoretical modelling indicated that growth‐independent fermentation was crucial to sustain cooperative growth under conditions of low nutrient exchange. In contrast to stabilization at most cell densities, growth‐independent fermentation inhibited mutualistic growth when the E. coli cell density was adequately high relative to that of R. palustris. Thus, growth‐independent fermentation can conditionally stabilize or destabilize a mutualism, indicating the potential importance of growth‐independent metabolism for nutrient‐limited mutualistic communities.
Inferring past demographic changes from contemporary genetic data: A simulation‐based evaluation of the ABC methods implemented in diyabc
Authors: Cabrera Andrea A. , Palsbøll Per J.
Published: June 2017

Inferring the demographic history of species and their populations is crucial to understand their contemporary distribution, abundance and adaptations. The high computational overhead of likelihood‐based inference approaches severely restricts their applicability to large data sets or complex models. In response to these restrictions, approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) methods have been developed to infer the demographic past of populations and species. Here, we present the results of an evaluation of the ABC‐based approach implemented in the popular software package diyabc using simulated data sets (mitochondrial DNA sequences, microsatellite genotypes and single nucleotide polymorphisms). We simulated population genetic data under five different simple, single‐population models to assess the model recovery rates as well as the bias and error of the parameter estimates. The ability of diyabc to recover the correct model was relatively low (0.49): 0.6 for the simplest models and 0.3 for the more complex models. The recovery rate improved significantly when reducing the number of candidate models from five to three (from 0.57 to 0.71). Among the parameters of interest, the effective population size was estimated at a higher accuracy compared to the timing of events. Increased amounts of genetic data did not significantly improve the accuracy of the parameter estimates. Some gains in accuracy and decreases in error were observed for scaled parameters (e.g., Neμ) compared to unscaled parameters (e.g., Ne and μ). We concluded that diyabc‐based assessments are not suited to capture a detailed demographic history, but might be efficient at capturing simple, major demographic changes.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Authors: GRATTON LYNDA
Published: June 2017

Artificial intelligence is transforming the employment landscape. So we must adapt our skills to exploit technology to the full, argues Lynda Gratton
Differentiating the Cochran‐Armitage Trend Test and Pearson's χ2 Test: Location and Dispersion
Authors: Zhou Zhengyang , Ku Hung‐Chih , Huang Zhipeng , Xing Guan , Xing Chao
Published: June 2017

In genetic case‐control association studies, a standard practice is to perform the Cochran‐Armitage (CA) trend test with 1 degree‐of‐freedom (d.f.) under the assumption of an additive model. However, when the true genetic model is recessive or near recessive, it is outperformed by Pearson's χ2 test with 2 d.f. In this article, we analytically reveal the statistical basis that leads to the phenomenon. First, we show that the CA trend test examines the location shift between the case and control groups, whereas Pearson's χ2 test examines both the location and dispersion shifts between the two groups. Second, we show that under the additive model, the effect of location deviation outweighs that of the dispersion deviation and vice versa under a near recessive model. Therefore, Pearson's χ2 test is a more robust test than the CA trend test, and it outperforms the latter when the mode of inheritance evolves to the recessive end.
The role of γδ‐T cells during human pregnancy
Authors: Huang Chunyu , Zeng Yong , Tu Wenwei
Published: June 2017

Pregnancy is an evolutionarily important and mysterious process. The placenta, as the nutrient and gas exchange organ, plays an essential role during this process. In addition, the interaction between trophoblast and maternal immune cells at the maternal–fetal interface is also associated with successful pregnancy. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules on trophoblast cells are involved in protecting the fetus from maternal rejection. Trophoblast cells comprise three subpopulations, including syncytiotrophoblast cells, cytotrophoblast cells, and extravillous trophoblast cells, and these cells express different HLA molecules. Syncytiotrophoblast and extravillous trophoblast cells encounter maternal immune cells from different sources, such as blood or decidua. The increased γδ‐T cells during human normal pregnancy indicate that these cells may play a role in this process. In peripheral blood, Vγ9Vδ2‐T cells display cytotoxicity through the recognition of phosphoantigens derived from pathogens. However, HLA‐E molecules protect the trophoblast cells from the cytotoxicity of Vγ9Vδ2‐T cells through binding to the inhibitory receptor, CD94/NKG2A. In decidua, the main Vδ1‐T cells maintain the pregnancy through the secretion of cytokines. In addition, the imbalance between Vγ9Vδ2‐T and Vδ1‐T cells, and the abnormal expression of the receptors on γδ‐T cells were observed in adverse pregnancy.
Bigeminal sandwiches galore
Authors: Lindow Thomas , Niklasson Angelica , Manna Daniel , Pahlm Olle
Published: June 2017

A long run of PVCs “sandwiched” in between the sinus beats resulting in an almost doubling of the heart rate—interpolated PVCs in bigeminy—is described. This case illustrates three interesting aspects of interpolated PVCs. Although they are not uncommon, long runs of interpolated PVCs in bigeminy are rare findings. In this case, the arrhythmia had a duration of 3 minutes. Second, it illustrates the “age‐old wisdom” of partial retrograde conduction. Also, even though the arrhythmia resulted in an almost doubling of the heart rate, the patient remained asymptomatic.
Sensitivity and Reliability of Halothane‐anaesthetized Microminipigs to Assess Risk of Drug‐induced Long QT Syndrome
Authors: Cao Xin , Wada Takeshi , Nakamura Yuji , Matsukura Suchitra , Izumi‐Nakaseko Hiroko , Ando Kentaro , Naito Atsuhiko T. , Sugiyama Atsushi
Published: June 2017

Using moxifloxacin and terfenadine, which are known to induce benign and malignant QT interval prolongation, respectively, we analysed whether halothane‐anaesthetized microminipigs are an appropriate model for assessing the risk of drug‐induced long QT syndrome. Moxifloxacin (0.03, 0.3 and 3 mg/kg) and terfenadine (0.03, 0.3 and 3 mg/kg) were intravenously infused over 10 min. with a pause of 20 min. to the halothane‐anaesthetized microminipigs (n = 4 for each drug). Moxifloxacin decreased the heart rate, whereas it increased the blood pressure in a dose‐related manner. It also prolonged the PR interval and QT/QTc in a dose‐related manner without altering the QRS width. Terfenadine decreased the heart rate and blood pressure, whereas it prolonged the PR interval, QRS width and QT/QTc in a dose‐related manner. Terfenadine significantly prolonged the beat‐to‐beat variability of QT interval reflecting its pro‐arrhythmic potential, which was not observed with moxifloxacin. The peak plasma concentrations of moxifloxacin and terfenadine after doses of 3 mg/kg were 4.81 and 10.15 μg/mL, respectively, which were both 1.5 times less in microminipigs than those previously reported in dogs. These results indicate that halothane‐anaesthetized microminipigs would be useful for detecting drug‐induced cardiovascular responses as well as differentiating benign from malignant QT interval prolongation like dogs, although there may be some differences in pharmacokinetic profile between these animals.
Positive Youth Development and Resilience: Growth Patterns of Social Skills Among Youth Investigated for Maltreatment
Authors: Oshri Assaf , Topple Trasie A. , Carlson Matthew W.
Published: June 2017

Maltreated children are a vulnerable population, yet many of these youth follow positive developmental pathways. The primary aim was to identify social skills growth trajectories among at‐risk youth to understand processes underlying resilience. Nationally representative, longitudinal data from 1,179 families investigated for child maltreatment (Mage = 12.75) were obtained from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being. Four trajectories were identified—stress‐resistant, emergent resilience, breakdown, and unresponsive‐maladaptive. Protective resources from multiple levels of the youth ecology (individual, family, school, and social service) predicted positive growth social skills trajectories. Resilience process and attendant positive outcomes in multiple domains of functioning were evident among the stress‐resistant and emergent resilience trajectories. Results underscore the saliency of social skills development for resilient outcomes in youth.
A time‐adjusted cortisol cut‐off can reduce referral rate for Synacthen stimulation test whilst maintaining diagnostic performance
Authors: Brown Suzanne , Hadlow Narelle , Badshah Imran , Henley David
Published: June 2017

Objective

Cortisol cut‐offs can predict requirement for Synacthen stimulation tests (SST). We assessed the performance of a standard cortisol cut‐off (375 nmol/L) across the morning and compared this with a time‐adjusted cut‐off.

Design

Retrospective audit

Patients

Community reference set (n=12 550) and SST patients (n=757).

Measurements

In the reference population, time‐specific cortisol medians were calculated and used to convert cortisol to time‐adjusted Multiples of the Median (MoM). In 757 SST patients, the predictive performance of a standard cortisol cut‐off (375 nmol/L) and its time‐adjusted MoM equivalent were compared.

Results

Median cortisol decreased by ~30 nmol/L per hour between 0700 and 1200h. In the reference population, proportions below the 375 nmol/L cut‐off increased throughout the morning (range 35%‐64%), whereas using the time‐adjusted MoM cut‐off proportions were consistent (range 46%‐50%), with a 17% maximal difference in referral rates between the two cut‐offs after 1100h. A similar pattern was noted in the SST cohort. When a cortisol MoM cut‐off was used to predict SST success, the excess proportion of patients tested and misclassification rates were lower and more consistent than when the standard cut‐off was used. A median cortisol of 375 nmol/L equated to 444 and 313 nmol/L before 0800 and after 1100 h, respectively.

Conclusion

The use of a standard cortisol cut‐off results in 17% more patients being referred for SST later in the morning. A time‐adjusted cortisol cut‐off provides consistent and lower referral rates, whilst maintaining similar or better performance than a standard single cut‐off in predicting outcome of SST.