bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Explicit expressions for totally symmetric spherical functions and symmetry-dependent properties of multipoles
Authors: Zapol Boris , Zapol Peter
Published: September 2014

Closed expressions for matrix elements 〈
lm'
|
A
(G)|
lm
〉, where |
lm
〉 are spherical functions and
A
(G) is the average of all symmetry operators of point group G, are derived for all point groups (PGs) and then used to obtain linear combinations of spherical functions that are totally symmetric under all symmetry operations of G. In the derivation, we exploit the product structure of the groups. The obtained expressions are used to explore properties of multipoles of symmetric charge distributions. We produce complete lists of selection rules for multipoles
Q

l

and their moments
Q

lm

, as well as of numbers of independent moments in a multipole, for any
l
and
m
and for all PGs. Periodicities and other trends in these properties are revealed.
Energy-based analysis of biochemical cycles using bond graphs
Authors: Gawthrop Peter J. , Crampin Edmund J.
Published: September 2014

Thermodynamic aspects of chemical reactions have a long history in the physical chemistry literature. In particular, biochemical cycles require a source of energy to function. However, although fundamental, the role of chemical potential and Gibb's free energy in the analysis of biochemical systems is often overlooked leading to models which are physically impossible. The bond graph approach was developed for modelling engineering systems, where energy generation, storage and transmission are fundamental. The method focuses on how power flows between components and how energy is stored, transmitted or dissipated within components. Based on the early ideas of network thermodynamics, we have applied this approach to biochemical systems to generate models which automatically obey the laws of thermodynamics. We illustrate the method with examples of biochemical cycles. We have found that thermodynamically compliant models of simple biochemical cycles can easily be developed using this approach. In particular, both stoichiometric information and simulation models can be developed directly from the bond graph. Furthermore, model reduction and approximation while retaining structural and thermodynamic properties is facilitated. Because the bond graph approach is also modular and scaleable, we believe that it provides a secure foundation for building thermodynamically compliant models of large biochemical networks.
Microbacterium petrolearium sp. nov., isolated from an oil-contaminated water sample
Authors: Wang Huimin , Xiang Tingsheng , Wang Yanwei , Song Jinlong , Zhai Yi , Chen Xiaorong , Li Yanting , Zhao Bingqiang , Zhao Bin , Ruan Zhiyong
Published: September 2014

A Gram-staining-positive, rod-shaped, aerobic bacterium, designated strain LAM0410T, was isolated from an oil-contaminated water sample from the Dagang Oilfield, PR China. The temperature and pH ranges for growth were 4 °C to 50 °C and pH 4.4 to pH 12.0, respectively. The strain did not need NaCl for growth, but could tolerate a concentration of up to 12 % (w/v). Cell wall hydrolysates from the isolate showed that the diamino acid was ornithine. The cell wall sugars contained ribose and galactose. The glycan moiety of the cell wall contained N-glycolyl residues. The major respiratory quinones were MK-10, MK-11 and MK-12. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and nine unknown glycolipids. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the isolate belonged to the genus

Microbacterium

and was closely related to

Microbacterium sediminis

MCCC 1A06153T and

Microbacterium murale

DSM 22178T with 97.5 % and 97.4 % sequence similarities, respectively; while the DNA–DNA hybridization values were 33.1±3.4 % and 21.8±1.6 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content was 67.4 mol%, as determined by the T
m method. Based on its phenotypic and genotypic properties, strain LAM0410T represents a novel species of the genus

Microbacterium

, for which the name Microbacterium
petrolearium sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is LAM0410T ( = ACCC 00719T = JCM 19612T).
Flavobacterium gyeonganense sp. nov., isolated from freshwater, and emended descriptions of Flavobacterium chungangense, Flavobacterium aquidurense, Flavobacterium tructae and Flavobacterium granuli
Authors: Kim Haneul , Kang Heeyoung , Joung Yochan , Joh Kiseong
Published: September 2014

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated HME7524T, was isolated from freshwater of Gyeong-an stream in Korea. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain HME7524Tformed a distinct lineage within the genusFlavobacteriumand exhibited high sequence similarity withFlavobacterium chungangenseCJ7T(96.9 %),Flavobacterium aquidurenseWB-1.1.56T(96.9 %),Flavobacterium tructae435-08T(96.9 %) andFlavobacterium granuliKw05T(96.9 %). The major fatty acids of strain HME7524Twere iso-C15 : 0(26.5 %) and summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω6cand/or C16 : 1ω7c; 17.4 %). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified aminolipids and three unidentified polar lipids. The major respiratory quinone was MK-6. The DNA G+C content of strain HME7524Twas 34.2 mol%. On the basis of the evidence presented in this study, strain HME7524Trepresents a novel species of the genusFlavobacterium, for which the nameFlavobacterium gyeonganensesp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is HME7524T( = KACC 17688T = CECT 8365T). Emended descriptions ofFlavobacterium chungangense,Flavobacterium aquidurense,Flavobacterium tructaeandFlavobacterium granuliare also provided.
Erythrobacter lutimaris sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat sediment
Authors: Jung Yong-Taek , Park Sooyeon , Lee Jung-Sook , Yoon Jung-Hoon
Published: September 2014

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, coccoid- or oval-shaped bacterial strain, designated S-5T, belonging to the class

Alphaproteobacteria

, was isolated from a tidal flat sediment of the Yellow Sea, Korea and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. Strain S-5T grew optimally at pH 7.0–8.0, at 30 °C and in the presence of 2–3 % (w/v) NaCl. Neighbour-joining analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain S-5T fell within the clade comprising the species of the genus

Erythrobacter

, clustering with the type strains of

Erythrobacter pelagi

,

Erythrobacter citreus

and

Erythrobacter seohaensis

with which it exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (96.0–96.7 %). The DNA G+C content was 66.0 mol%. Strain S-5T contained Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c) and C17 : 1ω6c as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified glycolipid and two unidentified lipids. Differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain S-5T is distinguishable from other species of the genus

Erythrobacter

. On the basis of the data presented, strain S-5T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus

Erythrobacter

, for which the name Erythrobacter
lutimaris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S-5T ( = KCTC 42109T = CECT 8624T).
Grain setting defect1, Encoding a Remorin Protein, Affects the Grain Setting in Rice through Regulating Plasmodesmatal Conductance
Authors: Gui Jinshan , Liu Chang , Shen Junhui , Li Laigeng
Published: September 2014

Effective grain filling is one of the key determinants of grain setting in rice (Oryza sativa). Grain setting defect1 (GSD1), which encodes a putative remorin protein, was found to affect grain setting in rice. Investigation of the phenotype of a transfer DNA insertion mutant (gsd1-Dominant) with enhanced GSD1 expression revealed abnormalities including a reduced grain setting rate, accumulation of carbohydrates in leaves, and lower soluble sugar content in the phloem exudates. GSD1 was found to be specifically expressed in the plasma membrane and plasmodesmata (PD) of phloem companion cells. Experimental evidence suggests that the phenotype of the gsd1-Dominant mutant is caused by defects in the grain-filling process as a result of the impaired transport of carbohydrates from the photosynthetic site to the phloem. GSD1 functioned in affecting PD conductance by interacting with rice ACTIN1 in association with the PD callose binding protein1. Together, our results suggest that GSD1 may play a role in regulating photoassimilate translocation through the symplastic pathway to impact grain setting in rice.
Systematic Phenotypic Screen of Arabidopsis Peroxisomal Mutants Identifies Proteins Involved in β-Oxidation
Authors: Cassin-Ross Gaëlle , Hu Jianping
Published: September 2014

Peroxisomes are highly dynamic and multifunctional organelles essential to development. Plant peroxisomes accommodate a multitude of metabolic reactions, many of which are related to the β-oxidation of fatty acids or fatty acid-related metabolites. Recently, several dozens of novel peroxisomal proteins have been identified from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) through in silico and experimental proteomic analyses followed by in vivo protein targeting validations. To determine the functions of these proteins, we interrogated their transfer DNA insertion mutants with a series of physiological, cytological, and biochemical assays to reveal peroxisomal deficiencies. Sugar dependence and 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid and 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid response assays uncovered statistically significant phenotypes in β-oxidation-related processes in mutants for 20 of 27 genes tested. Additional investigations uncovered a subset of these mutants with abnormal seed germination, accumulation of oil bodies, and delayed degradation of long-chain fatty acids during early seedling development. Mutants for seven genes exhibited deficiencies in multiple assays, strongly suggesting the involvement of their gene products in peroxisomal β-oxidation and initial seedling growth. Proteins identified included isoforms of enzymes related to β-oxidation, such as acyl-CoA thioesterase2, acyl-activating enzyme isoform1, and acyl-activating enzyme isoform5, and proteins with functions previously unknown to be associated with β-oxidation, such as Indigoidine synthase A, Senescence-associated protein/B12D-related protein1, Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase, and Unknown protein5. This multipronged phenotypic screen allowed us to reveal β-oxidation proteins that have not been discovered by single assay-based mutant screens and enabled the functional dissection of different isoforms of multigene families involved in β-oxidation.
Orthorhombic sphere packings. V. Trivariant lattice complexes of space groups belonging to crystal class 222
Authors: Sowa Heidrun
Published: September 2014

This paper completes the derivation of all types of homogeneous sphere packing with orthorhombic symmetry. The nine orthorhombic trivariant lattice complexes belonging to the space groups of crystal class 222 were examined in regard to the existence of homogeneous sphere packings and of interpenetrating sets of layers of spheres. Altogether, sphere packings of 84 different types have been found; the maximal inherent symmetry is orthorhombic for only 36 of these types. In addition, interpenetrating sets of 63nets occur once. All lattice complexes with orthorhombic characteristic space group give rise to 260 different types of sphere packing in total. The maximal inherent symmetry is orthorhombic for 160 of these types. Sphere packings of 13 types can also be generated with cubic, those of seven types with hexagonal and those of 80 types with tetragonal symmetry. In addition, ten types of interpenetrating sphere packing and two types of sets of interpenetrating sphere layers are obtained. Most of the sphere packings can be subdivided into layer-like subunits perpendicular to one of the orthorhombic main axes.
Twelvefold symmetric quasicrystallography from the latticesF4,B6andE6
Authors: Koca Nazife O. , Koca Mehmet , Koc Ramazan
Published: September 2014

One possible way to obtain the quasicrystallographic structure is the projection of the higher-dimensional lattice into two- or three-dimensional subspaces. Here a general technique applicable to any higher-dimensional lattice is introduced. The Coxeter number and the integers of the Coxeter exponents of a Coxeter–Weyl group play a crucial role in determining the plane onto which the lattice is to be projected. The quasicrystal structures display the dihedral symmetry of order twice that of the Coxeter number. The eigenvectors and the corresponding eigenvalues of the Cartan matrix are used to determine the set of orthonormal vectors inn-dimensional Euclidean space which lead to suitable choices for the projection subspaces. The maximal dihedral subgroup of the Coxeter–Weyl group is identified to determine the symmetry of the quasicrystal structure. Examples are given for 12-fold symmetric quasicrystal structures obtained by projecting the higher-dimensional lattices determined by the affine Coxeter–Weyl groupsWa(F4),Wa(B6) andWa(E6). These groups share the same Coxeter numberh= 12 with different Coxeter exponents. The dihedral subgroupD12of the Coxeter groups can be obtained by defining two generatorsR1andR2as the products of generators of the Coxeter–Weyl groups. The reflection generatorsR1andR2operate in the Coxeter planes where the Coxeter elementR1R2of the Coxeter–Weyl group represents the rotation of order 12. The canonical (strip, equivalently, cut-and-project technique) projections of the lattices determine the nature of the quasicrystallographic structures with 12-fold symmetry as well as the crystallographic structures with fourfold and sixfold symmetry. It is noted that the quasicrystal structures obtained from the latticesWa(F4) andWa(B6) are compatible with some experimental results.
Determinants of bank performance: evidence for Latin America
Authors: Jara‐Bertin Mauricio , Arias Moya José , Rodríguez Perales Arturo
Published: September 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of macroeconomic‐industrial and bank‐specific factors on Latin American banks’ performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the data panel system estimator version of the generalized method of moments, the authors estimate the determinants of return on assets and interest margin for a sample of 78 commercial banks from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, México, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela over the period from 1995 to 2010.

Findings

On the one hand, the results show that bank performance is positively related to both idiosyncratic factors, such as service diversification, size, capital ratio, and specialization degree, and to macroeconomic‐industrial factors such as economic growth, inflation, and bank concentration. On the other hand, the results show that bank performance is negatively related to credit risk, liquidity risk, and operational inefficiencies.

Originality/value

The authors provide new evidence from the Latin American bank industry and incorporate the effect of diversification through noninterest activities.
Business group characteristics and firm operating performance: evidence from Chile
Authors: Farías Pablo
Published: September 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of business group characteristics on firm‐operating performance in Chile.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a multiple regression model, this study examines the effect of business group characteristics (interlocking of directors, management concentration, and business group specialization) on operating performance (ROA growth) in a sample of 104 publicly traded Chilean firms.

Findings

It is documented that, except for interlocking of directors, the two other business group characteristics (management concentration and business group specialization) are significantly related to the operating performance of firms belonging to Chilean business groups. These findings suggest that Chilean business groups would improve or deteriorate the performance of their affiliated firms modifying its characteristics.

Originality/value

Too little is known about the effect of business group characteristics on firm‐operating performance in Latin American countries such as Chile because there is no research that analyses its impact on firm‐operating performance in the region.
HR powers turn-around at Talcher thermal plant
Authors: Kumar Sahoo Chandan
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper id to observe how imaginative human resource (HR) management has helped overcome resistance and improve performance following the takeover of the Talcher thermal power station in Odisha, India, by central government’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

Design/methodology/approach

– Explores how a performance-management system, training and employee-involvement schemes have helped to reconcile the workforce to working practices designed to increase production and return the plant to profit.

Findings

– This paper explains that HR is now run in a more codified and less capricious way.

Practical implications

– This paper reveals that the plant, which now provides one of the cheapest sources of thermal power in India, is contributing to the overall wealth of the state in which it is situated.

Social implications

– It examines, in particular, how employee involvement is helping calm workforce fears over restructuring.

Originality/value

– It provides the inside story of the turn-around at an Indian power plant.
The value of employees who go the extra mile
Authors: P. Bandura Randall , R. Lyons Paul
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of voluntary, helpful organizational behavior and offer a discussion of research that aims to help managers to encourage such behavior among their employees.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper discusses voluntary, helpful organizational behavior based on a review of recent research, as well as findings from the authors’ research.

Findings

– This paper explains that voluntary, helpful organizational behavior could include, for example, taking the initiative to increase one’s knowledge about the job, technology, tools, industry, competitors and so on; making constructive suggestions; taking the initiative to help solve unexpected problems; working diligently to meet some deadlines; and volunteering to help with some tasks that are not part of one’s normal task duties.

Practical implications

– The authors reveal that for voluntary, helpful organizational behavior to flourish, manager or supervisor supportiveness is important; management should provide and reinforce procedural justice in the workplace; managers should help employees in attaining job satisfaction; and managers should use positive reinforcement.

Social implications

– A set of behaviors that can be useful not only in the work environment but also in society as a whole has been described.

Originality/value

– This paper points out that there is little information in practitioner journals addressing the behaviors in pragmatic terms. It also offers practical suggestions for human resource management.
How green was my valley
Authors: María Arranz José , García-Serrano Carlos
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the wage distribution in Spain, its evolution in recent years and the implications for increased wage dispersion. Accordingly, its attention focuses on the following issues: first, the paper investigates how personal, job and firm attributes affect the wages distribution and examine earnings differentials between and within groups of workers according to their individual and job characteristics throughout the conditional wage distribution; and second, the paper analyses whether the business cycle may influence the magnitude of these differentials.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using administrative data from the Spanish Social Security and the Tax Administration National Agency, the paper estimates OLS and quantile regression (QR) models in order to assess the impact of personal, job and workplace attributes on between- and within-groups wage inequality.

Findings

– Among other things, we find that, although the average wage has been increasing over time (until 2009), changes have not been uniform across the earnings distribution, making the dispersion fall during boom years but rise during downturn years. Furthermore, changes in the impacts of some characteristics (types of contract, education/qualifications, region and employer size) contributed to higher wage dispersion, while others (tenure) made the distribution more equal.

Originality/value

– The analysis of the paper in novel in that it investigates whether wage differentials respond to the business cycle and what the source of that variation is. Moreover, it analyses wages differentials not only at the mean but also throughout the conditional earnings distribution, making it possible to assess the impact of these attributes on between- and within-groups wage inequality.
When should advanced planning and scheduling systems be used in sales and operations planning?
Authors: Kjellsdotter Ivert Linea , Jonsson Patrik
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore how the context affects successful use of advanced planning and scheduling (APS) systems in sales and operations planning (S&OP) processes, and how individual, technological, and organizational (ITO) dimensions affect this procedure.

Design/methodology/approach

– This is a qualitative case study of two APS system-supported S&OP processes. The work aims to generate propositions concerning the relationships among the use of APS system, the context, ITO dimensions, and fulfillment of S&OP aims.

Findings

– Use of APS systems was especially appropriate in support of S&OP processes in complex planning environments and when S&OP aims were ambitious. ITO dimensions were important influences on successful APS system use in most contexts. APS systems were not considered appropriate when having S&OP processes with ambitious aims and low individual and organizational maturities. Use of APS systems was also inappropriate when the extent of technological maturity was minimal. S&OP processes with ambitious aims, operating within a complex planning environment, are difficult if not impossible to implement without the support of APS systems.

Practical implications

– The suggestions on when APS systems should be used in different S&OP environments will be useful to companies implementing or about to implement APS systems.

Originality/value

– APS systems offer great potential if they are effectively used to support S&OP, still the use of APS system in S&OP is unexplored. The paper shows how the context and the ITO dimensions affect the successful use of APS systems in S&OP processes.
Towards a unifying theory of management standard implementation
Authors: Ivanova Albena , Gray John , Sinha Kingshuk
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated theoretical framework of the interrelation of the key success factors in the process of standards implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Extensive case study work was carried out in ten American plants that had adopted ISO 9001 and or ISO 14001. First, within-case analysis captures the uniqueness of the implementation processes at each plant and leads to construction of the causal maps. Next, cross-case comparison identifies the key factors and the relationship between them, resulting in the theoretical framework.

Findings

– The key factors affecting implementation effectiveness include focus on internal improvement, top management support, design of the system around existing processes, use of information technology, positive employees’ attitude, and employees’ usage of the system. The resulting framework suggests three alternative pathways to effective implementation of standards: (i) incentives pathway, i.e., by providing the right incentives; (ii) integration pathway, i.e., by designing the system around existing processes; and (iii) information technology pathway, i.e., by using information technology.

Research limitations/implications

– The key contribution of this research is the integrated theoretical framework.

Practical implications

– Practically, this framework provides managers a clear depiction of the key actions required at each stage of standard implementation.

Originality/value

– To the best of our knowledge, this is the first integrated framework of the factors affecting standard adoption. We believe this framework is applicable to other meta-standards.
An approach to enhance availability of repairable systems: a case study of SPMs
Authors: Singh Jolly Sukhwinder , Jit Singh Bikram
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a tactical approach to cope with the issues related to low availability of repairable machines or systems because of their poor reliability and maintainability. It not only explores the significance of availability, but also embarks upon a step-by-step procedure to earmark a relevant replenishment plan to check the mean time between failure (MTBF) and the mean time to repair (MTTR) efficiently.

Design/methodology/approach

– The literature review identifies the extent to which availability depends on reliability and maintainability, and highlights the diversified challenges appearing among repairable systems. Different improvement initiatives have been suggested to avoid downtime, after analyzing the failure and repair time data graphically. Relevant plots and growth curves captured the historical deviations and trends along with the time, which further helps to create more robust action plans to enrich the respective reliability and maintainability of machines. During the case study, the proposed methodology has been tested on four SPMs and successfully validated the claims after achieving around a 98 percent availability at the end.

Findings

– Graphical analysis is the key to developing suitable action plans to enhance the corresponding reliability and maintainability of a machine or system. By increasing the MTBF, the reliability level can be improved and similarly quick maintenance activities can help to restore the prospect of maintainability. Both of these actions ultimately reduce the downtime or increase the associated availability exponentially.

Research limitations/implications

– The work revolves around the availability of SPMs. Moreover, SPMs have been divided only into series sub-systems. The testability and supportability aspects have not been considered thoroughly during the fabrication of the approach.

Originality/value

– The work focusses on the availability of systems and proposed frameworks that helps to reduce downtime or its associated expenditure, which is generally being ignored. As a case study-based work especially on SPMs in the auto sector this paper is quite rare and will motivate affiliated engineers and practitioners to achieve future breakthroughs.
An XSketch-based spelling suggestion approach for XML keyword search
Authors: Li Sheng , Wang Junhu
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the spelling suggestion (SS) problem for extensible markup language (XML) keyword search, which provides users with alternative queries that may better express users search intention.

Design/methodology/approach

– To return the suggested queries more efficiently, the authors evaluate the quality of the query by estimating the selectivity and quality of each query pattern. The selectivity estimation is based on the XSketch synopsis, which summarizes the structure and value distribution of the original XML data source. The authors propose an approach to generating the top-K query candidates.

Findings

– Experiments with real datasets verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the authors' approach.

Originality/value

– The authors proposed a SS approach based on the XSketch summary.
Enthusiastically consuming organic food
Authors: Rong-Da Liang Austin
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to integrate food-related lifestyle (FRL) approaches and perspectives from the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate the profiles of consumers who purchase organic food online and to analyze differences in the related behaviors of consumers with different FRLs.

Design/methodology/approach

– A link to a web site explaining the content and presenting an online questionnaire was provided through the e-newsletters of five well-known Taiwanese organic food distributors. Respondents were given NT$50 e-gift coupons after they had completed the questionnaire. A total of 950 questionnaires were distributed, and 753 valid samples were obtained.

Findings

– Attitudes toward purchasing organic food online had the greatest positive influence on purchase intentions, followed by cognitive control and, finally, subjective norms. Populations with different FRLs were divided into traditional food, uninvolved food, and enthusiastic food shoppers, and these all showed significant differences with respect to the TPB model, their online organic food purchasing profiles, and demographic variables.

Originality/value

– Organic food businesses draw on various features of the internet to solve issues such as the difficulty of storing and transporting perishable food items. However, few studies have combined theories of online consumer behavior with food characteristics and psychographic approaches to analyze the overall consumer profiles of purchasers of organic food. The author believes that the conclusions of this study may be used by the food industry to analyze consumer demand, draw inferences about organic food-related habits in consumers’ everyday lives, and design more appropriate internet marketing strategies.
Challenges for B2B research relevance: a top executive perspective
Authors: Kuusela Hannu , Närvänen Elina , Saarijärvi Hannu , Yrjölä Mika
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the challenges of business-to-business (B2B) research relevance from the point of view of top executives.

Design/methodology/approach

– Ten in-depth interviews with top executives from different B2B industries were conducted and analyzed by using Arndt’s (1985) elements of a healthy discipline, i.e. knowledge, problems and instruments.

Findings

– The findings reveal 12 challenges that characterize contemporary B2B research relevance from a top executive perspective.

Research limitations/implications

– The research offers genuine top executive insight. More research from different perspectives is needed to broaden the understanding of B2B research relevance.

Originality/value

– Reflecting B2B research with the identified challenges can contribute to better research designs, narrowing the gap between B2B scholars and practitioners. Altogether, it contributes to the health of the B2B discipline. The study also introduces a new approach to analyzing research relevance by using the elements of scientific balance.
Sport sponsorship alliances: relationship management for shared value
Authors: Morgan Ashlee , Adair Daryl , Taylor Tracy , Hermens Antoine
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– Using a case study of an international sport event, the purpose of this paper is to examine the inter-organisational relationship between a sport event property and its corporate sponsors.

Design/methodology/approach

– Interviews were conducted with personnel from the national sport organisation responsible for the delivery of this major event, and from four of its corporate sponsorship partners.

Findings

– The findings indicated that both formal and informal governance were critical to the relationships underpinning these sponsorship alliances. From a dyadic perspective, it was found that the satisfaction of sponsorship partners had two key elements: tangible commercial benefits from the sponsor-sponsee alliance, and the less tangible but nonetheless valuable relationship support within the partnership. In short, partner satisfaction and alliance stability stemmed from relational constructs and the balance of formal governance mechanisms.

Originality/value

– This paper explores the variables that generate value and maintain alliance stability for improved sponsorship governance. These findings, while focused on a single case study, have implications for research in the field of sponsorship and to the area of business-to-business relationships more broadly.
Dynamic governance: a new leadership model for Non-Execs
Authors: Moynahan Will
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this article is to present the latest Heidrick and Struggles (H&S) corporate governance report, Towards Dynamic Governance 2014. H&S have been monitoring the behaviour and habits of European boards for the past 15 years. Every two years they publish their European corporate governance report.

Design/methodology/approach

– H&S scrutinise the composition of boards in terms of gender, nationality and age; examine their tenure and the regularity of their meetings, and question how collective decisions are made. Using both quantitative and qualitative data collection, they canvass the opinions of board members drawn from the top listed companies of 15 European markets, formulating a unique and shifting bird’s eye view.

Findings

– H&S latest corporate governance report, Towards Dynamic Governance 2014, was published in March this year. There is no doubt, if we cast our eyes back to 1999, when the first report was prepared, that there have been notable improvements. The commitment, diversity and flexibility of boards is on the up. Sixty-eight per cent of boards in The Netherlands continue to combine the roles of the chief executive officer and Chair, and 40 per cent of boards in Poland still include no female directors, but the overall trend revealed by the data is positive.

Originality/value

– This is a brand new study made up of both quantitative and qualitative data. The report compares the behaviour and progress of different countries but perhaps even more revealing are the conversations with board directors and executive teams conducted as part of the report’s board effectiveness survey. These inputs enable H&S to tell a more nuanced story and to draw conclusions about the ideal future for European boards.
Clinical decision rule to prevent unnecessary chest X‐ray in patients with blunt multiple traumas
Authors: Forouzanfar Mohammad Mehdi , Safari Saeed , Niazazari Maryam , Baratloo Alireza , Hashemi Behrooz , Hatamabadi Hamid Reza , Rahmati Farhad , Sanei Taheri Morteza
Published: September 2014

Background

Since the diagnostic yield of chest X‐ray (CXR) is not high enough, when it is ordered for all the multiple trauma patients, this study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between clinical and CXR findings in order to formulate a clinical decision rule to prevent unnecessary CXR in these patients.

Methods

Stable multiple blunt trauma patients referring to the ED were included. The clinical and radiographic findings of all the patients were collected and the relationships between these variables analysed. Finally, based on the regression coefficients (β) of the variables, the Thoracic Injury Rule‐out Criteria (TIRC) were designed.

Results

A total of 2607 patients were included (males: 78.9%, mean age: 34.1 ± 15.0 years). Age over 60 (β = 0.8; 95% CI: 0.27–1.34; P = 0.003), crepitation (β = 4.33; 95% CI: 1.65–7.0; P < 0.001), loss of consciousness (β = 3.16; 95% CI: 2.44–3.88; P < 0.001), decrease in pulmonary sounds (β = 2.67; 95% CI: 1.73–3.6; P < 0.001), chest wall pain (β = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.63–2.61; P < 0.001) and tenderness (β = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.26–2.27; P < 0.001), dyspnea (β = 1.3; 95% CI: 0.41–2.18; P = 0.004) and abrasion (β = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.22–0.83; P = 0.03) were independent factors predicting thoracic injury. CXR in stable conscious multiple blunt trauma patients under 60 years, without chest wall pain and tenderness, decrease in pulmonary sounds, crepitation, skin abrasion, and dyspnea did not provide any additional findings.

Conclusions

Based on TIRC, it seems that CXR in stable multiple blunt trauma patients who are conscious and under 60 and have no decrease in pulmonary sounds, no dyspnea, no thoracic skin abrasion, and no crepitation can be ignored.
Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogenic Bacteria in Selected Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Countries
Authors: Curtis Dennis , Hill Arthur , Wilcock Anne , Charlebois Sylvain
Published: September 2014

The World Ranking Food Safety Performance reports by Charlebois in 2008 and 2010 importantly stimulated international discussion and encouraged efforts to establish realistic international benchmarks for food safety performance among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. This paper presents the international incidence of 5 common foodborne pathogens and describes the challenges of comparing international data. Data were compiled from surveillance authorities in the countries, such as the Natl. Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System of Australia; the Canadian Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System; the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA; the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan; New Zealand Food Safety Authority; and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The highest average rates in cases per 100000 people over the 12‐y period from 2000 to 2011 for Campylobacter spp. (237.47), Salmonella spp. (67.08), Yersinia spp. (12.09), Verotoxigenic/Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (3.38), and Listeria monocytogenes (1.06) corresponded, in order, to New Zealand, Belgium, Finland, Canada, and Denmark. Comparatively, annual average rates for these 5 pathogens showed an increase over the 12‐y period in 28%, 17%, 14%, 50%, and 6% of the countries for which data were available. Salmonella spp. showed a decrease in 56% of the countries, while incidence of L. monocytogenes was constant in most countries (94%). Variable protocols for monitoring incidence of pathogens among OECD countries remain. Nevertheless, there is evidence of sufficient standardization of monitoring protocols such as the European Surveillance System, which has contributed to reduce this gap.
Associations between age and gray matter volume in anatomical brain networks in middle‐aged to older adults
Authors: Hafkemeijer Anne , Altmann‐Schneider Irmhild , de Craen Anton J. M. , Slagboom P. Eline , van der Grond Jeroen , Rombouts Serge A. R. B.
Published: September 2014

Aging is associated with cognitive decline, diminished brain function, regional brain atrophy, and disrupted structural and functional brain connectivity. Understanding brain networks in aging is essential, as brain function depends on large‐scale distributed networks. Little is known of structural covariance networks to study inter‐regional gray matter anatomical associations in aging. Here, we investigate anatomical brain networks based on structural covariance of gray matter volume among 370 middle‐aged to older adults of 45–85 years. For each of 370 subjects, we acquired a T1‐weighted anatomical MRI scan. After segmentation of structural MRI scans, nine anatomical networks were defined based on structural covariance of gray matter volume among subjects. We analyzed associations between age and gray matter volume in anatomical networks using linear regression analyses. Age was negatively associated with gray matter volume in four anatomical networks (P < 0.001, corrected): a subcortical network, sensorimotor network, posterior cingulate network, and an anterior cingulate network. Age was not significantly associated with gray matter volume in five networks: temporal network, auditory network, and three cerebellar networks. These results were independent of gender and white matter hyperintensities. Gray matter volume decreases with age in networks containing subcortical structures, sensorimotor structures, posterior, and anterior cingulate cortices. Gray matter volume in temporal, auditory, and cerebellar networks remains relatively unaffected with advancing age.
Forest carbon in lowland Papua New Guinea: Local variation and the importance of small trees
Authors: Vincent John B. , Henning Bridget , Saulei Simon , Sosanika Gibson , Weiblen George D.
Published: September 2014

Efforts to incentivize the reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation require accurate carbon accounting. The extensive tropical forest of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a target for such efforts and yet local carbon estimates are few. Previous estimates, based on models of neotropical vegetation applied to PNG forest plots, did not consider such factors as the unique species composition of New Guinea vegetation, local variation in forest biomass, or the contribution of small trees. We analysed all trees >1 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) in Melanesia's largest forest plot (Wanang) to assess local spatial variation and the role of small trees in carbon storage. Above‐ground living biomass (AGLB) of trees averaged 210.72 Mg  ha−1 at Wanang. Carbon storage at Wanang was somewhat lower than in other lowland tropical forests, whereas local variation among 1‐ha subplots and the contribution of small trees to total AGLB were substantially higher. We speculate that these differences may be attributed to the dynamics of Wanang forest where erosion of a recently uplifted and unstable terrain appears to be a major source of natural disturbance. These findings emphasize the need for locally calibrated forest carbon estimates if accurate landscape level valuation and monetization of carbon is to be achieved. Such estimates aim to situate PNG forests in the global carbon context and provide baseline information needed to improve the accuracy of PNG carbon monitoring schemes.
Laminin gene LAMB4 is somatically mutated and expressionally altered in gastric and colorectal cancers
Authors: Choi Mi Ryoung , An Chang Hyeok , Yoo Nam Jin , Lee Sug Hyung
Published: September 2014

Laminins are important in tumor invasion and metastasis as well as in maintenance of normal epithelial cell structures. However, mutation status of laminin chain‐encoding genes remains unknown in cancers. Aim of this study was to explore whether laminin chain genes are mutated and expressionally altered in gastric (GC) and colorectal cancers (CRC). In a public database, we found that laminin chain genes LAMA1, LAMA3, LAMB1 and LAMB4 had mononucleotide repeats in the coding sequences that might be mutation targets in the cancers with microsatellite instability (MSI). We analyzed the genes in 88 GC and 139 CRC [high MSI (MSI‐H) or stable MSI/low MSI (MSS/MSI‐L)] by single strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing. In the present study, we found LAMB4 (11.8% of GC and 7.6% of CRC with MSI‐H), LAMA3 (2.9% of GC and 2.5 of CRC with MSI‐H), LAMA1 (5.9% of GC with MSI‐H) and LAMB1 frameshift mutations (1.3% of CRC with MSI‐H). These mutations were not found in MSS/MSI‐L (0/114). We also analyzed LAMB4 expression in GC and CRC by immunohistochemistry. Loss of LAMB4 expression was identified in 17–32% of the GC and CRC. Of note, the loss expression was more common in the cancers with LAMB4 mutation or those with MSI‐H. Our data show that frameshift mutations of LAMA1, LAMA3, LAMB1 and LAMB4, and loss of LAMB4 may be features of GC and CRC with MSI‐H.
Phenotypic and genetic features of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates from diarrheal children in the Ribeirão Preto metropolitan area, São Paulo State, Brazil
Authors: Pitondo‐Silva André , Nakazato Gerson , Falcão Juliana P. , Irino Kinue , Martinez Roberto , Darini Ana Lúcia C. , Hernandes Rodrigo Tavanelli
Published: September 2014

This study was designed to characterize a collection of 60 enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) isolates from diarrheic feces of patients in the Ribeirão Preto metropolitan area regarding different phenotypic and molecular features. We examined antibiotic resistance profiles, occurrence of virulence factors‐encoding genes, intimin subtypes and the correlation of serotypes among typical (tEPEC) and atypical (aEPEC) EPEC isolates. The results demonstrated that atypical EPEC was more heterogeneous than typical EPEC concerning the characteristics investigated and 45.2% do not belong to classical EPEC serogroups. Intimin subtype β was the most frequent among the EPEC isolates (46.7%), being detected in both tEPEC and aEPEC. The majority of aEPEC isolates presented localized adherence‐like (LAL) pattern to HEp‐2 cells, although aEPEC isolates displaying diffuse adherence (DA) or non‐adherent were also detected. High prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was found for ampicillin, cephalothin, sulfonamide and tetracycline. In general, tEPEC isolates were more resistant to the antimicrobials tested than aEPEC isolates.
Negative automatic thoughts as a mediator of the relationship between depression and suicidal behaviour in an at‐risk sample of Malaysian adolescents
Authors: Choon Min Wai , Abu Talib Mansor , Yaacob Siti Nor , Awang Hamidin , Tan Jo Pei , Hassan Sallahuddin , Ismail Zanariah
Published: September 2014

Background

This study examined the mediating role of negative automatic thoughts in the relationship between depression and suicidal behaviour in a sample of at‐risk Malaysian adolescents.

Method

A total of 1441 adolescents were initially recruited via multistage cluster sampling. Subsequently, 294 at‐risk adolescents were selected for further analyses through a specified cut‐off score.

Results

The results showed significant positive relationships among the study variables. Specifically, negative automatic thoughts emerged as a significant mediator in the relation between depression and suicidal behaviour (z = 7.15, p < .001).

Conclusions

The findings suggest that depressed adolescents are at high risk for a host of negative thought processes which in turn lead to suicidal behaviour. The study limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed.
791. FRITILLARIA SORORUM
Authors: Rix Martyn , Strange Kit
Published: September 2014

Fritillaria sororum J. Persson & K. Persson from the Tauros mountains in southern Turkey is illustrated; its relationship with other species in the area is discussed.