bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Novel hepatitis E like virus found in Swedish moose
Authors: Lin Jay , Norder Heléne , Uhlhorn Henrik , Belák Sándor , Widén Frederik
Published: December 2013

A novel virus was detected in a sample collected from a Swedish moose (Alces alces). The virus was suggested as a member of the Hepeviridae family, although it was found to be highly divergent from the known four genotypes (gt1–4) of hepatitis E virus (HEV). Moose are regularly hunted for consumption in the whole of Scandinavia. Thus, the finding of this virus may be important from several aspects: (a) as a new diverged HEV in a new animal species, and (b) potential unexplored HEV transmission pathways for human infections. Considering these aspects, we have started the molecular characterization of this virus. A 5.1 kb amplicon was sequenced, and corresponded to the partial ORF1, followed by complete ORF2, ORF3 and poly(A) sequence. In comparison with existing HEVs, the moose HEV genome showed a general nucleotide sequence similarity of 37–63 % and an extensively divergent putative ORF3 sequence. The junction region between the ORFs was also highly divergent; however, two putative secondary stem–loop structures were retained when compared to gt1–4, but with altered structural appearance. In the phylogenetic analysis, the moose HEV deviated and formed its own branch between the gt1–4 and other divergent animal HEVs. The characterization of this highly divergent genome provides important information regarding the diversity of HEV infecting various mammalian species. However, further studies are needed to investigate its prevalence in the moose populations and possibly in other host species, including the risk for human infection.
Exploring DNA structures in real-time polymerase kinetics using Pacific Biosciences sequencer data
Authors: Sawaya Sterling , Boocock James , Black Michael A. , Gemmell Neil
Published: December 2013

Pausing of DNA polymerase can indicate the presence of a DNA structure that differs from the canonical double-helix. Here we detail a method to investigate how polymerase pausing in the Pacific Biosciences sequencer reads can be related to DNA structure. The Pacific Biosciences sequencer uses optics to view a polymerase and its interaction with a single DNA molecule in real-time, offering a unique way to detect potential alternative DNA structures. We have developed a new way to examine polymerase kinetics and relate it to the DNA sequence by using a wavelet transform of read information from the sequencer. We use this method to examine how polymerase kinetics are related to nucleotide base composition. We then examine tandem repeat sequences known for their ability to form different DNA structures: (CGG)n and (CG)n repeats which can, respectively, form G-quadruplex DNA and Z-DNA. We find pausing around the (CGG)n repeat that may indicate the presence of G-quadruplexes in some of the sequencer reads. The (CG)n repeat does not appear to cause polymerase pausing, but its kinetics signature nevertheless suggests the possibility that alternative nucleotide conformations may sometimes be present. We discuss the implications of using our method to discover DNA sequences capable of forming alternative structures. The analyses presented here can be reproduced on any Pacific Biosciences kinetics data for any DNA pattern of interest using an R package that we have made publicly available.

Author Summary

DNA can be found in various forms that differ from the double-helix first discovered by Watson and Crick in 1953. These alternative DNA structures depend on the DNA sequence, and researchers continue to explore which sequences have the potential to form alternative structures. Here we advance the use of Pacific Biosciences sequencer data to explore potential alternative DNA structures. The Pacific Bio-sciences sequencer provides an unprecedented way to examine the interaction between DNA polymerase and DNA by following a single polymerase in real time as it copies a DNA molecule. The pausing of DNA polymerase is a common method for exploring the DNA sequences that have the potential to form alternative DNA structures, and Pacific Biosciences data has previously been used to measure polymerase pausing at a slipped strand structure. DNA polymerase is known to pause at some of these alternative structures, such as the structure known as the G-quadruplex, a DNA structure that has potentially importing regulatory significance. We examine polymerase kinetics around a G-quadruplex, and find evidence of polymerase pausing in the Pacific Biosciences kinetics. We provide a method, with publicly available code, so that others can examine these polymerase kinetics for any sequence of interest.
Mechanism ofβ-Aminobutyric Acid-Induced Resistance in Wheat to the Grain Aphid,Sitobion avenaeor Dissecting/Deciphering the Mechanism ofβ-Aminobutyric Acid-Induced Resistance in Wheat to the Grain Aphid,Sitobion avenae
Authors: Cao He-He , Zhang Meng , Zhao Hui , Zhang Yi , Wang Xing-Xing , Guo Shan-Shan , Zhang Zhan-Feng , Liu Tong-Xian
Published: December 2013

The non-protein amino acid β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) could induce plant resistance to a broad spectrum of biotic and abiotic stresses. However, BABA-induced plant resistance to insects is less well-studied, especially its underlying mechanism. In this research, we applied BABA to wheat seedlings and tested its effects onSitobion avenae. When applied as a soil drench, BABA significantly reduced weight ofS. avenae, whereas foliar spray and seed treatment had no such effects. BABA-mediated suppression ofS. avenaegrowth is dose dependent and could last at least for 7 days. The aminobutyric acid concentration in phloem sap of BABA-treated plants accumulated to high levels and increased with BABA concentrations applied. Moreover, after 10 days of treatment, the aminobutyric acid content in BABA-treated plants was still higher than that in control treatment.S. avenaecould not discriminate artificial diet containing BABA from standard diet, indicating that BABA itself is not a deterrent to this aphid. AlsoS. avenaedid not show preference for control plants or BABA-treated plants. Consistent with choice test results,S. avenaehad similar feeding activities on control and BABA-treated plants, suggesting that BABA did not induce antifeedants in wheat seedlings. In addition, aminobutyric acid concentration inS. avenaefeeding on BABA-treated plants was significantly higher than those feeding on control palnts.S. avenaegrowth rate was reduced on artificial diet containing BABA, indicating direct toxic effects of BABA to this aphid. These results suggest that BABA application could enhance wheat plant resistance toS. avenaeand the mechanism is possibly due to direct toxicity of high BABA contents in plant phloem.
(E)-2-Methyl-3-phenylselanyl-4-(phenylsulfinyl)oct-3-en-2-ol
Authors: Wu Jinglan , Chen Chen
Published: December 2013

In the title compound, C21H26O2SSe, the S atom adopts a pyramidal geometry (bond-angle sum = 304°) and the n-butyl chain shows an extended conformation. An intramolecular C—H...O hydrogen bond closes an S(8) ring. In the crystal, inversion dimers are formed with molecules linked by pairs of O—H...O=S hydrogen bonds, generating R
2
2(14) loops. Weak C—H...O interactions also occur.
Dilithium manganese(II) catena-tetrakis(polyphosphate), Li2Mn(PO3)4
Authors: Moutataouia Meryem , Lamire Mohammed , Saadi Mohamed , El Ammari Lahcen
Published: December 2013

The poly-phosphate Li2Mn(PO3)4 was synthesized and its structure characterized from powder diffraction data by Averbuch-Pouchot & Durif [J. Appl. Cryst. (1972), 5, 307–308]. These authors showed that the structure of this phosphate is isotypic to that of Li2Cd(PO3)4, as confirmed by the present work. The structure is built from infinite zigzag polyphosphate chains, [(PO3)−]
n
, extending along [010]. These polyphosphate chains are connected by sharing vertices with MnO6 octahedra (site symmetry .m.) and Li2O7 polyhedra, which form also chains parallel to [010]. Adjacent chains are linked by common vertices of polyhedra in such a way as to form porous layers parallel to (100). The three-dimensional framework delimits empty channels extending along [010].
Dimethyl 2-[2-(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)hydrazin-1-ylidene]butanedioate
Authors: Usha M. K. , Shetty Shobhitha , Kalluraya B. , Kant Rajni , Gupta Vivek K. , Revannasiddaiah D.
Published: December 2013

In the title compound, C12H11Cl3N2O4, the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the hydrazine (NH—N=C) grouping is 52.2 (3)°. The butanedioate groups exhibit planar conformations. An intramolecular N—H...O hydrogen bond links the N—H group of the hydrazine to one of the methoxy groups of the butanedioate moiety. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions are also observed [centroid–centroid separation = 3.535 (1) Å].
Bis(benzylammonium) dihydrogen diphosphate
Authors: Saad Ahlem Ben , Elboulali Adel , Ratel-Ramond Nicolas , Mohamed Rzaigui , Toumi Samah Akriche
Published: December 2013

The asymmetric unit of the title salt, 2C6H5CH2NH3
+·H2P2O7
2−, contains two independent benzylammonium cations and a dihydrogen diphosphate dianion. In the crystal, O—H...O and N—H...O hydrogen bonds link the cations and anions, forming a two-dimensional network parallel to (010). Within this network, weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds are observed.
The 1:1 co-crystal of triphenyl(2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzyl)phosphonium bromide and 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro-1,2-diiodoethane
Authors: Cavallo Gabriella , Metrangolo Pierangelo , Meyer Franck , Pilati Tullio , Resnati Giuseppe , Terraneo Giancarlo
Published: December 2013

The title compound, C25H18F4P+·Br−·C2F4I2, is a 1:1 co-crystal of triphenyl(2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzyl)phosphonium (TTPB) bromide and 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro-1,2-diiodoethane (TFDIE). The crystal structure consists of a framework of TTPB cations held together by C—H...Br interactions. In this framework, infinite channels along [100] are filled by TFDIE molecules held together in infinite ribbons by short F...F [2.863 (2)–2.901 (2)Å] interactions. The structure contains halogen bonds (XB) and hydrogen bonds (HB) in the bromide coordination sphere. TFDIE functions as a monodentate XB donor as only one I atom is linked to the Br− anion and forms a short and directional interaction [I...Br− 3.1798 (7) Å and C—I...Br− 177.76 (5)°]. The coordination sphere of the bromide anion is completed by two short HBs of about 2.8 Å (for H...Br) with the acidic methylene H atoms and two longer HBs of about 3.0 Å with H atoms of the phenyl rings. Surprisingly neither the second iodine atom of TFDIE nor the H atom on the tetrafluorophenyl group make any short contacts.
Data fusion and sensor selection from imperfect sources with regards to the operating environment
Authors: El-Mahassni Edwin
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to extend the work of fusing sensors with a Bayesian method to incorporate the sensor's reliability with regard to their operating environment. The results are then to be used with the expected decision formula, conditional entropy and mutual information for suboptimally selecting which types of sensors should be fused where there are operational constraints.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach is an extension of previous work incorporating an environment parameter. The expected decision formula then forms the basis for sensor selection.

Findings

– The author found that the performance of the sensors is correlated to the environment of operation, given that the likelihood of error will be higher in a difficult terrain than would otherwise be the case. However, the author also shows the sensors for fusion will vary if the author knows specifically which terrain the sensors will be operating in.

Research limitations/implications

– The author notes that in order for this technique to be effective, a proper understanding of the limitations of the sensors, possible terrain types and targets have to be assumed.

Practical implications

– The practical implication of this work is the ability to assess the performance of fused sensors according to the environment or terrain they might be operating under, thus providing a greater level of sensitivity than would otherwise be the case.

Originality/value

– The author has extended previous ideas on sensor fusion from imprecise and uncertain sources using a Bayesian technique, as well as developed techniques regarding which sensors should be chosen for fusion given payload or other constraints.
Segregation of children worldwide: the human rights imperative to end institutionalization
Authors: Rosenthal Eric , Ahern Laurie
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the human rights imperative to end the segregation of children in orphanages and other residential institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws on international human rights standards under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other treaties, as well as documentation gathered by Disability Rights International (DRI) over the past 20 years.

Findings

– DRI has found that institutionalization of children exposes them to high risk of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Even clean and well-staffed orphanages are psychologically damaging. Well intentioned but misguided donors often perpetuate institutionalization by investing in the building or rebuilding of institutions instead of investing in community-based alternatives.

Originality/value

– Through the Worldwide Campaign to End the Institutionalization of Children, DRI is calling for a moratorium on all new placements of children in orphanages. No new institutions should be built. Research shows that children thrive in a family or family-like environment, and all children are capable of being supported to live in the community.
E-business and process change: two case studies (towards an assessment framework)
Authors: Wynn Martin George , Turner Phillip , Lau Erin
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this research paper is to explore the impacts of e-business technology adoption at process level in SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper reviews a range of literature and mainstream models relating to e-business impacts in SMEs and then focuses on two in-depth case studies. The cases draw their empirical material from the involvement of the authors in e-business project management in these two companies.

Findings

– The two case studies show significant impacts of e-business technology at process level. They also illustrate how contrasting information systems strategies can successfully embrace e-business process change, and suggest the importance of organisational issues in determining the degree of benefits delivery.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper suggests a framework for analysing the impact of e-business at process level that can be used with other SME case studies.

Practical implications

– The suggested assessment framework can be used for comparison with e-business implementations in other SMEs.

Originality/value

– The value of the case studies lies in their originality and the paper highlights the potential impacts and benefits of e-business at process level. The suggested assessment framework builds on existing models and concepts but provides an update and customisation relevant to today's e-business technologies and business environment.
E-commerce trading activity and the SME sector: an FSB perspective
Authors: Pickernell David , Jones Paul , Packham Gary , Thomas Brychan , White Gareth , Willis Robert
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This study aims to examine e-commerce within UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, it seeks to explore associations between e-commerce and internal and external antecedents including trading behaviour, owner/manager characteristics, innovation, public sector involvement, business advice and finance sources.

Design/methodology/approach

– An 8,500+ sample derived from the 2008 UK Federation of Small Businesses survey was utilised. An OLS regression equation was generated where the percentage of sales made using e-commerce constituted the dependent variable. Independent variables were constructed for several sets of factors including innovation, business advice and sources of finance, as well as a range of owner and SME typology variables.

Findings

– The results suggest that e-commerce is more strongly apparent in SMEs started from scratch and where they were involved in basic or high knowledge services or the tourist trade. SMEs undertaking e-commerce were also associated with innovation in the form of copyright, as well as public procurement with local authorities and the university sector. Specific business advice in the form of capacity, family and suppliers was also associated with e-commerce trading.

Research limitations/implications

– These results have implications for SMEs and public sector stakeholders. SMEs must recognise the importance of several potential antecedents such as intellectual property rights, specific business advice and finance to encourage e-commerce. Moreover, it was apparent that certain SME characteristics, namely locality and trading behaviour, were associated with effective e-commerce.

Originality/value

– This study will be of value to academia, SMEs and key public sector stakeholders in the formulation of policy for ICT development.
SMEs' adoption of enterprise applications
Authors: Ramdani Boumediene , Chevers Delroy , Williams Densil A.
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to empirically explore the TOE (technology-organisation-environment) factors influencing small to medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs') adoption of enterprise applications (EA).

Design/methodology/approach

– Direct interviews were used to collect data from a random sample of SMEs located in the northwest of England. Using partial least squares (PLS) technique, 102 responses were analysed.

Findings

– Results indicate that technology, organisation and environment contexts impact SMEs' adoption of EA. This suggests that the TOE model is indeed a robust tool to predict the adoption of EA by SMEs.

Research limitations/implications

– Although this study focused on examining factors that influence SMEs' adoption of a set of systems such as CRM and e-procurement, it fails to differentiate between factors influencing each of these applications. The model used in this study can be used by software vendors not only in developing marketing strategies that can target potential SMEs, but also to develop strategies to increase the adoption of EA among SMEs.

Practical implications

– This model could be used by software vendors to determine which SMEs they should target with their products. It can also be used by policy makers to develop strategies to increase the rate of EA adoption among SMEs.

Originality/value

– This paper provides a model that can predict SMEs' adoption of EA. SMEs, adoption, enterprise applications, enterprise systems, ICT, PLS, technology-organisation-environment framework, TOE
Developing a cybernetic lifestyle
Authors: Ronald David MacGill Victor
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The dominant paradigms of the world today are reductionist and linear and have led us towards crises in the environment, economics, health and more. Cybernetics is one alternative paradigm, which moves beyond reductionist thought. The paper aims to investigate cybernetics and how it might move from a paradigm to a way of living. A cybernetic worldview enables us to see ourselves as partners in dynamic co-creative processes reaching beyond dualities. To live by such a life requires courage. This paper concentrates on how cybernetics principles may be applied on an individual basis to provide a more holistic way of coping with the challenges of everyday life in the early twenty-first century. The author sees how he can live a balanced life, cope with uncertainty, live with courage, move beyond dualities and develop a breadth of knowledge to help us navigate the events of the lives.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper provides a brief outline of some cybernetic principles and how they might be transferred to a cybernetic lifestyle. The focus is on how the author might integrate cybernetic principles into the individual life on a day-to-day basis.

Findings

– Breadth of knowledge, moving beyond dualities, the observer, living with courage, uncertainty and living a balanced life are discussed from a cybernetic viewpoint.

Practical implications

– It gives cyberneticians cause to consider their lives and how cybernetic principles help them in everyday life.

Social implications

– The more cyberneticians exhibit cybernetics principles in their life, the more it will be noticed by those around them.

Originality/value

– The approach of this paper is about cybernetics as an individual lifestyle rather than a more generalised examination of the role of cybernetics.
Dissipation of the solar-energetic gradient as the origin of binarism in human meaning systems
Authors: Elio Porto Lito
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to formulate a hypothesis for the origin and position of binarism within human meaning systems. Specifically, binarism exists ineluctably as a living system's impetus toward life over death, and then – at the symbolic level within human meaning systems – as a device by which humans more efficiently dissipate the solar-energetic gradient.

Design/methodology/approach

– Organisms composing terrestrial ecosystems acquire and degrade solar energy or its derivatives, thereby reducing the thermal gradient impressed on Earth by the Sun. Kay and Schneider call this “the thermodynamic imperative of the restated second law for open systems.” This paper connects the “thermodynamic imperative” to aspects of human meaning systems and pushes Serres' notion regarding homeostasis and the origin of communication one step further to consider such an origin in terms of a binarism born of solar-energetic gradient dissipation.

Findings

– It is hypothesized that the human homoiotherm extends the ineluctable binarism of life over death for all living systems to a symbolic level – as a first, or local, “energetic order” – which serves as a foundational device of human meaning systems; humans efficiently use this binary device to produce entropy and maintain homeostasis within individual organisms and comprehensive ecosystems; and human language, and ultimately the entirety of human meaning systems, emerges from the dissipation of the solar-energetic gradient.

Originality/value

– Modern Western philosophical concepts related to binarism – i.e. Kantian and Hegelian dialectics – are not associated with ecological imperatives. The present hypothesis proposes the co-existence of both a fundamental binarism (i.e. impetus of life over death) and more complex symbolic differentials (in a Leibnizian/Deleuzian sense) as necessary for the emergence of complex human meaning systems in consonance with thermodynamic and ecological imperatives.
Huffman coding as metaphor
Authors: Mohr August
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– David Huffman, as a graduate student, earned his immortality by solving a problem that had stumped Claude Shannon, the creator of the field of information theory. How he saw the problem differently and the nature of his discovery have implications for how we get stuck, how we get unstuck, and how the internal models limit the ability to see patterns in the world. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper describes how Huffman discovered his elegant algorithm, why it had not been discovered previously, how the algorithm may relate to the attempt to find meaning in decision making, and generalises implications for problem solving and daily lives.

Findings

– Huffman was only able to see the problem anew in the cathartic moment of abandoning it. The algorithm he discovered suggests that the concept of “meaning” was an obstacle in his process.

Practical implications

– Huffman coding is one of the underpinnings of computer science. While it should be widely understood for that alone, the process of its discovery and its fundamental methodology are deeply instructional.

Originality/value

– Alexander Pope said “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree”, a classic statement about conscious purpose and man's controlling nature. Huffman's algorithm suggests the real world works the other way around: “As the leaves are lit, so grows the tree”.
Enigmatic mechanisms in defense of the capability to have new ideas
Authors: Fischer Thomas
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to present the argument that Heinz von Foerster's portrayals of non-triviality in his non-trivial machine (NTM) and in surprising human behavior are not isomorphous. It also demonstrates that the NTM does not account for spontaneity as it is observed in humans in general, nor for von Foerster's own invention of the NTM in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

– Demonstrating an isomorphism between the NTM and the Enigma cipher machine, the paper shows differences between the NTM and non-trivial human behavior, which von Foerster implied to be isomorphous. It speculates why von Foerster may have accepted this inconsistency.

Findings

– von Foerster's NTM and the Enigma cipher machine are shown to be isomorphous. Multiple portrayals von Foerster offered of non-triviality, however, are neither isomorphous, nor do they satisfy criteria von Foerster himself set for theories of living beings. Speculations are offered as to why von Foerster nonetheless used these portrayals of non-triviality, and regarding a possible lineage of inspiration that connects the Enigma machine to the NTM via the work of Alan Turing and Ross Ashby.

Research limitations/implications

– The presented research is informal and speculative.

Originality/value

– The paper's originality and value arise from its questioning of the apparent isomorphism of multiple portrayals of non-triviality, from its speculation about choices von Foerster made while facing the dilemma of defending spontaneity in terms of mechanisms, as well as from speculation about his sources of inspiration.
Art as “phantasmagoria”: between illusion and reification
Authors: Vieira de Carvalho Mário
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss Stockhausen's comment that the destruction of the twin towers in New York in September 11, 2001 was “the greatest work of art that ever existed” – a comment that raises crucial questions about the relationship between art and politics, art and ethics, also on the very concept of “artwork”.

Design/methodology/approach

– Focus on art as a system of communication according to a sociocybernetic approach.

Findings

– The paper argues that Stockhausen's concept of artwork, which radicalizes the “organic metaphor”, culminates by 1950 in the ideal of a self-produced work of music (very similar avant la lettre to the concept of autopoiesis). Although produced by human labour, the artwork should emerge and act as if it was self-produced. Such reification of art has its counterpart in the Western hegemonic paradigm of artistic communication, which also aims, by means of illusionist devices, to conceal the production process that gives rise to the artwork. Both forms of aestheticism could be described in terms of “phantasmagoria” (similarly to Marx's commodity fetishism).

Originality/value

– By discussing critical alternatives to aestheticism, the paper characterizes them as an attempt, from within autonomous art, to operate the re-entry into the system of communication of the distinction art/life-world. Autonomous art becomes in this way self-critical of its own autonomy.
Architectural design education between poetry and prose
Authors: M. Herr Christiane
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to examine how poetry and prose relate to each other in the context of architectural design education. While the two notions tend to be presented as distinct opposites, this paper shows how design processes are made possible by designers moving dynamically between poetic and prosaic viewpoints.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper illustrates and supports the argument made in the paper through a series of images taken from an educational case study. The case study further shows how perceptions of poetry and prose can vary between different cultural backgrounds.

Findings

– Building on the case study, the paper shows how architectural design education teaches students to establish links between poetic and prosaic realms in a dynamic and flexible manner. The discussion further provides a basis for understanding how perceptions of the prosaic and poetic can be understood as choices made by observers.

Research limitations/implications

– Limitations of this paper arise from the specificity of the reported case study and its reliance on the personal experience of the author as a teacher of architectural design primarily at universities within the greater China area.

Originality/value

– This paper shows how the learning to move between perceptions of poetic and prosaic is employed in architectural designing and taught in architectural education. In discussing designers' moving between perceptions of poetic and prosaic, the paper relates epistemologies of cybernetics, design, traditional Chinese thought and radical constructivism.
The root and responsibility model: a framework for ethical consumption
Authors: Baron Philip
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– Much information is hidden from consumers including social and environmental violations, poor labour practices and unethical economic activities. This paper aims to present a model for both consumers and corporations that can assist in empowering consumers when making purchasing decisions by bringing the behind the scenes information to the buyer. A responsibility rating is provided at each step in the production chain.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper provides an argument with research findings of how consumers are linked to their purchases, and how these purchases contribute to the current manufacturing cycle and perpetuation of land and labour abuses.

Findings

– Consumers can influence the product lifecycle of their chosen products. The model provides a mechanism for consumers to purchase items that are in keeping with their worldview. A certifiable standard for corporations is presented.

Practical implications

– Consumers are provided with a system that they can immediately obtain the responsibility ratings of any of their chosen products in real-time. Companies with low responsibility ratings lose out in their sales revenue and are thus motivated to change their production methods. Companies would compete in an atmosphere of total disclosure regarding social and environmental matters giving rise to a new ethic of consumerism.

Originality/value

– A new form of consumerism is uncovered, one that takes the recursive nature of consumer actions into account.
The Beauty and Benefits of Science – the AAAS 2013 Annual Meeting (Boston, February 2013)
Authors: Mihram Danielle , Arthur Mihram G.
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The 2013 meeting's theme, The Beauty and Benefits of Science, aimed at highlighting the rich and complicated connections between basic and applied research, and, just as importantly, providing examples of case studies where the “pull” of environmental or societal problems drives fundamentally new basic research. This article aims to focus on symposia that highlighted the “pull” of social media in the communications in science and how the reach of fundamental computing research has affected the daily lives. This report will be of interest to librarians, information specialists, scientists and social scientists, and policy makers.

Design/methodology/approach

– This report includes selected presentations and discussions (as well as direct internet links to presentations) within one of the 14 symposium tracks: communications and public programs. In many cases the authors provide additional references to further document the scope of the presenters' work and research.

Findings

– The symposium offered an array of the most recent and innovative approaches in the way science is conducted and communicated in a digital world. Two themes centered on the following questions: “In a constantly changing online landscape, what is the best way for scientists and engineers to engage the public through social media?” and, “What new tools do we have to engage the public and to assess the impact of science communication?”

Originality/value

– This is an important topic that touches on the way science is conducted and communicated in a digital world.
Internet Librarian International 2013: a potpourri of information
Authors: A. Oyelude Adetoun
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The paper aims to give a synopsis of proceedings at the Internet Librarian International Conference held at the Olympia Conference Centre, London from 15 to 16 October 2013 from a participant's viewpoint.

Design/methodology/approach

– The narrative method of describing events as they occurred was used.

Findings

– The conference provided participants with a wide array of information that spanned the three tracks the sub-themes of the conference were divided into. Participants had opportunities to network and find out more about the products the sponsors showcased as well.

Originality/value

– The report tells what transpired at the conference and exposes new technologies, new resources and innovative ways of using the technologies available to librarians and other information professionals.
Local knowledge acquisition of foreign subsidiaries in Vietnam and China
Authors: V. Nguyen Thang , F.L. Hong Jacky
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This paper seeks to examine how foreign subsidiaries of MNCs can acquire new local knowledge by focusing on two intra-organizational factors of learning mechanisms and formative organizational context.

Design/methodology/approach

– A mail survey was carried out with top managers among manufacturing subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) located in Hanoi, Vietnam and Guangdong province of China. In total 123 completed questionnaires from MNCs in Hanoi and China were received.

Findings

– The results suggested that training and mentoring and formative organizational context has positive association with knowledge acquisition. However, three interaction terms between learning mechanisms (experimentation, socialization, training and mentoring) with formative organizational context are significantly related to knowledge acquisition. Besides, the authors also found a positive and significant association between knowledge acquisition and subsidiary performance.

Practical implications

– Building a formative organizational context directly promotes knowledge acquisition and increases the effectiveness of more informal learning mechanisms. Besides, a learning mechanism may work differently in different contexts, and foreign managers need to be aware of when to apply what mechanisms.

Originality/value

– The paper argues that the alignment between organizational context and organizational learning mechanisms can help the foreign subsidiaries acquire new knowledge and improve subsequent performance. Local knowledge acquisition in MNCs should be conceived as a deliberate and managed act, requiring a careful selection of both formal and informal mechanisms supported by appropriate contextual conditions in foreign subsidiaries.
Disruptive innovation in multinational enterprises
Authors: J. Cowden Birton , S. Alhorr Hadi
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to address the link between the internationalization of the MNC and its location choices and the discovery of disruptive innovations among the dispersed network of subsidiaries.

Design/methodology/approach

– A recent categorization of innovation suggests that not all innovations can be treated the same. Distinguishing between the various innovation typologies, this paper focuses on disruptive innovation within an international context. Many researchers have found that large incumbent firms tend to have issues with developing disruptive innovation, and are often disrupted by new entrants. However, there are cases of MNEs being successful with disruptive innovation and this paper sets out to theoretically explain where MNEs find ideas for disruption to aid in the incumbent's curse. Specifically, this paper asks, where do disruptive innovations originate in a MNE?

Findings

– Using a transaction cost approach and resource-based view, along with other seminal pieces in international business, it is proposed that disruptive ideas start in subsidiaries. It further proposes the characteristics of these subsidiaries that should increase the likelihood of discovering disruption.

Originality/value

– This paper not only expands the boundary conditions of disruptive innovation, but also expands on the “where” question for knowledge acquisition and long-term performance in MNEs.
Re-thinking capitalism for the intelligent economy
Authors: J. Erickson Tamara
Published: December 2013

Findings

– The quest to produce a good or service to satisfy a customer has always been at the heart of business activity, whether in feudal times, the days of guilds, through the industrial revolution and today. Drucker's observation has always been true.
Peter Drucker and the wellbeing agenda
Authors: L. Cooper Cary
Published: December 2013

Findings

– Peter Drucker was undoubtedly the father of the academic discipline of management, not only from a theoretical point of view but also from a practitioner standpoint as well. He influenced management scholars and company CEOs at the same time. He published 39 books and numerous articles in management journals and magazines. He is known for some key concepts, like outsourcing, decentralization, knowledge-based work and the practice of management. What people rarely associate with him, however, was his concern about the wellbeing of employees.
Investigation of CTLA‐4 and CD86 gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients with brucellosis infection
Authors: Eskandari‐Nasab Ebrahim , Moghadampour Mehdi , Najibi Habib , Hadadi‐Fishani Mehdi
Published: December 2013

The protective immune response against Brucella involves T‐cell‐mediated immunity. T‐lymphocyte receptors, CD28 and cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte‐associated protein‐4 (CTLA‐4), bind the same ligands, CD80 (B7‐1) and CD86 (B7‐2) on antigen‐presenting cells and regulate T cell activation. CD28 delivers stimulatory signals whereas CTLA‐4 provides inhibitory signals for T cell activation. Here, we investigated the association of four polymorphisms in CTLA4 (+49A/G [rs231775] and −318 C/T [rs5742909]) and its ligand CD86 (+1057 G/A [rs1129055] and +2379G/C [rs17281995]) with brucellosis infection. The study included 153 Iranian patients with active brucellosis and 128 healthy individuals as the control group. Genotyping of the CTLA4 and CD86 variants was performed using tetra amplification refractory mutation system‐polymerase chain reaction (T‐ARMS‐PCR) and PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, respectively. It was found that the CTLA4 −318 CT genotype and T allele were present more frequently in cases than in controls and are therefore associated with an increased risk for brucellosis (−318 TT genotype; OR = 2.544, P = 0.002). Likewise, the CD86 +1057 GA and AA genotypes and A allele were associated with an increased risk of brucellosis (+1057 AA genotype; OR = 3.81, P = 0.001). However, no statistically significant difference between brucellosis patients and controls in the allele and genotype distributions of CTLA4, +49A/G (P = 0.859) and CD86, +2379G/C (P = 0.476) was found. In conclusion, CTLA4 −318 CT genotype and T allele and the CD86 +057 GA and AA genotypes and A allele play roles as risk factors for developing brucellosis infection in Iran.
From Personal Troubles to Public Compassion: Charity Shop Volunteering as a Practice of Care
Authors: Flores Ruben
Published: December 2013

This article analyses charity shop volunteering in the UK as an instance of individual commitment towards organizations devoted to combating suffering. Drawing on semi-structured interviews focused on motives, the paper argues that some respondents found in volunteer work a way of regaining meaning, structure and belonging after experiences of social dislocation such as retirement and bereavement. The transition from social dislocation to ontological security via volunteering illustrates the way in which ‘the social’ – as expressed in fellowship, laughter, work, organizations and institutions – moderates charitable practice. From this perspective, volunteering appears as a relational, processual and affective practice of care; and as a sympathy catalyst – an institution that facilitates interpersonal sympathy exchanges and support for compassionate goals. The paper endorses a view of human subjectivity which takes seriously both human vulnerability and resilience – victimhood and agency – as well as the relevance of suffering and flourishing for social action. In so doing, the paper sheds light on the link between individual biographies and the institutionalized efforts to alleviate strangers' suffering that Natan Sznaider has termed ‘public compassion’.
Evaluating PET–CT in routine surveillance and follow‐up after treatment for cervical cancer: a cost‐effectiveness analysis
Authors: Auguste P , Barton P , Meads C , Davenport C , Małysiak S , Kowalska M , Zapalska A , Guest P , Martin‐Hirsch P , Borowiack E , Khan K , Sundar S , Roberts T
Published: December 2013

Objective

To undertake a cost‐effectiveness analysis that compares positron emission tomography – computed tomography (PET‐CT) imaging plus standard practice with standard practice alone in the diagnosis of recurrent or persistent cervical cancer during routine surveillance and follow‐up of women who have previously been diagnosed and treated.

Design

Model‐based economic evaluation using data from a systematic review, supplemented with data from other sources, and taking a UK National Health Service (NHS) perspective.

Setting

Secondary Care in England.

Population

Women at least 3 months after the completion of treatment, with either recurrent or persistent cervical cancer.

Methods

A state transition (Markov) model was developed using TreeAge Pro 2011. The structure of the model was informed by the reviews of the trials and clinical input. In the model, two diagnostic strategies were examined. A one‐way sensitivity analysis, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and a value of information analysis were also carried out.

Main outcome measures

Cost‐effectiveness based on incremental cost per quality‐adjusted life year (QALY).

Results

Adding PET–CT to the current treatment strategy of clinical examination and scanning [magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or CT scan] during the routine surveillance and follow‐up of women with recurrent or persistent cervical cancer is significantly more costly, with only a minimal increase in effectiveness. The incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) for the strategy of PET–CT as an adjunct to the standard treatment strategy that included clinical examination, MRI, and/or CT scan, compared with the usual treatment alone, was over £1 million per QALY.

Conclusion

The results of the current analysis suggest that use of PET–CT in the diagnosis of recurrent or persistent cervical cancer is not cost‐effective. Current guidelines recommending imaging using PET–CT as a diagnostic or surveillance tool need to be reconsidered in light of these results. This study did not specifically investigate the use of PET–CT in women with symptoms and radiological suspicion of recurrence where exenteration was considered. More research in that specific area is required.
Evaluating PET‐CT in the detection and management of recurrent cervical cancer: systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy and subjective elicitation
Authors: Meads C , Davenport C , Małysiak S , Kowalska M , Zapalska A , Guest P , Martin‐Hirsch P , Borowiack E , Auguste P , Barton P , Roberts T , Khan K , Sundar S
Published: December 2013

Background

Positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET‐CT) is recommended to triage women for exenterative surgery and surveillance after treatment for advanced cervical cancer.

Objective

To evaluate diagnostic accuracy of additional whole body PET‐CT compared with CT/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone in women with suspected recurrent/persistent cervical cancer and in asymptomatic women as surveillance.

Design

Systematic reviews. Subjective elicitation to supplement diagnostic information.

Search strategy/Selection criteria/Data collection and analysis

Searches of electronic databases were performed to June 2013. Studies in women with suspected recurrent/persistent cervical cancer and in asymptomatic women undergoing follow up with sufficient numeric data were included. We calculated sensitivity, specificity and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Meta‐analyses employed a bivariate model that included a random‐effects term for between‐study variations (CT studies) and univariate random effects meta‐analyses (PET‐CT studies) for sensitivity and specificity separately.

Subjective elicitation

Prevalence of recurrence and the accuracy of imaging elicited using the allocation of points technique. Coherence of elicited subjective probabilities with estimates in the literature examined.

Results

We identified 15 relevant studies; none directly compared additional PET‐CT with MRI or CT separately. Most CT and MRI studies used older protocols and the majority did not distinguish between asymptomatic and symptomatic women. Meta‐analysis of nine PET‐CT studies in mostly symptomatic women showed sensitivity of 94.8 (95% CI 91.2–96.9), and specificity of 86.9% (95% CI 82.2–90.5). The summary estimate of the sensitivity of CT for detection of recurrence was 89.64% (95% CI 81.59–94.41) and specificity was 76% (95% CI 43.68–92.82). Meta‐analysis for MRI test accuracy studies was not possible because of clinical heterogeneity. The sensitivity and specificity of MRI in pelvic recurrence varied between 82 and 100% and between 78 and 100%, respectively. Formal statistical comparisons of the accuracy of index tests were not possible. Subjective elicitation provided estimates comparable to the literature. Subjective estimates of the increase in accuracy from the addition of PET‐CT were less than elicited increases required to justify the use in PET‐CT for surveillance.

Conclusion

Evidence to support additional PET‐CT is scarce, of average quality and does not distinguish between application for surveillance and diagnosis. Guidelines recommending PET‐CT in recurrent cervical cancer need to be reconsidered in the light of the existing evidence base.