bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Environmentally mediated trends in otolith composition of juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)
Authors: Stanley Ryan R. E. , Bradbury Ian R. , DiBacco Claudio , Snelgrove Paul V. R. , Thorrold Simon R. , Killen Shaun S.
Published: April 2015

We evaluated the influence of environmental exposure of juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) to inform interpretations of natal origins and movement patterns using otolith geochemistry. Laboratory rearing experiments were conducted with a variety of temperature (∼5, 8.5, and 12°C) and salinity (∼25, 28.5, and 32 PSU) combinations. We measured magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), strontium (Sr), and barium (Ba), expressed as a ratio to calcium (Ca), using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes using isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometry. Temperature and salinity significantly affected all elements and isotopes measured, except salinity on Mg:Ca. We detected significant interactions among temperature and salinity for Mn:Ca and Ba:Ca partition coefficients (ratio of otolith chemistry to water chemistry), with significant temperature effects only detected in the 32 and 28.5 PSU salinity treatments. Similarly, we detected a significant interaction between temperature and salinity in incorporation of δ13C, with a significant temperature effect except at intermediate salinity. These results support the contention that environmental mediation of otolith composition varies among species, thus limiting the ability of generalized models to infer life history patterns from chemistry. Our results provide essential baseline information detailing environmental influence on juvenile Atlantic cod otolith composition, punctuating the importance of laboratory validations to translate species-specific otolith composition when inferring in situ life histories and movements.
Synergistic Action of a Metalloprotease and a Serine Protease from Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici Cleaves Chitin-Binding Tomato Chitinases, Reduces Their Antifungal Activity, and Enhances Fungal Virulence
Authors: Jashni Mansoor Karimi , Dols Ivo H. M. , Iida Yuichiro , Boeren Sjef , Beenen Henriek G. , Mehrabi Rahim , Collemare Jérôme , de Wit Pierre J. G. M.
Published: April 2015

As part of their defense strategy against fungal pathogens, plants secrete chitinases that degrade chitin, the major structural component of fungal cell walls. Some fungi are not sensitive to plant chitinases because they secrete chitin-binding effector proteins that protect their cell wall against these enzymes. However, it is not known how fungal pathogens that lack chitin-binding effectors overcome this plant defense barrier. Here, we investigated the ability of fungal tomato pathogens to cleave chitin-binding domain (CBD)-containing chitinases and its effect on fungal virulence. Four tomato CBD chitinases were produced in Pichia pastoris and were incubated with secreted proteins isolated from seven fungal tomato pathogens. Of these, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, Verticillium dahliae, and Botrytis cinerea were able to cleave the extracellular tomato chitinases SlChi1 and SlChi13. Cleavage by F. oxysporum removed the CBD from the N-terminus, shown by mass spectrometry, and significantly reduced the chitinase and antifungal activity of both chitinases. Both secreted metalloprotease FoMep1 and serine protease FoSep1 were responsible for this cleavage. Double deletion mutants of FoMep1 and FoSep1 of F. oxysporum lacked chitinase cleavage activity on SlChi1 and SlChi13 and showed reduced virulence on tomato. These results demonstrate the importance of plant chitinase cleavage in fungal virulence.
The Combined Action of ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1, PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4, and SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED101 Promotes Salicylic Acid-Mediated Defenses to Limit Fusarium graminearum Infection in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Makandar Ragiba , Nalam Vamsi J. , Chowdhury Zulkarnain , Sarowar Sujon , Klossner Guy , Lee Hyeonju , Burdan Dehlia , Trick Harold N. , Gobbato Enrico , Parker Jane E. , Shah Jyoti
Published: April 2015

Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease in wheat and other cereals. F. graminearum also causes disease in Arabidopsis thaliana. In both Arabidopsis and wheat, F. graminearum infection is limited by salicylic acid (SA) signaling. Here, we show that, in Arabidopsis, the defense regulator EDS1 (ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1) and its interacting partners, PAD4 (PHYTOALEXIN-DEFICIENT4) and SAG101 (SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED GENE101), promote SA accumulation to curtail F. graminearum infection. Characterization of plants expressing the PAD4 noninteracting eds1L262P indicated that interaction between EDS1 and PAD4 is critical for limiting F. graminearum infection. A conserved serine in the predicted acyl hydrolase catalytic triad of PAD4, which is not required for defense against bacterial and oomycete pathogens, is necessary for limiting F. graminearum infection. These results suggest a molecular configuration of PAD4 in Arabidopsis defense against F. graminearum that is different from its defense contribution against other pathogens. We further show that constitutive expression of Arabidopsis PAD4 can enhance FHB resistance in Arabidopsis and wheat. Taken together with previous studies of wheat and Arabidopsis expressing salicylate hydroxylase or the SA-response regulator NPR1 (NON-EXPRESSER OF PR GENES1), our results show that exploring fundamental processes in a model plant provides important leads to manipulating crops for improved disease resistance.
Resistance to Downy Mildew in Lettuce ‘La Brillante’ is Conferred by Dm50 Gene and Multiple QTL
Authors: Simko Ivan , Ochoa Oswaldo E. , Pel Mathieu A. , Tsuchida Cayla , Font i Forcada Carolina , Hayes Ryan J. , Truco Maria-Jose , Antonise Rudie , Galeano Carlos H. , Michelmore Richard W.
Published: April 2015

Many cultivars of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) are susceptible to downy mildew, a nearly globally ubiquitous disease caused by Bremia lactucae. We previously determined that Batavia type cultivar ‘La Brillante’ has a high level of field resistance to the disease in California. Testing of a mapping population developed from a cross between ‘Salinas 88’ and La Brillante in multiple field and laboratory experiments revealed that at least five loci conferred resistance in La Brillante. The presence of a new dominant resistance gene (designated Dm50) that confers complete resistance to specific isolates was detected in laboratory tests of seedlings inoculated with multiple diverse isolates. Dm50 is located in the major resistance cluster on linkage group 2 that contains at least eight major, dominant Dm genes conferring resistance to downy mildew. However, this Dm gene is ineffective against the isolates of B. lactucae prevalent in the field in California and the Netherlands. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) located at the Dm50 chromosomal region (qDM2.2) was detected, though, when the amount of disease was evaluated a month before plants reached harvest maturity. Four additional QTL for resistance to B. lactucae were identified on linkage groups 4 (qDM4.1 and qDM4.2), 7 (qDM7.1), and 9 (qDM9.2). The largest effect was associated with qDM7.1 (up to 32.9% of the total phenotypic variance) that determined resistance in multiple field experiments. Markers identified in the present study will facilitate introduction of these resistance loci into commercial cultivars of lettuce.
Rapid antibiotic resistance predictions from genome sequence data for S. aureus and M. tuberculosis.
Authors: Bradley Phelim , Gordon N Claire , Walker Timothy M , Dunn Laura , Heys Simon , Huang Bill , Earle Sarah , Pankhurst Louise J , Anson Luke , de Cesare Mariateresa , Piazza Paolo , Votintseva Antonina A , Golubchik Tanya , Wilson Daniel J , Wyllie David H , Diel Roland , Niemann Stefan , Feuerriegel Silke , Kohl Thomas A , Ismail Nazir , Omar Shaheed V , Smith E Grace , Buck David , McVean Gil , Walker A Sarah , Peto Tim , Crook Derrick , Iqbal Zamin
Published: April 2015

Rapid and accurate detection of antibiotic resistance in pathogens is an urgent need, affecting both patient care and population-scale control. Microbial genome sequencing promises much, but many barriers exist to its routine deployment. Here, we address these challenges, using a de Bruijn graph comparison of clinical isolate and curated knowledge-base to identify species and predict resistance profile, including minor populations. This is implemented in a package, Mykrobe predictor, for S. aureus and M. tuberculosis, running in under three minutes on a laptop from raw data. For S. aureus, we train and validate in 495/471 samples respectively, finding error rates comparable to gold-standard phenotypic methods, with sensitivity/specificity of 99.3%/99.5% across 12 drugs. For M. tuberculosis, we identify species and predict resistance with specificity of 98.5% (training/validating on 1920/1609 samples). Sensitivity of 82.6% is limited by current understanding of genetic mechanisms. We also show that analysis of minor populations increases power to detect phenotypic resistance in second-line drugs without appreciable loss of specificity. Finally, we demonstrate feasibility of an emerging single-molecule sequencing technique.
Pluripotency Conversion of Gene Studied from Quantum Folding Theory
Authors: Luo Liaofu
Published: April 2015

The chemically and physically induced pluripotency in a stem cell is studied from the point of quantum transition between differentiation and pluripotency states in genes. The quantum folding theory of a macromolecule is briefly reviewed. The relation of protein folding rate with the number N of torsion modes participating in the quantum transition (coherence degree) is discussed and a simple statistical relationship is obtained. As a unifying approach to conformational quantum transition the folding rate formula can be generalized from protein to nucleic acid. It is found that the formula of folding rate versus N well fits RNA folding data. Then the quantum folding theory is applied to study the pluripotency conversion in stem cell. We proved that the acquisition of pluripotency is essentially a quantum-stochastic event of small-probability through the comparison of the rate with protein folding. Due to the large coherence degree of DNA and the uphill nature of torsion transition the pluripotency-acquisition rate should be small. By establishing the reaction network of the conformational change of the pluripotency genes the characteristic time of the chemical reprogramming is calculated and the result is consistent with experiments. The dependence of the transition rate on physical factors such as temperature, PH value and the volume and shape of the coherent domain of the gene is analyzed from the rate equation. Based on these studies an approach to the physically induced pluripotency with higher rate is proposed.
Women directors and IPO underpricing: evidence from Indian markets
Authors: Handa Rekha , Singh Balwinder
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to fill the gap of the relatively under-researched impact of women directors on initial public offering (IPO) underpricing in developing countries. Gender diversity is an important emerging issue within the corporate governance literature. Recently, there has been a growing thrust on gender-diverse boards. However, their proportion on corporate boards is low worldwide. The paper examines the influence of women directors on the underpricing phenomenon pervasive in the IPO context.

Design/methodology/approach

– Gender diversity is an important emerging issue within the corporate governance literature. Recently, there has been a growing thrust on gender diverse boards. However, their proportion on corporate boards is low worldwide. The impact of women directors on IPO underpricing in developing countries remains relatively under-researched. This paper aims to fill this gap in research. The paper examines the influence of women directors on the underpricing phenomenon pervasive in the IPO context.

Findings

– The results suggest that the subscription ratio, listing delay and block holder ownership positively influence raw returns and market-adjusted excess returns. The proportion of women directors showed negative non-significant impact on both type of returns. We did not find evidence of the other explanatory variables included in the model.

Research limitations/implications

– The relatively low proportion of female directors may be the reason for some of the non-significant findings. Future research with a good gender balance on boards is likely to help generalising the findings. Other confounding factors also need to be included in the model for deeper explanations of the phenomenon.

Practical implications

– The study highlights the existence of a “glass ceiling” in Indian corporate settings, where women have to make a tough fight. This barrier must be removed to unleash the real talent of women as directors and see this talent reflected in returns.

Social implications

– The paper highlights both the need to better manage the gender balance in corporate board rooms and the need to incorporate women’s talents in corporate and investment decisions.

Originality/value

– The paper highlights the significant gender gap in IPO directorial positions in developing countries such as India. It explores female directors’ contributions in initial pricing performance, which remain unaddressed in this part of the world. Insights into this sensitive issue in an emerging economy such as India can provide important inputs.
Understanding China’s global energy strategy
Authors: Smith Stegen Karen
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– As China’s economy has expanded, so has its need for energy. Consequently, China has increased its domestic energy capacities and developed import strategies for oil and gas. In its international energy activities, China has progressed through a series of stages. The purpose of this paper is to focus on China’s latest stage: creating an overland energy network, supplied primarily by Central Asia’s Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and becoming the energy hub of an integrated Asian market – China’s recent “Silk Road” proposal. This paper also examines the impact of Chinese energy investments on the prospects of Central Asian energy producers transitioning to emerging markets.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author delineate four stages of China’s international engagement and introduce the concept of the Chinese energy cooperation model: capital-intensive energy investments combined with the opening of local markets to Chinese goods. To assess the impact of this model on Central Asia, the author apply insights gained from analyzing the experience of resource-exporters in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Findings

– The author findings are twofold: China has secured the energy resources of several Central Asian states for its “Silk Road” plan; and the Chinese energy cooperation model brings rapid growth, but has effects deleterious to the attainment of emerging market status.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to the limited knowledge on China’s “Silk Road” plan and on China’s impact on resource-rich developing countries and is useful for researchers, academics and policymakers.
Strategic transformation in the value-added wood products companies
Authors: Wan Minli , Lähtinen Katja , Toppinen Anne
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– China is a leading country in the production, consumption and exports of value-added wood products. Despite this fact, the sources of competitiveness and the existing strategies in the Chinese wood products companies have not been profoundly studied in an international context. The purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps by exploring managerial perceptions of these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The theoretical ingredients originating from the value chain theory, functional upgrading, the dynamic capability perspective and the natural resource-based view were combined to explore the shift of business functions and sources of the firm-level competitiveness in the Chinese wood products companies. In the empirical part, data from qualitative semi-structured interviews made with 28 managers of seven companies in China based on the case study method were used.

Findings

– Our results indicate a transition from non-branded manufacturing to original equipment manufacturing to original brand manufacturing business model. With this strategic transformation, the amount of resources and the relative importance of intangible resources increased and the nature of tangible resources also changed.

Practical implications

– Chinese companies tend to shift from low-value-added to high-value-added products production. Our results are not only informative about the current situation of the Chinese wood products companies, but also can be used as a background for assessing the impact of China’s increasing competitiveness on the future international wood products market.

Originality/value

– The dynamic capability perspective was incorporated in a new empirical approach to study the strategic management of woodworking industries, and our results provide new information on the importance of intangible resources for firm competitiveness.
Goal diversity and resource development in an inter-organisational project
Authors: Lind Frida
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to discuss the role of goal diversity for resource development organized in an inter-organizational project.

Design/Methodology/Approach

– The paper builds on a case study of an inter-organizational research project in the field of plant biotechnology in Sweden. The project had four members with differing goals: two research departments, one firm and one co-operative.

Findings

– This particular project shows a diversity of goals and seeks to explain how actors with very different goals and resources involve in inter-organizational collaboration. The case illustrates how the goals are nested in different ways and how the goals are and become related with the resources developed during the project. The explanation found is that the involved actors manage to match their goals and resources.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper identifies goal-and-resource-matching processes as an explanation behind resource development in collaboration between actors with diverse goals.

Practical implications

– Designing projects with actors who have diverse sets of resources have enormous potential, but such projects need to ensure that the goals are resources become matched, processes which can emerge during the course of the project.

Originality/value

– Few studies have focused on the interplay between diverse goals and resources in inter-organizational projects.
Innovation network trajectories: the role of time and history
Authors: Olaru Doina , Purchase Sharon
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This article aims to describe patterns of change in innovation networks and to clarify the roles of time and history in shaping network trajectories. The authors test seven predictor variables and their interactions to examine their influences on network performance over time.

Design/methodology/approach

– A fuzzy simulation of innovation networks and investigations of different network types, using two classes of growth modeling techniques, help refine understanding of innovation as an interactive, developmental process.

Findings

– Innovation network trajectories are influenced by self-reinforcing, contradictory and damaging forces. History affects network trajectory development, particularly with regard to financial resource access. The temporal processes reveal three contrasting classes of developmental trajectories for innovation networks.

Research limitations/implications

– The study methodology can account for theoretically derived factors leading to innovation, in and across types of networks and for changes over time; it moves beyond a cross-sectional approach. Although the model structure is generic, the parameters are based on a radical innovation, so the findings may not transfer directly.

Practical implications

– Managers in innovation business networks can use the identified variables to improve network performance, by facilitating processes that inject financial capital and integrating heterogeneous skills that focus on a wider variety of skills that generate both exploratory and exploitative knowledge development.

Originality/value

– This article contributes to discourses on network trajectories through an analysis of processes that influence the growth and decline of innovation business network performance. An original methodology generates and analyzes dynamic longitudinal network data.
Contracts, relationships and innovation in business-to-business exchanges
Authors: Möhring Monika Maria , Finch John
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to contrast two approaches to the study of contracts in business and industrial marketing: first, as a legal document in shaping at the outset exchanges and interactions, for instance in projects; and second, as relational norms in becoming integrated into a business relationship through interactions, for instance as a resource.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws on cross-case comparison of three projects, as actors develop an engineering service for optimizing the maintenance of large-scale capital equipment by analyzing real-time data from sensors and user records. Comparison is by coding interview and observational data as micro-sequences of interactions among actors.

Findings

– Preparing contracts allows a project to commence and is an early form of interaction, intensifying new relationships or cutting into and recasting established ones. Relational norms augment and can supersede the early focus on the contract, thus incorporating incremental innovation and absorbing some uncertainties.

Research limitations/implications

– The research approach benefits from detailed comparison and captures some variety across its three cases, but the discussion is limited to theoretical generalization.

Practical implications

– The analysis and discussion highlights and focuses on when different approaches to understanding contracting are more apparent across durable business relationships. Transitions from a contractual document to a view of relational norms are subtle, vulnerable and not always made successfully.

Originality/value

– This paper’s originality is in it comparison of overlapping approaches to understanding businesses’ uses of contacts in business and industrial marketing, of contract and relational norms. It develops a valuable research proposition, in the transition from a mainly contractual to a mainly relational uses of contracts, thus identifying contract as a particular business resource, to be deployed and embedded.
An exploratory study of using 3D avatars as online salespeople
Authors: Mull Ian , Wyss Jamie , Moon Eunjung , Lee Seung-Eun
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine consumers’ perceptions of using different types of 3D animated avatars as salespeople based on credibility, homophily, attractiveness and intention to interact.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a survey method, participants (n=120) evaluated four types of 3D animated avatars (i.e. human, fantasy, animal and humanoid) based on the supposition the avatars would represent a salesperson for an online retailer.

Findings

– The results show that avatar type has a significant influence on the perception of credibility, homophily, and attractiveness. Furthermore, credibility, homophily, and attractiveness significantly influence the intention to interact with the avatar. Overall, the human avatar was found to be perceived as the most credible, homophilous, attractive and was regarded as the highest in relation to intention to interact.

Originality/value

– The practical and theoretical implications are discussed to offer guidance to online retailers, graphic designers, and researchers in the benefits and pitfalls of utilizing 3D animated avatars as salespeople.
Impact of store attributes on consumer-based retailer equity
Authors: Das Gopal
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of store attributes on consumer-based retailer equity (CBRE) dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

– A mall-intercept survey was undertaken using a systematic sampling of department store shoppers of age 18 years and above in Kolkata, a metropolitan city in India. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from busy shopping malls or retail stores located in different places of Kolkata. The impact of store attributes on CBRE dimensions was explored using stepwise regression analysis.

Findings

– Results revealed that different sets of store attributes affect various CBRE dimensions differently.

Originality/value

– This paper is probably the first to explore the link between store attributes and CBRE dimensions in an Indian and department stores contexts.
Social capital and global mindset
Authors: Mikhaylov Natalie S. , Fierro Isidro
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of development of cultural knowledge and cosmopolitan identities among international management students in multicultural learning environments and to investigate how international business students develop global mindset during their studies.

Design/methodology/approach

– A comparative analysis was conducted within four undergraduate management and business administration programs in international higher educational institutions, based on constructivist grounded theory methodology. The empirical study is grounded in data that were collected from triangulated multiple sources: qualitative semi-structured interviews with students, faculty and student services professional (n= 95) from 23 countries, participant observation in four programs and document reviews, and were analyzed using the dimensional analysis.

Findings

– The study presents a global mindset development process model, which takes into the account social capital of the learners, as well as the existing and emergent social ties.

Practical implications

– The paper provides tentative recommendations for the steps that management educational programs and multinational companies can take to promote an environment conductive for cultural knowledge exchange.

Originality/value

– The paper presents the development of global mindset as a social learning process; in particular, it addresses the role social capital plays in knowledge generation and sharing in multicultural learning environment. It contributes to the understanding of cultural knowledge development in social networks. Additionally, the paper examines the feasibility of development of global mindset in international higher educational.
Improving the ability of qualitative assessments to discriminate student achievement levels
Authors: Mok Jeffrey Chi Hoe , Toh Anita Ann Lee
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate the use of blind marking to increase the ability of criterion-referenced marking to discriminate students’ varied levels of knowledge and skill mastery in a business communication skills course.

Design/methodology/approach

– The business communication course in this study involved more than 10 teachers and 350 students each semester. Data were collected from four semesters of assignment grades to compare the distribution of grades in semesters that used blind marking and in the one that did not (the control group). The standard deviations of marks for each assignment were calculated and compared.

Findings

– Findings show that blind marking contributed to a wider spread of marks. The study concludes that blind marking, when implemented together with criterion-referenced marking rubrics, can improve the ability of qualitative assessments to discriminate student achievement levels.

Originality/value

– Research in the use of criterion-referenced marking rubrics has revealed that assessing with marking rubrics resulted in a wider range of marks awarded because assessors felt that the rubrics helped them make more objective judgments of students’ work (Kuisma, 1999). By this token, it could be argued that because blind marking allows more objective judgment of students’ work (by reducing rater bias), it seems to reason that marks might be awarded on a wider range of the marking scale. However, current literature on blind marking and grade/mark dispersion has yet to reveal a study on whether blind marking is able to increase the spread of marks, and therefore, indicate that an assessment instrument is effective is discriminating a range of student achievement levels. This paper should add to the current research on higher quality of educational assessments.
Manuscript libraries and archival description in the Caribbean
Authors: Nero Lorraine M
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the indexing method used by Caribbean libraries to describe special collections and manuscripts.

Design/methodology/approach

– Various types of finding aids spanning 1960-2014 are used to show the pattern of descriptions adopted by the librarians. At the same time, the factors which have sustained the approach at national libraries and university libraries are highlighted.

Findings

– The paper concludes that while the indexing approach may be labour-intensive, this practice is perceived as developing a national and regional documentary heritage. The materials used for this study are primarily accessible to the public inclusive of published guides and online databases.

Originality/value

– The literature is replete with theories and cases from places such as the UK, the USA and Australia, this paper presents a perspective on the development of archival description in the Caribbean.
Service empathy
Authors: Fox Robert
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This column aims to advocate for taking an empathetic approach in the evaluation of patron-oriented digital services.

Design/methodology/approach

– This is a regular column with citations that the reader can use to investigate further.

Findings

– The column explores justification for this approach and how it fits into the larger evaluative picture. It then explores methods and tools that can be used to understand patron needs from a desirability-based approach.

Originality/value

– Design of effective online library services is becoming more nuanced by the need to understand patron needs from an insider’s perspective. Taking a more empathetic approach will greatly complement the standard objective metrics that libraries typically engage in when performing assessment on their services.
Product market competition and corporate investment decisions
Authors: Laksmana Indrarini , Yang Ya-wen
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The study aims to examine the association between product market competition and corporate investment decisions on, particularly, risk-taking and investment efficiency. Existing theoretical studies on whether product market competition mitigates or exacerbates agency problems are inconclusive. Prior research generally finds that competition constrains management opportunism in reporting operating performance. However, the association between product market competition and managerial investment decisions has largely been unexplored.

Design/methodology/approach

– The primary measure of product market competition is the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index. The authors use regression analysis to examine the association between corporate risk-taking and over-investment of free cash flow (FCF) (as dependent variables) and product market competition (as an independent variable).

Findings

– Using firm-year observations from 1990 to 2010, the authors find that competition encourages managers to invest in risky investment. They also find that competition disciplines management on its use of FCFs. Overall, their results provide support for the disciplining role of product market competition in management investment decisions. The results are robust after they control for shareholder activism and executive compensations.

Originality/value

– The paper contributes to the literature by providing evidence of the disciplining role of product market competition in management investment decisions. First, the results suggest that competition encourages managers to invest in risky investment. One potential explanation for the results is that competition reduces opportunities for resource diversion for management personal benefits and, in turn, decreases management risk aversion. Another explanation is that competition forces management to take more risks for the long-term survival of the company. Second, the results indicate that competition disciplines management on its use of FCFs. Although firms in highly competitive industries make investment decisions that are less conservative, they tend to avoid suboptimal investment decisions, such as over-investment of FCF, compared to their counterparts.
A study on the perception of POKM as the organizational knowledge sharing enabler
Authors: Angela Lee Siew Hoong , Lim Tong-Ming
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception of knowledge workers on practice of knowledge management (POKM) as an organizational knowledge sharing enabler in an information technology shared services company to understand issues faced and provide recommendations on different technological characteristics of the system.

Design/methodology/approach

– The initial stage of the research involved a preliminary review of the existing knowledge management-related documents. This was followed by a top management interview to understand the organization’s business goals and knowledge management (KM) expectations. A total of 70 knowledge workers took part in the research activity. Twenty-five participants from nine departments took part in the preliminary interview, and 52 successful survey forms were collected from a total of 70 respondents. The entire investigation took close to nine months. Data compilation and research result analysis took about three months to complete.

Findings

– The outcomes of the research show that the quality of POKM is stable, easy to use and organization of the content is rated as good. However, POKM has poor response time and search capability. The content is found to be difficult to locate in the POKM but most participants agree that knowledge stored in the POKM is helpful, can be accessed anytime and anywhere and useful for their day-to-day job. As for the user interface, POKM is not very pleasant to use with a weak set of functions and features. For user satisfaction toward POKM, it is shown that users are not satisfied with the efficiency and effectiveness of the systems. However, employees generally are satisfied with the ease of access, download and reuse of knowledge contains in POKM. In term of perceived POKM benefits, users agree that POKM is an enabler for acquiring new knowledge and innovative ideas, managing and storing knowledge and accomplishing tasks more efficiently. Lastly, knowledge users agree that POKM functions enable knowledge networking, sharing and creation in the organization.

Originality/value

– POKM was launched and implemented for close to 10 years; however, the organization has failed to achieve some of the goals such as knowledge sharing among employees, creation of new skills and knowledge, measuring knowledge sharing activities and knowledge sharing strategy. The importance of this study is to understand and highlight the technological perspective of POKM from the knowledge workers. Findings will summarize issues faced by the case company for further action and remedy. The outcomes of the study also provide a comprehensive view and guideline to organizations who are interested to implement a KM system.
A critical examination of implementing government sponsored intellectual capital management and reporting programs for small and medium enterprises
Authors: Tee Jeok Inn Janice , Dumay John , Kokubu Katsuhiko
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to examine the impact of implementation of government-sponsored intellectual capital (IC) management and reporting (ICMR) programmes in Hong Kong and Japan for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the purpose of issuing an IC statement (ICS).

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors present a critical analysis using semi-structured interviews with employees and owners of Hong Kong and Japanese SMEs who participated in their respective government’s ICMR programmes and who published an ICS.

Findings

– The authors conclude that many enterprises did not achieve the full benefit of participating in the ICMR programme because consultants funded by the government prepared the ICS. Instead, consultants should take on more of a “missionary” role, educating enterprises about IC, rather than doing the work for them.

Research limitations/implications

– This research is restricted to enterprises that published one or more ICS. Future research should include enterprises participating in the ICMR programme that failed to publish an ICS.

Practical implications

– Enterprises that are able to utilise IC in their daily business routine will think IC is useful and continue using it. Conversely, those enterprises that relied on consultants to prepare the ICS will not understand its benefits.

Originality/value

– Policymakers should not solely concentrate on creating new IC reporting frameworks or guidelines for enterprises to follow because this focus limits the understanding of how enterprises can utilise IC concepts with the consequence that they may eventually give up on IC reporting.
The importance of spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) resting habitat: implications for management
Authors: Tyne Julian A. , Johnston David W. , Rankin Robert , Loneragan Neil R. , Bejder Lars
Published: April 2015

Linking key ecological characteristics with animal behaviour is essential for identifying and protecting important habitats that support life functions. Spinner dolphins display a predictable diurnal behavioural pattern where they forage offshore at night and return to sheltered bays during daytime to rest. These bays, which are also subject to considerable use by humans, have long been recognized as key habitats for this species although the extent to which dolphins rely on specific characteristics of these habitats for rest has not been quantified.

An integration of boat‐based and land‐based group focal follow sampling regimes and three gradient boosting generalized additive models were developed to identify habitat features that contribute to the occurrence of resting spinner dolphins in coastal waters off Hawai'i Island. Two ‘in‐bay’ models used data collected within bays, and a third ‘coastal’ model (near‐shore, outside of bays) used data collected both inside and outside of bays.

The coastal model identified that spinner dolphins were unlikely to rest outside sheltered bays. In‐bay models showed that dolphins rested throughout daylight hours within bays with a peak resting period between 10.00 h to 14.00 h. The models also identified bottom‐substrate‐type as an important predictor of rest. Pseudo R2 values of 0·61 and 0·70 for the in‐bay models and 0·66 for the coastal model showed that these models provided a good fit to the behavioural data for the occurrence of resting spinner dolphins.

Synthesis and application. To date, studies evaluating spinner dolphin resting habitat have focussed on areas inside bays only. Here, we combined data collected inside and outside bays, and illustrate that should resting spinner dolphins be displaced from resting bays, they are unlikely to engage in resting behaviour elsewhere. Results provide further information on the importance of bays as important habitat for resting spinner dolphins. To mitigate the disturbance from human interactions during important rest periods, we recommend that management keep the spinner dolphin resting areas free from human activities. Our quantitative approach where models explicitly link behaviour with habitat characteristics is applicable to identify important habitats for protection of other taxa.
Partial recovery of a tropical rain forest a half‐century after clear‐cut and selective logging
Authors: Xu Han , Li Yide , Liu Shirong , Zang Runguo , He Fangliang , Spence John R.
Published: April 2015

The extent to which tropical rain forests recover tree species richness, composition and community structure after clear‐cutting or selective harvest is controversial. Thus, the conservation value of forests regenerated after harvest remains unclear, but critically important for biodiversity.

We sampled trees from 164 25 × 25 m quadrats across a 160‐km2 tropical rain forest landscape on Hainan Island, China, which had been clear‐cut or selectively harvested and left to recover without management for up to 50 years. Species richness and species abundance distributions were compared among five successional categories to investigate changes in species richness and species abundance over time. Basal areas and three different species similarity indices were compared to reveal temporal changes in species composition and community structure.

Species richness recovered faster than species composition and structure in both selectively logged and clear‐cut forests. Both total number of species and number of rare species tended to increase from younger harvested forests through older harvested forests to old‐growth intact forests. Within 20–40 years after harvest species composition of harvested forests tended towards that of old‐growth forests, community similarity between harvested and old‐growth forests decreased subsequently and basal area did not recover, given even a half‐century of succession undisturbed by anthropogenic forces.

Shortly after harvest, pioneer species increased rapidly, but shade‐tolerant species required much more time to recover to former abundances. The shift from pioneer species to shade‐tolerant species indicates significant recovery of logged forests.

Selectively logged forests recovered more quickly and had higher conservation values than clear‐cut forests.

Synthesis and applications. Our findings indicate that logged tropical forests only partially recovered the characteristics of pre‐harvest, primary forest after a half‐century of succession. Recovery of the original tree biodiversity on such post‐harvest landscapes will be slow at best, if measured by species composition or stand structure. Our study amplifies the importance of conserving tropical forest integrity and developing harvest and management approaches that facilitate full recovery of logged tropical forests.
Reconsidering royalty and resource rent taxes for Australian mining
Authors: Freebairn John
Published: April 2015

It is argued that a comparative assessment of a royalty and a resource rent tax as a special tax on the Australian mining industry should recognise the following: the importance of quasi‐rents earned on investments which shift out the mining supply curve over time, the dominance of nonresidents as buyers and as shareholders, and available data on relative costs for mines with more and less favourable natural resource endowments. Comparable tax rates for the two special taxes to generate similar government revenue are derived. For approximate revenue neutral taxes, the efficiency and distributional effects of the royalty and resource rent tax options are assessed and compared. In terms of efficiency, the superiority of one over the other is ambiguous because of imperfect knowledge about key parameters. In terms of returns to Australia, and in particular the aggregate of transfers from nonresident shareholders and export buyers, both provide similar outcomes.
Effects of different ways of introducing a reading task on intrinsic motivation and comprehension
Authors: Bråten Ivar , Johansen Roy‐Petter , Strømsø Helge I.
Published: April 2015

This study compared the effects of two brief prereading instructional practices – hands‐on activities and prior knowledge activation – on sixth‐graders' intrinsic motivation for reading a text and reading comprehension. Both hands‐on activities and prior knowledge activation substantially improved reading comprehension relative to a control condition where students just read to answer questions and take a test about the text content. These effects did not depend on preexisting individual differences in basic reading skill, reading motivation or topic knowledge. Hands‐on activities and prior knowledge activation did not differentially affect reading comprehension, however, nor did either of them have any effect on intrinsic motivation to read the text. If used regularly in classrooms, brief prereading practices in the form of hands‐on activities or prior knowledge activation may result in knowledge gains that accumulate to build a solid conceptual basis for further, self‐regulated learning from text.
Protein transduction domain of transactivating transcriptional activator fused to outer membrane protein K of Vibrio parahaemolyticus to vaccinate marbled eels (Anguilla marmorata) confers protection against mortality caused by V. parahaemolyticus
Authors: Wang Hang , Yang Wei , Shen Guoying , Zhang Jianting , Lv Wei , Ji Binfeng , Meng Chun
Published: April 2015

Although immersion and oral vaccination are the most practical methods for fish farmers, their applications are very limited due to low immune stimulation effect. We used the protein transduction domain (PTD) of transactivating transcriptional factor (TAT) derived from HIV TAT protein to increase the delivery efficiency of aquatic protein vaccines. Vibrio parahaemolyticus outer membrane protein K (ompK), a reported vaccine candidate for the prevention of V. parahaemolyticus infection, was fused with TAT‐PTD expressed in Escherichia coli. We found that PTD‐ompK fusion protein effectively penetrated into marbled eel bodies. Analysis of ompK antibody titres demonstrated that immersion vaccination with PTD‐ompK was superior to ompK alone and induced robust immune stimulation in marbled eels. Both active and passive protection analyses against immersive challenge with V. parahaemolyticus strains demonstrated that marbled eels immunized with PTD‐ompK survived significantly longer than those immunized with ompK alone. Our results indicated that TAT‐PTD could be served as is an efficient delivery system for aquatic immersion vaccinations against various infectious diseases commonly seen in aquatic farm industry.