bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiple marketing plans: an analytical template
Authors: Meredith Lindsay
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a template to guide practitioners in the creation of multiple marketing plans that are intended to target different groups of stakeholders – some of whom are supportive, others adversarial, namely, the business-to-business (B2B) marketer’s agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology involved a combination of purposeful sampling, real-time participatory observation, action research and secondary data analysis. The main method of this research is analytical and conceptual with the objective of identifying the diverse groups of stakeholders with whom business marketers must interact.

Findings

In cases where multiple marketing plans were used for different stakeholder groups, B2B firms encountered lower levels of negative attribution from social network systems, mass media and subsequently public and governmental stakeholders.

Originality/value

This paper suggests the need for multiple marketing plans that target not only supportive customers but also neutral and adversarial stakeholders who represent a source of negative attribution because they have the potential to derail or even destroy the B2B firm’s marketing agenda. It is suggested that practitioners must also address those stakeholders who distrust or even dislike their firm and its marketing objectives.
Partnership practice as collaborative knowledge work: overcoming common dilemmas through an augmented view of professional expertise
Authors: Hopwood Nick , Day Crispin , Edwards Anne
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on how partnership practices that build resilience in families work. Two broad questions are explored: first, what are the forms of expertise required in practices that effectively build resilience through partnership?; and second, how can some of the challenges practitioners experience when working in partnership be addressed?

Design/methodology/approach

– A theoretical approach is taken, framing partnership as collaborative knowledge work between practitioners and clients. Concepts of relational expertise, common knowledge and relational agency are explored as means to understand the forms of expertise involved in partnership. An empirical example is provided from practices guided by The Family Partnership Model, an approach that has been widely implemented.

Findings

– These concepts help to address three key challenges experienced by practitioners: client readiness for change, maintaining focus and purpose and using specialist expertise in partnership. This approach elucidates features of partnership practice that distinguish it from expert-led models, while highlighting diverse forms of expertise in play.

Originality/value

– The framework presented in this paper is distinctive and can be used to identify how practitioners can avoid common dilemmas, even in challenging circumstances with vulnerable families where practitioner-client relationships may be perceived as fragile. It counters the idea that partnership work dilutes professional expertise. Instead, an enriched and augmented view of professional expertise is presented.
The feasibility of delivering group Family Nurse Partnership
Authors: Barnes Jacqueline , Stuart Jane
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of delivering the group family nurse partnership (gFNP) programme, which combines elements of the family nurse partnership (FNP) programme and Centering Pregnancy and is offered from early pregnancy to 12 months postpartum to mothers under 25.

Design/methodology/approach

– A mixed method descriptive feasibility study. Quantitative data from anonymised forms completed by nurses from November 2009 to May 2011 (pilot 1) and January 2012 to August 2013 (pilot 2) reporting referrals, attendance and client characteristics. Qualitative data collected between March 2010 and April 2011 (pilot 1) and November 2012 and November 2013 (pilot 2) from semi-structured interviews or focus groups with clients and practitioners.

Findings

– There were challenges to reaching eligible clients. Uptake of gFNP was 57-74 per cent, attendance ranged from 39 to 55 per cent of sessions and attrition ranged from 30 to 50 per cent. Clients never employed attended fewest sessions overall compared to those working full time. The group format and the programme’s content were positively received by clients but many struggled to attend regularly. FNP practitioners were positive overall but involving community practitioners (pilot 2) placed more stress on them.

Research limitations/implications

– Further feasibility and then cost and effectiveness research is necessary to determine the optimal staffing model.

Practical implications

– The content and style of support of the home-based FNP programme, available only to first time mothers under 20, could be offered to women over 20 and to those who already have a child.

Social implications

– A range of interventions is needed to support potentially vulnerable families.

Originality/value

– This new complex intervention lacks evidence. This paper documents feasibility, the first step in a thorough evaluation process.
Library and information science and the digital humanities
Authors: Koltay Tibor
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Library and information science (LIS) and the digital humanities are both interested in studying recorded information and often share institutional frameworks. The purpose of this paper is to go beyond outlining these similarities by examining the perceived and real strengths and weaknesses of both disciplines.

Design/methodology/approach

– Epistemologies and methods of both disciplines are analysed, principally in the light of the growing importance of data-intensive research, taking into consideration that there is a tension about the academic status of these disciplines.

Findings

– Epistemologies and methods of both disciplines are analysed, principally in the light of the growing importance of data-intensive research, taking into consideration that there is a tension about the academic status of these disciplines.

Originality/value

– The paper intends to be an add-on to the recent discussions and the evolving body of knowledge about the relationship of these disciplines with the hope of indicating a possible new direction in the development of LIS.
The information practices of welfare workers
Authors: Lea French Rebecca , Williamson Kirsty
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of information practices of welfare workers and how they fit into daily work of welfare work within a small community sector organisation in Victoria, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study was constructivist (interpretivist) in its underpinning philosophy, drawing on both personal constructivist and social constructionist theories. The research methods used, with a sample of 14 welfare workers and two clients, were organisational ethnography and grounded theory. Data collection techniques were interview and participant observation, along with limited document analysis. Data analytic techniques, drawn from grounded theory method, provided a thorough way of coding and analysing data, and also allowed for the development of theory.

Findings

– Key findings centre on the role of information in welfare work. Welfare workers mostly used resources to hand, “making do” with resources they already had rather than seeking new ones. They also recombined or re-purposed existing resources to make new resources or to suit new circumstances. Their information practices were found to be fluid, consultative and collaborative. The findings of the research have led to a deep exploration of bricolage as a way to describe both the use of resources and the processes inherent in welfare worker information practices.

Originality/value

– The fact that there is a paucity of research focused on information practices of welfare workers in Australia makes the research significant. The bricolage theoretical framework is an original contribution which has implications for exploring other groups of workers and for the design of information systems and technology.
State policy directives and middle-tier translation in a Swedish example
Authors: Nordholm Daniel
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Swedish National Agency for Education’s launch of the nationwide Lgr11 curriculum reform and how local education authorities (LEAs) in one municipality translated and responded to the National Agency’s directives.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper presents empirical data from a qualitative study of documents and interviews using the analytical perspective from Scott (2001, 2008) to explore regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive aspects of the National Agency’s communications. To analyse the local translations made by LEAs at the central municipal level, analytical categories of assimilation, loose coupling and transformation were used.

Findings

– The overall results show that the National Agency primarily communicated its policy instructions to LEAs using normative and cultural-cognitive arguments and directives. The lack of sharper regulative directives, such as for division of labour, decision making, mandates and developmental roles, reduced the potential for LEAs to become influential actors in organising local implementation. An analysis using the assistance of assimilation categories, loose coupling and transformation of the paper also shows that LEAs need system support to accomplish more innovative middle-tier translations through elements of loose coupling and transformation – to become catalysts for school system improvement.

Research limitations/implications

– The research is designed to understand actions and interpretations within specific institutional, organisational and social settings.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to former findings by offering a novel perspective for understanding policy translation and the role of middle-tier intermediaries in decentralised education systems.
Functional heterogeneity and senior management team effectiveness
Authors: Benoliel Pascale , Somech Anit
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– There has been an increasing trend toward the creation of senior management teams (SMTs) which are characterized by a high degree of functional heterogeneity. Although such teams may create better linkages to information, along with the benefits of functional heterogeneity comes the potential for conflicts that stem from the value differences among subcultures in an organization. These conflicts can adversely affect performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine how school leaders’ activities mediate the relationship of SMT functional heterogeneity to SMT effectiveness (in-role performance and innovation).

Design/methodology/approach

– Data, which were obtained through a survey, was collected from a sample of 92 schools in Israel. Data were collected from two sources (principals and SMT members) to minimize problems associated with same source and common method bias. Data were aggregated at the team level of analysis.

Findings

– The results of structural equation model indicated that principal’s internal activities enhanced SMT in-role performance whereas principals’ external activities enhanced SMT innovation. The results also showed that principal’s internal activities are full mediators of the relationship between functional heterogeneity and SMT in-role performance.

Originality/value

– This study has implications for policies involving the design and implementation of leadership tools to effectively manage SMTs. The results of this study can help principals to establish priorities and allocate their time and resources more effectively, both inward and outward the SMT boundary so as to assist functionally heterogeneous SMTs translating the benefits of functional heterogeneity into significant achievements.
Which moral hazard? Health care reform under the Affordable Care Act of 2010
Authors: Mendoza Roger Lee
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Moral hazard is a concept that is central to risk and insurance management. It refers to change in economic behavior when individuals are protected or insured against certain risks and losses whose costs are borne by another party. It asserts that the presence of an insurance contract increases the probability of a claim and the size of a claim. Through the US Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, this study seeks to examine the validity and relevance of moral hazard in health care reform and determine how welfare losses or inefficiencies could be mitigated.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study is divided into three sections. The first contrasts conventional moral hazard from an emerging or alternative theory. The second analyzes moral hazard in terms of the evolution, organization, management, and marketing of health insurance in the USA. The third explains why and how salient reform measures under the ACA might induce health care consumption and production in ways that could either promote or restrict personal health and safety as well as social welfare maximization.

Findings

– Insurance generally induces health care (over) consumption. However, not every additional consumption, with or without adverse selection, can be considered wasteful or risky, even if it might cost insurers more in the short run. Moral hazard can generate welfare and equity gains. These gains might vary depending on which ACA provisions, insured population, covered illnesses, treatments, and services, as well as health outcomes are taken into account, and because of the relative ambiguities surrounding definitions of “health.” Actuarial risk models can nonetheless benefit from incorporating welfare and equity gains into their basic assumptions and estimations.

Originality/value

– This is the first study which examines the ACA in the context of the new or alternative theory of moral hazard. It suggests that containing inefficient moral hazard, and encouraging its desirable counterpart, are prime challenges in any health care reform initiative, especially as it adapts to the changing demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the insured population and regulatory landscape of health insurance in the USA.
Crossing and creating boundaries in healthcare innovation
Authors: Ingerslev Karen
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– This paper reports from a qualitative case study of a change initiative undertaken in a Danish public hospital setting during national healthcare reforms. The purpose of this paper is to challenge understandings of innovations as defined by being value-addingper se. Whether the effects of attempting to innovate are positive or negative is in this paper regarded as a matter of empirical investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Narrative accounts of activities during the change initiative are analysed in order to elucidate the effects of framing the change initiative as innovation on which boundaries are created and crossed.

Findings

– Framing change initiatives as innovation leads to intended as well as unanticipated boundary crossings where healthcare practitioners from different organizations recognize a shared problem and task. It also leads to unintended boundary reinforcements between “us and them” that may exclude the perspectives of patients or stakeholders when confronting complex problems in healthcare. This boundary reinforcement can lead to further fragmentation of healthcare despite the stated intention to create more integrated services.

Practical implications

– The paper suggests that researchers as well as practitioners should not presume that intentions to innovate will by themselves enhance creativity and innovation. When analysing the intended, unintended as well as unanticipated consequences of framing change initiatives as innovation, researchers and practitioner gain nuanced knowledge about the effects of intending to innovate in complex settings such as healthcare.

Originality/value

– This paper suggests the need for an analytical move from studying the effects of innovation to studying the effects of framing complex problems as a call for innovation.
Do vertical and shared leadership need each other in change management?
Authors: Binci Daniele , Cerruti Corrado , Braganza Ashley
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– Despite the increasing importance of shared leadership, researches examining its relations with vertical leadership, a complementary source of power, has been scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to extend the authors’ knowledge on this little-known topic by analysing vertical and shared leadership interactions in a change management project.

Design/methodology/approach

– A qualitative content analysis based on nine semi-structured interviews with top and middle managers, and a dataset of documents including corporate reports, a Road Map book and presentations was carried out, analysing the reciprocal leadership relationships by using an extended framework, which includes directive, transformational, transactional and empowering behaviours.

Findings

– Both in radical and incremental step, vertical as well as shared leadership interacted, showing their reciprocal need to deal with change. Leadership approaches and behaviours, conceptually and empirically distinct, even if highly related, are complementary sources that shape a constant compromise, according to the contextual demands of the project, to face change.

Research limitations/implications

– Further studies could strengthen the generalizability of the findings that suffer for the qualitative method. Moreover further studies could extend leadership interactions beyond leader-change management team relationships to the top-bottom levels of the organization. Contribution to theory is mainly twofold. First, findings highlight that for every specific change phase, both radical and incremental ones, different gradients of vertical and shared leadership are required. Second the authors found that leadership behaviours could be contrasting, requiring the ability to perform the multiple roles and behaviours in a well-balanced way in order to deal with the contextual demands of the change project.

Practical implications

– The paper includes implication for developing and training leaders, as well as followers, to have effective and multiple leadership skills and be able to apply them in different contexts, both by switching from vertical to shared, and vice versa, and by having the capability to respond with appropriately behaviours to a wide range of situations, that could also be mixed and opposing more than linear.

Originality/value

– The paper fills a gap in research about the interactions between vertical and shared leadership dynamics, through a qualitative study, during a change management project.
Promoting fairness in the face of conflict: the moderating effect of social control
Authors: Long Chris P.
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe how superior-subordinate conflicts stimulate managers to promote fairness. The theory proposes that managers’ efforts to apply social controls (i.e. training and socialization activities that promote emotional connection and value congruence) moderate the influence of superior-subordinate conflicts on managers’ efforts to promote fairness. When conflicts are experienced by managers who apply social controls, those managers increase their efforts to promote fairness. Because managers who apply social controls need subordinates to endorse their directives, they promote fairness in the face of conflict to demonstrate that they manage subordinates in ways that are appropriate and deserving of their cooperation.

Design/methodology/approach

– These ideas are tested in two studies: a survey of managers and their subordinates and a scenario-based experiment.

Findings

– The results obtained from these studies demonstrate that when managers who apply social controls encounter superior-subordinate conflicts, they more actively work to fairly distribute rewards and responsibilities (i.e. promote distributive fairness) and accurately and consistently implement organizational procedures (i.e. promote procedural fairness).

Practical implications

– This paper demonstrates how managers who are engaged in important sets of behaviors use fairness to address conflicts with their subordinates.

Originality/value

– By identifying when superior-subordinate conflicts stimulate managers to promote fairness, this paper contributes to research on how individuals use fairness and controls together to maintain their positions of authority within social contexts (e.g. groups, units, organizations).
What do people desire in their leaders? The effect of leadership experience on desired leadership traits
Authors: Nichols Austin Lee
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to determine how leadership experience affects the value leaders place on leadership traits. In particular, the author sought to determine if individuals with different amounts of leadership experience deferentially desire traits related to dominance and cooperation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Participants reported the importance of dominant and cooperative traits for an ideal leader, and reported the number of leadership roles that they had experienced.

Findings

– The desirability of dominance-related traits decreased as leadership experience increased, but only for women. In contrast, the desirability of cooperation-related traits remained the same, regardless of leadership experience or gender.

Practical implications

– Overall, these findings suggest leaders learn to desire different traits as they gain leadership experience. Implications of this research may exist in both business and political domains. In business, several leadership outcomes depend on trait desirability. In addition, interview and selection decisions may depend on the leadership experience and gender of the decision-maker. Organizations should carefully select members of the organization to make these critical hiring decisions. In politics, candidates would be wise to consider the leadership experience and gender of constituents in their self-presentation attempts.

Originality/value

– This research presents the first examination of the effect of leadership experience on the desirability of leader personality traits. In addition, this is one of the first studies to refocus on the dominance/cooperation dichotomy and “ideal” leadership – a promising focus for future trait research.
Characteristics of the internal audit and external audit hours: evidence from S. Korea
Authors: Lee Ho-Young , Park Hyun-Young
Published: June 2016

Purpose

Using 5,055 sample firm-years in Korea between 2009 and 2013, this paper aims to examine the association between the characteristics of the internal audit and the number of external audit hours as a proxy for audit efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is motivated by the International Standard on Auditing No. 610: “Using the work of internal auditors”. This auditing standard guides external auditors in using the work of internal auditors to obtain audit evidence and consult internal auditors for direct assistance. The authors expect that external audit efficiency will increase when the work of competent internal auditors is used.

Findings

The authors find that the number of internal auditors relative to the number of employees is associated with the number of external audit hours. This result suggests that the greater the availability of internal auditors, the greater their contribution will be to the financial statement audit and the more efficient the audit. The authors find evidence that external auditors use the work of internal auditors with accounting and legal expertise to improve audit efficiency. They also find some evidence that the work of internal auditors with greater availability is more effective during initial external audit engagements.

Originality/value

This study adds to the extant literature on the contributions of internal auditors to external audits by using archival data and by measuring audit effort using a large database of audit hours. In addition, our findings have practical implications for firms and external auditors who are evaluating the role and value of using the work of internal auditors. The authors also believe that the findings will be of interest to regulators or auditing standards boards.
The joint impact of management expressed confidence and response timing on auditor professional skepticism in client email inquiries
Authors: Zimmerman Aleksandra B.
Published: June 2016

Purpose

While academic research has been conducted on auditors’ ability to exercise professional skepticism in face-to-face client interviews, little is known about auditors’ application of professional skepticism in email communication with the client. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that impact auditor professional skepticism during client inquiries conducted through email.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted with 69 undergraduate and graduate auditing students as surrogates for auditors. The experimental design crossed two levels of client expressed confidence (high and low) and two levels of client response timing to the auditor’s email inquiry (earlier than expected and later than expected).

Findings

Results indicate that management expressed confidence moderates the influence of management response timing on auditor professional skepticism and that auditor perceptions of client credibility mediate this interactive effect. When the client’s response is low in confidence, auditors perceive a later-than-expected response from the manager as less credible than an earlier-than-expected response, which leads to less reliance on management explanations, which signifies more skepticism. However, when confidence is high, response timing does not impact perceptions of the client’s credibility.

Practical implications

The results imply that junior auditors should be vigilant of how communication cues in client emails may impact their judgments. Even though management response timing and expressed confidence should not influence auditor skepticismper se, auditors seem to vary their level of skepticism with the timing of the client’s response when client confidence is low but not when client confidence is high, despite the information content of the client’s response being held constant.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on professional skepticism by addressing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s concerns about the need for auditors to exercise more professional skepticism in practice, particularly in an environment in which computer-mediated communication is increasing at a fast pace; and assists practitioners in better understanding the factors that influence the degree of skepticism auditors exercise when collecting audit evidence through email. The study should be of interest to audit firms, as it provides evidence on whether auditors use nonverbal cues such as chronemics, or time-related messages, in email communication to judge management and evidence reliability and credibility.
Analysis of the factors impacting ETFs net fund flow changes
Authors: Ivanov Stoyu I.
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that impact the exchange-traded funds net fund flow changes on a daily basis.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 1,212 different exchange-traded funds with a proprietary daily net fund flow data and logistic regressions were studied because the majority of the 1,212 exchange-traded funds have mostly zero daily net fund flow changes.

Findings

It was documented that in the period December 22, 2005 to July 28, 2010 autocorrelation at the daily frequency is not universally present for the 1,212 exchange-traded funds that we study, despite the fact that this is the case in the monthly data documented in prior studies. No support was found for the feedback trading hypothesis but some support was found for the contrarian investor hypothesis on daily basis, even though the opposite is ascertained for both in the prior literature monthly data. Also, it cannot be concluded that tracking error prompts net fund flow changes and thus arbitrage activity.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the ongoing analysis of the factors influencing investment companies fund flow changes, which has mostly focused on open-end funds and monthly data so far. Considering the increased scope and relevance of exchange-traded funds in today’s financial markets, this study fills a void in the fund flow changes literature.
Floral morphology and pollination inGastrodia elata, a mycoheterotrophic orchid
Authors: Sugiura Naoto
Published: June 2016

Pollination biology inGastrodia elatawas investigated onRebunIsland,Japan. The flowers have an urceolate perianth chamber whose opening is constricted by the column and labellum. This structure plays a crucial role in the selection of small‐bodied bees from flower visitors of various body sizes. In addition, the furrow on the ventral side of the column possibly contributes to the admission of sweat bee pollinators, whose thoracic widths match the width of the furrow. Sweat bees receive the pollinarium on their thorax while escaping head first from the chamber. No pollinator rewards, such as previously reported harvestable spongy tissue, are likely to be produced by the orchid. The flowers, however, have a glossy area reminiscent of nectar secreted into the chamber that likely acts as a deceptive signal for pollinators. Fruit‐set ratios were found to vary spatiotemporally; the values were higher under bright light conditions, probably reflecting the presence of sweat bees for sunny places.
Oral language skills intervention in pre‐school—a cautionary tale
Authors: Haley Allyson , Hulme Charles , Bowyer‐Crane Claudine , Snowling Margaret J. , Fricke Silke
Published: June 2016

Background

While practitioners are increasingly asked to be mindful of the evidence base of intervention programmes, evidence from rigorous trials for the effectiveness of interventions that promote oral language abilities in the early years is sparse.

Aims

To evaluate the effectiveness of a language intervention programme for children identified as having poor oral language skills in preschool classes.

Methods & Procedures

A randomized controlled trial was carried out in 13 UK nursery schools. In each nursery, eight children (N = 104, mean age = 3 years 11 months) with the poorest performance on standardized language measures were selected to take part. All but one child were randomly allocated to either an intervention (N = 52) or a waiting control group (N = 51). The intervention group received a 15‐week oral language programme in addition to their standard nursery curriculum. The programme was delivered by trained teaching assistants and aimed to foster vocabulary knowledge, narrative and listening skills.

Outcomes & Results

Initial results revealed significant differences between the intervention and control group on measures of taught vocabulary. No group differences were found on any standardized language measure; however, there were gains of moderate effect size in listening comprehension.

Conclusions & Implications

The study suggests that an intervention, of moderate duration and intensity, for small groups of preschool children successfully builds vocabulary knowledge, but does not generalize to non‐taught areas of language. The findings strike a note of caution about implementing language interventions of moderate duration in preschool settings. The findings also highlight the importance of including a control group in intervention studies.
Antipodean agricultural and resource economics at 60: Trends in topics, authorship and collaboration
Authors: Polyakov Maksym , Gibson Fiona L. , Pannell David J.
Published: June 2016

This study presents results of an analysis of 1060 academic articles published in the Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics and the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics from 1957 to 2015. Trends in research topics over time identified by the study include a decline in research on agricultural topics offset by growth in publications related to natural resources, the environment, trade, food and international development. Other trends include an increase in the average number of co‐authors on each paper, a gradual increase in authorship by females, changes in the shares of top contributing institutions, increases in collaboration between institutions and a steady increase in the number of authors from outside Australia or New Zealand.
Financializing Desalination: Rethinking the Returns of Big Infrastructure
Authors: Loftus Alex , March Hug
Published: June 2016

Against the trend prevalent during the 1990s and 2000s, large‐scale infrastructural projects have made a comeback in the water sector. Although sometimes framed as part of a broader sustainable transition, the return of big infrastructure is a much more complicated story in which finance has played a crucial role. In the following article, we explore this encounter between finance and water infrastructure using the case of Britain's first experiment in desalination technologies, the Thames Water Desalination Plant (TWDP). On the surface, the plant appears to be a classic example of the successes of normative industrial ecology, in which sustainability challenges have been met with forward‐thinking green innovations. However, the TWDP is utterly dependent on a byzantine financial model, which has shaped Thames Water's investment strategy over the last decade. This article returns to the fundamental question of whether London ever needed a desalination plant in the first place. Deploying an urban political ecology approach, we demonstrate how the plant is simultaneously an iconic illustration of ecological modernization and a fragile example of an infrastructure‐heavy solution to the demands of financialization. Understanding the development of the TWDP requires a focus on the scalar interactions between flows of finance, waste, energy and water that are woven through the hydrosocial cycle of London.
Biocatalytic Approaches Using Lactulose: End Product Compared with Substrate
Authors: Silvério Sara C. , Macedo Eugénia A. , Teixeira José A. , Rodrigues Lígia R.
Published: June 2016

Lactulose is a lactose‐based carbohydrate with well‐known prebiotic effect and recognized medical applications. Currently, the commercially available lactulose is chemically synthesized. Nevertheless, the process leads to low yields and high levels of by‐products. Alternatively, lactulose can be produced by enzymatic synthesis, which provides a cleaner production under mild conditions. Two different enzymatic routes were reported for lactulose production. Lactulose can be obtained through hydrolysis and transfer reactions catalyzed by a glycosidase. Alternatively, lactulose can be produced by direct isomerization of lactose to lactulose catalyzed by cellobiose‐2‐epimerase. An interesting characteristic of lactulose is also its capacity to act as substrate in additional enzymatic synthesis which leads to the formation of attractive compounds, such as lactulose‐based oligosaccharides and lactulose esters. Besides increasing the interest and potential of lactulose, these lactulose‐based compounds can also offer new and promising functionalities and applications. Herein, we review the enzymes involved in the synthesis of lactulose, as well as the reaction conditions and yields. The potential of different enzymes is discussed and it is shown that reaction conditions and composition of products depend on the type of enzyme and its microbial source. The conversion of lactulose into lactulose‐based compounds is also covered, describing in detail the biocatalysts involved, the reaction conditions used, and the potential of the final products obtained.
Sarcopenia and hospitalisation costs in older adults: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Antunes Ana C. , Araújo Daniela A. , Veríssimo Manuel T. , Amaral Teresa F
Published: June 2016

Aim

The impact of sarcopenia on hospitalisation has been under intense investigation; however, little is known about the association between sarcopenia and their costs among hospitalised patients. The aim of the present study was to quantify the association between sarcopenia and hospitalisation costs among older adults.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was conducted in 201 hospitalised older adults in a general hospital. Sarcopenia was identified according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) criteria. Muscle mass was assessed by anthropometric measurements, muscle strength through handgrip strength evaluation and physical performance by Timed Up and Go Test. Nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment—Short Form (MNA‐SF), and hospital costs were assessed with the Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) system. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to quantify the association between sarcopenia and hospital costs. Increased hospital costs were considered when a patients′ cost was higher than the mean cost of an average patient (€2396.24).

Results

Within this sample, 10.4% sarcopenic, 43.8% at nutritional risk and 14.9% undernourished older adults were identified. After adjustment, sarcopenia (OR = 5.70, 95% CI 1.57–20.71) and low muscle strength (OR = 2.40, 95% CI 1.12–5.15) were associated with increased hospital costs.

Conclusions

Sarcopenia and low muscle strength at hospital admission were independently associated with increased hospital costs.
Polemic, Parliament and History: Michael Foot versus David Owen
Authors: Garnett Mark
Published: June 2016

Michael Foot had good reasons for resenting Dr David Owen, who played a prominent role in the formation of the breakaway Social Democratic Party (SDP) while Foot was Labour's leader. In Loyalists and Loners (1986), a book of political pen‐portraits, Foot duly delivered a blistering attack on Owen, focusing on two charges – that Owen was consumed by personal ambition from an early stage of his career, and that he was an ideological turncoat who had wilfully misused the word ‘socialism’. The present article examines Foot's allegations in the light of various historical sources, including the private papers of both protagonists. It is argued that, though Foot's charges seem devastating at first sight – and have never been refuted by Owen or his admirers – they cannot be sustained after an impartial review of the evidence. This reappraisal provides new insights into Owen's remarkable and controversial career at two pivotal stages – his initial rise to ministerial office, and his decision to leave Labour.
Vector soup: high‐throughput identification of Neotropical phlebotomine sand flies using metabarcoding
Authors: Kocher Arthur , Gantier Jean‐Charles , Gaborit Pascal , Zinger Lucie , Holota Helene , Valiere Sophie , Dusfour Isabelle , Girod Romain , Bañuls Anne‐Laure , Murienne Jerome
Published: June 2016

Phlebotomine sand flies are haematophagous dipterans of primary medical importance. They represent the only proven vectors of leishmaniasis worldwide and are involved in the transmission of various other pathogens. Studying the ecology of sand flies is crucial to understand the epidemiology of leishmaniasis and further control this disease. A major limitation in this regard is that traditional morphological‐based methods for sand fly species identifications are time‐consuming and require taxonomic expertise. DNA metabarcoding holds great promise in overcoming this issue by allowing the identification of multiple species from a single bulk sample. Here, we assessed the reliability of a short insect metabarcode located in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA for the identification of Neotropical sand flies, and constructed a reference database for 40 species found in French Guiana. Then, we conducted a metabarcoding experiment on sand flies mixtures of known content and showed that the method allows an accurate identification of specimens in pools. Finally, we applied metabarcoding to field samples caught in a 1‐ha forest plot in French Guiana. Besides providing reliable molecular data for species‐level assignations of phlebotomine sand flies, our study proves the efficiency of metabarcoding based on the mitochondrial 16S rRNA for studying sand fly diversity from bulk samples. The application of this high‐throughput identification procedure to field samples can provide great opportunities for vector monitoring and eco‐epidemiological studies.
Algorithmic single‐locus species delimitation: effects of sampling effort, variation and nonmonophyly in four methods and 1870 species of beetles
Authors: Pentinsaari Mikko , Vos Rutger , Mutanen Marko
Published: June 2016

The vast number of undescribed species and the fast rate of biodiversity loss call for new approaches to speed up alpha taxonomy. A plethora of methods for delimiting species or operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on sequence data have been published in recent years. We test the ability of four delimitation methods (BIN, ABGD, GMYC, PTP) to reproduce established species boundaries on a carefully curated DNA barcode data set of 1870 North European beetle species. We also explore how sampling effort, intraspecific variation, nearest neighbour divergence and nonmonophyly affect the OTU delimitations. All methods produced approximately 90% identity between species and OTUs. The effects of variation and sampling differed between methods. ABGD was sensitive to singleton sequences, while GMYC showed tendencies for oversplitting. The best fit between species and OTUs was achieved using simple rules to find consensus between discordant OTU delimitations. Using several approaches simultaneously allows the methods to compensate for each other's weaknesses. Barcode‐based OTU‐picking is an efficient way to delimit putative species from large data sets where the use of more sophisticated methods based on multilocus or genomic data is not feasible.
Using Pythagorean Expectation to Determine Luck in the KFC Big Bash League
Authors: Vine Anthony J.
Published: June 2016

Luck is an important factor in determining who wins sporting events. Despite this, the impact luck has in T20 cricket has yet to be quantified. The aim of this study is to adapt the Pythagorean Expectation formula to apply to T20 cricket using results from the Big Bash League. This adapted formula is then used to determine how “lucky” each team has been by comparing the expected with actual win totals. It is found that runs scored and runs allowed are from independent translated Weibull distributions, suggesting the formula is valid in T20 cricket. An exponent of 7.41 is determined as most appropriate.
Shedding light on the ‘dark side’ of phylogenetic comparative methods
Authors: Cooper Natalie , Thomas Gavin H. , FitzJohn Richard G.
Published: June 2016

Phylogenetic comparative methods are becoming increasingly popular for investigating evolutionary patterns and processes. However, these methods are not infallible – they suffer from biases and make assumptions like all other statistical methods.

Unfortunately, although these limitations are generally well known in the phylogenetic comparative methods community, they are often inadequately assessed in empirical studies leading to misinterpreted results and poor model fits. Here, we explore reasons for the communication gap dividing those developing new methods and those using them.

We suggest that some important pieces of information are missing from the literature and that others are difficult to extract from long, technical papers. We also highlight problems with users jumping straight into software implementations of methods (e.g. inr) that may lack documentation on biases and assumptions that are mentioned in the original papers.

To help solve these problems, we make a number of suggestions including providing blog posts or videos to explain new methods in less technical terms, encouraging reproducibility and code sharing, making wiki‐style pages summarising the literature on popular methods, more careful consideration and testing of whether a method is appropriate for a given question/data set, increased collaboration, and a shift from publishing purely novel methods to publishing improvements to existing methods and ways of detecting biases or testing model fit. Many of these points are applicable across methods in ecology and evolution, not just phylogenetic comparative methods.
Evidence that the availability of suitable pine limits non‐native Sirex noctilio in Ontario
Authors: Haavik Laurel J. , Dodds Kevin J. , Ryan Kathleen , Allison Jeremy D.
Published: June 2016

Natural controls may not be effective in limiting non‐native species that invade a new environment. Alternatively, factors present in the new environment can prevent an invader from becoming a serious pest.

We investigated whether existing natural enemies or the availability of susceptible and suitable host plants limited an established, non‐native species Sirex noctilio F. (Siricidae: Hymenoptera).

Using several pine forests throughout Ontario, we examined the relationships between parasitism and S. noctilio activity, as well as S. noctilio activity and the availability of susceptible and suitable pine. We also evaluated parasitism at two points in time (5–7 years apart).

We found correlative evidence indicating that the availability of suitable hosts limited the S. noctilio population in Ontario. Sirex noctilio killed more pine when more pine was available, especially suppressed (highly suitable) pine.

More co‐dominant (healthy) pines were attacked but not killed by S. noctilio at sites with more S. noctilio activity, indicating that higher densities of S. noctilio were needed to overwhelm healthy pines.

The role of parasitoids was less clear. Parasitism did not vary consistently with the amount of S. noctilio activity at sites. The two groups of parasitoids, Rhyssa and Ibalia, likely responded differently to presence of S. noctilio.
Gonadotropin‐releasing hormone analogues lead to pro‐inflammatory changes in T lymphocytes
Authors: Sung Nayoung , Salazar García María D. , Dambaeva Svetlana , Beaman Kenneth D. , Gilman‐Sachs Alice , Kwak‐Kim Joanne
Published: June 2016

Problem

We aimed to investigate the effect of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues on T‐cell immunity.

Method of study

TNF‐α+‐, INF‐ɣ+‐, IL‐10+‐, and IL‐17+‐expressing T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were treated with various concentrations (0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μm) of GnRH agonist (buserelin acetate) and antagonist (cetrorelix acetate) for 4 hours in vitro and they were analyzed with flow cytometry.

Results

TNF‐α+/IL‐10+ T helper (TH) cell ratios were increased in PBMCs treated with 1, 5, and 10 μm GnRH agonist when compared to controls (P=.006, P=.014 and P=.030, respectively). IFN‐ɣ+/IL‐10+ TH cell ratios were significantly increased with 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μm GnRH agonist as compared with controls (P=.046, P=.004, P=.013, and P=.011, respectively). TNF‐α+ TH cell levels, and IFN‐γ+/IL‐10+ TH cell ratios were significantly different (P<.001 and P<.004, respectively) between GnRH agonist‐ and antagonist‐treated cells.

Conclusion

GnRH analogues induce pro‐inflammatory TH1 shift in T‐cell immunity, in vitro. GnRH treatment during assisted reproductive technology cycle might explain a possible cause of inflammatory flare in women with inflammatory conditions.