bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Proteomic Profiling Reveals Adaptive Responses to Surgical Myocardial Ischemia–Reperfusion in Hibernating Arctic Ground Squirrels Compared to Rats
Authors: Quinones Quintin J. , Zhang Zhiquan , Ma Qing , Smith Michael P. , Soderblom Erik , Moseley M. Arthur , Bain James , Newgard Christopher B. , Muehlbauer Michael J. , Hirschey Matthew , Drew Kelly L. , Barnes Brian M. , Podgoreanu Mihai V.
Published: May 2016

AbstractAbstract

Applying gene ontology analysis to hibernating arctic ground squirrels, the authors have found that the natural cardiac protective adaptations of hibernators involve metabolic shifts in fatty acid metabolism proteins, reductions in toxic lipid metabolites, and up-regulation of sirtuins.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

Background

Hibernation is an adaptation to extreme environments known to provide organ protection against ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury. An unbiased systems approach was utilized to investigate hibernation-induced changes that are characteristic of the hibernator cardioprotective phenotype, by comparing the myocardial proteome of winter hibernating arctic ground squirrels (AGS), summer active AGS, and rats subjected to I/R, and further correlating with targeted metabolic changes.

Methods

In a well-defined rodent model of I/R by deep hypothermic circulatory arrest followed by 3 or 24 h of reperfusion or sham, myocardial protein abundance in AGS (hibernating summer active) and rats (n = 4 to 5/group) was quantified by label-free proteomics (n = 4 to 5/group) and correlated with metabolic changes.

Results

Compared to rats, hibernating AGS displayed markedly reduced plasma levels of troponin I, myocardial apoptosis, and left ventricular contractile dysfunction. Of the 1,320 rat and 1,478 AGS proteins identified, 545 were differentially expressed between hibernating AGS and rat hearts (47% up-regulated and 53% down-regulated). Gene ontology analysis revealed down-regulation in hibernating AGS hearts of most proteins involved in mitochondrial energy transduction, including electron transport chain complexes, acetyl CoA biosynthesis, Krebs cycle, glycolysis, and ketogenesis. Conversely, fatty acid oxidation enzymes and sirtuin-3 were up-regulated in hibernating AGS, with preserved peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-α activity and reduced tissue levels of acylcarnitines and ceramides after I/R.

Conclusions

Natural cardioprotective adaptations in hibernators involve extensive metabolic remodeling, featuring increased expression of fatty acid metabolic proteins and reduced levels of toxic lipid metabolites. Robust up-regulation of sirtuin-3 suggests that posttranslational modifications may underlie organ protection in hibernating mammals.
Evolution of Muscles Dysfunction From Myofascial Pain Syndrome Through Cervical Disc-Root Conflict to Degenerative Spine Disease
Authors: Lisiński Przemysław , Huber Juliusz
Published: May 2016

Study Design.

Comparative clinical and neurophysiological study in three groups of patients with general diagnosis of neck pain.

Objective.

To determine symptoms of muscles dysfunction in patients with myofascial pain syndrome, disc-root conflict, and degenerative changes at cervical spine.

Summary and Background Data.

The explanation for cervical pain origin should be based on results from chosen clinical and neurophysiological studies in correlation with neuroimaging findings.

Methods.

Three subgroups of patients (N = 60 each) with certain symptoms were examined. Clinical evaluation included examination of pain intensity in VAS scale, muscle strength in Lovett scale, evaluation of reflexes, Spurling test, assessment of active trigger points (TRPs), and superficial sensory perception. Neurophysiological testing included surface electromyography at rest (rEMG) and during maximal contraction (mcEMG) as well as electroneurography (ENG).

Results.

The greatest pain intensity with its decentralization phenomenon occurred in patients with disc-root conflict. Significant decrease of muscle strength was detected in trapezius muscle in myofascial pain syndrome subgroup. Weakness of abductor pollicis brevis muscle in patients with disc-root conflict differed them from patients with myofascial pain syndrome (P = 0.05). Patients with disc-root conflict and degenerative spine disease showed differences (P = 0.03) in reflexes evoked from triceps brachii. Positive Spurling symptom was most common (56.7%) in disc-root conflict subgroup. TRPs in trapezius muscle were found in all patients with myofascial pain syndrome. Results of rEMG amplitude measurements differed patients at P = 0.05. Only mcEMG recording from abductor pollicis brevis muscle allows for their clear cut differentiation. ENG studies showed abnormalities in patients with disc-root conflict and degenerative spine disease (P from 0.05 to 0.02). Positive correlation of VAS, TRPs, and rEMG as well as Lovett scores, mcEMG, and ENG results was found.

Conclusion.

Only applying several clinical and neurophysiological tests together makes it possible to differentiate patients with different etiological reasons of pain at cervical spine.

Level of Evidence: 4
Changes in trends in colorectal cancer incidence rate by anatomic site between 1978 and 2004 in Japan
Authors: Nakagawa Hiroko , Ito Hidemi , Hosono Satoyo , Oze Isao , Mikami Haruo , Hattori Masakazu , Nishino Yoshikazu , Sugiyama Hiromi , Nakata Kayo , Tanaka Hideo
Published: May 2016

Although colorectal cancer (CRC), a major type of cancer worldwide, has shown a proximal or right-sided shift in subsite distribution in western countries, trends in subsite incidence in Asian countries remain unclear. Here, we evaluated subsite-specific trends in CRC incidence rate between 1978 and 2004 in Japan using large data from 10 population-based cancer registries. The colorectal sites (C18–C20) were categorized into three groups: proximal colon (C18.0–C18.5), distal colon (C18.6–C18.7), and rectum (C19.9 and C20.9). Trends in age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) were characterized by joinpoint regression analysis. A total of 303 802 CRC cases were analyzed. Overall, ASRs increased remarkably until 1993, with an annual percentage change (APC) of 4.9%, and then stabilized thereafter. By subsite, however, ASRs of proximal colon significantly increased, with APCs of 7.1% (1978–1991), 3.8% (1991–1996), and 0.9% (1996–2004); distal colon showed an initial significant increase, with an APC of 7.6%, but stabilized from 1991 until the end of observation; and rectal cancer showed an initial significant increase, with APCs of 1.9% (1978–1988) and 5.6% (1988–1992), but then decreased abruptly in 1992, the year CRC screening was introduced nationwide, with an APC of −1.0%. Thus, we revealed that changes in incidence trends for the three anatomic sites apparently began to differ in the 1990s. Careful monitoring is necessary to confirm whether these trends are changing in the Japanese population.
Reproductive factors and gallbladder/bile duct cancer: a population-based cohort study in Japan
Authors: Makiuchi Takeshi , Sobue Tomotaka , Kitamura Tetsuhisa , Sawada Norie , Iwasaki Motoki , Sasazuki Shizuka , Yamaji Taiki , Shimazu Taichi , Tsugane Shoichiro
Published: May 2016

Reproductive/menstrual factors may be involved in the etiology of gallbladder cancer (GBC) and bile duct cancer (BDC). However, the results from previous epidemiological studies have been inconsistent. We investigated the association of reproductive/menstrual factors with the risk for GBC and BDC in a population-based prospective cohort study in Japan. Data on reproductive/menstrual factors were collected through a self-administered questionnaire at baseline. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. A total of 55 786 women enrolled between 1990 and 1994 were included in the analysis, and 115 GBC and 113 BDC cases were identified, with 944 861 person-years follow-up until 2010. For GBC, irregular and longer cycles were moderately associated with an increased risk [HR=2.12 (95% CI: 1.30–3.47) and HR=1.76 (95% CI: 1.08–2.89), respectively]. This effect tended to be greater in premenopausal than in postmenopausal women. Furthermore, older age at first pregnancy tended to be associated with an increased risk [HR=1.84 (95% CI: 1.03–3.29), P-trend=0.036], whereas increased duration of fertility tended to be associated with a decreased risk [HR=0.59 (95% CI: 0.35–1.01), P-trend=0.055] of GBC. No clear association with BDC was observed. This finding suggests that women with irregular or longer cycles may have an increased risk for GBC and female hormones may play an important role in the etiology of GBC.
Laser-Assisted Drug Delivery
Authors: Zaleski-Larsen Lisa Ann , Fabi Sabrina G.
Published: May 2016

BACKGROUND

Laser-assisted drug delivery (LADD) is an evolving new therapy with many possible applications as a highly targeted customizable method for distribution of drugs within the skin. LADD offers the advantages of accessibility, noninvasiveness, compliance, safety, and effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE

To review the available literature regarding LADD.

METHODS

A MEDLINE search was performed on LADD from 1989 to 2015, and the results are summarized. Practical applications of these procedures are also discussed.

RESULTS

Reports of the use of ablative, nonablative, and fractional lasers as a means to increase cutaneous permeation of the topical application of medications and cosmeceuticals were found. The focus of the review was to demonstrate the variety of topical treatments that have been used with the LADD method and the multitude of future studies needed to fully characterize the best application of this evolving technology.

CONCLUSION

The most comprehensive review in the literature to date on LADD is provided. Further studies are needed to fully evaluate the safety, dosing, side effects, and results.
NADPH oxidases as electrochemical generators to produce ion fluxes and turgor in fungi, plants and humans
Authors: Segal Anthony W.
Published: May 2016

The NOXs are a family of flavocytochromes whose basic structure has been largely conserved from algae to man. This is a very simple system. NADPH is generally available, in plants it is a direct product of photosynthesis, and oxygen is a largely ubiquitous electron acceptor, and the electron-transporting core of an FAD and two haems is the minimal required to pass electrons across the plasma membrane. These NOXs have been shown to be essential for diverse functions throughout the biological world and, lacking a clear mechanism of action, their effects have generally been attributed to free radical reactions. Investigation into the function of neutrophil leucocytes has demonstrated that electron transport through the prototype NOX2 is accompanied by the generation of a charge across the membrane that provides the driving force propelling protons and other ions across the plasma membrane. The contention is that the primary function of the NOXs is to supply the driving force to transport ions, the nature of which will depend upon the composition and characteristics of the local ion channels, to undertake a host of diverse functions. These include the generation of turgor in fungi and plants for the growth of filaments and invasion by appressoria in the former, and extension of pollen tubes and root hairs, and stomatal closure, in the latter. In neutrophils, they elevate the pH in the phagocytic vacuole coupled to other ion fluxes. In endothelial cells of blood vessels, they could alter luminal volume to regulate blood pressure and tissue perfusion.
The role of the glucose-sensing transcription factor carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein pathway in termite queen fertility
Authors: Sillam-Dussès David , Hanus Robert , Poulsen Michael , Roy Virginie , Favier Maryline , Vasseur-Cognet Mireille
Published: May 2016

Termites are among the few animals that themselves can digest the most abundant organic polymer, cellulose, into glucose. In mice and
Drosophila
, glucose can activate genes via the transcription factor carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) to induce glucose utilization and de novo lipogenesis. Here, we identify a termite orthologue of ChREBP and its downstream lipogenic targets, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase. We show that all of these genes, including ChREBP, are upregulated in mature queens compared with kings, sterile workers and soldiers in eight different termite species. ChREBP is expressed in several tissues, including ovaries and fat bodies, and increases in expression in totipotent workers during their differentiation into neotenic mature queens. We further show that ChREBP is regulated by a carbohydrate diet in termite queens. Suppression of the lipogenic pathway by a pharmacological agent in queens elicits the same behavioural alterations in sterile workers as observed in queenless colonies, supporting that the ChREBP pathway partakes in the biosynthesis of semiochemicals that convey the signal of the presence of a fertile queen. Our results highlight ChREBP as a likely key factor for the regulation and signalling of queen fertility.
Surfing the vegetal pole in a small population: extracellular vertical transmission of an 'intracellular' deep-sea clam symbiont
Authors: Ikuta Tetsuro , Igawa Kanae , Tame Akihiro , Kuroiwa Tsuneyoshi , Kuroiwa Haruko , Aoki Yui , Takaki Yoshihiro , Nagai Yukiko , Ozawa Genki , Yamamoto Masahiro , Deguchi Ryusaku , Fujikura Katsunori , Maruyama Tadashi , Yoshida Takao
Published: May 2016

Symbiont transmission is a key event for understanding the processes underlying symbiotic associations and their evolution. However, our understanding of the mechanisms of symbiont transmission remains still fragmentary. The deep-sea clam
Calyptogena okutanii
harbours obligate sulfur-oxidizing intracellular symbiotic bacteria in the gill epithelial cells. In this study, we determined the localization of their symbiont associating with the spawned eggs, and the population size of the symbiont transmitted via the eggs. We show that the symbionts are located on the outer surface of the egg plasma membrane at the vegetal pole, and that each egg carries approximately 400 symbiont cells, each of which contains close to 10 genomic copies. The very small population size of the symbiont transmitted via the eggs might narrow the bottleneck and increase genetic drift, while polyploidy and its transient extracellular lifestyle might slow the rate of genome reduction. Additionally, the extracellular localization of the symbiont on the egg surface may increase the chance of symbiont exchange. This new type of extracellular transovarial transmission provides insights into complex interactions between the host and symbiont, development of both host and symbiont, as well as the population dynamics underlying genetic drift and genome evolution in microorganisms.
Automated single particle detection and tracking for large microscopy datasets
Authors: Wilson Rhodri S. , Yang Lei , Dun Alison , Smyth Annya M. , Duncan Rory R. , Rickman Colin , Lu Weiping
Published: May 2016

Recent advances in optical microscopy have enabled the acquisition of very large datasets from living cells with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. Our ability to process these datasets now plays an essential role in order to understand many biological processes. In this paper, we present an automated particle detection algorithm capable of operating in low signal-to-noise fluorescence microscopy environments and handling large datasets. When combined with our particle linking framework, it can provide hitherto intractable quantitative measurements describing the dynamics of large cohorts of cellular components from organelles to single molecules. We begin with validating the performance of our method on synthetic image data, and then extend the validation to include experiment images with ground truth. Finally, we apply the algorithm to two single-particle-tracking photo-activated localization microscopy biological datasets, acquired from living primary cells with very high temporal rates. Our analysis of the dynamics of very large cohorts of 10 000 s of membrane-associated protein molecules show that they behave as if caged in nanodomains. We show that the robustness and efficiency of our method provides a tool for the examination of single-molecule behaviour with unprecedented spatial detail and high acquisition rates.
Reciprocal relationships between behaviour and parasites suggest that negative feedback may drive flexibility in male reproductive behaviour
Authors: Ezenwa Vanessa O. , Snider Matthew H.
Published: May 2016

Parasites are ubiquitous components of the environment that contribute to behavioural and life-history variation among hosts. Although it is well known that host behaviour can affect parasite infection risk and that parasites can alter host behaviour, the potential for dynamic feedback between these processes is poorly characterized. Using Grant's gazelle (Nanger granti) as a model, we tested for reciprocal effects of behaviour on parasites and parasites on behaviour to understand whether behaviour–parasite feedback could play a role in maintaining variation in male reproductive behaviour. Adult male gazelles either defend territories to attract mates or reside in bachelor groups. Territoriality is highly variable both within- and between-individuals, suggesting that territory maintenance is costly. Using a combination of longitudinal and experimental studies, we found that individual males transition frequently between territorial and bachelor reproductive status, and that elevated parasite burdens are a cost of territoriality. Moreover, among territorial males, parasites suppress aspects of behaviour related to territory maintenance and defence. These results suggest that territorial behaviour promotes the accumulation of parasites in males, and these parasites dampen the very behaviours required for territory maintenance. Our findings suggest that reciprocal feedback between host behaviour and parasitism could be a mechanism maintaining variation in male reproductive behaviour in the system.
Individual fluctuations in toxin levels affect breeding site fidelity in a chemically defended amphibian
Authors: Bucciarelli Gary M. , Green David B. , Shaffer H. Bradley , Kats Lee B.
Published: May 2016

Behaviours that influence habitat selection strongly determine species movement patterns. One component of animal behaviour that largely influences movement patterns and habitat choice is site fidelity. California newts (family Salamandridae) demonstrate remarkable site fidelity, typically homing to the same pool of a stream each breeding season. Individuals often occupy a specific pool throughout the breeding season, but some males shift among breeding pools, altering their set of potential mates, competitors, and predators. In this study, we measured dermal concentrations of the chemical defence compound tetrodotoxin (TTX) in recaptured male California newts (
Taricha torosa
) over five breeding seasons to evaluate whether relative TTX concentrations are associated with breeding site fidelity in the field. Our five years of field sampling indicates that TTX concentrations of individuals and group means fluctuate tremendously, implying that TTX is not a stable phenotypic trait. Despite such fluctuations, we found that an individual's relative TTX concentration explains fidelity to a breeding pool and suggests that newts may be able to assess both their own concentrations of TTX and that of conspecifics to make decisions about remaining in or abandoning a breeding pool. These results provide us a novel dimension to chemical defence phenotypes in nature and their ecological consequences, potentially requiring a re-evaluation of the coevolutionary dynamics of predation pressure on toxin-laden organisms.
A contingency model of client repatronage in a financial auditing services context
Authors: Sarapaivanich Naruanard , Patterson Paul G.
Published: May 2016

Purpose

This study aims to examine the extent to which switching costs moderates the impact of trust, value and attractiveness of alternatives on client repatronage intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies to create a cross-sectional survey covering four geographic regions in Thailand. Adopting a contingency perspective, the authors examine the moderating impact of two switching costs (economic and security) on the association among trust, value, attractiveness of alternatives and repatronage intentions.

Findings

A study of 519 small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients of audit firms confirms the main effects of trust, value and alternative attractiveness on client retention; some but not all linkages are moderated by the costs of switching.

Researchlimitations/implications

This article focuses on one specific segment (SMEs) and one category of professional services. It would be worthwhile to extend the findings to larger firms and other professional services.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the understanding of relationship continuance among professional services clients by shifting the focus to when and in which contingency conditions trust, value and attractiveness of alternatives have greater or lesser impacts on repatronage intentions.
Cheating behaviour among accounting students: some Malaysian evidence
Authors: Ismail Suhaiza , Yussof Salwa Hana
Published: May 2016

Purpose

This study aims to examine the cheating behaviour among accounting students in terms of the extent of neutralization of cheating and the effectiveness of deterrents to cheating of cheaters and non-cheaters. It also aims to examine the differences in the cheating behaviour between males and females of cheaters and non-cheaters groups.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a questionnaire survey on academic dishonesty developed by Haines et al. (1986) which was administered to accounting students, 435 usable responses were obtained and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. In achieving the objectives, mean score, standard deviation and independent sample t-tests were performed.

Findings

The results on the extent of cheating neutralization revealed that cheaters have significantly greater excuses to cheat than the non-cheaters. In addition, males have greater neutralization for cheating than females. In terms of the effectiveness of the deterrent to cheating measures, there were significant differences between cheaters and non-cheaters on the effectiveness of two deterrents to cheating measures. The comparison between males and females reveals significant differences between the two genders for cheating neutralization as well as the three cheating deterrents for both cheaters and non-cheaters groups.

Originality/value

The present study does not only investigate the differences in the cheating behaviour between cheaters and non-cheaters in terms of neutralization and deterrents to cheating but also provides evidence on the cheating attitude based on gender.
The effects of traditional practices on modern banking system
Authors: Mittal Divya , Agrawal Shiv Ratan
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify the traditional practices in the modern banking system (MBS) and examine the effects of these on employee response, customer reactions and customer loyalty, in the context of public sector banks in India. The study also investigates the effects on customers of employees’ use of traditional banking practices in the MBS.

Design/methodology/approach

– A total of 460 usable responses were gathered from customers of seven public sector banks in Bhopal (MP), India. The study scales were refined and validated by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings

– The results indicated that the MBS utilising traditional practices (MBSTP) significantly influences unfavourable employee responses, customer reactions and loyalty. In addition, employee responses in MBSTP motivate and generate unfavourable reactions of customers, which further influence their loyalty adversely towards public sector banks.

Practical implications

– The identified traditional practices with MBS are expected to bring clarity to the issue of employee response, customer reaction and loyalty. This would help the management of banks.

Originality/value

– The results of the analysis indicated that public sector banking services are facing the internal challenges by its own service processes and employees’ behavioural intentions.
Ethical fairness in financial services complaint handling
Authors: Chalmers Sally
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model for ethical and fair complaint handling. This provides a basis for research and the development of financial institution complaint handling approaches and practices.

Design/methodology/approach

– Ethical issues posed by the application of fairness theory to complaint handling are explored. The ethical soundness of organizational justice theory is critiqued. Multi-disciplinary literature is drawn on to develop a conceptual model for ethical fairness in complaint handling.

Findings

– Issues relevant to an ethical approach to complaint handling, and which are underdeveloped in current organizational and perceived justice frameworks, are identified. These include issues of autonomy, context, reflexivity, moral value, stakeholder voice, power and moral accountability. A conceptual model for ethical fairness in complaint handling is proposed.

Research limitations/implications

– This paper establishes a research agenda. Further development is required.

Practical implications

– The proposed model contributes to the development of complaint handling practices and competency frameworks.

Originality/value

– Justice theories have been proposed as theoretical frameworks for service recovery procedures, however, moral and critical questions have been neglected. The model proposed challenges financial institutions to move away from traditional normative perspectives, which seek to solve problems through managerial interventions, and adopt a perspective which is interpretivistic and reflexive. The model recognizes ethical issues and seeks to minimize inherent power positions, identify accountability and question moral values. Through envisioning complaint handlers as boundary spanners, new light is shed on their relational and communicative roles.
Performance impact of mobile banking: using the task-technology fit (TTF) approach
Authors: Tam Carlos , Oliveira Tiago
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of mobile banking (m-banking) for individual performance and whether or not there are any age or gender differences.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research model is based on the task-technology fit (TTF) theory, which integrates elements of task and technology characteristics, technology usage, and individual performance, while combining the age and gender subsamples. The empirical approach was based on an online survey questionnaire of 256 individuals. Partial least squares based on the multi-group analysis were used to analyse the proposed framework construct relationships.

Findings

– The results reveal that TTF and usage are important precedents of individual performance. The authors find statistically significant differences in path usage to performance impact for the age subsample, and no statistically significant differences for the gender subsample.

Originality/value

– The paper highlights the TTF model to understand the determinants that influence the individual performance of m-banking, and whether or not there are any age or gender differences. While most earlier research focuses on m-banking adoption, the approach diverges from the majority of the work by examining the individual performance, which has not been considered in earlier studies.
Leadership in aid selectivity
Authors: De Matteis Alessandro
Published: May 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to shed light on donors’ decision process in their choice of aid recipients, which is still only partly understood. In particular, it is still unclear whether any imitative behaviour within donors’ decision process actually affects the degree of selectivity in their choice of recipients. This study contributes to fill such a gap by assessing whether the selectivity of donors’ aid allocation reflects an imitative behaviour and, if so, who leads the game and how the game has changed over time.

Design/methodology/approach

Donors’ selectivity is estimated using the Suits index for the analysis of aid allocations. The evolution of the Suits index is analysed in an autoregressive manner to test whether donors’ selectivity reflects an imitative behaviour.

Findings

This study documents a general increase in aid selectivity with regards to poverty, while selectivity according to governance reveals only limited change. The analysis shows how a redistributive process of donor leadership and influential power over aid allocation has been in place over three decades between 1980 and 2010, with the 1990s signing the main phase of transition.

Originality/value

This study contributes to shed light on donor coordination through the identification of leaders and followers among donors in terms of aid selectivity.
The (un)predictable factor: the role of subsidiary social capital in international takeovers
Authors: Minbaeva Dana , Navrbjerg Steen Erik
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the implementation of headquarters-originated employment practices affect multinational corporation (MNC) ability to exploit the value of organizational social capital of the acquired subsidiary.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors use qualitative insights collected over 16 years from a Danish company to illustrate how a foreign MNC’s interference with the balanced structure of relations, norms, and roles in a subsidiary jeopardized the value of existing social capital.

Findings

– The authors argue that changes in the collective perception of employment practices create the collective response, constructive or destructive, resulting respectively in the gain or loss of the performance benefits arising from organizational social capital.

Practical implications

– The authors suggest two guidelines and two general propositions for future research on the value of organizational social capital in international takeovers.

Originality/value

– The results indicate that local management and employees could use organizational social capital as a unique feature of the local business system when competing with other subsidiaries in the same MNC.
Entrepreneurial orientation and human resource management: effects from HRM practices
Authors: Florén Henrik , Rundquist Jonas , Fischer Sebastian
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between HRM practices and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in large established firms. More specifically, the purpose is to add to the understanding of the influence of HRM practices on EO.

Design/methodology/approach

– An e-mail survey was distributed to a sample of Swedish and German manufacturing firms in high-tech and medium high-tech manufacturing industries, and firms in knowledge-intensive services sectors, with more than 250 employees. In total, 810 surveys were distributed, with a response rate of 12.7 per cent.

Findings

– The results show that an emphasis on entrepreneurial aspects leads to an increased EO only in the case of training and development. A conclusion therefore is that it seems difficult to recruit personnel or to use appraisal and rewards as to create EO on a firm level.

Practical implications

– The study indicates that firms aiming to increase their EO should make sure to emphasize entrepreneurial aspects during staff training and development activities.

Originality/value

– This empirical study paves the way towards a better understanding of the link between HRM practices and EO. The results should be of interest for both HR professionals and researchers interested in understanding this important relationship.
FINRA regulation: new fixed-income research rule, modifications to equity research rule, and FAQ on conflicts of interest in offering process
Authors: Sacks Russell D. , Blau Steven R. , Nishide Taro
Published: May 2016

Purpose

To address practical issues broker-dealers may face in reviewing and revising their policies and procedures in response to FINRA’s new fixed-income research rule, modifications to its equity research rule, and its FAQs regarding conflicts of interest in the offering process.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews FINRA’s new fixed-income research rule, modifications to its equity research rule, and its FAQs regarding the its equity research rule, and provides detailed comparisons between current rules and new rules to help firms consider how to review and revise their policies and procedures.

Findings

Although significant exemptions may apply depending on firm structure, under FINRA’s new fixed-income research rule, firms producing fixed-income research reports will now be subject to regulation similar to that FINRA has imposed on firms producing equity research reports, including with respect to information barriers, other policies and procedures, and certain disclosures. The modified FINRA equity research rule retains the core provisions of the existing NASD and NYSE equity research rules and adds a “principles-based procedures” approach to potential conflicts of interest, shortens or eliminates quiet periods, and imposes some of the Global Settlement prohibitions on all firms. Firms will need to review and revise their policies and procedures for research in response to these rule changes. Firms should also take note of FINRA’s guidance in its FAQs regarding conflicts of interest in the offering process.

Originality/value

Overview of recent FINRA enforcement activity, rule modifications, and practical guidance from experienced securities and financial services lawyers.
SEC proposes sweeping changes to the use of derivatives and financial commitment transactions by registered funds and BDCs
Authors: Brizek Ryan P. , Bullitt P. Georgia , DiMartino Rose F. , Neale Margery K. , Spinola P. Jay
Published: May 2016

Purpose

To describe and analyze a proposed rule recently issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) that would overhaul the use of derivatives and financial commitment transactions by registered investment companies and business development companies.

Design/methodology/approach

This article summarizes the various aspects of the proposed rule, discusses the elements of the proposed rule in greater detail, explains the effect of the proposed rule on existing guidance from the SEC and its staff, and notes the potential transition period for any final rule.

Findings

While the proposed rule is subject to public comment and subsequent consideration by the SEC and its staff, if the proposed rule is adopted in its current form it would result in sweeping changes for registered investments companies and business development companies.

Originality/value

This article contains a detailed overview of a recent SEC rule proposal regarding the use of derivatives by registered investment companies and business development companies and practical guidance from experienced asset management lawyers.
Rapid adaptation to controlling new microbial epibionts in the invaded range promotes invasiveness of an exotic seaweed
Authors: Saha Mahasweta , Wiese Jutta , Weinberger Florian , Wahl Martin
Published: May 2016

Rapid adaptation to novel biotic interactions and abiotic factors in introduced ranges can be critical to invasion success of both exotic terrestrial and aquatic plants. Seaweeds are extremely successful biological invaders in marine environments. Along with herbivores, foulers − ubiquitous enemies in the marine environment − have the potential to determine the success or failure of invasive seaweeds. However, research on the topic of rapid adaptation of seaweeds to biotic challenges is still in its nascent stages and rapid adaptation of seaweeds to fouling is unexplored.

We tested whether the impressive invasion success of the red macroalga Gracilaria vermiculophylla may be enhanced by the rapid adaptation of chemical control (defence) of new bacterial epibionts in the invaded range.

The native and invasive G. vermiculophylla populations investigated were equally well defended against currently co‐occurring bacterial epibionts isolated from their respective ranges. In contrast, the native populations were weakly defended against bacterial epibionts from the invaded range, whereas the invasive populations were weakly defended against bacterial epibionts from their native range. Apparently during the invasion process, invasive populations have adapted their control capacity to cope with the new epibionts but have lost the capacity to fend off old epibionts.

Synthesis. These results provide the first evidence that a change in habitat and, thus, confrontation by new enemies, may trigger rapid defence adaptation of seaweeds, which could be necessary for invasiveness. Such adaptation dynamics as found in the current study could be also applicable to other types of host plant – enemy interaction e.g. plant root – microbe interactions, freshwater plant – fouler interactions in general and for cases of shifting plant – enemy interactions in course of climate change.
Trauma management: Chernobyl in Belarus and Ukraine
Authors: Zhukova Ekatherina
Published: May 2016

Although the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened in the Soviet Union in 1986, we still do not know how the most affected states – Ukraine and Belarus – have managed this tragedy since independence. Drawing on the concept of cultural trauma, this article compares Chernobyl narratives in Belarus and Ukraine over the past 28 years. It shows that national narratives of Chernobyl differ, representing the varying ways in which the state overcomes trauma. Our understanding of post‐communist transformations can be improved by analysing trauma management narratives and their importance for new national identity construction. These narratives also bring new insights to our vision of cultural trauma by linking it to ontological insecurity. The article demonstrates how the state can become an arena of trauma process as it commands material and symbolic resources to deal with trauma. In general, it contributes to a better understanding of how the same traumatic event can become a source of solidarity in one community, but a source of hostility in another.
Jung, Winnicott and the divided psyche
Authors: Saban Mark
Published: May 2016

In his review of Memories Dreams Reflections, Winnicott diagnosed Jung as suffering from a psychic split, and characterized the content and the structure of analytical psychology as primarily moulded and conditioned by Jung's own defensive quest for a ‘self that he could call his own’. This pathologizing analysis continues to be endorsed by contemporary Jungian writers. In this paper I attempt to show that Winnicott's critique is fundamentally misguided because it derives from a psychoanalytic model of the psyche, a model that regards all dissociation as necessarily pathological. I argue that Jung's understanding of the psyche differs radically from this model, and further, that it conforms by and large to the kind of dissociative model that we find in the writings of Frederic Myers, William James and Theodor Flournoy. I conclude that a fruitful relationship between psychoanalysis and analytical psychology must depend upon an awareness of these important differences between the two psychic models.
Myers‐Briggs typology and Jungian individuation
Authors: Myers Steve
Published: May 2016

Myers‐Briggs typology is widely seen as equivalent to and representative of Jungian theory by the users of the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and similar questionnaires. However, the omission of the transcendent function from the theory, and the use of typological functions as its foundation, has resulted in an inadvertent reframing of the process of individuation. This is despite some attempts to integrate individuation and typology, and reintroduce the transcendent function into Myers‐Briggs theory. This paper examines the differing views of individuation in Myers‐Briggs and Jungian theory, and some of the challenges of reconciling those differences, particularly in the context of normality. It proposes eight principles, drawn mainly from Jungian and classical post‐Jungian work, that show how individuation as a process can be integrated with contemporary Myers‐Briggs typology. These principles show individuation as being a natural process that can be encouraged outside of the analytic process. They make use of a wide range of opposites as well as typological functions, whilst being centred on the transcendent function. Central to the process is the alchemical image of the caduceus and a practical interpretation of the axiom of Maria, both of which Jung used to illustrate the process of individuation.
‘A Comparison Similar to this’: Ossian and the Forms of Antiquity
Authors: Moore Dafydd
Published: May 2016

This article discusses the ways in which James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian engage with other literary texts within their footnotes, adopting David Hopkins's notion of ‘conversing with antiquity’ to articulate how Macpherson conveys meaning and seeks to establish poetic characteristics through this interaction with other forms of expression. Attention to this process leads to a discussion of the dramatic qualities of Ossian as discussed by Macpherson and Hugh Blair, concluding with a discussion of Ossian's contribution to an emerging understanding of primitive dramatic forms, comparing the ways in which criticism understands Ossian and Aeschylus during the 1760s and 1770s.
Introduction Ossian: Past, Present and Future
Authors: Mitchell Sebastian
Published: May 2016

This year, 2016, sees the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Poems of Ossian, edited by Howard Gaskill, with a notable introduction by Fiona Stafford. The forum issue celebrates this landmark edition of the poems, and acknowledges the contribution to Ossianic studies of Gaskill and Stafford. The introductory essay considers the development of Ossian criticism from the late twentieth century onwards. It provides an overview of the six contributions to the issue, assesses the state of modern Ossian scholarship and suggests how the study of the bard may develop in the short to medium term.
Utilization of carbon substrates by heterotrophic bacteria through vertical sediment profiles in coastal and estuarine seagrass meadows
Authors: Säwström Christin , Serrano Oscar , Rozaimi Mohammad , Lavery Paul S.
Published: May 2016

Coastal vegetated ecosystems play an important role in carbon cycling and bacterial communities inhabiting coastal sediments are responsible for the remineralization and processing of organic carbon (OC). We collected 1 m‐long sediment cores in Posidonia seagrass meadows from coastal and estuarine sites in Australia that differed in their sedimentary organic and inorganic carbon, nitrogen and mud contents. The metabolic diversity of sediment heterotrophic bacterial communities was characterized at different sediment depths, based on the utilization pattern of 31 individual carbon substrates using Biolog EcoPlatesTM. High metabolic diversity was recorded at both sites, but the carbon substrate utilization rates and the use of carbohydrates were higher at the coastal site compared to the estuarine site. The heterotrophic bacterial community in the coastal sediment appeared to metabolize a more diverse OC pool compared to the estuarine site, which might partly explain the differences in OC storage among the seagrass habitats studied. The Biolog EcoPlatesTM provided a useful tool for characterising the sediment heterotrophic bacterial communities in the meadows and sediment characteristics and biochemical composition of the organic matter played an important role in shaping heterotrophic bacterial communities and their carbon utilization rates, potentially affecting carbon accumulation and preservation within seagrass sediments.
Introducing i‐Docs to geography: exploring interactive documentary's nonlinear imaginaries
Authors: Harris Ella
Published: May 2016

This paper introduces interactive documentaries, or i‐Docs, to geography through an analysis of one i‐Doc, Gaza Sderot. I‐Docs are an increasingly popular documentary form. Broadly defined by ‘nonlinear’ spatiotemporal organisation, their interactive capacities enable multiple pathways through documentary footage and materials. It is often suggested that this nonlinearity is politicised by i‐Docs to enable polyvocality and the destabilisation of dominant narratives. I argue that i‐Docs deserve geographical attention for two key reasons. First, if geographers have long explored articulations and reformulations of space‐time through media, then i‐Docs offer an insight into contemporary constructions of nonlinear spatiotemporal imaginaries through an interactive medium. Second, nonlinearity and its politics have also become foundational to geography's own approaches to space‐time, making pertinent the explorations of nonlinearity and its socio‐political implications that engagement with i‐Docs enables. In this context, I analyse Gaza Sderot to explore its construction of a nonlinear spatiotemporal imaginary and question the political perspectives that imaginary generates for its subject of the Gaza conflict. In concluding, I also suggest that i‐Docs could be a valuable methodological tool for geographers.
Stability of fine‐grainedTT‐OSLand post‐IR IRSLsignals from ac. 1 Ma sequence of aeolian and lacustrine deposits from the Nihewan Basin (northern China)
Authors: Liu Jinfeng , Murray Andrew S. , Buylaert Jan‐Pieter , Jain Mayank , Chen Jie , Lu Yanchou
Published: May 2016

We tested the suitability of the fine‐grained quartz (4–11 μm) Optical Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and thermally‐transferredOSL(TT‐OSL), and the fine‐grained polymineral (4–11 μm) post‐infraredIRSL(post‐IR IRSLorpIRIR) signals for dating samples from aeolian‐lacustrine deposits from the Xiaochangliang archaeological profile in the Nihewan Basin, China; these deposits include material from the Jaramillo subchron (c. 1.0 Ma). In the upper aeolian section, theOSLandpIRIR290ages are consistent with each other, and show that the upper 8.8 m was deposited betweenc. 0.3 andc. 140 ka. The luminescence ages indicate a major discontinuity in deposition between the aeolian and the older lacustrine deposits. Below this hiatus at 9.4 m (i.e. in the lacustrine sediments) all three signals are found to be in field saturation (no further systematic increase in burial dose with depth) despite theTT‐OSLsignal (apparent mean burial dose ~880 Gy) being well below saturation on the laboratory growth curve. This is in contrast to thepIRIR290signal, which saturates in the field at a level consistent with laboratory saturation. This results in a practical upper limit to the measured burial dose of ~900 Gy (2D0). Thus for theTT‐OSLandpIRIR290signals, the upper limits for dating lacustrine deposits are <260 ka andc. 240 ka, respectively. These results have major implications for the appropriate future application of these signals. The ages of our lacustrine samples cannot be regarded as necessarily accurate ones; nevertheless, these ages provide the first long series absolute chronology for study of local palaeolithic and geomorphic evolution history aside from the magnetostratigraphical results available before this research.