bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Presenting a model for safety program performance assessment using grey system theory
Authors: Omidvari Manouchehr , Lashgary Zeinab
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The proposed model was capable of being used in both promoting safety performance level and evaluating and ranking safety units. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Managers must be able to determine positive impacts of safety programmes on the organisation and level of goal achievement and information access about performance of safety units. Since uncertain judgements of decision makers can be hardly estimated by numerical values, in this paper, based on grey system theory, a method was proposed for evaluating performance of safety units which was done using qualitative criteria of safety performance in an uncertain environment by one of the newest developed theory. This method used concept of grey theory to convert verbal variables into interval grey numbers; in the quantitative method, degree of grey possibility was imported.

Findings

– The results showed that the most important performance indicator in the field of safety in inter-urban transportation management included specialized safety training, safety auditing, hazard identification and risk evaluation, employees’ health monitoring, solid waste management and management review.

Originality/value

– This model could be extended for the whole safety issues and can be used as a simple and efficient method to evaluate performance of safety units in metro company of all the cities in order to determine their weaknesses and introduce the applied control strategies.
An exploration research of the independent college operation efficiency indicators based on DEA
Authors: Hong Lin , Chen Xue-Fen , Wang Yu , Li Qin
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the teaching performance of the independent colleges by the method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) comprehensively.

Design/methodology/approach

– The DEA has become an available way to evaluate the similarity between input and output in several production department and non-production department. The similarity also is comparative efficiency because the way is based on goal linear programming in which there is inner layer of manufacture or fixed input increase output, and output which makes cost minimization of input minimum gets a comparative efficiency of decision making unit.

Findings

– The results show that an ideal teaching performance never relies on only way because the hysteresis effect of teaching outcome is known for a longer time. Just as the reason, some people argue about the performance evaluation. However, the teaching activity is a great investment. In face of few resources, the benefits of education are not easy to solve these problems. The key point is how to evaluate problems rather than giving up the evaluation.

Originality/value

– The paper is an exploration research of the teaching performance of independent colleges based on DEA, which not only means some theoretical value, but also means a strong realistic meaning.
Research on risk spread model of industrial chain
Authors: Chu Yanfeng , Dai Mei-Mei
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The industrial chain network is a complex system consisted by many members of the enterprise, and the complex relationship and the interaction with the external environment among the node enterprises and the existence of various uncertainty all increase the risk of the industry chain. The risk of some individual node enterprises will not only affect the normal operation but also spread the risk to other enterprises by network relationship because of their own mismanagement or deterioration of the external environment. The purpose of this paper is to make an attempt to establish the risk spread model of the industrial chain based on complex networks.

Design/methodology/approach

– By improving Lobos disaster diffuse model, the paper introduces two indexes: the risk spread range and the risk propagation velocity to measure of industrial chain risk communication effects, and design algorithm for industrial chain complex network structure. The risk spread range can be used to measure the coverage of the risk communication influence produced by the propagation enterprises in the industry chain and to analyse the risk spread breadth on the industrial chain network .The speed index of risk communication represents the total numbers of infection enterprises in unit simulation time.

Findings

– This paper proposes the universal industrial chain risk propagation model.

Originality/value

– Through proposed algorithm constructs industrial chain network, and enterprise class divide, the importance of the product chain enterprises in the industry chain is strengthened.
Development prediction of logistics industry in Henan province and its dynamic analysis
Authors: Huang Yimin
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to establish a group of grey prediction models and relative degree model to study the characteristics and trend of the logistics industry development in Henan province scientifically. The study results can provide references for the development policy of the logistics industry in Henan province.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper constructs grey prediction models and grey buffer operator models which are related to the distribution of logistics industry in Henan province, and selects prediction models by comparing model accuracy, and use them to forecast the development trend of logistics industry in future ten years of Henan province. Using the grey relative models, the paper analyses development dynamic and prospect which support the development of logistics industry, and provide some references for transferring the pattern of economic growth of Henan province, forming new economic growth point and formulating relevant policies. High prediction accuracy models are selected to forecast the future development trend of logistics industry in the next ten years.

Findings

– Results show that the modern logistics industry in Henan province has been a steady growth in overall, the main growth points of the logistics industry development in Henan province are roadway miles (km), roadway (100 million tonnes/km), freight turnover (100 million tonnes/km) and waterway (100 million tonnes), the growth points for the future development of logistics industry in Henan province are the roadway freight volume, roadway passenger volume and waterway freight volume.

Practical implications

– Regional economic competition has become an important index for measuring a country's economic development level. Logistics industry plays an important role in the regional economic development, such as promoting coordinated development of regional economy and upgrading industrial optimization, and playing a major role in industrial transfer. Hence, logistics industry, which is urgently needed to solve by the government, has become important forces for promoting the growth of economy and a basic pillar industries of regional economy.

Originality/value

– The paper presents the systematic results of development prediction of modern logistics industry in Henan province and its dynamic analysis by using grey systems theory, not only to predict the trend of the development of the logistics industry, also to analyse the future development of logistics industry in the leading power factors.
The status of traditional medicine and national medicine in different areas of the China in 2011 with grey clustering analysis
Authors: Duan Lizhong , Duan Gu-man , Lu Qi , Duan Jun , XIE Li-yun , MU Yuan
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to improve the development of the Chinese traditional medicine (included the ethnic minority's medicine in China), it can raise the level of health for people, carry forward the culture of our nation, accelerate the economic development, promote social harmony and is very significant.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this paper, the factor which influences the development of the Chinese traditional medicine in these areas of China is analysed by the method called the grey relational analysis and grey clustering analysis.

Findings

– It is known that the comparative situation of each otherof the development of the Chinese traditional medicine in these areas. The causation is analysed.

Practical implications

– The behavioural mechanisms information which is effected by the traditional Chinese medicine (included ethnic minority medicine) is incomplete. Its inherent meaning is not clear. So it is reasonable to use the method called the grey relational analysis grey clustering analysis to study. Analysing the causes and giving countermeasures according to the results could propose some suggestions for the further development of Chinese medicine (including the national medicine) industry.

Originality/value

– The grey system theory was applied in medical management. The application of study results, the development of the Chinese traditional medicine (included the ethnic minority's medicine in China) is improved.
A pediatric robotic thumb exoskeleton for at-home rehabilitation
Authors: Aubin Patrick , Petersen Kelsey , Sallum Hani , Walsh Conor , Correia Annette , Stirling Leia
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Pediatric disorders, such as cerebral palsy and stroke, can result in thumb-in-palm deformity greatly limiting hand function. This not only limits children's ability to perform activities of daily living but also limits important motor skill development. Specifically, the isolated orthosis for thumb actuation (IOTA) is 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) thumb exoskeleton that can actuate the carpometacarpal (CMC) and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints through ranges of motion required for activities of daily living. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– IOTA consists of a lightweight hand-mounted mechanism that can be secured and aligned to individual wearers. The mechanism is actuated via flexible cables that connect to a portable control box. Embedded encoders and bend sensors monitor the 2 DOF of the thumb and flexion/extension of the wrist. A linear force characterization was performed to test the mechanical efficiency of the cable-drive transmission and the output torque at the exoskeletal CMC and MCP joints was measured.

Findings

– Using this platform, a number of control modes can be implemented that will enable the device to be controlled by a patient to assist with opposition grasp and fine motor control. Linear force and torque studies showed a maximum efficiency of 44 percent, resulting in a torque of 2.39±1.06 in.-lbf and 0.69±0.31 in.-lbf at the CMC and MCP joints, respectively.

Practical implications

– The authors envision this at-home device augmenting the current in-clinic and at-home therapy, enabling telerehabilitation protocols.

Originality/value

– This paper presents the design and characterization of a novel device specifically designed for pediatric grasp telerehabilitation to facilitate improved functionality and somatosensory learning.
Characterizing the human-robot haptic dyad in robot therapy of stroke survivors
Authors: De Santis Dalia , Zenzeri Jacopo , Casadio Maura , Masia Lorenzo , Squeri Valentina , Morasso Pietro
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The working hypothesis, on which this paper is built, is that it is advantageous to look at protocols of robot rehabilitation in the general context of human-robot interaction in haptic dyads. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method to detect and evaluate an index of active participation (AC index), underlying the performance of robot-assisted movements. This is important for avoiding the slacking phenomenon that affects robot therapy.

Design/methodology/approach

– The evaluation of the AC index is based on a novel technique of assistance which does not use constant or elastic forces but trains of small force impulses, with amplitude adapted to the level of impairment and a frequency of 2 Hz, which is suggested by recent results in the field of intermittent motor control. A preliminary feasibility test of the proposed method was carried out during a haptic reaching task in the absence of visual feedback, for a group of five stroke patients and an equal group of healthy subjects.

Findings

– The AC index appears to be stable and sensitive to training in both populations of subjects.

Originality/value

– The main original element of this study is the proposal of the new AC index of voluntary control associated with the new method of pulsed haptic interaction.
Sexual orientation discrimination in the Cypriot labour market. Distastes or uncertainty?
Authors: Drydakis Nick
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Sexual orientation and employment bias is examined in Cyprus by implementing an experiment for the period 2010-2011. The design is aimed at answering three main questions. Do gay males and lesbians face occupational access constraints and entry wage bias than comparable heterosexuals? Do gay males and lesbians benefit from providing more job-related information? Does the differential treatment between gay male/lesbian and heterosexual applicants disappear as the information of the applicants increases? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author sent applications to advertised vacancies and experimented with two information sets the “sexual orientation” and “information” of the potential applicants.

Findings

– The estimations suggest that gay male and lesbian applicants face significant bias than heterosexual applicants. Moreover, both heterosexual and gay male/lesbian applicants gain by providing more job-related information. However, the estimations suggest that the informational premium for sexual orientation minorities could not reduce the discriminatory patterns.

Practical implications

– The current results indicate that discrimination against sexual orientation minorities in the Cypriot labour market is a matter of preference, not the result of limited information. One strategy the Cypriot government may employ is to try to affect public opinion and people's attitudes towards sexual orientation minorities.

Originality/value

– This is the first nationwide field experiment in the Cypriot labour market and contributes to the literature as it is the first field study on sexual orientation which tries to disentangle statistical from taste-based discrimination in the labour market.
Approaching the female labor supply from the unpaid work and non-work functions
Authors: K. Prodromídis Pródromos-Ioánnis
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the allocation of time to paid work, unpaid work and non-work by women in Britain in 1998-1999. To infer the labor supply from the other time-use expressions.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper uses weekly diary data to estimate the unpaid work and non-work functions. It infers the (residual) paid work expression. As the latter is recovered from uncensored regressions, it makes direct use of the complete set of observations. Hence, it contains more information than the conventional labor supply functions that are estimated from the data obtained from paid work participants via the Tobit and Heckit or selection-bias correction (SBC) techniques.

Findings

– The women surveyed generally allocated 69 percent of their time toward non-work, 18 percent to unpaid work, and 13 percent to paid work. The non-work function is dominated by the autonomous component, and all three functions depend on subjects’ age, wage, non-labor income, household composition, the unpaid work contributions of adult relatives and region of residence. The unpaid work and non-work functions are more consistent with the SBC rather than the Tobit version of the labor supply. Moreover, the Tobit predicts unrealistic paid work allocations for women engaging in very little non-work.

Research limitations/implications

– The unpaid work and non-work functions are regressed separately, as often the case in the literature. Their consideration within a seemingly unrelated regression framework necessitates a reduction in the number of observations to match those considered in the Tobit and SBC versions of the labor supply. Nuances may arise when the time reported in the diaries does not add up to 24 daily hours for all respondents. Knowledge of the recovered regional, age, household member and other effects on women time allocation might had come handy to economic development authorities who sought to attract women out of the household into market production, and from part-time to full-time employment in the context of the 2000-2010 Lisbon Strategy. Similar lessons may be valid today.

Originality/value

– The data set derives from a survey that has not been used before. It relies on week-long diaries in order to avoid the occurrence of many zeros in a good number of activities (which is the norm in short diaries), and to ensure the study of a censored time-use function through its uncensored complements. The findings are compared to those of a weekly diary survey conducted in 1987 that solicited similar information. Hence, the study fills a gap in time-use analysis. Identifying the factors which influence the number of hours that women engage in work (both paid and unpaid) and non-work is useful for economic policy purposes. The study exposes a limitation in the conventional estimation of the labor supply which, in turn, casts doubt on the reliability of empirical results for policy making.
The critical success factors affecting the adoption of inter-organization systems by SMEs
Authors: Fu Hsin-Pin , Chang Tien-Hsiang , Ku Cheng-Yuan , Chang Tsung-Sheng , Huang Cheng-Hsin
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purposes of this study were to formulate a hierarchical table of factors that influence adoption of an inter-organization system (IOS) by enterprises and to apply multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tools to find the weights of these factors and to objectively identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for the adoption of IOSs by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

– This study first used a literature review to collect the factors that affect an enterprise’s adoption of an IOS and then constructed a three-level hierarchical table of these factors, based on a technology – organization – environment framework. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy processing was used, based on the returned questionnaires, to determine the weights of the factors. The concept of VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) acceptable advantage was used to objectively identify the CSFs of SMEs that have adopted an IOS.

Findings

– This study identifies six CSFs of SMEs that have adopted an IOS: industry knowledge and experience, the degree of application of information technology within the industry, system safety, the organizational infrastructure, customer relationships and ease of use. In addition, four findings are proposed.

Practical implications

– The work has studied, in depth, the factors that influence the adoption of an IOS by SMEs and identified four practice implications that provide a useful guideline for SMEs when they plan to adopt an IOS.

Originality/value

– The identification of CSFs is also an MCDM problem. However, very few previous articles have used MCDM tools to identify the CSFs. This study adopted MCDM tools to objectively identify these CSFs and determine their appropriate weights. The results can help the managers of SMEs allocate their resources, according to the weighting of these CSFs, when they are making plans to adopt an IOS.
Does the hierarchical position of the buyer make a difference? The influence of perceived adaptive selling on customer satisfaction and loyalty in a business-to-business context
Authors: Román Sergio , Juan Martín Pedro
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The first purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of adaptive selling, as perceived by customers, on customer satisfaction – both with the salesperson and the company – and loyalty to the supplier. In addition, this study aims to examine to what extent the organizational position occupied by the buyer moderates the results obtained (i.e. satisfaction and loyalty) as a consequence of a salesperson’s adaptive selling behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data obtained from a survey of organizational buyers from a wide range of industries are analyzed through structural equation modeling.

Findings

– Findings from the study indicate that perceived adaptive selling significantly increases satisfaction with the salesperson, satisfaction with the supplier and loyalty to the supplier while controlling for length of the buyer–seller relationship. In addition, these effects are stronger when the contact person at the buying company is the general manager as opposed to the purchasing manager.

Originality/value

– Despite today’s emphasis on relationship selling, the research on the consequences of adaptive selling has employed primarily sales-related criteria (e.g. sales, quota). This is the first study to analyze the influence of adaptive selling on several customer relational outcomes in a business-to-business context and to analyze the moderating influence of the hierarchical position of the buyer.
What happens when “younger” helpers meet “older” recipients? A theoretical analysis of interpersonal helping behaviour in Chinese organizations
Authors: Yung Chou Shih , Yang Wenkai , Han Bo
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model describing psychological states and behavioral outcomes experienced and exhibited by older generation interpersonal helping behavior (IHB) recipients in Chinese organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws upon relevant literature and develops a theoretical model.

Findings

– The analysis suggests that the extent of IHB that older generation Chinese employees receive from younger generation employees will lead to loss of mianzi, which will then result in reduced perceived generational guanxi, increased intended social isolation, and reduced intention to share task-related knowledge with the younger generation employees. The paper also proposes that perceived generational guanxi and intended social isolation will mediate the relationship between loss of mianzi and intention to share task-related knowledge with younger generation employees.

Practical implications

– Because mianzi is an important cultural feature in Chinese societies, this paper provides four implications. First, younger generation employees could preserve and/or enhance older generation employees’ mianzi using less powerful messages. Second, younger generation employees should initiate task behaviors involving seeking opinions and expertise from older generation employees before exhibiting IHB. Third, mangers could reduce the negative impact of generational differences by establishing generational mentoring relationships between younger and older generation employees. Finally, younger generation employees could preserve and/or enhance older generation employees’ mianzi by playing the role of an informal subordinate rather than a problem solver when exhibiting IHB.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first study exploring consequences of IHB from the perceptive of older generation IHB recipients in the Chinese context.
Two-stage credit rating prediction using machine learning techniques
Authors: Wu Hsu-Che , Hu Ya-Han , Huang Yen-Hao
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Credit ratings have become one of the primary references for financial institutions to assess credit risk. Conventional credit rating approaches mainly concentrated on two-class classification (i.e. good or bad credit), which lacks adequate precision to perform credit risk evaluations in practice. In addition, most of previous researches directly focussed on employing various data mining techniques, but rare studies discussed the influence of data preprocessing before classifier construction. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study considers nine-class classification (i.e. nine credit risk level) to credit rating prediction. For the development of more accurate classifiers, the paper adopts two-stage analysis, which integrates multiple data preprocessing and supervised learning techniques. Specifically, the first stage applies feature selection, data clustering, and data resampling methods to preprocess the data, and then the second stage utilizes several classification techniques and classifier ensembles to construct prediction models.

Findings

– The results show that Bagging-DT with data resampling method achieves excellent accuracy (82.96 percent), indicating that the proposed two-stage prediction model is better than conventional one-stage models.

Originality/value

– Practical implication of this study can lower credit rating expenses and also allow corporations to gain credit rating information instantly.
Hack the Library! a first timer’s look at the 29th Computers in Libraries conference in Washington, DC
Authors: Ghosh Maitrayee
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on selected presentations from the 29th Computers in Libraries (CIL) conference that took place at Washington Hilton hotel, Washington, DC. In addition to its content, the CIL (2014) conference provided opportunities to discuss best practices and emerging issues with IT professionals, vendors and “techno” librarians, especially from North America. There was a conference within a conference – the Internet@Schools track integrated into CIL 2014 as Track E on Monday, April 7, and Tuesday, April 8.

Design/methodology/approach

– Reports from the viewpoint of a first-time attendee of CIL (2014) present a summary of the selected presentations with more detail on networking events and the exhibition. The CIL (2014) conference attracted librarians from 13 countries other than the USA. It is difficult to document the entire conference happenings in a single report because of several tracks (A-E) and number of speakers; therefore, a selective approach is used.

Findings

– The CIL (2014) in Washington, DC, is considered a major North American library technology conference for librarians and information managers. As a first-time attendee, the author found that CIL (2014) is informative; it covered technology applications in libraries and strategies to enhance communication – useful to librarians and information professionals both in the USA and internationally. The conference was full of innovative ideas and revealed the diversity of current developments in library service delivery, especially in North America.

Originality/value

– Today, more and more library users are using various innovative technologies including mobile apps, data visualization, application programming interfaces, open-source and multimedia. Phones (smart phones) and tablets are emerging as popular choices to access content. This report is a summary of selected educational sessions/presentations in CIL (2014) on diverse technology-related topics, especially mobile technology in libraries that will be of particular interest to readers and useful for professionals who did not attend CIL (2014) in Washington, DC.
Local wisdom behind Tumpeng as an icon of Indonesian traditional cuisine
Authors: Radix A.P. Jati Ignasius
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to explore Tumpeng, a Javanese traditional food that recently became an Indonesian icon for traditional cuisine with an emphasis on the philosophical meaning and wisdom behind the food and the tradition.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper describes and explores the history of Tumpeng, explains the meaning of all aspects of Tumpeng, from the shape, colour and the items available. Tumpeng as the symbol of relation of mankind with God, society and environment is also analysed along with its position in the nutrition education progress in Indonesia. Future perspectives of Tumpeng are also given in the paper.

Findings

– Tumpeng is an integral part of traditional ceremony in Java in every stage of human life. The shape, colour and items themselves are a symbol of the relation to God, prosperity and guidance for Javanese people in their daily lives. Tumpeng has been used for nutritional educational purposes in Indonesia due to its popularity. Moreover, the utilisation of Tumpeng has been spread to all over Indonesia and the popularity is increasing. Nevertheless, the existence is shifting to a merely economic purpose. The meaning and wisdom behind Tumpeng are slowly being eroded.

Originality/value

– This paper gives a description and explanation about a traditional Javanese food – Tumpeng – regarding the history, meaning and its future perspective.
The world is our lobster
Authors: Law Derek
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this article is to explore the changing skill sets, operating environments and community engagement activities which can create a robust and valued future for libraries and librarians. It is easy to paint a doom-laden picture of the future of libraries against a background of library cuts, professional deskilling and the relentless advance of ever more powerful digital information systems. However, these self-same threats offer new challenges for information management.

Design/methodology/approach

– Personal view of the future based on current literature.

Findings

– It is better to seek forgiveness than permission. Seize the day.

Research limitations/implications

– Just one point of view among many.

Practical implications

– Librarians need to act.

Social implications

– The library can remain core to civilised societies.

Originality/value

– Others must judge that.
Effects of land‐use intensity on arthropod species abundance distributions in grasslands
Authors: Simons Nadja K. , Gossner Martin M. , Lewinsohn Thomas M. , Lange Markus , Türke Manfred , Weisser Wolfgang W.
Published: July 2014

As a rule, communities consist of few abundant and many rare species, which is reflected in the characteristic shape of species abundance distributions (SADs). The processes that shape these SADs have been a longstanding problem for ecological research. Although many studies found strong negative effects of increasing land‐use intensity on diversity, few reports consider land‐use effects on SADs.

Arthropods (insects and spiders) were sampled on 142 grassland plots in three regions in Germany, which were managed with different modes (mowing, fertilization and/or grazing) and intensities of land use. We analysed the effect of land use on three parameters characterizing the shape of SADs: abundance decay rate (the steepness of the rank abundance curve, represented by the niche‐preemption model parameter), dominance (Berger‐Parker dominance) and rarity (Fisher's alpha). Furthermore, we tested the core‐satellite hypothesis by comparing the species’ rank within the SAD to their distribution over the land‐use gradient.

When data on Araneae, Cicadina, Coleoptera, Heteroptera and Orthoptera were combined, abundance decay rate increased with combined land‐use intensity (including all modes). Among the single land‐use modes, increasing fertilization and grazing intensity increased the decay rate of all taxa, while increasing mowing frequency significantly affected the decay rate only in interaction with fertilization. Results of single taxa differed in their details, but all significant interaction effects included fertilization intensity. Dominance generally increased with increasing fertilization and rarity decreased with increasing grazing or mowing intensity, despite small differences among taxa and regions. The majority of species found on <10% of the plots per region were generally rare (<10 individuals), which is in accordance with the core‐satellite hypothesis. We found significant differences in the rarity and dominance of species between plots of low and high intensity for all three land‐use modes and for the combined land‐use intensity.

We conclude that effects of land‐use intensity on SADs lead to a stronger dominance of the most abundant species. Furthermore, species which have restricted distributions are more likely to also be rare species in the local SAD and therefore are at high risk of being lost under intensive land use.
Biological Flora of the British Isles: Epipactis palustris
Authors: Jacquemyn Hans , Brys Rein , Hutchings Michael J.
Published: July 2014

This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Epipactis palustris (L.) Crantz that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characteristics, herbivores and disease, history, and conservation.

Epipactis palustris is native to Britain, being widely distributed throughout England and Wales, but is less common in the north. Although absent from most of Scotland, it occurs as far north as Perthshire. It is widely distributed in Ireland. The species extends throughout most of Europe, occurring as far east as Mongolia and the north of Turkey, but it is absent from the southern Mediterranean region.

Epipactis palustris grows mainly in full sunlight, rarely under shade, and on calcareous, but nutrient‐poor, moist to wet substrates. It favours flushed or seasonally inundated areas in which the intensity of competition from other vegetation is low. It is most commonly found in wet dune slacks, calcareous fens and on peat, but it also occurs on sandy substrates overlying heavy clay or loamy soils. Occasionally, it can also be found near the top of slopes in chalk downland.

Epipactis palustris multiplies both by vegetative propagation and sexual reproduction. Vegetative propagation involves the production of regularly branched rhizomes. It flowers in Britain from the end of June until the beginning of September. The flowers produce nectar, which is often colonized by bacteria and to a lesser extent by yeasts. The species is pollinated by a wide range of insects, including honeybees, flies, wasps, beetles, bumblebees and ants, but is also capable of limited spontaneous autogamy. The most efficient pollinators are small bees and solitary wasps. Fruit production is generally high (>80% of the flowers produce capsules).

Epipactis palustris is vulnerable to changes in soil water level and to substrate nutrient enrichment. It has suffered a strong decline in its distribution range in Britain, with most losses of local populations occurring before 1930. Habitat destruction and drainage of marshes and fens appear to be the most common causes for the decline of the species. Restoration of old wet dune slacks by topsoil removal and addition of hay from neighbouring vegetation has been successful in encouraging colonization and establishment of populations of the species within a few years. Cessation of draining of mires may also promote the long‐term survival of populations of the species.
The art of imperfection: contemporary synagogues in Germany and the Netherlands
Authors: Verkaaik Oskar
Published: July 2014

This article compares the remarkable revival of Jewish religious architecture in Germany and the Netherlands by focusing on two cases in particular: a newly built synagogue centre in Dresden and a renovated synagogue in a small Dutch town. Both structures contain a carefully styled ornament of imperfection that on the surface looks remarkably similar. Although in both cases the ornament can be interpreted as a symbolic comment on the post‐war Jewish presence in Europe, their symbolic meaning and depth differ profoundly. In Dresden, this element primarily has a political meaning meant for the German public, to which the predominantly Russian‐Jewish community is largely indifferent. In the Netherlands, the stylistic creation of imperfection is a more complex, multilayered architectural sign that speaks of aspirations of tradition, continuity, and a particular religious way of being in the world. Building upon these ethnographic reflections, as well as on Richard Sennett's work on architecture and the human body, I interpret these architectural practices as an example of a particular kind of contemporary religiosity which seeks to engage actively with fragmented and unsettled reality, both historically and existentially. This is presented as an alternative to dominant theories of contemporary religion that interpret modern religiosity in terms of authenticity, the sacralization of the self, and the desire for wholeness.
Patterns of basin fill in Triassic turbidites of the Nanpanjiang basin: implications for regional tectonics and impacts on carbonate‐platform evolution
Authors: Lehrmann Daniel J. , Chaikin Daniel H. , Enos Paul , Minzoni Marcello , Payne Jonathan L. , Yu Meiyi , Goers Alexa , Wood Tanner , Richter Paula , Kelley Brian M. , Li Xiaowei , Qin Yanjiao , Liu Lingyun , Lu Gang
Published: July 2014

The Nanpanjiang Basin occurs in a key position for resolving controversies of basin tectonics and patterns of plate assembly at the junction between south China and Southeast Asian plates. Paleocurrent measurements indicate that siliciclastic turbidites in the basin were sourced by the Precambrian Jiangnan uplift to the northeast, the Precambrian Yunkai uplift to the southeast and the Triassic Songma suture to the south. Detrital zircon geochronology reveals Archean (2500 Ma), Paleoproterozoic (1800–1900 Ma), Neoproterozoic (900–1000 Ma) and Paleozoic (420–460 Ma) ages consistent with derivation from the Jiangnan and Yunkai uplifts. A large Permian‐Triassic peak of 250 Ma is present in the southern basin and attenuates northward suggesting derivation from an arc developed along the Songma suture. Sandstone QFL compositions average 65/12/23% and plot in the recycled orogen field except for a few samples in the southern basin that fall in the dissected arc field. The compositions are consistent with derivation from Precambrian basement that includes orogenic complexes. In the southern basin, Middle Triassic turbidites contain greater lithics and feldspars and Lower Triassic turbidites have volcaniclastic composition consistent with derivation from a southerly arc. Our preferred interpretation is evolution from remnant basin to a large peripheral foreland with southward subduction and convergence with Indochina along the Songma suture. The previously proposed Dian‐Qiong zone is not a suture as its map location places it within carbonate platforms bounded by identical stratigraphy. The Nan‐Uttaradit zone is too distant to have provided voluminous siliciclastic flux to the basin. The Nanpanjiang Basin provides an example of the evolution of an exceptionally large foreland with far‐field rejuvenation of Precambrian uplifts and carbonate platforms that were significantly influenced by siliciclastic flux. The timing and pattern of turbidite basin fill impacted platform evolution by enabling margin progradation in areas proximal to siliciclastic sources, whereas platforms distant from sources were driven to aggradation and extreme relief with large‐scale gravitational sector collapse.
Mikroorganismen des Zehenzwischenraums – Bedeutung für das Beinerysipel
Authors: Müller Dominik‐Patrick , Hoffmann Reinhard , Welzel Julia
Published: July 2014

Hintergrund

Seit Jahren verzeichnet man in Deutschland einen stetigen Anstieg der Erysipelinzidenz. Betroffene Patienten weisen häufig auch Defekte der Hautbarriere, verursacht durch Mikroorganismen, auf. Ziel dieser nicht‐interventionellen Fall‐Kontroll‐Studie war es, einen potenziellen Zusammenhang zwischen der Tinea pedis interdigitalis beziehungsweise der bakteriellen Flora des Zehenzwischenraums und dem Beinerysipel sowie eine eventuelle Interaktion der Mikroorganismen untereinander zu untersuchen.

Patienten und Methodik

Das Patientenkollektiv umfasste 150 Patienten, verteilt auf drei gleich große Gruppen, eine retrospektive sowie prospektive Erysipelgruppe (EG = rEG + pEG) und eine Kontrollgruppe (KG).

Ergebnisse

51 % der Erysipel‐ sowie 32 % der Kontrollpatienten litten unter einer Tinea pedis interdigitalis. Zwar ergab sich kein signifikanter Zusammenhang mit dem Erysipel, jedoch mit dessen Rezidivierung. Staphylococcus aureus (EG: 30,34 %; KG: 3,23 %) und die apathogenen aeroben Keime (EG: 28,09 %; KG: 80,65 %) zeigten in allen statistischen Analysen der mikrobiellen Flora des Zehenzwischenraumes eine signifikante Assoziation mit dem Erysipel. Bei Staphylococcus aureus war diese positiv, bei den apathogenen Keimen hingegen negativ.

Schlussfolgerungen

Diese Studie konnte einen Zusammenhang zwischen den Mikroorganismen des Zehenzwischenraumes und dem Beinerysipel belegen, wobei die bakterielle Flora für das Erysipel an sich und die Tinea pedis interdigitalis für die Rezidiventstehung maßgeblich war.
Charakteristika und Koinfektionen mit Syphilis bei neu mit HIV diagnostizierten Patienten aus dem Universitätsklinikum Dresden von 1987–2012
Authors: Spornraft‐Ragaller Petra , Schmitt Jochen , Stephan Victoria , Boashie Ute , Beissert Stefan
Published: July 2014

Hintergrund

Koinfektionsraten von HIV und Syphilis sind über Meldedaten nicht erhältlich und es existiert in Ostdeutschland bisher kein Kollektiv, an dem dies repräsentativ für eine Region ermittelt wurde. Steigende Syphilis‐Inzidenzraten 2010–2012 besonders bei Männern mit sexuellen Kontakten zu Männern (MSM) werden als Mitursache für die in dieser Gruppe aktuell wieder steigenden HIV‐Neuinfektionsraten diskutiert.

Patienten und Methodik

Die Charakteristika von 355 konsekutiven, neu mit HIV diagnostizierten Patienten aus dem Universitätsklinikum Dresden von 1987–2012 wurden retrospektiv anhand der Meldedaten für den Dresdner Raum und im Vergleich zu bundesweiten Daten überprüft sowie Koinfektionen mit Syphilis analysiert.

Ergebnisse

In unserem Kollektiv fand sich im Vergleich zu bundesweiten Meldedaten ein höherer Anteil von Personen aus Hochprävalenzländern und von Patienten im Stadium AIDS. Der Anteil von MSM in der Altersgruppe bis 25 Jahre stieg ab 2001 dreifach an. Bei HIV‐Erstdiagnose betrug die Seroprävalenz der Syphilis im Gesamtzeitraum 20,3 %. Eine aktive Syphilis (VDRL‐Titer ≥ 1 : 8) bestand bei 6,7 % der Fälle, überwiegend MSM, die zudem eine signifikant höhere HIV‐Virämie aufwiesen.

Schlussfolgerungen

Unsere Studie bekräftigt aktuell vermutete ursächliche Zusammenhänge steigender HIV‐Neuinfektionen mit zunehmender Syphilis‐Inzidenz bei MSM. Die frühzeitige Diagnose von Syphilis ermöglicht eine frühere Diagnose von HIV‐Infektionen. HIV‐Präventionsmaßnahmen sollten daher auch andere sexuell übertragbare Erkrankungen einschließen.
Vaskuläre Nischen: Endothelzellen als multifunktionale gewebe‐ und standortspezifische Teamplayer im gesunden und erkrankten Organismus
Authors: Géraud Cyrill , Koch Philipp‐S. , Goerdt Sergij
Published: July 2014

Das kardiovaskuläre System ist ein Kreislauf, der das Blut an nahezu jede Stelle des Körpers transportiert. Die Endothelzellen (endothelial cells; EC) stellen als innerste Zellschicht der Blutgefäße eine ausgedehnte Grenzfläche zwischen dem Blut und fast allen anderen Geweben und Zellen dar. In der frühen Geschichte vaskulärer Entdeckungen wurden die Blutgefäße und ihre EC als eher passive, inerte Leitungsrohre angesehen, inzwischen lassen die Fortschritte in der vaskulären Forschung jedoch erkennen, dass die EC aktiv an zahlreichen physiologischen oder pathophysiologischen Prozessen beteiligt sind. Die endotheliale Heterogenität und das Konzept der vaskulären Nischen stehen im Fokus de aktuellen vaskulären Forschung. Die endotheliale Heterogenität umfasst dabei morphologische, molekulare und funktionelle Eigenschaften. Sie ermöglicht den EC, sich an die organ‐ und standortspezifischen Anforderungen in den unterschiedlichen Segmenten des Gefäßbaumes anzupassen. In den organspezifischen vaskulären Nischen stehen die EC in wechselseitiger Interaktion mit ihren Nachbarzellen. Für von den EC gebildete, parakrin (angiokrin) wirkende Zytokine, auch Angiokine genannt, konnte gezeigt werden, dass sie an zahlreichen biologischen Prozessen maßgeblich beteiligt sind, angefangen von der Stammzelldifferenzierung über die Organregeneration und Tumorprogression bis hin zur Metastasierung. Zusammenfassend sollten EC bei der Aufrechterhaltung und Regulation der komplexen Interaktionen multizellulärer Netzwerke im gesunden und kranken Organismus stets als wichtige Akteure betrachtet werden.
The metabolic enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase (Pgi) affects the outcome of intra‐specific competition in a polyembryonic wasp
Authors: BOWKER CHERYL L. , ROSS KENNETH G. , STRAND MICHAEL R.
Published: July 2014

1. Polyembryonic parasitoid wasps in the family Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera) have evolved a caste system consisting of morphologically and functionally distinct larvae called soldiers and reproductives.

2. Two selective pressures are thought to underlie the evolution of the soldier caste: defence against competitors and resolution of the sex ratio conflict. Previous studies also indicate that soldier development time strongly affects the outcome of intra‐specific competition in the polyembryonic encyrtid Copidosoma floridanum Ashmead. This study builds on prior findings by showing that alleles of the metabolic enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase (Pgi) differentially affect soldier development time and the outcome of competition.

3. Soldier larvae with the Pgi alleles 100 or 120 emerged on average 65 h post‐parasitism, whereas soldier larvae with a third allele, 54, emerged at 67 h. In turn, C. floridanum broods homozygous for the 100 and 120 alleles outcompete broods homozygous for the 54 allele.

4. Pgi allelic diversity may be maintained through a life‐history trade‐off affecting female brood sizes with homozygous broods bearing the developmentally disadvantageous 54 allele producing more adult females than broods bearing alternate common alleles.
Deep impact:in situfunctional responses reveal context‐dependent interactions between vertically migrating invasive and native mesopredators and shared prey
Authors: Barrios‐O'Neill Daniel , Dick Jaimie T. A. , Ricciardi Anthony , MacIsaac Hugh J. , Emmerson Mark C.
Published: July 2014

The ecological effects of invasive species depend on myriad environmental contexts, rendering understanding problematic. Functional responses provide a means to quantify resource use by consumers over short timescales and could therefore provide insight into how the effects of invasive species vary over space and time. Here, we use novelin situmicrocosm experiments to track changes in the functional responses of two aquatic mesopredators, one native and the other an invader, as they undergo diel vertical migrations through a lake water column.

The Ponto–Caspian mysid,Hemimysis anomala, a known ecologically damaging invader, generally had higher a functional response towards cladoceran prey than did a native trophic analogue,Mysis salemaai. However, this differential was spatiotemporally dependent, being minimal during the day on the lake bottom, and increasing at night, particularly inshore.

Because the functional response of the native predator was spatiotemporally consistent, the above pattern was driven by changes in the invader functional response over the diel cycle. In particular, the functional response ofH. anomalawas significantly reduced on the lake bottom during the daytime relative to night, and predation was especially pronounced in shallow surface waters.

We demonstrate the context dependency of the effects of an invasive predator on prey populations and emphasise the utility of functional responses as tools to inform our understanding of predator–prey interactions.In situmanipulations integrate experimental rigour with field relevance and have the potential to reveal how impacts manifest over a range of spatiotemporal scales.