bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The non-additive effects of body size on nest architecture in a polymorphic ant
Authors: Kwapich Christina L. , Valentini Gabriele , Hölldobler Bert
Published: July 2018

Like traditional organisms, eusocial insect societies express traits that are the target of natural selection. Variation at the colony level emerges from the combined attributes of thousands of workers and may yield characteristics not predicted from individual phenotypes. By manipulating the ratios of worker types, the basis of complex, colony-level traits can be reduced to the additive and non-additive interactions of their component parts. In this study, we investigated the independent and synergistic effects of body size on nest architecture in a seasonally polymorphic harvester ant,
Veromessor pergandei
. Using network analysis, we compared wax casts of nests, and found that mixed-size groups built longer nests, excavated more sand and produced greater architectural complexity than single-sized worker groups. The nests built by polymorphic groups were not only larger in absolute terms, but larger than expected based on the combined contributions of both size classes in isolation. In effect, the interactions of different worker types yielded a colony-level trait that was not predicted from the sum of its parts. In nature,
V. pergandei
colonies with fewer fathers produce smaller workers each summer, and produce more workers annually. Because body size is linked to multiple colony-level traits, our findings demonstrate how selection acting on one characteristic, like mating frequency, could also shape unrelated characteristics, like nest architecture.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Interdisciplinary approaches for uncovering the impacts of architecture on collective behaviour'.
Exploring nest structures of acorn dwelling ants with X-ray microtomography and surface-based three-dimensional visibility graph analysis
Authors: Varoudis Tasos , Swenson Abigail G. , Kirkton Scott D. , Waters James S.
Published: July 2018

The physical spaces within which organisms live affect their biology and in many cases can be considered part of their extended phenotype. The nests of social insect societies have a fundamental impact on their ability to function as complex superorganisms. Ants in many species excavate elaborate subterranean nests, but others inhabit relatively small pre-formed cavities within rock crevices and hollow seeds.Temnothoraxants, which often nest within acorns, have become a model system for studying collective decision making. While these ants have demonstrated remarkable degrees of rationality and consistent precision with regard to their nest choices, never before has the fine scale internal architecture and spatial organization of their nests been investigated. We used X-ray microtomography to record high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) scans ofTemnothoraxcolonies within their acorns. These data were then quantified using image segmentation and surface-based 3D visibility graph analysis, a new computational methodology for analysing spatial structures. The visibility graph analysis method integrates knowledge from the field of architecture with the empirical study of animal-built structures, thus providing the first methodological cross-disciplinary synergy of these two research areas. We found a surprisingly high surface area and degree of spatial heterogeneity within the acorn nests. Specific regions, such as those associated with the locations of queens and brood, were significantly more conducive to connectivity than others. From an architect's point of view, spatial analysis research has never focused on all-surface 3D movement, as we describe within ant nests. Therefore, we believe our approach will provide new methods for understanding both human design and the comparative biology of habitat spaces.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Interdisciplinary approaches for uncovering the impacts of architecture on collective behaviour'.
The architecture ofnetwork collective intelligence: correlations between social network structure, spatial layout and prestige outcomes in an office
Authors: Kabo Felichism
Published: July 2018

A social network represents interactions and knowledge that transcend the intelligence of any of its individual members. In this study, I examine the correlations between thisnetwork collective intelligence, spatial layout, and prestige or status outcomes at the individual and team levels in an organization. I propose that spatially influenced social cognition shapes which individuals become members of prestigious teams in organizations, and the prestige perception of teams by others in the organization. Prestige is a pathway to social rank, influence and upward mobility for individuals in organizations. For groups, perceived prestige of work teams is related to how team members identify with the group and with their collaborative behaviours. Prestige enhances a team's survivability and its access to resources. At the individual level, I ran two-stage Heckman sample selection models to examine the correlation between social network position and the number of prestigious projects a person is a member of, contingent on the association between physical space and social ties and networks. At the team level, I used linear regressions to examine the relationship among network structure, spatial proximity and the perceived prestige or innovativeness of a project team. In line with my hypotheses, for individuals there is a significant correlation between physical space and social networks, and contingent on that, between social network positions and the number of prestigious projects that a person is a member of. Also in accordance with my hypotheses, for teams there is a significant correlation between network structure and spatial proximity, and perceived prestige. While cross-sectional, the study findings illustrate the importance of considering the spatial domain in examinations of how network collective intelligence is related to organizational outcomes at the individual and team levels.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Interdisciplinary approaches for uncovering the impacts of architecture on collective behaviour’.
Architecture, space and information in constructions built by humans and social insects: a conceptual review
Authors: Ireland Tim , Garnier Simon
Published: July 2018

The similarities between the structures built by social insects and by humans have led to a convergence of interests between biologists and architects. This new, de facto interdisciplinary community of scholars needs a common terminology and theoretical framework in which to ground its work. In this conceptually oriented review paper, we review the terms ‘information’, ‘space’ and ‘architecture’ to provide definitions that span biology and architecture. A framework is proposed on which interdisciplinary exchange may be better served, with the view that this will aid better cross-fertilization between disciplines, working in the areas of collective behaviour and analysis of the structures and edifices constructed by non-humans; and to facilitate how this area of study may better contribute to the field of architecture. We then use these definitions to discuss the informational content of constructions built by organisms and the influence these have on behaviour, and vice versa. We review how spatial constraints inform and influence interaction between an organism and its environment, and examine the reciprocity of space and information on construction and the behaviour of humans and social insects.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Interdisciplinary approaches for uncovering the impacts of architecture on collective behaviour’.
Comparative Genomic Analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis Reveals Molecular Adaptations to Copper Tolerance
Authors: Yik Low Yi , Lie Chin Grace Joy Wei , Joseph Collin Glen , Rodrigues Kenneth Francis
Published: July 2018

Bacillus thuringiensis is a type of Gram positive and rod shaped bacterium that is found in a wide range of habitats. Despite the intensive studies conducted on this bacterium, most of the information available are related to its pathogenic characteristics, with only a limited number of publications mentioning its ability to survive in extreme environments. Recently, a B. thuringiensis MCMY1 strain was successfully isolated from a copper contaminated site in Mamut Copper Mine, Sabah. This study aimed to conduct a comparative genomic analysis by using the genome sequence of MCMY1 strain published in GenBank (PRJNA374601) as a target genome for comparison with other available B. thuringiensis genomes at the GenBank. Whole genome alignment, Fragment all-against-all comparison analysis, phylogenetic reconstruction and specific copper genes comparison were applied to all forty-five B. thuringiensis genomes to reveal the molecular adaptation to copper tolerance. The comparative results indicated that B. thuringiensis MCMY1 strain is closely related to strain Bt407 and strain IS5056. This strain harbors almost all available copper genes annotated from the forty-five B. thuringiensis genomes, except for the gene for Magnesium and cobalt efflux protein (CorC) which plays an indirect role in reducing the oxidative stress that caused by copper and other metal ions. Furthermore, the findings also showed that the Copper resistance gene family, CopABCDZ and its repressor (CsoR) are conserved in almost all sequenced genomes but the presence of the genes for Cytoplasmic copper homeostasis protein (CutC) and CorC across the sample genomes are highly inconsonant. The variation of these genes across the B. thuringiensis genomes suggests that each strain may have adapted to their specific ecological niche. However, further investigations will be need to support this preliminary hypothesis.
The malaria-protective human glycophorin structural variant DUP4 shows somatic mosaicism and association with hemoglobin levels
Authors: Algady Walid , Louzada Sandra , Carpenter Danielle , Brajer Paulina , Färnert Anna , Rooth Ingegerd , Yang Fengtang , Shaw Marie-Anne , Hollox Edward J
Published: July 2018

Glycophorin A and glycophorin B are red blood cell surface proteins that are both receptors for the parasitePlasmodium falciparum, which is the principal cause of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. DUP4 is a complex structural genomic variant that carries extra copies of a glycophorin A - glycophorin B fusion gene, and has a dramatic effect on malaria risk by reducing the risk of severe malaria by up to 40%. Using fiber-FISH and Illumina sequencing, we validate the structural arrangement of the glycophorin locus in the DUP4 variant, and reveal somatic variation in copy number of the glycophorin A-glycophorin B fusion gene. By developing a simple, specific, PCR-based assay for DUP4 we show the DUP4 variant reaches a frequency of 13% in a village in south-eastern Tanzania. We genotype a substantial proportion of that village and demonstrate an association of DUP4 genotype with hemoglobin levels, a phenotype related to malaria, using a family-based association test. Taken together, we show that DUP4 is a complex structural variant that may be susceptible to somatic variation, and show that it is associated with a malarial-related phenotype in a non-hospitalized population.

Significance statement

Previous work has identified a human complex genomic structural variant called DUP4, which includes two novel glycophorin A-glycophorin B fusion genes, is associated with a profound protection against severe malaria. In this study, we present data showing the molecular basis of this complex variant. We also show evidence of somatic variation in the copy number of the fusion genes. We develop a simple robust assay for this variant and demonstrate that DUP4 is at an appreciable population frequency in Tanzania and that it is associated with higher hemoglobin levels in a malaria-endemic village. We suggest that DUP4 is therefore protective against malarial anemia.
DEAE-Dextran Transfection
Authors: Kumar Priti , Nagarajan Arvindhan , Uchil Pradeep D.
Published: July 2018

Biochemical methods of transfection, including calcium phosphate-mediated and diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-dextran-mediated transfection, have been used for many years to deliver nucleic acids into cultured eukaryotic cells. Here, we briefly review the use of DEAE-dextran in transfection.
Same music, different emotions: assessing emotions and EEG correlates of music perception in children with ASD and typically developing peers
Authors: Portnova Galina , Maslennikova Alexandra , Varlamov Anton
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess emotional response to music and its EEG correlates in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Design/methodology/approach

Six musical fragments eliciting emotional states of calmness/serenity, sadness and anxiety/fear were presented to children with ASD (n=21, aged 5–9) and typically developing (TD) peers (n=21), while 19-channel EEG was recorded. Emotion self-reports were assessed using visual analogous scales.

Findings

Children with ASD assessed most music fragments similarly to their TD peers, with likelihood of EEG oscillatory patterns closely corresponding to emotion self-reports. Somewhat contrary to the expectations, a major difference was observed for one fragment only, which was identified as sad by TD children and adult neurotypical raters, but found “angry and frightening” by children with ASD, with EEG oscillatory response confirming greater cortical activation, particularly for the right hemisphere.

Research limitations/implications

The data suggest that children with ASD may have emotional reactions to music either similar or highly aberrant compared to TD peers, rather than having general difficulties in assessing emotions. The data should be confirmed by further studies, ideally involving high functioning adult autists.

Practical implications

The findings may increase the understanding of autists’ difficulties in perceiving prosodic nuances and reading emotional cues. The results can be taken into consideration when developing music-based interventions.

Originality/value

The findings show that music may be perceived by children with ASD in a unique way, which may be difficult to predict by neurotypical raters.
Examining workplace bullying-outcomes relationships among Indian managers
Authors: Rai Arpana , Agarwal Upasna A.
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between workplace bullying and employee outcomes (intention to quit (ITQ), job satisfaction and work engagement) with psychological contract violation (PCV) as mediator and workplace friendship as moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 835 full-time Indian managerial employees working in different Indian organizations.

Findings

Results revealed that PCV mediated bullying-outcomes (ITQ, job satisfaction and work engagement) relationship and effects of workplace bullying on proposed outcomes were weaker in the presence of high workplace friendship.

Research limitations/implications

A cross-sectional design and use of self-reported questionnaire data are a limitation of this study. As the study did not cover all sectors, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is rare attempts to examine the mediating role of PCV and the moderating role of workplace friendship in bullying-outcomes relationships. This study also contributes in terms of its context and sample.
Break-out strategies of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia
Authors: Wang Yurong , Warn James
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese immigrant businesses in Australia were able to shift from low return start-up businesses and move to more competitive business models targeting mainstream clientele. The research aims to identify the factors enabling a break-out strategy for these entrepreneurs and whether a horizontal or vertical break-out was achieved.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative research method with in-depth interviews is employed. Interviews were conducted with 55 Chinese immigrant business owners in Sydney and Canberra.

Findings

The analysis found that a break-out strategy depended on a range of business activities, including innovation, marketing, networking and personnel strategies. Importantly, the current research found that these resources have varying degrees of importance in the different stages of the transition to the new business model. Accumulating sufficient financial capital was a fundamental enabler for a break-out strategy, followed by the capacity to learn and benefit from the experience of social networks.

Research limitations/implications

The current research highlights the importance of financial capital and capacity to benefit from social networks as fundamental factors in enabling a break-out strategy. The benefit of the qualitative approach in obtaining rich data needs to be offset by potential limitations on generalisability. Future research could incorporate comparison between different size businesses as well as analysing factors underpinning a failure to successfully implement a break-out.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that business support groups and policymakers could review access to financial capital for entrepreneurs seeking break-outs, consider improving opportunities for developing capacity to utilise heterogeneous social networks, and consider pathways for improving skills acquisition amongst immigrant entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the research literature on break-out strategies used by immigrant entrepreneurs by analysing, in detail, the transition steps undertaken by ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in the shift to more competitive business models.
Linking infidelity stress, anxiety and depression: evidence from Pakistan married couples and divorced individuals
Authors: Azhar Aneesa , Abbas Jaffar , Wenhong Zhang , Akhtar Tanvir , Aqeel Muhammad
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of marital status between infidelity and development of stress, anxiety and depression. Additionally, to investigate the relationship among infidelity, stress, anxiety and depression among married couples and divorced individual.

Design/methodology/approach

A purposive sampling technique was used based on cross-sectional design. In total, 200 participants (married couples, n=100; divorced individuals, n=100) were incorporated from different NGO’s and welfare organizations of Rawalpindi, and Islamabad, Pakistan. Age ranged from 20 to 60 years. Two scales were used to measure the infidelity, stress, anxiety and depression in married couples and divorced couples.

Findings

The result revealed that emotional infidelity was positively significant correlated with stress (r=0.39, p=0.001), anxiety (r=0.40, p=0.001) and depression (r=0.35, p=0.001) for married couples. The result also displayed that sexual infidelity was positively significant correlated with stress (r=0.39, p=0.001), anxiety (r=0.39, p=0.001) and depression (r=0.34, p=0.001) for married couples. The result further elaborated that emotional infidelity and sexual infidelities were positively non-significant correlated with stress, anxiety and depression for divorced individuals. The analysis results revealed that marital status was moderator between infidelity and development of stress, anxiety and depression.

Research limitations/implications

This paper consisted of sample from three basic cities of Pakistan; thus, this paper finding may not be applied on whole population. Consequently, explanatory, exploratory and descriptive studies would be useful to enlighten the infidelity’s mechanism in prolongation of psychological distress across married couples and divorced individual in detail. Local tools to measure gender-related issues would be helpful in prospect while it combine cultural aspects as well.

Social implications

This study would be helpful in clinical settings to raise the awareness to effectively deal with their children.

Originality/value

The study recommended that those divorced individuals who had experienced either sexual infidelity or emotional infidelity were more likely to develop psychological problems as compared to married couples. This study would be helpful in clinical settings to raise the awareness to effectively deal with their children.
Managing emergent changes: ad hoc teams’ praxis and practices
Authors: Sjögren Peter , Fagerström Björn , Kurdve Martin , Callavik Magnus
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how emergent changes are handled in research and development (R&D) projects. R&D projects’ business potential lies in their exploration of the unknown; conversely, this makes them uncertain endeavours, prone to emergent changes.

Design/methodology/approach

Uses a single-case-study design, based on a projects-as-practice perspective and a soft systems methodology (SSM) analysis, to map how ad hoc R&D teams handle emergent changes, specifically the solution identification and assessment phase and the implementation plan. An R&D project in the power industry, involving over 250 engineers, was analysed.

Findings

This paper shows how emergent changes are handled differently from initiated changes during the decision-making phase. The system analysis shows that the most critical factors for managing these changes are: collective reflection between project parties; and including experienced engineers in implementation-plan reviews.

Practical implications

The results are of relevance both to R&D managers aiming to improve team performance and to general project management. Informal notions of emergent changes can be formalised in the change request process. Weaknesses in the project team’s organisation are highlighted, and details of how of how to mitigate these are provided.

Originality/value

Combines engineering-design and project-management research on emergent changes, adding to the former regarding people–organisational and strategic issues. Furthers understanding of the projects-as-practice approach and emergent change (deviations) handling by ad hoc teams in a project environment. SSM has not previously been used to explore aspects of projects-as-practice, and this is a novel way of adding to the body of knowledge on project praxis and practise.
Women’s enactment of leadership in a heavily gender-marked Islamic context
Authors: Alhadhrami Abdelrahman , Goby Valerie Priscilla , Al-Ansaari Yahya
Published: July 2018

Purpose

Diverse cultural contexts with their distinct enactments of traditional gender inequity present unique constraints for female leaders. In Western contexts, the Christianity-inspired principle of equality of all humans remains a latent principle operative toward greater gender egalitarianism. This paper aims to examine female leaders within an Islamic context devoid of such espoused equality in which gender differences are enshrined in culture and law.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires based on the Competing Value Framework were developed and completed by 145 leaders and 365 employees from UAE companies. The salient findings of these responses were explored in six subsequent focus group discussions.

Findings

The study reveals no difference in how women perform leadership, except in terms of brokering skills in which women are perceived as superior to their male counterparts. Focus group discussion participants ascribed this difference to the Islamic benevolent sexism dynamic of according women greater respect, which facilitates their access to higher management.

Originality/value

This pioneering perspective of female leaders in a context of overt and sanctioned cultural and legal gender disparity contributes to scholarship on female leadership through a non-Western lens.
Institutional quality and trade in intermediate goods
Authors: Hyun Hea-Jung
Published: July 2018

Purpose

Recently published studies stress the importance of trade in intermediate goods. The literature on determinants of trade, however, have largely focused on the sources of comparative advantage in determining aggregate trade flows rather than trade in intermediate goods. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of institutional quality and trade costs to explain the determinants of trade in intermediates.

Design/methodology/approach

The simple model is based on the model of comparative advantage in the gravity framework used by Eaton and Kortum (2002) and Chor (2010) to relate trade flows of intermediate goods to institutional parameters, factor endowments and geography. The empirical tests use a data set containing 172 countries and 17 industries spanning ten years.

Findings

The results confirm the theoretical prediction that a country with higher institutional quality has a comparative advantage in institution-intensive goods and trade costs have a negative effect on trade. The author further finds that these effects are stronger in share of trade in intermediate goodsvis-à-visfinal goods.

Originality/value

To highlight the distinct nature of trade in intermediate goods, the author separates industry trade flows as intermediate input trade and final goods (consumption goods) trade to compare the importance of different sources of comparative advantage among different types of trade flows. Unlike Eaton and Kortum (2002) and Chor (2010) who used cross-sectional data for final goods trade, the ten-year industry-level panel data are used to compare the relative importance of institutions and geography as determinants in trade in intermediate goods compared to final goods trade and capture the macroeconomic time variant factors as well as industry–country pair characteristics. A significant caveat in gravity regression is that an empirical finding may often be driven by omitted variables. Inclusion of a set of country variables such as GDP, production costs and institutional level may still allow omitted variables to bias the estimation. To avoid this problem, the author includes a fixed effect of exporter and importer as well as industry and year, instead of a set of country characteristics.
Bank failure intensity modeling: an ACD model approach
Authors: Siakoulis Vasileios
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to employ a duration-based approach to model the inter-arrival times of bank failures in the US banking system for the period of 1934-2014, in line with the suggestions of Focardi and Fabozzi (2005), who used a similar model for explaining contagion in credit portfolios.

Design/methodology/approach

Conditional duration models that allow duration between bank failures to depend linearly or nonlinearly on its past history are estimated and evaluated.

Findings

The authors find evidence of strong persistence along with nonmonotonic hazard rates, which imply a financial contagion pattern, according to which a high frequency of bank failures generates turbulence, which shortly after leads to additional fails, whereas prolonged periods without abnormal events signify the absence of contagious dependence, which increases the relative periods between bank failure appearance. Further, the authors obtain statistically significant results when they allow duration to depend linearly on past information variables that capture systemic bank crisis factors along with stock and bond market effects.

Originality/value

The originality of this study consists in proposing a new time series approach for the prediction of bank probability of default by incorporating a default-risk contagion mechanism. As contagious bank failures are a key topic in macroprudential supervision, this study could be of value for supervisory authorities in setting pro-active actions and tightening regulatory measures.
Young adults’ subjective and objective risk attitude in financial decision making
Authors: Oehler Andreas , Horn Matthias , Wedlich Florian
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to derive the determinants of young adults’ subjective and objective risk attitude in theoretical and real-world financial decisions. Furthermore, a comparison of the factors that influence young adults’ and older adults’ risk attitude is provided.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper relies on an experimental setting and a cross-sectional field study using data of the German central bank’s (Deutsche Bundesbank) PHF-Survey.

Findings

Young adults’ objective risk aversion is not constant but increases with stake sizes. Furthermore, young adults’ subjective risk attitude is a better predictor for their objective risk attitude than a set of commonly employed socio-demographics and economics like age or income. Moreover, young adults’ subjective risk attitude works as a mediator for the influence of their investable financial wealth on their objective risk attitude. Although young adults’ subjective risk attitude shows a gender effect, the influence of young adults’ gender on their objective risk attitude decreases with higher stake sizes. Compared to older adults, young adults generally show a similar degree of subjective risk aversion. However, due to stronger financial restrictions, young adults show a higher degree of objective risk aversion.

Originality/value

Although individuals’ financial outcomes depend on the financial behavior established in young adulthood, there is no study that simultaneously analyzes the determinants of young adults’ subjective and objective risk attitude in real-world financial decisions with a focus on young adults as a separate age group. The paper closes this gap in literature and additionally provides a comparison of the subsamples of young adults and older adults. The analysis in this paper reveals that young adults’ lower engagement in financial markets is primarily driven by their tight budget and not by a fundamental different subjective risk attitude.
Annual ring growth of a widespread high arctic shrub reflects past fluctuations in community‐level plant biomass
Authors: Le Moullec Mathilde , Buchwal Agata , van der Wal René , Sandal Lisa , Hansen Brage Bremset
Published: July 2018

Long time series of primary production are rarely available, restricting our mechanistic understanding of vegetation and ecosystem dynamics under climate change. Dendrochronological tools are increasingly used instead, particularly in the Arctic—the world’s most rapidly warming biome. Yet, high‐latitude plant species are subject to strong energy allocation trade‐offs, and whether annual allocations to secondary growth (e.g. “tree‐rings”) actually reflect primary production above‐ground remains unknown. Taking advantage of a unique ground‐based monitoring time series of annual vascular plant biomass in high Arctic Svalbard (78°N), we evaluated how well retrospective ring growth of the widespread dwarf shrub Salix polaris represents above‐ground biomass production of vascular plants.

Using a balanced design in permanent plots for plant biomass monitoring, we collected 30 S. polaris shrubs across five sites in each of two habitats. We established annual ring growth time series using linear mixed‐effects models and related them to weather records and 13 years of above‐ground biomass production in six habitats.

Annual ring growth was positively correlated with above‐ground biomass production of both S. polaris (r = 0.56) and the vascular plant community as a whole (r = 0.70). As for above‐ground biomass, summer temperature was the main driver of ring growth, with this ecological signal becoming particularly clear when accounting for plant, site and habitat heterogeneity. The results suggest that ring growth measurements performed on this abundant shrub can be used to track fluctuations in past vascular plant production of high arctic tundra.

Synthesis. Dendrochronological tools are increasingly used on arctic shrubs to enhance our understanding of vegetation dynamics in the world’s most rapidly warming biome. Fundamental to such applications is the assumption that annual differences in ring growth reflect between‐year variation in above‐ground biomass production. We showed that ring growth indeed was a robust proxy for the annual above‐ground productivity of both the focal shrub and the vascular plant community as a whole. Despite the challenges of constructing ring growth chronologies from irregularly growing arctic shrubs, our findings confirm that shrub dendrochronology can open new opportunities for community‐dynamic studies, including in remote places where annual field sampling is difficult to achieve.
Citizen perceptions of public management: Hybridisation and post‐new public management in Japan and New Zealand
Authors: Goldfinch Shaun , Yamamoto Kiyoshi
Published: July 2018

An older body of research claims variously: a world‐wide transformation from new public management (NPM) to new public governance or post new public management (post‐NPM); a ‘layering’, where new management rhetoric and techniques are layered upon existing ones; or a ‘hybridisation’ synthesised from competing systems. More recent studies, particularly in central and Eastern Europe, suggest a nuanced and context‐specific degree of transformation. Influenced by a growing research interest in citizen perceptions of public management, this study expands this more nuanced approach by surveying local government public management perceptions of 1,140 New Zealand and 3,100 Japanese citizen online survey respondents. Using principal component analysis, we show both New Zealand and Japan exhibit degrees of hybridisation of public management paradigms, with Japan exhibiting a higher degree of eclecticism.
Generalised quasi‐likelihood inference in a semi‐parametric binary dynamic mixed logit model
Authors: Zheng Nan , Sutradhar Brajendra C.
Published: July 2018

There exists a recent study where dynamic mixed‐effects regression models for count data have been extended to a semi‐parametric context. However, when one deals with other discrete data such as binary responses, the results based on count data models are not directly applicable. In this paper, we therefore begin with existing binary dynamic mixed models and generalise them to the semi‐parametric context. For inference, we use a new semi‐parametric conditional quasi‐likelihood (SCQL) approach for the estimation of the non‐parametric function involved in the semi‐parametric model, and a semi‐parametric generalised quasi‐likelihood (SGQL) approach for the estimation of the main regression, dynamic dependence and random effects variance parameters. A semi‐parametric maximum likelihood (SML) approach is also used as a comparison to the SGQL approach. The properties of the estimators are examined both asymptotically and empirically. More specifically, the consistency of the estimators is established and finite sample performances of the estimators are examined through an intensive simulation study.
Why Are Clovis Fluted Points More Resilient than Non‐Fluted Lanceolate Points? A Quantitative Assessment of Breakage Patterns Between Experimental Models
Authors: Story B. A. , Eren M. I. , Thomas K. , Buchanan B. , Meltzer D. J.
Published: July 2018

For decades, archaeologists have wondered whether the Clovis Palaeoindian (c.11 600–10 800 radiocarbon yearsbp) practice of ‘fluting’, a flake removal technique that creates a distinctive shallow channel extending from the base of the projectile point towards the tip, bestowed a functional advantage over non‐fluted projectile points. Using analytical modelling and static engineering experiments, Thomaset al. (2017) found that points that more effectively redistribute stress and relocate damage can absorb significantly more energy, last longer and remain intact relative to points that do not experience these phenomena. In general, stress redistribution and damage relocation is significantly more likely to occur in fluted points, as opposed to non‐fluted points, suggesting that fluting acts as a ‘shock absorber’. Here, we present a comparative quantitative assessment of breakage patterns between Thomaset al.’s (2017) experimental points that shows those experiencing stress redistribution and damage relocation were also able to significantly better resist breakage, and to incur non‐catastrophic breaks, than points that less effectively redistribute stress and relocate damage. This more beneficial breakage pattern explains the material advantages provided by stress redistribution and damage relocation, and hence the potential motivation for fluting. This does not preclude the possibility that the process of fluting was accorded significance beyond its possible utilitarian value. Additional tests will be necessary to further resolve the ‘shock‐absorbing’ capabilities of fluting.
Discrimination of Ceramic Surface Finishing by Vertical Scanning Interferometry
Authors: Ionescu C. , Fischer C. , Hoeck V. , Lüttge A.
Published: July 2018

Finishing techniques are significant markers of the technological ‘know‐how’ involved in the production of the traditional, clay‐based ceramic ware. In order to provide a reliable tool to discriminate among two main surface processing techniques—that is, smoothing and burnishing—vertical scanning interferometry (VSI), a recently developed non‐destructive technique for analysing the surface roughness and topography, is applied. The smoothed areas have an obvious roughness expressed by linear structures. The latter are made of parallel ridges and trenches with an average depth of 15–20 μm. Burnishing leads to a lower topography and a lower roughness compared to the smoothed surface section. VSI quantifies the spatial distribution of the surface building blocks, which consist of phyllosilicate aggregates of variable size. The statistical treatment of the roughness data obtained by VSI shows that the surface topography provides significant information on the pottery processing and a clear qualitative and quantitative discrimination between different surfaces. VSI supports the reconstitution of the chaîne opératoire for traditional ceramic pottery and the recognition of the surface finishing techniques.
Novel Micro‐Scale Steel‐Making from Molten Cast Iron Practised in Medieval Nomadic Communities of East Mongolia
Authors: Park J.‐S. , Honeychurch W. , Chunag A.
Published: July 2018

Evidence of novel steel‐making was found in a number of small cast‐iron fragments recovered by the Mongolia–American archaeological survey of eastern Mongolia. These iron artefacts come from medieval period habitation and manufacturing sites and they consistently display irregular surface features characteristic of a solidification reaction from a partially molten state. Their microstructure consists of large near‐spherical islands of pearlite spread on a background of fine white cast‐iron eutectic. Reflected in this peculiar structure is an extremely small‐scale steel‐making process where one or more small pieces of cast iron were heated above the eutectic temperature for rapid decarburization in the partially molten state. We provide a detailed account of the technological aspects of this micro‐scale steel‐making method as observed in the microstructure and chemical composition of the objects examined. This small‐scale technology was ideally suited to the pastoral nomadic way of life that characterized medieval eastern Mongolia; however, it probably would not have been appropriate for sedentary communities with access to large‐scale urban manufacturing centres. Based on this observation, we discuss the role of nomadic lifeways and associated political environments that likely influenced the development of this innovative steel‐making technique.
A critical geography of disability hate crime
Authors: Hall Edward
Published: July 2018

Many disabled people experience fear, harassment and occasionally violence in an array of public and private spaces, yet the issue remains unexamined by geographers of disability. To address this research gap, the paper develops a critical geography of disability “hate crime.” Extreme, yet rare, violent acts against disabled people constitute the popular and policy imagination of disability hate crime. While clearly important, these cases characterise disability hate crime as individually‐targeted placeless acts of extreme abjection against disabled people. At the same time, they arguably draw attention away from everyday “low‐level” harassment, name‐calling, fear, and neglect experienced by many in mainstream spaces and the impact on senses of social inclusion and belonging. Citing “race”‐related hate crime studies, which have recognised the role of social and physical environments in shaping incidence, the paper seeks to shift research and, in turn, policy on disability hate crime towards the local and micro‐scale spaces and moments within which incidents occur, and the social relations that constitute these acts, in the context of an exclusionary disablist society. The paper is organised in two parts: first, evidence of harassment and violence experienced by disabled people (UK‐focused) is examined and the emergence of disability “hate crime” critiqued; second, a critical geography of disability hate crime is developed, applying insights from hate crime studies and relational geographies of disability. The paper concludes by setting out an agenda for Geography's potential contribution to disability and wider hate crime research.
Comparing paper‐based and electronic multiple‐choice examinations with personal devices: Impact on students' performance, self‐efficacy and satisfaction
Authors: Nardi Andrea , Ranieri Maria
Published: July 2018

Nowadays the size of university classes along with the growing number of students to be tested for final examination raise unprecedented challenges relating to the management, monitoring and evaluation of learning. Technology may provide some solutions that deserve to be investigated. This paper explores the potentialities and limitations of Computer‐Based Testing (CBT), specifically BYOD e‐test, compared to traditional Paper‐Based Testing (PBT) to verify whether, and to what extent, an electronic mode of assessment can become a suitable alternative to PBT. It is based on a study carried out at the University of Florence during 2016/17. 606 students participated in the study, of whom 443 opted for CBT using their own devices, while 163 preferred PBT. Participants who experienced CBT also answered a survey on perceptions, self‐efficacy and satisfaction. The results show that students' performances were better with CBT, and that a positive relationship exists between the perceived level of self‐efficacy and the propensity to adopt digital tests. In addition, students greatly appreciated the electronic system, especially for the possibility of immediate feedback. Some critical issues emerged relating to on‐screen reading, which suggests the need for careful design of testing tools.
New insights into the stratigraphic and structural evolution of the middle Jurassic S. Neuquén Basin from Detrital Zircon (U‐Th)/(He‐Pb) and Apatite (U‐Th)/He ages
Authors: Pujols Edgardo J. , Leva López Julio , Stockli Daniel F. , Rossi Valentina M. , Steel Ronald J.
Published: July 2018

Previous studies on the Lower‐Middle Jurassic Cuyo Group in the southern Neuquén Basin, Argentina, have discussed evidence for pre‐ and syn‐depositional structural inversion during pre‐Andean shortening. While the Cuyo Group sequence stratigraphic and facies framework are well understood, the effects of structural inversion and progressive postrift thermal subsidence on sediment provenance and dispersal, as well as the timing and magnitude of deformation during and after Cuyo Group deposition, remain poorly constrained. The Cuyo Group comprises both reservoir‐quality fluvial to deep‐marine siliciclastic deposits and a petroleum source‐rock. Thus, the temporal relationship between the onset of deformation and sediment dispersal are crucial aspects for an improved understanding of both the basin evolution and petroleum system. This study presents new detrital zircon (U‐Th)/(He‐Pb) double dating from the Los Molles and Lajas Formations of the Cuyo Group in the southern area of SW Zapala to evaluate the influence of early rift inversion on sediment routing, provenance, and palaeogeography, and to provide crucial chronostratigraphic constraints. The youngest concordant Jurassic detrital zircon (DZ) U‐Pb and He ages from the Lajas and Los Molles Formations in Lohan Mahuida and La Jardinera areas suggest a late Middle Jurassic depositional age. The DZ U‐Pb provenance analysis confirms that both formations are part of the same Middle Jurassic shelf margin and were both sourced from the Choiyoi basement, Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic Andean magmatic arc and pre‐Cuyo Group strata. The detrital He (DZHe) ages provide additional provenance constraints by recording three discrete cooling events, (1) early‐Late Triassic, (2) early‐Early Jurassic, and (3) Middle‐Late Jurassic, documenting tectonically driven exhumation during rifting and contractional stages prior to and during early Neuquén basin evolution. Triassic‐Jurassic He cooling ages of zircons derived from the Choiyoi Group document the existence of pre‐Cuyo Pangean extensional structures and basins in the source area. Furthermore, the abundance of rapidly cool DZHe ages requires rapid exhumation of both Choiyoi and Carboniferous basement. All of this evidence suggests that structural inversion in the Huincul ridge region started in the Middle Jurassic, earlier than previously proposed. Hence, this challenges conventional Cuyo Group tectono‐depositional models that advocated postrift thermal sagging as the primary control on subsidence and deposition. The occurrence of first‐cycle volcanic (U‐Th)/(He‐Pb) ages implies that the Cuyo Group burial never reached depths >4–5 kilometres. Exhumation to shallower crustal depths was spatially partitioned and driven by Cenozoic Andean shortening as constrained by AHe ages.
Pifithrin‐μ modulates microglial activation and promotes histological recovery following spinal cord injury
Authors: Caponegro Michael D. , Torres Luisa F. , Rastegar Cyrus , Rath Nisha , Anderson Maria E. , Robinson John K. , Tsirka Stella E.
Published: July 2018

Background

Treatments immediately after spinal cord injury (SCI) are anticipated to decrease neuronal death, disruption of neuronal connections, demyelination, and inflammation, and to improve repair and functional recovery. Currently, little can be done to modify the acute phase, which extends to the first 48 hours post‐injury. Efforts to intervene have focused on the subsequent phases — secondary (days to weeks) and chronic (months to years) — to both promote healing, prevent further damage, and support patients suffering from SCI.

Methods

We used a contusion model of SCI in female mice, and delivered a small molecule reagent during the early phase of injury. Histological and behavioral outcomes were assessed and compared.

Results

We find that the reagent Pifithrin‐μ (PFT‐μ) acts early and directly on microglia in vitro, attenuating their activation. When administered during the acute phase of SCI, PFT‐μ resulted in reduced lesion size during the initial inflammatory phase, and reduced the numbers of pro‐inflammatory microglia and macrophages. Treatment with PFT‐μ during the early stage of injury maintained a stable anti‐inflammatory environment.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that a small molecule reagent PFT‐μ has sustained immunomodulatory effects following a single dose after injury.