bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Microbiome digital signature of MCR genes – an in silico approach to study the diversity of methanogenic population in laboratory-developed and pilot-scale anaerobic digesters
Authors: Ponni Keerthana K. , Radhesh Krishnan S. , Ragunath Sengali S. , Srinivasan R. , Prabhakaran N. , Balaji G. , Gracy M. , Latha K.
Published: July 2019

The production of biogas by anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic/biological wastes has a firm place in sustainable energy production. A simple and cost-effective anaerobic jar at a laboratory scale is a prerequisite to study the microbial community involved in biomass conversion and releasing of methane gas. In this study, a simulation was carried out using a laboratory-modified anaerobic-jar-converted digester (AD1) with that of a commercial/pilot-scale anaerobic digester (AD2). Taxonomic profiling of biogas-producing communities by means of high-throughput methyl coenzyme-M reductase α-subunit (mcrA) gene amplicon sequencing provided high-resolution insights into bacterial and archaeal structures of AD assemblages and their linkages to fed substrates and process parameters. Commonly, the bacterial phyla

Euryarchaeota

, Chordata,

Firmicutes

and

Proteobacteria

appeared to dominate biogas communities in varying abundances depending on the apparent process conditions. Key micro-organisms identified from AD were

Methanocorpusculum labreanum

and

Methanobacterium formicicum

. Specific biogas production was found to be significantly correlating to

Methanosarcinaceae

. It can be implied from this study that the metagenomic sequencing data was able to dissect the microbial community structure in the digesters. The data gathered indicates that the anaerobic-jar system could throw light on the population dynamics of the methanogens at laboratory scale and its effectiveness at large-scale production of bio-methane. The genome sequence information of non-cultivable biogas community members, metagenome sequencing including assembly and binning strategies will be highly valuable in determining the efficacy of an anaerobic digester.
High levels of endemism and local differentiation in the fungal and algal symbionts of saxicolous lecideoid lichens along a latitudinal gradient in southern South America
Authors: Ruprecht Ulrike , Fernández-Mendoza Fernando , Türk Roman , Fryday Alan
Published: July 2019

Saxicolous, lecideoid lichenized-fungi have a cosmopolitan distribution but, being mostly cold adapted, are especially abundant in polar and high-mountain regions. To date, little is known of their origin or the extent of their trans-equatorial dispersal. Several mycobiont genera and species are thought to be restricted to either the northern or southern hemisphere, whereas others are thought to be widely distributed and occur in both hemispheres. However, these assumptions often rely on morphological analyses and lack supporting molecular genetic data. Also unknown is the extent of regional differentiation in the southern Polar Regions.

An extensive set of lecideoid lichens (185) was collected along a latitudinal gradient at the southern end of South America, always staying in areas of subantarctic climate by increasing the elevation of the collecting sites with decreasing latitude. The investigated specimens were brought into a global context by including Antarctic and cosmopolitan sequences from other studies. For each symbiont three markers were used to identify intraspecific variation (mycobiont: ITS, mtSSU, RPB1; photobiont: ITS, psbJ-L, COX2). For the mycobiont the saxicolous genera Lecidea, Porpidia, Poeltidea and Lecidella and their photobionts Asterochloris and Trebouxia were phylogenetically revised. The results show for several globally distributed species groups geographically highly differentiated subclades, classified as operational taxonomical units (OTUs), which were assigned to the different regions of southern South America (sSA). Further, for sSA, several small endemic and well supported clades were detected at the species level for both symbionts.
Liking and left amygdala activity during food versus non-food processing are modulated by emotional context
Authors: García-García Isabel , Kube Jana , Morys Filip , Schrimpf Anne , Kanaan Ahmad S. , Gaebler Michael , Villringer Arno , Dagher Alain , Horstmann Annette , Neumann Jane
Published: July 2019

Emotions can influence our eating behaviors. Facing an acute stressor or being in a positive mood are examples of situations that tend to modify appetite. However, the question of how the brain integrates these emotion-related changes in food processing remains elusive. Here we designed an emotional priming fMRI task to test if amygdala activity during food pictures differs depending on the emotional context. Fifty-eight female participants completed a novel emotional priming task, in which emotional images of negative, neutral or positive situations were followed by pictures of either foods or objects. After priming in each trial, participants rated how much they liked the shown foods or objects. We analyzed how brain activity during the contrast “foods > objects” changed according to the emotional context – in the whole brain and in the amygdala. We also examined the potential effect of adiposity (i.e., waist circumference). We observed a higher difference between liking scores for foods and objects after positive priming than after neutral priming. In the left amygdala, activity in the contrast “foods > objects” was higher after neutral priming relative to negative priming. Waist circumference was not significantly related to this emotional priming effect on food processing. Our results suggest that emotional context alters food and non-food perception, both in terms of liking scores and with regards to engagement of the left amygdala. Moreover, our findings indicate that emotional context has an impact on the salience advantage of food, possibly affecting eating behavior.
Machine translation of cortical activity to text with an encoder-decoder framework
Authors: Makin Joseph G. , Moses David A. , Chang Edward F.
Published: July 2019

A decade after the first successful attempt to decode speech directly from human brain signals, accuracy and speed remain far below that of natural speech or typing. Here we show how to achieve high accuracy from the electrocorticogram at natural-speech rates, even with few data (on the order of half an hour of spoken speech). Taking a cue from recent advances in machine translation and automatic speech recognition, we train a recurrent neural network to map neural signals directly to word sequences (sentences). In particular, the network first encodes a sentence-length sequence of neural activity into an abstract representation, and then decodes this representation, word by word, into an English sentence. For each participant, training data consist of several spoken repeats of a set of some 30-50 sentences, along with the corresponding neural signals at each of about 250 electrodes distributed over peri-Sylvian speech cortices. Average word error rates across a validation (held-out) sentence set are as low as 7% for some participants, as compared to the previous state of the art of greater than 60%. Finally, we show how to use transfer learning to overcome limitations on data availability: Training certain components of the network under multiple participants’ data, while keeping other components (e.g., the first hidden layer) “proprietary,” can improve decoding performance—despite very different electrode coverage across participants.
Alpha rhythms reveal when, where and how memories are retrieved
Authors: Martín-Buro María Carmen , Wimber Maria , Henson Richard N. , Staresina Bernhard P.
Published: July 2019

Our memories for past experiences can range from vague recognition to full-blown recall of associated details. Neuroimaging research has tried to understand the brain mechanisms underlying qualitatively different memories for decades (Yonelinas, 2002). On the one hand, Electroencephalography (EEG) has shown that recall signals unfold a few hundred milliseconds after simple recognition and are hallmarked by sustained voltage deflections over left posterior sensors (Herron, 2007; Johansson & Mecklinger, 2003; Mecklinger, Rosburg, & Johansson, 2016; Rugg & Curran, 2007). However, sensor-based analyses only provide limited insights into the supporting brain networks. On the other hand, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revealed a ‘core recollection network’ centred on posterior parietal and medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions (Hayama, Vilberg, & Rugg, 2012; Johnson, Suzuki, & Rugg, 2013; King, de Chastelaine, Elward, Wang, & Rugg, 2015; Rugg, Johnson, & Uncapher, 2015; Rugg & Vilberg, 2013; Thakral, Benoit, & Schacter, 2017). However, due to the relatively poor time resolution of fMRI, the temporal dynamics of these regions during retrieval remain largely unknown. In order to overcome these modality-specific limitations, we here used Magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a verbal episodic memory paradigm assessing correct rejection (CR) of lures, item recognition (IR) of old words and associative recall (AR) of paired target words. We found that power decreases in the alpha frequency band (10-12 Hz) systematically track different mnemonic outcomes in both time and space: Over left posterior sensors, alpha power decreased in a stepwise fashion from 500 ms onward, first from CR to IR and then from IR to AR. When projecting alpha power into source space, the ‘core recollection network’ known from fMRI studies emerged, including posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and hippocampus. While PPC showed a linear change across conditions, hippocampal effects were specific to recall. Critically, the hippocampal recall effect emerged ∼200 ms before the PPC recall effect, suggesting a bottom-up recall signal from hippocampus to PPC. Our data thus link engagement of the core recollection network to the temporal dynamics of episodic memory and suggest that alpha rhythms constitute a fundamental oscillatory mechanism revealing when, where and how our memories are retrieved.

Highlights

Alpha rhythms distinguish between different retrieval outcomes

Alpha power time courses track item recognition and associative recall

Source alpha power decreases track the fMRI core recollection network

Hippocampal recall signal precedes parietal signal
Dynamic Reorganization of the Frontal Parietal Network During Cognitive Control and Episodic Memory
Authors: Ray Kimberly L , Ragland J Daniel , MacDonald Angus W , Gold James M , Silverstein Steven M , Barch Deanna M , Carter Cameron S
Published: July 2019

Higher cognitive functioning is supported by adaptive reconfiguration of large-scale functional brain networks. Cognitive control (CC), which plays a vital role in flexibly guiding cognition and behavior in accordance with our goals, supports a range of executive functions via distributed brain networks. These networks process information dynamically and can be represented as functional connectivity changes between network elements.

Using graph theory, we explored context-dependent network reorganization in 56 healthy adults performing fMRI tasks from two cognitive domains that varied in CC and episodic-memory demands. We examined whole-brain modular structure during the DPX task, which engages proactive CC in the frontal-parietal cognitive control network (FPN), and the RiSE task, which manipulates CC demands at encoding and retrieval during episodic-memory processing, and engages FPN, the medial-temporal lobe and other memory related networks in a context dependent manner.

Analyses revealed different levels of network integration and segregation. High CC conditions exhibited greater integration across tasks. Moreover, nodes associated with higher cognitive functioning displayed the greatest amount ofdynamicmodule reorganization across tasks. Specifically, the FPN displayed a high level of segregation in the DPX task, where only demands for proactive control varied, and more complex network integration with default mode and salience networks in the RiSE task, where CC is differentially integrated during memory encoding and retrieval. These findings provide insight into how brain networks reorganize to support differing task contexts, suggesting that the FPN flexibly segregates during focused proactive control and integrates to support control in other domains such as episodic-memory.
Ocular dynamics reveal articulatory processing at single-phoneme level during silent reading
Authors: Taitz Alan , Shalom Diego E , Trevisan Marcos A
Published: July 2019

Silent reading is a cognitive operation that produces verbal content with no vocal output. One relevant question is the extent to which this verbal content is processed as overt speech in the brain. To address this, we investigated the signatures of articulatory processing during reading. We acquired sound, eye trajectories and vocal gestures during the reading of consonant-consonant-vowel (CCV) pseudowords. We found that the duration of the first fixations on the CCVs during silent reading are correlated to the duration of the transitions between consonants when the CCVs are actually uttered. An articulatory model of the vocal system was implemented to show that consonantal transitions measure the articulatory effort required to produce the CCVs. These results demonstrate that silent reading is modulated by slight articulatory features such as the laryngeal abduction needed to devoice a single consonant or the reshaping of the vocal tract between successive consonants.
Of Microbes and Mange: Consistent changes in the skin microbiome of three canid species infected with sarcoptic mange
Authors: DeCandia Alexandra L. , Leverett Kennedy N. , vonHoldt Bridgett M.
Published: July 2019

Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious skin disease caused by the ectoparasitic mite, Sarcoptes scabiei. Although it afflicts over 100 mammal species worldwide, sarcoptic mange remains a disease obscured by variability at the individual, population, and species levels. Amid this variability, it is critical to identify consistent drivers of morbidity, particularly at the skin barrier. We characterized the skin microbiome of three species of North American canids: coyotes (Canis latrans), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). Comparing mange-infected and uninfected individuals, we found remarkably consistent signatures of microbial dysbiosis associated with mange infection. Across genera, mange-infected canids exhibited reduced microbial diversity, altered community composition, and increased abundance of opportunistic pathogens. The primary bacteria comprising these secondary infections were Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, previously associated with canid ear and skin infections, and Corynebacterium spp, previously found among the gut flora of S. scabiei mites and hematophagous arthropods. Considered together, this evidence suggests that mange infection consistently alters the canid skin microbiome and facilitates secondary bacterial infection. These results provide valuable insights into the pathogenesis of mange at the skin barrier of North American canids and can inspire novel treatment strategies. By further adopting a “One Health” framework that considers mites, microbes, and the potential for interspecies transmission, we can better elucidate the patterns and processes underlying this ubiquitous and enigmatic disease.
Using the Concepts of Time-delayed Feedback Control in Biofeedback Systems in Children with ADD: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Baghdadi Golnaz , Soroush Ateyeh , Towhidkhah Farzad , Rostami Reza
Published: July 2019

The reported efficacy of biofeedback is not consistent across studies. One issue that has not been addressed in previous studies is the effect of the reference signal in a biofeedback system.

We compared the effects of two different reference signals using a computational model and human experiments. One reference signal was fixed, and the other was variable and was designed based on time-delayed feedback control concepts. The computational model consists of a plant and a controller. Groups of typically developing and children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) participated in our experiments.

The computational model showed that time-delayed reference feedback control could have more positive effects on the performance than using a fixed reference signal. The model prediction was consistent with the results obtained from the experiments performed on children with ADD. However, in typically developing children, using time-delayed reference feedback control had a negative effect. Our preliminary results, which need to be investigated on more subjects, indicate the importance of selecting the reference signal in biofeedback systems according to the characteristics of each participant. The results remind the importance of “single-case methodology” in neurocognitive rehabilitation systems. Using computational concepts, some other predictions have also been provided, which need more investigations.
Retroactive Interference Model of Forgetting
Authors: Georgiou Antonios , Katkov Mikhail , Tsodyks Misha
Published: July 2019

Memory and forgetting constitute two sides of the same coin, and although the first has been rigorously investigated, the latter is often overlooked. A number of experiments under the realm of psychology and experimental neuroscience have described the properties of forgetting in humans and animals, showing that forgetting exhibits a power-law relationship with time. These results indicate a counter-intuitive property of forgetting, namely that old memories are more stable than younger ones. We have devised a phenomenological model that is based on the principle of retroactive interference, such that stronger memories acquired after weaker ones erase the latter. The model has only one free integer parameter and can be solved analytically. Recognition experiments with long streams of words were performed, resulting in a good match to a five-dimensional version of the model.
Deep Multi-State Dynamic Recurrent Neural Networks Operating on Wavelet Based Neural Features for Robust Brain Machine Interfaces
Authors: Haghi Benyamin , Kellis Spencer , Shah Sahil , Ashok Maitreyi , Bashford Luke , Kramer Daniel , Lee Brian , Liu Charles , Andersen Richard A. , Emami Azita
Published: July 2019

We present a new deep multi-state Dynamic Recurrent Neural Network (DRNN) architecture for Brain Machine Interface (BMI) applications. Our DRNN is used to predict Cartesian representation of a computer cursor movement kinematics from open-loop neural data recorded from the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of a human subject in a BMI system. We design the algorithm to achieve a reasonable trade-off between performance and robustness, and we constrain memory usage in favor of future hardware implementation. We feed the predictions of the network back to the input to improve prediction performance and robustness. We apply a scheduled sampling approach to the model in order to solve a statistical distribution mismatch between the ground truth and predictions. Additionally, we configure a small DRNN to operate with a short history of input, reducing the required buffering of input data and number of memory accesses. This configuration lowers the expected power consumption in a neural network accelerator. Operating on wavelet-based neural features, we show that the average performance of DRNN surpasses other state-of-the-art methods in the literature on both single- and multi-day data recorded over 43 days. Results show that multi-state DRNN has the potential to model the nonlinear relationships between the neural data and kinematics for robust BMIs.
Large-scale GWAS in sorghum reveals common genetic control of grain size among cereals
Authors: Tao Yongfu , Zhao Xianrong , Wang Xuemin , Hathorn Adrian , Hunt Colleen , Cruickshank Alan W. , van Oosterom Erik J. , Godwin Ian D. , Mace Emma S. , Jordan David R.
Published: July 2019

Grain size is a key yield component of cereal crops and a major quality attribute. It is determined by a genotype’s genetic potential and its capacity to fill the grains.

This study aims to dissect the genetic architecture of grain size in sorghum via an integrated genome wide association study (GWAS) using a diversity panel of 837 individuals and a BC-NAM population of 1,421 individuals.

In order to isolate genetic effects associated with grain size, rather than the genotype’s capacity to fill grain, a field treatment of removing half of the panicle during flowering was imposed. Extensive variation in grain size with high heritability was observed in both populations across 5 field trials. Subsequent GWAS analyses uncovered 92 grain size QTL, which were significantly enriched for orthologues of known grain size genes in rice and maize. Significant overlap between the 92 QTL and grain size QTL in rice and maize was also found, supporting common genetic control of this trait among cereals. Further analysis found grain size genes with opposite effect on grain number were less likely to overlap with the grain size QTL from this study, indicating the treatment facilitated identification of genetic regions related to the genetic potential of grain size rather than the capacity to fill the grain.

These results enhance understanding of the genetic architecture of grain size in cereal, and pave the way for exploration of underlying molecular mechanisms in cereal crops and manipulation of this trait in breeding practices.
Caffeine consumption during pregnancy accelerates the development of cognitive deficits in offspring in a model of tauopathy
Authors: Zappettini Stefania , Faivre Emilie , Ghestem Antoine , Carrier Sébastien , Buée Luc , Blum David , Esclapez Monique , Bernard Christophe
Published: July 2019

Psychoactive drugs used during pregnancy can affect the development of the brain of offspring, directly triggering neurological disorders or increasing the risk for their occurrence. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug, including during pregnancy. In Wild type mice, early life exposure to caffeine renders offspring more susceptible to seizures. Here, we tested the long-term consequences of early life exposure to caffeine in THY-Tau22 transgenic mice, a model of Alzheimer’s disease-like Tau pathology. Caffeine exposed mutant offspring developed cognitive earlier than water treated mutants. Electrophysiological recordings of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells in vitro revealed that early life exposure to caffeine changed the way the glutamatergic and GABAergic drives were modified by the Tau pathology. We conclude that early-life exposure to caffeine affects the Tau phenotype and we suggest that caffeine exposure during pregnancy may constitute a risk-factor for early onset of Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology.
The plasmid diversity ofAcinetobacter bereziniaeHPC229 provides clues on the ability of the species to thrive on both clinical and environmental habitats
Authors: Brovedan Marco , Repizo Guillermo D. , Marchiaro Patricia , Viale Alejandro M. , Limansky Adriana
Published: July 2019

Acinetobacter bereziniaeis an environmental microorganism with increasing clinical incidence, and may thus provide a model for a bacterial species bridging the gap between the environment and the clinical setting.A. bereziniaeplasmids have been poorly studied, and their characterization could offer clues on the causes underlying the leap between these two radically different habitats. Here we characterized the whole plasmid content ofA. bereziniaeHPC229, a clinical strain previously reported to harbor a 44-kbp plasmid, pNDM229, conferring carbapenem and aminoglycoside resistance. We identified five extra plasmids in HPC229 ranging from 114 to 1.3 kbp, including pAbe229-114 (114 kbp) encoding a MOBP111relaxase and carrying heavy metal resistance, a bacteriophage defense BREX system and four different toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems. Two other replicons, pAbe229-15 (15.4 kbp) and pAbe229-9 (9.1 kbp), both encoding MOBQ1relaxases and also carrying TA systems, were found. The three latter plasmids containedAcinetobacterRep_3 superfamily replication initiator protein genes. HPC229 also harbors two smaller plasmids, pAbe229-4 (4.4 kbp) and pAbe229-1 (1.3 kbp), the former bearing a ColE1-type replicon and a TA system, and the latter lacking known replication functions. Comparative sequence analyses against depositedAcinetobactergenomes indicated that the above five HPC229 plasmids were unique, although some regions were also present in other of these genomes. The transfer, replication, and adaptive modules in pAbe229-15, and the stability module in pAbe229-9, were bordered by sites potentially recognized by XerC/XerD site-specific tyrosine recombinases, thus suggesting a potential mechanism for their acquisition. The presence of Rep_3 and ColE1-based replication modules, differentmobgenes, distinct adaptive functions including resistance to heavy metal and other environmental stressors, as well as antimicrobial resistance genes, and a high content of XerC/XerD sites among HPC229 plasmids provide evidence of substantial links with bacterial species derived from both environmental and clinical habitats.
Effects of melatonin on germination and amino acid content in different wheat varieties seeds under polyethylene glycol stress
Authors: Li Dongxiao , Zhang Di , Wang Hongguang , Li Haoran , Song Shijia , Li Hongye , Li Ruiqi
Published: July 2019

In this research, the effects of melatonin on germination and amino acid content in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seeds under polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) stress were investigated. The results revealed that 10 μM melatonin could aggravate the adverse effects of drought stress on germination percentage, germination index, and germination potential of two wheat varieties (JM22 and HG35). However, 300 μM melatonin could obviously alleviate the negative effect of water stress on germination and increase radicle length, radicle number and plumule length of germinated seeds. Principal component analysis showed that amino acid content apparently changed in germination and the variation amplitude was different due to melatonin concentrations and wheat varieties. Lys content in wheat seed under 300 μM melatonin plus PEG treatment increased compared with that under PEG. Meanwhile, Lys content was significantly and positively correlated with germination percentage, germination index, germination potential, radicle length, and plumule length, respectively. Our results suggested Lys play an important role in the regulation of melatonin on drought resistance of wheat seed during germination. This may be of value for saving water resources in North China Plain.
The Burden of Poor Household Drinking-Water Quality on HIV/AIDS Infected Individuals in Rural Communities of Ugu District Municipality, Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa
Authors: Khabo-Mmekoa C.M.N , Momba M.N.B
Published: July 2019

This aim of this study was to ascertain whether household container-stored drinking water might play a role in the diarrhoeic conditions of HIV/AIDS patients and non-HIV-infected individuals of the rural communities who attended the Ugu District Municipal hospitals. Water samples were collected from the standpipes and household containers, and stool specimens were obtained from HIV/AIDS-positive and non-HIV/AIDS patients with diarrhoea. Significant correlations were established between the incidence of potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated from chlorinated household-stored water, and in stool specimens of HIV-positive patients with diarrhoea (r = P < 0.05). A combination of molecular analysis targeting the 16S rRNA gene and the restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequence analysis of the amplified gene for differentiating between species and strains of the bacterial pathogens was also applied to isolates obtained from stored-water samples and stool specimens. Similar sequences of Klebsiella spp., K. pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, E. coli O55: H7, Proteus mirabilis, and Shigella boydii were identified in both stored water and stools of HIV/AIDS-positive patients with diarrhoea. With the exception of Proteus mirabilis, none of these pathogens were identified in stool specimens of non-HIV-infected individuals with diarrhoea.
Seroprevalence of viral and vector-borne bacterial pathogens in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in northern Botswana
Authors: Thompson Riley E. , Adams Hayley , Odoi Agricola , Kennedy Melissa A.
Published: July 2019

Background

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have the potential to act as disease reservoirs for wildlife and are important sentinels for common circulating pathogens. Therefore, the infectious disease seroprevalence among domestic dogs in northern Botswana may be indicative of pathogen exposure of various wildlife species. The objective of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of Ehrlichia spp., Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma spp., Dirofilaria immitis, canine adenovirus, canine parvovirus, and canine distemper virus in domestic dogs as proxies of disease prevalence in the local wildlife in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana. Statistical analysis assessed crude and factor-specific seroprevalence proportions and assessed the factors age, sex, and geographical location as predictors of seropositivity. Logistic regression was used to identify adjusted predictors of seropositivity for each of the pathogens of interest.

Results

Samples from 233 dogs in a total of 7 locations in Maun, Botswana, and surrounding villages were collected and serologically analyzed. No dogs were seropositive for B. burgdorferi, while low seroprevalence proportions were observed for Anaplasma spp. (2.2%) and D. immitis (0.9%). Higher seroprevalence proportions were observed for the tick-borne pathogen, Ehrlichia spp. (21.0%), and 19.7% were seropositive for canine adenovirus (hepatitis). The highest seroprevalence proportions were for canine parvovirus (70.0%) and canine distemper virus (44.8%). The predictors of seropositivity revealed that adults were more likely to be seropositive for canine adenovirus, canine distemper virus, and canine parvovirus than juveniles, and location was a risk factor for canine adenovirus, canine distemper virus, canine parvovirus, and Ehrlichia spp.

Conclusions

Results indicate that increasing tick control and vaccination campaigns for domestic dogs may improve the health of domestic animals, and potentially wildlife and humans in the Okavango Delta since viral and vector-borne bacterial pathogens can be transmitted between them.
Temporal microstructure of dyadic social behavior during relationship formation in mice
Authors: Lee Won , Fu Jiayi , Bouwman Neal , Farago Pam , Curley James P.
Published: July 2019

Understanding the temporal dynamics of how unfamiliar animals establish dominant-subordinate relationships and learn to modify their behavior in response to their social partner in context-appropriate manners is critical in biomedical research concerning social competence. Here we observe and analyze the microstructure of social and non-social behaviors as 21 pairs of outbred CD-1 male mice (Mus Musculus) establish dominant-subordinate relationships during daily 20-minute interaction for five consecutive days. Using Kleinberg burst detection algorithm, we demonstrate aggressive and subordinate interactions occur in bursting patterns followed by quiescence period rather than in uniformly distributed across social interactions. Further, we identify three phases of dominant-subordinate relationship development (pre-, middle-, and post-resolution) by combining phi-coefficient and difference methods used to determine at which bursting event mice resolve dominant-subordinate relationships. Using First Order Markov Chains within individuals we show dominant and subordinate animals establish significantly different behavioral repertoire once they resolve the relationships. In both dominant and subordinate mice, the transitions between investigative and agonistic behavior states are not common. Lastly, we introduce Forward Spike Time Tiling Coefficient, the strength of association between the given behavior of one individual with the target behavior of the other individual within a specified time window. With this method, we describe the likelihood of a mouse responding to a behavior with another behavior differ in pre- and post-resolution phases. The data suggest that subordinate mice learn to exhibit subordinate behavior in response to dominant partner’s behaviors while dominant mice become less likely to show subordinate behaviors in response to their partners’ action. Overall, with the tool we present in this study, the data suggest CD-1 male mice are able to establish dominance relationships and modify their behaviors even to the same social cues under different social contexts competently.
Effects of complex boundary conditions on natural convection of a viscoplastic fluid
Authors: Rafiei Behnam , Masoumi Hamed , Aghighi Mohammad Saeid , Ammar Amine
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of complex boundary conditions on natural convection of a yield stress fluid in a square enclosure heated from below (uniformly and non-uniformly) and symmetrically cooled from the sides.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing equations are solved numerically subject to continuous and discontinuous Dirichlet boundary conditions by Galerkin’s weighted residuals scheme of finite element method and using a non-uniform unstructured triangular grid.

Findings

Results show that the overall heat transfer from the heated wall decreases in the case of non-uniform heating for both Newtonian and yield stress fluids. It is found that the effect of yield stress on heat transfer is almost similar in both uniform and non-uniform heating cases. The yield stress has a stabilizing effect, reducing the convection intensity in both cases. Above a certain value of yield number Y, heat transfer is only due to conduction. It is found that a transition of different modes of stability may occur as Rayleigh number changes; this fact gives rise to a discontinuity in the variation of critical yield number.

Originality/value

Besides the new numerical method based on the finite element and using a non-uniform unstructured grid for analyzing natural convection of viscoplastic materials with complex boundary conditions, the originality of the present work concerns the treatment of the yield stress fluids under the influence of complex boundary conditions.
Stratified flow of sutterby fluid with homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions and Cattaneo-Christov heat flux
Authors: Khan Muhammad Ijaz , Qayyum Sumaira , Hayat Tasawar , Alsaedi Ahmed
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Sutterby fluid flow by a rotating disk with homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions. Inspection of heat transfer is through Cattaneo–Christov model. Stratification effect is also considered.

Design/methodology/approach

Nonlinear equations are solved by the homotopy technique.

Findings

Sutterby fluid flow by rotating disk is not considered yet. Here the authors intend to analyze it with Cattaneo–Christov heat flux and homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions. Thermal stratification is also taken into consideration.

Originality/value

No such work is yet done in the literature.
Fuzzy AHP-GRA approach to evaluating energy sources: a case of Turkey
Authors: Ayağ Zeki , Samanlioglu Funda
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Since the demand for energy has dramatically increased in the countries which have fast-growing population and economy, they have faced with a critical problem of how to evaluate a set of potential energy sources (i.e. nuclear, natural gas, bio, geothermal, hydro, wind and solar) and choose the ultimate energy source for their needs. On the other hand, this critical problem turns into a multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) in the presence of a set of energy source alternatives and evaluation criteria. In literature, there are many MCDM methods introduced to solve for different kinds of problems. The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated approach for evaluating energy sources using fuzzy AHP and GRA, with a case for Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and grey relational analysis (GRA) methods are used because of their advantages for similar problems. On the other hand, due to the fact that the conventional AHP by a nine-point scale and GRA method using a scale with crisp values can be unable to handle to capture the right judgments of a decision-maker(s), to reflect the vagueness and uncertainty on the judgments of a decision-maker, the fuzzy logic is integrated with the AHP and GRA.

Findings

The contributions of the paper to the literature are given in two dimensions as follows: it presents an integrated approach for complex decision processes with subjective data or vague information; the proposed approach, the fuzzy AHP-GRA method for energy source selection, is unique for the related problem in literature. The results of the proposed model from the case of Turkey will help practitioners and experts of how to apply it to the similar problems in the field of energy management.

Research limitations/implications

In short, in this paper, an integrated approach is proposed through the fuzzy AHP and the fuzzy GRA methods. As the fuzzy AHP is used to determine the weights of evaluation criteria, the fuzzy GRA is used to rank energy source alternatives.

Practical implications

In addition, a case study for Turkey is presented to show the applicability of the proposed approach for potential practitioners who are authority in the field of energy in public and private sectors.

Social implications

On the other hand, the proposed approach, the fuzzy AHP-GRA for energy source selection can also be an intelligent tool for public and private energy companies in Turkey, as well as others in the world.

Originality/value

On the other hand, in this paper, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study contributes to the literature that the first time, they use the fuzzy alpha-cut AHP and GRA in fuzzy environment for energy source evaluation problem.
Sequence generation for learning: a transformation from past to future
Authors: Rasheed Fareeha , Wahid Abdul
Published: July 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the different sequence generation techniques for learning, which are applied to a broad category of personalized learning experiences. The papers have been classified using different attributes, such as the techniques used for sequence generation, attributes used for sequence generation; whether the learner is profiled automatically or manually; and whether the path generated is dynamic or static.

Design/methodology/approach

The search for terms learning sequence generation and E-learning produced thousands of results. The results were filtered, and a few questions were answered before including them in the review. Papers published only after 2005 were included in the review.

Findings

The findings of the paper were: most of the systems generated non-adaptive paths. Systems asked the learners to manually enter their attributes. The systems used one or a maximum of two learner attributes for path generation.

Originality/value

The review pointed out the importance and benefits of learning sequence generation systems. The problems in existing systems and future areas of research were identified which will help future researchers to pursue research in this area.
Tarzan, Jane, the baby and the boss
Authors: Snir Raphael
Published: July 2019

Purpose

This study aims to examine the two (and perhaps the most) important outcome variables of the interface between work and family, namely, overall job performance and parental functioning, in the context of performance appraisal.

Design/methodology/approach

Each of 844 respondents (managers or self-employed who supervise workers, half of them men) evaluated a briefly portrayed employed married parent on his/her job performance and parental functioning. Male and female respondents were randomly and equally allocated to one of 16 research conditions. They evaluated an employed married parent portrayed as a mother or a father, who increased or decreased his/her weekly workhours following the mother's return from maternity leave, invested relatively high or low effort in his/her work and exhibited relatively high or low work achievements.

Findings

Parents who invest a relatively high effort in their work were evaluated as having a higher level of job performance than those who invest a relatively low effort. Parents who exhibit relatively high work achievements were evaluated as having higher levels of job performance and parental functioning than those who exhibit relatively low work achievements. Parents who increased their weekly workhours following the mother's return from maternity leave were evaluated as having a lower level of parental functioning than those who decreased their weekly workhours.

Originality/value

This is a rare study implementing a factorial design with five independent variables (parent's time investment in work following the mother's return from maternity leave, his/her relative work effort, his/her relative work achievements, parent's gender and the evaluator’s gender) never manipulated simultaneously before.
Student-led environmental management system in Chiba University
Authors: Okayama Sakiko
Published: July 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to explain the student-led environmental management system (EMS) based on ISO14001 which Chiba University has continued for 15 years. It describes its structure “Chiba University Method”, the students’ activities and their collaboration with companies. It also analyzes the advantages and the issues. Readers can reconsider these mechanisms and results to examine whether they could introduce the student-led EMS in their own university.

Design/methodology/approach

Four critical points are explained concerning the “Chiba University Method”. The advantages are analyzed by the data and the questionnaire survey.

Findings

It has been found that student-led EMS has an effect of practical education on the students and an improvement of social evaluation on the university, as well as a reduction of environmental burdens. For students, in addition to the direct merit of obtaining credits, they receive a sense of accomplishment through gaining practical experience, thereby realizing improvements in business skills and making friends through activities. These are good incentives to participating in various activities. However, there are also problems that occur due to student-led EMS, and it is necessary for faculties to be aware and correspond with them.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is based on the experience of one Japanese University.

Social implications

As this case falls under the practical case of active learning, it is expected that other universities could also introduce this system.

Originality/value

It is rare that the students manage the EMS based on ISO14001 with educational effects included in the results. At Chiba University, moreover, students are making environmental contributions to local communities through collaboration with companies.
Illegitimate trade in the fashion industry: relevance and counterstrategies in the Italian context
Authors: D’Amato Iolanda , Belvedere Valeria , Papadimitriou Thanos
Published: July 2019

Purpose

From a supply chain perspective, counterfeiting is only part of a wider phenomenon defined as “illegitimate trade,” which includes supply chain infiltrations, factory overruns, gray and parallel markets, retail service counterfeiting and shoplifting. Although different forms of illegitimate trade can be observed, companies address them mainly through legal action, overlooking other counterstrategies such as technology adoption, supply chain integration and communication campaigns. This paper aims to understand which illegitimate trade phenomena are the most common and damaging to high-end fashion firms, identifying the counterstrategies that companies leverage the most and assessing the effectiveness of the counterstrategies.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted to address the above-mentioned research goals. It was targeted at Italian high-end fashion companies and 112 usable questionnaires were collected.

Findings

Empirical evidence shows that the most common illegitimate trade events are pure counterfeiting and parallel/gray markets. Various forms of illegitimate trade can co-exist and are correlated, but each of them calls for a targeted bundle of countering strategies. A synergic relationship among strategies is also observed.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the issue of counterfeiting and illegitimate trade with a holistic approach, highlighting the necessity of an interfunctional approach within the company as a condition for effectively countering these problems.
Capital flows and domestic investment: new evidence from OPEC countries
Authors: Ibhagui Oyakhilome , Olawole Kolawole
Published: July 2019

Purpose

In the past few decades, there have been phenomenal increases in capital flows to developing and emerging markets. However, a key question that has largely remained unanswered is whether the expected economic benefits have materialized. Existing studies have concentrated on the impact of capital flows on domestic investment in developing countries, emerging markets, transition economies, ECOWAS and sub-Saharan Africa, leaving an important economic bloc, OPEC. This paper aims to assess the impact of capital flows on domestic investment in OPEC countries – with a view to determining whether capital flows crowd in or crowd out domestic investment.

Design/methodology/approach

For the empirical analysis, the authors used the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique.

Findings

The empirical results provide evidence that capital flows crowd out domestic investment in all the OPEC countries considered, except for Angola and Kuwait. The authors further extended the analysis to disaggregated capital flows (FDI, portfolio investment). Evidence from the different capital flows components revealed that, for most countries, the different capital flows components also crowd out domestic investment.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, no study has empirically addressed the effect of capital flows on domestic investment in OPEC countries. This study, therefore, constitutes an interesting empirical contribution and a novel idea in the literature.
Big Data and what it means for evaluating integrated care programmes
Authors: Kaehne Axel
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Big Data is likely to have significant implications for the way in which services are planned, organised or delivered as well as the way in which we evaluate them. The increase in data availability creates particular challenges for evaluators in the field of integrated care and the purpose of this paper is to set out how we may usefully reframe these challenges in the longer term.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the characteristics of Big Data as defined in the literature, the paper develops a narrative around the data and research design challenges and how they influence evaluation studies in the field of care integration.

Findings

Big Data will have significant implications for how we conduct integrated care evaluations. In particular, dynamic modelling and study designs capable of accommodating new epistemic foundations for the phenomena of social organisations, such as emergence and feedback loops, are likely to be most helpful. Big Data also generates opportunities for exploratory data analysis approaches, as opposed to static model development and testing. Evaluators may find research designs useful that champion realist approaches or single-n designs.

Originality/value

This paper reflects on the emerging literature and changing practice of data generation and data use in health care. It draws on organisational theory and outlines implications of Big Data for evaluating care integration initiatives.