bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The hospitalist as coordinator: an observational case study
Authors: Burkhardt Ulrike , Erbsen Astrid , Rüdiger‐Stürchler Marjam
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The hospitalist concept aims for integration and continuity of care in inpatient treatment. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the hospitalist function emerges and unfolds on wards. Therefore, the paper aims to focus on interaction patterns and the role of the hospitalist.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on methodological approaches in health care team research, this process‐oriented case study used participatory observations and semi‐structured interviews. Over a year, 14 observational days were conducted, simultaneously accompanying hospitalists, nurses and surgeons. Observational data illustrate the findings.

Findings

The hospitalist function was perceived to have a positive impact. He/she serves as an informal leader by taking up five interrelated, mostly coordinative roles, which help to cope with different organisational gaps. The interaction patterns are bilateral,ad hoc, reactive, repetitive and dependent on chance and people. Roles, tasks and responsibilities are continuously negotiated.

Research limitations/implications

Hospitalist research should make use of the debate in health care team research about overlapping roles, tasks and responsibilities. Additionally, one could look at the origins behind the evolvement of interaction patterns and the hospitalist's roles.

Practical implications

The sole creation of the hospitalist function is not sufficient to tap its full potential. Organisational issues concerning the interaction processes need to be addressed. In so doing, the professions' orientations must be taken into account.

Originality/value

This paper addresses theoretical and methodological gaps in hospitalist research. Using a process‐oriented qualitative design, the findings question the prominent stimulus‐response assumption. The focus on the interplay of functions and the hospitalists' roles lead to a more comprehensive picture of the patient‐related interaction processes.
Anger‐provoking events and intention to turnover in hospital administrators
Authors: Harlos Karen
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine anger associated with types of negative work events experienced by health administrators and to examine the impact of anger on intent to leave.

Design/methodology/approach

Textual data analysis is used to measure anger in open‐ended survey responses from administrative staff of a Canadian hospital. Multivariate regression is applied to predict anger from event type, on the one hand, and turnover intentions from anger, on the other.

Findings

Person‐related negative events contributed to administrator anger more than policy‐related events. Anger from events predicted turnover intentions after adjusting for numerous potential confounds.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies using larger samples across multiple sites are needed to test the generalizability of results.

Practical implications

Results provide useful information for retention strategies through codifying respect and fairness in interactions and policies. Health organizations stand to gain efficiencies by helping administrators handle anger effectively, leading to more stable staffing levels and more pleasurable, productive work environments.

Originality/value

This paper addresses gaps in knowledge about determinants of turnover in this population by examining the impact of administrator anger on intent to leave and the work events which give rise to anger. Given the strategic importance of health administration work and the high costs to health organizations when administrators leave, results hold particular promise for health human resources.
Selection of chairs of primary care trusts
Authors: Alban‐Metcalfe John , Alimo‐Metcalfe Beverly , Hughes Miranda
Published: March 2010

Purpose

This paper aims to examine empirical evidence of the criterion, construct, and face validity of two processes commonly used in selection – selection interviews and assessment centres (ACs) – in the selection of chairs of primary care trusts.

Design/methodology/approach

A critical review of the literature and an empirical investigation are undertaken.

Findings

Evidence is presented of the reliability and the predictive, construct, and face validity of using a combination of selection interviews and AC methodology in appointments to public office. In the light of the evidence of the potential benefits of using more than one approach, it is suggested that a combination of AC methodology and panel interviews be used in making public sector appointments.

Practical implications

The evidence presented supports the decision of the Appointment Commission to use AC methodology in the selection for positions in public office, and points to ways in which the process could be improved.

Originality/value

The paper provides empirical evidence of the reliability and validity of two methodologies used in selection to posts.
Improving the crystal ball: harnessing consumer input to create retail prediction markets
Authors: Kaufman‐Scarborough Carol , Morrin Maureen , Bradlow Eric T.
Published: March 2010

Purpose

Retail buyers' decisions result in billions of dollars of merchandise being purchased and offered for sale by retailers around the world. At present, retail buyers do not appear to be adequately harnessing consumer input to improve their forecasts. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by introducing a new approach involving both retail buyers' consensus forecasts and those from a sample of “ordinary” consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors introduce a new approach to online forecasting that involves both retail buyers' consensus forecasts and those from a sample of “ordinary” consumers.

Findings

The results suggest an opportunity to create what are termed retail prediction markets that offer significant potential to improve the accuracy of buyers' forecasts.

Originality/value

The authors go beyond crowd sourcing technology and show how retail prediction markets may offer significant potential to improve the accuracy of retail buyers' forecasts.
Young people's use of online social networking sites – a uses and gratifications perspective
Authors: Dunne Áine , Lawlor Margaret‐Anne , Rowley Jennifer
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore why young people use and participate in social networking sites (SNSs) with specific reference to Bebo.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach is employed in this paper with a view to exploring the uses and gratifications (U and G) that girls aged 12‐14 years, both seek and obtain from the Bebo SNS. The research is conducted in a school setting in Ireland.

Findings

The findings indicate that the participants are actively using Bebo for their own personal motives and gratifications in terms of presenting and managing a certain identity and persona in a social context. Furthermore, the relatively impersonal nature of the online environment is seen to especially facilitate the young participants in negotiating the practicalities and difficulties that can arise offline, in terms of forging identities and managing relationships.

Originality/value

U and G theory has attracted criticism in terms of a perceived limitation that it only serves to offer lists of reasons as to why audiences attend to the media, and furthermore, a perception that much of the extant U and G research has desisted from discerning between gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO). This paper affirms the appropriateness of the U and G theoretical approach in the context of online research. The authors conclude that SNS such as Bebo facilitate the participants in this paper in executing personal aims (for example, identity creation and management) with a view to obtaining certain gratifications (for example, peer acceptance). Therefore, a clear distinction but inextricable link is demonstrated between the GS and GO from participating in SNS.
Factors that inhibit partnering for social start‐up enterprises
Authors: Maase Simone J.F.M. , Bossink Bart A.G.
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the inhibiting factors of partnership creation between social entrepreneurs in the business, government, public and non‐profit sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines four cases of social entrepreneurship in the start‐up phase. Each case is studied in real time, for a period of two years.

Findings

The empirical research reveals that partnership creation for social enterprises between a social enterprise and organizations in various sectors is inhibited by conflicting interests and diverging speed of on one hand and by the conflicts that originate from the opportunity‐seeking behavior of the social entrepreneur and the risk avoiding behavior of the organizations. While the social start‐ups that managed to neutralize such inhibitors succeeded, the start‐up enterprises that did not manage to do so failed.

Originality/value

While, there is a sound body of knowledge of the factors that inhibit the more traditional single and cross‐sector partnerships, relatively little is known about the factors that inhibit the partnerships between social enterprises and organizations in the business, public, government, and non‐profit sectors in society.
The politics of narrating social entrepreneurship
Authors: Dey Pascal , Steyaert Chris
Published: March 2010

Purpose

Responding to recent pleas both to critically analyze and to conceptually advance social entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the political “unconscious” operates in the narration of social entrepreneurship and how it poses a limit to alternative forms of thinking and talking.

Design/methodology/approach

To move the field beyond a predominantly monological way of narrating, various genres of narrating social entrepreneurship are identified, critically discussed and illustrated against the backdrop of development aid.

Findings

The paper identifies and distinguishes between a grand narrative that incorporates a messianistic script of harmonious social change, counter‐narratives that render visible the intertextual relations that interpellate the grand narration of social entrepreneurship and little narratives that probe novel territories by investigating the paradoxes and ambivalences of the social.

Practical implications

The paper suggests a minor understanding and non‐heroic practice of social entrepreneurship guided by the idea of “messianism without a messiah.”

Originality/value

The paper suggests critical reflexivity as a way to analyze and multiply the circulating narrations of social entrepreneurship.
Transitioning from service management to service‐dominant logic
Authors: Gummesson Evert , Lusch Robert F. , Vargo Stephen L.
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on actions and obstacles in the conceptual transition from mainstream service management (1970‐2000s) to a new approach synthesized in service‐dominant (S‐D) logic (2000s).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a review of approaches to service in the literature, education, and practice in management disciplines and economics.

Findings

S‐D logic has triggered considerable interest in the global academic community. Its ten foundational premises (FPs) hold that service(s) and the roles of suppliers/customers be reconceptualized on a higher level of relevance and generalization. The new logic is not final but – to use its own terminology – is a value proposition that opens up for co‐created theory improvements.

Research limitations/implications

To transition from a goods/services divide to a goods/service union, the platform for future service research requires the superordination of mainstream service management by a new language and lexicon and the generation of new theory; testing of the new theory by comparing its robustness with that of extant theory; conduct of empirical studies through hypotheses‐testing and real world, in‐depth research and the application of complexity theory, network, and systems theory; co‐creation by and between researchers; focus on validity and relevance by using the full range of S‐D logic compatible methods and metrics; and investigation at both micro and macro levels.

Practical implications

Business, marketing, governments, and politicians should focus on service and value and abandon the goods/services and producer/customer divides. Textbooks and educators should transition from outdated concepts and models. Improved education is strongly supported by IBM's service science programme.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that several developments in mainstream service management that once brought attention to service now provide obstacles both in research, education, and practice.
Linking the viable system and many‐to‐many network approaches to service‐dominant logic and service science
Authors: Barile Sergio , Polese Francesco
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to combine service science (service science, management and engineering, and SSME) and service dominant (S‐D) logic contributions with the network and systems‐based theories of many‐to‐many marketing proposed by Gummesson and the viable system approach (VSA), proposed by Italian researchers and highly diffused in Italy during the 2000s.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a conceptual analysis based on recent developments in service science, S‐D logic and network/systems theory.

Findings

Being grounded in network theory, systems thinking and value co‐creation, many‐to‐many marketing is found to be particularly supportive to both service science and S‐D logic. It is also found that VSA, being broad, interdisciplinary and based on systems theory and resource‐based theory, and with strong influences from biology, sociology and mechanics, is a key to the interpretation of complex phenomena. Both many‐to‐many and VSA embrace the whole and the general while still considering the detail and its contextual dependency. Both theories are highly suitable for analysing and designing service systems.

Research limitations/implications

The network and systemic approach to business offer by many‐to‐many marketing and VSA and applicable to service and the value creation, relationship management and business finalities, are strongly coherent with the one proposed or tacitly implied by service science and S‐D logic.

Practical implications

The paper helps practitioners to better manage service and to enable efficient behaviour within multiple contexts with multiple actors and optimising inter‐systemic relations.

Originality/value

This is believed to be the only paper to apply network theories and the VSA perspective on service.
Business model design: conceptualizing networked value co‐creation
Authors: Nenonen Suvi , Storbacka Kaj
Published: March 2010

Purpose

A common thread in the modern marketing theories, such as service‐dominant logic and viable systems approach, is the notion value co‐creation: thelocusof value creation is no longer perceived to reside within firm boundaries but value is considered to be co‐created among various actors within the networked market. The evolution of value creation, from value creation by the manufacturing firm to value co‐creation in a network, necessitates a corresponding change in the concepts used to depict value creation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate business models as a broader conceptualization of value co‐creation that captures this change.

Design/methodology/approach

The topic is approached by a combination of literature review and interactive research, including interactions with managers from 12 international companies.

Findings

Business models are defined as configurations of 12 interrelated elements, covering market, offering, operational, and management viewpoints. The effectiveness of a business model in value co‐creation is defined by the internal configurational fit between all business model elements and the external configurational fit between provider's and customers' business models.

Research limitations/implications

The paper contributes to the understanding on value co‐creation by providing a conceptualization of the business model construct depicting value co‐creation in a network. Of the 12 companies providing the empirical data, ten are within business‐to‐business which limits the applicability to business in general. Further, the paper indicates that within a single firm multiple parallel business models are in use.

Practical implications

A firm can radically improve value co‐creation by designing business models that have a high degree of internal and external configurational fit.

Originality/value

The originality and value of this paper lies in its analysis and discussion of co‐creation of value within a business model.
Co‐creating value innovation through resource integration
Authors: Mele Cristina , Russo Spena Tiziana , Colurcio Maria
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse innovation in the light of service‐dominant (S‐D) logic and service science as a value‐creating process occurring through a many‐to‐many network resource integration.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilises S‐D logic and network theory to present case study research of a highly innovative Italian firm. The study investigates three innovation projects and the processes of interaction and integration that take place among the members of the networks involved in each project.

Findings

The traditional understanding of innovation, in which the supplier is the innovator and the customer is the recipient of (or perhaps the stimulus for) innovation, is replaced by an understanding of innovation based on S‐D logic in which customers and other stakeholders become real co‐innovators who exchange and integrate resources to co‐create value.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies could examine the antecedents and implications of the interaction and integration processes of collaborative innovation.

Practical implications

Innovation should be pursued as an open process in which all of the network's actors mobilise resources to become co‐innovators who co‐create value for themselves and other stakeholders.

Originality/value

This paper offers a widened perspective of innovation by using S‐D logic to emphasise the role of the network and the many‐to‐many interaction between stakeholders in developing value‐creating innovation.
Rethinking service innovation: four pathways to evolution
Authors: Sebastiani Roberta , Paiola Marco
Published: March 2010

Purpose

Service‐dominant (S‐D) logic and service science provide a conceptual framework to describe evolutionary pathways that companies could follow by innovating in order to overcome and rethink traditional and non‐productive ways of managing their businesses. The purpose of this paper is to explore service innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a critical review of literature about service innovation, highlighting a dynamic perspective and building on the latest contributions from S‐D logic and service science, a research framework is designed. An in‐depth analysis of empirical data from almost 100 companies is conducted.

Findings

Four evolutionary paths based on innovation pursued by companies to face the growing complexity of their competitive environment are identified. The paths are dematerialization of the offering system, virtualisation of the value systems, replication of the organizational models and multiplication of market niches.

Research limitations/implications

This is a starting point for better understanding, in a dynamic perspective, the role of innovation in supporting the redefinition of corporate business models and the conditions that enable their path development.

Originality/value

Four cases that show the characteristics of each path are presented. The cases allow the specificity of each path to be emphasized, especially in terms of antecedents and the role of the service science key resources people, technology, organizations and shared information.
Social practices as units of value creation: theoretical underpinnings and implications
Authors: Holttinen Heli
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conceptually examine how value is created in (social) practices in which consumers use offerings as operand resources.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on service‐dominant logic, practice and consumer culture theories, this paper conceptualizes the operational logic of value creation in practices and draws implications to marketing theory and practice. The approach to markets is “markets as practices” in value networks.

Findings

Value is tied to practices, not to offerings. Therefore, a key research unit for examining value creation is a practice. Value creation is socially constructed because a practice‐specific meaning structure, influenced by the context and consumer resources, configures consumers' activities. Guided by it, consumers do what makes best sense to do in the practice in the specific moment. As the context and consumer resources are unfixed, fragmented consumers emerge. Therefore, segmentation of value‐creating practices offers a valid description of value creation.

Originality/value

The paper extends the examination of value creation from use to practices. Drawing on marketing and other social sciences, it conceptualizes the operational logic of value creation in a practice: it defines practice elements, their roles and interdependencies in the value‐creation process. The operational logic introduces meaning structures as value‐creation mediators: influenced by the context and consumer resources, they steer consumer participation in the practice (including the use of offerings) and experienced value. Understanding meaning structures helps firms to identify value improvement opportunities which can be transferred to improved or new value propositions. Finally, the paper proposes segmentation of practices in the presence of fragmented consumers.
Co‐creating value in sponsorship relations: the case of the Royal Swedish Opera
Authors: Lund Ragnar
Published: March 2010

Purpose

Influenced by emerging developments in service management, the aim of this paper is to develop a model for value co‐creation in sponsorship relations, with specific emphasis on inter‐organizational learning dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is longitudinal and based on data from the Royal Swedish Opera and relationships between the Opera and three sponsors. The paper combines participant observation with interviews during a three year period. It is inspired by theory from many areas, in particular from relationship and network thinking and the current development of new theories on service and value.

Findings

The findings are structured in a model of the development of a new sponsorship programme. The partners learnt by interacting with each other and the surrounding network. Value of sponsorship programmes increased with the number of non‐competing sponsors. Learning supported long‐term relations and enhanced the value of a sponsorship programme for new sponsors.

Research limitations/implications

The paper introduces new service perspectives on sponsorship and contributes to the sponsorship literature with insights on inter‐organizational learning. The paper offers a rich in‐depth analysis of relational and network mechanisms and could be further developed in other sponsorship cases.

Practical implications

Relationships between commercial companies and cultural organizations often fail due to lack of knowledge on both sides. The paper suggests that a learning orientation is supportive to value co‐creation in sponsorship.

Originality/value

Systematic integration of resources based on knowledge in networks is an important theme in the new service literature. This is the first major paper that simultaneously applies key concepts from relationship marketing, many‐to‐many networks and service‐dominant logic on sponsorship.
Process and emergence in contested terrain
Authors: Patterson Karen D.W. , Washington Marvin , Cavazos David , Brigham Keith
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the issue of market redefinition through an examination of a unique industry that has met with multiple obstacles: online gambling. The main research question is how markets get redefined when quantum technological change occurs, despite the lack of formal support and a highly fragmented industry structure, typical in online industries.

Design/methodology/approach

This industry lends itself to the analysis because of the intense competition for reconstruction of the field among state powers, professional associations, and global forces. The paper provides an archival and qualitative overview of the industry and identify the various forces competing for dominance in the market. It examines the competing logics in this industry and identify the sources and implications of such competition for emerging markets.

Findings

Both broad and specific contributions of this paper are discussed, namely the important role of professional and interest associations in industries without clear geographical boundaries, as well as the growing role for global moderating agencies.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a timely example of the ways in which firms organize in the modern business environment. In addition, it discusses the volatile and complex power structure in a global economy. While the research is necessarily processual and does not provide for multiple settings, the extent of legal implications here can be generalized to much smaller differences in global markets.

Originality/value

This paper provides support for the idea that, contrary to many concepts of industry acceptance and growth, legitimacy is not a requisite condition for an industry to prosper.
Goal orientation and organizational commitment
Authors: Lee Olivia F. , Tan James A. , Javalgi Rajeshekhar
Published: March 2010

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to paper examine goal orientation and organizational commitment in relation to employees' job attitudes and performance in a hospital. Specifically, it investigates the effects of mastery and performance goals on different facets of organizational commitment and how these effects impact individuals' job outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilized an online survey to collect data from 497 hospital employees. The conceptual model was tested using a three‐step mediation procedure of structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation.

Findings

The results indicate that while mastery goal is related to the three components of organizational commitment, performance goal is only related to affective commitment. Although affective and normative commitment are both related to job satisfaction, only the former is linked to employees' performance.

Research limitations/implications

The survey is conducted in an East Asian hospital. To ensure greater generalizability of the results, future research should be conducted using a broader Asian sample, preferably, in a different organizational setting, and using longitudinal methods in addition to online surveys.

Practical implications

When managing employees with Asian backgrounds, establishing mastery goal orientation can potentially cultivate higher organizational commitment. Managers may consider aligning affectively and normatively committed employees with more complex job assignments because these employees typically exhibit desirable job attitudes and innovative job performance.

Originality/value

The contributions are two‐fold: managerially and scholarly. Identifying employees' mindset in relation to goal orientation and commitment allows firms to effectively manage employees' performance. The paper also provides evidence for rethinking constructs' relevancy outside of North America.
Organizational sociotechnical diagnosis of managerial retention in an IT organization
Authors: Ghosh Koustab , Sahney Sangeeta
Published: March 2010

Purpose

Turnover of managerial employees at junior and middle levels has been widely recognized as a critical organizational concern. The problem happens to be more intensified for organizations belonging to the service sector as the services provided to client/customer groups get directly affected. A number of studies have shown that compensation factor alone does not explain the retention of managerial employees in the organization. This paper aims to focus on designing and balancing the organizational social and technical subsystems elements in order to moderate the turnover of junior and middle level managers in the company.

Design/methodology/approach

A number of selective junior and middle level managers were interviewed in‐depth and content analysis was made for categorization of level‐wise qualitative responses. The situation actor process‐learning action performance (SAP‐LAP) framework has been adopted as the diagnostic instrument of organizational analysis.

Findings

The findings from the paper shows that the organizational sociotechnical factors have an impact on managerial retention and the suggestive actions from the paper attempt to find solutions to the problem of managerial turnover faced by the company.

Originality/value

The SAP‐LAP framework as an instrument to the diagnosis of organizational sociotechnical system provides useful inputs to the management for future course of actions. Maintaining the balance between the social and technical subsystem factors is a critical prerequisite to managerial retention.
Amitosis‐like nuclear division in erythrocytes of triploid rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykiss
Authors: Wang B. , Liu Y. , Chen X. , Fan Z.
Published: March 2010

This work shows that the atypical erythrocytes in triploid rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykisswere morphologically similar to those of toads. The nuclei of the cells can be bell‐shaped, constricted or irregular. It is presumed that such nuclear division is probably amitosis.
Satellite DNA and chromosomes in Neotropical fishes: methods, applications and perspectives
Authors: Vicari M. R. , Nogaroto V. , Noleto R. B. , Cestari M. M. , Cioffi M. B. , Almeida M. C. , Moreira‐Filho O. , Bertollo L. A. C. , Artoni R. F.
Published: March 2010

Constitutive heterochromatin represents a substantial portion of the eukaryote genome, and it is mainly composed of tandemly repeated DNA sequences, such as satellite DNAs, which are also enriched by other dispersed repeated elements, including transposons. Studies on the organization, structure, composition and in situ localization of satellite DNAs have led to consistent advances in the understanding of the genome evolution of species, with a particular focus on heterochromatic domains, the diversification of heteromorphic sex chromosomes and the origin and maintenance of B chromosomes. Satellite DNAs can be chromosome specific or species specific, or they can characterize different species from a genus, family or even representatives of a given order. In some cases, the presence of these repeated elements in members of a single clade has enabled inferences of a phylogenetic nature. Genomic DNA restriction, using specific enzymes, is the most frequently used method for isolating satellite DNAs. Recent methods such as C0t–1 DNA and chromosome microdissection, however, have proven to be efficient alternatives for the study of this class of DNA. Neotropical ichthyofauna is extremely rich and diverse enabling multiple approaches with regard to the differentiation and evolution of the genome. Genome components of some species and genera have been isolated, mapped and correlated with possible functions and structures of the chromosomes. The 5SHindIII‐DNA satellite DNA, which is specific to Hoplias malabaricus of the Erythrinidae family, has an exclusively centromeric location. The As51 satellite DNA, which is closely correlated with the genome diversification of some species from the genus Astyanax, has also been used to infer relationships between species. In the Prochilodontidae family, two repetitive DNA sequences were mapped on the chromosomes, and the SATH 1 satellite DNA is associated with the origin of heterochromatic B chromosomes in Prochilodus lineatus. Among species of the genus Characidium and the Parodontidae family, amplifications of satellite DNAs have demonstrated that these sequences are related to the differentiation of heteromorphic sex chromosomes. The possible elimination of satellite DNA units could explain the genome compaction that occurs among some species of Neotropical Tetraodontiformes. These topics are discussed in the present review, showing the importance of satellite DNA analysis in the differentiation and karyotype evolution of Actinopterygii.
How well do food distributions predict spatial distributions of shorebirds with different degrees of self‐organization?
Authors: Folmer Eelke O. , Olff Han , Piersma Theunis
Published: March 2010

1. Habitat selection models usually assume that the spatial distributions of animals depend positively on the distributions of resources and negatively on interference. However, the presence of conspecifics at a given location also signals safety and the availability of resources. This may induce followers to select contiguous patches and causes animals to cluster. Resource availability, interference and attraction therefore jointly lead to self‐organized patterns in foraging animals.

2. We analyse the distribution of foraging shorebirds at landscape level on the basis of a resource‐based model to establish, albeit indirectly, the importance of conspecific attraction and interference.

3. At 23 intertidal sites with a mean area of 170 ha spread out over the Dutch Wadden Sea, the spatial distribution of six abundant shorebird species was determined. The location of individuals and groups was mapped using a simple method based on projective geometry, enabling fast mapping of low‐tide foraging shorebird distributions. We analysed the suitability of these 23 sites in terms of food availability and travel distances to high tide roosts.

4. We introduce an interference sensitivity scale which maps interference as a function of inter‐individual distance. We thus obtain interference‐insensitive species, which are only sensitive to interference at short inter‐individual distances (and may thus pack densely) and interference‐sensitive species which interfere over greater inter‐individual distances (and thus form sparse flocks).

5. We found that interference‐insensitive species like red knot (Calidris canutus) and dunlins (Calidris alpina) are more clustered than predicted by the spatial distribution of their food resources. This suggests that these species follow each other when selecting foraging patches. In contrast, curlew (Numenius arquata) and grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola), known to be sensitive to interference, form sparse flocks. Hence, resource‐based models have better predictive power for interference‐sensitive species than for interference‐insensitive species.

6. It follows from our analysis that monitoring programmes, habitat selection models and statistical analyses should also consider the mechanisms of self‐organization.
Root herbivores and detritivores shape above‐ground multitrophic assemblage through plant‐mediated effects
Authors: Megías Adela González , Müller Caroline
Published: March 2010

1. Indirect effects mediated by changes in plant traits are the main mechanism by which above‐ and below‐ground herbivores affect each other and their enemies. Only recently the role of decomposers in the regulation of such plant‐based systems has been considered. We hypothesized that: (i) below‐ground organisms, both herbivores (negative effect on plants) and detritivores (positive effect on plants), will have a profound effect on the interactions among above‐ground arthropods; (ii) floral herbivores will negatively affect other above‐ground herbivores associated with the plant; and (iii) not only above‐ and below‐ground herbivores, but also detritivores will affect the production of secondary metabolites, i.e. glucosinolates, in the plants.

2. We manipulated the presence of above‐ground herbivores, below‐ground herbivores and below‐ground detritivores on the Brassicaceae Moricandia moricandioides in the field to disentangle their individual and combined effects on other organism groups. We also investigated their effects on the plant’s chemical defence to evaluate potential mechanisms.

3. Our results show that not only above‐ and below‐ground herbivores, but also detritivores affected other herbivores and parasitoids associated with the host plant. Most effects were not additive because their strength changed when other organisms belonging to different functional groups or food web compartments were present. Moreover, below‐ground herbivore and detritivore effects on above‐ground fauna were related to changes in glucosinolate concentrations and in quantity of resources.

4. This study indicates that multitrophic interactions in plant‐based food webs can dramatically change by the action of below‐ground organisms. One of the most important and novel results is that detritivores induced changes in plant metabolites, modifying the quality and attractiveness of plants to herbivores and parasitoids under field conditions.
Potential of Eurasian poplar rust to overcome a major quantitative resistance factor
Authors: Dowkiw A. , Voisin E. , Bastien C.
Published: March 2010

The effect ofRUS, a major quantitative resistance (QR) factor inherited fromPopulus trichocarpa, was assessed in twoPopulus deltoides × P. trichocarpaF1progenies against eight isolates ofMelampsora larici‐populina, the causal agent of Eurasian poplar rust. Six isolates were identified on whichRUShad no significant effect. The firstRUS‐defeating isolate identified suggested a pre‐existing potential to overcomeRUSin the pathogen’s populations. TheP. deltoidesgenetic background made no difference either to the ability of a given isolate to overcomeRUSor to the relative and absolute aggressiveness of the isolates. This study illustrates how extreme the isolate‐specificity of QR can be. It also yields insights into the relationship between size of uredinia and sporulation rate, discussing the epidemiological significance of spore production per mm2uredinium.
An after‐ripening thermal‐time model forLithospermum arvenseseeds based on changes in population hydrotime parameters
Authors: CHANTRE G R , SABBATINI M R , ORIOLI G A
Published: March 2010

ChantreGR, SabbatiniMR & OrioliGA (2010). An after‐ripening thermal‐time model forLithospermum arvenseseeds based on changes in population hydrotime parameters.Weed Research50, 218–227.

Lithospermum arvenseseeds show primary physiological dormancy. Changes in population hydrotime parameters during after‐ripening were used to model primary dormancy loss.Lithospermum arvenseseeds were dry‐stored at constant temperatures of 5, 15, 24 and 30°C for 180 days. After different storage periods, seeds were incubated at 10°C at a range of water potentials (0 to −1.2 MPa). Experimentally obtained cumulative–germination curves were analysed by repeated probit regressions to obtain seed population hydrotime parameters. The population mean base water potential (Ψb(50)) showed a progressive decrease as after‐ripening time progressed and the dormancy release rate was positively related to storage temperature. The hydrotime constant (θH) and the SD of the base water potential (σΨb) were unaffected by after‐ripening time or storage temperature. To account for the effect of after‐ripening time and temperature on dormancy release, an after‐ripening thermal‐time model was developed. The model consisted of the description ofΨb(50) changes as a function of an after‐ripening thermal‐time index (θAT). An exponential decay function accurately described (R2 = 0.92) the decrease pattern ofΨb(50) as function ofθAT. Model evaluation under fluctuating soil water regimes showed a good correlation between observed and predicted data (r = 0.94 and 0.96). This indicated that the after‐ripening process could be adequately described as a thermal‐time response, further suggesting the potential applicability of the model to predictL. arvenseemergence in the field.
Colonisation of field pea roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduces Orobanche and Phelipanche species seed germination
Authors: FERNÁNDEZ‐APARICIO M , GARCÍA‐GARRIDO J M , OCAMPO J A , RUBIALES D
Published: March 2010

Fernández‐Aparicio M, García‐Garrido JM, Ocampo JA & Rubiales D (2010). Colonisation of field pea roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduces Orobanche and Phelipanche species seed germination. Weed Research50, 262–268.

Pea (Pisum sativum) is an important grain legume crop whose cultivation in the Mediterranean basin and West Asia is severely constrained by infection by the weedy root parasite Orobanche crenata (crenate broomrape). Pea is a false host of other species such as O. minor, O. foetida and Phelipanche aegyptiaca. In the present experiments, we demonstrate that seed germination of the Orobanche and Phelipanche species examined is reduced in the presence of root exudates from pea plants colonised by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, Glomus mosseae and G. intraradices. Reduced germination was due to the effect of the AM fungi and not to the microbial populations potentially present in the soil inoculum. This protective effect of mycorrhizae was noticeable after 35 days of AM colonisation for O. crenata, O. foetida and P. aegyptiaca, but at least 45 days of colonisation were needed to get some reduction of O. minor germination.
Genetic background of an invasive Lolium population in central Japan using chloroplast DNA and SSR markers
Authors: KUROKAWA S , KOBAYASHI H , IKEDA K
Published: March 2010

Kurokawa S, Kobayashi H & Ikeda K (2010). Genetic background of an invasive Lolium population in central Japan using chloroplast DNA and SSR markers. Weed Research50, 245–252.

To determine the genetic background of an invasive population of Lolium spp., we compared three non‐coding regions of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and nine SSR loci of the population with those of 30 cultivars of Lolium multiflorum, Lolium perenne or their hybrid and two accessions of Lolium rigidum. For the cultivars and L. rigidum, bulked DNA was used for all analyses, due to variations within cultivars. Two of three regions in cpDNA were polymorphic among samples, generating four haplotypes (A–D). We found haplotypes A and B in L. multiflorum and L. rigidum, and haplotypes C and D only in L. perenne. All 48 individuals of the invasive population were discriminated as haplotype A, suggesting annual maternal origin. Nine loci of SSR generated 55 alleles in total in the invasive population. The presence or absence of these 55 alleles was counted for the bulked DNA of cultivars and L. rigidum. There were significant differences among species in the correspondences of alleles with those of the invasive populations. The correspondence of alleles with L. multiflorum was significantly higher than that with L. perenne or L. rigidum. These results suggested that the genetic background of the invasive population was very close to L. multiflorum. Although common traits among cultivars genetically close to the invasive population were not found, the wide variation in allele correspondence among L. multiflorum cultivars may indicate that non‐invasive cultivar breeding may be possible in the future.
The benefits of using quantile regression for analysing the effect of weeds on organic winter wheat
Authors: CASAGRANDE M , MAKOWSKI D , JEUFFROY M‐H , VALANTIN‐MORISON M , DAVID C
Published: March 2010

CasagrandeM, MakowskiD, JeuffroyM‐H, Valantin‐MorisonM & DavidC (2010). The benefits of using quantile regression for analysing the effect of weeds on organic winter wheat.Weed Research50, 199–208.

In organic farming, weeds are one of the threats that limit crop yield. An early prediction of weed effect on yield loss and the size of late weed populations could help farmers and advisors to improve weed management. Numerous studies predicting the effect of weeds on yield have already been conducted, but the level of uncertainty about weed effect is expected to be very high in organic crops. It is thus more appropriate to provide farmers and advisors with distributions of possible production levels, rather than with point values. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of early weed density at the end of the tillering stage of organic winter wheat on subsequent yield and on late weed density at flowering, by using quantile regression. Results showed that this method can be applied to a hyperbolic model and to an allometric density‐dependent model, to describe the distribution of yield values and of late weed density respectively, as functions of early weed density measurements. Mechanical weed control showed no significant effect on the relationship between early weed density and grain yield, but it decreased late weed density. Yield and late weed density distributions derived by quantile regression provided sound information on the possible effect of weeds on organic winter wheat production.
Population growth rate of Setaria viridis in the absence of herbicide: resulting yield loss in foxtail millet Setaria italica
Authors: WANG T , SHI Y , LI Y , SONG Y , DARMENCY H
Published: March 2010

Wang T, Shi Y, Li Y, Song Y & Darmency H (2010). Population growth rate of Setaria viridis in the absence of herbicide: resulting yield loss in foxtail millet Setaria italica. Weed Research50, 228–234.

Setaria viridis (green foxtail) is a common weed and is the putative ancestor of foxtail millet (Setaria italica). Population densities of S. viridis and its effect on foxtail millet yield were studied for 4 years in two locations, with three cultivars, under monoculture and no use of selective herbicide. Each year the density of S. viridis plants increased in all fields at a population growth rate λ = 1.13. The stability of the λ estimate in monoculture could serve as a reference value to predict the fate of a weed population in multi‐year demographic models, using corrective factors to account for specific effects of given crop rotation and cropping practices. The low λ value was due to a very low reproduction rate, around 6 10−4 adults per seed, which suggests high dormancy and seed predation. The yield of millet decreased linearly as the infestation increased, with the same slope whatever the cultivars. The yield loss was 0.58 tonne ha−1 for each additional plant m−2, indicating high sensitivity to competition from the wild relative. The close relationship between the weed and the crop, which could lead to similar biological responses to environmental conditions, could explain these results.