bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Positive feedback loop between
Sox2
and
Sox6
inhibits neuronal differentiation in the developing central nervous system
Authors: Lee Kyung Eun , Seo Jihae , Shin Jiheon , Ji Eun Hye , Roh Jiwon , Kim Joo Yeon , Sun Woong , Muhr Jonas , Lee Sanghyuk , Kim Jaesang
Published: February 2014

Significance

During embryonic development of the central nervous system (CNS), the neural progenitor cells (NPC) not only produce diverse types of neurons and glial cells but also self-renew to maintain a pool of undifferentiated cells. The mechanism of the self-renewal is not well understood. We show that a positive feedback loop exists between two transcription factors,
Sox2
and
Sox6
, which are expressed in the NPC. It appears that the mutual stimulation of expression between the two genes is important for maintenance of the NPC pool as its disruption leads to overt and precocious neuronal differentiation. Our results provide a mechanistic insight into the regulation of CNS development.
Response times from ensembles of accumulators
Authors: Zandbelt Bram , Purcell Braden A. , Palmeri Thomas J. , Logan Gordon D. , Schall Jeffrey D.
Published: February 2014

Significance

The delay of responding to stimuli, known as response time (RT), is randomly variable. Psychologists explain this variability through models in which RT is dictated by the termination of a single random accumulation process. Neurophysiologists explain this variability through the dynamics of neurons sampled from very large networks. This paper explains how these radically different scales of explanation can both be correct.
Multiple seismic reflectors in Earth’s lowermost mantle
Authors: Shang Xuefeng , Shim Sang-Heon , de Hoop Maarten , van der Hilst Robert
Published: February 2014

Significance

Deep in the Earth’s interior, the region just above the core–mantle boundary exerts control on mantle convection and heat loss from the core. It has long been thought that the so-called D″ region is separated from a more uniform mantle above by a single interface, often attributed to a phase transition in Mg perovskite. Systematic deep-mantle exploration with massive seismic waveforms now yields evidence for multiple reflectors up to at least 600 km above the core–mantle boundary. Some of the newly discovered interfaces can be explained by postperovskite transitions in differentiated oceanic slab materials, transported from Earth’s surface through deep subduction and convection. The lowermost mantle appears more complex than hitherto thought, and this complexity is not confined to the canonical D″ region.
Polyclonal type II natural killer T cells require PLZF and SAP for their development and contribute to CpG-mediated antitumor response
Authors: Zhao Jie , Weng Xiufang , Bagchi Sreya , Wang Chyung-Ru
Published: February 2014

Significance

Type I and type II natural killer T (NKT) cells are unique T-cell types with potent immunomodulatory functions. Because of lack of markers available to track type II NKT cells, this subset has not been as extensively studied as type I NKT cells. In this study we used a unique mouse model as a tool to decipher the developmental requirements, antigen specificity, and functional potential of type II NKT cells. We found that even though type I and type II NKT cells exhibited similar developmental needs, they were functionally distinct. In addition, we demonstrated a means of harnessing the therapeutic potential of these cells in cancer immunity by transforming their tumor-suppressive functions into a protective response.
Stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 as a potential therapeutic target in glioblastoma multiforme and other cancers
Authors: Lou Yi-Wei , Wang Pao-Yuan , Yeh Shih-Chi , Chuang Po-Kai , Li Shiou-Ting , Wu Chung-Yi , Khoo Kay-Hooi , Hsiao Michael , Hsu Tsui-Ling , Wong Chi-Huey
Published: February 2014

Significance

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a deadly brain tumor. More than 50% of patients who suffer from GBM die within 15 mo even received all possible medical treatment. In this study we report that the glycolipid stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (SSEA-4) is highly expressed on the surface of both GBM cells and GBM specimens. We further demonstrate that the growth of GBM tumor is inhibited when anti–SSEA-4 antibody is administered to experimental mice, suggesting a research proof of concept for the treatment GBM and other SSEA-4
+
cancers.
Global analysis of cell cycle gene expression of the legume symbiontSinorhizobium meliloti
Authors: De Nisco Nicole J. , Abo Ryan P. , Wu C. Max , Penterman Jon , Walker Graham C.
Published: February 2014

Significance

The bacteriumSinorhizobium melilotiestablishes an agriculturally and ecologically important nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with leguminous plants. During symbiosis, the bacterial cells undergo drastic cellular differentiation and alter their cell cycle regulation such that they become highly polyploid. Cell cycle research has been limited inS. melilotibecause there has been no method to generate synchronous cell populations. Here we describe a robust method to synchronizeS. melilotiand present a global analysis ofS. meliloticell cycle gene expression. The results of this study suggest that theS. meliloticell cycle transcriptional regulatory network, especially the regulon of the master regulator CtrA, has adapted specifically to fit its lifestyle both within the soil and its legume host.
Laplace’s Demon and the Adventures of His Apprentices
Authors: Frigg Roman , Bradley Seamus , Du Hailiang , Smith Leonard A.
Published: February 2014

The sensitive dependence on initial conditions (SDIC) associated with nonlinear models imposes limitations on the models’ predictive power. We draw attention to an additional limitation than has been underappreciated, namely, structural model error (SME). A model has SME if the model dynamics differ from the dynamics in the target system. If a nonlinear model has only the slightest SME, then its ability to generate decision-relevant predictions is compromised. Given a perfect model, we can take the effects of SDIC into account by substituting probabilistic predictions for point predictions. This route is foreclosed in the case of SME, which puts us in a worse epistemic situation than SDIC.
Design and application of cotranscriptional non-enzymatic RNA circuits and signal transducers
Authors: Bhadra Sanchita , Ellington Andrew D.
Published: February 2014

Nucleic acid circuits are finding increasing real-life applications in diagnostics and synthetic biology. Although DNA has been the main operator in most nucleic acid circuits, transcriptionally produced RNA circuits could provide powerful alternatives for reagent production and their use in cells. Towards these goals, we have implemented a particular nucleic acid circuit, catalytic hairpin assembly, using RNA for both information storage and processing. Our results demonstrated that the design principles developed for DNA circuits could be readily translated to engineering RNA circuits that operated with similar kinetics and sensitivities of detection. Not only could purified RNA hairpins perform amplification reactions but RNA hairpins transcribed in vitro also mediated amplification, even without purification. Moreover, we could read the results of the non-enzymatic amplification reactions using a fluorescent RNA aptamer ‘Spinach’ that was engineered to undergo sequence-specific conformational changes. These advances were applied to the end-point and real-time detection of the isothermal strand displacement amplification reaction that produces single-stranded DNAs as part of its amplification cycle. We were also able to readily engineer gate structures with RNA similar to those that have previously formed the basis of DNA circuit computations. Taken together, these results validate an entirely new chemistry for the implementation of nucleic acid circuits.
Aristotle's Philosophical Life and Writings
Authors: Shields Christopher
Published: February 2014

Despite a paucity of contemporary information about Aristotle's life and affairs, our ancient sources are only too happy to supply missing details and additional colour, much of it centred on his relationship with his teacher, Plato. Aristotle left Athens at around the time of Plato's death, for Assos, on the northwest coast of present-day Turkey, where he carried on his philosophical activity, augmented by intensive marine biological research. He returned to Athens for his second and final stay in 335. Once there, Aristotle established his own school in the Lyceum. This second period of residency in Athens was an astonishingly productive one for Aristotle. His works range widely across an astonishing number of fields, from aesthetic theory and argumentation theory to epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, music, medicine, meteorology, pedagogy, philosophy of science, theology, and zoology. All these areas Aristotle pursued with genuine, unselfconscious zeal, under a general rubric of his own invention.
Aristotle in the Arabic Commentary Tradition
Authors: Adamson Peter
Published: February 2014

In late antiquity, the commentary became the most prominent genre of philosophical writing. Aristotle was the author who received the lion's share of attention, even though the commentators, beginning with Porphyry, were Platonists. Since Aristotle was seen not only as harmonious with Plato, but as more suitable for initial study in philosophy, commentaries for the use of students were naturally more often devoted to his works than to Plato's. The practice of writing commentaries on Aristotle, and the curriculum the commentaries were meant to support, cut across confessional lines. The Arabic tradition of commentary on Aristotle focuses on the earlier parts of the Aristotelian curriculum, with most emphasis on the logical and physical works. Only the greatest commentator of the Arabic tradition, Averroes, commented extensively on the De Anima or the Metaphysics. As in the Greek tradition, confessional divides were no obstacle to continuous and even co-ordinated efforts to understand Aristotle. This is best shown by the group of commentators known as the “Baghdad school.”
The Latin Aristotle
Authors: Pasnau Robert
Published: February 2014

There is some temptation to say that the history of Aristotle in medieval Latin philosophy is just the history of medieval Latin philosophy, but this would be to oversimplify matters. The fountainhead of Christian philosophy, Augustine (354–430 AD), betrays almost no familiarity with Aristotelian thought, and describes in the Confessions how he was underwhelmed by a reading of the Categories at the age of twenty. Boethius (c. 476–c. 526) aspired to translate into Latin and comment upon the whole Aristotelian corpus, and reconcile it with Plato as well, but only a fraction of the project (the logic) was completed. Moreover, even once the influence of Aristotle was felt in its full force—and even more so before then—Platonism remained a strong influence on Latin philosophy. This article discusses the rise of scholastic Aristotelianism and its eventual decline, the history of Aristotelianism in the Latin West, the distinctive character of scholastic Aristotelianism, and disagreements within scholastic Aristotelianism.
Brideprice, Dowry, and other Marital Assigns
Authors: Stuard Susan Mosher
Published: February 2014

Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, morgengabe, a husband's gift to his wife marking the formal consummation of marriage, was replaced in Italian, southern French, and Spanish towns with Roman dos or dowry, a gift from a bride's family that was her inheritance (legitim). In time, this momentous change spread north beyond the Alps. The resulting dotal regime abetted the monetization of the economy and placed increased authority in the hands of husbands, who managed dowry although they did not own it. A family's honor and prestige rode on grants of dowry. Disputes, lawsuits, and consilia (legal opinions) highlight the consequences of investing sums that were granted for daughters' dowries. In 1425 Florence created the Monte delle Doti to invest family funds for future dowries. Thereafter government finances were entwined with families' finances. To justify separating women's ownership of dowry from men's management, Aristotelian principles of women's incapacity were invoked.
Gendering Demographic Change in the Middle Ages
Authors: Kowaleski Maryanne
Published: February 2014

This essay explores the documentary and skeletal evidence for understanding the relationship between gender and population change in the Middle Ages by focusing on mortality, fertility, and migration. Although cemeteries and historical records both show high sex ratios that imply female supermortality, the explanations offered for this imbalance indicate little consensus, not least because of gender biases in the extant records and in the methods employed to exploit them. Studies of fertility throw a helpful light on gender and population change, even though lack of direct data has forced demographers to develop innovative, if often controversial, ways to understand how fertility worked, through such measures as female age at marriage, proportions of women married, and household size. New techniques such as mitochondrial DNA and isotope analysis show that women migrated over greater distances than did men, while documentary evidence for migration over short distances reveals that women did not always move for the same reasons as men.
Gender and Daily Life in Jewish Communities
Authors: Baumgarten Elisheva
Published: February 2014

Jews living in northern Europe during the High Middle Ages inhabited large urban centers and lived in close proximity to their Christian neighbors. This led to daily contact between Jews and Christians and shared realms of experience and practice. This article examines the lives of Jewish women during the High Middle Ages. Using a poem written after the death of Dulcia of Worms in the 1196, it outlines the characteristics of women's religious and social lives during the period, and it also explores the gender understandings and conventions of Jews in medieval Europe. Comparing Jewish and Christian society, the article sets out distinctive and shared practices related to gender and religion.
Public and Private Space and Gender in Medieval Europe
Authors: Jones Sarah Rees
Published: February 2014

This essay explores ideas and practices of gender in public and private space in medieval Europe. It considers elite and religious men and women as well as the spaces used by lower-status people, and draws on historical records, literature, and archaeology. From the early Middle Ages, space was planned in order to reinforce social hierarchies, but normative rules about gendered spatial conduct also soon became commonplace. Such rules varied over time and from place to place and were often contradicted by popular behavior. Nevertheless ideals did affect vernacular architecture and the use of space by people of most social classes. Above all attitudes towards space were conditioned by religion. Radical changes in the use of domestic and street spaces often followed radical religious change. Within Christian communities the central cultural focus for the gendered regulation of space was the desire to purify material production, particularly the reproduction of children.
Towards Feminism: Christine De Pizan, Female Advocacy, and Women’s Textual Communities in the Late Middle Ages and Beyond
Authors: Krueger Roberta
Published: February 2014

Although "feminist" claims for full legal and political emancipation were nonexistent in the Middle Ages and women had restricted access to education, many elite women throughout Europe left eloquent written testimony of their intellectual and literary gifts. Some women explicitly took up the pen to defend women's honor against misogynistic attacks and to champion their contributions to society. This chapter focuses on the pro-feminine works of Christine de Pizan (1364–1430?), who not only engaged in an epistolary debate with male authorities denouncing the Romance of the Rose as antifeminist, but also wrote two works explicitly defending female virtue and promoting women's social well-being: The City of Ladies and The Treasure of the City of Ladies. Christine's work participated in the spread of women's literacy; her female advocacy anticipated arguments for women's education and critiques of marriage made by subsequent female humanists and early modern women writers in France, Italy, and England.
Urban Economies
Authors: Reyerson Kathryn
Published: February 2014

Women's experience in the towns of medieval Europe was framed by the nature of the urban economy and the legal system in place. Women operated everywhere within a patriarchal system, but the limits and possibilities of their economic participation varied across time, marital status, social status, family ties, and training. Elite women managed households, but in some cities they can be found investing in trade and industry, engaging in financial operations, and exploiting real property. Middling women engaged in sales of luxury goods and agricultural commodities, in real-estate transactions, in partnerships and apprenticeships. Rarely did they enjoy guild membership, but they contributed to medieval artisanal industry. Poor women, domestic servants, prostitutes, and slaves were everywhere the disadvantaged in medieval cities, though some, such as hucksters, could overcome the makeshift transient economy of which they were a part. Gender dictated the fate of urban women, however historical assessments might differ.
Women, Gender, and Medieval Historians
Authors: Bennett Judith , Karras Ruth
Published: February 2014

This essay sets out the history and historiography of medieval women and gender as it stands in the second decade of the twenty-first century. It begins with a long view, tracing how approaches to medieval women have developed and changed from the sixteenth century to the twentieth. It then focuses on how feminist scholarship on the subject has developed since the 1970s. The essay addresses the importance of both women’s history and gender history; discusses topics explored and consensus conclusions; describes major debates in the field; and signals emerging topics and areas hitherto neglected. A summation of the state of the field, it both surveys what has been done to date and looks to what might be done in the future.
Foreground Flatland
Authors: Lanza Joseph
Published: February 2014

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. Elevator music—or the easy—listening instrumental-has been a target of ridicule and suspicion for decades, often because people have accused it of being intrusive and manipulative. As a result, companies have attempted in recent years to replace such traditional programs as “Music by Muzak” with “foreground music” or selections by original artists that are supposed to give an establishment more personality. This chapter argues that this practice has yielded the opposite result: foreground music, when used as an environmental tool, is much more intrusive and manipulative, drowns out individuality, and flattens the public into passive consumers who are expected conform to what many in advertising call “psychographic profiles.”
Music Video’s Second Aesthetic?
Authors: Vernallis Carol
Published: February 2014

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. MTV’s launch happened thirty years ago. Since then music video has undergone shifts in technologies and platforms, financial booms and busts, and changing levels of audience engagement. While music videos hit a low point at the start of the millennium, they have reemerged as a key driver of popular culture. This resurgence resembles MTV’s first moment: it’s again worth asking what music video can do and where it fits. A variety of styles, genres, and tropes marks both the eighties and today. The traditional definition of music video - a record-company product that puts images to a pop record in order to sell the song — has become too narrow. Instead we might describe music videos as containing heightened sound/image relations we recognize as such. Today's videos can reflect great technical proficiency. But in the eighties an attempt at an audiovisual connection often left a trace of the performers’ and director’s efforts. This gave videos a special charm. Today’s videos, however, may also reflect a full flowering of the genre. Many directors have labored in the industry and weathered its transitions: their experiences inform today’s music videos. This chapter looks at what this thirty-year history might add up to.
Parties in Your Head
Authors: Brophy Philip
Published: February 2014

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. The sound of nightclubs and club music has transformed spatial scale, frequency range, and volume levels in film soundtracks for the past twenty-five years. Across this period, spatialization is intensified, the soundtrack gets noiser, and characterization favors unbalanced psychological states. Consequently, an aural “Other” becomes progressively encoded and registered. The texture of recorded sound on film becomes affected by non-cinematic aurality, responding to approaches to microphone placement in pop music, and the role that psycho-acoustics play in shaping psychological drama. Discussion ensues to audit the noise inside the addled heads of characters in a selection of films which exemplify this transformative audiovision in cinema: Scorpio Rising, Vinyl, Scarface, Blue Velvet, La Vie Nouvelle, and Irréversible.
Sound Events
Authors: Turim Maureen , Walsh Michael
Published: February 2014

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. This chapter is a comprehensive survey of sound practices in avant-garde film, video art, and installation art since the 1960s. It addresses a series of artistic approaches to sound: silence, tone and drone, antic and aleatory, multilayering and cacophony, work with voices, legacies of cinematic exhibition, and resonant spaces in galleries and museums. It is broadly chronological, beginning with major figures of the 1960s and ending with artists currently working. The chapter does not deny medium specificity, but moves easily among celluloid film, video formats, and gallery installation. Theoretical perspectives derive from the debate between Deleuze and Badiou on the nature and frequency of “the event,” a restaging of the discussion on the value of experiment and innovation. The chapter is wide-ranging enough to be synoptic, but also provides detailed discussion of works by Larry Gottheim, Abigail Child, Andy Warhol, Christian Marclay, Janet Cardiff, and Bruce High Quality Foundation.
Extending Film Aesthetics
Authors: Donnelly Kevin J.
Published: February 2014

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. Film remains at the apex of audiovisual culture, providing inspiration and aspiration for other media. Film music and other sounds from the soundtrack have extended film aesthetics beyond the bounds of film into other media and culture. Sound design now can use musical software to enhance sound effects in films and music composers to incorporate sound effect recordings. Soundtrack elements now appear to have an “aesthetic” character. Technology has engendered a spatial sonic arena wherein sonic elements have mixed into a sensual and psychological field. Modern film soundtracks often evince a conceptual or aesthetic unity strikingly similar to musical unity, evident in disc releases unconnected to the cinema. In films sounds on their own work in a different way, implying visuals that we then expect to see or imagine. That sound implies visuals is crucial also to extended soundtracks outside film.
ZigZag
Authors: Perrott Lisa
Published: February 2014

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. Animators and visual music artists have long experimented with technological devices to explore the image–sound relationship, often innovating new ways of composing motion in time and space. For Len Lye this involved pioneering methods of animation and exploring the material qualities of organic materials such as film and metal, creating a substantial body of handmade animations that continue to affect audiences and inspire contemporary practitioners. Lye’s work provided the inspiration and raw materials for the development of Zig Zag, an homage to Lye, which integrated traditional musical instruments with digital media, remixed and projected visual imagery, and improvised theatrical performance. This complex process of remediation is discussed in relation to the extracinematic animation of both Lye’s sculptures and the theatrical performances. Extending the term “animation” is fundamental to understanding the way Zig Zag is a reanimation of the latent material life force embodied in Lye’s resting sculptures.
Cl
−
and K
+
channels and their role in primary brain tumour biology
Authors: Turner Kathryn L. , Sontheimer Harald
Published: February 2014

Profound cell volume changes occur in primary brain tumours as they proliferate, invade surrounding tissue or undergo apoptosis. These volume changes are regulated by the flux of Cl
−
and K
+
ions and concomitant movement of water across the membrane, making ion channels pivotal to tumour biology. We discuss which specific Cl
−
and K
+
channels are involved in defined aspects of glioma biology and how these channels are regulated. Cl
−
is accumulated to unusually high concentrations in gliomas by the activity of the NKCC1 transporter and serves as an osmolyte and energetic driving force for volume changes. Cell volume condensation is required as cells enter M phase of the cell cycle and this pre-mitotic condensation is caused by channel-mediated ion efflux. Similarly, Cl
−
and K
+
channels dynamically regulate volume in invading glioma cells allowing them to adjust to small extracellular brain spaces. Finally, cell condensation is a hallmark of apoptosis and requires the concerted activation of Cl
−
and Ca
2+
-activated K
+
channels. Given the frequency of mutation and high importance of ion channels in tumour biology, the opportunity exists to target them for treatment.
Ion channels and anti-cancer immunity
Authors: Panyi Gyorgy , Beeton Christine , Felipe Antonio
Published: February 2014

The outcome of a malignant disease depends on the efficacy of the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Key steps in this process, for example the generation of a proper Ca
2+
signal induced by recognition of a specific antigen, are regulated by various ion channel including voltage-gated Kv1.3 and Ca
2+
-activated KCa3.1 K
+
channels, and the interplay between Orai and STIM to produce the Ca
2+
-release-activated Ca
2+
(CRAC) current required for T-cell proliferation and function. Understanding the immune cell subset-specific expression of ion channels along with their particular function in a given cell type, and the role of cancer tissue-dependent factors in the regulation of operation of these ion channels are emerging questions to be addressed in the fight against cancer disease. Answering these questions might lead to a better understanding of the immunosuppression phenomenon in cancer tissue and the development of drugs aimed at skewing the distribution of immune cell types towards killing of the tumour cells.
Targeting ion transport in cancer
Authors: Oosterwijk E. , Gillies R. J.
Published: February 2014

The metabolism of cancer cells differs substantially from normal cells, including ion transport. Although this phenomenon has been long recognized, ion transporters have not been viewed as suitable therapeutic targets. However, the acidic pH values present in tumours which are well outside of normal limits are now becoming recognized as an important therapeutic target. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is fundamental to tumour pH regulation. CAIX is commonly expressed in cancer, but lowly expressed in normal tissues and that presents an attractive target. Here, we discuss the possibilities of exploiting the acidic, hypoxic tumour environment as possible target for therapy. Additionally, clinical experience with CAIX targeting in cancer patients is discussed.
Use of gene sequence analyses and genome comparisons for yeast systematics
Authors: Kurtzman Cletus P.
Published: February 2014

Detection, identification and classification of yeasts have undergone a major transformation in the past decade and a half following application of gene sequence analyses and genome comparisons. Development of a database (barcode) of easily determined gene sequences from domains 1 and 2 (D1/D2) of large subunit rRNA and from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) now permits many laboratories to identify species accurately and this has led to a doubling in the number of known species of yeasts over the past decade. Phylogenetic analysis of gene sequences has resulted in major revision of yeast systematics, resulting in redefinition of nearly all genera. Future work calls for application of genomics to refine our understanding of the species concept and to provide a better understanding of the boundaries of genera and higher levels of classification. This increased understanding of phylogeny is expected to allow prediction of the genetic potential of various clades and species for biotechnological applications and adaptation to environmental changes.
A polyphasic strategy incorporating genomic data for the taxonomic description of novel bacterial species
Authors: Ramasamy Dhamodharan , Mishra Ajay Kumar , Lagier Jean-Christophe , Padhmanabhan Roshan , Rossi Morgane , Sentausa Erwin , Raoult Didier , Fournier Pierre-Edouard
Published: February 2014

Currently, bacterial taxonomy relies on a polyphasic approach based on the combination of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. However, the current situation is paradoxical in that the genetic criteria that are used, including DNA–DNA hybridization, 16S rRNA gene sequence nucleotide similarity and phylogeny, and DNA G+C content, have significant limitations, but genome sequences that contain the whole genetic information of bacterial strains are not used for taxonomic purposes, despite the decreasing costs of sequencing and the increasing number of available genomes. Recently, we diversified bacterial culture conditions with the aim of isolating uncultivated bacteria. To classify the putative novel species that we cultivated, we used a polyphasic strategy that included phenotypic as well as genomic criteria (genome characteristics as well as genomic sequence similarity). Herein, we review the pros and cons of genome sequencing for taxonomy and propose that the incorporation of genome sequences in taxonomic studies has the advantage of using reliable and reproducible data. This strategy, which we name taxono-genomics, may contribute to the taxonomic classification of bacteria.
Genotype to phenotype: identification of diagnostic vibrio phenotypes using whole genome sequences
Authors: Amaral Gilda Rose S. , Dias Graciela M. , Wellington-Oguri Michiyo , Chimetto Luciane , Campeão Mariana E. , Thompson Fabiano L. , Thompson Cristiane C.
Published: February 2014

Vibrios are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and can be found in association with animal or plant hosts. The range of ecological relationships includes pathogenic and mutualistic associations. To gain a better understanding of the ecology of these microbes, it is important to determine their phenotypic features. However, the traditional phenotypic characterization of vibrios has been expensive, time-consuming and restricted in scope to a limited number of features. In addition, most of the commercial systems applied for phenotypic characterization cannot characterize the broad spectrum of environmental strains. A reliable and possible alternative is to obtain phenotypic information directly from whole genome sequences. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of whole genome sequences as a source of phenotypic information. We performed a comparison of the vibrio phenotypes obtained from the literature with the phenotypes obtained from whole genome sequences. We observed a significant correlation between the previously published phenotypic data and the phenotypic data retrieved from whole genome sequences of vibrios. Analysis of 26 vibrio genomes revealed that all genes coding for the specific proteins involved in the metabolic pathways responsible for positive phenotypes of the 14 diagnostic features (Voges–Proskauer reaction, indole production, arginine dihydrolase, ornithine decarboxylase, utilization of myo-inositol, sucrose and l-leucine, and fermentation of d-mannitol, d-sorbitol, l-arabinose, trehalose, cellobiose, d-mannose and d-galactose) were found in the majority of the vibrios genomes. Vibrio species that were negative for a given phenotype revealed the absence of all or several genes involved in the respective biochemical pathways, indicating the utility of this approach to characterize the phenotypes of vibrios. The absence of the global regulation and regulatory proteins in the

Vibrio parahaemolyticus

genome indicated a non-vibrio phenotype. Whole genome sequences represent an important source for the phenotypic identification of vibrios.
Evolutionary dynamics of shared niche construction
Authors: Gerlee Philip , Anderson Alexander R.A.
Published: February 2014

Many species engage in niche construction that ultimately leads to an increase in the carrying capacity of the population. We have investigated how the specificity of this behaviour affects evolutionary dynamics using a set of coupled logistic equations, where the carrying capacity of each genotype consists of two components: an intrinsic part and a contribution from all genotypes present in the population. The relative contribution of the two components is controlled by a specificity parameterγ, and we show that the ability of a mutant to invade a resident population depends strongly on this parameter. When the carrying capacity is intrinsic, selection is almost exclusively for mutants with higher carrying capacity, while a shared carrying capacity yields selection purely on growth rate. This result has important implications for our understanding of niche construction, in particular the evolutionary dynamics of tumor growth.
Organisations' conversations in social media: applying dialogue strategies in times of crises
Authors: Romenti Stefania , Murtarelli Grazia , Valentini Chiara
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework, grounded in managerial and organisational theories of dialogue, through which organisations can take decisions in relation to the most appropriate crisis response strategies for handling social media stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

– The theoretical framework is developed through a conceptual analysis of literature on dialogue, social media and crisis communication. The theoretical framework is then tested in eight different international organisations experiencing a crisis. For each case, different web contents, such as organisations' status updates/posts, links, videos published on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, were analysed using a rhetorical research approach.

Findings

– The analysed organisations apply different online dialogue strategies according to crisis types and in combination with specific crisis response strategies. Most of the organisations investigated carry on those dialogue strategies suitable to develop consensus (concertative), guide conversations on specific topics or issues (framing), find solutions to the crisis collectively (transformative). Concertative strategies were often associated with informative crisis response strategies, framing strategies with denial and justification crisis response strategies and transformative strategies with corrective actions.

Research limitations/implications

– By using a dialogic perspective in setting up online conversations with their external stakeholders, the paper proposes a theoretical model to explain companies' decisions in carrying on online dialogues during critical situations and thus contribute to the body of knowledge on online crisis communications.

Practical implications

– The proposed model can support crisis communicators to manage dialogue's aims and dimensions differently by taking into account both contextual and situational conditions.

Originality/value

– By integrating management studies on dialogue into crisis communication and social media literature, the authors intend to offer an alternative thinking of organisations' decision-making in relation to crisis response strategies and social media stakeholders.
The impact of a career development and mentoring programme on female mental health nurses
Authors: M. Woolnough Helen , Lesley Fielden Sandra
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– Literature has shown that mentoring and career development programmes can assist women and minority groups in pursuit of more senior roles. The Challenging Perceptions 12-month, multi-faceted career development and mentoring programme was specifically designed to aid female mental health participants in their attempts to break the glass ceiling, which can be apparent within senior levels of the UK National Health Service. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a career development and mentoring programme on female mental health nurses' career and personal development compared to a matched comparison group.

Design/methodology/approach

– A longitudinal, qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews conducted with female mental health nurse participants and a matched control group at four time points, six months apart over an 18-month period. Female mental health nurses at F, G, H, I and Nurse Consultant Level who applied to participate in the programme were selected by a panel consisting of members of the project team and subsequently randomly allocated a group. Twenty-seven female mental health nurses experienced the programme and 27 female mental health nurses constituted a comparison group.

Findings

– Experience as programme participant influenced the career and personal development of participants, particularly compared to the matched control group. Career development outcomes included promotion and additional learning/study. Personal development outcomes included increased self-confidence and increased satisfaction with ability to deliver quality patient care.

Originality/value

– Career development and mentoring programmes designed to affect diversity have an important role to play in fostering the career and personal development of nurses in healthcare organisations.
Bases of power and conflict intervention strategy: a study on Turkish managers
Authors: Kamil Kozan M. , Ergin Canan , Varoglu Kadir
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This study aims to develop an influence perspective for managerial intervention in subordinates conflicts, which helps to represent various strategies identified in the literature in a single model. Managers' power base was then related to their intervention strategies. Drawing upon Social Judgment Theory, anchoring of subordinates positions is studied as a moderating variable.

Design/methodology/approach

– Thirty nine supervisors and their 165 subordinates from several organizations in Turkey filled out a questionnaire reporting power base of supervisor and their intervention strategy utilizing the critical incident technique.

Findings

– Referent power of superior led to mediation in subordinates' conflicts. However, mediation decreased while restructuring, arbitration, and educative strategies increased with increased anchoring of subordinates' positions. These latter strategies mostly relied on reward power of manager. Subordinate satisfaction was highest with mediation and lowest when supervisors distanced themselves from the conflict.

Research limitations/implications

– The present study could only test the moderating effect of escalation as an anchoring variable. Future studies may look at the anchoring effect of whether the dispute is handled in public or in private, and whether the parties have a competing versus collaborative or compromising styles.

Practical implications

– Training of managers in mediation may be essential in cultures where they play a focal role in handling subordinates conflicts. Such training may have to take into account their broader influence strategies and use of power.

Originality/value

– An influence perspective is useful in integrating the vast array of managerial intervention strategies in the literature. Furthermore, the anchoring effect provides a theoretical explanation for managers' use of more forceful intervention with less cooperative subordinates.
Developing a Persian inpatient satisfaction questionnaire
Authors: Arab Mohammad , Rashidian Arash , Pourreza Abolghasem , Tajvar Maryam , Khabiri Nemati Roghayeh , Akbari Sari Ali , Rahimi Forooshani Abbas
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– Valid and reliable measures are required for assessing patient satisfaction meaningfully. The purpose of this paper was to develop and validate a Persian-language in-patient satisfaction questionnaire for patients discharged from Iranian medical and surgical services.

Design/methodology/approach

– The cross-sectional survey included 400 patients randomly selected from six Tehran hospitals. A total of 405 patients responded to the questionnaire (76.3 percent response). To assess inter-item reliability and construct validity, factor analysis was carried out. Items belonging to each factor and their Cronbach's alpha coefficient were calculated.

Findings

– A total of seven dimensions were identified: doctor-patient communication; nursing care; convenience; visitors; cleanliness; costs; and general satisfaction. Together, these dimensions explained 60 percent of the variance. All items, except three, revealed loadings above 0.4, while Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.8 for all dimensions, except visitors (0.66). Patient satisfaction levels were relatively high.

Practical implications

– Results must be interpreted cautiously owing to high satisfaction, which should not be considered as comprehensive evidence of high performance without important additional service-performance information. Qualitative studies are recommended to complement the authors' quantitative satisfaction study.

Originality/value

– The patient satisfaction questionnaire strives to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing in-patient satisfaction with hospital services in Iran.
Covert research and adult protection and safeguarding: an ethical dilemma?
Authors: Parker Jonathan , Ashencaen Crabtree Sara
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to consider the contentious issue of covert research in studying the social contexts of vulnerable groups. It explores its potential utility in areas where overt strategies may be problematic or denied; and examines and problematises the issue of participant consent.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a literature-based review and selected previous studies, the paper explores the uses and abuses of covert research in relation to ethics review proceedings governing social research, with an especial focus on vulnerability.

Findings

– Findings indicate that although the use of covert research is subject to substantial critique by apparently transgressing the often unquestioned moral legitimacy of informed consent, this carries ethical and practical utility for research related to safeguarding concerns. Arguably covert research enables research access to data likely to reveal abusive and oppressive practices.

Research limitations/implications

– Covert research assists in illuminating the hidden voices and lives of vulnerable people that may otherwise remain inaccessible. Such research needs to be subject to rigorous ethical standards to ensure that it is both justified and robust.

Practical implications

– Emphasising the need to consider all angles, questions and positions when addressing the social problem of adult protection and safeguarding.

Originality/value

– Increasingly social research is treated as being as potentially harmful as medical research. Ethics review tends towards conservative conformity, legitimising methodologies that may serve less social utility than other forms of investigation that privilege the safeguarding of vulnerable people.
Creating multi-vendor solutions: the resources and capabilities required
Authors: Owen Raddats Chris , Burton Jamie
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the resources and capabilities required by manufacturers to develop and deliver multi-vendor solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

– A multi-case design comprising six UK-based manufacturers: two from each of the aerospace/defence, information technology and telecommunications sectors.

Findings

– Manufacturers can be characterized by their propensity to include products from other vendors in their solutions; single vendor solution providers (SVSPs) focus on solutions comprising their own products, while multi-vendor solution providers (MVSPs) fully embrace products from other manufacturers. Three capabilities were identified which distinguish MVSPs from SVSPs given the complexity of multi-vendor solutions (expertise specifying the solution, engineers trained in implementing/supporting the solution, partnerships with component suppliers of the solution). These capabilities are underpinned by both technical capability and impartiality in solution specification.

Research limitations/implications

– MVSPs need to be impartial when specifying customer solutions. They should be guided by the best interests of the customer rather than the interests of the product-based SBUs. Achieving impartiality can conflict with some manufacturers' product heritage. The research has focused on three sectors; further research is needed to test whether the findings are applicable beyond these sectors.

Practical implications

– Solutions are a valuable approach in creating market differentiation, although not all manufacturers will possess the resources/capabilities to be successful.

Originality/value

– A continuum of solution providers is proposed; SVSPs at one extreme and MVSPs at the other. The operant resource-based capability “impartiality” was identified as being particularly important to MVSPs in creating value for customers.