bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cutting blade dentitions in squaliform sharks form by modification of inherited alternate tooth ordering patterns
Authors: Underwood Charlie , Johanson Zerina , Smith Moya Meredith
Published: November 2016

The squaliform sharks represent one of the most speciose shark clades. Many adult squaliforms have blade-like teeth, either on both jaws or restricted to the lower jaw, forming a continuous, serrated blade along the jaw margin. These teeth are replaced as a single unit and successor teeth lack the alternate arrangement present in other elasmobranchs. Micro-CT scans of embryos of squaliforms and a related outgroup (Pristiophoridae) revealed that the squaliform dentition pattern represents a highly modified version of tooth replacement seen in other clades. Teeth ofSqualusembryos are arranged in an alternate pattern, with successive tooth rows containing additional teeth added proximally. Asynchronous timing of tooth production along the jaw and tooth loss prior to birth cause teeth to align in oblique sets containing teeth from subsequent rows; these become parallel to the jaw margin during ontogeny, so that adultSqualushas functional tooth rows comprising obliquely stacked teeth of consecutive developmental rows. In more strongly heterodont squaliforms, initial embryonic lower teeth develop into the oblique functional sets seen in adultSqualus, with no requirement to form, and subsequently lose, teeth arranged in an initial alternate pattern.
Life-history theory and climate change: resolving population and parental investment paradoxes
Authors: Caudell Mark , Quinlan Robert
Published: November 2016

Population growth in the next half-century is on pace to raise global carbon emissions by half. Carbon emissions are associated with fertility as a by-product of somatic and parental investment, which is predicted to involve time orientation/preference as a mediating psychological mechanism. Here, we draw upon life-history theory (LHT) to investigate associations between future orientation and fertility, and their impacts on carbon emissions. We argue ‘K-strategy’ life history (LH) in high-income countries has resulted in parental investment behaviours involving future orientation that, paradoxically, promote unsustainable carbon emissions, thereby lowering the Earth'sKor carrying capacity. Increasing the rate of approach towards this capacity are ‘r-strategy’ LHs in low-income countries that promote population growth. We explore interactions between future orientation and development that might slow the rate of approach towards globalK. Examination of 67 000 individuals across 75 countries suggests that future orientation interacts with the relationship between environmental risk and fertility and with development related parental investment, particularly investment in higher education, to slow population growth and mitigateper capitacarbon emissions. Results emphasize that LHT will be an important tool in understanding the demographic and consumption patterns that drive anthropogenic climate change.
Evolutionary implications of interspecific variation in a maternal effect: a meta-analysis of yolk testosterone response to competition
Authors: Bentz Alexandra B. , Becker Daniel J. , Navara Kristen J.
Published: November 2016

Competition between conspecifics during the breeding season can result in behavioural and physiological programming of offspring via maternal effects. For birds, in which maternal effects are best studied, it has been claimed that exposure to increased competition causes greater deposition of testosterone into egg yolks, which creates faster growing, more aggressive offspring; such traits are thought to be beneficial for high-competition environments. Nevertheless, not all species show a positive relationship between competitive interactions and yolk testosterone, and an explanation for this interspecific variation is lacking. We here test if the magnitude and direction of maternal testosterone allocated to eggs in response to competition can be explained by life-history traits while accounting for phylogenetic relationships. We performed a meta-analysis relating effect size of yolk testosterone response to competition with species coloniality, nest type, parental effort and mating type. We found that effect size was moderated by coloniality and nest type; colonial species and those with open nests allocate less testosterone to eggs when in more competitive environments. Applying a life-history perspective helps contextualize studies showing little or negative responses of yolk testosterone to competition and improves our understanding of how variation in this maternal effect may have evolved.
Next-generation freshwater bioassessment: eDNA metabarcoding with a conserved metazoan primer reveals species-rich and reservoir-specific communities
Authors: Lim Nicholas K. M. , Tay Ywee Chieh , Srivathsan Amrita , Tan Jonathan W. T. , Kwik Jeffrey T. B. , Baloğlu Bilgenur , Meier Rudolf , Yeo Darren C. J.
Published: November 2016

Freshwater habitats are of high conservation value and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Effective management requires regular monitoring. However, conventional methods based on direct observation or specimen collection are so invasive, expensive and labour-intensive that frequent monitoring is uncommon. Here, we test whether the evaluation of environmental DNA (eDNA) from water based on a simple protocol can be used for assessing biodiversity. We use universal metazoan primers for characterizing water eDNA across horizontal and vertical spatial dimensions in two reservoirs with known species diversity for two key taxa. eDNA obtained directly from 42 samples × 15 ml water (total = 630 ml) per reservoir yielded DNA signatures for more than 500 metazoan species, of which 105 could be identified to species/genus based on DNA barcodes. We show that eDNA can be used to assign each water sample to its reservoir of origin, and that eDNA outperforms conventional survey methods in single-sample richness comparisons, while revealing evidence for hundreds of unknown species that are undetected by conventional bioassessment methods. eDNA also confirms the presence of a recently discovered invasive snail species and provides evidence for the continued survival of a rare native species of goby not sighted in that habitat since 2007. eDNA thus promises to be a useful addition to the bioassessment toolbox for freshwater systems.
Shaping communicative colour signals over evolutionary time
Authors: Ossip-Drahos Alison G. , Oyola Morales José R. , Vital-García Cuauhcihuatl , Zúñiga-Vega J. Jaime , Hews Diana K. , Martins Emília P.
Published: November 2016

Many evolutionary forces can shape the evolution of communicative signals, and the long-term impact of each force may depend on relative timing and magnitude. We use a phylogenetic analysis to infer the history of blue belly patches ofSceloporuslizards, and a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of four species to explore the specific forces shaping evolutionary change. We find that the ancestor ofSceloporushad blue patches. We then focus on four species; the first evolutionary shift (captured by comparison ofS. merriamiandS. siniferus) represents an ancient loss of the belly patch byS. siniferus, and the second evolutionary shift, bounded byS. undulatusandS. virgatus, represents a more recent loss of blue belly patch byS. virgatus. Conspicuousness measurements suggest that the species with the recent loss (S. virgatus) is the least conspicuous. Results for two other species (S. siniferusandS. merriami) suggest that over longer periods of evolutionary time, new signal colours have arisen which minimize absolute contrast with the habitat while maximizing conspicuousness to a lizard receiver. Specifically, males of the species representing an ancient loss of blue patch (S. siniferus) are more conspicuous than are females in the UV, whereasS. merriamimales have evolved a green element that makes their belly patches highly sexually dimorphic but no more conspicuous than the white bellies ofS. merriamifemales. Thus, our results suggest that natural selection may act more immediately to reduce conspicuousness, whereas sexual selection may have a more complex impact on communicative signals through the introduction of new colours.
Tight focusing of light beams: a set of exact solutions
Authors: Lekner John
Published: November 2016

Exact solutions of Maxwell's equations representing light beams are explored. The solutions satisfy all of the physical requirements of causal propagation and of energy, momentum and angular momentum conservation. A set of solutions can be found from a proto-beam by an imaginary translation along the beam direction. The proto-beam is given analytically in terms of the Bessel functions
J
0
,
J
1
and the Lommel functions
U
0
,
U
1
, or equivalently in terms of products of the spherical Bessel functions and Legendre polynomials. The complex wavefunction has rings of zeros in the focal plane. Localization of the focal region is to within about one half of the vacuum wavelength.
The mixed coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the half-line via the Fokas method
Authors: Tian Shou-Fu
Published: November 2016

In this paper, we implement the Fokas method to study initial-boundary value problems of the mixed coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation formulated on the half-line with Lax pairs involving 3×3 matrices. The solution can be written in terms of the solution to a 3×3 Riemann–Hilbert problem. The relevant jump matrices are explicitly expressed in terms of the matrix-value spectral functions
s
(
k
) and
S
(
k
), which are determined by the initial values and boundary values at
x
=0, respectively. Some of these boundary values are unknown; however, using the fact that these specific functions satisfy a certain
global relation
, the unknown boundary values can be expressed in terms of the given initial and boundary data.
foxQ2 evolved a key role in anterior head and central brain patterning in protostomes
Authors: Kitzmann Peter , Weibkopf Matthias , Schacht Magdalena Ines , Bucher Gregor
Published: November 2016

Anterior patterning of animals is based on a set of highly conserved transcription factors but the interactions within the protostome anterior gene regulatory network (aGRN) remain enigmatic. Here, we identify thefoxQ2ortholog of the red flour beetleTribolium castaneumas novel upstream component of the insect aGRN. It is required for the development of the labrum and higher order brain structures, namely the central complex and the mushroom bodies. We revealTc-foxQ2interactions by RNAi and heat shock-mediated misexpression. Surprisingly,Tc-foxQ2andTc-six3mutually activate each other forming a novel regulatory module at the top of the insect aGRN. Comparisons of our results with those of sea urchins and cnidarians suggest thatfoxQ2has acquired functions in head and brain patterning during protostome evolution. Our findings expand the knowledge onfoxQ2gene function to include essential roles in epidermal development and central brain patterning.

Author summary

The development of the anterior most part of any animal embryo – for instance the brain of vertebrates and the head of insects – depends on a very similar set of genes present in all animals. This is true for the two major lineages of bilaterian animals, the deuterostomes (including sea urchin and humans) and protostomes (including annelids and insects) and the cnidarians (e.g. the sea anemone), which are representatives of more ancient animals. However, the interaction of these genes has been studied in deuterostomes and cnidarians but not in protostomes. Here, we present the first study the function of the genefoxQ2in protostomes. We found that the gene acts at the top level of the genetic network and when its function is knocked down, the labrum (a part of the head) and higher order brain centers do not develop. This is in contrast to the other animal groups wherefoxQ2appears to play a less central role. We conclude thatfoxQ2has acquired additional functions in the course of evolution of protostomes.
Mindcontrol: A Web Application for Brain Segmentation Quality Control
Authors: Keshavan Anisha , Datta Esha , McDonough Ian , Madan Christopher R. , Jordan Kesshi , Henry Roland G.
Published: November 2016

Tissue classification plays a crucial role in the investigation of normal neural development, brain-behavior relationships, and the disease mechanisms of many psychiatric and neurological illnesses. Ensuring the accuracy of tissue classification is important for quality research and, in particular, the translation of imaging biomarkers to clinical practice. Assessment with the human eye is vital to correct various errors inherent to all currently available segmentation algorithms. Manual quality assurance becomes methodologically difficult at a large scale - a problem of increasing importance as the number of data sets is on the rise. To make this process more efficient, we have developed Mindcontrol, an open-source web application for the collaborative quality control of neuroimaging processing outputs. The Mindcontrol platform consists of a dashboard to organize data, descriptive visualizations to explore the data, an imaging viewer, and an in-browser annotation and editing toolbox for data curation and quality control. Mindcontrol is flexible and can be configured for the outputs of any software package in any data organization structure. Example configurations for three large, open-source datasets are presented: the 1000 Functional Connectomes Project (FCP), the Consortium for Reliability and Reproducibility (CoRR), and the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) Collection. These demo applications link descriptive quality control metrics, regional brain volumes, and thickness scalars to a 3D imaging viewer and editing module, resulting in an easy-to-implement quality control protocol that can be scaled for any size and complexity of study.
NLR signaling network mediates immunity to diverse plant pathogens
Authors: Wu Chih-Hang , Abd-El-Haliem Ahmed , Bozkurt Tolga O. , Belhaj Khaoula , Terauchi Ryohei , Vossen Jack H. , Kamoun Sophien
Published: November 2016

Plant and animal nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLR) proteins often function in pairs to mediate innate immunity to pathogens. However, the degree to which NLR proteins form signaling networks beyond genetically linked pairs is poorly understood. In this study, we discovered that a large NLR immune signaling network with a complex genetic architecture confers immunity to oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and insects. The network emerged over 100 million years ago from a linked NLR pair that diversified into up to one half of the NLR of asterid plants. We propose that this NLR network increases robustness of immune signaling to counteract rapidly evolving plant pathogens.
Multimodal representations of person identity individuated with fMRI
Authors: Anzellotti Stefano , Caramazza Alfonso
Published: November 2016

Abtract

Recognizing the identity of a person is fundamental to guide social interactions. We can recognize the identity of a person looking at her face, but also listening to her voice. An important question concerns how visual and auditory information come together, enabling us to recognize identity independently of the modality of the stimulus. This study reports converging evidence across univariate contrasts and multivariate classification showing that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), previously known to encode polymodal visual and auditory representations, encodes information about person identity with invariance within and across modality. In particular, pSTS shows selectivity for faces, selectivity for voices, classification of face identity across image transformations within the visual modality, and classification of person identity across modality.
A one-dimensional zinc(II) coordination polymer with a three-dimensional supramolecular architecture incorporating 1-[(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl]-1H-tetrazole and adipate
Authors: Liu Chun-Li , Huang Qiu-Ying , Meng Xiang-Ru
Published: November 2016

The synthesis of coordination polymers or metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has attracted considerable interest owing to the interesting structures and potential applications of these compounds. It is still a challenge to predict the exact structures and compositions of the final products. A new one-dimensional coordination polymer,catena-poly[[[bis{1-[(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl]-1H-tetrazole-κN3}zinc(II)]-μ-hexane-1,6-dicarboxylato-κ4O1,O1′:O6,O6′] monohydrate], {[Zn(C6H8O4)(C9H8N6)2]·H2O}n, has been synthesized by the reaction of Zn(Ac)2(Ac is acetate) with 1-[(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl]-1H-tetrazole (bimt) and adipic acid (H2adi) at room temperature. In the polymer, each ZnIIion exhibits an irregular octahedral ZnN2O4coordination geometry and is coordinated by two N atoms from two symmetry-related bimt ligands and four O atoms from two symmetry-related dianionic adipate ligands. ZnIIions are connected by adipate ligands into a one-dimensional chain which runs parallel to thecaxis. The bimt ligands coordinate to the ZnIIions in a monodentate mode on both sides of the main chain. In the crystal, the one-dimensional chains are further connected through N—H...O hydrogen bonds, leading to a three-dimensional supramolecular architecture. In addition, the title polymer exhibits fluorescence, with emissions at 334 and 350 nm in the solid state at room temperature.
Purification, crystallization and characterization of thePseudomonasouter membrane protein FapF, a functional amyloid transporter
Authors: Rouse Sarah L. , Hawthorne Wlliam J. , Lambert Sebastian , Morgan Marc L. , Hare Stephen A. , Matthews Stephen
Published: November 2016

Bacteria often produce extracellular amyloid fibresviaa multi-component secretion system. Aggregation-prone, unstructured subunits cross the periplasm and are secreted through the outer membrane, after which they self-assemble. Here, significant progress is presented towards solving the high-resolution crystal structure of the novel amyloid transporter FapF fromPseudomonas, which facilitates the secretion of the amyloid-forming polypeptide FapC across the bacterial outer membrane. This represents the first step towards obtaining structural insight into the products of thePseudomonasfapoperon. Initial attempts at crystallizing full-length and N-terminally truncated constructs by refolding techniques were not successful; however, after preparing FapF106–430from the membrane fraction, reproducible crystals were obtained using the sitting-drop method of vapour diffusion. Diffraction data have been processed to 2.5 Å resolution. These crystals belonged to the monoclinic space groupC121, with unit-cell parametersa= 143.4,b= 124.6,c= 80.4 Å, α = γ = 90, β = 96.32° and three monomers in the asymmetric unit. It was found that the switch to complete detergent exchange into C8E4 was crucial for forming well diffracting crystals, and it is suggested that this combined with limited proteolysis is a potentially useful protocol for membrane β-barrel protein crystallography. The three-dimensional structure of FapF will provide invaluable information on the mechanistic differences of biogenesis between the curli and Fap functional amyloid systems.
Overcoming a hemihedral twinning problem in tetrahydrofolate-dependentO-demethylase crystals by the microseeding method
Authors: Harada Ayaka , Sato Yukari , Kamimura Naofumi , Venugopalan Nagarajan , Masai Eiji , Senda Toshiya
Published: November 2016

A tetrahydrofolate-dependentO-demethylase, LigM, fromSphingobiumsp. SYK-6 was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. However, the obtainedP3121 orP3221 crystals, which diffracted to 2.5–3.3 Å resolution, were hemihedrally twinned. To overcome the twinning problem, microseeding usingP3121/P3221 crystals as microseeds was performed with optimization of the reservoir conditions. As a result, another crystal form was obtained. The newly obtained crystal diffracted to 2.5–3.0 Å resolution and belonged to space groupP21212, with unit-cell parametersa= 102.0,b= 117.3,c= 128.1 Å. TheP21212 crystals diffracted to better than 2.0 Å resolution after optimizing the cryoconditions. Phasing using the single anomalous diffraction method was successful at 3.0 Å resolution with a Pt-derivative crystal. This experience suggested that microseeding is an effective method to overcome the twinning problem, even when twinned crystals are utilized as microseeds.
Benchmarking mutual fund alpha
Authors: Bu Qiang
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The standard market models assume that all investors are rational with the same level of risk aversion, whereas investors in the real world are neither rational nor homogeneous. This contrast makes these models inappropriate for evaluating manager skill. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to bridge the gap between model assumption and fund investment practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a series of modified models using the excess return of peer funds to estimate fund alpha. In these models, the market excess return in the standard market models is replaced with the average excess return of bootstrapped funds. In addition, the author examines the reasons for the difference between the modified models and the standard models.

Findings

The modified models better explain the variation of fund returns, and they exhibit that a considerably higher percentage of funds can earn positive alpha, thus the skill of fund managers is underestimated based on the standard market models.

Originality/value

The proposed models provide a more reliable method for investors to identify skilled fund managers, and they can also serve as an objective benchmark in evaluating fund performance and in designing manager compensation packages.
Supplier selection in small- and medium-sized firms
Authors: Su Jin , Gargeya Vidyaranya B.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine supplier selection among small- and medium-sized firms in the US textile and apparel industry. For small- and medium-sized firms, one powerful method of improving the firm’s competitiveness in the dynamic business environment is through strategic approach of supplier selection, which emphasizes supplier’s contributions to the total product and to overall customer satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical survey-based research methodology was implemented and data were collected from small and medium firms in textile and apparel business in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, California, and New York which are the major areas of the US textile and apparel industry.

Findings

This study demonstrates the supplier selection practices of the small- and medium-sized firms in the US textile and apparel industry and their perceptions of supply market and supplier evaluation systems. Results indicate that supplier selection criteria impact firm performance in different ways. Small- and medium-sized firms carry out supplier selection based on product quality, supplier responsiveness, and strategic consideration which positively impact overall customer service level and overall customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on supply chain management practices, specifically the supplier selection issue in small- and medium-sized firms in the textile and apparel industry.
Young consumers’ brand communications literacy in a social networking site context
Authors: Lawlor Margaret-Anne , Dunne Áine , Rowley Jennifer
Published: November 2016

Purpose

While substantial scholarly attention has been given to children’s understanding of advertising in the context of traditional advertising channels, there is a gap in the literature with regard to children’s commercial awareness in the context of online social networking sites. This paper aims to seek to explore the nature and extent of advertising literacy among young consumers in the context of their use of social networking sites, namely, Facebook and Bebo.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-stage study was conducted with 12 to 14-year-old girls, using focus group discussions, participant observation and in-depth interviews.

Findings

The study illustrates that the increasingly blurred line between online advertising and other forms of online brand-related content is militating against the development of advertising and marketing literacy in young consumers. A key issue which is discussed is the extent to which the traditional conceptualisation of advertising literacy is “fit for purpose” in an online context.

Originality/value

The authors propose an alternative to the advertising literacy concept, namely, the Online Brand Communications literacy framework. This framework recognises the convergence of traditional online advertising and other forms of online brand content and also acknowledges that the messaging around a brand may originate from the brand owner in a variety of overt and covert forms. Equally, online consumers may also act as brand promoters when they engage in brand-related word-of-mouth.
The socio-materiality of parental style
Authors: Bettany Shona M. , Kerrane Ben
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This study aims to offer understanding of the parent – child relationship by examining, through a socio-material lens, how one aspect of the new child surveillance technology market, child GPS trackers (CGT), are rejected or adopted by families, highlighting implications for child welfare, privacy and children’s rights policy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors gathered netnographic data from a range of online sources (parenting forums, online product reviews, discussion boards) that captured parental views towards the use of CGT and stories of the technology in use and theorize the data through application of a novel combination of neutralisation and affordance theory.

Findings

The research reveals how critics of CGT highlight the negative affordances of such product use (highlighting the negative agency of the technology). Parental adopters of CGT, in turn, attempt to rationalize their use of the technology as a mediator in the parent – child relation through utilisation of a range of neutralisation mechanisms which re-afford positive product agency. Implications for child welfare and policy are discussed in the light of those findings.

Originality/value

The paper presents an empirical, qualitative understanding of parents negotiating the emergence of a controversial new child-related technology – CGT – and its impact upon debates in the field of parenting and childhood; develops the theory of parental style towards parental affordances, using a socio-material theoretical lens to augment existing sociological approaches; and contributes to the debates surrounding child welfare, ethics, privacy and human rights in the context of child surveillance GPS technologies.
The role of C-OAR-SE in marketing measurement
Authors: Bergkvist Lars
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a comment on Rossiter’s C-OAR-SE article and suggests future developments for the practical application of C-OAR-SE that would promote its usage and acceptance among marketing scholars.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical paper.

Findings

The paper identifies challenging steps in the practical application of C-OAR-SE and suggests that these can be overcome by developing detailed guidelines.

Research limitations/implications

Improving marketing measurement practice is of importance to marketing scholars.

Originality/value

The paper suggests how measure development could be structured in a manner that would reduce the subjective element of content validity assessment.
Welcome to the desert of the real: reality, realism, measurement, and C-OAR-SE
Authors: Lee Nick , Cadogan John
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper provides a balanced commentary on Rossiter’s paper “How to use C-OAR-SE to design optimal standard measures” in this issue of the “European Journal of Marketing”. It also relates the comments in general to Rossiter’s other C-OAR-SE work and throws light on a number of key measurement issues that seem under-appreciated at present in marketing and business research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use conceptual argument based on measurement theory and philosophy of science.

Findings

The authors find that Rossiter’s work makes a number of important points that are necessary in the current stage of development of marketing and social science. However, the authors also find that many of these points are also well made by fundamental measurement theories. When measurement theory is correctly interpreted, the idea of multiple measures of the same thing is not problematic. However, they show that existing social science measurement practice rarely takes account of the important issues at play here.

Practical implications

The authors show that marketing, management and social science researchers need to get better in terms of their appreciation of measurement theory and in their practices of measurement.

Originality/value

The authors identify a number of areas where marketing and social science measurement can be improved, taking account of the important aspects of C-OAR-SE and incorporating them in good practice, without needlessly avoiding existing good practices.
Safeguarding adults: from realism to ritual
Authors: Yoeli Heather , Lonbay Sarah P. , Morey Sarah , Pizycki Lara
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The landscape of adult social care, and in particular of adult safeguarding, has shifted considerably over the last decade. Alongside policy changes in the responses to adult abuse, there have been shifts in professional and public understanding of what falls within the remit of this area of work. This results, arguably, in differing understandings of how adult safeguarding is constructed and understood. Given the increasing emphasis on multi-agency inter-professional collaboration, service user involvement and lay advocacy, it is important to consider and reflect on how both professionals and lay people understand this area of work. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed Augusto Boal’s model of Forum Theatre to explore how a variety of professional and lay groups understood, related to and engaged with how the Care Act 2014 defines and describes “adult safeguarding”.

Findings

Lay participants responded to the scenario in a variety of ways, upholding the construct validity of “adult safeguarding” and the authority of the social worker. Social care and health practitioners sought orderly, professionalised and sometimes ritualistic solutions to the “adult safeguarding” scenario presented, seeking carefully to structure and to manage lay involvement. Inter-professional collaboration was often problematic. The role of lay advocates was regarded ambiguously and ambivalently.

Originality/value

This paper offers a number of practice and research recommendations. Safeguarding practitioners could benefit from more effective and reflexive inter-professional collaboration. Both practitioners and service users could benefit from the more thoughtful deployment of the lay advocates encouraged within the Care Act 2014 and associated guidance.
Convergence between direct and indirect real estate investments
Authors: Ekemode Benjamin Gbolahan , Olaleye Abel
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aimed to examine the return/risk performance of direct and indirect real estate (listed property stock) in the Nigerian real estate market and analyzed the short-term integration between the two classes of real estate assets. It also established whether investors could achieve diversification benefits by combining both assets in a portfolio.

Design/methodology/approach

The data utilized comprised annual returns on direct real estate calculated from the rental and capital values of 226 direct commercial properties obtained from property valuers in Lagos, Nigeria, for a period of January 1999-December 2014. The appraisal-based direct real estate returns were de-smoothed using the Geltner (1993) procedure. The annual returns of indirect real estate were also computed from the transactions of listed property stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the study period. The return-risk profiles were also broken down into short- and medium-term sub-periods, comprising 3, 5, 8 and 12 years to reflect the level of volatility in the market, whereas the nature of the short-term relationship between the two real estate assets classes was tested using Granger causality technique.

Findings

The results revealed that listed property stock performed better than unsmoothed direct real estate on a risk-adjusted performance basis. The performance profile, however, varies over the different sub-periods considered. Short-term integration analysis showed that there was no bidirectional relationship between direct and listed property stock, implying diversification and risk reduction possibilities in combining both assets with other asset classes in a domestic asset portfolio. Overall, the results confirm the findings of previous study that listed property stocks return is segmented from the direct real estate market upon which its pricing and trading in the stock market are based.

Practical implications

The conclusion of the study suggests that investors could achieve improved performance by investing in listed property stocks than direct real estate in the Nigerian real estate market. The inclusion of both assets in a domestic mixed-asset portfolio could also be expected to offer diversification and risk reduction benefits.

Originality/value

This is one of the few studies that examine the short-run integration between direct real estate and listed property stocks with a focus on an emerging African market.
Fincen requires financial institutions to obtain beneficial ownership information for legal entity customers
Authors: Sandoval Ignacio , Horn Charles , Hall Melissa
Published: November 2016

Purpose

To provide an overview of the legal entity customer due diligence rule recently adopted by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides an overview of the requirements of the legal entity customer due diligence rule as well as some observations regarding the scope of the rule, its interplay with other regulatory requirements, and some of the rule’s ambiguities.

Findings

While the preamble to the new rule suggests that FinCEN was attempting to accommodate industry concerns, the literal terms of the rule may have the opposite effect.

Practical implications

Although financial institutions will have until May 2018 to come into compliance with the rule’s requirements, they should begin developing the infrastructure to support compliance with the rule as soon as possible.

Originality/value

Practical insights into issues that financial institutions may encounter when implementing the rule’s requirements from experienced financial services lawyers.
New compliance guidance by SEC staff signals increased scrutiny of non-GAAP financial measures
Authors: Parrino Richard J.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This article examines compliance and disclosure interpretations issued by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2016 that provide guidance to SEC-reporting companies on how they can use financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in a manner that complies with SEC rules governing the presentation of non-GAAP measures in SEC filings and other public communications.

Design/methodology/approach

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the new interpretive guidance in the context of the increasing use of non-GAAP financial measures by SEC-reporting companies and the SEC’s concern that some companies have been using non-GAAP measures inappropriately to present a materially different picture of their operating performance than investors can discern from financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Findings

Although the appropriate use of non-GAAP financial measures can enhance investor understanding of a company’s business and operating results, a relatively permissive SEC attitude towards the use of non-GAAP measures in recent years has emboldened some companies to increase their reliance on non-GAAP measures in a manner the SEC views as inconsistent with its rules. The SEC staff’s new guidance signals a renewed focus by the SEC on compliance with its requirements concerning the nature of permissible non-GAAP measures and the ways in which companies should present those measures.

Originality/value

This article provides expert guidance on a major new SEC disclosure requirement from experienced securities lawyers.
A scoping review of care received by young people aged 16-25 when admitted to adult mental health hospital wards
Authors: Murcott William
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent, range and nature of literature concerning the mental health inpatient care of the young adult population (16-25 years) who have been admitted to adult mental health wards. This paper reports the findings and positions these in the context of the broader nature to adult inpatient care, evaluates the quality of the evidence and identify gaps in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an adapted scoping review methodology, allowing for a broad search but utilised established steps that allowed for a structured, rigorous approach to be used. CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, plus a secondary hand search were conducted resulting in eight papers, of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods papers.

Findings

Findings show admissions follow similar paths as to adults; admission reasons are largely unknown beyond simple descriptors; admission lengths are unknown whilst on adult wards; staff feel confident yet lack resources; young people feel the transition from CAMHS ward to adult ward can be beneficial if done sensitively; young people have positive experiences of adult wards, including factors that may not be present on CAMHS wards, e.g. role modelling by older patients; young people feel scared and vulnerable, including when excluded from decision making; however, involving young people can cause stress and be confusing if not done sensitively.

Research limitations/implications

The scoping review identified a limited amount of research evidence for the care of young people admitted to adult wards. The research methods used in these papers were varied and none was of a high-quality standard. All studies contained methodological gaps which detract significantly from their findings and conclusions. The studies go some way to fill the gaps in knowledge and evidence base for this group, although in doing this scoping review was to unearth more gaps in knowledge.

Originality/value

This scoping review collates findings from the literature regarding young people’s admissions to adult mental health wards. This sensitive and controversial area of mental health care is shown to be lacking in high-quality research. Young people are being admitted to adult wards in increasing numbers year on year in the UK, yet little research has been conducted to identify when and where treatment has been appropriate. This review provides a start to understanding what is known about admission and treatment for this group and what is not known so that these gaps may be investigated in future research.
Synthesis and grafting of carboxymethyl cellulose from environmental pollutant cellulosic wastes of textile industry
Authors: Mondal Md. Ibrahim H. , Ahmed Firoz
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This study aims to explore the use of knitted rag by synthesizing different grades of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) by applying multiple-step carboxymethylation techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

CMC was synthesized from knitted rag, a cellulosic waste of textile and garment industries, in aqueous ethanolic sodium hydroxide and subsequently mono-chloroacetic acid reaction medium. Low-substituted to high-substituted products were obtained from single-step to seven-step carboxymethylation of cellulose. In this way, it was possible to produce low-cost and different grades of substituted carboxymethylated cellulose. The synthesized CMC was characterized, and their physical properties were investigated. The structure of CMC and grafted CMC were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Findings

Solubility, CMC content, degree of substitution and molecular weight of CMC were increased gradually with the increase in the number of reaction steps, although fourth step attained the optimum. The cellulosic waste of knitted rag can easily be used to produce value-added products such as CMC and other cellulose derivatives, and that will ultimately reduce the pollution problems from this waste.

Originality/value

Grafting of prepared CMC film with methyl methacrylate monomer increased their strength, although decreased rigidity and moisture content because the incorporation of hydrophobic methyl methacrylate monomer was observed.
Library instruction and information literacy 2015
Authors: Reynolds Latisha , McClellan Samantha , Finley Susan , Martinez George , Linares Rosalinda Hernandez
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight recent resources on information literacy (IL) and library instruction, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and IL published in 2015.

Findings

This paper provides information about each source, describes the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain either unique or significant scholarly contributions.

Originality/value

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and IL.
Benefits of providing Weingarten rights for nonunion employees
Authors: Abraham Steven
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Unionized employees have the legal right to bring a union representative with them into an investigatory interview if they request it (“Weingarten rights”). This study aims to demonstrate that employers should allow nonunion employees the right to have a co-employee accompany them in a similar type of interview, if the employees make that request.

Design/methodology/approach

Not applicable.

Findings

There will be two benefits to allowing nonunion employees the right to bring a co-employee into an investigatory interview with them. First, this will be a form of organizational justice, and researchers demonstrated the benefits of employees perceiving that they receive organizational justice. Secondly, this will be a form of union substitution which should reduce employees’ desire for unionization.

Originality/value

Whereas most employers seek to avoid the application of Weingarten rights in nonunion workplaces, this article argues that organizations should grant employees this right voluntarily.
Tailoring your benefits strategy for an aging workforce and why it’s good for business
Authors: Frend Andrew
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to help human resources professionals tailor their benefits strategies to accommodate, recruit and maintain an experienced, talented, aging workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

Findings are based on the author’s professional experience in the employee benefits industry and recently published research from the Society for Human Resource Management and other industry and government sources.

Findings

By effectively tailoring benefits packages for their employees, companies can retain their older workers and capitalize on their knowledge and experience in ways that benefit their works and the business’ financial bottom line.

Originality/value

Individuals aged 55 and older will continue to comprise a significant portion of the workforce for the foreseeable future. This paper describes several strategies that companies can use to address the unique needs and challenges these workers face to benefit from their valuable skills and expertise.
Sydney Finkelstein: what makes a “superboss” super?
Authors: Leavy Brian
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Strategy and leadership guru, Sydney Finkelstein believes that “regenerating the talent pool is the single most important thing that any leader can do” to help his or her organization to “survive and prosper.” His new book, Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent (Harvard Business Review Press, 2016), studies “those few individuals” in any given industry who “grow human capital better than anyone else.”

Design/methodology/approach

Strategy & Leadership contributing editor Brian Leavy asks Prof. Finkelstein what can managers learn from these exceptional talent developers that might be more widely emulated?

Findings

According to Prof. Finkelstein, “The superboss playbook is not about being nice or empathic. It’s about giving proteges the motivation, guidance, wisdom, creative licence, and other elements they need to learn and grow”

Practical implications

Prof. Finkelstein notes, “While many businesses today focus on getting closer to the customer, superbosses are very much focused on getting closer to their employees or team members.”

Originality/value

Prof. Finkelstein asserts, “Superbosses have cracked the code on how to make organizations work better by designing a playbook that helps people accomplish more than they ever thought possible in their careers, or their lives. By studying the superbosses and what they do, we now know how genuinely unusual talent comes to populate an organization.?
Lateral gene transfer of p‐cresol‐ and indole‐producing enzymes from environmental bacteria to Mastigamoeba balamuthi
Authors: Nývltová Eva , Šut'ák Robert , Žárský Vojtěch , Harant Karel , Hrdý Ivan , Tachezy Jan
Published: November 2016

p‐Cresol and indole are volatile biologically active products of the bacterial degradation of tyrosine and tryptophan respectively. They are typically produced by bacteria in animal intestines, soil and various sediments. Here, we demonstrate that the free‐living eukaryote Mastigamoeba balamuthi and its pathogenic relative Entamoeba histolytica produce significant amounts of indole via tryptophanase activity. Unexpectedly, M. balamuthi also produces p‐cresol in concentrations that are bacteriostatic to non‐p‐cresol‐producing bacteria. The ability of M. balamuthi to produce p‐cresol, which has not previously been observed in any eukaryotic microbe, was gained due to the lateral acquisition of a bacterial gene for 4‐hydroxyphenylacetate decarboxylase (HPAD). In bacteria, the genes for HPAD and the S‐adenosylmethionine‐dependent activating enzyme (AE) are present in a common operon. In M. balamuthi, HPAD displays a unique fusion with the AE that suggests the operon‐mediated transfer of genes from a bacterial donor. We also clarified that the tyrosine‐to‐4‐hydroxyphenylacetate conversion proceeds via the Ehrlich pathway. The acquisition of the bacterial HPAD gene may provide M. balamuthi a competitive advantage over other microflora in its native habitat.