bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Growth and nucleation regimes in boron doped silicon by dynamical x-ray diffraction
Authors: Will J. , Gröschel A. , Bergmann C. , Weißer M. , Magerl A.
Published: September 2014

The oxygen precipitation of highly (17.5 mΩ cm) and moderately (4.5 Ω cm) boron (B) doped silicon (Si) crystals at 780 °C is investigated by following in-situ the evolution of diffraction Pendellösung oscillations. All samples show an initial diffusion-driven growth process which may change over into Ostwald ripening. For the highly doped sample and involving a nucleation step at 450 °C for 30 h, the precipitate density ρ is enhanced by a factor of 8 as compared to the moderately doped sample. The influence of a high B concentration on ρ is dramatically higher for the samples directly heated to 780 °C, where an enhancement factor of 80 is found. Considering Ostwald ripening as a second growth regime reveals consistent ripening rates and surface energies σ with those found at 900 °C in a previous publication.
Social Interaction Potential and the Spatial Distribution of Face-to-Face Social Interactions
Authors: Farber Steven , Neutens Tijs , Carrasco Juan-Antonio , Rojas Carolina
Published: September 2014

This paper investigates the spatial distribution of social activity locations. The research makes use of a social interaction potential (SIP) metric to estimate the potential for an individual to participate in a face-to-face social activity at any particular location in the city. The metric is shown to constitute a contact probability field that is sensitive to time-geographic constraints such as home locations, workplaces, and travel times. Empirical case studies drawn from samples in Ghent, Belgium and Concepción, Chile are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the SIP metric in assigning high potential scores to observed social activity episodes. Moreover, a regression model is used to estimate the marginal benefit of using successive levels of constraint detail. The results illustrate both positive and negative aspects of the SIP metric. The metric behaves very well in general; 75% of the time an observed activity location received a score in the 25th percentile. However, lower valued scores were more common in cases when the time-geographic constraints were not very strong (ie, when the commute duration was short), or when activities took place in the homes of the respondents. In the end, the results are a step towards validating the regional scale SIP metric and indicate that it may be useful in microsimulation models of daily travel and activity participation.
Identification of long-lived proteins retained in cells undergoing repeated asymmetric divisions
Authors: Thayer Nathaniel H. , Leverich Christina K. , Fitzgibbon Matthew P. , Nelson Zara W. , Henderson Kiersten A. , Gafken Philip R. , Hsu Jessica J. , Gottschling Daniel E.
Published: September 2014

Significance

Long-lived proteins in extracellular spaces (joints/tissues) or within specialized nondividing cells (eye-lens) are associated with age-related decline. However, aging also occurs in dividing stem cells. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain how stem cells age, none have addressed whether long-lived proteins contribute to aging, partially because of technical challenges in identifying such proteins. We developed a method to overcome these limitations in the model system
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
. We identified two classes of long-lived asymmetrically retained proteins (LARPs). Full-length LARPs remain intact throughout the mother cell lifespan and accumulate in abundance or become posttranslationally modified. Fragmented LARPs are original proteins that are partially degraded, yet retained by the mother cell during aging. We speculate that LARPs contribute to the aging process.
Instream Habitat Restoration and Stream Temperature Reduction in a Whirling Disease‐Positive Spring Creek in the Blackfoot River Basin, Montana
Authors: Pierce Ron , Podner Craig , Marczak Laurie , Jones Leslie
Published: September 2014

Anthropogenic warming of stream temperature and the presence of exotic diseases such as whirling disease are both contemporary threats to coldwater salmonids across western North America. We examined stream temperature reduction over a 15‐year prerestoration and postrestoration period and the severity of Myxobolus cerebralis infection (agent of whirling disease) over a 7‐year prerestoration and postrestoration period in Kleinschmidt Creek, a fully reconstructed spring creek in the Blackfoot River basin of western Montana. Stream restoration increased channel length by 36% and reduced the wetted surface area by 69% by narrowing and renaturalizing the channel. Following channel restoration, average maximum daily summer stream temperatures decreased from 15.7°C to 12.5°C, average daily temperature decreased from 11.2°C to 10.0°C, and the range of daily temperatures narrowed by 3.3°C. Despite large changes in channel morphology and reductions in summer stream temperature, the prevalence and severity of M. cerebralis infection for hatchery Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss remained high (98–100% test fish with grade > 3 infection) versus minimal for hatchery Brown Trout Salmo trutta (2% of test fish with grade‐1 infection). This study shows channel renaturalization can reduce summer stream temperatures in small low‐elevation, groundwater‐dominated streams in the Blackfoot basin to levels more suitable to native trout. However, because of continuous high infections associated with groundwater‐dominated systems, the restoration of Kleinschmidt Creek favors brown trout Salmo trutta given their innate resistance to the parasite and the higher relative susceptibility of other salmonids.

Received February 3, 2014; accepted May 3, 2014
Growth and Survival of Apache Trout Under Static and Fluctuating Temperature Regimes
Authors: Recsetar Matthew S. , Bonar Scott A. , Feuerbacher Olin G.
Published: September 2014

Increasing stream temperatures have important implications for arid‐region fishes. Little is known about effects of high water temperatures that fluctuate over extended periods on Apache Trout Oncorhynchus gilae apache, a federally threatened species of southwestern USA streams. We compared survival and growth of juvenile Apache Trout held for 30 d in static temperatures (16, 19, 22, 25, and 28°C) and fluctuating diel temperatures (±3°C from 16, 19, 22 and 25°C midpoints and ±6°C from 19°C and 22°C midpoints). Lethal temperature for 50% (LT50) of the Apache Trout under static temperatures (mean [SD] = 22.8 [0.6]°C) was similar to that of ±3°C diel temperature fluctuations (23.1 [0.1]°C). Mean LT50 for the midpoint of the ±6°C fluctuations could not be calculated because survival in the two treatments (19 ± 6°C and 22 ± 6°C) was not below 50%; however, it probably was also between 22°C and 25°C because the upper limb of a ±6°C fluctuation on a 25°C midpoint is above critical thermal maximum for Apache Trout (28.5–30.4°C). Growth decreased as temperatures approached the LT50. Apache Trout can survive short‐term exposure to water temperatures with daily maxima that remain below 25°C and midpoint diel temperatures below 22°C. However, median summer stream temperatures must remain below 19°C for best growth and even lower if daily fluctuations are high (≥12°C).

Received June 26, 2013; accepted May 19, 2014
Effects of Temperature on Age‐0 Atlantic Menhaden Growth in Chesapeake Bay
Authors: Humphrey Jennifer , Wilberg Michael J. , Houde Edward D. , Fabrizio Mary C.
Published: September 2014

Atlantic Menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus is an economically and ecologically important forage fish in the western Atlantic Ocean. In the Chesapeake Bay, its recruitment has been low since the late 1980s, prompting questions on how environmental factors may affect its productivity. Growth is an important component of production, but causes of spatial and temporal variability in growth of age‐0 Atlantic Menhaden are not fully understood. Our objective was to quantify the effect of temperature on spatial and temporal variability in growth of age‐0 Atlantic Menhaden in Chesapeake Bay. We analyzed data on mean length and temperature for years 1962–2011 from nine regions of Chesapeake Bay. We developed a linear model that relates mean total length of Atlantic Menhaden to cumulative growing degree‐days (GDDs) in Chesapeake Bay and validated the model using data that were withheld from the initial parameter estimation. The temperature threshold that best described variability in growth was 14°C, a temperature substantially higher than the physiological threshold for growth. The GDD model explained almost 80% of the variability in mean length over time (within and among years) and among regions. In a model validation exercise, it accurately predicted mean length in tributary subregions of the bay not included in the original model fitting. The GDD model requires only temperature data to effectively predict growth, making it simpler to apply than models requiring more complex approaches.

Received August 22, 2013; accepted May 30, 2014
What is reliance?
Authors: Alonso Facundo M.
Published: September 2014

In this article I attempt to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about reliance in a systematic way. I argue that reliance is a cognitive attitude that has a tighter connection to the guidance of our thought and action than ordinary belief does. My main thesis is that reliance has a ‘constitutive aim’: namely, it aims at guiding our thought and action in a way that is sensible from the standpoint of practical or theoretical ends. This helps explain why reliance is, in contrast to belief, typically formed and revised in response to pragmatic considerations.
Internal and external
Authors: Beitz Charles R.
Published: September 2014

James's Fairness in Trade seeks to offer an account of fair trade that is “internal” to an existing practice he describes as “mutual market reliance.” This paper distinguishes several senses of the distinction between “internal” and “external” that occur in the book and asks how, in its various senses, the distinction shapes and influences judgments about the fairness of the practice.
Development of a Multiplex Assay to Measure the Effects of Shipping and Storage Conditions on the Quality of RNA Used in Molecular Assays for Detection of Viral Haemorrhagic Septicemia Virus
Authors: Siah A. , Duesund H. , Frisch K. , Nylund A. , McKenzie P. , Saksida S.
Published: September 2014

In routine diagnostics, real-time reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) has become a powerful method for fish health screening. Collection, transportation, and storage conditions of specimens could dramatically affect their integrity and could consequently affect RT-qPCR test results. In this study, to assess the expression profile of elongation factor 1 alpha (ELF-1α) gene, head kidney (HK) tissues from Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar were exposed at room temperature, 4°C, −20°C, and −80°C as well as in 70% ethanol for 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h. Data showed a significant increase of RT-qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values for ELF-1α ranging from 14.7 to 26.5 cycles for tissues exposed to room temperature. In order to mimic the sample transportation conditions, different temperatures of storage were used and tissue quality was evaluated using ELF-1α gene expression. Data showed that Ct values for ELF-1α increased significantly when the tissues were transported on ice for 2 h, stored at −20°C, thawed on ice for 6 h, and stored again at −80°C. The HK tissues collected from Atlantic Salmon challenged with viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) through intraperitoneal injection were exposed at room temperature for 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. Data showed a good correlation of values for ELF-1α and VHSV Ct although the ELF-1α mRNA of the host degraded faster than the RNA of VHSV. Based on these data, HK tissues could be transported on ice or ice packs without the quality of the tissue being affected when stored at −80°C upon arrival at the laboratory. In addition, 70% ethanol could be used as a preservative for long-distance transportation. For an efficient diagnostic test, a duplex VHSV–ELF-1α was developed and optimized. Data showed that the sensitivity of the duplex assay for VHSV was similar to the singleplex.

Received November 25, 2013; accepted February 14, 2014
Histopathologic Changes in Disease-Resistant-Line and Disease-Susceptible-Line Juvenile Rainbow Trout Experimentally Infected with Flavobacterium psychrophilum
Authors: Marancik David P. , Leeds Timothy D. , Wiens Gregory D.
Published: September 2014

A challenge to selectively breeding fish populations for improved disease resistance in aquaculture is an incomplete understanding of how artificial selection affects innate immunity at the host–pathogen level. The objective of this study was to determine whether Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss bred for differential susceptibility to bacterial cold-water disease exhibited altered tissue damage and cellular inflammatory response following experimental challenge with Flavobacterium psychrophilum. Fish from disease-resistant (ARS-Fp-R) and disease-susceptible (ARS-Fp-S) lines were experimentally challenged as juveniles, and mortalities, as well as survivors, were sampled for histopathology during the acute phase of the disease. Microscopic lesions were quantified or semiquantified and statistically compared for changes over time and between genetic lines. Significant progression in the degree of perisplenitis, splenic necrosis, splenic inflammatory infiltrates, average splenic ellipsoid area, total splenic ellipsoid area, and peritonitis was present over time in both genetic lines on at least one postinfection time point. No differences were found between renal inflammatory infiltrates and renal hematopoietic cell depletion over time. Perisplenitis was significantly lower in fish from the ARS-Fp-R line on day 9 postinfection than in fish from the ARS-Fp-S line. The ARS-Fp-R line demonstrated a trend towards reduced splenic necrosis compared with the ARS-Fp-S line that approached significance, and fish from the ARS-Fp-S line were 3.6 times more likely than fish from the ARS-Fp-R line to have a higher splenic necrosis lesion score after day 3 postinfection. These findings support the hypothesis that differential survival is a result of divergence in disease magnitude and not altered disease course between genetic lines. Characterization of histopathologic changes between genetic lines and over time helps elucidate mechanisms of disease resistance and contributes to our understanding of disease pathogenesis in fish infected with F. psychrophilum.

Received January 7, 2014; accepted March 10, 2014
Heart rate variability to assess ventilatory threshold in ski‐mountaineering
Authors: Cassirame Johan , Tordi Nicolas , Fabre Nicolas , Duc Sébastien , Durand Fabienne , Mourot Laurent
Published: September 2014

The capacity to predict the heart rate (HR) and speed at the first (VT1) and second (VT2) ventilatory thresholds was evaluated during an incremental ski‐mountaineering test using heart rate variability (HRV). Nine skiers performed a field test to exhaustion on an alpine skiing track. VT1 and VT2 were individually determined by visual analysis from gas exchanges (VT1V and VT2V) and time‐varying spectral HRV analysis (VT1fH, VT2fH and VT2H). VT1 could not be determined with the HRV methods used. On the contrary, the VT2 was determined in all skiers. No significant difference between HR and speed at VT2H and VT2V was observed (174.3 ± 5.6 vs. 174.3 ± 5.3 bpm, and 6.3 ± 0.9 and 6.3 ± 0.9 km h–1, respectively). Strong correlations were obtained for HR (r = 0.91) and speed (r = 0.92) at VT2H and VT2V with small limits of agreement (±3.6 bpm for HR). Our results indicated that HRV enables determination of HR and speed at VT2 during a specific ski‐mountaineering incremental test. These findings provide practical applications for skiers in order to evaluate and control specific training loads, at least when referring to VT2.
Asymmetric Information and Profit Taking in Crop Insurance
Authors: Walters Cory G. , Shumway C. Richard , Chouinard Hayley H. , Wandschneider Philip R.
Published: September 2014

Excess returns to producers insured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation can arise due to asymmetric information or from the design of the insurance programs themselves. Using unique, unit‐level crop insurance contract data for major crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat in five growing regions, we find evidence that producers in most regions may profit by selecting optional units, buy‐up coverage, or by using transitional yields to participate in the federal crop insurance program. We also find evidence that advantages increase with land resource heterogeneity. However, the results do not support hypotheses that producers profit by selecting revenue insurance, nor that high levels of government “incompetence” exist in the design and administration of the crop insurance system.
Using the gonadosomatic index to estimate the maturity ogive: application to Chilean hake (Merluccius gayi gayi)
Authors: Flores Andrés , Wiff Rodrigo , Díaz Eduardo
Published: September 2014

The proportion of mature fish at age or length is one of the most important population attributes in assessing reproductive potential. This proportion is usually named the maturity ogive. The most crucial step in estimating this proportion deals with maturity staging assessed by macroscopic or histology analysis. Macroscopic analysis is relatively inexpensive but usually introduces large amount of error. Histology is the most accurate method for maturity staging but is expensive and time consuming. Here, we propose using the gonadosomatic index (GSI) as an alternative way to estimate the maturity ogives. A logistic multinomial model was implemented to separate immature, mature-active, and mature-inactive fish, based only on their value of GSI. We evaluated the performance of the GSI-based method by comparing the results with ogives estimated from macroscopic and histological staging using the extensive database available for Chilean hake (Merluccius gayi gayi). Maturity ogives from GSI analysis were evaluated at the start and end of the reproductive season. Results showed that, in all cases analysed, maturity ogives from GSI were closer to the ogives based on histology than those from macroscopic staging. Comparing across periods, those maturity ogives computed at the start of the reproductive season give estimates very similar to those from histological staging. To have unbiased estimates of maturity ogives from GSI analysis, we recommend using data from the start of the reproductive season to minimise the frequency of spent fish. In addition, the assumption of the isometry between gonad and gutted weight across maturity stages needs to be tested before the use of this GSI method. The analyses presented here provide a promising method to estimate maturity ogives when histological staging data are lacking or when macroscopic analysis is suspected to have large amounts of errors.
Disk dissipation timescale of pre-main sequence stars in Taurus
Authors: Takagi Yuhei , Itoh Yoichi , Oasa Yumiko
Published: September 2014

We present the results of an age determination study of pre-main sequence stars in the Taurus star-forming region. The ages of 10 single stars with masses of 0.5–1.1 M⊙ were derived from the surface gravities, estimated from high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy. The equivalent width ratios of nearby absorption line pairs were employed for the surface gravity diagnostic, which directly reflects the parameters of the stellar atmosphere without any veiling correction. From a comparison of determined ages and near-infrared color excesses such as J − H, J − K, and J − L, the inner disk lifetime of the young stars with 0.5–1.1 M⊙ in Taurus is estimated to be 3–4 Myr.
Overview of Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring During Spine Surgery
Authors: Shilian Parastou , Zada Gabriel , Kim Aaron C. , Gonzalez Andres A.
Published: September 2014

Intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring has had major advances in the past few decades. During spine surgery, the use of multimodality monitoring enables us to assess the integrity of the spinal cord, nerve roots, and peripheral nerves. The authors present a practical approach to the current modalities in use during spine surgery, including somatosensory evoked potentials, motor evoked potentials, spinal D-waves, and free-run and triggered electromyography. Understanding the complementary nature of these modalities will help tailor monitoring to a particular procedure to minimize postoperative neurologic deficit during spine surgery.
Quantifying the underlying landscape and paths of cancer
Authors: Li Chunhe , Wang Jin
Published: September 2014

Cancer is a disease regulated by the underlying gene networks. The emergence of normal and cancer states as well as the transformation between them can be thought of as a result of the gene network interactions and associated changes. We developed a global potential landscape and path framework to quantify cancer and associated processes. We constructed a cancer gene regulatory network based on the experimental evidences and uncovered the underlying landscape. The resulting tristable landscape characterizes important biological states: normal, cancer and apoptosis. The landscape topography in terms of barrier heights between stable state attractors quantifies the global stability of the cancer network system. We propose two mechanisms of cancerization: one is by the changes of landscape topography through the changes in regulation strengths of the gene networks. The other is by the fluctuations that help the system to go over the critical barrier at fixed landscape topography. The kinetic paths from least action principle quantify the transition processes among normal state, cancer state and apoptosis state. The kinetic rates provide the quantification of transition speeds among normal, cancer and apoptosis attractors. By the global sensitivity analysis of the gene network parameters on the landscape topography, we uncovered some key gene regulations determining the transitions between cancer and normal states. This can be used to guide the design of new anti-cancer tactics, through cocktail strategy of targeting multiple key regulation links simultaneously, for preventing cancer occurrence or transforming the early cancer state back to normal state.
A tale of oblivion: Ida Noddack and the ‘universal abundance’ of matter
Authors: Santos Gildo Magalhães
Published: September 2014

Ida Noddack was a German chemist who in 1925, with her husband Walter Noddack, discovered element 75 (rhenium) and possibly element 43 (technetium). She is also known to have anticipated, by nine years, the possibility of nuclear fission. This article focuses on Ida's hypothesis that all elements are present in any mineral. Ida related the relative abundance of the elements in the Universe to hypothetical properties of the atomic nuclei. This allowed her to speculate about a different Periodic Table in which isotopes might be the cause of unexpected features of periodicity. Ida Noddack faced many professional obstacles because of her scientific nonconformity and gender, the resentment of physicists against intrusion in their field, and the overall difficulty of research under and after the Nazi regime.
Opposite risk patterns for autism and schizophrenia are associated with normal variation in birth size: phenotypic support for hypothesized diametric gene-dosage effects
Authors: Byars Sean G. , Stearns Stephen C. , Boomsma Jacobus J.
Published: September 2014

Opposite phenotypic and behavioural traits associated with copy number variation and disruptions to imprinted genes with parent-of-origin effects have led to the hypothesis that autism and schizophrenia share molecular risk factors and pathogenic mechanisms, but a direct phenotypic comparison of how their risks covary has not been attempted. Here, we use health registry data collected on Denmark's roughly 5 million residents between 1978 and 2009 to detect opposing risks of autism and schizophrenia depending on normal variation (mean ± 1 s.d.) in adjusted birth size, which we use as a proxy for diametric gene-dosage variation
in utero
. Above-average-sized babies (weight, 3691–4090 g; length, 52.8–54.3 cm) had significantly higher risk for autism spectrum (AS) and significantly lower risk for schizophrenia spectrum (SS) disorders. By contrast, below-average-sized babies (2891–3290 g; 49.7–51.2 cm) had significantly lower risk for AS and significantly higher risk for SS disorders. This is the first study directly comparing autism and schizophrenia risks in the same population, and provides the first large-scale empirical support for the hypothesis that diametric gene-dosage effects contribute to these disorders. Only the kinship theory of genomic imprinting predicts the opposing risk patterns that we discovered, suggesting that molecular research on mental disease risk would benefit from considering evolutionary theory.
Conserved patterns of incomplete reporting in pre-vaccine era childhood diseases
Authors: Gunning Christian E. , Erhardt Erik , Wearing Helen J.
Published: September 2014

Incomplete observation is an important yet often neglected feature of observational ecological timeseries. In particular, observational case report timeseries of childhood diseases have played an important role in the formulation of mechanistic dynamical models of populations and metapopulations. Yet to our knowledge, no comprehensive study of childhood disease reporting probabilities (commonly referred to as reporting rates) has been conducted to date. Here, we provide a detailed analysis of measles and whooping cough reporting probabilities in pre-vaccine United States cities and states, as well as measles in cities of England and Wales. Overall, we find the variability between locations and diseases greatly exceeds that between methods or time periods. We demonstrate a strong relationship within location between diseases and within disease between geographical areas. In addition, we find that demographic covariates such as ethnic composition and school attendance explain a non-trivial proportion of reporting probability variation. Overall, our findings show that disease reporting is both variable and non-random and that completeness of reporting is influenced by disease identity, geography and socioeconomic factors. We suggest that variations in incomplete observation can be accounted for and that doing so can reveal ecologically important features that are otherwise obscured.
Paternal care in a fish: epigenetics and fitness enhancing effects on offspring anxiety
Authors: McGhee Katie E. , Bell Alison M.
Published: September 2014

In many animals, including humans, interactions with caring parents can have long-lasting effects on offspring sensitivity to stressors. However, whether these parental effects impact offspring fitness in nature is often unclear. In addition, despite evidence that maternal care can influence offspring behaviour via epigenetic alterations to the genome, it remains unclear whether paternal care has similar effects. Here, we show in three-spined sticklebacks, a fish in which fathers are the sole provider of offspring care, that the direct care provided by fathers affects offspring anxiety and the potential for epigenetic alterations to the offspring genome. We find that families are differentially vulnerable to early stress and fathers can compensate for this differential sensitivity with the quality of their care. This variation in paternal care is also linked to the expression in offspring brains of a DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt3a) responsible for de novo methylation. We show that these paternal effects are potentially adaptive and anxious offspring are unlikely to survive an encounter with a predator. By supplying offspring care, fathers reduce offspring anxiety thereby increasing the survival of their offspring—not in the traditional sense through resource provisioning but through an epigenetic effect on offspring behavioural development.
Structural aspects of intermolecular interactions in the solid state of 1,4-dibenzylpiperazines bearing nitrile or amidine groups
Authors: Rezler Mateusz , Żołek Teresa , Wolska Irena , Maciejewska Dorota
Published: September 2014

The crystal structures of the title 1,4-bis(4-cyanobenzyl)piperazine (1) and 1,4-bis(4-amidinobenzyl)piperazine tetrahydrochloride tetrahydrate (2) are reported. Compound (1) crystallizes in the triclinic space group P\bar 1 and compound (2) in the monoclinic space groupP21/n. In both (1) and (2) the asymmetric unit contains one half of the molecule because the central piperazine rings were located across a symmetry center. The packing of both molecules was dominated by hydrogen bonds. The crystal lattice of (1) was formed by weak C—H...N and C—H...π interactions. The crystal structure of (2) was completely different, with cations as well as chloride anions and water molecules taking part in intermolecular interactions. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations allowed the characterization of the intermolecular interactions in those two systems having different types of very strong electrophilic groups: non-ionic nitrile and ionic amidine. Chemical shift data from13C CP/MAS (Cross Polarization Magic Angle Spinning) NMR spectra were analyzed using the different procedures for the theoretical computation of shielding constants.
HIV/AIDS in Lebanese prisons: challenges and proposed actions
Authors: Ammar Diala , Cordova Alberto
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the extent of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) crisis in Lebanese prisons, propose functional reforms for Roumieh prisons (the country's largest male top-security prison), and outline the main challenges to HIV/AIDS prevention, intervention, and treatment.

Design/methodology/approach

– All recommendations were based on previous successful stories, international prison standards as well as cultural considerations.

Findings

– This paper argues that prevention and interventions starts within the prison community including inmates, guards, and other prison and provision of appropriate health care, education, and prison infrastructure.

Social implications

– These strategies are not only important in limiting prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS, but also contribute in optimizing quality of life within the prison system.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first of its kind to discuss the prison situation in Lebanese prisons in terms of public health promotion and reforms.
“Seek, test, treat and retain” for hepatitis C in the United States criminal justice system
Authors: Larney Sarah , G. Beckwith Curt , D. Zaller Nickolas , T. Montague Brian , Rich Josiah
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential benefits and challenges of applying a strategy of “seek, test, treat and retain” (STTR) to hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the US criminal justice system.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors draw on the published literature to illustrate how each component of STTR could be applied to HCV in the US criminal justice system, and describe challenges to the implementation of this strategy.

Findings

– The burden of morbidity and mortality associated with chronic HCV infection in the USA is increasing and without significantly increased treatment uptake, will likely continue to do so for several decades. The authors argue that the US criminal justice system is an ideal focus for HCV case finding and treatment due to a high prevalence of infection and large volume of individuals in contact with this system. STTR would identify large numbers of HCV infections, leading to opportunities for secondary prevention and primary care. Important challenges to the implementation of STTR include treatment costs and training of prison medical providers.

Originality/value

– This paper highlights opportunities to address HCV in the US criminal justice system.
Managing information for collaborative networks
Authors: Durugbo Christopher
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the orientations of collaborative networks (CNs) for managing integrated information flow. It seeks to analyse and shed light into the main priorities of firms for sharing and coordinating information with CN partners. These priorities are needed to enhance practices to trade-off and integrate flows where appropriate for maximising profits and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this study, inductive multiple-case logic is applied to research how six industrial firms manage integrated information flow in relation to their collaborative networked organisations (CNOs). Guided by an interpretivism epistemology, 22 face-to-face and 13 telephonic semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 key informants in six industrial firms. Interview data were analysed in line with the research agenda to understand orientations for integrated information flow.

Findings

– The research finds that CN management is enhanced when flow integration for industrial firms is skill, project, agreement and relationship oriented. The investigation also finds that CNO flow integration could be enhanced when industrial firms confront and prioritise schemes for fluidity prevention, systematised templates, procedural prompts, implementation checklists, confidence building, issuance policies and concern separation.

Originality/value

– The major contribution of this paper is an exposition on priorities for integrated information flow within CNs. It also offers insights that suggest industrial firms can boost the performance of their CNOs by: working in small knit highly skilled teams, tactically implementing manufacturability and marketability programmes, strategising their production contracts and strengthening their company-customer-supplier ties.
Innovation with IS usage: individual absorptive capacity as a mediator
Authors: Wang Weiwei , Liu Luning , Feng Yuqiang , Wang Tienan
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– After information systems (IS) implementation, many organizations report that system underutilization causes the failure to meet expected IS investment returns. It is imperative to understand the way to leverage employees’ fullest potential in the IS usage. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Anchoring on absorptive capacity (ACAP) theory, the authors develop an employee innovation model. Using survey data and structural equation modeling, this research investigates how perceived organizational levers affect innovation with IS usage (INVU) by introducing individual ACAP as a mediator.

Findings

– The authors find general support for the research model through a survey of 205 employees using SAP business intelligence systems in China. The empirical data shows that three interrelated components of individual ACAP significantly contribute to INVU. The findings also suggest that, both fairness of reward and job autonomy are key organizational levers for the utility of individual ACAP. Furthermore, their effects on INVU can be fully mediated by individual ACAP.

Originality/value

– The authors empirically unpack and validate individual ACAP in IS innovation situation. The findings provide academics and practitioners with an understanding of how management can inspire employees’ potential in implemented system innovation.
Integration and consistency between web and mobile services
Authors: Yang Shuiqing , Wang Yan , Wei June
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– Attracted by tremendous market opportunities of mobile business, many web services providers have started to expand their web services from traditional PC-based environment into the mobile-based environment. However, success in the web services cannot guarantee the success in the mobile services. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that influence consumer evaluation and use of mobile shopping services in a web-mobile service extension context.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on categorization theory, this paper focusses on the role of integration and consistency between web and mobile services. A research model was created and empirically tested on data collected from 298 mobile shopping users in China.

Findings

– The structural equation modeling analysis indicates that evaluation of source (web service quality) positively affect evaluation of target (perceived mobile service quality and flow in mobile services). The study also found that the relationships between source and target (perceived integration and perceived consistency) play an important role in determining evaluation of the target, which in turn shapes intention to use mobile services.

Research limitations/implications

– The survey is based on mobile shopping consumers. Caution is required in any effort to generalize the findings to other research contexts. Factors influencing a consumer's extension or adoption decisions in regard to different mobile services may not be the same, or the degree of influence may differ. Continued studies can test and compare our findings in different mobile services contexts.

Practical implications

– The results of the findings provide specific methods for managing the process of web-mobile service extension. The results also indicate the importance of perceived consistency in shaping consumers’ evaluation of the extended mobile services in practical environments.

Originality/value

– The present study extends the categorization theory to a multi-channel context and examines mobile services adoption from a cross-environment perspective. It considers evaluation of source, evaluation of target, and the relationships between source and target, which enriches the innovation adoption literature by providing a holistic insight into the evaluation and use of mobile services.
Push-pull factors of E-Learning in the hotel industry
Authors: Wang Ray , Lin Yuanhsu
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to adopt the Multi-Theme Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory to explore the push and pull factors for the usage of E-learning.

Design/methodology/approach

– The framework was developed from a review and synthesis of the literature. More specifically, gaps in the literature were identified and a push/pull factor for E-learning in hotel industry was investigated.

Findings

– This paper clarify the pull or push factors with the help of research conclusions and have a more direct and effective influence on the usage of E-learning for the employees of the hotel industry.

Research limitations/implications

– This study can serve as a foundation for future research in E-learning for the employees of the hotel industry. More specifically, expects to distinguish whether or not it is the push factor or the pull factor that has a more direct and effective influence on the utilization, which is an important contribution.

Practical implications

– The study evaluate pull or push factors affect learners and what is the degree of mutual influence regarding the interaction between each pull or push factor. Considerations and guidelines for hotel industry to improve E-learning applications are provided.

Originality/value

– To clarify the pull or push factors with the help of research conclusions and have a more direct and effective influence on the usage of E-learning for the employees of the hotel industry. Meanwhile, verify the process of E-learning whether or not self-regulated learning (SRL) will affect learners or how SRL affects learners.
Investigating multi-player online video games for brain-injured people
Authors: Colman Jason , Briggs Jim , Turner Louise , Good Alice
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report a pilot experiment to test if multi-player online video games could provide a measurable cognitive therapeutic benefit for brain-injured people.

Design/methodology/approach

– Single-subject research design with n=3 brain-injured participants. Four alternating intervention and non-intervention weeks. Battery of cognitive tests taken at the start of the experiment and at the end of each week.

Findings

– Widely varying results with large standard deviation overall.

Research limitations/implications

– The experimental design was heavily reliant on multiple participants logging in at the same time. Server logs showed that this happened relatively rarely.

Practical implications

– Implications for the next iteration of the experiment are to refine the game design to avoid the need to synchronise the participants. The findings presented may be of practical use to other researchers in this area.

Social implications

– Acquired brain injury has been described as an epidemic, and is rising, with stroke being a leading cause. Traumatic brain injury (e.g. due to road traffic accident) has increasing prevalence in low-middle income countries. This research aims to provide a form of therapy to people for whom physical access to rehabilitation services is limited.

Originality/value

– The use of multi-player online video games as rehabilitation is a relatively unexplored area. A positive result in an experiment of this nature would indicate the potential for a new, complimentary form of cognitive therapy for brain-injured people.
Predicting recidivism for offenders in UK substance dependence treatment: do mental health symptoms matter?
Authors: J.F. Breedvelt Josefien , V. Dean Lucy , Y. Jones Gail , Cole Caroline , C.A. Moyes Hattie
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to assess whether mental health symptoms affect one-year reoffending rates upon release from prison for participants engaging in substance dependence treatment in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

– A retrospective cohort study was used to assess reconviction outcomes upon release. The Comprehensive Addiction and Psychological Evaluation (CAAPE) was administered to 667 inmates admitted to the programme. The effect of mental health, drug use, and static risk factors on reoffending was assessed at one-year post release.

Findings

– Logistic regression analysis showed that symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder at the start of substance dependence treatment increased the likelihood to reoffend, whilst Obsessive Compulsive Disorder symptoms and length of sentence decreased the likelihood to reoffend. Antisocial Personality Disorder symptoms show a trend towards increasing the likelihood to reoffend. In addition, previously established risk factors for reoffending, including dependence on heroin, crack/cocaine, and poly drug use significantly increased the likelihood of reconviction.

Practical implications

– Depressive symptomatology pre-treatment could affect reoffending outcomes for participants in substance dependence treatment in prison. An integrative approach addressing both substance misuse and mental health factors is pivotal. Future efforts to address both simultaneously can be made to improve assessment, training, treatment, and through care for prisoners in substance dependence treatment.

Originality/value

– Few studies have assessed the effect of mental health factors on reoffending outcomes for offenders in substance dependence treatment. A large sample was studied in an understudied population of UK prisoners in substance dependence treatment. The results have implications for clinical settings where mental health symptoms are not addressed concurrently with substance dependence. This finding can inform policy makers and practitioners who provide substance dependence treatment in prison.
Centralized decentralization for tribal business development
Authors: Lindsay Barr Tremane , Reid John
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this research was to identify and create a decentralized development system specific for the whanau (family) and hapu/runanga (sub-tribe) members of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. In New Zealand, a number of Maori tribes have negotiated compensation with the New Zealand Government for past injustices. These assets are typically centralized within iwi (tribal) corporate structures to protect and grow the asset base on behalf of tribal constituents. This centralization of assets has caused political tension within tribes.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper provides a case study of whanau/hapu-level businesses facilitated by the post-settlement iwi – Ngāi Tahu – to demonstrate how each level can work synergistically to encourage multi-level economic development in a way that matches cultural patterns and expectations. Participant action research theory and practice was utilized by researchers from Toitu Te Kainga (Regional Development Unit of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu) between 2008 and 2012. This was informed by an Enterprise Facilitation person-centred perspective and a Kaupapa Māori philosophy of respect and empowerment of the participants needs.

Findings

– This paper argues that while a certain level of centralization is required, to ring-fence and protect tribal assets at an iwi (tribal) level, the benefits gained by that centralization can then be utilized to provide a springboard for decentralized economic development at the whanau (family) and hapu (sub-tribe) levels.

Originality/value

– This new indigenous development system is referred to as the symbiotic development model and is an original outcome of this research paper. The paper concludes that tribal economic development in the post-settlement era in New Zealand needs to combine aspects of both centralization and decentralization.
Main rules and actors of Italian system of innovation: how to become competitive in spin-off activity
Authors: Caiazza Rosa , Volpe Tiziana
Published: September 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to analyze Italian system of innovation and evidence factors that can affect its global competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

– The article provides a conceptual analysis of main factors of competitiveness of an innovation system and an empirical discussion of Italian case.

Findings

– The article evidences main factors affect Italian systems of innovation that both researchers and practitioners can use in their activities.

Originality/value

– The article offers a new perspective on innovation systems.