bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elements, biochemicals, and structures of microbes
Authors: Kirchman David L.
Published: December 2013

Microbiologists know the basic biochemical make up of microbes, such as relative amounts of protein, RNA, and DNA in cells, while ecologists and biogeochemists use elemental ratios, most notably, the ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N), to explore biogeochemical processes and to connect up the carbon cycle with the cycle of other elements. Microbial ecologists make use of both types of data and approaches. This chapter combines both and reviews all things, from elements to macromolecular structures, that make up bacteria and other microbes. The most commonly used elemental ratio was discovered by Alfred Redfield, who concluded that microbes have a huge impact on the chemistry of the oceans because of the similarity in nitrogen to phosphorus ratios for organisms and nitrate to phosphate ratios in the deep oceans. Although statistically different, soil microbes have remarkably similar C:N ratios as the ratio of aquatic microbes. The chapter moves on to discuss the macromolecular composition of bacteria and other microbes. This composition gives insights into the growth state of microbes in nature. Geochemists use specific compounds, ‘biomarkers’, to trace sources of organic material in ecosystems. The last section reviews extracellular polymers, pili, and flagella, which serve a variety of functions, from propelling microbes around to keeping them stuck in one place.
Degradation of organic material
Authors: Kirchman David L.
Published: December 2013

This chapter focuses on the aerobic oxidation of organic material by microbes. Microbes account for about 50 per cent of primary production in the biosphere, but they probably account for more than 50 per cent of organic material oxidization and respiration (oxygen use). The traditional role of microbes is to degrade organic material and to release plant nutrients such as phosphate and ammonium as well as carbon dioxide. Microbes are responsible for about half of soil respiration while size fractionation experiments show that bacteria are responsible for about half of respiration in aquatic habitats. In soils, both fungi and bacteria are important, with relative abundances and activity varying with soil type. In contrast, fungi are not common in the oceans and lakes, where they are out-competed by bacteria with their small cell size. Dead organic material – detritus – used by microbes comes from dead plants and waste products from herbivores. This, and associated microbes, can be eaten by many eukaryotic organisms, forming a detritus food web. These large organisms also break up detritus to small pieces, creating more surface area on which microbes can act. Microbes in turn need to use extracellular enzymes to hydrolyze large molecular weight compounds, which releases small compounds that can be transported into cells. Photochemical reactions are also important in the degradation of certain compounds. Some compounds are very difficult to degrade and are thousands of years old.
Community structure of microbes in natural environments
Authors: Kirchman David L.
Published: December 2013

Community structure refers to the taxonomic types of various microbes and their relative abundance in an environment. Traditional methods for identifying microbes rely on biochemical test of phenotype observable in the lab. Even for cultivated microbes and larger organisms, the traditional, phenotype approach has been replaced by comparing sequences of specific genes, those for 16S rRNA (archaea and bacteria) or 18S rRNA (microbial eukaryotes). Cultivation-independent approaches based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing have revealed that natural microbial communities have a few abundant types and many rare ones. These organisms differ substantially from those that can be grown in the lab using cultivation-dependent approaches. The abundant types of microbes found in soils, freshwater lakes, and oceans all differ. The phylum Actinobacteria is abundant in soils and lakes, not in the oceans. Alphaproteobacteria are abundant in the oceans, while Betaproteobacteria are more common in lakes. Once thought to be confined to extreme habitats, Archaea are now known to occur everywhere, but are particularly abundant in the deep ocean, where they make up as much as 50 per cent of total microbial abundance. The same environmental properties known to affect the total community at the bulk level are known to affect community structure, more or less. Salinity and temperature are very important, for example, as is pH especially in soils. In addition to bottom-up factors, both top-down factors, grazing and viral lysis, also shape community structure. According to the Kill the Winner hypothesis, viruses select for fast-growing types, allowing slower-growing defensive specialists to survive.
Symbiosis and microbes
Authors: Kirchman David L.
Published: December 2013

This chapter discusses interactions between microbes and higher plants and animals. Symbiosis is sometimes used to describe all interactions, even negative ones. The chapter focuses on interactions that benefit both partners (mutualism) or one partner while being neutral to the other (commensalism). Microbes are essential to the health and ecology of vertebrates, including Homo sapiens. Microbial cells outnumber human cells on our bodies, aiding in digestion and warding off pathogens. In consortia similar to the anaerobic food chain of anoxic sediments, microbes are essential in the digestion of plant material by deer, cattle, and sheep. Different types of microbes form symbiotic relationships with insects and help to explain their huge success in the biosphere. Protozoa are crucial for wood-boring insects; symbiotic bacteria in the genus Buchnera provide sugars to host aphids while obtaining essential amino acids in exchange; and fungi thrive in subterranean gardens before being harvesting for food by ants. Analogous to some insect–microbe relationships, wood-boring marine invertebrates depend on microbes for digesting cellulose and other biopolymers in wood. At hydrothermal vents in some deep oceans, sulphur-oxidizing bacteria fuel an entire ecosystem where symbiotic bacteria support the growth of giant tube worms. Higher plants also have many symbiotic relationships with bacteria and fungi. Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes and other plants fix more nitrogen than free-living bacteria. Fungi associated with plant roots (‘mycorrhizal’) are even more common and potentially provide plants with phosphorus as well as nitrogen.
Diet and nutrition
Authors: Rothman Jessica M. , Vogel Erin R. , Blumenthal Scott A.
Published: December 2013

Primate diets contain a diversity of foods, including fruits, leaves, invertebrates, seeds, gums, lichens, bark, roots, and in some cases other vertebrates. Assessing dietary properties is important to a number of areas relevant to primatologists, including life history, ecology, and behaviour. This chapter discusses methods for collecting, preserving, and analyzing dietary items. It describes ways to examine food mechanical properties, such as Young’s modulus, yield stress, and fracture toughness. It considers methods for estimating diet nutritional properties, particularly energy and protein. It also discusses means to examine the diets of elusive primates through stable isotope analysis.
Primate behavioral endocrinology
Authors: Nguyen Nga
Published: December 2013

Humans have implicitly understood for centuries that hormones affect behaviour and behaviour can affect hormones. However, until recently, our knowledge of hormone-behaviour interactions derived almost exclusively from research and experimentation on only a handful of laboratory species. Recent advances in noninvasive techniques for measuring hormones have made comparative research on wildlife, including primates, possible. This research provides important insights into human behavioural biology and ecology and evolutionary history. This chapter provides an overview of the key historical and theoretical developments in wild primate behavioural endocrinology; summarizes how primatologists have used noninvasive techniques to monitor hormones in the wild to study the endocrinology of primate reproduction, social relationships, and stress; and reviews important methodological considerations for collecting, processing and analyzing hormones in biological materials, as well as discussing the future directions of the field.
15 Laws of physical economics
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan
Published: December 2013

This chapter discusses Fisher's approach to economic circuits and presents a representation of ‘Fisher's law’. In this representation, both circuits are characterised by inexact functions, since neither the cash flow nor the production of a company can be predicted in advance. They may only be computed at the end of the financial period, be it after a week, a month, or a year. The negative sign of the integral of production indicates that the production and monetary circuits flow in opposite directions. This equivalence forms the basis for all macroeconomic calculations that follow. Furthermore, since the chapter deals with inexact differentials, the value of the closed integrals is generally non-zero. The chapter begins with an examination of the monetary circuit via the two-dimensional calculus for inexact functions.
22 Conclusions and outlook
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan
Published: December 2013

This book concludes by showing how unpacking the fluctuations in financial asset prices and introducing into economics the complementary concept of entropy, which allows quantification of the amount of randomness in the system, would seem to facilitate new insights into economic and financial systems. It has been shown that the fluctuations in material systems ultimately arise from the constant motion and collision of the many molecules that form the material. In the same way, the fluctuations in social and economic systems can arise from the many exchange processes between the agents in said system. As a result, objects and money become distributed across the agents and the traditional idea of a representative agent is no longer a sensible concept. Complex systems are heterogeneous, and the key to understanding them is the use of a proper method of ensemble averaging.
Systematic evaluation of environmental and behavioural factors associated with all-cause mortality in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Authors: Patel Chirag J , Rehkopf David H , Leppert John T , Bortz Walter M , Cullen Mark R , Chertow Glenn M , Ioannidis John PA
Published: December 2013

Background Environmental and behavioural factors are thought to contribute to all-cause mortality. Here, we develop a method to systematically screen and validate the potential independent contributions to all-cause mortality of 249 environmental and behavioural factors in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Methods We used Cox proportional hazards regression to associate 249 factors with all-cause mortality while adjusting for sociodemographic factors on data in the 1999–2000 and 2001–02 surveys (median 5.5 follow-up years). We controlled for multiple comparisons with the false discovery rate (FDR) and validated significant findings in the 2003–04 survey (median 2.8 follow-up years). We selected 249 factors from a set of all possible factors based on their presence in both the 1999–2002 and 2003–04 surveys and linkage with at least 20 deceased participants. We evaluated the correlation pattern of validated factors and built a multivariable model to identify their independent contribution to mortality.

Results We identified seven environmental and behavioural factors associated with all-cause mortality, including serum and urinary cadmium, serum lycopene levels, smoking (3-level factor) and physical activity. In a multivariable model, only physical activity, past smoking, smoking in participant’s home and lycopene were independently associated with mortality. These three factors explained 2.1% of the variance of all-cause mortality after adjusting for demographic and socio-economic factors.

Conclusions Our association study suggests that, of the set of 249 factors in NHANES, physical activity, smoking, serum lycopene and serum/urinary cadmium are associated with all-cause mortality as identified in previous studies and after controlling for multiple hypotheses and validation in an independent survey. Whereas other NHANES factors may be associated with mortality, they may require larger cohorts with longer time of follow-up to detect. It is possible to use a systematic association study to prioritize risk factors for further investigation.
Non-random biodiversity loss underlies predictable increases in viral disease prevalence
Authors: Lacroix Christelle , Jolles Anna , Seabloom Eric W. , Power Alison G. , Mitchell Charles E. , Borer Elizabeth T.
Published: December 2013

Disease dilution (reduced disease prevalence with increasing biodiversity) has been described for many different pathogens. Although the mechanisms causing this phenomenon remain unclear, the disassembly of communities to predictable subsets of species, which can be caused by changing climate, land use or invasive species, underlies one important hypothesis. In this case, infection prevalence could reflect the competence of the remaining hosts. To test this hypothesis, we measured local host species abundance and prevalence of four generalist aphid-vectored pathogens (barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses) in a ubiquitous annual grass host at 10 sites spanning 2000 km along the North American West Coast. In laboratory and field trials, we measured viral infection as well as aphid fecundity and feeding preference on several host species. Virus prevalence increased as local host richness declined. Community disassembly was non-random: ubiquitous hosts dominating species-poor assemblages were among the most competent for vector production and virus transmission. This suggests that non-random biodiversity loss led to increased virus prevalence. Because diversity loss is occurring globally in response to anthropogenic changes, such work can inform medical, agricultural and veterinary disease research by providing insights into the dynamics of pathogens nested within a complex web of environmental forces.
Unzipping bird feathers
Authors: Kovalev Alexander , Filippov Alexander E. , Gorb Stanislav N.
Published: December 2013

The bird feather vane can be separated into two parts by pulling the barbs apart. The original state can be re-established easily by lightly stroking through the feather. Hooklets responsible for holding vane barbs together are not damaged by multiple zipping and unzipping cycles. Because numerous microhooks keep the integrity of the feather, their properties are of great interest for understanding mechanics of the entire feather structure. This study was undertaken to estimate the separation force of single hooklets and their arrays using force measurement of an unzipping feather vane. The hooklets usually separate in some number synchronously (20 on average) with the highest observed separation force of 1.74 mN (average force 0.27 mN), whereas the single hooklet separation force was 14 μN. A simple numerical model was suggested for a better understanding of zipping and unzipping behaviour in feathers. The model demonstrates features similar to those observed in experiments.
Nanointerfacial strength between non-collagenous protein and collagen fibrils in antler bone
Authors: Hang Fei , Gupta Himadri S. , Barber Asa H.
Published: December 2013

Antler bone displays considerable toughness through the use of a complex nanofibrous structure of mineralized collagen fibrils (MCFs) bound together by non-collagenous proteins (NCPs). While the NCP regions represent a small volume fraction relative to the MCFs, significant surface area is evolved upon failure of the nanointerfaces formed at NCP–collagen fibril boundaries. The mechanical properties of nanointerfaces between the MCFs are investigated directly in this work using an
in situ
atomic force microscopy technique to pull out individual fibrils from the NCP. Results show that the NCP–fibril interfaces in antler bone are weak, which highlights the propensity for interface failure at the nanoscale in antler bone and extensive fibril pullout observed at antler fracture surfaces. The adhesion between fibrils and NCP is additionally suggested as being rate dependent, with increasing interfacial strength and fracture energy observed when pullout velocity decreases.
Constructing and characterizing a bioactive small molecule and microRNA association network for Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Meng Fanlin , Dai Enyu , Yu Xuexin , Zhang Yan , Chen Xiaowen , Liu Xinyi , Wang Shuyuan , Wang Lihua , Jiang Wei
Published: December 2013

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder. Much effort has been devoted to developing effective therapeutic agents. Recently, targeting microRNAs (miRNAs) with small molecules has become a novel therapy for human diseases. In this study, we present a systematic computational approach to construct a bioactive Small molecule and miRNA association Network in AD (SmiRN-AD), which is based on the gene expression signatures of bioactive small molecule perturbation and AD-related miRNA regulation. We also performed topological and functional analysis of the SmiRN-AD from multiple perspectives. At the significance level of
p
≤ 0.01, 496 small molecule–miRNA associations, including 25 AD-related miRNAs and 275 small molecules, were recognized and used to construct the SmiRN-AD. The drugs that were connected with the same miRNA tended to share common drug targets (
p
= 1.72 × 10
−4
) and belong to the same therapeutic category (
p
= 4.22 × 10
−8
). The miRNAs that were linked to the same small molecule regulated more common miRNA targets (
p
= 6.07 × 10
−3
). Further analysis of the positive connections (quinostatin and miR-148b, amantadine and miR-15a) and the negative connections (melatonin and miR-30e-5p) indicated that our large-scale predictions afforded specific biological insights into AD pathogenesis and therapy. This study proposes a holistic strategy for deciphering the associations between small molecules and miRNAs in AD, which may be helpful for developing a novel effective miRNA-associated therapeutic strategy for AD. A comprehensive database for the SmiRN-AD and the differential expression patterns of the miRNA targets in AD is freely available at
http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/SmiRN-AD/
.
Numerical modelling of chirality-induced bi-directional swimming of artificial flagella
Authors: Namdeo S. , Khaderi S. N. , Onck P. R.
Published: December 2013

Biomimetic micro-swimmers can be used for various medical applications, such as targeted drug delivery and micro-object (e.g. biological cells) manipulation, in lab-on-a-chip devices. Bacteria swim using a bundle of flagella (flexible hair-like structures) that form a rotating cork-screw of chiral shape. To mimic bacterial swimming, we employ a computational approach to design a bacterial (chirality-induced) swimmer whose chiral shape and rotational velocity can be controlled by an external magnetic field. In our model, we numerically solve the coupled governing equations that describe the system dynamics (i.e. solid mechanics, fluid dynamics and magnetostatics). We explore the swimming response as a function of the characteristic dimensionless parameters and put special emphasis on controlling the swimming direction. Our results provide fundamental physical insight on the chirality-induced propulsion, and it provides guidelines for the design of magnetic bi-directional micro-swimmers.
Exact pointer theories for von Neumann projector measurements of pre- and postselected and preselected-only quantum systems: statistical mixtures and weak value persistence
Authors: Parks A. D. , Spence S. E. , Gray J. E.
Published: December 2013

Exact expressions for the mean pointer position, the mean pointer momentum and their variances are obtained for projection operator measurements performed upon ensembles of pre- and postselected (PPS) and preselected-only (PSO) quantum systems. These expressions are valid for any interaction strength which couples a measurement pointer to a quantum system, and consequently should be of general interest to both experimentalists and theoreticians. To account for the ‘collapse’ of PPS states to PSO states that occurs as interaction strength increases and to introduce the concept of ‘weak value persistence’, the exact PPS and PSO pointer theories are combined to provide a pointer theory for statistical mixtures. For the purpose of illustrating ‘weak value persistence’, mixture weights defined in terms of the Bhattacharyya coefficient are used and the statistical mixture theory is applied to mean pointer position data associated with weak value projector measurements obtained from a recent dynamical quantum non-locality detection experiment.
Polarization distance: a framework for modelling object detection by polarization vision systems
Authors: How Martin J. , Marshall N. Justin
Published: December 2013

The discrimination of polarized light is widespread in the natural world. Its use for specific, large-field tasks, such as navigation and the detection of water bodies, has been well documented. Some species of cephalopod and crustacean have polarization receptors distributed across the whole visual field and are thought to use polarized light cues for object detection. Both object-based polarization vision systems and large field detectors rely, at least initially, on an orthogonal, two-channel receptor organization. This may increase to three-directional analysis at subsequent interneuronal levels. In object-based and some of the large-field tasks, the dominant e-vector detection axes are often aligned (through eye, head and body stabilization mechanisms) horizontally and vertically relative to the outside world. We develop Bernard and Wehner's 1977 model of polarization receptor dynamics to apply it to the detection and discrimination of polarized objects against differently polarized backgrounds. We propose a measure of ‘polarization distance’ (roughly analogous to ‘colour distance’) for estimating the discriminability of objects in polarized light, and conclude that horizontal/vertical arrays are optimally designed for detecting differences in the degree, and not the e-vector axis, of polarized light under natural conditions.
Individual consistency and flexibility in human social information use
Authors: Toelch Ulf , Bruce Matthew J. , Newson Lesley , Richerson Peter J. , Reader Simon M.
Published: December 2013

Copying others appears to be a cost-effective way of obtaining adaptive information, particularly when flexibly employed. However, adult humans differ considerably in their propensity to use information from others, even when this ‘social information’ is beneficial, raising the possibility that stable individual differences constrain flexibility in social information use. We used two dissimilar decision-making computer games to investigate whether individuals flexibly adjusted their use of social information to current conditions or whether they valued social information similarly in both games. Participants also completed established personality questionnaires. We found that participants demonstrated considerable flexibility, adjusting social information use to current conditions. In particular, individuals employed a ‘copy-when-uncertain’ social learning strategy, supporting a core, but untested, assumption of influential theoretical models of cultural transmission. Moreover, participants adjusted the amount invested in their decision based on the perceived reliability of personally gathered information combined with the available social information. However, despite this strategic flexibility, participants also exhibited consistent individual differences in their propensities to use and value social information. Moreover, individuals who favoured social information self-reported as more collectivist than others. We discuss the implications of our results for social information use and cultural transmission.
Roles of PINK1, mTORC2, and mitochondria in preserving brain tumor-forming stem cells in a noncanonical Notch signaling pathway
Authors: Lee Kyu-Sun , Wu Zhihao , Song Yan , Mitra Siddhartha S. , Feroze Abdullah H. , Cheshier Samuel H. , Lu Bingwei
Published: December 2013

The self-renewal versus differentiation choice of Drosophila and mammalian neural stem cells (NSCs) requires Notch (N) signaling. How N regulates NSC behavior is not well understood. Here we show that canonical N signaling cooperates with a noncanonical N signaling pathway to mediate N-directed NSC regulation. In the noncanonical pathway, N interacts with PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) to influence mitochondrial function, activating mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2)/AKT signaling. Importantly, attenuating noncanonical N signaling preferentially impaired the maintenance of Drosophila and human cancer stem cell-like tumor-forming cells. Our results emphasize the importance of mitochondria to N and NSC biology, with important implications for diseases associated with aberrant N signaling.
Inferring the choreography of parental genomes during fertilization from ultralarge-scale whole-transcriptome analysis
Authors: Park Sung-Joon , Komata Makiko , Inoue Fukashi , Yamada Kaori , Nakai Kenta , Ohsugi Miho , Shirahige Katsuhiko
Published: December 2013

Fertilization precisely choreographs parental genomes by using gamete-derived cellular factors and activating genome regulatory programs. However, the mechanism remains elusive owing to the technical difficulties of preparing large numbers of high-quality preimplantation cells. Here, we collected >14 × 104 high-quality mouse metaphase II oocytes and used these to establish detailed transcriptional profiles for four early embryo stages and parthenogenetic development. By combining these profiles with other public resources, we found evidence that gene silencing appeared to be mediated in part by noncoding RNAs and that this was a prerequisite for post-fertilization development. Notably, we identified 817 genes that were differentially expressed in embryos after fertilization compared with parthenotes. The regulation of these genes was distinctly different from those expressed in parthenotes, suggesting functional specialization of particular transcription factors prior to first cell cleavage. We identified five transcription factors that were potentially necessary for developmental progression: Foxd1, Nkx2-5, Sox18, Myod1, and Runx1. Our very large-scale whole-transcriptome profile of early mouse embryos yielded a novel and valuable resource for studies in developmental biology and stem cell research. The database is available at http://dbtmee.hgc.jp.
Knowledge management
Authors: Shokri-Ghasabeh Morteza , Chileshe Nicholas
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– A research study has been undertaken at the University of South Australia to introduce application of lessons learned process in construction contractors ' bidding process in the context of knowledge management. The study aims to identify barriers to effectively capture lessons learned in Australian construction industry and how knowledge management can benefit from lessons learned application.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research study has been undertaken through conducting a “methodological triangulation” and “interdisciplinary triangulation”. This involved an extensive literature review of knowledge management, organisation learning, lessons learned and associated processes and administration of a questionnaire to a sample of construction contractors operating in Australia to elicit opinions on the main barriers to capturing lessons learned, practices such as existence and retention of documentation procedures. A total of 81 useable responses were received from 450 organisations. Response data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics with correlation analysis to examine the strength of relationship among the barriers.

Findings

– The top-3 barriers to the effective capturing of lessons learned were “lack of employee time”, “lack of resources” and “lack of clear guidelines”, whereas, “lack of management support” was the least ranked barrier. The study established that despite the majority of the ACCs having formal procedures for recording the tenders submitted and their outcomes, only a minority actually retained the lessons learned documentation for each project. The larger contractors were found to be more aware of the importance of lessons learned documentation. A comparative analysis with previous studies also found a disparity in the ranking of the barriers.

Research limitations/implications

– The majority of the participants were small construction contractors in Australia. The reason is that the researchers were not aware of the contractors ' size prior to inviting them for participation in the research study. Second the findings may not generalize to other industries or to organisations operating in other countries.

Originality/value

– The findings of this survey help ACCs to understand the importance of lessons learned documentation as part of lessons learned implementation and identify the barriers to effectively document their lessons learned. The study provides insights on the barriers and proposes advocated solutions in form of drivers and enablers (critical success factors) of organisational learning capturing among the Australian construction contractors. By reviewing the current literature, “post-project reviews” and “lessons learned” as important elements of organisation learning knowledge transfer, are addressed. Finally, contribution of this study to knowledge and practice has been discussed in this paper.
How an organization's ethical climate contributes to customer satisfaction and financial performance
Authors: Koo Moon Hyoung , Kwon Choi Byoung
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– Researchers in the field of business ethics have posited that an organization's ethical climate can benefit for employees as well as organizations. However, most of the prior research has been conducted at the level of the individual, not organization. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine how an organization's ethical climate has a positive influence on two its performance indicators – customer satisfaction and financial performance – with a perspective of organizational innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The data were collected from 29 subsidiaries of a conglomerate in South Korea. Hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares (PLS).

Findings

– The result showed that an organization's ethical climate was positively related to customer satisfaction as well as financial performance, and this relationship was mediated by perceived organizational innovation. Additionally, the positive influence of an ethical climate on employees’ perceived organizational innovation was mediated by their organizational commitment and the climate for innovation.

Originality/value

– With a focus on innovation, the study explained how an organization's ethical climate influences customer satisfaction and financial performance. Furthermore, as was the case in studies conducted in other developed countries, the results derived from South Korea sample demonstrated that an ethical climate is critical for organizational performances in developing countries.
An organizational competence model for innovation intermediaries
Authors: Janssen Wil , Bouwman Harry , van Buuren René , Haaker Timber
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address the role of intermediaries in open innovation networks in achieving ICT-enabled innovations. The ultimate goal of open innovation networks is to create value for endusers and providers, and to share the risks and rewards. The aim of this paper is to analyse the competences that intermediaries in open innovation networks need to master and exploit during the exploration and exploitation phases of an innovation process.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on 14 cases, all of which are examples of collaborative multi-party projects with a focus on ICT-enabled innovations, the paper inductively develops a competence model for intermediaries that can be applied at different stages in the innovation.

Findings

– The research shows that intermediaries can play an effective role in open innovation, provided they have the right set of competences. It can be concluded that the role of innovation intermediary is most relevant in the creation and development phases.

Research limitations/implications

– This study certainly has its limitations. The researchers were involved in several cases, which may have biased their views, even though an external expert who was familiar with the case and the work of the intermediary was involved to minimize the risk. Most importantly, the cases all involved of a single intermediary, albeit with many different private and public partners. The cases were primarily located in the Netherlands. It would be interesting to complement this study with results from other innovation intermediaries.

Practical implications

– The paper identified which competences of organizations in innovation are required, and how to balance the competences between the different partners, including the innovation intermediary. The study allows to link the type of goal of the collaboration to a number of best practices, including the competences and roles that are required at different stages.

Originality/value

– The paper combines the core innovation competences with the innovation value chain concept developed, and evaluate the resulting model in 14 different cases. The model is new and relevant in practice.
Intellectual capital reporting: a longitudinal study of New Zealand companies
Authors: De Silva Tracy-Anne , Stratford Michelle , Clark Murray
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine intellectual capital reporting patterns of New Zealand companies over a longitudinal period, comparing knowledge intensive companies with traditional product-based companies.

Design/methodology/approach

– Content analysis was used to examine the intellectual capital reporting of five knowledge intensive companies and five traditional product-based companies listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange during 2004-2010.

Findings

– The longitudinal study found that although there was an increase in intellectual capital reporting from 2004 to 2010, there was no strong pattern reflecting a marked increase in reporting over the time period. The findings also show that the level of intellectual capital reporting cannot be determined by the type of organisation. Further, the majority of intellectual capital reporting was found to be in discursive form and only a small percentage of reporting conveyed negative news.

Research limitations/implications

– The results of this study are limited by the small sample size overall and the small number of companies in both the knowledge intensive and the traditional product-based groups.

Practical implications

– The research suggests areas that could be considered by regulatory bodies and policy makers when developing more informed intellectual capital reporting guidelines.

Originality/value

– This research provides a basis for further research, debate and action regarding intellectual capital in both academia and practice. Longitudinal intellectual capital reporting research and distinctions between knowledge intensive and traditional product-based companies have seldom been undertaken. Consequently little is known about the changes in intellectual capital reporting over time or the differences in intellectual capital reporting, if any, between type of company.
15 years of theJournal of Intellectual Capitaland counting
Authors: Dumay John
Published: December 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the current status of intellectual capital (IC) research as published in theJournal of Intellectual Capital(JIC) as it heads into its 15th year with a view to understanding the past and possible direction of future IC research.

Design/methodology/approach

– Articles published in theJICare reviewed building on prior IC research and analysis by Guthrieet al.(2012) and Dumay and Garanina (2013). To help understand the impact of articles in theJICthe analysis is supplemented by including citation data from google scholar, journal impact data from the SCImago Journal & Country Rank portal, and the 2013 Australian Business Dean's Council (ABDC) journal ranking list. Also included is commentary from theJIC's senior editors based on their responses to questions asked via e-mail relating to their involvement in, and the future of, theJIC.

Findings

– TheJICfaces a challenge as it is most recognised as an accounting journal despite its focus on managing IC. The research published in theJICis multidisciplinary as it comes from a wide range of perspectives. However, there appears to be a paucity of research emanating from different perspectives, most notably from North American academics, and a lack of focus on the private and public sectors. However, new perspectives of IC, especially that associated with IC praxis and the third stage of IC research are emerging as transformational opportunities for future IC research, along with the opportunity to experiment with transdisciplinary research.

Originality/value

– The paper presents a comprehensive critical review of the articles published in theJICalong with measuring the impact of the articles using citation data from google scholar. Using this approach, the type of research and its impacts can be simultaneously assessed to offer insights into future transformational IC research opportunities, and how IC researchers and theJICcan also be transformational.
SELF‐CONTROL AND VICTIMIZATION: A META‐ANALYSIS
Authors: PRATT TRAVIS C. , TURANOVIC JILLIAN J. , FOX KATHLEEN A. , WRIGHT KEVIN A.
Published: December 2013

A consequential development in victimization theory and research was the idea that individuals with low self‐control self‐select into the various risky behaviors that may ultimately result in their victimization. To establish the empirical status of the self‐control–victimization link, we subjected this body of work to a meta‐analysis. Our multilevel analyses of 311 effect size estimates drawn from 66 studies (42 independent data sets) indicate that self‐control is a modest yet consistent predictor of victimization. The results also show that the effect of self‐control is significantly stronger when predicting noncontact forms of victimization (e.g., online victimization) and is significantly reduced in studies that control directly for the risky behaviors that are assumed to mediate the self‐control–victimization link. We also note that the studies assessing self‐control and victimization are not representative of victimization research as a whole, with intimate partner violence (IPV), violence against women, and child abuse being severely underrepresented. We conclude that future research should continue to examine the causal processes linking self‐control to victimization, how self‐control shapes victims’ coping responses to their experience, and whether self‐control matters in contexts where individuals may have limited autonomy over the behavioral routines that put them at risk for victimization.
SOCIAL CONCERN AND CRIME: MOVING BEYOND THE ASSUMPTION OF SIMPLE SELF‐INTEREST
Authors: AGNEW ROBERT
Published: December 2013

Most leading crime theories and crime‐control policies are based on the assumption that people are self‐interested. But recent work in a variety of fields has challenged this assumption, suggesting that people are both self‐interested and socially concerned. Social concern involves biologically based inclinations that sometimes lead people to give more consideration to others than to their own interests. These inclinations include caring about others, forming close ties to and cooperating with others, following certain moral intuitions, and conforming. This article describes the nature of and evidence for social concern, as well as the ways in which social factors shape social concern. The article then presents a theory of social concern and crime. Social concern has direct, indirect, mediating, and conditioning effects on crime. Although social concern generally reduces the likelihood of crime, it has little effect on or increases crime under certain conditions.
Helping mothers survive bleeding after birth: an evaluation of simulation‐based training in a low‐resource setting
Authors: Nelissen Ellen , Ersdal Hege , Østergaard Doris , Mduma Estomih , Broerse Jacqueline , Evjen‐Olsen Bjørg , van Roosmalen Jos , Stekelenburg Jelle
Published: December 2013

Objective

To evaluate “Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding After Birth” (HMS BAB) simulation‐based training in a low‐resource setting.

Design

Educational intervention study.

Setting

Rural referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.

Population

Clinicians, nurse‐midwives, medical attendants, and ambulance drivers involved in maternity care.

Methods

In March 2012, health care workers were trained in HMS BAB, a half‐day simulation‐based training, using a train‐the‐trainer model. The training focused on basic delivery care, active management of third stage of labor, and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage, including bimanual uterine compression.

Main outcome measures

Evaluation questionnaires provided information on course perception. Knowledge, skills, and confidence of facilitators and learners were tested before and after training.

Results

Four master trainers trained eight local facilitators, who subsequently trained 89 learners. After training, all facilitators passed the knowledge test, but pass rates for the skills test were low (29% pass rate for basic delivery and 0% pass rate for management of postpartum hemorrhage). Evaluation revealed that HMS BAB training was considered acceptable and feasible, although more time should be allocated for training, and teaching materials should be translated into the local language. Knowledge, skills, and confidence of learners increased significantly immediately after training. However, overall pass rates for skills tests of learners after training were low (3% pass rate for basic delivery and management of postpartum hemorrhage).

Conclusions

The HMS BAB simulation‐based training has potential to contribute to education of health care providers. We recommend a full day of training and validation of the facilitators to improve the training.
Lymphadenectomy in surgical stage I epithelial ovarian cancer
Authors: Svolgaard Olivia , Lidegaard Øjvind , Nielsen Marie Louise S. , Nedergaard Lotte , Mosgaard Berit J. , Lidang Marianne , Mogensen Ole , Kock Kirsten , Blaakær Jan , Stæhr Estrid , Andersen Erik S. , Grove Anni , Høgdall Claus
Published: December 2013

Objective

To identify the extent of lymphadenectomy performed in women presenting with epithelial ovarian cancer macroscopically confined to the ovary. Furthermore, the effect of lymphadenectomy on overall survival is evaluated.

Design

A prospective nationwide case‐only study.

Setting

Denmark 2005–2011.

Sample

All women registered in the nationwide Danish Gynecologic Cancer Database from 1 January 2005 to 1 May 2011, presenting with a tumor macroscopically confined to the ovary without visible evidence of abdominal spread at the time of the initial exploration (surgical stage I).

Method

Descriptive and survival analyses of data from Danish Gynecologic Cancer Database.

Main outcome measures

The annual proportion of women with surgical stage I disease who received lymphadenectomy and the survival in the two groups.

Results

Of 2361 women with epithelial ovarian cancer, 627 were identified with surgical stage I. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 216 women (34%) of whom 13 (6%) had lymph node metastases. At 5‐year follow up 85% remained alive in the lymphadenectomy group compared with 80% in the control group (p = 0.064). The lymphadenectomy fraction increased from 24% in 2005 to 55% in 2011. When univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted only an insignificant difference in the survival probability was found between lymphadenectomy and no lymphadenectomy in women presenting with tumor macroscopically confined to the ovary.

Conclusion

Although increasing, the number of women with surgical stage I disease in Denmark who receive lymphadenectomy remains low, but this did not seem to make a difference to survival.
Fast forward selection for generalized estimating equations with a large number of predictor variables
Authors: Stoklosa Jakub , Gibb Heloise , Warton David I.
Published: December 2013

We propose a new variable selection criterion designed for use with forward selection algorithms; the score information criterion (SIC). The proposed criterion is based on score statistics which incorporate correlated response data. The main advantage of the SIC is that it is much faster to compute than existing model selection criteria when the number of predictor variables added to a model is large, this is because SIC can be computed for all candidate models without actually fitting them. A second advantage is that it incorporates the correlation between variables into its quasi‐likelihood, leading to more desirable properties than competing selection criteria. Consistency and prediction properties are shown for the SIC. We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the selection and prediction performances, and compare these, as well as computational times, with some well‐known variable selection criteria. We apply the SIC on a real data set collected on arthropods by considering variable selection on a large number of interactions terms consisting of species traits and environmental covariates.
Coupled exposure to ingredients of cosmetic products: II. Preservatives
Authors: Uter Wolfgang , Yazar Kerem , Kratz Eva‐Maria , Mildau Gerd , Lidén Carola
Published: December 2013

Background

The use of cosmetics exposes consumers to mixtures of ingredients, many of which are potential allergens. Many cosmetics contain one or several preservatives, some being important contact allergens.

Objective

To examine the pattern of co‐exposure to preservatives in different categories of cosmetics.

Methods

A survey of products marketed in Germany, conducted in 2006–2009 by the Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office in Karlsruhe, identified 4680 products categorizable according to Annex I to the Cosmetics Directive with information on the presence of preservatives. The occurrence and co‐occurrence of preservatives were analysed and presented in tabular and graphical format.

Results

Thirty per cent of all products were not declared to contain any preservatives; for 8%, no INCI labelling was present. For the remainder, the number of preservatives used tended to be higher in leave‐on than in rinse‐off products. Most often, combinations of (up to all five) parabens were used (39% of all products). Combinations with phenoxyethanol were also frequent. Formaldehyde releasers were found in 8% of products overall.

Conclusions

The pattern of co‐exposure to preservatives in important categories of cosmetic products illustrates the ‘cocktail’ of allergens that may facilitate sensitization, although, conversely, the combination of preservatives allows individual use levels to be kept lower, thereby possibly reducing sensitization risk.