bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dynamic roles and locations of manufacturing
Authors: Slepniov Dmitrij , V. Wæhrens Brian , Johansen John
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The principal objective of this paper is to relate functional nodes of production and innovation in global operations networks. The authors aim to capture the implications of changing strategic roles and locations of manufacturing for innovation capabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors draw on the operations networks literature and use mixed methods of enquiry, including case studies, workshops and survey techniques. Part of the empirical base of the study is a series of workshops and an examination of 14 Danish companies that have experienced radical changes in their operations configurations. To provide a more complete view of these developments, the authors complement the qualitative methodology with a survey of an overall sample of 675 Danish and 410 Swedish companies.

Findings

– On the basis of the findings from the survey, the series of workshops and case studies of Danish companies presented in this paper, the authors find that although the potential benefits of global dispersion of manufacturing are vast, the realisation of these potentials depends on how successful companies are with linking the new strategic roles and locations of manufacturing with innovation at their home base. The paper identifies and discusses groups of capabilities important to this link.

Practical implications

– Three propositions are developed to advance the understanding of the role of cross-functional coordination and alignment, as well as their significance in the strategic initiatives of global dispersion of operations. The findings assist global companies in organising cross-functional coordination and interrelated functional nodes of production and innovation in global operations networks.

Originality/value

– Not only routine transactional tasks but also more knowledge-intensive proprietary tasks cross both national and organisational borders. The challenge of coordination in these emerging configurations is imperative which has not been adequately addressed so far. By using mixed methods of inquiry, this paper provides a more complete view of the phenomenon and presents the main dilemmas underlying it.
Property bubbles – a transitory phenomenon
Authors: Grover Richard , Grover Christine
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose is to review what is known about property bubbles and their causes.

Design/methodology/approach

– The method has been to review the literature on bubbles in the property and other asset markets to examine their likely causes and whether there are specific aspects of the property market that make it more prone to bubbles.

Findings

– The property market has features that make it susceptible to bubbles, particularly inelasticity in supply and the absence of short selling. Bubbles can develop where there are heterogeneous beliefs. The way in which property tends to be financed helps to facilitate bubbles and transmit their effects onto the wider economy.

Practical implications

– The collapse in property prices after the financial crisis of 2008, like previous bubble collapses, has inflicted serious damage on the wider economy through losses of banks' capital, reductions in lending, and increased risk aversion. Understanding why bubbles exist offers the potential to devise policies to limit the impact of their collapse.

Originality/value

– Much of the literature on asset bubbles is based on securities markets. It is important to recognise the differences between the property market and securities markets, particularly how investment is financed.
Optimised management for the development of extraordinary public properties
Authors: Manganelli Benedetto , Tajani Francesco
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to propose a management model of public assets within public-private partnerships which can be applied to properties subject to a possible requalification through the redevelopment and/or modification of the intended use.

Design/methodology/approach

– The logic developed is described by an algorithm which borrows the mathematical tools of Operations Research to identify the solution that maximises the utility functions of the parties related to the requalification and management of a public property. The unknowns of the model are the price and concession period, while the constraints reflect the specific and reciprocal conveniences of the actors involved.

Findings

– The benefits for the private investor are a reduction of the business risk, related to the lower financial outlay required by the investment, and therefore easier access to credit from banks. For the public administration, an increase in the demand of the property offered, savings in the property management costs, along with the preservation of public property. This aspect of no small importance where there is the fear of breaking up public property which local communities attach a high cultural and historic value.

Practical implications

– This leads to a logical support to public administrations involved in the requalification of property assets.

Originality/value

– This paper presents a strategic approach with long-term prospects, which interprets in a different way a pure concession model, which has a greater flexibility and articulation and also enriches the framework of the projects (public-private) considered necessary for the requalification of public property as well as possible urban transformation projects.
Case-based reasoning and electromagnetism-like method in construction management
Authors: Kartelj Aleksandar , Šurlan Nebojša , Cekić Zoran
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The presented research proposes a method aimed to improve a case retrieval phase of the case-based reasoning (CBR) system through optimization of feature relevance parameters, i.e. feature weights.

Design/methodology/approach

– The improvement is achieved by applying the metaheuristic optimization technique, called electromagnetism-like algorithm (EM), in order to appropriately adjust the feature weights used ink-NN classifier. The usability of the proposed EMk-NN algorithm is much broader since it can also be used outside the CBR system, e.g. for solving general pattern recognition tasks.

Findings

– It is showed that the proposed EMk-NN algorithm improves the baselinek-NN model and outperforms the appropriately tuned artificial neural network (ANN) in the task of predicting the case (data record) output values. The results are verified by performing statistical analysis.

Research limitations/implications

– The proposed method is currently adjusted to deal with numerical features, so, as a direction for future work, the variant of EMk-NN algorithm that deals with symbolic or some more complex types of features should be considered.

Practical implications

– EMk-NN algorithm can be incorporated as a case retrieval component inside a general CBR system. This is the future direction of the investigation since the authors intend to build a complete specialized CBR system for construction project management. The overall CBR with incorporated EMk-NN will have significant implication in the construction management as it will be able to produce more accurate prediction of viability and the life cycle of new construction projects.

Originality/value

– The electromagnetism-like algorithm is applied to the problem of finding feature weights for the first time. EM potential for solving the problem of weighting features lies in its internal structure because it is based on the real-valued EM vectors. The overall EMk-NN algorithm is applied on data sets generated from real construction projects data corpus. The proposed algorithm proved its efficiency as it outperformed baselinek-NN model and ANN. Its applicability in more complex and specialized CBR systems is high since it can be easily added due to its modular (black-box) design.
Research on group decision making with interval numbers based on plant growth simulation algorithm
Authors: Li Lei , Xie Xiaolu , Guo Rui
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims at multi-attribute and multi-program group decision making when the attribute weights are completely unknown and the attribute value information is in the form of the interval number.

Design/methodology/approach

– This is an artificial intelligence algorithm for designing information gathering in group decision making. The authors propose the nonlinear programming model to gather information based on plant growth simulation algorithm (PGSA). The authors collect each program on each attribute group decision preference ordering interval and then use them to find the preference vector and the preference matrix. The entropy method is used to determine the weight of each attribute by the constructed preference matrix. According to the possibility degree matrix of each attribute, the combined effect vector is established by the priority weight vector method, which sorts and selects the best decision making program.

Findings

– To the authors' knowledge, the application of PGSA in the field of management decisions to collect program on each attribute group decision making preference interval number is the first trial in literature. It has retained more valuable decision making information from all experts without distortion.

Practical implications

– In practice, a real number may not be an accurate representation, but only gives a range of values to describe the attributes. This study provides a useful measurement of interval number information for managers to evaluate military science, venture capital, and environmental assessment, etc.

Originality/value

– The methodology considers the complete information to ensure no information distortion even with large and complex systems. The authors adopt computer artificial intelligence algorithms to obtain the objective evaluation, which is meaningful for both research studies and practical use.
A report on the DataCite Summer 2013 Meeting
Authors: C. Jantz Ronald
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this conference report is to highlight the key points in the DataCite Summer 2013 Meeting.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach provides a summary of each presentation in the DataCite Summer Meeting.

Findings

– The DataCite 2013 Meeting demonstrated that there are many stakeholders engaged in the data citation and reuse mission and that much progress has been made in the past year.

Originality/value

– This brief summary provides highlights of the conference that are not easily gleaned from the posted online slides.
The positive effect of the financial crisis on the dynamic capabilities of international intermediaries
Authors: Glattstein David , Su Lei Jia
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This study aims to explore the dynamic capabilities of international intermediaries that cooperate with Chinese factories. The authors determine the structure of these dynamic capabilities and inquire into the manner in which they allow an intermediary to respond to external change. Furthermore, the authors examine these capabilities both before and during a financial crisis in order to better understand how an international manufacturing intermediary can succeed during a poor economic situation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on a case analysis involving multiple organizations, the authors use triangulated data from a variety of sources: five American intermediaries, 28 Chinese factories, and additional source data.

Findings

– Results from this study show that, compared to other firms, intermediary organizations contain additional dynamic capabilities. This allows for the creation of a new three-tier model of intermediary capabilities: internal dynamic capabilities, external network capacity, and external dynamic capabilities. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that impression management,guanxi, and other external dynamic capabilities can be used to influence how external firms allocate and re-allocate their resources and thus become a crucial dynamic capability. This case analysis also determines that the financial crisis actually strengthened the dynamic capabilities of these intermediaries.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first to determine the structure of the dynamic capabilities for this type of intermediary and to demonstrate that they possess dynamic capabilities that can influence how an external firm re-allocates resources. Additionally, the authors extend the dynamic capabilities literature to the type of firm that operates in an emerging economy.
Key dimensions of brand value co-creation and its impacts upon customer perception and brand performance
Authors: Zhang Jing , He Yong
Published: February 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to identify key dimensions of brand value co-creation activities and empirically examine the impacts of different dimensions of brand value co-creation upon brand performance among Chinese industrial services firms.

Design/methodology/approach

– Key dimensions of brand value co-creation activities are identified and a research framework is presented based on qualitative interviews with three industrial services firms. Then, the conceptual model and 14 research hypotheses addressing the impacts of different dimensions of brand value co-creation activities upon brand performance are tested by conducting a questionnaire survey among 258 pairs of Chinese B2B services providers and their client companies.

Findings

– The research results show that: on the whole, integration of brand value chain and service-dominant logic (SDL) can lead to stronger theoretical explanation about the industrial services brand value and brand performance. In other words, value co-creation activities among multiple stakeholders can help customers perceive brand value in a favorable way and finally improve brand performance; branding process involves eight kinds of value co-creation activities on four interfaces between firm-employees, firm-customers, employees-customers, and firm-other stakeholders, indicating that the cultivation of industrial services brand needs a broader stakeholder perspective; value co-creation activities on the firm-employees interface is original driver of brand development by impacting brand value and brand performance via value co-creation on other interfaces.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first kind of research that empirically explores the formation mechanism of industrial brand value from the perspective of SDL and also provides insightful implications for managers by pointing out that B2B service providers need to consider the interactive value co-creation behaviors in the social network constructed by different stakeholders in order to improve brand management performance.
An environmental oestrogen disrupts fish population dynamics through direct and transgenerational effects on survival and fecundity
Authors: Schwindt Adam R. , Winkelman Dana L. , Keteles Kristen , Murphy Mark , Vajda Alan M.
Published: February 2014

Increased need for water and projected declines in precipitation due to climate change could leave waterways increasingly dominated by wastewater effluent. Understanding how components of wastewater influence fish populations is necessary for effective conservation and management. Despite research demonstrating effects of oestrogens, such as 17α‐ethynylestradiol (EE2), on fish physiology and population failure, the generality of population responses is uncertain and the underlying mechanisms affecting population declines are unknown. EE2 is the steroid oestrogen in human contraceptive pills and has been measured up to 11 ng L−1 in the environment.

We identify disrupted population dynamics due to direct and transgenerational effects on survival and fecundity. We conducted a year‐long study on three generations of fathead minnows Pimephales promelas Rafinesque in aquatic mesocosms and laboratory aquaria. We added environmentally relevant concentrations of EE2 daily using a static renewal, which approximates a pulsed exposure that fish experience in natural systems.

EE2 (3·2 ng L−1) reduced F0 male survival to 17% (48% lower than controls) and juvenile production by 40% compared to controls. F1 fish continuously exposed to EE2 failed to reproduce, and reproduction of the F1 transferred to clean water was 70–99% less than controls.

F2 larval survival, exposed only as germ cells in their parents, was reduced by 51–97% compared to controls. The indirect effect on F2 survival suggests the possibility of transgenerational effects of EE2.

Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that fish populations exposed to environmentally relevant 17α‐ethynylestradiol (EE2) concentrations may not recover from exposure. Management of short‐lived highly fecund fishes should be prioritized to protect fish from the embryo through gonadal differentiation. Reducing effluent will not be possible in many situations; hence, conservation of breeding and rearing habitat in unpolluted tributaries or reaches is needed. Additionally, resource managers could enhance habitat connectivity in rivers to facilitate immigration. Finally, investment in advanced wastewater processing technology should improve removal of bioactive chemicals such as EE2. Our results provide a baseline for regulatory agencies to consider when assessing the ecological effects of environmental oestrogens, and our approach to evaluating population‐level effects could be widely applied to other contaminants.
The Tree of Life in ecosystems: evolution of plant effects on carbon and nutrient cycling
Authors: Cornelissen Johannes H. C. , Cornwell William K.
Published: February 2014

The time is now ripe for ecologists and evolutionary biologists together to tackle a huge and important new challenge: mapping plant species effects on ecosystem functions onto the Tree of Life. This new research agenda is now tractable because of major recent advances in (i) screening plant species world‐wide for the traits that support these functions, as well as in our understanding of how these traits support these functions; (ii) genetic screening and bioinformatics to build huge molecular plant phylogenies; and (iii) the comparative methods tools to analyse traits and phylogenies together.

Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of traits related to biogeochemical cycling requires concerted research activity at a range of different phylogenetic scales, from analyses that consider data from all land plants to micro‐evolution and other sources of intraspecific variation. This effort also requires study of the different plant organs involved in carbon and nutrient uptake, processing and transport, including the coordination between them.

This overall effort should reveal (i) which lineages are associated with fast and which with slow turnover of carbon and nutrients (and water); (ii) how they are associated with fast versus slow turnover in terms of the traits involved; (iii) when in evolutionary history key transitions between fast and slow occurred; and (iv) what were and are the consequences of such variation in plant carbon and nutrient traits and turnover rates for past, present and future ecosystem functioning and services.

Here, we introduce seven papers that together help set up this research agenda, each at a different phylogenetic level and resolution, and for different plant organs. Recent studies have begun to reveal evolutionary patterns in traits that matter to carbon and nutrient cycling for other groups of organisms, such as decomposing fungi and macrodetritivores and herbivorous animals. Ultimately such studies will all help towards the goal of mapping effects of organisms on biogeochemical cycling onto the entire Tree of Life.
So excellent a fishe: a global overview of legal marine turtle fisheries
Authors: Humber Frances , Godley Brendan J. , Broderick Annette C.
Published: February 2014

Aim

We provide a global assessment of the current legal direct take of marine turtles, including the scale and species breakdown at country level, and investigate the significance of legal take to marine turtle populations within the wider context of global threats.

Location

World‐wide.

Methods

We undertook a comprehensive review of the literature (> 500 publications) and contacted over 150 in‐country experts to collate data for countries that permit the legal take of marine turtles (as of 1 January 2013). Current annual take for each country and species was estimated, and estimates were generated for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Results

Currently, 42 countries and territories permit direct take of turtles and collectively take in excess of 42,000 turtles per year, the majority of which (> 80%) are green turtles Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus 1758). Ten countries account for more than 90% of legal take each year with Papua New Guinea (36.1%) and Nicaragua (22.3%) accounting for more than half of the total global take. Since 1980, we estimate that more than 2 million turtles have been legally taken in these countries, with current levels < 60% of those in the 1980s.

Main conclusions

Our results provide the most comprehensive global synthesis of the legal take of turtles in recent years and suggest that legal take has the potential to be a driver of marine turtle population dynamics, comparable to mortality estimates through recorded bycatch. However, it is likely that illegal take, along with bycatch, is significantly under‐recorded and far greater than the total level of directed legal take. This hampers the ability to assess the relative impacts of these threats to marine turtles.
A study on the ASTM E1921 standard in determining the fracture toughness of ferritic steels
Authors: Aytekin H.
Published: February 2014

One of the most important aims of the fracture mechanics is to determine the fracture toughness of a material. Various methods were developed for this purpose and have been still used nowadays. In the J‐integral method that is one of them, providing of a dominant linear elastic condition on the specimen is not required. However, in ferritic steels, the fracture toughness values (KJC) obtained by the J‐integral method show some inconsistencies. Therefore, the ASTM E1921 standard was developed on ferritic steels, which are instabilities in the values of elastic or elastoplastic fracture toughness. In this study, a new method was used to determine the fracture toughness (KIC) of ferritic steels, and it was compared with the standard. Three steels with different mechanical properties and average grain size were investigated in this study.
Finite element modelling of residual stresses in shot‐peened steam turbine blades
Authors: Newby M. , James M. N. , Hattingh D. G.
Published: February 2014

The attachment region in steam turbine blades is critical to structural integrity, and hence, surface treatment by shot peening or roller burnishing is commonly used to induce compressive residual stresses in the fir‐tree region of the blade. In particular, the last stage blades on the low pressure rotors present the highest risk in terms of catastrophic failure due to their size and operating conditions. These blades have a mass of some 24 kg and operate in a wet steam environment at approximately 60 °C while rotating at 3000 rpm; potential failure modes include high and low cycle fatigue, stress corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue. This paper reports the development of, and results obtained from, an elastic‐perfectly plastic finite element model of the residual stresses in the attachment region of a last stage blade and the influence on these compressive stresses of fatigue cycling. The model uses thermal quenching to simulate the residual stress profile obtained in the fir‐tree serrations after shot peening. Results were validated via extensive synchrotron and laboratory X‐ray diffraction measurements of the residual stress in shot‐peened specimens.
Urban expansion dynamics and natural habitat loss in China: a multiscale landscape perspective
Authors: He Chunyang , Liu Zhifeng , Tian Jie , Ma Qun
Published: February 2014

China's extensive urbanization has resulted in a massive loss of natural habitat, which is threatening the nation's biodiversity and socioeconomic sustainability. A timely and accurate understanding of natural habitat loss caused by urban expansion will allow more informed and effective measures to be taken for the conservation of biodiversity. However, the impact of urban expansion on natural habitats is not well‐understood, primarily due to the lack of accurate spatial information regarding urban expansion across China. In this study, we proposed an approach that can be used to accurately summarize the dynamics of urban expansion in China over two recent decades (1992–2012), by integrating data on nighttime light levels, a vegetation index, and land surface temperature. The natural habitat loss during the time period was evaluated at the national, ecoregional, and local scales. The results revealed that China had experienced extremely rapid urban growth from 1992 to 2012 with an average annual growth rate of 8.74%, in contrast with the global average of 3.20%. The massive urban expansion has resulted in significant natural habitat loss in some areas in China. Special attention needs to be paid to the Pearl River Delta, where 25.79% or 1518 km2 of the natural habitat and 41.99% or 760 km2 of the local wetlands were lost during 1992–2012. This raises serious concerns about species viability and biodiversity. Effective policies and regulations must be implemented and enforced to sustain regional and national development in the context of rapid urbanization.
Changing knowledge and the academic profession in Portugal
Authors: Santiago Rui , Carvalho Teresa , Ferreira Andreia
Published: February 2014

The paper analyses the Portuguese academics' perceptions about changes in their research activities and modes of knowledge production. Quantitative data gathered from an on‐line national survey have been used to develop this analysis. Results reveal that the majority of academics declared that they were not involved in knowledge and technology transfer and that their research activities were not influenced by external sponsors or clients. However, they did recognise that were strong external pressures to reconfigure the epistemologies, ontologies and the institutional conditions under which knowledge is produced. The data analysis also reveals that academics recognise forms of hybridism between autonomy and endogenous dynamics and heteronomy and exogenous dynamics in the development of their research activities and knowledge production.
The Intergenerational Transmission of European Identity: The Role of Gender and Discussion within Families
Authors: Quintelier Ellen , Verhaegen Soetkin , Hooghe Marc
Published: February 2014

This article shows that while European identity tends to be weak among Europeans, a significant transmission of European identity occurs between parents and their children. Belgian adolescents' conversations with their mothers about the European Union strengthen this transmission process. This indicates that European identity is not a superficial phenomenon, but that it is integrated into the social identity of families. Various authors have already stated that the project of European integration requires development of a stronger sense of European identity among citizens of the European Union Member States. Using insights from social identity theory, it is demonstrated in the paper that salient social identities are being transmitted within families. Analyses of the Parent–Child Socialization Study, conducted among 2,085 Belgian father–mother–child triads, back this conclusion.
A deterministic framework for selecting a flood forecasting and warning system at watershed scale
Authors: Golian S. , Yazdi J. , Martina M.L.V. , Sheshangosht S.
Published: February 2014

Feasibility and efficiency of flood forecasting and warning systems (FFWS) are among the most important aims of the watershed flood management. In this paper, a framework was developed to select an FFWS with respect to the costs and benefits of developing and using them and depending on the location and the time of concentration of target points. Target points were determined according to the exposure to flood risk of recreational and population centres in the watershed. A comparison of the economic costs or damages, the injuries or loss of lives for the cases with or without an FFWS had been carried out. The costs of FFWS had been estimated by means of an analysis of the components and equipments required by the hydrological features of the watershed. The economic damages had been estimated based on survey information of assets in the floodplain, lead time for target points and the injuries or losses of lives. These had been estimated according to the intensity of flood hazard, vulnerability, behaviour of population and its location relative to the hazard exposure.
Iatrogenic Pseudoaneurysm of the Middle Meningeal Artery after External Ventricular Drain Placement
Authors: Grandhi Ramesh , Zwagerman Nathan T. , Lee Philip , Jovin Tudor , Okonkwo David O.
Published: February 2014

External ventricular drain (EVD) placement is often a routine but lifesaving neurosurgical procedure performed throughout the world. Misadventures involving the procedure are well documented throughout the literature. However, we present a unique case of middle meningeal artery pseudoaneurysm formation after EVD placement not before described and provide a review of the literature.
Extraventricular Neurocytoma and Ganglioneurocytoma: Advanced MR Imaging, Histopathological, and Chromosomal Findings
Authors: Nabavizadeh Seyed Ali , Chawla Sanjeev , Baccon Jennifer , Zhang Paul J. , Poptani Harish , Melhem Elias R. , Vossough Arastoo
Published: February 2014

Extraventricular neurocytoma and ganglioneurocytoma are rare intra‐axial brain neoplasms that are now recognized as distinct entities in the 2007 WHO classification of brain tumors. We describe the conventional MR imaging, perfusion MRI, proton MR spectroscopy (1H MRS), histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and chromosomal analysis in two cases of these tumors, with some features which have not been previously well described. Both tumor types demonstrated markedly elevated cerebral blood volume on perfusion MRI and had 1p19q chromosomal codeletions. Both tumor types showed an elevated Cho/Cr ratio, but extraventricular ganglioneurocytoma showed a preserved NAA/Cr ratio. These tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intra‐axial brain tumors.
Testing for Unit Roots Under Multiple Possible Trend Breaks and Non‐Stationary Volatility Using Bootstrap Minimum Dickey–Fuller Statistics
Authors: Cavaliere Giuseppe , Harvey David I. , Leybourne Stephen J. , Robert Taylor A. M.
Published: February 2014

In a recent paper, Harvey et al. (2013) (HLT) propose a new unit root test that allows for the possibility of multiple breaks in trend. Their proposed test is based on the infimum of the sequence (across all candidate break points) of local GLS detrended augmented Dickey–Fuller‐type statistics. HLT show that the power of their unit root test is robust to the magnitude of any trend breaks. In contrast, HLT show that the power of the only alternative available procedure of Carrion‐i‐Silvestre et al. (2009), which employs a pretest‐based approach, can be very low indeed (even zero) for the magnitudes of trend breaks typically observed in practice. Both HLT and Carrion‐i‐Silvestre et al. (2009) base their approaches on the assumption of homoskedastic shocks. In this article, we analyse the impact of non‐stationary volatility (for example, single and multiple abrupt variance breaks, smooth transition variance breaks and trending variances) on the tests proposed in HLT. We show that the limiting null distribution of the HLT unit root test statistic is not pivotal under non‐stationary volatility. A solution to the problem, which does not require the practitioner to specify a parametric model for volatility, is provided using the wild bootstrap and is shown to perform well in practice. A number of different possible implementations of the bootstrap algorithm are discussed.
Utility of island populations in re‐introduction programmes – relationships betweenArabian gazelles (Gazella arabica) from theFarasanArchipelago and endangered mainland populations
Authors: Lerp Hannes , Plath Martin , Wronski Torsten , Bärmann Eva V. , Malczyk Anna , Resch Revina‐Rosa , Streit Bruno , Pfenninger Markus
Published: February 2014

Understanding local adaptation and population differentiation is vital to the success of re‐introduction initiatives. As other mammals living on islands,Arabian gazelles (G. arabica) show reduced body size on theFarasan archipelago, which we corroborated in this study through morphometric analyses of skulls. In the light of the steep population decline on theArabianPeninsula – but stable population development on the archipelago – we tested the potential suitability ofFarasan gazelles as a source for re‐introductions on the mainland. We therefore investigated genetic differentiation betweenFarasan and mainland populations using eleven nuclear microsatellite loci and detected a distinct genetic cluster exclusively present on the archipelago, which we inferred to be separated from the mainland cluster for less than 2000 years. About 30% of sampled individuals fromFarasanIslands showed assignment to a mainland cluster with signs of ongoing introgression. Analyses using the isolation‐with‐migration model confirmed recent (probably human‐induced) bidirectional exchange of gazelles between mainland and island populations. Hence, the surprisingly uniform island dwarfism most likely reflects phenotypic plasticity, that is, altered morphology as a direct consequence of harsh environmental conditions and resource limitation on the archipelago. Should a further decline ofArabian gazelles on the mainland necessitate restocking in the future,Farasan gazelles may thus become an additional source for captive breeding programmes.
Patterns of selection on Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte‐binding antigens after the colonization of the New World
Authors: Yalcindag Erhan , Rougeron Virginie , Elguero Eric , Arnathau Céline , Durand Patrick , Brisse Sylvain , Diancourt Laure , Aubouy Agnes , Becquart Pierre , D'Alessandro Umberto , Fontenille Didier , Gamboa Dionicia , Maestre Amanda , Ménard Didier , Musset Lise , Noya Oscar , Veron Vincent , Wide Albina , Carme Bernard , Legrand Eric , Chevillon Christine , Ayala Francisco J. , Renaud François , Prugnolle Franck
Published: February 2014

Pathogens, which have recently colonized a new host species or new populations of the same host, are interesting models for understanding how populations may evolve in response to novel environments. During its colonization of South America from Africa, Plasmodium falciparum, the main agent of malaria, has been exposed to new conditions in distinctive new human populations (Amerindian and populations of mixed origins) that likely exerted new selective pressures on the parasite's genome. Among the genes that might have experienced strong selective pressures in response to these environmental changes, the eba genes (erythrocyte‐binding antigens genes), which are involved in the invasion of the human red blood cells, constitute good candidates. In this study, we analysed, in South America, the polymorphism of three eba genes (eba‐140, eba‐175, eba‐181) and compared it to the polymorphism observed in African populations. The aim was to determine whether these genes faced selective pressures in South America distinct from what they experienced in Africa. Patterns of genetic variability of these genes were compared to the patterns observed at two housekeeping genes (adsl and serca) and 272 SNPs to separate adaptive effects from demographic effects. We show that, conversely to Africa, eba‐140 seemed to be under stronger diversifying selection in South America than eba‐175. In contrast, eba‐181 did not show any sign of departure from neutrality. These changes in the patterns of selection on the eba genes could be the consequence of changes in the host immune response, the host receptor polymorphisms and/or the ability of the parasite to silence or express differentially its invasion proteins.
Dysphagia as a result of ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament in a patient with myotonic dystrophy
Authors: Ishizawa Keisuke , Okano Tsubasa , Sasaki Takahiro , Tomioka Ryo , Araki Nobuo
Published: February 2014

A 61‐year‐old man with myotonic dystrophy (dystrophia myotonica [DM]) complained of dysphagia. Videofluoroscopy suggested impairment of swallowing attributable to weakness of the oropharyngoesophageal muscles. To manage this problem, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy was attempted, but the endoscopy showed the upper esophagus was obstructed. Computed tomography (CT) of the neck showed ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament (OALL) compressing the esophagus. In the serum, 1,25‐dihydroxycholecalciferol was elevated; head CT suggested hyperostosis of the calvarium; and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry at lumbar segments yielded a bone mineral density of 1.092 g/cm2, corresponding to 113% of the age‐matched, Asian male controls. Systemic abnormal calcium metabolism could underlie this patient, which might have, directly or indirectly, contributed to OALL, resulting in dysphagia. The issue of abnormal calcium metabolism in DM deserves further exploration, as it can manifest with diverse, unexpected clinical symptoms, such as dysphagia as a result of OALL, as in the present case.
Simultaneous over‐expressing of an acyl‐ACP thioesterase (FatB) and silencing of acyl‐acyl carrier protein desaturase by artificial microRNAs increases saturated fatty acid levels in Brassica napus seeds
Authors: Sun Jin‐Yue , Hammerlindl Joe , Forseille Li , Zhang Haixia , Smith Mark A.
Published: February 2014

No temperate oilseeds crops are available that produce oil with a high saturated fatty acid content. To achieve such a profile, Brassica napus cv. DH12075 was engineered by simultaneous seed‐specific over‐expression of a native fatty acyl‐ACP thioesterase B [BnFatB(2)] and artificial microRNA‐mediated down‐regulation of eight endogenous genes encoding putative stearoyl‐ACP desaturases (BnSADs). Semi‐quantitative RT‐PCR analysis of transformed lines showed that the BnFatB(2) gene was highly over‐expressed and the eight putative SAD genes were strongly down‐regulated in developing seed demonstrating the successful application of microRNA as a tool for down‐regulation of genes in the allotetraploid plant B. napus. Analysis of seed triacylglycerol (TAG) composition revealed that all lines contained high levels of palmitic acid (16:0) and moderately increased levels of stearic acid (18:0). Total saturated fatty acid content was increased from 7.4% in the control to 37.3–45.6% in the transformed lines, with FatB over‐expression as the dominant trait. A twofold increase in 16:0 was observed in seed polar lipids. The melting point of oil from mature seeds was increased from −10 °C in DH12075 to 15 °C in the line with the highest saturated fatty acid content. TAG composition showed a shift from predominantly C54 TAG to C50 and C52 TAGs enriched in palmitic acid. Seedling establishment at low temperature was compromised in lines with high saturated fatty acid content. Results suggested that transcript encoding stearoyl‐ACP desaturase in developing B. napus seeds is present in considerable excess of the level required for efficient desaturation of 18:0.
Neural responses to various rewards and feedback in the brains of adolescent Internet addicts detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Kim Ji‐Eun , Son Jung‐Woo , Choi Won‐Hee , Kim Yeoung‐Rang , Oh Jong‐Hyun , Lee Seungbok , Kim Jang‐Kyu
Published: February 2014

Aim

This study aimed to examine differences in brain activation for various types of reward and feedback in adolescent Internet addicts (AIA) and normal adolescents (NA) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods

AIA (n = 15) and NA (n = 15) underwent fMRI while performing easy tasks for which performance feedback (PF), social reward (SR) (such as compliments), or monetary reward (MR) was given. Using the no reward (NR) condition, three types of contrasts (PF–NR, SR–NR, and MR–NR) were analyzed.

Results

In NA, we observed activation in the reward‐related subcortical system, self‐related brain region, and other brain areas for the three contrasts, but these brain areas showed almost no activation in AIA. Instead, AIA showed significant activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for the PF–NR contrast and the negative correlation was found between the level of activation in the left superior temporal gyrus (BA 22) and the duration of Internet game use per day in AIA.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that AIA show reduced levels of self‐related brain activation and decreased reward sensitivity irrespective of the type of reward and feedback. AIA may be only sensitive to error monitoring regardless of positive feelings, such as sense of satisfaction or achievement.
Internal and external regulation of plant organ stoichiometry
Authors: Minden V. , Kleyer M.
Published: February 2014

Internal differences between plant organs are caused by the functional differentiation of plant tissue, whereas external supply rates of elements constrain nutrient uptake. Previous studies have concentrated on foliar or whole‐plant stoichiometric response to the environment, whereas investigation of organ‐specific comparisons is still pending. We explore C:N:P ratios of stems, leaves, diaspores and belowground organs in marsh plants, and evaluate the influence of environmental constraints using standardised major axis regression (SMA). For a pooled dataset, SMA resulted in distinct patterns of isometric and anisometric slopes between plant organs. Bivariate line‐fitting for a split dataset of four ecological groups revealed that species of the frequently inundated marsh had higher N:C ratios than those of the infrequently inundated marsh. The influence of nutrient availability was detectable in decreased P:C and increased N:P ratios in P‐poor sites. Across ecological groups, leaves and diaspores showed higher elemental homeostasis than stems and belowground organs. Any change in N:C ratios of belowground organs and diaspores in response to the environment was accompanied by an even stronger internal change in stem N:C ratios, indicating a pivotal role of stems of herbaceous plants in ecosystem processes. We found distinct patterns of C:N:P ratios in plant organs related to their internal function and external environmental constraints. Leaves and diaspores showed a higher degree of homeostasis than stems and belowground organs. We detected a clear external signal in element:element ratios of plant organs, with low soil P translating into lower tissue P:C ratio and stronger N retention in leaves as a response to salt stress.
Dialysis Dosing for Chronic Hemodialysis: Beyond Kt/V
Authors: Daugirdas John T.
Published: February 2014

Current views regarding hemodialysis adequacy reach beyond indices of small solute removal such as Kt/V. Nevertheless, new Kt/V‐based constructs such as the standard Kt/V, which adjusts not only for dialysis frequency, but which also represents removal of sequestered solutes rather than easily removed urea, continue to be useful. The scaling of dialysis dose to measures of size other than body water results in higher recommended doses of dialysis for children, small patients, and women, compared with the current body water‐based scaling approach. Aside from small solute removal, increasing weekly time on dialysis results in slower removal of fluid with better tolerance and with increased removal of phosphorus, although both salt and water and phosphorus control often respond to efforts to reduce intake. The intermediate term benefits of removing larger middle molecules such as beta‐2‐microglobulin appear to be modest, and the benefits of removal of protein‐bound uremic toxins remain to be proved in controlled trials.
Square Heating Applied to Shearography and Active Infrared Thermography Measurements Coupling: From Feasibility Test in Laboratory to Numerical Study of Pultruded CFRP Plates Glued on Concrete Specimen
Authors: Théroux L.‐D. , Dumoulin J. , Maladague X.
Published: February 2014

This paper investigates thermography and shearography couplings, using feasibility trials and numerical simulations, for non‐destructive control evaluations of bonding of carbon fiber‐reinforced polymer plates glued over concrete structures. Those are well‐known methods in non‐destructive testing (NDT) applied to civil engineering, but in this context, they are seen as paired because they use the same excitation source: square‐pulsed optical heating. Furthermore, because both methods are based on different properties, the detection of defects is optimised regardless of its nature or type. The combination of the methods allows the measurement of a thermal as well as a thermomechanical response from the structure at the same time. A quick review of those methods and their respective advantage and inconvenient is mentioned. An in‐depth study of the interpretation of the thermal and mechanical responses is carried out in relation to the thermal excitation. Then, the thought process behind the conception of the finite element model and its limitation is discussed. The experimental setup, used for feasibility testing, is described as well as a thorough analysis of the experimental and simulated results. Finally, the pairing of both methods is discussed regarding the evaluation of the bond quality, as well as the similitude of the sample and its numerical model.
Rice germline‐specific Argonaute MEL1 protein binds to phasiRNAs generated from more than 700 lincRNAs
Authors: Komiya Reina , Ohyanagi Hajime , Niihama Mitsuru , Watanabe Toshiaki , Nakano Mutsuko , Kurata Nori , Nonomura Ken‐Ichi
Published: February 2014

Small RNAs that interact with Argonaute (AGO) proteins play central roles in RNA‐mediated silencing. MEIOSIS ARRESTED AT LEPTOTENE1 (MEL1), a rice AGO, has specific functions in the development of pre‐meiotic germ cells and the progression of meiosis. Here, we show that MEL1, which is located mostly in the cytoplasm of germ cells, associates preferentially with 21‐nucleotide phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) that bear a 5′‐terminal cytosine. Most phasiRNAs are derived from 1171 intergenic clusters distributed on all rice chromosomes. From these clusters, over 700 large intergenic, non‐coding RNAs (lincRNAs) that contain the consensus sequence complementary to miR2118 are transcribed specifically in inflorescences, and cleaved within the miR2118 site. Cleaved lincRNAs are processed via DICER‐LIKE4 (DCL4) protein, resulting in production of phasiRNAs. This study provides the evidence that the miR2118‐dependent and the DCL4‐dependent pathways are both required for biogenesis of 21‐nt phasiRNAs associated with germline‐specific MEL1 AGO in rice, and over 700 lincRNAs are key factors for induction of this biogenesis during reproductive‐specific stages.