bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Estimating the Biological Validity of the DSM for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Using Multivariate Analysis for Small Samples
Authors: Abramov Dimitri M. , Vigneau Evelyne , Gomes-Junior Saint-Clair , Mourão-Júnior Carlos Alberto , Castro-Pontes Monique , Cunha Carla Quero , deAzevedo Leonardo C. , Lazarev Vladimir V.
Published: April 2017

Background.

Psychiatric nosology lacks objective biological foundation, as well as typical biomarkers for diagnoses, which raises questions about its validity. The problem is particularly evident concerning Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The objective of this study is to estimate whether the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM) is biologically valid for ADHD diagnosis using a multivariate analysis for small samples from a large dataset concerning neurophysiological, behavioral, and psychological variables.

Methods:

Twenty typically developing boys and 19 boys diagnosed with ADHD, aged 10-13 years, were examined using the Attentional Network Test (ANT) with records of event-related potentials (ERPs). From 815 variables, a reduced number of latent variables (LVs) were extracted with a clustering method, for further reclassification of subjects using the k-means method. This approach allowed multivariate analysis to be applied to a significantly larger number of variables than the number of cases (E. Wigneau et al., 2003, 2015)

Results:

From datasets including ERPs from the mid-frontal, mid-parietal, right frontal, and central channels, only seven subjects were miss-reclassified by the LVs. An estimated specificity of 75.00% and sensitivity of 89.47% for DSM were found in the reclassification. The kappa index between DSM and behavioral/psychological/neurophysiological data was 0.75, which is regarded as a “substantial level of agreement”.

Discussion:

Results showed that CLV is a useful method for diagnostic classification using a large dataset of small samples, suggesting the biological validity of DSM for ADHD diagnosis, in accordance to alterations in fronto-striatal networks previously related to ADHD.
ETV4 and AP1 transcription factors form multivalent interactions with three sites on the MED25 activator-interacting domain
Authors: Currie Simon L. , Doane Jedediah J. , Evans Kathryn S. , Bhachech Niraja , Madison Bethany J. , Lau Desmond K. W. , McIntosh Lawrence P. , Skalicky Jack J. , Clark Kathleen A. , Graves Barbara J.
Published: April 2017

The recruitment of transcriptional cofactors by sequence-specific transcription factors challenges the basis of high affinity and selective interactions. Extending previous studies that the N-terminal activation domain (AD) of ETV5 interacts with Mediator subunit 25 (MED25), we establish that similar, aromatic-rich motifs located both in the AD and in the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of the related ETS factor ETV4 interact with MED25. These ETV4 regions bind MED25 independently, display distinct kinetics, and combine to contribute to a high-affinity interaction of full-length ETV4 with MED25. Within the ETS family, high-affinity interactions with MED25 are specific for the ETV1/4/5 subfamily as other ETS factors display weaker or no detectable binding. The AD binds to a single site on MED25 and the DBD interacts with three MED25 sites, allowing for simultaneous binding of both domains in full-length ETV4. MED25 also stimulates thein vitroDNA binding activity of ETV4 by relieving autoinhibition. ETV1/4/5 factors are often overexpressed in prostate cancer and genome-wide studies in a prostate cancer cell line indicate that ETV4 and MED25 occupy enhancers that are enriched for ETS-binding sequences and are both functionally important for the transcription of genes regulated by these enhancers. AP1-binding sequences were observed in MED25-occupied regions and JUN/FOS also contact MED25; FOS strongly binds to the same MED25 site as ETV4 AD and JUN interacts with the other two MED25 sites. In summary, we describe features of the multivalent ETV4- and AP1-MED25 interactions, thereby implicating these factors in the recruitment of MED25 to transcriptional control elements.
Cell type boundaries organize plant development
Authors: Caggiano Monica Pia , Yu Xiulian , Bhatia Neha , Larsson André , Ram Hasthi , Ohno Carolyn , Sappl Pia , Meyerowitz Elliot M. , Jönsson Henrik , Heisler Marcus G.
Published: April 2017

In plants the dorsoventral boundary of leaves defines an axis of symmetry through the centre of the organ separating the top (dorsal) and bottom (ventral) tissues. Although the positioning of this boundary is critical for leaf morphogenesis, how the boundary is established and how it influences development remains unclear. Using live-imaging and perturbation experiments we show that leaf orientation, morphology and position are pre-patterned by HD-ZIPIII and KAN gene expression in the shoot, leading to a model in which dorsoventral genes coordinate to regulate plant development by localizing auxin response between their expression domains. However we also find that auxin levels feedback on dorsoventral patterning by spatially organizing HD-ZIPIII and KAN expression in the shoot periphery. By demonstrating that the regulation of these genes by auxin also governs their response to wounds, our results also provide a parsimonious explanation for the influence of wounds on leaf dorsoventrality.
Linking FANTOM5 CAGE peaks to annotations with CAGEscan
Authors: Bertin Nicolas , Mendez Mickaël , Hasegawa Akira , Lizio Marina , Abugessaisa Imad , Severin Jessica , Sakai-Ohno Mizuho , Lassmann Timo , Kasusawa Takeya , Kawaji Hideya , Hayashizaki Yoshihide , Forrest Alistair R. R. , Carninci Piero , Plessy Charles
Published: April 2017

The FANTOM5 expression atlas is a quantitative measurement of the activity of nearly 200,000 promoter regions across nearly 2,000 different human primary cells, tissue types and cell lines. Generation of this atlas was made possible by the use of CAGE, an experimental approach to localise transcription start sites at single-nucleotide resolution by sequencing the 5′ ends of capped RNAs after their conversion to cDNAs. While 50% of CAGE-defined promoter regions could be confidently associated to adjacent transcriptional units, nearly 100,000 promoter regions remained gene-orphan. To address this, we used the CAGEscan method, in which random-primed 5′-cDNAs are paired-end sequenced. Pairs starting in the same region are assembled in transcript models called CAGEscan clusters. Here, we present the production and quality control of CAGEscan libraries from 56 FANTOM5 RNA sources, which enhances the FANTOM5 expression atlas by providing experimental evidence associating core promoter regions with their cognate transcripts.
BasePlayer: Versatile Analysis Software for Large-scale Genomic Variant Discovery
Authors: Katainen Riku , Donner Iikki , Cajuso Tatiana , Kaasinen Eevi , Palin Kimmo , Mäkinen Veli , Aaltonen Lauri A. , Pitkänen Esa
Published: April 2017

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is being routinely applied in life sciences and clinical practice, where the interpretation of the resulting massive data has become a critical challenge. Computational workflows, such as the Broad GATK, have been established to take raw sequencing data and produce processed data for downstream analyses. Consequently, results of these computationally demanding workflows, consisting of e.g. sequence alignment and variant calling, are increasingly being provided for customers by sequencing and bioinformatics facilities. However, downstream variant analysis, whole-genome level in particular, has been lacking a multi-purpose tool, which could take advantage of rapidly growing genomic information and integrate genetic variant, sequence, genomic annotation and regulatory (e.g. ENCODE) data interactively and in a visual fashion. Here we introduce a highly efficient and user-friendly software, BasePlayer (http://baseplayer.fi), for biological discovery in large-scale NGS data. BasePlayer enables tightly integrated comparative variant analysis and visualization of thousands of NGS data samples and millions of variants, with numerous applications in disease, regulatory and population genomics. Although BasePlayer has been designed primarily for whole-genome and exome sequencing data, it is well-suited to various study settings, diseases and organisms by supporting standard and upcoming file formats. BasePlayer transforms an ordinary desktop computer into a large-scale genomic research platform, enabling also a non-technical user to perform complex comparative variant analyses, population frequency filtering and genome level annotations under intuitive, scalable and highly-responsive user interface to facilitate everyday genetic research as well as the search of novel discoveries.
Combinatorial regulation of the balance between dynein microtubule end accumulation and initiation of directed motility
Authors: Jha Rupam , Roostalu Johanna , Trokter Martina , Surrey Thomas
Published: April 2017

Cytoplasmic dynein is involved in a multitude of essential cellular functions. Dynein’s activity is controlled by the combinatorial action of several regulators. The molecular mechanism of this regulation is poorly understood. Using purified proteins, we reconstitute the regulation of the human dynein complex by three prominent regulators on dynamic microtubules in the presence of end binding proteins (EBs). We find that dynein can be in biochemically and functionally distinct pools: either passively tracking dynamic microtubule plus-ends in an EB-dependent manner or moving processively towards minus ends in an adaptor protein-dependent manner. Whereas both dynein pools share the dynactin complex, they have opposite preferences for binding other regulators, either the adaptor protein Bicaudal D2 (BicD2) or the multifunctional regulator Lisencephaly-1 (Lis1). Remarkably, dynactin, but not EBs, strongly biases motility initiation locally from microtubule plus ends by autonomous plus end recognition. BicD2 and Lis1 together control the overall efficiency of motility initiation. Our study provides insight into the mechanism of dynein activity regulation by dissecting the distinct functional contributions of the individual members of a dynein regulatory network.
Generalising Better: Applying Deep Learning to Integrate Deleteriousness Prediction Scores for Whole-Exome SNV Studies
Authors: Korvigo Ilia , Afanasyev Andrey , Romashchenko Nikolay , Skoblov Mihail
Published: April 2017

Many automatic classifiers were introduced to aid inference of phenotypical effects of uncategorised nsSNVs (nonsynonymous Single Nucleotide Variations) in theoretical and medical applications. Lately, several meta-estimators have been proposed that combine different predictors, such as PolyPhen and SIFT, to integrate more information in a single score. Although many advances have been made in feature design and machine learning algorithms used, the shortage of high-quality reference data along with the bias towards intensively studied in vitro models call for improved generalisation ability in order to further increase classification accuracy and handle records with insufficient data. Since a meta-estimator basically combines different scoring systems with highly complicated nonlinear relationships, we investigated how deep learning (supervised and unsupervised), which is particularly efficient at discovering hierarchies of features, can improve classification performance. While it is believed that one should only use deep learning for high-dimensional input spaces and other models (logistic regression, support vector machines, Bayesian classifiers, etc) for simpler inputs, we still believe that the ability of neural networks to discover intricate structure in highly heterogenous datasets can aid a meta-estimator. We compare the performance with various popular predictors, many of which are recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), as well as available deep learning-based predictors. Thanks to hardware acceleration we were able to use a computationally expensive genetic algorithm to stochastically optimise hyper-parameters over many generations. Overfitting was hindered by noise injection and dropout, limiting coadaptation of hidden units. Although we stress that this work was not conceived as a tool comparison, but rather an exploration of the possibilities of deep learning application in ensemble scores, our results show that even relatively simple modern neural networks can significantly improve both prediction accuracy and coverage. We provide open-access to our finest model at http://score.generesearch.ru.
Conservation of epigenetic regulation by the MLL3/4 tumour suppressor in planarian pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Mihaylova Yuliana , Abnave Prasad , Kao Damian , Hughes Samantha , Lai Alvina , Jaber-Hijazi Farah , Kosaka Nobuyoshi , Aboobaker A. Aziz
Published: April 2017

Currently, little is known about the evolution of epigenetic regulation in animal stem cells. Using the planarian stem cell system to investigate the role of the COMPASS family of MLL3/4 histone methyltransferases, we demonstrate that their role as tumour suppressors in stem cells is conserved over a large evolutionary distance in animals. This also suggested the potential conservation of a genome wide epigenetic regulation program in animal stem cells, so we assessed the regulatory effects of Mll3/4 loss of function by performing RNA-seq and ChIP-seq on the G2/M planarian stem cell population, part of which contributes to the formation of outgrowths. We find many oncogenes and tumour suppressors among the affected genes that are therefore likely candidates for mediating MLL3/4 tumour suppression function in mammals, where little is known aboutin vivoregulatory targets. Our work demonstrates conservation of an important epigenetic regulatory program in animals and highlights the utility of the planarian model system for studying epigenetic regulation.
Framework for reanalysis of publicly available Affymetrix®GeneChip®data sets based on functional regions of interest
Authors: Saka Ernur , Harrison Benjamin J. , West Kirk , Petruska Jeffrey C. , Rouchka Eric C.
Published: April 2017

Background

Since the introduction of microarrays in 1995, researchers world-wide have used both commercial and custom-designed microarrays for understanding differential expression of transcribed genes. Public databases such as ArrayExpress and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) have made millions of samples readily available. One main drawback to microarray data analysis involves the selection of probes to represent a specific transcript of interest, particularly in light of the fact that transcript-specific knowledge (notably alternative splicing) is dynamic in nature.

Results

We therefore developed a framework for reannotating and reassigning probe groups for Affymetrix®GeneChip®technology based on functional regions of interest. This framework addresses three issues of Affymetrix®GeneChip®data analyses: removing nonspecific probes, updating probe target mapping based on the latest genome knowledge and grouping probes into gene, transcript and region-based (UTR, individual exon, CDS) probe sets. Updated gene and transcript probe sets provide more specific analysis results based on current genomic and transcriptomic knowledge. The framework selects unique probes, aligns them to gene annotations and generates a custom Chip Description File (CDF). The analysis reveals only 87% of the Affymetrix®GeneChip®HG-U133 Plus 2 probes uniquely align to the current hg38 human assembly without mismatches. We also tested new mappings on the publicly available data series using rat and human data from GSE48611 and GSE72551 obtained from GEO, and illustrate that functional grouping allows for the subtle detection of regions of interest likely to have phenotypical consequences.

Conclusion

Through reanalysis of the publicly available data series GSE48611 and GSE72551, we profiled the contribution of UTR and CDS regions to the gene expression levels globally. The comparison between region and gene based results indicated that the detected expressed genes by gene-based and region-based CDFs show high consistency and regions based results allows us to detection of changes in transcript formation.
The central amygdala controls learning in the lateral amygdala
Authors: Yu Kai , Ahrens Sandra , Zhang Xian , Schiff Hillary , Ramakrishnan Charu , Fenno Lief , Deisseroth Karl , Zhou Pengcheng , Paninski Liam , Li Bo
Published: April 2017

Both the lateral and the central nuclei of the amygdala are required for adaptive behavioral responses to environmental cues predicting threats. While experience-driven synaptic plasticity in the lateral amygdala is thought to underlie the formation of association between a sensory stimulus and an ensuing threat, how the central amygdala participates in such learning process remains unclear. Here we show that a specific class of central amygdala neurons, the protein kinase C-δ-expressing neurons, is essential for the synaptic plasticity underlying learning in the lateral amygdala, as it is required for lateral amygdala neurons to respond to unconditioned stimulus, and furthermore carries information about the unconditioned stimulus to instruct learning. Our results uncover an amygdala functional organization that may play a key role in diverse learning processes.
Wheel running increases hyperthermia and mortality rate following 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in rats
Authors: Taffe M. A.
Published: April 2017

Hyperthermic responses are commonly reported in cases of human medical emergency following recreational use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”), but a precise determination of contributing environmental factors has been elusive given the relative scarcity of threatening and fatal reactions in humans. This study was conducted to determine if elevated physical activity contributes to hyperthermic responses to MDMA in a well controlled animal model. Unrestrained male Wistar rats were monitored with minimally-invasive radiotelemetry techniques following challenge with MDMA (1.0, 5.6 and 10.0 mg/kg, s.c.). Studies were conducted in low (23-25°C) and high (27°C) ambient temperature (TA), with and without access to an activity wheel. The study confirmed dose dependent effects on body temperature, chamber activity and wheel activity which were modified by different TAconditions. Increases in wheel and home chamber activity produced by 10 mg/kg MDMA increased the magnitude of hyperthermia under 27°C TA. Furthermore, greater subject mortality was observed in the wheel-access condition compared with the no-wheel condition. These data provide direct evidence that sustained physical activity increases the hyperthermic response to MDMA and that this is associated with increased lethality. This is the first direct experimental confirmation that increased physical activity may be a risk factor for adverse reactions to MDMA in human user populations.
Histopathological image QTL discovery of immune infiltration variants
Authors: Barry Joseph D. , Fagny Maud , Paulson Joseph N. , Aerts Hugo J. W. L. , Platig John , Quackenbush John
Published: April 2017

Genotype-to-phenotype association studies typically use macroscopic physiological measurements or molecular readouts as quantitative traits. There are comparatively few suitable quantitative traits available between cell and tissue length scales, a limitation that hinders our ability to identify variants affecting phenotype at many clinically informative levels. Here we show that quantitative image features, automatically extracted from histopathological imaging data, can be used for image Quantitative Trait Loci (iQTL) mapping and variant discovery. Using thyroid pathology images, clinical metadata, and genomics data from the Genotype and Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, we establish and validate a quantitative imaging biomarker for immune cell infiltration. A total of 100,215 variants were selected for iQTL profiling, and tested for genotype-phenotype associations with our quantitative imaging biomarker. Significant associations were found in HDAC9 and TXNDC5. We validated the TXNDC5 association using GTExcis-expression QTL data, and an independent hypothyroidism dataset from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics network.

One Sentence Summary

We use a histopathological image QTL analysis to identify genomic variants associated with immune cell infiltration.
Quiescence unveils a novel mutational force in fission yeast
Authors: Gangloff Serge , Achaz Guillaume , Villain Adrien , Miled Samia , Denis Claire , Arcangioli Benoit
Published: April 2017

One Sentence Summary

The quiescence-driven mutational landscape reveals a novel evolutionary force.

During cell division, the spontaneous mutation rate is expressed as the probability of mutationspergeneration, whereas during quiescence it will be expressedperunit of time. In this study, we report that during quiescence, the unicellular haploid fission yeast accumulates mutations as a linear function of time. We determined that 3 days of quiescence generate a number of invalidating mutations equivalent to that of one round of DNA replication. The novel mutational landscape of quiescence is characterized by insertion/deletion accumulating as fast as single nucleotide variants, and elevated amounts of deletions. When we extended the study to 3 months of quiescence, we confirmed the replication-independent mutational spectrum at the whole-genome level of a clonally aged population and uncovered phenotypic variations that subject the cells to natural selection. Thus, our results support the idea that genomes continuously evolve under two alternating phases that will impact on their size and composition.
Effective aperture of X-ray compound refractive lenses
Authors: Kohn V. G.
Published: April 2017

A new definition of the effective aperture of the X-ray compound refractive lens (CRL) is proposed. Both linear (one-dimensional) and circular (two-dimensional) CRLs are considered. It is shown that for a strongly absorbing CRL the real aperture does not influence the focusing properties and the effective aperture is determined by absorption. However, there are three ways to determine the effective aperture in terms of transparent CRLs. In the papers by Kohn [(2002). JETP Lett.
76, 600–603; (2003). J. Exp. Theor. Phys.
97, 204–215; (2009). J. Surface Investig.
3, 358–364; (2012). J. Synchrotron Rad.
19, 84–92; Kohn et al. (2003). Opt. Commun.
216, 247–260; (2003). J. Phys. IV Fr, 104, 217–220], the FWHM of the X-ray beam intensity just behind the CRL was used. In the papers by Lengeler et al. [(1999). J. Synchrotron Rad.
6, 1153–1167; (1998). J. Appl. Phys.
84, 5855–5861], the maximum intensity value at the focus was used. Numerically, these two definitions differ by 50%. The new definition is based on the integral intensity of the beam behind the CRL over the real aperture. The integral intensity is the most physical value and is independent of distance. The new definition gives a value that is greater than that of the Kohn definition by 6% and less than that of the Lengeler definition by 41%. A new approximation for the aperture function of a two-dimensional CRL is proposed which allows one to calculate the two-dimensional CRL through the one-dimensional CRL and to obtain an analytical solution for a complex system of many CRLs.
Understanding Chinese users’ switching behaviour of cloud storage services
Authors: Xu Fang , Tian Meng , Xu Guohu , Reyes Ayala Brenda , Shen Wen
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the switching intention and behaviour of cloud storage services (CSS) individual users in China by integrating the variables of switching cost and habit into the expectation disconfirmation theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 419 valid responses, structural equation modelling was used to examine the research model.

Findings

The results indicated that perceived usefulness and expectation disconfirmation have a positive and negative effect on user satisfaction, respectively. While expectation disconfirmation has a negative impact on perceived usefulness, user satisfaction positively affects users’ habit and switching cost. At the same time, switching intention is affected significantly and negatively by perceived usefulness, user satisfaction, as well as switching cost, where in switching intention and habit can commendably predict switching behaviour. The results can guide for CSS providers on how to successfully retain users in the competitive CSS market.

Originality/value

Previous researches have investigated the effects of perceived usefulness, switching cost and user traits on CSS adoption and continuance intention, as well as behaviour; they neglected the antecedents of switching cost and the effect of user habit on them. Additionally, relatively few studies have been devoted to an empirical examination of the switching behaviour from a particular CSS product to its rival products at the individual user level. This research tries to fill these gaps.
Adolescents’ social reading: motivation, behaviour, and their relationship
Authors: Li Wu , Wu Yuehua
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Using the case of social reading via WeChat in China, this paper aims to explore adolescents’ social reading motivation and behaviour. It also examines how the specific dimensions of reading motivation contribute to the different aspects of social reading behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used survey approach, which gathered 1,039 valid responses from a cluster sampling in 14 middle and high schools in Shanghai, China.

Findings

The results indicated that social reading motivation was a multidimensional construct, which included the dimensions of social interaction, self-development, peer recognition, information acquisition, personal interests and time killing. The research also found that different motivational dimensions exerted different influences on adolescents’ social reading activities. Specifically, the motivations of time killing and self-development are significant predictors of both the reading act and socializing act. However, information acquisition and personal interests were significant predictors only of the reading act, while social interaction and peer recognition significantly predicted the socializing act.

Research limitations/implications

The findings would be valuable for those who develop reading programs or administer adolescents’ reading practice. This study can help them understand the complexity of adolescents’ social reading motivation and distinguish between its different dimensions.

Originality/value

The study provides important insights into the nature of adolescents’ social reading motivation and how it relates to their social reading behaviour. It not only confirmed the multidimensionality of social reading motivation as a construct but also expanded the exploration of reading motivation and behaviour to the social media arena.
Energy security, uncertainty and energy resource use options in Ethiopia
Authors: Guta Dawit , Börner Jan
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Ethiopia’s energy sector faces critical challenges to meeting steadily increasing energy demand given limited infrastructure, heavy reliance on hydroelectric power and underdevelopment of alternative energy resources. The purpose of this paper was to identify optimal least cost investment decisions for integrated energy source diversification. The authors seek to contribute to the relevant literature by paying particular attention to the role of public policy for promoting renewable energy investment and to better understand future energy security implications of various sources of uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors created a dynamic linear programming model using General Algebraic Modelling System software to explore the national energy security implications of uncertainties associated with increasing technological advances and efficiency, and climate change scenarios.

Findings

To cope with the impacts of drought expected from future climate change on hydroelectric power production, Ethiopia would need to invest in the development of alternative energy resources. Such investment would not only enhance the sustainability and reliability of energy production but also increase costs. Greater rates of technological and efficiency innovations, however, were found to improve electricity diversification and reduce production costs and shadow prices or resource scarcity, and are thus key for enhancing energy security and reducing the risks posed by drought.

Originality/value

The dynamic linear programming model by the authors represents a flexible sector modelling tool for exploring the sustainability and efficiency of energy resource development pathways and evaluating the effects of different sources of uncertainty on the energy sector.
Enlightening grey portions of energy security towards sustainability
Authors: Soni Vivek , Singh Surya Prakash , Banwet Devinder Kumar
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine priority order of Indian energy sector projects on investments and strategic dimension angles. Grey System Theory (GST) and COmplex PRroportional ASsessment (COPRAS-G) method, a flexible multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) analyses, is used for this purpose to prioritize Indian energy sector projects, namely, coal, gas, hydro, solar and nuclear.

Design/methodology/approach

The GST-based MCDM approach of COPRAS is used. Five projects of energy sector are compared based on various grey criteria. These criteria were selected on the perspectives of life-cycle costing and management-thinking approach for prioritizing these projects. The GST-based COPRAS-G is described, and results are discussed to draw a strategic road map for measuring the sustainability in the energy sector.

Findings

On applying COPRAS-G on five energy projects, solar projects get high-priority order, and realistic scenario of results shows that renewable energy projects are preferred over the conventional projects such as coal and gas.

Research limitations/implications

Here, COPRAS-G method is used as MCDM techniques. However, few other MCDM techniques such as fuzzy Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evolution, elimination and choice expressing reality and efficiency analysis technique with output satisficing can be also explored to outrank various Indian energy sector projects.

Practical implications

Indian energy sector involves high degree of complexity, and, therefore, it needs more flexibility to overcome the present barriers of effective decision-making. Grey decision theory-based method like COPRAS-G is able to address energy security dimensions on different scenario of energy supply, i.e. pessimistic, optimistic and realistic, precisely.

Social implications

The results can provide guidance to the government or public sector regarding various possible investment options for energy supply and can help in drawing a rough trajectory of strategy toward energy security of the country.

Originality/value

This paper can supplement and act as the support for decision-making in conflicting situations specifically to have outlook of the sub-sector project on different flexible scenarios. Moreover, such work can synergize conflicting ideas of decision makers and various stakeholders of the Indian energy sector.
Validating a second-order model for oil and gas projects’ investment climate scale
Authors: Mas’ud Abdulsalam , Manaf Nor Aziah Abd , Saad Natrah
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The investment climate is one of the key factors considered by foreign investors while deciding their investment destination. This paper aims to attempt at validating the second-order model of oil and gas projects’ investment climate. Examination of the relationship between the dimensions of oil and gas projects’ investment climate; strategy, participants/operating environment and risk/return; and the overall latent construct was conducted. The study also evaluates the goodness of fit of the second-order model using relevant fit indices.

Design/methodology/approach

Oil and gas experts in Malaysian marginal oil fields subsector were deployed, through whom responses were collected that formed the data set used in the analysis. Then, the data were used for confirmatory factor analysis, evaluation of the second-order model through path analysis and for model fit evaluation.

Findings

The finding revealed that the second-order model of oil and gas projects’ investment climate is valid and reliable. It also revealed that all the three dimensions, strategy, participants/operating environment and risk/return, have significant effects on the formation of the oil and gas projects’ investment climate. Finally, the goodness of fit of the second-order model satisfied the relevant fit indices.

Research limitations/implications

The findings present valuable insights to policymakers on the extent of the influence each of the dimensions has on the overall latent construct. The validity and reliability analysis suggests the measurements of the second-order model of oil and gas projects’ investment climate construct, and its dimensions are valid, reliable and fit for future empirical research. Thus, it calls for replication in other oil and gas settings.

Originality/value

The findings from the results of this study are pioneering. Extant literature falls short in attempting the validation of the second-order oil and gas projects’ investment climate scale, as well as relating each of the dimensions with the overall latent construct.
Policy network creation as a driver of energy-efficient industry
Authors: Palm Jenny , Backman Fredrik
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper studies a Swedish municipality that wants to go beyond its own operations, involving the local industry in saving energy to improve the environment. The paper aims to analyse the experiences and practical implications of using policy networks for implementing energy-efficiency measures in private industrial companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers closely followed a Swedish municipality and its work to engage the local industry in energy-efficiency activities. Participatory observations of meetings and workshops and semi-structured interviews with involved actors were conducted.

Findings

The study examines a Swedish municipality that has started addressing energy efficiency in local businesses by creating a network involving 60 companies. This network was tested in relation to four hypotheses on how policy networks develop. The study finds that the network has too broad a problem definition, which does not help unify the involved actors. The companies’ involvement is based on passive participation in which they are receivers of information. The network has been unable to use a social control mechanism because there have been few company-to-company meetings. In conclusion, for a network to be an efficient policy tool, its structure is as important as the ideas for action and clear goals.

Research limitations/implications

This case study of one Swedish municipality allows for analytical but not statistical generalization.

Originality/value

The paper uniquely calls for reflection on whether municipalities and local authorities have enough competence to drive industrial energy efficiency.
Experiential learning as preparation for leadership
Authors: Waller Lee , Reitz Megan , Poole Eve , Riddell Patricia M. , Muir Angela
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether challenging experiences on development programmes would simulate leadership challenges and therefore stimulate the body’s autonomic nervous system response. The authors also aimed to determine whether increase in autonomic arousal would be related to learning, and/or moderated by personality variables.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used heart rate (HR) monitors to measure HR continuously over a two-day simulated learning experience. This was used to calculate autonomic arousal which was taken to be the difference between resting HR measured during sleep and HR during critical incidents (CIs) (HR). The authors correlated this with self-reports of learning immediately after, and one month after, the programme to assess the impact of autonomic arousal on perceived learning, as well as with variety of psychometric measures.

Findings

The research found significant correlations between (HR) during CIs and perceived learning which were not related to personality type. The research also found a significant correlation between (HR) and learning during a control event for individuals with “approach” personalities.

Research limitations/implications

Whilst a significant result was found, the sample size of 28 was small. The research also did not empirically assess the valence or intensity of the emotions experienced, and used only a self-report measure of learning. Future research should replicate the findings with a larger sample size, attempt to measure these emotional dimensions, as well as obtain perceptions of learning from direct reports and line managers.

Practical implications

The findings from the research help clarify the mechanisms involved in the effectiveness of experiential learning, and contribute to the understanding of the influence of personality type on perceived learning from experiential methodologies. Such understanding has implications for business schools and learning and development professionals, suggesting that development experiences that challenge leaders are likely to result in learning that is longer lasting.

Originality/value

The research extends the literature regarding the value of learning through experience, the role of autonomic arousal on learning, and the impact of negative emotions on cognition. The research makes a unique contribution by exploring the impact of experience on arousal and learning in a simulated learning experience and over time, by demonstrating that simulated experiences induce emotional and physiological responses, and that these experiences are associated with increased learning.
Integrity, ethical leadership, trust and work engagement
Authors: Engelbrecht Amos S. , Heine Gardielle , Mahembe Bright
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how leader integrity and ethical leadership can influence trust in the leader and employee work engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using an electronic web-based questionnaire completed by 204 employees from various business organisations. Data were analysed by means of item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis conducted via structural equation modelling.

Findings

High levels of reliability were found for the measurement scales. Good model fit was demonstrated for the measurement and structural models. Empirical support was found for all the postulated relationships in the structural model.

Originality/value

This study is the first to analyse the joint relationships between leader integrity and work engagement through the mediating role of ethical leadership (i.e. moral management) and trust in the leader. The findings emphasise the key role played by ethical leaders in creating an ethical and trusting work climate conducive for employee engagement.
Participant experiences of transformational change in large-scale organization development interventions (LODIs)
Authors: Gilpin-Jackson Yabome
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative understanding of participants’ experiences in an exemplar large-scale organization development intervention (LODI). The purpose was to understand what contributes to the success of LODIs from participant experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design was a qualitative study of one-on-one interview findings (n=23) from participants involved in LODIs that spanned over four years in a complex healthcare system. Participants involved in the process represented clinical, operational, and support service staff as well as all levels from frontline to senior leaders. The 23 participants consisted of 13 women and ten men.

Findings

The qualitative analysis showed that participants reported experiences of transformational change, where contextual conditions as well as personal and organizational transformation processes existed in the LODIs. Contextual conditions were shown to have a multiplier effect on the attainment of transformation in what was considered a successful large-scale change, where desired business outcomes were also achieved. Further, access to shared transformational experience is what created context for the sense of community, responsibility, and accountability that spurred change agents into action.

Originality/value

Prior theory and research shows that large-scale and similar organization development interventions result in transformational change, deepened relationships, and successful outcomes as a result of organizational change processes such as emergence and generativity. This study provides new insight into why LODIs work from participants’ perspectives. These findings may be used to design successful LODI processes and expands research to include and be informed by participants’ experiences, in a field predicated on stakeholder involvement to begin with.
Morphology of Modern Arrowhead Tips on Human Skin Analog
Authors: Sung LokMan , Kesha Kilak , Hudson Jeffrey , Root Kelly , Hlavaty Leigh
Published: April 2017

Archery has experienced a recent resurgence in participation and has seen increases in archery range attendance and in children and young adults seeking archery lessons. Popular literature and movies prominently feature protagonists well versed in this form of weaponry. Periodic homicide cases in the United States involving bows are reported, and despite this and the current interest in the field, there are no manuscripts published on a large series of arrow wounds. This experiment utilizes a broad selection of modern arrowheads to create wounds for comparison. While general appearances mimicked the arrowhead shape, details such as the presence of abrasions were greatly influenced by the design of the arrowhead tip. Additionally, in the absence of projectiles or available history, arrowhead injuries can mimic other instruments causing penetrating wounds. A published resource on arrowhead injuries would allow differentiation of causes of injury by forensic scientists.
Silica immobilization of Geobacter sulfurreducens for constructing ready‐to‐use artificial bioelectrodes
Authors: Estevez‐Canales Marta , Pinto David , Coradin Thibaud , Laberty‐Robert Christel , Esteve‐Núñez Abraham
Published: April 2017

Microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) rely on the control of interactions between microorganisms and electronic devices, enabling to transform chemical energy into electricity. We report a new approach to construct ready‐to‐use artificial bioelectrodes by immobilizing Geobacter sulfurreducens cells in composite materials associating silica gel and carbon felt fibres. Viability test confirmed that the majority of bacteria (ca. 70 ± 5%) survived the encapsulation process in silica and that cell density did not increase in 96 h. The double entrapment within the silica–carbon composite prevented bacterial release from the electrode but allowed a suitable mass transport (ca. 5 min after electron donor pulse), making the electrochemical characterization of the system possible. The artificial bioelectrodes were evaluated in three‐electrode reactors and the maximum current displayed was ca. 220 and 150 μA cm−3 using acetate and lactate as electron donors respectively. Cyclic voltammetry of acetate‐fed bioelectrodes revealed a sigmoidal catalytic oxidation wave, typical of more advanced‐stage biofilms. The presence of G. sulfurreducens within composites was ascertained by SEM analysis, suggesting that only part of the bacterial population was in direct contact with the carbon fibres. Preliminary analyses of the transcriptomic response of immobilized G. sulfurreducens enlightened that encapsulation mainly induces an osmotic stress to the cells. Therefore, ready‐to‐use artificial bioelectrodes represent a versatile time‐ and cost‐saving strategy for microbial electrochemical systems.
Effects of grazing, phosphorus and light on the growth rates of major bacterioplankton taxa in the coastal NW Mediterranean
Authors: Sánchez Olga , Koblížek Michal , Gasol Josep M. , Ferrera Isabel
Published: April 2017

Estimation of growth rates is crucial to understand the ecological role of prokaryotes and their contribution to marine biogeochemical cycling. However, there are only a few estimates for individual taxa. Two top‐down (grazing) and bottom‐up (phosphorus (P) availability) manipulation experiments were conducted under different light regimes in the NW Mediterranean Sea. Growth rate of different phylogenetic groups, including the Bacteroidetes, Rhodobacteraceae, SAR11, Gammaproteobacteria and its subgroups Alteromonadaceae and the NOR5/OM60 clade, were estimated from changes in cell numbers. Maximal growth rates were achieved in the P‐amended treatments but when comparing values between treatments (response ratios), the response to predation removal was in general larger than to P‐amendment. The Alteromonadaceae displayed the highest rates in both experiments followed by the Rhodobacteraceae, but all groups largely responded to filtration and P‐amendment, even the SAR11 which presented low growth rates. Comparing light and dark treatments, growth rates were on average equal or higher in the dark than in the light for all groups, except for the Rhodobacteraceae and particularly the NOR5 clade, groups that contain photoheterotrophic species. These results are useful to evaluate the potential contributions of different bacterial types to biogeochemical processes under changing environmental conditions.
Advancing HTA in Latin America: The Policy Process of Setting up an HTA Agency in Colombia
Authors: Castro Hector E.
Published: April 2017

This article describes the on‐going policy process of establishing a health technology assessment (HTA) agency in Colombia. The stated aim is to promote a systematic and transparent approach to evaluating new medical technologies in the country. It oulines the strengths and limitations of this newly‐adopted approach, and we discuss policy lessons and future challenges.