bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On suspensions and conjugacy of hyperbolic automorphisms
Authors: Dahmani François
Published: October 2015

We remark that the conjugacy problem for pairs of hyperbolic automorphisms of a finitely presented group (typically a free group) is decidable. The solution that we propose uses the isomorphism problem for the suspensions, and the study of their automorphism group.
Group actions on spheres with rank one isotropy
Authors: Hambleton Ian , Yalçın Ergün
Published: October 2015

Let

G
G

be a rank two finite group, and let

H

\mathcal {H}

denote the family of all rank one

p
p

-subgroups of

G
G

for which

rank
p

⁡
(
G
)
=
2

\operatorname {rank}_p(G)=2

. We show that a rank two finite group

G
G

which satisfies certain explicit group-theoretic conditions admits a finite

G
G

-CW-complex

X
≃

S
n

X\simeq S^n

with isotropy in

H

\mathcal {H}

, whose fixed sets are homotopy spheres. Our construction provides an infinite family of new non-linear

G
G

-CW-complex examples.
Quasisymmetric spheres over Jordan domains
Authors: Vellis Vyron , Wu Jang-Mei
Published: October 2015

Let

Ω
\Omega

be a planar Jordan domain. We consider double-dome-like surfaces

Σ
\Sigma

defined by graphs of functions of

dist
⁡
(
⋅
,
∂
Ω
)

\operatorname {dist}(\cdot ,\partial \Omega )

over

Ω
\Omega

. The goal is to find the right conditions on the geometry of the base

Ω
\Omega

and the growth of the height so that

Σ
\Sigma

is a quasisphere or is quasisymmetric to

S

2

\mathbb {S}^2

. An internal uniform chord-arc condition on the constant distance sets to

∂
Ω

\partial \Omega

, coupled with a mild growth condition on the height, gives a close-to-sharp answer. Our method also produces new examples of quasispheres in

R

n

\mathbb {R}^n

, for any

n
≥
3

n\ge 3

.
Self-Collected Nasal Swabs for Respiratory Virus Surveillance
Authors: Jackson Michael L. , Nguyen Matthew , Kirlin Beth , Madziwa Lawrence
Published: October 2015

We tested whether 135 patients reporting acute respiratory illness (ARI) could self-collect nasal swab specimens and ship them for laboratory testing. Most subjects (78.2%) collected and shipped their specimens without errors; 10.5% excluded ≥1 packing components; 12.9% made ≥1 packing errors. Self-swabbing at home is feasible for confirming ARI etiology.
Model Followers
Authors: Connolly Ruth
Published: October 2015

This chapter argues that the literary practice of imitatio served as a means of articulating the ideal relationship that should exist between ‘Father Ben’ and his ‘Sons’. That practice’s requirements of right judgement, right reading, and the careful absorption and critique of the model chosen for imitation are all used figuratively in the poems written by Jonson to ‘Sons’, and in those written by acknowledged ‘Sons’to or about him. Consequently, it is the rising value of proprietary authorship (something Jonson himself did so much to usher in) and the related emphasis on spontaneous literary generation that is used by Thomas Randolph, the poet most often designated by his contemporaries as Jonson’s ‘heir’, to represent his rejection of ‘Father Ben’ as an ethical and literary model.
Early Modern Catholic Theology (1500–1700)
Authors: Pomplun Trent
Published: October 2015

This essay considers Catholic theology between 1500 and 1700. Theology of this period was an essential point of reference for such theologians as Cardinal Newman, but is today unfortunately neglected. This was the period that saw the flowering of the great schools of Thomistic interpretation, as well as much important mystical writing, especially by Carmelites. Disciples of Duns Scotus made significant contributions to Christology and Mariology. During these centuries scholars laid the foundations for modern study of the Patristic period, and developed detailed reflection on the nature and purpose of interreligious dialogue. Many of the distinctive themes of twentieth century theology--from Thomist to those of the ressourcement school--find their roots in this period.
Catholic Theology and Other Religions
Authors: Barnes Michael
Published: October 2015

This chapter considers Catholic theology’s response to non-Christian faiths. It argues that the ‘theology of religions’ is not a locus of theological reflection distinct from Christology or Trinitarian theology or others, but one that asks the questions in a particular context. At the same time, the theology of religions is an act of Christian discipleship, in which Christians encounter those of other faiths and reflect on how we may discern the work of the Spirit beyond the bounds of the visible Church. The chapter pursues this argument by considering the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra aetate, the relationship between dialogue and mission, the phenomenon of ‘comparative theology’, and the relationship between dialogue and discipleship.
The Incarnation
Authors: Weinandy Thomas G.
Published: October 2015

This chapter begins by considering the manner in which the New Testament texts present Christ, showing that these texts describe him as fully human and yet also prefigure the later Christological tradition by according him divine status. The chapter then considers the development of Christology in the early centuries of the Church, focusing eventually on the key definitions of the first ecumenical councils. A discussion of Thomas Aquinas’s appropriation and articulation of this conciliar tradition is followed by treatment of some key issues that have been in debate over recent decades. These modern issues include questions about how we should envisage Jesus as a human person and the question of Jesus’ status as unique saviour within the context of religious pluralism.
European Nobilities and the Reformation
Authors: Asch Ronald G.
Published: October 2015

Whereas the princes of the empire often took a leading part in supporting the cause of the Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire the lower nobility, knights, and simple country squires were initially more reluctant to commit themselves to the new faith. However, to the extent that the confessional divide deepened, many noble families now firmly embraced either the Roman Church or Protestantism. Such development was even more pronounced in countries where the crown lost control over the process of confessionalization as in France or in the Habsburg monarchy. Here nobles often took a more active part in promoting the cause of the Reformation. In the later sixteenth century confessional allegiance frequently became part of the dynastic identity and the cultural capital of noble families.
Islamic Law and Human Rights
Authors: Dunn Shannon
Published: October 2015

This article explores the question of whether Islamic law and universal human rights are compatible. It begins with an overview of human rights discourse after the Second World War before discussing Islamic human rights declarations and the claims of Muslim apologists regarding human rights, along with challenges to Muslim apologetics in human rights discourse. It then considers the issues of gender and gender equality, feminism, and freedom of religion in relation to human rights. It also examines four basic scholarly orientations to the topic of Islam and human rights since the end of the Second World War: a model that privileges a secular (non-religious) paradigm for rights; a Muslim apologist model, which privileges a purely “Islamic” conception of rights over secular models; a Marxist/postcolonial critique of rights as a western imposition of power; and a Muslim reformist paradigm of rights that highlights points of continuity between western legal and Muslim legal traditions.
Georgian
Authors: Rayfield Donald
Published: October 2015

This chapter traces from c.400 to 1000 CE the evolution of early Georgian literature from translation of Byzantine scriptural and liturgical texts to original composition, exploring and expanding the genres of hymnography and hagiography, and then the development of prose narrative first into patristics and chronicles and finally, as native Caucasian and oriental influences begin to overlay Byzantine ones, into prose fiction. The literary process mirrors a political one, beginning with the invasion by Roman legions in the first century CE, followed by Byzantine Christianity competing for dominance with Iranian influences, first Zoroastrian, then Islamic, as Georgia shifts spheres, from the former Roman to the future Iranian.
Diaspora: Marwari
Authors: Roy Tirthankar
Published: October 2015

“Marwari” stands for people hailing from a region in western India known as Marwar. In common parlance, the term refers to merchants and bankers from this region speaking the language spoken there and living elsewhere. Marwaris left this region and resettled in other parts of India and abroad from at least the eighteenth century. The article explores the Marwari diaspora. Although many Marwaris engaged in trade, banking, and occasionally manufacture, the group was socially and occupationally diverse. After liberalization of the Indian economy in the 1990s, some Marwari individuals have made successful use of new investment opportunities from a business base that had been created before the economy opened up, but, overall, the group has experienced the same pattern of “creative destruction” as have other business communities. In small towns, Marwaris have almost seamlessly assimilated with local society. In big business, the companies they own define the character of the business more than ethnic identity.
Reconciliation and Reparations
Authors: Lu Catherine
Published: October 2015

This chapter distinguishes between two concepts of reconciliation that address two kinds of alienation endemic to contexts of civil, interstate, and transnational wars: relational reconciliation, which responds to alienating interactions between agents, and structural reconciliation, which responds to alienating social and political practices and structures that mediate agents’ activities and relations. These two concepts of reconciliation generate different accounts of the purposes of reparations, the agents responsible for reparations, and the forms that reparative measures should take. Reparations schemes in postwar peace settlements should aim not only to reconcile belligerents relationally to each other but also, more fundamentally, to construct a mutually affirmable and affirmed postconflict social/political order. To the extent that contemporary international law limits the duty of reparations to states that are directly responsible for wrongful conduct and excludes disgorgement as an obligation of structural reparation, it remains too focused on the relational versus structural aspects of political reconciliation.
The Ethics of War up to Thomas Aquinas
Authors: Cox Rory
Published: October 2015

This chapter explores major developments in concepts of justified warfare and norms of military conduct over nearly 2,000 years. From at least the first millennium BC, ideas about the justice of war and customary norms regulating combat were developed by Western societies. Throughout the ancient and medieval worlds, war was subjected to varying degrees of ethical analysis, as well as being influenced by social pragmatism. Examining a variety of evidence, this chapter argues that the two branches of just war doctrine, jus ad bellum and jus in bello, developed hand-in-hand and should be seen as an integrated whole. This intermingling of jus ad bellum and jus in bello concerns produced a sophisticated and complex body of ethical thought about war—embodied in the systematic analysis of medieval canon lawyers and theologians—and ultimately provided the essential building blocks for modern just war doctrine.
Civil War and Revolution
Authors: Parry Jonathan
Published: October 2015

The vast majority of work on the ethics of war focuses on traditional wars between states. This chapter aims to show that this is an oversight worth rectifying. The strategy is largely comparative, assessing whether certain claims often defended in discussions of interstate wars stand up in the context of civil conflicts and whether there are principled moral differences between the two types of case. Firstly, the chapter argues that thinking about intrastate wars may help us make progress on important theoretical debates in recent just war theory. Secondly, it considers whether certain kinds of civil wars are subject to a more demanding standard of just cause, compared to interstate wars of national defence. Finally, it assesses the extent to which having popular support is an independent requirement of permissible war and whether this renders insurgencies harder to justify than wars fought by functioning states.
The Work of Biblical Narrative
Authors: Fewell Danna Nolan
Published: October 2015

The recent transdisciplinary focus on the roles stories and storytelling play in cognition, sociality, and identity formation offers productive interpretive lenses through which we might view the work of biblical narrative. This chapter explores the Bible’s narratives as efforts to construct and contest communal identity, to optimize human survival, to cope with cognitive disruption, to effect moral repair, and to create space for social negotiation. Understanding biblical narratives in this light allows us to see more acutely how the Bible’s great aesthetic achievements are grounded in and shaped by the conflicts and desires of past bodies and psyches, and yet continue to provide existential living space for contemporary readers and hearers.
Clinical Characteristics of Multiple Colorectal Adenoma Patients Without Germline APC or MYH Mutations
Authors: Tieu Alan H. , Edelstein Daniel , Axilbund Jennifer , Romans Katharine E. , Brosens Lodewijk A. , Wiley Elizabeth , Hylind Linda , Giardiello Francis M.
Published: October 2015

Background:

Patients with multiple colorectal adenomas (MCRA) without genetic cause are increasingly being diagnosed. The characteristics and natural history of this condition are not well studied.

Materials and Methods:

Twenty-seven patients with MCRA, with cumulatively 10 to 99 colorectal adenomas and without deleterious mutations of APC or MYH genes, were investigated. Results of colonoscopies with a mean follow-up of 4.9 years (range, 0 to 27 y) were evaluated. Findings from esophagogastroduodenoscopy and extracolonic manifestations were assessed.

Results:

The mean age at polyp diagnosis and MCRA diagnosis was 47.8±13.1 years (range, 21 to 72 y) and 50.4±14.6 years (range, 21 to 72 y), respectively. In 22% of patients another family member had MCRA. At first colonoscopy, the mean number of adenomas was 35.0±35.9 (range, 0 to 99). Serrated polyps were rare. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed 47% of patients had upper tract neoplasia. Patients with upper tract findings were diagnosed with MCRA at significantly younger mean age than those without findings, P<0.05. Eighteen patients (67%) underwent colectomy with a mean time from diagnosis of MCRA of 3.1±1.3 years. After surgery, surveyed patients developed recurrent adenomas in retained colorectum. Nine patients (33%) had extracolonic cancers.

Conclusions:

MCRA patients have a similar clinicopathologic phenotype to known syndromes of attenuated adenomatous polyposis and the majority have need for colectomy. The management of MCRA patients and families should parallel that of attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis and MUTYH-associated polyposis including surveillance of the upper tract.
Interactive videoconferencing versus audio telephone calls for dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation using the ALERT algorithm: a randomized trial
Authors: Stipulante Samuel , Delfosse Anne-Sophie , Donneau Anne-Françoise , Hartsein Gary , Haus Sophie , D’Orio Vincent , Ghuysen Alexandre
Published: October 2015

Objectives

The ALERT algorithm, a telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) protocol, has been shown to help bystanders initiate CPR. Mobile phone communications may play a role in emergency calls and improve dispatchers’ understanding of the rescuer’s situation. However, there is currently no validated protocol for videoconference-assisted CPR (v-CPR). We initiated this study to validate an original protocol of v-CPR and to evaluate the potential benefit in comparison with classical telephone-CPR (t-CPR).

Materials and methods

We developed an algorithm for v-CPR, adapted from the ALERT t-CPR protocol. A total of 180 students were recruited from secondary school and assigned randomly either to t-CPR or to v-CPR. A manikin was used to evaluate CPR performance.

Results

The mean chest compression rate was higher in the v-CPR group (v-CPR: 110±16 vs. t-CPR: 86±28; P<0.0001), whereas depth was comparable between both groups (v-CPR: 48±13 vs. t-CPR: 47±16 mm; P=0.64). Hand positioning was correct in 91.7% with v-CPR, but only 68% with t-CPR (P=0.001). There was almost no ‘hands-off’ period in the v-CPR group [v-CPR: 0 (0–0.4) vs. t-CPR: 7 (0–25.5) s; P<0.0001], but the median no-flow time was increased in the v-CPR group [v-CPR: 146 (128–173.5) vs. t-CPR: 122 (105–143.5) s, P<0.0001]. The overall score of CPR performance was improved in the v-CPR group (P<0.001).

Conclusion

The v-CPR protocol allows bystanders to reach compression rates and depths close to guidelines and to reduce ‘hands-off’ events during CPR.
Prevalence and Natural History of Celiac Disease in a Cohort of At‐risk Children
Authors: Cilleruelo María Luz , Fernández‐Fernández Sonia , Jiménez‐Jiménez Juana , Rayo Ana Isabel , de Larramendi Carmen Hernando
Published: October 2015

Objectives:

To assess the prevalence and clinical presentation of celiac disease (CD) in a cohort of children with HLA‐DQ2 positive and evaluate the risk factors in the development of CD.

Methods:

Between July 2004 and July 2005, parents of all healthy full‐term newborns in our hospital were invited to participate. HLA‐DQ2 was tested in blood sample of the umbilical cord. A point of contact serological test was performed on children between 2 and 3 years of age. Positive results were confirmed by serum anti‐transglutaminase 2 and endomysial antibodies. Children with high autoantibody titers underwent an intestinal biopsy. Children of the cohort diagnosed with CD before the screening study were included. Sex, mode of delivery, breast‐feeding duration, and age of gluten introduction were studied.

Results:

Of 1291 children, 362 were HLA‐DQ2 positive and 262 participated in the study. CD was diagnosed in 4.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9–6.3). In the whole cohort, 60% had gastrointestinal symptoms, 7% poor weight gain, and 33% were asymptomatic. Five children with potential CD and 6 with CD autoimmunity became negative (42.3%) and are still negative after 5 to 7 years. Female sex was at‐risk factor odds ratio 5.7 (95% CI 1.5–20.9), whereas breast‐feeding during gluten introduction had a protective effect odds ratio 0.1 (95% CI 0.01–0.8).

Conclusions:

Prevalence of CD in this cohort was 4%, half of whom had digestive symptoms. Because a high proportion of children showed a spontaneous disappearance of antibodies, prevalence studies of CD in young children should be based on intestinal damage so as not to overestimate results.
Contrast‐Based Real‐Time Assessment of Microcirculatory Changes in a Fatty Liver After Ischemia Reperfusion Injury
Authors: Kolachala Vasantha L. , Jiang Rong , Abramowsky Carlos R. , Gupta Nitika A.
Published: October 2015

Objectives:

A fatty liver is known to have impairment of microcirculation, which is worsened after ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). This makes most fatty grafts unsuitable for transplantation, and in the absence of real time assessment of microcirculation this selection has been at best, random. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the utility of a contrast enhanced ultrasound model in quantitative assessment of the microcirculation of a fatty liver.

Methods:

We subjected fatty mice to IRI, and blood flow dynamics were assessed before and after the injury.

Results:

There was a significant increase in the resistive and pulsatility index of the extrahepatic artery and a significant decrease in velocity of the portal vein. There was also a quantifiable decrease in the intrahepatic blood volume, blood flow, time to peak flow, and perfusion index of mice with fatty liver, suggesting that a fatty liver develops hemodynamic abnormalities after IRI, leading to increased hepatocellular injury.

Conclusions:

Hemodynamic abnormalities in liver can be reliably quantified using a contrast, enhanced Doppler ultrasound, which is an inexpensive technique with multiple clinical applications. It can be used to assess the quality of the fatty liver donor graft before organ retrieval; for determining live donor candidacy, for making post‐IRI recovery prognosis, and for assessing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
Age of Onset of Functional Constipation
Authors: Malowitz Stanton , Green Mary , Karpinski Aryn , Rosenberg Allan , Hyman Paul E.
Published: October 2015

In a review of 538 children with functional constipation, we analyzed ages of presentation and onset, symptom duration, and behavioral/developmental problems. We divided the subjects into quartiles (Q1–Q4) based on age of onset. Median onset age was 2.3 years. The oldest group had the shortest symptom duration before referral at 1.8 ± 1.8 years (compared with Q3 to Q1, P = 0.039, P = 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). Of the Q4 subjects, 22% had a behavioral/developmental problem (P < 0.001 compared with Q1–Q3). We conclude that most children develop functional constipation as infants and toddlers, but those with later onset are more likely to have behavioral/developmental issues and see a specialist sooner.
Early Clinical Diagnosis of PC1/3 Deficiency in a Patient With a Novel Homozygous PCSK1 Splice‐Site Mutation
Authors: Härter Bettina , Fuchs Irene , Müller Thomas , Akbulut Ulas Emre , Cakir Murat , Janecke Andreas R.
Published: October 2015

Autosomal recessive proprotein convertase 1/3 (PC1/3) deficiency, caused by mutations in the PCSK1 gene, is characterized by severe congenital malabsorptive diarrhea, early‐onset obesity, and certain endocrine abnormalities. We suspected PC1/3 deficiency in a 4‐month‐old girl based on the presence of congenital diarrhea and polyuria. Sequencing the whole coding region and splice sites detected a novel homozygous PCSK1 splice‐site mutation, c.544–2A>G, in the patient. The mutation resulted in the skipping of exon 5, the generation of a premature termination codon, and nonsense‐mediated PCSK1 messenger ribonucleic acid decay, which was demonstrated in complementary DNA derived from fibroblasts.
We as Spouses Have Experienced a Real Disaster!
Authors: Çömez Saadet , Karayurt Özgül
Published: October 2015

Background:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Turkey. The emotional effects of this condition are experienced by the women and their families.

Objective:

The aim of the study was to describe the experiences of women with breast cancer and their spouses from diagnosis to treatment completion.

Methods:

This qualitative study with a descriptive qualitative design was conducted at participants’ homes. Fourteen women and their spouses were enrolled in the study (n = 28). Data were collected during in-depth interviews and analyzed with inductive content analysis.

Results:

The women with breast cancer and their spouses’ experiences were categorized into 4 main themes: “facing breast cancer,” “treatment process,” “coping with disease and treatment,” and “life after treatment.” Subthemes were also identified and described.

Conclusions:

The women with breast cancer and their spouses reported that they had positive and negative experiences in terms of their physical, psychological, and social status from diagnosis to completion of treatment, indicating that breast cancer is a disease of women and a condition of families.

Implications for Practice:

Knowledge of these experiences can help nurses plan care that is designed to improve the quality of life of women and their husbands.
Evaluation of the Dissemination, Implementation, and Sustainability of the “Partnership for Health” Intervention
Authors: August Euna M. , Hayek Samah , Casillas Daniel , Wortley Pascale , Collins Charles B.
Published: October 2015

Partnership for Health (PfH) is an evidence-based, clinician-delivered HIV prevention program conducted in the United States for HIV-positive patients. This intervention strives to reduce risky sexual behaviors through provider-patient discussions on safer sex and HIV status disclosure. A cross-sectional, mixed-methods design was used to evaluate the dissemination and implementation of PfH, including training evaluations, an online trainee survey, and interviews with national trainers for PfH. Descriptive statistics were calculated with the categorical data, whereas thematic analysis was completed with the qualitative data. Between 2007 and 2013, PfH was disseminated to 776 individuals from 104 different organizations in 21 states/territories. The smallest proportion of trainees was physicians (6.9%). More than three-fourths of survey respondents (78.6%) reported using PfH, but less than one-third (31.8%) used the intervention with every patient. The PfH training supports the implementation of the intervention; however, challenges were experienced in clinician engagement. Tailored strategies to recruit and train clinicians providing care to HIV-positive patients are required.
Results From the NACC Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Battery Crosswalk Study
Authors: Monsell Sarah E. , Dodge Hiroko H. , Zhou Xiao-Hua , Bu Yunqi , Besser Lilah M. , Mock Charles , Hawes Stephen E. , Kukull Walter A. , Weintraub Sandra
Published: October 2015

Introduction:

Four new nonproprietary tests were recommended for use in the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Battery. These tests are similar to previous tests but also allow for continuity of longitudinal data collection and wide dissemination among research collaborators.

Methods:

A Crosswalk Study was conducted in early 2014 to assess the correlation between each set of new and previous tests. Tests with good correlation were equated using equipercentile equating. The resulting conversion tables allow scores on the new tests to be converted to equivalent scores on the previous tests.

Results:

All pairs of tests had good correlation (ρ=0.68 to 0.78). Learning effects were detected for Logical Memory only. Confidence intervals were narrow at each point estimate, and prediction accuracy was high.

Discussion:

The recommended new tests are well correlated with the previous tests. The equipercentile equating method produced conversion tables that provide a useful reference for clinicians and researchers.
Cross-validation of a Shortened Battery for the Assessment of Dysexecutive Disorders in Alzheimer Disease
Authors: Godefroy Olivier , Martinaud Olivier , Verny Marc , Mosca Chrystèle , Lenoir Hermine , Bretault Eric , Devendeville Agnès , Diouf Momar , Pere Jean-Jacques , Bakchine Serge , Delabrousse-Mayoux Jean-Philippe , Roussel Martine
Published: October 2015

The frequency of executive disorders in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease (AD) has been demonstrated by the application of a comprehensive battery. The present study analyzed data from 2 recent multicenter studies based on the same executive battery. The objective was to derive a shortened battery by using the GREFEX population as a training dataset and by cross-validating the results in the REFLEX population. A total of 102 AD patients of the GREFEX study (MMSE=23.2±2.9) and 72 patients of the REFLEX study (MMSE=20.8±3.5) were included. Tests were selected and receiver operating characteristic curves were generated relative to the performance of 780 controls from the GREFEX study. Stepwise logistic regression identified 3 cognitive tests (Six Elements Task, categorical fluency and Trail Making Test B error) and behavioral disorders globally referred as global hypoactivity (P=0.0001, all). This shortened battery was as accurate as the entire GREFEX battery in diagnosing dysexecutive disorders in both training group and the validation group. Bootstrap procedure confirmed the stability of AUC. A shortened battery based on 3 cognitive tests and 3 behavioral domains provides a high diagnosis accuracy of executive disorders in mild-to-moderate AD.
Modes of migration and multilevel selection in evolutionary multiplayer games
Authors: Pichugin Yuriy , Gokhale Chaitanya S. , Garcia Julián , Traulsen Arne , Rainey Paul B.
Published: October 2015

The evolution of cooperation in group-structured populations has received much attention, but little is known about the effects of different modes of migration of individuals between groups. Here, we have incorporated four different modes of migration that differ in the degree of coordination among the individuals. For each mode of migration, we identify the set of multiplayer games in which the cooperative strategy has higher fixation probability than defection. The comparison shows that the set of games under which cooperation may evolve generally expands depending upon the degree of coordination among the migrating individuals. Weak altruism can evolve under all modes of individual migration, provided that the benefit to cost ratio is high enough. Strong altruism, however, evolves only if the mode of migration involves coordination of individual actions. Depending upon the migration frequency and degree of coordination among individuals, conditions that allow selection to work at the level of groups can be established.
Solving proteins at non-atomic resolution by direct methods
Authors: Burla Maria Cristina , Carrozzini Benedetta , Cascarano Giovanni Luca , Giacovazzo Carmelo , Polidori Giampiero
Published: October 2015

A new probabilistic formula estimating triplet invariants and capable of exploiting a model electron-density map gradually created during theab initiophasing process has been tested on a set of protein structures with data at non-atomic resolution. All the structures contain heavy atoms larger than Ca, and show a structural complexity which may attain the level of about 8000 non-hydrogen atoms in the asymmetric unit. It is shown that the majority of such structures may be solved by our direct methods procedure, which, in combination with a number of ancillary phasing tools, weakens the traditional expectation that atomic resolution is a necessary ingredient for the success of a directab initiophasing.
Students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy: does the teaching method matter?
Authors: Abaho Ernest , Olomi Donath  R. , Urassa Goodluck Charles
Published: October 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the various entrepreneurship teaching methods in Uganda and how these methods relate to entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE).

Design/methodology/approach

– A sample of 522 final year students from selected universities and study programs was surveyed using self-reported questionnaires.

Findings

– There was a statistically significant positive relationship between ESE and lecturers’ business experience. Interacting with successful people, personal reading and handout notes, class presentations and imaginary case studies had a statistically significant positive relationship with ESE. There was no statistical significance in the relationship between ESE and some teaching methods. A positively significant correlation was also observed between lectures’ business experience and the choice of teaching method(s).

Research limitations/implications

– Further research should explore how various methods are used to teach different aspects of entrepreneurship as well as the attitudes and perceptions of entrepreneurship educators about entrepreneurial experience and its relevancy in entrepreneurship education.

Practical implications

– Lecturers should seek opportunities for attaining business experience through practice and business networks. Institutions should orient lecturers through different teaching styles and train them on how to relate learning outcomes to learning environments as well as investing in learning aids.

Originality/value

– The study provides insights about the most feasible methods of activating ESE in the most practical and efficient ways. It also informs readers about the state of learning technologies from a developing country’s perspective.
Workplace emotion through a psychological contract lens
Authors: McGrath Michelle L , Millward Lynne J. , Banks Adrian
Published: October 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify how psychological contract perceptions are used as a lens through which employees make sense of their workplace emotions. Applying Rousseau’s (1995, 2011) conceptualisation of psychological contracts it examines how the emotions linked to both promise perceptions (broken/exceeded) and regulation are made sense of in relation to perceptions of contract type.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper takes a unique perspective into the role perceptions of psychological contract type play in the process of emotional sensemaking using qualitative thematic analysis of 30 in-depth interviews. A range of occupations are represented and all participants worked in a full-time capacity.

Findings

– The paper identifies how the predominant relationship frame (transactional/relational) is used by employees when making sense of the emotions recalled during specific psychological contract events, as well as the emotions they feel are necessary to regulate while at work.

Research limitations/implications

– The mean age of the study sample was 26 years, comparatively young in terms of the span of the employment age bracket. Taking a lifespan approach would potentially broaden the understanding of how employees use their predominant relationship frame in the process of emotional sensemaking at different stages of their life and careers.

Originality/value

– This paper identifies an important work-related cue used in the active regulation of specific emotions whilst at work, contributing to both the psychological contract and emotion literature.
Increasing the usefulness of farm financial information and management
Authors: Halabi Abdel K. , Carroll Brendan
Published: October 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how farm management and farm accounting may be improved from the accountant’s perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

– There has been a dearth of qualitative studies examining accountant’s attitudes to financial reports. This study therefore interviews 13 rural accountants regarding their opinions on the usefulness of financial information they provide to farmers, and what types of financial information could aid farm management.

Findings

– Accountants generally agree that the present financial reports provided to farmers are of little decision-making value, since they are made for the purposes of compliance. In response, the accountants suggest a number of management accounting reports can better aid farmers.

Practical implications

– Accountants are important to the success of farms, yet in-depth responses have not previously been sought on the reports that accountants produce for farmers. This research provides accountants’ opinions on how reports could be more useful for farmers and how more focused management accounting reports can assist decision-making.

Originality/value

– The qualitative approach used in this research provides a fresh and richer perspective on the usefulness of accounting to farm management. Interviewing the adviser rather than the business owner is relatively uncommon in agricultural organisations. The interviews have allowed the thoughts and concerns of accountants to come to light in a manner not previously achieved in organisational studies which relate farming and accounting.
Unpacking the problem of research access(es)
Authors: Karjalainen Mira , Niemistö Charlotta , Hearn Jeff
Published: October 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to unpack the question of research access(es), especially ethnographic access, seen as an intrinsic part of research projects that should be scrutinized carefully to gain a deeper understanding of the field. Two main questions are asked: what does the process of accessing knowledge-intensive businesses (KIBs), specifically large international consultancies (LICs), tell us about access more generally? And what does accessing KIBs, specifically LICs, tell us about these organizations more generally?

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper builds on discussions of research access issues in organizational ethnography, in part when setting out to employ shadowing as a method of inquiry. It focuses on the challenges of gaining access to KIBs, where confidentiality is central to the work. The empirical focus is a study of LICs from where the data for this paper is drawn.

Findings

– To answer the two questions, the paper provides an analysis of: accesses in the plural; ongoing processes of accessing; multiple levels of access and contradictory negotiations; research accesses, including access difficulties, as constitutive of research itself; and research accesses as dependent on and giving data on the organizations in question. Building on literatures on ethnographic access and empirical data gained while negotiating access to LICs, this paper contributes to prior research on access, focusing on LICs as an arena for organizational ethnography, whose particular character has to be taken into account when conducting research.

Originality/value

– This paper examines the processes of accessing, a neglected but important part of research: the phase(s) of negotiating and gaining access to the field, and the need to fully absorb these phases into the research process as a whole. Access as such multi-level ongoing processes is often neglected, however, in both academic writing and importantly in doctoral education curricula. Therefore, the paper offers guidelines for use in research training.
The importance of litter traits and decomposers for litter decomposition: a comparison of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems within and across biomes
Authors: García‐Palacios Pablo , McKie Brendan G. , Handa Ira Tanya , Frainer André , Hättenschwiler Stephan
Published: October 2015

Plant leaf litter comprises the major common source of energy and nutrients in forested soil and freshwater ecosystems world‐wide. However, despite the similarity of physical and biochemical processes, generalizations across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems regarding litter decomposition drivers remain elusive.

We re‐analysed data from a published field decomposition experiment conducted in two ecosystems (forest floors and streams) across five biomes (from the tropics to subarctic) with increasing decomposer community complexity (microbes, microbes and mesofauna, microbes and meso‐ and macrofauna).

Using a wide litter quality gradient (15 litter combinations), we aimed to disentangle the roles of decomposer community complexity from that of leaf litter traits (18 traits encompassing four broad trait categories: nutrients, C quality, physical structure and stoichiometry) on litter C and N loss. Comparisons of decomposition drivers between ecosystems were evaluated across and within biomes.

Differences in environmental conditions (e.g. climate, soil/water fertility) and litter nutrients – with a particular focus on Mg and Ca – across biomes were the major drivers of litter C loss in both ecosystems, but decomposer complexity also played a prominent role in streams. Within biomes, we observed consistent effects of litter nutrients and stoichiometry on litter C and N loss between ecosystems, but the effects of decomposer complexity differed between streams and forest floors in the temperate, Mediterranean and tropical biomes.

Our results highlight that, beyond the litter traits commonly identified as controlling decomposition (e.g. C, N and lignin), micronutrients (e.g. Mg and Ca) can also play an important, and globally consistent, role in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In addition, in forest streams the complexity of decomposer communities had similar importance as litter traits for predicting litter C and N turnover across all five biomes.

The identification of common drivers in our large‐scale ecosystem comparison suggests a basis to develop common models across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems for C and N dynamics during decomposition. Future modelling efforts should account for the global similarities (litter micronutrient effects) and biome‐level differences (contingent decomposer effects) found between ecosystems.
2.5D direct‐current resistivity forward modelling and inversion by finite‐element–infinite‐element coupled method
Authors: Yuan Yuan , Qiang Jianke , Tang Jingtian , Ren Zhengyong , Xiao Xiao
Published: October 2015

To reduce the numerical errors arising from the improper enforcement of the artificial boundary conditions on the distant surface that encloses the underground part of the subsurface, we present a finite‐element–infinite‐element coupled method to significantly reduce the computation time and memory cost in the 2.5D direct‐current resistivity inversion. We first present the boundary value problem of the secondary potential. Then, a new type of infinite element is analysed and applied to replace the conventionally used mixed boundary condition on the distant boundary. In the internal domain, a standard finite‐element method is used to derive the final system of linear equations. With a novel shape function for infinite elements at the subsurface boundary, the final system matrix is sparse, symmetric, and independent of source electrodes. Through lower upper decomposition, the multi‐pole potentials can be swiftly obtained by simple back‐substitutions. We embed the newly developed forward solution to the inversion procedure. To compute the sensitivity matrix, we adopt the efficient adjoint equation approach to further reduce the computation cost. Finally, several synthetic examples are tested to show the efficiency of inversion.
Food‐web composition and plant diversity control foliar nutrient content and stoichiometry
Authors: Borer Elizabeth T. , Lind Eric M. , Ogdahl Eric J. , Seabloom Eric W. , Tilman David , Montgomery Rebecca A. , Kinkel Linda L.
Published: October 2015

The content and ratio of nutrients in plants can be constrained by a wide array of factors, including nutrient supply, light intensity, herbivory, infection or intrinsic growth rate and can, in turn, affect many ecosystem processes including photosynthesis, decomposition, resource limitation and nutrient cycling. Studies of plant stoichiometry and stoichiometric homeostasis have focused primarily on the role of nutrient supply as a constraint on plant tissue chemistry, yet recent work suggests that local plant diversity, plant species composition and consumers may change the nutrient composition of whole plant communities.

By experimentally removing insects, foliar fungi and soil fungi from a long‐term experiment manipulating plant diversity, we found that the foliar stoichiometry of individual plant species depends on biotic context.

Local plant diversity and the composition of the consumer community each altered foliar tissue carbon and nutrient chemistry of four different grassland species. The greatest impacts of consumers on foliar chemistry occurred at low plant diversity, and these changes induced by altering the food web were of a similar magnitude to the effects of fertilization or drought found in previous work. Consumers and plant diversity acted primarily on foliar carbon and nitrogen, whereas changes in foliar phosphorus were associated with the productivity of the local plant community. Thus, changes in whole‐community stoichiometry that have been documented in response to alterations of the consumer food web or plant community are underlain by stoichiometric changes in individual species as well as plant species compositional changes.

Synthesis. These results suggest a new pathway by which loss of consumer or plant diversity may significantly impact the wide variety of ecosystem processes that depend on foliar nutrient content.
Decay rates of leaf litters from arbuscular mycorrhizal trees are more sensitive to soil effects than litters from ectomycorrhizal trees
Authors: Midgley Meghan G. , Brzostek Edward , Phillips Richard P.
Published: October 2015

While it is well established that leaf litter decomposition is controlled by climate and substrate quality at broad spatial scales, conceptual frameworks that consider how local‐scale factors affect litter decay in heterogeneous landscapes are generally lacking.

A critical challenge in disentangling the relative impacts of and interactions among local‐scale factors is that these factors frequently covary due to feedbacks between plant and soil communities. For example, forest plots dominated by trees that associate with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi often differ from those dominated by trees that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in terms of their litter quality, microbial community structure and inorganic nutrient availability. Here, we evaluate the extent to which such factors alter leaf litter decomposition rates.

To characterize variations in decomposition rates, we compared decay rates of high‐quality litter (maple;AM) and low‐quality litter (oak;ECM) across forest plots representing a gradient in litter matrix quality and nitrogen (N) availability driven by the relative proportions ofAMandECMtrees in each plot. In experiment two, we added litter from twoAMand threeECMtree species to forest plots with either a high‐quality litter matrix and high N availability (i.e.AM‐dominated plots) or a low‐quality litter matrix and low N availability (i.e.ECM‐dominated plots). In both experiments, we found thatAMlitter decomposed more rapidly thanECMlitter, and this effect was enhanced inAM‐dominated plots.

Then, to separate the contributions of litter matrix effects from N availability effects, we added N fertilizer to a subset of plots from experiment two. Nitrogen addition increased decay rates of high‐quality litter across all sites, but had no effect on low‐quality litter, suggesting that low N availability, not litter matrix quality, constrains decomposition of high‐quality litters. Hence, N availability appears to alter litter decomposition patterns independently of litter matrix properties.

Synthesis. Our results indicate that shifts in the relative abundance ofECM‐ andAM‐associated trees in a plot or stand have the potential to affect litter decay rates through both changes in litter quality as well as through alterations of the local‐scale soil environment.