bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influenza and Community-acquired Pneumonia Interactions: The Impact of Order and Time of Infection on Population Patterns
Authors: Davis Brian M. , Aiello Allison E. , Dawid Suzanne , Rohani Pejman , Shrestha Sourya , Foxman Betsy
Published: January 2012

Discoveries made during the 1918 influenza A pandemic and reports of severe disease associated with coinfection during the 2009 hemagglutinin type 1 and neuraminidase type 1 (commonly known as H1N1 or swine flu) pandemic have renewed interest in the role of coinfection in disease pathogenesis. The authors assessed how various timings of coinfection with influenza virus and pneumonia-causing bacteria could affect the severity of illness at multiple levels of interaction, including the biologic and population levels. Animal studies most strongly support a single pathway of coinfection with influenza inoculation occurring approximately 7 days before inoculation with Streptococcus pneumoniae, but less-examined pathways of infection also may be important for human disease. The authors discussed the implications of each pathway for disease prevention and what they would expect to see at the population level if there were sufficient data available. Lastly, the authors identified crucial gaps in the study of timing of coinfection and proposed related research questions.
Construction and completion of flux balance models from pathway databases
Authors: Latendresse Mario , Krummenacker Markus , Trupp Miles , Karp Peter D.
Published: January 2012

Motivation: Flux balance analysis (FBA) is a well-known technique for genome-scale modeling of metabolic flux. Typically, an FBA formulation requires the accurate specification of four sets: biochemical reactions, biomass metabolites, nutrients and secreted metabolites. The development of FBA models can be time consuming and tedious because of the difficulty in assembling completely accurate descriptions of these sets, and in identifying errors in the composition of these sets. For example, the presence of a single non-producible metabolite in the biomass will make the entire model infeasible. Other difficulties in FBA modeling are that model distributions, and predicted fluxes, can be cryptic and difficult to understand.

Results: We present a multiple gap-filling method to accelerate the development of FBA models using a new tool, called MetaFlux, based on mixed integer linear programming (MILP). The method suggests corrections to the sets of reactions, biomass metabolites, nutrients and secretions. The method generates FBA models directly from Pathway/Genome Databases. Thus, FBA models developed in this framework are easily queried and visualized using the Pathway Tools software. Predicted fluxes are more easily comprehended by visualizing them on diagrams of individual metabolic pathways or of metabolic maps. MetaFlux can also remove redundant high-flux loops, solve FBA models once they are generated and model the effects of gene knockouts. MetaFlux has been validated through construction of FBA models for Escherichia coli and Homo sapiens.

Availability: Pathway Tools with MetaFlux is freely available to academic users, and for a fee to commercial users. Download from: biocyc.org/download.shtml.

Contact:  mario.latendresse@sri.com

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
An effective statistical evaluation of ChIPseq dataset similarity
Authors: D. Chikina Maria , G. Troyanskaya Olga
Published: January 2012

Motivation: ChIPseq is rapidly becoming a common technique for investigating protein–DNA interactions. However, results from individual experiments provide a limited understanding of chromatin structure, as various chromatin factors cooperate in complex ways to orchestrate transcription. In order to quantify chromtain interactions, it is thus necessary to devise a robust similarity metric applicable to ChIPseq data. Unfortunately, moving past simple overlap calculations to give statistically rigorous comparisons of ChIPseq datasets often involves arbitrary choices of distance metrics, with significance being estimated by computationally intensive permutation tests whose statistical power may be sensitive to non-biological experimental and post-processing variation.

Results: We show that it is in fact possible to compare ChIPseq datasets through the efficient computation of exact P-values for proximity. Our method is insensitive to non-biological variation in datasets such as peak width, and can rigorously model peak location biases by evaluating similarity conditioned on a restricted set of genomic regions (such as mappable genome or promoter regions).

Applying our method to the well-studied dataset of Chen et al. (2008), we elucidate novel interactions which conform well with our biological understanding. By comparing ChIPseq data in an asymmetric way, we are able to observe clear interaction differences between cofactors such as p300 and factors that bind DNA directly.

Availability: Source code is available for download at http://sonorus.princeton.edu/IntervalStats/IntervalStats.tar.gz

Contact:  ogt@cs.princeton.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Estimation of pairwise sequence similarity of mammalian enhancers with word neighbourhood counts
Authors: Göke Jonathan , Schulz Marcel H. , Lasserre Julia , Vingron Martin
Published: January 2012

Motivation: The identity of cells and tissues is to a large degree governed by transcriptional regulation. A major part is accomplished by the combinatorial binding of transcription factors at regulatory sequences, such as enhancers. Even though binding of transcription factors is sequence-specific, estimating the sequence similarity of two functionally similar enhancers is very difficult. However, a similarity measure for regulatory sequences is crucial to detect and understand functional similarities between two enhancers and will facilitate large-scale analyses like clustering, prediction and classification of genome-wide datasets.

Results: We present the standardized alignment-free sequence similarity measure N2, a flexible framework that is defined for word neighbourhoods. We explore the usefulness of adding reverse complement words as well as words including mismatches into the neighbourhood. On simulated enhancer sequences as well as functional enhancers in mouse development, N2 is shown to outperform previous alignment-free measures. N2 is flexible, faster than competing methods and less susceptible to single sequence noise and the occurrence of repetitive sequences. Experiments on the mouse enhancers reveal that enhancers active in different tissues can be separated by pairwise comparison using N2.

Conclusion:  N2 represents an improvement over previous alignment-free similarity measures without compromising speed, which makes it a good candidate for large-scale sequence comparison of regulatory sequences.

Availability: The software is part of the open-source C++ library SeqAn (www.seqan.de) and a compiled version can be downloaded at http://www.seqan.de/projects/alf.html

Contact:  goeke@molgen.mpg.de; vingron@molgen.mpg.de

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Factors Associated With Peptide‐based Formula Prescription in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Vidigal Maria V.M. , Leite Heitor P. , Nogueira Paulo C.K.
Published: January 2012

Objectives:

There is no evidence‐based consensus on the use of peptide‐based formulas for critically ill children. The present study aimed to identify the factors associated with the choice of peptide‐based formulas in the first enteral nutrition prescription for critically ill children and to compare the direct costs of the enteral formulas used in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Methods:

In a prospective study, children admitted to the intensive care unit and receiving tube feeding for ≥48 hours were evaluated. The potential exposure variables for the use of peptide‐based formulas as the first nutrition prescription were age, sex, malnutrition, sepsis/septic shock, fasting period >2 days, use of α‐adrenergic drugs before initiating first diet, and the revised Pediatric Index of Mortality score. A direct cost comparison of prescribed formulas was performed.

Results:

Of 291 patients included, 85 (29.2%) were given peptide‐based formulas in the first nutrition prescription. This choice was independently associated with malnutrition (odds ratio [OR] 2.94; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.60%–5.39%; P < 0.01), fasting period >2 days (OR 3.46; 95% CI 1.93%–6.20%; P < 0.01), and use of α‐adrenergic drugs (OR 2.32; 95% CI 1.24%–4.31%; P < 0.01). Peptide‐based formula costs were up to 10 times higher than standard polymeric formula costs.

Conclusions:

The choice of peptide‐based formula as the first enteral nutrition prescription is associated with the greater severity of patients' clinical status—patients receiving α‐adrenergic drugs, those who are malnourished, and those with longer fasting periods. These prescriptions engender costs higher than those associated with standard polymeric formula.
Sphingomonas laterariae sp. nov., isolated from a hexachlorocyclohexane-contaminated dump site
Authors: Kaur Jasvinder , Kaur Jaspreet , Niharika Neha , Lal Rup
Published: January 2012

A Gram-staining-negative, non-motile, cream-coloured and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain LNB2T, was isolated from a hexachlorocyclohexane-contaminated dump site in the village of Ummari, in northern India. The taxonomic position of the novel strain was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. In a phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain LNB2T appeared to be most closely related to

Sphingomonas haloaromaticamans

A175T (98.0 % sequence similarity) and

Sphingomonas histidinilytica

UM2T (97.3 %). In DNA–DNA hybridizations, the levels of DNA–DNA relatedness between the novel strain and

S. haloaromaticamans

A175T and

S. histidinilytica

UM2T were found to be low (8.6 % and 5.6 %, respectively). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain LNB2T was 61.0 mol%. The novel strain’s predominant fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C14 : 0 2-OH, C17 : 1ω6c and 11-methyl C18 : 1ω7c. The major ubiquinone was Q-10, the predominant polyamine was homospermidine, and the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine. Based on the phylogenetic, biochemical and chemotaxonomic evidence and the results of the DNA–DNA hybridizations, strain LNB2T represents a novel species of the genus

Sphingomonas

, for which the name Sphingomonas laterariae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LNB2T ( = MTCC 10873T = CCM 7880T = DSM 25432T).
Assessing the market potential for a local food product
Authors: Akaichi Faical , Gil José M. , Nayga Rodolfo M.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the market potential of a locally produced and high quality food product (i.e. white bean “Mongeta Ganxet” (MG)) from Catalonia, Spain. Consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the product is elicited using a non‐hypothetical economic experiment and then the sensitivity of WTP values is analyzed with regard to additional information provided to participants that includes reference prices, leaflets and tasting. Finally, a sample‐selection model is estimated to assess the factors that significantly affect consumers' WTP for the product.

Design/methodology/approach

To elicit the willingness to pay a premium for the local food product, 90 subjects were invited to participate in a random nth price experimental auction. Before auctioning the product, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about consumer attitudes and purchase habits.

Findings

Only 7 percent of participants are willing to pay a price higher than the minimum price from which the MG product may be purchased directly from a producer or the local producing market. Also, it was found that providing reference prices of substitute products (both conventional and alternative high quality white beans) positively affects WTP for the MG. Interestingly, however, provision of information on organoleptic, nutritional and cooking characteristics of the MG and product tasting do not significantly influence WTP. Finally, the level of consumption, the degree of knowledge about the product and the participants' previous experience increase the purchasing intention for the MG.

Originality/value

In contrast to traditional market research studies that use hypothetical methods, the authors use non‐hypothetical elicitation mechanism to elicit consumers' valuation for an important local food product in Catalonia, Spain. Since actual products and cash were used in the experiments, the authors provided the respondents with an incentive to reveal their true preferences and valuation for the product of interest. The authors also tested the effect of provision of certain types of information on WTP and analyzed the factors that significantly influence consumers' WTP for the product.
A dictionary‐based approach to normalizing gene names in one domain of knowledge from the biomedical literature
Authors: Galvez Carmen , de Moya‐Anegón Félix
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Gene term variation is a shortcoming in text‐mining applications based on biomedical literature‐based knowledge discovery. The purpose of this paper is to propose a technique for normalizing gene names in biomedical literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Under this proposal, the normalized forms can be characterized as a unique gene symbol, defined as the official symbol or normalized name. The unification method involves five stages: collection of the gene term, using the resources provided by the Entrez Gene database; encoding of gene‐naming terms in a table or binary matrix; design of a parametrized finite‐state graph (P‐FSG); automatic generation of a dictionary; and matching based on dictionary look‐up to transform the gene mentions into the corresponding unified form.

Findings

The findings show that the approach yields a high percentage of recall. Precision is only moderately high, basically due to ambiguity problems between gene‐naming terms and words and abbreviations in general English.

Research limitations/implications

The major limitation of this study is that biomedical abstracts were analyzed instead of full‐text documents. The number of under‐normalization and over‐normalization errors is reduced considerably by limiting the realm of application to biomedical abstracts in a well‐defined domain.

Practical implications

The system can be used for practical tasks in biomedical literature mining. Normalized gene terms can be used as input to literature‐based gene clustering algorithms, for identifying hidden gene‐to‐disease, gene‐to‐gene and gene‐to‐literature relationships.

Originality/value

Few systems for gene term variation handling have been developed to date. The technique described performs gene name normalization by dictionary look‐up.
Diffusionism and open access
Authors: Xia Jingfeng
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This article aims to explore the geographic distribution of open access practices in the world from a diffusionist perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The article applies a tempo‐spatial analysis to examine the diffusion movement of open access practices from the West to the entire world during the past several decades. Both maps and tables are used to support the analysis. The diffusionist theory is reviewed and applied to the understanding of open access.

Findings

The paper discovers that technology is not the only factor determining the diffusion pattern of information systems as discussed in the literature. Cultural dissimilarities across countries have played a significant role in open access development. Open access can only be effectively established after it meets local standards.

Practical implications

The findings help understanding of why open access has a disproportionate growth among developing countries, and even among developed countries, where the ICT infrastructure has been in place.

Originality/value

Few studies have taken a transnational view to analyze open access geography at the global level, and few have been able to synthesize models to interpret diverse discoveries. Furthermore, a chronological evaluation tracing the history of open access spatial expansion is absent in the literature.
Document theory for the design of socio‐technical systems
Authors: Ivar Olsen Bernt , Windfeld Lund Niels , Ellingsen Gunnar , Hartvigsen Gunnar
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This conceptual article aims to discuss how the concept of a document and documentation along with a general document model could inform us in the design and engineering of information or rather documentation systems.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a broad and complementary document model, derived from the last couple of decades' discussion on what is a document and what is documentation. This model is used as a basis for a method, a conceptual tool or a template for analysis of socio‐technical systems.

Findings

The authors contend that the document systems analysis is a holistic approach compared to the traditional systems design and engineering reductionist approach, and also in the context of sociotechnical systems design. The document model is a taxonomy of the constituents of the document and, the authors argue, a potential communication tool in systems design.

Research limitations/implications

The document model presented in this article is discussed more or less solely in the context of information systems design, specifically sociotechnical systems. Moreover, the authors have tried to fit the theory and model within this context here, even though the concepts and thoughts can have much more general implications.

Practical implications

This presentation of a novel document model and framework is presented as a potential tool for systems analysis and design. The authors regard this as a realistic vision for the framework, but at the current stage of development for the model it is probably more useful as draft for such a tool or framework; a point of departure for the discussion of practical – and theoretical – implications of a broad and holistic document model.

Originality/value

A novel, unpublished document model, derived from theoretical discourses of document ontology in the “neo‐documentalist” movement spawned from a particular research community in Tromsø, Norway, is presented and discussed in the light of information systems design.
The social role of the Raffles Library, Singapore, in the inter‐war years
Authors: Luyt Brendan
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to examine the inter‐war history of the Raffles Library in Singapore with the aim of understanding what the management of the library believed its role should be as well as the role others in that society considered that it should fulfill.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is based on historical research using archival sources.

Findings

To a great extent the management of the library narrowly construed the institution's mission in terms of appealing to that class of persons likely to become paying members – that is, the European elite and its high‐level local collaborators. Financial constraints, relations between the library and museum as well as prevalent negative attitudes regarding class and race in colonial society are likely reasons for the lack of sustained attention to non‐European populations.

Originality/value

The library history of much of Asia remains relatively unexplored, especially from a viewpoint that stresses the importance of social context to library structure and operation.
Corporate sustainability: historical development and reporting practices
Authors: Christofi Andreas , Christofi Petros , Sisaye Seleshi
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the sustainability disclosure methods‐instruments practiced by the two most widely employed indexes/instruments (DJSI World and GRI‐G3 Guidelines). The paper suggests that the newly created triple bottom line (TBL) reporting practices need to undergo further standardization and enforcement to avoid, or give early warnings about, future corporate mismanagement that leads to socio‐economic consequences detrimental to investors and consumers in general.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes sample firms from the DJSI World Index and the GRI‐G3 Sustainability Guidelines membership list to draw inferences on sustainability indicators of performance. The authors compare the GRI reporting guidelines with the disclosure indicators of the DJSI World.

Findings

The authors' findings suggest that TBL reporting has made enormous progress over the last two decades. However, the two widely used sustainability reporting instruments/indexes (DJSI World and GRI‐G3 Guidelines) differ in disclosure practice‐methods and the authors recommend that further standardization and enforcement is necessary. The authors' view is that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) should become actively involved with the issue of standardization and enforcement of corporate socio‐environmental disclosures. The paper presents evidence that investors have neither rewarded nor penalized firms for adhering to or violating sustainability matters in their corporate decisions.

Practical implications

The authors argue for further standardization and enforcement with regard to the disclosure methods of the two widely used (GRI and DJSI) sustainability indicators in order to avoid future corporate mismanagement that leads to (systemic) economic and socio‐environmental consequences detrimental to citizen investors and consumers in general.

Originality/value

The research is of interest to academicians and practitioners who are interested in the theory and practice of sustainability reporting or TBL reporting. The findings suggest that this newly created disclosure instrument needs to undergo further standardization and enforcement for meaningful and accurate disclosure of economic‐social and environmental performance. The authors' view is that the SEC and FASB should become actively involved with the issue of standardization and enforcement of socio‐environmental disclosure of corporate sustainability.
Design and implementation of a fully autonomous humanoid soccer robot
Authors: Mohades Kasaei Seyed H. , Kasaei Mohammadreza , Alireza Kasaei S.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design and implement a team of kid size humanoid soccer robots conforming to RoboCup Humanoid league.

Design/methodology/approach

The project is described in two main parts: hardware and software. The hardware section consists of the mechanical structure and the driver circuit board enabling each robot to walk, fast walk, autonomously get up, kick and dribble when it catches the ball. The software is developed as a robot application which consists of motion controller, autonomous motion robot, self localization based on vision system, AI, trajectory planning and network.

Findings

This year, the authors' developments for the humanoid robot include: the design and construction of our new humanoid robots structure and implementation of a new recurrent hybrid neural network for walking control. The control system consists of two neural network controllers, two standard PD controllers and a robot walking planar. The proposed neural network controller has three layers, which are input, hidden, and output layers.

Originality/value

This paper presents results of research work in the field of autonomous robot‐middle size soccer robot, supported by IAU‐ Isfahan Branch (Khorasgan).
Assessment of the positioning performance of an industrial robot
Authors: Slamani Mohamed , Nubiola Albert , Bonev Ilian
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of a laser tracker, a laser interferometer system and a telescopic ballbar for assessing the positioning performance of a six‐axis industrial serial robot. The paper also aims to illustrate the limitations of these three metrology instruments for the assessment of robot positioning performance and to demonstrate the inadequacy of simplistic performance tests.

Design/methodology/approach

Specific test methods in the case of the laser interferometer system and the telescopic ballbar are proposed. Measurements are analyzed in accordance to the ISO 9283 norm.

Findings

It is found that, in static conditions and after a relatively short warm‐up, the unidirectional position repeatability of the non‐calibrated industrial robot under study (an ABB IRB 1600) is better than 37 μm, the unidirectional orientation repeatability is at worst 87 μrad, the linear position accuracy is better than 650 μm, and the rotation accuracy is at worst 2.8 mrad (mainly because of the sixth robot axis). It was also found that the dynamic (radial) errors due to vibrations can be up to approximately ±250 μm along a small circular path at TCP speed of 700 mm/s.

Practical implications

It is pointed out that the use of a laser tracker (or any other large range portable 3D measurement system) is questionable for assessing – let alone analyzing in depth – the unidirectional position repeatability of some of today's industrial robots. It is also demonstrated that the laser interferometer system can be used for measuring linear errors along a linear path of motion as well as angular errors about axes orthogonal to the path of motion. Finally, it is shown that the telescopic ballbar is an excellent, comparably low‐cost, high‐precision tool for assessing the static and dynamic positioning performance of industrial robots and its use in robotics should be further developed.

Originality/value

This work is the first to detail the use of three metrology equipments for assessing the positioning performance of an industrial robot. Experimental results are presented and discussed. Some guidelines for optimizing the positioning performance of an industrial robot are provided.
Research, design and experiment of end effector for wafer transfer robot
Authors: Liu Yanjie , Xu Meng , Cao Yumei
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Wafer transfer robots play a significant role in IC manufacturing industry and the end effector is an important component of the robots. The purpose of this paper is to improve transfer efficiency of a wafer transfer robot through study of its end effector, and at the same time to reduce wafer deformation.

Design/methodology/approach

Finite element method is adopted to analyze wafer deformation. For wafer transfer robot working in vacuum, for the first time, the authors apply the research of microfiber arrays inspired by gecko to the design of robot's end effector, and present equations between robot's transit acceleration and parameters of microfiber arrays. Based on these studies, a kind of micro‐array bump is designed and fixed to a structure optimized end effector. For wafer transfer robot working in atmospheric environment, the authors have analyzed the effects of different factors on wafer deformation. The pressure distributions in absorption area and calculation formula of maximal transfer acceleration are put forward. Finally, a new kind of end effector for atmospheric robot is designed according to these studies.

Findings

The experiments results show that transfer efficiency of wafer transfer robot has been significantly improved through application of the research in this paper. Also wafer deformation under absorption force has been controlled.

Practical implications

Through experiments it can be seen that the research in this paper can be used to improve robot transfer ability and decrease wafer deformation in the production environment. Also the studies of end effector lay a solid foundation for further improvement.

Originality/value

This is the first application of the research of gecko‐inspired microfiber arrays to vacuum wafer transfer robot. This paper also carefully analyzes effects of different factors on wafer deformation through finite element method.
Performance measurement practices in manufacturing firms revisited
Authors: Gomes Carlos F. , Yasin Mahmoud M. , Lisboa João V.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Given the increasing emphasis on performance measurement and improvement, the purpose of this paper is to examine the current views of manufacturing executives on key aspects of performance measures. Specifically, this research focuses on current practices related to extent of use, predictive value and availability of information for 63 performance measures.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was survey based. The research instrument used to collect the data was constructed based on the literature. Several statistical analysis procedures including regression analysis, cluster analysis and gap analysis are utilized to accomplish the objective of this study.

Findings

The results are compared to findings obtained from a previous study, conducted five years ago, to assess any potential changes with regard to the issues studied. The comparison of the findings from both studies revealed some similarities and significant differences attributed to the changing environment.

Research limitations/implications

The focus of this study was Portuguese manufacturing organizations. It is quite possible that the findings may or may not hold in a global context. Since this study was survey based, it had all the limitations of survey‐based research.

Practical implications

Despite some limitations, this study provides practicing managers with useful information regarding performance measures and measurement practices. It has significant and direct implications to organizational performance information systems.

Originality/value

This paper represents an important step toward refining the theory and practice of performance measurement in manufacturing organizational operational context.
Explaining the effects of performance measurement on performance
Authors: Pavlov Andrey , Bourne Mike
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Existing research evaluating the effect of performance measurement (PM) on performance produces conflicting results, indicating that the effect is poorly understood. This paper aims to address this problem by proposing a theoretical model of the effects of PM on performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the PM and MCS literature, extracting the factors that help to explain the effect of PM on performance. Then it applies the organizational routines perspective as an analytical lens to tie these factors into a coherent explanatory model.

Findings

A theoretical model shows that PM has three distinct effects on the organizational processes that deliver performance – the trigger, guidance, and intensification effects.

Originality/value

The paper employs the organizational routines perspective, moving beyond the description of the effects of PM on performance to offer a theoretical model explaining these effects. As such, it responds to a number of contemporary challenges in the PM field – most importantly, the broad need for a solid organizational foundation for the studies of PM and the explanation of the mechanism through which PM affects organizational performance.
Butoh: a bibliography of Japanese avant‐garde dance
Authors: Taylor Shea A.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This article's aim is to provide an annotated bibliographic resource guide for scholars researching butoh and academic and research libraries with collection development areas specializing in modern dance and/or Asian studies. Butoh is a Japanese avant‐garde dance form developed in 1959 as a reaction against Western influence in Japanese politics and culture. Butoh's founders, Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, have created a dance movement that is growing in popularity in the USA, influencing psychology, fashion, music, art and architecture.

Design/methodology/approach

Searches were performed using a variety of databases, catalogs and online sources in dance and videos were reviewed at the New York Public Library of Performing Arts.

Findings

Unlike most modern dance forms, butoh does not have a specific technique that can be passed down from teacher to student, yet it has characteristics (e.g. extremely slow movements) that create the butoh “look”. Butoh collections are fairly small, which will appeal to organizations with small budgets.

Originality/value

No other scholarly, annotated bibliography currently exists for those interested in researching or collecting information on butoh.
Application of ICTs in collection development in private university libraries in Kenya
Authors: Kasalu Syombua , Bernard Ojiambo Joseph
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to find out ways in which collection development practices in private university libraries in Kenya could be enhanced by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on research that was carried out on the application of ICTs in collection development in selected private universities in Kenya. The study was done using a survey method. Three universities and a total of 72 respondents were purposively selected for the study. The respondents included librarians, faculty deans and postgraduate students from the three universities.

Findings

The findings indicated that ICTs were available in all the three selected universities but their application in collection development was not adequate in ensuring efficiency and in making sure that the library collections are effective in meeting the needs of the users.

Originality/value

With the changing information environment and users' information needs, libraries are being compelled to adopt ICTs in order to remain relevant and increase their value and meet the changing needs of the users. The paper recommends different ways of applying ICTs in all the processes of collection development to make the process more efficient and effective in meeting the needs of the users.
Risk propagation based dynamic transportation route finding mechanism
Authors: Shin KwangSup , Shin YongWoo , Kwon Ji‐Hye , Kang Suk‐Ho
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel risk assessment approach that considers the inter‐relationship between supply chain risks and the structure of network at the same time. To reduce the impact of the supply chain risk and enhance the flexibility of transportation route finding during the product delivery, the authors propose a way to model the risk propagation and how to integrate it with the supply chain network using Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). The key risk indicators (KRI) of each vertex and edge of the supply chain network which are measured or computed by the proposed approach can be utilized to develop the optimal transportation route in the execution phase.

Design/methodology/approach

BBN is utilized to illustrate the relations among supply chain risks which may take place in a certain vertex. To apply the BBN to the supply chain network, the authors develop the framework to integrate BBN and the supply chain network by using the general functions that describe the characteristics of the risk factors and inter‐relationships between vertices.

Findings

By using the proposed risk assessment and dynamic route‐finding approach, it is possible to reduce the unexpected cost from the supply chain risk and overcome the limitations of previous risk management strategies which focus on developing counter plans and assume the independency of supply chain risks.

Practical implications

The proposed approach describes how to develop KRI‐BBN to model the risk propagation and to integrate the KRI‐BBN and supply chain network. The KRIs directly measured or computed by KRI‐BBN in real time can be utilized to alternate supply chain execution plans such as inventory management, demand management and product flow management. Transportation problem considering risk is developed to show how to apply the proposed approach and numerical experiments are conducted to prove the cost effectiveness.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper lies in the way of developing KRI‐BBN to assess the supply chain risk and modelling of the risk propagation by integrating KRI‐BBN with supply chain network. With the proposed risk assessment approach, it is able to alternate the transportation route to minimize the unexpected cost and transportation cost simultaneously.
Evaluating clinical trial management systems: a simulation approach
Authors: Bérard Céline , Cloutier L. Martin , Cassivi Luc
Published: January 2012

Purpose

If the use of information technology (IT) supporting clinical trial projects offers opportunities to optimize the underlying information management process, the intricacy of the identification and evaluation of relevant IT options is generally seen as a complex task in healthcare. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the problem of ex ante information system evaluation, and assess the impact of IT on the information management process underlying clinical trials.

Design/methodology/approach

Combining Unified Modeling Language (UML) and system dynamics modeling, a simulation model for evaluating IT was developed. This modeling effort relies on a case study conducted in a clinical research organization, which, at that time, faced an IT investment dilemma.

Findings

Some illustrative results of sensitivity analyzes conducted on error rates in clinical data transmission are presented. These simulation results allow for quantifying the impact of different IT options on human resources' efforts, time delays and costs of clinical trials projects. Notably, the results show that although the technology has no real influence on the duration of a clinical trial project, it impacts the number of projects that can be carried out simultaneously.

Originality/value

The research provides insights into the development of an innovative approach appropriate to the evaluation of IT supporting clinical trials, through the use of a mixed‐method based on qualitative and quantitative modeling. The results illustrate two critical issues addressed in the IS literature: the necessity to extend IT evaluation beyond the quantitative‐qualitative dichotomy; and the role of evaluation in organizational learning, and in learning about business dimensions.
Effective fabrication method of 3D ceramic photonic crystals with diamond structure
Authors: Chen Shibin , Li Dichen , Tian Xiaoyong , Wang Minjie , Dai Wei
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel and effective fabricating method of 3D ceramic photonic crystals with diamond structure.

Design/methodology/approach

The reverse diamond‐structure resin molds are fabricated by stereolithography (SL), then ceramic slurry is prepared and injected into the molds under vacuum condition. Subsequently, ceramic photonic crystals are obtained after vacuum freeze‐drying and sintering.

Findings

The combination of SL, gel‐casting and freeze‐drying could be used to fabricate the 3D ceramic photonic crystals with diamond structure which have intact structure and minimal shrinkage. The samples have been tested and the experimental results indicate that their band gap is in the range of 10.14‐12.20 GHz, consistent with the simulation results.

Research limitations/implications

The influence of fabrication process on the photonic band gap needs further study.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel fabricating method of 3D diamond‐structure ceramic photonic crystals based on SL, gel‐casting and freeze‐drying. The method fabricates complex ceramic photonic crystals with high accuracy and helps further research in this field.
Differences in perceptions of access to finance between potential male and female entrepreneurs
Authors: Kwong Caleb , Jones‐Evans Dylan , Thompson Piers
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether being female increases the probability that an individual feels difficulty in obtaining finance is a barrier to starting a business. The study aims to extend this to examine if a pure gender effect exists or whether it is the interaction of gender with demographic, economic and perceptual characteristics that plays the most important role in the perception of financial constraint.

Design/methodology/approach

The data within this study are drawn from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) adult population survey between 2005 and 2007. The first stage of the study splits male and female respondents into separate sub‐samples and runs individual regressions on each portion of the sample. The second stage of the study combines the male and female portions of the sample to directly examine the differences in perceived financial constraint between genders.

Findings

The findings suggest that a greater proportion of women are solely constrained by financial barriers than their male counterparts. The gender of the respondent was also found to interact with a number of other personal characteristics in a significant manner.

Practical implications

This finding suggests that policymakers should be encouraged to market the availability of start‐up finance from various sources to encourage women to attempt to obtain the necessary finance rather than being discouraged at the first hurdle.

Originality/value

Although actual financial barriers faced by female entrepreneurs have been extensively studied, this is one of the first studies to focus on the concept of perceived financial constraints faced by potential female entrepreneurs.
Beyond the path of least resistance: the system quest
Authors: Sawhney Harmeet
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how visionary system architects wean the development of a new technology away from the seductions of the path of least resistance – a complementary relationship with the entrenched system.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on two cases wherein critical players started pursuing visions of a full‐fledged system while the technology was still an appendage to an established one: Theodore Vail and the development of the Bell telephone system; and the US Navy and the development of wireless telegraphy. Vail's interests were of a commercial nature, securing competitive advantage over Western Union and future rivals. The US Navy's interests were of a geopolitical nature, overthrowing Britain's monopoly on trans‐oceanic cable telegraphy.

Findings

The pursuit of system benefits requires long‐term thinking. In terms of day‐to‐day actions it requires a persistent effort against the seductions of a complementary relationship or the path of least resistance. Vail was compelled to form a separate organization – AT&T – to maintain focus on system formation in the face of short‐term distractions. The US Navy pushed for rules against cross ownership of cable and wireless and opposed international treaties that clubbed the two technologies into the same category, as it wanted the latter to develop independently of the former.

Originality/value

The failure of anticipation, in the case of network technologies, is largely rooted in our inability to see beyond the path of least resistance. Drawing on strategies employed by Vail and the US Navy to wean the development of a new technology away from the path of least resistance, the paper alerts us to possibilities other than the seemingly obvious ones.
Ratings of counterproductive performance: the effect of source and rater behavior
Authors: Mann Sara L. , Budworth Marie‐Hélène , Ismaila Afisi S.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine inter‐rater agreement on counterproductive performance between self‐ and peer‐ratings, and the factors that moderate this agreement. The factors investigated included self‐reported levels of counterproductive performance and known antecedents of counterproductive performance: conscientiousness and integrity values.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered (three to five peer ratings per individual) from 108 undergraduate students.

Findings

The paper finds that there was a significantly low correlation between self‐ and peer‐ ratings of counterproductive performance. Ratings given by peers were much higher than ratings given by oneself. Individuals and peers who are similar in the extent to which they engage in counterproductive behaviors were in agreement with respect to ratings of counterproductive performance.

Practical implications

This study provided evidence that rater disagreement is a consistent phenomenon across dimensions of performance. In addition, rater perceptions of counterproductive performance have a significant impact on overall performance ratings; therefore individual differences between the rater and ratee may have a large influence on overall ratings in an organizational setting. There is some evidence in this study that peer ratings of counterproductive behavior vary depending on the rater's own counterproductive behaviors. The fact that rater agreement is influenced by the rater's own behavior implies that individual rater effects are influencing counterproductive performance measurement.

Originality/value

This study adds value by extending the literature on inter‐rater agreement to counterproductive performance. In addition, this study is unique in that it shows that a rater's own level of counterproductive performance can impact their ratings of others.
Illuminating the role of the project owner
Authors: Andersen Erling S.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from a research project in Norway on the role of the project owner. The research was carried out in order to gain a better understanding of how project owners are handling their tasks, to identify areas for improvement and focus on challenges facing those being in this position. The research also studied which factors involving project owners could significantly improve project success.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical studies of the current situation were carried out, aiming at getting a picture of common and best practice. Data on the current situation of project owners were first collected through a survey, giving representative results of all projects. Second, the project carried out in‐depth interviews with very experienced project owners and project managers. The second part of the research was based on the results from the current situation. It studied if changing negative aspects of project owner behaviour could improve project performance. A questionnaire survey was conducted.

Findings

The research was based on a certain perspective on the role of the project owner. It focused on the relationships between the base organization and the project and argued that the project owner should take an active role as they are responsible for establishing the project and securing the deliveries of the project to actually create vital changes to the receiving organization. The first survey showed that common practice was not living up to the author's perspective. Interviews with the most professional people showed that they were doing better than the average. The final survey showed that project success could be enhanced when the project owner takes an active part in the socialization activities of the project, directed by implemented project management work guidelines. Project success may also be strengthened by a project management governance structure consisting of close cooperation between project owner and project manager throughout all phases of project work.

Research limitations/implications

The research should be followed up with similar studies in other countries.

Practical implications

There is a need to educate and train project owners to make them more aware of their roles and responsibilities.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the importance of focusing on the project owner. It shows that a more comprehensive understanding of the roles of the project owner would contribute to project success.