bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiplexed detection of viral infections using rapid in situ RNA analysis on a chip
Authors: Shaffer Sydney M. , Joshi Rohan P. , Chambers Benjamin S. , Sterken David , Biaesch Andrew G. , Gabrieli David J. , Li Yang , Feemster Kristen A. , Hensley Scott E. , Issadore David , Raj Arjun
Published: June 2015

This paper presents an automated platform for ultra rapid detection of respiratory viruses using RNA FISH.
Synthesis and biological evaluation of α-sulfonamido-N-adamantanecarboxamide derivatives as 11β-HSD1 inhibitors
Authors: Kim Young Hoon , Kang Seung Kyu , Lee Gwi Bin , Lee Kyu Myung , Kumar Jaladi Ashok , Kim Ki Young , Rhee Sang Dal , Joo Jeongmin , Bae Myung Ae , Lee Won Koo , Ahn Jin Hee
Published: June 2015

A series of α-sulfonamido-N-adamantanecarboxamide derivatives was synthesized and shown to have good in vitro and ex vivo efficacy.
DMSO/I2 mediated C–C bond cleavage of α-ketoaldehydes followed by C–O bond formation: a metal-free approach for one-pot esterification
Authors: Venkateswarlu Vunnam , Aravinda Kumar K. A. , Gupta Sorav , Singh Deepika , Vishwakarma Ram A. , Sawant Sanghapal D.
Published: June 2015

One-pot I2/DMSO mediated metal-free C–C bond cleavage of aryl-/heteroaryl- or aliphatic α-ketoaldehydes offering a carboxylic acid followed by esterification is presented.
Synthesis and evaluation of galacto-noeurostegine and its 2-deoxy analogue as glycosidase inhibitors
Authors: Salamone Stéphane , Clement Lise L. , Viuff Agnete H. , Andersen Ole Juul , Jensen Frank , Jensen Henrik H.
Published: June 2015

An epimer of the known glycosidase inhibitor noeurostegine, galacto-noeurostegine, was synthesised in 21 steps from levoglucosan and found to be a potent, competitive and highly selective galactosidase inhibitor of Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase.
Fabrication and properties of polybutadiene rubber-interpenetrating cross-linking poly(propylene carbonate) network as gel polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion battery
Authors: Huang Xueyan , Huang Jiayi , Wu Jianfeng , Yu Xiaoyuan , Gao Qiongzhi , Luo Ying , Hu Hang
Published: June 2015

Novel polybutadiene rubber interpenetrating cross-linking poly(propylene carbonate) network has been synthesized as GPEs with excellent electrochemical performances for lithium-ion batteries.
Nitrogen-doped graphene-supported copper complex: a novel photocatalyst for CO2reduction under visible light irradiation
Authors: Kumar Pawan , Mungse Harshal P. , Khatri Om P. , Jain Suman L.
Published: June 2015

Nitrogen-doped graphene immobilized with copper(ii) complex (GrN700–CuC) is demonstrated to be an efficient photocatalyst for CO2reduction into methanol under visible light irradiation.
Acetaldehyde in asymmetric organocatalytic transformations
Authors: Kumar Manjeet , Kumar Arvind , Rizvi Masood Ahmad , Shah Bhahwal Ali
Published: June 2015

This review summarize both the recent developments in the organocatalysed use of acetaldehyde as a substrate in various organic transformations and its application in the synthesis of bioactive molecules.
Continuous synthesis of a co-doped TiO2 photocatalyst and its enhanced visible light catalytic activity using a photocatalysis microreactor
Authors: He Wei , Fang Zheng , Zhang Kai , Li Xin , Ji Dong , Jiang Xiubo , Qiu Chuanhong , Guo Kai
Published: June 2015

Three co-doped TiO2 samples were synthesized by a continuous precipitation method with a valve assisted micromixer.
Stabilization of [poly(allylamine)–tannic acid]n multilayer films in acidic and basic conditions after crosslinking with NaIO4
Authors: Ball Vincent
Published: June 2015

Interaction of NaIO4 with (PAH–TA)n films: stabilization in strong acid and basic solutions and changes in the film permeability.
Band-gap tuning of graphene by Be doping and Be, B co-doping: a DFT study
Authors: Ullah Saif , Hussain Akhtar , Syed WaqarAdil , Saqlain Muhammad Adnan , Ahmad Idrees , Leenaerts Ortwin , Karim Altaf
Published: June 2015

First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to investigate the structural and electronic properties of beryllium (Be) doped and, Be with boron (B) co-doped graphene systems.
Detailed exploration of structure formation of an epoxy-based monolith with three-dimensional bicontinuous structure
Authors: Mi Yace , Zhou Weiqing , Li Qiang , Zhang Donglai , Zhang Rongyue , Ma Guanghui , Su Zhiguo
Published: June 2015

To explore a clear formation mechanism of a three-dimensional (3D) bicontinuous skeleton and control the structure of an epoxy-based monolith, we have prepared the monolith using a mixture of good and poor solvents.
Fe3C and Mn doped Fe3C nanoparticles: synthesis, morphology and magnetic properties
Authors: Wang Xiaobai , Zhang Peng , Wang Wei , Lei Xiang , Yang Hua
Published: June 2015

Fe3C and Mn doped Fe3C nanoparticles were prepared by a sol–gel method.
Effect of heat treatment on the lubricating properties of lithium lubricating grease
Authors: Jiabao Pan , Yanhai Cheng , Jinyong Yang
Published: June 2015

The lubricating properties of lithium grease are improved by fibrous entangled variations rather than chemical structural variations after being heated.
Low-cost optical manipulation using hanging droplets of PDMS
Authors: McDonald Craig , McGloin David
Published: June 2015

A low-cost optical manipulation system is realised by using simple microfabricated PDMS components coupled to a smartphone camera for imaging.
In vivo demonstration of an active tumor pretargeting approach with peptide nucleic acid bioconjugates as complementary system
Authors: Leonidova Anna , Foerster Christian , Zarschler Kristof , Schubert Maik , Pietzsch Hans-Jürgen , Steinbach Jörg , Bergmann Ralf , Metzler-Nolte Nils , Stephan Holger , Gasser Gilles
Published: June 2015

The first successful application of a pretargeting approach using a PNA-modified epidermal growth factor receptor specific antibody and a complementary 99mTc-labeled PNA is presented.
Metal influence on the iso- and hetero-selectivity of complexes of bipyrrolidine derived salan ligands for the polymerisation of rac-lactide
Authors: Jones Matthew D. , Brady Lauren , McKeown Paul , Buchard Antoine , Schäfer Pascal M. , Thomas Lynne H. , Mahon Mary F. , Woodman Timothy J. , Lowe John P.
Published: June 2015

A series complexes based on 2,2′-bipyrrolidine based salan ligands have been prepared and either isotactic or heterotactic PLA have been prepared.
CO2 induced phase transitions in diamine-appended metal–organic frameworks
Authors: Vlaisavljevich Bess , Odoh Samuel O. , Schnell Sondre K. , Dzubak Allison L. , Lee Kyuho , Planas Nora , Neaton Jeffrey B. , Gagliardi Laura , Smit Berend
Published: June 2015

Using a combination of density functional theory and lattice models, we study the effect of CO2 adsorption in an amine functionalized metal–organic framework.
Selective glycoprotein detection through covalent templating and allosteric click-imprinting
Authors: Stephenson-Brown Alexander , Acton Aaron L. , Preece Jon A. , Fossey John S. , Mendes Paula M.
Published: June 2015

A hierarchical bottom-up route exploiting reversible covalent interactions with boronic acids and so-called click chemistry for selective glycoprotein detection is described. The self-assembled and imprinted surfaces confer high binding affinities, nanomolar sensitivity, exceptional glycoprotein specificity and selectivity.
The role of curvature anisotropy in the ordering of spheres on an ellipsoid
Authors: Burke Christopher J. , Mbanga Badel L. , Wei Zengyi , Spicer Patrick T. , Atherton Timothy J.
Published: June 2015

Simulated packings of spheres on ellipsoidal surfaces are generated to elucidate the influence of this surface geometry on the structure of defects. An experimental realization is also presented.
A minimal description of morphological hierarchy in two-dimensional aggregates
Authors: Das Tamoghna , Lookman T. , Bandi M. M.
Published: June 2015

A single dimensionless parameter is proposed to characterise the morphology of two-dimensional aggregates by their structural randomness.
Locality‐sensitive hashing for region‐based large‐scale image indexing
Authors: Gallas Abir , Barhoumi Walid , Kacem Neila , Zagrouba Ezzeddine
Published: June 2015

In this study, the authors present an efficient method for approximate large‐scale image indexing and retrieval. The proposed method is mainly based on the visual content of the image regions. Indeed, regions are obtained by a fuzzy segmentation and they are described using high‐frequency sub‐band wavelets. Moreover, because of the difficulty in managing a huge amount of data, which is caused by the exponential growth of the processing time, approximate nearest neighbour algorithms are used to improve the retrieval speed. Therefore they adopted locality‐sensitive hashing (LSH) for region‐based indexing of images. In particular, since LSH performance depends fundamentally on the hash function partitioning the space, they exposed a new function, inspired from the E8 lattice, that can efficiently be combined with the multi‐probe LSH and the query‐adaptive LSH. To justify the adopted theoretical choices and to highlight the efficiency of the proposed method, a set of experiments related to the region‐based image retrieval are carried out on the challenging ‘Wang’ data set.
New interface for musical instruments using lip reading
Authors: Shin Jeyong , Kim Hong‐In , Park Rae‐Hong
Published: June 2015

As smart audio‐visual multimedia devices are developed for various applications, there has been a growing interest in effective human–computer interaction (HCI) interfaces for specific environments. There have also been great efforts to implement HCI interfaces into musical instruments, in which it would be possible to take intuitions, comfort and expressiveness into the musical instruments. However, most of the traditional HCI interfaces are not applicable because both hands are likely to be occupied while playing a musical instrument. In this environment, a lip reading method can be used. A lip reading method is a HCI method that analyses lip motion to recognise spoken words. In this study, a lip reading method is proposed with its application. As a specific example of the interface for musical instruments, the guitar effector application is presented. The proposed lip reading method uses a constrained local model instead of the conventional active appearance model for effective facial feature tracking. The proposed method also uses a dynamic time warping‐based classifier for word recognition which is effective for simple real‐time implementation of lip reading. The proposed lip reading method shows 85.0% word recognition accuracy on OuluVS database and is effectively applied to the proposed guitar effector application.
Nuclear Charge Radii Systematics
Authors: Marinova Krassimira
Published: June 2015

This paper is a brief overview of the existing systematics on nuclear mean square charge radii, obtained by a combined analysis of data from different types of experiment. The various techniques yielding data on nuclear charge radii are summarized. Their specific feature complexities and the accuracy and precision of the obtained information are also discussed.
New Precise Measurement of the Hyperfine Splitting of Positronium
Authors: Ishida A.
Published: June 2015

Positronium (Ps) is an ideal system for precision test of bound state quantum electrodynamics. The hyperfine splitting (HFS) of the ground state of Ps, which is one of the most precisely tested quantity, has a large discrepancy of 16 ppm (4.5 σ) between previous experiments and theoretical calculation up to O(α3lnα−1) and part of O(α3) corrections. A new experiment which reduces possible systematic uncertainties of Ps thermalization effect and nonuniformity of magnetic field was performed. It revealed that the Ps thermalization effect was as large as 10 ± 2 ppm. Treating the thermalization effect correctly, a new result of 203.3942 ± 0.0016(stat., 8.0 ppm) ± 0.0013(sys., 6.4 ppm) GHz was obtained. This result is consistent with theory within 1.1 σ, whereas it disfavors the previous experimental result by 2.6 σ. It shows that the Ps thermalization effect is crucial for precision measurement of HFS. Future prospects for improved precision are briefly discussed.
Surface hopping with a manifold of electronic states. III. Transients, broadening, and the Marcus picture
Authors: Dou Wenjie , Nitzan Abraham , Subotnik Joseph E.
Published: June 2015

In a previous paper [Dou et al., J. Chem. Phys. 142, 084110 (2015)], we have introduced a surface hopping (SH) approach to deal with the Anderson-Holstein model. Here, we address some interesting aspects that have not been discussed previously, including transient phenomena and extensions to arbitrary impurity-bath couplings. In particular, in this paper we show that the SH approach captures phonon coherence beyond the secular approximation, and that SH rates agree with Marcus theory at steady state. Finally, we show that, in cases where the electronic tunneling rate depends on nuclear position, a straightforward use of Marcus theory rates yields a useful starting point for capturing level broadening. For a simple such model, we find I-V curves that exhibit negative differential resistance.
Stabilization of amorphous structure in silicon thin film by adding germanium
Authors: Makino Nobuaki , Shigeta Yukichi
Published: June 2015

The stabilization of the amorphous structure in amorphous silicon film by adding Ge atoms was studied using Raman spectroscopy. Amorphous Si1−xGex (x = 0.0, 0.03, 0.14, and 0.27) films were deposited on glass substrates from electron beam evaporation sources and annealed in N2 atmosphere. The change in the amorphous states and the phase transition from amorphous to crystalline were characterized using the TO, LO, and LA phonons in the Raman spectra. The temperature of the transition from the amorphous phase to the crystalline phase was higher for the a-Si1−xGex (x = 0.03, 0.14) films, and the crystallization was hindered. The reason why the addition of a suitable quantity of Ge atoms into the three-dimensional amorphous silicon network stabilizes its amorphous structure is discussed based on the changes in the Raman signals of the TO, LO, and LA phonons during annealing. The characteristic bond length of the Ge atoms allows them to stabilize the random network of the amorphous Si composed of quasi-tetrahedral Si units, and obstruct its rearrangement.
Two dimensional graphene nanogenerator by coulomb dragging: Moving van der Waals heterostructure
Authors: Zhong Huikai , Li Xiaoqiang , Wu Zhiqian , Zhang Shengjiao , Xu Zhijuan , Chen Hongsheng , Lin Shisheng
Published: June 2015

Harvesting energy from environment is the current focus of scientific community. Here, we demonstrate a graphene nanogenerator, which is based on moving van der Waals heterostructure formed between graphene and two dimensional (2D) graphene oxide (GO). This nanogenerator can convert mechanical energy into electricity with a voltage output of around 10 mV. Systematic experiments reveal the generated electricity originates from the coulomb interaction induced momentum transfer between 2D GO and holes in graphene. 2D boron nitride was also demonstrated to be effective in the framework of moving van der Waals heterostructure nanogenerator. This investigation of nanogenerator based on the interaction between 2D macromolecule materials will be important to understand the origin of the flow-induced potential in nanomaterials and may have great potential in practical applications.
How good are we at assessing the impact of ocean acidification in coastal systems? Limitations, omissions and strengths of commonly used experimental approaches with special emphasis on the neglected role of fluctuations
Authors: Wahl M. , Saderne V. , Sawall Y.
Published: June 2015

Much of our past research on ocean acidification has focussed on direct responses to pCO2 increase at the (sub-) organism level, but does not produce findings that can be projected into the natural context. On the basis of a review of ~350 recent articles mainly on ocean acidification effects, we highlight major limitations of commonly used experimental approaches. Thus, the most common type of investigation, simplified and tightly controlled laboratory experiments, has yielded a wealth of findings on short-term physiological responses to acidification, but any extrapolation to the natural ecosystem level is still problematic. For this purpose, an upscaling is required regarding the number of stressors, of ontogenetic stages, of species, of populations, of generations as well as the incorporation of fluctuating intensities of stress. Because the last aspect seems to be the least recognised, we treat in more detail the natural fluctuations of the carbonate system at different temporal and spatial scales. We report on the very rare investigations that have assessed the biological relevance of natural pH or pCO2 fluctuations. We conclude by pleading the case for more natural research approaches that integrate several organisational levels on the response side, several drivers, biological interactions and environmental fluctuations at various scales.
Dynamic reorganization of human resting-state networks during visuospatial attention
Authors: Spadone Sara , Della Penna Stefania , Sestieri Carlo , Betti Viviana , Tosoni Annalisa , Perrucci Mauro Gianni , Romani Gian Luca , Corbetta Maurizio
Published: June 2015

Significance

The brain is never at rest, and patterns of ongoing correlated activity have been found to resemble patterns during active behavior. A fundamental problem in neuroscience concerns the relationship between spontaneous and task-driven activity. During a demanding task that requires selective attention to sensory stimuli, correlated patterns of spontaneous (rest) activity are generally preserved. However, specific changes in synchronization occur within and between networks that correlate with behavioral performance. These results indicate that attention modifies spontaneous activity patterns in support of task performance.
Perceptions of the African American Experience (PAAX): A New Measure of Adaptive Identities Among African American Men and Women
Authors: Harold Briggs , Kothari Brianne , Bank Lew , Fixsen Amanda , Briggs Adam C. , Burkett Christopher
Published: June 2015

Differential treatment based on race impacts the adoption of prosocial or maladaptive behaviors and attitudes of African Americans, which in turn influences their perceived wellbeing. In essence, the African American experience is shaped by intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional social determinants. As such the nature of the African American experience is predicated on the identity formulated and the associated lifestyle adopted by African Americans. To empirically verify this proposition, the newly developed Perceptions of African American Experience (PAAX) scale was tested. The PAAX includes 2 maladaptive and two adaptive subscales that define 4 identities among African American men and women. The maladaptive identities, Depreciated and Vulnerable coping styles, are theoretically connected to risk, unhealthy social determinants and anti-social outcomes. The adaptive identities, Transcendent and Integrated coping styles, involve resiliency characteristics resulting in both healthy and prosocial outcomes. It was hypothesized that the 4 PAAX subscales would show acceptable psychometric properties for internal consistency and validity, but that the 2 higher order dimensions, Risk and Resilience, would emerge with factor analytic approaches. An item analysis demonstrated it is feasible to maintain subscale integrity while retaining only those items from the 4 hypothesized subscales, which produces acceptable internal consistencies. A higher order confirmatory factor analytic approach was then used. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesis that for African Americans the 4 adaptive identities load on 2 underlying dimensions, Risk and Resilience. Implications for the future study of the PAAX scale among clinical populations as well as with other racially diverse groups are highlighted.
Irrigation Decisions for Major West Coast Crops: Water Scarcity and Climatic Determinants
Authors: Olen Beau , Wu JunJie , Langpap Christian
Published: June 2015

This article uses the 2007 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey database developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assess the impact of water scarcity and climate on irrigation decisions for producers of specialty crops, wheat, and forage crops. We estimate an irrigation management model for major crops in the West Coast (California, Oregon, and Washington), which includes a farm‐level equation of irrigated share and crop‐specific equations of technology adoption and water application rate (orchard/vineyard, vegetable, wheat, alfalfa, hay, and pasture). We find that economic and physical water scarcity, climate, and extreme weather, such as frost, extreme heat, and drought, significantly impact producers’ irrigation decisions. Producers use sprinkler technologies or additional water applications to mitigate risk of crop damage from extreme weather. Water application rates are least responsive to surface water cost or groundwater well depth for producers of orchard/vineyard. Water supply institutions influence producers’ irrigation decisions. Producers who receive water from federal agencies use higher water application rates and are less likely to adopt water‐saving irrigation technologies for some crops. Institutional arrangements, including access to distinct water sources (surface or ground) and whether surface water cost is fee based, also affect the responsiveness of water application rates to changes in surface water cost. The analysis provides valuable information about how producers in irrigated agricultural production systems would respond and adapt to water pricing policies and climate change.
TENET: topological feature-based target characterization in signalling networks
Authors: Chua Huey Eng , Bhowmick Sourav S. , Tucker-Kellogg Lisa , Dewey C. Forbes
Published: June 2015

Motivation: Target characterization for a biochemical network is a heuristic evaluation process that produces a characterization model that may aid in predicting the suitability of each molecule for drug targeting. These approaches are typically used in drug research to identify novel potential targets using insights from known targets. Traditional approaches that characterize targets based on their molecular characteristics and biological function require extensive experimental study of each protein and are infeasible for evaluating larger networks with poorly understood proteins. Moreover, they fail to exploit network connectivity information which is now available from systems biology methods. Adopting a network-based approach by characterizing targets using network features provides greater insights that complement these traditional techniques. To this end, we present Tenet (Target charactErization using NEtwork Topology), a network-based approach that characterizes known targets in signalling networks using topological features.

Results: Tenet first computes a set of topological features and then leverages a support vector machine-based approach to identify predictive topological features that characterizes known targets. A characterization model is generated and it specifies which topological features are important for discriminating the targets and how these features should be combined to quantify the likelihood of a node being a target. We empirically study the performance of Tenet from a wide variety of aspects, using several signalling networks from BioModels with real-world curated outcomes. Results demonstrate its effectiveness and superiority in comparison to state-of-the-art approaches.

Availability and implementation: Our software is available freely for non-commercial purposes from: https://sites.google.com/site/cosbyntu/softwares/tenet

Contact:  hechua@ntu.edu.sg or assourav@ntu.edu.sg

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Marked variations in reproductive characteristics of snapper (Chrysophrys auratus, Sparidae) and their relationship with temperature over a wide latitudinal range
Authors: Wakefield Corey B. , Potter Ian C. , Hall Norman G. , Lenanton Rodney C. J. , Hesp Sybrand A.
Published: June 2015

The timing and duration of spawning and maturation schedules of Chrysophrys auratus were determined for populations in one subtropical (∼25°S on the upper west coast) and two temperate regions (∼32°S on the lower west and ∼35°S on the south coasts) over >2000 km of coastline along the west coast of Australia. This study thus encompassed the wide latitudinal range of this recreationally and commercially important sparid in this region. The results were used, in conjunction with previously published data, to explore traditional paradigms regarding the relationships between the reproductive characteristics and variations in water temperature. Spawning at each latitude occurred mainly at 19–21°C, but following a decline in temperature in the subtropical region and after a rise in temperature in the two temperate regions. Spawning on the upper west coast thus occurred between mid-autumn and early spring (∼7 months) as opposed to late winter to early summer on the lower west coast (∼6 months). Spawning on the south coast was mainly restricted to mid-spring to early summer (∼2–3 months) in 2003 and 2004 and did not occur in 2005 when temperatures in this period were the coldest on record. Thus, marked interannual differences in the prevalence of mature fish on the south coast probably reflect the “marginality” of the population. The length (L50) and age (A50) at which C. auratus matured increased markedly from 25 to 32°S. Studies such as this allow for latitudinal variations in reproductive characteristics to be incorporated into population models to optimize fisheries sustainable yield, and contribute towards appropriate spatial scales for sustainable management strategies (e.g. minimum legal lengths consistent with latitudinal variation in length-based maturity schedules). The narrow temperature range over which this species spawns accounts for its current latitudinal distribution and enables predictions of how this distribution might alter with climate change. This study provides relevant information for management and climate change implications for similar subtropical and temperate marine teleosts.
Oncologic Outcome of ypT1-2N0 Rectal Cancer After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Compared With pT1-2N0 Rectal Cancer
Authors: Yeop Oh Seung , Bae Kim Young , Wook Suh Kwang
Published: June 2015

Objective:

To investigate the oncologic outcome of ypT1-2N0 mid and lower rectal cancer after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) compared with pT1-2N0 rectal cancer.

Methods:

We compared the oncologic outcome of patients with mid and lower rectal cancer who underwent preoperative CRT and who did not, between February 2005 and August 2012.

Results:

Compared with patients who did not receive preoperative CRT, patients who received preoperative CRT did not have significantly different clinicopathologic features except clinical stage and distal resection margin. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were lower in patients who received preoperative CRT than those who did not (84.4% vs. 95.5%, P=0.029). Preoperative CRT was a prognostic factor affecting 5-year DFS in patients with pathologically proven stage T1N0 mid and lower rectal cancer (HR, 11.157; 95% CI, 1.735-71.762; P=0.011)

Conclusions:

ypT2N0 rectal cancer after neoadjuvant CRT showed shorter DFS compared with pT2N0 rectal cancer.
Nocturnal migratory songbirds adjust their travelling direction aloft: evidence from a radiotelemetry and radar study
Authors: Sjöberg Sissel , Nilsson Cecilia
Published: June 2015

In order to fully understand the orientation behaviour of migrating birds, it is important to understand when birds set their travel direction. Departure directions of migratory passerines leaving stopover sites are often assumed to reflect the birds' intended travel directions, but this assumption has not been critically tested. We used data from an automated radiotelemetry system and a tracking radar at Falsterbo peninsula, Sweden, to compare the initial orientation of departing songbirds (recorded by radiotelemetry) with the orientation of songbird migrants in climbing and level flight (recorded by radar). We found that the track directions of birds at high altitudes and in level flight were more concentrated than the directions of departing birds and birds in climbing flight, which indicates that the birds adjust their travelling direction once aloft. This was further supported by a wide scatter of vanishing bearings in a subsample of radio-tracked birds that later passed an offshore radio receiver station 50 km southeast of Falsterbo. Track directions seemed to be more affected by winds in climbing compared with level flights, which may be explained by birds not starting to partially compensate for wind drift until they have reached cruising altitudes.
Behavioural variation in 172 small-scale societies indicates that social learning is the main mode of human adaptation
Authors: Mathew Sarah , Perreault Charles
Published: June 2015

The behavioural variation among human societies is vast and unmatched in the animal world. It is unclear whether this variation is due to variation in the ecological environment or to differences in cultural traditions. Underlying this debate is a more fundamental question: is the richness of humans’ behavioural repertoire due to non-cultural mechanisms, such as causal reasoning, inventiveness, reaction norms, trial-and-error learning and evoked culture, or is it due to the population-level dynamics of cultural transmission? Here, we measure the relative contribution of environment and cultural history in explaining the behavioural variation of 172 Native American tribes at the time of European contact. We find that the effect of cultural history is typically larger than that of environment. Behaviours also persist over millennia within cultural lineages. This indicates that human behaviour is not predominantly determined by single-generation adaptive responses, contra theories that emphasize non-cultural mechanisms as determinants of human behaviour. Rather, the main mode of human adaptation is social learning mechanisms that operate over multiple generations.
Marine foraging ecology influences mercury bioaccumulation in deep-diving northern elephant seals
Authors: Peterson Sarah H. , Ackerman Joshua T. , Costa Daniel P.
Published: June 2015

Mercury contamination of oceans is prevalent worldwide and methylmercury concentrations in the mesopelagic zone (200–1000 m) are increasing more rapidly than in surface waters. Yet mercury bioaccumulation in mesopelagic predators has been understudied. Northern elephant seals (
Mirounga angustirostris
) biannually travel thousands of kilometres to forage within coastal and open-ocean regions of the northeast Pacific Ocean. We coupled satellite telemetry, diving behaviour and stable isotopes (carbon and nitrogen) from 77 adult females, and showed that variability among individuals in foraging location, diving depth and
δ
13
C values were correlated with mercury concentrations in blood and muscle. We identified three clusters of foraging strategies, and these resulted in substantially different mercury concentrations: (i) deeper-diving and offshore-foraging seals had the greatest mercury concentrations, (ii) shallower-diving and offshore-foraging seals had intermediate levels, and (iii) coastal and more northerly foraging seals had the lowest mercury concentrations. Additionally, mercury concentrations were lower at the end of the seven-month-long foraging trip (
n
= 31) than after the two-month- long post-breeding trip (
n
= 46). Our results indicate that foraging behaviour influences mercury exposure and mesopelagic predators foraging in the northeast Pacific Ocean may be at high risk for mercury bioaccumulation.
Evolutionary genomics ofCulex pipiens: global and local adaptations associated with climate, life-history traits and anthropogenic factors
Authors: Asgharian Hosseinali , Chang Peter L. , Lysenkov Sergey , Scobeyeva Victoria A. , Reisen William K. , Nuzhdin Sergey V.
Published: June 2015

We present the first genome-wide study of recent evolution inCulex pipiensspecies complex focusing on the genomic extent, functional targets and likely causes of global and local adaptations. We resequenced pooled samples of six populations ofC. pipiensand two populations of the outgroupCulex torrentium. We used principal component analysis to systematically study differential natural selection across populations and developed a phylogenetic scanning method to analyse admixture without haplotype data. We found evidence for the prominent role of geographical distribution in shaping population structure and specifying patterns of genomic selection. Multiple adaptive events, involving genes implicated with autogeny, diapause and insecticide resistance were limited to specific populations. We estimate that about 5–20% of the genes (including several histone genes) and almost half of the annotated pathways were undergoing selective sweeps in each population. The high occurrence of sweeps in non-genic regions and in chromatin remodelling genes indicated the adaptive importance of gene expression changes. We hypothesize that global adaptive processes in theC. pipienscomplex are potentially associated with South to North range expansion, requiring adjustments in chromatin conformation. Strong local signature of adaptation and emergence of hybrid bridge vectors necessitate genomic assessment of populations before specifying control agents.
Environmental fluctuations do not select for increased variation or population-based resistance inEscherichia coli
Authors: Karve Shraddha Madhav , Tiwary Kanishka , Selveshwari S , Dey Sutirth
Published: June 2015

Little is known about the mechanisms that enable organisms to cope with unpredictable environments. To address this issue, we used replicate populations ofEscherichia coliselected under complex, randomly changing environments. Under four novel stresses that had no known correlation with the selection environments, individual cells of the selected populations had significantly lower lag and greater yield compared to the controls. More importantly, there were no outliers in terms of growth, thus ruling out the evolution of population-based resistance. We also assayed the standing phenotypic variation of the selected populations, in terms of their growth on 94 different substrates. Contrary to expectations, there was no increase in the standing variation of the selected populations, nor was there any significant divergence from the ancestors. This suggested that the greater fitness in novel environments is brought about by selection at the level of the individuals, which restricts the suite of traits that can potentially evolve through this mechanism. Given that day-to-day climatic variability of the world is rising, these results have potential public health implications. Our results also underline the need for a very different kind of theoretical approach to study the effects of fluctuating environments.
Job satisfaction in the multicultural environment of multinational corporations
Authors: Rozkwitalska Malgorzata , Basinska Beata Aleksandra
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– Since prior research into the effects of multiculturalism on job satisfaction in multinational corporations (MNCs) is rather scant and inconclusive, the purpose of this paper is to review the literature and explain why these results are inconsistent as well as propose a new model aimed at responding to these irregularities.

Design/methodology/approach

– In the narrative review of the prior research and the proposed model the authors discuss how multicultural settings influence job satisfaction. A Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) lens is applied to the model.

Findings

– The effect of multiculturalism on job satisfaction is inconsistent, i.e. the authors concluded that multiculturalism may be positively related to the cognitive component, yet it appears to be negatively associated with the affective one. By applying a POS lens, the proposed model broadens the view on job satisfaction and its links with multiculturalism.

Practical implications

– The authors’ model suggests that managers in MNCs should both enhance employees’ positive attitudes towards their job as well as foster positive emotions at work. They should exhibit more concern for employees’ affective states and how they affect cross-cultural interactions. Managers of MNCs need to boost thriving as it benefits both employees themselves and their organizations.

Social implications

– Since today’s societies are becoming more and more multicultural, there is a need to increase individuals’ awareness of plausible positive outcomes flowing from multiculturalism, exchange views and experience among diverse individuals and ensure the conditions in which individuals can thrive.

Originality/value

– By applying a POS lens to the analysis, the authors attempt to intertwine the positives experienced at work that appear to be associated with MNCs’ multicultural settings, namely job satisfaction and emotional balance. The results may contribute to the literature on job satisfaction in MNCs with regard to multiculturalism.
Explaining and tackling envelope wages in the Baltic Sea region
Authors: Williams Colin C , Horodnic Ioana Alexandra
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to advance a new way of explaining and tackling the illegitimate wage practice where employers pay their employees an undeclared (envelope) wage in addition to their formal salary. Drawing upon institutional theory, it is here proposed that envelope wages result from the lack of alignment of a society’s formal institutions (i.e. the codified laws and regulations) with its informal institutions (i.e. the socially shared unwritten understandings which reflect citizens’ norms, values and beliefs).

Design/methodology/approach

– To evaluate this, data are reported from a 2013 Eurobarometer survey involving 1,738 face-to-face interviews with formal employees in four Baltic countries, namely, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Findings

– The finding is that the greater is the asymmetry between the formal and informal institutions (i.e. the level of disagreement of citizens with the codified laws and regulations of formal institutions), the higher is the propensity to pay envelope wages. This is the case at both the individual- and country levels.

Practical implications

– To reduce the prevalence of envelope wages, the resultant argument is that the values of employers and employees need to be aligned with the formal institutions. This requires alterations not only in the informal institutions, using measures such as tax education, awareness raising campaigns and normative appeals, but also changes in formal institutions so as to improve trust in government by fostering greater procedural justice, procedural fairness and redistributive justice.

Originality/value

– This is the first paper to apply institutional theory to explaining and tackling envelope wages in the Baltic Sea region.
Determining the feasibility of identifying creep rupture of stainless steel cladding tubes on-line using acoustic emission technique
Authors: Mahendra Prabhu N , Gopal K.A. , Murugan S. , Haneef T.K. , Mukhopadhyay C. K. , Venugopal S. , Jayakumar T.
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to determine the feasibility of identifying the creep rupture of reactor cladding tubes using acoustic emission technique (AET).

Design/methodology/approach

– The creep rupture tests were carried out by pressuring stainless steel capsules upto 6 MPa at room temperature and then heating continuously in a furnace upto rupture. The acoustic emission (AE) signals generated during the creep rupture tests were recorded using a 150 kHz resonant sensor and analysed using AE Win software.

Findings

– When rupture occurs in the pressurized capsule tube representing the cladding tube, AE sensor attached to a waveguide captures the mechanical disturbance from the capsule and these data can be advantageously used to identify the creep rupture event of the cladding tube.

Practical implications

– The creep rupture data of fuel clad tube is very important in design and for smooth operation of nuclear reactors without fuel pin failure in reactors.

Originality/value

– AE is an advanced non-destructive evaluation technique. This technique has been successfully applied for on-line monitoring of creep rupture of the reactor cladding tube which otherwise could be detected by thermocouple readings only.
Contracting for integrated health and social care: a critical review of four models
Authors: Billings Jenny , de Weger Esther
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– Service transformation of health and social care is currently requiring commissioners to assess the suitability of their contracting mechanisms to ensure goodness of fit with the integration agenda. The purpose of this paper is to provide a description and critical account of four models of contracting, namely Accountable Care Organisations, the Alliance Model, the Lead Provider/Prime Contractor Model, and Outcomes-based Commissioning and Contracting.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach taken to the literature review was narrative and the results were organised under an analytical framework consisting of six themes: definition and purpose; characteristics; application; benefits/success factors; use of incentives; and critique.

Findings

– The review highlighted that while the models have relevance, there are a number of uncertainties regarding their direct applicability and utility for the health and social care agenda, and limited evidence of effectiveness.

Research limitations/implications

– Due to the relative newness of the models and their emerging application, much of the commentary was limited to a narrow range of contributors and a broader discussion is needed. It is clear that further research is required to determine the most effective approach for integrated care contracting. It is suggested that instead of looking at individual models and assessing their transferable worth, there may be a place for examining principles that underpin the models to reshape current contracting processes.

Practical implications

– What appears to be happening in practice is an organic development. With the growing number of examples emerging in health and social care, these may act as “trailblazers” and support further development.

Originality/value

– There is emerging debate surrounding the best way to contract for health and social care services, but no literature review to date that takes these current models and examines their value in such critical detail. Given the pursuit for “answers” by commissioners, this review will raise awareness and provide knowledge for decision making.
Patient loyalty model
Authors: Sumaedi Sik , Bakti I Gede Mahatma Yuda , Rakhmawati Tri , Astrini Nidya Judhi , Yarmen Medi , Widianti Tri
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to investigate the simultaneous effect of subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and trust on patient loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical data were collected through survey. The respondents of the survey are 157 patients of a health-care service institution in Bogor, Indonesia. Multiple regressions analysis was performed to test the conceptual model and the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

– The findings showed that subjective norm and trust influence patient loyalty positively. However, this research also found that perceived behavioral control does not influence patient loyalty significantly.

Research limitations/implications

– The survey was only conducted at one health-care service institution in Bogor, Indonesia. In addition, convenience sampling method was used. These conditions may cause that the research results can not be generalized to the other contexts. Therefore, replication research is needed to test the stability of the findings in the other contexts.

Practical implications

– Health-care service institutions need to pay attention to trust and subjective norm to establish patient loyalty.

Originality/value

– This study is believed to be the first to develop and test patient loyalty model that includes subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and trust.
Manager traits and quality-of-care performance in hospitals
Authors: Aij Kjeld Harald , Aernoudts René L.M.C. , Joosten Gepke
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to assess the impact of the leadership traits of chief executive officers (CEOs) on hospital performance in the USA. The effectiveness and efficiency of the CEO is of critical importance to the performance of any organization, including hospitals. Management systems and manager behaviours (traits) are of crucial importance to any organization because of their connection with organizational performance. To identify key factors associated with the quality of care delivered by hospitals, the authors gathered perceptions of manager traits from chief executive officers (CEOs) and followers in three groups of US hospitals delivering different levels of quality of care performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– Three high- and three low-performing hospitals were selected from the top and bottom 20th percentiles, respectively, using a national hospital ranking system based on standard quality of care performance measures. Three lean hospitals delivering intermediate performance were also selected. A survey was used to gather perceptions of manager traits (providing a modern or lean management system inclination) from CEOs and their followers in the three groups, which were compared.

Findings

– Four traits were found to be significantly different (alpha < 0.05) between lean (intermediate-) and low-performing hospitals. The different perceptions between these two hospital groups were all held by followers in the low-performing hospitals and not the CEOs, and all had a modern management inclination. No differences were found between lean (intermediate-) and high-performing hospitals, or between high- and low-performing hospitals.

Originality/value

– These findings support a need for hospital managers to acquire appropriate traits to achieve lean transformation, support a benefit of measuring manager traits to assess progress towards lean transformation and lend weight to improved quality of care that can be delivered by hospitals adopting a lean system of management.