bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antagonistic interactions in the zebrafish midline prior to the emergence of asymmetric gene expression are important for left–right patterning
Authors: Burdine Rebecca D. , Grimes Daniel T.
Published: November 2016

Left–right (L-R) asymmetry of the internal organs of vertebrates is presaged by domains of asymmetric gene expression in the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) during somitogenesis. Ciliated L-R coordinators (LRCs) are critical for biasing the initiation of asymmetrically expressed genes, such asnodalandpitx2, to the left LPM. Other midline structures, including the notochord and floorplate, are then required to maintain these asymmetries. Here we report an unexpected role for the zebrafish EGF-CFC geneone-eyed pinhead(oep) in the midline to promotepitx2expression in the LPM. Late zygoticoep(LZoep) mutants have strongly reduced or absentpitx2expression in the LPM, but this expression can be rescued to strong levels by restoringoepin midline structures only. Furthermore, removing midline structures from LZoepembryos can rescuepitx2expression in the LPM, suggesting the midline is a source of an LPMpitx2repressor that is itself inhibited byoep. Reducinglefty1activity in LZoepembryos mimics removal of the midline, implicatinglefty1in the midline-derived repression. Together, this suggests a model where Oep in the midline functions to overcome a midline-derived repressor, involvinglefty1, to allow for the expression of left side-specific genes in the LPM.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Provocative questions in left–right asymmetry’.
Heterotaxy inCaenorhabditis: widespread natural variation in left–right arrangement of the major organs
Authors: Alcorn Melissa R. , Callander Davon C. , López-Santos Agustín , Torres Cleuren Yamila N. , Birsoy Bilge , Joshi Pradeep M. , Santure Anna W. , Rothman Joel H.
Published: November 2016

Although the arrangement of internal organs in most metazoans is profoundly left–right (L/R) asymmetric with a predominant handedness, rare individuals show full (mirror-symmetric) or partial (heterotaxy) reversals. While the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegansis known for its highly determinate development, including stereotyped L/R organ handedness, we found that L/R asymmetry of the major organs, the gut and gonad, varies among natural isolates of the species in both males and hermaphrodites. In hermaphrodites, heterotaxy can involve one or both bilaterally asymmetric gonad arms. Male heterotaxy is probably not attributable to relaxed selection in this hermaphroditic species, as it is also seen in gonochoristicCaenorhabditisspecies. Heterotaxy increases in many isolates at elevated temperature, with one showing a pregastrulation temperature-sensitive period, suggesting a very early embryonic or germline effect on this much later developmental outcome. A genome-wide association study of 100 isolates showed that male heterotaxy is associated with three genomic regions. Analysis of recombinant inbred lines suggests that a small number of loci are responsible for the observed variation. These findings reveal that heterotaxy is a widely varying quantitative trait in an animal with an otherwise highly stereotyped anatomy, demonstrating unexpected plasticity in an L/R arrangement of the major organs even in a simple animal.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Provocative questions in left–right asymmetry’.
Predicting brain-age from multimodal imaging data captures cognitive impairment
Authors: Liem Franziskus , Varoquaux Gaël , Kynast Jana , Beyer Frauke , Kharabian Masouleh Shahrzad , Huntenburg Julia M. , Lampe Leonie , Rahim Mehdi , Abraham Alexandre , Craddock R. Cameron , Riedel-Heller Steffi , Luck Tobias , Loeffler Markus , Schroeter Matthias L. , Witte Anja Veronica , Villringer Arno , Margulies Daniel S.
Published: November 2016

The disparity between the chronological age of an individual and their brain-age measured based on biological information has the potential to offer clinically-relevant biomarkers of neurological syndromes that emerge late in the lifespan. While prior brain-age prediction studies have relied exclusively on either structural or functional brain data, here we investigate how multimodal brainimaging data improves age prediction. Using cortical anatomy and whole-brain functional connectivity on a large adult lifespan sample (N = 2354, age 19-82), we found that multimodal data improves brain-based age prediction, resulting in a mean absolute prediction error of 4.29 years. Furthermore, we found that the discrepancy between predicted age and chronological age captures cognitive impairment. Importantly, the brain-age measure was robust to confounding effects: head motion did not drive brain-based age prediction and our models generalized reasonably to an independent dataset acquired at a different site (N = 475). Generalization performance was increased by training models on a larger and more heterogeneous dataset. The robustness of multimodal brain-age prediction to confounds, generalizability across sites, and sensitivity to clinically-relevant impairments, suggests promising future application to the early prediction of neurocognitive disorders.

Highlights

Brain-based age prediction is improved with multimodal neuroimaging data.

Participants with cognitive impairment show increased brain aging.

Age prediction models are robust to motion and generalize to independent datasets from other sites.
Software tools for visualizing Hi-C data
Authors: Yardımcı Galip Gürkan , Noble William Stafford
Published: November 2016

Recently developed, high-throughput assays for measuring the three-dimensional configuration of DNA in the nucleus have provided unprecedented insights into the relationship between DNA 3D configuration and function. However, accurate interpretation of data from assays such as ChIA-PET and Hi-C is challenging because the data is large and cannot be easily rendered using a standard genome browser. In particular, an effective Hi-C visualization tool must provide a variety of visualization modes and be capable of viewing the data in conjunction with existing, complementary data. We review a number of such software tools that have been described recently in the literature, focusing on tools that do not require programming expertise on the part of the user. In particular, we describe HiBrowse, Juicebox, my5C, the 3D Genome Browser, and the Epigenome Browser, outlining their complementary functionalities and highlighting which types of visualization tasks each tool is best designed to handle.
Cracking the Barcodes of Fullerene-Like Cortical Microcolumns
Authors: Tozzi Arturo , Peters James F. , Ori Ottorino
Published: November 2016

Artificial neural systems and nervous graph theoretical analysis rely upon the stance that the neural code is endowed in logic circuits,e.g., spatio-temporal sequences of ON/OFF spiking neurons. Nevertheless, this assumption does not fully explain complex brain functions. Here we show how nervous activity, other than logic circuits, could instead depend on topological transformations and symmetry constraints occurring at the micro-level of the cortical microcolumn,i.e., the embryological, anatomical and functional basic unit of the brain. Tubular microcolumns can be flattened in guise of a fullerene-like two-dimensional lattices, equipped with about 80 nodes, standing for pyramidal neurons, where neural computations take place. We show how the countless possible combinations of activated neurons embedded in the lattice resemble a barcode. Different assemblies of firing neurons might stand for diverse codes, each one responsible for a single mental activity. A two-dimensional fullerene-like lattice not just simulates the real microcolumn’s microcircuitry, but also allows us to build artificial networks equipped with robustness, plasticity and fastness, because they are grounded on simple topological changes corresponding to pyramidal neurons’ activation.
A Canonical Neural Mechanism for Behavioral Variability
Authors: Darshan Ran , Wood William E. , Peters Susan , Leblois Arthur , Hansel David
Published: November 2016

The ability to generate variable movements is essential for learning and adjusting complex behaviors. This variability has been linked to the temporal irregularity of neuronal activity in the central nervous system. However, how neuronal irregularity actually translates into behavioral variability is unclear. Here we combine modeling, electrophysiological and behavioral studies to address this issue. We demonstrate that a model circuit comprising topographically organized and strongly recurrent neural networks can autonomously generate irregular motor behaviors. Simultaneous recordings of neurons in singing finches reveal that neural correlations increase across the circuit driving song variability, in agreement with the model predictions. Analyzing behavioral data, we find remarkable similarities in the babbling statistics of 5-6 month-old human infants and juveniles from three songbird species, and show that our model naturally accounts for these ‘universal’ statistics.
A synthetic oligo library and sequencing approach reveals an insulation mechanism encoded within bacterial σ54promoters
Authors: Levy Lior , Anavy Leon , Solomon Oz , Cohen Roni , Brunwasser-Meirom Michal , Ohayon Shilo , Atar Orna , Goldberg Sarah , Yakhini Zohar , Amit Roee
Published: November 2016

We use an oligonucleotide library of over 10000 variants together with a synthetic biology approach to identify an insulation mechanism encoded within a subset of σ54promoters. Insulation manifests itself as dramatically reduced protein expression for a downstream gene that may be expressed by transcriptional read-through. The insulation we observe is strongly associated with the presence of short CT-rich motifs (3-5 bp), positioned within 25 bp upstream of the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) motif of the silenced gene. We hypothesize that insulation is effected by binding of the RBS to the upstream CT-rich motif. We provide evidence to support this hypothesis using mutations to the CT-rich motif and gene expression measurements on multiple sequence variants. Modelling is also consistent with this hypothesis. We show that the strength of the silencing, effected by insulation, depends on the location and number of CT-rich motifs encoded within the promoters. Finally, we show that inE.colithese insulator sequences are preferentially encoded within σ54promoters as compared to other promoter types, suggesting a regulatory role for these sequences in natural contexts. Our findings suggest that context-related regulatory effects may often be due to sequence-specific interactions encoded sparsely by short motifs that are not easily detected by lower throughput studies. Such short sequence-specific phenomena can be uncovered with a focused OL design that filters out the sequence noise, as exemplified herein.
On the transdiagnostic nature of peripheral biomarkers in major psychiatric disorders: a systematic review
Authors: Pinto Jairo V. , Moulin Thiago C. , Amaral Olavo B.
Published: November 2016

The search for biomarkers has been one of the leading endeavors in biological psychiatry; nevertheless, in spite of hundreds of publications, it has yet to make an impact in clinical practice. To study how biomarker research has progressed over the years, we performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate (a) the most studied peripheral molecular markers in major psychiatric disorders, (b) the main features of studies in which they are proposed as biomarkers and (c) whether their patterns of variation are similar across disorders. Out of the six molecules most commonly present as keywords in articles studying plasmatic markers of schizophrenia, major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder, five (BDNF, TNF-alpha, IL-6, C-reactive protein and cortisol) were the same across the three diagnoses. An analysis of the literature on these molecules showed that, while 65% of studies were cross-sectional and 66% compared biomarker levels between patients and controls in specific disorders, only 10% presented an objective measure of diagnostic or prognostic efficacy. Meta-analyses showed that variation in the levels of these molecules was robust across studies, but also similar among disorders, suggesting them to reflect transdiagnostic systemic consequences of psychiatric illness rather than diagnostic markers. Based on this, we discuss how current publication practices have led to research fragmentation across diagnoses, and what steps can be taken in order to increase clinical translation in the field.
Neurons in the inferior temporal cortex of macaque monkeys are sensitive to multiple surface features from natural objects
Authors: Tamura Hiroshi , Otsuka Haruki , Yamane Yukako
Published: November 2016

Object surfaces contain a variety of visual features that help us to recognize them. To understand how this information is represented and processed in the brain, we prepared a set of images from natural object surfaces that maintained surface features but lacked contours. We examined spiking responses of neurons in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex of monkeys, which is a crucial structure needed for visual object recognition. About half of IT neurons responded to surface images with sharp selectivity, indicating that a significant fraction of these neurons contribute to object surface representation in a sparse manner. Responses of IT neurons were susceptible to image manipulations, including color removal, removal of luminance contrasts, and spatial structure degradation. This shows that multiple features are required for IT responses to surface images. Comparing neuronal response properties among IT, visual area 4 (V4), and primary visual cortex (V1) revealed properties of IT neurons that differed from those in the other visual processing regions. Additionally, some neuronal response properties were similar between IT and V4, but differed from those in V1, indicating that responses of IT neurons to surface images are constructed by hierarchical processing throughout the ventral visual pathway.
Modeling trophic dependencies and exchanges among insects’ bacterial symbionts in a host-simulated environment
Authors: Opatovsky Itai , Santos-Garcia Diego , Lahav Tamar , Ofaim Shani , Mouton Laurence , Barbe Valérie , Zchori-Fein Einat , Freilich Shiri
Published: November 2016

Individual organisms are linked to their communities and ecosystems via metabolic activities. Metabolic exchanges and co-dependencies have long been suggested to have a pivotal role in determining community structure. Metabolic interactions with bacteria have been key drivers in the evolution of sap-feeding insects, enabling complementation of their deprived nutrition. The sap-feeding whiteflyBemisia tabaci(Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) harbors an obligatory symbiotic bacterium, as well as varying combinations of facultative symbionts. We took advantage of the well-defined bacterial community inB. tabacias a case study for a comprehensive and systematic survey of metabolic interactions within the bacterial community and their associations with documented frequency of bacterial combinations. We first reconstructed the metabolic networks of five commonB. tabacisymbionts(Portiera, Rickettsia, Hamiltonella, CardiniumandWolbachia),and then used network analysis approaches to predict: (1) species-specific metabolic capacities in a simulated bacteriocyte-like environment; (2) metabolic capacities of the corresponding species’ combinations, and (3) dependencies of each species on different media components.

The automatic-based predictions for metabolic capacities of the symbionts in the host environment were in general agreement with previously reported genome analyses, each focused on the single-species level. The analysis suggested several previously un-reported routes for complementary interactions. Highly abundant symbiont combinations were found to have the potential to produce a diverse set of complementary metabolites, in comparison to un-detected combinations. No clear association was detected between metabolic codependencies and co-occurrence patterns. The findings indicate a potential key role for metabolic exchanges as key determinants shaping community structure in this system.
Buchnerahas changed flatmate but the repeated replacement of co-obligate symbionts is not associated with the ecological expansions of their aphid hosts
Authors: Meseguer A.S. , Manzano-Marín A. , Coeur d’Acier A. , Clamens A-L. , Godefroid M. , Jousselin E.
Published: November 2016

Symbiotic associations with bacteria have facilitated important evolutionary transitions in insects and resulted in long-term obligate interactions. Recent evidence suggests that these associations are not always evolutionarily stable and that symbiont replacement and/or supplementation of an obligate symbiosis by an additional bacterium has occurred during the history of many insect groups. Yet, the factors favoring one symbiont over another in this evolutionary dynamic are not well understood; progress has been hindered by our incomplete understanding of the distribution of symbionts across phylogenetic and ecological contexts. While many aphids are engaged into an obligate symbiosis with a single Gammaproteobacterium,Buchnera aphidicola, in species of the Lachninae subfamily, this relationship has evolved into a“ménage à trois”, in whichBuchnerais complemented by a cosymbiont, usuallySerratia symbiotica.Using deep sequencing of 16S rRNA bacterial genes from 128 species ofCinara(the most diverse Lachninae genus), we reveal a highly dynamic dual symbiotic system in this aphid lineage. Most species host bothSerratiaandBuchnerabut, in several clades, endosymbionts related toSodalis, Erwiniaor an unnamed member of the Enterobacteriaceae have replacedSerratia. Endosymbiont genome sequences from four aphid species+confirm that these coresident symbionts fulfill essential metabolic functions not ensured byBuchnera.We further demonstrate through comparative phylogenetic analyses that co-symbiont replacement is not associated with the adaptation of aphids to new ecological conditions. We propose that symbiont succession was driven by factors intrinsic to the phenomenon of endosymbiosis, such as rapid genome deterioration or competitive interactions between bacteria with similar metabolic capabilities.
Development and assessment of fully automated and globally transitive geometric morphometric methods, with application to a biological comparative dataset with high interspecific variation
Authors: Gao Tingran , Yapuncich Gabriel S. , Daubechies Ingrid , Mukherjee Sayan , Boyer Doug M.
Published: November 2016

Automated geometric morphometric methods are promising tools for shape analysis in comparative biology: they improve researchers’ abilities to quantify biological variation extensively (by permitting more specimens to be analyzed) and intensively (by characterizing shapes with greater fidelity). Although use of these methods has increased, automated methods have some notable limitations: pairwise correspondences are frequently inaccurate or lack transitivity (i.e., they are not defined with reference to the full sample). In this study, we reassess the accuracy of two previously published automated methods, cPDist [1] and auto3Dgm [2], and evaluate several modifications to these methods. We show that a substantial fraction of alignments and pairwise maps between specimens of highly dissimilar geometries were inaccurate in the study of Boyer et al. [1], despite a taxonomically sensitive variance structure of continuous Procrustes distances. We also show these inaccuracies can be remedied by utilizing aglobally informedmethodology within a collection of shapes, instead of only comparing shapes in a pairwise manner (c.f. [2]). Unfortunately, while global information generally enhances maps between dissimilar objects, it can degrade the quality of correspondences between similar objects due to the accumulation of numerical error. We explore a number of approaches to mitigate this degradation, quantify the performance of these approaches, and compare the generated pairwise maps (as well as the shape space characterized by these maps) to a “ground truth” obtained from landmarks manually collected by geometric morphometricians. Novel methods both improve the quality of the pairwise correspondences relative to cPDist, and achieve a taxonomic distinctiveness comparable to auto3Dgm.
The evolution of inflorescence diversity in the nightshades and heterochrony during meristem maturation
Authors: Lemmon Zachary H. , Park Soon Ju , Jiang Ke , Van Eck Joyce , Schatz Michael C. , Lippman Zachary B.
Published: November 2016

One of the most remarkable manifestations of plant evolution is the diversity for floral branching systems. These “inflorescences” arise from stem cell populations in shoot meristems that mature gradually to reproductive states in response to environmental and endogenous signals. The morphology of the shoot meristem maturation process is conserved across distantly related plants, raising the question of how diverse inflorescence architectures arise from seemingly common maturation programs. In tomato and related nightshades (Solanaceae), inflorescences range from solitary flowers to highly branched structures bearing hundreds of flowers. Since reproductive barriers between even closely related Solanaceae have precluded a genetic dissection, we captured and compared meristem maturation transcriptomes from five domesticated and wild species reflecting the evolutionary continuum of inflorescence complexity. We find these divergent species share hundreds of dynamically expressed genes, enriched for transcription factors. Meristem stages are defined by distinct molecular states and point to modified maturation schedules underlying architectural variation. These modified schedules are marked by a peak of transcriptome expression divergence during the reproductive transition, driven by heterochronic shifts of dynamic genes, including transcriptional regulators with known roles in flowering. Thus, evolutionary diversity in Solanaceae inflorescence complexity is determined by subtle modifications of transcriptional programs during a critical transitional window of meristem maturation, which we propose underlies similar cases of plant architectural variation. More broadly, our findings parallel the recently described transcriptome “inverse hourglass” model for animal embryogenesis, suggesting both plant and animal morphological variation is guided by a mid-development period of transcriptome divergence.
A novel translational control mechanism involving RNA structures within coding sequences
Authors: Jungfleisch Jennifer , Nedialkova Danny D. , Dotu Ivan , Sloan Katherine E. , Martinez-Bosch Neus , Brüning Lukas , Raineri Emanuele , Navarro Pilar , Bohnsack Markus T. , Leidel Sebastian A. , Díez Juana
Published: November 2016

The impact of RNA structures in coding sequences (CDS) within mRNAs is poorly understood. Here, we identify a novel and highly conserved mechanism of translational control involving RNA structures within coding sequences and the DEAD-box helicase Dhh1. Using yeast genetics and genome-wide ribosome profiling analyses, we show that this mechanism, initially derived from studies of the Brome Mosaic virus RNA genome, extends to yeast and human mRNAs highly enriched in membrane and secreted proteins. All Dhh1-dependent mRNAs, viral and cellular, share key common features. First, they contain long and highly structured CDSs, including a region located around nucleotide 70 after the translation initiation site; second, they are directly bound by Dhh1 with a specific binding distribution; and third, complementary experimental approaches suggest that they are activated by Dhh1 at the translation initiation step. Our results show that ribosome translocation is not the only unwinding force of CDS and uncover a novel layer of translational control that involves RNA helicases and RNA folding within CDS providing novel opportunities for regulation of membrane and secretome proteins.
Structure beyond pair correlations: X-ray cross-correlation from colloidal crystals
Authors: Lehmkühler Felix , Fischer Birgit , Müller Leonard , Ruta Beatrice , Grübel Gerhard
Published: November 2016

The results of an X-ray cross-correlation analysis (XCCA) study on hard-sphere colloidal crystals and glasses are presented. The article shows that cross-correlation functions can be used to extract structural information beyond the static structure factor in such systems. In particular, the powder average can be overcome by accessing the crystals' unit-cell structure. In this case, the results suggest that the crystal is of face-centered cubic type. It is demonstrated that XCCA is a valuable tool for X-ray crystallography, in particular for studies on colloidal systems. These are typically characterized by a rather poor crystalline quality due to size polydispersity and limitations in experimental resolution because of the small q values probed. Furthermore, nontrivial correlations are observed that allow a more detailed insight into crystal structures beyond conventional crystallography, especially to extend knowledge in structure formation processes and phase transitions.
Methyl 5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrazine-2-carboxylate
Authors: Eltayeb Naser Eltaher
Published: November 2016

The title compound, C12H10N2O4, is approximately planar, with dihedral angles of 5.53 (9) and 2.48 (13)°, respectively, between the benzene and pyrazine rings, and between the pyrazine ring and the methyl carboxylate plane. An intramolecular C—H...O hydrogen bond with anS(6) ring motif is observed. In the crystal, intermolecular O—H...O and N—H...O hydrogen bonds link molecules into a layer parallel to theabplane. Adjacent layers interpenetrate each other through a π–π interaction [centroid–centroid distance of 3.4746 (11) Å].
Ethyl 1-benzyl-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxylate
Authors: Naveen S. , Kumar Vasantha , Poojary Boja , Shivarama Holla B. , Lokanath N. K. , Abdoh M. M. M.
Published: November 2016

The title benzimidazole derivative, C24H22N2O3, is T-shaped with the methoxyphenyl and benzyl rings inclined to the imidazole ring system (r.m.s. deviation = 0.009 Å) by 46.73 (10) and 88.88 (15)°, respectively. The phenyl ring and methoxyphenyl rings are inclined at an angle of 82.14 (16)°. In the crystal, weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into [101]C(14) chains.
Manufacturing growth in India in recent years
Authors: Goldar Bishwanath
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Since the announcement of the new series of national accounts for India (with base 2011-12) in January 2015, there has been endless controversy over the new gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers, particularly in respect of growth of Indian manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to highlight certain policy issues concerning India’s system of national accounts, in the context of the methodological changes made in the new national accounts series, and to check the validity of the view held by some critics that the new series has significantly overstated the growth rate in real gross value added in manufacturing in recent years.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a brief, selective review of the literature that has emerged on the new series of national accounts. A close look is taken at the available data on real gross value added growth in Indian manufacturing in conjunction with data on growth in India’s exports and in outstanding non-food commercial bank credit. Analysis of these data is undertaken with the help of a table and some graphs.

Findings

The paper finds that there is not enough basis to believe and argue that the GDP estimates in the new series of national accounts significantly overstate the true manufacturing sector growth in India.

Originality/value

Rates of manufacturing output growth in recent years indicated by the new series of national accounts for India are subjected to careful scrutiny by contrasting yearly growth rates in manufacturing output with those in India’s non-oil exports and in outstanding non-food commercial bank credit.
Determinants of residential electricity demand: evidence from Japan
Authors: Otsuka Akihiro , Haruna Shoji
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to estimate electricity demand functions in Japan’s residential sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a partial adjustment model and empirically analyze regional residential electricity demand by using data on 47 Japanese prefectures.

Findings

The results reveal that the price elasticity of residential electricity demand during the analytical period (1990-2010) is remarkably different among prefectures, depending on the magnitude of floor space per household. In addition, this study finds that price elasticity is high compared with income elasticity, implying that residential electricity demand changes with rates. Furthermore, an analysis of factors influencing electricity demand in the residential sector shows that increasing electricity demand growth in each region can be attributable mainly to declining electricity rates and increasing number of households.

Research limitations/implications

These results suggest that monitoring the electricity rates and the number of households is important for forecasting future residential electricity demand at region.

Originality/value

The study considers the impact of the number of households on overall electricity demand and identifies other factors contributing to growth in residential electricity demand. The findings can be used to derive projections for future electricity demand.
Private equity investment in power generation projects: evidence from India
Authors: Thillairajan A. , Behera Monalisa
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Private equity (PE) has emerged as an important source of capital for infrastructure in recent years. There have been more than 2,000 deals by PE infrastructure funds till 2012, with annual investments in the range of $100-120bn. Substantial proportion of these investments has been in the energy and the power sector. This paper aims to compare power generation projects with and without PE investment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, 148 power generation projects that were implemented in India during 2004-2011 were used for the analysis. Ordinary least squares and three-stage least squares regression have been used to analyze the impact of PE investment on unit project costs and project commissioning time.

Findings

Projects with PE investment had lower unit capacity costs as compared to power projects that did not have PE investment. This indicated the ability of PE investors to select, invest and develop those projects that are cost-effective. However, projects with PE investment had longer commissioning time. This can be attributed to the active monitoring and governance practices that were associated with PE investment.

Practical implications

The results highlight the key role that PE investors can play in power sector development in developing countries. Apart from providing capital to capital-starved economies, PE investors can help in developing cost-effective projects and contribute to sector development by institutionalizing robust processes and governance practices.

Originality/value

This is one of the earliest studies to analyze the impact of PE investment on the power sector.
Analysing housing market affordability in Northern Ireland: towards a better understanding?
Authors: McCord Michael James , Davis Peadar T. , Haran Martin , McCord John
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of housing market affordability. Although the problem of housing affordability has been widely discussed, the theoretical underpinnings of the concept have received less attention. It has become increasingly evident that more holistic insights and integrated approaches are needed to provide a platform to define affordability to influence research and policy discourse.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the increasing importance of affordability within housing policy reform, this paper seeks to “unearth” the most important prognosticators of affordability. The paper uses principal component analysis to determine how affordability, as a key policy tool, should be analysed. In addition, co integration techniques, Granger causality and impulse response analysis are applied to test the movement and shocks of the key affordability indicators and the two common affordability metrics.

Findings

The principal conclusions stemming from this paper demonstrate that affordability is a multifaceted policy concept influenced by financial access (purchase) costs and the repayment costs of housing services which are correlated and interchangeable but significantly were found not to be co integrated.

Originality/value

Understanding the nature of housing market affordability remains problem for policy-makers. This paper adds to the debate and empirical understanding of the cyclic nature of affordability and how it is defined. It shows that there are intricate causal short-term relationships between the key affordability indicators. This is problematic for contemporary housing policy and the key directions in which policy must turn.
A hedonic house price index in continuous time
Authors: Waltl Sofie R.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a methodology to accurately and timely measure movements in housing markets by constructing a continuously estimated house price index.

Design/methodology/approach

The continuous index, which is extracted from an additive model that includes the temporal and the locational effects as smooth functions, can be interpreted as an extension of the classical hedonic time-dummy method. The methodology is applied to housing sales from Sydney, Australia, between 2001 and 2011, and compared to three types of discrete indexes.

Findings

Discrete indexes turn out to approach the continuously estimated index with decreasing period lengths but eventually become wiggly and unreliable because of fewer observations per period. The continuous index, in contrast, is stable, has favourable robustness properties and is more objective in several ways.

Originality/value

The resulting index tracks movements in the housing market precisely and in “real-time” and is hence suited for monitoring and assessing housing markets. Because turbulence in housing markets is often a harbinger of financial crises, such monitoring tools support policymakers and investors in tailoring their decisions and reactions. Additionally, the index can be evaluated arbitrarily frequently and therefore is well suited for use in property derivatives.
The role of institutions in output growth volatility-financial development nexus
Authors: Raheem Ibrahim Dolapo , Bello Ajide Kazeem , Adeniyi Oluwatosin
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of institutions in the financial development-output growth volatility nexus. It provides new channels through which financial development can dampen the output growth volatilities of the countries under investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive data set for 71 countries covering the period from 1996 to 2012 and the System GMM approach were used. The choice of the methodology is to deal with endogeneity issues such as measurement errors, reverse causality among other issues.

Findings

A number of findings were emanated from the empirical analysis. First, the estimates provided evidence of the volatility-reducing effect of financial development. Second, institutions do not have the same reducing influence on output growth volatility. Third, the interaction of financial development and institutions showed that the output volatility reduction arising from financial development is enhanced in the presence of improved institutions.

Research limitations/implications

The policy implications derived from this study are in twofolds: first, it is important for policymakers to formulate policies that would ensure and enhance the development of the financial sectors, since its importance in minimizing output volatility has been established. Second, institutional quality should be developed so as to further enhance the growth volatility-reducing influence of financial development. Particularly, institutions should be improved along the multiple dimensions captured in the analysis.

Originality/value

To the best knowledge, the novelty of this study to the literature is the introduction of institutions, which is hypothesized to increase the dampening effects of financial development in output growth volatility.
The pattern of exchange rate co-movement in selected African countries
Authors: Carsamer Emmanuel
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The concept of co-movement has witnessed a resurgence in the international finance literature in recent years after the black swan events. This might be due to a renewed focus on globalization and financial market integration in the world over. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic linkages in the foreign exchange market resulting from recent globalization and financial market integration in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual framework was adapted from the extant literature and was used as the basis of modeling foreign exchange market in Africa. This paper adopts a quantitative research approach and opted for dynamic panel data analysis to empirically unearth the determinants of foreign exchange market co-movement.

Findings

It is interesting to note that exchange rate co-movements were externally determined. Robust support was found for trade intensity, competition and world interest rate on foreign exchange rates co-movement, but regional interest rate differential decreased it. These findings clearly demonstrate the level of financial development and challenges that sometimes exist in exchange rate policy implementation by policy makers in Africa.

Research limitations/implications

Future research might incorporate bilateral investment into the model of exchange rate correlation.

Originality/value

Studies focussing on simultaneous consideration of intensity, trade competition and capital account openness to exchange rate correlations in the contexts of Africa are almost non-existent, and this study makes an important contribution in not only addressing this imbalance but also more importantly improving the relatively parsimonious literature on foreign exchange co-movement.
The weekend effect: an exploitable anomaly in the Ukrainian stock market?
Authors: Caporale Guglielmo Maria , Gil-Alana Luis Alberiko , Plastun Alex
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide some new empirical evidence on the weekend effect (one of the best known anomalies in financial markets) in Ukrainian futures prices. The analysis uses various statistical techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis uses various statistical techniques (average analysis, Student’s t-test, dummy variables, and fractional integration) to test for the presence of this anomaly, and then a trading simulation approach to establish whether it can be exploited to make extra profits.

Findings

The statistical evidence points to abnormal positive returns on Fridays, and a trading strategy based on this anomaly is shown to generate annual profits of up to 25 per cent. The implication is that the Ukrainian stock market is inefficient.

Originality/value

This paper provides some new empirical evidence on the weekend effect (one of the best known anomalies in financial markets) in Ukrainian futures prices. The analysis uses various statistical techniques (average analysis, Student’s t-test, dummy variables, and fractional integration) to test for the presence of this anomaly, and then a trading simulation approach to establish whether it can be exploited to make extra profits. The statistical evidence points to abnormal positive returns on Fridays, and a trading strategy based on this anomaly is shown to generate annual profits of up to 25 per cent. The implication is that the Ukrainian stock market is inefficient.
Organizational sustainability excellence of construction firms – a framework
Authors: Terouhid Seyyed Amin , Ries Robert
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a modeling and decision-making framework for organizational sustainability excellence of construction firms. This research aims to find how construction organizations can achieve excellence in terms of corporate sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper first reviews the literature of organizational sustainability maturity, and then differentiates its approach by focusing on organizational sustainability excellence. Organizational maturity and organizational excellence in sustainability are two approaches to organizational performance management that aim to improve organizational sustainability performance.

Findings

After a detailed model design and development process, models were run and sensitivity analysis was performed. After running various scenarios, it was shown that both workforce management and knowledge management are key components of People Capability, and they play crucial roles in the viability and sustainability performance of construction firms. Therefore, human resource development and training affect all capability areas of construction organizations without which no capability-building programs can be planned and implemented effectively.

Practical implications

Organizational excellence focuses on organizational resources, capabilities and knowledge management to determine what is driving the long-term success of organizations, whereas the organizational maturity focuses on organizational processes. This paper presents a modeling approach that can facilitate the process of policy verifications in organizations.

Originality/value

Organizations may have various options in choosing different policies, and those policies can be planned and expressed in different manners and along different scales. How can an organization determine which scenarios end up producing the desired performance results? The proposed framework presents a practical methodology that can result in the assessment of organizational excellence methodologies.
Supply chain criticality in sustainable and resilient enterprises
Authors: Edgeman Rick , Wu Zhaohui
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to broadly explore the contributions of supply chain proficiency in relation to sustainable enterprise excellence, resilience and robustness (SEER2).

Design/methodology/approach

A pre-existing SEER2 model, referred to as the Springboard to SEER2, is put under the microscope to determine specific interactions of supply chain proficiency with six key areas of the Springboard: triple top-line strategy and governance; strategy execution via policies, processes and partnerships; financial and marketplace performance and impact; sustainability performance and impact; human ecology and capital performance and impact; and social-ecological and general innovation and continuous improvement performance and impact.

Findings

Supply chain proficiency is integral to attainment of SEER2. As such, supply chain proficiency must be thoughtfully and strategically approached, with success critical to enterprise contribution to mitigation or solution of wicked global challenges ranging from climate change, to food insecurity, to societal conflict.

Originality/value

This paper reveals in depth the centrality of supply chain proficiency to SEER2, suggesting that such models as those behind America's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award might be enhanced by more deeply considering supply chain contributions to business and performance excellence. Supply chains are at present peripheral to such models, thereby providing essentially isolated views of enterprises in an age where supply chain collaboration is increasingly the norm.
Multi-level strategic alignment within a complex organisation
Authors: Lawrie Gavin , Abdullah Nur Anisah , Bragg Christopher , Varlet Guillaume
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to assess the utility of an approach to the design of multiple Balanced Scorecards within large/complex organisations, consider the relevance of “emergent strategising” in this kind of strategy implementation and explore project organisation and wider coordination issues that impact this type of work.

Design/methodology/approach

A “research-oriented – action research” approach has been adopted, comprising qualitative observations of an ongoing programme within a major organisation in the Middle East. The case is based on feedback obtained from key actors (participants, facilitators) and the analysis of documentation produced by the project.

Findings

Over four years, the project engaged directly with over 200 managers from the organisation’s 35 most senior management units. Its purpose was to align the strategic aims of each unit with those of the organisation and introduce a new form of strategic control. The paper shows that consensus-forming and creation of locally relevant strategic agendas can be usefully and successfully embedded in a large-scale strategic control and alignment programme. The paper notes the large resource implications and duration of such programmes, and the challenges of integrating the resulting processes with those already in place. The paper concludes that for the case organisation, the resource investment appears to have generated useful outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The project relates to a continuing programme within the client organisation that was not explicitly established before it started as an action-research activity. This has limited and constrained the quality of the information reported.

Originality/value

The scale of the project, the use of design methods that emphasis consensus forming and local relevance provide novel information and insights.
Disposition decisions in reverse logistics by using AHP-fuzzy TOPSIS approach
Authors: Agrawal Saurabh , Singh Rajesh K. , Murtaza Qasim
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the various disposition alternatives and to develop a framework for the optimal disposition decisions in reverse logistics.

Design/methodology/approach

In reverse logistics, once the products are collected and inspected, decision is to be taken regarding their disposition for reuse, re-manufacture or recycle or other possible alternatives. A combination of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach is proposed for the selection of best disposition alternative based on criteria economic benefits, environmental benefits, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder’s needs and reverse logistics resources.

Findings

A case of electronics firm was illustrated for the demonstration of the approach for the disposition of mobile phones. Returned mobile phones must be disposed for repairing or reuse in current business scenario, if possible. Otherwise, the firm may prefer to recycle them rather than dispose or remanufacture.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to mobile manufacturing firm. Also, these findings may vary depending on the sector and products. Further, empirical studies and case studies can be carried out to validate the findings.

Practical implications

The proposed framework provides useful tool to the practitioners and researchers in decision-making for disposition in reverse logistics.

Originality/value

Very few studies related to disposition decisions in reverse logistics were found in the previous research literature review. The study will add value to the very limited research on reverse logistics disposition. Also, the AHP-Fuzzy TOPSIS approach is first time being used for the disposition decisions in reverse logistics.