bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Visual development in children with congenital cataract
Authors: Sjöströtm A. , Abrahamssom M. , Byhr E. , Sjöstrand j.
Published: April 2012

Visual−deprivation experiments on cats and monkeys have showed that complete unilateral eye occlusion of these animals until twelve weeks of age can produce a permanent amblyopia and a decrease in cell density along the geniculocortical pathway. Reversal of the amblyopia was possible if the occlusion was removed before eight weeks of age in monkeys. Although this critical age is established for animals, the exact critical period has not been determined for humans, partly because of the problem with assessment of infant vision. This chapter focuses on the relationship between visual development and age at surgery for patients with total congenital cataract. In patients with total congenital cataract, retinal image formation is severely degraded from birth until the lens is removed by surgery and the optics is restored by a contact lens.
Models of invariant object recognition
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: April 2012

This chapter examines neural network approaches to invariant pattern recognition. It describes different computational approaches that have been taken both in artificial vision systems and as suggestions for how the brain performs invariant object recognition, including feature spaces, structural descriptions, and syntactic pattern recognition. The chapter evaluates the hypotheses about the computational mechanisms in the visual cortex for object recognition and discusses the computational issues associated with the feature hierarchy approach to invariant object recognition.
Outputs of visual processing
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: April 2012

This chapter examines the outputs of the ventral visual processing stream, from the inferior temporal visual cortical areas in particular. It explains that neuronal outputs provide a distributed representation of ‘what’ object or face is being viewed, while specialized subregions, such as the cortex in the superior temporal sulcus, provide evidence about face expression and about movements of objects and people. The chapter describes how attentional bias could be implemented by the operation of short-term-memory systems, explains why short-term memory must be separate from the temporal lobe and parietal lobe perceptual systems, and proposes a theory on how these short-term-memory systems work.
Methodological issues in evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation
Authors: Cicerone Keith D.
Published: April 2012

This chapter addresses methodological issues in evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation. The development of cognitive rehabilitation has been accompanied by increased demands that cognitive rehabilitation demonstrate its maturity, and expectations that the field evaluate itself and provide scientifically sound evidence of its clinical effectiveness. In the absence of scientific evidence, claims for the effectiveness of any medical or rehabilitation practice rely upon clinical ‘expert opinion’, typically reflecting the judgments and beliefs acquired by individual clinicians through their professional experience and clinical practice. As a field matures, utilizing evidence from systematic research to inform clinical practice should become more common. The practice of evidence-based rehabilitation is based on the integration of individual clinical experience with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.
Treating attention impairments
Authors: Park Norman W. , Barbuto Erica
Published: April 2012

Treating attention impairments has received more systematic study than most other cognitive impairments because attention is frequently impaired after neurological damage, and is important in a wide variety of tasks. Results of a meta-analysis show that treatments aimed at restoring attention directly after an acquired brain injury improved performance to a limited degree, whereas treatments aimed at teaching individuals functionally important skills had large effect sizes. This chapter shows that the processes mediating conceptual aspects of action and conscious aspects of attention are separable from the system responsible for timing and executing actions. Restoration-based treatments may be more effective for the treatment of motor impairments whereas treatments that focus on the treatment of functionally important skills are more effective for the treatment of consciously accessible cognitive processes. The chapter suggests the use of a deficit-based approach to treatment.
Tried, tested and trusted?
Authors: Nickels Lyndsey
Published: April 2012

This chapter provides a critical review of clinical assessments used to evaluate acquired language impairments. It reviews assessments aimed at examining both language functions (‘impairment’-based approaches), and language activities (‘functional’ measures). In particular, it discusses the adequacy of these assessments as tools in the rehabilitation process. The chapter concludes that rehabilitation focused assessment should be hypothesis-driven and goal-focused, and that broad-ranging, comprehensive assessments are inappropriate.
Language deficits
Authors: Basso Anna
Published: April 2012

This chapter examines the efficacy of aphasia therapy, regrouped according to how the problem was dealt with: studies on spontaneous recovery from aphasia, on recovery in treated chronic aphasic patients, studies comparing treated and untreated groups of patients, and studies comparing patients treated by speech therapists and volunteers. Results of these studies are conflicting and do not allow any firm conclusion about aphasia therapy efficacy, but they strongly suggest that long-lasting treatments are efficacious. The results of studies on the effect of duration and intensity of treatment clearly indicate that length significantly affects recovery. In the last ten years, meta-analyses have repeatedly been applied to aphasia therapy studies. They confirm the efficacy of aphasia therapy.
Economic Analysis of Regional Trade Agreements
Authors: Do Viet D. , Watson William
Published: April 2012

This chapter discusses the results of economic analyses of regional trade agreements (RTA). The recent proliferation of RTA poses a number of interesting and difficult questions for economists. These questions are concerned with the reasons and motivations for the increasing number of RTA and whether it is welfare-improving. The analyses reveal that RTA are often not long term, most RTA are mainly in free trade areas, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) is implicated in the growth of RTA.
Services Liberalization in Regional Trade Agreements: Lessons for GATS ‘Unfinished Business’?
Authors: Krajewski Markus
Published: April 2012

This chapter examines regional and multilateral liberalization of services in regional trade agreements (RTA). It explores four specific elements of services agreement including domestic regulation, government procurement, subsidies, and emergency safeguard measures. It analyses the treatment of these four issues in different RTA. The main aspects of the general relationship between regional and multilateral services trade liberalization as shaped by Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) are also discussed.
Dispute Settlement in the WTO and RTAs: A Comment
Authors: Davey William J.
Published: April 2012

This chapter compares the dispute settlement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and regional trade agreements (RTA). It outlines the operation of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding and evaluates the results it has produced in its first decade of operation. It compares these results with the operation of RTA dispute settlement systems. This chapter concludes that RTA cannot supplant the WTO's role as a forum for trade negotiations because the existing regional agreements do not include enough major trading nations to enable deals to be struck on key global issues involving a broad range of nations with disparate interests.
What Role is there for Regional International Law in the Interpretation of the WTO Agreements?
Authors: Damme Isabelle Van
Published: April 2012

This chapter examines the potential application of regional international law in interpreting World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. It describes the treaty interpretation practice of WTO panels and the Appellate Body and analyses the legal basis for the reliance on norms of other sub-systems of international law and general international law for treaty interpretation in light of the Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). It considers the relationship between regionalism and international law in the context of the interpretation of the WTO covered agreements.
Pseudocontingencies—A key paradigm for understanding adaptive cognition
Authors: Fiedler Klaus
Published: April 2012

This chapter focuses on the complexity and subtlety of inferences from data, and how the cognitive system does not always negotiate these subtleties consistently. It observes that many important areas of cognitive and social psychology focus on problems in which different levels of analysis can yield different results. The important concept of pseudocontingency is described as an illusory relationship between variables, which is induced by connections with a third variable (a phenomenon closely related to Simpson's Paradox, Simpson, 1951). The concept of pseudocontingency is shown to play a crucial role in explaining a wide range of classical psychological phenomena, especially in social cognition.
The game of life:
Authors: Hertwig Ralph , Pleskac Timothy J.
Published: April 2012

This chapter highlights the importance of simplicity, but in a different way — it argues that, where people sample statistical information from experience, they tend to rely on surprisingly small samples (e.g. focusing on a few recent events). It presents a formal analysis of possible reasons behind this reliance on small samples. Three key results emerge. First, small samples amplify the difference between the average earnings associated with the payoff distributions, thus rendering choices simpler. Second, people who use a simple choice heuristic or choose in accordance with prospect theory benefit from this amplification effect, whereas Bayesian updates do not. Third, although not providing a strictly veridical portrayal of the world, small samples can give rise to surprisingly competitive choices.
ESDP in Practice: Increasingly Varied and Ambitious EU Security and Defence Operations
Authors: Naert Frederik
Published: April 2012

This chapter analyses the main legal aspects of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operations launched since 2003. These operations are addressed in chronological order, starting with a general overview and followed by an analysis of their international mandate, the legal status of the force/mission, and the applicable law and the participation of third States in the operation. The chapter focuses on common elements on the one hand and on peculiar aspects on the other.
Distinguishing the reflective, algorithmic, and autonomous minds: Is it time for a tri-process theory?
Authors: Stanovich Keith E.
Published: April 2012

Building upon work which considers the implications dual-process theory for the great rationality debate in cognitive science, this chapter advances that discussion, first by discussing additions and complications to dual-process theory and then by working through the implications of these ideas for our view of human rationality. It argues that System 2 needs to be understood in terms of two levels of processing: the algorithmic and the reflective.
An architecture for dual reasoning
Authors: Carruthers Peter
Published: April 2012

This chapter takes for granted the existence of some sort of real distinction between System 1 and System 2 reasoning processes, and asks how they are realized in the human mind-brain. In contrast with the usual view of the two systems as distinct from one another, it argues that System 2 is partly realized in cycles of operation of System 1. But System 2 is also distinctive in being action based. It is mental rehearsals of action that generate and sustain the cycles of operation of System 1 which constitute System 2. The chapter details a number of advantages of the proposed account, together with some implications for future research.
Thinking across cultures: Implications for dual processes
Authors: Buchtel Emma E. , Norenzayan Ara
Published: April 2012

This chapter examines how analytic and holistic thinking have been defined by cultural psychologists, and briefly reviews the studies in this new tradition. It suggests that holistic and analytic thinking are in many ways very similar to the dual-process theories that have been described by Western cognitive psychologists, and in fact the cross-cultural evidence supports the plausibility of this distinction. However, the emphasis on holistic thinking that has occurred in East Asian societies may also have led to the development of a more sophisticated kind of non-analytic thinking than in the West. In particular, different cultural norms for thinking may have encouraged explicit, contextualized thinking in a way that is less common in the West, and in a way which is not fully captured by some aspects of popular dual-process theories.
Prisoners in a Constitutional State
Authors: Lazarus Liora
Published: April 2012

This chapter begins with a discussion of Germany's Basic Law. It then turns to the constitutional foundations of the Prison Act and the prisoner's legal status. The German Prison Act of 1976 was to be infused with the ideals of the Constitution from start to finish. It had to deliver a constitutionally legitimate, coherent legislative basis for state limitation and protection of prisoners' basic rights at the ‘administrative level’. The protection and limitation of these rights had to be commensurate with the constitutional ideal of resocialization.
The German Prison Act: Principles and Special Provisions
Authors: Lazarus Liora
Published: April 2012

This chapter unravels the network of extra-legal, legal, and institutional factors that affect the way the German Prison Act is interpreted and applied. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 4.2 addresses the substantial principles of the Act and the interpretative conflicts surrounding them. Section 4.3 deals with the special provisions of the Act and the concerns raised with respect to the enforcement of substantive prisoners' rights. Section 4.4 outlines recent jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which has attempted to remedy the various weaknesses of the Prison Act and address the concerns of the penal academy.
Pre-accession
Authors: Maresceau Marc
Published: April 2012

The expression ‘pre-accession’, formally appearing for the first time in the Conclusions of the Essen European Council of December 1994, is now firmly established in the terminological practice of the EU enlargement discourse, and is generally used as an adjective and occasionally even as a noun. Since 1994 ‘pre-accession strategies’, ‘pre-accession instruments’, ‘enhanced pre-accession strategies’, and so on and so forth have been developed. In the current EU enlargement scenario ‘pre-accession’ policies indeed play a much more predominant role than in previous enlargements of the European Community. In past enlargement practice, pre-accession strategies, as such, were virtually or even completely lacking.
The ‘Eastern Enlargements’ of the European Union
Authors: Inotai András
Published: April 2012

Globalization, repeatedly postponed EU reforms, the substantial need for restructuring within member countries, and the corning waves of ‘Eastern’ enlargement — all of these factors point to the urgent need for a new approach. This chapter is divided into two main parts. First, some common characteristics of the candidate countries are summarized in order to understand the driving force, expectations, and dilemmas connected with their accession to the EU. Secondly, selected strategic issues in preparing for the implementation of Europe's ‘project of the century’ are addressed from the viewpoint of both the EU and, more particularly, the candidate countries.
The Evolution and Application of EU Membership Conditionality
Authors: Smith Karen E.
Published: April 2012

This chapter analyses the evolution of EU membership conditionality and its application vis-à-vis the applicant countries, that is: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Turkey. It examines why these countries have been subjected to tougher membership conditions than previous applicants, and how the EU has used membership conditionality to try to influence their domestic and foreign policies. The chapter also argues that the consistent application of its membership conditions could provide the EU with a more justifiable way to judge present, and future, applicant countries than other criteria such as cultural affinity, geographical proximity, or geo-strategic calculations.
The Definition of Standards of Review
Authors: Oesch Matthias
Published: April 2012

This chapter describes the notion of standard of review in the WTO context and sets the general framework of definition which is followed throughout this book. Section I presents a conceptual definition of standards of review. Section II explains the spectrum between de novo review and ‘total deference’. Section III turns to the principal distinction between issues of facts and issues of law. This dichotomy is traditionally adopted in domestic judicial systems and is equally followed in WTO dispute resolution. The characteristics of the basic categories of facts and law are outlined, as well as the additional categories of domestic law and international (other than WTO) law. The WTO dispute settlement procedures contain another standard-of-review issue, namely that of Appellate Body review of panel reports. Section IV introduces this standard of review.
GATT 1947 and the Uruguay Round Negotiations
Authors: Oesch Matthias
Published: April 2012

The notion of standard of review, and thus a somehow limited panel review of allegedly inconsistent measures and practices at the domestic level, developed under the GATT 1947. This going hand-in-hand with the process of juridification of dispute resolution, panels found themselves increasingly in a position to elaborate on the appropriate standards of review applicable in a specific case. This chapter expounds standards of review as developed during the GATT 1947 years and traces the Uruguay Round negotiations in this regard. It then discusses developments in the official rule-making process, as regards new proposals and revisions, since the creation of the WTO.
The War
Authors: Stolleis Michael
Published: April 2012

The assassination of the successor to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo was the spark that lit a powder keg long since filled to overflowing. Within a month, the assassination in the Balkans had exploded into a global conflict. The fact that the constitution was circumvented in a number of ways during the internal events that led to the German decision to go to war was hardly noticed by contemporaries. Yet this emotional curve quickly plummeted as the war progressed and the initial belief in a swift victory had been dashed. After that the realization prevailed that the war could no longer be won and it was necessary to bring it to an end. So, the Germans had to survive and absorb psychologically an armistice along with revolution and the transition to a new form of government at home.
Quarrel over Methods and the Crisis of the State
Authors: Stolleis Michael
Published: April 2012

The study of the years between the end of the Empire and the end of the Republic is usually guided by the conventional constitutional dates. True enough, the ‘Weimar period’ began on 9 November 1918, or with the constitution of 11 August 1919, and it ended on 30 January 1933. But the point is that there was no one-way street that led inexorably to National Socialism. The ‘calamity’ toward which everything seems to be heading in the eyes of later generations is something that most contemporaries were not aware of, and certainly in a different way from today. It was easy to forget that the intellectual debates in the Weimar Republic were carried on against an open horizon, where the flames of the holocaust were not glowing. While it is no longer possible to reconstruct that openness, one can reflect on it as a methodological problem.
Making Sense of the Human Rights Act
Authors: Gearty Conor
Published: April 2012

This book sets out an argument for an interpretation of the United Kingdom's Human Rights Act. The reading of the Act proposed here is rooted in principle while being constitutionally coherent at the same time. It argues that the leading decisions under the Act are largely supportive of the book's thesis. It approaches the Human Rights Act in a way which locates it in its political and legal context and explains its basis in three principles common to European and British legal culture: the principles of civil liberties, legality, and human dignity.
From cognition to action
Authors: Jäncke Lutz
Published: April 2012

This chapter discusses recent studies exploring the relationship between general cognitions and musical skills in musicians and non-musicians. It shows that there are intimate links between musical ability and various cognitions including perception, sight-reading, memory, action planning and organizing, attention, and visuospatial functions. It also discusses whether music might have an impact on the development of intellectual functions.
The nature of memory for music performance skills
Authors: Palmer Caroline
Published: April 2012

Music performance can be depicted as a cognitive skill with large memory demands, or as a motor skill with large physical execution demands. This chapter discusses the nature of memory for the motor aspects of music performance, focusing on the domain of piano performance. It suggests that performers' hand and finger movements, as well as conceptual intentions, are encoded in memory for performance. The transfer of performance skills from one musical task to another is also examined. Skilled performers show more transfer of learning across melodies that require different motor movements, suggesting that they were able to generalize beyond the particular finger sequence learned.
The neurophysiology of focal hand dystonia in musicians
Authors: Rosenkranz Karin
Published: April 2012

This chapter discusses the neurophysiology of focal hand dystonia in musicians. Studies of focal hand dystonia reveal abnormalities in three main areas: (1) reduced excitability of inhibitory connections at all levels (spinal, brainstem, and cortical) of the motor system; (2) reduced sensory perception and integration; and (3) impaired sensorimotor organization/integration. It also presents the results of a study describing neurophysiological differences between writer's cramp and musician's dystonia and discusses the implications of these findings for the pathophysiology of these two forms of focal hand dystonia.
Jurisprudence and the Nature of Law
Authors: Simmonds N.E.
Published: April 2012

It is often assumed that inquiry into the nature of law is quite different from inquiry into the nature of justice, for law is taken to be an observable social phenomenon while justice is an ideal standard. But it is also possible that the idea of law represents a moral ideal towards which the practices of law are oriented. In this way, legal thought may be guided by the idea of law. Similarly, although justice is an ideal standard, it must find some expression in our practices if it is to be more than an empty figment. Law, like justice, is realised in fallible social practices, and that fact is compatible with its status as a moral idea.
Mental timing and the central attentional bottleneck
Authors: Ruthruff Eric , Pashler Harold
Published: April 2012

This chapter evaluates the mental time estimation hypothesis which proposes that timing might be subject to a discrete central attentional bottleneck and timing cannot take place until certain operations have finished. The chapter reviews the evidence for a central attentional bottleneck and discusses its relevance to the study of timing under conditions of divided attention. The findings refute the suggestion that timing is wholly subject to the same discrete central bottleneck as other types of effortful mental processes.
PhyLAT: a phylogenetic local alignment tool
Authors: Sun Hongtao , Buhler Jeremy D.
Published: April 2012

Motivation: The expansion of DNA sequencing capacity has enabled the sequencing of whole genomes from a number of related species. These genomes can be combined in a multiple alignment that provides useful information about the evolutionary history at each genomic locus. One area in which evolutionary information can productively be exploited is in aligning a new sequence to a database of existing, aligned genomes. However, existing high-throughput alignment tools are not designed to work effectively with multiple genome alignments.

Results: We introduce PhyLAT, the phylogenetic local alignment tool, to compute local alignments of a query sequence against a fixed multiple-genome alignment of closely related species. PhyLAT uses a known phylogenetic tree on the species in the multiple alignment to improve the quality of its computed alignments while also estimating the placement of the query on this tree. It combines a probabilistic approach to alignment with seeding and expansion heuristics to accelerate discovery of significant alignments. We provide evidence, using alignments of human chromosome 22 against a five-species alignment from the UCSC Genome Browser database, that PhyLAT's alignments are more accurate than those of other commonly used programs, including BLAST, POY, MAFFT, MUSCLE and CLUSTAL. PhyLAT also identifies more alignments in coding DNA than does pairwise alignment alone. Finally, our tool determines the evolutionary relationship of query sequences to the database more accurately than do POY, RAxML, EPA or pplacer.

Availability:  www.cse.wustl.edu/~htsun/phylat

Contact:  sunhongtao@wustl.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Estimating the order of mutations during tumorigenesis from tumor genome sequencing data
Authors: Youn Ahrim , Simon Richard
Published: April 2012

Motivation: Tumors are thought to develop and evolve through a sequence of genetic and epigenetic somatic alterations to progenitor cells. Early stages of human tumorigenesis are hidden from view. Here, we develop a method for inferring some aspects of the order of mutational events during tumorigenesis based on genome sequencing data for a set of tumors. This method does not assume that the sequence of driver alterations is the same for each tumor, but enables the degree of similarity or difference in the sequence to be evaluated.

Results: To evaluate the new method, we applied it to colon cancer tumor sequencing data and the results are consistent with the multi-step tumorigenesis model previously developed based on comparing stages of cancer. We then applied the new method to DNA sequencing data for a set of lung cancers. The model may be a useful tool for better understanding the process of tumorigenesis.

Availability: The software is available at: http://linus.nci.nih.gov/Data/YounA/OrderMutation.zip

Contact:  rsimon@mail.nih.gov

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
CRNreals: a toolbox for distinguishability and identifiability analysis of biochemical reaction networks
Authors: Szederkényi Gábor , Banga Julio R. , Alonso Antonio A.
Published: April 2012

Summary: Chemical reaction network theory is widely used in modeling and analyzing complex biochemical systems such as metabolic networks and cell signalling pathways. Being able to produce all the biologically and chemically important qualitative dynamical features, chemical reaction networks (CRNs) have attracted significant attention in the systems biology community. It is well-known that the reliable inference of CRN models generally requires thorough identifiability and distinguishability analysis together with carefully selected prior modeling assumptions. Here, we present a software toolbox CRNreals that supports the distinguishability and identifiability analysis of CRN models using recently published optimization-based procedures.

Availability and implementation: The CRNreals toolbox and the associated documentation are available at http://www.iim.csic.es/~gingproc/CRNreals/. The toolbox runs under the popular MATLAB computational environment and supports several free and commercial linear programming and mixed integer linear programming solvers.

Contact:  szeder@scl.sztaki.hu
Brockia lithotrophica gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic thermophilic bacterium from a terrestrial hot spring
Authors: Perevalova Anna A. , Kublanov Ilya V. , Baslerov R. V. , Zhang Gengxin , Bonch-Osmolovskaya Elizaveta A.
Published: April 2012

A novel thermophilic bacterium, strain Kam1851T, was isolated from a terrestrial hot spring of the Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Cells of strain Kam1851T were spore-forming rods with a Gram-positive type of cell wall. Growth was observed between 46 and 78 °C, and pH 5.5–8.5. The optimal growth (doubling time, 6.0 h) was at 60–65 °C and pH 6.5. The isolate was an obligate anaerobe growing in pre-reduced medium only. It grew on mineral medium with molecular hydrogen or formate as electron donors, and elemental sulfur, thiosulfate or polysulfide as electron acceptors. The main cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0 (34.2 %), iso-C16 : 0 (18 %), C18 : 0 (12.8 %) and iso-C17 : 0 (11.1 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain Kam1851T was 63 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain Kam1851T belonged to the order

Thermoanaerobacterales

, but it was not closely related to representatives of any genera with validly published names. The most closely related strains, which had no more than 89.2 % sequence similarity, were members of the genera

Ammonifex

and

Caldanaerobacter

. On the basis of its phylogenetic position and novel phenotypic features, isolate Kam1851T is proposed to represent a novel species in a new genus, Brockia lithotrophica gen. nov., sp. nov.; the type strain of Brockia lithotrophica is Kam1851T ( = DSM 22653T = VKM B-2685T).
Auxin Activates the Plasma Membrane H+-ATPase by Phosphorylation during Hypocotyl Elongation in Arabidopsis
Authors: Takahashi Koji , Hayashi Ken-ichiro , Kinoshita Toshinori
Published: April 2012

The phytohormone auxin is a major regulator of diverse aspects of plant growth and development. The ubiquitin-ligase complex SCFTIR1/AFB (for Skp1-Cul1-F-box protein), which includes the TRANSPORT INHIBITOR RESPONSE1/AUXIN SIGNALING F-BOX (TIR1/AFB) auxin receptor family, has recently been demonstrated to be critical for auxin-mediated transcriptional regulation. Early-phase auxin-induced hypocotyl elongation, on the other hand, has long been explained by the acid-growth theory, for which proton extrusion by the plasma membrane H+-ATPase is a functional prerequisite. However, the mechanism by which auxin mediates H+-ATPase activation has yet to be elucidated. Here, we present direct evidence for H+-ATPase activation in etiolated hypocotyls of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) by auxin through phosphorylation of the penultimate threonine during early-phase hypocotyl elongation. Application of the natural auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) to endogenous auxin-depleted hypocotyl sections induced phosphorylation of the penultimate threonine of the H+-ATPase and increased H+-ATPase activity without altering the amount of the enzyme. Changes in both the phosphorylation level of H+-ATPase and IAA-induced elongation were similarly concentration dependent. Furthermore, IAA-induced H+-ATPase phosphorylation occurred in a tir1-1 afb2-3 double mutant, which is severely defective in auxin-mediated transcriptional regulation. In addition, α-(phenylethyl-2-one)-IAA, the auxin antagonist specific for the nuclear auxin receptor TIR1/AFBs, had no effect on IAA-induced H+-ATPase phosphorylation. These results suggest that the TIR1/AFB auxin receptor family is not involved in auxin-induced H+-ATPase phosphorylation. Our results define the activation mechanism of H+-ATPase by auxin during early-phase hypocotyl elongation; this is the long-sought-after mechanism that is central to the acid-growth theory.
Market orientation and marketing management of traditional food producers in the EU
Authors: Gellynck Xavier , Banterle Alessandro , Kühne Bianka , Carraresi Laura , Stranieri Stefanella
Published: April 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the market orientation and the marketing management capabilities of SMEs that produce traditional food products, by identifying their critical points in marketing activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework of this analysis relates to market orientation approach. Marketing management capability was evaluated through a questionnaire using proxies to study the different stages of marketing management. The survey involved 150 firms of which 118 are SMEs producing traditional food products, located in Hungary, Belgium, and Italy. The data were collected by a self‐administered internet survey and were analysed using multivariate analyses.

Findings

Cluster analysis resulted in four clusters with different marketing management capabilities. Most of the SMEs in the sample lack marketing management capabilities, even if a considerable proportion of the firms considered report good marketing capabilities that lead to a market orientation. The weakest step of market orientation is the dissemination of generated intelligence. Indeed, SMEs lack marketing organisational activities, namely in planning and implementation of marketing strategy. Moreover, SMEs with better performance check that their objectives are reached but do not compare their strategy with that of competitors. Hence, they could miss opportunities to keep up to date with market development.

Originality/value

This paper provides interesting insights about the marketing capabilities of food SMEs, which usually find it difficult to stay in the market beside large firms. Moreover, there are not many contributions in the literature about the application of market orientation approach on traditional food producers.
From farm to fork
Authors: O'Donovan Ivor , Quinlan Tony , Barry Tony
Published: April 2012

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore the attitudes and behaviour of the hospitality sector, in the south east of Ireland, with regard to direct selling relationships with primary food suppliers. The paper also presents the motivations and challenges for hospitality practitioners in developing and maintaining direct relationships with primary suppliers.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to enable the collection of information about both behaviour and attitudes in regard to direct supply relationships, a multi‐stage survey approach is used. This involves a questionnaire followed by a structured focus group; this dual approach seeks to provide opportunity for a richer dataset and also enables some triangulation of data so as to optimise the validity and reliability of the study.

Findings

The paper gives an initial picture of the level and types of supply relationships in the hospitality sector and makes clear that there is scope for a more strategic approach to supply chain management across the sector. The evidence from this study gives support to the assertion that there are strong social, economic, organisational and market rationales for a more concerted effort to promote higher levels of direct supply chain relationships in the hospitality sector.

Research limitations/implications

The study is exploratory in nature and uses a relatively small sample to identify the benefits and challenges.

Practical implications

The study aims to provide guidance and recommendations for industry stakeholders as to the benefits of direct supply relationships.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its type to look at the practice and attitudes of hospitality providers towards direct supply relationships with primary food suppliers.
Potential Vietnamese consumers' perceptions of organic foods
Authors: Truong Thien T. , Yap Matthew H.T. , Ineson Elizabeth M.
Published: April 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to identify and analyse potential Vietnamese consumers' perceptions of organic foods.

Design/methodology/approach

A deductive approach of reasoning was employed to address the positivism research philosophy through the survey research strategy. Quantitative data were collected from 264 potential Vietnamese consumers through a self‐administered structured questionnaire and analysed using frequencies, descriptive statistics, chi squared test, principal components analysis, t‐tests and a Kolmogorov‐Smirnov test.

Findings

Potential Vietnamese consumers' willingness to purchase organic foods was linked positively to health and safety whilst the females appreciated their nutritional value. Environmental and sustainability concerns did not influence purchasing decisions. Because of their perceived superior quality, potential Vietnamese consumers were not price sensitive towards organic foods.

Research limitations/implications

This study lacks the qualitative depth and the employment of quota sampling technique to select respondents may impact external validity.

Practical implications

The findings can benefit organic foods sellers and retailers in developing appropriate sales and marketing strategies by differentiating between organic foods and conventional foods to target and attract potential Vietnamese consumers, and to expand the existing organic foods market in Vietnam.

Originality/value

The present paper supplements the knowledge gap by identifying and analysing potential Vietnamese consumers' perceptions of organic foods in order to assist organic foods sellers and retailers to understand potential Vietnamese consumers and expand their organic foods market in Vietnam.
Higher education in non‐standard wage contracts
Authors: Rosti Luisa , Chelli Francesco
Published: April 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify whether higher education increases the likelihood of young Italian workers moving from non‐standard to standard wage contracts.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors exploit a data set on labour market flows, produced by the Italian National Statistical Office, by interviewing about 85,000 graduate and non‐graduate individuals aged 15‐29 in transition between five labour market states: standard wage employment; non‐standard wage employment; self‐employment; unemployment; inactivity. From these data, an average six‐year transition matrix was constructed whose coefficients can be interpreted as probabilities of moving from one state to another over time.

Findings

As the authors find evidence for the so‐called stepping stone hypothesis (that is, a higher probability of moving to a permanent job for individuals starting from a temporary job), the authors expect graduates to be more likely to pass from non‐standard to standard wage contracts than non‐graduates, because the signalling effect of education is enhanced by the stepping stone effect of non‐standard wage contracts. Nevertheless, the authors find that non‐standard wage contracts of graduates are more likely to be terminated as bad job/worker matches.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the empirical literature on the probability of young workers moving from non‐standard wage contracts to a permanent job. By separating graduates from non‐graduates, it was found that education reduces the likelihood of passing from non‐standard to standard wage contracts. The authors interpret this result as evidence of the changing labour market that makes it more difficult to infer the productivity of graduates as opposed to non‐graduates.
Disentangling organizational support construct
Authors: Simosi Maria
Published: April 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the differential role that organizational support (perceived organizational support (POS)), supervisory support (perceived supervisory support (PSS)) and colleague support (perceived colleague support (PCS)) – as perceived by newcomers – play in the transfer of the latter's training as well as the development of affective and normative commitment towards their work organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 251 new hires, a series of regression analyses was conducted to test direct and moderating effects.

Findings

Findings showed that all three forms of organizational support examined had independent and direct effects on the dependent variables. Only perceived peer support did not add incrementally to the prediction of normative commitment when the other two support sources entered the equation. Further, the results supported the role of POS as a moderator in the supervisor support‐training transfer relationship as well as its role as a moderator in the colleague support‐affective commitment relationship. Specifically, high POS was found to strengthen the PSS‐training transfer and PCS‐affective commitment relationships, while low POS weakened these relationships.

Research limitations/implications

Since data are based on self‐reports, common method bias may have inflated the relationships among the variables. The paper contributes to both research and practice by providing support for the distinction between the three forms of organizational support.

Practical implications

The paper contributes to both research and practice by providing support for the distinction between the three forms of organizational support.

Originality/value

This investigation extends previous research by demonstrating the existence of the moderating effect of POS on the relationship between PSS and newcomers' training transfer, and between PCS and newcomers' development of affective commitment towards their work organization.
International political economy reference sources: an annotated bibliography
Authors: Schwitzner Ted , Kahl Chad M.
Published: April 2012

Purpose

International political economy is an emerging yet specialized field that combines political analysis with the study of markets, trade, and development. With the global economy having an interdependent effect on politics, environment, and society, and with several major economic events of the last 20 years, the authors perceived a need to provide a guide to the sources in this field. This paper seeks to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors identified resources using WorldCat and standard reference sources, such as American Library Association's Guide to Reference Books; the annual American Libraries’ “Outstanding Reference Sources” articles; American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) volumes; Booklist's Editor's Choices articles; and Choice's “Outstanding Academic Titles”. Sources were selected from 2000 to the present, concomitant with development of the global economy in the twenty‐first century.

Findings

This guide contains reference works and internet resources that include or provide access to primary source documentation and statistical studies and tables, as well as handbooks, guides, encyclopedias and dictionaries that place the field in context.

Research limitations/implications

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the field, focus was placed on sources that emphasize the core focus of international political economy. Related fields of study, including globalization, development, environmentalism and social movements, were largely excluded.

Originality/value

The authors found no other comprehensive bibliographies containing reference, primary and statistical sources that cover the field in its breadth during this time period.
Dungeons and downloads: collecting tabletop fantasy role‐playing games in the age of downloadable PDFs
Authors: Sich Dan
Published: April 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to provide libraries with collections advice regarding fantasy role‐playing games.

Design/methodology/approach

Current and emerging publication and sales models of pencil and paper, tabletop fantasy role‐playing games are explored. Details of print, print‐on‐demand, free and purchasable downloads, and subscription‐based options for major fantasy role‐playing games and alternatives are provided.

Findings

Many options are available to libraries wishing to provide support for fantasy role‐playing game programming. While an overwhelming quantity of publications are often available for purchase, usually only a bare minimum is required to run a role‐playing game. Free or modestly priced options are available for libraries on a shoestring budget. Libraries interested in supporting fantasy role‐playing game programming with collections need not spend much. Spending less on collections requires a greater amount of imagination, socializing, creativity, collaboration and literacy on the part of program participants.

Originality/value

Many libraries are interested in supporting fantasy role‐playing games with collections, but do not know where to start. While much is being written about gaming in libraries, little has been written to help libraries navigate current role‐playing game book publication and sales models.
Poets House Showcase: selected titles 2011
Authors: Harris Reginald , Bartlett Byron
Published: April 2012

Purpose

Poets House, a poetry special collection in New York, hosts an annual exhibit of the preceding year's poetry publications in the USA. This paper aims to offer a selection of recommended titles that reflect the range of poetry titles including single‐author works, anthologies, and prose about poetry.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper researched and requested donations of 2010‐2011 poetry titles from US poetry publishers to assemble and display a comprehensive collection of poetry publications, from which a selection of 50 titles was made. The selections should appeal to a range of poetry readers, from novices and students to poets looking to access the latest work from their peers.

Findings

Over 2,500 poetry titles were published and/or available to readers in the USA between June 2010 and June 2011. These titles range from mainstream publishers to independent presses to artists' collectives publishing works from established poets as well as emerging and international poets.

Research limitations/implications

Without a budget for collection development, the exhibit and resulting titles represent those which publishers have opted to donate to the library. Every effort is made to be all‐inclusive, with the understanding that publishers may send only a selection of their list. The selected titles herein are based on the titles received for the exhibition.

Practical implications

For 19 years Poets House's annual Showcase has been the main collection‐development tool. Publishers donate copies of their titles, which are arranged by publisher for a month‐long exhibition. This approach enriches the poetry special collection, a unique poetry library built on community participation. The all‐inclusive collection‐development approach results in a full representation of poetry publishing.

Originality/value

A selection made from a comprehensive collection of the year's poetry titles offers a sample of poetry publishing from large to small presses and the self‐published in the USA.