bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coherent control of injection currents in high-quality films of Bi2Se3
Authors: Bas D. A. , Vargas-Velez K. , Babakiray S. , Johnson T. A. , Borisov P. , Stanescu T. D. , Lederman D. , Bristow A. D.
Published: January 2015

Films of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 are grown by molecular beam epitaxy with in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The films are shown to be high-quality by X-ray reflectivity and diffraction and atomic-force microscopy. Quantum interference control of photocurrents is observed by excitation with harmonically related pulses and detected by terahertz radiation. The injection current obeys the expected excitation irradiance dependence, showing linear dependence on the fundamental pulse irradiance and square-root irradiance dependence of the frequency-doubled optical pulses. The injection current also follows a sinusoidal relative-phase dependence between the two excitation pulses. These results confirm the third-order nonlinear optical origins of the coherently controlled injection current. Experiments are compared to a tight-binding band structure to illustrate the possible optical transitions that occur in creating the injection current.
The transference of visual search between two unrelated tasks: Measuring the temporal characteristics of carry-over
Authors: Thompson Catherine , Howting Lorraine , Hills Peter
Published: January 2015

Investigations into the persistence of top-down control settings do not accurately reflect the nature of dynamic tasks. They typically involve extended practice with an initial task, and this initial task usually shares similar stimuli with a second task. Recent work shows that visual attention and search can be affected by limited exposure to a preceding, unrelated task, and the current study explored the temporal characteristics of this “carry-over” effect. Thirty-four participants completed one, four, or eight simple letter searches and then searched a natural scene. The spatial layout of letters influenced spread of search in the pictures, and this was further impacted by the time spent in the initial task, yet the carry-over effect diminished quickly. The results have implications for theories of top-down control and models that attempt to predict search in natural scenes. They are also relevant to real-world tasks in which performance is closely related to visual attention and search.
Price Stability and Economic Sustainability–Achievable Goals? A Case Study of Organic Valley®
Authors: Su Ye , Cook Michael L.
Published: January 2015

Organic Valley is the largest organic cooperative in North America, one of two national buyers of organic milk, and one of two national organic dairy manufacturers. The cooperative's official name is Cooperative of Regional Organic Producers, and it is organized as a new generation cooperative, owned and controlled by patron‐members who also transact with the business. Organic Valley has a unique policy of sustainable and stable producer pay‐pricing for organic milk in the emerging organic dairy industry. This case presents challenges faced by the leadership of Organic Valley cooperative to maintain a stable and economically sustainable pay price for its farmer members. This case also introduces students to a new organizational form of cooperative, including its governance, the industry, and the market structure in which the cooperative operates. The objective of this case study is to improve student understanding of economic concepts such as theories of the imperfect market, demand and supply, and organizational design. The case also aims to help students improve their critical thinking and analytical skills by exploring the possibility of maintaining a unique sustainable and stable pricing method through the data provided. Additionally, the story introduces the economic role that organic dairy operation might play for small and medium‐size dairy farmers as they attempt to maintain an economically sustainable family farm lifestyle.
Electronic health records and support for primary care teamwork
Authors: O’Malley Ann S. , Draper Kevin , Gourevitch Rebecca , Cross Dori A. , Scholle Sarah Hudson
Published: January 2015

Objective Consensus that enhanced teamwork is necessary for efficient and effective primary care delivery is growing. We sought to identify how electronic health records (EHRs) facilitate and pose challenges to primary care teams as well as how practices are overcoming these challenges.

Methods Practices in this qualitative study were selected from those recognized as patient-centered medical homes via the National Committee for Quality Assurance 2011 tool, which included a section on practice teamwork. We interviewed 63 respondents, ranging from physicians to front-desk staff, from 27 primary care practices ranging in size, type, geography, and population size.

Results EHRs were found to facilitate communication and task delegation in primary care teams through instant messaging, task management software, and the ability to create evidence-based templates for symptom-specific data collection from patients by medical assistants and nurses (which can offload work from physicians). Areas where respondents felt that electronic medical record EHR functionalities were weakest and posed challenges to teamwork included the lack of integrated care manager software and care plans in EHRs, poor practice registry functionality and interoperability, and inadequate ease of tracking patient data in the EHR over time.

Discussion Practices developed solutions for some of the challenges they faced when attempting to use EHRs to support teamwork but wanted more permanent vendor and policy solutions for other challenges.

Conclusions EHR vendors in the United States need to work alongside practicing primary care teams to create more clinically useful EHRs that support dynamic care plans, integrated care management software, more functional and interoperable practice registries, and greater ease of data tracking over time.
A defense-offense multi-layered regulatory switch in a pathogenic bacterium
Authors: Nitzan Mor , Fechter Pierre , Peer Asaf , Altuvia Yael , Bronesky Delphine , Vandenesch François , Romby Pascale , Biham Ofer , Margalit Hanah
Published: January 2015

Cells adapt to environmental changes by efficiently adjusting gene expression programs. Staphylococcus aureus, an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium, switches between defensive and offensive modes in response to quorum sensing signal. We identified and studied the structural characteristics and dynamic properties of the core regulatory circuit governing this switch by deterministic and stochastic computational methods, as well as experimentally. This module, termed here Double Selector Switch (DSS), comprises the RNA regulator RNAIII and the transcription factor Rot, defining a double-layered switch involving both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulations. It coordinates the inverse expression of two sets of target genes, immuno-modulators and exotoxins, expressed during the defensive and offensive modes, respectively. Our computational and experimental analyses show that the DSS guarantees fine-tuned coordination of the inverse expression of its two gene sets, tight regulation, and filtering of noisy signals. We also identified variants of this circuit in other bacterial systems, suggesting it is used as a molecular switch in various cellular contexts and offering its use as a template for an effective switching device in synthetic biology studies.
Regulation of mammalian nucleotide metabolism and biosynthesis
Authors: Lane Andrew N , Fan Teresa W-M
Published: January 2015

Nucleotides are required for a wide variety of biological processes and are constantly synthesized denovo in all cells. When cells proliferate, increased nucleotide synthesis is necessary for DNA replication and for RNA production to support protein synthesis at different stages of the cell cycle, during which these events are regulated at multiple levels. Therefore the synthesis of the precursor nucleotides is also strongly regulated at multiple levels. Nucleotide synthesis is an energy intensive process that uses multiple metabolic pathways across different cell compartments and several sources of carbon and nitrogen. The processes are regulated at the transcription level by a set of master transcription factors but also at the enzyme level by allosteric regulation and feedback inhibition. Here we review the cellular demands of nucleotide biosynthesis, their metabolic pathways and mechanisms of regulation during the cell cycle. The use of stable isotope tracers for delineating the biosynthetic routes of the multiple intersecting pathways and how these are quantitatively controlled under different conditions is also highlighted. Moreover, the importance of nucleotide synthesis for cell viability is discussed and how this may lead to potential new approaches to drug development in diseases such as cancer.
Degenerative Changes of the Facet Joints in Adults With Lumbar Spondylolysis
Authors: Goda Yuichiro , Sakai Toshinori , Harada Taihei , Takao Shoichiro , Takata Yoichiro , Higashino Kosaku , Harada Masafumi , Sairyo Koichi
Published: January 2015

Study Design:

Radiologic analysis using computed tomography.

Objectives:

To analyze the degenerative changes of the facet joints in patients with spondylolysis in comparison with control subjects.

Summary of Background Data:

Defects of the pars interarticularis are thought to result in a reduction of biomechanical stress on adjacent facet joints. Therefore, degenerative changes of the facet joints in patients with spondylolysis are expected to be less than those in patients without spondylolysis.

Methods:

Abdominal and pelvic multidetector computed tomography scans of 2000 subjects, performed for conditions unrelated to low back pain, were reviewed. A total of 107 patients (37 women and 70 men) with L5 spondylolysis were identified [spondylolysis (+) group]. Sex-matched and age-matched controls without spondylolysis were chosen randomly [spondylolysis (−) group]. Subjects in the spondylolysis group were subdivided into either bilateral spondylolysis or unilateral spondylolysis groups for comparison with the control group. Four radiologic findings (narrowing, sclerosis, osteophyte, and bone cyst) indicative of degenerative change of the facet joints adjacent to the L5 pars defects were evaluated and the degree of degenerative change was graded by summing the number of degenerative changes (score range, 0–4). The χ2 test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for statistical analysis.

Results:

Significantly more degenerative changes in both L4/L5 and L5/S facet joints were found in the spondylolysis (+) group than in the spondylolysis (−) group (χ2 test, P <0.05). Degenerative changes of the facet joints at both L4/L5 and L5/S were more severe in the bilateral spondylolysis (+) group than in the spondylolysis (−) group. Degenerative changes of the facet joints at both L4/L5 and L5/S were more severe in the unilateral spondylolysis (+) group than in the spondylolysis (−) group.

Conclusions:

Degenerative changes of the facet joints in patients with lumbar spondylolysis were more severe than those without spondylolysis.
Correlations Between Sagittal Spinal Balance and Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Lee Hong Seok , Lee Jung Sub , Shin Jong Ki , Goh Tae Sik
Published: January 2015

Study Design:

Prospective study.

Objective:

To identify relationships between spinopelvic parameters and health-related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Summary of Background Data:

Little data are available on relationships between sagittal spinopelvic parameters and health-related quality of life in RA.

Materials and Methods:

The study and control groups comprised 120 RA patients and 60 controls. All subjects underwent anteroposterior and lateral radiography of the whole spine, including hip joints, and all completed clinical questionnaires. The radiographic parameters examined were: sacral slope, pelvic tilt, pelvic incidence, thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, C7/sacrofemoral distance ratio (C7/SFD), and spinosacral angle (SSA). Quality of life was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale for back pain, the Oswestry disability index questionnaire, and the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS-22) questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed to identify significant differences between the study and control groups. In addition, correlations between radiologic parameters and clinical questionnaires were sought.

Results:

The patients and controls were found to be significantly different in terms of sacral slope, pelvic tilt, lumbar lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, C7/SFD, and SSA, but not for pelvic incidence (P>0.05). Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between radiographic parameters and clinical outcomes. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of clinical outcome, and the results obtained revealed that C7/SFD significantly predicted Visual Analog Scale score and SSA predicted Oswestry disability index and SRS-22 scores.

Conclusions:

Sagittal spinopelvic parameters were found to be significantly different in RA patients and normal controls. Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between radiographic parameters and clinical outcomes. In particular, C7/SFD and SSA were found to be significant predictors of clinical outcomes in RA.
Marine reserve design theory for species with ontogenetic migration
Authors: White J. Wilson
Published: January 2015

Models for marine reserve design have been developed primarily with ‘reef fish’ life histories in mind: sedentary adults in patches connected by larval dispersal. However, many fished species undertake ontogenetic migrations, such as from nursery grounds to adult spawning habitats, and current theory does not fully address the range of reserve options posed by that situation. I modelled a generic species with ontogenetic migration to investigate the possible benefits of reserves under three alternative scenarios. First, the fishery targets adult habitat, and reserves can sustain yields under high exploitation, unless habitat patches are well connected. Second, the fishery targets the nursery, and reserves are highly effective, regardless of connectivity patterns. Third, the fishery targets both habitats, and reserves only succeed if paired on adjacent, well-connected nursery and adult patches. In all cases, reserves can buffer populations against overexploitation but would not enhance fishery yield beyond that achievable by management without reserves. These results summarize the general situations in which management using reserves could be useful for ontogenetically migrating species, and the type of connectivity data needed to inform reserve design.
Close encounters with eddies: oceanographic features increase growth of larval reef fishes during their journey to the reef
Authors: Shulzitski Kathryn , Sponaugle Su , Hauff Martha , Walter Kristen , D'Alessandro Evan K. , Cowen Robert K.
Published: January 2015

Like most benthic marine organisms, coral reef fishes produce larvae that traverse open ocean waters before settling and metamorphosing into juveniles. Where larvae are transported and how they survive is a central question in marine and fisheries ecology. While there is increasing success in modelling potential larval trajectories, our knowledge of the physical and biological processes contributing to larval survivorship during dispersal remains relatively poor. Mesoscale eddies (MEs) are ubiquitous throughout the world's oceans and their propagation is often accompanied by upwelling and increased productivity. Enhanced production suggests that eddies may serve as important habitat for the larval stages of marine organisms, yet there is a lack of empirical data on the growth rates of larvae associated with these eddies. During three cruises in the Straits of Florida, we sampled larval fishes inside and outside five cyclonic MEs. Otolith microstructure analysis revealed that four of five species of reef fish examined had consistently faster growth inside these eddies. Because increased larval growth often leads to higher survivorship, larvae that encounter MEs during transit are more likely to contribute to reef populations. Successful dispersal in oligotrophic waters may rely on larval encounter with such oceanographic features.
Starving honeybees lose self-control
Authors: Mayack Christopher , Naug Dhruba
Published: January 2015

Impulsivity, the widespread preference for a smaller and more immediate reward over a larger and more delayed reward, is known to vary across species, and the metabolic and social hypotheses present contrasting explanations for this variation. However, this presents a paradox for an animal such as the honeybee, which is highly social, yet has a high metabolic rate. We test between these two competing hypotheses by investigating the effect of hunger on impulsivity in bees isolated from their social environment. Using an olfactory conditioning assay, we trained individuals to associate a small and a large reward with or without a delay, and we tested their choice between the two rewards at different levels of starvation. We found an increase in impulsive behaviour and an associated increase in dopamine levels in the brain with increasing starvation. These results suggest that the energetic state of an individual, even in a eusocial group, is a critical driver of impulsivity, and that the social harmony of a group can be threatened when the energetic states of the group members are in conflict.
Social embeddedness in an online weight management programme is linked to greater weight loss
Authors: Poncela-Casasnovas Julia , Spring Bonnie , McClary Daniel , Moller Arlen C. , Mukogo Rufaro , Pellegrini Christine A. , Coons Michael J. , Davidson Miriam , Mukherjee Satyam , Nunes Amaral Luis A.
Published: January 2015

The obesity epidemic is heightening chronic disease risk globally. Online weight management (OWM) communities could potentially promote weight loss among large numbers of people at low cost. Because little is known about the impact of these online communities, we examined the relationship between individual and social network variables, and weight loss in a large, international OWM programme. We studied the online activity and weight change of 22 419 members of an OWM system during a six-month period, focusing especially on the 2033 members with at least one friend within the community. Using Heckman's sample-selection procedure to account for potential selection bias and data censoring, we found that initial body mass index, adherence to self-monitoring and social networking were significantly correlated with weight loss. Remarkably, greater embeddedness in the network was the variable with the highest statistical significance in our model for weight loss. Average per cent weight loss at six months increased in a graded manner from 4.1% for non-networked members, to 5.2% for those with a few (two to nine) friends, to 6.8% for those connected to the giant component of the network, to 8.3% for those with high social embeddedness. Social networking within an OWM community, and particularly when highly embedded, may offer a potent, scalable way to curb the obesity epidemic and other disorders that could benefit from behavioural changes.
New quantitative approaches reveal the spatial preference of nuclear compartments in mammalian fibroblasts
Authors: Weston David J. , Russell Richard A. , Batty Elizabeth , Jensen Kirsten , Stephens David A. , Adams Niall M. , Freemont Paul S.
Published: January 2015

The nuclei of higher eukaryotic cells display compartmentalization and certain nuclear compartments have been shown to follow a degree of spatial organization. To date, the study of nuclear organization has often involved simple quantitative procedures that struggle with both the irregularity of the nuclear boundary and the problem of handling replicate images. Such studies typically focus on inter-object distance, rather than spatial location within the nucleus. The concern of this paper is the spatial preference of nuclear compartments, for which we have developed statistical tools to quantitatively study and explore nuclear organization. These tools combine replicate images to generate ‘aggregate maps' which represent the spatial preferences of nuclear compartments. We present two examples of different compartments in mammalian fibroblasts (WI-38 and MRC-5) that demonstrate new knowledge of spatial preference within the cell nucleus. Specifically, the spatial preference of RNA polymerase II is preserved across normal and immortalized cells, whereas PML nuclear bodies exhibit a change in spatial preference from avoiding the centre in normal cells to exhibiting a preference for the centre in immortalized cells. In addition, we show that SC35 splicing speckles are excluded from the nuclear boundary and localize throughout the nucleoplasm and in the interchromatin space in non-transformed WI-38 cells. This new methodology is thus able to reveal the effect of large-scale perturbation on spatial architecture and preferences that would not be obvious from single cell imaging.
Exploring strategies for classification of external stimuli using statistical features of the plant electrical response
Authors: Chatterjee Shre Kumar , Das Saptarshi , Maharatna Koushik , Masi Elisa , Santopolo Luisa , Mancuso Stefano , Vitaletti Andrea
Published: January 2015

Plants sense their environment by producing electrical signals which in essence represent changes in underlying physiological processes. These electrical signals, when monitored, show both stochastic and deterministic dynamics. In this paper, we compute 11 statistical features from the raw non-stationary plant electrical signal time series to classify the stimulus applied (causing the electrical signal). By using different discriminant analysis-based classification techniques, we successfully establish that there is enough information in the raw electrical signal to classify the stimuli. In the process, we also propose two standard features which consistently give good classification results for three types of stimuli—sodium chloride (NaCl), sulfuric acid (H
2
SO
4
) and ozone (O
3
). This may facilitate reduction in the complexity involved in computing all the features for online classification of similar external stimuli in future.
Trait dimensionality explains widespread variation in local adaptation
Authors: MacPherson Ailene , Hohenlohe Paul A. , Nuismer Scott L.
Published: January 2015

All species are locked in a continual struggle to adapt to local ecological conditions. In cases where species fail to locally adapt, they face reduced population growth rates, or even local extinction. Traditional explanations for limited local adaptation focus on maladaptive gene flow or homogeneous environmental conditions. These classical explanations have, however, failed to explain variation in the magnitude of local adaptation observed across taxa. Here we show that variable levels of local adaptation are better explained by trait dimensionality. First, we develop and analyse mathematical models that predict levels of local adaptation will increase with the number of traits experiencing spatially variable selection. Next, we test this prediction by estimating the relationship between dimensionality and local adaptation using data from 35 published reciprocal transplant studies. This analysis reveals a strong correlation between dimensionality and degree of local adaptation, and thus provides empirical support for the predictions of our model.
Moving beyond abundance distributions: neutral theory and spatial patterns in a tropical forest
Authors: May Felix , Huth Andreas , Wiegand Thorsten
Published: January 2015

Assessing the relative importance of different processes that determine the spatial distribution of species and the dynamics in highly diverse plant communities remains a challenging question in ecology. Previous modelling approaches often focused on single aggregated forest diversity patterns that convey limited information on the underlying dynamic processes. Here, we use recent advances in inference for stochastic simulation models to evaluate the ability of a spatially explicit and spatially continuous neutral model to quantitatively predict six spatial and non-spatial patterns observed at the 50 ha tropical forest plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The patterns capture different aspects of forest dynamics and biodiversity structure, such as annual mortality rate, species richness, species abundance distribution, beta-diversity and the species–area relationship (SAR). The model correctly predicted each pattern independently and up to five patterns simultaneously. However, the model was unable to match the SAR and beta-diversity simultaneously. Our study moves previous theory towards a dynamic spatial theory of biodiversity and demonstrates the value of spatial data to identify ecological processes. This opens up new avenues to evaluate the consequences of additional process for community assembly and dynamics.
Asymmetric isolating barriers between different microclimatic environments caused by low immigrant survival
Authors: Gosden Thomas P. , Waller John T. , Svensson Erik I.
Published: January 2015

Spatially variable selection has the potential to result in local adaptation unless counteracted by gene flow. Therefore, barriers to gene flow will help facilitate divergence between populations that differ in local selection pressures. We performed spatially and temporally replicated reciprocal field transplant experiments between inland and coastal habitats using males of the common blue damselfly (
Enallagma cyathigerum
) as our study organism. Males from coastal populations had lower local survival rates than resident males at inland sites, whereas we detected no differences between immigrant and resident males at coastal sites, suggesting asymmetric local adaptation in a source–sink system. There were no intrinsic differences in longevity between males from the different environments suggesting that the observed differences in male survival are environment-dependent and probably caused by local adaptation. Furthermore, the coastal environment was found to be warmer and drier than the inland environment, further suggesting local adaptation to microclimatic factors has lead to differential survival of resident and immigrant males. Our results suggest that low survival of immigrant males mediates isolation between closely located populations inhabiting different microclimatic environments.
The impact of a night confinement policy on patients in a UK high secure inpatient mental health service
Authors: Chu Simon , McNeill Kimberley , Wright Karen M. , Hague Anthony , Wilkins Tracy
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– From 2012, all high-secure forensic mental health services in England began operating a policy of confining patients to their locked bedrooms overnight to increase service efficiency and reduce costs. The purpose of this paper is to assess the views of staff and patients concerning the policy and examine the specific impact of the policy on patients.

Design/methodology/approach

– Measures of patients’ sleep hygiene, patients’ behaviour, ward atmosphere, engagement with therapy and adverse incidents were taken both before and after the night confinement (NC) policy was implemented. Both patients and staff also expressed their views of the impact of the NC policy.

Findings

– Results provide converging evidence that the impact of the NC policy on patients is negligible. There were no consistent negative effects of confining patients overnight. Rather, patients and staff were broadly positive about the impact that the practice had on patients.

Practical implications

– Confining patients to locked bedrooms overnight does not exert any consistent influence, positive or negative, on patients’ sleep hygiene, behaviour or engagement with therapy, and patients expressed a broadly positive view of the practice of NC. Thus, a NC policy may have a contribution to make to the provision an effective high-secure mental health service.

Originality/value

– The study provides convincing evidence that secure inpatient mental health services that are considering the adoption of a NC policy may do so without fear of a negative impact on patients.
The post-repurchase announcement drift: an anomaly in disguise?
Authors: Nguyen Thanh T. , Sutton Ninon K. , Pham Dung (June)
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the stock price drifts after open-market stock repurchase announcements by differentiating actual repurchases from repurchase announcements and by controlling for the repurchasing firms’ earnings improvement in the announcement year relative to the prior year.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors use the calendar-time method and matching method based on different criteria to calculate the post-announcement abnormal returns.

Findings

– The results show that only firms actually repurchasing their shares exhibit a positive post-announcement drift. More importantly, the authors find that these repurchasing firms have the same post-announcement drift as their matching firms that have similar size and earnings performance but do not repurchase. This supports the argument that the post-repurchase announcement drift found in previous studies is not a distinct anomaly but the post-earnings announcement drift in disguise.

Social implications

– The post-repurchase announcement drift found in previous studies is the post-earnings announcement drift in disguise.

Originality/value

– The study shows that because high earnings performance positively relates to real repurchase activities, controlling for earnings performance in examining whether a drift occurs after repurchase announcements.
Market power and dividend policy
Authors: Booth Laurence , Zhou Jun
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why a firm’s product market power affects its dividend policy.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper uses three measures of market power? The degree of import competition, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, and Lerner Index? To examine how a firm’s product market power affects its dividend policy. Further, it proposes and tests a risk-based explanation for this impact.

Findings

– This paper shows that market power positively affects the dividend decision, in terms of both the probability of paying a dividend and the amount of dividend payment. It also provides evidence that the route through which market power affects the dividend decision is business risk: firms with less market power are riskier and hence less likely to pay dividends than firms with more market power.

Practical implications

– The results show that product market power may have played an important role in reshaping dividend policy of corporate America.

Originality/value

– This study documents the relevance of market power behind dividend policy and therefore adds to the knowledge on the relationship between product markets and corporate financial policies, which is an important and understudied area of corporate finance.
Left to their fate: rights of minority equity holders in Ghanaian firms
Authors: Agyemang Otuo Serebour , Aboagye Emmanuel , Frimpong Joyce
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the rights of shareholders, particularly those of minority shareholders in the management of firms in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

– As a result of the largely unexplored nature of this issue in Ghana, a qualitative analysis was conducted to offer a painstaking understanding needed. The case study design is in particular relevant for exploring such phenomenon, as it evolves through the experiences of several key players.

Findings

– Data indicate that minority shareholders’ influence is, in most cases, nil in every aspect of their firms. Whilst majority shareholders have an absolute right to appoint or influence the appointment of top officials of the firms, minority shareholders’ role in the selection is limited. In addition, in regards to control of corporate decision-making processes, unlike the majority shareholders, the minority shareholders do not have any influence on them. Further, in terms of relevant information, whilst the majority shareholders have absolute access to them anytime they desire, the minority shareholders only rely on annual general meetings to get hold of them, thus limiting their access to corporate information. The revelations unambiguously grant the majority shareholders of the firms absolute control rights whilst undermining the rights of the minority shareholders. This paper was concluded by itemizing the implications of our findings for management, regulators and governments.

Originality/value

– It is believed that this is among the handful of studies that have been conducted using developing or emergent economy data to empirically analyse how minority shareholders wield their rights in emergent economies and to add to the mounting pool of scattered cross-country evidence.
On the issue of stability of Wall Street CEOs, while hoping for cultural changes in the financial sector
Authors: Bazin Yoann
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to open up dialogue between several popular non-fiction books written on Lehman Brothers – and its chief executive officer (CEO) Dick Fuld in particular – and the academic literature on leadership and organizational culture.

Design/methodology/approach

– Vicky Ward’s book The Devil’s Casino is examined closely to understand the influence of the bank’s CEO on the organizational culture.

Findings

– A notable instance of coupling is highly recurrent in the book, linking the personality of Dick Fuld with his top management team and Lehman Brothers’ employees.

Originality/value

– Focusing on the CEO’s personality, this article engages with the academic literature allowing for a distinct problematization of the issue, and a potential resolution: the importance of changes in leadership to trigger an evolution in Wall Street’s culture.
Hybrid system increases efficiency of ballast water treatment
Authors: Paolucci Esteban M. , Hernandez Marco R. , Potapov Alexei , Lewis Mark A. , MacIsaac Hugh J.
Published: January 2015

Ballast water has been a principal pathway of non‐indigenous species introduction to global ports for much of the 20th century. In an effort to reduce the scale of this pathway, and recognizing forthcoming global regulations that will supplant ballast water exchange (BWE) with ballast water treatment (BWT), we explore whether a combined hybrid treatment of BWE and chlorination (Cl) exceeds individual effects of either BWE or chlorination alone in reducing densities of bacteria, microplankton and macroplankton.

Five full‐scale trials were conducted on an operational bulk carrier travelling between Canada and Brazil.

The hybrid treatment generally had the lowest final densities among all treatments for putative enterococci, Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria, as well as microplankton and macroplankton, with the former two being synergistically lower than individual treatments alone. Microplankton abundance in the hybrid treatment was significantly but antagonistically reduced relative to individual treatments alone. Macroplankton final density was lowest in the hybrid treatment, though the interaction between treatments was not significant.

Synthesis and applications. In most cases, the combined hybrid treatment of ballast water exchange (BWE) and chlorination reduced population densities of indicator organisms in ballast water below those proposed by the International Maritime Organization's D‐2 performance standards. BWE alone was often ineffective at reducing bacterial and macroplankton densities. Even when performance standards are implemented globally, continued use of BWE could further reduce risk of invasions to freshwater ecosystems that receive ballast water from foreign sources by accentuating the decline in propagule pressure and enhancing demographic constraints for putative invaders.
Ecological and genetic interactions between cyanobacteria and viruses in a low‐oxygen mat community inferred through metagenomics and metatranscriptomics
Authors: Voorhies Alexander A. , Eisenlord Sarah D. , Marcus Daniel N. , Duhaime Melissa B. , Biddanda Bopaiah A. , Cavalcoli James D. , Dick Gregory J.
Published: January 2015

Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing was conducted on cyanobacterial mats of the Middle Island Sinkhole (MIS), Lake Huron. Metagenomic data from 14 samples collected over 5 years were used to reconstruct genomes of two genotypes of a novel virus, designated PhV1 type A and PhV1 type B. Both viral genotypes encode and express nblA, a gene involved in degrading phycobilisomes, which are complexes of pigmented proteins that harvest light for photosynthesis. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the viral‐encoded nblA is derived from the host cyanobacterium, Phormidium MIS‐PhA. The cyanobacterial host also has two complete CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) systems that serve as defence mechanisms for bacteria and archaea against viruses and plasmids. One 45 bp CRISPR spacer from Phormidium had 100% nucleotide identity to PhV1 type B, but this region was absent from PhV1 type A. Transcripts from PhV1 and the Phormidium CRISPR loci were detected in all six metatranscriptomic data sets (three during the day and three at night), indicating that both are transcriptionally active in the environment. These results reveal ecological and genetic interactions between viruses and cyanobacteria at MIS, highlighting the value of parallel analysis of viruses and hosts in understanding ecological interactions in natural communities.
Growth promotion and gut microbiota: insights from antibiotic use
Authors: Brüssow Harald
Published: January 2015

Antibiotics have been proposed as supplements in re‐feeding programmes for malnourished children. A review of paediatric literature showed that growth promotion by antibiotics, when it was observed, was mostly mediated by its anti‐infective properties. Despite the widespread use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal rearing, the available evidence again points to the suppression of infections as the underlying mechanism. Under controlled hygienic conditions, growth promotion was frequently not observed. Models for ‘sub‐inhibitory’ antibiotic effects on gut bacteria have been proposed, and direct antibiotic effects on host physiology are accumulating. Human gut microbiota analyses in malnourished children (restricted to stool as convenience samples) displayed developmental immaturity of the gut microbiota and growth deficits that were only transiently ameliorated by nutritional interventions. These studies need to be complemented by microbiota analysis in the upper small intestine where bacterial overgrowth, frequently reported in people of the developing world, may directly compete with nutrient absorption by the human host. So far, however, the available medical and veterinary literature suggests that the growth promoting effect of antibiotics mostly works through prevention of infection and a concomitant decrease of the caloric burden of an inflammatory response.
Can markets stimulate rights? On the alienability of legal claims
Authors: Chen Daniel L.
Published: January 2015

The alienability of legal claims holds the promise of increasing access to justice and fostering development of law. I develop a principal‐agent framework where litigation funders provide expertise in reducing uncertainty in agents' disutility of production. The model leads to the counterintuitive prediction that litigation funders prefer cases with novel issues, and social surplus is positively correlated with legal uncertainty. Consistent with the model, court backlog, court expenditures, and a slowing in average time to completion are associated with third‐party funding; cases with third‐party funding receive more citations and are reversed less often than comparable cases without such arrangements.
The economics of wild goose chases
Authors: Prendergast Canice
Published: January 2015

Empirical evidence consistently finds that incentive pay is more frequent when authority is delegated to workers than when their superiors hold authority. We provide a model where incentive pay results in the abuse of authority by their superiors, and (under reasonable conditions) implies that (i) incentive pay is higher when an agent holds control rights than when her principal has authority, (ii) effort is less responsive on the margin to incentive pay when the principal holds authority, and (iii) more incentive pay can reduce effort under authority, even on tasks that can be easily measured.
Investing in a relationship
Authors: Halac Marina
Published: January 2015

A principal can make an investment anticipating a repeated relationship with an agent, but the agent may appropriate the returns through ex post bargaining. I study how this holdup problem and efficiency depend on the contracting environment. When investment returns are observable, informal contracts ex post can be more efficient than formal contracts, as they induce higher investment ex ante: the principal invests not only to generate direct returns, but also to improve relational incentives. Unobservability of returns increases the principal's ability to appropriate the returns but reduces her ability to improve incentives. The optimal information structure depends on bargaining power.
Price relationships between qualitatively differentiated agricultural products: organic and conventional wheat in Germany
Authors: Würriehausen Nadine , Ihle Rico , Lakner Sebastian
Published: January 2015

Organic agriculture, which produces commodities that can be qualitatively differentiated from conventional food products, has grown into an important market in many countries. The dynamics of commodity prices in both sectors are partly interdependent, but are also shaped by independent determinants and have rarely been studied. We analyze organic food markets and their interdependencies with conventional markets in the context of wheat markets in Germany, which have been subject to a number of fundamental changes during the last two decades. Based on institutional market characteristics, we suggest a flexible Markov‐switching asymmetric time series model. We find a pronounced temporal sequence of market phases that differ in their asymmetric dynamics and the extent to which the organic price is influenced by the conventional price. Organic wheat prices tend to be increasingly connected to prices of conventional wheat.
Evaluation of Different Diameter Arterial Tubing and Arterial Cannulae in Simulated Neonatal/Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Bypass Circuits
Authors: Wang Shigang , Rosenthal Tami , Kunselman Allen R. , Ündar Akif
Published: January 2015

The objective of this study is to evaluate three different diameters of arterial tubing and three diameters of arterial cannulae in terms of pressure drop, and hemodynamic energy delivery in simulated neonatal/pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuits. The CPB circuit consisted of a Terumo Capiox Baby FX05 oxygenator (Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), arterial tubing (1/4 in, 3/16 in, or 1/8 in × 150 cm), and a Medtronic Bio‐Medicus arterial cannula (8, 10, or 12 Fr; Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA). The pseudo patient's pressure was maintained at 50 mm Hg. The circuit was primed using lactated Ringer's solution and heparinized packed human red blood cells (hematocrit 30%). Trials were conducted at different flow rates and temperatures (35 and 28°C). Flow and pressure data were collected using a custom‐based data acquisition system. Using 8 Fr arterial cannula at 500 mL/min, small diameter arterial tubing generated higher circuit pressure (294.6 ± 0.1 mm Hg [1/8 in], 213.5 ± 0.5 mm Hg [3/16 in], 208.4 ± 0.4 mm Hg [1/4 in] at 35°C) and arterial line pressure drop (158.3 ± 0.1 mm Hg [1/8 in], 79.6 ± 0.1 mm Hg [3/16 in], 62.1 ± 0.1 mm Hg [1/4 in] at 35°C). Using 10 Fr arterial cannula at 1000 mL/min, pre‐oxygenator pressures were 266.8 ± 0.2 mm Hg (3/16 in) and 248.0 ± 0.3 mm Hg (1/4 in); arterial line pressure drops were 111.6 ± 0.0 mm Hg (3/16 in) and 74.0 ± 0.1 mm Hg (1/4 in) at 35°C. When using 12 Fr arterial cannula at 1500 mL/min, preoxygenator pressures reached 324.4 ± 0.3 mm Hg (3/16 in) and 302.5 ± 0.4 mm Hg (1/4 in); arterial line pressure drops were 154.0 ± 0.1 mm Hg (3/16 in) and 92.0 ± 0.2 mm Hg (1/4 in) at 35°C. Pressure drops across arterial line tubing were main CPB circuit pressure drops. High flow rate, hypothermia, small diameter arterial tubing. and arterial cannula created more hemodynamic energy at the preoxygenator site, but energy loss across CPB circuit also increased. Although small diameter (<1/4 in ID) arterial tubing may decrease total CPB priming volume, it also led to significantly higher circuit pressure, higher pressure drop, and more hemodynamic energy loss across CPB circuit. Larger diameter arterial cannula had less pressure drop and allowed more hemodynamic energy delivery to the patient.
Correlation Between Cerebral‐Renal Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy and Ipsilateral Renal Perfusion Parameters as Clinical Outcome Predictors After Open Heart Surgery in Neonates and Infants
Authors: Örmeci Tuğrul , Alkan‐Bozkaya Tijen , Özyüksel Arda , Ersoy Cihangir , Ündar Akif , Akçevin Atıf , Türkoğlu Halil
Published: January 2015

The objective of this clinical study is to determine whether correlation exists among cerebral and renal near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements, renal Doppler ultrasonography parameters (resistive index, peak systolic velocity), and early postoperative clinical outcomes following cardiac surgery in neonates and infants. Thirty‐seven patients undergoing surgery for congenital heart defects with an age of less than 3 months, all of whom were in the high‐risk group according to Aristotle Basic Complexity risk stratification score, were enrolled in our study. Cerebral, renal NIRS values and renal Doppler ultrasonography measurements were recorded for each patient at the 4th postoperative hour. The renal resistive indices were calculated for each case, and the patients were divided into two groups according to renal resistive index (RI) values. Group I included the patients with a RI of greater than 0.8 (n = 25) and Group II included the patients with a RI of less than 0.8 (n = 12). The postoperative outcome parameters were compared in between two groups. Group I (RI >0.8) had lower postoperative mean urine output than Group II (RI <0.8) (P = 0.041). The lactate levels were significantly higher in Group I (P = 0.049), as well. The postoperative intensive care unit and hospital stay of Group I was significantly higher than Group II (P = 0.048). Both cerebral and renal NIRS values and the assessment of renal RI as well as peak systolic values can be used in order to predict the early clinical outcome in cardiac surgery patients in early infantile and neonatal period.