bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
NATURAL VERSUS ACTIVE REHABILITATION OF SEISMIC LINES INTHE COOPER BASIN
Authors: Wiltshire D.
Published: August 2017

Extensive investigations undertaken in the Cooper Basin during the 1980s reveal that seismic lines prepared in dunefield and floodplain land systems rehabilitated naturally within a reasonable timeframe. It also appeared, however, that lines prepared in the dissected residual and gibber plains land systems would persist virtually indefinitely without active intervention. The principal issues were identified as being the ongoing aesthetic impacts of rocky windrows, ongoing expansion of erosion gullies and scars on hillsides and escarpments.Subsequently, an extensive seismic line restoration program was undertaken in gibber land units, in which graders were used to respread windrows over seismic lines, to install erosion control structures at the head of active gullies and to batter the edges of small erosion gullies. In general, the program was highly successful in reducing the visual impact of seismic lines and speeding the rehabilitation of small gullies.Active rehabilitation of large erosion gullies and scarred escarpments was not attempted, as it was considered that the process would be very expensive and would result in only marginal aesthetic improvements. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the lateral erosion and slumping of erosion gullies will, within a reasonable timeframe, result in the gullies resembling natural drainage features as revegetation occurs and the linear connection with the restored seismic line on the adjoining footslopes disappears.
Spawning area and season of butterfly kingfish (Gasterochisma melampus), a large scombrid adapted to cooler temperate southern water
Authors: Itoh Tomoyuki , Sawadaishi Shiro
Published: August 2017

In the present study we investigated spawning of the butterfly kingfish (Gasterochisma melampus), a Scombridae species distributed in circumpolar temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Using data from 25564 individuals collected by longline operations from 1987 to 1996, analysis of the gonadosomatic index, maturity based on oocyte size and the presence of hydrated eggs revealed that the spawning area was between longitude 85 and 130°W and latitude 28 and 41°S in the south-east Pacific Ocean, and that the spawning season was from mid-April to mid-July. Length–frequency data suggested that larger fish arrived and spawned earlier, whereas smaller fish did so later. The species has distinctive reproductive characteristics compared with other Scombridae: it produces large hydrated eggs 1.6mm in diameter, sea surface temperatures in the spawning area were as low as 14–18°C and more than 80% of fish were female. The south-east Pacific Ocean may be the only (and is at least the major) spawning area of the species. Butterfly kingfish is a single stock that migrates to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans to feed and returns to the south-east Pacific Ocean to spawn.
Challenges in China’s health system reform: lessons from other countries
Authors: Liu Chaojie , Legge David
Published: August 2017

We are very pleased to have been invited to edit the inaugural virtual special issue for the Australian Journal of Primary Health. This virtual issue will present a set of recently published papers from the Australian Journal of Primary Health that have been selected for their relevance to issues faced in China. It will be launched on 11 September 2017. We have written this Editorial to set the scene for the special issue, and as a general overview of issues affecting one of our most influential neighbours in the region.
Nitrogen balance in Australia and nitrogen use efficiency on Australian farms
Authors: Angus J. F. , Grace P. R.
Published: August 2017

The amount of reactive N in soils on the Australian continent appears to be increasing, mainly because of biological N-fixation by permanent pastures in the dryland farming zone. This gain is partly offset by N-mining by crops, which we estimate have removed between one-fifth and one-quarter of the original soil N. The vast areas of non-agricultural land and arid rangelands appear to be in neutral N balance and the relatively small area of intensive agriculture is in negative balance. There are regional N losses from the sugar and dairy industries to groundwater, estuaries and lagoons, including the Great Barrier Reef. Fertiliser N application is increasing, and is likely to increase further, to compensate for the soil-N mining and to meet increasing crop yield potential, but fertiliser-N represents a relatively small fraction of the Australian N balance. The dryland farming zone utilises the largest amounts of native and fertiliser N. The average fertiliser application to dryland cereals and oilseeds, 45 kg N ha–1, is low by international standards because of the small N-demand by dryland crops and because there are no subsidies on crops or fertiliser that promote overuse. The efficiency of N-use is relatively low, for example about 40% of fertiliser N is recovered in the aboveground parts of dryland wheat and the rest is retained in the soil, denitrified or otherwise lost. We suggest further research on fertiliser-application methods to increase crop recovery of fertiliser, as well as research to reduce the surplus N from permanent pasture.
Africa’s next debt crisis: regulatory dilemmas and radical insights
Authors: Bassett Carolyn
Published: August 2017

A new African debt crisis appears imminent, which will have new features because several countries have recently introduced international sovereign bonds. Organisations such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank increasingly acknowledge the risk of such a crisis, but continue to prescribe debt-management strategies based on liberalisation and government spending cuts. Insights drawn from liberals favouring government regulation identify an alternative policy direction, while Marxist scholars raise serious concerns about the merits and implications of the bonds altogether. These alternative approaches have the potential to enrich inter-governmental policy discussions and potentially avert the looming new African debt crisis.
An L319F mutation in transmembrane region 3 (TM3) selectively reduces sensitivity to okaramine B of the Bombyx mori l-glutamate-gated chloride channel
Authors: Furutani Shogo , Okuhara Daiki , Hashimoto Anju , Ihara Makoto , Kai Kenji , Hayashi Hideo , Sattelle David B , Matsuda Kazuhiko
Published: August 2017

Okaramines produced by Penicillium simplicissimum AK-40 activate l-glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) and thus paralyze insects. However, the okaramine binding site on insect GluCls is poorly understood. Sequence alignment shows that the equivalent of residue Leucine319 of the okaramine B sensitive Bombyx mori (B. mori) GluCl is a phenylalanine in the okaramine B insensitive B. mori γ-aminobutyric acid-gated chloride channel of the same species. This residue is located in the third transmembrane (TM3) region, a location which in a nematode GluCl is close to the ivermectin binding site. The B. mori GluCl containing the L319F mutation retained its sensitivity to l-glutamate, but responses to ivermectin were reduced and those to okaramine B were completely blocked.
The dualisation of unemployment compensation in emerging economies: Brazil, China and Russia
Authors: Ozkan Umut Riza
Published: August 2017

This article examines the development of a ‘dualised’ welfare regime –generous earnings-related unemployment compensation for ‘insiders’ andresidualneeds-based social assistance provision for ‘outsiders’ – in China and Brazil, which experienced impressive economic development in recent decades. It argues that such a welfare outcome can partly be accounted for by the ongoing influence of ‘insiders’, which was conditional upon the pace and nature of economic liberalisation reforms and their representation in institutional channels of social policy-making. It also demonstrates that the new social/unemployment assistance schemes for ‘outsiders’ emerged due to both governments’ fear of losing their power in politics; yet, these schemes were designed in a residual way since ‘outsiders’ did not possess the same political resources as ‘insiders’ did. The paper, moreover, draws from the Russian experience (a negative case) to demonstrate that such a dualised welfare outcome did not take place because the ‘insiders’ were weak, owing to a radical and orthodox liberalisation and they did not have access to institutional venues to influence social policy-making process.
Internal deletion of BCOR reveals a tumor suppressor function for BCOR in T lymphocyte malignancies
Authors: Tanaka Tomoyuki , Nakajima-Takagi Yaeko , Aoyama Kazumasa , Tara Shiro , Oshima Motohiko , Saraya Atsunori , Koide Shuhei , Si Sha , Manabe Ichiro , Sanada Masashi , Nakayama Manabu , Masuko Masayoshi , Sone Hirohito , Koseki Haruhiko , Iwama Atsushi
Published: August 2017

Recurrent inactivating mutations have been identified in various hematological malignancies in the X-linked BCOR gene encoding BCL6 corepressor (BCOR); however, its tumor suppressor function remains largely uncharacterized. We generated mice missing Bcor exon 4, expressing a variant BCOR lacking the BCL6-binding domain. Although the deletion of exon 4 in male mice (BcorΔE4/y) compromised the repopulating capacity of hematopoietic stem cells, BcorΔE4/y thymocytes had augmented proliferative capacity in culture and showed a strong propensity to induce acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), mostly in a Notch-dependent manner. Myc, one of the critical NOTCH1 targets in T-ALL, was highly up-regulated in BcorΔE4/y T-ALL cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation/DNA sequencing analysis revealed that BCOR was recruited to the Myc promoter and restrained its activation in thymocytes. BCOR also targeted other NOTCH1 targets and potentially antagonized their transcriptional activation. Bcl6-deficient thymocytes behaved in a manner similar to BcorΔE4/y thymocytes. Our results provide the first evidence of a tumor suppressor role for BCOR in the pathogenesis of T lymphocyte malignancies.
Differential blood pressure effects of ibuprofen, naproxen, and celecoxib in patients with arthritis: the PRECISION-ABPM (Prospective Randomized Evaluation of Celecoxib Integrated Safety Versus Ibuprofen or Naproxen Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurement) Trial
Authors: Ruschitzka Frank , Borer Jeffrey S , Krum Henry , Flammer Andreas J , Yeomans Neville D , Libby Peter , Lüscher Thomas F , Solomon Daniel H , Husni M Elaine , Graham David Y , Davey Deborah A , Wisniewski Lisa M , Menon Venu , Fayyad Rana , Beckerman Bruce , Iorga Dinu , Lincoff A Michael , Nissen Steven E
Published: August 2017

Aims

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), both non-selective and selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, are among the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide, but associate with increased blood pressure (BP) and adverse cardiovascular (CV) events. PRECISION-ABPM, a substudy of PRECISION was conducted at 60 sites, to determine BP effects of the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib vs. the non-selective NSAIDs naproxen and ibuprofen.

Methods and results

In this double-blind, randomized, multicentre non-inferiority CV-safety trial, 444 patients (mean age 62 ± 10 years, 54% female) with osteoarthritis (92%) or rheumatoid arthritis (8%) and evidence of or at increased risk for coronary artery disease received celecoxib (100–200 mg bid), ibuprofen (600–800 mg tid), or naproxen (375–500 mg bid) with matching placebos in a 1: 1: 1 allocation, to assess the effect on 24-h ambulatory BP after 4 months. The change in mean 24-h systolic BP (SBP) in celecoxib, ibuprofen and naproxen-treated patients was -0.3 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI), −2.25, 1.74], 3.7 (95% CI, 1.72, 5.58) and 1.6 mmHg (95% CI, −0.40, 3.57), respectively. These changes resulted in a difference of − 3.9 mmHg (P = 0.0009) between celecoxib and ibuprofen, of − 1.8 mmHg (P = 0.12) between celecoxib and naproxen, and of − 2.1 mmHg (P = 0.08) between naproxen and ibuprofen. The percentage of patients with normal baseline BP who developed hypertension (mean 24-h SBP ≥ 130 and/or diastolic BP ≥ 80 mmHg) was 23.2% for ibuprofen, 19.0% for naproxen, and 10.3% for celecoxib (odds ratio 0.39, P = 0.004 and odds ratio 0.49, P = 0.03 vs. ibuprofen and naproxen, respectively).

Conclusions

In PRECISION-ABPM, allocation to the non-selective NSAID ibuprofen, compared with the COX-2 selective inhibitor celecoxib was associated with a significant increase of SBP, and a higher incidence of new-onset hypertension.

ClinicalTrials

gov number NCT00346216
Feeling Economically Stuck: The Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility and Socioeconomic Status on Variety Seeking
Authors: Yoon Sunyee , Kim Hyeongmin Christian
Published: August 2017

Five studies provide converging evidence for the joint effect of perceived economic mobility and socioeconomic status (SES) on compensatory behavior, such that low SES consumers who perceive low economic mobility (i.e., economically stuck consumers) seek more variety than other consumers. We trace this effect to these consumers’ desire to compensate for their low sense of personal control. Furthermore, we show that these consumers’ variety-seeking tendency disappears when their sense of control is boosted by other means or when the more varied option is not associated with a sense of control. Alternative explanations based on instrumental benefits, reactance, and affect were tested and did not account for the effect. Thus, the current research provides fresh insights to consumer research by contributing to the literature on compensatory behavior, variety seeking, and SES.
Lateral Cerebellar Nucleus Stimulation has Selective Effects on Glutamatergic and GABAergic Perilesional Neurogenesis After Cortical Ischemia in the Rodent Model
Authors: Chan Hugh H , Cooperrider Jessica , Chen Zhihong , Gale John T , Baker Kenneth B , Wathen Connor A , Modic Claire R , Park Hyun-Joo , Machado Andre G
Published: August 2017

BACKGROUND

Chronic deep brain stimulation of the rodent lateral cerebellar nucleus (LCN) has been demonstrated to enhance motor recovery following cortical ischemia. This effect is concurrent with synaptogenesis and expression of long-term potentiation markers in the perilesional cerebral cortex.

OBJECTIVE

To further investigate the cellular changes associated with chronic LCN stimulation in the ischemic rodent by examining neurogenesis along the cerebellothalamocortical pathway.

METHODS

Rats were trained on the pasta matrix task, followed by induction of cortical ischemia and electrode implantation in the contralesional LCN. Electrical stimulation was initiated 6 wk after stroke induction and continued for 4 wk prior to sacrifice. Neurogenesis was examined using immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

Treated animals showed enhanced performance on the pasta matrix task relative to sham controls. Increased cell proliferation colabeled with 5’-Bromo-2’-deoxyuridine and neurogenic markers (doublecortin) was observed in the perilesional cortex as well as bilateral mediodorsal and ventrolateral thalamic subnuclei in treated vs untreated animals. The neurogenic effect at the level of motor cortex was selective, with stimulation-treated animals showing greater glutamatergic neurogenesis but significantly less GABAergic neurogenesis.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that LCN deep brain stimulation modulates postinjury neurogenesis, providing a possible mechanistic foundation for the associated enhancement in poststroke motor recovery.
Burden-driven feedback control of gene expression
Authors: Ceroni F , Furini S , Gorochowski TE , Boo A , Borkowski O , Ladak YN , Awan AR , Gilbert C , Stan GB , Ellis T
Published: August 2017

Cells use feedback regulation to ensure robust growth despite fluctuating demands on resources and different environmental conditions. Yet the expression of foreign proteins from engineered constructs is an unnatural burden on resources that cells are not adapted for. Here we combined multiplex RNAseq with anin vivoassay to reveal the major transcriptional changes in twoE. colistrains when a set of inducible synthetic constructs are expressed. We identified that native promoters related to the heat-shock response activate expression rapidly in response to synthetic expression, regardless of the construct. Using these promoters, we built a CRISPR/dCas9-based feedback regulation system that automatically adjusts synthetic construct expression in response to burden. Cells equipped with this general-use controller maintain capacity for native gene expression to ensure robust growth and as such outperform unregulated cells at protein yields in batch production. This engineered feedback is the first example of a universal, burden-based biomolecular control system and is modular, tuneable and portable.
ActiveDriverDB: human disease mutations and genome variation in post-translational modification sites of proteins
Authors: Krassowski Michal , Paczkowska Marta , Cullion Kim , Huang Tina , Dzneladze Irakli , Francis Ouellette B. F. , Yamada Joseph T. , Fradet-Turcotte Amelie , Reimand Jüri
Published: August 2017

Interpretation of genetic variation is required for understanding genotype-phenotype associations, mechanisms of inherited disease, and drivers of cancer. Millions of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in human genomes are known and thousands are associated with disease. An estimated 20% of disease-associated missense SNVs are located in protein sites of post-translational modifications (PTMs), chemical modifications of amino acids that extend protein function. ActiveDriverDB is a comprehensive human proteo-genomics database that annotates disease mutations and population variants using PTMs. We integrated >385,000 published PTM sites with ∼3.8 million missense SNVs from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the ClinVar database of disease genes, and inter-individual variation from human genome sequencing projects. The database includes interaction networks of proteins, upstream enzymes such as kinases, and drugs targeting these enzymes. We also predicted network-rewiring impact of mutations by analyzing gains and losses of kinase-bound sequence motifs. ActiveDriverDB provides detailed visualization, filtering, browsing and searching options for studying PTM-associated SNVs. Users can upload mutation datasets interactively and use our application programming interface for pipelines. Integrative analysis of SNVs and PTMs helps decipher molecular mechanisms of phenotypes and disease, as exemplified by case studies of disease genesTP53,BRCA2andVHL. The open-source database is available athttps://www.ActiveDriverDB.org.
Widespread utilization of passive energy recapture in swimming medusae
Authors: Gemmell Brad J. , Colin Sean P. , Costello John H.
Published: August 2017

Recently, it has been shown that some medusae are capable of swimming very efficiently, i.e.; with a low cost of transport, and that this is in part due to passive energy recapture (PER) which occurs during bell relaxation. We compared the swimming kinematics among a diverse array of medusae, varying in taxonomy, morphology and propulsive and foraging modes, in order to evaluate the prevalence of PER in medusae. We found that while PER is commonly observed among taxa, the magnitude of the contribution to overall swimming varied greatly. The ability of medusae to utilize PER was not related to morphology and swimming performance but was controlled by their swimming kinematics. Utilizing PER required the medusae to pause after bell expansion and individuals could modulate their PER by changing their pause duration. Passive energy recapture can greatly enhance swimming efficiency but there appear to be trade-offs associated with utilizing PER.
Intrinsic functional connectivity of the central extended amygdala
Authors: Tillman Rachael M. , Stockbridge Melissa D. , Nacewicz Brendon M. , Torrisi Salvatore , Fox Andrew S. , Smith Jason F. , Shackman Alexander J.
Published: August 2017

The central extended amygdala (EAc)—including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce)—plays a key role in orchestrating states of fear and anxiety and is implicated in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse. Although it is widely thought that these disorders reflect the coordinated actions of large-scale functional circuits in the brain, the architecture of the EAc functional network, and the degree to which the BST and the Ce show distinct patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity, remains incompletely understood. Here, we leveraged a combination of approaches to trace the connectivity of the BST and the Ce in 130 psychiatrically healthy, racially diverse, community-dwelling adults with enhanced power and precision. Multiband imaging, high-precision data registration techniques, and spatially unsmoothed data were used to maximize anatomical specificity. Using newly developed seed regions, whole-brain regression analyses revealed robust functional connectivity between the BST and Ce via the sublenticular extended amygdala (‘substantia innominata’), the ribbon of subcortical gray matter encompassing the ventral amygdalofugal pathway. Both regions displayed significant coupling with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), midcingulate cortex (MCC), insula, and anterior hippocampus. The BST showed significantly stronger connectivity with prefrontal territories—including the vmPFC, anterior MCC and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex—as well as the thalamus, striatum, and the periaqueductal gray. The only regions showing stronger functional connectivity with the Ce were located in the anterior hippocampus and dorsal amygdala. These observations provide a baseline against which to compare a range of special populations, inform our understanding of the role of the EAc in normal and pathological fear and anxiety, and highlight the value of several new approaches to image registration which may be particularly useful for researchers working with ‘de-identified’ neuroimaging data.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Intrinsic functional connectivity of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) in 130 psychiatrically healthy adults.

HIGHLIGHTS

BST and Ce implicated in normal and pathological fear and anxiety

Traced the intrinsic functional connectivity of the BST and the Ce in 130 adults

Multiband imaging, high-precision registration, unsmoothed data, newly developed seeds

BST and Ce show robust coupling with one another, hippocampus, insula, MCC, and vmPFC

BST shows stronger coupling with prefrontal/cingulate territories and brainstem/PAG
Accurate typing of class I human leukocyte antigen by Oxford nanopore sequencing
Authors: Liu Chang , Xiao Fangzhou , Hoisington-Lopez Jessica , Lang Kathrin , Quenzel Philipp , Duffy Brian , Mitra Robi David
Published: August 2017

Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ MinION has expanded the current DNA sequencing toolkit by delivering long read lengths and extreme portability. The MinION has the potential to enable expedited point-of-care human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, an assay routinely used to assess the immunological compatibility between organ donors and recipients, but the platform’s high error rate makes it challenging to type alleles with clinical-grade accuracy. Here, we developed and validated Athlon, an algorithm that iteratively scores nanopore reads mapped to a hierarchical database of HLA alleles to arrive at a consensus diploid genotype; Athlon achieved a 100% accuracy in class I HLA typing at high resolution.
Facilitated analysis of large data sets by interactive visualisation
Authors: Lu Zhigang , Zhang Yanyan
Published: August 2017

In biological research analysis of large data sets, such as RNA-seq gene expression, often involves visualisation of thousands of data points and associated database query. Static charts produced by traditional tools lack the ability to reveal underlying information, and separated database query is laborious and involves a lot of manual effort. Interactive charting is able to make the data transparent but the use of visualisation tools often requires certain programming skills, which hinders most academic users. We present here an open-source chart editor for interactive visualisation, which is designed for academic users with no programming experience. It can not only visualise the data in an interactive way, but also link the data points to external databases, by which the user can save a lot of manual effort. We believe that interactive visualisation using such tools will facilitate analysis of large data sets as well as presenting and interpreting the data.
DrugPattern: a web-based tool for drug set enrichment analysis
Authors: Huang Chuanbo , Yang Weili , Wang Junpei , Zhou Yuan , Geng Bin , Kararigas Georgios , Yang Jichun , Cui Qinghua
Published: August 2017

Set enrichment analysis based methods (e.g. gene set enrichment analysis) have provided great helps in mining patterns in biomedical datasets, however, tools for inferring regular patterns in drug-related datasets are still limited. For the above purpose, here we developed a web-based tool, DrugPattern. DrugPattern first collected and curated 7019 drug sets, including indications, adverse reaction, targets, pathways etc. For a list of interested drugs, DrugPattern then evaluates the significance of the enrichment of these drugs in each of the 7019 drug sets. To validate DrugPattern, we applied it to predict the potential protective roles of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), a widely accepted deleterious factor for the body. We predicted that oxLDL has beneficial effects on some diseases, most of which were supported by literature except type 2 diabetes (T2D), in which oxLDL was previously believed to be a risk factor. Animal experiments further validated that oxLDL indeed has beneficial effects on T2D. These data confirmed the prediction accuracy of our approach and revealed unexpected protective roles for oxLDL in various diseases including T2D. This study provides a tool to infer regular patterns in biomedical datasets based on drug set enrichment analysis.
Targeting individual cells by barcode in pooled sequence libraries
Authors: Ranu Navpreet , Villani Alexandra-Chloé , Hacohen Nir , Blainey Paul C.
Published: August 2017

There is rising interest in applying single-cell transcriptome analysis and other single-cell sequencing methods to resolve differences between cells. Pooled processing of thousands of single cells is now routinely practiced by introducing cell-specific DNA barcodes early in cell processing protocols1-5. However, researchers must sequence a large number of cells to sample rare subpopulations6-8, even when fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) is used to pre-enrich rare cell populations. Here, a new molecular enrichment method is used in conjunction with FACS enrichment to enable efficient sampling of rare dendritic cell (DC) populations, including the recently identified AXL+SIGLEC6+(AS DCs) subset7, within a 10X Genomics single-cell RNA-Seq library. DC populations collectively represent 1-2% of total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), with AS DC representing only 1-3% of human blood DCs and 0.01-0.06% of total PBMCs.
Disease mediated changes to life history and demography threaten the survival of European amphibian populations
Authors: Campbell Lewis J. , Garner Trenton W. J. , Tessa Giulia , Scheele Benjamin C. , Griffiths Amber G.F. , Wilfert Lena , Harrison Xavier A.
Published: August 2017

Infectious diseases can influence the life history strategy of their hosts and such influences subsequently impact the demography of infected populations, reducing viability independently of increased mortality or morbidity. Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates and emerging infectious diseases play a large role in their population declines. Viruses of genusRanavirusare responsible for one of the deadliest of these diseases. To date no work has evaluated the impact of ranaviruses on host life-history post metamorphosis or population demographic structure at the individual level. In this study, we used skeletochronology and morphology to evaluate the impact of ranaviruses on the demography of populations of European common frog (Rana temporaria) in the United Kingdom. We compared ecologically similar populations that differed only in their historical presence or absence of ranaviral disease. Our results suggest that ranaviruses are associated with shifts in the age structure of infected populations, potentially caused by increased adult mortality and associated shifts in the life history of younger age classes. Population projection models indicate that such age truncation could heighten the vulnerability of frog populations to stochastic environmental challenges. Our individual level data provide further compelling evidence that the emergence of infectious diseases can alter host demography, subsequently increasing population vulnerability to additional stressors.
Acute Hepatitis E Virus infection in two geographical regions of Nigeria
Authors: Ifeorah I.M. , Faleye T. O. C. , Bakarey A. S. , Adewumi M. O. , Akere A. , Omoruyi E. C. , Ogunwale A. O. , Adeniji J. A.
Published: August 2017

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) remains a major public health concern in resource limited regions of the world. Yet data reporting is suboptimal and surveillance system inadequate. In Nigeria, there is dearth of information on prevalence of acute HEV infection. This study was therefore designed to describe acute HEV infection among antenatal clinic attendees and asymptomatic community dwellers from two geographical regions in Nigeria.

In this study 750 plasma samples were tested for HEV IgM by Enzyme Linked lmmunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique. The tested samples were randomly selected from a pool of 1,115 samples previously collected from selected populations (pregnant women – 272, Oyo community dwellers – 438, Anambra community dwellers – 405) for viral hepatitis studies between September 2012 and August 2013.

One (0.4%) pregnant woman in her 3rdtrimester had detectable HEV IgM, while community dwellers from the two study locations had zero prevalence rates of HEV IgM.

Detection of HEV IgM in a pregnant woman, especially in her 3rdtrimester is of clinical and epidemiological significance. The need therefore exists for establishment of a robust HEV surveillance system in Nigeria, and especially amidst the pregnant population in a bid to improve maternal and child health.
Local structure around In atoms in coherently grown m-plane InGaN film
Authors: Miyanaga Takafumi , Azuhata Takashi , Nitta Kiyofumi , Chichibu Shigefusa F.
Published: August 2017

The local structure around In atoms in an m-plane In0.06Ga0.94N film coherently grown on a freestanding m-plane GaN substrate was investigated by polarization-dependent X-ray absorption fine-structure. A step-by-step fitting procedure was proposed for the m-plane wurtzite structure. The interatomic distance for the first nearest neighbour In—N atomic pairs was almost isotropic. For the second nearest In—Ga pairs, the interatomic distances along the m- and a-axes were longer and shorter, respectively, than that in strain-free virtual crystals as expected for the m-plane compressive strain. In contrast, the In—Ga interatomic distance in the c-direction was elongated in spite of the compressive strain, which was explained in terms of the anisotropic atomic structure on the m-plane. The local strain in the m-plane film was more relaxed than that in coherently grown c-plane single quantum wells. A few In atoms were atomically localized in all directions, and thus localized excitonic emission is expected as in the case of c-plane InGaN.
Characterization and crystal structure of a novel zearalenone hydrolase fromCladophialophora bantiana
Authors: Hui Renjie , Hu Xiangying , Liu Wenting , Liu Weidong , Zheng Yingying , Chen Yun , Guo Rey-Ting , Jin Jian , Chen Chun-Chi
Published: August 2017

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a mycotoxin which causes huge economic losses in the food and animal feed industries. The lactonase ZHD101 fromClonostachys rosea, which catalyzes the hydrolytic degradation of ZEN, is the only known ZEN-detoxifying enzyme. Here, a protein homologous to ZHD101, denoted CbZHD, fromCladophialophora batianawas expressed and characterized. Sequence alignment indicates that CbZHD possesses the same catalytic triad and ZEN-interacting residues as found in ZHD101. CbZHD exhibits optimal enzyme activity at 35°C and pH 8, and is sensitive to heat treatment. The crystal structure of apo CbZHD was determined to 1.75 Å resolution. The active-site compositions of CbZHD and ZHD101 were analyzed.
(Thiocyanato-κS)tris(triphenylphosphane-κP)silver(I)
Authors: Nimthong-Roldán Arunpatcha , Sripa Paramee , Romyen Monpariya , Wattanakanjana Yupa
Published: August 2017

In the mononuclear title complex, [Ag(SCN)(C18H15P)3], the AgIcenter is in a slightly distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry formed by one S atom from a terminal thiocyanate ligand and three P atoms from three triphenylphosphane ligands. In the crystal, weak C—H...N hydrogen bonds connect molecules into a two-dimensional network parallel to (10\overline{1}). One of the phenyl rings is disordered over two positions which were refined with an occupancy ratio of 0.715 (16):0.285 (16).
Explaining the expense ratio of international equity funds
Authors: Low Soo-Wah
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of fund expense ratio for Malaysia-based international equity funds. An understanding of what these factors are and how they affect a fund’s expense ratio is important given that international funds can be expensive to operate and that fund expenses have negative impact on investors’ returns.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs a standard cross-sectional regression model in examining the factors that influence fund expense ratio of international equity funds.

Findings

The findings show that sales charge is positively related to fund expense ratio although it is not included in the expense ratio computation. This suggests that investor could possibly incur additional “hidden cost” since sales charge represents an upfront cost that an investor has already paid at the time of the fund sale. Additionally, funds with aggressive investment objective and frequent portfolio turnover show higher expense ratios than funds with conservative investment objective and less trading activities. There is no evidence that fund size, fund age, and the number of funds in a fund family are significantly related to the fund expense ratio. While the lack of statistical finding for fund size in this study seems inconsistent with the results of the US market in general, the finding is supportive of the Thai equity fund market and thus implying that finding could be country specific.

Research limitations/implications

There is limited availability of international equity funds in Malaysia.

Practical implications

The findings provide useful insights for investors to make informed international fund selection decisions. Expense-conscious investors should pay particular attention to fund’s sales charge, turnover ratio, and its investment objective when selecting funds for investment.

Originality/value

This paper provides first evidence on the determinants of fund expense ratio of Malaysia-based international equity funds.
The influence of price and promotion on package size propensity
Authors: Ghosh Amit K.
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The constantly changing prices, promotions, and packaging options have made decision making more complex for consumers of packaged goods. The purpose of this paper is to explore how price and promotions influence consumer propensity to buy a certain package size.

Design/methodology/approach

Scanner panel data for shelf-stable salad dressing obtained from Information Resources Inc. were used to compute the proportion of large packages bought, the relative price paid for large packages, propensity to use various types of promotions, and a behavioral covariate for each household. Data of over 5,600 households were analyzed using a multiple regression analysis for hypothesis testing.

Findings

The positive nature of relationship between the relative price of large packages and the proportion of large packages bought demonstrates the suboptimal nature of consumer decision making. The inefficiency is partially attributable to the abundance of promotions, to consumers’ lack of price awareness, and to the use of heuristics by consumers. Also, consumers who are prone to use promotions such as displays and temporary price reductions tend to purchase larger packages. They are more likely to buy impulsively and base their decisions on heuristics. In contrast, consumers who are influenced by featured price cuts and who utilize coupons tend to purchase smaller packages.

Research limitations/implications

Data were obtained from grocery stores; only a single product category was studied.

Practical implications

Offer coupons and advertise featured price cuts on small packages to increase the sales of smaller packages. To move large packages successfully, retailers should rely more on in-store displays and temporary price reductions.

Originality/value

The impact of price and promotions on package size propensity has never been investigated. This study is also one of the few that uses a household-level analysis based on observable purchase data for consumer packaged goods.
Human-centered authentication guidelines
Authors: Still Jeremiah D. , Cain Ashley , Schuster David
Published: August 2017

Purpose

Despite the widespread use of authentication schemes and the rapid emergence of novel authentication schemes, a general set of domain-specific guidelines has not yet been developed. This paper aims to present and explain a list of human-centered guidelines for developing usable authentication schemes.

Design/methodology/approach

The guidelines stem from research findings within the fields of psychology, human–computer interaction and information/computer science.

Findings

Instead of viewing users as the inevitable weak point in the authentication process, this study proposes that authentication interfaces be designed to take advantage of users’ natural abilities. This approach requires that one understands how interactions with authentication interfaces can be improved and what human capabilities can be exploited. A list of six guidelines that designers ought to consider when developing a new usable authentication scheme has been presented.

Research limitations/implications

This consolidated list of usable authentication guidelines provides system developers with immediate access to common design issues impacting usability. These guidelines ought to assist designers in producing more secure products in fewer costly development cycles.

Originality/value

Cybersecurity research and development has mainly focused on technical solutions to increase security. However, the greatest weakness of many systems is the user. It is argued that authentication schemes with poor usability are inherently insecure, as users will inadvertently weaken the security in their efforts to use the system. The study proposes that designers need to consider the human factors that impact end-user behavior. Development from this perspective will address the greatest weakness in most security systems by increasing end-user compliance.
A cyber-threat analytic model for autonomous detection of virtual property theft
Authors: Patterson Nicholas , Hobbs Michael , Zhu Tianqing
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide a framework to detect and prevent virtual property theft in virtual world environments. The issue of virtual property theft is a serious problem which has ramifications in both the real and virtual world. Virtual world users invest a considerable amount of time, effort and often money to collect virtual property, only to have them stolen by thieves. Many virtual property thefts go undetected and often only discovered after the incident has occurred.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents the design of an autonomic detection framework to identify virtual property theft at two key stages: account intrusion and virtual property trades. Account intrusion is an unauthorized user attempting to gain access to an account and unauthorized virtual property trades are trading of items between two users which exhibit theft characteristics.

Findings

Initial tests of this framework on a synthetic data set show an 80 per cent detection rate. This framework allows virtual world developers to tailor and extend it to suit their specific requirements. It provides an effective way of detecting virtual property theft while being low maintenance, user friendly and cost effective.

Originality/value

To the author’s knowledge, there is no detection framework, system or tool that works on virtual property theft detection in virtual world environments without access to authentic virtual world data or attack data (because of privacy issues and unwillingness of virtual world environments companies to collaborate). The topic of virtual property theft, lack of existing labelled data sets, user anonymity, size of virtual world environments data sets and privacy issues with virtual world companies and a number of other critical factors distinguish this paper from previous studies.
Deterrence and punishment experience impacts on ISP compliance attitudes
Authors: Aurigemma Salvatore , Mattson Thomas
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the inconclusive impacts of sanction-related deterrence on employee information security policy (ISP) compliance from the extant literature. It proposes that the disparate findings can be partially explained by two factors: investigating the mediating impact of attitudes on sanction effects instead of directly on behavioral intentions and examining employees with and without previous punishment experiences separately.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper relied upon survey data from 239 employees of a large governmental organization with a robust ISP and security education and training awareness program.

Findings

The paper provides empirical evidence that the rational estimation of sanction effects impacts the cognitive component of attitudes to develop a positive or negative attitude toward performing the ISP directed behavior. Furthermore, this attitudinal effect (created by sanction threats) will be biased depending on whether the employee has experienced, personally or vicariously, any previous punishment for violating the ISP.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach (self-reported survey data) and context (single hierarchical organization and a very specific security threat), the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further in different organizational and threat contexts.

Practical implications

Organizations should have a thorough understanding of how their employees’ perceive sanctions in relationship to their prior experiences before implementing such policies.

Originality/value

The paper addresses previous research calls for examining possible mediation variables for deterrence effects and impacts of punishment experiences on employee ISP compliance.
Exploring the implications of supply risk on sustainability performance
Authors: Shafiq Asad , Johnson P. Fraser , Klassen Robert D. , Awaysheh Amrou
Published: August 2017

Purpose

Firms are increasingly being pressured by the public, regulators and customers to ensure that their suppliers behave in a socially and ecologically sound manner. Yet, the complexity and risks embedded in many supply chains makes this challenging, with monitoring practices offering one means to attenuate supply sustainability risk. Drawing on agency theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between sustainability and operations risk, supplier sustainability monitoring practices, supply improvement initiatives and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses data from a survey and archival sources from a sample of large US firms to empirically examine the relationship between sustainability and operations risk, supplier sustainability monitoring practices, supply improvement initiatives and firm performance.

Findings

Findings indicate that higher levels of perceived sustainability risk is related to greater monitoring of supplier sustainability practices by focal firms. Perceptions of higher operations risk are indirectly related to greater social monitoring through investment in supply improvement initiatives. Monitoring of supplier sustainability practices is also found to have a positive effect on focal firm performance.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that managers process operations risks and sustainability risks independently. Greater sustainability risk leads to increased sustainability monitoring, while greater operations risk leads to increased investment in supply improvement initiatives, which in turn leads to increased social monitoring. The research also indicates that behavior-oriented approaches, such as monitoring of supplier environmental and social practices, are an effective approach to improving firm sustainability performance. However, due to resource constraints, a challenge for supply chain managers is where and when to invest in behavior-oriented approaches for suppliers.

Originality/value

This research advances supply risk literature by exploring the effects of supply sustainability risk on the use of monitoring practices to manage supplier environmental and social behavior. Using a combination of survey and archival data to independently assess the implications of sustainability monitoring practices on firm sustainability performance, this study provides a methodology for evaluating the impact of sustainability monitoring practices on the triple bottom line in supply chain management.
Quality ambidexterity, competitive strategies, and financial performance
Authors: Herzallah Ahmad , Gutierrez-Gutierrez Leopoldo J. , Munoz Rosas Juan Francisco
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between quality ambidexterity (QAMB), competitive strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, and focus), and firm performance in Palestinian industry, and to analyze the combination of quality exploitation (QEI) and quality exploration (QER) (QAMB) associated with the different levels of each competitive strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data collected through a survey of 205 Palestinian industrial firms, the study conducted structural equation modeling to test the proposed relationships. Additional statistical analyses were applied to the combinations of QEI and QER for each competitive strategy.

Findings

The results show a positive and significant relationship between QAMB and three competitive strategies, and between competitive strategies and financial performance, focus strategy excepted. Balanced combination with similar levels of QEI and QER is found to be more suitable for higher levels of competitive strategies implementation, whereas an excess of QER over QEI is associated with lower levels of strategies implementation.

Research limitations/implications

Although Palestine has two regions, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, all survey respondents were from the West Bank. The data used in this study come from the industrial sector only.

Originality/value

This study is the first empirical test to examine the impact of QAMB on financial performance through competitive strategies. The study results may help managers to implement QEI and QER practices in order to allocate resources effectively and ultimately improve financial performance.