bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Litorivivens lipolytica gen. nov., sp. nov., a lipolytic bacterium isolated from a tidal flat
Authors: Park Sooyeon , Park Ji-Min , Kang Chul-Hyung , Yoon Jung-Hoon
Published: October 2014

A Gram-stain-negative, flagellated, aerobic and rod-shaped or ovoid bacterial strain, designated HJTF-7T, was isolated from a tidal flat on the South Sea of South Korea, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Strain HJTF-7T grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0–8.0 and in the presence of 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Neighbour-joining, maximum-likelihood and maximum-parsimony phylogenetic trees, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showed that strain HJTF-7T joined the cluster comprising the type strains of species of the genera

Spongiibacter

and

Zhongshania

. Strain HJTF-7T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 90.4–92.5 % to the type strains of species of the genera

Spongiibacter

and

Zhongshania

and of less than 91.5 % to the type strains of other recognized species. Strain HJTF-7T contained Q-8 as the predominant ubiquinone. The major fatty acids were iso-C17 : 1ω9c, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0, iso-C11 : 0 3-OH and C17 : 1ω8c and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The fatty acid and polar lipid profiles of strain HJTF-7T were distinct from those of members of the genera

Spongiibacter

and

Zhongshania

. The DNA G+C content of strain HJTF-7T was 55.9 mol%. The phylogenetic data and differential chemotaxonomic and other phenotypic properties revealed that strain HJTF-7T represents a novel genus and species within the class

Gammaproteobacteria

, for which the name Litorivivens lipolytica gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Litorivivens lipolytica is HJTF-7T ( = KCTC 42157T = CECT 8654T).
Species delimitation and phylogeny estimation under the multispecies coalescent
Authors: Jones Graham
Published: October 2014

This article describes a Bayesian method for inferring both species delimitations and species trees under the multispecies coalescent model using DNA sequences from multiple loci. The focus here is on species delimitation with no a priori assignment of individuals to species, and no guide tree. The method uses a new model for the population sizes along the branches of the species tree, and three new operators for sampling from the posterior using the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. The correctness of the moves is demonstrated both by proofs and by tests of the implementation. Current practice, using a pipeline approach to species delimitation under the multispecies coalescent, has been shown to have major problems on simulated data [10]. The same simulated data set is used to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present method. The method is implemented in a package called STACEY for BEAST2.
Disruption of the CYTOCHROME C OXIDASE DEFICIENT1 Gene Leads to Cytochrome c Oxidase Depletion and Reorchestrated Respiratory Metabolism in Arabidopsis
Authors: Dahan Jennifer , Tcherkez Guillaume , Macherel David , Benamar Abdelilah , Belcram Katia , Quadrado Martine , Arnal Nadège , Mireau Hakim
Published: October 2014

Cytochrome c oxidase is the last respiratory complex of the electron transfer chain in mitochondria and is responsible for transferring electrons to oxygen, the final acceptor, in the classical respiratory pathway. The essentiality of this step makes it that depletion in complex IV leads to lethality, thereby impeding studies on complex IV assembly and respiration plasticity in plants. Here, we characterized Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) embryo-lethal mutant lines impaired in the expression of the CYTOCHROME C OXIDASE DEFICIENT1 (COD1) gene, which encodes a mitochondria-localized PentatricoPeptide Repeat protein. Although unable to germinate under usual conditions, cod1 homozygous embryos could be rescued from immature seeds and developed in vitro into slow-growing bush-like plantlets devoid of a root system. cod1 mutants were defective in C-to-U editing events in cytochrome oxidase subunit2 and NADH dehydrogenase subunit4 transcripts, encoding subunits of respiratory complex IV and I, respectively, and consequently lacked cytochrome c oxidase activity. We further show that respiratory oxygen consumption by cod1 plantlets is exclusively associated with alternative oxidase activity and that alternative NADH dehydrogenases are also up-regulated in these plants. The metabolomics pattern of cod1 mutants was also deeply altered, suggesting that alternative metabolic pathways compensated for the probable resulting restriction in NADH oxidation. Being the first complex IV-deficient mutants described in higher plants, cod1 lines should be instrumental to future studies on respiration homeostasis.
Crystal structure of 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-(methylsulfanyl)acrylonitrile
Authors: Kumar Shamantha , Hosamani Amar A. , Vinayaka A. C. , Sadashiva M. P. , Doreswamy B. H.
Published: October 2014

In the title compound, C17H14ClNOS, the aromatic rings are inclined to one another by 64.22 (9)°. The acrylonitrile group (C=C—C[triple-bond]N) is planar to within 0.003 (2) Å, with the S atom and the methyl C atom displaced from this plane by 0.2317 (6) and −0.637 (2) Å, respectively. In the crystal, molecules are linkedviapairs of C—H...π interactions, forming inversion dimers. There are no other significant intermolecular interactions present.
Crystal structure of bis[2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-bromophenolato-κ2N3,O]cobalt(II)
Authors: Fan Yan , Qu Zhi-Rong
Published: October 2014

The asymmetric unit of the title CoIIcomplex, [Co(C13H8BrN2O)2], contains two independent molecules (AandB). In both molecules, the CoIIcation isN,O-chelated by two 2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-bromophenolate anions in a distorted tetrahedral geometry. In moleculeA, both chelating rings display an envelope conformation, with the flap Co atom lying 0.614 (6) and 0.483 (6) Å from the mean planes of the remaining atoms. In moleculeB, both chelating rings are approximately planar, the maximum deviations being 0.039 (4) and 0.076 (3) Å. In the crystal, molecules are linked by classical N—H...O hydrogen bonds and weak C—H...O and C—H...Br hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional supramolecular network. Extensive π–π stacking is observed between nearly parallel aromatic rings of adjacent molecules with centroid–centroid distances in the range 3.407 (3)–3.850 (4) Å.
Crystal structure of 6,6′-dimethyl-2H,2′H-3,4′-bichromene-2,2′-dione
Authors: Pujar Kiran K. , Kulkarni Manohar V. , Anil Kumar G. N.
Published: October 2014

In the title compound, C20H14O4, the dihedral angle between the two coumarin ring systems is 52.37 (19)°, showing agauchearrangement across the C—C bond which links the two units. The carbonyl groups of the two coumarin units adopt an s-transarrangement. In the crystal, pairs of C—H...O hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.631 (2) Å] connect the molecules into inversion dimers.
Crystal structure of 3-[(2-acetylphenoxy)carbonyl]benzoic acid
Authors: Shoaib Mohammad , Shah Ismail , Shah Syed Wadood Ali , Tahir Muhammad Nawaz , Ullah Shafi , Ayaz Muhammad
Published: October 2014

In the title compound, C16H12O5, synthesized from isopthaloyl chloride and 2′-hydroxyacetophenone, the dihedral angle between the planes of the aromatic rings is 71.37 (9)°. In the crystal, carboxylic acid inversion dimers generateR22(8) loops. The dimers are linked by C—H...O interactions, generating (101) sheets.
Crystal structure of bis(μ-2,3,4,5-tetrafluorobenzoato-κ2O:O′)bis[(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2N:N′)(2,3,4,5-tetrafluorobenzoato-κO)copper(II)] dihydrate
Authors: Sun Junshan
Published: October 2014

In the title compound, [Cu2(C7HF4O2)4(C12H8N2)2]·2H2O, the CuIIion has a square-pyramidal coordination sphere. The basal plane consists of two N atoms [Cu—N = 2.008 (3) and 2.032 (3) Å] from the phenanthroline ligand, and of two carboxylate O atoms [Cu—O = 1.942 (3) and 1.948 (3) Å] from two 2,3,4,5-tetrafluorobenzoate anions. Another 2,3,4,5-tetrafluorobenzoate anion provides the apical carboxylate O atom [Cu—O = 2.262 (3) Å] and bridges two CuIIions into a binuclear centrosymmetric dimer. Intramolecular π–π interactions between one of the tetrafluorobenzene rings and the middle of the phenenanthroline rings [3.617 (3) Å] stabilize the molecular configuration. O—H...O hydrogen bonds between the lattice water molecules and the unbound carboxylate O atoms of the metal complexes leads to the formation of a chain structure parallel to [100].
Crystal structure of triaqua(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2N,N′)(2,4,5-trifluoro-3-methoxybenzoato-κO1)cobalt(II) 2,4,5-trifluoro-3-methoxybenzoate
Authors: Sun Junshan
Published: October 2014

The title salt, [Co(C8H4F3O3)(C12H8N2)(H2O)3](C8H4F3O3), was obtained under solvothermal conditions by the reaction of 2,4,5-trifluoro-3-methoxybenzoic acid with CoCl2in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen). The CoIIion is octahedrally coordinated by two N atoms [Co—N = 2.165 (2) and 2.129 (2) Å] from the phen ligand, by one carboxylate O atom [Co—O = 2.107 (1) Å] and by three O atoms from water molecules [Co—O = 2.093 (1), 2.102 (1) and 2.114 (1) Å]. The equatorial positions of the slightly distorted octahedron are occupied by the N atoms, the carboxylate O and one water O atom. An intra- and intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen-bonding network between the water-containing complex cation and the organic anion leads to the formation of ribbons parallel to [010].
A one-dimensional ZnIIcoordination polymer: poly[dichlorido(μ2-1,4-phenylenediacetato-κ2O:O′)bis{μ2-1,3-bis[(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)methyl]benzene-κ2N3:N3′}dizinc(II)]
Authors: Xu Xiao-Juan
Published: October 2014

In the title one-dimensional ZnIIcoordination polymer, [Zn(C10H8O4)0.5Cl(C12H12N6)]n, the asymmetric unit consists of a ZnIIcation, a 1,3-bis[(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)methyl]benzene ligand and half of a fully deprotonated centrosymmetric 1,4-phenylenediacetic acid ligand. The crystal structure shows a one-dimensional rotaxane-like structure. This coordination polymer is reinforced by C—H...O and C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions.
Etihad Airlines: growth through successful strategic partnerships
Authors: Al Ali Hamad A. , Ahmad Syed Zamberi
Published: October 2014

Subject area

International business and/or strategic management.

Study level/applicability

This case is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate level students majoring in international business management and/or strategic management.

Case overview

Etihad Airways was established in 2003, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the UAE government as sole owner. It is the national carrier of UAE with Abu Dhabi as its centre of operations. Etihad is recognized as a fast-growing player in the aviation industry, and has become one of the dominant international players in the industry in a relatively short time. Etihad's fleet now contains more than 67 planes, with more than 1,300 flights per week to diverse destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. The company describes its business strategy as “sustainable growth”. Looking through a practitioner's lens, strategic partnerships have been the critical activities through which Etihad has delivered its strategy. The purpose of this case study is therefore to elaborate on its major and successful partnerships and the critical benefits of these. Secondary data were collected from credible sources including academic studies, relevant Etihad publications and industry reports published by official aviation associations.

Expected learning outcomes

Students will be able to understand the theory of strategic partnerships, their roles and benefits and critically evaluate the pre-staging “requirements” of such partnerships. In this case, the specific learning outcome of it is to help students to understand the importance of successful strategic partnerships for Etihad Airlines and how partnership strategies can improve the performance of Etihad Airlines.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Marginalized by race and place
Authors: Parashar Sangeeta
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– Given South Africa's apartheid history, studies have primarily focused on racial discrimination in employment outcomes, with lesser attention paid to gender and context. The purpose of this paper is to fill an important gap by examining the combined effect of macro- and micro-level factors on occupational sex segregation in post-apartheid South Africa. Intersections by race are also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

– A multilevel multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the influence of various supply and demand variables on women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations. Data from the 2001 Census and other published sources are used, with women nested in magisterial districts.

Findings

– Demand-side results indicate that service sector specialization augments differentiation by increasing women's opportunities in both white-collar male- and female-dominated occupations. Contrary to expectations, urban residence does not influence women's, particularly African women's, placement in any male-type positions, although Whites (white-collar) and Coloureds (blue-collar) fare better. Supply side human capital models are supported in general with African women receiving higher returns from education relative to others, although theories of “maternal incompatibility” are partially disproved. Finally, among all racial groups, African women are least likely to be employed in any male-dominated occupations, highlighting their marginalization and sustained discrimination in the labour market.

Practical implications

– An analysis of women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations by race provides practical information to design equitable work policies by gender and race.

Social implications

– Sex-typing of occupations has deleterious consequences such as lower security, wage differentials, and fewer prospects for promotion, that in turn increase labour market rigidity, reduce economic efficiency, and bar women from reaching their full potential.

Originality/value

– Very few empirical studies have examined occupational sex segregation (using detailed three-digit data) in developing countries, including South Africa. Methodologically, the paper uses multilevel techniques to correctly estimate ways in which context influences individual outcomes. Finally, it contributes to the literature on intersectionality by examining how gender and race sustain systems of inequality.
Street-level bureaucrats’ attitudes towards the Finnish labour market allowance
Authors: Kallio Johanna , Saarinen Arttu
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes of street-level bureaucrats from different agencies and sectors of the Finnish welfare state, namely municipal social workers, diaconal workers of the Lutheran church, benefit officials of the Social Security Institution and officials of private unemployment funds.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors are interested in the following questions: What are the attitudes of street-level bureaucrats towards the labour market allowance? What is the impact of individual characteristics? The study utilised the unique national survey data of different groups of street-level bureaucrats from the year 2011 (totalN=2,313). The dependent variables focus on legitimacy of the basic level of labour market allowance and sanction policies. Analyses are built around five independent variables which measure professional, personal interest and ideological factors.

Findings

– There are differences both between and within groups of Finnish street-level bureaucrats with regard to their attitudes concerning the labour market allowance. Social and diaconal workers believe more often than officials that the level of labour market allowance is too low, and offer less support for the idea that an unemployed person should take any job that is offered or have their unemployment security reduced. The results show that the attitudes of bureaucrats are explained by length of work history, economic situation and ideological factors.

Originality/value

– There have been very few analyses comparing attitudes among different groups of bureaucrats. The present study is intended to fill this gap in the literature.
A methodological framework for ascertaining the social capital of environmental community organisations in urban Australia
Authors: P. Dhakal Subas
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the level of social capital in environmental community organisations (ECOs) in Perth, Western Australia. On a general level, social capital in ECOs is understood as intra-organisational and inter-organisational relationships that organisations maintain through interactions.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper utilises quantitative (i.e. survey) as well as qualitative (i.e. interviews) approaches to data collection and analysis. It proposes a methodological framework to measure the level of social capital, and explores the association between the ascertained level of social capital and organisational capabilities.

Findings

– The results of the survey and interviews reveal that while the level of social capital is needs based, maintaining a higher intensity of organisational relationships puts ECOs in a better position to do more with less.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings advance the task of ascertaining the level of social capital in ECOs from organisational interactions perspective.

Originality/value

– This paper captures a community organisation-specific methodological framework to measure and analyse social capital.
Spaced repetition learning games on mobile devices
Authors: Schimanke Florian , Mertens Robert , Vornberger Oliver
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purposes of this paper are to implement a spaced repetition algorithm into a learning game, analyze the pros and cons of this implementation and make different considerations about designing the game to make the algorithm work in an optimal way. While games offer a promising way of engaging and motivating learners to deal with a certain topic, repetitions foster immersing this topic sustainably. Those repetitions should be done at sophistically determined intervals to maximize learning outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

– The work is implemented as two prototype learning games which use the SM2 algorithm for content selection and repetition scheduling. Based on our findings about user behavior, this study developed an auxiliary algorithm to aid SM2 in the special setting of a learning game. To design the game in a way which supports the spaced repetition approach, this study have analyzed best-practices in this domain and made some considerations for adapting them accordingly.

Findings

– An auxiliary algorithm is needed to support the usage of common spaced repetition algorithms in mobile learning games. Best-practices in designing those games need to be to suit the spaced repetitions approach.

Practical implications

– This paper shows the benefits of combining learning games with the spaced repetition approach and points out specifics in designing spaced repetition based mobile learning games.

Originality/value

– While spaced repetitions are already commonly used with other types of learning, it has yet to be implemented in learning games. This study’s approach shows ways to do this and which considerations have to be made.
LectureSight: an open source system for automatic camera control for lecture recordings
Authors: Wulff Benjamin , Fecke Alexander , Rupp Lisa , Hamborg Kai-Christoph
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this work is to present a prototype of the system and the results from a technical evaluation and a study on possible effects of recordings with active camera control on the learner. An increasing number of higher education institutions have adopted the lecture recording technology in the past decade. Even though some solutions already show a very high degree of automation, active camera control can still only be realized with the use of human labor. Aiming to fill this gap, the LectureSight project is developing a free solution for active autonomous camera control for presentation recordings. The system uses a monocular overview camera to analyze the scene. Adopters can formulate camera control strategies in a simple scripting language to adjust the system’s behavior to the specific characteristics of a presentation site.

Design/methodology/approach

– The system is based on a highly modularized architecture to make it easily extendible. The prototype has been tested in a seminar room and a large lecture hall. Furthermore, a study was conducted in which students from two universities prepared for a simulated exam with an ordinary lecture recording and a recording produced with the LectureSight technology.

Findings

– The technical evaluation showed a good performance of the prototype but also revealed some technical constraints. The results of the psychological study give evidence that the learner might benefit from lecture videos in which the camera follows the presenter so that gestures and facial expression are easily perceptible.

Originality/value

– The LectureSight project is the first open-source initiative to care about the topic of camera control for presentation recordings. This opens way for other projects building upon the LectureSight architecture. The simulated exam study gave evidence of a beneficial effect on students learning success and needs to be reproduced. Also, if the effect is proven to be consistent, the mechanism behind it is worth to be investigated further.
Requirements of students for video-annotations in lecture recordings
Authors: Rolf Rüdiger , Reuter Hannah , Abel Martin , Hamborg Kai-Christoph
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– Improving the use of annotations in lecture recordings.

Design/methodology/approach

– Requirements analysis with scenario based design (SBD) on focus groups.

Findings

– These seven points have been extracted from the feedback of the focus groups: (1) Control of the annotation feature (turn on/turn off). (2) An option to decide who is able to see their comments (groups, lecturer, friends). (3) An easy and paper-like experience in creating a comment. (4) An option to discuss comments. (5) An option to import already existing comments. (6) Color-coding of the different types of comments. (7) An option to print their annotations within the context of the recording.

Research limitations/implications

– The study was performed to improve the open-source lecture recording system Opencast Matterhorn.

Originality/value

– Annotations can help to enable the students that use lecture recordings to move from a passive watching to an active viewing and reflecting.
Evaluating sustainability in the UK fast food supply chain
Authors: Shokri Alireza , Oglethorpe David , Nabhani Farhad
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of concern and practice of sustainability development and also policy failure in the fast food supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

– A questionnaire using Likert scoring recorded variations in current practice and attitudes toward sustainable business. A two-stage cluster analysis was conducted to analyze the multi-attribute ordinal data obtained from the questionnaire.

Findings

– Significant differences were found among clusters of fast food businesses in terms of their sustainability concern and practice, which is of interest to policy makers, consumers and supply chain partners. Medium-sized fast food dealers emerge with high environmental and social concern, but poor practice; larger retailers and fast food chains appear to have both fair social and environmental awareness and practice; and there is a cluster of small takeaway-specific outlets that have particularly low levels of knowledge of sustainability or sustainable practices. Policy failure is prevalent amongst these businesses and without regulation this represents a possible threat to the sector.

Research limitations/implications

– Reliance on stated rather than revealed preferences of the study may limit the implications of this analysis but it is a major step forward in understanding what has in the past been a very difficult sector to investigate due to data paucity.

Practical implications

– Fast food is a sector with a lack of transparency which has attracted little academic attention to date, due to the difficulties of empirical analysis rather than lack of interest in a key food consumption sector. The message for the sector is to monitor its act, across all business types or face regulatory and policy intervention.

Originality/value

– The research conducts a three-dimensional sustainability analysis of fast food supply chains to investigate the differences and trade-offs between different sustainability dimensions.
Multi-brand loyalty: when one brand is not enough
Authors: Felix Reto
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this research is to provide a deeper, constructivist account of multi-brand loyalty. Previous literature has acknowledged the existence of multi-brand loyalty, but described it from a narrow, rational and primarily utilitarian point of view.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is based on open-ended, depth interviews. Data were labeled, coded and classified into different topics, and thematic analysis was used to identify three dominant themes.

Findings

– Multi-brand loyalty emerged in three forms: biased, specialized and perfect substitutes. These relationships may undergo dynamic transformations over time. Further, family tradition and perceived freedom were identified as two important motivations for consumers to be loyal to more than one brand. The managerial implications address suggestions on how companies can avoid that consumers become loyal to several brands instead of maintaining single-brand loyalty.

Originality/value

– The study is the first to address multi-brand loyalty based on a qualitative research approach and provides preliminary insights into occurrences and motivations related to the construct.
Disentangling dispersal from phylogeny in the colonization capacity of forest understorey plants
Authors: Baeten Lander , Davies T. Jonathan , Verheyen Kris , Van Calster Hans , Vellend Mark
Published: October 2014

Habitat patches that have been completely cleared of their original vegetation historically and subsequently recolonized naturally provide a useful study system to explore the importance of the processes involved in community assembly. Forests where the understorey vegetation is recovering from past agricultural land use form an iconic example of such a system.

The colonization capacity of forest plant species into post‐agricultural forests has been related to dispersal traits in previous comparative analyses, demonstrating the significance of dispersal limitation. Yet, none of them has evaluated evidence for a phylogenetic signal in colonization capacity and, thus, explored the possibility that the dispersal traits are correlated with unmeasured establishment‐related traits that are also shared through common ancestry.

Here, we analysed the colonization capacity of 330 species into post‐agricultural forests across seven different landscapes in Europe and North America. With phylogenetic meta‐analysis models, we quantified the phylogenetic signal in colonization capacity and tested whether the colonization – dispersal trait relationships are confounded by phylogenetic non‐independence.

Closely related forest understorey species were more similar to one another in terms of their capacity to colonize post‐agricultural forests than were more distantly related species. The correlations between dispersal traits and colonization were not independent from phylogeny. While we found some evidence of phylogenetic clustering of species' frequencies in post‐agricultural communities, this was apparently not a result of strong filtering on dispersal traits.

Synthesis. Given the phylogenetic signal in plant colonization capacity, a multitude of conserved species characteristics may explain community assembly in forests. Earlier trait‐based syntheses strongly emphasised dispersal, but the factors limiting establishment and persistence of forest herbs in post‐agricultural forests may be more nuanced than generally appreciated.
The Postcolonial City and its Displaced Poor: Rethinking ‘Political Society’ in Delhi
Authors: Routray Sanjeev
Published: October 2014

Partha Chatterjee has produced a compelling analysis of political modernity in India. This article evaluates the significance of his conceptualization of ‘political society’ for understanding political practices in Delhi by looking at three issues: the relevance of proof of identification documents and various enumeration‐related practices for proving citizenship; a court case concerning the resettlement of a particular population in Delhi; and the role of popular intermediaries from the community in channeling the political energies of poor people. I argue that Chatterjee's theoretical contribution allows for a contextual analysis of the specificity of political experience in India if we treat his schematic formulation heuristically, by focusing on its analytical strengths rather than ideal prescriptive standpoints. His ideas about the enforcement of bourgeois norms, subaltern collective practices, and hegemonic liberal state institutions allow us to go beyond a culturalist analysis of political society. In particular, they help us understand how the experience of democracy reflects the locational disadvantages of various groups. Further, while state institutions, including the judiciary system, protect the interests of dominant groups, they also respond to various forms of exclusion. My empirical findings corroborate Chatterjee's arguments concerning political society while also raising critical points for rethinking his theoretical framework.
Do We Need a ‘Political Science of Religion’?
Authors: Kettell Steven
Published: October 2014

Religious issues are intrinsically political but have been largely excluded from the mainstream concerns of political science. This article considers some of the reasons why this has been the case, and suggests ways in which the imbalance might be addressed. Although the idea of developing a distinctive ‘political science of religion’ is not without its advantages, this approach is rejected in favour of one that is broader, interdisciplinary and more holistic.
Four Visions of Democracy: Powell's Elections as Instruments of Democracy and beyond
Authors: Ganghof Steffen
Published: October 2014

The article critically reviews the conceptual ideas of G. Bingham Powell's Elections as Instruments of Democracy and explores ways to develop them further. Powell's conceptual alternative to the Westminster model – the ‘proportional’ vision of democracy – comes in two variants, one focusing on proportional representation (PR) and the other on proportional legislative influence. If one focuses on the former, it is possible to distinguish four visions of parliamentary democracy based on the main stage at which majorities are formed. The four stages are: party, alliance, cabinet, and law formation. The corresponding normative visions can be placed on a conceptual continuum between ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ majoritarianism. This article discusses the goals and trade-offs associated with them as well as their underlying institutional designs. It also re-emphasises Powell's insight that the congruence between policy makers and the median voter in a unidimensional policy space is a more appropriate normative standard for some visions of democracy than for others.
From Crisis to Crisis: Democracy, Crisis and the Occupy Movement
Authors: Chou Mark
Published: October 2014

For a movement that emerged to spotlight the crisis of liberal democracy, it did not take long for the Occupy Movement to find itself embroiled in its own democratic crisis. Occupy's story has exposed just how central or constitutive crises are to democracy. But is crisis such a deleterious thing? Though scholars of democracy have customarily given it a bad name, should we consider democracies to be in trouble when they are met with crisis, when they themselves create a crisis? According to the three volumes reviewed in this article, crises can have the potential to hamper and destroy democracies, but they can also possess the uncanny capacity to reinvigorate them. For scholars of democracy – whether they choose to define ‘democracy’ using a liberal, participatory, deliberative, or some other paradigm – it is perhaps this latter interpretation of crisis that may provide the best way to grapple with what comes next for democracy post-Occupy.
Sensory Differences between Product Matrices Made with Beet and Cane Sugar Sources
Authors: Urbanus Brittany L. , Schmidt Shelly J. , Lee Soo‐Yeun
Published: October 2014

Although beet and cane sugar sources have nearly identical chemical compositions, the sugars differ in their volatile profiles, thermal behaviors, and minor chemical components. Scientific evidence characterizing the impact of these differences on product quality is lacking. The objective of this research was to determine whether panelists could identify a sensory difference between product matrices made with beet and cane sugar sources. Sixty‐two panelists used the R‐index by ranking method to discern whether there was a difference between 2 brands of beet and 2 brands of cane sugars in regard to their aroma and flavor, along with a difference in pavlova, simple syrup, sugar cookies, pudding, whipped cream, and iced tea made with beet and cane sugars. R‐index values and Friedman's rank sum tests showed differences (P < 0.05) between beet and cane sugars in regard to their aroma and flavor. Significant differences between the sugar sources were also identified when incorporated into the pavlova and simple syrup. No difference was observed in the sugar cookies, pudding, whipped cream, and iced tea. Possible explanations for the lack of difference in these products include: (1) masking of beet and cane sensory differences by the flavor and complexity of the product matrix, (2) the relatively small quantity of sugar in these products, and (3) variation within these products being more influential than the sugar source. The findings from this research are relevant to sugar manufacturers and the food industry as a whole, because it identifies differences between beet and cane sugars and product matrices in which beet and cane sugars are not directly interchangeable.
Is Low Health Literacy Associated With Increased Emergency Department Utilization and Recidivism?
Authors: Griffey Richard T. , Kennedy Sarah K. , McGownan Lucy , Goodman Melody , Kaphingst Kimberly A.
Published: October 2014

Objectives

The objective was to determine whether patients with low health literacy have higher emergency department (ED) utilization and higher ED recidivism than patients with adequate health literacy.

Methods

The study was conducted at an urban academic ED with more than 95,000 annual visits that is part of a 13‐hospital health system, using electronic records that are captured in a central data repository. As part of a larger, cross‐sectional, convenience sample study, health literacy testing was performed using the short test of functional health literacy in adults (S‐TOFHLA) and standard test thresholds identifying those with inadequate, marginal, and adequate health literacy. The authors collected patients' demographic and clinical data, including items known to affect recidivism. This was a structured electronic record review directed at determining 1) the median number of total ED visits in this health system within a 2‐year period and 2) the proportion of patients with each level of health literacy who had return visits within 3, 7, and 14 days of index visits. Descriptive data for demographics and ED returns are reported, stratified by health literacy level. The Mantel‐Haenszel chi‐square was used to test whether there is an association between health literacy and ED recidivism. A negative binomial multivariable model was performed to examine whether health literacy affects ED use, including variables significant at the 0.1 alpha level on bivariate analysis and retaining those significant at an alpha of 0.05 in the final model.

Results

Among 431 patients evaluated, 13.2% had inadequate, 10% had marginal, and 76.3% had adequate health literacy as identified by S‐TOFHLA. Patients with inadequate health literacy had higher ED utilization compared to those with adequate health literacy (p = 0.03). Variables retained in the final model included S‐TOFHLA score, number of medications, having a personal doctor, being a property owner, race, insurance, age, and simple comorbidity score. During the study period, 118 unique patients each made at least one return ED visit within a 14‐day period. The proportion of patients with inadequate health literacy making at least one return visit was higher than that of patients with adequate health literacy at 14 days, but was not significantly higher within 3 or 7 days.

Conclusions

In this single‐center study, higher utilization of the ED by patients with inadequate health literacy when compared to those with adequate health literacy was observed. Patients with inadequate health literacy made a higher number of return visits at 14 days but not at 3 or 7 days.
Feasibility of Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter Measured on Initial Brain Computed Tomography as an Early Neurologic Outcome Predictor After Cardiac Arrest
Authors: Hwan Kim Yong , Ho Lee Jun , Kun Hong Chong , Won Cho Kwang , Hoon Yeo Jung , Ju Kang Mun , Weon Kim Yang , Yul Lee Kyoung , Joo Kim Jin , Youn Hwang Seong
Published: October 2014

Objectives

Few parameters are available to predict neurologic outcome of post–cardiac arrest patients in the early stage of treatment. Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has been used to indirectly assess intracranial pressure. This study evaluated whether ONSD, an additional parameter in initial brain computed tomography (CT) scans, can be an early predictor of neurologic outcome in post–cardiac arrest patients.

Methods

A total of 112 cardiac arrest patients between November 2012 and October 2013 were identified. Ninety‐eight comatose cardiac arrest patients were evaluated with brain CT. Of these patients, after exclusion of patients whose brain CT scans were done too late or with poor baseline neurology (Cerebral Performance Category [CPC] ≥ 3), 91 patients were included for this study. The parameters of initial brain CT, i.e., gray matter‐to‐white matter ratio (GWR) and ONSD, were measured after clinical care as part of a retrospective reanalysis of images. ONSD on brain CT was bilaterally measured 3 mm behind the eyeball at fixed window width and level and averaged to yield the mean value. The performance of ONSD to predict poor neurologic outcome (CPC = 3 to 5) was analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and cross‐tabulations.

Results

Twenty‐three patients showed good neurologic outcomes at hospital discharge. Mean (±SD) ONSD was 5.6 (±0.3) mm in the good outcome group versus 6.3 (±0.5) mm in the poor outcome group (p < 0.001). After basic clinical covariates were controlled for, i.e., age, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score (3 vs. 4–15), and time from collapse to return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), ONSD (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1 to 3.9) and GWR (OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4 to 0.9) were found to be significant factors for predicting poor neurologic outcome. ROC curve analysis showed that ONSD and GWR had areas under the ROC curve of 0.931 (95% CI = 0.87 to 0.98) and 0.922 (95% CI = 0.86 to 0.97), respectively. Combining the cutoff values of ONSD (6.21 mm, sensitivity = 56%; 95% CI = 43% to 68%) and GWR (1.23, sensitivity = 84%; 95% CI = 73% to 92%) to have 100% specificities, the sensitivity was improved to 92% (95% CI = 84% to 98%). Intrarater and interrater intraclass correlation coefficients between the investigators measuring ONSD were 0.888 and 0.833, respectively.

Conclusions

Optic nerve sheath diameter on initial brain CT correlated closely with the neurologic outcome of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and had good reliability. Additional prospective work may be justified evaluating the standardization and diagnostic performance in real time use as a predictive tool for neurologic outcome following cardiac arrest.
Using Publication Metrics to Highlight Academic Productivity and Research Impact
Authors: Carpenter Christopher R. , Cone David C. , Sarli Cathy C.
Published: October 2014

This article provides a broad overview of widely available measures of academic productivity and impact using publication data and highlights uses of these metrics for various purposes. Metrics based on publication data include measures such as number of publications, number of citations, the journal impact factor score, and the h‐index, as well as emerging metrics based on document‐level metrics. Publication metrics can be used for a variety of purposes for tenure and promotion, grant applications and renewal reports, benchmarking, recruiting efforts, and administrative purposes for departmental or university performance reports. The authors also highlight practical applications of measuring and reporting academic productivity and impact to emphasize and promote individual investigators, grant applications, or department output.
Hospital and Emergency Department Factors Associated With Variations in Missed Diagnosis and Costs for Patients Age 65 Years and Older With Acute Myocardial Infarction Who Present to Emergency Departments
Authors: Wilson Michael , Welch Jonathan , Schuur Jeremiah , O'Laughlin Kelli , Cutler David
Published: October 2014

Objectives

The objective was to measure the variation in missed diagnosis and costs of care for older acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) and to identify the hospital and ED characteristics associated with this variation.

Methods

Using 2004–2005 Medicare inpatient and outpatient records, the authors identified a cohort of AMI patients age 65 years and older who presented to the ED for initial care. The primary outcome was missed diagnosis of AMI, i.e., AMI hospital admission within 7 days of an ED discharge for a condition suggestive of cardiac ischemia. Costs were defined as Medicare hospital payments for all services associated with and immediately resulting from the ED evaluation. The effect of ED and hospital characteristics on quality and costs were estimated using multilevel models with hospital random effects.

Results

There were 371,638 AMI patients age 65 and older included in the study, of whom 4,707 were discharged home from their initial ED visits and subsequently admitted to the hospital. The median unadjusted hospital‐level missed diagnosis percentage was 0.52% (interquartile range [IQR] = 0 to 3.45%). ED characteristics protective of adverse outcomes include higher ED chest pain acuity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.23, 99% confidence interval [CI] = 0.19 to 0.27) and American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) certification (aOR = 0.60, 99% CI = 0.50 to 0.73). Protective hospital characteristics include larger hospital size (aOR = 0.46, 99% CI = 0.37 to 0.57) and academic status (aOR = 0.74, 99% CI = 0.58 to 0.94). All of these characteristics were associated with higher costs as well.

Conclusions

The proportion of missed AMI diagnoses and cost of care for patients age 65 years and older presenting to EDs with AMI varies across hospitals. Hospitals with more board‐certified emergency physicians (EPs) and higher average acuity are associated with significantly higher quality. All hospital characteristics associated with better ED outcomes are associated with higher costs.
Association of Medicare and Medicaid Insurance With Increasing Primary Care–treatable Emergency Department Visits in the United States
Authors: Pukurdpol Paul , Wiler Jennifer L. , Hsia Renee Y. , Ginde Adit A.
Published: October 2014

Objectives

Policymakers have increasingly focused on emergency department (ED) utilization for primary care–treatable conditions as a potentially avoidable source of rising health care costs. The objective was to determine the association of health insurance type and arrival time, as indicators of limited availability of primary care, with primary care–treatable classification of ED visits.

Methods

This was a retrospective analysis of a nationally representative sample of 241,167 ED visits from the 1997 to 2009 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NHAMCS). Probabilities of ED visits being primary care–treatable were categorized based on the primary International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD‐9‐CM) code. The association of health insurance type and arrival time was determined with the average probability of the primary diagnosis being primary care–treatable using multivariable linear regression.

Results

Compared to privately insured visits, Medicaid visits had a 1.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2% to 2.2%) and uninsured visits a 2.4% (95% CI = 1.9% to 3.0%) higher probability of primary care–treatable classification, while Medicare visits had a 1.4% (95% CI = 0.7% to 2.0%) lower probability during the overall study period. Compared to business hours, weekend visits had a 1.5% (95% CI = 1.0% to 2.0%) higher probability of being primary care–treatable during the overall study period. From 1997 to 2009, the overall adjusted probability of ED visits being primary care–treatable increased by 0.19% (95% CI = 0.10 to 0.28) per year. This probability increased at a rate of 0.52% per year for Medicare visits (95% CI = 0.38% to 0.65%), more than double that of Medicaid visits (0.25% per year, 95% CI = 0.13% to 0.37%). By contrast, there was no significant change from 1997 to 2009 in the average probability of ED visits being primary care–treatable by privately insured (0.05% per year, 95% CI = –0.07 to 0.16) or uninsured (0.00% per year, 95% CI = –0.12 to 0.13) individuals.

Conclusions

These findings add to prior work that implicates insurance type and arrival time in the variation of primary care–treatable ED visits. Although primary care–treatable classification of ED visits was most associated with uninsured or Medicaid visits, this classification increased most rapidly among Medicare visits during the study period.
A short dermoscopy training increases diagnostic performance in both inexperienced and experienced dermatologists
Authors: Chevolet Ines , Hoorens Isabelle , Janssens Astrid , Speeckaert Reinhart , Van Geel Nanja , Van Maele George , Vossaert Katrien , Brochez Lieve
Published: October 2014

Dermoscopy is a clinical tool known to improve the early detection of melanoma and other malignancies of the skin, but only for experienced users. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of short (3‐hour) dermoscopy training sessions in both residents and practicing dermatologists. The training improved diagnostic accuracy for both melanocytic and nonmelanocytic neoplasms of the skin and the observed effect was the highest for residents but was also significant for more experienced practicing dermatologists.