bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Effective Dose of Radiation During Pedicle Screw Placement Using Intraoperative Computed Tomography Navigation Versus Fluoroscopy in Children With Spinal Deformities
Authors: Dabaghi Richerand Alejandro , Christodoulou Emmanuel , Li Ying , Caird Michelle S. , Jong Nahbee , Farley Frances A.
Published: April 2015

Background:

We compared the effective dose of radiation associated with pedicle screw placement in posterior spinal fusion in children using intraoperative computed tomography (CT) navigation versus intraoperative fluoroscopy (C-arm).

Methods:

In this review of posterior spinal fusion patients, height, weight, local density function, dose area product, body region, number of views, and part of the body were used to calculate the effective dose to the patient in millisieverts (mSv) in 37 children in whom pedicle screw placement was aided by intraoperative CT versus 44 children in whom pedicle screw placement was aided by C-arm. Both groups had posterior spinal fusions during the same time period by 3 surgeons between November 2012 and August 2013. Calculation of the radiation dose was made by the following method: for the C-arm, and the fluoroscopic/digital acquisitions part of the CT examinations, we estimated the effective dose using the program PCXMC 2.0. For the cross-sectional imaging part of the CT examinations, we used the dose-length product from the radiation dose reports of the CT unit and published dose-length product to effective dose conversion factors. The overall effective dose for the CT group was the total of the cross-sectional imaging dose and the fluoroscopic/digital acquisition imaging dose. An unpaired T test was used to determine significant difference between the C-arm and CT navigation groups.

Results:

The average effective dose was 1.48±1.66 mSv for the CT patients and 0.34±0.36 mSv for the C-arm patients. These values for the 2 groups are significantly different (P=0.0012). Obese children had very high mSv values in the CT group.

Conclusions:

Intraoperative CT for navigational instrumentation placement associated with spinal fusion in children results in significantly more radiation to the child than C-arm. Families need to be counseled about radiation exposure associated with intraoperative CT, especially in obese children. Intraoperative CT use should be tailored to placing instrumentation where the benefit is the highest.

Level of Evidence:

Level II.
Comparative Study of “C-C” And “C-S” Construct With Enders Nail in Diaphyseal Fractures of Femur in Pediatric Age Group
Authors: Venkatesh Gupta S. K. , Bathina Prabhav , Kommera Srujith
Published: April 2015

Flexible intramedullary devices such as Ender’s nails are minimally invasive and biologically friendly method of osteosynthesis for transverse, oblique, and short spiral diaphyseal fractures of femur in the immature skeleton. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical outcomes between 2 different fixation, that is,“C-C” and “C-S” constructs in diaphyseal fractures of femur by Enders nailing system. There were 34 patients who were treated with Enders nail for femoral diaphyseal fractures during the year 2010 to 2014 included in this study. Total number of patients were 34 of which 24 of them were fixed in the C-C construct pattern and 10 of them were fixed with the C-S construct pattern that included. All 34 fractures healed with an average time of 8.8±3.8 weeks. Callus was first noted on follow-up radiographs at an average of 3 weeks (range, 2 to 6 wk). Implant removal was done at an average of 9±3 months. The mean operation time was 40.2±15.2 minutes (range, 32 to 100 min). The proportion of patients who experienced any complication did not differ significantly between the C-C (20%) and C-S (26%) construct groups (P>0.05). C-C construct is more stable under torsional loading, whereas C-S construct has greater resistance to axial loading than C-C construct. C-C construct is more stable in treating middle 1/3 and upper 1/3 femur, whereas C-S construct in distal 1/3 femoral diaphyseal fractures.
Linking morphodynamics and directional persistence of T lymphocyte migration
Authors: Liu Xiaji , Welf Erik S. , Haugh Jason M.
Published: April 2015

T cells play a central role in the adaptive immune response, and their directed migration is essential for homing to sites of antigen presentation. Like neutrophils, T lymphocytes are rapidly moving cells that exhibit amoeboid movement, characterized by a definitive polarity with F-actin concentrated at the front and myosin II elsewhere. In this study, we used total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to monitor the cells' areas of contact with a surface presenting adhesive ICAM-1 and the chemokine, CXCL12/SDF-1. Our analysis reveals that T-cell migration and reorientation are achieved by bifurcation and lateral separation of protrusions along the leading membrane edge, followed by cessation of one of the protrusions, which acts as a pivot for cell turning. We show that the distribution of bifurcation frequencies exhibits characteristics of a random, spontaneous process; yet, the waiting time between bifurcation events depends on whether or not the pivot point remains on the same side of the migration axis. Our analysis further suggests that switching of the dominant protrusion between the two sides of the migration axis is associated with persistent migration, whereas the opposite is true of cell turning. To help explain the bifurcation phenomenon and how distinct migration behaviours might arise, a spatio-temporal, stochastic model describing F-actin dynamics is offered.
Isotropic microscale mechanical properties of coral skeletons
Authors: Pasquini Luca , Molinari Alan , Fantazzini Paola , Dauphen Yannicke , Cuif Jean-Pierre , Levy Oren , Dubinsky Zvy , Caroselli Erik , Prada Fiorella , Goffredo Stefano , Di Giosia Matteo , Reggi Michela , Falini Giuseppe
Published: April 2015

Scleractinian corals are a major source of biogenic calcium carbonate, yet the relationship between their skeletal microstructure and mechanical properties has been scarcely studied. In this work, the skeletons of two coral species: solitary
Balanophyllia europaea
and colonial
Stylophora pistillata
, were investigated by nanoindentation. The hardness
H
IT
and Young's modulus
E
IT
were determined from the analysis of several load–depth data on two perpendicular sections of the skeletons: longitudinal (parallel to the main growth axis) and transverse. Within the experimental and statistical uncertainty, the average values of the mechanical parameters are independent on the section's orientation. The hydration state of the skeletons did not affect the mechanical properties. The measured values,
E
IT
in the 76–77 GPa range, and
H
IT
in the 4.9–5.1 GPa range, are close to the ones expected for polycrystalline pure aragonite. Notably, a small difference in
H
IT
is observed between the species. Different from corals, single-crystal aragonite and the nacreous layer of the seashell
Atrina rigida
exhibit clearly orientation-dependent mechanical properties. The homogeneous and isotropic mechanical behaviour of the coral skeletons at the microscale is correlated with the microstructure, observed by electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, and with the X-ray diffraction patterns of the longitudinal and transverse sections.
Spatial moment dynamics for collective cell movement incorporating a neighbour-dependent directional bias
Authors: Binny Rachelle N. , Plank Michael J. , James Alex
Published: April 2015

The ability of cells to undergo collective movement plays a fundamental role in tissue repair, development and cancer. Interactions occurring at the level of individual cells may lead to the development of spatial structure which will affect the dynamics of migrating cells at a population level. Models that try to predict population-level behaviour often take a mean-field approach, which assumes that individuals interact with one another in proportion to their average density and ignores the presence of any small-scale spatial structure. In this work, we develop a lattice-free individual-based model (IBM) that uses random walk theory to model the stochastic interactions occurring at the scale of individual migrating cells. We incorporate a mechanism for local directional bias such that an individual's direction of movement is dependent on the degree of cell crowding in its neighbourhood. As an alternative to the mean-field approach, we also employ spatial moment theory to develop a population-level model which accounts for spatial structure and predicts how these individual-level interactions propagate to the scale of the whole population. The IBM is used to derive an equation for dynamics of the second spatial moment (the average density of pairs of cells) which incorporates the neighbour-dependent directional bias, and we solve this numerically for a spatially homogeneous case.
Antagonistic regulation of mRNA expression and splicing by CELF and MBNL proteins
Authors: Wang Eric T. , Ward Amanda J. , Cherone Jennifer M. , Giudice Jimena , Wang Thomas T. , Treacy Daniel J. , Lambert Nicole J. , Freese Peter , Saxena Tanvi , Cooper Thomas A. , Burge Christopher B.
Published: April 2015

RNA binding proteins of the conserved CUGBP1, Elav-like factor (CELF) family contribute to heart and skeletal muscle development and are implicated in myotonic dystrophy (DM). To understand their genome-wide functions, we analyzed the transcriptome dynamics following induction of CELF1 or CELF2 in adult mouse heart and of CELF1 in muscle by RNA-seq, complemented by crosslinking/immunoprecipitation-sequencing (CLIP-seq) analysis of mouse cells and tissues to distinguish direct from indirect regulatory targets. We identified hundreds of mRNAs bound in their 3′ UTRs by both CELF1 and the developmentally induced MBNL1 protein, a threefold greater overlap in target messages than expected, including messages involved in development and cell differentiation. The extent of 3′ UTR binding by CELF1 and MBNL1 predicted the degree of mRNA repression or stabilization, respectively, following CELF1 induction. However, CELF1's RNA binding specificity in vitro was not detectably altered by coincubation with recombinant MBNL1. These findings support a model in which CELF and MBNL proteins bind independently to mRNAs but functionally compete to specify down-regulation or localization/stabilization, respectively, of hundreds of mRNA targets. Expression of many alternative 3′ UTR isoforms was altered following CELF1 induction, with 3′ UTR binding associated with down-regulation of isoforms and genes. The splicing of hundreds of alternative exons was oppositely regulated by these proteins, confirming an additional layer of regulatory antagonism previously observed in a handful of cases. The regulatory relationships between CELFs and MBNLs in control of both mRNA abundance and splicing appear to have evolved to enhance developmental transitions in major classes of heart and muscle genes.
Characterization and dynamics of pericentromere-associated domains in mice
Authors: Wijchers Patrick J. , Geeven Geert , Eyres Michael , Bergsma Atze J. , Janssen Mark , Verstegen Marjon , Zhu Yun , Schell Yori , Vermeulen Carlo , de Wit Elzo , de Laat Wouter
Published: April 2015

Despite recent progress in genome topology knowledge, the role of repeats, which make up the majority of mammalian genomes, remains elusive. Satellite repeats are highly abundant sequences that cluster around centromeres, attract pericentromeric heterochromatin, and aggregate into nuclear chromocenters. These nuclear landmark structures are assumed to form a repressive compartment in the nucleus to which genes are recruited for silencing. We have designed a strategy for genome-wide identification of pericentromere-associated domains (PADs) in different mouse cell types. The ∼1000 PADs and non-PADs have similar chromatin states in embryonic stem cells, but during lineage commitment, chromocenters progressively associate with constitutively inactive genomic regions at the nuclear periphery. This suggests that PADs are not actively recruited to chromocenters, but that chromocenters are themselves attracted to inactive chromatin compartments. However, we also found that experimentally induced proximity of an active locus to chromocenters was sufficient to cause gene repression. Collectively, our data suggest that rather than driving nuclear organization, pericentromeric satellite repeats mostly co-segregate with inactive genomic regions into nuclear compartments where they can contribute to stable maintenance of the repressed status of proximal chromosomal regions.
Structure of a CutA1 divalent-cation tolerance protein fromCryptosporidium parvum, the protozoal parasite responsible for cryptosporidiosis
Authors: Buchko Garry W. , Abendroth Jan , Clifton Matthew C. , Robinson Howard , Zhang Yanfeng , Hewitt Stephen N. , Staker Bart L. , Edwards Thomas E. , Van Voorhis Wesley C. , Myler Peter J.
Published: April 2015

Cryptosporidiosis is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites of theCryptosporidiumgenus. Infection is associated with mild to severe diarrhea that usually resolves spontaneously in healthy human adults, but may lead to severe complications in young children and in immunocompromised patients. The genome ofC. parvumcontains a gene, CUTA_CRYPI, that may play a role in regulating the intracellular concentration of copper, which is a toxic element in excess. Here, the crystal structure of this CutA1 protein,Cp-CutA1, is reported at 2.0 Å resolution. As observed for other CutA1 structures, the 117-residue protein is a trimer with a core ferrodoxin-like fold. Circular dichroism spectroscopy shows little, in any, unfolding ofCp-CutA1 up to 353 K. This robustness is corroborated by1H–15N HSQC spectra at 333 K, which are characteristic of a folded protein, suggesting that NMR spectroscopy may be a useful tool to further probe the function of the CutA1 proteins. While robust,Cp-CutA1 is not as stable as the homologous protein from a hyperthermophile, perhaps owing to a wide β-bulge in β2 that protrudes Pro48 and Ser49 outside the β-sheet.
Crystal structure of 1-[2-(diethylazaniumyl)ethyl]-3-methylimidazolium tetrachloridocuprate(II)
Authors: Laus Gerhard , Kahlenberg Volker , Schottenberger Herwig
Published: April 2015

The title compound, (C10H21N3)[CuCl4], is composed of one 1-[2-(diethylazaniumyl)ethyl]-3-methylimidazolium dication and a tetrachloridocuprate(II) dianion. The anion adopts a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Bifurcated interionic N—H...Cl hydrogen bonds and several C—H...Cl contacts are observed, leading to a layer-like arrangement of the components parallel to (100).
Crystal structure of 4-formylpyridine semicarbazone hemihydrate
Authors: Inoue Mayara Hissami , Back Davi F. , Burrow Robert A. , Nunes Fábio Souza
Published: April 2015

The molecule of the title compound C7H8N4O·0.5H2O, alternatively called (E)-1-(pyridin-4-ylmethylene)semicarbazide hemihydrate, is in theEconformation and is almost planar; the r.m.s. deviation of the positions of the atoms of the pyridine ring from the best-fit plane is 0.0039 Å. The C, N and O atoms of the rest of the molecule sits close on this plane with a largest deviation of 0.115 (4) Å for the O atom of the semicarbazone moiety. There is an intramolecular N—H...N hydrogen bond. In the crystal, molecules are linked into an infinite three-dimensional network by classical N—H...Os(s = semicarbazone) and Ow—H...N (w = water) hydrogen bonds.
Crystal structures of 2,2′-bipyridin-1-ium 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-ethoxyprop-2-en-1-ide and bis(2,2′-bipyridin-1-ium) 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-(dicyanomethylene)propane-1,3-diide
Authors: Setifi Zouaoui , Valkonen Arto , Fernandes Manuel A. , Nummelin Sami , Boughzala Habib , Setifi Fatima , Glidewell Christopher
Published: April 2015

In 2,2′-bipyridin-1-ium 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-ethoxyprop-2-en-1-ide, C10H9N2+·C9H5N4O−, (I), the ethyl group in the anion is disordered over two sets of atomic sites with occupancies 0.634 (9) and 0.366 (9), and the dihedral angle between the ring planes in the cation is 2.11 (7)°. The two independent C(CN)2groups in the anion make dihedral angles of 10.60 (6) and 12.44 (4)° with the central propenide unit, and the bond distances in the anion provide evidence for extensive electronic delocalization. In bis(2,2′-bipyridin-1-ium) 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-(dicyanomethylene)propane-1,3-diide [alternative name bis(2,2′-bipyridin-1-ium) tris(dicyanomethylene)methanediide], 2C10H9N2+·C10N62−(II), the dihedral angles between the ring planes in the two independent cations are 7.7 (2) and 10.92 (17)°. The anion exhibits approximateC3symmetry, consistent with extensive electronic delocalization, and the three independent C(CN)2groups make dihedral angles of 23.8 (2), 27.0 (3) and 27.4 (2)° with the central plane. The ions in (I) are linked by an N—H...N hydrogen bond and the resulting ion pairs are linked by two independent C—H...N hydrogen bonds, forming a ribbon containing alternatingR44(18) andR44(26) rings, where both ring types are centrosymmetric. The ions in (II) are linked by two independent N—H...N hydrogen bonds and the resulting ion triplets are linked by a C—H...N hydrogen bond, forming aC21(7) chain containing anions and only one type of cation, with the other cation linked to the chain by a further C—H...N hydrogen bond.
Crystal structure of tetraethylammonium chloride 3,4,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,2-diiodobenzene
Authors: Viger-Gravel Jasmine , Korobkov Ilia , Bryce David L.
Published: April 2015

Equimolar quantities of tetraethylammonium chloride (Et4NCl) and 3,4,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,2-diiodobenzene (o-DITFB oro-C6F4I2) have been co-crystallized in a solution of dichloromethane yielding a pure halogen-bonded compound, 3,4,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,2-diiodobenzene–tetraethyl ammonium chloride (2/1), Et4N+·Cl−·2C6F4I2, in the form of translucent needles. [(Et4NCl)(o-C6F4I2)2] packs in theC2/cspace group. The asymmetric unit includes one molecule of DITFB, one Et4N+cation located on a twofold rotation axis, and one chloride anion also located on a twofold rotation symmetry axis. This compound has an interesting halogen-bonding environment surrounding the halide. Here, the chloride anion acts as a tetradentate halogen bond acceptor and forms a distorted square-pyramidal geometry, with I...Cl−...I angles of 80.891 (6) and 78.811 (11)°, where two crystallographically distinct iodine atoms form halogen bonds with the chloride anion. Resulting from that square-pyramidal geometry are short contacts between some of the adjacent F atoms. Along thebaxis, the halogen-bonding interaction results in a polymeric network, producing a sheet in which the two closest chloride ions are 7.8931 (6) Å apart. The Et4N+cation alternates in columns with the halide ion. The expected short contacts (shorter than the sum of their van der Waals radii) are observed for the halogen bonds [3.2191 (2) and 3.2968 (2) Å], as well as almost linear angles [170.953 (6) and 173.529 (6)°].
Crystal structure of 5-{3-[2,6-dimethyl-4-(5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)phenoxy]propyl}-N-(11-hydroxyundecyl)isoxazole-3-carboxamide hemihydrate
Authors: Salorinne K. , Lahtinen T.
Published: April 2015

The title compound, C29H42N4O5·0.5H2O, comprises four structural units. A flexible propyloxy unit in agaucheconformation, with a –C(H2)—C(H2)—C(H2)—O– torsion angle of −64.32 (18)°, connects an isoxazole ring and an approximately planar phenyloxadiazole ring system [with a maxixmum devation of 0.061 (2) Å], which are oriented almost parallel to one another with a dihedral angle of 10.75 (7)°. Furthermore, a C11-alkyl chain with a terminal hydroxy group links to the 3-position of the isoxazole ringviaan amide bond. In the crystal, a half-occupancy solvent water molecule connects to a neighbouring moleculeviaan intermolecular O—H...O(water) hydrogen bond to the C11-alkyl chain hydroxy group.
Crystal structure of (E)-hex-2-enoic acid
Authors: Peppel Tim , Sonneck Marcel , Spannenberg Anke , Wohlrab Sebastian
Published: April 2015

The crystal structure of the title compound, C6H10O2, an α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid, displays carboxylic acid inversion dimers linked by pairs of O—H...O hydrogen bonds. The packing is characterized by layers of acid dimers. All the non-H atoms of the (E)-hex-2-enoic acid molecule lie almost in the same plane (r.m.s. deviation for the non-H atoms = 0.018 Å).
The development of farm labor market in rural China
Authors: Che Yi , Zhang Yan , Yu Linhui
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine key determinants of farm labor market development in rural China.

Design/methodology/approach

– Probit, Logit, and IV-Probit model are used to provide pertinent empirical analysis.

Findings

– Analysis of survey data establishes three facts about the farm labor market in rural China: first, households with high farm endowment are more likely to hire farm labor; second, because of the mismatch between farm ability and land size created by egalitarian land reallocation, households with more land reallocations are more likely to participate in farm labor market to adjust such mismatch; third, land rental market and farm labor market seem to be complementary. These results are robust to alternative model specifications, subsamples, alternative dependent variables, and additional controls. Welfare analysis demonstrates that the farm labor market is conducive to agricultural output.

Originality/value

– The main contribution of this study is to lay out stylized facts in terms of the development of farm labor market using a unique survey data set.
Assessing the impact of China’s sloping land conversion program on household production efficiency under spatial heterogeneity and output diversification
Authors: Zhao Minjuan , Yin Runsheng , Yao Liuyang , Xu Tao
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to assess how spatial heterogeneity and production diversification have affected the efficiency of households participating in the SLCP.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on household survey data collected from three sample counties in the Loess Plateau region, the paper analyzes how spatial heterogeneity and business diversification have affected the production efficiency of households participating in the SLCP. Using four-step bootstrap, input stochastic distance frontiers of multi-inputs and multi-outputs are developed simultaneously with a technical efficiency effects model in which participating in the SLCP is treated as an exogenous variable.

Findings

– The household production in the three counties is constrained by land, labor, capital, and fixed inputs; thus, it is germane to using a multi-input and multi-output household production technology to evaluate the SLCP. However, the relative importance of each input and output, the productive diversification, and the technological structure are differentiated in the three counties; estimating the regression with pooled data appears to conceal the influences of local factors and blur the specific divergence, compared to running county-based, separate regressions.

Research limitations/implications

– The effects of the SLCP on farm household production are location dependent. It is necessary to include spatial heterogeneity within public policy evaluation. In addition to suggesting localized and differentiated schemes of subsidy, this implies that the government may provide means to facilitate different regions to make the economic transition.

Originality/value

– This paper intends to make two contributions. First, the analysis will capture and explain the adjustments induced by the SLCP in off-farm and other activities for entire household production, and special attention is given to the diversification of household production outputs. Second, this analysis sheds new light to the significance of spatial differentiation in mediating the effectiveness of a public policy or program.
Effects of foreign direct investment in African agriculture
Authors: Gunasekera Don , Cai Yiyong , Newth David
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review the key issues surrounding foreign direct investment (FDI) in agriculture, and examine the potential impacts of FDI in African agriculture.

Design/methodology/approach

– The dynamic Global Trade Analysis Project model (GDyn) is used to analyse the potential impacts of improvements in land productivity and FDI in Africa.

Findings

– The results illustrate that combined efforts to improve land productivity and growth in FDI could potentially increase Africa’s share in global agricultural output and exports, particularly with respect to oil seeds, sugar, and cotton.

Originality/value

– The authors employ a global economy-wide modelling framework to simulate the effects of growth in FDI in African agriculture.
Climate risk, income dynamics and nutrition intake in rural China
Authors: Zhou Li , Turvey Calum G.
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linkages between climate change, income dynamics and nutrition intake in rural China.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a system of simultaneous equations in a three-stage least squares model instrumented with carbohydrates, fats, proteins and farm income the authors found generally that the greatest impact on nutrition would be from changes in temperature.

Findings

– The authors do not find that modest changes in precipitation affect nutrient intake, but extreme events such as drought do. Furthermore, the authors found a strong income effect and this income effect is opposite the heating effect. This may suggest that large swings in nutrient intake brought about by climate change may be countermanded by equivalent increases in income. The authors also found that in terms of general measures of elasticity that market effects, especially in the price of meats, can impact carbohydrate, fat and protein intake as much as global warming.

Originality/value

– The authors believe that three aspects of this manuscript will make it interesting. First, in the short term, poorer households would be the most vulnerable and sensitive to climate change. However, in the long term, all households in rural China appear able to deal with changing climatic conditions through adaptation. Second, the authors do not find evidences to prove the existence of a poverty nutrition trap in rural China. Third, the results also indicate that, the nutrition intake of households in rural China is more prone to gradual changes, rather than extreme events.
Being and becoming a professional accountant in Canada
Authors: Thomson Kelly , Jones Joanne
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this study was to explore how the migration experiences of international accounting professionals were shaped by colonial structures and how, through their interactions with other professionals, migrants hybridize their professional identities and the profession in Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

– A post-colonial analysis of the career narratives of international accounting professionals who migrated to Canada.

Findings

– This paper illustrates how explicit and formal requirements for transformation, as well as the more subtle informal demands of employers and clients, require non-Western professionals to transform personal characteristics in ways that make them more “Canadian” or “professional”. Findings show that mimicry takes many forms, with some professionals becoming “consummate mimics”, while others discuss their transition in ways that highlight resistance (“reluctant mimics”) and the demands that systematically frustrate and exclude many non-Western professionals from full participation in the “global” profession in Canada (“frustrated mimics”).

Research limitations/implications

– This paper contributes to the existing scholarly literature on the persistence of colonial structures in shaping the experiences of colonized people even as they migrate in search of better opportunities decades after the colonial structures have been formally dismantled. It builds on Bhabha’s (1994) work illustrating that colonial structures are susceptible to change through action and interaction. We hope this study contributes to social change by providing some insights into how mimicry, resistance and hybridization may disrupt the unreflexive enactment of colonial structures that sustain inequality.

Originality/value

– This study extends the literature on professional migration using a postcolonial perspective to empirically examine the lived experience of the colonial encounter and professionals transition their professional identities across borders.
Perceived mobility of impact: global elites and the bono effect
Authors: Andersson Lynne , Calvano Lisa
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to examine how the globally mobile elite (GME) uses its capital and networks to create a perception that market-driven solutions to social problems are superior to the efforts of government and civil society.

Design/methodology/approach

– Drawing on a number of emerging literatures, the authors introduce and develop the concept of the “perceived mobility of impact” and use the case of the “Bono effect” to illustrate how this phenomenon is enacted. The authors then employ a critical lens to challenge the consequences of this perceived mobility of impact.

Findings

– Global elites use their mobility to generate network capital, which in conjunction with celebrity affinity for global humanitarian causes builds a self-reinforcing consensus and legitimizes market-driven solutions to social problems. While this approach may make the GME feel generous about their contribution, it raises questions about accountability and representation in shaping global social policy.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on the GME, offering a unique critical perspective on their motives and actions, and introduces the concept of ‘perceived mobility of impact’.
Advances in hospitality research: “from Rodney Dangerfield to Aretha Franklin”
Authors: Rivera Manuel Antonio , Pizam Abraham
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to analyze the progression of research in the domain of Hospitality Management since its inception in the early part of the twentieth century.

Design/methodology/approach

– A combination of qualitative analyses of the published literature in the past 80 years plus a quantitative survey of 613 manuscripts published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM) from 2000 to 2012.

Findings

– The findings demonstrate that hospitality management research has progressed in the past four years through four distinct phases, namely, Story Tellers (1930-1950), Profilers (1950-1970), Copy Cats (1970-2005) and Innovators (since 2000). The evolution in the literature reflects that people in hospitality management and academia are improving their connection between theory and practice.

Research limitations/implications

– The quantitative part of this study was limited to articles published in the IJHM, and as such, they may not be fully representative of research articles that were published in other journals both in English and/or additional languages.

Originality/value

– The results of this study can be used as evidence that the modern field of hospitality management has reached a maturity level that is equal in rigor and sophistication to other disciplines in the domains of business administration and the social sciences.
Customer loyalty: a review and future directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry
Authors: Kandampully Jay , Zhang Tingting (Christina) , Bilgihan Anil
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– This article aims to provide a summary review of what is already known about customer loyalty and identifies some emerging issues that play an important role in it. As a result of dramatic changes in the marketplace and in consumers’ connections with the hospitality industry, researchers and practitioners are keen to understand the factors that underpin customer loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

– By synthesizing extant customer loyalty literature, this article seeks further understanding of loyalty and offers priorities for ongoing loyalty research.

Findings

– Using conceptual models, this study provides a framework designed to extend the understanding of customer loyalty and the impact of the evolving role of engaged customers.

Practical implications

– Companies are advised to create emotionally engaged, loyal brand ambassadors by focusing on emerging areas, such as customer engagement, brand citizenship behaviors, mass personalization, employee engagement, brand ambassadors (both employees and customers), co-creation of value, co-design, co-consumption and rapport between customers and employees.

Originality/value

– This article crafts a conceptual framework for customer loyalty and identifies those factors that influence its development in the service industry with a special focus on the hospitality industry.
Structural breaks and labor market disparities in the Canadian provinces
Authors: Fallahi Firouz , Rodríguez Gabriel
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to use quarterly time series data from Canada and the Canadian provinces to determine if the unemployment rates in the Canadian provinces are converging to the national rate of unemployment.

Design/methodology/approach

– First, the authors check for existence of stochastic convergence using recent unit root statistics, see Perron and Rodríguez (2003) and Rodríguez (2007). Second, the authors verify existence of convergence using methods proposed by Volgelsang (1998) and Bai and Perron (1998, 2003). All these methods allows for structural break(s) in the data.

Findings

– Results from different unit root tests, without and with structural breaks, confirm that stochastic convergence exists in all provinces. The other results show strong evidence that deterministic convergence exists and the unemployment rates of the Canadian provinces are converging to the unemployment rate of Canada. This conclusion is stronger when multiple breaks are allowed in the trend function using the approach of Bai and Perron (1998, 2003).

Practical implications

– Since the authors have verified the existence of stochastic convergence, any intervention in the labor markets of the Canadian provinces to control the provincial unemployment rate would have a temporary effect and these policies will not have a permanent influence on the unemployment rates. However, existence ofβ-convergence in the Canadian provinces shows that general policies toward lowering the national unemployment rate would decrease the provincial unemployment rates as well.

Originality/value

– To the best of the knowledge, the paper attempts to study the unemployment rate convergence in the Canadian provinces using the above-mentioned approaches. These approaches allow the authors to take into consideration the possibility of structural breaks in order to get results that are more accurate.
Financial liberalization and economic growth
Authors: Lopes Thiago Henrique Carneiro Rios , de Jesus Cleiton Silva
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether countries benefit from capital account liberalization in more democratic contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors used the follow methodologies in this paper: Pooled OLS, panel data with fixed effects and generalized method of moments. The empirical exercises were conducted for both a large sample and a smaller group of developing countries. Given the characteristics of the variables used in the standard model, the main conclusions were obtained from an estimation that took into account the presence of fixed effects and endogeneity.

Findings

– Considering a sample of 77 countries, the authors were able to ascertain that capital account openness has a positive effect on economic growth only in highly democratic countries. When the same estimates are carried out with a more restricted sample, composed of 50 developing countries, the results are more pessimistic. In this case, capital account openness has a negative and significant effect, although being more democratic is not sufficient in itself to reap the benefits of financial integration.

Research limitations/implications

– The results obtained in this paper are limited to the number of observations and the period analysed. Furthermore, the conclusions need to be confirmed by a test of robustness, which should be conducted in future works; such works could make use of other democracy indicators and other instruments.

Originality/value

– The innovation of the work, in comparison to those the authors consulted, resides in its testing, through an interactive variable, whether the effect of capital openness on economic growth depends on level of democracy.
Productivity growth and convergence: a stochastic frontier analysis
Authors: Cardoso Catarina Moura e Sa , Ravishankar Geetha
Published: April 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of human capital development on regional productivity growth and convergence in the Spanish provinces over the period 1991-2006.

Design/methodology/approach

– The stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) methodology is used to estimate production inefficiencies. This approach enables the assessment of the degree to which a given region’s observed output deviates from the maximal possible. Therefore, the resulting region specific productive efficiencies are modelled as outcomes of the level of human capital. Aβ-convergence equation for the regional efficiency levels is also estimated to detect any signs of regional catching-up.

Findings

– The results show that increasing levels of human capital development are associated with lower regional inefficiency. All levels of education contributed to reduce the inefficiency levels, however, secondary schooling played a stronger role than primary and even higher education. There is also evidence of regional convergence towards the best practice frontier through a process that is beneficially aided by human capital development.

Originality/value

– The paper combines the use of the SFA to study the effect of human capital on regional productivity with the estimation of aβ-convergence equation for the obtained regional efficiency levels.
Phase I/II study of vemurafenib in patients with unresectable or recurrent melanoma with BRAFV600 mutations
Authors: Yamazaki Naoya , Kiyohara Yoshio , Sugaya Naofumi , Uhara Hisashi
Published: April 2015

We investigated the efficacy and safety of vemurafenib in Japanese patients with unresectable or recurrent melanoma with BRAFV600 mutations. This was a two‐step open‐label multicenter phase I/II study. Step 1 evaluated the initial safety of vemurafenib 960 mg administrated p.o. twice daily in three patients. In step 2, eight patients received vemurafenib 960 mg administrated p.o. twice daily for 28‐day treatment cycles; the primary outcome measure was response rate, as determined by independent review committee using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. Adverse events (AE) experienced by five or more patients were arthralgia (n = 10), myalgia (n = 8), alopecia (n = 7), and rash, maculopapular rash and decreased appetite (n = 5 each). Three patients had grade 3 AE. One serious AE occurred in one patient (abnormal hepatic function). Six patients required dose reduction because of AE. One patient died within 28 days after the last dose, but death was caused by disease progression and not associated with the study drug. In the eight patients in step 2, overall response rate was 75.0%, none had a complete response and six had a partial response (75.0%). Median response duration was 240.0 days, disease control rate 87.5%, median progression‐free survival 416.0 days and median overall survival 443.0 days. In conclusion, vemurafenib treatment resulted in an overall response rate of 75% in Japanese patients with metastatic melanoma with BRAFV600 mutations. All toxicities were manageable.
A portfolio effect of shrub canopy height on species richness in both stressful and competitive environments
Authors: Bråthen Kari Anne , Lortie Christopher
Published: April 2015

Facilitating effects of benefactor plants on plant species richness have been commonly tested in stressful habitats because competitive effects are assumed to predominate in more productive habitats. Here, we examine this assumption by testing whether benefactor plants can nonetheless be facilitating in competitive environments.

We provide a conceptual framework describing how a trait of benefactor plants, canopy height of shrubs, can have a portfolio of facilitative effects on species richness in more competitive environments, and we provide an empirical assessment of this portfolio effect in tundra plant communities.

Across tundra plant communities representing an extensive gradient in aboveground live biomass ranging from 11 to above 800 grams per m2, we found that species richness exhibited a humped‐back relationship. Increasing canopy height of shrubs to a maximum height of what defines the dwarf shrub tundra, that is 40 cm, consistently and significantly increased species richness along the entire biomass gradient tested.

The positive effect of shrub canopy height was not confounded with herbivore intensity, competitive interference or abiotic factors such as bedrock‐weathered mineral availability, moisture availability or temperature. However, we cannot rule out that the general presence of large mammalian herbivory may have been central to the positive effect of shrub canopy height in reducing herbivore impacts on species richness.

In this study, conceptual and empirical evidence support that increasing canopy height of shrubs facilitates species richness regardless of relative abiotic stress levels within tundra ecosystems. We propose that positive interactions can play an important ecological role in systems where competitive effects are observed or assumed. For tundra plant communities where climate change is currently causing encroachment of shrub species, the effects of increasing canopy height may have unprecedented effects on plant species richness.
Disentangling direct and growth‐mediated influences on early survival: a mechanistic approach
Authors: Plard Floriane , Yoccoz Nigel G. , Bonenfant Christophe , Klein François , Warnant Claude , Gaillard Jean‐Michel
Published: April 2015

Early survival is a key life‐history trait that often accounts for a large part of the variation in individual fitness and shapes population dynamics. The factors influencing early survival are multiple in large herbivores, including malnutrition, predation, cohort variation or maternal effects. However, the mechanistic pathways connecting these drivers to variation in early survival are much less studied. Indeed, whether these factors influence early survival directly or indirectly through early growth remains to be disentangled.

In this study, we used a path analysis to separate the direct and indirect (i.e. mediated by early growth) pathways through which sex, birth date, cohort and family effects influence early survival. We used a large data set of marked roe deer newborns collected from 1985 to 2010 in the intensively monitored population of Trois Fontaines (France).

We found that most drivers have indirect influences on early survival through early growth. Indeed, cohort effects influenced early survival through the indirect effect of precipitation around birth on early growth. Precipitation also had direct effects on early survival. Family effects indirectly influenced early survival. Twins from the same litter grew at about the same rate, so they had the same fate. Moreover, some factors, such as birth date, had both direct and indirect effects on roe deer early survival, with fawns born early in the season benefiting from high early survival both because they have more time to grow before the harsh season and because they grow faster during their first days of life than late‐born fawns.

These findings suggest that most drivers of early survival previously identified in large mammalian herbivores may affect early survival primarily through their influence on early growth. Disentangling the direct and indirect pathways by which different factors influence early survival is of crucial importance to understand the mechanisms shaping this key component of individual fitness.
Towards ‘Human Rights Compatible’ Public Budgets – an Account of Institutional Virtues
Authors: Kuosmanen Jaakko
Published: April 2015

In the aftermath of the recent economic crisis, scholarly discussions on the relationship between human rights, budgeting and budgets have been re-energised. This article focuses on the design of governing institutions in the context of public budgeting. More specifically, it introduces three institutional virtues, each of which can serve a facilitative function in the drafting of ‘human rights compatible budgets’ (i.e. budgets that take human rights obligations adequately into consideration). These institutional virtues are: instrumental deliberation, interpretative deliberation and evaluative deliberation.
The Irrelevance of Legitimacy
Authors: Marquez Xavier
Published: April 2015

Both popular and academic explanations of the stability, performance and breakdown of political order make heavy use of the concept of legitimacy. But prevalent understandings of the idea of legitimacy, while perhaps useful and appropriate ways of making sense of the political world in ordinary public discourse, cannot play the more rigorous explanatory roles with which they are tasked in the social sciences. To the extent that the concept of legitimacy appears to have some explanatory value, this is only because explanations of social and political order that appeal to legitimacy in fact conceal widely different (and often inconsistent) accounts of the mechanisms involved in the production of obedience to authority and submission to norms. It is suggested in this article that explanatory social science would be better off abandoning the coarse concept of legitimacy for more precise accounts of the operation of these mechanisms in particular contexts.
The Trickle‐down Effect of the Mining Boom in Australia: Fact or Myth?
Authors: Bashar Omar H. M. N.
Published: April 2015

This paper examines the relationship between the output levels in the mining sector and various non‐mining sectors in an attempt to understand the role of the mining sector in Australia. The unobserved components time series model is used to estimate the effects of the output gap and the growth regime in the mining sector on the output level of each of several non‐mining sectors. Overall, the estimates obtained do not suggest an overwhelmingly positive effect running from the mining sector to other production and services sectors, implying that the trickle‐down effect of the mining boom may be a myth.
Classical Swine Fever Changes the Way Farmers Value Pigs in South Africa
Authors: Madzimure James , Chimonyo Michael , Dzama Kennedy , Garnett Stephen T. , Zander Kerstin K.
Published: April 2015

Although there is growing demand for animal products in Africa, production is stagnating. Appropriate management of livestock diversity could help reinvigorate production, contribute to food security and improve farmers’ livelihoods, particularly in subsistence‐oriented systems. We assess differences in farmers’ preferences and economic values for pig traits across different production systems and across areas that have been affected and unaffected by classical swine fever (CSF). Not surprisingly, market‐oriented farmers derived higher values from the productive traits such as heavy slaughter weight and large litter size found in exotic pig genotypes. Subsistence‐oriented farmers, particularly in swine fever affected areas, placed high value on tolerance to disease. We found that CSF changed farmers’ preferences for adaptive traits, and less so for productive traits. Therefore, indigenous breeds become more valuable for subsistence farmers and crossbreeds for market‐oriented farmers if CSF is a risk. Our results can have implications for breeding and conservation strategies and for compensation strategies after culling, and will become increasingly relevant if, as predicted, heat waves and disease outbreaks become more frequent in pig production systems in South Africa with climate change.