bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Jiella aquimaris gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from offshore surface seawater
Authors: Liang Jing , Liu Ji , Zhang Xiao-Hua
Published: January 2015

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic and rod-shaped motile bacterium with peritrichous flagella, designated strain LZB041T, was isolated from offshore surface seawater of the East China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain LZB041T formed a lineage within the family ‘

Aurantimonadaceae

’ that was distinct from the most closely related genera

Aurantimonas

(96.0–96.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and

Aureimonas

(94.5–96.0 %). Optimal growth occurred in the presence of 1–7 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 7.0–8.0 and at 28–37 °C. Ubiquinone-10 was the predominant respiratory quinone. The major fatty acids (>10 % of total fatty acids) were C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c (summed feature 8) and cyclo-C19 : 0ω8c. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, one unknown aminolipid, one unknown phospholipid and one unknown polar lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain LZB041T was 71.3 mol%. On the basis of polyphasic analysis, strain LZB041T is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus in the class

Alphaproteobacteria

, for which the name Jiella aquimaris gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is LZB041T ( = JCM 30119T = MCCC 1K00255T).
The Ecological Forecast Horizon, and examples of its uses and determinants
Authors: Petchey Owen L. , Pontarp Mikael , Massie Thomas M. , Kéfi Sonia , Ozgul Arpat , Weilenmann Maja , Palamara Gian Marco , Altermatt Florian , Matthews Blake , Levine Jonathan M. , Childs Dylan Z. , McGill Brian J. , Schaepman Michael E. , Schmid Bernhard , Spaak Piet , Beckerman Andrew P. , Pennekamp Frank , Pearse Ian S.
Published: January 2015

1

Forecasts of ecological dynamics in changing environments are increasingly important, and are available for a plethora of variables, such as species abundance and distribution, community structure, and ecosystem processes. There is, however, a general absence of knowledge about how far into the future, or other dimensions (space, temperature, phylogenetic distance), useful ecological forecasts can be made, and about how features of ecological systems relate to these distances. The ecological forecast horizon is the dimensional distance for which useful forecasts can be made. Five case studies illustrate the influence of various sources of uncertainty (e.g. parameter uncertainty, environmental , and demographic stochasticity, evolution), level of ecological organisation (e.g. population or community), organismal properties (e.g. body size or number of trophic links) on temporal, spatial, and phylogenetic forecast horizons. Insights from these case studies demonstrate that the ecological forecast horizon is a flexible and powerful tool for researching and communicating ecological predictability. It also has potential for motivating and guiding agenda setting for ecological forecasting research and development.
Oxford Nanopore Sequencing, Hybrid Error Correction, andde novoAssembly of a Eukaryotic Genome
Authors: Goodwin Sara , Gurtowski James , Ethe-Sayers Scott , Deshpande Panchajanya , Schatz Michael C. , McCombie W. Richard
Published: January 2015

Monitoring the progress of DNA molecules through a membrane pore has been postulated as a method for sequencing DNA for several decades. Recently, a nanopore-based sequencing instrument, the Oxford Nanopore MinION, has become available that we used for sequencing theS. cerevisiaegenome. To make use of these data, we developed a novel open-source hybrid error correction algorithm Nanocorr (https://github.com/jgurtowski/nanocorr) specifically for Oxford Nanopore reads, as existing packages were incapable of assembling the long read lengths (5-50kbp) at such high error rate (between ∼5 and 40% error). With this new method we were able to perform a hybrid error correction of the nanopore reads using complementary MiSeq data and produce ade novoassembly that is highly contiguous and accurate: the contig N50 length is more than ten-times greater than an Illumina-only assembly (678kb versus 59.9kbp), and has greater than 99.88% consensus identity when compared to the reference. Furthermore, the assembly with the long nanopore reads presents a much more complete representation of the features of the genome and correctly assembles gene cassettes, rRNAs, transposable elements, and other genomic features that were almost entirely absent in the Illumina-only assembly.

Reviewer link to data

http://schatzlab.cshl.edu/data/nanocorr/
Multi –omics and metabolic modelling pipelines: challenges and tools for systems microbiology
Authors: Fondi Marco , Liò Pietro
Published: January 2015

Integrated -omics approaches are quickly spreading across microbiology research labs, leading to i) the possibility of detecting previously hidden features of microbial cells like multi-scale spatial organisation and ii) tracing molecular components across multiple cellular functional states. This promises to reduce the knowledge gap between genotype and phenotype and poses new challenges for computational microbiologists. We underline how the capability to unravel the complexity of microbial life will strongly depend on the integration of the huge and diverse amount of information that can be derived today from - omics experiments. In this work, we present opportunities and challenges of multi –omics data integration in current systems biology pipelines. We here discuss which layers of biological information are important for biotechnological and clinical purposes, with a special focus on bacterial metabolism and modelling procedures. A general review of the most recent computational tools for performing large-scale datasets integration is also presented, together with a possible framework to guide the design of systems biology experiments by microbiologists.
Independent molecular basis of convergent highland adaptation in maize
Authors: Takuno Shohei , Ralph Peter , Swarts Kelly , Elshire Rob J. , Glaubitz Jeffrey C. , Buckler Edward S. , Hufford Matthew B. , Ross-Ibarra Jeffrey
Published: January 2015

Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar traits in different species or lineages of the same species; this often is a result of adaptation to similar environments, a process referred to as convergent adaptation. We investigate here the molecular basis of convergent adaptation in maize to highland climates in Mesoamerica and South America using genome-wide SNP data. Taking advantage of archaeological data on the arrival of maize to the highlands, we infer demographic models for both populations, identifying evidence of a strong bottleneck and rapid expansion in South America. We use these models to then identify loci showing an excess of differentiation as a means of identifying putative targets of natural selection, and compare our results to expectations from recently developed theory on convergent adaptation. Consistent with predictions across a wide parameter space, we see limited evidence for convergent evolution at the nucleotide level in spite of strong similarities in overall phenotypes. Instead, we show that selection appears to have predominantly acted on standing genetic variation, and that introgression from wild teosinte populations appears to have played a role in highland adaptation in Mexican maize.
Merging OpenLifeData with SADI services using Galaxy and Docker
Authors: Aranguren Mikel Egañna
Published: January 2015

Semantic Web technologies have been widely applied in Life Sciences, for example by data providers like OpenLifeData and Web Services frameworks like SADI. The recent OpenLifeData2SADI project offers access to the OpenLifeData data store through SADI services. This paper shows how to merge data from OpenLifeData with other extant SADI services in the Galaxy bioinformatics analysis platform, making semantic data amenable to complex analyses, as a worked example demonstrates. The whole setting is reproducible through a Docker image that includes a pre-configured Galaxy server with data and workflows that constitute the worked example.
JAFFA: High sensitivity transcriptome-focused fusion gene detection
Authors: Davidson Nadia M. , Majewski Ian J. , Oshlack Alicia
Published: January 2015

Genomic instability is a hallmark of cancer and, as such, structural alterations and fusion genes are common events in the cancer landscape. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a powerful method for profiling cancers, but current methods for identifying fusion genes are optimized for short reads. JAFFA (https://code.google.com/p/jaffa-project/) is a sensitive fusion detection method that clearly out-performs other methods with reads of 100bp or greater. JAFFA compares a cancer transcriptome to the reference transcriptome, rather than the genome, where the cancer transcriptome is inferred using long reads directly or byde novoassembling short reads.
Efficient Assembly and Verification of ZFNs and TALENs for Modifying PorcineApoEgene
Authors: Xu H R , Li T , Guo Y , Li H F , Wang L , Zhang Z Y , Wang X
Published: January 2015

Zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) are powerful tools for genome engineering. These synthetic nucleases are assembled with programmable, sequence-specific DNA-binding domain and a non-specific FokI cleavage domain. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene polymorphism is associated with cardiovascular outcomes, including ischaemic stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). So the objective of this study is to create mutations ofAopEgene by ZFNs and TALENs technology. Here, we used the Context-dependent assembly (CoDA) method to design and screen ZFNs specifically targeting withApoEgene. The targeted cleavage capacity of these ZFNs was validated in yeast system and HEK 293T cells. Meanwhile, an efficient assembled TALENs to targetApoEgene in HEK 293T cells was as a control. The results showed that both ZFNs and TALENs worked onApoEgene with similar high-efficiency cleavage capability. The result would provide efficient methods for genome editing, so as to get disease model for gene therapy for the further study.
The Time-Scale of Recombination Rate Evolution in Great Apes
Authors: Stevison Laurie S , Woerner August E , Kidd Jeffrey M , Kelley Joanna L , Veeramah Krishna R , McManus Kimberly F. , Bustamante Carlos D , Hammer Michael F , Wall Jeffrey D ,   Great Ape Genome Project
Published: January 2015

We present three linkage-disequilibrium (LD)-based recombination maps generated using whole-genome sequencing data of 10 Nigerian chimpanzees, 13 bonobos, and 15 western gorillas, collected as part of the Great Ape Genome Project (Prado-Martinez et al. 2013). Using species-specific PRDM9 sequences to predict potential binding sites, we identified an important role for PRDM9 in predicting recombination rate variation broadly across great apes. Our results are contrary to previous research that PRDM9 is not associated with recombination in western chimpanzees (Auton et al. 2012). Additionally, we show that fewer hotspots are shared among chimpanzee subspecies than within human populations, further narrowing the time-scale of complete hotspot turnover. We quantified the variation in the biased distribution of recombination rates towards recombination hotspots across great apes. We found that correlations between broad-scale recombination rates decline more rapidly than nucleotide divergence between species. We also compared the skew of recombination rates at centromeres and telomeres between species and show a skew from chromosome means extending as far as 10-15 Mb from chromosome ends. Further, we examined broad-scale recombination rate changes near a translocation in gorillas and found minimal differences as compared to other great ape species perhaps because the coordinates relative to the chromosome ends were unaffected. Finally, based on multiple linear regression analysis, we found that various correlates of recombination rate persist throughout primates including repeats, diversity, divergence and local effective population size (Ne). Our study is the first to analyze within-and between-species genome-wide recombination rate variation in several close relatives.
Chromosomal Inversion Symmetry: Generalized Chargaff Rules
Authors: Shporer Sagi , Chor Benny , Horn David
Published: January 2015

The generalization of the second Chargaff rule to values of k larger than 1, states that the frequency of any k-mer on a single strand almost equals that of its inverse (reverse-complement). We demonstrate the validity of the generalized rule up to k=10 for all human chromosomes. Moreover, thisInversion Symmetryholds for many species, both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, for ranges of k which may vary from 7 to 10 as chromosomal lengths vary from 2Mbp up to 200 Mbp. We demonstrate that the statistical distributions of inverted pairs of k-mers are very different from other natral pairings of k-mers, implying that inversion symmetry is a basic principle of chromosomal structure. We suggest that it came into being because genomic evolution employed many rearrangements which conisted of inversions of chromosomal sections; on length scales down to order 1-10Kbp. Model simulations substantiate this claim.Low-scale inversions during chromosomal evolution imply that IS may exist for short sections of human chromosomes. This is indeed the case: we find that chromosome sections of length 5Kbp satisfy IS for k=1 and k=2. The largest value of k for which IS holds,which we call the k-limit of IS, increases logarithmically as the section length increases. The logarithmic dependence of the k-limit on the length of the chromosome is a universal characteristic, observed throughout the tree of life.
From system-wide differential gene expression to perturbed regulatory factors: a combinatorial approach
Authors: Mahajan Gaurang , Mande Shekhar C.
Published: January 2015

High-throughput experiments such as microarrays and deep sequencing provide large scale information on the pattern of gene expression, which undergoes extensive remodeling as the cell dynamically responds to varying environmental cues or has its function disrupted under pathological conditions. An important initial step in the systematic analysis and interpretation of genome-scale expression alteration involves identification of a set of perturbed transcriptional regulators whose differential activity can provide a proximate hypothesis to account for these transcriptomic changes. In the present work, we propose an unbiased and logically natural approach to transcription factor enrichment. It involves overlaying a list of experimentally determined differentially expressed genes on a background regulatory network coming from e.g. literature curation or computational motif scanning, and identifying thatsubsetof regulators whoseaggregated target setbest discriminates between the altered and the unaffected genes. In other words, our methodology entails testing of all possible regulatorysubnetworks, rather than just the target sets ofindividualregulators as is followed in most standard approaches. We have proposed an iterative search method to efficiently find such a combination, and benchmarked it onE. colimicroarray and regulatory network data available in the public domain. Comparative analysis carried out on simulated differential expression profiles, as well as empirical factor overexpression data forM. tuberculosis, shows that our methodology provides marked improvement in accuracy of regulatory inference relative to the standard method that involves evaluating factor enrichment in an individual manner.
Screen identifies bromodomain protein ZMYND8 in chromatin recognition of transcription-associated DNA damage that promotes homologous recombination
Authors: Gong Fade , Chiu Li-Ya , Cox Ben , Aymard François , Clouaire Thomas , Leung Justin W. , Cammarata Michael , Perez Mercedes , Agarwal Poonam , Brodbelt Jennifer S. , Legube Gaëlle , Miller Kyle M.
Published: January 2015

How chromatin shapes pathways that promote genome–epigenome integrity in response to DNA damage is an issue of crucial importance. We report that human bromodomain (BRD)-containing proteins, the primary “readers” of acetylated chromatin, are vital for the DNA damage response (DDR). We discovered that more than one-third of all human BRD proteins change localization in response to DNA damage. We identified ZMYND8 (zinc finger and MYND [myeloid, Nervy, and DEAF-1] domain containing 8) as a novel DDR factor that recruits the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation (NuRD) complex to damaged chromatin. Our data define a transcription-associated DDR pathway mediated by ZMYND8 and the NuRD complex that targets DNA damage, including when it occurs within transcriptionally active chromatin, to repress transcription and promote repair by homologous recombination. Thus, our data identify human BRD proteins as key chromatin modulators of the DDR and provide novel insights into how DNA damage within actively transcribed regions requires chromatin-binding proteins to orchestrate the appropriate response in concordance with the damage-associated chromatin context.
A phosphorylation switch on RbBP5 regulates histone H3 Lys4 methylation
Authors: Zhang Pamela , Chaturvedi Chandra-Prakash , Tremblay Veronique , Cramet Myriam , Brunzelle Joseph S. , Skiniotis Georgios , Brand Marjorie , Shilatifard Ali , Couture Jean-François
Published: January 2015

The methyltransferase activity of the trithorax group (TrxG) protein MLL1 found within its COMPASS (complex associated with SET1)-like complex is allosterically regulated by a four-subunit complex composed of WDR5, RbBP5, Ash2L, and DPY30 (also referred to as WRAD). We report structural evidence showing that in WRAD, a concave surface of the Ash2L SPIa and ryanodine receptor (SPRY) domain binds to a cluster of acidic residues, referred to as the D/E box, in RbBP5. Mutational analysis shows that residues forming the Ash2L/RbBP5 interface are important for heterodimer formation, stimulation of MLL1 catalytic activity, and erythroid cell terminal differentiation. We also demonstrate that a phosphorylation switch on RbBP5 stimulates WRAD complex formation and significantly increases KMT2 (lysine [K] methyltransferase 2) enzyme methylation rates. Overall, our findings provide structural insights into the assembly of the WRAD complex and point to a novel regulatory mechanism controlling the activity of the KMT2/COMPASS family of lysine methyltransferases.
The Release 6 reference sequence of the Drosophila melanogaster genome
Authors: Hoskins Roger A. , Carlson Joseph W. , Wan Kenneth H. , Park Soo , Mendez Ivonne , Galle Samuel E. , Booth Benjamin W. , Pfeiffer Barret D. , George Reed A. , Svirskas Robert , Krzywinski Martin , Schein Jacqueline , Accardo Maria Carmela , Damia Elisabetta , Messina Giovanni , Méndez-Lago María , de Pablos Beatriz , Demakova Olga V. , Andreyeva Evgeniya N. , Boldyreva Lidiya V. , Marra Marco , Carvalho A. Bernardo , Dimitri Patrizio , Villasante Alfredo , Zhimulev Igor F. , Rubin Gerald M. , Karpen Gary H. , Celniker Susan E.
Published: January 2015

Drosophila melanogaster plays an important role in molecular, genetic, and genomic studies of heredity, development, metabolism, behavior, and human disease. The initial reference genome sequence reported more than a decade ago had a profound impact on progress in Drosophila research, and improving the accuracy and completeness of this sequence continues to be important to further progress. We previously described improvement of the 117-Mb sequence in the euchromatic portion of the genome and 21 Mb in the heterochromatic portion, using a whole-genome shotgun assembly, BAC physical mapping, and clone-based finishing. Here, we report an improved reference sequence of the single-copy and middle-repetitive regions of the genome, produced using cytogenetic mapping to mitotic and polytene chromosomes, clone-based finishing and BAC fingerprint verification, ordering of scaffolds by alignment to cDNA sequences, incorporation of other map and sequence data, and validation by whole-genome optical restriction mapping. These data substantially improve the accuracy and completeness of the reference sequence and the order and orientation of sequence scaffolds into chromosome arm assemblies. Representation of the Y chromosome and other heterochromatic regions is particularly improved. The new 143.9-Mb reference sequence, designated Release 6, effectively exhausts clone-based technologies for mapping and sequencing. Highly repeat-rich regions, including large satellite blocks and functional elements such as the ribosomal RNA genes and the centromeres, are largely inaccessible to current sequencing and assembly methods and remain poorly represented. Further significant improvements will require sequencing technologies that do not depend on molecular cloning and that produce very long reads.
Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase in Arabidopsis Leaves Plays a Crucial Role in Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism
Authors: Shi Jianghua , Yi Keke , Liu Yu , Xie Li , Zhou Zhongjing , Chen Yue , Hu Zhanghua , Zheng Tao , Liu Renhu , Chen Yunlong , Chen Jinqing
Published: January 2015

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is a crucial enzyme that catalyzes an irreversible primary metabolic reaction in plants. Previous studies have used transgenic plants expressing ectopic PEPC forms with diminished feedback inhibition to examine the role of PEPC in carbon and nitrogen metabolism. To date, the in vivo role of PEPC in carbon and nitrogen metabolism has not been analyzed in plants. In this study, we examined the role of PEPC in plants, demonstrating that PPC1 and PPC2 were highly expressed genes encoding PEPC in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaves and that PPC1 and PPC2 accounted for approximately 93% of total PEPC activity in the leaves. A double mutant, ppc1/ppc2, was constructed that exhibited a severe growth-arrest phenotype. The ppc1/ppc2 mutant accumulated more starch and sucrose than wild-type plants when seedlings were grown under normal conditions. Physiological and metabolic analysis revealed that decreased PEPC activity in the ppc1/ppc2 mutant greatly reduced the synthesis of malate and citrate and severely suppressed ammonium assimilation. Furthermore, nitrate levels in the ppc1/ppc2 mutant were significantly lower than those in wild-type plants due to the suppression of ammonium assimilation. Interestingly, starch and sucrose accumulation could be prevented and nitrate levels could be maintained by supplying the ppc1/ppc2 mutant with exogenous malate and glutamate, suggesting that low nitrogen status resulted in the alteration of carbon metabolism and prompted the accumulation of starch and sucrose in the ppc1/ppc2 mutant. Our results demonstrate that PEPC in leaves plays a crucial role in modulating the balance of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in Arabidopsis.
Academic performance, publishing and peer review: peering into the twilight zone
Authors: Guthrie James , Parker Lee D , Dumay John
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a critique of published research access and peer review, considering their impacts on accounting scholarship.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper is based on literature and publishing document review, experiential reflections and argument.

Findings

– The authors reveal changes in publishing formats and accessibility, the challenges of managing research quality and significance and the challenges of avoiding constraint and foreclosure of significant new knowledge and its effective dissemination.

Research limitations/implications

– This paper discusses the research and publishing community’s opening to new, flexible opportunities for knowledge creation and dissemination.

Originality/value

– The discussion challenges the status quo of traditional academic journal publication and points to an innovative future.
The non-destructive examination of cone-beam CT image circuit board based on the new interactive cutting method
Authors: Li Yunjie , Li Kun
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper was to realize a non-destructive examination for printed circuit boards (PCBs) and to obtain an accurate and high-efficient image.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper provides an approach to realize a non-destructive examination for PCBs and to obtain an accurate and high-efficient image.

Findings

– The result showed that cone-beam computed tomography (CT) image PCB detection based on an interactive cutting method had accuracy and high efficiency and can meet the non-destructive requirement of detection.

Originality/value

– The result showed that cone-beam CT image PCB detection based on an interactive cutting method had accuracy and high efficiency and can meet the non-destructive requirement of detection.
Performance analysis of micro drill bit with asymmetric helix groove
Authors: Shi Hongyan , Ning Jiali , Li Hui
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a new method to optimize the micro drill bit based on finite element analysis, and analyze the performance of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit and provide a way to conduct the optimization of micro drill bits.

Design/methodology/approach

– First, the stress and deform of the micro drills were analyzed in ANSYS. Second, the influence of helix angle, web thickness and ratio of flute to land on stiffness was explored. Combining the former two results, a better set of parameters were optimized. Third, the modal analysis and harmonic response analysis of the optimized micro drill bit were analyzed in ANSYS. Finally, an experiment was carried out to verify the performance of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit.

Findings

– The stress and deform of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit are not symmetric. The rigidity is getting better with the web thickness increasing in the selected range; while, the rigidity is getting worse with the helix angle and ratio of flute to land increasing in the selected range. The natural frequencies of the optimized micro drill bit are far away from the excitation frequency, and the response displacement is very small under the excitation of the spindle. In the drilling experiment, the optimized micro drill bit performs well.

Research limitations/implications

– In this paper, the diameter of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit was 0.3 mm and the cross-section shape was not considered. The future research work should consider different diameters and cross-section shapes.

Originality/value

– Analyzing the influence of three main geometry parameters on the rigidity in ANSYS, a better set of parameters were optimized from the analysis results. The drilling experimental results show that this method is of great significance for obtaining the appropriate parameters of asymmetric helix groove micro drill bits.
Value of IT in supply chain planning
Authors: Fuchs Christoph , Otto Andreas
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand value creation of information technology (IT) in supply chain planning (SCP). The impact of different IT components in SCP remains unclear and requires some thorough research. In addition, an analysis of the optimization dimension provides insights into intra-functional, inter-functional and cross-company optimization.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was conducted among German companies using a continuous production flow. In total, 47 of 193 contacted companies completed the web survey, which corresponds to a response rate of 24 percent.

Findings

– IT functionality for SCP is widely spread. The value of IT functionality in SCP is tremendous. Implementations in demand fulfillment and available-to-promise (ATP) have the biggest value creation potential. Supply chain performance indicators can be improved by investments in certain functional domains. Packaged standard software is widely distributed and should be considered as the first option. IT functionality to improve intra-functional processes is significantly more often implemented than IT functionality for inter-functional or cross-company process optimization although the realized value is comparable.

Research limitations/implications

– Respondents of the survey are limited to the German continuous production flow industry. Future research could be interesting in the discrete manufacturing industry.

Originality/value

– The paper provides empirical insights into the value of IT in SCP where data are less available than in the ERP context. Furthermore, this paper provides first insights into the optimization dimension whether processes are optimized intra-functional, inter-functional or cross-company.
Understanding determinants of cloud computing adoption using an integrated TAM-TOE model
Authors: Gangwar Hemlata , Date Hema , Ramaswamy R
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to integrate TAM model and TOE framework for cloud computing adoption at organizational level.

Design/methodology/approach

– A conceptual framework was developed using technological and organizational variables of TOE framework as external variables of TAM model while environmental variables were proposed to have direct impact on cloud computing adoption. A questionnaire was used to collect the data from 280 companies in IT, manufacturing and finance sectors in India. The data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Further, structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model.

Findings

– The study identified relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, organizational readiness, top management commitment, and training and education as important variables for affecting cloud computing adoption using perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) as mediating variables. Also, competitive pressure and trading partner support were found directly affecting cloud computing adoption intentions. The model explained 62 percent of cloud computing adoption.

Practical implications

– The model can be used as a guideline to ensure a positive outcome of the cloud computing adoption in organizations. It also provides relevant recommendations to achieve conducive implementation environment for cloud computing adoption.

Originality/value

– This study integrates two of the information technology adoption models to improve predictive power of resulting model.
The impact of knowledge management practices on organizational performance
Authors: Valmohammadi Changiz , Ahmadi Mohsen
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic approach regarding evaluation of knowledge management (KM) practices on organizational performance. The effects of seven critical success factors (CSFs), namely leadership role, organizational culture, KM strategy, processes and activities, training and education, information technology, and motivation and rewarding system, on organizational performance in the framework of four perspectives of balance scored card (BSC) approach were surveyed.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research hypotheses were raised based on the four perspectives of this approach, namely, growth and learning, internal processes, customer and financial. By literature review, CSFs of KM and organizational performance along with their items were identified in the framework of BSC’s perspectives. Based on these constructs and their items an instrument was designed and distributed among managers and employees of the subsidiary firms of Iran National Petrochemical Company (INPC). Reliability of the instrument was calculated by Chronbach’s α for the two sections of the instrument i.e. KM practices and organizational performance. Also, using factor analysis the construct validity of the questionnaire was approved. Finally, based on the hypotheses of the study and using structural equation modeling the impacts of KM practices on organizational performance were investigated.

Findings

– The results revealed that KM practices positively and meaningfully (though weak) impact overall organizational performance. This impact is significant only regarding growth and learning dimension and on the other dimensions is insignificant. Also, as customer and financial constructs were loaded on one factor based on the entity of their indicators we considered these two constructs as stakeholders construct. In addition, among the above mentioned seven CSFs, motivation and rewarding system obtained the lowest rank among the survey organizations.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample is restricted to only three companies, so gathering data from various parts of Iran including both manufacturing and service industries could increase the generalizability of the results obtained. Also, as in this study the data gathered were cross-sectional, a longitudinal study could help gain deeper understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship among the variables.

Originality/value

– The most significant gap in the literature is the lack of enough application of statistical and comprehensive methods like BSC that KM makes a difference to organizational performance. This study contributes to the field of KM by empirically investigating the impact of KM practices on various measures of organizational performance in order to prove the suitability of a comprehensive approach like BSC.
Information technology (IT) outsourcing by business process outsourcing/information technology enabled services (BPO/ITES) firms in India
Authors: Patil Shrinivas , Wongsurawat Winai
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the roles various drivers such as cost, strategy and risk play when business process outsourcing/information technology enabled services (BPO/ITES) firms in India outsource their information technology (IT) functions to third-party vendors. If all key drivers associated with IT outsourcing were understood, and such knowledge of those variables was incorporated into the reasons for outsourcing, there would be a greater probability of a successful outcome.

Design/methodology/approach

– A “hybrid” (quantitative and qualitative) research methodology was used to gain insight into the IT-outsourcing paradigm by BPO/ITES firms in India. A structured questionnaire related to IT-outsourcing activities conducted from 1999 to 2010 was distributed to nine firms. The resulting data were then analyzed. In addition, two Indian BPO/ITES firms that had outsourced their IT to a third-party vendor to cut cost generously granted in-depth information into their IT-outsourcing paradigm and life cycle.

Findings

– IT outsourcing is perhaps more complicated than other types of outsourcing. Focussing purely on cost is very risky. Practitioners need to take all three drivers – cost, strategy and risk into consideration. Any degradation of services or responsibilities due to IT outsourcing would mean a very unhappy client or even loss of business.

Originality/value

– BPO/ITES firms in India tend to focus only on cost reduction from IT outsourcing without taking into consideration other equally important drivers such as strategy and risk. This paper counsels a holistic approach toward IT outsourcing for a successful outcome. In addition, an IT-outsourcing framework and guide is proposed for practitioners.
A review on the design and development of turbidimeter
Authors: Mohd Khairi Mohd Taufiq , Ibrahim Sallehuddin , Md Yunus Mohd Amri , Faramarzi Mahdi
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a review of the design and development of the turbidimeter for measuring the turbidity level in water. Monitoring the turbidity level of water is important because it is related to public health.

Design/methodology/approach

– A precise and reliable turbidimeter can provide vital data that reveals the water condition level. Several turbidimeter units are discussed briefly. Three types of turbidimeter design – single beam, ratio and modulated four beams – are elaborated with some illustrations of the design concept. Various improvements and innovations for upgrading turbidimeter design are also discussed.

Findings

– This paper elaborated on a new method of estimating the water turbidity level in water samples using an optical tomography system based on the independent component analysis method. The results showed that a tomography-based turbidimeter can measure slight changes in the level of turbidity when the volume of contaminants is changed slightly. The turbidimeter can also provide a profile of the distribution of the turbidity in the water sample.

Originality/value

– A turbidimeter based on the optical tomography concept can be a valuable tool in determining the level of pollution in rivers, sea, etc.
Machine vision method for non-contact measurement of surface roughness of a rotating workpiece
Authors: Kumar B. M. , Ratnam M. M.
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to propose a non-contact method using machine vision for measuring the surface roughness of a rotating workpiece at speeds of up to 4,000 rpm.

Design/methodology/approach

– A commercial digital single-lens-reflex camera with high shutter speed and backlight was used to capture a silhouette of the rotating workpiece profile. The roughness profile was extracted at sub-pixel accuracy from the captured images using the moment invariant method of edge detection. The average (Ra), root-mean square (Rq) and peak-to-valley (Rt) roughness parameters were measured for ten different specimens at spindle speeds of up to 4,000 rpm. The roughness values measured using the proposed machine vision system were verified using the stylus profilometer.

Findings

– The roughness values measured using the proposed method show high correlation (up to 0.997 for Ra) with those determined using the profilometer. The mean differences in Ra, Rq and Rt between the two methods were only 4.66, 3.29 and 3.70 per cent, respectively.

Practical implications

– The proposed method has significant potential for application in the in-process roughness measurement and tool condition monitoring from workpiece profile signature during turning, thus, obviating the need to stop the machine.

Originality/value

– The machine vision method combined with sub-pixel edge detection has not been applied to measure the roughness of a rotating workpiece.
Implementation of high-performance MEMS platinum micro-hotplate
Authors: Samaeifar Fatemeh , Hajghassem Hassan , Afifi Ahmad , Abdollahi Hassan
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– One of the key components of the micro-sensors is MEMS micro-hotplate. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a platinum micro-hotplate with the proper geometry using the analytical model based on the heat transfer analysis to improve both heating efficiency and time constant.

Design/methodology/approach

– This analytical model exhibits that suitable design for the micro-hotplate can be obtained by the appropriate selection of square heater (LH) and tether width (WTe). Based on this model and requirements of routine sample loading, the size of LH and WTe are chosen 200 and 15 μm, respectively. In addition, a simple micro-fabrication process is adopted to form the suspended micro-heater using bulk micromachining technology.

Findings

– The experimental results show that the heating efficiency and heating and cooling time constants are 21.27 K/mW and 2.5 ms and 2.1 ms, respectively, for the temperature variation from 300 to 400 K in the fabricated micro-hotplates which are in closed agreement with the results obtained from the analytical model with errors within 5 per cent.

Originality/value

– Our design based on the analytical model achieves a combination of fast time constant and high heating efficiency that are comparable or superior to the previously published platinum micro-hotplate.
Comfortable textile-based electrode for wearable electrocardiogram
Authors: Haghdoost Fatemeh , Mottaghitalab Vahid , Haghi Akbar Khodaparast
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of the current study is to explore the potential possibility of acceleration in recognition, remedial process of heart disease and continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) signal acquisition. The textile-based ECG electrode is prepared by inkjet printing of activator followed by electroless plating of nickel (Ni) particle.

Design/methodology/approach

– The electrical resistance shows a range of around 0.1 Ω/sq, which sounds quite proper for ECG signal acquisition, as the potential difference according to heart activity on skin surface is in milivolt range. Surface modifications of Ni–phosphorus (P)-plated polyester fiber were studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffractionmethods. The quality of the acquired signal from printed square-shaped sensors in two sizes with areas of 9 and 16 cm2 compared with the standard Ag/Agcl electrode using commercial ECG with the patient in the sitting position.

Findings

– Comparison of these data led to the consideration of small fabric sensor for better performance and the least disturbance regarding homogeneity and attenuation in electric field scattering. Using these types of sensors in textile surface because of flexibility will provide more freedom of action to the user. Wearable ECG can be applied to solve the problems of the aging population, increasing demand for health services and lack of medical expert.

Originality/value

– In the present research, a convenient, inexpensive and reproducible method for the patterning of Ni features on commercial polyester fabric was investigated. Printed designs with high electrical conductivity can be used as a cardiac receiving signals’ sensor.
Heat exchanger design for a thermoelectric module to drive wireless sensors in spindle monitoring
Authors: Yao Xinhua , Li Sheng , Fu Jianzhong
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study using thermoelectric module to harvest the waste heat from spindle units of machine tools and drive wireless sensors stable, thermal structure design and optimization of the thermoelectric module.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this paper, mesh-free-based method, rather than the standard finite element method, is used to analyze the thermal behavior of the thermoelectric modules with different structure. After that, experiments are done to obtain the real power output performance of those modules and evaluate the performance of driving a wireless sensor with those modules.

Findings

– The paper provides that the difference in geometry structure can cause apparent change in surface temperature of heat-conducting plate, and the optimized thermoelectric module could increase the output voltage by about 7 per cent compared with the one without optimization.

Research limitations/implications

– It is found that the structure changing of the thermoelectric module is not the only way to increase the harvesting power, so a high efficiency power manage system is needed to be studied in the future.

Practical implications

– The paper includes implications for the development of self-powered wireless sensors in the spindle unit for machine tool monitoring.

Originality/value

– The paper develops models of thermoelectric modules with different structures on a rotating spindle, and tests the performance of driving wireless sensors with those thermoelectric modules.
A new method to access information for underground omni-dimensional vibration vector
Authors: Li Jian , Liu Ying , Han Yan , Chen Xianhui
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method to achieve omni-directional vibration vector signal acquisition, and use this method to improve the accuracy of the underground explosion point localization.

Design/methodology/approach

– Following an introduction, this paper describes the design principle of a sensor structure, and discusses the rationality of the spherical structure of the sensor through finite element analysis. The sensor prototype is designed according to the above method, and its performance is tested by the sensor calibration experiment. Finally, applications are also discussed.

Findings

– This paper shows that the method for underground omni-directional vibration signal acquisition is reasonable and feasible. The vibration sensor, designed by this method, of which the triaxial dynamic characteristics are consistent, and the three-dimensional vibration information acquired by this sensor can achieve high-precision localization for an underground explosion point.

Originality/value

– The paper describes a new method for omni-directional vibration vector signal acquisition. The vibration sensor is developed based on this method, which has a broad application prospect in the positioning of an underground explosion point, the evaluation of explosive power and other underground projects.
Investigation of Pd/TiO2/Si MIS capacitor as hydrogen sensor
Authors: Shubham Kumar , Khan R.U. , Chakrabarti P.
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate the gas-sensing capability of Pd/TiO2/Si MIS capacitor using capacitance versus gate voltage (C-V) response as a function of hydrogen gas concentration varying from 0.1 to 2 ppm at 300 kHz frequency.

Design/methodology/approach

– The objective is to fabricate a metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) capacitor sensor based on TiO2-thin-film insulator deposited by sol-gel spin-coating process. Gas-sensing signal derived on exposure to hydrogen with concentration varying from 0.1 to 2 ppm at different operating temperatures (room temperature to 1,500°C) was measured as variation in flat-band voltage in C-V characteristics of the MIS capacitor.

Findings

– High sensitivity of the sensor is attributed to the large change of interface state charges because of the large surface-to-volume ratio of the nano-structured TiO2. The values of response time as well as the recovery time have also been estimated and are found to be comparable to that observed in the case of conventional Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) structure.

Research limitations/implications

– The use of Si substrate restricts the performance of gas sensors to 200°C, as the Si substrate begins to show conductive nature.

Originality/value

– This paper deals with an MIS capacitor gas sensor which replaces conventional insulating material by TiO2 and uses a high-quality fabrication procedure for controlled growth of novel surface structure.
The Massification of Strategy
Authors: Whittington Richard
Published: January 2015

This paper addresses the ‘massification’ of strategy. The primary sense of massification reflects the recovery of Latour's ‘missing masses’ in strategy research, in other words the growing recognition of material artefacts. But there are two contingent senses of massification as well. First, many of these material artefacts are mass‐produced (e.g. laptops) and therefore commonly used across many sites of strategy work. Second, some of these material artefacts (e.g. social media) are increasingly tools for mass participation, facilitating the involvement of many employees in strategy work. This paper considers the implications of both mass production and mass participation for strategy‐as‐practice research, particularly with regard to comparative method and critical scrutiny.
The Irony of Making Materiality of Consequence
Authors: Carlile Paul R
Published: January 2015

I worry that in our continued enthusiasm to embrace dynamics (INGness) we have thrown the baby out with the bath water. Most unfortunately that baby is all of us because the consequences of our actions fade into a soft humanistic yet indistinguishable stew. For me materiality gives us the means to see durability and not just dynamics; accumulations and not just activities; outcomes and not just process; consequences and not just change. But this essay is just words and the irony I see may go unnoticed; at least until the next attempt.