bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Are We Catching What They Eat? Moving Beyond Trends in the Mean Trophic Level of Catch
Authors: Rountos Konstantine J. , Frisk Michael G. , Pikitch Ellen K.
Published: August 2015

The mean trophic level of fisheries catch is commonly used to describe and assess temporal trends in fisheries. Though its value as an indicator to evaluate the relative health of fisheries in marine ecosystems has been hotly debated, the metric calculated is clear. We applied this indicator along with a relatively new indicator, the mean trophic level of predator consumption, to 40 Ecopath models around the world. Together, these measures were used to detect where fisheries and marine predators may be targeting similar trophic levels of prey. Globally, the mean trophic levels caught by all fisheries and finfish fisheries were similar to those consumed by marine mammals but significantly higher than those consumed by seabirds and large predatory fish. We found no significant differences between the median trophic levels targeted by forage fisheries and predators. These indicators can inform ecosystembased management, especially when information on predators and fishery interactions are limited or unavailable.

El nivel trófico promedio de las capturas pesqueras se utiliza comúnmente para describir y evaluar las tendencias de las pesquerías a través del tiempo. Si bien su utilidad como indicador de la salud relativa de las pesquerías en ecosistemas marinos ha sido un tema de intenso debate, el cálculo de esta métrica es claro. En el presente artículo se aplicó este indicador junto con uno nuevo, el nivel trófico promedio del consumo de los depredadores, a 40 modelos Ecopath alrededor del mundo. Juntas, estas dos medidas fueron utilizadas para detectar dónde las pesquerías y los depredadores marinos pueden estar incidiendo en niveles tróficos similares de las presas. De forma global, los niveles tróficos promedio capturados por todas las pesquerías de escama fueron similares a aquellos consumidos por mamíferos marinos, pero sensiblemente más altos que aquellos consumidos por aves marinas y grandes peces depredadores. No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los niveles tróficos que utilizan las pesquerías de peces forrajeros y los depredadores. Estos indicadores pueden aportar información útil para el manejo de las pesquerías basado en el ecosistema, especialmente cuando la información sobre los depredadores y las interacciones con las pesquerías es limitada o no está disponible.
Characterizing the Human Dimensions of a Hidden Fishery: Riverine Trotline Fishers
Authors: Dickinson Benjamin D. , Orth Donald J. , McMullin Steve L.
Published: August 2015

Hidden fisheries include catfish harvesters who use trotlines and are seldom surveyed. We examined trotline fishers to describe fishing habits and techniques, trotline fishing knowledge, recreational motivations, and opinions of the fishery, regulations, and conflicts with other river users. Trotline fishers on the New River, Virginia, were secretive and solitary, and some were socioeconomically disadvantaged. They placed high importance on catch- and harvest-related factors, in contrast to many other angler groups who use highly specialized methods. They relied on harvesting catfish for varying degrees of sustenance to their diet or income. Trotline fishing appears to be part of a larger “way of life” for some rural individuals, who may also hunt, trap, and garden as part of activities to supplement their diet or income. New River trotline fishers strongly believed that participation in trotline fishing had declined significantly in the New River Valley due to improving socioeconomic status of the region, changing recreational values (such as focus on catch-and-release fishing and paddle sports), increasing recreational boat traffic and law enforcement presence, and decreasing participation in trotline fishing by younger generations.

Las pesquerías escondidas incluyen a los pescadores de bagre quienes usan el palangre artesanal pero que rara vez son contabilizados. En este artículo se examinan a los pescadores de palangre artesanal con el fin de describir sus hábitos y técnicas de pesca, el conocimiento existente sobre pesca con palangre artesanal, motivaciones recreativas, opiniones sobre la pesquería y conflictos con otros usuarios de los ríos. Los pescadores de palangre artesanal en New River, Virginia, mostraron ser reservados, solitarios y algunos estuvieron en condiciones socioeconómicas desventajosas. Ellos consideran muy importante la captura y factores relativos a ésta, en contraste con otros grupos de pescadores que utilizan métodos altamente especializados. Así mismo, dependen de la captura de bagre en grado diverso para el sustento de su dieta o de su ingreso. La pesca artesanal de palangre parece constituir parte de un modo de vida más general para algunos individuos rurales, quienes también pueden cazar, atrapar y hacer jardinería como parte de actividades suplementarias para mantener su dieta e ingreso. Los pescadores de palangre artesanal de New River creen firmemente que la participación en este tipo de pesquería ha declinado significativamente en el Valle de New River debido al incremento del estatus socioeconómico de la región, al cambio en los valores recreativos (tales como la pesca enfocada a captura-recaptura y deportes de remo), el tráfico creciente de botes, presencia del poder judicial y a una reducción en la participación de las generaciones más jóvenes en la pesca artesanal de palangre.
The University of Southern Mississippi–Gulf Coast Research Laboratory: Interview with Jim Franks
Authors: Harrison Sarah
Published: August 2015

The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) is a marine/coastal research and education enterprise located in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and is a unit of The University of Southern Mississippi.
A new framework for analyzing organizational workplace religion and spirituality
Authors: Miller David W. , Ewest Timothy
Published: August 2015

This paper proposes the Faith and Work Organizational Framework as a new organizational framework that builds on and addresses shortcomings of existing rubrics by giving needed attention to human, religious, legal, and organizational dynamics. This framework describes corporate actions and attitudes toward workplace spirituality and religion. It draws on symbolic management theory, and earlier conceptions of faith-friendly workplaces. The Faith and Work Organizational Framework identifies four distinct organizational approaches to addressing religion and spirituality at work (i.e. faith-avoiding, faith-based, faith-safe, and faith-friendly). Part one of this paper contextualizes the need for such a framework in light of the faith-at-work movement, Title VII, and human rights theory. Part two of the paper addresses shortcomings of existing models and offers a new language and framework (with four modalities). The paper concludes with theoretical, research, and practical implications of this framework.
Influence of Ventilation Strategies and Anesthetic Techniques on Regional Cerebral Oximetry in the Beach Chair Position
Authors: Picton Paul , Dering Andrew , Alexander Amir , Neff Mary , Miller Bruce S. , Shanks Amy , Housey Michelle , Mashour George A.
Published: August 2015

AbstractAbstract

Cerebral oxygenation desaturation in the beach chair position, as estimated by cerebral oximetry, may be attenuated by the combination of normobaric hyperoxia and moderate hypercarbia. This appears independent of anesthetic agent.

Background:

Beach chair positioning during general anesthesia is associated with cerebral oxygen desaturation. Changes in cerebral oxygenation resulting from the interaction of inspired oxygen fraction (Fio
2), end-tidal carbon dioxide (PETco
2), and anesthetic choice have not been fully evaluated in anesthetized patients in the beach chair position.

Methods:

This is a prospective interventional within-group study of patients undergoing shoulder surgery in the beach chair position that incorporated a randomized comparison between two anesthetics. Fifty-six patients were randomized to receive desflurane or total intravenous anesthesia with propofol. Following induction of anesthesia and positioning, Fio
2 and minute ventilation were sequentially adjusted for all patients. Regional cerebral oxygenation (rSo
2) was the primary outcome and was recorded at each of five set points.

Results:

While maintaining Fio
2 at 0.3 and PETco
2 at 30 mmHg, there was a decrease in rSo
2 from 68% (SD, 12) to 61% (SD, 12) (P < 0.001) following beach chair positioning. The combined interventions of increasing Fio
2 to 1.0 and increasing PETco
2 to 45 mmHg resulted in a 14% point improvement in rSo
2 to 75% (SD, 12) (P <0.001) for patients anesthetized in the beach chair position. There was no significant interaction effect of the anesthetic at the study intervention points.

Conclusions:

Increasing Fio
2 and PETco
2 resulted in a significant increase in rSo
2 that overcomes desaturation in patients anesthetized in the beach chair position and that appears independent of anesthetic choice.
Flavobacterium endophyticum sp. nov., a nifH gene-harbouring endophytic bacterium isolated from maize root
Authors: Gao Jun-lian , Lv Fan-yang , Wang Xu-ming , Yuan Mei , Li Ji-wei , Wu Qin-yu , Sun Jian-guang
Published: August 2015

A novel Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain 522T, was isolated from surface-sterilized root tissue of maize planted in Fangshan District of Beijing, China. A polyphasic taxonomic study was performed on the new isolate. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies, this isolate belonged to the genus Flavobacterium and showed less than 93.9 % similarity to the type strains of all recognized species of the genus Flavobacterium. The predominant respiratory quinone was menaquinone-6 and the polar lipid profile was composed of the major lipids phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and two unidentified amino lipids. The major fatty acids were C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G and iso-C16 : 0.The G+C content of the DNA was 37.7 mol%. The results of physiological and biochemical tests and the differences in fatty acid profiles allowed the clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 522T from closely related species of the genus Flavobacterium. Strain 522T therefore represents a novel species within the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium endophyticum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 522T ( = ACCC 19708T = DSM 29537T).
The P25 protein ofPotato virus Xsuppresses accumulation of 24nt siRNAs in theN. benthamianatransgenic line 16c
Authors: Garcia Shahinez , Himber Christophe , Voinnet Olivier
Published: August 2015

By transiently expressing viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) in combination with GFP silencing-inducing constructs in leaves ofNicotiana benthamianaline 16c, Hamilton et al. (2002) could establish a positive correlation between the production of 24nt GFP small interfering (si)RNAs in infiltrated leaves and the systemic onset of GFP silencing in remote tissues. In the context of GFP silencing inducers based on replicatingPotato virus X (PVX), the P25 protein of PVX was found to specifically inhibit the local accumulation of 24nt GFP siRNAs. In the original paper, there were background pixel pattern duplications in the figure reporting the P25 experiments. We have now repeated these experiments with the original clones and the results presented here confirm those reported in the original paper.
Zwitterionic and free forms of arylmethyl Meldrum's acids
Authors: Mierina Inese , Mishnev Anatoly , Jure Mara
Published: August 2015

C-Alkyl (including C-arylmethyl) derivatives of Meldrum's acids are attractive building blocks in organic synthesis, mainly due to the unusually high acidity of the resulting compounds. Three examples, namely 5-[4-(diethylamino)benzyl]-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione, C17H23NO4, (I), 2,2-dimethyl-5-(2,4,6-trimethoxybenzyl)-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione, C16H20O7, (II), and 5-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione, C15H18O7, (III), have been synthesized, characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy, and studied by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis. The nature of the different substituents resulted in remarkable differences in both the molecular conformations and the crystal packing arrangements. The presence of a substituent with a basic centre in compound (I) leads to the formation of an inner salt accompanied by drastic changes in the conformation of the 1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione fragment. By virtue of strong N—H...O hydrogen bonds, the residues are assembled into infinite chains with the graph-set descriptorC(10). Compound (II) contains methoxy groups in both theortho- andpara-positions of the arylmethyl fragment. Because of the absence of classical hydrogen-bond donors in this structure, the crystal packing is controlled by van der Waals forces and weak C—H...O interactions. Compound (III) contains methoxy groups in bothmeta-positions and a hydroxy group in thepara-position. Supramolecular tetrameric synthons which comprise hydrogen-bonded dimers associated into tetramers through π–π interactions of overlapping benzene rings were observed.
Crystal structure of 4-(6-bromo-4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl)-2-methylamino-3-nitropyrano[3,2-c]chromen-5(4H)-one chloroform monosolvate
Authors: Raja Rajamani , Kandhasamy Subramani , Perumal Paramasivam T. , SubbiahPandi A.
Published: August 2015

In the title compound, C22H13BrN2O7·CHCl3, the pyran ring adopts a shallow sofa conformation with the C atom bearing the bromochromene system as the flap [deviation = 0.291 (3) Å]. The dihedral angle between the pyran fused-ring system (all atoms; r.m.s. deviation = 0.032 Å) and the bromochromene ring system (r.m.s. deviation = 0.027 Å) is 87.56 (9)°. An intramolecular N—H...O hydrogen bond closes anS(6) ring. The Cl atoms of the solvent molecule are disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.515 (6):0.485 (6) ratio. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N—H...O hydrogen bonds generateR22(12) loops. The packing also features C—H...O and very weak π–π [centroid–centroid separation = 3.960 (2) Å] interactions, which link the dimers into a three-dimensional network.
Tracking and following pedestrian trajectories, an approach for autonomous surveillance of critical infrastructures
Authors: Garzon Oviedo Mario Andrei , Barrientos Antonio , Del Cerro Jaime , Alacid Andrés , Fotiadis Efstathios , Rodríguez-Canosa Gonzalo R. , Wang Bang-Chen
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a system that is fully capable of addressing the issue of detection, tracking and following pedestrians, which is a very challenging task, especially when it is considered for using in large outdoors infrastructures. Three modules, detection, tracking and following, are integrated and tested over long distances in semi-structured scenarios, where static or dynamic obstacles, including other pedestrians, can be found.

Design/methodology/approach

– The detection is based on the probabilistic fusion of a laser scanner and a camera. The tracking module pairs observations with previously detected targets by using Kalman Filters and a Mahalanobis-distance. The following module allows to safely pursue the target by using a well-defined navigation scheme.

Findings

– The system can track pedestrians from static position to 3.46 m/s (running). It handles occlusions, crossings or miss-detections, keeping track of the position even if the pedestrian is only detected in 55/per cent of the observations. Moreover, it autonomously selects and follows a target at a maximum speed of 1.46 m/s.

Originality/value

– The main novelty of this study is the integration of the three algorithms in a fully operational system, tested in real outdoor scenarios. Furthermore, the addition of labelling to the detection algorithm allows using the full range of a single sensor while preserving the high performance of a combined detection. False-positives’ rate is reduced by handling the uncertainty level when pairing observations. The inclusion of pedestrian speed in the model speeds up and simplifies tracking process. Finally, the most suitable target is automatically selected by a scoring system.
Design and experimental study of a new thrown robot based on flexible structure
Authors: Wang Wei , Wu Shilin , Zhu Peihua , Li Xuepeng
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The paper aims to present a new thought for design of a thrown robot based on flexible structures. The aim of the design is to reduce the weight and improve the anti-impact capability for mini thrown robot.

Design/methodology/approach

– A mass-spring wheeled robot model is proposed and an impact analysis is given in this paper. Some principia were derived for configuration design and material choice to get a light and robust thrown reconnaissance robot. Based on the theoretical analysis, flexible elements like flexure hinges or rubber shell were utilized to build two generation of robots that both showed excellent performances of anti-impact ability.

Findings

– A second-generation thrown robot (2,050 g) was developed, which could survive dropping from the height of 6 m more than 10 times without apparent damage.

Originality/value

– The method based on the flexible structure provides the thrown robot with high survivability from impact, as well as light weight. It can be used in the design of the mini thrown reconnaissance robot at low cost.
Hybrid filters and feedback mechanism for wearable-based human-manipulator interface
Authors: Zhang Ping , Li Bei , Du Guanglong
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to develop a wearable-based human-manipulator interface which integrates the interval Kalman filter (IKF), unscented Kalman filter (UKF), over damping method (ODM) and adaptive multispace transformation (AMT) to perform immersive human-manipulator interaction by interacting the natural and continuous motion of the human operator’s hand with the robot manipulator.

Design/methodology/approach

– The interface requires that a wearable watch is tightly worn on the operator’s hand to track the continuous movements of the operator’s hand. Nevertheless, the measurement errors generated by the sensor error and tracking failure signicantly occur several times, which means that the measurement is not determined with sufficient accuracy. Due to this fact, IKF and UKF are used to compensate for the noisy and incomplete measurements, and ODM is established to eliminate the influence of the error signals like data jitter. Furthermore, to be subject to the inherent perceptive limitations of the human operator and the motor, AMT that focuses on a secondary treatment is also introduced.

Findings

– Experimental studies on the GOOGOL GRB3016 robot show that such a wearable-based interface that incorporates the feedback mechanism and hybrid filters can operate the robot manipulator more flexibly and advantageously even if the operator is nonprofessional; the feedback mechanism introduced here can successfully assist in improving the performance of the interface.

Originality/value

– The interface uses one wearable watch to simultaneously track the orientation and position of the operator’s hand; it is not only avoids problems of occlusion, identification and limited operating space, but also realizes a kind of two-way human-manipulator interaction, a feedback mechanism can be triggered in the watch to reflect the system states in real time. Furthermore, the interface gets rid of the synchronization question in posture estimation, as hybrid filters work independently to compensate the noisy measurements respectively.
Manual guidance for industrial robot programming
Authors: Massa Daniele , Callegari Massimo , Cristalli Cristina
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to deal with the problem of programming robots in industrial contexts, where the need of easy programming is increasing, while robustness and safety remain fundamental aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

– A novel approach of robot programming can be identified with the manual guidance that permits to the operator to freely move the robot through its task; the task can then be taught using Programming by Demonstration methods or simple reproduction.

Findings

– In this work, the different ways to achieve manual guidance are discussed and an implementation using a force/torque sensor is provided. Experimental results and a use case are also presented.

Practical implications

– The use case shows how this methodology can be used with an industrial robot. An implementation in industrial contexts should be adjusted accordingly to ISO safety standards as described in the paper.

Originality/value

– This paper presents a complete state-of-the-art of the problem and shows a real practical use case where the approach presented could be used to speed up the teaching process.
Robotic motion compensation for bone movement, using ultrasound images
Authors: Torres P.M.B. , Gonçalves P. J. S. , Martins J.M.M.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a robotic motion compensation system, using ultrasound images, to assist orthopedic surgery. The robotic system can compensate for femur movements during bone drilling procedures. Although it may have other applications, the system was thought to be used in hip resurfacing (HR) prosthesis surgery to implant the initial guide tool. The system requires no fiducial markers implanted in the patient, by using only non-invasive ultrasound images.

Design/methodology/approach

– The femur location in the operating room is obtained by processing ultrasound (USA) and computer tomography (CT) images, obtained, respectively, in the intra-operative and pre-operative scenarios. During surgery, the bone position and orientation is obtained by registration of USA and CT three-dimensional (3D) point clouds, using an optical measurement system and also passive markers attached to the USA probe and to the drill. The system description, image processing, calibration procedures and results with simulated and real experiments are presented and described to illustrate the system in operation.

Findings

– The robotic system can compensate for femur movements, during bone drilling procedures. In most experiments, the update was always validated, with errors of 2 mm/4°.

Originality/value

– The navigation system is based entirely on the information extracted from images obtained from CT pre-operatively and USA intra-operatively. Contrary to current surgical systems, it does not use any type of implant in the bone to track the femur movements.
A rethink of the incentives programme in the conservation of South Korea’s historic villages
Authors: Mat Radzuan Indera Syahrul , Inho Song , Ahmad Yahaya
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address the overarching question, which was whether the incentives programmes formulated for the community have been found to be suitable to the aspirations and needs of the local residents.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study has resulted from the authors’ experience through conducting a survey with the local residents in three locations, namely the Bukchon Hanok Village located at Seoul metropolitan city; the Hahoe Village, Angdong and the Yangdong Village, Gyeongju; both the latter are located towards the west of the Korean peninsula in the Gyeongbuk-do Province. This study has hopefully tried to analyse the residents’ perception of the effectiveness of the current incentives policy by using the Bennett’s programme evaluation method.

Findings

– Results show that there was a divergent direction between the current incentives policy and the local aspirations between sites. In most cases, the cultural heritage conservation has been found to be a catalyst to fulfil a heritage tourism advantage rather than to cater to the local community needs.

Originality/value

– The paper is the first insightful study of the historic villages which attempts to draw out the importance of the effectiveness of the incentives programme in guiding the conservation efforts for the local economic development.
Buffering Borobudur for socio-economic development
Authors: Nagaoka Masanori
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that there was a non-Eurocentric approach being attempted at Borobudur in the 1970s and 1980s. From the case of Borobudur, this research aims to provide lessons for better management practices by clarifying the development of the buffer zone concept and its potential impact on communities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper will examine an empirical literature study using topographic maps, contracts between Governments of Indonesia and Japan, documents concerning the Park Project and local newspapers as well as a sequence of one-to-one and group interviews with the key persons who were involved in the Park Project including villagers at Borobudur.

Findings

– The development of the Borobudur Archaeological Park began in 1979 and marks an important shift in thinking about buffer zones from a monument-centric approach to the consideration of the wider context and approaches to community participation in the context of international heritage management.

Originality/value

– There has not yet been a detailed study concerning the progression of the Borobudur Park establishment and implementation of the buffer zone conceptper se, and its impact on local community members. Furthermore, crucial management planning documents for the establishment of the Borobudur Archaeological Park have yet to be analysed by scholars. One of the documents is entitled the Updated Former Plans and Schematic Design for Borobudur and Prambanan National Archaeological Parks Project (Updated Plan). The Updated Plan is in principle not disclosed to the public and can only be viewed with permission of the Indonesian authorities thereby lessening opportunities for research to be undertaken on how the Japan International Cooperation Agency Master Plan was modified and the Park Project was executed in the 1970s and 1980s. The author opportunely received permission to access to the Updated Plan by the authorities on 23 November 2012, which made this study possible to pursue.
Antecedents and moderators of brand trust in the context of baby care toiletries
Authors: Srivastava Neha , Dash Satya Bhushan , Mookerjee Amit
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to empirically examine the distinct antecedents of cognitive and affective brand trust in the context of baby care toiletry brands. Further, the moderating role of the mother’s personality traits on the relationship between brand trust and its antecedents is investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study methodology involves two phases: exploratory and descriptive. The exploratory phase, with the support of a focused literature review, results in a theoretical framework that is later validated through the survey-based empirical phase.

Findings

– The study finds that brand predictability and brand innovativeness are antecedents of cognitive brand trust, whereas brand intimacy is a driver of affective brand trust. The study confirms that agreeableness positively moderates the relationship between brand intimacy and affective brand trust, whereas conscientiousness positively moderates the relationship between brand predictability and cognitive brand trust.

Practical implications

– The study recommends marketing strategy approaches for baby care product companies, including the essential factors they must keep in mind for promoting their brand and winning the trust of mothers.

Originality/value

– The study is among the few empirical investigations that examine the role of the moderating effect of personality traits on the relationship between brand trust and its antecedents, in the little-researched context of the high perceived risk category of baby care toiletry products in an emerging-market context.
“Can you do something about the price?” – Exploring the Indian deal and bargaining-prone customer
Authors: Dawra Jagrook , Katyal Kanupriya , Gupta Vipin
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The paper aims to study how deal- and bargaining-prone customers are different from each other. This paper brings out this difference based on psychographics encompassing values – consciousness, price mavenism and personality orientations – needed for special treatment (distinctiveness and play).

Design/methodology/approach

– The measurement model was assessed using both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The structural model was tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– This paper finds that value consciousness is a two-dimensional construct in the Indian context. This construct comprises two dimensions of value consciousness, including concern for price and concern for quality. The authors find that deal-prone customers are value conscious and price mavens. Bargaining-prone customers are value-conscious price mavens and have a high need for special treatment (play). Play orientation distinguishes between a deal-prone and a bargaining-prone customer.

Research limitations/implications

– The study was limited to grocery products. The consumers surveyed were urban and educated Indians.

Practical implications

– With the Indian markets being opened for Western retailers, it is imperative to study the Indian consumers. It is important to understand why the local neighborhood store is able to retain its customer base even when the organized fixed-price formats have been around for approximately 20 years.

Originality/value

– This is one of the few papers that tries to understand the Indian consumer’s buying behavior, especially with respect to their haggling nature. This paper further develops our understanding of the “deal proneness” and “bargaining proneness” constructs. The authors also study their differences based on psychographics.
Dynamic modelling of national healthcare system
Authors: Jankuj Miroslav , Voracek Jan
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discover and structurally represent the overall possibilities and limitations of quality phenomenon in national health-care sector. The authors consider this domain as a whole and also deal with cross-sector relations, which are usually simplified or omitted.

Design/methodology/approach

– Presented problem represents a macro-level strategy planning task. The authors use the tools of system dynamics and the basic methodology consists of four generic stages, including problem formulation, conceptual specifications, computational modeling and experimentation.

Findings

– The authors propose architecture of quality-driven simulation model of national health-care system, validated by simple computational prototype. It covers all major players in this sector, i.e. patients, hospitals, government and insurers.

Practical implications

– The proposed model can be very useful, especially for current and future policymakers, as a tool for decision-making. They can create better decisions based on the knowledge of a wide variety of factors influencing the system and thus achieve the public health objectives more effectively.

Originality/value

– The innovativeness of presented research is based on an assumption that strategic concentration on quality in health-care sector can solve the majority of its current bottlenecks. According to the interpretation of the authors, qualitative aspects include primarily the non-clinical activities, such as management, marketing, external relations or staff development.
A review of program and project evaluation models
Authors: Linzalone Roberto , Schiuma Giovanni
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to review Program and Project evaluation Models. The assessment of the Evaluation Model (metaevaluation) is a critical step in Evaluation, as it is at the basis of a successful Program/Project evaluation. A wide and effective review of EMs is a basic, as well as fundamental, support in meta-evaluation that affects positively the overall evaluation efficacy and efficiency. Despite a large number of reviews of EMs and a numerous population of EMs, developed in heterogeneous projects and programs settings, the literature lacks comprehensive collections and reviews of EMs that this paper addresses to provide a basis for the assessment of EMs.

Design/methodology/approach

– Through a systematic literature review carried out via the Internet, and querying search engines, several models addressing program or project evaluation have been identified and analyzed. Following a process of normalization of the results gathered, they have been analyzed and compared according to key descriptive issues. They have been, at the end, summarized and rationalized in a comprehensive frame.

Findings

– In recent years, evaluation studies have focused on the explanation of the mechanisms that underlie the transformation of projects’ and programs’ outputs into socio-economic effects, arguing that making them explicit allows to understand why a project or program is successful, as well as evaluating its extent. To assess and explain program’s and project’s effects, a basic, although fundamental, role in evaluation is played by the EM. A wide and heterogeneous set of 57 EMs has been identified, defined and framed in typologies, according to a systematic review research.

Originality/value

– The approach to the review of EMs and the definition of a boundary of interest for management and economic researchers and practitioners represent an original issue of this paper.
Life stressors and compulsive buying behaviour among adolescents in India
Authors: Singh Rashmi , Nayak J. K.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The compulsive buying (CB)behaviour has become topics of increasing interest to researchers and policy makers, particularly because researches have shown that it can influence consumer behaviour and well-being. However, a clear picture of how this phenomenon arises has proven elusive. Using the adolescents perceived level of stress as an integrative framework, the purpose of this paper is to derive hypotheses from two theoretical perspectives (the stress and CB behaviour), and uses a survey of adolescents (15-18) year in India to test the hypotheses.

Design/methodology/approach

– The present study is the first to experimentally manipulate important stressors in the lives of adolescents, i.e. familial and non-familial; and measures its impact on CB among a sample of 15-18-year old adolescents. Next, the authors investigate the relationship between CB and post-purchase regret and then whether gender moderates the stress-CB relationship.

Findings

– The present study finds that adolescents increasingly turn to CB in an attempt to cope with heightened levels of stress due to familial and non-familial factors. Surprisingly, findings reveal that non-familial factors are not a major source of stress among adolescents. Gender was not found to moderate stress-CB relationship. Both boys and girls were found to respond to higher levels of stress with higher incidences of CB. Results suggest that CB behaviour is a common coping strategy for adolescents from both genders. The findings indicate that one’s experiences and circumstances in adolescence are related to their CB behaviour, thus a framework has been used to elucidate them, have important implications for theory and practice.

Originality/value

– The study makes some inimitable and significant contributions to the literature. It portrays one of few studies to investigate CB during adolescence period – a hard to reach population. Here authors experimentally manipulate stress levels to investigate its impact on CB. The study’s findings in regard to gender’s impact on the stress-CB relationship suggest that CB begins during adolescence period and is a common coping strategy for both boys and girls.
How do the practitioners perceive relevancy of lean practices in IT support services?
Authors: Kundu Goutam Kumar , Manohar B. Murali , Bairi Jayachandra
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to capture and analyze the perception gaps with respect to the current usage and importances of the lean practices from the IT support service practitioners’ perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

– A questionnaire was developed to capture the perceptions of the IT support service practitioners. The survey data were quantitatively analyzed by using statistical techniques which included testing of the hypotheses.

Findings

– The analysis of the perception gaps revealed that even though all the gaps are statistically significant but gaps between different practices are not same. The gap analysis would be useful for IT support service organization in prioritizing the lean practices for implementation.

Originality/value

– Lean practice applicability and implementation in IT support services is a relatively new domain, where mature empirically based studies are scarce. This study provides a sound basis for further research on lean implementation in IT support service area.
Policy Attitudes in Institutional Context: Rules, Uncertainty, and the Mass Politics of Public Investment
Authors: Jacobs Alan M. , Matthews J. Scott
Published: August 2015

This article examines the link between citizens’ policy attitudes and the institutional context in which policies are carried out. The article develops a theory of opinion formation toward policies that impose costs on citizens in order to invest in broadly valued social goods. In this framework, problems of agency loss and time inconsistency leave citizens uncertain about whether promised policy benefits will be delivered. Citizen support for public investments thus depends on whether the institutional context makes elites’ policy promises credible. We consider hypotheses about how the institutional allocation of authority and the institutional rules governing implementation affect citizen support for public investment, and we find broad support for the framework in three survey experiments administered to representative samples of U.S. citizens. The results shed light on the link between political institutions and citizens’ attitudes, the capacities of voters for substantive political reasoning, and the political prospects for public investment.
What is the role of hydrogen peroxide in plant peroxisomes?
Authors: Corpas Francisco J.
Published: August 2015

Plant peroxisomes are unusual subcellular compartments with an apparent simple morphology but with complex metabolic activity. The presence of signal molecules, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitric oxide inside plant peroxisomes have added new functions in the cross‐talk events among organelles and cells under physiological and stress conditions. Moreover, recent advances in proteomic analyses of plant peroxisomes have identified new protein candidates involved in several novel metabolic pathways. With all these new data, the present concise manuscript will focus on the relevance of the peroxisomal H2O2 and its two main antioxidant enzymes, catalase and membrane‐bound ascorbate peroxidase, which regulate its level and consequently its potential functions.
Performance of Inlet Filtration System in Relation to the Uncaptured Particles Causing Fouling in the Gas Turbine Compressor
Authors: Igie Uyioghosa , Amoia Domenico , Michailidis Georgios , Minervino Orlando
Published: August 2015

Accounting for the impact of uncaptured particles that cause compressor fouling and subsequently performance degradation when a filter system is in place is often ignored when evaluating the performance of filtration systems. Too often, the emphasis is on capture efficiency and the corresponding differential pressure loss, which are important aspects, however only constitutes a part of the overall impact on the engine performance. The main aim of this study is a first step to quantify the loss that is attributed to compressor fouling by the uncaptured particles, identify a threshold point for which further increase in pressure losses (increasing capture efficiency) no longer yields further increases in fouling levels, and subsequently investigate these respective losses and total losses in a reference high efficiency system (HES) and a hypothetical low efficiency system. Corrected operational data from a 268 MW gas turbine engine were used to evaluate the levels of degradation in the engine at different power settings. With the measured filter media pressure loss during operation and turbomatch (an in-house gas turbine performance simulation software), the impact of power reduction due to pressure loss of the filter was accounted for in the total estimated losses due to engine degradation. That of fouling was calculated based on applicable assumptions, while deducting the loss due to filtration systems from the total loss due to degradation. The study shows the inverse relationship between fouling effects and filter pressure losses as expected. More importantly, it indicates that the higher efficiency system performs better than the low efficiency system, notwithstanding the more dominant impact of higher differential pressure losses. It was also observed that the threshold where fouling effects are zero or negligible is around 800 Pa at high power setting and 600 Pa at lower power setting. In general, for all forms of the degradation using the engine data and simulation software, it is observed that at lower power settings, the impact on the engine is a lot more severe in a single-shaft constant speed operation.
The influence of informational masking in reverberant, multi-talker environments
Authors: Westermann Adam , Buchholz Jörg M.
Published: August 2015

The relevance of informational masking (IM) in real-world listening is not well understood. In literature, IM effects of up to 10 dB in measured speech reception thresholds (SRTs) are reported. However, these experiments typically employed simplified spatial configurations and speech corpora that magnified confusions. In this study, SRTs were measured with normal hearing subjects in a simulated cafeteria environment. The environment was reproduced by a 41-channel 3D-loudspeaker array. The target talker was 2 m in front of the listener and masking talkers were either spread throughout the room or colocated with the target. Three types of maskers were realized: one with the same talker as the target (maximum IM), one with talkers different from the target, and one with unintelligible, noise-vocoded talkers (minimal IM). Overall, SRTs improved for the spatially distributed conditions compared to the colocated conditions. Within the spatially distributed conditions, there was no significant difference between thresholds with the different- and vocoded-talker maskers. Conditions with the same-talker masker were the only conditions with substantially higher thresholds, especially in the colocated conditions. These results suggest that IM related to target-masker confusions, at least for normal-hearing listeners, is of low relevance in real-life listening.
Neuroprotective therapies: Preclinical reproducibility is only part of the problem
Authors: Tymianski Michael
Published: August 2015

Assessing the reproducibility of preclinical data is one piece in the multifaceted puzzle of clinical translation (Llovera
et al
., this issue).
Successional Trajectories of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities over Consecutive Seasons
Authors: Shi Shengjing , Nuccio Erin , Herman Donald J. , Rijkers Ruud , Estera Katerina , Li Jiabao , da Rocha Ulisses Nunes , He Zhili , Pett-Ridge Jennifer , Brodie Eoin L. , Zhou Jizhong , Firestone Mary
Published: August 2015

It is well known that rhizosphere microbiomes differ from those of surrounding soil, and yet we know little about how these root-associated microbial communities change through the growing season and between seasons. We analyzed the response of soil bacteria to roots of the common annual grass
Avena fatua
over two growing seasons using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Over the two periods of growth, the rhizosphere bacterial communities followed consistent successional patterns as plants grew, although the starting communities were distinct. Succession in the rhizosphere was characterized by a significant decrease in both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity relative to background soil communities, driven by reductions in both richness and evenness of the bacterial communities. Plant roots selectively stimulated the relative abundance of
Alphaproteobacteria
,
Betaproteobacteria
, and
Bacteroidetes
but reduced the abundance of
Acidobacteria
,
Actinobacteria
, and
Firmicutes
. Taxa that increased in relative abundance in the rhizosphere soil displayed phylogenetic clustering, suggesting some conservation and an evolutionary basis for the response of complex soil bacterial communities to the presence of plant roots. The reproducibility of rhizosphere succession and the apparent phylogenetic conservation of rhizosphere competence traits suggest adaptation of the indigenous bacterial community to this common grass over the many decades of its presence.

IMPORTANCE
We document the successional patterns of rhizosphere bacterial communities associated with a “wild” annual grass,
Avena fatua
, which is commonly a dominant plant in Mediterranean-type annual grasslands around the world; the plant was grown in its grassland soil. Most studies documenting rhizosphere microbiomes address “domesticated” plants growing in soils to which they are introduced. Rhizosphere bacterial communities exhibited a pattern of temporal succession that was consistent and repeatable over two growing seasons. There are few studies assessing the reproducibility over multiple seasons. Through the growing season, the rhizosphere community became progressively less diverse, likely reflecting root homogenization of soil microniches. Phylogenetic clustering of the rhizosphere dynamic taxa suggests evolutionary adaptation to
Avena
roots. The reproducibility of rhizosphere succession and the apparent phylogenetic conservation of rhizosphere competence traits suggest adaptation of the indigenous bacterial community to this common grass over the many decades of its presence.