bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Neuromodulation of Social Behavior in Insects
Authors: Simpson Stephen J. , Stevenson Paul A.
Published: April 2014

This review begins by introducing transformational concepts in neuromodulation and circuit function that have arisen from the study of insects and other invertebrates. These provide essential background not only to understanding behavior in insects (social or otherwise), but also for the functioning of nervous systems in all animals. The chapter details three (among many possible) examples in which neuromodulation of social behavior has been studied in depth. The first concerns the control of aggression and social dominance in crickets, the second involves swarming in locusts, and the third details the division of labor in honeybee societies. The authors conclude that insects have something profound to offer the study of psychology—not by providing direct analogues of human behavior, but rather by illustrating the power of neuromodulation to generate behavioral complexity in simple systems at the level of individuals and societies.
La Meri
Authors: Ruyter Nancy Lee
Published: April 2014

This essay examines the work of La Meri (Russell Meriwether Hughes, 1898–1988), a concert dance artist, teacher, and researcher who studied, performed, taught, and wrote about the dance traditions of an international array of cultures and specialized in what she termed “ethnic dance.”
Choreographing Interculturalism
Authors: Kowal Rebekah J.
Published: April 2014

This chapter unpacks the contradictory cultural politics surrounding the American Museum of Natural History’s popular midcentury dance program, Around the World with Dance and Song. Directed toward cultural integrationism, or the well-intentioned humanization of foreign peoples and their ways of life, the program was notable in its use of dance to make the museum more accessible to ordinary museum goers, bridge gaps of cultural difference and understanding, and conceptualize “ethnic art dance” as an avenue of ethnic self-representation on what amounted to a concert stage. Yet the museum’s positioning of dance in these ways appealed to paradoxically flawed universalist notions about human commonality, eliding government and public hesitation to intervene in the European Jewish genocide during World War II, for example, or to significantly reform US immigration policy or address ongoing domestic cultural patterns and practices of racial, ethnic, and sexual discrimination during the postwar years.
Food Assistance Programs and Food Security
Authors: Gundersen Craig
Published: April 2014

Food insecurity is a leading public-health challenge in the United States today. This is primarily due to the magnitude of the problem—about 50 million persons are food insecure—and the serious negative health and other outcomes associated with being food insecure. This chapter first defines the measure used to delineate whether a household is food insecure. The measure, the Core Food Security Module (CFSM), is based on 18 questions about a household’s food situation. From the responses, a household is defined as food secure, low food secure, or very low food secure, with the latter two categories defined as “food insecure.” I next discuss the extent of food insecurity in the United States across various dimensions, the key determinants of food insecurity, and the multiple negative consequences associated with food insecurity. Two of the key policy tools used to address food insecurity are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) and the National School Lunch Program. A brief overview and definition of the eligibility criteria for each program is provided along with a discussion of their respective impacts on food insecurity. This chapter concludes with four major current challenges pertaining to food insecurity and food assistance programs.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Authors: Weaver R. Kent
Published: April 2014

This chapter examines the development and implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block-grant program, and its predecessor, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Federal cash assistance to low-income, primarily single-parent families has been politically controversial since the creation of AFDC in 1935. The creation of TANF in 1996 imposed time limits on receipt of cash assistance and strengthened work requirements, while shifting the focus of expenditures away from cash benefits toward services intended to move adult recipients into work. TANF caseloads have fallen dramatically since 1996, and the employment rate of low-income single mothers has increased, but the social impacts of the TANF program have been mixed.
African American Muslims
Authors: Rouse Caroline Moxley
Published: April 2014

This chapter sees the embrace of Islam within the African American community as a response to white supremacy and struggles for citizenship. It is important to recognize that while the community is diverse in its beliefs and practices, African American Islam is marked by an approach to faith that speaks to the continuing struggle for equality and social justice in the United States. The violence and institutionalized racism that have marked African American history were justified by theories of black inferiority. Many African American Muslims consider their faith protective in the sense that it uses a different set of authoritative discourses and ethical standards for measuring value and meaning. In particular, Islam authorizes new understandings of gender, race, and citizenship that African American Muslims find empowering and protective against racial self-hate.
Sufi Movements in America
Authors: Hermansen Marcia
Published: April 2014

This chapter provides an overview of Sufi organizations and influences among contemporary American Muslims. It takes into consideration the historical background of religious tendencies in American society interacting with developments such as emigration from the Muslim world, the global rise of Islamic authenticity, and piety movements in recent decades.
Muslims in Film and Muslim Filmmaking in the United States
Authors: Rashid Hussein
Published: April 2014

This article looks at the American film industry and its relationship to Muslims. It looks at the way films define Muslims, the ways in which Muslims use film to define themselves, the impact of Muslims in the film industry, and ultimately the way film is used to establish Muslims in the American national narrative. Because of the nature of the entertainment industry, reference is also made to television shows as bellwethers for filmic themes. Like all cultural production, film exists in a dialogic continuum, with meanings constantly in flux, so that for Muslims, belonging in America cannot be clearly defined. However, through participation, a narrative can be constructed that enables the integration of Muslims into the American story.
Volunteerism among American Immigrant Muslims
Authors: Husain Altaf
Published: April 2014

Inspired by their faith, recent Muslim immigrants have evolved in their practice of and approach to volunteerism. While the “return” mindset of the 1960s and 1970s limited the scope and reach of their service primarily to that which was inward-looking, the achievements with regard to community and organizational development were nonetheless remarkable. The spirits of service and sacrifice internalized by Muslims of that era have not been witnessed since. During the 1980s, there was a shift in the mindset as the immigrants began settling down in the United States and their mostly American-born children came of age. A more outward-looking approach to volunteerism emerged, one that emphasized both individual and organizational efforts aimed at serving Muslims and society at large. Today ad hoc approaches to volunteerism are giving way to more formal, institutionalized approaches to address complex social issues in the United States and abroad. The meaningful and sustained incorporation of women and youth along with an emerging culture of volunteerism present challenges for contemporary American Muslims.
American Mosque Architecture
Authors: Kahera Akel Ismail
Published: April 2014

This chapter discusses a host of aesthetic leitmotifs that characterize Muslim religious architecture in the United States. It examines the taxonomy of images that define the American mosque, including modern-day themes, nostalgic features, and diaspora aesthetics. All of these sentiments deploy powerful visual and interpretive meanings. Stylistically the problems attendant upon interpretive meanings stand between three different ideologies of style: first, hybridity: a strict adherence to an aesthetic tradition containing disparate and mixed elements; second, simulacrum: an attempt to copy or replicate a popular cultural idea from an aesthetic tradition without experimentation but with a predominance of anachronism; and finally, contextualism: a faithful attempt to understand genius loci, modernity, tradition, and urbanism. Four case studies—The Islamic Center in Washington, DC (1957); Dar al-Islam Mosque in Abiquiu, New Mexico (1981); The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Ohio (1983); and The Islamic Cultural Center of New York, City (1991)—all present a thought-provoking overview of how hybridity, simulacra, and contextualism can be further understood. Finally the chapter raises issues related to American mosque worship, including the question of gender and women’s space in communal worship.
Carl Schmitt’s Concepts of War
Authors: Teschke Benno
Published: April 2014

Carl Schmitt’s conceptual history of war is routinely invoked to comprehend the contemporary mutations in the concept and practice of war. This literature has passively relied on Schmitt’s interpretation of the nomos of the Ius Publicum Europaeum, which traced the transition from early modern ‘non-discriminatory war’ to the US–American promotion of discriminatory warfare as a new category in liberal international law . This chapter provides a critical reconstruction of Schmitt’s antiliberal narrative of war and argues that his polemical mode of concept formation led to a defective and, ultimately, ideological counterhistory of absolutist warfare, designed to denigrate liberalism’s wars as total while remaining silent on Nazi Germany’s de facto total wars. The historical critique is supplemented by an interrogation of his theoretical presuppositions: decisionism, the concept of the political, and concrete order thinking. It shows that Schmitt’s history of warfare is not only empirically defective but also theoretically unsecured by a succession of arbitrarily deployed and hyperabstract theoretical registers. At the center of Schmitt’s work yawns a huge lacuna: the absence of social relations as a category of analysis.
Tragedy as Exception in Carl Schmitt’s Hamlet or Hecuba
Authors: Pan David
Published: April 2014

Because Carl Schmitt’s work on political theology and representation in politics presuppose a mythic basis for political order, Hamlet or Hecuba is important for providing a theory of the relationship between tragic myth and politics. If much of his work involves an attempt to understand the representational aspect of politics, Schmitt’s foray into Shakespeare criticism rejects a kind of art that is divorced from political concerns. Politics underlies the tragic effect of art by forcing the playwright to alter the plot to avoid politically determined taboos in a kind of self-censorship. In addition, this chapters argues, Schmitt develops a more aesthetic understanding of this political effect that accords better with Walter Benjamin’s idea that art can recapitulate the otherwise unspoken political exigencies of an epoch. In contrast to Benjamin’s argument in his Trauerspiel book, however, Schmitt’s theory of the relation of myth to politics rejects a modernization story in which myth gives way to reason.
Metronome
Authors: Bonus Alexander E.
Published: April 2014

This intellectual-social history of Maelzel’s technology challenges current views that automatic metronomes are, and have always been, universally accepted indicators of an absolute a priori musical beat. Rather than focusing upon the exactitude of historical tempo technologies, this study seeks to answer the larger reasons why ticking machines became the prevailing indicators of musical movement in western educational, compositional, and performance practice traditions. Primary source evidence uncovers that historical attitudes toward metronomes were unlike those of modern-age pedagogues and performers. By contrasting accounts from Maelzel’s and Beethoven’s age with those of modernist musicians, it is shown how a new cultural trend emerged in which automatic metronomes transitioned from limited musical pulse references to essential regulators of a scientifically objective, mathematically reproducible tempo. Ultimately, this survey reveals a cultural paradigm shift, a metronomic turn in the way automatic tempo technologies have come to inform and influence the values underlying musical temporality and musicianship itself.
Empirical investigation on the impact of hydrogen collisions for the formation of C i 1.07 μm lines based on the solar center-to-limb variation
Authors: Takeda Yoichi , UeNo Satoru
Published: April 2014

With the aim of examining the validity of non-LTE line-formation calculations for the strong C i lines of multiplet 1 at 1.068–1.069 μm, especially in terms of the treatment of collisions with neutral hydrogen (H i) atoms, we computed theoretical equivalent widths (Wλ) of these lines corresponding to specific intensities of different angles (μ = cos θ) on the solar disk under various conditions, which were then compared with the empirical Wλ vs. μ relations obtained from our spectroscopic observations with the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory. It turned out that our observational data are almost consistent with the theoretical simulations done with the H i collision rates computed with the classical formula, which suggests that the necessity of its significant revision (e.g., considerable reduction) is unlikely.
An investigation into surface temperature distributions of high-magnetic-field pulsars
Authors: Yasutake Nobutoshi , Kotake Kei , Kutsuna Masamichi , Shigeyama Toshikazu
Published: April 2014

Bearing in mind the application to high-magnetic-field (high-B) radio pulsars, we investigate two-dimensional (2D) thermal evolutions of neutron stars (NSs). We pay particular attention to the influence of different equilibrium configurations on the surface temperature distributions. The equilibrium configurations are constructed in a systematic manner, in which both toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields are determined self-consistently with the inclusion of general relativistic effects. To solve the 2D heat transfer inside the NS interior out to the crust, we have developed an implicit code based on a finite-difference scheme that deals with anisotropic thermal conductivity and relevant cooling processes in the context of a standard cooling scenario. In agreement with previous studies, the surface temperatures near the pole become higher than those in the vicinity of the equator as a result of anisotropic heat transfer. Our results show that the ratio of the highest to the lowest surface temperatures changes maximally by one order of magnitude, depending on the equilibrium configurations. Despite such difference, we find that the area of such hot and cold spots is so small that the simulated X-ray spectrum could be well reproduced by a single temperature blackbody fitting.
From local structure to a global framework: recognition of protein folds
Authors: Joseph Agnel Praveen , de Brevern Alexandre G.
Published: April 2014

Protein folding has been a major area of research for many years. Nonetheless, the mechanisms leading to the formation of an active biological fold are still not fully apprehended. The huge amount of available sequence and structural information provides hints to identify the putative fold for a given sequence. Indeed, protein structures prefer a limited number of local backbone conformations, some being characterized by preferences for certain amino acids. These preferences largely depend on the local structural environment. The prediction of local backbone conformations has become an important factor to correctly identifying the global protein fold. Here, we review the developments in the field of local structure prediction and especially their implication in protein fold recognition.
Protein turnover forms one of the highest maintenance costs in Lactococcus lactis
Authors: Lahtvee Petri-Jaan , Seiman Andrus , Arike Liisa , Adamberg Kaarel , Vilu Raivo
Published: April 2014

Protein turnover plays an important role in cell metabolism by regulating metabolic fluxes. Furthermore, the energy costs for protein turnover have been estimated to account for up to a third of the total energy production during cell replication and hence may represent a major limiting factor in achieving either higher biomass or production yields. This work aimed to measure the specific growth rate (μ)-dependent abundance and turnover rate of individual proteins, estimate the ATP cost for protein production and turnover, and compare this with the total energy balance and other maintenance costs. The lactic acid bacteria model organismLactococcus lactiswas used to measure protein turnover rates at μ = 0.1 and 0.5 h−1in chemostat experiments. Individual turnover rates were measured for ~75 % of the total proteome. On average, protein turnover increased by sevenfold with a fivefold increase in growth rate, whilst biomass yield increased by 35 %. The median turnover rates found were higher than the specific growth rate of the bacterium, which suggests relatively high energy consumption for protein turnover. We found that protein turnover costs alone account for 38 and 47 % of the total energy produced at μ = 0.1 and 0.5 h−1, respectively, and gene ontology groups Energy metabolism and Translation dominated synthesis costs at both growth rates studied. These results reflect the complexity of metabolic changes that occur in response to changes in environmental conditions, and signify the trade-off between biomass yield and the need to produce ATP for maintenance processes.
Unravelling the complete genome sequence of Advenella mimigardefordensis strain DPN7T and novel insights in the catabolism of the xenobiotic polythioester precursor 3,3′-dithiodipropionate
Authors: Wübbeler Jan Hendrik , Hiessl Sebastian , Schuldes Jörg , Thürmer Andrea , Daniel Rolf , Steinbüchel Alexander
Published: April 2014

Advenella mimigardefordensisstrain DPN7Tis a remarkable betaproteobacterium because of its extraordinary ability to use the synthetic disulfide 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid (DTDP) as the sole carbon source and electron donor for aerobic growth. One application of DTDP is as a precursor substrate for biotechnically synthesized polythioesters (PTEs), which are interesting non-degradable biopolymers applicable for plastics materials. Metabolic engineering for optimization of PTE production requires an understanding of DTDP conversion. The genome ofA. mimigardefordensisstrain DPN7Twas sequenced and annotated. The circular chromosome was found to be composed of 4 740 516 bp and 4112 predicted ORFs, whereas the circular plasmid consisted of 23 610 bp and 24 predicted ORFs. The genes participating in DTDP catabolism had been characterized in detail previously, but knowing the complete genome sequence and with support of Tn5 : : mob-induced mutants, putatively involved transporter proteins and a transcriptional regulator were also identified. Most probably, DTDP is transported into the cell by a specific tripartite tricarboxylate transport system and is then cleaved by the disulfide reductase LpdA, sulfoxygenated by the 3-mercaptopropionate dioxygenase Mdo, activated by the CoA ligase SucCD and desulfinated by the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase-like desulfinase AcdA. Regulation of this pathway is presumably performed by a transcriptional regulator of the xenobiotic response element family. The excessive sulfate that is inevitably produced is secreted by the cells by a unique sulfate exporter of the CPA (cation : proton antiporter) superfamily.
Modulation of the host microenvironment by a common non-oncolytic mouse virus leads to inhibition of plasmacytoma development through NK cell activation
Authors: Thirion Gaëtan , Saxena Anubha , Hulhoven Xavier , Markine-Goriaynoff Dominique , Van Snick Jacques , Coutelier Jean-Paul
Published: April 2014

Although many cells undergo transformation, few actually develop into tumours, due to successful mechanisms of immunosurveillance. To investigate whether an infectious agent may play a role in this process, the growth of a plasmacytoma was investigated in mice infected by lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus. Acutely infected animals were significantly protected against tumour development. The mechanisms responsible for this protection were analysed in mice deficient for relevant immune cells or molecules and afterin vivocell depletion. This protection by viral infection correlated with NK cell activation and with IFN-γ production. It might also be related to activation of NK/T-cells, although this remains to be proven formally. Therefore, our results indicated that infections with benign micro-organisms may protect the host against cancer development, through non-specific stimulation of the host's innate immune system and especially of NK cells.
A specific role for hippocampal mossy fiber's zinc in rapid storage of emotional memories
Authors: Ceccom Johnatan , Halley Hélène , Daumas Stéphanie , Lassalle Jean Michel
Published: April 2014

We investigated the specific role of zinc present in large amounts in the synaptic vesicles of mossy fibers and coreleased with glutamate in the CA3 region. In previous studies, we have shown that blockade of zinc after release has no effect on the consolidation of spatial learning, while zinc is required for the consolidation of contextual fear conditioning. Although both are hippocampo-dependent processes, fear conditioning to the context implies a strong emotional burden. To verify the hypothesis that zinc could play a specific role in enabling sustainable memorization of a single event with a strong emotional component, we used a neuropharmacological approach combining a glutamate receptor antagonist with different zinc chelators. Results show that zinc is mandatory to allow the consolidation of one-shot memory, thus being the key element allowing the hippocampus submitted to a strong emotional charge to switch from the cognitive mode to a flashbulb memory mode. Individual differences in learning abilities have been known for a long time to be totally or partially compensated by distributed learning practice. Here we show that contextual fear conditioning impairments due to zinc blockade can be efficiently reduced by distributed learning practice.
Homoeologous Chromosome Sorting and Progression of Meiotic Recombination inBrassica napus: Ploidy Does Matter!
Authors: Grandont Laurie , Cuñado Nieves , Coriton Olivier , Huteau Virgine , Eber Frédérique , Chèvre Anne Marie , Grelon Mathilde , Chelysheva Liudmila , Jenczewski Eric
Published: April 2014

Meiotic recombination is the fundamental process that produces balanced gametes and generates diversity within species. For successful meiosis, crossovers must form between homologous chromosomes. This condition is more difficult to fulfill in allopolyploid species, which have more than two sets of related chromosomes (homoeologs). Here, we investigated the formation, progression, and completion of several key hallmarks of meiosis in Brassica napus (AACC), a young polyphyletic allotetraploid crop species with closely related homoeologous chromosomes. Altogether, our results demonstrate a precocious and efficient sorting of homologous versus homoeologous chromosomes during early prophase I in two representative B. napus accessions that otherwise show a genotypic difference in the progression of homologous recombination. More strikingly, our detailed comparison of meiosis in near isogenic allohaploid and euploid plants showed that the mechanism(s) promoting efficient chromosome sorting in euploids is adjusted to promote crossover formation between homoeologs in allohaploids. This suggests that, in contrast to other polyploid species, chromosome sorting is context dependent in B. napus.
O-EthylS-{(S)-1-oxo-1-[(R)-2-oxo-4-phenyloxazolidin-3-yl]propan-2-yl} carbonodithioate
Authors: García-Merinos J. Pablo , López-Ruiz Heraclio , López Yliana , Rojas-Lima Susana
Published: April 2014

In the title compound, C15H17NO4S2, synthesized by addition ofO-ethylxanthic acid potassium salt to a diastereomeric mixture of (4R)-3-(2-chloropropanoyl)-4-phenyloxazolidin-2-one, the oxazolidinone ring has a twist conformation on the C—C bond. The phenyl ring is inclined to the mean plane of the oxazolidinone ring by 76.4 (3)°. In the chain the methine H atom is involved in a C—H...S and a C—H...O intramolecular interaction. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C—H...π interactions, forming chains along [001]. TheSconfiguration at the C atom to which the xanthate group is attached was determined by comparison to the knownRconfiguration of the C atom to which the phenyl group is attached.
1,10-Phenanthroline-5,6-dione ethanol monosolvate
Authors: Dai Jing-Wei , Li Zhao-Yang , Sato Osamu
Published: April 2014

In the title compound, C12H6N2O2·C2H5OH, the molecule of the 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione is approximately planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.051 (1) Å. In the crystal, molecules are linked by O—H...N and weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming supramolecular chains propagating along [110]. π–π stacking interactions are observed between the pyridine rings of neighbouring chains, the centroid–centroid separations being 3.6226 (11) and 3.7543 (11) Å.
{2-[(2-Bromo-5-methoxybenzylidene)amino]-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-3-yl}(phenyl)methanone
Authors: Kaur Manpreet , Jasinski Jerry P. , Yamuna Thammarse S. , Yathirajan H. S. , Byrappa K.
Published: April 2014

In the title compound, C23H20BrNO2S, disorder was modeled for the outer two C atoms of the cyclohexene ring over two sets of sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.580 (11):0.420 (11). Both rings have a half-chair conformation. The dihedral angles between the mean plane of the thiophene ring and the benzene and phenyl rings are 9.2 (2) and 66.1 (2)°, respectively. The benzene and phenyl rings are inclined to each other by 74.8 (8)°. In the crystal, molecules are linked by pairs of C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers.
2-[2,6-Bis(pyrazin-2-yl)pyridin-4-yl]benzoic acid
Authors: Shuai Ying , Wang Xiang-Yang , Dai Jing-Wei , Wu Jian-Zhong
Published: April 2014

In the title compound, C20H13N5O2, the two pyrazine rings are nearly coplanar with the central pyridine ring, forming dihedral angles of 2.21 (9) and 4.57 (9)°. In contrast, the strong steric hindrance caused by theortho-carboxyl group on the phenyl ring makes this ring rotate out of the attached pyridine ring plane by 52.60 (9)°. The carboxyl group is twisted from the phenyl ring by 22.6 (1)°. In the crystal, aromatic π–π stacking interactions [centroid–centroid distances = 3.9186 (4) and 3.9794 (5) Å] occur between the antiparallel molecules, generating infinite chains along [100]. O—H...O hydrogen bonds connect the chains, leading to the formation of a two-dimensional supramolecular network parallel to (010). Intermolecular C—H...N hydrogen bonds are also observed.
Public private partnerships/private finance initiatives for financing infrastructure in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria
Authors: Taiwo Gbadegesin Job , Tajudeen Aluko Bioye
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of private finance initiatives (PFIs) for infrastructure projects in tertiary institutions of learning. It also determines the relationship between the levels of awareness, years of experience and the identified factors.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data for this study were gathered from administration of questionnaires. The instruments were administered after validation on the stakeholders in the concerned departments. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive, cluster and correlation analyses.

Findings

– There is a high level of awareness and experience in public private partnerships (PPPs) among the respondents on the initiative. It is found that nature of project, risk involvement and the technical capabilities are the three most influential factors. There is correlation between the identified factors. There is also a significant relationship between the respondents’ years of experience in PPP and “technical capabilities factors.”

Research limitations/implications

– The study is limited to four selected public tertiary institutions in a single geo-political zone (six states) in southwestern Nigeria, out of four geo-political zones in Nigeria. Southwestern Nigeria is a major zone where tertiary institutions embrace PPP/PFIs initiative.

Practical implications

– Empirically, PPPs in the educational sector of a developing economy have been explored and consequently implied that there is a relationship among the factors that determine the adoption of PPP. Hence, findings would be useful for the policy makers and stakeholders on decision relating to infrastructure provision in tertiary institutions.

Originality/value

– This study is one of the few empirical studies in relation to educational sector in developing/emerging economies on the subject of PPP/PFIs for infrastructure projects.
Industrial innovation: case study of the Claerwen dam
Authors: D. Holt Gary
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– Societal needs produce infrastructural demands that often, require innovative industrial solutions to optimally satisfy them. One such need is fresh clean water and this has been met in part, by a global infrastructure of dams and reservoirs. Dams have borne witness to their innovative construction design, technology and management (CDTM) over the years and the purpose of this paper is to examine an example of this, relating to Claerwen dam in Great Britain.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study used historical case study method based on Busha and Harter's (1980) model, to accommodate synthesis of extant, historical and archive data. Subsequent archival data analysis is founded predominately on document synthesis and embraces a longitudinal character.

Findings

– Benefiting incontrovertibly from industrial innovations, Claerwen was constructed in markedly different ways from its “sister” phase 1 Elan Valley dams built 50 years earlier, to uniquely combine vernacular aesthetic with contemporary CDTM of the time and create a reservoir with capacity almost equal to that of the entire phase 1 dams combined.

Research limitations/implications

– Findings offset a dearth of historical construction research more generally; and that relating to dam infrastructure, more specifically.

Originality/value

– Minimal literature exists regarding innovations in British dam building so the study is especially original in that respect.
Value for money and its influential factors: an empirical study of PPP projects in Japan
Authors: Hu Zhen , Chen Shu , Zhang Xueqing
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the key influential factors and their impacts on the value for money (VFM) of projects developed through public-private partnerships (PPPs) with an objective to improve the VFM assessment of PPP projects.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper has studied the key influential factors and their impacts on VFM of projects developed through PPPs with an objective to improve the VFM assessment of PPP projects.

Findings

– There are large variations in the VFM of PPP projects in many countries due to a number of factors affecting the setting and attainment of the VFM. This paper has identified the key factors that influence the VFM in PPP projects in Japan and evaluated their impacts on the VFM.

Originality/value

– Outputs of this study would provide some insights on the improvement in the VFM assessment of PPP projects, in terms of determining a suitable VFM for a particular PPP project in accordance with its specific operational environment, balancing the interests of both public and private sectors, and promoting the participation of the private sector in the timely provision of necessary public works and services.
A model for Chinese transnational migration through the Americas: the Canadian experience
Authors: Janey Chao Sheau-yueh
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– This article was based on the information from The 5th International Conference of Institutes and Libraries for Chinese Overseas Studies held in the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada in which the author was a presenter in session 4.2.9a of the Early life of Yuan Shikai and the formation of Yuan family. The paper aims to include comprehensive analysis and development of the history of Chinese migration. An annotated bibliography of suggested readings was offered to highlight the subject knowledge for further research in this area.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper includes comprehensive analysis and development of the history of Chinese migration and the experiences and family histories of overseas Chinese in Canada. An annotated bibliography of suggested readings was offered to highlight the subject knowledge for further research in this area.

Findings

– The paper offers full description and comprehensive analysis of the history of Chinese migration and overseas Chinese studies in Canada. A bbibliography of suggested readings was offered for further research in this area.

Research limitations/implications

– This research study has a strong subject focus on Chinese migration, overseas Chinese studies, and resource-sharing in the subject area. It is a specific field for research in Asian studies.

Practical implications

– The result of this study will assist students, researchers, and the general public in the area of overseas Chinese studies and developing their interests in the social and historical value of Chinese migration history and resource-sharing in the area.

Originality/value

– Very little research has been done in the area of Chinese migration and historical development. The paper would offer historians, sociologists, ethnologists, librarians, administrations, professors, as well as students in the fields of Asian history, anthropology, sociology, political science, geography, and other Asian-related interdisciplinary studies.
The effect of corruption on entrepreneurship in developed vs non-developed countries
Authors: Avnimelech Gil , Zelekha Yaron , Sharabi Eyal
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on the relationship between corruption and productive entrepreneurship in general and whether it depends on countries’ specific characteristics in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors used a unique data set of entrepreneurial activity within 176 countries, collected from the professional networking site LinkedIn. The authors used OLS regression to estimate the level of entrepreneurship. The main independent variable was the CPI score (Transparency International). In addition, two sub-samples were used, 70 less-developed countries and 34 OECD countries, and numerous control variables.

Findings

– The paper makes three important contributions to the field. First, it proposes worldwide empirical evidence that countries with high levels of corruption usually face low levels of productive entrepreneurship. Second, the paper suggests that the negative effect is much more significant in developed countries than in developing countries. Third, the paper explores whether the negative effect of corruption depends on country-specific economic characteristics.

Research limitations/implications

– While there is significant value in using LinkedIn data in entrepreneurship research, there are limitations to this database. Therefore, significant robustness tests were employed and further research, for instance using longitudinal LinkedIn data, could be valuable. Moreover, using different entrepreneurs’ data sets might increase the validation of the results. Finally, further examination of the influence of corruption on different types of entrepreneurial activities and their interaction with different characteristics of the country is still required.

Originality/value

– The results stress the need to fight corruption not only in developing countries and suggests significant gains from anti-corruption efforts even and maybe especially in the western developed world.
Factors affecting knowledge sharing intention among academic staff
Authors: Jolaee Ali , Md Nor Khalil , Khani Naser , Md Yusoff Rosman
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting knowledge sharing among academic staff in universities. Utilizing the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as the underlying research framework, the main objective of this study was threefold. First, was to examine the relationship between attitude, subjective norm, and trust with knowledge sharing intention. Second, was to examine the relationship among factors, i.e., self-efficacy, social networks and extrinsic rewards with attitude toward knowledge sharing intention and the third objective was to find out the relationship between organizational support and subjective norm.

Design/methodology/approach

– A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed among academic staff at three social science faculties in one public university in Malaysia. Collectively, 117 usable responses were returned. Partial Least Square analysis was utilized to analyze the data.

Findings

– The results indicated that of the two components of the TRA, only attitude was positively and significantly related to knowledge sharing intention. The findings also show that social network and self-efficacy significantly affect attitude and organizational support showed a strong influence on subjective norms toward knowledge sharing intention.

Research limitations/implications

– Future research should consider type of knowledge that is being shared. Besides, it would also be interesting to investigate potential differences of the knowledge sharing intention between academic staff in the private and public universities.

Practical implications

– This study offers a more clear vision of the factors that affect knowledge sharing intention among academic staff. Therefore, managers can implement practical plan to support those factors.

Originality/value

– Factors affecting knowledge sharing among academic staff in universities were reviewed to suggest a framework to explain this behavior in a specific context.
Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, self-esteem, and job stress as determinants of job satisfaction
Authors: Reilly Eithne , Dhingra Katie , Boduszek Daniel
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of teaching self-efficacy, perceived stress, self-esteem, and demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, and years of teaching experience) in predicting job satisfaction within a sample of 121 Irish primary school teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

– Survey data were collected from teachers from eight primary schools. Hypotheses were tested using a comparison of means, correlations, and multiple regression.

Findings

– Results indicated that the predictor variables accounted for 22 per cent of variance in teachers’ job satisfaction. However, only perceived stress was found to explain unique predictive variance, with high levels of occupations stress related to low levels of job satisfaction.

Practical implications

– Perceived stress should be targeted in efforts to improve teachers’ job satisfaction.

Originality/value

– The results make an additional contribution to the literature by providing important information on the factors contributing to teachers’ job satisfaction in Ireland.
Edge detection using resistive threshold logic networks with CMOS flash memories
Authors: Pappachen James Alex , Pachentavida Anusha , Sugathan Sherin
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach to edge detection using semiconductor flash memory networks having scalable and parallel hardware architecture.

Design/methodology/approach

– A flash cell can store multiple states by controlling its voltage threshold. The equivalent resistance of the operation states controlled by threshold voltage of flash cell gives out different combinations of logic 0 and 1 states. The paper explores this basic feature of flash memory in designing a resistance change memory network for implementing novel edge detector hardware. This approach of detecting the edges is inspired from the spatial change detection ability of the human visual system.

Findings

– The proposed approach consumes less number of electronic components for its implementation, and outperforms the conventional approaches of edge detection with respect to the processing speed, scalability and ease of design. It is also demonstrated to provide edges invariant to changes in the direction of the spatial change in the images.

Research limitations/implications

– This research brings about a new direction in the development of edge detection, in terms of developing high-speed parallel processing edge detection and imaging circuits.

Practical implications

– The proposed approach reduces the implementation complexity by removing the need to have convolution operations for spatial edge filtering.

Originality/value

– This paper presents one of the first edge detection approaches that is purely a hardware oriented design, uses resistance of flash memory to form edge detector cells, and one that does not use computational operations such as additions or multiplications for its implementation.
An evolvable self-organizing neuro-fuzzy multilayered classifier with group method data handling and grammar-based bio-inspired supervisors for fault diagnosis of hydraulic systems
Authors: Mozaffari Ahmad , Fathi Alireza , Behzadipour Saeed
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to apply a hybrid neuro-fuzzy paradigm called self-organizing neuro-fuzzy multilayered classifier (SONeFMUC) to classify the operating faults of a hydraulic system. The main motivation behind the use of SONeFMUC is to attest the capabilities of neuro-fuzzy classifier for handling the difficulties associated with fault diagnosis of hydraulic circuits.

Design/methodology/approach

– In the proposed methodology, first, the neuro-fuzzy nodes at each layer of the SONeFMUC are trained separately using two well-known bio-inspired algorithms, i.e. a semi deterministic method with random walks called co-variance matrix adaptation evolutionary strategy (CMA-ES) and a swarm-based explorer with adaptive fuzzified parameters (SBEAFP). Thereafter, a revised version of the group method data handling (GMDH) policy that uses the Darwinian concepts such as truncation selection and elitism is engaged to connect the nodes of different layers in an effective manner.

Findings

– Based on comparative numerical experiments, the authors conclude that integration of neuro-fuzzy method and bio-inspired supervisor results in a really powerful classification tool beneficial for uncertain environments. It is proved that the method outperforms some well-known classifiers such as support vector machine (SVM) and particle swarm optimization-based SVM (PSO-SVM). Besides, it is indicated that an efficient bio-inspired method can effectively adjust the constructive parameters of the multi-layered neuro-fuzzy classifier. For the case, it is observed that designing a fuzzy controller for PSO predisposes it to effectively balance the exploration/exploitation capabilities, and consequently optimize the structure of SONeFMUC.

Originality/value

– The originality of the paper can be considered from both numerical and practical points of view. The signals obtained through the data acquisition possess six different features in order for the hydraulic system to undergo four types of faults, i.e. cylinder fault, pump fault, valve leakage fault and rupture of the piping system. Besides, to elaborate on the authenticity and efficacy of the proposed method, its performance is compared with well-known rival techniques.
Relationship marketing strategy: an operant resource perspective
Authors: Madhavaram Sreedhar , Granot Elad , Badrinarayanan Vishag
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to illustrate that the operant resource perspective of the service-dominant (S-D) logic can explicate how operant resources can influence relationship marketing (RM) strategy success.

Design/methodology/approach

– After a brief discussion of the operant resource perspective of the service-dominant (S-D) logic, the paper reviews relationship marketing literature to identify and explore specific operant resources that can influence relationship marketing success.

Findings

– This paper identifies several operant resources that have been empirically verified to have positive influence on relationship marketing success and several other operant resources that need further conceptual and empirical investigation.

Originality/value

– The operant resource perspective of relationship marketing strategy and the operant resources identified in this paper provide the foundation for theory development and managerial practice.
Negative critical waves in business relationships: an extension of the critical incident perspective
Authors: Edvardsson Bo , Kowalkowski Christian , Strandvik Tore , Voima Päivi
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to extend understanding of business-to-business relationship dynamics by introducing and discussing the phenomenon of a “negative critical wave” (NCW), defined as a disturbance in a relationship that emerges and develops within or beyond individual working relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

– The dynamics of working relationships in two manufacturing firms in Finland and Sweden were studied by analysing the narratives of unstructured personal interviews with 16 middle managers and 14 operational executives, who recalled experiences of relevant situations over three years, with emphasis on unexpected disturbances, challenges and problems.

Findings

– Respondents discussed 77 NCWs, the development and effect of which proved to depend upon the original “locus”, “magnitude” and “amplitude”, and embedded “energy”. Waves could be distinguished as: “silent compact”, “silent extensive”, “intense compact” or “intense extensive”.

Research limitations/implications

– The wave metaphor for relationships dynamics, consistent with but distinct from established notions of “critical time” and “critical incidents” and the associated classification system are a useful starting point for further research into the phenomenon. Though the qualitative methodology achieved richness, the small sample and restricted scope place limits on the objectivity and generalisability of the findings.

Practical implications

– The NCW framework offers strategists and managers a holistic understanding of the dynamic process of criticality, synthesising the complexities of relationship dynamics and pointing to ways in which to absorb the energy of negative waves.

Originality/value

– More is now known about the domino effects of critical incidents in internal and external business-to-business relationships.