bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Far-infrared surface emissivity and climate
Authors: Feldman Daniel R. , Collins William D. , Pincus Robert , Huang Xianglei , Chen Xiuhong
Published: November 2014

Significance

We find that many of the Earth's climate variables, including surface temperature, outgoing longwave radiation, cooling rates, and frozen surface extent, are sensitive to far-IR surface emissivity, a largely unconstrained, temporally and spatially heterogeneous scaling factor for the blackbody radiation from the surface at wavelengths between 15 μm and 100 μm. We also describe a previously unidentified mechanism that amplifies high-latitude and high-altitude warming in finding significantly lower values of far-IR emissivity for ocean and desert surfaces than for sea ice and snow. This leads to a decrease in surface emission at far-IR wavelengths, reduced cooling to space, and warmer radiative surface temperatures. Far-IR emissivity can be measured from spectrally resolved observations, but such measurements have not yet been made.
Single gene insertion drives bioalcohol production by a thermophilic archaeon
Authors: Basen Mirko , Schut Gerrit J. , Nguyen Diep M. , Lipscomb Gina L. , Benn Robert A. , Prybol Cameron J. , Vaccaro Brian J. , Poole Farris L. , Kelly Robert M. , Adams Michael W. W.
Published: November 2014

Significance

The microbial production of ethanol (bioethanol) is a massive commercialized technology. Though alcohols with longer carbon chains are chemically much better suited for current transportation needs, their biotechnological production remains challenging. Here we have engineered the model hyperthermophile
Pyrococcus furiosus
to produce various alcohols from their corresponding organic acids by constructing a synthetic route termed the AOR/AdhA pathway. Our study is also the first example, to our knowledge, of significant alcohol formation in an archaeon, emphasizing the biotechnological potential of novel microorganisms. Moreover, we show that carbon monoxide and hydrogen (syngas) can be used as the driving forces for alcohol production. The application of the AOR/AdhA pathway in syngas-fermenting microorganisms is potentially a game-changing platform technology for the production of longer bioalcohols.
Spatial embedding of structural similarity in the cerebral cortex
Authors: Song H. Francis , Kennedy Henry , Wang Xiao-Jing
Published: November 2014

Significance

The cerebral cortex can be divided into a number of distinct areas on the basis of anatomy and function. Understanding the complex pattern of connections among these areas is essential to uncovering how the brain performs its distributed computations. We report a systematic relation between the connectivity and functional similarity of cortical areas in the monkey, human, and mouse cortex. Motivated by observations that the cortical areal network is densely connected and that connections have a strong dependence on wiring length, we introduce a spatially embedded, generative model of the areal network that accounts for many observed features of cortical connectivity.
Purpose in life and use of preventive health care services
Authors: Kim Eric S. , Strecher Victor J. , Ryff Carol D.
Published: November 2014

Significance

Less than 50% of people over the age of 65 are up-to-date with core preventive services. Identifying modifiable factors linked with preventive services are important targets for research and practice. Purpose in life, recently the focus of multiple intervention studies, has been linked with better health (mental and physical) as well as improved health behaviors. However, its association with health care use has been understudied. We found that higher purpose was linked with greater use of several preventive health care services and also fewer nights spent hospitalized. These results may facilitate the development of new strategies to increase use of preventive health care services and improve health, thereby offsetting the burden of rising health care costs in our aging society.
BID mediates selective killing of APC-deficient cells in intestinal tumor suppression by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs
Authors: Leibowitz Brian , Qiu Wei , Buchanan Monica E. , Zou Fangdong , Vernon Philip , Moyer Mary P. , Yin Xiao-Ming , Schoen Robert E. , Yu Jian , Zhang Lin
Published: November 2014

Significance

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, but treatment options for this disease are of limited effectiveness. Most human colorectal tumors begin with an inactivating mutation in the
adenomatous polyposis coli
(
APC
) gene. We demonstrate a mechanism by which nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protect against colon cancer development by killing intestinal stem cells that have lost functional APC. NSAID treatment combines with
APC
loss-induced gene expression changes to selectively activate BID and induce apoptosis in these cells, while leaving normal cells unharmed. These results provide a rationale for developing more effective cancer prevention strategies and agents.
Disentangling the effects of CO2and short-lived climate forcer mitigation
Authors: Rogelj Joeri , Schaeffer Michiel , Meinshausen Malte , Shindell Drew T. , Hare William , Klimont Zbigniew , Velders Guus J. M. , Amann Markus , Schellnhuber Hans Joachim
Published: November 2014

Significance

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our times. Human activities, like fossil-fuel burning, result in emissions of radiation-modifying substances that have a detectable, either warming or cooling, influence on our climate. Some, like soot (black carbon), are very short lived, whereas others, like carbon dioxide (CO2), are very persistent and remain in the atmosphere for centuries to millennia. Importantly, these substances are often emitted by common sources. As climate policy is looking at options to limit emissions of all these substances, understanding their linkages becomes extremely important. Our study disentangles these linkages and therewith helps to avoid crucial misconceptions: Measures reducing short-lived climate forcers are complementary to CO2mitigation, but neglecting linkages leads to overestimating their climate benefits.
Cells infected with herpes simplex virus 1 export to uninfected cells exosomes containing STING, viral mRNAs, and microRNAs
Authors: Kalamvoki Maria , Du Te , Roizman Bernard
Published: November 2014

Significance

The stimulator of IFN genes (STING) is an important innate immune response to infection by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). STING’s impact may be deduced from the observation that HSV-1 replicates significantly better in normal immortalized cells depleted of STING. Nevertheless, published evidence shows that STING is stabilized by the virus in infected cells, and this report shows that STING is exported from infected cells in exosomes along with viral microRNAs (miRNAs) and mRNAs. Some miRNAs have been reported to suppress reactivation of latent virus. The results suggest that HSV-1 in special circumstances may control the spread of infection from cell to cell and support the hypothesis that HSV-1 controls its virulence to enable effective person-to-person transmission.
Evaluation on Activity of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes in Turbot Via a Probe Drug Cocktail
Authors: Chang Zhi-Qiang , Li Jian , Zhai Qian-Qian
Published: November 2014

Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are the main catalytic enzymes for metabolism by a variety of endogenous and exogenous substrates in mammals, fish, insects, etc. We evaluated the application of a multidrug cocktail on changes in CYP1, CYP2, and CYP3 activity in Turbot Scophthalmus maximus. The probe drugs were a combination of caffeine (5 mg/kg body weight), dapsone (5 mg/kg), and chlorzoxazone (10 mg/kg). After a single intraperitoneal injection of the cocktail, the concentration of all three probe drugs in the plasma increased quickly to a peak and then decreased gradually over 24 h. Pharmacokinetic profiles of the three probe drugs were determined using a noncompartmental analysis, and the typical parameters were calculated. In the assay for CYP induction, pretreatment with rifampicin significantly reduced the typical pharmacokinetic metrics for caffeine and chlorzoxazone, but not dapsone, indicating that the activity of CYP1 and CYP2 in turbot were induced by rifampicin.

Received November 25, 2013; accepted May 29, 2014.
Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Blood and Tissue of Striped Mullet in Two Italian Lakes
Authors: Fazio Francesco , Piccione Giuseppe , Tribulato Katia , Ferrantelli Vincenzo , Giangrosso Giuseppe , Arfuso Francesca , Faggio Caterina
Published: November 2014

Water and sediment from Faro and Ganzirri lakes were tested for cadmium, mercury, and lead. These heavy metals have been assessed in serum and muscles of Striped Mullet Mugil cephalus. A haemogram was performed to find effects of heavy metals on haematological variables. Student's t-test showed higher Pb levels in sediments of Ganzirri Lake than Faro Lake. Two-way analysis of variance showed higher Cd and Pb concentration in muscles samples of Striped Mullet from Ganzirri Lake than from Faro Lake. Significant differences were found among haematological parameters as well. Mullet from Ganzirri Lake had lower white and red blood cell and trombocyte counts and higher mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration than those from Faro Lake. Our results indicate a significant presence of lead in the environmental produces an accumulation of this metal in fish muscles.

Received April 2, 2014; accepted June 16, 2014.
Dose-Dependent Effects of the Clinical Anesthetic Isoflurane on Octopus vulgaris: A Contribution to Cephalopod Welfare
Authors: Polese Gianluca , Winlow William , Di Cosmo Anna
Published: November 2014

Recent progress in animal welfare legislation relating to invertebrates has provoked interest in methods for the anesthesia of cephalopods, for which different approaches to anesthesia have been tried but in most cases without truly anesthetizing the animals. For example, several workers have used muscle relaxants or hypothermia as forms of “anesthesia.” Several inhalational anesthetics are known to act in a dose-dependent manner on the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, a pulmonate mollusk. Here we report, for the first time, on the effects of clinical doses of the well-known inhalational clinical anesthetic isoflurane on the behavioral responses of the common octopus Octopus vulgaris. In each experiment, isoflurane was equilibrated into a well-aerated seawater bath containing a single adult O. vulgaris. Using a web camera, we recorded each animal's response to touch stimuli eliciting withdrawal of the arms and siphon and observed changes in the respiratory rate and the chromatophore pattern over time (before, during, and after application of the anesthetic). We found that different animals of the same size responded with similar behavioral changes as the isoflurane concentration was gradually increased. After gradual application of 2% isoflurane for a maximum of 5 min (at which time all the responses indicated deep anesthesia), the animals recovered within 45–60 min in fresh aerated seawater. Based on previous findings in gastropods, we believe that the process of anesthesia induced by isoflurane is similar to that previously observed in Lymnaea. In this study we showed that isoflurane is a good, reversible anesthetic for O. vulgaris, and we developed a method for its use.

Received February 14, 2014; accepted July 7, 2014.
A method for multiprotein assembly in cells reveals independent action of kinesins in complex
Authors: Norris Stephen R. , Soppina Virupakshi , Dizaji Aslan S. , Schimert Kristin I. , Sept David , Cai Dawen , Sivaramakrishnan Sivaraj , Verhey Kristen J.
Published: November 2014

Teams of processive molecular motors are critical for intracellular transport and organization, yet coordination between motors remains poorly understood. Here, we develop a system using protein components to generate assemblies of defined spacing and composition inside cells. This system is applicable to studying macromolecular complexes in the context of cell signaling, motility, and intracellular trafficking. We use the system to study the emergent behavior of kinesin motors in teams. We find that two kinesin motors in complex act independently (do not help or hinder each other) and can alternate their activities. For complexes containing a slow kinesin-1 and fast kinesin-3 motor, the slow motor dominates motility in vitro but the fast motor can dominate on certain subpopulations of microtubules in cells. Both motors showed dynamic interactions with the complex, suggesting that motor–cargo linkages are sensitive to forces applied by the motors. We conclude that kinesin motors in complex act independently in a manner regulated by the microtubule track.
Red and green traffic signals
Authors: Short Ben
Published: November 2014

Dual-tagged proteins give a more complete picture of Notch receptor trafficking pathways.
Optimal transportation with capacity constraints
Authors: Korman Jonathan , McCann Robert
Published: November 2014

The classical problem of optimal transportation can be formulated as a linear optimization problem on a convex domain: among all joint measures with fixed marginals find the optimal one, where optimality is measured against a cost function. Here we consider a natural but largely unexplored variant of this problem by imposing a pointwise constraint on the joint (absolutely continuous) measures: among all joint densities with fixed marginals and which are dominated by a given density, find the optimal one. For this variant, we show that local non-degeneracy of the cost function implies every minimizer is extremal in the convex set of competitors, hence unique. An appendix develops rudiments of a duality theory for this problem, which allows us to compute several suggestive examples.
Additive decompositions of sets with restricted prime factors
Authors: Elsholtz Christian , Harper Adam
Published: November 2014

We investigate sumset decompositions of quite general sets with restricted prime factors. We manage to handle certain sets, such as the smooth numbers, even though they have little sieve amenability, and conclude that these sets cannot be written as a ternary sumset. This proves a conjecture by Sárközy. We also clean up and sharpen existing results on sumset decompositions of the prime numbers.
The impacts of fish body size changes on stock recovery: a case study using an Australian marine ecosystem model
Authors: Audzijonyte Asta , Fulton Elizabeth A. , Kuparinen Anna
Published: November 2014

Many fished stocks show long-term reductions in adult body size. Such changes could lead to new feeding interactions and alter stock productivity, introducing new levels of uncertainty in fisheries management. We use a marine ecosystem model parameterized for Southeast Australia to explore how reductions (up to 6% in 50 years) in size-at-age of fished species affect stock recovery after an implementation of a fishing moratorium. We show that reduction in body size can greatly elevate predation mortality and lower the post-fishing biomass of affected species. In our simulations, the recovery period after the fishing moratorium was characterized by two phases. In the initial readjustment phase, the ecosystem dynamics was largely determined by the rapid changes in the biomasses of recovering species and changes in body size had negligible effects. In contrast, fish body sizes had the major impact on the biomasses in the second, semi-equilibrium state and the final biomasses were generally not affected by the harvest rate during the fishing period. When reduced size-at-age elevated predation mortality in most age groups of a species (tiger flathead Platycephalus richardsoni or silver warehou Seriolella punctata in our simulations), the species' equilibrium biomass was considerably lower compared with the scenarios of no change in body size. For other species (pink ling Genypterus blacodes and jackass morwong Nemadactylus macropterus), a predation increase in some age groups was balanced by the decrease in others. The latter reduction in predation mortality occurred when major predators of species with reducing size-at-age were decreasing in size themselves, or when cannibalism was an important source of juvenile mortality (in blue grenadier Macruronus novaezelandiae). We suggest that decreased size-at-age will be most detrimental to stock recovery when the main predators of the stock are not affected by the drivers causing changes in body size.
Detection of High Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of (1→3)-β-d-Glucan in Cryptococcal Meningitis
Authors: Rhein Joshua , Bahr Nathan C. , Morawski Bozena M. , Schutz Charlotte , Zhang Yonglong , Finkelman Malcolm , Meya David B. , Meintjes Graeme , Boulware David R.
Published: November 2014

Background.  (1→3)-β-d-Glucan (BDG) is a helpful diagnostic marker for many invasive fungal infections. However, BDG is not thought to be useful in diagnosing cryptococcosis. We evaluated the utility of BDG as an adjunct diagnostic tool for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and presenting with suspected cryptococcal meningitis.

Methods.  The Fungitell assay was used to measure BDG concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 177) and serum (n = 109) of HIV-infected Ugandans and South Africans with suspected meningitis. Correlations between BDG concentrations and quantitative CSF cryptococcal cultures, CSF cryptococcal antigen (CRAG) titers, and 18 different CSF cytokine concentrations were assessed using non-parametric tests. Mixed models evaluated longitudinal changes in CSF BDG concentrations. Survival analyses were used to evaluate BDG's relationship with mortality.

Results.  The Fungitell BDG assay provided 89% sensitivity and 85% specificity in CSF for cryptococcal meningitis. Serum sensitivity was suboptimal (79%). Cerebrospinal fluid BDG concentrations at diagnosis were median (interquartile range) 343 (200–597) pg/mL in cryptococcal patients and 37 (23–46) pg/mL in patients without cryptococcosis. Sensitivity in CSF improved to 98% (53 of 54) when initial fungal burdens were ≥10 000 colony-forming units/mL. (1→3)-β-d-Glucan normalized rapidly after initiating a.jpegungal therapy. Baseline BDG concentrations correlated with CSF fungal burden (rho = 0.820; P < .001), CSF CRAG lateral flow assay titers (rho = 0.780, P < .001), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 levels in CSF (P = .047). In patients with cryptococcal meningitis, BDG ≥500 pg/mL at diagnosis was associated with increased 10-week mortality.

Conclusions.  (1→3)-β-d-Glucan is detectable in the CSF of HIV-infected patients with Cryptococcus, and it may provide useful prognostic information. Sensitivity is less than CRAG; however, BDG normalizes rapidly, unlike CRAG, making BDG potentially useful in diagnosing recurrent episodes.
Reverse enGENEering of regulatory networks from Big Data: a guide for a biologist
Authors: Dong Xiaoxi , Yambartsev Anatoly , Ramsey Stephen , Thomas Lina , Shulzhenko Natalia , Morgun Andrey
Published: November 2014

Omics technologies enable unbiased investigation of biological systems through massively parallel sequence acquisition or molecular measurements, bringing the life sciences into the era of Big Data. A central challenge posed by such omics datasets is how to transform this data into biological knowledge. For example, how to use this data to answer questions such as: which functional pathways are involved in cell differentiation? Which genes should we target to stop cancer? Network analysis is a powerful and general approach to solve this problem consisting of two fundamental stages, network reconstruction and network interrogation. Herein, we provide an overview of network analysis including a step by step guide on how to perform and use this approach to investigate a biological question. In this guide, we also include the software packages that we and others employ for each of the steps of a network analysis workflow.
Crystal strucutre ofrac-methyl (11aR*,12S*,13R*,15aS*,15bS*)-11-oxo-11,11a,12,13-tetrahydro-9H,15bH-13,15a-epoxyisoindolo[1,2-c]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-12-carboxylate
Authors: Zaytsev Vladimir P. , Orlova Daria N. , Gurbanov Atash V. , Zubkov Fedor I. , Khrustalev Victor N.
Published: November 2014

The title compound, C21H18N2O4, obtained as a racemate, contains a novel heterocyclic system,viz.isoindolo[1,2-c]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine. The central diazepane ring has a distorted boat conformation with two phenylene-fused and one methine C atom deviating by 0.931 (1), 0.887 (1) and 0.561 (1) Å, respectively, from the mean plane of the rest of the ring. The γ-lactone ring has an envelope conformation, with the C atom opposite to amide bond deviating by 0.355 (1) Å from its plane. In the crystal, molecules form centrosymmetric dimers through pairs of C—H...O hydrogen bonds.
Crystal structure of bis(allylammonium) oxalate
Authors: Dziuk Błażej , Zarychta Bartosz , Ejsmont Krzysztof
Published: November 2014

The title salt, 2C3H8N+·C2O42−, crystallized with six independent allylammonium cations and three independent oxalate dianions in the asymmetric unit. One of the oxalate dianions is nearly planar [dihedral angle between CO2planes = 1.91 (19)°], while the other two are twisted with angles of 11.3 (3) and 26.09 (13)°. One cation has a synperiplanar (cis) conformation with an N—C—C—C torsion angle of 0.9 (3)°, whereas the five remaining cations are characterized bygauchearrangements, with the N—C—C—C torsion angles ranging from 115.9 (12) to 128.8 (3)°. One of the allylammonium cations is positionally disordered (fixed occupancy ratio = 0.45:0.55). In the crystal, the cations and anions are connected by a number of strong N—H...O and N—H...(O,O) hydrogen bonds, forming layers parallel to (001), with the vinyl groups protruding into the space between the layers.
Crystal structures of 2-methoxyisoindoline-1,3-dione, 1,3-dioxoisoindolin-2-yl methyl carbonate and 1,3-dioxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[de]isoquinolin-2-yl methyl carbonate: three anticonvulsant compounds
Authors: Ezemobi Fortune , North Henry , Scott Kenneth R. , Wutoh Anthohy K. , Butcher Ray J.
Published: November 2014

The title compounds, C9H7NO3, (1), C10H7NO5, (2), and C14H9NO5, (3), are three potentially anticonvulsant compounds. Compounds (1) and (2) are isoindoline derivatives and (3) is an isoquinoline derivative. Compounds (2) and (3) crystallize with two independent molecules (AandB) in their asymmetric units. In all three cases, the isoindoline and benzoisoquinoline moieties are planar [r.m.s. deviations are 0.021 Å for (1), 0.04 and 0.018 Å for (2), and 0.033 and 0.041 Å for (3)]. The substituents attached to the N atom are almost perpendicular to the mean planes of the heterocycles, with dihedral angles of 89.7 (3)° for the N—O—Cmethylgroup in (1), 71.01 (4) and 80.00 (4)° for the N—O—C(=O)O—Cmethylgroups in (2), and 75.62 (14) and 74.13 (4)° for the same groups in (3). In the crystal of (1), there are unusual intermolecular C=O...C contacts of 2.794 (1) and 2.873 (1) Å present in moleculesAandB, respectively. There are also C—H...O hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions [inter-centroid distance = 3.407 (3) Å] present, forming slabs lying parallel to (001). In the crystal of (2), theAandBmolecules are linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming slabs parallel to (10-1), which are in turn linkedviaa number of π–π interactions [the most significant centroid–centroid distances are 3.4202 (7) and 3.5445 (7) Å], forming a three-dimensional structure. In the crystal of (3), theAandBmolecules are linkedviaC—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional structure, which is consolidated by π–π interactions [the most significant inter-centroid distances are 3.575 (3) and 3.578 (3) Å].
Crystal structure of 1,3-dicyclohexyl-4,5-dimethyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium-2-carbodithioate chloroform monosolvate
Authors: Mallah Eyad , Sweidan Kamal , Abu Dayyih Wael , Steimann Manfred , Sunjuk Mahmoud
Published: November 2014

The title compound, C18H28N2S2·CHCl3, crystallizes as a zwitterion. The C—S bonds are almost equivalent, with lengths of 1.666 (3) and 1.657 (3) Å. The S—C—S bond angle is expanded to 129.54 (16)° and the N—C—N angle is reduced to the tetrahedal value of 108.8 (2)°. In the crystal, adjacent molecules are linkedviaC—H...S hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [100]. The chloroform solvent molecule, which is disordered over two positions [occupancy ratio = 0.51 (2):0.49 (2)], is linked to the chain by bifurcated C—H...(S,S) hydrogen bonds.
Crystal structure of 2-(adamantan-1-yl)-5-(4-bromophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole
Authors: Alzoman Nourah Z. , El-Emam Ali A. , Ghabbour Hazem A. , Chidan Kumar C. S. , Fun Hoong-Kun
Published: November 2014

In the title molecule, C18H19BrN2O, the benzene ring is inclined to the oxadiazole ring by 10.44 (8)°. In the crystal, C—H...π interactions link the molecules in a head-to-tail fashion, forming chains extending along thec-axis direction. The chains are further connected by π–π stacking interactions, with centroid–centroid distances of 3.6385 (7) Å, forming layers parallel to thebcplane.
Definitive crystal structure of 1,1′-bis[1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(11)]
Authors: Man Wing Y. , Rosair Georgina M. , Welch Alan J.
Published: November 2014

In the title compound, C4H22B20, the two {1,2-closo-C2B10H11} cages are linked across a centre of inversion with a C—C distance of 1.5339 (11) Å. By careful analysis of the structure, it is established that the non-linking cage C atom is equally disordered over cage vertices 2 and 3.
Crystal structure of 2-{[1-(2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)propan-2-yloxy]carbonyl}benzoic acid
Authors: Shahid Hafiz Abdullah , Jahangir Sajid , Shah Syed Adnan Ali , Zaki Hamizah Mohd , Naz Humera
Published: November 2014

In the title compound, C15H15N3O6, the dihedral angle between the planes of the benzene and imidazole rings is 34.93 (10)°. An intramolecular C—H...O hydrogen bond is observed. In the crystal, O—H...N hydrogen bonds link the molecules into chains parallel to thecaxis.
X-ray techniques for innovation in industry
Authors: Lawniczak-Jablonska Krystyna , Cutler Jeffrey
Published: November 2014

The smart specialization declared in the European program Horizon 2020, and the increasing cooperation between research and development found in companies and researchers at universities and research institutions have created a new paradigm where many calls for proposals require participation and funding from public and private entities. This has created a unique opportunity for large-scale facilities, such as synchrotron research laboratories, to participate in and support applied research programs. Scientific staff at synchrotron facilities have developed many advanced tools that make optimal use of the characteristics of the light generated by the storage ring. These tools have been exceptionally valuable for materials characterization including X-ray absorption spectroscopy, diffraction, tomography and scattering, and have been key in solving many research and development issues. Progress in optics and detectors, as well as a large effort put into the improvement of data analysis codes, have resulted in the development of reliable and reproducible procedures for materials characterization. Research with photons has contributed to the development of a wide variety of products such as plastics, cosmetics, chemicals, building materials, packaging materials and pharma. In this review, a few examples are highlighted of successful cooperation leading to solutions of a variety of industrial technological problems which have been exploited by industry including lessons learned from the Science Link project, supported by the European Commission, as a new approach to increase the number of commercial users at large-scale research infrastructures.
Negative opinion of company environment mediates career choice of Accountancy students
Authors: Yoon Kin Tong David , Fa Tong Xue
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore accountancy students’ pre‐employment decisions as regards pursuing a career after completing an internship. The paper aims to analyse the mediating effect of aspects of students’ training experience in firms as direct/indirect factors which influence their career decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from a class after the students had completed internships and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The aim was to establish a model after nesting the second‐order confirmatory analysis of the data. The final stage was to analyse multiple mediating factors, such as the type of company (TOC) and the students’ opinion of the company.

Findings

The interns perceived opportunities for promotion in accounting firms as a long‐term advantage over salary and benefits and as a key criterion for pursuing a career in accountancy. The results indicate that person‐job (P‐J) fit affects students’ career choice more than person‐organisation (P‐O) fit, and that students’ negative opinion of the company environment mediates their intention to pursue a career in the firm after graduation.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size of 121 students was limited by the number of student intake per year and the study was conducted based on per intake. This may limit the generalisability of the results.

Practical implications

The internship coordinators should provide sufficient information to students about the expectations of accounting firms before embarking on them and encourage an open feedback loop when they return from training to improve the internship programmes. Accounting firms, in turn, should prepare comprehensive work schedules that balance out routine administrative work with challenging auditing or tax tasks. These would improve the students’ judgement and lead them to better decisions to pursue the career and reduce turnover.

Originality/value

This study highlights the importance of the transitional career decisions of graduating students as regards pursuing a career in accountancy, and therefore adds to the second cycle of early employment among college graduates in the vocational literature. It also confirms the mediating factors which indirectly affect students’ career decisions and therefore how firms can improve these circumstances for future recruitment.
Reaching out: connecting students to their personal librarian
Authors: Henry Cynthia L. , Vardeman Kimberly K. , Syma Carrye K.
Published: November 2014

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight how librarians at Texas Tech University Libraries are thinking outside the box. Librarians launched services in a number of directions by creating new service points through videos, QR code signs, and roving reference. Personal librarians use videos to introduce themselves, allowing the patron to relate to the librarian on a personal level. Signs with QR codes are posted in areas of the library to assist patrons in locating materials, rooms, or services. Roving reference allows librarians to step out of the library, meeting patrons' needs across campus.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature is limited on libraries utilizing videos to promote librarians and roving reference. This paper examines in detail services deployed in the last two years at Texas Tech University Libraries.

Findings

The reaction to these services has been mixed. Students responded that videos and roving reference have a personal touch and meet patrons at their point of need. Students have not adopted the QR code technology.

Research limitations/implications

Unfortunately, these new services do not have long‐term statistics to evaluate.

Practical implications

The paper acts as a guide to implementing marketing in academic libraries, QR codes, and reference services off the desk. Other libraries can implement the services described.

Originality/value

The novelty of this research is the creative way the librarians approached the needs of the patrons.
Temporary librarians in academe: current use, future considerations
Authors: Mayo Janet L. , Whitehurst Angela P.
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The primary aim of this study is to determine the uses and prevalence of temporary librarians in libraries at four‐year universities during the current economic downturn. The paper also seeks to determine the temporary librarians' conditions of employment.

Design/methodology/approach

These objectives were achieved by surveying a representative sample of four‐year institutions in both the authors' state and nationwide.

Findings

The study found that, as in several previous surveys, temporary librarians are still being used sparingly. They are used to fill vacancies due to open positions or faculty leaves of absence, special projects, grant‐funded projects, fellowships and sometimes to offer spouses of teaching faculty an employment opportunity. They are employed in both technical and public services roles, but not in managerial positions. They are expected to have the same education as full‐time librarians, are compensated similarly and sometimes also receive benefits. Conditions for contract renewal included employee performance, availability of funding and perceived need for the continuation of their duties.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited by a small pool, so results may not be generalizable to a larger population. Because of many of the participants being in the same state, there may be unintentional consistency in the responses.

Practical implications

This study may provide guidance to administrators in making decisions on the future use of temporary librarians, both in how many to hire and in what ways to employ them.

Originality/value

The value in this study lies in the fact that it updates previous studies by generating current data on the topic.
Influences on reward mix determination: reward consultants' perspectives
Authors: Chapman Jonathan , Kelliher Clare
Published: November 2014

Purpose

Reward research has focussed on level (what individuals are paid) and structure (relationship between different levels of reward). Less emphasis has been given to reward mix decisions, i.e. the relative proportions of each element making up overall reward. This paper seeks to examine the determinants of reward mix.

Design/methodology/approach

Interview based research with reward consultants as key organisational observers and participants in reward mix decision making.

Findings

Benchmarking has led to the development of reward mix norms. Organisations are under pressure to conform to these norms, moderated by leadership beliefs, the occurrence of events and the extent to which organisations' change capability can overcome strong institutional forces.

Research limitations/implications

The results question agency theory based explanations of reward mix determination and point towards resource dependence and institutional theory perspectives being more suitable theoretical frameworks.

Practical implications

The model developed allows reward managers to consider how the moderating variables, to the dominant mimetic pressure faced, could be manipulated for their firm to allow greater differentiation of the reward mix.

Originality/value

Academically the work contributes to a programme of research into reward determination from a constructionist perspective and aims to provide greater theoretical robustness to the subject. Practically, the findings may prompt practitioners to think more consciously about the drivers of their firm's reward mix. Policy makers may use the stronger theoretical base for understanding the determinants of reward mix choices and the extent to which organisational free choice and institutionally determined choice influence final choices in reward policy decision making.
Using end‐user surveys to enhance facilities design and management
Authors: Hebert Paulette R. , Chaney Sylvia
Published: November 2014

Purpose

This study aims to focus on the use of a survey questionnaire to inform a sustainable lighting design modification of an existing university library on the campus of a large land‐grant university in the Mid‐Western USA and also aims to suggest that a similar methodology may be useful in other facilities' design applications.

Design/methodology/approach

A 40‐item questionnaire was developed, which sought to evaluate the effect of the existing lighting design on end‐users' perceptions and opinions at the university library and to gather general opinions regarding sustainability from library end‐users. The self‐administered survey asked respondents how much they agreed or disagreed (on a five‐point, Likert‐type scale) with a set of statements about sustainability, their use of the library, and their understanding of and reaction to its existing illumination.

Findings

A total of 183 respondents completed and returned questionnaires, the majority of whom indicated that they were undergraduate students enrolled at the university. The survey results indicate that the respondents were aware of sustainability and sustainable lighting; that they were dissatisfied with the library's existing lighting; and that they suggested that these issues be addressed by the university to reduce the library's environmental footprint.

Research limitations/implications

The study fills a gap in the literature since it documents the application of citizen participation theory to solicit input from stakeholders in an institutional setting to influence facility design. However, the research is limited by the fact that the sample comprised mostly of female undergraduate students.

Originality/value

End‐users influenced the design development of a university library's lighting renovation. This renovation is ultimately anticipated to lower the energy consumed to illuminate the facility, to increase the end‐users' perceptions of the facility's sustainability, to meet new university guidelines, and to reduce the facility's environmental impact. There are potential applications for the procedures described herein for other facilities in the integration of stakeholders in renovation projects.
Factors affecting service innovations in FM service sector
Authors: Sillanpää Elina , Junnonen Juha‐Matti
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose is to clarify the concept of service innovation in the context of FM service and to map the factors that are critical for service innovations in the FM service sector. The research questions are: how can service innovations be classified in the FM service sector and what are the factors that create requirements and barriers to the service innovations in the FM service sector?

Design/methodology/approach

The nature of this study is qualitative. The data were gathered from two specialist workshops and from semi‐structured interviews. The people interviewed worked for the largest service provider companies in Finland and their customers.

Findings

Results yielded by this study comprise the classification of service innovations and the factors that create requirements and barriers for the service innovations in the FM service sector.

Research limitations/implications

This study focuses on examining the innovation process and its development and on developing innovation activity in large‐scale service provider companies in Finland.

Practical implications

This study promotes innovation activity in the FM service sector. It helps a service provider to minimize the barriers of service innovation and maximize the related requirements.

Originality/value

This study promotes innovation activity in the FM service sector. It helps a service provider to minimize the barriers of service innovation and maximize the related requirements.
Non‐economic gains of Sri Lanka's FTAs with neighbours
Authors: Bandara Jayatilleke S. , Yu Wusheng
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: does a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) lead to an improvement in the security of a member country and greater peace between two member countries in the developing world?

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews existing literature and uses the idea of non‐economic gains from regional trading agreements to explain how Sri Lanka managed to use FTAs to neutralise India and obtain military assistance from Pakistan using its FTAs with two countries during the recently concluded war.

Findings

Even though political objectives were not explicitly outlined in Sri Lanka's two FTAs with its big rival neighbours (India and Pakistan), the FTAs helped Sri Lanka to successfully execute the war against the LTTE (the Tamil Tigers) by neutralising India on the one hand and gaining military assistance from Pakistan on the other.

Research limitations/implications

The research approach is basically qualitative. However, there is need to develop a comprehensive theoretical model to capture non‐economics gains from FTAs.

Originality/value

Although there is a growing body of literature on the underlying political and strategic motivations of countries forming regional and bilateral trading arrangements, this paper adds to understanding of what motivates small developing countries to form trade agreements with big neighbours.
Provisional results of the 2011 Census of India
Authors: Perianayagam Arokiasamy , Goli Srinivas
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the new Census 2011 results with the results of the previous Censuses and assess the progress in trends of population growth, literacy rate, and sex ratio imbalance and also to highlight the critical socioeconomic issues based on short‐term trends and patterns.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is structured in a “commentary and perspective” format. The paper assesses key demographic and socioeconomic features of India's population using 2011 Census data, and compares progress in population and social trends with the results of previous Censuses. The paper also uses data from the National Family Health Survey (2005‐2006) and the United Nations World Population Prospects (2008) to complement Census results and understand the underlying reasons for the progress or deterioration in critical demographic and socioeconomic indicators.

Findings

The provisional results of the 2011 Census data reveal a mixed bag of insights. On the positive side, there has been steady progress in population stabilization and a swift ascent in female literacy since 1991. These encouraging trends, among others, represent major driving forces of demographic and economic returns for India in the coming decades. However, on the negative side, the 2011 Census reveals a deplorable deterioration in the female‐male ratio of the child population aged 0‐6 years, despite India's enforcement of targeted policy measures following the 2001 Census. The country needs to take careful stock of this issue, as its advancing demographic transition and changing socioeconomic circumstances are rapidly translating into an adverse trend of girl child discrimination.

Originality/value

This study compares India's most recent two Censuses and provides original analytical insights into India's progress in population stabilization and development, and the setbacks it faces in terms of gender inequalities. Region and state‐wise analyses are additional contributions based on disaggregated state level data from the recent two Censuses.
Influence factors analysis of online auditing performance assessment
Authors: Chen Wei , Liu Sifeng , Smieliauskas Wally J. , Trippen Gerhard
Published: November 2014

Purpose

Consistent with the requirements of online auditing performance assessments, the purpose of this paper is to propose an influence factors analysis method using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and grey incidence analysis (GIA) to analyze the importance degree of influence factors on online auditing performance quantitatively.

Design/methodology/approach

A grey incidence model is developed to analyze the influence factors of online auditing performance based on the characteristics of online auditing. Then, the AHP is used to compute the weights of each assessment criterion of online auditing, and the performance of online auditing are computed. Finally, representing the performance assessment results computed by AHP and values of each assessment criterion as two sequences, GIA is used to analyze the importance degree of influence factors of online auditing performance quantitatively.

Findings

The main, secondary and minor influence factors of performance assessment of the online auditing project are identified. For online auditing projects, costs incurred are not the main influence factors of performance. Online auditing projects with higher benefits, higher quality and better design are the really effective ones. Besides, there is no direct relationship between the value of the weight of each criterion and the value of the degree of grey incidence.

Practical implications

The results of this study provide useful decision information to implement online auditing projects.

Originality/value

An effective method for analyzing the importance degree of influence factors of online auditing performance quantitatively is provided in this study.
Grey linear regression model and its application
Authors: Xiao Xinping , Lu Yayun
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to simplify the computation of parameter estimation in the grey linear regression model and solve the problem that the development coefficient could not be computed in some sequence data, such as short‐term traffic flow.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting from the limitation that can be identified in the equation and analyzing the range using the method to estimate parameters, this paper researches the modelling mechanism and the other forms which are equivalent with the original form. At the same time, this paper gives an estimation method and gets the relationship in various forms and the relationship between the model and GM(1,1) model.

Findings

For the grey linear regression model, there exists a new method of parameter identification and three other forms as follows: the original form, the Whitenization equation and the connotation form.

Practical implications

The method of parameter identification exposed in the paper expanded the scope of the application of the grey linear regression model, and it can be used to model and forecast the urban road short‐time traffic flow.

Originality/value

This paper has solved some complicated problems such as the parameter estimation computation in the grey linear regression model. In addition, three kinds of representation forms of the model and its relationship between the model and GM(1,1) have also been presented. Finally, its application of the model in a short‐term traffic flow prediction has shown its superiority.
Analysis of the income elasticity of the consumer demand of Chinese rural residents and prediction of its trend
Authors: Luo Dang , Song Bo
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to research the status quo and future trends of the income elasticity of the consumer demand of Chinese rural residents.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses model ELES and model GM (1,1) to analyze and predict the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China.

Findings

The findings show the indicator that the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China is quite large at present, but most sub‐categories of the indicators show a declining trend in the future.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the relevant departments to adjust the economic polices timely and reasonably according to specific form based on the findings above.

Originality/value

The income elasticity of consumer demand is an important indicator, reflecting the relationship between consumer demand and income, so it is of great significance to research it.