bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis, crystal structure, and spectroscopic and thermal properties of the polymeric compoundcatena-poly[[bis(2,4-dichlorobenzoato)zinc(II)]-μ-isonicotinamide]
Authors: Homzová Katarína , Györyová Katarína , Koman Marián , Melník Milan , Juhászová Žofia
Published: August 2015

Zinc(II) carboxylates withO-,S- andN-donor ligands are interesting for their structural features, as well as for their antibacterial and antifungal activities. The one-dimensional zinc(II) coordination complexcatena-poly[[bis(2,4-dichlorobenzoato-κO)zinc(II)]-μ-isonicotinamide-κ2N1:O], [Zn(C7H3Cl2O2)2(C6H6N2O)]n, has been prepared and characterized by IR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray analysis and thermal analysis. The tetrahedral ZnO3N coordination about the ZnIIcation is built up by the N atom of the pyridine ring, an O atom of the carbonyl group of the isonicotinamide ligand and two O atoms of two dichlorobenzoate ligands. Isonicotinamide serves as a bridge between tetrahedra, with a Zn...Zn distance of 8.8161 (7) Å. Additionally, π–π interactions between the planar benzene rings contribute to the stabilization of the extended structure. The structure is also stabilized by intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the amino and carboxylate groups of the ligands, forming a two-dimensional network. During thermal decomposition of the complex, isonicotinamide, dichlorobenzene and carbon dioxide were evolved. The final solid product of the thermal decomposition heated up to 1173 K was metallic zinc.
The pricing of community supported agriculture shares: evidence from New England
Authors: Sproul Thomas W. , Kropp Jaclyn D. , Barr Kyle D.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs allow consumers to buy a share of a farm’s production while providing working capital and risk management benefits for farmers. Several different types of CSA arrangements have emerged in the market with terms varying in the degree to which consumers share in the farm’s risk. No-arbitrage principles of futures and options pricing suggest that CSA shares should be priced to reflect the degree of risk transfer. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors evaluate the three most common share types using a cross-sectional data set of 226 CSA farms from New England to determine if there is empirical evidence in support of the theoretical price relationship between share types.

Findings

– The degree of risk transfer from farmers to consumers has a significant effect on the share price. There are statistically significant returns to scale and higher prices for organics. Farm characteristics and product offerings predict which type of shares is offered for sale.

Research limitations/implications

– The data set does not contain information pertaining to actual deliveries, expected deliveries, variance of expected deliveries, or covariance information; thus differences in share prices could be due to differences in these uncontrolled factors.

Originality/value

– This paper provides empirical evidence that CSA share prices reflect the degree of risk transferred from the producer to the consumer. It also highlights challenges in conducting empirical work pertaining to CSA contracting.
Determinants of farm income
Authors: Beckman Jayson , Schimmelpfennig David
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The recent fluctuations in farm income remind us of the boom-bust nature of the agricultural sector. To better understand these fluctuations in farm income, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between farm income and influential factors from 1964 to 2010 allowing for structural breaks in the data.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors estimate error-correction models for an overarching model and several sub-models at different scales based on their relationship with farm income: micro, meso, and macro. The authors then provide a series of impulse response functions (IRFs) that combine short- and long-run impacts in a rigorous framework indicating the response of farm income to shocks from any of the explanatory variables.

Findings

– Results indicate that prices paid (PP) and received by farmers, technological change, interest and exchange rates (ERs), gross domestic product (GDP) and land prices all influence farm income. Results using IRFs show how increases in farm income arise from shocks to prices received and GDP; while PP, interest rates, and land prices have a negative impact on farm income. Technological progress and ERs switch from having a negative short-run impact, to a positive long-run impact.

Originality/value

– This paper takes a fresh look at the single, overarching model for farm income determinants. The authors break this model into three separate levels, with results indicating that these sub-groups perform better than the one overarching model of all variables.
A process for building inter-organizational contextual ambidexterity
Authors: Lavikka Rita , Smeds Riitta , Jaatinen Miia
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discover a three-step process for building contextual ambidexterity into inter-organizational IT-enabled service processes through developmental interventions.

Design/methodology/approach

– A longitudinal action research project was conducted. The empirical study consisted of three consecutive developmental interventions to support the collaborative development effort of an IT company and its customer network to efficiently serve their present and future customers. The data consists of process modeling and simulation workshop discussions, interviews, observation, and archival data. The development effort was studied for over a year.

Findings

– The study shows that the three developmental interventions acted as a process for balancing the exploration-exploitation tension in inter-organizational service processes. The sequential interventions facilitated the studied organizations in crossing the inter-organizational knowledge boundaries and creating shared domain knowledge, creating common understanding of the collaborative IT-enabled service processes, and co-developing the coordination mechanisms that are essential for the continuous exploration and exploitation of the new ideas in the future collaborative service processes. These three steps built capacity for the inter-organizational management system to achieve synergies between goals, resources, and activities in the inter-organizational collaboration.

Originality/value

– The study contributes to the understanding on the process of building inter-organizational ambidexterity. The study presents a three-step process for building inter-organizational contextual ambidexterity into the IT-enabled service processes through developmental interventions. Research on inter-organizational contextual ambidexterity is combined with research on coordination and knowledge management.
Exploring the tensions behind the adoption of mobile work practices in SMEs
Authors: Raguseo Elisabetta , Paolucci Emilio , Neirotti Paolo
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the contextual conditions under which mobile forms of work are chosen by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the most relevant tensions that these firms should be able to face in order to be successful in the adoption of these forms of work.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey analysis on 304 SMEs and an analysis of a collection of case studies were conducted to answer to the following research questions: what is the role of contextual conditions in shaping the way firms develop and use their mobile forms of work? Which tensions do SMEs need to manage when adopt a particular mobile form of work?

Findings

– In this paper, the authors found that SMEs choose different mobile forms of work according to the conditions under which they operate. For example, SMEs that adopt mobile forms of work for operational reasons are more capable of using IT to improve their external orientation. Moreover, the analysis of the configurations of mobile forms of work led to classify in a systematic way the managerial and organizational tensions, and to identify which tensions need to be managed in each mobile work configuration. For example, firms that adopt mobile work given individual employee requests need to manage human resource management tensions.

Research limitations/implications

– Future research should analyse in depth the jobs that are frequently engaged in mobility and the operational and strategic reasons of their mobility. Moreover, future research should analyse more in-depth companies’ capability of managing tensions discussed in this paper.

Practical implications

– Managers should understand that mobile work is an essential element in the organizational strategy of SMEs, since it is a way to manage more effectively externally oriented business processes. Also policy makers should provide financial support for programmes aimed at promoting the importance of mobile forms of work, since they allow achieving different objectives and saving. Further, demand-oriented policies and experiences about mobile work adoption should be shared.

Originality/value

– The authors found scant empirical evidence on understanding the contextual conditions under which SMEs choose different mobile forms of work, and the most relevant tensions that SMEs should deal with when they decide for the adoption of a particular mobile work configuration. The value of this paper consists in filling this research gap.
Assessing the field
Authors: Frawley Emily , McLean Davies Larissa
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the interface between high-stakes testing, disciplinary knowledge and teachers’ pedagogy in English. The most prevalent standardized assessment form in the current Australian context is the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) undertaken each year by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in all Australian States and Territories. Understood in the context of the Global Educational Reform Movement (GERM) (Sahlberg, 2011, pp. 100-101) – the NAPLAN tests serve as a bi-partisan governmental response to a perceived need to improve the quality of teachers and schools in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors draw on the key sociological constructs of Pierre Bourdieu (1995) to analyze the ways in which the writing component of the suite of NAPLAN tests serves to legitimize and idealize particular kinds of writing, writers and teachers of writing.

Findings

– The authors suggest that in the absence of current literacy policy and curriculum instability, this national test shapes the literacy field, influencing the direction of writing practices and pedagogy, and, therefore, subject English itself, in Australian classrooms.

Originality/value

– This assessment intervention is considered in the context of the history of writing, and addresses accordingly fundamental questions concerning the changing nature of the writing/writerly field, the impact of assessment on teachers’ conceptions of disciplinarity and pedagogical content knowledge and students’ experiences of writing and thinking in subject English.
Bringing innovation to conventional feedback approaches in EFL secondary writing classrooms
Authors: Lee Icy , Mak Pauline , Burns Anne
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how the teachers implemented innovative feedback approaches in their writing classroom and the extent to which the innovative feedback approaches impacted upon student attitude and performance in writing. In the writing classroom, teacher feedback serves as an assessment as well as a pedagogical tool to enhance the teaching and learning of writing. While there is no shortage of literature on the topic of feedback per se, there is scant research on teachers’ attempts to implement change to conventional feedback practices, as well as the impact of such feedback innovation on student learning. Drawing on data gathered from individual teacher interviews, student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, pre-and post-writing tests and classroom observations, this study seeks to explore two teachers’ change initiative in their writing feedback approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study used multiple sources of data including individual teacher interviews, student questionnaires and student focus group.

Findings

– The results suggest that the innovative feedback approaches helped to enhance the motivation and writing performance of the students. The paper concludes with implications and insights to help teachers implement similar feedback innovations in their contexts.

Practical implications

– First, the findings suggest that focused written corrective feedback is a viable option for responding to student writing, especially for low proficiency students in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. Second, teachers might consider the option of removal or delay in the reporting of scores, where appropriate. Third, more intensive training might be necessary to help students improve their peer evaluation skills and their ability to write more constructive comments for their peers.

Originality/value

– The significance of the study lies in the contribution it can make to existing writing feedback research that pays insufficient attention to teacher feedback in real classroom contexts, uncovering the process through which teachers attempt to bring improvement to conventional feedback practices, as well as the impact of feedback innovation on student learning in naturally occurring classroom contexts.
“I had been given the space to grow”
Authors: Manuel Jackie , Carter Don
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to provide a critical interpretative analysis of an innovative model of assessment in subject English in New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical and practical dimensions of assessment in the English Extension 2 course. This course forms part of suite of senior secondary English courses within the Higher School Certificate program that includes high-stakes external examination.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws on methods of documentary analysis. It sits within the tradition of curriculum research that critiques pre-active curriculum documents as a primary source for interpreting the theoretical and pedagogical principles and assumptions encoded in such documents. A social constructionist approach informs the analysis.

Findings

– The model of assessment in the New South Wales (NSW) English Extension 2 course provides students with the opportunity to engage in sustained research and the production of a major piece of work. In its emphasis on student creativity, reflective practice, metacognition and independent research, the course exemplifies the ways in which the principle of assessing both process and product as organic is achievable in a context of high-stakes external examinations.

Originality/value

– In an era of high-stakes, external and standardised testing regimes, this paper challenges the normative definitions of assessment prevalent in secondary schools, particularly at the senior secondary level. The assessment model underpinning the NSW English Extension 2 course offers a robust alternative to the increasingly prescriptive models evident in current education policy and practice. The paper calls for renewed attention to the potential for such a model of authentic assessment to be considered in the assessment programs of other subjects constituting the curriculum.
“Resisting the rage for certainty”: dialogic assessment
Authors: Brindley Sue , Marshall Bethan
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report on one UK secondary school English teacher and use his practice as a vehicle for exploring the classroom realities of dialogic assessment. Dialogic assessment, a term first proposed by Alexander (2004), is a position which seeks to synthesise the potentially powerful positions of both dialogic teaching and assessment for learning remains largely unexploited as an approach to developing effective teaching and learning.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using video classroom evidence and interview, the authors explore the parameters within which dialogic teaching and assessment can be developed, and investigate the opportunities and obstacles which developing dialogic assessment bring about.

Findings

– The authors develop a framework, drawing on the evidence, which demonstrates the development of dialogic assessment in the classroom.

Originality/value

– This paper is an original look at dialogic assessment within the upper secondary sector.
Self-employment and field of education understood from current entrepreneurship research
Authors: Berggren Caroline , Olofsson Anders
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to look at how results from a large-scale study can be understood in the context of contemporary gender and entrepreneurship research.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study is inspired by a mixed methods methodology. To gain a qualitative understanding of the general patterns in a large-scale study, research results in articles from the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship (IJGE) were used. To make such a heterogeneous research field as appears in IJGE comparable, a model was created that helped us to focus our attention when reading the articles. The core of each article was identified.

Findings

– The categorisation of the articles in IJGE resulted in three perspectives: liberal, functional and structural. The liberal and functional perspectives improved our understanding only partially because these perspectives usually focused on a certain aspect in the society. The structural perspective more readily lent itself for interpretation of our large-scale results.

Research limitations/implications

– The dissonance between our perspective and the perspective of others has been a challenge; it has been a delicate task.

Originality/value

– This could be a way to improve communication of research not only within a perspective, but also between perspectives. It is important that scholarly journals provide the possibility to express different perspectives on, as in this example, gender and entrepreneurship.
Education and training benefiting a career as entrepreneur
Authors: Cheraghi Maryam , Schøtt Thomas
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to account for gender gaps owing to a lack of education and training. Gender gaps pervade human activity. But little is known about forces reshaping gaps across career phases, from education to running a business. Such gaps may accumulate over one’s entrepreneurial career and widen or narrow due both to environmental forces that reconfigure the gap across career phases and to the gendering of competencies and benefits from education and training.

Design/methodology/approach

– A representative sample of 110,689 adults around the world was surveyed in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Gender-related effects were ascertained by odds ratios estimated by hierarchical modelling, controlling for country and attributes of individuals.

Findings

– Education and entrepreneurial training, both during and after formal schooling, are highly beneficial in developing competencies and during career phases – i.e. intending to start a business, starting a business, and running a business. Early gaps in human capital are reproduced as gaps in careers, and continuous disadvantages in the environment repeatedly widen gaps throughout a person’s entrepreneurial career. That said, gender gaps are reduced slightly over time as women gain greater benefit from training than men.

Research limitations/implications

– The cumulative effects of early gender gaps in education and training call for research on gendered learning, and recurrent gender effects across career phases call for research on gendering in micro-level contexts such as networks and macro-level contexts such as institutions.

Practical implications

– Understanding the gendering of human capital and careers has implications for policy and education aimed at developing human resources, especially for mobilising women. The finding that women gain greater benefit than men from training is informative for policies that foster gender equality and empower women pursuing careers.

Originality/value

– Conceptualising the entrepreneurial career as a sequence of several stages enables the assessment of gender gaps owing to initial disadvantages in education and to recurrent disadvantages on the career path.
Thermal cycling aging effects on the ratcheting behavior of anisotropic conductive film
Authors: Gao Hong , Ma Jianhua , Gao Lilan , Yu Dunji , Sun Jinsheng
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to determine: how the thermal cycling aging affects the ratcheting behavior of anisotropic conductive adhesive film (ACF); how the loading conditions and loading history affect the ratcheting strain and strain rate of ACF with different thermal cycling aging histories.

Design/methodology/approach

– The ACF of CP6920F was cured at 190°C in an electro-thermal vacuum drying apparatus for 30 s. The cured specimens were put into the thermal cycling chamber (−40-150°C) for aging to 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 cycles. A series of uniaxial ratcheting tests of aged ACF after different thermal cycles was carried out under stress control at 80°C.

Findings

– The ACF subjected to larger number of thermal aging cycles exhibits less ratcheting strain under the same loading conditions. The ACF with the same thermal cycling aging history shows more ratcheting strain and a higher ratcheting strain rate when loaded under a larger mean stress or stress amplitude or a lower loading rate. The ratcheting behavior of aged ACF is found to be more sensitive to the lower loading rate. The higher mean stress (or stress amplitude) enhances the deformation resistance and consequently restrains the ratcheting strain of subsequent cycling with a lower mean stress (or stress amplitude). The prior lower loading rate accelerates the plastic deformation more significantly than the higher one.

Originality/value

– The influencing trends of thermal cycling aging, loading condition and loading history on ratcheting behavior of ACF are obtained, which is important for the design and safety assessment of ACF joints.
The size effect on intermetallic microstructure evolution of critical solder joints for flip chip assemblies
Authors: Tian Ye , Chow Justin , Liu Xi , Sitaraman Suresh  K.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the intermetallic compound (IMC) thickness, composition and morphology in 100-μm pitch and 200-μm pitch Sn–Ag–Cu (SAC305) flip-chip assemblies after bump reflow and assembly reflow. In particular, emphasis is placed on the effect of solder joint size on the interfacial IMCs between metal pads and solder matrix.

Design/methodology/approach

– This work uses 100-μm pitch and 200-μm pitch silicon flip chips with nickel (Ni) pads and stand-off height of approximately 45 and 90 μm, respectively, assembled on substrates with copper (Cu) pads. The IMCs evolution in solder joints was investigated during reflow by using 100- and 200-μm pitch flip-chip assemblies.

Findings

– After bump reflow, the joints size controls the IMC composition and dominant IMC type as well as IMC thickness and also influences the dominant IMC morphology. After assembly reflow, the cross-reaction of the pad metallurgies promotes the dominant IMC transformation and shape coarsened on the Ni pad interface for smaller joints and promotes a great number of new dominate IMC growth on the Ni pad interface in larger joints. On the Cu pad interface, many small voids formed in the IMC in larger joints, but were not observed in smaller joints, combined with the drawing of the IMC growth process.

Originality/value

– With continued advances in microelectronics, it is anticipated that next-generation microelectronic assemblies will require a reduction of the flip-chip solder bump pitch to 100 μm or less from the current industrial practice of 130 to150 μm. This work shows that as the packaging size reduced with the solder joint interconnection, the solder size becomes an important factor in the intermetallic composition as well as morphology and thickness after reflow.
No second chances: demography from the forest floor to the canopy and back again
Authors: Balcázar‐Vargas Maria P. , Salguero‐Gómez Roberto , Zuidema Pieter A.
Published: August 2015

Secondary hemiepiphytes have one of the most bizarre life histories among vascular plants. They germinate on the forest floor, climb onto a host tree, gradually grow up and start producing seeds if the host tree is taller than the minimum height required for reproductive onset. Because most of the host trees in the forest are too small to allow reproduction, most seedlings of secondary hemiepiphytes of the genusHeteropsisclimb onto unsuitable hosts. This problem may be remediated by moving from unsuitable to suitable hosts by vegetative propagation, providing a second chance to contribute to recruitment. Still, such a strategy comes at a demographic risk of increased mortality and may thus contribute little to population growth.

Here we ask what are the relative contributions ofHeteropsisindividuals on suitable vs. unsuitable hosts to their population growth rates (λ). We studied the demography of three species of the genusHeteropsisin theColombianAmazon, distinguishing subpopulations on suitable and unsuitable hosts. We constructed multistate matrix population models and performed elasticity and loop analyses.

For all threeHeteropsisspecies, λ ≥ 1, indicating that studied populations are viable. Vital rates and loop elasticities showed that individuals on suitable hosts contributed 85–98% and 80–96%, respectively. Consequently, individuals that climb directly to suitable hosts predominantly drive the population dynamics of the three studiedHeteropsisspecies and second chances (vegetative reproduction) do not matter for demographic viability.

Our results are evidence of a strong source–sink dynamic for the studied species, whereby individuals on unsuitable hosts act as sink subpopulations and individuals on suitable hosts as source subpopulations. The population growth rates of the examinedHeteropsisspecies were strongly limited by recruitment of individuals on suitable hosts and the high proportion of seedlings climbing onto unsuitable hosts, which are demographic ‘lost cases’.

Synthesis. Our study illustrates a strong environmental filtering and multiple bottlenecks in the life cycle of secondary hemiepiphytes. Our findings contribute with an understudied plant life‐history strategy to the extensive repertoire of better‐known ecological plant strategies such as tree gap dynamics, clonal reproduction and permanent seedbanks.
The impact of prolapse mesh on vaginal smooth muscle structure and function
Authors: Jallah Z , Liang R , Feola A , Barone W , Palcsey S , Abramowitch SD , Yoshimura N , Moalli P
Published: August 2015

Objective

To evaluate the impact of prolapse meshes on vaginal smooth muscle structure (VaSM) and function, and to evaluate these outcomes in the context of the mechanical and textile properties of the mesh.

Design

Three months following the implantation of three polypropylene prolapse meshes with distinct textile and mechanical properties, mesh tissue explants were evaluated for smooth muscle contraction, innervation, receptor function, and innervation density.

Setting

Magee‐Womens Research Institute at the University of Pittsburgh.

Population

Thirty‐four parous rhesus macaques of similar age, parity, and pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP–Q) scores.

Methods

Macaques were implanted with mesh via sacrocolpopexy. The impact of Gynemesh™ PS (Ethicon; n = 7), Restorelle® (Coloplast; n = 7), UltraPro™ parallel and UltraPro™ perpendicular (Ethicon; n = 6 and 7, respectively) were compared with sham‐operated controls (n = 7). Outcomes were analysed by Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA, Mann–Whitney U–tests and multiple regression analysis (P < 0.05).

Mean outcome measures

Vaginal tissue explants were evaluated for the maximum contractile force generated following muscle, nerve, and receptor stimulation, and for peripheral nerve density.

Results

Muscle myofibre, nerve, and receptor‐mediated contractions were negatively affected by mesh only in the grafted region (P < 0.001, P = 0.002, and P = 0.008, respectively), whereas cholinergic and adrenergic nerve densities were affected in the grafted (P = 0.090 and P = 0.008, respectively) and non‐grafted (P = 0.009 and P = 0.005, respectively) regions. The impact varied by mesh property, as mesh stiffness was a significant predictor of the negative affect on muscle function and nerve density (P < 0.001 and P = 0.013, respectively), whereas mesh and weight was a predictor of receptor function (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Mesh has an overall negative impact on VaSM, and the effects are a function of mesh properties, most notably, mesh stiffness.

Tweetable abstract

Prolapse mesh affects vaginal smooth muscle.
Review on the Use of Cell Cultures to Study Metabolism, Transport, and Accumulation of Flavonoids: From Mono‐Cultures to Co‐Culture Systems
Authors: Gonzales Gerard Bryan , Van Camp John , Vissenaekens Hanne , Raes Katleen , Smagghe Guy , Grootaert Charlotte
Published: August 2015

The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive discussion on the various human/animal cell‐based models used to study the absorption, transport, and metabolism of flavonoids. Flavonoids are plant‐based bioactive compounds that have been extensively investigated for their active role in health alleviation and disease prevention. For this purpose, cell lines isolated from various human and animal tissues have been routinely used as anin vitromodel to assess the bioavailability and bioactivity of these compounds. This paper reviews for the first time various transporters (SLCT, SGLT, bilitranslocase, and ABC transporters), metabolic routes (deglycosylation, glucuronidation, sulfation, and deconjugation), and accumulation of flavonoids in different cell lines commonly used in flavonoid research. Also, the use of co‐culture systems to study flavonoid bioactivity will be discussed. To date, no definite mono‐culture or co‐culture formulation has been generally accepted to be the most accurate representation of thein vivosituation. Therefore, further investigation and improvement of cell‐basedin vitromodels for flavonoid research merit further investigation.
Differences in Handwritings of Schizophrenia Patients and Examination of the Change after Treatment
Authors: Kömür İlhami , Gürler Ahmet Selçuk , Başpınar Bünyamin , Şahin Esat , Kantarcı Muhammet Nabi , Emül Murat , Kandemir Eyüp , Akın Hacı Mehmet , Üner Hüseyin Bülent
Published: August 2015

The aim of this study was to analyze the differences between the handwritings of schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects in addition to the changes that occurred in schizophrenia patients' handwriting in response to the treatment. The test subjects were 29 schizophrenia patients and 29 healthy individuals with the same age, gender, and dominant hand. The changes in the handwritings were examined according to 14 different parameters. On the day of admittance, the percentage of extra letters was 16.7%, and after 7–10 days of hospitalization, it rose to 33.3%. The percentage of skipped words decreased from 29.2% to 16.7% after 7–10 days of hospitalization, and to 10% after 3 weeks. The letters written by schizophrenia patients are significantly larger in height and width compared to the control group. The schizophrenia patients showed a higher incidence of crossed‐out letters, adding extra words, missing punctuation as well as missing words.
Monitoring of Yeast Communities and Volatile Flavor Changes During Traditional Korean Soy Sauce Fermentation
Authors: Song Young‐Ran , Jeong Do‐Youn , Baik Sang‐Ho
Published: August 2015

Flavor development in soy sauce is significantly related to the diversity of yeast species. Due to its unique fermentation with meju, the process of making Korean soy sauce gives rise to a specific yeast community and, therefore, flavor profile; however, no detailed analysis of the identifying these structure has been performed. Changes in yeast community structure during Korean soy sauce fermentation were examined using both culture‐dependent and culture‐independent methods with simultaneous analysis of the changes in volatile compounds by GC‐MS analysis. During fermentation, Candida, Pichia, and Rhodotorula sp. were the dominant species, whereas Debaryomyces, Torulaspora, and Zygosaccharomyces sp. were detected only at the early stage. In addition, Cryptococcus, Microbotryum, Tetrapisispora, and Wickerhamomyces were detected as minor strains. Among the 62 compounds identified in this study, alcohols, ketones, and pyrazines were present as the major groups during the initial stages, whereas the abundance of acids with aldehydes increased as the fermentation progressed. Finally, the impacts of 10 different yeast strains found to participate in fermentation on the formation of volatile compounds were evaluated under soy‐based conditions. It was revealed that specific species produced different profiles of volatile compounds, some of which were significant flavor contributors, especially volatile alcohols, aldehydes, esters, and ketones.
OEZY: Optimising EnZYme selection for best performing terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using ARB
Authors: Mühling Martin , Beier Rico , Müller Patricia , Petzsch Patrick , Drechsel Anna , Schlömann Michael , Labudde Dirk
Published: August 2015

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis remains a useful technique to obtain insights into the genetic diversity of microbial populations. A crucial parameter of the technique is the selection of appropriate restriction endonucleases (REs) to achieve high resolution between the PCR‐amplified fragments of a marker gene (usually a ribosomal RNA gene). However, despite the development of several computer‐supported programmes to improve the selection of REs for TRFLP analysis, there is still a lack of software that offers both of two aspects: first, availability of a sequence data base from which sequences can easily and without further formatting and ranking be selected for analysis; secondly, selection of sets of REs for highest genetic resolution while providing the possibility to assess and quantify the correlation of the TRFs with the phylogeny of the target group of 16S rRNA sequences.

Here, we present a new and freely available software tool which utilises ARB in combination with the silva data base of hundreds of thousands of aligned ribosomal RNA genes or user‐submitted sequences as basis for the selection of optimal sets of REs of various sizes. Apart from coping with missing sequence information and providing extensive information on the obtained TRF patterns, this new programme for Optimising EnZYme selection for best performing TRFLP analysis using ARB (OEZY) also assesses the level at which the resulting TRF pattern reflects the phylogeny based on the data base gene sequences.

Optimising EnZYme is a substantial extension to hitherto available software as it opens the chance to correctly predict the phylogenetic position of yet unknown sequence types. Choosing REs that lead to a high correlation between the resulting TRFs and the phylogeny of the micro‐organisms based on the nucleotide sequence of the marker gene makes it likely that the TRFs also fall within the corresponding phylogenetic clade. OEZY therefore provides a diagnostic tool for the analysis of microbial populations.
Designing Real‐time Decision Support for Trauma Resuscitations
Authors: Yadav Kabir , Chamberlain James M. , Lewis Vicki R. , Abts Natalie , Chawla Shawn , Hernandez Angie , Johnson Justin , Tuveson Genevieve , Burd Randall S.
Published: August 2015

Background

Use of electronic clinical decision support (eCDS) has been recommended to improve implementation of clinical decision rules. Many eCDS tools, however, are designed and implemented without taking into account the context in which clinical work is performed. Implementation of the pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) clinical decision rule at one Level I pediatric emergency department includes an electronic questionnaire triggered when ordering a head computed tomography using computerized physician order entry (CPOE). Providers use this CPOE tool in less than 20% of trauma resuscitation cases. A human factors engineering approach could identify the implementation barriers that are limiting the use of this tool.

Objectives

The objective was to design a pediatric TBI eCDS tool for trauma resuscitation using a human factors approach. The hypothesis was that clinical experts will rate a usability‐enhanced eCDS tool better than the existing CPOE tool for user interface design and suitability for clinical use.

Methods

This mixed‐methods study followed usability evaluation principles. Pediatric emergency physicians were surveyed to identify barriers to using the existing eCDS tool. Using standard trauma resuscitation protocols, a hierarchical task analysis of pediatric TBI evaluation was developed. Five clinical experts, all board‐certified pediatric emergency medicine faculty members, then iteratively modified the hierarchical task analysis until reaching consensus. The software team developed a prototype eCDS display using the hierarchical task analysis. Three human factors engineers provided feedback on the prototype through a heuristic evaluation, and the software team refined the eCDS tool using a rapid prototyping process. The eCDS tool then underwent iterative usability evaluations by the five clinical experts using video review of 50 trauma resuscitation cases. A final eCDS tool was created based on their feedback, with content analysis of the evaluations performed to ensure all concerns were identified and addressed.

Results

Among 26 EPs (76% response rate), the main barriers to using the existing tool were that the information displayed is redundant and does not fit clinical workflow. After the prototype eCDS tool was developed based on the trauma resuscitation hierarchical task analysis, the human factors engineers rated it to be better than the CPOE tool for nine of 10 standard user interface design heuristics on a three‐point scale. The eCDS tool was also rated better for clinical use on the same scale, in 84% of 50 expert–video pairs, and was rated equivalent in the remainder. Clinical experts also rated barriers to use of the eCDS tool as being low.

Conclusions

An eCDS tool for diagnostic imaging designed using human factors engineering methods has improved perceived usability among pediatric emergency physicians.
To reduce or abstain? Substance use goals in the treatment of veterans with substance use disorders and comorbid PTSD
Authors: Lozano Brian E. , Gros Daniel F. , Killeen Therese , Jaconis Maryanne , Beylotte Francis M. , Boyd Stephen , Back Sudie E.
Published: August 2015

Background

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD) frequently co‐occur. Previous research demonstrates the utility of goals in attaining improved SUD outcomes, however, no previous studies have examined goal choices in the context of integrated treatment for comorbid PTSD and SUD.

Objectives

The present study investigated correlates of treatment entry goals to either reduce or abstain from substance use.

Methods

Participants (N = 60) were treatment‐seeking veterans with current PTSD and SUD. Participants completed self‐report and clinician‐rated measures of substance use, PTSD, and affective symptoms as part of a larger randomized controlled trial.

Results

Half (30/60) of participants endorsed a treatment entry goal to reduce substance use (reducers). Compared to participants who endorsed a treatment entry goal of abstinence (abstainers), reducers were significantly younger, more likely to be employed, more likely to have served in recent military conflicts (Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom), and endorsed significantly fewer symptoms of alcohol dependence.

Conclusions and Scientific Significance

The findings demonstrate clinically relevant differences based on treatment entry goals, suggesting that individuals are often able to choose conceivably appropriate treatment goals based, most notably, on the severity of their SUD. Collaboratively engaging patients in establishing treatment goals that are consistent with their beliefs and desires in conjunction with empirical findings is particularly relevant in the context of treatment for SUD and PTSD where many patients are ambivalent about treatment and attrition is common. (Am J Addict 2015;XX:XX–XX)
A prospective pilot study in assessing the accuracy of ultrasound estimated fetal weight prior to delivery
Authors: Sekar Renuka , Khatun Mohsina , Barrett Helen L. , Duncombe Gregory
Published: August 2015

Background

Perinatal mortality and morbidity related to growth restriction and macrosomia are predicted by birthweight. Estimated fetal weight is a surrogate measure for neonatal weight, and accurate measurement of this is central to providing counselling and managing preterm birth.

Aims

To assess the accuracy of estimated fetal weight (EFW) measured by two sonographers within 1 week of delivery using Hadlock formula.

Materials and Methods

Two sonographers independently scanned 150 women with singleton pregnancies, who were booked for elective delivery. The sonographers measured four biometric measurements in estimating fetal weight. The accuracy of EFW compared to the birthweight was examined. We also assessed the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of small‐for‐gestational age (SGA) and large–for‐gestational age (LGA) according to the EFW.

Results

Estimated fetal weight was similar to actual birthweight, with a mean percentage difference (SD) of 1.4(7.0) (P = 0.44). The reliability coefficient of EFW compared to actual birthweight was 0.97 (95% CI (0.96, 0.98)). There was no significant difference between the sonographers for EFWs and among the sonographers from the ultrasound scan to delivery interval. The sensitivity and specificity for detection of SGA and LGA were 93.3% and 99.3%, 60% and 95.6%, respectively.

Conclusions

There is high reproducibility with minimum discrepancy from actual birthweight among sonographers 1 week prior to delivery using Hadlock formula with better prediction of SGA neonates.
The New Nature of Things? Canada's Conservative Government and the Design of the New Environmental Subject
Authors: Peyton Jonathan , Franks Aaron
Published: August 2015

Since coming to power in 2006, Canada's government under Stephen Harper has worked to recalibrate federal regulatory, legislative and economic development frameworks as they overlap in the littoral zone of the environment. We argue that Harper's Conservative government is pursuing a totalizing strategy in reconfiguring the desired Canadian environmental subject. This strategy approaches an integrated design that eclipses the incremental strategic options most Canadian federal governments have understood themselves to be constrained by. This design's basic features include the discursive strategies employed to collapse “the environment” into a singular resource extraction paradigm, a programmatic concentration of power to the executive branch of the Canadian government, and a classical conservative ideology that associates environmental regulation and management with dominion over and improvement of national territory, to the exclusion of other frames and relations. We query the articulation of consent and certainty in relation to the environment and extractive economies in Canada.
Evaluation of the new AmpliSens multiplex real‐time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Trichomonas vaginalis
Authors: Rumyantseva Tatiana , Golparian Daniel , Nilsson Christian S. , Johansson Emma , Falk My , Fredlund Hans , Van Dam Alje , Guschin Alexander , Unemo Magnus
Published: August 2015

In this study, we performed an evaluation of the new CE‐marked multiplex real‐time AmpliSens N.gonorrhoeae/C.trachomatis/M.genitalium/T.vaginalis‐MULTIPRIME‐FRT PCR assay compared to APTIMA tests, i.e., APTIMA COMBO 2 assay, APTIMA Trichomonas vaginalis assay (FDA‐approved), and two different APTIMA Mycoplasma genitalium assays (research use only; one of them only used for discrepancy analysis). Vaginal swabs (n = 209) and first‐void urine (FVU) specimens from females (n = 498) and males (n = 554), consecutive attendees (n = 1261) at a dermatovenerological clinic in Sweden, were examined. The sensitivity of the AmpliSens PCR assay for detection of C. trachomatis (6.3% prevalence), M. genitalium (5.7% prevalence), N. gonorrhoeae (0.3% prevalence), and T. vaginalis (0.08% prevalence) was 97.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 91.2–99.6%), 81.9% (95% CI: 70.7–89.7%), 100% (95% CI: 40.2–100%) and 100% (95% CI: 16.5–100%), respectively. The specificity of the AmpliSens PCR assay was 100% (95% CI: 99.6–100%) for all agents. The analytical sensitivity and specificity for N. gonorrhoeae detection was excellent, i.e., 55 international gonococcal strains detected and 135 isolates of 13 non‐gonococcal Neisseria species were negative. In conclusion, the multiplex real‐time AmpliSens N.gonorrhoeae/C.trachomatis/M.genitalium/T.vaginalis‐MULTIPRIME‐FRT PCR assay demonstrated high sensitivity and excellent specificity for the detection of C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, and T. vaginalis, and excellent specificity but suboptimal sensitivity for M. genitalium detection.
Phosphorus limitation relates to diet selection of sheep and goats on dry calcareous grassland
Authors: Hejcmanová Pavla , Pokorná Pavlína , Hejcman Michal , Pavlů Vilém
Published: August 2015

Aims

We aimed to (1) identify the nutritive value of late season herbage of principal species on dry calcareous grassland, (2) study the forage supply for sheep and goats and the degree of its exploitation by these animals, (3) identify the animals’ preference for particular plant species and types (grass, forb, shrub), and (4) identify the indicators of diet selection at the scale of the functional traits and nutritional value of selected plant species.

Location

Pálava Protected Landscape Area, Czech Republic (48°50′ N, 16°38′ E).

Methods

The investigation was based on the rotational grazing of sheep and goats for conservation purposes from Aug to Sept 2008. In all paddocks, the plant species composition and cover were identified. Animals were observed for 14 h a day to record their diet. Diet selectivity regarding 17 plant species and type was calculated. For ten plant species, the functional traits, i.e. canopy height, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and nutritive value, were measured. Differences in diet selection by sheep and goats and the drivers of diet selection were assessed.

Results

Of a total of 138 plant species recorded in all paddocks, sheep and goats grazed on 136 and 126, respectively. Sheep grazed more selectively on forbs than on grasses and shrubs, whereas goats grazed on forbs preferentially, on shrubs in conformity with supply in the vegetation cover, and avoided grasses. The diet selectivity of both sheep and goats was similar and was positively correlated with a high concentration of N, P, K, Ca and Mg, which were particularly high in the leaves of Prunus spinosa and lowest in Bromus erectus, and negatively correlated with the LDMC and fibre content in grasses.

Conclusions

Dry nutrient‐poor calcareous grassland in the late season did not offer animals more macronutrients than required for their maintenance. The animals adapted their foraging strategy to select preferentially forbs or woody species particularly rich in P and with a relatively low fibre content, the real indicators of diet selection. Late grazing could therefore contribute to the control of woody plant species, but cannot suppress expansive grasses.