bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Estimating individual level plant traits at scale
Authors: Marconi Sergio , Graves Sarah J. , Weinstein Ben. G. , Bohlman Stephanie , White Ethan P.
Published: February 2019

Functional ecology has increasingly focused on describing ecological communities based on their traits (measurable features affecting individuals fitness and performance). Analyzing trait distributions within and among forests could significantly improve understanding of community composition and ecosystem function. Historically, data on trait distributions are generated by (1) collecting a small number of leaves from a small number of trees, which suffers from limited sampling but produces information at the fundamental ecological unit (the individual); or (2) using remote sensing images to infer traits, producing information continuously across large regions, but as plots (containing multiple trees of different species) or pixels, not individuals. Remote sensing methods that identify individual trees and estimate their traits would provide the benefits of both approaches, producing continuous large-scale data linked to biological individuals. We used data from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to develop a method to scale up functional traits from 160 trees to the millions of trees within the spatial extent of two NEON sites. The pipeline consists of three stages: 1) image segmentation, to identify individual trees and estimate structural traits; 2) ensemble of models to infer leaf mass area (LMA), nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus content using hyperspectral signatures, and DBH from allometry; and 3) predictions for segmented crowns for the full remote sensing footprint at the NEON sites.

The R2values on held out test data ranged from 0.41 to 0.75 on held out test data. The ensemble approach performed better than single partial least squares models. Carbon performed poorly compared to other traits (R2of 0.41). The crown segmentation step contributed the most uncertainty in the pipeline, due to over-segmentation. The pipeline produced good estimates of DBH (R2of 0.62 on held out data). Trait predictions for crowns performed significantly better than comparable predictions on pixels, resulting in improvement of R2on test data of between to 0.26. We used the pipeline to produce individual level trait data for ∼5 million individual crowns, covering a total extent of ∼360 km2. This large dataset allows testing ecological questions on landscape scales, revealing that foliar traits are correlated with structural traits and environmental conditions.
Maxdeletion destabilizes MYC protein and abrogates Eμ-Myclymphomagenesis
Authors: Mathsyaraja Haritha , Freie Brian , Cheng Pei-Feng , Babaeva Ekaterina , Janssens Derek , Henikoff Steven , Eisenman Robert N
Published: February 2019

Although MAX is widely regarded as an obligate dimerization partner for MYC, its function in normal development and neoplasia is not well defined. We show that B-cell specific deletion ofMaxhas a surprisingly modest effect on B-cell development but completely abrogates Eµ-Mycdriven lymphomagenesis. In both contexts, MAX loss leads to a significant reduction in MYC protein levels. This outcome is associated with the downregulation of numerous transcriptional targets of MAX including a subset that regulate MYC stability. Reduction in MYC protein levels is also observed in multiple cell lines treated with a MYC-MAX dimerization inhibitor. Our work uncovers a layer ofMycautoregulation critical for lymphomagenesis yet partly dispensable for normal lymphoid development.
Opportunistic interactions on Fe0 between methanogens and acetogens from a climate lake
Authors: Palacios Paola Andrea , Rotaru Amelia-Elena
Published: February 2019

Microbial-induced corrosion has been extensively studied in pure cultures. However, Fe0 corrosion by complex environmental communities, and especially the interplay between microbial physiological groups, is still poorly understood. In this study, we combined experimental physiology and metagenomics to explore Fe0-dependent microbial interactions between physiological groups enriched from anoxic climate lake sediments. Then, we investigated how each physiological group interacts with Fe0. We offer evidence for a new interspecies interaction during Fe0 corrosion. We showed that acetogens enhanced methanogenesis but were negatively impacted by methanogens (opportunistic microbial interaction). Methanogens were positively impacted by acetogens. In the metagenome of the corrosive community, the acetogens were mostly represented by Clostridium and Eubacterium, the methanogens by Methanosarcinales, Methanothermobacter and Methanobrevibacter. Within the corrosive community, acetogens and methanogens produced acetate and methane concurrently, however at rates that cannot be explained by abiotic H2-buildup at the Fe0 surface. Thus, microbial-induced corrosion might have occurred via a direct or enzymatically mediated electron uptake from Fe0. The shotgun metagenome of Clostridium within the corrosive community contained several H2-releasing enzymes including [FeFe]-hydrogenases, which could boost Fe0-dependent H2-formation as previously shown for pure culture acetogens. Outside the cell, acetogenic hydrogenases could become a common good for any H2/CO2-consuming member in the microbial community including methanogens that rely on Fe0 as a sole energy source. However, the exact electron uptake mechanism from Fe0 remains to be unraveled.
Aging alters the role of basolateral amygdala in intertemporal choice
Authors: Hernandez Caesar M. , Orsini Caitlin A. , Labiste Chase C. , Wheeler Alexa-Rae , Ten Eyck Tyler W. , Bruner Matthew M. , Sahagian Todd J. , Harden Scott W. , Frazier Charles J. , Setlow Barry , Bizon Jennifer L.
Published: February 2019

Aging is associated with an increased ability to delay gratification. Moreover, even when matched for performance, young and aged subjects recruit distinct brain circuitry to complete complex cognitive tasks. Experiments herein used an optogenetic approach to test whether altered recruitment of the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a brain region implicated in valuation of reward-cost contingencies, contributes to age-dependent changes in intertemporal decision making. BLA inactivation while rats deliberated prior to choices between options that yielded either small, immediate or large, delayed rewards rendered both young and aged rats less impulsive. In contrast, BLA inactivation after choices were made (during evaluation of choice outcomes) rendered young rats more impulsive but had no effect in aged rats. These data define multiple, temporally-discrete roles for BLA circuits in intertemporal decision making and implicate altered recruitment of BLA in the elevated preference for delayed rewards that is characteristic of advanced age.

Impact Statement

Basolateral amygdala (BLA) performs multiple, temporally-discrete functions during intertemporal decision making. Differential engagement of BLA contributes to the enhanced ability to delay gratification that is characteristic of advanced ages.
Developmental plasticity in metabolism but not in energy reserve accumulation in a seasonally polyphenic butterfly
Authors: Kivelä Sami M. , Gotthard Karl , Lehmann Philipp
Published: February 2019

The evolution of seasonal polyphenisms (discrete phenotypes in different annual generations) associated with alternative developmental pathways of diapause (overwintering) and direct development is favoured in temperate insects. Seasonal life history polyphenisms are common and include faster growth and development under direct development than diapause. However, the physiological underpinnings of this difference remain poorly known despite its significance for understanding the evolution of polyphenisms. We measured respiration and metabolic rates through the penultimate and final larval instars in the butterflyPieris napiand show that directly developing larvae grew and developed faster and had a higher metabolic rate than larvae entering pupal diapause. The metabolic divergence appeared only in the final instar, that is, after the induction of developmental pathway that takes place in the penultimate instar inP. napi. The accumulation of fat reserves during the final larval instar was similar under diapause and direct development, which was unexpected as diapause is predicted to select for exaggerated reserve accumulation. This suggests that overwinter survival may be more dependent on metabolic suppression during diapause than the size of energy reserves. The results, nevertheless, demonstrate that physiological changes coincide with the divergence of life histories between the alternative developmental pathways, thus elucidating the proximate basis of seasonal life history polyphenisms.

Summary statement

The switch between diapause and direct development results in developmental pre-diapause plasticity in life history and metabolism but not in reserve accumulation in a seasonally polyphenic butterfly.
Using extracellular low frequency signals to improve the spike sorting of cerebellar complex spikes
Authors: Zur Gil , Joshua Mati
Published: February 2019

The challenge of spike sorting has been addressed by numerous electrophysiological studies. These methods tend to focus on the information conveyed by the high frequencies, but ignore the potentially informative signals at lower frequencies. Activation of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum by input from the climbing fibers results in a large amplitude dendritic spike concurrent with a high frequency burst known as a complex spike. Due to the variability in the high frequency component of complex spikes, previous methods have struggled to sort these complex spikes in an accurate and reliable way. However, complex spikes have a prominent extracellular low frequency signal generated by the input from the climbing fibers. We exploited this to improve complex spike sorting by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the low frequencies of the signal and show that the low frequency first PC achieves a better separation of the complex spikes from noise. The low frequency data are more effective in detecting events entering into the analysis, and therefore can be harnessed to analyze the data with a larger signal to noise ratio. These two advantages make our method more effective for complex spike sorting. Our characterization of the dendritic low frequency components of complex spikes can be applied in other studies to gain insights into processing in the cerebellum.
TGFβ signaling curbs cell fusion and muscle regeneration
Authors: Girardi Francesco , Taleb Anissa , Giordani Lorenzo , Cadot Bruno , Datye Asiman , Ebrahimi Majid , Gamage Dilani G. , Millay Douglas P. , Gilbert Penney M , Grand Fabien Le
Published: February 2019

Fusion of muscle progenitor cells is necessary for skeletal muscle development and repair. Cell fusion is a multistep process involving cell migration, adhesion, membrane remodeling and actin-nucleation pathways to generate multinucleated myotubes. While the cellular and molecular mechanisms promoting muscle cell fusion have been intensely investigated in recent years, molecular brakes restraining cell–cell fusion events to control syncytia formation have remained elusive. Here, we show that transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) signaling is active in adult muscle cells throughout the fusion process and reduce muscle cell fusion independently of the differentiation step. In contrast, inhibition of TGFβ signaling enhances cell fusion and promotes branching between myotubes. Pharmacological modulation of the pathway in vivo perturbs muscle regeneration after injury. Exogenous addition of TGFβ protein results in a loss of muscle function while inhibition of the TGFβ pathway induces the formation of giant myofibres. Transcriptome analyses and functional assays revealed that TGFβ acts on actin dynamics and reduce cell spreading through modulation of actin-based protrusions. Together our results reveal a signaling pathway that limits mammalian myoblast fusion and add a new level of understanding to the molecular regulation of myogenesis.
The effect of environmental enrichment on behavioral variability depends on genotype, behavior, and type of enrichment
Authors: Akhund-Zade Jamilla , Ho Sandra , O’Leary Chelsea , de Bivort Benjamin
Published: February 2019

Non-genetic individuality in behavior, also termed intragenotypic variability, has been observed across many different organisms. A potential cause of intragenotypic variability is sensitivity to minute environmental differences during development, even as major environmental parameters are kept constant. Animal enrichment paradigms often include the addition of environmental diversity, whether in the form of social interaction, novel objects, or exploratory opportunities. Enrichment could plausibly affect intragenotypic variability in opposing ways: it could cause an increase in variability due to the increase in microenvironmental variation, or a decrease in variability due to elimination of aberrant behavior as animals are taken out of impoverished laboratory conditions. In order to test our hypothesis, we assayed five isogenic Drosophila melanogaster lines raised in control and mild enrichment conditions, and one isogenic line under both mild and intense enrichment conditions. We compared the mean and variability of six behavioral metrics between our enriched fly populations and the laboratory housing control. We found that enrichment often caused a small increase in variability across most of our behaviors, but that the ultimate effect of enrichment on both behavioral means and variabilities was highly dependent on genotype and its interaction with the particular enrichment treatment. Our results support previous work on enrichment that presents a highly variable picture of its effects on both behavior and physiology.
Effect of Maxillary Expansion and Protraction on the Oropharyngeal Airway in Individuals with Non-syndromic Cleft Palate with or without Cleft Lip
Authors: Alrejaye Najla , Gao Jonathan , Oberoi Snehlata
Published: February 2019

Introduction

The aim of this study was to evaluate three dimensionally the effect of the combined maxillary expansion and protraction treatment on oropharyngeal airway in children with non-syndromic cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP/L).

Methods

CBCT data of 18 preadolescent individuals (ages, 8.4 ± 1.7 years) with CP/L, who underwent Phase I orthodontic maxillary expansion with protraction, were compared before and after treatment. The average length of treatment was 24.1± 7.6 months. The airway volume and minimal cross-sectional area (MCA) were determined using 3DMD Vultus imaging software with cross-sectional areas calculated for each 2-mm over the entire length of the airway. A control group of 9 preadolescent individuals (ages, 8.7 ± 2.6 years) with CP/L was used for comparison.

Results

There was a statistically significant increase in pharyngeal airway volume after phase I orthodontic treatment in both groups, however, there was no statistically significant change in minimal cross-sectional area in neither study nor control group.

Conclusion

The findings showed that maxillary expansion and protraction did not have a significant effect on increasing oropharyngeal volume and MCA in patients with CP/L.
Evolution of interface binding strengths in simplified model of protein quaternary structure
Authors: Leonard Alexander S. , Ahnert Sebastian E.
Published: February 2019

The self-assembly of proteins into protein quaternary structures is of fundamental importance to many biological processes, and protein misassembly is responsible for a wide range of proteopathic diseases. In recent years, abstract lattice models of protein self-assembly have been used to simulate the evolution and assembly of protein quaternary structure, and to provide a tractable way to study the genotype-phenotype map of such systems. Here we generalize these models by representing the interfaces as mutable binary strings. This simple change enables us to model the evolution of interface strengths, interface symmetry, and deterministic assembly pathways. Using the generalized model we are able to reproduce two important results established for real protein complexes: The first is that protein assembly pathways are under evolutionary selection to minimize misassembly. The second is that the assembly pathway of a complex mirrors its evolutionary history, and that both can be derived from the relative strengths of interfaces. These results demonstrate that the generalized lattice model offers a powerful new framework for the study of protein self-assembly processes and their evolution.
Can early assessment of hand grip strength in elderly hip fracture patients predict functional outcome?
Authors: Selakovic Ivan , Dubljanin-Raspopovic Emilija , Markovic-Denic Ljiljana , Marusic Vuk , Cirkovic Andja , Kadija Marko , Tomanovic-Vujadinovic Sanja , Tulic Goran
Published: February 2019

Decreased muscle strength is not only a risk factor for hip fracture in elderly patients, but plays a role in recovery of physical function. Our aim was to assess the role of grip strength measured early after hip fracture, and classified according to the EWGSOP2 criteria in predicting short- and long-term functional recovery. One hundred ninety-one patients with acute hip fracture consecutively admitted to an orthopaedic hospital have been selected. A multidimensional geriatric assessment evaluating sociodemographic variables, cognitive status, functional status and quality of life prior to fracture, as well as perioperative variables were performed. Follow-ups at 3 and 6 months after surgery were carried out to evaluate functional recovery. Multivariate regression models were used to assess the predictive role of handgrip strength. The mean age of the participants was 80.3 ±6.8 years. Thirty-five percent of our patients with clinically relevant hand grip strength weakness were significantly older, more often female, had a lower BMI, and were of worse physical health. They also had a lower cognitive level, lower Barthel index, and lower EQ5D scores before fracture. Multivariate regression analysis adjusted for age and gender revealed that hand grip weakness was an independent predictor of worse functional outcome at 3 and 6 months after hip fracture for both genders and in all age populations. Our study supports the prognostic role of hand grip strength assessed at hospital admission in patients with hip fracture. Thus, clinicians should be encouraged to include hand grip assessment in their evaluation of hip fracture patients in the acute setting in order to optimize treatment of high-risk individuals.
Knowledge Gaps of STIs in Africa; Systematic review
Authors: Badawi M M , Salah-Eldin M A , Idris A B , Hasabo E A , Osman Z H , Osman W M
Published: February 2019

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are ambiguous burden of tremendous health, social and economic consequences, The current systematic review was conducted in order to determine awareness and knowledge of Africans of sexually transmitted infections, not only concerning HIV/AIDS, but also other STIs such as, gonorrhea, syphilis, HBV, HCV and HPV. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, studies were retrieved and selected after they fulfilled the inclusion criteria and passed the assessment procedure. related data was extracted, quantitative analysis was conducted among participants who responded to questions related to HIV, HBV, HCV, HPV or STIs knowledge, sensitivity analysis as well as subgroup analysis were also conducted. Seventy four articles addressing knowledge among 35 African countries were included and 136 questions were analyzed and synthesized. The question Using condom will reduce HIV transmission?” was answered by 1,799,374 Africans in 35 countries, 66.82% [95% Cl; 62.65, 70.98] answered yes. While the question “Is sexual contact a possible route of HBV transmission?” was answered by 7,490 participants in 5 countries; 42.58% [95% Cl; 20.45, 64.71] answered yes. The differences observed among populations are highlighting the possibility for containment and control by directing light toward specific populations or countries as well as addressing specific awareness knowledge to ensure that the general as well as the related specific preventive awareness knowledge is improved.
Association Between The Posterior Part Of The Circle Of Willis And Vertebral Artery Hypoplasia
Authors: Gaigalaite Virginija , Dementaviciene Jurate , Vilimas Augenijus , Kalibatiene Danute
Published: February 2019

Background

It is not clear whether the configuration of the posterior part of the circle of Willis (CW) depends on the proximal part of the vertebrobasilar system. Our aim is to evaluate the posterior part of CW in association with different size of vertebral arteries (VA) in subjects free from stroke and TIA.

Materials and methods

The present study was based on a sample of 923 subjects free from stroke and TIA who were examined from 2013 through 2018. All the participants underwent MRA examination. The duplex ultrasonographic examination of the extracranial arteries (vertebral and carotid) was performed. VA was defined as hypoplastic (VAH) when VA diameter in the entire course was less than 2.5 mm. We classified the posterior communicating arteries (PCoA) as presence PCoA, absence/hypoplastic PCoA and fetal CW (FCW). The comparison of the posterior part of CW was made in subjects with normal VA and VAH of a different degree (communicating with basilar artery (VAH-BA) and not communicating with the basilar artery and terminating in PICA, neck or aplasia (VAH-PICA)).

Results

FCW was found in 15.9% of subjects, bilaterally – in 2.3 %. The coexisting VAH was more common in subjects with FCW rather than in those with adult CW (respectively, 28.6% and 13.4%, p<0.001). Aplasia of A1 of the anterior cerebral artery, i.e. blood flow redistribution in the anterior part of anterior circulation in the majority of cases (in 6 of 7 cases) was found ipsilaterally to FCW. FCW was recorded in 50% of the subjects with VA - PICA in comparison with 13.5% of those with normal VA and 22.8% with VAH - BA, p<0.005. On the contrary, absence/hypoplasia of both PCoA was mostly found in the group with normal VA in comparison with VAH-BA and VAH-PICA (accordingly, 50.7%, 38.6% and 12.5%, p<0.01).

Conclusion

Individuals with VAH have a different pattern of the posterior part of CW in comparison with those with normal VA. With the increasing degree of VAH, the proportion of FCW increases, while the proportion of absence/hypoplastic of both PCoA decreases.
A Machine Learning Approach for Long-Term Prognosis of Bladder Cancer based on Clinical and Molecular Features
Authors: Song Qingyuan , Seigne John D. , Schned Alan R. , Kelsey Karl T. , Karagas Margaret R. , Hassanpour Saeed
Published: February 2019

Improving the consistency and reproducibility of bladder cancer prognoses necessitates the development of accurate, predictive prognostic models. Current methods of determining the prognosis of bladder cancer patients rely on manual decision-making, including factors with high intra- and inter-observer variability, such as tumor grade. To advance the long-term prediction of bladder cancer prognoses, we developed and tested a computational model to predict the 10-year overall survival outcome using population-based bladder cancer data, without considering tumor grade classification. The resulted predictive model demonstrated promising performance using a combination of clinical and molecular features, and was also strongly related to patient overall survival in Cox models. Our study suggests that machine learning methods can provide reliable long-term prognoses for bladder cancer patients, without relying on the less consistent tumor grade. If validated in clinical trials, this automated approach could guide and improve personalized management and treatment for bladder cancer patients.
Structure of glycerol dehydrogenase (GldA) fromEscherichia coli
Authors: Zhang Jun , Nanjaraj Urs Ankanahalli N. , Lin Lianyun , Zhou Yan , Hu Yiling , Hua Gaoqun , Gao Qiang , Yuchi Zhiguang , Zhang Yan
Published: February 2019

Escherichia coli(strain K-12, substrain MG1655) glycerol dehydrogenase (GldA) is required to catalyze the first step in fermentative glycerol metabolism. The protein was expressed and purified to homogeneity using a simple combination of heat-shock and chromatographic methods. The high yield of the protein (∼250 mg per litre of culture) allows large-scale production for potential industrial applications. Purified GldA exhibited a homogeneous tetrameric state (∼161 kDa) in solution and relatively high thermostability (Tm= 65.6°C). Sitting-drop sparse-matrix screens were used for protein crystallization. An optimized condition with ammonium sulfate (2 M) provided crystals suitable for diffraction, and a binary structure containing glycerol in the active site was solved at 2.8 Å resolution. Each GldA monomer consists of nine β-strands, thirteen α-helices, two 310-helices and several loops organized into two domains, the N- and C-terminal domains; the active site is located in a deep cleft between the two domains. The N-terminal domain contains a classic Rossmann fold for NAD+binding. The O1and O2atoms of glycerol serve as ligands for the tetrahedrally coordinated Zn2+ion. The orientation of the glycerol within the active site is mainly stabilized by van der Waals and electrostatic interactions with the benzyl ring of Phe245. Computer modeling suggests that the glycerol molecule is sandwiched by the Zn2+and NAD+ions. Based on this, the mechanism for the relaxed substrate specificity of this enzyme is also discussed.
BLASTing away preconceptions in crystallization trials
Authors: Abrahams Gabriel Jan , Newman Janet
Published: February 2019

Crystallization is in many cases a critical step for solving the three-dimensional structure of a protein molecule. Determining which set of chemicals to use in the initial screen is typically agnostic of the protein under investigation; however, crystallization efficiency could potentially be improved if this were not the case. Previous work has assumed that sequence similarity may provide useful information about appropriate crystallization cocktails; however, the authors are not aware of any quantitative verification of this assumption. This research investigates whether, given current information, one can detect any correlation between sequence similarity and crystallization cocktails. BLAST was used to quantitate the similarity between protein sequences in the Protein Data Bank, and this was compared with three estimations of the chemical similarities of the respective crystallization cocktails. No correlation was detected between proteins of similar (but not identical) sequence and their crystallization cocktails, suggesting that methods of determining screens based on this assumption are unlikely to result in screens that are better than those currently in use.
Crystal structure of the legume lectin-like domain of an ERGIC-53-like protein fromEntamoeba histolytica
Authors: Khan Farha , Suguna Kaza
Published: February 2019

ERGIC-53-like proteins are type I membrane proteins that belong to the class of intracellular cargo receptors and are known to be indispensable for the intracellular transport of glycoproteins. They are implicated in transporting glycoproteins between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi body. The crystal structure of the legume lectin-like domain of an ERGIC-53-like protein fromEntamoeba histolyticahas been determined at 2.4 Å resolution. Although the overall structure of the domain resembles those of its mammalian and yeast orthologs (ERGIC-53 and Emp46, respectively), there are significant changes in the carbohydrate-binding site. A sequence-based search revealed the presence of several homologs of ERGIC-53 in different species ofEntamoeba. This is the first report of the structural characterization of a member of this class of proteins from a protozoan and serves to further knowledge and understanding regarding the species-specific differences.
Principles of weakly ordered domains in intermetallics: the cooperative effects of atomic packing and electronics in Fe2Al5
Authors: Vinokur Anastasiya I. , Hilleke Katerina P. , Fredrickson Daniel C.
Published: February 2019

Many complex intermetallic structures feature a curious juxtaposition of domains with strict 3D periodicity and regions of much weaker order or incommensurability. This article explores the basic principles leading to such arrangements through an investigation of the weakly ordered channels of Fe2Al5. It starts by experimentally confirming the earlier crystallographic model of the high-temperature form, in which nearly continuous columns of electron density corresponding to disordered Al atoms emerge. Then electronic structure calculations on ordered models are used to determine the factors leading to the formation of these columns. These calculations reveal electronic pseudogaps near 16 electrons/Fe atom, an electron concentration close to the Al-rich side of the phase's homogeneity range. Through a reversed approximation Molecular Orbital (raMO) analysis, these pseudogaps are correlated with the filling of 18-electron configurations on the Fe atoms with the support of isolobal σ Fe–Fe bonds. The resulting preference for 16 electrons/Fe requires a fractional number of Al atoms in the Fe2Al5unit cell. Density functional theory–chemical pressure (DFT-CP) analysis is then applied to investigate how this nonstoichiometry is accommodated. The CP schemes reveal strong quadrupolar distributions on the Al atoms of the channels, suggestive of soft atomic motions along the undulating electron density observed in the Fourier map that allow the Al positions to shift easily in response to compositional changes. Such a combination of preferred electron counts tied to stoichiometry and continuous paths of CP quadrupoles could provide predictive indicators for the emergence of channels of disordered or incommensurately spaced atoms in intermetallic structures.
Absorption and secondary scattering of X-rays with an off-axis small beam for a cylindrical sample geometry
Authors: Van Hoesen Daniel C. , Bendert James C. , Kelton Kenneth F.
Published: February 2019

Expressions for X-ray absorption and secondary scattering are developed for cylindrical sample geometries. The incident-beam size is assumed to be smaller than the sample and in general directed off-axis onto the cylindrical sample. It is shown that an offset beam has a non-negligible effect on both the absorption and multiple scattering terms, resulting in an asymmetric correction that must be applied to the measured scattering intensities. The integral forms of the corrections are first presented. A small-beam limit is then developed for easier computation.
Bushrangers, itinerant teachers and constructing educational policy in 1860s New South Wales
Authors: Freeman Ashley Thomas
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how rural outlaws, known in the Australian context as bushrangers, impacted on the introduction of itinerant teaching in sparsely settled areas under the Council of Education in the colony of New South Wales. In July 1867 the evolving process for establishing half-time schools was suddenly disrupted when itinerant teaching diverged down an unexpected and uncharted path. As a result the first two itinerant teachers were appointed and taught in an irregular manner that differed significantly from regulation and convention. The catalyst was a series of events arising from bushranging that was prevalent in the Braidwood area in the mid-1860s.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on archival sources, particularly sources within State Archives and Records NSW, further contemporary sources such as reports and newspapers; and on secondary sources.

Findings

The paper reveals the circumstances which led to the implementation of an unanticipated form of itinerant teaching in the “Jingeras”; the impact of rural banditry or bushranging, on the nature and conduct of these early half-time schools; and the processes of policy formation involved.

Originality/value

This study is the first to explore the causes behind the marked deviation from the intended form and conduct of half-time schools that occurred in the Braidwood area of 1860s New South Wales. It provides a detailed account of how schooling was employed to counter rural banditry, or bushranging, in the Jingeras and provided significant insight into the education policy formation processes of the time.
Large institutional investors and the pressure to manage earnings surrounding seasoned equity offerings
Authors: Njah Mouna , Trabelsi Raoudha
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the monitoring role exerted by large institutional investors and their ability to restrict the earnings management practices conducted around seasoned equity offerings (SEOs).

Design/methodology/approach

The sample includes 130 French SEOs by non-regulated firms during 2004-2015. The authors used various cross-section, univariate and multivariate tests using several proxies for earnings management. They attempt to highlight that firms issuing SEOs are more able to manage earnings around SEOs owing to the predominance of large speculative institutional investors. Noteworthy, the monitoring role exerted by sophisticated institutional investors turns out to restrict the earnings management opportunities surrounding a SEOs event.

Findings

The results show that the issuing firms tend to manipulate earnings in an upward trend with respect to the year preceding the SEO offer. Thus, a special attention has been drawn on the fact that the issuing companies strive to prove their ability to manage earnings around SEOs in presence of large speculative institutional investors.

Practical implications

The results provide useful insights into the role different types of institutional investors play in terms of enhancing both governance and accounting information quality.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the literature questioning the evidence that institutional investor activism frequently engage in misleading earnings management around corporate events. The authors provide an alternative explanation for earnings management around SEOs in the French context.
Does domestic institutional ownership increase return volatility? The French context
Authors: Aloui Mouna , Jarboui Anis
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of domestic ownership on the stock return volatility. The authors use a detailed panel data set of 89 French companies listed on the SBF 120 over the period 2006-2013. The empirical results show that the domestic institutional investors have low stock price volatility in the French stock market. This result implies the stabilizing factor of domestic investors in France stock markets, which can be considered as one of the potential favor of growing the exhibition of domestic stock markets to institutional investors. This study employs a variety of econometric models, including feedbacks, to test the robustness of our empirical results.

Design/methodology/approach

To explain the relation between stock return volatility and domestic institutional investors (DIIs), the authors used two complementary methods: two-step generalized method of moments analysis as well as panel vector autoregressive framework and two-stage least squares (2SLS) method.

Findings

The authors’ empirical results show that the proportion of DIIs with advanced local degrees stabilizes the stock price volatility. However, firm’s size and the turnover have a positive effect on the volatility of the stock returns. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that the firm’s size and the turnover will increase price volatility during a financial crisis as a result of the deterioration of the monitoring mechanism and the reduction of the investors’ confidence in firms.

Originality/value

This result also indicates that the variables (the firm’s size, total sales and debt ratio) are poor corporate governance and have a role in the increased the stock return volatility.
Institutional design for collective and holistic political leadership
Authors: Torfing Jacob , Sørensen Eva , Bentzen Tina Ollgaard
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study and assess the content, functioning and impact of institutional reforms aiming to enhance collective and holistic political leadership at the level of local government.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct a comparative case study of two Danish frontrunner municipalities drawing on relevant documents and qualitative interviews with both elected politicians and public administrators.

Findings

The authors found that institutional design is effective in promoting collective and holistic political leadership at the local level, even if no formal design options are available and the municipalities have to invent their own designs. Support both from both councilors and administrators is paramount for successful implementation of local political leadership reforms.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the purposive selection of a limited number of cases, the findings cannot be generalized to the population from which the cases are drawn. However, other municipalities may learn from and become inspired by the positive impact of the new institutional designs on collective and holistic political leadership.

Practical implications

Whereas some institutional political leadership reforms aim to enhance the power of the mayor and other reforms aim to create a cabinet or a committee system, the reforms the authors are studying aim to create a space for local councilors to work together across party and sector lines in creating collective and holistic policy solutions. The study shows that it is crucial that local councilors are involved in cross-boundary agenda setting before developing policies in standing committees and endorsing them in the council assembly.

Social implications

There is a large amount of more or less wicked problems that require the formulation and implementation of innovative policy solutions, which, in turn, call for a clear and determined political leadership. However, local politicians typically suffer from decoupling and tunnel vision. The results show that these problems can be solved through new institutional designs that promote a more collective and holistic political leadership that can take the local community forward.

Originality/value

Few studies have hitherto addressed the need for institutional reforms enabling collective and holistic political leadership through both theoretical and empirical analyses, but that is exactly what the authors try to accomplish.
Corporate risk taking and sustainability: a case of listed firms from USA and Germany
Authors: Younas Zahid Irhsad , Zafar Ameena
Published: February 2019

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the impact of corporate risk taking on the sustainability of firms in USA and Germany. As risk taking is an expensive phenomenon, the firm may shift the resources from stakeholder well-being to profit maximization of shareholders. Ultimately, risk taking results in the reduction of firm’s sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

To capture the impact of corporate risk taking, the corporate-governance variables, i.e. “independent board structure” and “board size,” were used as instrumental variables to control excessive corporate risk taking and restrict it at a healthy level. A sample of 3,387 unbalanced panel observations from USA and Germany, for the period 2004-2015, were assessed.

Findings

The results confirm that corporate risk taking has a negative and significant impact on the sustainability of firms.

Research limitations/implications

Government and policymakers in USA and Germany may introduce regulations to curb excessive corporate risk taking for sustainable corporations and sustainable society. This research suggests that corporate risk taking is not in the best interest of stakeholders.

Originality/value

Previous literature only finds the impact of sustainability on corporate risk taking and there is not a single study that examines the impact of corporate risk taking on the sustainability of a firm. Thus, this study contributes to existing literature on corporate risk taking and sustainability. The study further contributes by using the instrumental variable two stage least square.
International students’ alienation in a US higher education institution
Authors: Pepanyan Marine , Meacham Sohyun , Logan Stephanie
Published: February 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to focus on the difference between perceptions of single and married international students. Four aspects are discussed to explain this issue: comfort level of international students in a host environment, their cultural representation, language competence/barrier and major challenges related to the host community. Then their attachment process was discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

The study deployed a qualitative research methodology with purposeful sampling to gain a closer insight into the trails, experiences, feelings and perceptions of international students.

Findings

The findings in this qualitative research underscore the importance of the individual’s will to adjust to the host society, at the same time to preserve the valuable sense of ethnic and personal identity for each foreign student. The focus group interviews reveal that domestic students, are not necessarily hostile towards international students, but simply do not know how to approach them without intruding in and violating the privacy and cultural norms of international students.

Research limitations/implications

This qualitative study had only eight participants, which may hinder generalizability of findings. Future studies with survey methods to look into international students’ perceptions can be supplementary to the authors’ study.

Practical implications

Quantitative studies with a significant number of international students’ perceptions rather than standardized scores or administrative records can provide an important layer in the literature body. This way, future research can unpack individual differences regarding social alienation with more nuances.

Social implications

The research does not generalize the students’ experiences by classifying them into ethnic groups or representatives. However, it could be informative to look into same country population reflections, too.

Originality/value

This study is focused on the students’ marital status seeking to understand a pattern that may differentiate the sociocultural acclamation or alienation processes, exploring their socializations within academic (e.g. classmates and professors) or nonacademic contexts (e.g. on or off-campus social/affinity groups), racial–ethnic sensitivity and perceived pressure and stereotypes among foreign students.
Importance-performance analysis as a tool to guide employer branding strategies in the IT-BPM industry
Authors: Deepa R. , Baral Rupashree
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Based on attribute research in marketing, importance-performance analysis (IPA) provides a useful analogy to examine employer branding concepts. The purpose of this paper is to use IPA to evaluate employees’ perceptions of important employer value proposition (EVP) attributes and their corresponding psychological contract fulfillment scores. IPA is applied to 40 EVP attributes and their corresponding EVP dimensions – “Economic Value”, “Development Value”, “Social Value”, “Work Value” and “Employer Reputation.” Further, the paper examines the difference between highly engaged and less engaged employees in their relationship to importance and fulfillment of the five EVP dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were drawn from information technology-business process management employees (n=520) in India through a questionnaire survey. The IPA matrix was used to plot the importance and fulfillment scores. Independent samples t-test was used to assess the difference between high and low engagement scores.

Findings

The results indicate that several EVP attributes fall within the “Concentrate Here” quadrant that requires more focus. With respect to EVP dimensions, social value needs focus; economic value received “Low Priority”; and work value and employer reputation are identified as “Potential Overkill.” The findings also suggest that, organizations should engage employees across all dimensions, by both prioritizing and fulfilling their obligations promptly.

Practical implications

The study highlights the need for HR practitioners and academicians to draw insights from attribute research in marketing to effectively devise the employer branding strategy of individual organizations.

Originality/value

This paper is the first of its kind to apply IPA to EVP attributes, which contributes to the growing literature on employer branding.
Secure or fearful, who will be more resentful? Investigating the interaction between regulatory focus and attachment style
Authors: Kordrostami Melika , Kordrostami Elika
Published: February 2019

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of consumers’ individual differences on their reactions to brand failure.

Design/methodology/approach

Three studies (one qualitative, one survey and one experiment) were conducted. Study 1 aimed to understand consumers’ thoughts at the time of brand failure. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the impact of regulatory focus and its interaction with consumers’ attachment style on their reactions to brand failure.

Findings

This research establishes that consumers demonstrate different types of behaviors at the time of brand failure. Specifically, those with a promotion focus display less negative (revenge and brand avoidance) and more positive (trust and loyalty) behavior than those with a prevention focus. Furthermore, this research shows an interaction between consumers’ attachment style and regulatory focus. The impact of regulatory focus holds only for secure consumers; for fearful consumers, regulatory focus does not change their behavior.

Research limitations/implications

The study reveals the impact of regulatory focus and attachment styles on consumer behavior at the time of brand failure. Future research might examine the impact of these factors over time, rather than only at the time of the incident.

Practical implications

Marketers should be aware of the impact of attachment style and regulatory focus after a brand failure. This knowledge will enable them to customize their communication tools to trigger their desired condition. This research also emphasizes the role of customer service at the time of crisis.

Originality/value

This research is the first to investigate the impact of regulatory focus and attachment style on consumers’ reactions to brand failure.