bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human Capital in Malaysian SMEs
Authors: Cafferkey Kenneth , Harney Brian , Teck Pua Eng
Published: November 2013

This chapter explores Human Capital in Malaysian SMEs. Malaysia has placed significant policy emphasis on indigenous SMEs as a basis for achieving economic growth and competitiveness. This renders the human capital infrastructure of SMEs of critical importance. However, the reality is that there is little information as to the nature of HR practices and their impact in Malaysian SMEs. This chapter aims to fill this void by exploring descriptive findings from a unique sample of over 200 Malaysian SMEs. Drawing on the work of Lepak and Snell in particular, the chapter offers insights into human capital uniqueness and human capital value in the firms investigated. The performance and policy implications of the research are discussed and future research avenues outlined.
Effective Human Resources Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises
Authors: Chandrakumara Anil , Rao Pramila
Published: November 2013

This chapter explores HRM (Human Resource Management) practices in SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in the MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey) economies. Researchers and consultancy firms such as Goldman Sachs have suggested that these nations will be potentially very strong trading economies for the next decade based on economic analyses. SMEs play pivotal roles in these nations as they contribute to a majority of their domestic employment and GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The focus of the chapter is based on a thorough investigation of secondary sources on HRM practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, and compensation) of SMEs in the MIST nations. Institutional theory and Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) perspectives are showcased in understanding these practices better. The findings of the study suggest that HRM practices adopted in the MIST countries, both individually as well as a cluster, reflect the aspects of universalistic, contingency, resources bases, and institutional perspectives of the Strategic HRM (SHRM) model. The evidence also indicates the simultaneous adoption of both convergence and divergence theories of international HRM. The chapter also presents a model of HRM practices adopted by the SMEs in the MIST nations. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed and directions for future research are provided.
The Rise, Decline, and Regeneration of Industrial Districts
Authors: Holland Stuart , Oliveira Teresa Carla
Published: November 2013

Who does what, and how, is central to Human Resource Management (HRM). Where people do it has been central to theories of location and the clustering of firms in industrial districts. Yet there has been little synergy boundary spanning between HRM and location theories. This chapter seeks to redress this in relation to the rise and decline of industrial districts of small and medium firms and to draw implications for their potential regeneration. It relates this to cost-based models of locational and competitive advantage, theories of flexible specialisation, the “triple helix” concept of enterprise-university-government relations, and the challenges both for entrepreneurs and for policy makers in an era in which industrial districts are no longer only local but already have “gone global.” In forwarding the concept of “enhanced HRM,” the chapter advocates that public policies for SMEs should encourage surfacing tacit knowledge in new product innovation, achieving kaizen style continuous improvement, stretching core competences, profiling and extending latent abilities and implicit skills, and boundary spanning to synergise research with new high-tech start ups. While critical both of Michael Porter’s dismissal of tacit knowledge and kaizen, and of European research and regional policies, the chapter gives examples of success in such policies and how “enhanced HRM” can draw from them to regenerate industrial districts.
HRM Evolution in SMEs
Authors: Melo Pedro Ribeiro Novo , Machado Carolina Feliciana
Published: November 2013

The enormous business competitiveness at a global scale and the constant search for sources of competitive advantage have led several scholars and practitioners to implement their studies to pay attention to the potential of HRM in the success of companies. Portugal, like others European countries, is not set apart from the question of HRM. However, it is rare and recent to find empirical literature on practice of HRM in Portugal, and even more scarce to find literature that focuses on SMEs. This study clarifies the situation of SMEs in the Portuguese context, serving as a basis for discussion on HRM in SMEs in an international context. This chapter looks to understand the role of recruitment and selection on Human Resource Management (HRM) at Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Portugal, as well as contribute to a better knowledge of this area, still little studied. More particularly, it aims to understand the level of implementation of recruitment and selection. Data was collected by questionnaire from 512 small and medium enterprises in Portugal, and from these, 3 hypotheses were formulated and tested using the SPSS program. From this study, the authors conclude that HRM is not yet a reality in SMEs. Recruitment and selection are the HRM practices more commonly used in SMEs, but in an informal way.
Blended Learning
Authors: Tandoh Kwesi , Flis Nidia , Blankson Joseph
Published: November 2013

Blended learning in common parlance is the combination of different modes of instructional delivery, teaching, and learning styles. In this chapter, the authors expand on the definition of blended learning and outline the history and trends of blended learning in higher education. They also discuss implementation of blended learning in higher education courses. In addition, the authors highlight the benefits and challenges of blended learning and offer higher education instructors interested in implementing blended learning course solutions on how they might address these challenges.
Blended Instruction
Authors: Evans Sue C.
Published: November 2013

Universities and colleges offering degrees at the associate and bachelor’s levels are facing many changes such as the ages of their student populations, the degrees being sought, amount of time dedicated to university studies, and the technology applied toward these educational pursuits. As more and more nontraditional-age students pursue degrees of higher education, universities are being required to reflect on the special characteristics and needs of these students and to make adjustments in their course scheduling as well as many of their student-support related services. In addition to offering evening and weekend courses for the nontraditional, part-time student, many universities are examining and introducing additional delivery modes for their course offerings. Online course delivery has made paramount changes in the operations within the halls of colleges and universities, but blended or hybrid courses are also finding success both for the college/university student populations and many institutions of higher education.
A Framework for Promoting Complex Learning in a Blended Learning Environment
Authors: Stefaniak Jill E.
Published: November 2013

Different learning outcomes warrant different learning strategies. Instructional sequencing is dependent upon the various learning outcomes that are intended for a particular course or instructional unit. Complex learning integrates a learner’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes, newly obtained skillsets, and the transference of learning in an applied environment. A challenge that many educators face when teaching complex tasks is the ability to assist students to draw from prior knowledge from various subjects in order to approach problem solving. The intent of this chapter is to provide educators with strategies to promote complex learning within a blended learning environment.
Blended Learning
Authors: Starr-Glass David
Published: November 2013

Blended learning provides an opportunity to rethink the ways in which instructors and learners use face-to-face and online distance learning modalities. Sometimes, this opportunity is missed and the resulting blended course is no more than a mechanical mix that serves pragmatic purposes but fails to reshape learning. This chapter rethinks the structure and dynamics of blended learning experiences and considers what it might mean to use different teaching/learning modalities. It explores the possibilities, challenges, and design of blended learning from a perspective of variation theory. It also reviews strategies to make explicit the differences in structure and dynamics of face-to-face and online distance environments that are encountered by the learner and suggests the benefits and limitations of such strategies.
The Flipped Approach
Authors: Bagby Meghan
Published: November 2013

Learning is an important part of the development of a child into a productive member of society. However, in today’s society much of the pressure of learning is not put on the student, but rather the teacher. In order to promote adults as lifelong learners who can go out and help solve problems in this world, the focus of learning in the classroom needs to be on the students. A flipped classroom rather than a traditional classroom approach may help with this endeavor. Students gain many benefits from the flipped classroom where they can watch lectures at home that pass important concepts along to the students. This gives students more time in class with the teacher to perform guided inquiries, labs, problem sets, or extra practice on a content area. The effectiveness of student achievement, growth, lifelong learning ability, and opinion of integrating a flipped classroom into a secondary education classroom are examined in this chapter.
Hybrid Courses with Flexible Participation
Authors: Beatty Brian
Published: November 2013

Students in higher education have more demands placed on their time and need a college education for more careers than ever before. Flexible class participation options are needed that provide students with opportunities to manage their hectic lives with more individualized control. At the same time, most institutions of higher education are under pressure to serve more students and serve existing students more effectively. Online courses are often considered part of a systematic solution to these issues, but many schools and their faculty do not want to jettison their effective classroom approaches in order to shift to online delivery, nor should they. HyFlex courses may support both online and classroom-based courses and programs without deploying separate classes in each mode. HyFlex courses allow students to participate in the classroom or online and to make that choice on a continuous basis. The HyFlex design is used at many institutions to provide these benefits. This chapter describes the HyFlex design and development process, explains two common course types, and provides summary evaluation data on effectiveness of the approach.
Blended Learning to Support Alternative Teacher Certification
Authors: Anthony Anika Ball , Gimbert Belinda G. , Parker Rebecca A.
Published: November 2013

This chapter reviews literature on the use of e-learning to complement and extend preservice and inservice teacher education. It also provides an in depth example of the design and implementation of blended learning for supporting alternative teacher certification. In light of the example, research findings are summarized. The second part of the chapter provides a discussion on the following strategies that led to the successful use of blended learning in alternative teacher certification and explains how applying them can contribute to effective uses of blended learning in other settings: a) leveraging a network of partners, b) designing blended learning to address needs of multiple learners and organizational entities, c) balancing standardization and customization, and d) conducting evaluation and engaging in continuous improvement.
Probabilistic Electric Vehicle Charging Optimized With Genetic Algorithms and a Two-Stage Sampling Scheme
Authors: Hutterer Stephan , Affenzeller Michael
Published: November 2013

Probabilistic power flow studies represent essential challenges in nowadays power system operation and research. Here, especially the incorporation of intermittent supply plants with optimal control of dispatchable demand like electric vehicle charging power shows nondeterministic aspects. Using simulation-based optimization, such probabilistic and dynamic behavior can be fully integrated within the metaheuristic optimization process, yielding into a generic approach suitable for optimization in uncertain environments. A practical problem scenario is demonstrated that computes optimal charging schedules of a given electrified fleet in order to meet both power flow constraints of the distribution grid while satisfying vehicle-owners’ energy demand and considering stochastic supply of wind power plants. Since solution- evaluation through simulation is computational expensive, a new fitness-based sampling scheme will be proposed, that avoids unnecessary evaluations of less-performant solution candidates.
An Empirical Assessment to Express the Variability of Buildings' Energy Consumption
Authors: Maleviti Eva , Wehrmeyer Walter , Mulugetta Yacob
Published: November 2013

This paper presents the key findings of a study conducted in Greek hotels. Energy audits were carried out in 43 cases across Greece. The different technical characteristics of each building have a different effect in the total final energy consumption. The findings of this research showed the variable that is the most statistically significant among the selected sample to be used for analyzing further the data. This study showed that this process is necessary to be used as a preliminary step in any type of energy forecasting, since it would define the most appropriate expression to be used for improving the building’s energy performance and reducing their energy consumption. The statistical analysis is very important at that stage since energy is expressed differently, such as kWh/m2 or kWh/person, or kWh. In this particular research, the statistical analysis defines the expression that is more statistically valid to be used in further analysis of the energy data, providing also significant literature about the importance and role of statistical tests.
Optimal Values for Calculation of Premium in Life Insurance
Authors: Andreeski Cvetko
Published: November 2013

Life insurance is very challenging sector in developing countries. Life insurance makes contribute at the investments in every country, so the more developed life insurance, more investments one should expect. One of the main aspects in calculation of risk in life insurance is using updated tables of mortality and forecast of the future values of mortality. There are many functions and models for mortality forecast calculation. Lee-Carter and Azbel Model for mortality trend calculation are used in this paper. In order to evaluate the results, data sets with the mortality in the Republic of Macedonia are used.
An Android-Enabled PHR-based System for the Provision of Homecare Services
Authors: Koufi Vassiliki , Malamateniou Flora , Vassilacopoulos George
Published: November 2013

Homecare is an important component of the continuum of care as it provides the potential to improve quality of life and quality of healthcare delivery while containing costs. Personal Health Record (PHR) systems are intended to reach patients outside of care settings and influence their behaviors thus allowing for more effective homecare services. To this end, these systems need to evolve well beyond providing a consolidated patient record, in ways that make it more widely applicable and valuable to health systems. The development of applications on top of PHR systems can allow them to function as a platform for both patients and healthcare professionals to exchange information and interact with the health system. This paper presents a prototype PHR-based system that aims at supporting chronic disease management at any point of care or decision making through familiar environments such as Google’s Android. In particular, it assists healthcare professionals in assessing an individual’s condition and in forming the appropriate treatment plan for him/her while it provides individuals with step-to-step guidance to their treatment plans.
Employee Welfare Activities in Private Sector and Their Impact on Quality of Work Life
Authors: Patro Chandra Sekhar
Published: November 2013

During the last few years the private organisations are playing an important role in the overall development of the economy. In today’s competitive economy, the business organizations need to focus explicitly on providing the welfare facilities to the employees as it results in their satisfaction towards the organisation and it results in improved quality of work life. The activity of nurturing and nourishing constitutes in essence what is called “Welfare”. Welfare facilities enable the employees to live a richer and more satisfactory life. The various Welfare activities that can be provided to the employees include provision of loans, free medical facilities, retirement benefits, education facilities for the employee’s and their families, housing benefits, etc. Many organisations facilitate these welfare activities to their employees to keep their motivation levels high. The basic purpose of employee’s welfare is to enrich the life of employees and keep them happy and contended. A study was undertaken in Visakhapatnam District at Andhra Pradesh, India to identify the various employee welfare activities practiced by different private sector undertakings and its impact on the quality of work life of the employees.
Robust Object Detection in Military Infrared Image
Authors: Gao Tao
Published: November 2013

The innovation of this paper is that we put forward a new algorithm of object detection form military infrared images with texture background according to the Mean-shift smooth and segmentation method combined with eight directions difference clustering. According to the texture characteristics of background, smoothing and clustering is carried out to extract the characteristics of object. The experimental results show that the algorithm is able to extract the object information form complex infrared texture background with better self-adapting and robustness. Future research particularly lies in raising the accuracy of object extracted.
Four Degrees of Freedom Robot Arm, Low-Cost Competition in the Design and Development
Authors: Hongcong Liu
Published: November 2013

The focus of this work is to design, develop and implement enhanced control and competitive robot arm thick and short cost. Design of four degree of freedom and talent of robot arm is to complete the accurate and simple tasks, such as optical materials processing, will be integrated into the mobile platform, as an assistant for the industrial labor force. Between the robot arm equipped with weapons and arm movements associated with the plurality of servo motor. Servo motor, encoder, so as to realize no controller includes. To control the robot, using Lab view, to the computation of the inverse kinematics of serial communication and proper angle, a micro controller, servo motor and drive ability of modify the location, velocity and acceleration. The robot arm was tested and verified, results show that, its normal work.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Emergency Services
Authors: Rahm Dianne , Reddick Christopher G.
Published: November 2013

While most would suggest that more effective use of ICT bodes well for emergency services, there are issues associated with the introduction of such use. To explore these issues in Texas, the authors administered a survey of Texas Emergency Services Districts (ESDs). These districts are charged with delivery of emergency and medical services throughout the state and receive modest tax revenue to fund operations. The results show that in Texas ESDs political and organizational factors are important. Budgets are closely related to the political process in the ESDs, so politics plays a central role. Organizational culture and prevailing sentiments in Texas ESDs are generally supportive of ICT adoption and use. While ICT is seen as essential to service delivery, survey results show that problems of interoperability of communication systems is an issue. The most commonly used ICTs include email, GPS, Google Maps, standard web pages, Wi-Fi networks, smart phones, reverse 911, emergency alerts, Facebook, and database management. GIS, You Tube, VOIP, Cloud Computing, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digital Billboards, 311 for non-emergency disaster, 3D mapping, blogs, podcasts, and Wikis were used by few ESDs. When social media are used, they are not used in such a way as to encourage wider participation of the community in information gathering rather they are used only as an alternative traditional delivery service from the ESDs to the community. Data analysis of past events is used to improve performance. Data management issues of significant concerns include privacy and security.
Better Birth through Games
Authors: Holloway Alexandra
Published: November 2013

Childbirth is a complex and multidimensional experience for the mother, riddled with unforgettable emotions and sensations. In today’s cultural climate in California, a mother’s primary attendant for social support throughout labor is usually her partner. Preparing the partner is an integral step to making sure that the mother is well-supported in her birth. Because the mother’s experience is influenced by the support she receives, and because birth partners need more support than is recognized, the author targets birth partners with a learning intervention. The author investigates video games as a vehicle for knowledge transfer to the birth partner, both as currently available and as a positive learning tool. To address the problem of limited access to childbirth preparation methods, especially for under-served Californians, the author investigated, designed, created, and evaluated two tools: The Prepared Partner and Digital Birth. The Prepared Partner is an online Flash game, and Digital Birth is a free iPhone application that is still undergoing revision and testing. Both games allow the user to practice various supportive actions in the realm of childbirth support for a mother in labor. The author found that players met the learning goals due to The Prepared Partner, and answered positively on the survey questions about their enjoyment of the game.
Exploring the Relationship between ICTs and Public Health at Country Level
Authors: Raghupathi Viju , Raghupathi Wullianallur
Published: November 2013

The authors use a health analytics approach to investigate the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and public health at a country level. The research uses the ICT factors of accessibility, usage, quality, affordability, trade, and applications, as well as the public delivery indicators of adolescent fertility rate, child immunization for DPT, child immunization for measles, tuberculosis detection rate, life expectancy, adult female mortality rate, and adult male mortality rate. ICT data was collected from the International Telecommunication Union ICT Indicator database. The public health data was collected from the World Bank website. Results of the analytics indicate that ICT factors are positively associated with some public health indicators. Nearly all of the ICT factors are positively associated with the public health indicators of immunization rates, TB detection rates, and life expectancy. The association with adult mortality is negative, which is also favorable. However, the association of ICT with fertility rate is negative, which is an unfavorable effect. These results offer insight into the importance of understanding the positive and adverse impacts of ICT on public health so as to guide national policy decisions in the future.
Associative Classification based Human Activity Recognition and Fall Detection using Accelerometer
Authors: Hemalatha C. Sweetlin , Vaidehi V.
Published: November 2013

Human fall poses serious health risks especially among aged people. The rate of growth of elderly population to the total population is increasing every year. Besides causing injuries, fall may even lead to death if not attended immediately. This demands continuous monitoring of human movements and classifying normal low-level activities from abnormal event like fall. Most of the existing fall detection methods employ traditional classifiers such as decision trees, Bayesian Networks, Support Vector Machine etc. These classifiers may miss to cover certain hidden and interesting patterns in the data and thus suffer high false positives rates. Hence, there is a need for a classifier that considers the association between patterns while classifying the input instance. This paper presents a pattern mining based classification algorithm called Frequent Bit Pattern based Associative Classification (FBPAC) that distinguishes low-level human activities from fall. The proposed system utilizes single tri-axial accelerometer for capturing motion data. Empirical studies are conducted by collecting real data from tri-axial accelerometer. Experimental results show that within a time-sensitive sliding window of 10 seconds, the proposed algorithm achieves 99% accuracy for independent activity and 92% overall accuracy for activity sequence. The algorithm gives reasonable accuracy when tested in real time.
Building Norms-Adaptable Agents from Potential Norms Detection Technique (PNDT)
Authors: Mahmoud Moamin A. , Ahmad Mohd Sharifuddin , Ahmad Azhana , Mustapha Aida , Yusoff Mohd Zaliman Mohd , Hamid Nurzeatul Hamimah Abdul
Published: November 2013

This paper presents a contribution to research on norms detection by proposing a technique, which is called the Potential Norms Detection Technique (PNDT). The literature proposes that an agent changes or updates its norms based on the variables of the local environment and the amount of thinking about its behaviour. Consequently, any changes on these two variables cause the agent to use the PNDT to update the norms in complying with the domain’s normative protocol. This technique enables an agent to update its norms even in the absence of sanctions from a third-party enforcement authority as found in some work, which entail sanctions by a third-party to detect and identify the norms. The PNDT consists of five components: agent’s belief base; observation process; Potential Norms Mining Algorithm (PNMA) to detect the potential norms and identify the normative protocol; verification process, which verifies the detected potential norms; and updating process, which updates the agent’s belief base with new normative protocol. The authors then demonstrate the operation of the algorithm by testing it on a typical scenario and analyse the results on several issues.
Creative Teaching and Learning Strategies for Novice Users of Mobile Technologies
Authors: Masters Jennifer
Published: November 2013

This paper addresses perspectives of creative teaching and learning strategies in the new learning context of mobile technology, particularly for novice learners. The discussion presented here is framed by two case studies and uses an ethnographical approach, informed by participant observation to consider the experiences of users of mobile devices who do not have prior experience with information and communication technologies. Although the lack of prior understanding of the novice user initially presented a hurdle for working with mobile technology tools, it was noted that an ‘innocence of perceiving and behaving’ (Maslow, 1971) could advantage these learners to work in new and creative ways that may not be considered by more experienced users. It was also identified that the creative learning could be facilitated by intentional support and both innovative teaching strategies and imaginative teaching scenarios are important components of this framework.
Performing Counter-High Energy Laser Evasive Tactics
Authors: Gaver Donald P. , Jacobs Patricia A.
Published: November 2013

The purpose of this article is to present several physics-based mathematical probabilistic models for Counter Directed Energy Weapon operational planning. The scenario analyzed is that of a surge of friendly Blue aircraft closing on a single High Energy Laser. The surge is a mixture of Blue active platforms, and Blue low-value decoys. Blue is targetable for a finite time. Blue response/measures of effectiveness quantify the survivability of Blue Actives. Red response is the number of Blues killed. Red defense tactics trade off longer engagement times, resulting in higher probabilities of kill, and the number of Blues it can engage in the finite time.
CD2-Associated Protein Regulates Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Migration, but Is Dispensable for Their Development and Cytokine Production
Authors: Srivatsan Subhashini , Swiecki Melissa , Otero Karel , Cella Marina , Shaw Andrey S.
Published: November 2013

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are a dendritic cell subset that secrete type I IFNs in response to microbial stimuli. The scaffold protein, CD2-associated protein (CD2AP), is a marker of human pDCs as it is highly expressed in this cell type. Recently, in human pDCs, decreased CD2AP expression appeared to enhance the production of type I IFNs via an inhibitory receptor-induced signaling cascade. In this study, we sought to determine the role of CD2AP in murine pDCs using CD2AP knockout (KO) mice. CD2AP was dispensable for the development of pDCs and for the upregulation of activation markers following stimulation. Loss of CD2AP expression did not affect the production of type I IFNs stimulated by TLR ligation, and only slightly impaired type I IFN production when inhibitory pathways were engaged in vitro. This was also confirmed by showing that CD2AP deficiency did not influence type I IFN production by pDCs in vivo. Because CD2AP plays a role in regulating actin dynamics, we examined the actin cytoskeleton in pDCs and found that activated CD2AP KO pDCs had significantly higher levels of actin polymerization than wild-type pDCs. Using two different inflammation models, we found that CD2AP KO pDCs have a defect in lymph node migration, correlating with the defects in actin dynamics. Our work excludes a role for CD2AP in the regulation of type I IFNs in pDCs, and suggests that the major function of CD2AP is on the actin cytoskeleton, affecting migration to local lymph nodes under conditions of inflammation.
Malignant Transformation of CD4+ T Lymphocytes Mediated by Oncogenic Kinase NPM/ALK Recapitulates IL-2–Induced Cell Signaling and Gene Expression Reprogramming
Authors: Marzec Michal , Halasa Krzysztof , Liu Xiaobin , Wang Hong Y. , Cheng Mangeng , Baldwin Donald , Tobias John W. , Schuster Stephen J. , Woetmann Anders , Zhang Qian , Turner Suzanne D. , Ødum Niels , Wasik Mariusz A.
Published: November 2013

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), physiologically expressed only by nervous system cells, displays a remarkable capacity to transform CD4+ T lymphocytes and other types of nonneural cells. In this study, we report that activity of nucleophosmin (NPM)/ALK chimeric protein, the dominant form of ALK expressed in T cell lymphomas (TCLs), closely resembles cell activation induced by IL-2, the key cytokine supporting growth and survival of normal CD4+ T lymphocytes. Direct comparison of gene expression by ALK+ TCL cells treated with an ALK inhibitor and IL-2–dependent ALK− TCL cells stimulated with the cytokine revealed a very similar, albeit inverse, gene-regulation pattern. Depending on the analysis method, up to 67% of the affected genes were modulated in common by NPM/ALK and IL-2. Based on the gene expression patterns, Jak/STAT- and IL-2–signaling pathways topped the list of pathways identified as affected by both IL-2 and NPM/ALK. The expression dependence on NPM/ALK and IL-2 of the five selected genes—CD25 (IL-2Rα), Egr-1, Fosl-1, SOCS3, and Irf-4—was confirmed at the protein level. In both ALK+ TCL and IL-2–stimulated ALK− TCL cells, CD25, SOCS3, and Irf-4 genes were activated predominantly by the STAT5 and STAT3 transcription factors, whereas transcription of Egr-1 and Fosl-1 was induced by the MEK-ERK pathway. Finally, we found that Egr-1, a protein not associated previously with either IL-2 or ALK, contributes to the cell proliferation. These findings indicate that NPM/ALK transforms the target CD4+ T lymphocytes, at least in part, by using the pre-existing, IL-2–dependent signaling pathways.
A Role for IRF8 in B Cell Anergy
Authors: Pathak Simanta , Ma Shibin , Shukla Vipul , Lu Runqing
Published: November 2013

B cell central tolerance is a process through which self-reactive B cells are removed from the B cell repertoire. Self-reactive B cells are generally removed by receptor editing in the bone marrow and by anergy induction in the periphery. IRF8 is a critical transcriptional regulator of immune system development and function. A recent study showed that marginal zone B cell and B1 B cell populations are dramatically increased in IRF8-deficient mice, indicating that there are B cell–developmental defects in the absence of IRF8. In this article, we report that mice deficient for IRF8 produced anti-dsDNA Abs. Using a hen egg lysozyme double-transgenic model, we further demonstrate that B cell anergy was breached in IRF8-deficient mice. Although anergic B cells in the IRF8-proficient background were blocked at the transitional stage of development, anergic B cells in the IRF8-deficient background were able to mature further, which allowed them to regain responses to Ag stimulation. Interestingly, our results show that IRF8-deficient B cells were more sensitive to Ag stimulation and were resistant to Ag-induced cell death. Moreover, our results show that IRF8 was expressed at a high level in the anergic B cells, and an elevated level of IRF8 promoted apoptosis in the transitional B cells. Thus, our findings reveal a previously unrecognized function of IRF8 in B cell anergy induction.
The Exonuclease Trex1 Restrains Macrophage Proinflammatory Activation
Authors: Pereira-Lopes Selma , Celhar Teja , Sans-Fons Gloria , Serra Maria , Fairhurst Anna-Marie , Lloberas Jorge , Celada Antonio
Published: November 2013

The three-prime repair exonuclease 1 (TREX1) is the most abundant exonuclease in mammalian cells. Mutations in Trex1 gene are being linked to the development of Aicardi–Goutières syndrome, an inflammatory disease of the brain, and systemic lupus erythematosus. In clinical cases and in a Trex1-deficient murine model, chronic production of type I IFN plays a pathogenic role. In this study, we demonstrate that Trex1−/− mice present inflammatory signatures in many different organs, including the brain. Trex1 is highly induced in macrophages in response to proinflammatory stimuli, including TLR7 and TLR9 ligands. Our findings show that, in the absence of Trex1, macrophages displayed an exacerbate proinflammatory response. More specifically, following proinflammatory stimulation, Trex1−/− macrophages exhibited an increased TNF-α and IFN-α production, higher levels of CD86, and increased Ag presentation to CD4+ T cells, as well as an impaired apoptotic T cell clearance. These results evidence an unrevealed function of the Trex1 as a negative regulator of macrophage inflammatory activation and demonstrate that macrophages play a major role in diseases associated with Trex1 mutations, which contributes to the understanding of inflammatory signature in these diseases.
Antigen-Specific Induced T Regulatory Cells Impair Dendritic Cell Function via an IL-10/MARCH1–Dependent Mechanism
Authors: Chattopadhyay Gouri , Shevach Ethan M.
Published: November 2013

Foxp3+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) are critically important for the maintenance of immunological tolerance, immune homeostasis, and prevention of autoimmunity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are one of the major targets of Treg-mediated suppression. Some studies have suggested that Treg-mediated suppression of DC function is mediated by the interaction of CTLA-4 on Tregs with CD80/CD86 on the DCs resulting in downregulation of CD80/CD86 expression and a decrease in costimulation. We have re-examined the effects of Tregs on mouse DC function in a model in which Ag-specific, induced Tregs (iTregs) are cocultured with DCs in the absence of T effector cells. iTreg-treated DCs are markedly defective in their capacity to activate naive T cells. iTregs from CTLA-4–deficient mice failed to induce downregulation of CD80/CD86, but DCs treated with CTLA-4–deficient iTregs still exhibited impaired capacity to activate naive T cells. The iTreg-induced defect in DC function could be completely reversed by anti–IL-10, and IL-10–deficient iTregs failed to downregulate DC function. iTreg-treated DCs expressed high levels of MARCH1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, recently found to degrade CD86 and MHC class II on the DCs and expressed lower levels of CD83, a molecule involved in neutralizing the function of MARCH1. Both the enhanced expression of MARCH1 and the decreased expression of CD83 were mediated by IL-10 produced by the iTregs. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that a major suppressive mechanism of DC function by iTregs is secondary to the effects of IL-10 on MARCH1 and CD83 expression.
Temporal Requirements for B Cells in the Establishment of CD4 T Cell Memory
Authors: Mollo Sarah B. , Zajac Allan J. , Harrington Laurie E.
Published: November 2013

CD4 T cell memory generation is shaped by a number of factors, including the strength and duration of TCR signaling, as well as the priming environment, all of which can be modified by B cells. Studies using B cell–deficient mice indicate B cells play a critical role in generating effector and memory CD4 T cells; however, when and how B cells are acting to promote these responses has not yet been ascertained. In this study, we use anti-CD20 Ab depletion of B cells at different times following Listeria monocytogenes infection to show that B cells are necessary for the induction of optimal CD4 T cell memory, but not for the transition and maintenance of this population. Importantly, the prerequisite of B cells early postinfection is partially dependent on their expression of MHC class II. B cells are not only required during the priming phase, but also necessary for the initiation of robust secondary responses by memory CD4 T cells. Interestingly, the requirement during the recall response is independent of B cell Ag presentation. Overall, these studies demonstrate the temporally and functionally distinct roles for B cells in regulating CD4 T cell responses.
Enhanced Endoplasmic Reticulum Entry of Tumor Antigen Is Crucial for Cross-Presentation Induced by Dendritic Cell–Targeted Vaccination
Authors: Wang Hongxia , Yu Xiaofei , Guo Chunqing , Zuo Daming , Fisher Paul B. , Subjeck John R. , Wang Xiang-Yang
Published: November 2013

Efficient cross-presentation of protein Ags to CTLs by dendritic cells (DCs) is essential for the success of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. In this study, we report a previously underappreciated pathway involving Ag entry into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) critically needed for T cell cross-priming induced by a DC-targeted vaccine. Directing the clinically relevant, melanoma Ag gp100 to mouse-derived DCs by molecular adjuvant and chaperone Grp170 substantially facilitates Ag access to the ER. Grp170 also strengthens the interaction of internalized protein Ag with molecular components involved in ER-associated protein dislocation and/or degradation, which culminates in cytosolic translocation for proteasome-dependent degradation and processing. Targeted disruption of protein retrotranslocation causes exclusive ER retention of tumor Ag in mouse bone marrow–derived DCs and splenic CD8+ DCs. This results in the blockade of Ag ubiquitination and processing, which abrogates the priming of Ag-specific CD8+ T cells in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the improved ER entry of tumor Ag serves as a molecular basis for the superior cross-presenting capacity of Grp170-based vaccine platform. The ER access and retrotranslocation represents a distinct pathway that operates within DCs for cross-presentation and is required for the activation of Ag-specific CTLs by certain vaccines. These results also reinforce the importance of the ER-associated protein quality control machinery and the mode of the Ag delivery in regulating DC-elicited immune outcomes.
Age determinations and geological studies (including isotopic ages-report 4)
Authors: Leech G B , Lowdon J A , Stockwell C H , Wanless R K
Published: November 2013

K-Ar Measurements on Mineral Pairs - R. K. Wanless and J. A. Lowdon
The ages of twenty-six biotite -muscovite pairs were compared. Of these, sixteen pairs agree; the remaining ten show differences ranging from 11.5 to 38 per cent.
Third Report on Structural Provinces, Orogenies, and Time CIassification of Rock s of the Canadian Precambrian Shield C. H. Stockwell
The reconnaissance study of the Canadian Shield was continued during 1962. and the additional potassium-argon dates obtained substantiate the divisions proposed in two previous reports (Stockwell, 1961, 1963-see "References"). The Grenville front has been extended eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. A
new structural province, called the "Nain province", has been added. It lies mainly in Labrador north of the Grenville province. The Sickle Group has been place<il in the Archaean, the Nonacho in the Lower Proterozoic, and the Athabasca in the Middle Proterozoic. Additional evidence
indicates that certain parts of the Churchill province consist of Archaean rocks that were first involved in the Kenoran orogeny and were then moderately affected during the Hudsonian. As found along the Grenville front and elsewhere, new evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that argon
lost from an older biotite may be added to a younger biotite.
Ages of Regional Metamorphism of the Aldridge Formation near Kimberley, B. C. {Preliminary Report}-G. B. Leech
Potassium-argon ages of muscovite and biotite from interbedded quartzite and argillite, showing typical regional metamorphism (greenschist facies). of the Aldridge Formation of the Purcell (Precambrian) sedimentary sequence were determined. These were found to span the Palaeozoic era. The ages are
regarded as hybrids reflecting chiefly polymetamorphism, with relatively minor contributions by detrital mica. They are interpreted to mean that Precambrian regional metamorphism was relatively more important and Mesozoic regional metamorphism correspondingly Iess important than has commonly been
supposed.
Geology and mineral deposits of Alert - Cape Scott map-area Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Authors: Muller J E , Northcote K E , Carlisle D
Published: November 2013

Alert Bay - Cape Scott map-area is underlain mainly by a Middle Triassic to Lower Jurassic vol­canic-sedimentary sequence of the Vancouver Group in which the oldest rocks are argillites with thick diabase sills. These are successively overlain by (oceanic?)
pillow-basalts, basaltic breccia, and lava and are succeeded by Upper Triassic carbon­ate-clastic sediments and Lower Jurassic andesitic to rhyodacitic volcanics with minor sediments. This complex overlies Pennsylvanian carbonate­clastic sediments and, outside the map-area, older low-grade
metamorphic intermediate volcanic rocks. Granitic rocks range from gabbro to quartz monzonite. Gneissic, agmatitic quartz diorite of the Crystalline complex may have been derived from Paleozoic volcanic rocks and are considered katazonal. The large batholiths of quartz diorite, granodiorite and
quartz monzonite are mesozonal; small stocks and dykes of granodiorite, quartz monzonite and quartz feldspar porphyry are epizonal. They were intruded in Early to Middle Jurassic time and are probably directly related to Jurassic volcanism. The eroded volcanic-plutonic complex is over­lain on the
west by a clastic wedge of Lower Cretaceous, marine to deltaic clastic sediments, on the east by a wedge of similar Upper Cretaceous sediments, and again on the west by a wedge of Tertiary clastic sediments, only present on the continental shelf. At least one small pluton of quartz diorite was
emplaced in the early Tertiary and locally volcan­ism occurred in late Tertiary time. The region is fractured severely by steep faults, with dominant northwest trend dividing and subdividing the crust into numerous tilted blocks. The most important metalliferous deposits are those of copper and
molybdenum, related to Jurassic (subvolcanic) high-level intrusions and those of copper and iron related to skarn at the contact of Triassic carbonate and granitic rocks. Coal has been prospected in Lower Cretaceous beds and has been mined with little success in Upper Cretaceous
sediments.
An update on the metallogeny of the Woodburn Lake Group, western Churchill Province, Northwest Territories
Authors: Kerswill J A , Goff S P , Wilkinson L , Jenner G
A , Kjarsgaard B A , Bretzlaff R , Samaras C
Published: November 2013

The Woodburn Lake Group in the Third Portage and Pipedream lakes area (NTS 56E/4 and 66H/1) contains a spectrum of mineral occurrences including massive sulphide, polymetallic vein, vein gold and iron-formation-hosted gold, and several distinct varieties of
sulphide-bearing iron-formation. Different types of occurrences are commonly found in the same area. Genetic links between massive sulphide and pyrrhotite-rich sulphide iron-formation, and between pyrite-rich oxide iron-formation and pyritic exhalite, are suggested by similarities in stratigraphic
setting and lithogeochemical and geophysical signatures. Evidence in polymetallic vein occurrences for multiple generations of sulphide-bearing veins/fractures, and deformation of both veins and alteration zones, indicate that synvolcanic processes are likely to have contributed to metal
concentration. Evidence in both pyrrhotite-rich and pyrite-rich varieties of gold-bearing sulphide iron-formation is consistent with synsedimentary/diagenetic sulphidation of oxide iron-formation at or just below the seafloor.
New insights into the geology of the Yathkyed Lake greenstone belt, western Churchill Province, Northwest Territories
Authors: Relf C , Irwin D , MacLachlan K , Mills A
Published: November 2013

The Archean Yathkyed greenstone belt comprises a northwest-dipping package of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks exposed along the southeast side of Yathkyed Lake. Southeastward-younging indicators suggest that the belt is regionally overturned. Along the
northwest side of the belt, a unit previously mapped as mixed gneiss and migmatite was subdivided into amphibolite (interpreted as high-grade mafic volcanic rocks), and paragneiss (high-grade sedimentary rocks) intruded by various granitoids, effectively doubling the width of the greenstone belt
from previous maps.
Preliminary report on the geology and tectonic history of the Trans-Hudson Orogen in the northwestern Reindeer Zone, Saskatchewan
Authors: Corrigan D , Maxeiner R O , Bashforth A , Lucas S B
Published: November 2013

The La Ronge Domain in the northwestern Reindeer Zone comprises island arc supracrustal rocks (Central Metavolcanic Belt) and flanking sedimentary basins (Crew Lake and MacLean Lake belts) intruded by plutons of predominantly intermediate composition. The
Rottenstone Domain flanks these assemblages to the northwest and consists mainly of their high-grade equivalents. To the southeast, the Central Metavolcanic Belt was thrust over younger terrestrial to shallow marine metasedimentary rocks (McLennan Group) after the emplacement of small
ultramafic-mafic plutons and dykes, but prior to the regional emplacement of granitic to leucotonalitic plutons. The McLennan Group, which sat unconformably on the La Ronge Domain prior to thrust deformation, grades southerly into greywacke-turbidite of the Kisseynew Domain. We infer deepening of
the paleoþKisseynew' sedimentary basin towards the south, and predict similar deposition ages for the McLennan and Kisseynew sequences. All units record polyphase, nearly coaxial deformation and lower- to middle-amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions.