bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Work: A Very Short Introduction
Authors: Holland Sally , Scourfield Jonathan
Published: June 2015

Social workers spend their time trying to ease social suffering. They encounter the extreme casualties of social inequality: the victims of poverty, illness, addiction, and abuse; they work with abusers and offenders; and operate in the space between the state and the poor or marginalized. Social Work: A Very Short Introduction explains what social work is and looks at its rich historical development. Reflecting international human stories of social problems and social work relationships, as well as the philosophies behind the practice and the evidence about what works throughout the world, it looks at the various definitions, history, and debates about purpose and effectiveness, theory, and methods.
Hyperscape: visualization for complex biological networks
Authors: Cromar Graham L. , Zhao Anthony , Yang Alex , Parkinson John
Published: June 2015

Motivation: Network biology has emerged as a powerful tool to uncover the organizational properties of living systems through the application of graph theoretic approaches. However, due to limitations in underlying data models and visualization software, knowledge relating to large molecular assemblies and biologically active fragments is poorly represented.

Results: Here, we demonstrate a novel hypergraph implementation that better captures hierarchical structures, using components of elastic fibers and chromatin modification as models. These reveal unprecedented views of the biology of these systems, demonstrating the unique capacity of hypergraphs to resolve overlaps and uncover new insights into the subfunctionalization of variant complexes.

Availability and implementation: Hyperscape is available as a web application at http://www.compsysbio.org/hyperscape. Source code, examples and a tutorial are freely available under a GNU license.

Contacts:  john.parkinson@utoronto.ca or graham.cromar@gmail.com

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Complex history of isolation and gene flow in hoary, Olympic, and endangered Vancouver Island marmots
Authors: Kerhoulas Nicholas J. , Gunderson Aren M. , Olson Link E.
Published: June 2015

Climate change resulting in a reduction of alpine habitat is believed to pose a considerable risk to alpine-dependent species, including many marmots. Hoary marmots (Marmota caligata) range throughout much of the mountainous Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Rocky Mountains while the closely related Olympic and Vancouver Island marmots (M. olympus and M. vancouverensis, respectively) are restricted to small isolated regions of the PNW. The endemic Vancouver Island marmot is currently classified as Critically Endangered and the Olympic marmot has recently experienced dramatic population declines. Previous phylogenetic studies of PNW marmot species have had limited power as they focused on resolving interspecific relationships, implicitly assumed an absence of gene flow among currently recognized species, included relatively few individuals, and relied heavily or entirely on mitochondrial DNA. We sequenced 2 mitochondrial and 4 nuclear markers from 167 hoary, 4 Vancouver Island, and 5 Olympic marmots in order to investigate phylogenetic relationships and historic gene flow among these species. We recovered 2 monophyletic (and predominantly allopatric) mitochondrial clades of hoary marmots that are not sister groups. Instead, Vancouver Island marmots formed a monophyletic mitochondrial sister clade to 1 of the hoary marmot clades. Nuclear loci did not recover the 2 mitochondrial clades of hoary marmots and suggest that Vancouver Island marmots may have experienced mitochondrial introgression from coastal mainland hoary marmots. Additionally, our nuclear results suggest possible gene flow between hoary and Olympic marmots despite different chromosomal formulas. Rather than resolving what has previously been considered a straightforward 3-taxon phylogenetic question, our findings suggest a complicated history of rapid divergence of the 3 species followed by intermittent and possibly ongoing gene flow between hoary marmots and both Olympic and Vancouver Island marmots. These results therefore have significant implications for the conservation of the latter 2 species, both of which are conservation concerns.
The prehospital intravenous access assessment: a prospective study on intravenous access failure and access delay in prehospital emergency medicine
Authors: Prottengeier Johannes , Albermann Matthias , Heinrich Sebastian , Birkholz Torsten , Gall Christine , Schmidt Joachim
Published: June 2015

Objectives

Intravenous access in prehospital emergency care allows for early administration of medication and extended measures such as anaesthesia. Cannulation may, however, be difficult, and failure and resulting delay in treatment and transport may have negative effects on the patient. Therefore, our study aims to perform a concise assessment of the difficulties of prehospital venous cannulation.

Methods

We analysed 23 candidate predictor variables on peripheral venous cannulations in terms of cannulation failure and exceedance of a 2 min time threshold. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted for variables of predictive value (P<0.25) and evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC>0.6) of their respective receiver operating characteristic curve.

Results

A total of 762 intravenous cannulations were enroled. In all, 22% of punctures failed on the first attempt and 13% of punctures exceeded 2 min. Model selection yielded a three-factor model (vein visibility without tourniquet, vein palpability with tourniquet and insufficient ambient lighting) of fair accuracy for the prediction of puncture failure (AUC=0.76) and a structurally congruent model of four factors (failure model factors plus vein visibility with tourniquet) for the exceedance of the 2 min threshold (AUC=0.80).

Conclusion

Our study offers a simple assessment to identify cases of difficult intravenous access in prehospital emergency care. Of the numerous factors subjectively perceived as possibly exerting influences on cannulation, only the universal – not exclusive to emergency care – factors of lighting, vein visibility and palpability proved to be valid predictors of cannulation failure and exceedance of a 2 min threshold.
Unnoticed in the tropics: phylogenomic resolution of the poorly known arachnid order Ricinulei (Arachnida)
Authors: Fernández Rosa , Giribet Gonzalo
Published: June 2015

Ricinulei are among the most obscure and cryptic arachnid orders, constituting a micro-diverse group with extreme endemism. The 76 extant species described to date are grouped in three genera:
Ricinoides
, from tropical Western and Central Africa, and the two Neotropical genera
Cryptocellus
and
Pseudocellus
. Until now, a single molecular phylogeny of Ricinulei has been published, recovering the African
Ricinoides
as the sister group of the American
Pseudocellus
and providing evidence for the diversification of the order pre-dating the fragmentation of Gondwana. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first phylogenomic study of this neglected arachnid order based on data from five transcriptomes obtained from the five major mitochondrial lineages of Ricinulei. Our results, based on up to more than 2000 genes, strongly support a clade containing
Pseudocellus
and
Cryptocellus
, constituting the American group of Ricinulei, with the African
Ricinoides
nesting outside. Our dating of the diversification of the African and American clades using a 76 gene data matrix with 90% gene occupancy indicates that this arachnid lineage was distributed in the South American, North American and African plates of Gondwana and that its diversification is concordant with a biogeographic scenario (both for pattern and tempo) of Gondwanan vicariance.
Streptomyces tyrosinilyticus sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from river sediment
Authors: Zhao Junwei , Guo Lifeng , Liu Chongxi , Bai Lu , Han Chuanyu , Li Jiansong , Xiang Wensheng , Wang Xiangjing
Published: June 2015

A novel actinomycete, designated strain NEAU-Jh3-20T, was isolated from river sediment collected from South river in Jilin Province, north China and characterized using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, indicated that strain NEAU-Jh3-20T should be assigned to the genus Streptomyces and forms a distinct branch with its closest neighbour Streptomyces vitaminophilus DSM 41686T(97.09 %). Moreover, key morphological and chemotaxonomic properties also confirmed the affiliation of strain NEAU-Jh3-20T to the genus Streptomyces. The cell wall contained ll-diaminopimelic acid and the whole-cell hydrolysates were glucose and ribose. The phospholipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannosides and an unidentified phospholipid. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H8) and MK-9(H6). The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C18 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0. The DNA G+C content was 72.2 mol%. A combination of DNA–DNA hybridization results and some phenotypic characteristics demonstrated that strain NEAU-Jh3-20T could be distinguished from its closest phylogenetic relative. Therefore, it is proposed that strain NEAU-Jh3-20T represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces tyrosinilyticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NEAU-Jh3-20T ( = CGMCC 4.7201T = DSM 42170T).
Nocardia halotolerans sp. nov., a halotolerant actinomycete isolated from saline soil
Authors: Moshtaghi Nikou Mahdi , Ramezani Mohaddaseh , Ali Amoozegar Mohammad , Rasooli Mehrnoosh , Harirchi Sharareh , Shahzadeh Fazeli Seyed Abolhasan , Schumann Peter , Spröer Cathrin , Ventosa Antonio
Published: June 2015

A novel halotolerant actinomycete, strain Chem15T, was isolated from soil around Inche-Broun hypersaline wetland; its taxonomic position was determined based on a polyphasic approach. Strain Chem15T was strictly aerobic and tolerated NaCl up to 12.5 %. The optimum temperature and pH for growth were 28–30 °C and pH 7.0–7.5, respectively. The cell wall of strain Chem15T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as diamino acid and galactose, arabinose and ribose as whole-cell sugars. The major phospholipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol mannosides. The cellular fatty acids profile consisted of C16 : 0, iso-C18 : 0, C18 : 0 10-methyl and C18 : 1ω9c, and the major respiratory quinone was MK-8(H4cycl). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 68.0 mol%. The novel strain constituted a distinct phyletic line within the genus Nocardia, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and was closely associated with Nocardia sungurluensis DSM 45714T and Nocardia alba DSM 44684T (98.2 and 98.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively). However DNA–DNA relatedness and phenotypic data demonstrated that strain Chem15T was clearly different from closely related species of the genus Nocardia. It is concluded that the organism should be classified as a representative of a novel species of the genus Nocardia, for which the name Nocardia halotolerans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Chem15T ( = IBRC-M 10490T = LMG 28544T).
Tamilnaduibacter salinus gen. nov., sp. nov., a halotolerant gammaproteobacterium within the family Alteromonadaceae, isolated from a salt pan in Tamilnadu, India
Authors: Verma Ashish , Mual Poonam , Mayilraj Shanmugam , Krishnamurthi Srinivasan
Published: June 2015

Two novel Gram-stain-negative, slow-growing, halotolerant strains with rod-shaped cells, designated as strains Mi-7T and Mi-8, which formed pin-point colonies on halophilic media were isolated during a study into the microbial diversity of a salt pan in the state of Tamilnadu, India. Both the strains had an obligate requirement for 1 % (w/v) NaCl for growth and were halotolerant, growing at NaCl concentrations of up to 20 % (w/v) in media. The strains, however, showed an inability to utilize the majority of substrates tested as sole carbon sources for growth and in fermentation reactions. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed their closest phylogenetic neighbours to be members of the genus Marinobacter, with whom they showed the highest sequence similarity of 93.6 % and even less with the type strain of the type species, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus DSM 8798T (91.1 %). Similarities with other genera within the family Alteromonadaceae were below 91.0 %. However, the two strains were very closely related to each other with 99.9 % sequence similarity, and DNA–DNA hybridization analyses confirmed their placement in the same species. The DNA G+C content of both strains was 65 mol%. Using the polyphasic taxonomic data obtained from this study, strains Mi-7T and Mi-8 represent two strains of the same species of a novel genus for which the name Tamilnaduibacter salinus gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed; the type strain of the novel species is Mi-7T ( = MTCC 12009T = DSM 28688T).
Streptomyces olivicoloratus sp. nov., an antibiotic-producing bacterium isolated from soil
Authors: Nguyen Tuan Manh , Kim Jaisoo
Published: June 2015

Strain T13T, isolated from forest soil in Jeollabuk-do, South Korea, exhibited antibiotic production on yeast extract-malt extract-glucose (YMG) medium containing magnesium chloride as a trace mineral, and inhibited the growth ofBacillus subtilis,Staphylococcus aureus,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus epidermidis,Paenibacillus larvae,Escherichia coli,Candida albicansandAspergillus niger. Growth occurred at 15–45 °C, pH 4–11 and in the presence of up to 2 % (w/v) NaCl. Biochemical analyses indicated that the predominant menaquinones produced by this strain were MK-9(H6) and MK-9(H8); small amounts of MK-10(H2) and MK-10(H4) were also detected. The polar lipid profile comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine, and the cell-wall peptidoglycan containedll-diaminopimelic acid, glutamic acid, alanine and glycine. Whole-cell hydrolysates contained glucose, galactose, ribose and rhamnose. The fatty-acid profile of strain T13Twas made up predominantly of iso- and anteiso-branched fatty acids. Genetic analyses demonstrated that strain T13Tis closely related toStreptomyces gramineusJR-43T(98.29 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity),S. graminisoliJR-19T(97.99 %),S. rhizophilusJR-41T(97.86 %),S. longwoodensisLMG 20096T(97.84 %),S. graminifoliiJL-22T(97.79 %) andS. yaanensisZ4T(97.56 %), and DNA–DNA hybridization yielded relatedness values of 35.27–43.42 % when T13Twas compared to related strains. The results of morphological, chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses confirm that this strain represents a novel species of the genusStreptomyces, for which the name Streptomycesolivicoloratussp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is T13T( = KEMB 9005-210T = KACC 18227T = NBRC 110901T).
Fabibacter misakiensis sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from coastal surface water
Authors: Wong Shu-Kuan , Park Sanghwa , Lee Jung-Sook , Chul Lee Keun , Xavier Chiura Hiroshi , Kogure Kazuhiro , Hamasaki Koji
Published: June 2015

A slightly curved-rod-shaped, pink-pigmented, Gram-stain-negative, aerobic bacterial strain with gliding motility, designated SK-8T, was isolated from coastal surface water of Misaki, Japan. Phylogenetic trees generated using 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SK-8T belonged to the genus Fabibacter and showed 96.0 % sequence similarity to the type strain of the most closely related species, Fabibacter pacificus DY53T. The novel isolate was phenotypically and physiologically different from previously described strains. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 1 G, iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH. Major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, two aminophospholipids and an unidentified phospholipid. The DNA G+C content was 39.1 mol% and MK-7 was the only predominant isoprenoid quinone. On the basis of this taxonomic study employing a polyphasic approach, it was suggested that strain SK-8T represents a novel species of the genus Fabibacter, with the newly proposed name Fabibacter misakiensis sp. nov. The type strain is SK-8T ( = NBRC 110216T = KCTC 32969T).
Carboxylicivirga linearis sp. nov., isolated from a sea cucumber culture pond
Authors: Wang Feng-Qing , Zhou Yan-Xia , Lin Xue-Zheng , Chen Guan-Jun , Du Zong-Jun
Published: June 2015

A yellow-pigmented, Gram-stain-negative and facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated FB218T, was isolated from a sediment sample collected from a sea cucumber culture pond in Rongcheng, China (36° 54′ 36″ N 122° 14′ 34″ E). Cells of strain FB218T were slender, gliding, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Optimal growth occurred at 30 °C, pH 6.5–7.0 and in medium containing 2–3 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain FB218T belonged to the genus Carboxylicivirga, family Marinilabiliaceae. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0. MK-7 was the main respiratory quinone. The major polar lipids of strain FB218T were two unidentified lipids and a phospholipid. The genomic DNA G+C content was 40.0 mol%. Based on the distinct phylogenetic position and the combination of physiological and phenotypic characteristics, strain FB218T represents a novel species of the genus Carboxylicivirga, for which the name Carboxylicivirga linearis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FB218T ( = KCTC 42254T = MCCC 1H00106T). An emended description of the genus Carboxylicivirga is also provided.
Identification of strains Bacillus aerophilus MTCC 7304T as Bacillus altitudinis and Bacillus stratosphericus MTCC 7305T as a Proteus sp. and the status of the species Bacillus aerius Shivaji et al. 2006. Request for an Opinion
Authors: Liu Yang , Ramesh Kumar N. , Lai Qiliang , Du Juan , Dobritsa Anatoly P. , Samadpour Mansour , Shao Zongze
Published: June 2015

On the basis of 16S rRNA, rpoB, gyrB and pycA gene sequence analyses, characterization of biochemical features and other phenotypic traits and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) fingerprinting, it was ascertained that strains Bacillus aerius MTCC 7303T, Bacillus aerophilus MTCC 7304T and Bacillus stratosphericus MTCC 7305T do not conform to the descriptions of the type strains of the respective species. Strains MTCC 7303T and MTCC 7304T were indistinguishable from Bacillus altitudinis DSM 21631T, while strain MTCC 7305T should be classified as a representative of a Proteus sp. Our attempts to find other deposits of the type strains of these species were unsuccessful. Therefore, the results support the Request for an Opinion on the status of the species Bacillus aerophilus and Bacillus stratosphericus by Branquinho et al. [Branquinho, R., Klein, G., Kämpfer, P. & Peixe, L. V. (2015). Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 65, 1101]. It is also proposed that the Judicial Commission should place the name Bacillus aerius on the list of rejected names if a suitable replacement type strain cannot be found or a neotype is not proposed within two years following the publication of this Request (Rule 18c).
Some remarks on moments for stochastic chemical kinetics
Authors: Sontag Eduardo D. , Singh Abhyudai
Published: June 2015

We analyze a class of chemical reaction networks for which all moments can be computed by finite-dimensional linear differential equations. This class allows second and higher order reactions, but only under special assumptions on structure and/or conservation laws.
Simple Plans or Sophisticated Habits? State, Transition and Learning Interactions in the Two-step Task
Authors: Akam Thomas , Costa Rui , Dayan Peter
Published: June 2015

The recently developed ‘two-step’ behavioural task promises to differentiate model-based or goal-directed from model-free or habitual reinforcement learning, while generating neurophysiologically-friendly decision datasets with parametric variation of decision variables. These desirable features have prompted widespread adoption of the task. However, the signatures of model-based control can be elusive – here, we investigate model-free learning methods that, depending on the analysis strategy, can masquerade as being model-based. We first show that unadorned model-free reinforcement learning can induce correlations between action values at the start of the trial and the subsequent trial events in such a way that analysis based on comparing successive trials can lead to erroneous conclusions. We also suggest a correction to the analysis that can alleviate this problem. We then consider model-free reinforcement learning strategies based on different state representations from those envisioned by the experimenter, which generate behaviour that appears model-based under these, and also more sophisticated, analyses. The existence of such strategies is of particular relevance to the design and interpretation of animal studies using the two-step task, as extended training and a sharp contrast between good and bad options are likely to promote their use.

Author Summary

Planning is the use of a predictive model of the consequences of actions to guide decision making. Planning plays a critical role in human behaviour but isolating its contribution is challenging because it is complemented by control systems which learn values of actions directly from the history of reinforcement, resulting in automatized mappings from states to actions often termed habits. Our study examined a recently developed behavioural task which uses choices in a multi-step decision tree to differentiate planning from value-based control. Using simulation, we demonstrated the existence of strategies which produce behaviour that resembles planning but in fact arises as a fixed mapping from particular sorts of states to actions. These results show that when a planning problem is faced repeatedly, sophisticated automatization strategies may be developed which identify that there are in fact a limited number of relevant states of the world each with an appropriate fixed or habitual response. Understanding such strategies is important for the design and interpretation of tasks which aim to isolate the contribution of planning to behaviour. Such strategies are also of independent scientific interest as they may contribute to automatization of behaviour in complex environments.
Structural basis for Mob1-dependent activation of the core Mst–Lats kinase cascade in Hippo signaling
Authors: Ni Lisheng , Zheng Yonggang , Hara Mayuko , Pan Duojia , Luo Xuelian
Published: June 2015

The Mst–Lats kinase cascade is central to the Hippo tumor-suppressive pathway that controls organ size and tissue homeostasis. The adaptor protein Mob1 promotes Lats activation by Mst, but the mechanism remains unknown. Here, we show that human Mob1 binds to autophosphorylated docking motifs in active Mst2. This binding enables Mob1 phosphorylation by Mst2. Phosphorylated Mob1 undergoes conformational activation and binds to Lats1. We determine the crystal structures of phospho-Mst2–Mob1 and phospho-Mob1–Lats1 complexes, revealing the structural basis of both phosphorylation-dependent binding events. Further biochemical and functional analyses demonstrate that Mob1 mediates Lats1 activation through dynamic scaffolding and allosteric mechanisms. Thus, Mob1 acts as a phosphorylation-regulated coupler of kinase activation by virtue of its ability to engage multiple ligands. We propose that stepwise, phosphorylation-triggered docking interactions of nonkinase elements enhance the specificity and robustness of kinase signaling cascades.
Simultaneous dual-energy X-ray stereo imaging
Authors: Mokso Rajmund , Oberta Peter
Published: June 2015

Dual-energy orK-edge imaging is used to enhance contrast between two or more materials in an object and is routinely realised by acquiring two separate X-ray images each at different X-ray wavelength. On a broadband synchrotron source an imaging system to acquire the two images simultaneously was realised. The single-shot approach allows dual-energy and stereo imaging to be applied to dynamic systems. Using a Laue–Bragg crystal splitting scheme, the X-ray beam was split into two and the two beam branches could be easily tuned to either the same or to two different wavelengths. Due to the crystals' mutual position, the two beam branches intercept each other under a non-zero angle and create a stereoscopic setup.
In situhydrogen loading on zirconium powder
Authors: Maimaitiyili Tuerdi , Blomqvist Jakob , Steuwer Axel , Bjerkén Christina , Zanellato Olivier , Blackmur Matthew S. , Andrieux Jérôme , Ribeiro Fabienne
Published: June 2015

For the first time, various hydride phases in a zirconium–hydrogen system have been prepared in a high-energy synchrotron X-ray radiation beamline and their transformation behaviour has been studiedin situ. First, the formation and dissolution of hydrides in commercially pure zirconium powder were monitored in real time during hydrogenation and dehydrogenation, then whole pattern crystal structure analysis such as Rietveld and Pawley refinements were performed. All commonly reported low-pressure phases presented in the Zr–H phase diagram are obtained from a single experimental arrangement.
3D imaging of a rice pollen grain using transmission X-ray microscopy
Authors: Wang Shengxiang , Wang Dajiang , Wu Qiao , Gao Kun , Wang Zhili , Wu Ziyu
Published: June 2015

For the first time, the three-dimensional (3D) ultrastructure of an intact rice pollen cell has been obtained using a full-field transmission hard X-ray microscope operated in Zernike phase contrast mode. After reconstruction and segmentation from a series of projection images, complete 3D structural information of a 35 µm rice pollen grain is presented at a resolution of ∼100 nm. The reconstruction allows a clear differentiation of various subcellular structures within the rice pollen grain, including aperture, lipid body, mitochondrion, nucleus and vacuole. Furthermore, quantitative information was obtained about the distribution of cytoplasmic organelles and the volume percentage of each kind of organelle. These results demonstrate that transmission X-ray microscopy can be quite powerful for non-destructive investigation of 3D structures of whole eukaryotic cells.
Financial exclusion of the poor: a literature review
Authors: Koku Paul Sergius
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to conduct a cross-disciplinary review of the literature on financial exclusion in order to provide a place where one could have a bird’s eye view of the academic activities that have been happening in the area.

Design/methodology/approach

– As a literature review, no specific methodology is required.

Findings

– Researchers in economic geography and urbanization seem to have contributed significantly to the growing literature on financial exclusion. The persistence of the problem despite efforts to combat it calls for innovative thinking on the part of marketing scholars and financial institutions on how to serve the unbanked.

Research limitations/implications

– The review identifies gaps in the state of current research and provides direction for future research.

Practical implications

– The study identifies gaps in the literature and provides directions for future research.

Social implications

– As a literature review, there is only an indirect social implications in the sense that the studies reviewed could be used to impact people’s lives.

Originality/value

– As a literature review, originality is not an applicable criterion, however, the study provides value to the reader by bringing together disparate studies at one place and by pointing out gaps in the current state of research.
Workplace quotas
Authors: Matherly Laura L. , Al Nahyan Shamma Sultan
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to develop a theoretical model that specifies the most important factors hypothesised to facilitate reciprocal knowledge transfer between nationals and non-nationals in the context of workplace quotas.

Design/methodology/approach

– Expatriate labour is viewed as a form of contingent employment that provides firms with ready access to experienced and specialised knowledge. We argue that in a knowledge economy, the successful use of workplace quotas for nationals depends on effective management of both nationals and non-nationals. By drawing on scholarly contributions in the areas of strategic management, agency theory, knowledge management and absorptive capacity, this paper consolidates extant knowledge and proposes a new framework aimed at developing a more integrated agenda for future research.

Findings

– Three broad categories are posited as strategic enablers to effective knowledge management. First, senior leadership has a direct role in developing appropriate policies, promoting transparency and fostering a culture of trust and an indirect role through the establishment of incentives. Second, the influence of incentives on both knowledge management and process improvement is addressed. Third, the characteristics of each group with regard to qualifications, motivation and receptivity are discussed. Optimally, these factors work in concert to build competencies that ultimately satisfy customers and meet organisational goals.

Originality/value

– There is a gap in scholarly research that explicitly links important organisational and management concepts to the study of expatriate-national interactions. This article contributes to understanding how policy makers and leaders can strengthen the transformative forces that will drive successful development of human capital.
Examining the relationship between organizational coaching and workplace counterproductive behaviours in the United Arab Emirates
Authors: Al-Nasser Amjad , Behery Mohamed
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to establish both the validity of Western theories within the Middle East, namely, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and to further improve and extend our understanding of the effect of organisational coaching on counterproductive behaviours, such as bullying and alienation.

Design/methodology/approach

– A sample size of 656 participants from 29 organisations and 14 different industries was employed. A research model was proposed, refined and tested through a quantitative paradigm using one dimension nonlinear principal components analysis, linear structural equation modelling (SEM) and MANOVA.

Findings

– The correlation analysis results show non-significant negative correlations between coaching and all of the organisational counterproductive behaviour dimensions but not certainty. It was found that a significant weak relationship exists between most of the mediator dimensions, while a strong relationship exists between job alienation and workplace bullying. Results of the linear SEM provide support that coaching is related to certainty. Furthermore, the results reveal that certainty mediates a significant link between coaching and organisational counterproductive work behaviours (job alienation and bullying).

Originality/value

– The study is considered the first in the UAE to investigate organisational counterproductive work behaviours (bullying and job alienation). The main contribution of this study is to quantify the relationship between organisational coaching and bullying and job alienation mediated by organisational climate dimensions.
Correlates of employee turnover intentions in oil and gas industry in the UAE
Authors: Harhara Afif Saif , Singh Sanjay Kumar , Hussain Matloub
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to develop a framework to understand, predict and control factors affecting employee turnover intentions in the oil and gas industry in the UAE. The oil and gas industry, considered as the backbone of UAE’s economy, has been facing high employee turnover rate.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper examined researches conducted in the area of employee turnover intentions and proposed a framework to be used by the practicing managers to retain employees and leverage their potentials for organizational growth.

Findings

– A framework of employee turnover intentions was developed based on body of research literature which suggests to the interplay of individual-, group-, environmental- and organizational-level variables.

Research limitations/implications

– The proposed framework on employee turnover intentions is well-suited for usage in the oil and gas industry in the UAE. However, the proposed framework can also be utilized with caution in other industries as well.

Practical implications

– The study incorporates correlates of employee turnover intentions in a framework for helping practicing managers to design interventions to retain talent for the benefits of both the employees and the organizations.

Originality/value

– This paper provides a comprehensive framework which can help practitioners and also academics to understand the underlying causes of turnover in the oil and gas industry.
Public and communal spaces and their relation to the spatial dynamics of ethnic riots
Authors: Kutmanaliev Joldon
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– This paper is one of the first attempts to explain the local dynamics of the 2010 ethnic riots in Kyrgyzstan. No scholarly work has attempted to systematically analyze the 2010 ethnic violence and its local dynamics on the neighborhood scale. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on this gap by analyzing neighborhoods’ responses to the emerging violence in the city of Osh. In order to do this, the author compares two typical neighborhoods in Osh, one violent and the other non-violent, with different spatial structures and built environments that demonstrate/represent similar dynamics of riots in many other neighborhoods.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical findings of this paper are based on the ethnographic fieldwork the author carried out in 2010 and between 2012 and 2014. During nine months (in total) of the author’s ethnographic fieldwork, the author conducted around 60 semi-structured interviews in Osh city mainly with community leaders. In the author’s interview sampling, the author used two approaches: the snowball method and geographically/territorially representative sampling.

Findings

– The author argues that among other factors, a particular type of public space provides favorable conditions for riot occurrence or non-occurrence. For example, in Osh, such places as areas around the central bazaar and densely populated multi-story building complexes were especially riot-prone. By contrast, residential areas with individual-unit houses and low residential mobility represented communally private spaces with more easy riot-control. In addition, some residential areas implemented strategies such as physical self-isolation to avoid violence. By restricting freedom of movement and erecting improvised barricades, the residents of such neighborhoods created a temporally new space with its own rules and interethnic cooperation.

Originality/value

– This paper suggests new insights in the analysis of riots by connecting theoretical categories and concepts of space provided by scholars of contentious politics and applying them to the case of the 2010 ethnic riots in Osh city. By analyzing riot dynamics on the neighborhood scale, this research contributes to the understanding of the spatial dynamics of ethnic riots.
Marketization and the public-private divide
Authors: Rekhviashvili Lela
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the reasons behind a decade long contestations between the Georgian government and the petty traders over the access to the public space for commercial use.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper relies on the repeated ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Tbilisi in 2012 and 2013. The ethnographic interviews with legally operating traders and illegal street vendors are supplemented by the in-depth interviews with the representatives of the city government and secondary literature on Georgia’s post-revolutionary transformation.

Findings

– Bridging the critical literature on the politics of the public space with Polanyi’s theory on commodification of fictitious commodities as a precondition of establishment of a market economy, the author argues that for the Georgian government control of the public space was necessary to pursue neoliberal marketisation policies. These policies required removal of the petty traders from public spaces because the state needed to restrict access to public space and limit its commercial usage to delineate public and private property and allow commodification of the urban land and property. As the commodification intensified and the rent prices started growing and fluctuating, the access to the public space became even more valuable for the petty traders. Therefore, the traders developed subversive tactics undermining the division between public and private space and property.

Originality/value

– The paper demonstrates the importance of enforcing the public-private divide in the process of establishing a market economy in transitional settings. Moreover, it illustrates little discussed social costs of establishing such a divide.
Davabirzhaot! Conflicting claims on public space in Tbilisi between transparency and opaqueness
Authors: Curro Costanza
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the form of young male socialisation referred to as birzha, in its relation to public space in Georgia. Birzha defines a group of young men who meet regularly in urban open spaces in Tbilisi’s neighbourhoods. Partly considered as the initial step of a criminal career, belonging to birzha is a mark of identification with one’s local group. The contested nature of public space is illustrated by the conflicting relation between birzha’s bottom-up use of public space and top-down projects of urban renovation sought by Saakashvili’s government.

Design/methodology/approach

– Drawing upon literary and media sources, and analysing fieldwork data collected in 2008-2009 and 2014, this study explores how the announced (re)construction of public space under Saakashvili resulted in institutional interventions from above which curtailed public space’s accessibility.

Findings

– The present analysis points out contradictions in Saakashvili’s government’s political narrative on public space. In the institutional focus on a future of order, transparency, and democracy, birzha is an insistent reminder of an informal and corrupted past. Banned from futuristic projections of the public space, in the present birzha is annihilated by state repression, enforced in opaque zones out of public sight.

Originality/value

– Focusing on a largely overlooked phenomenon in social science research, the paper highlights the ways in which conflicting approaches to public space affect the relation between political institutions and citizens. Delving into ambivalent public/private divides in post-socialist societies, the study of Georgian birzha offers an original angle for investigating the contestation of urban public space in relation to political legitimacy and transparency.
Mediation and time-lag analyses of e-alignment and e-collaboration capabilities
Authors: Chi Maomao , Zhao Jing , George Joey F.
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– Based on the literature of IT strategic alignment and e-collaboration, the purpose of this paper is to specify how e-business strategic alignment (e-alignment) influences e-collaboration capabilities and improves firm performance, and whether the time-lag effect existed in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors tested the research hypotheses using a field survey of 145 Chinese corporations. The research model was validated using SmartPLS 2.0 with both subjective and objective data collected from the survey and Oriana database.

Findings

– The results support the notion of a positive and significant link between e-alignment and e-collaboration capabilities and between e-collaboration capabilities and firm performance. The authors also show that the effect of e-alignment on performance is fully mediated by e-collaboration capabilities and that e-collaboration with suppliers has a one-year time-lag effect on firm performance.

Research limitations/implications

– This research extends and integrates the literature on IT strategic alignment and e-collaboration, and explains why and how e-alignment generates firm performance.

Practical implications

– This paper includes two implications for managers. First, when formulating e-business strategies, managers should focus on establishing e-collaboration capabilities with partners. Second, the downstream process is the direct sources of business value. Managers should take the establishment of e-selling process as a critical business strategy.

Originality/value

– By focussed on intermediate factors and time-lag effects, this study provides significant implications for IT strategic alignment and e-collaboration literature.
Integrating multi-criteria decision making and clustering for business customer segmentation
Authors: Güçdemir Hülya , Selim Hasan
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop a systematic approach for business customer segmentation.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study proposes an approach for business customer segmentation that integrates clustering and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). First, proper segmentation variables are identified and then customers are grouped by using hierarchical and partitional clustering algorithms. The approach extended the recency-frequency-monetary (RFM) model by proposing five novel segmentation variables for business markets. To confirm the viability of the proposed approach, a real-world application is presented. Three agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithms namely “Ward’s method,” “single linkage” and “complete linkage,” and a partitional clustering algorithm, “k-means,” are used in segmentation. In the implementation, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is employed to determine the importance of the segments.

Findings

– Business customers of an international original equipment manufacturer (OEM) are segmented in the application. In this regard, 317 business customers of the OEM are segmented as “best,” “valuable,” “average,” “potential valuable” and “potential invaluable” according to the cluster ranks obtained in this study. The results of the application reveal that the proposed approach can effectively be used in practice for business customer segmentation.

Research limitations/implications

– The success of the proposed approach relies on the availability and quality of customers’ data. Therefore, design of an extensive customer database management system is the foundation for any successful customer relationship management (CRM) solution offered by the proposed approach. Such a database management system may entail a noteworthy level of investment.

Practical implications

– The results of the application reveal that the proposed approach can effectively be used in practice for business customer segmentation. By making customer segmentation decisions, the proposed approach can provides firms a basis for the development of effective loyalty programs and design of customized strategies for their customers.

Social implications

– The proposed segmentation approach may contribute firms to gaining sustainable competitive advantage in the market by increasing the effectiveness of CRM strategies.

Originality/value

– This study proposes an integrated approach for business customer segmentation. The proposed approach differentiates itself from its counterparts by combining MCDM and clustering in business customer segmentation. In addition, it extends the traditional RFM model by including five novel segmentation variables for business markets.
Information systems outsourcing satisfaction: some explanatory factors
Authors: Gonzalez Reyes , Gasco Jose L. , Llopis Juan
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse Information Systems outsourcing success, measuring the latter according to the satisfaction level achieved by users and taking into account three success factors: the role played by the client firm’s top management; the relationships between client and provider; and the degree of outsourcing.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was carried out by means of a questionnaire answered by 398 large Spanish firms. Its results were examined using the partial least squares software and through the proposal of a structural equation model.

Findings

– The conclusions reveal that the perceived benefits play a mediating role in outsourcing satisfaction and also that these benefits can be grouped together into three categories: strategic; economic; and technological ones.

Originality/value

– The study identifies how some success factors will be more influent than others depending which type of benefits are ultimately sought with outsourcing.
Fiat-Chrysler deal: looking for a good returns from M & A
Authors: Bertoldi Bernardo , Giachino Chiara , Bernard Stefano , Prudenza Virginia
Published: June 2015

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to investigate the cross-border acquisition’s process through the Fiat-Chrysler case. Many automotive companies have considered cross-border mergers and acquisition (M & A) as a necessary step to face increasing competition and globalization, but only few of them were successful. In particular, some best practices in terms of lessons-learned are highlighted.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper is based on the analysis of a cross-border acquisition: the qualitative approach allows authors to better understand all the dynamics, complexities and problems that characterize companies facing this process (Yin, 1984). Authors used public information, Internet sources and Fiat’s documents to gather all the necessary information.

Findings

– In a cross-border acquisition, compatibility and complementarity of products and markets are fundamentals, whereas unmanaged cultural differences, as well as misunderstanding of the real motivations, are a slow but deadly poison: integration and a clear common focus on the final target are key factor for success.

Research limitations/implications

– The investigation is limited to the strategy used by Fiat-Chrysler. If the authors’ suggestions can be confirmed or improved by using other case studies, guidelines could be very useful to companies dealing with M & A.

Practical implications

– The paper offers recommendations on how big companies can manage a cross-border acquisition, illustrates the key steps to be successful and tries to define the necessary elements for a successful M & A.

Originality/value

– The paper shows how two real multinational companies operating in the automotive sector have decided to become one entity; moreover, it highlights the fundamental steps of the process, giving to the management a good example of what must happen in reality.