bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Microstructure and properties of functionally graded materials Ti6Al4V/TiC fabricated by direct laser deposition
Authors: Zhang Jingwei , Zhang Yunlu , Li Wei , Karnati Sreekar , Liou Frank , Newkirk Joseph W. 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to manufacture Ti6Al4V/TiC functionally graded material (FGM) by direct laser deposition (DLD) using Ti6Al4V and TiC powder. The objective is to investigate the effect of process parameters and TiC composition on microstructure, Vickers hardness and mechanical properties.

Design/methodology/approach
Powder blends with three different volume percentages of Ti6Al4V and TiC were used as feed material for DLD process. Five experiments with different values of laser power and scan speed were conducted to investigate the effect on microstructure and Vickers hardness for different compositions of feed material. Mini-tensile tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of the FGM samples. Digital image correlation (DIC) was applied to estimate Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile stress (UTS) of heterogeneous material.

Findings
This paper indicates that primary carbide, eutectic carbide and un-melted carbide phases are formed in the FGM deposit. As the energy density was increased, the primary and secondary dendrite arm spacing was found to increase. As TiC composition was increased, Young’s modulus increased and UTS decreased. The dendritic morphology of primary TiC growth was expected to cause low resistance for crack propagation, causing lower UTS values. Tensile specimens cut in vertical orientation were observed to possess higher values of Young’s modulus in comparison with specimens cut horizontally at low carbon content.

Originality/value
Current work presents unique and original contributions from the study of miniature FGM tensile specimens using DIC method. It investigates the effect of specimen orientation and TiC content on Young’s modulus and UTS. The relationship between energy density and dendritic arm spacing was evaluated. The relationship between laser power and scan speed with microstructure and Vickers hardness was investigated.
The dividends of diversity: the win-win-win model is taking over business and it necessitates diversity
Authors: Sheppard Donald Lee 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show business leaders and human resource professionals that promoting diversity within any given organization is good for business. By demonstrating the concrete ways in which diversity is good for business, good for clients, good for customers and good for the larger community, this paper intends to convince readers to implement diversity, and provides them with a strong argument for doing so.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper outlines the necessary facets of being an ethical leader and provides an exploration of the role of diversity in ethical leadership and successful business. It also provides various case studies, including the company the author created, Sheppard Associates, which benefited enormously from focusing on diversity in the workplace.

Findings
Diversity is not just good for business, it is good for employees, clients and our society as a whole. Diversity means promoting and rewarding employees based on merit and not based on their gender, race, physical disabilities or any other physical attributes. To create a diverse workforce, leaders must be open to overcome their own unconscious bias. Leaders are key to encouraging and promoting diversity in any organization. It is their role and responsibility to ensure that the company’s ethical values become the moral compass for decent behavior throughout the workplace.

Originality/value
This paper uniquely focuses on the idea that “leadership excellence demands ethical business practices.” A leader cannot achieve the highest standards without embracing ethics and integrity in everything he or she does. Furthermore, the primary function of leaders – business, political, military and community – is to inspire those around them. Failure to perform this function, especially when it comes to inspiring others to accept and celebrate differences in culture and race, is self-defeating.
How diversity (that is included) can fuel innovation and engagement – and how sameness can be lethal
Authors: Frost Stephen 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
Conventional wisdom says that diverse organisations perform better. However, this is not always the case. Diverse teams that are not inclusive are unable to leverage their diversity, and thus will not reap its benefits. The purpose of this paper is to show that organisations that exhibit inclusive behaviour and inclusive leadership can leverage diversity to reap its multiple positive benefits.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on various examples from different sectors, including Kodak, the US Armed Forces and NASA, to analyse the effects of sameness on teams. It also draws on the author’s own experience and the most recent peer-reviewed research to look at the effects of inclusive management, not just diversity.

Findings
This paper shows that there is ample evidence that diverse teams often perform better, and that they only perform better when led inclusively. The combination of diverse teams and inclusive management can lead to increased innovation and productivity and better decision-making.

Originality/value
This important reframing of the value of inclusion and not just diversity is insightful for the CEO and C-suite leaders, as well as essential for human resource managers or anyone who makes decisions about hiring, promotions or team composition.
When and where does dispersal limitation matter in primary succession?
Authors: Makoto Kobayashi , Wilson Scott D. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractPrimary succession encompasses the earliest and most fundamental stages of community assembly. The relative contributions of plant dispersal and ecosystem development, the main drivers that control the rate of primary succession, remain largely unknown, in spite of their central roles in community organization in general. Understanding the contribution of dispersal is especially critical because it casts light on our ability to manage succession resulting from climate change or anthropogenic disturbance.Here, we review the literature in order to understand when and where dispersal limits primary succession. Studies from many systems (tropical, temperate, boreal, arctic, alpine, floodplain forest, desert, mines, volcanic eruption and glacier forelands) show that dispersal limitation occurs consistently in the early stages of primary succession, suggesting that this is a general pattern. On the other hand, we found strong biases in study sites towards the Northern Hemisphere, temperate regions, volcanic eruptions and glacier forelands, which suggests that there are risks in drawing general conclusions about the importance of dispersal for primary succession for other biomes.Little is known about the contribution of dispersal to the later stages of primary succession. We present a recently developed method, multiscale chronosequence comparison that compares rates of succession in similar systems at relatively small and large spatial scales. Rapid succession at small scales compared to large scales suggests that seed dispersal influences succession over time periods of centuries and also limits the development of ecosystem functions such as vegetation cover and soil carbon accumulation.Synthesis: Dispersal limitation likely matters not only in the early stages but also in the late stages of primary succession by controlling the rate at which new species arrive. Both the accumulation of comparable case studies and novel approaches, such as multiscale chronosequence comparisons and factorial experiments, in contrasting biomes, are necessary to clarify the generality or context dependency of the role of dispersal in future primary successions undergoing changing climate.
Jasmonic acid regulation of the anti‐herbivory mechanism conferred by fungal endophytes in grasses
Authors: Bastías Daniel A. , Martínez‐Ghersa M. Alejandra , Newman Jonathan A. , Card Stuart D. , Mace Wade J. , Gundel Pedro E. 
Published: April 2018

Abstract

The most studied mechanism of protection against herbivores in grasses associated with Epichloë fungal endophytes has been the fungal production of alkaloids. However, the contribution of the plant immune response on the level of resistance to herbivores in symbiotic grasses has been poorly explored. We studied the relationship between the plant hormone, jasmonic acid (JA) and Epichloë fungal endophytes on herbivore defences in symbiotic grasses. We hypothesized that an exogenous application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA), an activator of the plant JA defence response, would increase the level of resistance of endophyte‐symbiotic and non‐symbiotic plants to a chewing insect. As Epichloë endophytes produce alkaloids, an enhancement of the JA defence would complement the resistance given by these alkaloids.

Lolium multiflorum plants symbiotic and non‐symbiotic with the endophyte Epichloë occultans were subjected to an exogenous application of MeJA followed by a challenge with the generalist chewing insect Spodoptera frugiperda. We measured the level of plant resistance to chewing insects, and the defences conferred by host plants and fungal endophytes.

Symbiotic plants were more resistant to S. frugiperda than their non‐symbiotic counterparts. However, despite the fact that the concentration of JA significantly increased in all plants exposure to MeJA, neither endophyte‐symbiotic nor non‐symbiotic plants showed an enhanced resistance to insects. Unexpectedly, the exposure of endophyte‐symbiotic plants to MeJA led to a reduction in the concentration of loline alkaloids (i.e. N‐formyllolines and N‐acetylnorlolines), consequently decreasing the level of plant resistance to the herbivore.

Synthesis. Our results suggest that, rather than complementing the alkaloid‐based defence, the jasmonic acid hormone weakens the anti‐herbivore mechanism conferred by Epichloë endophytes. The present study highlights that the interaction between the jasmonic acid hormone and the presence of leaf fungal endophytes can be of importance for the effectiveness of the anti‐herbivore defences of symbiotic plants.
Seeing the woods through the saplings: Using wood density to assess the recovery of human‐modified Amazonian forests
Authors: Berenguer Erika , Gardner Toby Alan , Ferreira Joice , Aragão Luiz E. O. C. , Mac Nally Ralph , Thomson James R. , Vieira Ima Célia Guimarães , Barlow Jos 
Published: April 2018

Abstract

Most of the world's remaining tropical forests have been affected by either selective logging, understorey fires, fragmentation or are regrowing in areas that were previously deforested. Despite the ubiquity of these human‐modified forests, we have a limited knowledge of their potential to recover key traits linked to ecosystem processes and consequent services.

Here we present data from 31,095 trees and saplings distributed across 121 plots of undisturbed and disturbed primary forests as well as secondary forests in the eastern Amazon. We examined the post‐disturbance recovery trajectory of an important plant functional trait, wood density. We tested whether human‐modified Amazonian forests are experiencing a rapid or a slow, or even impeded, recovery of this trait, which is associated with the provision of a fundamental ecosystem service—carbon storage.

As expected, we found that the plot‐level wood density of trees and saplings in disturbed primary and secondary forests was significantly lower than in undisturbed forests. However, there was no significant difference in the average wood density of saplings between disturbed primary and secondary forests, possibly indicating a process of secondarization. We also found evidence that the recovery of wood density in human‐modified forests is being severely disrupted due to edge effects (in the case of disturbed primary forests) and high liana densities (in the case of both disturbed primary and secondary forests). Surprisingly, these two factors were more important predictors of wood density recovery than the time elapsed since the disturbance event.

Synthesis. Plant communities in human‐modified Amazonian forests appear to not be recovering a key functional property—wood density, which in turn may affect their ability to store carbon in the future. If the aim of conservation programs in tropical forests is to maintain existing rates of ecosystem functions, processes and services, then they must concentrate efforts on avoiding anthropogenic disturbance in areas of currently undisturbed forests. It is also vital to prevent further disturbance in human‐modified forests to avoid disrupting even more their recovery.
Contemporary pollen flow as a multiscale process: Evidence from the insect‐pollinated herb, Pulsatilla vulgaris
Authors: DiLeo Michelle F. , Holderegger Rolf , Wagner Helene H. 
Published: April 2018

Abstract

Understanding the drivers and spatial scale of gene flow is essential for the management of species living in fragmented landscapes. In plants, contemporary pollen flow is typically modelled as a single spatial process, with pollen flow declining exponentially within a short distance of mother plants. However, growing evidence suggests that many species do not conform to these patterns, often showing an excess of long‐distance dispersal events or sometimes even multimodality in dispersal kernels. This suggests that a single function might be insufficient to capture the true complexity of pollination, which in reality is often achieved by multiple pollinators that vary in their foraging ranges and interactions with the landscape.

We reconstructed realized pollen flow and assessed pollen immigration for seven populations of the insect‐pollinated herb Pulsatilla vulgaris. We quantified the effects of distance, floral resources and landscape composition over multiple spatial scales and tested the hypotheses that within‐population pollen flow is related to resources and landscape context measured locally, and that among‐population pollen flow is related to features measured at larger spatial scales.

We found that pollen flow within populations was more likely to occur amongst near neighbours, but that among‐population pollen flow was random with respect to source populations. We further found that local floral density could explain patterns of within‐population pollination distances and population‐level selfing rates, whereas pollen immigration rates were best explained by the proportion of forest within a radius of 500 m around focal populations.

Synthesis. Together, our results suggest that within‐ and among‐population contemporary pollen flow may be governed by different underlying processes, possibly related to differences in the foraging range and habitat use of bee species that contribute to pollination at different scales. This highlights the critical need for researchers to take a more pollinator‐eyed view of contemporary pollen flow in plants by (1) recognizing that within‐ and among‐population gene flow by pollen may depend on different sets of pollinators that respond to features at different spatial scales (2) considering additional factors that may alter attractiveness, detectability and accessibility of plants to pollinators beyond the effects of distance.
An Empirical Analysis of Health Shocks and Informal Risk Sharing Networks
Authors: Woldemichael Andinet , Gurmu Shiferaw 
Published: April 2018

AbstractUsing panel household survey data from rural Ethiopia, we investigate informal risk sharing against health shocks in the presence of multiple risk sharing networks. We find that neither short‐term nor long‐term health shocks are insured through transfers from networks such as friends, neighbors, and members of informal associations. However, networks related along bloodline such as extended family members provide assistance when health shocks are long‐term such as disabilities. The results show that these networks strategically complement planned component of their transfers which are made on a regular basis such as remittance, entitlement, or chop money (small cash sums for household expenses). Moreover, we find significant history dependence in transfers from not only genetically distant networks but also extended family members as well as formal institutions, which seems to discourage dependency. Finally, the findings suggest significant heterogeneity in transfers.
From in vivo to in vitro: How the Guatemala STD Experiments Transformed Bodies Into Biospecimens
Authors: SPECTOR‐BAGDADY KAYTE , LOMBARDO PAUL A. 
Published: April 2018

Policy Points:
While most scholarship regarding the US Public Health Service's STD experiments in Guatemala during the 1940s has focused on the intentional exposure experiments, secondary research was also conducted on biospecimens collected from these subjects.
These biospecimen experiments continued after the Guatemala grant ended, and the specimens were used in conjunction with those from the Tuskegee syphilis experiments for ongoing research.
We argue there should be a public accounting of whether there are still biospecimens from the Guatemala and Tuskegee experiments held in US government biorepositories today. If such specimens exist, they should be retired from US government research archives because they were collected unethically as understood at the time.
ContextThe US Public Health Service's Guatemala STD experiments (1946‐1948) included intentional exposure to pathogens and testing of postexposure prophylaxis methods for syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid in over 1,300 soldiers, commercial sex workers, prison inmates, and psychiatric patients. Though the experiments had officially ended, the biospecimens collected from these subjects continued to be used for research at least into the 1950s.MethodsWe analyzed historical documents—including clinical and laboratory records, correspondence, final reports, and medical records—for information relevant to these biospecimen experiments from the US National Archives. In addition, we researched material from past governmental investigations into the Guatemala STD experiments, including those of the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and the Guatemalan Comisión Presidencial para el Esclarecimiento de los Experimentos Practicados con Humanos en Guatemala.FindingsIdentified spinal fluid, blood specimens, and tissue collected during the Guatemala diagnostic methodology and intentional exposure experiments were subsequently distributed to laboratories throughout the United States for use in ongoing research until at least 1957. Five psychiatric patient subjects involved in these biospecimen experiments died soon after experimental exposure to STDs. The same US government researchers working with the Guatemala biospecimens after the exposure experiments ended were also working with specimens taken from the Tuskegee syphilis study.ConclusionsThere should be a complete public accounting of whether biospecimens from the Guatemala and Tuskegee experiments are held in US government biorepositories today. If they still exist, these specimens should be retired from such biorepositories and their future disposition determined by stakeholders, including representatives from the communities from which they were derived.
Long‐term visual outcomes for treatment of submacular haemorrhage secondary to polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy
Authors: Kang Hyun Goo , Kang Hyunseung , Byeon Suk Ho , Kim Sung Soo , Koh Hyoung Jun , Lee Sung Chul , Kim Min 
Published: April 2018

AbstractImportanceThere is no consensus on the optimal management of submacular haemorrhage (SMH) secondary to polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).BackgroundTo compare the long‐term outcome of three treatment strategies for PCV with SMH.DesignRetrospective case series at two tertiary hospitals.SamplesA total of 48 consecutive eyes treated between July 2006 and March 2016.MethodsPatients were grouped according to the treatment received: 22 eyes with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB), 14 with a combination of IVB and pneumatic displacement (PD) and 12 with IVB and vitrectomy (TPPV).Main Outcome MeasuresChange in best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at onset and up to 24 months. Secondary measures included demographic data, imaging data and complications.ResultsComparing the mean BCVAs of the groups revealed significant differences only at month 1 (P = 0.005). Changes in the mean BCVA over time revealed no significance in the resulting final BCVA (P = 0.062), which was 20 out of 155 (logMAR 0.89 ± 0.64) for IVB monotherapy, 20 out of 174 (0.94 ± 1.04) for combined IVB + PD, and 20 out of 195 (0.99 ± 0.90) for combined IVB + TPPV eyes. Sustained long‐term improvement of over three Snellen lines was found in seven (31.82%) IVB monotherapy, 10 (71.43%) combined IVB + PD, and seven (58.33%) combined IVB + TPPV eyes (P = 0.043). SMH recurrence was observed in two eyes after IVB monotherapy and one eye after combined IVB + PD (P = 0.786).Conclusions and RelevanceIVB monotherapy appears to be as effective as combination therapies for treating SMH secondary to PCV with regards to BCVA at 24 months, and may be a cost‐effective strategy for long‐term management.
Brain complications of diabetes mellitus: a cross‐sectional study of awareness among individuals with diabetes and the general population in Ireland
Authors: Dolan C. , Glynn R. , Griffin S. , Conroy C. , Loftus C. , Wiehe P. C. , Healy M. L. , Lawlor B. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimsTo identify awareness of potential brain complications of diabetes among individuals with diabetes and the public.MethodsFor this observational, cross‐sectional survey study, we recruited consecutive adult attendees of a specialist diabetes clinic and two primary care practices. Primary care attendees represented members of the general population of Ireland. An interviewer‐administered questionnaire was used to gather data on respondents’ awareness of brain complications of diabetes and modifiable risk factors for dementia. Multivariable logistic regression was undertaken to identify variables independently associated with awareness.ResultsRespondents included a total of 502 adults: 250 in the diabetes group (37% women, mean age 63 ± 14 years, 88% with Type 2 diabetes) and 252 in the general population group (51% women, mean age 47 ± 17 years, 7% with Type 2 diabetes). The diabetes group had significantly greater awareness of diabetes complications, except for depression, compared with the general population group. In the group as a whole, respondent awareness of dementia (35%) and memory problems (47%) as potential complications of diabetes was poor compared with awareness of kidney (84%) and eye damage (84%). Respondents were 1.5 times more likely to identify that individuals can modify their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than their risk of dementia.ConclusionsThis study shows that there is poor awareness of brain complications of diabetes among individuals with diabetes and the general population in Ireland. The results suggest a need for expansion of public awareness campaigns and diabetes education programmes to promote awareness of the brain complications of diabetes and of the modifiable risk factors for dementia, as part of a life‐course approach to dementia prevention.