bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Predicting the Effects of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on Microhabitat Structure and Small Mammal Communities
Authors: Degrassi Allyson L. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractHemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) invasion and preemptive logging practices alter the habitat structure of New England forests and may indirectly affect associated small mammal communities. Microhabitat structure was measured and small mammals were censused in eight large experimental plots to quantify and predict these effects. The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research experiment is a replicated two-block design that includes four 0.81-ha canopy treatments: 1) Hemlock Control, 2) Hardwood Control, 3) Girdled Treatment, in which hemlock trees were killed by girdling in 2005 and left standing to simulate HWA invasion, and 4) Logged Treatment, in which trees were removed to simulate preemptive logging management practices. Nine microhabitat characteristics were measured from plot photos revealing differences among microhabitat structure. Small mammals were censused with arrays of 49 Sherman traps per plot and population sizes of common species were estimated with mark-recapture analysis. Between 6 and 8 mammal species were recorded in all treatments and species composition varied slightly. Populations of two common rodents (Peromyscus spp.) were not affected by treatment, but the southern red-backed vole population was greatest in the Girdled treatment. Estimated species richness was greater in the Girdled treatment than the Hemlock control, but richness did not differ between Girdled and Logged treatments, which suggests preemptive logging is as detrimental to some small mammal species as HWA invasion. Overall, nine years post disturbance, there is little evidence of a major shift in small mammal community structure in response to woolly adelgid invasion, with only minor changes in relative abundance.
Adaptive diversification of growth allometry in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Vasseur François , Exposito-Alonso Moises , Ayala-Garay Oscar , Wang George , Enquist Brian J. , Vile Denis , Violle Cyrille , Weigel Detlef 
Published: February 2018

AbstractSeed plants vary tremendously in size and morphology. However, variation and covariation between plant traits may at least in part be governed by universal biophysical laws and biological constants. Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST) posits that whole-organismal metabolism and growth rate are under stabilizing selection that minimizes the scaling of hydrodynamic resistance and maximizes the scaling of resource uptake. This constrains variation in physiological traits and in the rate of biomass accumulation, so that they can be expressed as mathematical functions of plant size with near constant allometric scaling exponents across species. However, observed variation in scaling exponents questions the evolutionary drivers and the universality of allometric equations. We have measured growth scaling and fitness traits of 451 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions with sequenced genomes. Variation among accessions around the scaling exponent predicted by MST correlated with relative growth rate, seed production and stress resistance. Genomic analyses indicate that growth allometry is affected by many genes associated with local climate and abiotic stress response. The gene with the strongest effect, PUB4, has molecular signatures of balancing selection, suggesting that intraspecific variation in growth scaling is maintained by opposing selection on the trade-off between seed production and abiotic stress resistance. Our findings support a core MST prediction and suggest that variation in allometry contributes to local adaptation to contrasting environments. Our results help reconcile past debates on the origin of allometric scaling in biology, and begin to link adaptive variation in allometric scaling to specific genes.Significance statementAre there biological constants unifying phenotypic diversity across scales? Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST) predicts mathematical regularity and constancy in the allometric scaling of growth rate with body size across species. Here, we show that adaptation to climate in Arabidopsis thaliana is associated with local strains that substantially deviate from the values predicted by MST. This deviation can be linked to increased stress tolerance at the expense of seed production, and it occurs through selection on genes that are involved in abiotic stress response and that are geographically correlated with climatic conditions. This highlights the evolutionary role of allometric diversification and helps establish the physiological bases of plant adaptation to contrasting environments.
Enhancing teacher training skills by strengthening the teaching practice component
Authors: Phillips Heather Nadia , Chetty Rajendra 
Published: February 2018

Purpose
The ongoing theory vs practice debate reinforces the problems facing teacher training institutions which need to challenge traditional programmes and work towards a tighter coherence between coursework and practical experience. Working more closely with schools to restructure teaching practice is necessary in order to create better tuition experience for students. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
This project is situated within an interpretivist paradigm and is qualitative in nature. A sample of four South African education faculties was included. Semi-structured and focus group interviews were used to collect data from fourth-year BEd students, lecturers and in-service practitioners.

Findings
The findings indicated that the participants believed that the lack of actual classroom experience, and ineffective organisation of teaching practice, resulted in students feeling ill-equipped. Suggestions are made to improve the organisation of teaching experience and mentorship programmes.

Originality/value
This is an original research paper and it has value for teacher education.
Tackling the sustainability iceberg
Authors: Meinlschmidt Jan , Schleper Martin C. , Foerstl Kai 
Published: February 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how buying firms manage their lower tier sustainability management (LTSM) in their supply networks and what contextual factors influence the choice of approaches. As most of the environmental and social burden is caused in lower tiers, the authors use the iceberg analogy.Design/methodology/approachFindings from 12 case studies and 53 interviews, publicly available and internal firm data are presented. In an abductive research approach, transaction cost economics (TCE) conceptually guides the analytical iteration processes between theory and data.FindingsThis study provides eight LTSM approaches grouped into three categories: direct (holistic, product-, region-, and event-specific) indirect (multiplier-, alliance- and compliance-based) and neglect (tier-1-based). Focal firms choose between these approaches depending on the strength of observed contextual factors (stakeholder salience, structural supply network complexity, product and industry salience, past supply network incidents, socio-economic and cultural distance and lower tier supplier dependency), leading to perceived sustainability risk (PSR).Research limitations/implicationsBy depicting TCE’s theoretical boundaries in predicting LTSM governance modes, the theory is elevated to the supply network level of analysis. Future research should investigate LTSM at the purchasing category level of analysis to compare and contrast PSR profiles for different purchase tasks and to validate and extend the framework.Practical implicationsThis study serves as a blueprint for the development of firms’ LTSM capabilities that suit their unique PSR profiles. It offers knowledge regarding what factors influence these profiles and presents a model that links the effectiveness of different LTSM approaches to resource intensity.Originality/valueThis study extends the application of TCE and adds empirically to the literature on multi-tier and sustainable supply chain management.
The impacts of community-based HIV testing and counselling on testing uptake
Authors: Sulat Jaelan Sumo , Prabandari Yayi Suryo , Sanusi Rossi , Hapsari Elsi Dwi , Santoso Budiono 
Published: February 2018

Purpose
Community-based HIV testing and counselling (HTC) has been recommended for improving access to prevention, care, and treatment services in at-risk populations. Earlier systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been undertaken, but due to some methodological limitations, their findings do not yet provide a practical significance. The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the recent evidence of the efficacy of community-based HTC approaches on the uptake of HTC in at-risk populations.

Design/methodology/approach
The database of PubMed online, Science Direct, the Lancet Global Health, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar were systematically searched using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to obtain empirical papers published between March 2013 and December 2015.

Findings
Of 600 collected papers, there were 6 cluster randomized trials papers which met the inclusion criteria. Compared to the health facilities-based HTC, community-based HTC approaches have been shown to improve the uptake of HIV testing from 5.8 to 37 per cent, and improve HIV testing in men and their partners together from 6.8 to 34 per cent. The community approaches also detected lower HIV-positive cases (0.29 per cent as compared to 4 per cent), improved access to treatment services from 0.3 to 25 per cent, demonstrated higher cluster differentiation 4 count in newly diagnosed patients (median of 400-438 cells/µl), and increased the rate of first-time HIV testing from 9 to 11.8 per cent. With respect to social and behavioural outcomes, community-based HTC increased social norms for HIV testing by 6 per cent (95 per cent CI 3-9), decreased multiple sex partners by 55 per cent (95 per cent CI 42-73), lowered casual sex by 45 per cent (95 per cent CI 33-62), increased knowledge about HIV (83.2 vs 28.9 per cent), improved positive attitudes towards HIV patients (73.0 vs 34.3 per cent), and increased the use of condoms (28.0 vs 12.3 per cent).

Originality/value
Community-based HTC combined with behavioural interventions have been found to be more effective in increasing the uptake of HIV testing as well as other outcomes as compared to the conventional health facilities-based testing and counselling approaches.
Can Lean and Agile organisations within the UK automotive supply chain be distinguished based upon contextual factors?
Authors: Qamar Amir , Hall Mark 
Published: February 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to robustly establish whether firms are implementing Lean or Agile production in the automotive supply chain (SC) and, by drawing on contingency theory (CT) as our theoretical lens, independently determine whether Lean and Agile firms can be distinguished based upon contextual factors.Design/methodology/approachPrimary quantitative data from 140 firms in the West Midlands (UK) automotive industry were obtained via a constructed survey. Analysis incorporated the use of logistic regressions to calculate the probability of Lean and Agile organisations belonging to different groups amongst the contextual factors investigated.FindingsLean and Agile firms co-exist in the automotive SC and Lean firms were found to be at higher tiers of the SC, while Agile firms were found to be at lower tiers.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies within the novel methodological attempt used to distinguish Lean and Agile production, based upon the contextual factors investigated. Not only is the importance of CT theoretically approved, but “received wisdom” within SC management is also contested. Extant literature propagates that the automotive SC is comprised of organisations that predominantly adopt Lean production methods, and that in SCs comprised of both Lean and Agile organisations, the firms closer to the customer will adopt more flexible (Agile) practices, while those that operate upstream will adopt more efficient (Lean) practices. The findings from this study have implications for theory and practice, as Lean and Agile firms can be found in the automotive SC without any relationship to the value-adding process. To speculate as to why the findings contest existing views, resource dependence theory and, more specifically, a power perspective, was invoked. The authors provide readers with a new way of thinking concerning complicated SCs and urge that the discipline of SC management adopts a “fourth” SC model, depicting a new Lean and Agile SC configuration.
Associational effects and the maintenance of polymorphism in plant defense against herbivores: review and evidence
Authors: Sato Yasuhiro 
Published: February 2018

AbstractMany plant species have evolved defense traits against herbivores. Associational effects (AEs) refer to a kind of apparent interaction where the herbivory risk to a focal plant species depends on the composition of other plant species in a neighborhood. Despite ample evidence for AEs between different plant species, this point of view has rarely been applied to polymorphism in defense traits within a plant species. The purpose of this review is to highlight an overlooked role of conspecific AEs in maintaining polymorphism in antiherbivore defense. First, I present a general review of AE between plant species and its role in the coexistence of plant species. This viewpoint of AE can be applied to genetic polymorphism within a plant species, as it causes frequency‐ and density‐dependent herbivory between multiple plant types. Second, I introduce a case study of conspecific AEs in the trichome‐producing (hairy) and glabrous plants ofArabidopsis hallerisubsp.gemmifera.Laboratory and semi‐field experiments illustrated that AEs against the brassica leaf beetlePhaedon brassicaemediate a minority advantage in defense and fitness between hairy and glabrous plants. Combined with a statistical modeling approach, field observation revealed that conspecific AEs can maintain the trichome dimorphismvianegative frequency‐dependent selection in a plant population. Finally, I discuss spatial and temporal scales at which AEs contribute to shaping genetic variation in antiherbivore defense in a plant metapopulation. Based on the review and evidence, I suggest that AEs play a key role in the maintenance of genetic variation within a plant species.
Global Urban Policymaking in Africa: A View from Angola Through the Redevelopment of the Bay of Luanda
Authors: Croese Sylvia 
Published: February 2018

AbstractA burgeoning literature looks into the processes and actors involved in the adoption and emulation of best practices and models of urban policy and development across the globe, often with the aim of attracting investment and making cities more competitive. With its focus on leisure, tourism and global capital, the redevelopment of the Bay of Luanda, in the capital of Angola, echoes the rhetoric, policies and projects underpinning such practices. Yet, a deeper interrogation reveals that the redevelopment forms part of a predominantly inward‐looking project driven by the highest echelons of the national government and its ruling party. While these actors mimic and appropriate the language and tools of entrepreneurial cities, their aim is not necessarily to make the city more internationally competitive but to achieve domestic political legitimacy and stability. The argument presented in this article builds on McCann's () call for scholars to also consider the ‘introspective’ politics of urban policy boosterism from the perspective of a context in which power is highly centralized. The article thus contributes to a growing literature that advances more adequate and provincialized theorizations of urban policy and city governance in the global South, with a particular focus on the African context.
Market Competition and Health Outcomes in Hemodialysis
Authors: Erickson Kevin F. , Zheng Yuanchao , Ho Vivian , Winkelmayer Wolfgang C. , Bhattacharya Jay , Chertow Glenn M. 
Published: February 2018

ObjectiveTo examine whether market competition is associated with improved health outcomes in hemodialysis.Data SourcesSecondary analysis of data from a national dialysis registry between 2001 and 2011.Study DesignWe conducted one‐ and two‐part linear regression models, using each hospital service area (HSA) as its own control, to examine the independent associations among market concentration and health outcomes.Data CollectionWe selected cohorts of patients receiving in‐center hemodialysis in the United States at the start of each calendar year. We used information about dialysis facility ownership and the location where patients received dialysis to measure an index of market concentration—the Hirschman‐Herfindahl Index (HHI)—for HSA and year, which ranges from near zero (perfect competition) to one (monopoly).Principal FindingsAn average reduction in HHI by 0.2 (one standard deviation in 2011) was associated with 2.9 fewer hospitalizations per 100 patient‐years (95 percent CI, 0.4 to 5.4). If these findings were generalized to the entire in‐center hemodialysis population, this would translate to 8,100 (95 percent CI 1,200 to 15,000) fewer hospitalizations in 2011. There was no association between change in market competition and mortality.ConclusionsMarket competition in dialysis may lead to improved health outcomes.
A Confucian Case for Equal Membership for Foreign Domestic Workers
Authors: Kim Sungmoon 
Published: February 2018

AbstractDaniel A. Bell, a leading Confucian and communitarian political theorist, objects to equal membership to foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in East Asia on two Confucianism‐inspired normative and practical grounds. Bell's core argument is twofold: first, that liberal‐democratic demand for equal membership, despite its good intention, is likely to backfire, driving the current and potential FDWs into a far worse economic situation and second, that in a Confucian culture what is important is not so much justice but family‐like affective relationships, which, in Bell's view, can be better fostered between employers and FDWs in the absence of equal membership. In this paper, I challenge Bell's two objections from a Confucian perspective by highlighting that the Confucian appreciates the value of equal membership both for intrinsic reasons, finding the unequal citizen status morally demeaning, as well as for instrumental reasons in terms of its contribution to one's moral self‐cultivation.
Is non‐response to fluconazole maintenance therapy for recurrent Candida vaginitis related to sensitization to atopic reactions?
Authors: Donders Gilbert G. G. , Grinceviciene Svitrigaile , Bellen Gert , Jaeger Martin , ten Oever Jaap , Netea Mihai G. 
Published: February 2018

ProblemIs sensitization to atopic reaction related to treatment response of recurrent Candida vulvovaginal (RVVC)?Method of the studyAnalysis of ReCiDiF trial data of optimal (OR) and non‐responders (NR) to fluconazole maintenance treatment, to explore medical history, physical status, family history, and vaginal immune response for potential sensitization to atopic reaction.ResultsSociodemographic characteristics of 33 NR women were not different from 38 OR. NR had received higher number of different treatments (mean difference 1.6 different treatments (95% CI: 0.20‐2.97), P = .03) and had more episodes of disease (P < .05). Multivariate regression analysis showed that family history of atopy (OR: 4.9, CI 95%: 1.1‐22.2), duration of symptoms (OR: 1.2, CI 95%: 1.02‐1.5), and vulvar excoriation (OR: 3.6, CI 95%: 1.4‐9.3) were related to non‐response. Vulvar excoriation at entry was the only statistically significant predictive factor for non‐response in multivariate analysis with specificity 77.8% and sensitivity 51.6%.ConclusionWomen with RVVC with vulvar excoriation, longer duration of disease, and family history of atopic disease are at increased risk not to respond to maintenance fluconazole treatment.
Is anticoagulating haemodialysis patients with non‐valvular atrial fibrillation too risky?
Authors: Parker Kathrine , Mitra Sandip , Thachil Jecko 
Published: February 2018

SummaryThere is an increasing understanding of the risks from atrial fibrillation (AF) in the current era. In patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis, the prevalence of AF is significantly higher compared to the general population and those with earlier stages of CKD. Although anticoagulation of these patients may seem appropriate, there is a lack of conclusive evidence that it provides the same protection from thromboembolic complications as it does in patients not on dialysis. In addition, the increased risk of bleeding in patients requiring dialysis makes the use of anticoagulants less favourable. This article aims to discuss the problem of AF in dialysis patients, summarise the current evidence around the use of oral anticoagulants for AF in ESRD and provide some practical suggestions on management of AF in the haemodialysis population.
Individual differences in social control: Who ‘speaks up’ when witnessing uncivil, discriminatory, and immoral behaviours?
Authors: Moisuc Alexandrina , Brauer Markus , Fonseca Anabel , Chaurand Nadine , Greitemeyer Tobias 
Published: February 2018

This research examined the personality characteristics of individuals who ‘speak up’ and confront perpetrators of norm transgressions. We tested whether those who intervene tend to be ‘bitter complainers’ or ‘well‐adjusted leaders’. In four studies (total N = 1,003), we measured several individual differences that are directly implicated by at least one of the two concepts. We also presented participants with uncivil, discriminatory, and immoral behaviours and asked them how likely they would be to intervene if they were to witness each of these behaviours as a bystander. The results confirmed the well‐adjusted leader hypothesis: Participants’ self‐reported tendency to confront perpetrators correlated positively with altruism, extraversion, social responsibility, acceptance by peers, independent self‐construal, emotion regulation, persistence, self‐directedness, age, occupation, and monthly salary, but not with aggressiveness or low self‐esteem. Individuals who confront prejudice also speak up against other immoral and uncivil behaviours. We discuss the implications of these findings for the perpetuation and change of social norms.