bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Applying meta-analysis to Genotype-Tissue Expression data from multiple tissues to identify eQTLs and increase the number of eGenes
Authors: Duong Dat , Gai Lisa , Snir Sagi , Kang Eun Yong , Han Buhm , Sul Jae Hoon , Eskin Eleazar 
Published: January 2017

AbstractDuring the last decade, with the advent of inexpensive microarray and RNA-seq technologies, there have been many expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies for identifying genetic variants called eQTLs that regulate gene expression. Discovering eQTLs has been increasingly important as they may elucidate the functional consequence of non-coding variants identified from genome-wide association studies. Recently, several eQTL studies such as the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) consortium have made a great effort to obtain gene expression from multiple tissues. One advantage of these multi-tissue eQTL datasets is that they may allow one to identify more eQTLs by combining information across multiple tissues. Although a few methods have been proposed for multi-tissue eQTL studies, they are often computationally intensive and may not achieve optimal power because they do not consider a biological insight that a genetic variant regulates gene expression similarly in related tissues. In this paper, we propose an efficient meta-analysis approach for identifying eQTLs from large multi-tissue eQTL datasets. We name our method RECOV because it uses a random effects (RE) meta-analysis with an explicit covariance (COV) term to model the correlation of effect that eQTLs have across tissues. Our approach is faster than the previous approaches and properly controls the false-positive rate. We apply our approach to the real multi-tissue eQTL dataset from GTEx that contains 44 tissues, and show that our approach detects more eQTLs and eGenes than previous approaches.
Associative Learning from Replayed Experience
Authors: Ludvig Elliot A. , Mirian Mahdieh S. , Kehoe E. James , Sutton Richard S. 
Published: January 2017

AbstractWe develop an extension of the Rescorla-Wagner model of associative learning. In addition to learning from the current trial, the new model supposes that animals store and replay previous trials, learning from the replayed trials using the same learning rule. This simple idea provides a unified explanation for diverse phenomena that have proved challenging to earlier associative models, including spontaneous recovery, latent inhibition, retrospective revaluation, and trial spacing effects. For example, spontaneous recovery is explained by supposing that the animal replays its previous trials during the interval between extinction and test. These include earlier acquisition trials as well as recent extinction trials, and thus there is a gradual re-acquisition of the conditioned response. We present simulation results for the simplest version of this replay idea, where the trial memory is assumed empty at the beginning of an experiment, all experienced trials are stored and none removed, and sampling from the memory is performed at random. Even this minimal replay model is able to explain the challenging phenomena, illustrating the explanatory power of an associative model enhanced by learning from remembered as well as real experiences.
Excessive ERK-dependent synaptic clustering drives enhanced motor learning in the MECP2 duplication syndrome mouse model of autism
Authors: Ash Ryan Thomas , Buffington Shelly Alexandra , Park Jiyoung , Costa-Mattioli Mauro , Zoghbi Huda Yaya , Smirnakis Stelios Manolis 
Published: January 2017

AbstractAutism-associated genetic mutations may produce altered learning abilities by perturbing the balance between stability and plasticity of synaptic connections in the brain. Here we report an increase in the stabilization of dendritic spines formed during repetitive motor learning in the mouse model ofMECP2-duplication syndrome, a high-penetrance form of syndromic autism. This increased stabilization is mediated entirely by spines that form cooperatively in clusters. The number of clusters formed and stabilized predicts the mutant’s enhanced motor learning and memory phenotype, reminiscent of savant-like behaviors occasionally associated with autism.The ERK signaling pathway, which promotes cooperative plasticity between spines, was found to be hyperactive inMECP2-duplication motor cortex specifically after training. Inhibition of ERK signaling normalizes clustered spine stabilization and rescues motor learning behavior in mutants. We conclude that learning-associated dendritic spine clustering stabilized by hyperactive ERK signaling drives abnormal motor learning and memory consolidation in this model of syndromic autism.
Impacts of human resource development on engineering, procurement, and construction project success
Authors: Nguyen Huong Thanh , Hadikusumo Bonaventura 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of human resource development (HRD) on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project success (PS), human resource competency (HRC), job performance (JP), and the interrelationship among them. This paper also investigates the impact of EPC project factors (PF) on PS, the factors affecting HRD, including internal factors (IF) and external factors (EF) during EPC project implementation.

Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling (SEM), SPSS, and AMOS software were used to test nine proposed hypotheses. The respondents comprised 800 participants involved in EPC projects throughout Vietnam.

Findings
The results show that HRD positively affects HRC, JP, and PS. HRD is influenced by IF but not influenced by EF. HRC positively impacts on JP and PS, while PF directly impacts on PS.

Originality/value
The study indicates that the development of competent human resources for EPC project implementation plays a considerable role in EPC PS. The findings also give project professionals a tool for improving HRD, and HRC to increase the likelihood of PS.
Identification of risk patterns in Vietnamese road and bridge construction
Authors: Dang Chau Ngoc , Le-Hoai Long , Kim Soo-Yong , Nguyen Chau Van , Lee Young-Dai , Lee Sun-Ho 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify risk patterns of road and bridge projects in Vietnam, where the construction market is emerging but attractive to construction organizations, especially foreign companies.

Design/methodology/approach
Using a questionnaire, experienced practitioners of various contractors were interviewed to collect risk-related data in terms of actual likelihood and impact from road and bridge construction projects in Vietnam. Using the collected data of actual likelihood and impact, the specific probability and impact of risk factors were determined for different types of road and bridge projects, including small and medium type, big type, government-funding type, and other-funding type (e.g. official development assistance funds, public-private partnership).

Findings
The results of analysis indicate the specific probability and impact of risk factors in four risk themes, including contractor-related, project-related, owner-related, and external risks. Actual risk patterns for different types of road and bridge projects in Vietnam were identified.

Practical implications
The identification of actual risk patterns could help practitioners to know which risk factors are severe in frequency and/or impact. Hence, they could establish proper strategies to manage risk-related problems of road and bridge projects, in which they are directly involved.

Originality/value
The findings of this study could provide construction companies, especially foreign companies, with a better understanding of real risk panorama in Vietnamese road and bridge construction. Hence, they could make effective improvements on risk management of road and bridge projects in Vietnam.
Success criteria of toll road projects from a community societal perspective
Authors: Rohman Mohammad Arif , Doloi Hemanta , Heywood Christopher Andrew 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
While the success of the toll road projects procured through public private partnerships (PPPs) routes are widely confined to the cost, time and quality performance in the delivery context, considerable evidence suggests that such success criteria are not sufficient when the toll road projects are assessed in relation to meeting the long-run community expectations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors associated with the success of the toll road projects from a societal perspective in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on the input from 12 experts and a rigorous literature review, a questionnaire survey was designed and a total of 206 respondents from three broad stakeholders’ groups, namely, government, private and end-users’ communities were surveyed to measure the performance of eight toll road projects. The data were primarily analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and reliability test using SPSS Software.

Findings
Four significant factors associated with the project social benefit were established as a measure of the overall success criteria in toll road projects. It is expected these can be used as guidance to deliver project social benefit to the community in the overall project lifecycle.

Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to the incorporation of social project benefit attributes to the the toll road projects’ success criteria in overall project lifecycle.

Practical implications
This study can be used as guidance for the overall stakeholders, such as the government and the project manager to address the current social problems and better navigate the project direction in order to achieve the overall toll road project success in the overall project lifecycles.

Social implications
The research highlights how the Indonesian government’s program of developing toll road projects using the PPP procurement routes can be supported for complete social inclusivity by considering the social dimension to achieve long-term success.

Originality/value
Identification of the key project social factors based on the data set with a wide representation of the stakeholders has made the research original and unique.
Exchange-rate volatility and Malaysian-Thai bilateral industry trade flows
Authors: Aftab Muhammad , Syed Karim Bux Shah , Katper Naveed Akhter 
Published: January 2017

PurposeAfter the fall of fix exchange rate regime in early 1970s, the nexus between the exchange rate volatility and trade flows has been of a great interest to the policy makers and researchers. Resultantly an extensive literature is available on the topic. However, the research findings are inconclusiveness so far. The purpose of this paper is to examine the exchange-rate volatility and bilateral industry trade link between the two important countries of Southeast Asia, i.e. Malaysia and Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) (1, 1) to measure exchange rate volatility and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to study the relationship between exchange rate volatility and trade flows. ARDL approach is suitable to accommodate the mix cases (i.e. stationary and first difference stationary). The paper considers 62 Malaysian exporting and 60 Malaysian importing industries with Thailand over the monthly period 2000-2013.FindingsFindings suggest the influence of exchange-rate volatility on the trade flows in a limited number of industries. Large industries like instruments and apparatus experience negative influence from exchange-rate volatility.Originality/valuePast literature continued to be inconclusiveness on the nexus between exchange-rate volatility and trade flows due to its over-reliance on the aggregated data. Besides, the past studies are more based on quarterly or yearly frequency data. These issues contribute to the aggregation bias. This research focusses on a country bilateral trade pair, using industry level disaggregated monthly data. Such research is rare in Malaysian-Thai bilateral trade context. This study uses a suitable estimation approach and also draws valuable implications.
The influence of political regime vs political instability on real output
Authors: Sweidan Osama D. 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare and contrast the effect of the nature of the political regime vs the political instability (PI) on real output in a group of countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) during the period 1980-2011. This part of the world has been going through a series of unstable political regimes and continuous PI events for over seven decades.

Design/methodology/approach
The author employs a time-series cross-sectional Prais-Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors.

Findings
The author concludes that the relationship between the nature of the political regime and real output is mixed (negative and positive); this impact seems to get changed to a positive value whenever the regimes’ instability events are mitigated. However, the influence of PI on real output has a negative benchmark level. The author also notices that the effect of the political regime on real output is stronger over all the sample countries of the study. The results depart somehow from the previous studies’ findings. Therefore, the implication of the author’s conclusion is to investigate how and why the effects of these uncertainties turned positive.

Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature from three perspectives. First, the author compares the effects on real output from different types of political system uncertainties. Second, the author extracts evidence on this topic from the most unstable region of the world, the MENA region. Third, the author uses a new econometric technique compared to the previous studies.
Criminal and legal characteristics of criminal intent
Authors: Veresha Roman 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
This paper aims to consider the problems related to criminal legal characteristics of the crime objective and to analyze specific features of the crime objective as the subjective aspect of crime.

Design/methodology/approach
Research methodology used in studying the criminal legal characteristics of the crime objective was based on the dialectical method of scientific cognition of the social and legal phenomena, its laws and categories. The author used general scientific research methods, systematic, historical, logical and functional, and observation, analysis, comparison and the empirical sociological method.

Findings
Definition of the crime objective as one of the subjective aspects related to the socially dangerous act will be helpful to detect the real causes of crime and to apply the right type and term of punishment. The crime objective should be understood as the important, well-defined features of conscious mental image of the future desired result, which determines the orientation and order of various actions aimed at crime commitment.

Originality/value
The paper substantiated the need to determine crime objective as one of the signs of the subjective aspect of crime. This will reveal the real causes of crime and apply the right type and term of punishment. It was established that the crime objective was a psychological phenomenon, and the question of its analysis and study had to be settled with regard to psychology and criminology, which will influence its cognition. The paper provided a definition of crime objective. Based on a scientific approach to the theoretical definition of the objective in the criminal law and the place in the subjective aspect of crime, the author presumed that crime objective had to be regarded as an optional feature of the subjective aspect of crime.
Tax arrears amongst individual income taxpayers in Malaysia
Authors: Mohamad Azhar , Radzuan Neazlin , Hamid Zarinah 
Published: January 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between tax arrears and socio-psychological demographic factors on individual taxpayers as well as macroeconomic factors in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, using proprietary data from Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia on individual income tax returns for the year of 2004 through 2012, the authors run a panel data fixed effect model analysis to examine the impact of socio-psychological demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, income level, occupational sector, place of residence of individual tax payers as well macroeconomic factors such as real GDP, inflation and economic growth on tax arrears in Malaysia.FindingsWe find that, by and large, older male taxpayers in big towns, with high incomes, tend to accumulate tax arrears. Tax arrears are also significantly affected by real GDP, but not by marital status or occupational sector.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is one the few studies that uses individual tax returns data to study determinants of tax arrears.
The experience of forensic males in dialectical behaviour therapy (forensic version): a qualitative exploratory study
Authors: Russell Samantha , Siesmaa Belinda 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) has been widely used in a number of different settings with published outcomes and literature supporting its validity and efficacy. What is less understood is DBT’s application to forensic populations. The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively explore the experiences of high risk and adult male forensic clients (diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)) in a forensic adapted version of DBT.

Design/methodology/approach
Six clients who had completed four modules of DBT and individual therapy engaged in semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings
The findings identified emerging themes relating to group processes and treatment outcomes. Specifically, the importance of motivation, shared learning, professionalism, reinforcement and reflection in creating a positive experience of DBT were identified. In addition clients identified feeling supported, a sense of belonging, personal achievement, increased knowledge and skills application as being part of their experience of DBT.

Research limitations/implications
Whilst efforts were made to manage limitations, potential confounders include the impact of the researcher’s direct involvement in the facilitation of DBT and the small sample size.

Practical implications
This study provides support for the use of DBT with forensic males diagnosed with ASPD and BPD and the importance of the group component to the treatment modality. It emphasises the importance of group cohesion and the development of interpersonal factors including feeling supported, sense of belonging and a sense of achievement.

Originality/value
This paper provides a unique contribution to the understanding of the application of DBT with forensic male clients with personality disorder. It is the first known study to use qualitative methods to explore forensic male clients’ experiences of group and individual DBT. This paper provides insight into the key themes of clients’ experiences of DBT. These identified themes lend support to the importance of motivation of clients and the experience of shared learning, reinforcement and reflection. Furthermore, feeling supported, having a sense of belonging and a sense of personal achievement were identified as key to the positive experience of clients.
The impact of time discretization on solvency measurement
Authors: Schmeiser Hato , Luca Daliana 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how the discretization interval affects the solvency measurement of a property-liability insurance company.

Design/methodology/approach
Starting with a basic solvency model, the authors study the impact of the discretization interval on risk measures. The analysis considers the sensitivity of the discrepancy between the risk measures in continuous and discrete time to various parameters, such as the asset-to-liability ratio, the characteristics of the asset and liability processes, as well as the correlation between assets and liabilities. Capital requirements for the one-year planning horizon in continuous vs discrete time are reported as well. The purpose is to report the degree to which the deviations in risk measures, due to the different discretization intervals, can be reduced by means of increasing the frequency with which the risk measures are assessed.

Findings
The simulation results suggest that the risk measures of an insurance company are consistently underestimated when assessed on an annual basis (as it is currently done under insurance regulation such as Solvency II). The authors complement the analysis with the capital requirements of an insurance company and conclude that more frequent discretization translates into higher capital requirements for the insurance company. Both the probability of ruin and the expected policyholder deficit (EPD) can be reduced through intermediate financial reports.

Originality/value
The results from our simulation analysis suggest that that the choice of discretization interval has an impact on the risk assessment of an insurance company which uses the probability of ruin and the EPD as risk measures. By assessing the risk measures once a year, both risk measures and the capital requirements are consistently underestimated. Therefore, the recommendation for risk managers is to complement the capital requirements in solvency regulation with sensitivity analyses of the risk measures presented with respect to time discretization. On the one hand, it seems to us that there is value in knowing about the substantial discrepancy between the focused time discrete ruin probability and EPD compared to the continuous version. On the other hand, and if there are no substantial transaction costs associated with more frequent monitoring of solvency figures, a frequent update would be helpful to increase the accuracy of the calculations and reduce the EPD.
Segmentation of ordered point cloud using a novel measure of terrain unevenness
Authors: Reddy Satish Kumar , Pal Prabir K. 
Published: January 2017

Purpose
This paper aims to present object or feature segmentation from an ordered 3D point cloud range data obtained from a laser scanner for the purpose of robot navigation.

Design/methodology/approach
Rotating multi-beam laser scanners provide ordered 3D range data. Differences between consecutive ranges in radial direction are used to compute a novel measure of terrain unevenness at each data point. Computed over a complete rotation, an unevenness field is formed surrounding the scanner. A part of this field staying below a threshold is recognized as ground and removed. Remaining non-ground points are segmented into objects by region growing with points whose unevenness lies within pre-specified limiting values.

Findings
The proposed unevenness attribute is simple and efficient for segmenting distinct objects or features. The fineness of surface features can be regulated by adjusting the threshold value of difference in unevenness between neighbouring points that triggers an onset of new segments.

Research limitations/implications
The angles between neighbouring laser range data are assumed to be known.

Practical implications
Segmented objects or features can be used for scan registration, object tracking and robot navigation.

Social implications
The method may find use in autonomous robots and driverless cars.

Originality/value
Differences between consecutive range data are used imaginatively to derive a novel measure of terrain unevenness, which in turn, is used for efficient segmentation of objects and features.