bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neurons in the inferior temporal cortex of macaque monkeys are sensitive to multiple surface features from natural objects
Authors: Tamura Hiroshi , Otsuka Haruki , Yamane Yukako 
Published: November 2016

AbstractObject surfaces contain a variety of visual features that help us to recognize them. To understand how this information is represented and processed in the brain, we prepared a set of images from natural object surfaces that maintained surface features but lacked contours. We examined spiking responses of neurons in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex of monkeys, which is a crucial structure needed for visual object recognition. About half of IT neurons responded to surface images with sharp selectivity, indicating that a significant fraction of these neurons contribute to object surface representation in a sparse manner. Responses of IT neurons were susceptible to image manipulations, including color removal, removal of luminance contrasts, and spatial structure degradation. This shows that multiple features are required for IT responses to surface images. Comparing neuronal response properties among IT, visual area 4 (V4), and primary visual cortex (V1) revealed properties of IT neurons that differed from those in the other visual processing regions. Additionally, some neuronal response properties were similar between IT and V4, but differed from those in V1, indicating that responses of IT neurons to surface images are constructed by hierarchical processing throughout the ventral visual pathway.
Modeling trophic dependencies and exchanges among insects’ bacterial symbionts in a host-simulated environment
Authors: Opatovsky Itai , Santos-Garcia Diego , Lahav Tamar , Ofaim Shani , Mouton Laurence , Barbe Valérie , Zchori-Fein Einat , Freilich Shiri 
Published: November 2016

AbstractIndividual organisms are linked to their communities and ecosystems via metabolic activities. Metabolic exchanges and co-dependencies have long been suggested to have a pivotal role in determining community structure. Metabolic interactions with bacteria have been key drivers in the evolution of sap-feeding insects, enabling complementation of their deprived nutrition. The sap-feeding whiteflyBemisia tabaci(Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) harbors an obligatory symbiotic bacterium, as well as varying combinations of facultative symbionts. We took advantage of the well-defined bacterial community inB. tabacias a case study for a comprehensive and systematic survey of metabolic interactions within the bacterial community and their associations with documented frequency of bacterial combinations. We first reconstructed the metabolic networks of five commonB. tabacisymbionts(Portiera, Rickettsia, Hamiltonella, CardiniumandWolbachia),and then used network analysis approaches to predict: (1) species-specific metabolic capacities in a simulated bacteriocyte-like environment; (2) metabolic capacities of the corresponding species’ combinations, and (3) dependencies of each species on different media components.The automatic-based predictions for metabolic capacities of the symbionts in the host environment were in general agreement with previously reported genome analyses, each focused on the single-species level. The analysis suggested several previously un-reported routes for complementary interactions. Highly abundant symbiont combinations were found to have the potential to produce a diverse set of complementary metabolites, in comparison to un-detected combinations. No clear association was detected between metabolic codependencies and co-occurrence patterns. The findings indicate a potential key role for metabolic exchanges as key determinants shaping community structure in this system.
Buchnerahas changed flatmate but the repeated replacement of co-obligate symbionts is not associated with the ecological expansions of their aphid hosts
Authors: Meseguer A.S. , Manzano-Marín A. , Coeur d’Acier A. , Clamens A-L. , Godefroid M. , Jousselin E. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractSymbiotic associations with bacteria have facilitated important evolutionary transitions in insects and resulted in long-term obligate interactions. Recent evidence suggests that these associations are not always evolutionarily stable and that symbiont replacement and/or supplementation of an obligate symbiosis by an additional bacterium has occurred during the history of many insect groups. Yet, the factors favoring one symbiont over another in this evolutionary dynamic are not well understood; progress has been hindered by our incomplete understanding of the distribution of symbionts across phylogenetic and ecological contexts. While many aphids are engaged into an obligate symbiosis with a single Gammaproteobacterium,Buchnera aphidicola, in species of the Lachninae subfamily, this relationship has evolved into a“ménage à trois”, in whichBuchnerais complemented by a cosymbiont, usuallySerratia symbiotica.Using deep sequencing of 16S rRNA bacterial genes from 128 species ofCinara(the most diverse Lachninae genus), we reveal a highly dynamic dual symbiotic system in this aphid lineage. Most species host bothSerratiaandBuchnerabut, in several clades, endosymbionts related toSodalis, Erwiniaor an unnamed member of the Enterobacteriaceae have replacedSerratia. Endosymbiont genome sequences from four aphid species+confirm that these coresident symbionts fulfill essential metabolic functions not ensured byBuchnera.We further demonstrate through comparative phylogenetic analyses that co-symbiont replacement is not associated with the adaptation of aphids to new ecological conditions. We propose that symbiont succession was driven by factors intrinsic to the phenomenon of endosymbiosis, such as rapid genome deterioration or competitive interactions between bacteria with similar metabolic capabilities.
Development and assessment of fully automated and globally transitive geometric morphometric methods, with application to a biological comparative dataset with high interspecific variation
Authors: Gao Tingran , Yapuncich Gabriel S. , Daubechies Ingrid , Mukherjee Sayan , Boyer Doug M. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractAutomated geometric morphometric methods are promising tools for shape analysis in comparative biology: they improve researchers’ abilities to quantify biological variation extensively (by permitting more specimens to be analyzed) and intensively (by characterizing shapes with greater fidelity). Although use of these methods has increased, automated methods have some notable limitations: pairwise correspondences are frequently inaccurate or lack transitivity (i.e., they are not defined with reference to the full sample). In this study, we reassess the accuracy of two previously published automated methods, cPDist [1] and auto3Dgm [2], and evaluate several modifications to these methods. We show that a substantial fraction of alignments and pairwise maps between specimens of highly dissimilar geometries were inaccurate in the study of Boyer et al. [1], despite a taxonomically sensitive variance structure of continuous Procrustes distances. We also show these inaccuracies can be remedied by utilizing aglobally informedmethodology within a collection of shapes, instead of only comparing shapes in a pairwise manner (c.f. [2]). Unfortunately, while global information generally enhances maps between dissimilar objects, it can degrade the quality of correspondences between similar objects due to the accumulation of numerical error. We explore a number of approaches to mitigate this degradation, quantify the performance of these approaches, and compare the generated pairwise maps (as well as the shape space characterized by these maps) to a “ground truth” obtained from landmarks manually collected by geometric morphometricians. Novel methods both improve the quality of the pairwise correspondences relative to cPDist, and achieve a taxonomic distinctiveness comparable to auto3Dgm.
Manufacturing growth in India in recent years
Authors: Goldar Bishwanath 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
Since the announcement of the new series of national accounts for India (with base 2011-12) in January 2015, there has been endless controversy over the new gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers, particularly in respect of growth of Indian manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to highlight certain policy issues concerning India’s system of national accounts, in the context of the methodological changes made in the new national accounts series, and to check the validity of the view held by some critics that the new series has significantly overstated the growth rate in real gross value added in manufacturing in recent years.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a brief, selective review of the literature that has emerged on the new series of national accounts. A close look is taken at the available data on real gross value added growth in Indian manufacturing in conjunction with data on growth in India’s exports and in outstanding non-food commercial bank credit. Analysis of these data is undertaken with the help of a table and some graphs.

Findings
The paper finds that there is not enough basis to believe and argue that the GDP estimates in the new series of national accounts significantly overstate the true manufacturing sector growth in India.

Originality/value
Rates of manufacturing output growth in recent years indicated by the new series of national accounts for India are subjected to careful scrutiny by contrasting yearly growth rates in manufacturing output with those in India’s non-oil exports and in outstanding non-food commercial bank credit.
Determinants of residential electricity demand: evidence from Japan
Authors: Otsuka Akihiro , Haruna Shoji 
Published: November 2016

PurposeThis paper aims to estimate electricity demand functions in Japan’s residential sector.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a partial adjustment model and empirically analyze regional residential electricity demand by using data on 47 Japanese prefectures.FindingsThe results reveal that the price elasticity of residential electricity demand during the analytical period (1990-2010) is remarkably different among prefectures, depending on the magnitude of floor space per household. In addition, this study finds that price elasticity is high compared with income elasticity, implying that residential electricity demand changes with rates. Furthermore, an analysis of factors influencing electricity demand in the residential sector shows that increasing electricity demand growth in each region can be attributable mainly to declining electricity rates and increasing number of households.Research limitations/implicationsThese results suggest that monitoring the electricity rates and the number of households is important for forecasting future residential electricity demand at region.Originality/valueThe study considers the impact of the number of households on overall electricity demand and identifies other factors contributing to growth in residential electricity demand. The findings can be used to derive projections for future electricity demand.
Private equity investment in power generation projects: evidence from India
Authors: Thillairajan A. , Behera Monalisa 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
Private equity (PE) has emerged as an important source of capital for infrastructure in recent years. There have been more than 2,000 deals by PE infrastructure funds till 2012, with annual investments in the range of $100-120bn. Substantial proportion of these investments has been in the energy and the power sector. This paper aims to compare power generation projects with and without PE investment.

Design/methodology/approach
In this study, 148 power generation projects that were implemented in India during 2004-2011 were used for the analysis. Ordinary least squares and three-stage least squares regression have been used to analyze the impact of PE investment on unit project costs and project commissioning time.

Findings
Projects with PE investment had lower unit capacity costs as compared to power projects that did not have PE investment. This indicated the ability of PE investors to select, invest and develop those projects that are cost-effective. However, projects with PE investment had longer commissioning time. This can be attributed to the active monitoring and governance practices that were associated with PE investment.

Practical implications
The results highlight the key role that PE investors can play in power sector development in developing countries. Apart from providing capital to capital-starved economies, PE investors can help in developing cost-effective projects and contribute to sector development by institutionalizing robust processes and governance practices.

Originality/value
This is one of the earliest studies to analyze the impact of PE investment on the power sector.
Analysing housing market affordability in Northern Ireland: towards a better understanding?
Authors: McCord Michael James , Davis Peadar T. , Haran Martin , McCord John 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of housing market affordability. Although the problem of housing affordability has been widely discussed, the theoretical underpinnings of the concept have received less attention. It has become increasingly evident that more holistic insights and integrated approaches are needed to provide a platform to define affordability to influence research and policy discourse.

Design/methodology/approach
Given the increasing importance of affordability within housing policy reform, this paper seeks to “unearth” the most important prognosticators of affordability. The paper uses principal component analysis to determine how affordability, as a key policy tool, should be analysed. In addition, co integration techniques, Granger causality and impulse response analysis are applied to test the movement and shocks of the key affordability indicators and the two common affordability metrics.

Findings
The principal conclusions stemming from this paper demonstrate that affordability is a multifaceted policy concept influenced by financial access (purchase) costs and the repayment costs of housing services which are correlated and interchangeable but significantly were found not to be co integrated.

Originality/value
Understanding the nature of housing market affordability remains problem for policy-makers. This paper adds to the debate and empirical understanding of the cyclic nature of affordability and how it is defined. It shows that there are intricate causal short-term relationships between the key affordability indicators. This is problematic for contemporary housing policy and the key directions in which policy must turn.
A hedonic house price index in continuous time
Authors: Waltl Sofie R. 
Published: November 2016

PurposeThis paper aims to develop a methodology to accurately and timely measure movements in housing markets by constructing a continuously estimated house price index.Design/methodology/approachThe continuous index, which is extracted from an additive model that includes the temporal and the locational effects as smooth functions, can be interpreted as an extension of the classical hedonic time-dummy method. The methodology is applied to housing sales from Sydney, Australia, between 2001 and 2011, and compared to three types of discrete indexes.FindingsDiscrete indexes turn out to approach the continuously estimated index with decreasing period lengths but eventually become wiggly and unreliable because of fewer observations per period. The continuous index, in contrast, is stable, has favourable robustness properties and is more objective in several ways.Originality/valueThe resulting index tracks movements in the housing market precisely and in “real-time” and is hence suited for monitoring and assessing housing markets. Because turbulence in housing markets is often a harbinger of financial crises, such monitoring tools support policymakers and investors in tailoring their decisions and reactions. Additionally, the index can be evaluated arbitrarily frequently and therefore is well suited for use in property derivatives.
The role of institutions in output growth volatility-financial development nexus
Authors: Raheem Ibrahim Dolapo , Bello Ajide Kazeem , Adeniyi Oluwatosin 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of institutions in the financial development-output growth volatility nexus. It provides new channels through which financial development can dampen the output growth volatilities of the countries under investigation.

Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive data set for 71 countries covering the period from 1996 to 2012 and the System GMM approach were used. The choice of the methodology is to deal with endogeneity issues such as measurement errors, reverse causality among other issues.

Findings
A number of findings were emanated from the empirical analysis. First, the estimates provided evidence of the volatility-reducing effect of financial development. Second, institutions do not have the same reducing influence on output growth volatility. Third, the interaction of financial development and institutions showed that the output volatility reduction arising from financial development is enhanced in the presence of improved institutions.

Research limitations/implications
The policy implications derived from this study are in twofolds: first, it is important for policymakers to formulate policies that would ensure and enhance the development of the financial sectors, since its importance in minimizing output volatility has been established. Second, institutional quality should be developed so as to further enhance the growth volatility-reducing influence of financial development. Particularly, institutions should be improved along the multiple dimensions captured in the analysis.

Originality/value
To the best knowledge, the novelty of this study to the literature is the introduction of institutions, which is hypothesized to increase the dampening effects of financial development in output growth volatility.
The pattern of exchange rate co-movement in selected African countries
Authors: Carsamer Emmanuel 
Published: November 2016

PurposeThe concept of co-movement has witnessed a resurgence in the international finance literature in recent years after the black swan events. This might be due to a renewed focus on globalization and financial market integration in the world over. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic linkages in the foreign exchange market resulting from recent globalization and financial market integration in Africa.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework was adapted from the extant literature and was used as the basis of modeling foreign exchange market in Africa. This paper adopts a quantitative research approach and opted for dynamic panel data analysis to empirically unearth the determinants of foreign exchange market co-movement.FindingsIt is interesting to note that exchange rate co-movements were externally determined. Robust support was found for trade intensity, competition and world interest rate on foreign exchange rates co-movement, but regional interest rate differential decreased it. These findings clearly demonstrate the level of financial development and challenges that sometimes exist in exchange rate policy implementation by policy makers in Africa.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research might incorporate bilateral investment into the model of exchange rate correlation.Originality/valueStudies focussing on simultaneous consideration of intensity, trade competition and capital account openness to exchange rate correlations in the contexts of Africa are almost non-existent, and this study makes an important contribution in not only addressing this imbalance but also more importantly improving the relatively parsimonious literature on foreign exchange co-movement.
The weekend effect: an exploitable anomaly in the Ukrainian stock market?
Authors: Caporale Guglielmo Maria , Gil-Alana Luis Alberiko , Plastun Alex 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide some new empirical evidence on the weekend effect (one of the best known anomalies in financial markets) in Ukrainian futures prices. The analysis uses various statistical techniques.

Design/methodology/approach
The analysis uses various statistical techniques (average analysis, Student’s t-test, dummy variables, and fractional integration) to test for the presence of this anomaly, and then a trading simulation approach to establish whether it can be exploited to make extra profits.

Findings
The statistical evidence points to abnormal positive returns on Fridays, and a trading strategy based on this anomaly is shown to generate annual profits of up to 25 per cent. The implication is that the Ukrainian stock market is inefficient.

Originality/value
This paper provides some new empirical evidence on the weekend effect (one of the best known anomalies in financial markets) in Ukrainian futures prices. The analysis uses various statistical techniques (average analysis, Student’s t-test, dummy variables, and fractional integration) to test for the presence of this anomaly, and then a trading simulation approach to establish whether it can be exploited to make extra profits. The statistical evidence points to abnormal positive returns on Fridays, and a trading strategy based on this anomaly is shown to generate annual profits of up to 25 per cent. The implication is that the Ukrainian stock market is inefficient.
Organizational sustainability excellence of construction firms – a framework
Authors: Terouhid Seyyed Amin , Ries Robert 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
This paper aims to propose a modeling and decision-making framework for organizational sustainability excellence of construction firms. This research aims to find how construction organizations can achieve excellence in terms of corporate sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper first reviews the literature of organizational sustainability maturity, and then differentiates its approach by focusing on organizational sustainability excellence. Organizational maturity and organizational excellence in sustainability are two approaches to organizational performance management that aim to improve organizational sustainability performance.

Findings
After a detailed model design and development process, models were run and sensitivity analysis was performed. After running various scenarios, it was shown that both workforce management and knowledge management are key components of People Capability, and they play crucial roles in the viability and sustainability performance of construction firms. Therefore, human resource development and training affect all capability areas of construction organizations without which no capability-building programs can be planned and implemented effectively.

Practical implications
Organizational excellence focuses on organizational resources, capabilities and knowledge management to determine what is driving the long-term success of organizations, whereas the organizational maturity focuses on organizational processes. This paper presents a modeling approach that can facilitate the process of policy verifications in organizations.

Originality/value
Organizations may have various options in choosing different policies, and those policies can be planned and expressed in different manners and along different scales. How can an organization determine which scenarios end up producing the desired performance results? The proposed framework presents a practical methodology that can result in the assessment of organizational excellence methodologies.