bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Organisational Size: Bhp and Vertical Integration 1885–1915
Authors: Blackmur Douglas 
Published: August 2016

AbstbactOne of the most important strategic issues for managers involves deciding the size of the organisation. Factors which influence this decision include economic, social and political change. The boundaries of the organisation are thus not fixed, and are in part contingent upon the particular characteristics of the environmental context. Theoretical progress in the discipline of strategic management, as far as it relates to matters of organisational size (and structure), requires that serious consideration be given to the analysis of the dynamics of vertical integration which is available in the New Institutional Economics literature. One of the most interesting strands in this literature is the Transactions Costs Economics developed by R.H. Coase and O.E. Williamson. This paper provides an overview of the Coase-Williamson theory of vertical integration. It then uses this theory as a point of departure in conducting an empirical discussion of decisions to integrate vertically taken by one of the world's largest mining enterprises, The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited, during the first 30 years of its existence. The paper seeks to demonstrate that theorising in strategic management is enriched if analytical (albeit critical) attention is paid to advances in the economics of organisation.
The Impact of CEO Role Behaviour on Firm Performance
Authors: Zakliki Mohammad , Christodoulou Chris 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe impact of executive leadership on organisational performance has been the focus of study for many years. This study, of CEOs of Australian publicly listed companies, used the Competing Values Framework developed by Hart and Quinn (1993) to measure CEO role behaviour. It consists of four competing roles: Vision Setter, Motivator, Analyser, and Task Master. These roles were tested against three dimensions of firm performance: Financial, Business, and Organisational Effectiveness Performance. The results showed that there was little functional connection between executive leadership and firm performance.Further, the organisational effectiveness factor was the domain of firm performance most influenced by CEOs. Task Master role was the only role behaviour which had a positive relationship with any domain of firm performance.Behavioural complexity of leadership behaviour had a positive relationship with organisational effectiveness performance in large firms and for firms following an analyser type of strategy. Behavioural complexity also had a positive relationship with business performance for firms following an analyser type of strategy. However, there was no association between behavioural complexity and financial performance regardless of situational factors.These findings suggest that effective CEOs are required to demonstrate paradoxical skills, and that any approach for developing management skills must involve a heavy dose of practical application.
Management Characteristics, Attitudes and the Decision to Export
Authors: Philp Norman E. , Wickramasekera Rumintha 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe incessant trend towards the internationalisation of the marketplace will continue to dominate the agendas of managers of Australia's manufacturing establishments as they approach the next millennium. Empirical studies of the determinants of the firm's export marketing behaviour have been quite prolific and internationally comprehensive (Aaby and Slater 1989) and the characteristics and attitudes of the firm's main decision makers are often posed as important explanatory variables. The current study also examines the significance of managerial characteristics, commitment and attitudes towards exporting behaviour, by concentrating on a sample of firms drawn from a single industry (food and beverage processors) and with similar size and locational characteristics (small-medium firms located in regional Victoria).A logistic regression model with a binary dependent variable (ie current exporter vs non-exporter) and, initially, 19 independent variables was formulated and estimated. An optimal model utilising only six of the most significant, management-related variables was able to predict the probability of a firm being an exporter with an accuracy of over 90% . The importance of management's willingness to commit both its mind and its firm's resources to the export endeavour and its recognition of the importance of price competitiveness were significant discriminators of active export behaviour. Exporting managers were also found more likely to be tertiary educated and foreign language fluent but not necessarily any younger than their non-exporting counterparts.
Business Ethics Education: Should We? Can We?
Authors: McKenna Richard J 
Published: August 2016

AbstractEmanating from some of the major business failures of the 1980s has been a growing disquiet at the absence of a concern for ethics in the business community. A possible cause for the apparent immorality of actions taken by some businesses is the absence of ethics from the training programs provided to business managers and professionals. It may be that whilst some practices of the 1980s were those of immoral persons, the wider and underlying problem is one of amoral behaviour. That is, our business system operates without an ethical base, and this occurs, in part, because business ethics is excluded from the curricula of the institutions responsible for the training and further education of business managers and professionals.The successful introduction of business ethics into the curricula requires a sufficient body of academics who believe that the learning of business ethics is both necessary and possible. Research data shows that few Australian universities have a formal program in business ethics. This paper reports an exploratory examination of the attitudes of business academics toward the need for inclusion of ethics in the business curriculum. The response to the survey suggests that while there is, as yet, no centre of concentrated will and ability to set the process of curricula change in motion, there is widespread interest and recognition of the need. Several constraints are identified, including the instrumentalist ethos of our institutions.
Zero-temperature quantum annealing bottlenecks in the spin-glass phase
Authors: Knysh Sergey 
Published: August 2016

AbstractA promising approach to solving hard binary optimization problems is quantum adiabatic annealing in a transverse magnetic field. An instantaneous ground state—initially a symmetric superposition of all possible assignments of N qubits—is closely tracked as it becomes more and more localized near the global minimum of the classical energy. Regions where the energy gap to excited states is small (for instance at the phase transition) are the algorithm’s bottlenecks. Here I show how for large problems the complexity becomes dominated by O(log N) bottlenecks inside the spin-glass phase, where the gap scales as a stretched exponential. For smaller N, only the gap at the critical point is relevant, where it scales polynomially, as long as the phase transition is second order. This phenomenon is demonstrated rigorously for the two-pattern Gaussian Hopfield model. Qualitative comparison with the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model leads to similar conclusions.
Core-Shell Silver/Polymeric Nanoparticles-Based Combinatorial Therapy against Breast Cancer In-vitro
Authors: Elbaz Nancy M. , Ziko Laila , Siam Rania , Mamdouh Wael 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe current study aimed at preparing AgNPs and three different core-shell silver/polymeric NPs composed of Ag core and three different polymeric shells: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Thereafter, the core/shell NPs were loaded with a chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX). Finally, the cytotoxic effects of the different core-shell Ag/polymeric NPs-based combinatorial therapeutics were tested in-vitro against breast cancer (MCF-7) and human fibroblast (1BR hTERT) cell lines. AgNPs, Ag/PVA and Ag/PVP NPs were more cytotoxic to MCF-7 cells than normal fibroblasts, as well as DOX-Ag, DOX-Ag/PVA, DOX-Ag/PEG and DOX-Ag/PVP nanocarriers (NCs). Notably, low dosage of core-shell DOX-loaded Ag/polymeric nanocarriers (NCs) exhibited a synergic anticancer activity, with DOX-Ag/PVP being the most cytotoxic. We believe that the prepared NPs-based combinatorial therapy showed a significant enhanced cytotoxic effect against breast cancer cells. Future studies on NPs-based combinatorial therapy may aid in formulating a novel and more effective cancer therapeutics.
Highly specific blockade of CCR5 inhibits leukocyte trafficking and reduces mucosal inflammation in murine colitis
Authors: Mencarelli Andrea , Cipriani Sabrina , Francisci Daniela , Santucci Luca , Baldelli Franco , Distrutti Eleonora , Fiorucci Stefano 
Published: August 2016

AbstractTargeted disruption of leukocyte trafficking to the gut represents a promising approach for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). CCR5, the shared receptor for MIP1α and β and RANTES, is expressed by multiple leukocytes. Here, we aimed to determine the role of CCR5 in mediating leukocyte trafficking in models of colitis and evaluate the therapeutic potential of maraviroc, an orally active CCR5 antagonist used in the treatment of CCR5-tropic HIV. Acute and chronic colitis were induced by administration of DSS or TNBS to wild-type and CCR5−/− mice or adoptive transfer of splenic naïve CD4+ T-cells from wild type or CCR5−/− mice into RAG-1−/−. CCR5 gene ablation reduced the mucosal recruitment and activation of CCR5-bearing CD4+ and CD11b+ leukocytes, resulting in profound attenuation of signs and symptoms of inflammation in the TNBS and transfer models of colitis. In the DSS/TNBS colitis and in the transfer model, maraviroc attenuated development of intestinal inflammation by selectively reducing the recruitment of CCR5 bearing leukocytes. In summary, CCR5 regulates recruitment of blood leukocytes into the colon indicating that targeting CCR5 may offer therapeutic options in IBDs.
Ameloblastoma Phenotypes Reflected in Distinct Transcriptome Profiles
Authors: Hu Shijia , Parker Joel , Divaris Kimon , Padilla Ricardo , Murrah Valerie , Wright John Timothy 
Published: August 2016

AbstractAmeloblastoma is a locally invasive benign neoplasm derived from odontogenic epithelium and presents with diverse phenotypes yet to be characterized molecularly. High recurrence rates of 50–80% with conservative treatment in some sub-types warrants radical surgical resections resulting in high morbidity. The objective of the study was to characterize the transcriptome of ameloblastoma and identify relevant genes and molecular pathways using normal odontogenic tissue (human “dentome”) for comparison. Laser capture microdissection was used to obtain neoplastic epithelial tissue from 17 tumors which were examined using the Agilent 44 k whole genome microarray. Ameloblastoma separated into 2 distinct molecular clusters that were associated with pre-secretory ameloblast and odontoblast. Within the pre-secretory cluster, 9/10 of samples were of the follicular type while 6/7 of the samples in the odontoblast cluster were of the plexiform type (p < 0.05). Common pathways altered in both clusters included cell-cycle regulation, inflammatory and MAPkinase pathways, specifically known cancer-driving genes such as TP53 and members of the MAPkinase pathways. The pre-secretory ameloblast cluster exhibited higher activation of inflammatory pathways while the odontoblast cluster showed greater disturbances in transcription regulators. Our results are suggestive of underlying inter-tumor molecular heterogeneity of ameloblastoma sub-types and have implications for the use of tailored treatment.
Shape morphing Kirigami mechanical metamaterials
Authors: Neville Robin M. , Scarpa Fabrizio , Pirrera Alberto 
Published: August 2016

AbstractMechanical metamaterials exhibit unusual properties through the shape and movement of their engineered subunits. This work presents a new investigation of the Poisson’s ratios of a family of cellular metamaterials based on Kirigami design principles. Kirigami is the art of cutting and folding paper to obtain 3D shapes. This technique allows us to create cellular structures with engineered cuts and folds that produce large shape and volume changes and with extremely directional, tuneable mechanical properties. We demonstrate how to produce these structures from flat sheets of composite materials. By a combination of analytical models and numerical simulations we show how these Kirigami cellular metamaterials can change their deformation characteristics. We also demonstrate the potential of using these classes of mechanical metamaterials for shape change applications like morphing structures.
Simple Approach to Synthesize Amino-Functionalized Carbon Dots by Carbonization of Chitosan
Authors: Liu Xin , Pang Jinhui , Xu Feng , Zhang Xueming 
Published: August 2016

AbstractCarbon dots (CDs) as a new series of fluorescent nanomaterials have drawn great attention in recent years owning to their unique properties. In this paper, a simple carbonization approach to synthesize amino-functionalized CDs was developed by using chitosan as the carbon precursor. The as-prepared CDs possessed desirable amino function group on their surface and exhibited bright luminescence with absolute quantum yield (QY) of 4.34%, excitation-, pH-dependent and up-conversion fluorescence behaviors. Furthermore, we have investigated the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of the as-prepared CDs, which demonstrated that the as-prepared CDs have the potential applications in biosensing, cellular imaging and drug delivery.
A Novel Adhesion Index for Verifying the Extent of Adhesion for the Extensor Digitorum Communis in Patients with Metacarpal Fractures
Authors: Lai Ting-Yu , Chen Hsiao-I , Shih Cho-Chiang , Kuo Li-Chieh , Hsu Hsiu-Yun , Huang Chih-Chung 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThis study aims to determine if the relative displacement between the extensor digitorum communis (EDC) tendon and its surrounding tissues can be used as an adhesion index (AI) for assessing adhesion in metacarpal fractures by comparing two clinical measures, namely single-digit-force and extensor lag (i.e., the difference between passive extension and full active extension). The Fisher–Tippett block-matching method and a Kalman-filter algorithm were used to determine the relative displacements in 39 healthy subjects and 8 patients with metacarpal fractures. A goniometer was used to measure the extensor lag, and a force sensor was used to measure the single-digit-force. Measurements were obtained twice for each patient to evaluate the performance of the AI in assessing the progress of rehabilitation. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to quantify the various correlations between the AI, extensor lag, and single-digit-force. The results showed strong correlations between the AI and the extensor lag, the AI and the single-digit-force, and the extensor lag and the single-digit-force (r = 0.718, −0.849, and −0.741; P = 0.002, P < 0.001, and P = 0.001, respectively). The AI in the patients gradually decreased after continuous rehabilitation, but remained higher than that of healthy participants.
Dual promoters of the major catalase (KatA) govern distinct survival strategies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Chung In-Young , Kim Bi-o , Jang Hye-Jeong , Cho You-Hee 
Published: August 2016

AbstractKatA is the major catalase required for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) resistance and acute virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14, whose transcription is driven from the promoter (katAp1) located at 155 nucleotide (nt) upstream of the start codon. Here, we identified another promoter (katAp2), the +1 of which was mapped at the 51 nt upstream of the start codon, which was responsible for the basal transcription during the planktonic culture and down-regulated upon H2O2 treatment under the control by the master regulator of anaerobiosis, Anr. To dissect the roles of the dual promoters in conditions involving KatA, we created the promoter mutants for each -10 box (p1m, p2m, and p1p2m) and found that katAp1 is required for the function of KatA in the logarithmic growth phase during the planktonic culture as well as in acute virulence, whereas katAp2 is required for the function of KatA in the stationary phase as well as in the prolonged biofilm culture. This dismantling of the dual promoters of katA sheds light on the roles of KatA in stress resistance in both proliferative and growth-restrictive conditions and thus provides an insight into the regulatory impacts of the major catalase on the survival strategies of P. aeruginosa.
The Expression of Human Cytomegalovirus MicroRNA MiR-UL148D during Latent Infection in Primary Myeloid Cells Inhibits Activin A-triggered Secretion of IL-6
Authors: Lau Betty , Poole Emma , Krishna Benjamin , Montanuy Immaculada , Wills Mark R. , Murphy Eain , Sinclair John 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe successful establishment and maintenance of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) latency is dependent on the expression of a subset of viral genes. Whilst the exact spectrum and functions of these genes are far from clear, inroads have been made for protein-coding genes. In contrast, little is known about the expression of non-coding RNAs. Here we show that HCMV encoded miRNAs are expressed de novo during latent infection of primary myeloid cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that miR-UL148D, one of the most highly expressed viral miRNAs during latent infection, directly targets the cellular receptor ACVR1B of the activin signalling axis. Consistent with this, we observed upregulation of ACVR1B expression during latent infection with a miR-UL148D deletion virus (ΔmiR-UL148D). Importantly, we observed that monocytes latently infected with ΔmiR-UL148D are more responsive to activin A stimulation, as demonstrated by their increased secretion of IL-6. Collectively, our data indicates miR-UL148D inhibits ACVR1B expression in latently infected cells to limit proinflammatory cytokine secretion, perhaps as an immune evasion strategy or to postpone cytokine-induced reactivation until conditions are more favourable. This is the first demonstration of an HCMV miRNA function during latency in primary myeloid cells, implicating that small RNA species may contribute significantly to latent infection.
Waltzing route toward double-helix formation in cholesteric shells
Authors: Darmon Alexandre , Benzaquen Michael , Seč David , Čopar Simon , Dauchot Olivier , Lopez-Leon Teresa 
Published: August 2016

Significance
Droplets of chiral liquid crystals, or cholesterics, typically exhibit an intriguing radial defect which results from frustrations in the molecular order. This configuration shows a fascinating analogy to the Dirac monopole, a hypothetical magnetic charge, and plays a crucial role in the droplet optical properties, recently exploited to produce microlasers. Despite its evident interest, the nature of this disclination remains uncertain. We experimentally show, by studying spherical cholesteric shells, that it is composed of two line defects that wrap around each other on a double-helix structure. By tuning the system chirality, we can make this configuration dissociate into two independent stacks of disclination rings. The transition between configurations is reversible and entails an unexpected defect waltz dynamics.
Basin‐Scale Variation in the Spatial Pattern of Fall Movement of Juvenile Coho Salmon in the West Fork Smith River, Oregon
Authors: Hance Dalton J. , Ganio Lisa M. , Burnett Kelly M. , Ebersole Joseph L. 
Published: August 2016

AbstractFor several species of salmonids, Oncorhynchus and Salvelinus spp., inhabiting Pacific coastal temperate streams, juvenile fish have been recorded moving between main‐stem and tributary habitats during the transition from the summer dry season to the winter wet season. Movement connecting summer and winter habitats may be particularly important for Coho Salmon O. kisutch because availability of overwintering habitat can limit freshwater survival for this species. Here, we describe basin‐scale variability in movement between main‐stem and tributary habitat for juvenile Coho Salmon tagged in the summer with PIT tags and detected in the fall at four stationary detection sites at tributary–main‐stem confluences of the West Fork Smith River, Oregon. We used odds ratios to evaluate spatial patterns in tributary–main‐stem movement across tributary junctions at upper‐river, midriver, and lower‐river locations. Three types of movement were assessed: (1) emigration out of tributaries into the main stem, (2) immigration into a tributary from the main stem downstream from the tributary junction, and (3) immigration from the main stem upstream from the tributary junction. The likelihood of emigration had a distinct spatial pattern. Only at the two upper‐river detection sites were juvenile Coho Salmon more likely to emigrate than immigrate. Fish immigrating into a midriver tributary were more likely to originate from the main stem downstream from the confluence, whereas fish immigrating into two lower‐river tributaries were more likely to originate from the main stem upstream from the confluence. This basin‐scale variation in patterns of immigration and emigration demonstrates complexity in the connectivity of juvenile Coho Salmon seasonal habitats within a stream network. We conclude that effective restoration planning and watershed management should account for the spatial pattern of connectivity of summer‐rearing and overwintering habitat throughout a stream network and consider the full diversity of movement patterns that may be required for fish to access seasonal habitats.Received December 30, 2015; accepted May 4, 2016 Published online August 5, 2016
PcircRNA_finder: a software for circRNA prediction in plants
Authors: Chen Li , Yu Yongyi , Zhang Xinchen , Liu Chen , Ye Chuyu , Fan Longjiang 
Published: August 2016

Motivation: Recent studies reveal an important role of non-coding circular RNA (circRNA) in the control of cellular processes. Because of differences in the organization of plant and mammal genomes, the sensitivity and accuracy of circRNA prediction programs using algorithms developed for animals and humans perform poorly for plants.
Results: A circRNA prediction software for plants (termed PcircRNA_finder) was developed that is more sensitive in detecting circRNAs than other frequently used programs (such as find_circ and CIRCexplorer), Based on analysis of simulated and real rRNA-/RNAase R RNA-Seq data from Arabidopsis thaliana and rice PcircRNA_finder provides a more comprehensive sensitive, precise prediction method for plants circRNAs.
Availability and Implementation: http://ibi.zju.edu.cn/bioinplant/tools/manual.htm.
Contact: fanlj@zju.edu.cn
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
FARAO: the flexible all-round annotation organizer
Authors: Hammarén Rickard , Pal Chandan , Bengtsson-Palme Johan 
Published: August 2016

Summary: With decreasing costs of generating DNA sequence data, genome and metagenome projects have become accessible to a wider scientific community. However, to extract meaningful information and visualize the data remain challenging. We here introduce FARAO, a highly scalable software for organization, visualization and integration of annotation and read coverage data that can also combine output data from several bioinformatics tools. The capabilities of FARAO can greatly aid analyses of genomic and metagenomic datasets.
Availability and Implementation: FARAO is implemented in Perl and is supported under Unix-like operative systems, including Linux and macOS. The Perl source code is freely available for download under the MIT License from http://microbiology.se/software/farao/.
Contact: johan.bengtsson-palme@microbiology.se
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.