bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The roles of amensalistic and commensalistic interactions in large ecological network stability
Authors: Mougi Akihiko 
Published: July 2016

AbstractEcological communities comprise diverse species and their interactions. Notably, ecological and evolutionary studies have revealed that reciprocal interactions such as predator–prey, competition and mutualism, are key drivers of community dynamics. However, there is an argument that many species interactions are asymmetric, where one species unilaterally affects another species (amensalism or commensalism). This raises the unanswered question of what is the role of unilateral interactions in community dynamics. Here I use a theoretical approach to demonstrate that unilateral interactions greatly enhance community stability. The results suggested that amensalism and commensalism were more stabilizing than symmetrical interactions, such as competition and mutualism, but they were less stabilizing than an asymmetric antagonistic interaction. A mix of unilateral interactions increased stability. Furthermore, in communities with all interaction types, unilateral interactions tended to increase stability. This study suggests that unilateral interactions play a major role in maintaining communities, underlining the need to further investigate their roles in ecosystem dynamics.
A cross-shear deformation for optimizing the strength and ductility of AZ31 magnesium alloys
Authors: Hamad Kotiba , Ko Young Gun 
Published: July 2016

AbstractMagnesium alloys have recently attracted great interest due their lightweight and high specific strength. However, because of their hexagonal close-packed structure, they have few active slip systems, resulting in poor ductility and high mechanical anisotropy at room temperature. In the present work, we used a cross-shear deformation imposed by a differential speed rolling (DSR) technique to improve the room temperature strength and ductility of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets. To introduce the cross-shear deformation, the sheets were rotated 180° around their longitudinal axis between the adjacent passes of DSR. The sheets of the AZ31 alloy subjected to the cross-shear deformation showed a uniform fine microstructure (1.2 ± 0.1 μm) with weak basal textures. The fabricated sheets showed a simultaneous high ultimate tensile strength and elongation-to-failure, i.e., ~333 MPa and ~21%, respectively. These were explained based on the structural features evolved due to the cross-shear deformation by DSR. The high strength was attributed to the uniform fine microstructure, whereas the high ductility was explained based on the basal texture weakening.
Charge pump‐ and VCO‐based second‐order delta‐sigma ADC
Authors: Xing Xinpeng , Zhu Peng , Liu Hui , Liu Ye , Gielen Georges 
Published: July 2016

A low‐power charge pump‐ and VCO‐based delta‐sigma ADC is presented, realising second‐order noise shaping without any analogue integrator. The proposed synchronous pulse‐width modulator ‐driven charge pump replaces an analogue integrator in delta‐sigma ADC power efficiently. Together with the noise shaping provided by the VCO in the quantiser, an analogue‐less 2nd‐order delta‐sigma ADC is obtained. The simulation results in 90 nm CMOS show that the proposed charge pump‐ and VCO‐based delta‐sigma ADC achieves 78.7 dB signal‐to‐noise ratio and 74.2 dB signal‐to‐noise and distortion ratio for a bandwidth of 2 MHz, consuming 2.95 mW, corresponding to a FoM of 0.18 pJ/conv.
Design and realisation of radio‐frequency attenuators based on microelectromechanical system switches
Authors: Nan Xueli , Zhang Binzhen , Yang Xin , Ge Shaolei 
Published: July 2016

Radio‐frequency (RF) attenuators show unique advantages and a great development potential in phased array radars. A kind of programmable step attenuators with high precision based on contact‐type microelectromechanical system series switches is proposed herein. This work paid attention to the design and fabrication of switches – the key components of attenuators. By setting up vent holes on the pull‐down plates of switches, the mass of plates was reduced, together with the decreased influence of air damping. Meanwhile, switches were manufactured and packaged through ultraviolet lithography (UV‐LIGA) technology with the S parameter test being performed. Results showed that the insertion loss in a range of 0.3 and 1.8 dB under the condition that attenuation modules are short‐circuited at the same time, which is basically the same with the simulation results of 0.1–1.3 dB. While all the return losses S 11 were <15 dB expect from that at 10 dB. In addition, the designed attenuator showed gentle attenuation in a range of DC ∼20 GHz. However, on the whole, the deviation is controlled within 2 dB, which is basically consistent with the design results of 1 dB. It can be found from the obtained results that all indices of the attenuator satisfied the design requirements.
Ginsenoside Re improves skin barrier function in HaCaT keratinocytes under normal growth conditions
Authors: Oh Yuri , Lim Hye-Won , Kim Kyunghoon , Lim Chang-Jin 
Published: July 2016

AbstractGinsenoside Re (Re), a major ginsenoside of ginseng, enhanced the cornified cell envelope (CE) formation in HaCaT keratinocytes under normal conditions. In HaCaT keratinocytes, Re was also able to upregulate filaggrin protein and caspase-14 activity in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings reasonably imply that Re possesses a desirable property of improving skin barrier function.
Low cost 3D-printing used in an undergraduate project: an integrating sphere for measurement of photoluminescence quantum yield
Authors: Tomes John J , Finlayson Chris E 
Published: July 2016

Abstract
We report upon the exploitation of the latest 3D printing technologies to provide low-cost instrumentation solutions, for use in an undergraduate level final-year project. The project addresses prescient research issues in optoelectronics, which would otherwise be inaccessible to such undergraduate student projects. The experimental use of an integrating sphere in conjunction with a desktop spectrometer presents opportunities to use easily handled, low cost materials as a means to illustrate many areas of physics such as spectroscopy, lasers, optics, simple circuits, black body radiation and data gathering. Presented here is a 3rd year undergraduate physics project which developed a low cost (£25) method to manufacture an experimentally accurate integrating sphere by 3D printing. Details are given of both a homemade internal reflectance coating formulated from readily available materials, and a robust instrument calibration method using a tungsten bulb. The instrument is demonstrated to give accurate and reproducible experimental measurements of luminescence quantum yield of various semiconducting fluorophores, in excellent agreement with literature values.
Essence of survival analysis†
Authors: Pugh Stephanie L. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractMany clinical trials are designed based on a time-to-event endpoint. Overall survival and progression-free survival are commonly used, especially in Phase II and III clinical trials. Overall survival measures the time to death from any cause, while progression-free survival measures the time to progression of the disease or death from any cause. The key distinguishing factor is that the event of interest, such as death, may not occur in all individuals, making their time to this event unknown. Survival analysis comprises of the methods used to estimate the rates associated with time-to-an-event data, compare the rates between groups, and assess how other factors impact these rates.
A cloud-based workflow to quantify transcript-expression levels in public cancer compendia
Authors: Tatlow PJ , Piccolo Stephen R. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractPublic compendia of raw sequencing data are now measured in petabytes. Accordingly, it is becoming infeasible for individual researchers to transfer these data to local computers. Recently, the National Cancer Institute funded an initiative to explore opportunities and challenges of working with molecular data in cloud-computing environments. With data in the cloud, it becomes possible for scientists to take their tools to the data and thereby avoid large data transfers. It also becomes feasible to scale computing resources to the needs of a given analysis. To evaluate this concept, we quantified transcript-expression levels for 12,307 RNA-Sequencing samples from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and The Cancer Genome Atlas. We used two cloud-based configurations to process the data and examined the performance and cost profiles of each configuration. Using “preemptible virtual machines”, we processed the samples for as little as $0.09 (USD) per sample. In total, we processed the TCGA samples (n=11,373) for only $1,065.49 and simultaneously processed thousands of samples at a time. As the samples were being processed, we collected detailed performance metrics, which helped us to track the duration of each processing step and to identify computational resources used at different stages of sample processing. Although the computational demands of reference alignment and expression quantification have decreased considerably, there remains a critical need for researchers to optimize preprocessing steps (e.g., sorting, converting, and trimming sequencing reads). We have created open-sourceDockercontainers that include all the software and scripts necessary to process such data in the cloud and to collect performance metrics. The processed data are available in tabular format and in Google's BigQuery database (seehttps://osf.io/gqrz9).
Phylogenetic scale in ecology and evolution
Authors: Graham Catherine H. , Storch David , Machac Antonin 
Published: July 2016

AbstractAimMany important patterns and processes vary across the phylogeny and depend on phylogenetic scale. Yet, phylogenetic scale has never been formally conceptualized and its potential remains largely unexplored. Here, we formalize the concept of phylogenetic scale, review how phylogenetic scale has been considered across multiple fields, and provide practical guidelines for the use of phylogenetic scale to address a range of biological questions.MethodsWe summarize how phylogenetic scale has been treated in macroevolution, community ecology, biogeography, and macroecology, illustrating how it can inform, and possibly resolve, some of the longstanding controversies in these fields. To promote the concept empirically, we define phylogenetic grain and extent, scale-dependence, scaling, and the domains of phylogenetic scale. We illustrate how existing phylogenetic data and statistical tools can be employed to investigate the effects of scale on a variety of well-known patterns and processes, including diversification rates, community structure, niche conservatism, or species-abundance distributions.Main conclusionsExplicit consideration of phylogenetic scale can provide new and more complete insight into many longstanding questions across multiple fields (macroevolution, community ecology, biogeography, macroevolution). Building on the existing resources and isolated efforts across fields, future research centered on phylogenetic scale might enrich our understanding of the processes that together, but over different scales, shape the diversity of life.
Top management team (TMT) tenure diversity and firm performance
Authors: Tanikawa Tomohiko , Jung Yuhee 
Published: July 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the effect of top management team (TMT) tenure diversity and firm financial performance (return on equity [ROE], return on assets [ROA]), and, second, to examine the moderating effect of TMT average age between TMT tenure diversity and firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presented results from a quantitative study of 744 TMTs in Japanese manufacturing firms. The multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that TMT tenure diversity had a negative and significant main effect on ROE but not ROA. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the negative relationship between TMT tenure diversity and firm performance was attenuated by having older TMTs.Originality/valueFirst, this paper expands scope of research on TMT diversity, which has hitherto primarily on non-individualistic variables (such as industry setting) by examining the moderating role of an individualistic variable (TMT average age). Second, this paper extended the attempts to apply the age-related theory by considering the role from the viewpoint of group level, namely, TMT average age.
Proactive personality, organizational context, employee creativity and innovative capability
Authors: Tai Huynh Thao , Mai Nguyen Quynh 
Published: July 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop and empirically examine antecedents of innovative capability in different organization categories of multinational corporations (MNCs) and domestic firms by applying the integrative theory, linking both personal and contextual factors in explaining employee creativity.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework has been developed based on previous research investigating the relationship between proactive personality, organizational context (hierarchy, communication, atmosphere and risk-taking orientation), employee creativity and, ultimately, corporate innovative capability. More remarkably, by applying multiple group analysis, this research emphasizes on the identification of distinct organizational and contextual characteristics in MNCs and native corporations that respectively affect organizations’ capacity to innovate via employee creativity.FindingsThe analysis revealed that four dimensions, communication, atmosphere, risk-taking orientation and employees’ proactive personality, have significant impacts on employee creativity and ultimately organizational innovative capability, whereas the proposed negative effect of hierarchy on employee creativity did not exist. This research also highlights the identification of respective organizational characteristics in MNCs and native corporations that affect their capacity to innovate via employee creativity. Given that proactive personality is a critical antecedent of innovative capability regardless of organization types, communication and atmosphere are statistically confirmed to be more influential antecessors in the MNC context, whereas for domestic corporations, risk-taking orientation is dominant.Originality/valueThis research is original and of great value for several reasons. First, it provides suggestion on a single personality trait, proactive personality, that correlates remarkably with creativity. Second, it examines the association between various organizational aspects and employee creativity to appraise and advance the results of previous classic studies done in the field. Last, it incorporates both personal and organizational factors in the evaluation of creativity and innovative capability not only in the context of multinational but also in domestic corporations.
Culture and intellectual capital: towards a conceptual framework
Authors: Gupta Uma G. , Massa Nathaniel P. , Azzopardi Joseph 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to represent the findings from the first phase of an ongoing research project whose primary goal is to identify the most significant organizational internal and external cultural variables that leverage and enable a firm’s intellectual capital (IC) to make it more competitive in the marketplace.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors build on their earlier work in which Ulrich’s definition of IC as Competence × Commitment was expanded to include two additional dimensions, Creativity and Culture. The previous model explored the relationship between IC and the following five critical variables: Competence, Commitment, Control, Creativity and Culture. Here, the authors identify the most significant organizational internal and external cultural variables that leverage and enable a firm’s IC to make it more competitive in the marketplace.

Findings
This paper demonstrates the interplay between different cultural types and levels of business volatility on IC. The authors argue that the more volatile the industry is, the greater the need to secure and capitalize on IC, and the more critical it is for firms to adopt a flexible and adaptive organic culture that encourages the creation and leveraging of IC.

Originality/value
This framework is original and expands on Ulrich’s classical work on IC. It helps senior leaders and managers explore how to effectively and proactively capitalize on IC and leverage complex IC assets. The preliminary exploration into these convergent strands has provided a foundation to further develop and establish the interrelationships between organizational culture and IC.
Quality in construction management: an exploratory study
Authors: Jraisat Luai , Jreisat Lana , Hattar Christine 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of factors affecting quality. This is important where great expenditures of time, money, and resources are wasted each year due to inefficient or non-existent quality levels.

Design/methodology/approach
– An exploratory approach is employed. After a literature review, six interviews are initially conducted with construction experts and then a simple survey of 328 questionnaires was administrated through structured personal interviews among contractors and architects in the Jordanian housing sector.

Findings
– The findings suggest that contractors and architects combined agreed that the highest important factors affecting quality are: human resource management, customer satisfaction, and construction specific factors. The findings also suggest that strategic planning, continuous improvement, resources are the lowest important factors. A conceptual framework encompassing the key quality factors is also developed.

Research limitations/implications
– This research has important implications for different level managers at construction companies. By understanding the quality factors, managers can focus on the highest factors and catch up with their lowest important factors in order to maintain a balanced and integrated quality approach.

Originality/value
– This is one of few studies that investigate the importance of quality factors. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper providing empirical evidence of the quality factors in construction management in a developing country.
A revised FMEA with application to a blow moulding process
Authors: Lolli Francesco , Gamberini Rita , Rimini Bianca , Pulga Francesco 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present a modified failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) in order to make the assignment of the scores for the occurrence factor more robust, and to link the FMEA chart directly to the maintenance activities.

Design/methodology/approach
– A well-known clustering algorithm (i.e. K-means), along with a normalisation approach, are applied and compared for the assignment of the occurrence scores. Subsequently, the relationship between failures and maintenance operations is made explicit by a correlation matrix. Finally, the K-means algorithm is applied to the maintenance operations again in order to sort them into priority classes.

Findings
– It is found that this revised FMEA approach improves the standard one due to its more rigorous mathematical formulation and lean applicability in real operating environments.

Research limitations/implications
– The novel approach may be improved by a deeper statistical analysis and/or applying the fuzzy theory.

Practical implications
– A real case study is introduced in order to show the applicability of this approach to the quality control of a blow moulding process. It is found that this approach reveals a high potentiality for dealing with real issues.

Originality/value
– The paper provides a further step towards bridging the gap between theory and practical application of the FMEA approach.
Selective maintenance optimization under schedule and quality constraints
Authors: Tambe Pravin P , Kulkarni Makarand S 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
– The traditional practice for maintenance, quality control and production scheduling is to plan independently irrespective of an interrelationship exist between them. The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach for integrating maintenance, quality control and production scheduling. The objective is to investigate the benefits of the integrated effect in terms of the expected total cost of system operation of the three functions.

Design/methodology/approach
– The proposed approach is based on the conditional reliability of the components. Cost model for integrating selective maintenance, quality control using sampling-based procedure and production scheduling is developed using the conditional reliability. An integrated approach is such that, first an optimal schedule for the batches to be processed is obtained independently while the maintenance and quality control decisions are optimized considering the optimal schedule on the machine. The expected total cost of conventional approach, i.e. “No integration” is calculated to compare the effectiveness of integrated approach.

Findings
– The integrated approach have shown a higher cost saving as compared to the independent planning approach. The approach is practical to implement as the results are obtained in a reasonable computational time.

Practical implications
– The approach presented in this paper is generic and can be applied at planned as well as unplanned opportunities. The proposed integrated approach is dynamic in nature, as during maintenance opportunities, it is possible to optimize the decision on maintenance, quality control and production scheduling considering the current age of components and production requirement.

Originality/value
– The originality of the paper is in the approach for integration of the three elements of shop floor operations that are usually treated separately and rarely touched upon by researchers in the literature.