bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Accounting students’ perceptions of important business communication skills for career success
Authors: Oussii Ahmed Atef , Klibi Mohamed Faker 
Published: May 2017

Purpose
This paper aims to examine the business communication skills that accounting students see as having the highest importance for career success. It also explores the current levels of development of these skills and analyzes them through a comparative study between three Tunisian business schools.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a questionnaire sent to180 students from three business schools to provide insights into the development of communication skills perceived important for a successful accounting career.

Findings
The results indicate that all students are conscious of the importance held by communication skills for career success in the accounting profession. However, they feel that their aptitudes are sometimes poorly developed, especially when it comes to proficiency in French (as a language of business in Tunisia) and written skills.

Practical implications
The paper’s findings offer important guidance concerning the communication skills that accounting students consider most needed by the Tunisian labor market. The findings of this study may be useful for curriculum development in local and international contexts.

Originality/value
This study is conducted in a developing country where the graduate unemployment rate is about 30 per cent. This high unemployment often affects service professions like accounting. Moreover, in Tunisia, accounting education focuses particularly on technical aspects. So far, no studies have been conducted to show whether students nowadays are aware of the increasing importance of generic skills in accounting practice. As a result, the conclusions of this study could provide Tunisian stakeholders with insights into ways of potentially improving accounting graduates’ employability.
Climate variability predicts thermal limits of aquatic insects across elevation and latitude
Authors: Shah Alisha A. , Gill Brian A. , Encalada Andrea C. , Flecker Alexander S. , Funk W. Chris , Guayasamin Juan M. , Kondratieff Boris C. , Poff N. LeRoy , Thomas Steven A. , Zamudio Kelly R. , Ghalambor Cameron K. 
Published: May 2017

Abstract

Janzen's extension of the climate variability hypothesis (CVH) posits that increased seasonal variation at high latitudes should result in greater temperature overlap across elevations, and favour wider thermal breadths in temperate organisms compared to their tropical counterparts.

We tested these predictions by measuring stream temperatures and thermal breadths (i.e. the difference between the critical thermal maximum and minimum) of 62 aquatic insect species from temperate (Colorado, USA) and tropical (Papallacta, Ecuador) streams spanning an elevation gradient of c. 2000 m.

Temperate streams exhibited greater seasonal temperature variation and overlap across elevations than tropical streams, and as predicted, temperate aquatic insects exhibited broader thermal breadths than tropical insects. However, elevation had contrasting effects on patterns of thermal breadth. In temperate species, thermal breadth decreased with increasing elevation because CTMAX declined with elevation while CTMIN was similar across elevations. In tropical insects, by contrast, CTMAX declined less sharply than CTMIN with elevation, causing thermal breadth to increase with elevation.

These macrophysiological patterns are consistent with the narrower elevation ranges found in other tropical organisms, and they extend Janzen's CVH to freshwater streams. Furthermore, because lowland tropical aquatic insects have the narrowest thermal breadths of any region, they may be particularly vulnerable to short‐term extreme changes in stream temperature.

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Demography alters carbon flux for a dominant benthic suspension feeder, the giant barrel sponge, on Conch Reef, Florida Keys
Authors: McMurray Steven E. , Pawlik Joseph R. , Finelli Christopher M. 
Published: May 2017

Abstract

A challenge to understanding ecosystem processes is that the functional roles of species are linked with the demography of populations. In many systems, and particularly on coral reefs, the dynamics and structure of populations of many functionally important species has significantly changed over recent decades due to a variety of disturbances, and the changes in the ecological processes mediated by them are poorly understood.

Benthic suspension feeders are allogenic ecosystem engineers that contribute to the flow of materials and energy in aquatic systems. There is increasing evidence that sponges dominate this functional group on Caribbean reefs. Using demographic data from 2000 to 2012 and measurements of filtration rates of particulate and dissolved organic carbon, we parameterized a stage‐based matrix model of population‐mediated carbon flux for the Caribbean giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta on Conch Reef, Florida Keys, to investigate the demographic mechanisms that mediate changes in benthic‐pelagic coupling.

Population‐mediated carbon flux increased over time with increasing sponge density and volume, with the largest individuals making the greatest contribution. Elasticity analysis revealed that the growth of sponges in all stages, the survival of sponges in the two largest stages, and the production of new recruits by the largest sponges had the greatest influence on changes in population‐mediated carbon flux. We estimate the mean carbon flux over 2000–2012 for X. muta at Conch Reef was 1575 mg C days−1 m−2, a value that exceeds that of any other single‐species rate.

Projections indicated that population‐mediated carbon flux will continue to increase under present conditions; thus, X. muta is expected to play an even larger role in the transfer of carbon from the water column to the benthos on Caribbean coral reefs.

Rather than being fixed, the functional role of species within a community are often dynamic and influenced by the demography of populations. The general framework developed here, a conversion of the basic unit of measurement for population models (i.e. the individual) into quantifiable metrics of species traits or activities, may be more broadly applied by further efforts to examine interrelationships between population and ecosystem processes.

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Shallow size–density relations within mammal clades suggest greater intra‐guild ecological impact of large‐bodied species
Authors: Pedersen Rasmus Østergaard , Faurby Søren , Svenning Jens‐Christian 
Published: May 2017

Abstract

Population densities of species have a predictable relationship with their body mass on a global scale. This relationship is known as the size–density relationship (SDR). The relationship was originally found to be directly opposite of metabolic rate scaling, which led to the hypothesis of energetic equivalence. However, recent studies have suggested that the SDR varies between clades. Specifically, the SDR for certain mammal clades has been found to be less negative than the relationship across all mammals.

The aim of the present study is to estimate phylogenetic variation in the scaling relationship, using a data‐driven identification of natural phylogenetic substructure in the body size–density relation, and discuss its potential drivers. The classic model is often used to estimate natural population densities, and a further, practical aim is to improve it by incorporating variability among phylogenetic groups.

We expand the model for the SDR relation of mammals to include clade‐specific variation. We used a dataset with population and body mass estimates of 924 terrestrial mammal species, covering 97 families, and applied an algorithm identifying group‐specific changes in the relationship across a family‐level phylogeny.

We show increased performance in species density estimation is achieved by incorporating clade‐specific changes in the relationship compared to the classic model (increasing r2 from .56 to .74 and ΔAICc = 466). While the global SDR across clades was confirmed to be similar to previous findings (r = −.74), the relationship within all sub‐clades was less negative than the overall trend.

Our results show that data‐driven identification of phylogenetic substructure in the size–density relation substantially improves predictive accuracy of the model. The less negative relationship within clades compared to the overall trend and compared to within clade metabolic scaling suggest that the energetic equivalence rule does not hold. This relationship shows that large species within clades use proportionally more energy than smaller species. Therefore, our results are consistent with a greater intra‐guild ecological impact of large‐bodied species via partial monopolisation of resources by the largest species of a given guild, and hence size‐asymmetric intra‐guild competition.
Diverse responses of species to landscape fragmentation in a simple food chain
Authors: Liao Jinbao , Bearup Daniel , Blasius Bernd 
Published: May 2017

Abstract

Habitat destruction, characterized by habitat loss and fragmentation, is a key driver of species extinction in spatial extended communities. Recently, there has been some progress in the theory of spatial food webs, however to date practically little is known about how habitat configurational fragmentation influences multi‐trophic food web dynamics.

To explore how habitat fragmentation affects species persistence in food webs, we introduce a modelling framework that describes the site occupancy of species in a tri‐trophic system. We assume that species dispersal range increases with trophic level, exploiting pair‐approximation techniques to describe the effect of habitat clustering.

In accordance with the trophic rank hypothesis, both habitat loss and fragmentation generally cause species extinction, with stronger effects occurring at higher trophic levels. However, species display diverse responses (negative, neutral or positive) to habitat loss and fragmentation separately, depending on their dispersal range and trophic position.

Counter‐intuitively, prey species may benefit from habitat loss due to a release in top‐down control. Similarly, habitat fragmentation has almost no influence on the site occupancy of the intermediate consumer in the tri‐trophic system, though it decreases those of both basal species and top predator. Consequently, species’ responses to habitat destruction vary as other species become extinct.

Our results reiterate the importance of the interplay between bottom‐up and top‐down control in trophically linked communities, and highlight the complex responses occurring in even a simple food chain.
Woodland ectomycorrhizal fungi benefit from large‐scale reduction in nitrogen deposition in the Netherlands
Authors: van Strien Arco J. , Boomsluiter Menno , Noordeloos Machiel E. , Verweij Richard J. T. , Kuyper Thomas W. 
Published: May 2017

Abstract

Woodland ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal species declined considerably in the Netherlands in the late 20th century, mainly due to raised levels of atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Environmental measures have been taken to reduce this deposition, but it remains unclear whether and to what extent ECM species have benefitted from these.

We hypothesized that ECM species, especially those species that are known to be nitrophobic, that is, sensitive to nitrogen loading, have recovered to some extent from the reduction in nitrogen deposition after 1994. We further hypothesized that, due to legacy effects of deposition, recovery has been stronger in regions where deposition levels have previously been lower.

To test these hypotheses, we analysed long‐term opportunistic data, that is, observations collected without standardized field method. We applied data filtering and a modified List Length method to adjust for potential biases in these data. The removal of bias left us with two periods to examine ECM species trends: before (1965–1985) and after (1994–2013) deposition reduction started [in 1994].

We compared trends in ECM species in 1965–1985 with those in 1994–2013. Multispecies indicators were used to summarize the findings of ECM species, and to compare these with results of litter saprotrophic species and wood saprotrophic and wood parasitic species.

We found that (1) most trends switched in direction from negative to positive after the reduction in nitrogen deposition began; (2) these trends were more pronounced for nitrophobic ECM species than for nitrotolerant ECM species; (3) trends for ECM species differed from those of the other functional groups; and (4) recovery was stronger in the region with a history of lower deposition.

Policy implications. Our results suggest that woodland ectomycorrhizal species benefit substantially from environmental measures to reduce nitrogen deposition. Our study is one of few scientific studies to date documenting evidence of success of large‐scale (nation‐wide) environmental measures. We have demonstrated that opportunistic citizen science data can be used for the detection of species trends, but it is essential to examine and control for potential bias in the data.
The role of ITPA and ribavirin transporter genes polymorphisms in prediction of ribavirin‐induced anaemia in chronic hepatitis C Egyptian patients
Authors: El Desoky Ehab S , Abdelhafez Alaa T , Cusato Jessica , Kamel Sherif I , Hussein Abeer MR , De Nicolo Amedeo , Di Perri Giovanni , D'Avolio Antonio 
Published: May 2017

SummaryFew data are available concerning the roles of polymorphisms of inosine triphosphatase (ITPA) gene and ribavirin (RBV) transporter genes in the prediction of RBV‐induced anaemia among Egyptians with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Genotyping of three ITPA gene variants and two variants of RBV transporter genes has been performed in 123 patients under pegylated interferon‐α/ribavirin treatment. The baseline haemoglobin and ITPA rs1127354 CA/AA have been found as predictors of anaemia at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of RBV therapy. In addition, ITPA rs7270101 AC/CC and age predicted anaemia after 12 weeks of therapy. In conclusion, the ITPA variant rs1127354C>A significantly predict RBV‐induced anaemia during the first 3 months of treatment and it is recommended to be assessed before RBV administration.
Do Partners in PPPs view Public and Private Management Differently?
Authors: Reynaers Anne‐Marie , van der Wal Zeger 
Published: May 2017

AbstractDifferences between public and private management have been studied extensively by comparing sectors, but not within cross‐sectoral collaborative arrangements. As participants in such arrangements have actually experienced both management styles, examining their perceptions of how these styles differ may contribute innovatively to existing literature. This paper compares such perceptions between public and private sector project members (N = 63) involved in four PPPs in the Netherlands. We assess (1) to what extent and under which conditions these project members view public and private management differently and (2) how they evaluate these differences. By triangulating quantitative and qualitative interview data, we examine Boyne's classical hypotheses and find that more than two‐thirds of the statements making reference to these hypotheses offer support for them; more so, the vast majority of such statements evaluate sectoral differences negatively. Intriguingly, type of PPP is a stronger determinant of perceived differences than the manager's sector of origin.
Identification of Microorganisms Isolated From Counterfeit and Unapproved Decorative Contact Lenses
Authors: Land Adrian D. , Penno Katie L. , Brzezinski Jennifer L. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractAll contact lenses (corrective/noncorrective) are considered Class II or Class III medical devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which also states that contact lenses can only be obtained with a prescription. The Forensic Chemistry Center of the US Food & Drug Administration has examined over 300 decorative, noncorrective contact lenses obtained without a prescription. Our observations indicate that 60% of the counterfeit lenses and 27% of the unapproved lenses examined were positive for microbial contamination. Twenty‐nine different brands of noncorrective contact lenses were examined, and 48% of them had at least one sample positive for microbial contamination. Each microorganism was further identified using DNA sequencing. Contaminated contact lenses are associated with numerous health risks, including ocular infections and conjunctivitis leading to permanent visual impairment or blindness. These results support the contention that acquiring contact lenses without a prescription is a considerable threat to consumer health and safety.
Visit‐to‐visit systolic blood pressure variability predicts treatment‐related adverse event of hyponatremia in SPRINT
Authors: Goyal Abhinav , Mezue Kenechukwu , Rangaswami Janani 
Published: May 2017

SummaryHypertension is a common condition and an important cardiovascular risk factor. SPRINT trial showed that the beneficial effects of targeting systolic blood pressure <120 mm Hg were accompanied by more adverse events. De‐identified SPRINT database was used for this analysis. All subjects in each group that achieved their respective target blood pressure (<120, intensive; <140, standard) were included. Only readings after reaching target blood pressure for the first time were included. Subjects that never reached target or had <2 readings upon reaching target were excluded. Coefficient of Variation (CV) of systolic blood pressure was calculated for each subject to characterize variability. Cox proportional hazards regression was used in the overall cohort as well as the intensive and standard treatment subgroups separately, to identify the effect of CV of systolic blood pressure on occurrence of hyponatremia. P<.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 8884 subjects met the inclusion criteria; 4323 in intensive and 4561 in standard group. Two hundred and sixty five hyponatremic events occurred in the overall cohort; 168 in intensive, and 127 in standard treatment group. CV of systolic blood pressure consistently and independently predicted a greater hazard of hyponatremia on overall (HR 1.08, P<.001), as well as separate regressions by treatment arms (each HR=1.08 and P<.05). In conclusion, visit‐to‐visit systolic blood pressure variability is independently associated with a small but significant risk of hyponatremia in the SPRINT trial.
Association between osteoarthritis and mental health in a Korean population: a nationwide study
Authors: Jung Jae Hyun , Seok Hongdeok , Kim Jae‐Hoon , Song Gwan Gyu , Choi Sung Jae 
Published: May 2017

AbstractAimOsteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease and has become a major health problem in recent years. OA causes chronic pain and disability and can induce mental disorders such as stress perception, depression and suicidal ideation. We investigated the incidence of perceived stress, depressed mood and suicidal ideation in OA patients, using the 2010–2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).MethodA total of 8271 participants were included (3580 male and 4691 female). OA patients were defined as participants with knee/hip joint pain and radiographic changes of the knee/hip joints. Mental disorders included stress perception, depression and suicidal ideation. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for mental disorders were calculated according to the OA.ResultsIn the multiple logistic regression model, compared to the non‐OA group, the ORs of high stress perception, depression and suicidal ideation were 1.59 (95% CI 1.10–2.31), 1.52 (95% CI 1.01–2.29) and 1.90 (95% CI 1.33–2.72), respectively, in male, and 1.41 (95% CI 1.19–1.68), 1.27 (95% CI 1.04–1.54) and 1.49 (95% CI 1.25–1.78), respectively, in female.ConclusionOA is associated with impaired mental health. OA patients had high stress perception, depression and suicidal ideation. More numbers of male with OA had much more mental disorders than female with OA.
Lack of association between MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and outcome of methotrexate treatment in rheumatoid arthritis patients: evidence from a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Fan Hongqiong , Li Yanhui , Zhang Li , Li Yuying , Li Wei 
Published: May 2017

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the association of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphism A1298C and methotrexate (MTX) outcome in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.MethodsWe conducted a meta‐analysis of the relevant published literature through to May 2016. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using fixed‐ and random‐effect models.ResultsA total of 1325 cases (10 studies) of MTX efficacy and 2777 cases (18 studies) of MTX toxicity in RA patients were analyzed. Pooled results showed that MTHFR gene A1298C polymorphism was not significantly related to MTX toxicity or efficacy in RA patients. However, subgroup analysis indicated a significant association between MTHFR gene A1298C polymorphism and decreased MTX efficacy in the South Asian population (CCvs. CA + AA: OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23–0.89, P = 0.021). Also, MTHFR gene A1298C polymorphism in the partial folate supplementation group showed a relationship with decreased MTX efficacy (CCvs. CA + AA: OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.20–0.92, P = 0.029) and toxicity (CCvs. CA + AA: OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.17–0.96, P = 0.04; CCvs. AA: OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.16–0.94, P = 0.035).ConclusionsOverall, our meta‐analysis suggested no significant effect of MTHFR gene A1298C polymorphism on MTX outcome in RA patients. However, due to several limitations of our meta‐analysis, the results should be interpreted cautiously and require further confirmation using high‐quality studies.
Discussion of “Aggregate Margin Debt and the Divergence of Price from Accounting Fundamentals”
Authors: Hutton Amy P. 
Published: May 2017

AbstractBurger and Curtis (2017) is an empirical investigation of whether aggregate margin debt correlates with aggregate stock prices and aggregate accounting‐based fundamentals. While the paper convincingly documents a significant relation: aggregate margin debt is higher when aggregate fundamentals‐to‐price ratios are low, it fails to document why. The documented relation could exist because margin traders are the overly exuberant noise traders that push stock prices higher away from fundamental values; or the documented relation could be spurious, and exist because aggregate margin debt rises with aggregate price levels simply because margin loan capacity increases as aggregate price levels increase. With insufficiently granular data (aggregate margin debt measured monthly), the authors are not able to sort out why the relation exists. Thus, interpretation of the findings documented in this paper is difficult.