bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The cDNA Sequence of Two Hemocyanin Subunits from Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii and their Responses to White Spot Syndrome Virus Infection
Authors: Zeng Yong 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
Hemocyanin, the respiratory protein of crustaceans, participates in the innate immune defense in these organisms. We cloned two hemocyanin subunit genes (PcHc1 and PcHc2), by using a degenerate primer PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approach, from the hepatopancreas of red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. The transcripts of these two subunits were only detected in the hepatopancreas by reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis. The neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses indicated that PcHc2 associated with a clade belong to the α-type hemocyanins and PcHc1 associated with another clade belonging to the β-type hemocyanins. The data obtained from the RT-qPCR indicated that the mRNA expression levels of these subunit genes followed almost the same regulation pattern in the crayfish challenged with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). The fluctuation of mRNA expression levels of these two subunits after the WSSV challenge indicated that both of them may participate in the antiviral immune response of crayfish.
Received April 12, 2015; accepted November 22, 2015.
The Continual State of Becoming – Each in his Own Way
Authors: Wright David Keir 
Published: March 2016

This paper, in two parts, conceptualises an holistic individual-centred drama methodology informed and inspired by the writings of dramatist Luigi Pirandello, theatre practitioner and theoretician Nikolai Evreinov, arts educators Peter Slade and Malcolm Ross, philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Buber, psychiatrists C.G. Jung and D.W. Winnicott and voice pioneers Alfred Wolfsohn and Roy Hart. It presents the theoretical framework of a research practice that emphasises ‘each in his own way’ and explores the notion of choice in the continual state of becoming of each individual and the reflexive relationship between life and artistic processes. The thesis is that the practice produces knowledge and an insight that enables individuals to see themselves as both fixed and not fixed. It gives them the opportunity of liminal experiences while exploring their ‘other selves’ in the potential space and choosing self-transformation through creative imagination and creative imaginative action.
A fuzzy goal programming model for biodiesel production
Authors: Lutero D S , Pangue EMU , Tubay J M , Lubag S P 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
A fuzzy goal programming (FGP) model for biodiesel production in the Philippines was formulated with Coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) as sources of biodiesel. Objectives were maximization of feedstock production and overall revenue and, minimization of energy used in production and working capital for farming subject to biodiesel and non-biodiesel requirements, and availability of land, labor, water and machine time. All these objectives and constraints were assumed to be fuzzy. Model was tested for different sets of weights. Results for all sets of weights showed the same optimal allocation. Coconut alone can satisfy the biodiesel requirement of 2% per volume.
Enabling local authorities to produce short-term energy plans
Authors: Androulaki Stella , Doukas Haris , Marinakis Vangelis , Madrazo Leandro , Legaki Nikoletta-Zabbeta 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify the most appropriate multidisciplinary data sources related with energy optimization decision support as well as the related methodologies, tools and techniques for data capturing and processing for each of them.Design/methodology/approach– A review is conducted on the state-of-play of decision support systems for energy optimization, focussing on the municipal sector, followed by an identification of the most appropriate multidisciplinary data sources related with energy optimization decision support. An innovative methodology is outlined to integrate semantically modeled data from multiple sources, to assist city authorities in energy management.Findings– City authorities need to lead relevant actions toward energy-efficient neighborhoods. Although there are more and more energy and other related data available at the city level, there are no established methods and tools integrating and analyzing them in a smart way, with the purpose to support the decision-making process on energy use optimization.Originality/value– A novel multidimensional approach is proposed, using semantic technologies to integrate data from multiple sources, to assist city authorities to produce short-term energy plans in an integrated, transparent and comprehensive way.
Using life cycle assessment for estimating environmental impacts and eco-costs from the metal waste in the construction industry
Authors: Yahya Khairulzan , Boussabaine Halim , Alzaed Ali Nasser 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to estimate the ecological costs form metal waste based on life cycle assessment (LCA) environmental impacts generated from the management of the construction waste.

Design/methodology/approach
– LCA methodology and eco-indicators 95 were used to calculate the impact from metal waste based on three waste management strategies.

Findings
– The results of this study establish that the ecological impact from metal waste management is mainly due to the burning of diesel from machinery during the dismantling processes and the use of vehicles for transportation. The results proposed equations and curves for estimating the ecological cost from metal waste based on waste management strategies.

Research limitations/implications
– The research could affect members of the engineering and construction industry, since it provides methods for costing the ecological impact from construction waste. The eco-costs will assist in implementing sustainable strategies that help to reduce the amount of waste generated by the construction industry.

Originality/value
– This paper presents an exploratory study to conceptualise eco-costing issues in relation to waste from construction activities in the UK construction industry.
The influence of corruption: a South African case
Authors: Jonck Petronella , Swanepoel Eben 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– A growing public concern among South African citizens is that of corruption in law enforcement, an awareness of which causes significant tension in the community – police relationship. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how law enforcement corruption influences service delivery satisfaction and public trust.Design/methodology/approach– Data from the Victims of Crime Survey 2013/2014 for all nine provinces in South Africa were utilised, yielding a final sample of 25,605 respondents. By means of standard multiple-regression analysis, the study established that corruption statistically significantly influence service delivery satisfaction and public trust.Findings– The demographic variables that statistically significantly influenced the aforementioned dependent variables were province, population group and age. Gender and religion were not found to influence law enforcement public trust and service delivery satisfaction significantly.Research limitations/implications– It is recommended that the findings be used to stimulate public debate and renew efforts to curb law enforcement corruption specifically by emphasising police integrity.Practical implications– Limited empirical evidence can be found on the influence of law enforcement corruption on service delivery satisfaction and public trust especially in South Africa where police corruption is a serious concern. Determining the consequences of perceived corruption underscore the importance thereof and will renew efforts to curb as such the prevalence thereof.Social implications– The case study of South Africa could provide valuable lessons not only for South African policy makers but for other countries perilled by high crime rates, a lack of public trust and social segmentation.Originality/value– Limited empirical evidence could be found on the influence of law enforcement corruption on service delivery satisfaction and public trust especially in South Africa where police corruption is a serious concern.
Learning in organization
Authors: Palos Ramona , Veres Stancovici Vesna 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– This study aims at identifying the presence of the dimensions of learning capabilities and the characteristics of a learning organization within two companies in the field of services, as well as identifying the relationships between their learning capability and the organizational culture.

Design/methodology/approach
– This has been a transversal study on a convenience sample of 64 employees from two companies. The questionnaires’ purpose was to identify and assess organizational learning capability, dimensions of the learning organization and the role of organizational culture.

Findings
– The results showed a better represented capability of organizational learning and a more evident presence of the dimensions that characterize a learning organization within a private company. Also, the type of organization is a moderator for the relationship between the hierarchical culture and adhocracy on one hand and the dimension of experimenting organizational learning on the other hand, but also between the market culture and dialogue dimension.

Research limitations/implications
– The reduced dimension and the structure of the sample or using certain self-report-type questionnaires represent some of the limits of this study.

Practical implications
– The results highlight the way the type of organization and the organizational cultures influence the factors that facilitate learning. Knowing this allows the specific intervention upon those factors that can contribute to the increase of the organizational learning capabilities.

Originality/value
– The study depicts the factors that make a difference on the learning and action level of the organizational culture in two different organizational realities: a public one with local top management and a private one with foreign top management.
The importance of realistic dispersal models in conservation planning: application of a novel modelling platform to evaluate management scenarios in an Afrotropical biodiversity hotspot
Authors: Aben Job , Bocedi Greta , Palmer Stephen C. F. , Pellikka Petri , Strubbe Diederik , Hallmann Caspar , Travis Justin M. J. , Lens Luc , Matthysen Erik 
Published: March 2016

Summary

As biodiversity hotspots are often characterized by high human population densities, implementation of conservation management practices that focus only on the protection and enlargement of pristine habitats is potentially unrealistic. An alternative approach to curb species extinction risk involves improving connectivity among existing habitat patches. However, evaluation of spatially explicit management strategies is challenging, as predictive models must account for the process of dispersal, which is difficult in terms of both empirical data collection and modelling.

Here, we use a novel, individual‐based modelling platform that couples demographic and mechanistic dispersal models to evaluate the effectiveness of realistic management scenarios tailored to conserve forest birds in a highly fragmented biodiversity hotspot. Scenario performance is evaluated based on the spatial population dynamics of a well‐studied forest bird species.

The largest population increase was predicted to occur under scenarios increasing habitat area. However, the effectiveness was sensitive to spatial planning. Compared to adding one large patch to the habitat network, adding several small patches yielded mixed benefits: although overall population sizes increased, specific newly created patches acted as dispersal sinks, which compromised population persistence in some existing patches. Increasing matrix connectivity by the creation of stepping stones is likely to result in enhanced dispersal success and occupancy of smaller patches.

Synthesis and applications. We show that the effectiveness of spatial management is strongly driven by patterns of individual dispersal across landscapes. For species conservation planning, we advocate the use of models that incorporate adequate realism in demography and, particularly, in dispersal behaviours.
Genetic differentiation and regional adaptation among seed origins used for grassland restoration: lessons from a multispecies transplant experiment
Authors: Bucharova Anna , Michalski Stefan , Hermann Julia‐Maria , Heveling Karola , Durka Walter , Hölzel Norbert , Kollmann Johannes , Bossdorf Oliver 
Published: March 2016

Summary

One of the key questions in ecosystem restoration is the choice of seed material for restoring plant communities. More and more scientists and practitioners are currently advocating the use of regional seed sources, based on the argument that plants are often adapted to local or regional environmental conditions, and thus, regional seed sources should provide the best restoration success. However, there is still substantial debate about this approach, partly because of a lack of solid empirical data.

We conducted a multispecies transplant experiment in which we compared the performance of eight seed origins of seven plant species frequently used in grassland restoration in four common gardens across Germany.

We found that, on average, plants of regional origins produced 10% more inflorescences and 7% more biomass than those of foreign origins. There were substantial differences among species in the strength of these effects, but in the majority of the study species fitness decreased with increasing geographical distance of seed origins or with increasing climatic differences between plant origins and experimental sites.

In addition to these effects on plant fitness, increasing geographical or climatic distances of origin were often also correlated with increasing differences in plant phenology. Since phenology is important for biotic interactions, especially with pollinators and seed predators, using foreign seed sources may have cascading effects on local ecosystems.

Synthesis and applications. Genetic differentiation is widespread in grassland species and often shows the patterns of regional adaptation. Our study thus supports the use of regional seed sources in restoration. Moreover, using non‐regional seed sources in grassland restoration may not only decrease the performance of plants, but it will likely also affect their biotic interactions.
Direction of attentional focus in biofeedback treatment for /r/ misarticulation
Authors: McAllister Byun Tara , Swartz Michelle T. , Halpin Peter F. , Szeredi Daniel , Maas Edwin 
Published: March 2016

AbstractBackgroundMaintaining an external direction of focus during practice is reported to facilitate acquisition of non‐speech motor skills, but it is not known whether these findings also apply to treatment for speech errors. This question has particular relevance for treatment incorporating visual biofeedback, where clinician cueing can direct the learner's attention either internally (i.e., to the movements of the articulators) or externally (i.e., to the visual biofeedback display).AimsThis study addressed two objectives. First, it aimed to use single‐subject experimental methods to collect additional evidence regarding the efficacy of visual–acoustic biofeedback treatment for children with /r/ misarticulation. Second, it compared the efficacy of this biofeedback intervention under two cueing conditions. In the external focus (EF) condition, participants’ attention was directed exclusively to the external biofeedback display. In the internal focus (IF) condition, participants viewed a biofeedback display, but they also received articulatory cues encouraging an internal direction of attentional focus.Methods & ProceduresNine school‐aged children were pseudo‐randomly assigned to receive either IF or EF cues during 8 weeks of visual–acoustic biofeedback intervention. Accuracy in /r/ production at the word level was probed in three to five pre‐treatment baseline sessions and in three post‐treatment maintenance sessions. Outcomes were assessed using visual inspection and calculation of effect sizes for individual treatment trajectories. In addition, a mixed logistic model was used to examine across‐subjects effects including phase (pre/post‐treatment), /r/ variant (treated/untreated), and focus cue condition (internal/external).Outcomes & ResultsSix out of nine participants showed sustained improvement on at least one treated /r/ variant; these six participants were evenly divided across EF and IF treatment groups. Regression results indicated that /r/ productions were significantly more likely to be rated accurate post‐ than pre‐treatment. Internal versus external direction of focus cues was not a significant predictor of accuracy, nor did it interact significantly with other predictors.ConclusionsThe results are consistent with previous literature reporting that visual–acoustic biofeedback can produce measurable treatment gains in children who have not responded to previous intervention. These findings are also in keeping with previous research suggesting that biofeedback may be sufficient to establish an external attentional focus, independent of verbal cues provided. The finding that explicit articulator placement cues were not necessary for progress in treatment has implications for intervention practices for speech‐sound disorders in children.
New biosynthetic pathway for pink pigments from uncultured oceanic viruses
Authors: Ledermann Benjamin , Béjà Oded , Frankenberg‐Dinkel Nicole 
Published: March 2016

SummaryThe pink open‐chain tetrapyrrole pigment phycoerythrobilin (PEB) is employed by marine cyanobacteria, red algae and cryptophytes as a light‐harvesting chromophore in phycobiliproteins. Genes encoding biosynthesis proteins for PEB have also been discovered in cyanophages, viruses that infect cyanobacteria, and mimic host pigment biosynthesis with the exception of PebS which combines the enzymatic activities of two host enzymes. In this study, we have identified novel members of the PEB biosynthetic enzyme families, heme oxygenases and ferredoxin‐dependent bilin reductases. Encoding genes were found in metagenomic datasets and could be traced back to bacteriophage but not cyanophage origin. While the heme oxygenase exhibited standard activity, a new bilin reductase with highest homology to the teal pigment producing enzyme PcyA revealed PEB biosynthetic activity. Although PcyX possesses PebS‐like activity both enzymes share only 9% sequence identity and likely catalyze the reaction via two independent mechanisms. Our data point towards the presence of phycobilin biosynthetic genes in phages that probably infect alphaproteobacteria and, therefore, further support a role of phycobilins outside oxygenic phototrophs.
Interobserver Reliability of the Total Body Score System for Quantifying Human Decomposition
Authors: Dabbs Gretchen R. , Connor Melissa , Bytheway Joan A. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractSeveral authors have tested the accuracy of the Total Body Score (TBS) method for quantifying decomposition, but none have examined the reliability of the method as a scoring system by testing interobserver error rates. Sixteen participants used the TBS system to score 59 observation packets including photographs and written descriptions of 13 human cadavers in different stages of decomposition (postmortem interval: 2–186 days). Data analysis used a two‐way random model intraclass correlation in SPSS (v. 17.0). The TBS method showed “almost perfect” agreement between observers, with average absolute correlation coefficients of 0.990 and average consistency correlation coefficients of 0.991. While the TBS method may have sources of error, scoring reliability is not one of them. Individual component scores were examined, and the influences of education and experience levels were investigated. Overall, the trunk component scores were the least concordant. Suggestions are made to improve the reliability of the TBS method.
Military Expenditure Trends for 1960–2014 and What They Reveal
Authors: Sandler Todd , George Justin 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe article uses newly available consistent military expenditure data for 1960–2014 to examine past and current global spending trends during and after the Cold War. We are particularly interested in the impact of the end of the Cold War, 9/11 and the 2008 recession on military spending worldwide. The global share of military spending of East Asia & Pacific and the Middle East & North Africa increased relative to other regions since 1985. This increase underscores the need for western allies to bolster their power projection capacities. After 1999, both China and Russia raised their real defense spending, with China's increases far exceeding that of Russia. Both countries have a long ways to go to rival US capabilities. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continues to be heavily dependent on US defense spending. The post‐1998 expansion allies assume about 2.4 per cent of the alliance's defense burden, while representing significant risks to NATO, given recent Russian actions in the Ukraine.
Nonpharmacological Correction of Hypersympatheticotonia in Patients with Chronic Coronary Insufficiency and Severe Left Ventricular Dysfunction
Authors: Afanasiev Sergey A. , Pavliukova Elena N. , Kuzmichkina Maria A. , Rebrova Tatiana Yu. , Anfinogenova Yana , Likhomanov Konstantin S. , Karpov Rostislav S. 
Published: March 2016

BackgroundControl of sympathetic hyperactivity is pivotal for treatment of heart failure (HF) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Our earlier studies demonstrated that the auricular pulsed electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) beneficially affected condition of CAD patients with HF. The aim of our study was to evaluate changes in heart rate (HR) and the levels of heat shock proteins in peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with CAD in the course of VNS.MethodsThe study comprised 70 individuals aged 50–68 years with chronic coronary insufficiency, severe left ventricular dysfunction, and NYHA functional class (FC) III–IV HF. Main group included 63 patients who received VNS course (group 1). Control patients (n = 7) received sham therapy (group 2).ResultsAccording to the results of 6‐minute walk test and 24‐hour ECG monitoring, administration of VNS improved clinical condition of 58 of 63 patients, decreased HF FC, and attenuated HR. Clinical condition in sham therapy group did not change. Immunoenzyme method demonstrated that hsp70 and hsp60 contents in peripheral blood lymphocyte lysate increased by 58% and 48% (P < 0.05), respectively, in patients who initially had HR < 80 bpm. The hsp70 level significantly increased and hsp60 level remained unchanged in patients with initial HR > 80 bpm.ConclusionsCorrection of autonomous nervous status by VNS attenuated HR and improved functional state of the heart in CAD patients. Cardiotropic effect of VNS was the most pronounced in patients with preserved endogenous stress‐limiting systems associated with hsp60 and/or hsp70.