bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Constructing self-efficacy in STEM graduate education
Authors: Charleston LaVar , Leon Raul 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
Self-efficacy and outcome expectations influence the development of career interests, which, in turn, affect career choices. This study aims to understand self-efficacy beliefs and expectancy outcomes for African-American graduate students and faculty with a focus in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree programs, namely, the computing sciences.

Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of 23 African-American graduate students and faculty members in the STEM field of computing sciences.

Findings
This study reveals that in different stages of the STEM trajectory, self-efficacy of STEM and computing needs to be reestablished. This research captures a novel space in the self-efficacy literature, presenting self-efficacy as a mobile construct to be re-achieved as students’ progress toward advanced STEM degrees. In addition, this study asserts that the contribution and input of teachers, parents, mentors, counselors and peers has a deep impact on the level of self-efficacy and persistence in computing sciences.

Originality/value
Findings suggest a greater need for interventions designed to reestablish self-efficacy at each level (e.g. undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees) of the STEM educational trajectory in an effort to broaden STEM participation at the highest levels of degree attainment.
Market reactions to private equity announcements and intra-industry information spillover
Authors: Chen Kung-Chi , Cheng Lee-Young , Huang Sheng-Jie , Zhao Yan 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine market reactions to private equity placements and intra-industry information spillover effects in the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors first use the market model to compute the abnormal announcement returns. To examine the joint impact of the private investment in public equity (PIPE) purposes and the lead investor industry, the authors regress the issuers’ cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) on the dummy variables of PIPE purposes and the lead investor industry. To study the spillover effects, the authors regress the rivals’ CARs on the issuers’ CARs, PIPE purposes, and the lead investor industry. Finally, the industry Herfindahl index is used as a proxy for the market power of issuers and rivals to examine its impact on the spillover effects.

Findings
– The authors find that issuing firms experience positive abnormal returns during the announcement period. Issuers enjoy more positive market reactions when the proceeds of offerings are primarily used to establish a long-term strategic alliance or to integrate business and when the lead investor is in the same industry. Furthermore, the authors show that the contagion effect dominates the competitive effect in private equity placements at the aggregate level. At the subsample level, the authors find competitive effect overpowers contagion effect when the purpose of offerings is primarily used to establish a long-term strategic alliance or to integrate business and when the lead investor is in the different industry. Finally, the authors show that rivals with relative lower market power enjoy more positive contagion effects.

Originality/value
– First, the analysis documents the simultaneous importance of both the purposes of private offerings and the lead investor’s industry on announcement reactions, which shed new light on the positive abnormal returns during the announcement period. Second, the study adds to the literature on the information spillover effects by analyzing the role played by purposes of offerings and rivals’ market power. This paper provides a more complete picture of the offsetting competitive and contagion effects.
Liquidity transformation: an examination of US life insurers
Authors: Choi Byeongyong Paul , Park Jin , Ho Chia-Ling 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, this paper measures how much liquidity is transformed by the US life insurance industry for the sample period; and Second, this study tests the “risk absorption” hypothesis and “financial fragility-crowding out” hypothesis to identify the impact of capital on liquidity creation in the US life insurance industry. In addition, a regression model is conducted to explore the relationship between liquidity creation and other firm characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach
– In order to construct the liquidity creation measures, all assets and liabilities are classified as liquid, semi-liquid, or illiquid with appropriate weights to these classifications, which will then be combined to measure the amount of liquidity creation. In addition, a regression model is analyzed. The level of insurers’ liquidity creation is regressed on the capital ratio (surplus over total assets) and other financial and organizational variables to test two prevailing hypotheses.

Findings
– This paper finds that the US life insurers de-create liquidity. The authors provide that the amount of liquidity de-creation is related to the size of insurers such that liquidity de-creation has increased as assets grow and that large insurers de-create most of liquidity. The US life insurance industry de-created $2.1 trillion in liquidity, i.e., 43 percent of total industry assets, in 2008. The empirical results support the “financial fragility-crowding out” hypothesis. Life insurers’ liquidity de-creation is mainly caused by the large portion of liquid assets, which is required by regulation and capital is not a main factor of liquidity de-creation.

Originality/value
– There is no known study on the issue of liquidity creation by life insurers. Thus, the extent of liquidity creation by the life insurance industry, if any, is an empirical matter to investigate, but also an important matter to regulators and the academia since the products and business operations (e.g. asset portfolio and asset and liability management) of life insurers are different from those of property and liability insurers.
Patterns and correlates of claims for brown bear damage on a continental scale
Authors: Bautista Carlos , Naves Javier , Revilla Eloy , Fernández Néstor , Albrecht Jörg , Scharf Anne K. , Rigg Robin , Karamanlidis Alexandros A. , Jerina Klemen , Huber Djuro , Palazón Santiago , Kont Raido , Ciucci Paolo , Groff Claudio , Dutsov Aleksandar , Seijas Juan , Quenette Pierre‐Ives , Olszańska Agnieszka , Shkvyria Maryna , Adamec Michal , Ozolins Janis , Jonozovič Marko , Selva Nuria 
Published: June 2016

Summary

Wildlife damage to human property threatens human–wildlife coexistence. Conflicts arising from wildlife damage in intensively managed landscapes often undermine conservation efforts, making damage mitigation and compensation of special concern for wildlife conservation. However, the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of damage and claims at large scales are still poorly understood.

Here, we investigated the patterns of damage caused by brown bears Ursus arctos and its ecological and socio‐economic correlates at a continental scale. We compiled information about compensation schemes across 26 countries in Europe in 2005–2012 and analysed the variation in the number of compensated claims in relation to (i) bear abundance, (ii) forest availability, (iii) human land use, (iv) management practices and (v) indicators of economic wealth.

Most European countries have a posteriori compensation schemes based on damage verification, which, in many cases, have operated for more than 30 years. On average, over 3200 claims of bear damage were compensated annually in Europe. The majority of claims were for damage to livestock (59%), distributed throughout the bear range, followed by damage to apiaries (21%) and agriculture (17%), mainly in Mediterranean and eastern European countries.

The mean number of compensated claims per bear and year ranged from 0·1 in Estonia to 8·5 in Norway. This variation was not only due to the differences in compensation schemes; damage claims were less numerous in areas with supplementary feeding and with a high proportion of agricultural land. However, observed variation in compensated damage was not related to bear abundance.

Synthesis and applications. Compensation schemes, management practices and human land use influence the number of claims for brown bear damage, while bear abundance does not. Policies that ignore this complexity and focus on a single factor, such as bear population size, may not be effective in reducing claims. To be effective, policies should be based on integrative schemes that prioritize damage prevention and make it a condition of payment of compensation that preventive measures are applied. Such integrative schemes should focus mitigation efforts in areas or populations where damage claims are more likely to occur. Similar studies using different species and continents might further improve our understanding of conflicts arising from wildlife damage.
Seeking convergence on the key concepts in ‘no net loss’ policy
Authors: Bull Joseph W. , Gordon Ascelin , Watson James E. M. , Maron Martine 
Published: June 2016

Summary

Biodiversity conservation policies incorporating a no net loss (NNL) principle are being implemented in many countries. However, there are linguistic and conceptual inconsistencies in the use of terms underlying these NNL policies.

We identify inconsistencies that emerge in the usage of eight key terms and phrases associated with NNL policies: biodiversity, frames of reference (i.e. baselines, counterfactuals), no net loss, mitigation hierarchy, biodiversity offset, in‐kind/out‐of‐kind, direct/indirect and multipliers.

For each term, we make recommendations to support conceptual convergence, reduce ambiguity and improve clarity in communication and policy documentation. However, we also warn of the challenges in achieving convergence, especially given the linguistic inconsistencies in several of these key concepts among countries in which NNL policies are employed.

Policy implications. The recommendations made in this article, on improving clarity and supporting convergence on key no net loss (NNL) concepts, should help eliminate ambiguity in policy documentation. This is crucial if policymakers are to design robust policies that are (i) transparent, (ii) translatable into practice in a consistent manner and (iii) sufficiently understood and supported by stakeholders to be effective in practice.
Can intercropping with the world's three major beverage plants help improve the water use of rubber trees?
Authors: Wu Junen , Liu Wenjie , Chen Chunfeng 
Published: June 2016

Summary

The dramatic expansion of rubber plantations in mainland South‐East Asia and south‐west China has caused many eco‐environmental problems, especially negative hydrological consequences. These problems have gradually worsened and pose formidable threats to rubber agriculture, especially in the light of increasingly frequent extreme weather events. Although rubber‐based agroforestry systems are regarded as the best solution for improving the sustainability of rubber agriculture and environmental conservation, plant water use and related interactions have rarely been examined in such systems.

We primarily used stable isotope (δD, δ18O and δ13C) methods to test whether intercropping could improve the water use and extreme weather tolerance (extreme cold and drought in our study) of rubber trees in three types of promising agroforestry systems (i.e. rubber with tea, coffee and cocoa) in Xishuangbanna, China.

We found that the rubber tree is a drought‐avoidance plant with strong plasticity with respect to water uptake. This characteristic is reflected by its ability to cope with serious seasonal drought, allowing it to avoid interspecific competition for water. The rubber trees showed wasteful water behaviour unless they were intercropped with tea or coffee. However, these intercropped species exhibited drought‐tolerance strategies and maintained lower water use efficiencies to strengthen their competitive capacity for surface soil water. The stable δ13C values of the intercrop leaves indicated that all the agroforestry systems have stable internal microclimatic environments or higher resistance.

Synthesis and applications. This study suggests that interspecific competition for water can enhance the water use efficiency of drought‐avoidance plants (i.e. rubber trees) and lead to complementarity between the root distributions of plants in rubber agroforestry systems (i.e. rubber with tea, coffee and cocoa). All agroforestry systems have higher resistance, but tea was the most suitable intercrop in terms of water use because the interspecific competition for water was moderate and the agroforestry system retained much more soil water and improved the water use efficiency of the rubber tree. Considering the root characteristics of the tea trees, we suggest that the crops selected for intercropping with rubber trees should have a relatively fixed water use pattern, short lateral roots and a moderate amount of fine roots that overlap with the roots of the rubber trees in the shallow soil layer.
Identifying management actions to increase foraging opportunities for shorebirds at semi‐intensive shrimp farms
Authors: Navedo Juan G. , Fernández Guillermo , Valdivia Nelson , Drever Mark C. , Masero José A. 
Published: June 2016

Summary

The expansion of aquaculture has resulted in widespread habitat conversion throughout the world. Identifying beneficial management measures may dramatically reduce negative impacts of aquaculture for migratory birds.

We studied how densities of foraging shorebirds varied at ponds within a semi‐intensive shrimp aquaculture farm on the north‐western coast of Mexico, as related to timing of harvest and tidal cycles. Further, we estimated the total daily available area for each shorebird species throughout two entire harvesting seasons at the shrimp farm.

High densities (average ca. 50 individuals per ha) of foraging shorebirds were found during the first days following pond harvest. The most abundant species were Willet Tringa semipalmata and Black‐necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus, followed by Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa and American Avocet Recurvirostra americana. Other regular, but less abundant, species were whimbrel Numenius phaeopus and dowitchers Limnodromus spp.

Densities of shorebirds sharply declined daily following harvest. In addition, the time‐window availability of harvested ponds was related to each species' foraging behaviour: <2 days for godwits and dowitchers, 4 days for stilts, 5 days for willets and more than a week for avocets and whimbrels. However, birds continued to use harvested ponds that received a low, but continuous water influx.

Our results demonstrate that a tropical shrimp farm represents a patchy environment that provides 4·3–12·7% (depending on species) of its total area as foraging opportunities for shorebirds.

Synthesis and applications. Sequential harvesting of shrimp aquaculture farm ponds and increasing moisture of the substrate by providing some water supply to harvested ponds, at least throughout the harvesting period, could integrate shorebird conservation into shrimp‐farm production. These low‐cost and easy management procedures would not increase costs or affect shrimp production – thus representing a win‐win opportunity – and would have potential applications for shorebird conservation throughout the world.
Knock‐down of the methyltransferase Kmt6 relieves H3K27me3 and results in induction of cryptic and otherwise silent secondary metabolite gene clusters in Fusarium fujikuroi
Authors: Studt Lena , Rösler Sarah M. , Burkhardt Immo , Arndt Birgit , Freitag Michael , Humpf Hans‐Ulrich , Dickschat Jeroen S. , Tudzynski Bettina 
Published: June 2016

SummaryFilamentous fungi produce a vast array of secondary metabolites (SMs) and some play a role in agriculture or pharmacology. Sequencing of the rice pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi revealed the presence of far more SM‐encoding genes than known products. SM production is energy‐consuming and thus tightly regulated, leaving the majority of SM gene clusters silent under laboratory conditions. One important regulatory layer in SM biosynthesis involves histone modifications that render the underlying genes either silent or poised for transcription. Here, we show that the majority of the putative SM gene clusters in F. fujikuroi are located within facultative heterochromatin marked by trimethylated lysine 27 on histone 3 (H3K27me3). Kmt6, the methyltransferase responsible for establishing this histone mark, appears to be essential in this fungus, and knock‐down of Kmt6 in the KMT6kd strain shows a drastic phenotype affecting fungal growth and development. Transcription of four so far cryptic and otherwise silent putative SM gene clusters was induced in the KMT6kd strain, in which decreased expression of KMT6 is accompanied by reduced H3K27me3 levels at the respective gene loci and accumulation of novel metabolites. One of the four putative SM gene clusters, named STC5, was analysed in more detail thereby revealing a novel sesquiterpene.
Polysaccharide utilisation loci of Bacteroidetes from two contrasting open ocean sites in the North Atlantic
Authors: Bennke Christin M. , Krüger Karen , Kappelmann Lennart , Huang Sixing , Gobet Angélique , Schüler Margarete , Barbe Valérie , Fuchs Bernhard M. , Michel Gurvan , Teeling Hanno , Amann Rudolf I. 
Published: June 2016

SummaryMarine Bacteroidetes have pronounced capabilities of degrading high molecular weight organic matter such as proteins and polysaccharides. Previously we reported on 76 Bacteroidetes‐affiliated fosmids from the North Atlantic Ocean's boreal polar and oligotrophic subtropical provinces. Here, we report on the analysis of further 174 fosmids from the same libraries. The combined, re‐assembled dataset (226 contigs; 8.8 Mbp) suggests that planktonic Bacteroidetes at the oligotrophic southern station use more peptides and bacterial and animal polysaccharides, whereas Bacteroidetes at the polar station (East‐Greenland Current) use more algal and plant polysaccharides. The latter agrees with higher abundances of algae and terrigenous organic matter, including plant material, at the polar station. Results were corroborated by in‐depth bioinformatic analysis of 14 polysaccharide utilisation loci from both stations, suggesting laminarin‐specificity for four and specificity for sulfated xylans for two loci. In addition, one locus from the polar station supported use of non‐sulfated xylans and mannans, possibly of plant origin. While peptides likely represent a prime source of carbon for Bacteroidetes in open oceans, our data suggest that as yet unstudied clades of these Bacteroidetes have a surprisingly broad capacity for polysaccharide degradation. In particular, laminarin‐specific PULs seem widespread and thus must be regarded as globally important.
Pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenases enable redox balance of Pseudomonas putida during biodegradation of aromatic compounds
Authors: Nikel Pablo I. , Pérez‐Pantoja Danilo , de Lorenzo Víctor 
Published: June 2016

SummaryThe metabolic versatility of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida is reflected by its ability to execute strong redox reactions (e.g., mono‐ and di‐oxygenations) on aromatic substrates. Biodegradation of aromatics occurs via the pathway encoded in the archetypal TOL plasmid pWW0, yet the effect of running such oxidative route on redox balance against the background metabolism of P. putida remains unexplored. To answer this question, the activity of pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenases (that catalyze the reversible interconversion of NADH and NADPH) was inspected under various physiological and oxidative stress regimes. The genome of P. putida KT2440 encodes a soluble transhydrogenase (SthA) and a membrane‐bound, proton‐pumping counterpart (PntAB). Mutant strains, lacking sthA and/or pntAB, were subjected to a panoply of genetic, biochemical, phenomic and functional assays in cells grown on customary carbon sources (e.g., citrate) versus difficult‐to‐degrade aromatic substrates. The results consistently indicated that redox homeostasis is compromised in the transhydrogenases‐defective variant, rendering the mutant sensitive to oxidants. This metabolic deficiency was, however, counteracted by an increase in the activity of NADP+‐dependent dehydrogenases in central carbon metabolism. Taken together, these observations demonstrate that transhydrogenases enable a redox‐adjusting mechanism that comes into play when biodegradation reactions are executed to metabolize unusual carbon compounds.
Solidarity in Climate/Immigrant Justice Direct Action: Lessons from Movements in the US South
Authors: Thomas Black Sara , Anthony Milligan Richard , Heynen Nik 
Published: June 2016

AbstractIn October of 2012, youth organizers from the immigrant justice and climate change resistance movements in the southeastern US metropolitan region of Atlanta, Georgia, coordinated a direct action tactic framed by a unified narrative justifying collaboration between immigrant and climate justice activists on equal terms. In a continuing collaborative relationship, these organizers embraced mutually strategic narratives rooted in local civil rights history, but rejected common ‘global climate justice’ narratives used to frame social and environmental collaborative organizing. We examine the departure from ‘global climate justice’ narratives, which was exemplified by coalition building in Georgia, to argue that scholarship articulating ‘global climate justice’ as a new context for integrating social and environmental movements must anticipate barriers to these solidarities, especially historical, regional and racialized dynamics of power among organizations engaged in these developing alliances. Based on an investigation of strategic alliances between anti‐racist, immigrant justice organizers and climate change activists in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, we argue that climate justice narratives in both activism and scholarship would benefit from more attention to the particular political and cultural geographies in which diverse forms of climate justice organizing can take hold.
Firm‐Level Heterogeneity and the Aggregate Exchange Rate Effect on Exports
Authors: Dekle Robert , Jeong Hyeok , Ryoo Heajin H. 
Published: June 2016

We investigate what accounts for the different evidence between the aggregate and firm‐level data on the exchange rate elasticity of exports. The typical estimation of the macroeconomic export equations gives insignificant estimates for this elasticity compared to those from the recent firm‐level estimation. Using firm‐level data from Japan, we identify the sources of this discrepancy, and show that the failure to account for cost and demand factors as well as firm‐level productivity induces various kinds of biases for the aggregate estimate of the exchange rate elasticity of exports.