bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reference gene selection for normalization of RT-qPCR gene expression data from Actinidia deliciosa leaves infected with Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae
Authors: Petriccione Milena , Mastrobuoni Francesco , Zampella Luigi , Scortichini Marco 
Published: November 2015

AbstractNormalization of data, by choosing the appropriate reference genes (RGs), is fundamental for obtaining reliable results in reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). In this study, we assessed Actinidia deliciosa leaves inoculated with two doses of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae during a period of 13 days for the expression profile of nine candidate RGs. Their expression stability was calculated using four algorithms: geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper and the deltaCt method. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) were the most stable genes, while β-tubulin and 7s-globulin were the less stable. Expression analysis of three target genes, chosen for RGs validation, encoding the reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) indicated that a combination of stable RGs, such as GAPDH and PP2A, can lead to an accurate quantification of the expression levels of such target genes. The APX level varied during the experiment time course and according to the inoculum doses, whereas both SOD and CAT resulted down-regulated during the first four days and up-regulated afterwards, irrespective of inoculum dose. These results can be useful for better elucidating the molecular interaction in the A. deliciosa/P. s. pv. actinidiae pathosystem and for RGs selection in bacteria-plant pathosystems.
The role of frames in a co-creation process
Authors: Säwe Filippa , Thelander Åsa 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to analyze the conditions for co-creation in a non-commercial context. The particular aim is to show how a co-creative activity is framed for the participants and the consequences of the frames for the values that are co-created in the process.

Design/methodology/approach
– Goffman’s frame analysis is applied to investigate how co-creation is used as a marketing strategy where an art event is used as an engagement platform to involve citizens in creating visions for an urban renewal area. It is a qualitative study based on observations.

Findings
– The taken-for-granted ideas of the active and creative consumer along with the focus in marketing research on the positive values achieved in a co-creative process are problematic in a public context. An unreflexive use of a co-creative strategy in a non-commercial setting and using art as an engagement platform, in combination with insufficient communication about the new framings, result in no-creation of value or even co-destruction of value.

Practical implications
– Unclear definition of the situation for co-creation results in confusion about how to interact and how to create value. Such an outcome is highly problematic for a public organization. It is of major importance that citizens can identify and understand the type of activity. The authors argue that communication in well-defined phases of an event can facilitate desired acts of co-creation.

Originality/value
– Value co-creation theory has been transferred between contexts, but there are few studies of what the transfer means in terms of consumer abilities to take part in the value creation process and its rules of engagement. This study demonstrates the difficulties of moving from theory to practice when the context changes from a commercial to a public participatory one. This opens for new research venues in value co-creation and marketing theory.
Complexity of scientific evidence in environmental forensic investigations
Authors: Spikmans Val 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– Environmental forensic investigations rely on the collection, analysis and interpretation of evidence from an environmental scene to assist in identifying the party responsible for the introduction of exogenous material. These investigations also try to elucidate if the environment and/or human health have been affected. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– Environmental forensic investigations are considered a sub-category of the forensic sciences. The potential scientific evidence is subjected to the same rigour as for other forensic science disciplines, including quality control, accreditation, chain of custody and evidence integrity. The manner in which evidence is analysed and interpreted is also similar. Even though strong similarities can be drawn between environmental forensic investigations and the general forensic sciences, some important differences need to be understood.

Findings
– Environmental forensic investigations can be more complex than they first appear and identifying, analysing and interpreting scientific evidence is not always straightforward. It is crucial in the comprehension of the complexities of the environmental forensic discipline to understand the intricacies of the investigations, including the limited sample numbers, complex matrices, wide range of exogenous materials encountered, often large size of the scene, changes to the scene and, above all, the potential for degradation or transformation of evidence. In addition, scientific evidence is frequently used to gather intelligence rather than to provide knowledge that can be brought forward to determine guilt or innocence of an accused party.

Originality/value
– This paper explores the complexities of the discipline and discusses the difficulties that are encountered during environmental investigations.
Peak-end pizza: prices delay evaluations of quality
Authors: Just David R. , Sigirci Ozge , Wansink Brian 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine if the level of payment required for consumption changed the relationship between a consumer’s overall evaluation of a hedonic consumption experience and the evaluation of first, middle, last piece and peak consumption experiences.

Design/methodology/approach
Diners at an all-you-can-eat restaurant were either charged $4 or $8 for an Italian lunch buffet. Their taste, satisfaction and enjoyment evaluation of each piece of pizza they had was taken along with other measures of behavior and self-perceptions. Using regression analysis, we examine the relationship between these single event evaluations and their overall evaluations of the experience.

Findings
For the diners who paid $4 for their buffet, overall taste, satisfaction and enjoyment evaluation depend on the taste of the last piece of the pizza and the peak taste consistent with prior findings. For those paying $8 for the buffet, the first piece of pizza is more important in predicting the overall taste, satisfaction and enjoyment ratings.

Practical implications
Consumers do not evaluate their meal experience based on every moment of their experience. Rather, just a few moments appear to impact overall evaluation. Firms that sell access to a series of experiences, such as an all-you-can-eat buffet, should focus on leading customers to the best experience first particularly when prices may be considered moderate to high.

Originality/value
In this paper, we seek to unravel the relationship between price paid and the peak-end heuristic by examining the importance of peak and end experiences under two different pricing regimes. Our study also indicates that the peak-end rule may depend on specific contextual factors.
A processural consent methodology with people diagnosed with dementia
Authors: Hughes Tessa , Castro Romero Maria 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach within the guidance of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) to meaningfully include people diagnosed with dementia (PDwD) in research endeavours.

Design/methodology/approach
– As part of a broader study of self-authored narratives of care experiences, PDwD were involved in the development and implementation of a process method of consent, in which consent conversations were contextual, responsive and ongoing, and were audited with the use of field diaries.

Findings
– Working within people’s relational contexts (i.e. care staff and family), eight participants with a range of dementia diagnoses and care needs made and verbally communicated research-related decisions. A desire to participate was consistently conveyed across research encounters, regardless of the extent of memory problems. Participants also demonstrated keen awareness of the links between memory problems, rights and inclusion, alongside a sense of personal identity and the capacities to clearly communicate this.

Research limitations/implications
– A process model of consent encouraged formal reflection upon ethical and pragmatic complexities, and is relevant to persons diagnosed with dementia making both care- and research-related decisions. Further work is needed to include people with a broader range of communication support needs.

Originality/value
– This research demonstrates substantial possibilities for eliciting and responding to the views of people with dementia diagnoses (previously excluded from research). Results open opportunities for genuine long-term research and care partnerships with PDwD for practice, service and policy development.
The myth of customer loyalty: why information and scale are more important during downturns
Authors: Kailasam Murali , Wongsurawat Winai 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this article is to find out if a focus on promoting customer loyalty is a supplier’s best strategy for gaining significant immunity against customer desertions and business losses during recessions? And if not, what are the alternatives?

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors investigated how loyalty strategies played out in practice in the Indian IT-ITES industry (Information Technology – Information Technology Enabled Services) during the recent global downturn.

Findings
– Field interviews with executives of many of the major players in the industry revealed the weakness of their customer loyalty strategy and discovered some useful alternative tactics.

Practical implications
– Service providers that successfully navigated the rough recessionary waters relied not on loyalty but their superior information advantage.

Originality/value
– Field interviews suggest that hanging on to clients in a recession have less to do with investment in a loyalty strategy and more with the vendor’s superior capabilities – such as an information advantage, agile use of diverse competencies and scale–that enable it to offer the client a superior deal even in a painful business downturn.
An investigation of Facebook boredom phenomenon among college students
Authors: Yazdanparast Atefeh , Joseph Mathew , Qureshi Anita 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of the paper is to provide an initial understanding of the factors influencing and emanating from Facebook boredom. Specifically, the study addresses important issues such as reasons for liking and disliking Facebook, Facebook users’ boredom states with this social networking site, factors associated with Facebook boredom and impact of boredom on the success and effectiveness of social marketing activities.

Design/methodology/approach
– A paper and pencil questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students at two local universities in exchange for course credit. Survey questions were adapted from previously validated scales, and measurement adaptations were minimal and only related to the context of questions to assure their relevance with the context of our study. Bootstrapping technique, Sobel test, ANOVA and regression techniques were used to test the hypotheses and address research questions.

Findings
– The results indicate that both genders are experiencing Facebook boredom and spend less time on Facebook. Moreover, Facebook boredom negatively impacts users’ attitudes toward this social networking site, which in turn impact attitudes towards ads on Facebook. This observation reveals an important point regarding the necessity of studying the phenomenon of Facebook boredom for marketers. Also, the findings indicate that age is an important factor impacting users’ level of boredom with Facebook, as younger users report significantly higher levels of Facebook boredom as compared to older users.

Research limitations/implications
– To capture the opinion of Facebook users, this study used a sample of college students at two universities which may not be representative of the entire population of Facebook users. Much of the existing research on Facebook, however, has focused on undergraduate college students and is primarily based on studies utilizing the undergraduate population.

Originality/value
– This is the first study to empirically examine the phenomenon of Facebook boredom by linking major theories of boredom with uses and gratification theory. The results add to the extant literature by identifying the underlying mechanism through which boredom with social media impacts effectiveness of social media marketing activities. The results shed more light on the consequences of Facebook boredom for digital marketers and reveal that age is an important factor in Facebook boredom.
Observations of food consumption in a daycare setting
Authors: Ahn Regina , Nelson Michelle R. 
Published: November 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the behaviors and social interactions among preschool children and their teachers during food consumption at a daycare facility. Using social cognitive theory, the goal is to identify how role modeling, rules, behaviors and communication shape these young consumers’ health-related food consumption and habits.Design/methodology/approach– This study was conducted in a US daycare facility among preschool children (aged four years) over a three-month period. Qualitative ethnographic methods included participant and non-participant observation of meals and snack-time.Findings– Findings from the observations revealed that teachers’ food socialization styles and social interactions with peers cultivate children’s food consumption. In addition, commensality rules set by the childcare institution also help children learn other valuable behaviors (e.g. table manners and cleaning up).Research limitations/implications– The study was conducted in one location with one age group so the results may not be generalized to all children. As more young children spend time in preschools and daycare centers, the understanding of how these settings and the caregivers and peers influence them becomes more important. Preschool teachers can influence their young students’ food consumption through their actions and words. Training teachers and cultivating educational programs about ways to encourage healthy eating habits could be implemented.Originality/value– The paper offers observations of actual behaviors among young children in a naturalistic setting.
City slickers: poor performance does not deter Anolis lizards from using artificial substrates in human‐modified habitats
Authors: Kolbe Jason J. , Battles Andrew C. , Avilés‐Rodríguez Kevin J. 
Published: November 2015

Summary

As animals move through their environments, they encounter a variety of substrates, which have important effects on their locomotor performance. Habitat modification can alter the types of substrates available for locomotion. In particular, many types of artificial substrates have been added to urban areas, but effects of these novel surfaces on animal locomotion are little known.

In this study, we assessed locomotor performance of two Anolis lizard species (A. cristatellus and A. stratulus) on substrates that varied in inclination and surface roughness. Rough substrates represented the tree trunks and branches typically used in natural forest habitats, whereas smooth, vertical substrates captured the qualities of artificial surfaces, such as posts and walls, available in human‐modified habitats. We then observed habitat use to test the habitat constraint hypothesis – that lizards should more frequently occupy portions of the habitat in which they perform better.

Increased inclination and decreased surface roughness caused lizards to run slower. Both A. cristatellus and A. stratulus ran slowest on the smooth, vertical surface, and A. cristatellus often slipped and fell on this surface. In contrast to predictions, both species frequently used smooth, vertical substrates in the wild. Anolis cristatellus occupied artificial substrates 73% of the time in human‐modified habitats despite performing worse than A. stratulus on the smooth, vertical track. We therefore rejected the habitat constraint hypothesis for anoles in these human‐modified habitats.

Despite overall poor performance on the smooth, vertical track, A. cristatellus had a significant morphology–performance relationship that supports the prediction that selection should favour smaller lizards with relatively longer limbs in human‐modified habitats. The smaller bodied A. stratulus performed better than A. cristatellus on smooth, vertical substrates and therefore may not be exposed to the same selective pressures.

We contend that habitat modification by humans may alter morphology‐performance–habitat use relationships found in natural habitats. This may lead to changes in selective pressures for some species, which may influence their ability to occupy human‐modified habitats such as cities.
Heat hardening in a tropical lizard: geographic variation explained by the predictability and variance in environmental temperatures
Authors: Phillips Ben L. , Muñoz Martha M. , Hatcher Amberlee , Macdonald Stewart L. , Llewelyn John , Lucy Vanessa , Moritz Craig 
Published: November 2015

SummaryOver the coming decades, our planet will experience a dramatic increase in average temperatures and an increase in the variance around those temperatures leading to more frequent and harsher heat waves. These changes will impact most species and impose strong selection on physiological traits.Rapid acclimation is the most direct way for organisms to respond to such extreme events, but we currently have little understanding of how the capacity to mount such plastic responses evolves. Accordingly, there is some urgency to determine how the physiological response to high temperatures varies within species, and how this variation is driven by the environment.Here, we investigate heat‐hardening capacity – a rapid physiological response that confers a survival advantage under extreme thermal stress – across 13 populations of a rain forest lizard,Lampropholis coggeri, from the tropics of north‐eastern Australia.Our results reveal that heat hardening is constrained in these lizards by a hard upper thermal limit for locomotor function (approximately 43 °C). Further, hardening response shows strong geographic variation associated with thermal environment: lizards from more predictable and more seasonal thermal environments exhibited greater hardening compared with those from more stochastic and less seasonal habitats. This finding – that predictability in thermal variation influences hardening capacity – aligns closely with theoretical expectations.Our results suggest that tropical species may harbour adaptive variation in physiological plasticity that they can draw from in response to climate change, and this variation is spatially structured in locally adapted populations. Our results also suggest that, by using climatic data, we can predict which populations contain particular adaptive variants; information critical to assisted gene flow strategies.
Comparative effectiveness of intervention components for producing long‐term abstinence from smoking: a factorial screening experiment
Authors: Schlam Tanya R. , Fiore Michael C. , Smith Stevens S. , Fraser David , Bolt Daniel M. , Collins Linda M. , Mermelstein Robin , Piper Megan E. , Cook Jessica W. , Jorenby Douglas E. , Loh Wei‐Yin , Baker Timothy B. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractAimsTo identify promising intervention components that help smokers attain and maintain abstinence during a quit attempt.DesignA 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 randomized factorial experiment.SettingEleven primary care clinics in Wisconsin, USA.ParticipantsA total of 544 smokers (59% women, 86% white) recruited during primary care visits and motivated to quit.InterventionsFive intervention components designed to help smokers attain and maintain abstinence: (1) extended medication (26 versus 8 weeks of nicotine patch + nicotine gum); (2) maintenance (phone) counseling versus none; (3) medication adherence counseling versus none; (4) automated (medication) adherence calls versus none; and (5) electronic medication monitoring with feedback and counseling versus electronic medication monitoring alone.MeasurementsThe primary outcome was 7‐day self‐reported point‐prevalence abstinence 1 year after the target quit day.FindingsOnly extended medication produced a main effect. Twenty‐six versus 8 weeks of medication improved point‐prevalence abstinence rates (43 versus 34% at 6 months; 34 versus 27% at 1 year; P = 0.01 for both). There were four interaction effects at 1 year, showing that an intervention component's effectiveness depended upon the components with which it was combined.ConclusionsTwenty‐six weeks of nicotine patch + nicotine gum (versus 8 weeks) and maintenance counseling provided by phone are promising intervention components for the cessation and maintenance phases of smoking treatment.
Tooth Germ‐Like Construct Transplantation for Whole‐Tooth Regeneration: An In Vivo Study in the Miniature Pig
Authors: Yang Kai‐Chiang , Kitamura Yutaka , Wu Chang‐Chin , Chang Hao‐Hueng , Ling Thai‐Yen , Kuo Tzong‐Fu 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of whole‐tooth regeneration using a tooth germ‐like construct. Dental pulp from upper incisors, canines, premolars, and molars were extracted from sexually mature miniature pigs. Pulp tissues were cultured and expanded in vitro to obtain dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), and cells were differentiated into odontoblasts and osteoblasts. Epithelial cells were isolated from gingival epithelium. The epithelial cells, odontoblasts, and osteoblasts were seeded onto the surface, upper, and lower layers, respectively, of a bioactive scaffold. The lower first and second molar tooth germs were removed bilaterally and the layered cell/scaffold constructs were transplanted to the mandibular alveolar socket of a pig. At 13.5 months postimplantation, seven of eight pigs developed two teeth with crown, root, and pulp structures. Enamel‐like tissues, dentin, cementum, odontoblasts, and periodontal tissues were found upon histological inspection. The regenerated tooth expressed dentin matrix protein‐1 and osteopontin. All pigs had regenerated molar teeth regardless of the original tooth used to procure the DPSCs. Pigs that had tooth germs removed or who received empty scaffolds did not develop teeth. Although periodontal ligaments were generated, ankylosis was found in some animals. This study revealed that implantation of a tooth germ‐like structure generated a complete tooth with a high success rate. The implant location may influence the morphology of the regenerated tooth.