bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On the road to happiness at work (HAW)
Authors: Salas-Vallina Andrés , López-Cabrales Álvaro , Alegre Joaquin , Fernández Rafael 
Published: February 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership (TFL), organizational learning capability (OLC) and happiness at work (HAW), and offers a new measure for HAW.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used confirmatory factor analysis to test the theoretical model in order to check the psychometric properties of HAW. They examined a sample of 167 medical staff working in allergy units, which represents a response rate of 25 per cent.FindingsThe research showed that HAW can be measured using the proposed new measurement scale, and that TFL predicts HAW through the mediating role of OLC.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that hospital managers and heads of allergy services should consider the effects of TFL, under certain learning conditions, to enhance HAW.Originality/valueThis research is the first that examines the effects of TFL and OLC on HAW, a higher order construct that has been implemented closely following previous research.
The moderating effect of religiosity on ethical behavioural intentions
Authors: Kashif Muhammad , Zarkada Anna , Thurasamy Ramayah 
Published: February 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Pakistani bank front-line employees’ intentions to behave ethically by using the extended theory of planned behaviour (ETPB) into which religiosity (i.e. religious activity, devotion to rituals and belief in doctrine) is integrated as a moderating variable.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected 234 self-administered questionnaires and analysed them using SmartPLS 2.0, a second generation structural equation modelling technique.

Findings
This paper demonstrates that the ETPB can explain intentions to behave ethically. Moral norms (i.e. the rules of morality that people believe they ought to follow) and perceived behavioural control (i.e. people’s perceptions of their ability to perform a given behaviour) are the best predictors of ethical behavioural intentions. The effects of injunctive norms (i.e. perceptions of which behaviours are typically approved or disapproved in an organisation) and of perceived behavioural control on behavioural intent are moderated by religiosity.

Practical implications
Leading by example, providing ethics training, empowering employees and encouraging the expression of religiosity are proposed as ways to foster an ethical culture in the workplace.

Originality/value
Even though numerous empirical studies have utilised variants of the theory of planned behaviour to explain consumer behaviour, its applicability to ethical behaviour in the workplace has scarcely been explored. Moreover, its tests in non-western contexts are scant. This study demonstrates the applicability of the ETPB in a broader circumstantial and cultural context and enriches it with religiosity, a pertinent characteristic of billions of people around the world. Finally, this is one of the very few ethics studies focusing on banking, an industry fraught with allegations of moral breaches.
Experiences of moral distress by privately hired companions in Ontario’s long-term care facilities
Authors: Brassolotto Julia , Daly Tamara , Armstrong Pat , Naidoo Vishaya 
Published: February 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore long-term residential care provided by people other than the facilities’ employees. Privately hired paid “companions” are effectively invisible in health services research and policy. This research was designed to address this significant gap. There is growing recognition that nursing staff in long-term care (LTC) residential facilities experience moral distress, a phenomenon in which one knows the ethically right action to take, but is systemically constrained from taking it. To date, there has been no discussion of the distressing experiences of companions in LTC facilities. The purpose of this paper is to explore companions’ moral distress.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using week-long rapid ethnographies in seven LTC facilities in Southern Ontario, Canada. A feminist political economy analytic framework was used in the research design and in the analysis of findings.FindingsDespite the differences in their work tasks and employment conditions, structural barriers can cause moral distress for companions. This mirrors the impacts experienced by nurses that are highlighted in the literature. Though companions are hired in order to fill care gaps in the LTC system, they too struggle with the current system’s limitations. The hiring of private companions is not a sustainable or equitable solution to under-staffing and under-funding in Canada’s LTC facilities.Originality/valueRecognizing moral distress and its impact on those providing LTC is critical in relation to supporting and protecting vulnerable and precarious care workers and ensuring high-quality care for Canadians in LTC.
How common road salts and organic additives alter freshwater food webs: in search of safer alternatives
Authors: Schuler Matthew S. , Hintz William D. , Jones Devin K. , Lind Lovisa A. , Mattes Brian M. , Stoler Aaron B. , Sudol Kelsey A. , Relyea Rick A. 
Published: February 2017

Summary

The application of deicing road salts began in the 1940s and has increased drastically in regions where snow and ice removal is critical for transportation safety. The most commonly applied road salt is sodium chloride (NaCl). However, the increased costs of NaCl, its negative effects on human health, and the degradation of roadside habitats has driven transportation agencies to seek alternative road salts and organic additives to reduce the application rate of NaCl or increase its effectiveness. Few studies have examined the effects of NaCl in aquatic ecosystems, but none have explored the potential impacts of road salt alternatives or additives on aquatic food webs.

We assessed the effects of three road salts (NaCl, MgCl2 and ClearLane™) and two road salts mixed with organic additives (GeoMelt™ and Magic Salt™) on food webs in experimental aquatic communities, with environmentally relevant concentrations, standardized by chloride concentration.

We found that NaCl had few effects on aquatic communities. However, the microbial breakdown of organic additives initially reduced dissolved oxygen. Additionally, microbial activity likely transformed unusable phosphorus from the organic additives to usable phosphorus for algae, which increased algal growth. The increase in algal growth led to an increase in zooplankton abundance. Finally, MgCl2 – a common alternative to NaCl – reduced compositional differences of zooplankton, and at low concentrations increased the abundance of amphipods.

Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate that alternative road salts (to NaCl), and road salt additives can alter the abundance and composition of organisms in freshwater food webs at multiple trophic levels, even at low concentrations. Consequently, road salt alternatives and additives might alter ecosystem function and ecosystem services. Therefore, transportation agencies should use caution in applying road salt alternatives and additives. A comprehensive investigation of road salt alternatives and road salt additives should be conducted before wide‐scale use is implemented. Further research is also needed to determine the impacts of salt additives and alternatives on higher trophic levels, such as amphibians and fish.
Grammar Schools, a Policy of Social Mobility and Selection—Why?
Authors: Ware Alan 
Published: February 2017

AbstractInitially, four plausible reasons for introducing selection in secondary education are examined, three of which are irrelevant to contemporary debates about expanding grammar‐school education. These are: first, to ration education in less advanced economies; second, to increase the supply of skilled labour within an expanded national elite; third, as part of a ‘segmented’ system of education. A fourth—increasing upward social mobility—is open to two objections: first, the May government's proposals are so limited as to have little likely impact on mobility and, second, upward mobility in the twentieth century was possible only because of structural change in the British labour market, and that will probably not continue in this century. Finally, it is argued that attempts to select the ‘best’ in any activity or skill are necessarily highly imperfect, and are far less accurate than testing who does and does not meet some minimum level of competence.
Development and Testing of a Physically Based Model of Streambank Erosion for Coupling with a Basin‐Scale Hydrologic Model SWAT
Authors: Narasimhan B. , Allen P.M. , Coffman S.V. , Arnold J.G. , Srinivasan R. 
Published: February 2017

AbstractA comprehensive streambank erosion model based on excess shear stress has been developed and incorporated in the hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). It takes into account processes such as weathering, vegetative cover, and channel meanders to adjust critical and effective stresses while estimating bank erosion. The streambank erosion model was tested for performance in the Cedar Creek watershed in north‐central Texas where streambank erosion rates are high. A Rapid Geomorphic field assessment (RAP‐M) of the Cedar Creek watershed was done adopting techniques developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the stream segments were categorized into various severity classes. Based on the RAP‐M field assessment, erosion pin sites were established at seven locations within the severely eroding streambanks of the watershed. A Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to assess the sensitivity of different parameters that control streambank erosion such as critical shear stress, erodibility, weathering depth, and weathering duration. The sensitive parameters were adjusted and the model was calibrated based on the bank erosion severity category identified by the RAP‐M field assessment. The average observed erosion rates were in the range 25‐367 mm year−1. The SWAT model was able to reasonably predict the bank erosion rates within the range of variability observed in the field (R2 = 0.90; E = 0.78). Editor's note: This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.
Establishment of native grasses and their impact on exotic annuals in degraded box gum woodlands
Authors: Cole Ian , Prober Suzanne , Lunt Ian , Koen Terry 
Published: February 2017

AbstractRestoration goals often involve the addition of new species to resident, degraded communities but in box gum woodlands such restoration is often constrained by competition from persistent exotic annuals that control critical ecological processes. Nutrient reduction (via carbon addition) and seed bank depletion are two approaches to reduce competition from exotic annuals but to be effective these treatments must allow establishment of species such as native grasses. This experiment was conducted in two degraded Austrostipa understoreys in the box gum woodlands of south‐east Australia. It compares the effects of carbon addition (sugar), seed depletion (spring burning or spring grazing) and combinations of carbon addition and seed depletion treatments on the establishment of C3 and C4 native grasses, and measured the effects of their establishment on soil nitrate concentration and exotic annuals. Treatments that reduced exotic annual abundance did not increase initial germination of the C4 native grasses, Bothriochloa or Themeda. However, sugar increased seedling survival of Themeda and Bothriochloa and grazing increased seedling survival of Bothriochloa, presumably by reducing effects of exotic annuals. Poa and Rytidosperma (C3 native grasses) failed to establish. Although we were unable to detect any reduction in soil nitrate concentration, swards with successful recruitment of C4 grasses suppressed exotic annuals more than the Austrostipa‐only swards at one site (the other was affected by wildfire). Further, Austrostipa‐Themeda swards were more effective than Austrostipa‐Bothriochloa for suppressing exotics, pointing to a role for both functional and species identity in the degree of resistance conferred.
The forgotten Grevy's zebra Equus grevyi population along the Kasigau Corridor ranches, SE Kenya: recent records and conservation issues
Authors: Githiru Mwangi 
Published: February 2017

AbstractSince the 1970s, the globally endangered Grevy's zebra Equus grevyi has suffered a substantial reduction in range and population size. Grevy's zebra was introduced into the Tsavo ecosystem in two translocations: 22 individuals released in Tsavo East National Park in 1964 and 30 individuals released in Tsavo West National Park in 1977. This study focuses on the Tsavo East subpopulation within the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project Area. Data were collected from 2011 to 2014 using systematic and ad lib methods, while vegetation stratification was based on tonnes of CO2e per hectare. Cumulatively, 785 Grevy's zebra were seen in 210 encounters. The largest single group comprised of 24 individuals; mean group size was 4 ± 3. Foals comprised 10% of all individuals seen and were recorded across most months, suggesting year‐round breeding. The range core for the Grevy's zebra in this area was estimated to be 400 km2. Its density was estimated at 0.09 ± 0.038 individuals per km2, translating to a population of 36 ± 15 individuals (range: 6–67) based on the estimated core range. Grasslands and sparse Acacia–Commiphora vegetation strata were used significantly more than expected. Despite constituting only about 2–3% of the global Grevy's zebra population, this subpopulation could still play a role as a – disconnected – reserve population.
Effects of Institutional Investors’ Bidding Information on Offer Prices and Initial Returns of IPOs
Authors: Joh Sung Wook , Kim Yoo‐Hwan 
Published: February 2017

AbstractUsing hand‐collected data on all IPOs in Korea from 2001 to 2007 before the global financial crisis, we find that institutional investors’ favorable valuation increases the offer price and initial returns. In particular, when institutional investors’ weighted average bidding price (WAP) increases by 1%, the offer price increases by 0.81%. A higher WAP predicts higher initial returns. While oversubscription ratios yield positive effects on offer prices and predict higher initial returns, their effects are weaker when IPO market conditions or WAP are included in the regression equations. These results suggest that institutional investors’ bidding prices reflect their private valuations of firms more than their oversubscription ratios. In addition, for predicting initial returns, institutional investors’ bidding information outperforms the revised offer price.
A Fleet of Mediterranean Border Humanitarians
Authors: Stierl Maurice 
Published: February 2017

AbstractEUrope has created a space of human suffering within which military‐humanitarian measures seem urgently required if the mass drowning is to be halted. The framing of migration governance as humanitarian has become commonplace in spectacular border practices in the Mediterranean Sea. Nonetheless, maritime disasters continue to unfold. This article discusses three non‐governmental actors, part of an emerging “humanitarian fleet” that seeks to turn the sea into a less deadly space: the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Sea‐Watch. While the rescue of precarious lives and the alleviation of suffering are central concerns, they imagine their humanitarian practices, the subjects of their compassion, and EUrope's role in shaping borderzones in different ways, pointing to a wide humanitarian spectrum. Engaging with the different discursive frames created by the three “border humanitarians”, the article explores what possibilities exist for political dissent to emanate from within humanitarian reason.
Folate receptors and neural tube closure
Authors: Saitsu Hirotomo 
Published: February 2017

AbstractNeural tube defects (NTD) are among the most common human congenital malformations, affecting 0.5–8.0/1000 of live births. Human clinical trials have shown that periconceptional folate supplementation significantly decreases the occurrence of NTD in offspring. However, the mechanism by which folate acts on NTD remains largely unknown. Folate receptor (Folr) is one of the three membrane proteins that mediate cellular uptake of folates. Recent studies suggest that mouse Folr1 (formerly referred to as Fbp1) is essential for neural tube closure. Therefore, we examined spatial and temporal expression patterns of Folr1 in developing mouse embryos, showing a close association between Folr1 and anterior neural tube closure. Transient transgenic analysis was performed using lacZ as a reporter; we identified a 1.1‐kb enhancer that directs lacZ expression in the neural tube and optic vesicle in a manner that is similar to endogenous Folr1. The 1.1‐kb enhancer sequences were highly conserved between humans and mice, suggesting that human FOLR1 is associated with anterior neural tube closure in humans. Several experimental studies in mice and human epidemiological and genetics studies have suggested that folate receptor abnormalities are involved in a portion of human NTDs, although the solo defect of FOLR1 did not cause NTD.
Conservation genomics of the endangered Burmese roofed turtle
Authors: Çilingir F. Gözde , Rheindt Frank E. , Garg Kritika M. , Platt Kalyar , Platt Steven G. , Bickford David P. 
Published: February 2017

AbstractThe Burmese roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata) is one of the world's most endangered turtles. Only one wild population remains in Myanmar. There are thought to be 12 breeding turtles in the wild. Conservation efforts for the species have raised >700 captive turtles since 2002, predominantly from eggs collected in the wild. We collected tissue samples from 445 individuals (approximately 40% of the turtles’ remaining global population), applied double‐digest restriction‐site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD‐Seq), and obtained approximately 1500 unlinked genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphisms. Individuals fell into 5 distinct genetic clusters, 4 of which represented full‐sib families. We inferred a low effective population size (≤10 individuals) but did not detect signs of severe inbreeding, possibly because the population bottleneck occurred recently. Two groups of 30 individuals from the captive pool that were the most genetically diverse were reintroduced to the wild, leading to an increase in the number of fertile eggs (n = 27) in the wild. Another 25 individuals, selected based on the same criteria, were transferred to the Singapore Zoo as an assurance colony. Our study demonstrates that the research‐to‐application gap in conservation can be bridged through application of cutting‐edge genomic methods.
Positive effects of neurofeedback on autism symptoms correlate with brain activation during imitation and observation
Authors: Datko Michael , Pineda Jaime A. , Müller Ralph‐Axel 
Published: February 2017

AbstractAutism has been characterized by atypical task‐related brain activation and functional connections, coinciding with deficits in sociocommunicative abilities. However, evidence of the brain's experience‐dependent plasticity suggests that abnormal activity patterns may be reversed with treatment. In particular, neurofeedback training (NFT), an intervention based on operant conditioning resulting in self‐regulation of brain electrical oscillations, has shown increasing promise in addressing abnormalities in brain function and behavior. We examined the effects of ≥ 20 h of sensorimotor mu‐rhythm‐based NFT in children with high‐functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a matched control group of typically developing children (ages 8–17). During a functional magnetic resonance imaging imitation and observation task, the ASD group showed increased activation in regions of the human mirror neuron system following the NFT, as part of a significant interaction between group (ASD vs. controls) and training (pre‐ vs. post‐training). These changes were positively correlated with behavioral improvements in the ASD participants, indicating that mu‐rhythm NFT may be beneficial to individuals with ASD.
Evaluation of an optimized [18F]fluoro‐deoxy‐glucose positron emission tomography voxel‐wise method to early support differential diagnosis in atypical Parkinsonian disorders
Authors: Caminiti S. P. , Alongi P. , Majno L. , Volontè M. A. , Cerami C. , Gianolli L. , Comi G. , Perani D. 
Published: February 2017

Background and purposeAtypical Parkinsonian disorders (APD) frequently overlap in clinical presentations, making the differential diagnosis challenging in the early stages. The present study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the [18F]fluoro‐deoxy‐glucose positron emission tomography Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) optimized procedure in supporting the early and differential diagnosis of APD.MethodsSeventy patients with possible APD were retrospectively included from a large clinical cohort. The included patients underwent [18F]fluoro‐deoxy‐glucose positron emission tomography within 3 months of the first clinical assessment and a diagnostic follow‐up. An optimized SPM voxel‐wise procedure was used to produce t‐maps of brain hypometabolism in single subjects, which were classified by experts blinded to any clinical information. We compared the accuracy of both the first clinical diagnosis and the SPM t‐map classifications with the diagnosis at follow‐up as the reference standard.ResultsAt first diagnosis, 60% of patients were classified as possible APD (progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy) and about 40% as APD with uncertain diagnosis, providing 52% sensitivity, 97% specificity and 86% accuracy with respect to the reference standard. SPM t‐map classification showed 98% sensitivity, 99% specificity and 99% accuracy, and a significant agreement with the diagnosis at follow‐up (P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe SPM t‐map classification at entry predicted the second diagnosis at follow‐up. This indicates its significantly superior role for an early identification of APD subtypes, particularly in cases of uncertain diagnosis. The use of a metabolic biomarker at entry in the instrumental work‐up of APD may shorten the diagnostic time, producing benefits for treatment options and support to the patients.