bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Evidence of Evolution
Authors: Olsen Kenneth 
Published: February 2014

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” This statement, the title of a 1973 essay by the evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky (b. 1900–d. 1975), encapsulates the central position that evolution holds in biology. While public understanding and acceptance of evolution is notoriously low, with fewer than half of adults in countries such as the United States and Turkey accepting evolution as fact (J. D. Miller, E. C. Scott, and S. Okamoto, Public acceptance of evolution, Science 313 (2006): 765–766), the overwhelming scientific consensus is that evolution is an incontrovertible component of our planet’s history and ongoing biology. Indeed, virtually all aspects of biology can be viewed in one way or another as providing evidence of evolution. Evolution is what accounts for the signs of shared biological ancestry that appear throughout our natural world, ranging from anatomy and development, to fossils, to genome structure and gene sequences. Evolution also explains the vast number of living species on the planet, as well as their adaptations into different ecological niches. Evolution can be defined as changes in lineages of organisms over successive generations. These changes may be described at the level of genes and genetic variation, or at the level of observable traits (phenotypes). Because evolution is a process that has both shaped the history of life on Earth and continues to operate today, the lines of evidence for evolution outlined in the sections below fall into two general categories: those documenting ongoing or very recent evolution (Evolution Caused by Human Activity, Evolution in Wild Species, Human Evolution), and those documenting shared ancestral origins of now-diverged lineages (Evolution in the Fossil Record, Evidence of Shared Ancestry).
Widespread signals of convergent adaptation to high altitude in Asia and America
Authors: Foll Matthieu , Gaggiotti Oscar E. , Daub Josephine T. , Vatsiou Alexandra , Excoffier Laurent 
Published: February 2014

AbstractLiving at high-altitude is one of the most difficult challenges that humans had to cope with during their evolution. Whereas several genomic studies have revealed some of the genetic bases of adaptations in Tibetan, Andean and Ethiopian populations, relatively little evidence of convergent evolution to altitude in different continents has accumulated. This lack of evidence can be due to truly different evolutionary responses, but it can be also due to the low power of former studies that have mainly focused on populations from a single geographical region or performed separate analyses on multiple pairs of populations to avoid problems linked to shared histories between some populations. We introduce here a hierarchical Bayesian method to detect local adaptation that can deal with complex demographic histories. Our method can identify selection occurring at different scales, as well as convergent adaptation in different regions. We apply our approach to the analysis of a large SNP dataset from low- and high-altitude human populations from America and Asia. The simultaneous analysis of these two geographic areas allows us to identify several candidate genome regions for altitudinal selection, and we show that convergent evolution among continents has been quite common. In addition to identifying several genes and biological processes involved in high altitude adaptation, we identify two specific biological pathways that could have evolved in both continents to counter toxic effects induced by hypoxia.
Corrosion resistance of magnetoelectropolished AISI 316L SS biomaterial
Authors: Hryniewicz Tadeusz , Rokosz Krzysztof 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– Corrosion resistance measurements were performed on AISI 316L stainless steel biomaterial samples after three types of treatments: abrasive finishing (MP), standard electropolishing (EP), and magnetoelectropolishing (MEP). The corrosion studies were carried out in Ringer's solution at a room temperature. Potentiodynamic plots obtained were the basis for the analysis of measurement accuracy and uncertainty with the statistical tests results done in Statistica 64/10 software. The results of corrosion studies indicate a significant difference in the breaking potential (Epit) values, dependent on surface treatment. The highest mean values have been obtained on samples after MEP (Epit=961 mV), much lower – after a standard electropolishing EP (Epit=525 mV), and the lowest – after the abrasive treatment MP (Epit=222 mV), all of them measured against a saturated calomel electrode SCE potential. The corrosion results obtained are well correlated with the nanoindentation measurement results (Young's modulus and nanohardness). The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– The AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel samples served for the study. There were 11 (MP) and 14 (EP) samples used for each of the treatment, and 31 samples used for magnetoelectropolishing MEP. All polarization measurements were made after one hour immersion in the Ringer's solution. Statistical tests were used to treat the results obtained.Findings– After magnetoelectropolishing MEP130, the pitting corrosion resistance is much better than that after abrasive polishing MP and/or a standard electropolishing EP130. It was proved on a big statistical sample that the pitting corrosion potential Epit after MEP130 is over 1.8 times higher than that after EP130 and over 4.3 times higher than that after MP. The results obtained are in good agreement with the nanoindentation measurement results.Originality/value– This is an original study of the corrosion resistance of AISI 316L SS in Ringer's solution. The breaking potential Eb obtained is comparable with that of NiTi alloys, not reported anywhere before. The results have been well confirmed statistically (on 31 samples after MEP).
Preparation of supramolecular corrosion inhibitor based on hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin/octadecylamine and its anti-corrosion properties in the simulated condensate water
Authors: Fan Baomin , Wei Gang , Zhang Zhan , Qiao Ning 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– This work was focused upon the main factors that influence the formation of a hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) supramolecular complex with octadecylamine (ODA) and their optimal processing conditions. The anti-corrosion properties of the products in the simulated boiler water condensate of power plants also needed to be tested. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– A grinding method was applied to synthesize the supramolecular structures. Using Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), the specific structures of the complex were clarified. The anti-corrosion properties were obtained from gravimetric results, potentiodynamic polarization tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements.

Findings
– The results reveal the highly soluble supramolecular complex could be formed between two HP-β-CD molecules and one ODA molecule at 85°C with a processing period of 15 minutes. In the condensate, the corrosion inhibition efficiency of the complex was over 95 percent, much higher than the inhibition efficiency of the hydrophobic ODA compound.

Practical implications
– The supramolecular corrosion inhibitor could be used as an anti-corrosion method for industrial boiler condensate to reduce the content of corrosive ions. In this way, it is easier to reuse the condensate without re-polishing.

Originality/value
– The research introduces supramolecular chemistry into corrosion science for the first time. The results provide a new option to modify the traditional corrosion inhibitors.
Corporate failure diagnosis in SMEs
Authors: Kosmidis Kosmas , Stavropoulos Antonios 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– The main purposes of this paper are to provide evidence about corporate failure diagnosis in SMEs, identify the predictor variables that enhance the accuracy of the corporate failure diagnosis models, and perform comparative analysis of the proposed models with the existing literature. The paper supports the proposition that the majority of the proposed corporate failure diagnosis models in the literature exhibit an endogenous drawback since their construction is based on large entities or listed corporations' samples.

Design/methodology/approach
– The present study employs multiple discriminant analysis, logit analysis, and probit analysis to construct corporate failure diagnosis models based on SMEs longitudinal data from Greece.

Findings
– The paper provides evidence that the contribution of human capital is immensely more important to the viability of SMEs than to the viability of large corporations. Moreover, this study identifies interactions among seemingly insignificant variables that exhibit incremental information content and attribute massive discriminant power to the proposed corporate failure diagnosis models.

Practical implications
– The results of this study encourage regulatory authorities to adopt enhancements to the Basel II framework and financial institutions as regards to constructing their corporate failure diagnosis models. The models is based upon internal default experience and mapping to external data incorporating both quantitative and qualitative variables.

Originality/value
– The contribution of this paper is the proposition of new value-relevant variables that enhance the accuracy of existing corporate failure diagnosis models for SMEs.
The inflation-hedging characteristics of Malaysian residential property
Authors: Lin Lee Chyi 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– This study aims to extend the current literature by examining the inflation-hedging effectiveness of Malaysian residential property in the short run and long run. Malaysia is an emerging market and has some unique characteristics. Therefore, a dedicated study in this market is critical.Design/methodology/approach– The analysis of this study involves two stages. The first stage is to estimate the inflation-hedging ability of Malaysian residential property in the short run. The Fama and Schwert model was employed. Thereafter, the long-run inflation-hedging effectiveness was assessed by using a dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) model.Findings– The Fama and Schwert tests reveal that Malaysian residential property does provide some satisfactory hedge against the expected inflation component over the short run. However, variations are evident among different types of residential property. The DOLS results provide strong evidence to support that housing is an effective hedge against the expected inflation in the long run, whereas no comparable evidence is found for the unexpected inflation component.Practical implications– The findings enable more informed and practical investment decision-making regarding the role of housing in inflation risk management.Originality/value– This paper is the first study to offer empirical evidence of the inflation-hedging attributes of Malaysian residential property. Moreover, the inflation-hedging effectiveness of different types of residential property is also compared for the first time.
Effects of socioeconomic factors on regional housing prices in the USA
Authors: Lin Wei-Shong , Tou Jen-Chun , Lin Shu-Yi , Yeh Ming-Yih 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to examine the determinants of socioeconomic factors on housing prices and their differential effects among regions.Design/methodology/approach– This study employs a hierarchical linear model to analyze the housing and socioeconomic data of 363 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the USA.Findings– This study generates four findings. First, the population, the percentage of the elderly in population, violent crime rates, and foreclosure rates produce greater effects on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the West. Second, the population produces a greater effect on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the Midwest. Third, mortgage rates produce less significant effects on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the Midwest. Fourth, the population, the percentage of the elderly in population, and rent-income ratio produce greater effects on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the South.Research limitations/implications– Based on data collected for 2010, this study analyzes socioeconomic factors on the demand side under the implicit assumption that supply side remains constant. Future research can lift the restriction on fixed supply assumption.Practical implications– The results can provide information to buyers and sellers about how socioeconomic factors affect housing prices. Moreover, this study also provides useful information for the government to design and implement relevant housing policies.Originality/value– This is the pioneering study to examine the differential effect of socioeconomic factors on metropolitan housing prices among regions by employing dummy regional variables to detect changes in slope coefficients. These detailed conclusions would enhance the efficiency of transaction in housing markets.
Significant reforms in public sector audit – staying relevant in times of change and challenge
Authors: Pearson Des 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to talk about the changes to auditing practice in the context of broader changes in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach
– A personal reflection on the issue using prior experiences as a former auditor-general of two Australian states.

Findings
– The role for government audit will always mirror the change in the public sector. Whether audit fulfils this role depends on having the right legislation and the right approach. While audit legislation lags behind recent shifts in public sector approaches, government auditors are continuing to explore new ways to give parliament, as well as the sector, authoritative opinions and commentary that is relevant and valuable.

Practical implications
– Increased understanding of the changing role of the Auditor-General's Office that affects the efficiency and effectives of public sector entities will help practitioners in improving strategic directions of their operations. This will also help academic researchers in developing ideas for future research.

Originality/value
– Reflections presented here are based on the author's practical experiences over the past 40 years as a program manager and as a government auditor.
Manufacturing strategy and organisational performance
Authors: Mia Lokman , Winata Lanita 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– The extant literature suggests that an increasing number of organisations are adopting manufacturing strategies such as JIT practices to continuously improve provision of products and associated services desired by customers. The authors aim to investigate the relationship between adoption (implementation) of JIT practices and organisational performance taking into account the role of market competition and managerial use of management accounting system (MAS) information.Design/methodology/approach– Data for the study were collected from 92 general managers of Australian manufacturing organisations. Mailed questionnaire and personal interviews were used to collect the data.Findings– The results reveal that market competition and managerial use of MAS (hereafter, the use of MAS) information impact the relationship between an organisation's adoption of JIT practices and its financial performance. The results reported in prior studies on the relationship are mixed; some studies report a positive relationship while others report no relationship. This study explains with empirical evidence when adoption of JIT practices provides financial benefits and when it does not.Research limitations/implications– The results are of interest to researchers and managers to understand performance implications of adoption of JIT practices and the use of MAS information. For researchers, the results make an incremental contribution to knowledge by revealing that adoption of JIT practices is beneficial in situations where it is supported by the use of MAS information in high competition market. For managers, the results highlight that an organisation will perform better in competitive market if it adopts JIT practices and its managers' information needs are met by its MAS. Specifically, the results will help managers to decide when adoption of JIT practices is beneficial, thereby help prevention of suboptimal decisions and the associated costs.Originality/value– The study challenges the inconclusive results reported in previous studies on the relationship between firms' adoption of JIT practices and financial performance and offers explanations for those results. The results show that benefits from an organisation's adoption of JIT practices are not universal. Rather, the benefits occur in situations where the use of MAS information and market competition are high.
Financial feasibility and value engineering principles integrated quality function deployment for a manufacturing organization
Authors: Rajiv P. , Logesh R. , Vinodh Sekar , Rajanayagam D. 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to report a case study in which financial feasibility integrated quality function deployment (QFD) approach was implemented.

Design/methodology/approach
– Customer complaints were systematically gathered. The house of quality (HoQ) matrix was developed. The technical descriptors were prioritized and subjected to the financial feasibility study. The cost calculations were carried out and the actions were derived. A set of value engineering (VE) principles was used during this case study.

Findings
– The study reported in this paper indicated the need for integrating financial feasibility study with QFD for enhancing the effectiveness of the method. The measures taken to prevent the customer complaints will be of considerable value to the manufacturing organizations.

Research limitations/implications
– During the conduct of case study, high-cost factors restricted the selection of materials which would exhibit higher performance. The case study was carried out in a single electronic switches manufacturing organization.

Practical implications
– The manufacturing costs incurred have been reduced by incorporating changes in the part material. The outcomes of the study have been considered for further implementation in the case organisation which indicated the practicality of the study.

Originality/value
– The concept of apportionment of HoQ cost developed with the idea of integrating the same with QFD is the original contribution of the authors.
Market centricity and producibility
Authors: Walters David 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– Operations management and marketing have played important roles in contributing towards an ongoing corporate objective of delivering enhanced customer satisfaction. Focusing on the concept of producibility, this paper aims to explore the potential for developing an inter-disciplinary approach to market centric value delivery.

Design/methodology/approach
– For its approach, the paper uses a review of the literature and analyses a number of company examples to highlight the benefits of extending design for manufacture and assembly (DMFA) into the operational processes of physical distribution and service support management.

Findings
– A solution will be an increase in design for manufacturing or producibility engineering. Changes to achieve this will not only reflect the short-term “drivers” of performance, cost and time management but also “industry performance drivers” such as knowledge management, technology management, relationship management, and process management. In the development of an interdisciplinary approach, R&D and design would be a logical candidate for such an integration.

Research limitations/implications
– The paper is based on specific examples, but there are general implications as business organisations have been able to increasing levels of sophistication in the processes used to understand the customer and to effect delivery.

Practical implications
– The new directions for operations management have practical implications for information communications technology (ICT) as well as the technical capabilities and capacities of production.

Originality/value
– By exploring some novel approaches from practice, the paper offers an original perspective from which to deliver enhanced customer satisfaction.
Integrating knowledge with suppliers at the R&D-manufacturing interface
Authors: T. Rosell David , Lakemond Nicolette , Nazli Wasti S. 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– Many manufacturing firms source components and subsystems from suppliers. Consequently, the suppliers' product and manufacturing knowledge is a central concern at the interface between R&D and manufacturing. This paper aims to specifically investigate how supplier knowledge is integrated and what role trust plays in knowledge integration with suppliers at the R&D-manufacturing interface.Design/methodology/approach– The study is based on qualitative case studies of two different collaborations with suppliers at one firm.Findings– Two distinct processes are identified. First, capturing represents knowledge integration through decoupling, for which a basic level of trust specifically with regard to the competence of the supplier is necessary. Capturing can take place through interactions that are limited in time and scope. Second, joint learning represents a coupled knowledge integration process and takes place during a more extended period of time preceding and following the R&D-manufacturing interface and builds on relational-based trust.Practical implications– The interface between R&D and manufacturing needs to be extended to include a focus on suppliers' contributions in terms of product and manufacturing knowledge. The choice for suitable knowledge integration processes needs to be guided by concerns about the level of trust and the character of the supplier contributions.Originality/value– The paper adds new insights to previous literature by distinguishing between different types of knowledge integration processes and levels of trust. It bridges the gap between innovation and operations management and clearly shows that the interface between R&D and manufacturing crosses organizational borders.
Performance drivers of German institutional property funds
Authors: van den Heuvel Tom , Morawski Jaroslaw 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– The aim of this paper is to improve the understanding of what drives the performance of non-listed real estate funds.Design/methodology/approach– The authors performed a panel regression analysis on the basis of an extensive sample from Investment Property Databank (IPD) covering returns and selected characteristics of German Spezialfonds over a period of five years from 2006 until 2010. The analysis was performed for the whole sample as well as separately for three distinctively different subperiods: the boom of 2006-2007, the downturn of 2008-2009 and the recovery of 2010.Findings– The analysis uncovered significant differences in the drivers across the cyclical phases. During the boom phase, leverage and global portfolio allocation positively affected returns, while allocation to Germany had a negative effect. In contrast, fund volume, management costs and allocation to offices led to underperformance. Finally, in the recovery of 2010, leverage, allocation to Germany and diversification across property types improved performance, while higher liquidity and focus on retail had a negative impact.Practical implications– In addition to providing extensive and unique insights into the determinants of performance of the German Spezialfonds, the results should be of interest to fund managers looking for advice on the optimal positioning of their funds in response to changing economic environments.Originality/value– Despite the significant practical importance of the topic for the real estate fund industry, it has been addressed by few researchers so far.