bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Research on waste reduction technologies in Europe
Authors: Martinuzzi André , Montevecchi Francesca 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to offer a profound overview of recent research trends and structures in European waste-related research based on the 7th Framework Programme (FP7), the most important RTD programme in Europe.

Design/methodology/approach
– In order to analyse Europe-wide research efforts on waste technologies, the authors conducted a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 50 FP7-funded research projects to assess which approaches they take, which technologies they develop and which types of organisations play a leading role.

Findings
– FP7 waste-related projects care for a multiplicity of environmental technologies concerning waste. The most prominent research fields comprise: first, the recovery of by-products and waste into biomass and other valuable products; second, the development of technologies to rework manufacturing discarded products and, therefore, reduce the total use of raw materials; third, the improvement of manufacturing technologies in order to cut down on industrial waste; and finally, the support of the development of recycling management processes. In total, 52 per cent of all the participants are from the industry sector, which therefore plays an essential role.

Practical implications
– The analysis show that FP7 supports the shift to a cradle-to-cradle society and is partly in line with the aims of the new Flagship Initiative “A resource-efficient Europe”.

Originality/value
– This analysis gives the possibility to benchmark the trend of waste-related research carried out at European level against priorities set within European directives.
Critical insights from the corporate environmentalism – competitiveness investigations
Authors: Kudłak Robert 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss the existing empirical findings of the corporate environmentalism-competitiveness investigations as well as their methodological and cognitive shortcomings.Design/methodology/approach– An examination of the literature was conducted to identify the most seminal and novel studies exploring the relationship between corporate environmentalism and competitiveness. A range of works were selected and their conceptual frameworks, variables and statistical design were obtained and analysed.Findings– Although existing studies tend to suggest that corporate environmentalism have a positive (or at least neutral) impact on competitiveness, more detailed and critical examination of these studies shows important methodological, cognitive and logical shortcomings, which challenge these findings.Research limitations/implications– It is not an exhaustive review of all the existing studies, but rather a selection of the most seminal studies which represent different approaches and methodologies applied as well as a variety of empirical findings.Practical implications– The study challenges the existing empirical findings arguing that corporate environmentalism positively affects a company's competitiveness. The present paper claims that the ultimate conclusion on the relationship can be determined after at least some of the most significant shortcomings are solved.Originality/value– The study is based on a broad investigation of existing studies, out of which the most seminal and original papers were selected. In addition, the paper offers suggestions for the future empirical investigations.
“Guilty with explanation”: rethinking the destiny of landfills in a Millennium City in Ghana
Authors: Oteng-Ababio Martin 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the fate of landfills as waste disposal option in Accra. This becomes imperative since for a long time, efficient disposal of waste remains a neglected issue and potential source environmental hazard.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study adopted content analysis of literature, in-depth interview schedules with key stakeholders and direct field observations.

Findings
– Landfills in Accra are in a state of ambivalence due to mismanagement. Improper designing and siting of dumpsites, often in close proximity to water sources and human settlements have created aesthetic and odour nuisances and increase health risks, attracting the wrath, disaffection and distrust of residents.

Research limitations/implications
– The study provides an insight into broader issues of landfills and demonstrates Accra's vulnerability to health hazard due to improper waste disposal, which becomes apparent with the least downpour and the subsequent flooding which exposes most drains as de facto receptacles for waste.

Practical implications
– From all indications, Accra appears to be on the brink of a landfill void. Though this issue has been an open secret since 2000, it remains unattended to till date and calls for an immediate, well-planned and concerted attention.

Originality/value
– This paper adopts qualitative research techniques to delve into a subject matter whose implication has citywide consequences. The method allows for in-depth assessment of the intent and commitment of all key stakeholders, which brings to the fore that landfills will no longer be the cheapest or simplest waste disposal option.
The information content of the thinner order book following tick size reduction
Authors: Chien Cheng-Yi , Liao Tzu-Hsiang , Lee Hsiu-Chuan 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine the impact of a reduction in tick size on the information content of the order book by using data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Design/methodology/approach
– To estimate the information content of the order book, the modified information share proposed by Hasbrouck and extended by Lien and Shrestha is used in this paper.

Findings
– The empirical results show that the limit order book is informative. Furthermore, the results indicate that a reduction in tick size will decrease the information content of the order book and the decrease in the information content of the order book is positively related to the thinner order book.

Originality/value
– This paper suggests that, in order to enhance the information content of the order book, the TWSE should disclose the full limit order book.
High-dose vitamin C supplements diminish the benefits of exercise in athletic training and disease prevention
Authors: Benjamin Adams Robert , Nkechiyere Egbo Karen , Demmig-Adams Barbara 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this review is to summarize new research indicating that high-dose supplements of the antioxidant vitamin C can interfere with the benefits of physical exercise for athletic performance and the risk for chronic disease.

Design/methodology/approach
– This article reviews current original literature on the regulation of human metabolism by oxidants and antioxidants and evaluates the role of exercise and high-dose vitamin C in this context. The presentation in this article aims to be informative and accessible to both experts and non-experts.

Findings
– The evidence reviewed here indicates that single, high-dose supplements of the antioxidant vitamin C abolish the beneficial effects of athletic training on muscle recovery and strength as well as abolishing the benefits of exercise in lowering the risk for chronic disease. In contrast, an antioxidant-rich diet based on regular foods apparently enhances the benefits of exercise. These findings are consistent with an updated understanding of the critical importance of both oxidants and antioxidants in the regulation of human metabolism. While more research is needed to address the role of timing and level of antioxidant consumption, it is clear that a balance between oxidants and antioxidants is essential.

Practical implications
– The information presented in this review is important for both athletes and the public at large in their efforts to choose nutrition and exercise regimes appropriate to maximize the outcome of their training efforts and lower their risk for chronic disease.

Originality/value
– This article provides accessible and comprehensive information to researchers, nutritionists, and consumers interested in optimal nutrition during athletic training and for obtaining the full benefit of physical exercise in lowering the risk for chronic disease.
The role and effects of carnosine and β-alanine on exercise: an updated mini review
Authors: Lily E. , Papandreou D. 
Published: February 2014

Purpose– The paper aims to describe the role and effects of carnosine and β-alanine on exercise.Design/methodology/approach– The review includes the most updated studies found in Pub-Med all of which are in relation to carnosine and β-alanine on exercise performance.Findings– The use of β-alanine in recent research has shown to increase muscle carnosine concentrations in as short as two weeks, with increasing levels with longer supplementation periods. Although there is strong support that β-alanine supplementation during training possesses ergogenic value, the specific mechanism of action and ergogenic value remains to be fully examined.Originality/value– The paper gives information to nutritionists, clinical dietitians and sports nutritionists on the newest data about the role and effects of carnosine and β-alanine on exercise performance.
Community assembly effects shape the biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning relationships
Authors: Jaillard Benoît , Rapaport Alain , Harmand Jérôme , Brauman Alain , Nunan Naoise 
Published: February 2014

SummaryA major question in ecology is to know how ecosystem function is affected by the number of species. After two decades of research, the nature, shape, and causes of the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning remain unresolved. Huston () suggested that a statistical ‘sampling effect’ for a few dominant species produced the patterns observed in experiments, while Tilmanet al. () argued that the observed responses were due to the number of species rather than the properties of a few.Here, we present a general, theoretical and parsimonious model using combinatorial probabilities to describe the assembly effect as a probabilistic process. Our basic assumption is that community function is determined by random drawing from a fixed species pool composed of three classes of species. The species classes differ in their effect on community function and are ordered in a simple dominance hierarchy (subordinate, dominant and super‐dominant species). Community function is determined by prevalent dominance rules: the dominance by the majority of species mimics the effect of dominant species,i.e. the function is determined by the dominant or super‐dominant species class the most numerous within the community; the dominance by the presence of species mimics the effect of keystone species,i.e. the function is determined by the species that is ranked highest in the dominance hierarchy.The model produces significant fits to four experimental data sets obtained for plant and microbial communities, including monotonic and hump‐shaped curves. The results indicate that the model gave good fits under both the dominance rules in any data set, suggesting that the random sampling effect provides a parsimonious explanation for the various relationships observed in diversity‐ecosystem functioning experiments.The model describes a random assembly process that produces variation in ecosystem functioning in response to number of species selected from a regional species pool composed of several classes of species differing in their ecosystem effects and relative dominance. This simple model reproduces all shapes of diversity‐ecosystem functioning relationships reported in the experimental literature. The results suggest that the multi‐faceted response of ecosystems to biodiversity may be nothing more than manifestations of random assembly effects and variation in species properties.
Critical transitions in disturbance‐driven ecosystems: identifying Windows of Opportunity for recovery
Authors: Balke Thorsten , Herman Peter M. J. , Bouma Tjeerd J. 
Published: February 2014

Summary

Vegetation recovery in disturbance‐driven ecosystems is difficult to predict. We demonstrate a concept to analyse time series for short‐term variability in external forcing that can identify potential events for sudden vegetation recovery in biogeomorphic ecosystems such as saltmarshes, mangroves, dunes or floodplains.

Time series of external forcing (i.e. water level and wind speed) were analysed for ‘Windows of Opportunity’ (WoO), defined as disturbance‐free periods of a critical minimal duration directly following potential diaspore dispersal, which allow seedling establishment and can induce a sudden shift to a new persistent vegetation cover.

Across different ecosystems, the minimal required WoO duration determines how many WoO events are available for seedling establishment. The distribution of WoO along an elevation gradient on riverbanks and in tidal systems, for example, is defined by the combination of the overall disturbance regime (e.g. seasonal vs. tidal flooding cycles) and the stochastic deviations from that regime (e.g. changes in weather conditions). Standardizing the WoO for the frequency of the regular disturbance regime shows that tidal and river systems have a similar relation between the required WoO length and the elevation suitable for establishment. WoO analysis correctly predicted a sudden vegetation recovery event in a saltmarsh case study.

Synthesis. Time‐series analysis for ‘WoO’ offers an important tool towards predicting the establishment of vegetation cover in disturbance‐driven ecosystems and may have broader implications for understanding critical transitions in general. Quantifying the effects of stochastic external forcing on critical transitions in ecosystems is crucial for restoration efforts and to assess the effects of anthropogenic and global change.
Importance of amoebae as a tool to isolate amoeba‐resisting microorganisms and for their ecology and evolution: the Chlamydia paradigm
Authors: Kebbi‐Beghdadi Carole , Greub Gilbert 
Published: February 2014

SummaryFree‐living amoebae are distributed worldwide and are frequently in contact with humans and animals. As cysts, they can survive in very harsh conditions and resist biocides and most disinfection procedures. Several microorganisms, called amoeba‐resisting microorganisms (ARMs), have evolved to survive and multiply within these protozoa. Among them are many important pathogens, such as Legionella and Mycobacteria, and also several newly discovered Chlamydia‐related bacteria, such as Parachlamydia acanthamoebae, Estrella lausannensis, Simkania negevensis or Waddlia chondrophila whose pathogenic role towards human or animal is strongly suspected.Amoebae represent an evolutionary crib for their resistant microorganisms since they can exchange genetic material with other ARMs and develop virulence traits that will be further used to infect other professional phagocytes. Moreover, amoebae constitute an ideal tool to isolate strict intracellular microorganisms from complex microbiota, since they will feed on other fast‐growing bacteria, such as coliforms potentially present in the investigated samples. The paradigm that ARMs are likely resistant to macrophages, another phagocytic cell, and that they are likely virulent towards humans and animals is only partially true. Indeed, we provide examples of the Chlamydiales order that challenge this assumption and suggest that the ability to multiply in protozoa does not strictly correlate with pathogenicity and that we should rather use the ability to replicate in multiple and diverse eukaryotic cells as an indirect marker of virulence towards mammals. Thus, cell‐culture‐based microbial culturomics should be used in the future to try to discover new pathogenic bacterial species.
Analysis of clinicopathological features of the echinoderm microtubule‐associated protein‐like‐4‐anaplastic lymphoma kinase fusion gene in Chinese patients with advanced non‐small‐cell lung cancer
Authors: Liu Yu‐Tao , Shi Yuan‐Kai , Hao Xue‐Zhi , Wang Lin , Li Jun‐Ling , Han Xiao‐Hong , Li Dan , Zhou Yu‐Jie , Tang Le 
Published: February 2014

AbstractBackgroundThe echinoderm microtubule‐associated protein‐like‐4‐anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4‐ALK) fusion gene defines a novel molecular subset of non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the clinicopathological features of patients with the EML4‐ALK fusion gene have not been defined completely.MethodsClinicopathological data of 200 Chinese patients with advanced NSCLC were analyzed retrospectively to explore their possible correlations with EML4‐ALK fusions.ResultsThe EML4‐ALK fusion gene was detected in 56 (28.0%) of the 200 NSCLC patients, and undetected in 22 (11.0%) patients because of an insufficient amount of pathological tissue. The median age of the patients with positive and negative EML4‐ALK was 48 and 55 years, respectively. Patients with the EML4‐ALK fusion gene were significantly younger (P < 0.001). The detection rate of the EML4‐ALK fusion gene in patients who received primary tumor or metastatic lymph node resection was significantly higher than in patients who received fine‐needle biopsy (P = 0.003). The detection rate of the EML4‐ALK fusion gene in patients with a time lag from obtainment of the pathological tissue to EML4‐ALK fusion gene detection ≤48 months was significantly higher than in patients >48 months (P = 0.020). The occurrence of the EML4‐ALK fusion gene in patients with wild‐type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was significantly higher than in patients with mutant‐type EGFR (42.5% [37/87] vs. 6.3% [1/16], P = 0.005).ConclusionsYounger age and wild‐type EGFR were identified as clinicopathological characteristics of patients with advanced NSCLC who harbored the EML4‐ALK fusion gene. The optimal time lag from the obtainment of the pathological tissue to the time of EML4‐ALK fusion gene detection is ≤48 months.
Genetic dissection of marbling trait through integration of mapping and expression profiling
Authors: Yamada Takahisa 
Published: February 2014

AbstractMarbling traits, defined by the amount of intramuscular fat, has a heritable component and are quantitative in nature, being influenced by many genes of variable individual effects. The identification of the genetic variation associated with marbling is an important step toward the improvement of beef quality through breeding programs and the understanding of the biological network of marbling. A lot of genomic studies based on functional candidate gene approach and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and many transcriptome studies based on expression profiling, respectively, provide information on variation in genomic regions and individual genes associated with marbling and of genes with marbling‐associated expression changes. Further, the integrative approach combining mapping and expression profiling data is proving useful for identifying the causal genes for marbling QTLs. Application of this integrative approach to our marbling study using a rat model, Otsuka Long‐Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat and Japanese Black beef cattle is introduced finally in this review.
Effects of a breeding scheme combined by genomic pre‐selection and progeny testing on annual genetic gain in a dairy cattle population
Authors: Yamazaki Takeshi , Togashi Kenji , Iwama Satoru , Matsumoto Shigeo , Moribe Kimihiro , Nakanishi Takatoshi , Hagiya Koichi , Hayasaka Kiyoshi 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe effectiveness of the incorporation of genomic pre‐selection into dairy cattle progeny testing (GS‐PT) was compared with that of progeny testing (PT) where the fraction of dam to breed bull (DB) selected was 0.01. When the fraction of sires to breed bulls (SB) selected without being progeny tested to produce young bulls (YB) in the next generation was 0.2, the annual genetic gain fromGS‐PTwas 13% to 43% greater when h2 = 0.3 and 16% to 53% greater when h2 = 0.1 compared with that fromPT. Given h2 = 0.3, a selection accuracy of 0.8 for bothYBandDB, and selected fractions of 0.117 forYBand 0.04 forDB,GS‐PTproduced 40% to 43% greater annual genetic gain thanPT. Given h2 = 0.1, a selection accuracy of 0.6 for bothYBandDB, and selected fractions of 0.117 forYBand 0.04 forDB, annual genetic gain fromGS‐PTwas 48% to 53% greater than that fromPT. When h2 = 0.3, progeny testing capacity had little effect on annual genetic gain fromGS‐PT. However, when h2 = 0.1, annual genetic gain fromGS‐PTincreased with increasing progeny testing capacity.
Changes in the composition of the extracellular matrix accumulated by mesenchymal stem cells duringin vitroexpansion
Authors: Nakamura Ryosuke , Nakamura Fumio , Fukunaga Shigeharu 
Published: February 2014

AbstractOne of the approaches to preserve the properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) duringin vitroexpansion is to use cell culture substrates.MSCsare known to generate the extracellular matrix (ECM) proper to preserve their proliferative capacityin vitro, but extensive expansion is considered to depriveMSCsof the capacity to prepare suchECM. In order to examine the features ofECMproper that is required to preserve the proliferative capacity ofMSCs, we analyzed the changes in the composition ofECMaccumulated byMSCsduringin vitroexpansion. Biochemical and immunological analysis showed that collagen and laminin content decreased during expansion. Immunofluorescence and ultrastructural analyses showed that theECMstructure changed from a dynamic fibrous, porous and steric structure to a static, crammed, and planar one. The results ofWestern blotting analysis suggested loose intermolecular association inECMmolecules accumulated by extensively proliferatedMSCs. TheECMprepared by extensively proliferatedMSCswas less effective to recover their proliferative capacity than that prepared by less proliferated cells. Our results suggest that a cell culture substrate to expandMSCsrequires abundance in collagen and basement membrane components, and steric, porous and fibrous structure in whichECMmolecules are tightly associated.
Effect of feeding garlic leaf on microbial nitrogen supply, kinetics of plasma phenylalanine, tyrosine and protein synthesis in sheep
Authors: Kamruzzaman Md. , Liang Xi , Sekiguchi Natsumi , Sano Hiroaki 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe objective of the present study was to assess the feeding effects of garlic leaf on microbial N supply (MNS), turnover rates of plasma phenylalanine (PheTR) and tyrosine (TyrTR) and whole body protein synthesis (WBPS) in sheep. The sheep were fed either mixed hay (Hay‐diet, as control) or hay plus garlic leaf diet (GL‐diet, at a ratio of 9:1) in a crossover design each for a 21 day period. The isotope dilution method using [2H5]Phe and [2H2]Tyr was performed on the 21st day of each dietary treatment. Nitrogen intake remained similar between the diets and N absorption and N digestibility were higher (P < 0.05) in the GL‐diet than Hay‐diet. Total purine derivatives excretion and MNS were greater (P < 0.05) in the GL‐diet than the Hay‐diet. Plasma PheTR tended to be higher (P = 0.06) during GL feeding and TyrTR did not differ between the diets. Further, WBPS tended to be greater (P = 0.05) for the GL‐diet compared with the Hay‐diet. Hence, the present results suggest that garlic leaf may have positive effects on N metabolism by influencing MNS in sheep and could be used as a potential ruminant feed in the future.