bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Business co‐creativity with an eye towards MENA
Authors: Baker Laura , Sonnenburg Stephan 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is multifold. First, an understanding for creativity in an organizational setting is elaborated. Second, the emergence of creativity as a universal phenomenon is discussed. Third, an integrated framework focusing upon processes and group composition to affect co‐creativity is developed. Additionally, this paper begins an intercultural exploration for business and managerial purposes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is a literature search of theoretical and empirical plus cultural studies to support this paper that includes a process model for future application. Since there are cultural studies available mostly about individual countries in the Arab world the cultural variables will be isolated and they will be referred to in order to exemplify an assessment of creativity in MENA.FindingsThis paper contributes to the literature by exploring answers to the business world's questions of what could be barriers and enhancers of creativity not only in the Western world but also in the Arab world. In order to stimulate co‐creativity as quickly and as effectively as possible in the Arab world, there must be flexibility, generosity, loyalty, trust, fairness, shared communication and synthesized ideas. Most probably these factors are universal for co‐creativity.Originality/valueOrganizations are striving for transformation in order to be creative and/or innovative. Precisely, transformation needs co‐creativity as most transforming acts in organizations are based on interactive situations. However until now, it is not clear what co‐creativity is and how to foster co‐creativity. The value of this paper is to integrate a universal definition and understanding of co‐creativity while examining the cultural context of MENA.
Location and operation mode decision making in the Middle East: a case study approach
Authors: Rogmans Tim 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and test propositions on location and entry mode decision making by foreign direct investors in the Middle East region.Design/methodology/approachCase study approach, based on in‐depth interviews with decision makers of multinational companies operating in the Middle East.FindingsThe results show that foreign investors in the Middle East prefer to maintain the highest level of ownership and control permitted in a country, even in the face of political risk.Originality/valueLocation and entry mode decision making has typically been studied using quantitative methods. This research uses a case study approach and develops a new model of entry mode decision making, demonstrating that experienced foreign investors do not view joint ventures as an effective mechanism to manage political risk, but prefer to keep political risk management in‐house.
The application of extended Kalman filtering to autonomous formation flight of small UAV system
Authors: Ding Yi‐Ren , Liu Yi‐Chung , Hsiao Fei‐Bin 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a small UAV system with autonomous formation flight capability, the Swallow UAV system, and the application of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based augmentation method to reduce the impact of data link loss, which will fail the formation flight algorithm of the system.Design/methodology/approachThe hardware of the Swallow UAV system is composed of two aircraft and a set of ground control station for leader‐wingman formation flight. A hardware‐in‐the‐loop simulation environment is build to support the system development. Fuzzy logic control method is applied to the guidance, navigation, and control system of leader and wingman aircraft. The leader system is designed with waypoint navigation and circle trajectory tracking functions to make the aircraft stay in visual range autonomously for safety. The wingman system is designed with formation flight functionality. However, the relative position and velocity are derived from the wireless data link transmitted leader navigation information. It is vulnerable to the data link loss. The EKF based leader motion estimator (LME) is developed to estimates the leader position when the data link broke, and corrects the estimation when the data link is available.FindingsThe designed LME is flight tested, and the results show that it woks properly with sound performance that the estimation error of relative position within 3 meters, relative velocity within 1.3 meters, and leader attitude within 1.6 degrees in standard deviation.Originality/valueThe research implements the autonomous formation flight capability with the EKF based LME on a small UAV system.
A multi‐level perspective on equal employment opportunity for women in Pakistan
Authors: Ali Faiza 
Published: May 2013

PurposeInformed by a relational theorisation of equal opportunity, this paper seeks to focus on multi‐level experiences and observations of women working in Pakistan's formal employment sector considering issues and challenges facing them at three levels of analysis, i.e. macro‐societal, meso‐organisational and micro‐individual.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on in‐depth qualitative interviews with 30 working women in Lahore, the paper examines multi‐level issues of women working in Pakistani organisations.FindingsThe study reveals that focusing exclusively on organisations and holding them solely accountable for equal opportunity may be inadequate as organisational structures and routines of equal opportunity are affected by both macro‐societal factors (e.g. legal, socio‐cultural) and micro‐individual factors (e.g. intersectionality, agency). In particular, the study highlights unique socio‐cultural and structural challenges facing working women in Pakistan and the ways in which these women are able to negotiate and overcome some of these challenges.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on six Pakistani organisations located in Lahore, Punjab, and may not be generalized to represent issues and challenges of equal opportunity in other provinces of Pakistan.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that employers may pay special attention to socio‐cultural issues facing women to promote gender equality at the workplace.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the equal employment opportunity literature by exploring gender equality issues in a Muslim majority country's context.
Sodium thiosulfate in the treatment of non‐uremic calciphylaxis
Authors: Ning Matthew S. , Dahir Kathryn M. , Castellanos Emily H. , McGirt Laura Y. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractCalciphylaxis is a metastatic calcification‐induced vasculopathy that results in the occlusion of small blood vessels. Although calciphylaxis is normally associated with end‐stage renal disease, calciphylaxis from non‐uremic origin occurs as well. While the number of reports continues to increase, a standard treatment for non‐uremic calciphylaxis has yet to be established. Sodium thiosulfate (STS), which has been proven to be effective in the treatment of uremic calciphylaxis, shows promise; however, reports of its use in non‐uremic cases are limited. We describe a case of non‐uremic calciphylaxis in a patient with normal renal and parathyroid function who had complete resolution of disease after treatment with STS, and we review similar cases in the published work. Based on the successful outcomes detailed in this case series, STS appears to be an effective therapy for non‐uremic calciphylaxis.
Case of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis with anti‐Ku and anti‐centromere antibodies
Authors: Ohashi Sonoko , Ueda‐Hayakawa Ikuko , Isei Taiki , Okamoto Hiroyuki 
Published: May 2013

AbstractWe report the case of a 58‐year‐old man who had an ulcer on the right middle finger that was cured by surgery 4 years before consultation with our department. A few years after the surgery, he noticed recurrence of the ulcer and sclerosis of the skin. At the initial examination, skin sclerosis was observed from the fingers to the upper arms and from the feet to the thighs. Pitting scars on the fingertips and punctured hemorrhages of the nail‐fold capillaries were also present. Gastroscopy showed slight reflex esophagitis. Laboratory findings were positive for antinuclear antibody (ANA; 1:640) with a speckled and discrete speckled pattern. Anti‐topoisomerase I (anti‐topo I) antibody and anti‐RNA polymerase III were negative, but anti‐centromere antibody was positive in an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Anti‐Ku antibody was positive in an immunoprecipitation assay using extracts of the leukemia cell line K562. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis with anti‐Ku and anti‐centromere antibodies. Treatment with an oral antiplatelet agent, vitamin E, a proton pump inhibitor, and i.v. lipoprostaglandin E1 were started. Subsequently, there has been repeated recurrence of finger ulcers, but no muscle involvement has been detected since his first visit. This is the first reported case of systemic sclerosis with anti‐Ku and anti‐centromere antibodies.
Reproductive failure of a human‐tolerant species, the American kestrel, is associated with stress and human disturbance
Authors: Strasser Erin H. , Heath Julie A. 
Published: May 2013

Summary

The rapid increase of human activity in wild and developed areas presents novel challenges for wildlife. Some species may use human‐dominated landscapes because of favourable resources (e.g. high prey availability along roadsides); however, use of these areas may increase exposure to anthropogenic stressors, such as human disturbance or noise, which can negatively affect reproduction or survival. In this case, human‐dominated landscapes may act as an ecological trap.

We evaluated whether American kestrel Falco sparverius reproductive failure was associated with human disturbance (traffic conditions and land development) or other common predictors of reproductive outcome, such as habitat and clutch initiation date. Also, we examined relationships among human disturbance, corticosterone (CORT) concentrations and nest abandonment to explore potential mechanisms for stress‐induced reproductive failure.

Twenty‐six (36%) of 73 kestrel nesting attempts failed and 88% of failures occurred during incubation. Kestrels nesting in higher disturbance areas were 9·9 times more likely to fail than kestrels nesting in lower disturbance areas. Habitat and clutch initiation date did not explain reproductive outcome.

Females in higher disturbance areas had higher CORT and were more likely to abandon nests than females in lower disturbance areas. There was no relationship between male CORT and disturbance or abandonment. Females spent more time incubating than males and may have had more exposure to anthropogenic stressors. Specifically, traffic noise may affect a cavity‐nesting bird's perception of the outside environment by masking auditory cues. In response, incubating birds may perceive a greater predation risk, increase vigilance behaviour, decrease parental care, or both.

Synthesis and applications. Proximity to large, busy roads and developed areas negatively affected kestrel reproduction by causing increased stress hormones that promoted nest abandonment. These results demonstrate that species presence in a human‐dominated landscape does not necessarily indicate a tolerance for anthropogenic stressors. Managers should carefully consider or discourage projects that juxtapose favourable habitat conditions with areas of high human activity to decrease risk of ecological traps. Noise mitigation, while locally effective, may not protect widespread populations from the pervasive threat of traffic noise. Innovative engineering that decreases anthropogenic noise at its source is necessary.
Community assembly along a soil depth gradient: contrasting patterns of plant trait convergence and divergence in a Mediterranean rangeland
Authors: Bernard‐Verdier Maud , Navas Marie‐Laure , Vellend Mark , Violle Cyrille , Fayolle Adeline , Garnier Eric 
Published: May 2013

Summary

Understanding how environmental factors drive plant community assembly remains a major challenge in community ecology. The strength of different assembly processes along environmental gradients, such as environmental filtering and functional niche differentiation, can be quantified by analysing trait distributions in communities. While environmental filtering affects species occurrence among communities, functional divergence or convergence is strongly related to species abundances within communities, which few studies have taken into account. We examine the trait‐mediated effect of these two processes along a stress‐resource gradient.

We measured species abundances and the distributions of eight traits related to vegetative and regenerative phases in plant communities along a gradient of soil depth and resource availability in Mediterranean rangelands. We quantified environmental filtering, defined as a local restriction of trait range, and trait divergence, based on abundance‐weighted trait variance, using a two‐step approach with specifically designed null models.

Communities presented a clear functional response to the soil gradient, as evidenced by strong trends in community‐weighted trait means. We detected environmental filtering of different traits at both ends of the gradient, suggesting that, contrary to widespread expectations, trait filtering may not necessarily be the result of abiotic filtering under harsh conditions but could likely also result from biotic interactions in productive habitats.

We found marked shifts in trait abundance distributions within communities along the gradient. Vegetative traits (e.g. leaf dry matter content) diverged on shallow soils, reflecting the coexistence of distinct water‐ and nutrient‐use strategies in these constrained habitats and converged with increasing soil resource availability. By contrast, regenerative traits (e.g. seed mass) tended to diverge towards deeper soils, while plant reproductive heights diverged all along the gradient.

Synthesis: Our study highlights how the combination of abundance data with traits capturing different functional niches is critical to the detection of complex functional responses of plant communities to environmental gradients. We demonstrate that patterns of trait divergence and filtering are strongly contingent on both trait and environment such that there can be no expectation of a simple trend of increasing or decreasing functional divergence along a gradient of resource availability.
Flowers attract weaver ants that deter less effective pollinators
Authors: Gonzálvez Francisco G. , Santamaría Luis , Corlett Richard T. , Rodríguez‐Gironés Miguel A. 
Published: May 2013

Summary1. Many flowers produce ant‐repellent substances that prevent ants from discouraging pollinator visits. When a flower's most effective pollinator is unaffected by predatory ants, however, flowers should benefit from the presence of ants that deter less effective pollinators from consuming resources.2. Behavioural assays revealed that Melastoma malabathricum flowers, pollinated by large carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp., produce ant attractants that recruit weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina.3. The presence of ants was associated with an increase in the reproductive success of M. malabathricum flowers. This outcome likely resulted from the filtering effect of ants on the community of flower visitors: ants deter less effective pollinators and attract Xylocopa bees through an indirect effect on resource depletion.4. Synthesis. Although plant–pollinator interactions are classified as mutualisms, not all flower visitors are effective pollinators, and some can be parasites or conditional parasites. As a result, predators that deter flower visitors can have positive or negative effects on plant fitness, depending on whether they deter all visitors or a subset of them, and on the relative effectiveness of deterred and undeterred visitors.
Species specific growth responses of black spruce and trembling aspen may enhance resilience of boreal forest to climate change
Authors: Drobyshev Igor , Gewehr Sylvie , Berninger Frank , Bergeron Yves 
Published: May 2013

Summary

To understand how the future climate will affect the boreal forest, we studied growth responses to climate variability in black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), two major co‐occurring boreal tree species of the eastern Canadian boreal forest.
We analysed climate–growth interaction during (i) periods of non‐anomalous growth and (ii) in years with strong growth anomalies. We utilized paired tree‐level data for both growth and soil variables, which helped ensure that the studied growth variability was a function of species‐specific biology, and not of within stand variation in soil conditions.
Redundancy analysis conducted on spruce and aspen tree ring chronologies showed that their growth was affected differently by climate. During non‐anomalous years, growth of spruce was favoured by cooler temperatures and wetter conditions, while aspen growth was favoured by higher temperatures and drier conditions.
Black spruce and trembling aspen also showed an inverse pattern in respect to expression of growth anomalies (pointer years). A negative growth anomaly in spruce tended to be associated with positive ones in aspen and vice versa. This suggested that spruce and aspen had largely contrasting species‐specific responses to both ‘average’ weather conditions and extreme weather events.
Synthesis. Species‐specific responses to environmental variability imply that tree responses to future climate will likely be not synchronized among species, which may translate into changes in structure and composition of future forest communities. In particular, we speculate that outcome of climate change in respect to relative abundance of black spruce and trembling aspen at the regional levels will be highly dependent on the balance between increasing temperatures and precipitation. Further, species‐specific responses of trees to annual climate variability may enhance the resilience of mixed forests by constraining variability in their annual biomass accumulation, as compared with pure stands, under periods with high frequency of climatically extreme conditions.
Integrating trait‐ and niche‐based approaches to assess contemporary evolution in alien plant species
Authors: Hulme Philip E. , Barrett Spencer C. H. 
Published: May 2013

Summary

Two primary lines of indirect evidence for contemporary evolution in alien species are based on differences between native and introduced ranges in one or more functional traits or a shift in environmental niche. Although the integration of trait and environmental niche perspectives is increasingly recognised as a key to understanding the role of life‐history evolution in range‐shifting populations, there has been no attempt to bring together these perspectives on the contemporary evolution of alien plant species.
We develop a set of scenarios that contrast trait–environment relationships observed in the field for alien species in the native and introduced range, and explore how they might be shaped by contemporary evolution. In each case, the limitations of uniquely trait or environmental niche perspectives are highlighted. The scenarios are examined in relation to long‐term trends in covariation between temperature and first flowering date of European plant species introduced into the USA. Support for four of the scenarios is found.
Field studies examining how species traits respond to environmental variation along natural gradients cannot by themselves distinguish relationships arising from genetic variation, phenotypic plasticity or genetic variation for such plasticity. This is best assessed by reciprocal transplant experiments. However, trait–environment relationships provide a basis for better targeted common garden studies that are more hypothesis driven and that pinpoint the traits of interest, ascertain the appropriate selection gradients and the range over which they need to be observed, as well as identify candidate species for further study.
Synthesis. The need to improve species distribution models through a better understanding of underlying ecological and evolutionary processes makes assessments of trait–environment relationships, in both the native and introduced ranges, significant. They are of paramount importance when explaining the differential success of alien plants in novel environments as well as when predicting the potential for future range shifts following introduction. The current paucity of such comparisons represents a significant gap in our understanding of biological invasions.
Effects of topography on structuring local species assemblages in a Sri Lankan mixed dipterocarp forest
Authors: Punchi‐Manage Ruwan , Getzin Stephan , Wiegand Thorsten , Kanagaraj Rajapandian , Savitri Gunatilleke C. V. , Nimal Gunatilleke I. A. U. , Wiegand Kerstin , Huth Andreas 
Published: May 2013

Summary

One of the primary goals in community ecology is to determine the relative importance of processes and mechanisms that control biodiversity. Here, we examined habitat‐driven species assemblages and species distribution patterns as well as their temporal variations for three life stages of two censuses of a 25‐ha mixed dipterocarp forest at Sinharaja (Sri Lanka).

Our general objective was to find out whether the species assemblages and associated habitat types changed with life stage, spatial scale and species attributes. We also analyse whether the habitat types were related to certain indicator species. Habitat types were determined with multivariate regression tree analyses driven by topographic variables.

We found species assemblages associated with five distinct habitat types that appeared consistently for all life stages of the two censuses. These habitats were related to ridge‐valley gradients and a pronounced contrast in south‐west versus north‐east aspect. Habitat‐driven structuring was weak at the recruit stage but strong in the juvenile and adult stages. The species assemblage variance explained by topographic variables for different life stages ranged between 10% for recruits and 23% for juveniles.

The species assemblages determined for different spatial scales (10, 20, 50 m) showed similar habitat partitioning, but the variance explained by the topographic variables increased in all life stages with spatial scale. This could be due to the homogenizing effect of topographic variables at the larger scales and unaccounted environmental variation at the smaller scales. The number of indicator species identified in the two censuses was higher in the juvenile stage than in the adult stage, and nearly all indicator species in the adult stage were also indicator species in the juvenile stage.

Synthesis. Our study showed that approximately 75% of the variance in local species composition is unexplained. This may be due to spatially structured processes such as dispersal limitation, unaccounted biotic and abiotic environmental variables, and stochastic effects, but only 25% were due to topographic habitat association. Although the pronounced ridge‐valley gradient and contrast of south‐west versus north‐east aspect created consistent habitats, our results suggest that local species assemblages at Sinharaja forest are jointly shaped by neutral and niche processes.