bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Selective corticostriatal plasticity during acquisition of an auditory discrimination task
Authors: Xiong Qiaojie , Znamenskiy Petr , Zador Anthony M 
Published: October 2014

AbstractPerceptual decisions are based on the activity of sensory cortical neurons, but how organisms learn to transform this activity into appropriate actions remains unknown. Projections from the auditory cortex to the auditory striatum carry information that drives decisions in an auditory frequency discrimination task1. To assess the role of these projections in learning, we developed a Channelrhodopsin-2-based assay to selectively probe for synaptic plasticity associated with corticostriatal neurons representing different frequencies. Here we report that learning this auditory discrimination preferentially potentiates corticostriatal synapses from neurons representing either high or low frequencies, depending on reward contingencies. We observed frequency-dependent corticostriatal potentiationin vivoover the course of training, andin vitroin striatal brain slices. Our findings suggest a model in which selective potentiation of inputs representing different components of a sensory stimulus enables the learned transformation of sensory input into actions.
Investigation of short-range structural order in Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5and Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17glasses, using X-ray absorption spectroscopy andab initiomolecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Lahiri Debdutta , Sharma Surinder M. , Verma Ashok K. , Vishwanadh B. , Dey G. K. , Schumacher Gerhard , Scherb Tobias , Riesemeier Heinrich , Reinholz Uwe , Radtke Martin , Banerjee S. 
Published: October 2014

Short-range order has been investigated in Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5and Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17metallic glasses using X-ray absorption spectroscopy andab initiomolecular dynamics simulations. While both of these alloys are good glass formers, there is a difference in their glass-forming abilities (Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17> Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5). This difference is explained by inciting the relative importance of strong chemical order, icosahedral content, cluster symmetry and configuration diversity.
Customer acquisition at Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank Ltd
Authors: Bapat Dhananjay 
Published: October 2014

Subject area
Marketing, Banking.

Study level/applicability
Post Graduate Programme, MBA, BBA.

Case overview
On 27 June 2011, Abhyudaya Bank, a leading urban cooperative bank, opened its 101 new branch at Diva, which is on the outskirts of Mumbai city in India. Diva area is populated but has less number of bank branches. The bank planned to surpass its earlier record of customer acquisition in branches which were newly opened at Marve Link Road and Jogeshwari in Mumbai. According to Mr Morye, Managing Director, Abhyudaya Bank, “With the expanding horizons, continuous developments and competition, the bank proposes to become full-fledged financial service provider, fulfilling requirements of customers and other stakeholders by providing all allied services, as permitted by the regulatory authorities. The Bank has adopted advanced technology for providing faster and convenient services to clients. These major long term proposals will enable the bank to increase its market share and better fulfillment of expectations of all the stakeholders.” The case introduces the structure of urban cooperative banks of which Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank is a part. The case provides the key highlights of the bank and discusses the catalyst role of planning and marketing department for branches to achieve its target and how the bank implemented unique and differentiated strategy involving employees of the banks. Employees form an important asset for banks, and banks need to utilize their potential in creating long-term and sustainable relationships with customers. The case examines how the branch can benefit from detail area-wise planning capturing the potential. Branch area planning is a unique exercise covering the branch potential analysis and a new branch manager must utilize it for acquiring higher number of customers. Regardless of the branching, a bank seeking to expand its branch operations faces a number of important decisions. As the area develops, a bank branch decides to take up appropriate strategy with an objective to move its base of operations to attract new customers in a new area and thereafter maintain its existing ones.

Expected learning outcomes
The case is suitable for students pursuing a post-graduate course in bank marketing, banking postgraduate and MBA course in strategic management and marketing management. The case presents an opportunity to assess the strategy adopted by the bank for new branch launch and evolving role by a marketing function in a bank.

Supplementary materials
Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Workforce management for worldwide workers
Authors: Borkin David 
Published: October 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this article is to highlight the need for human resources (HR) specialists to ensure that there is one record of each employee that integrates information on his or her history, past training and future needs in an easy-to-view system.

Design/methodology/approach
– Underlines the advantages that such a record can bring.

Findings
– Argues that global businesses need tools to help them to overcome the complexity of communicating with, and efficiently deploying, managing and developing, a dispersed workforce without compromising operational efficiency. Tracking and catering for the needs of field-based or shift employees can be particularly challenging. There are also important compliance issues.

Practical implications
– Demonstrates that having the ability to quickly and easily view and analyze employee and workforce data around training, learning and compliance means that management and HR teams can make strategic decisions around regulation, compliance and training needs based on relevant and up-to-date information.

Social implications
– Highlights how the training requests of employees themselves can also be more easily handled by having a central information repository.

Originality/value
– Reveals that by creating a logical connection between the processes involved in workforce management, managers will streamline their work, avoid duplication and make decisions based on real-time information.
Dell’s technical-support staff have the power to do more
Authors: Bagga Teena , Khanna Geetanjali 
Published: October 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to describe how computer giant Dell recruits and trains its technical-support staff.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper reveals the competencies the company seeks in its recruits and how the recruits are developed.

Findings
– It highlights the importance of being tech-savvy, patient and adaptable and having a positive attitude, good communication skills, empathy with customers and loyalty to the organization.

Practical implications
– It explains that the company’s competency-based interview questions are designed to elicit details about the work the candidate has done, the way he or she has completed that work and the environment in which he or she worked.

Originality/value
– It provides a good insight into the recruitment and training of technical-support staff at a major international organization.
Ethan learns to be a learning organization
Authors: Rana Geeta , Goel Alok 
Published: October 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to describe the main human resource management policies at Ethan Power Private Ltd, an Indian design, sales and manufacturing company, and the specific circumstances that led it to become a learning organization.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper outlines the company’s origins and growth and its policies in such areas as recruitment, induction, training, remuneration, performance management and industrial relations.

Findings
– This paper reveals that learning organization concepts have stimulated debate in the business, and there is growing acceptance of self-managed development, empowerment and creativity.

Practical implications
– This paper explains that there is much more evidence in the company of effective teamwork and the principles of total quality management, while HR specialists are encouraging the processes of reflection and self-improvement that lie at the heart of organizational improvement.

Social implications
– This paper reveals that, in general, and while fully complying with industrial-relations legislation, the company prefers to employ people who are not members of a trade union.

Originality/value
– This paper details the factors that led an Indian organization to change its organizational culture and how this change was achieved.
Building a culture of creativity at Moving Pixels Company
Authors: Batra Safal , Pollitt David 
Published: October 2014

Purpose
– The paper aims to describe the key role of creativity at Moving Pixels, a small Indian media company.

Design/methodology/approach
– It charts the rise of the company and its organizational culture. It also emphasizes the importance of informality, openness and respect.

Findings
– It reveals that each member of the five-strong team is prepared to work long hours in exchange for feeling to be a part of the business and respected by its owner.

Practical implications
– It highlights the hands-on approach of the company owner and how closely he works with employees on individual projects.

Social implications
– It concedes that the culture of long working hours can take its toll on employees’ personal lives.

Originality/value
– It considers the workings of a small Indian media company.
Guanxi, a two-edged sword! How Australian accounting professionals view the process within a moral framework
Authors: Han Fan Ying , Woodbine Gordon , Scully Glennda 
Published: October 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to determine how Western business practitioners, specifically Australian accounting professionals, identify with the Chinese value concept ofguanxiand the impact of their perceptions ofguanxion their ethical decision-making. This objective is predicated by a belief that aspects ofguanxiare similar to the Western concepts of social networking and would be identified by practitioners as an organizational process providing positive benefits to those associated with its application. Further, it is anticipated that concepts ofguanxiinfluence the way Australian accountants form ethical judgements and intentions, precursors to acceptable moral behaviour.Design/methodology/approach– A cross-sectional questionnaire based on a survey of 111 usable Australian accounting professionals was completed during 2012. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate each construct ofguanxibefore a path analysis was performed.Findings– Australian accounting professionals associate well with the favour-seeking aspects ofguanxi, suggesting an affiliation with Western concepts of social networking. Both groups (i.e. public accountants and private accountants) reject rent-seekingguanxias clearly unethical. Rent-seekingguanxiis seen to directly influence ethical judgement and intention; however, their favour-seekingguanxiattitudes do not influence ethical judgement or intention, regardless of employment type. Public and private accountants applyguanxiin a differential manner when determining moral intention. Public accountants are viewed as acting spontaneously without adequately considering the consequences (via the judgement phase), which appears to be a function of the nature of their personal association with the case study applied in this research.Originality/value– The research provides evidence that Australian accounting professionals relate to favour-seekingguanxias representative of a broader notion of social networking. In this context, theguanxiinstrument appears to be amenable to cross-cultural evaluations of group behaviour. Significant differences of opinion exist compared to the prior Chinese studies when unethical practices are considered. Theguanxiinstrument proves to be a useful tool when examining the group interactions involving Western professionals and also helps establish differences in moral constructions based on employment types.
Linking HRM competency to firm performance: an empirical investigation of Chinese firms
Authors: Ngo Hang-yue , Jiang Chun-Yan , Loi Raymond 
Published: October 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate the relationship between human resource management (HRM) competency and firm performance. Drawn upon the resource-based view and alignment theory, HRM competency is expected to be related to the adoption of high performance work systems (HPWS) and the achievement of external fit in HRM, which in turn contribute to firm performance.Design/methodology/approach– The data for this study were collected via a survey of in 157 Chinese enterprises located in the high technology development zone of three large cities. Two different respondents from each firm provided information about organizational characteristics, HRM policy and practices, and firm performance. Multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses.Findings– Results indicate that HRM competency has a significant and positive effect on firm performance. Such an effect is found to be mediated by the achievement of external fit, but not the adoption of HPWS.Research limitations/implications– Limitations of the study include cross-sectional data, perceptual measure of firm performance, omission of external variables, and restricted sample. This study highlights the importance of HRM competency in strategic HRM, and provides evidence about how this construct is linked to firm performance.Originality/value– This is the first study that explores the effect of HRM competency on the adoption of HPWS and the achievement of external fit. It further reveals that the achievement of external fit mediates the relationship between HRM competency and firm performance, and hence contributes to the HRM literature.
Academic background and credibility in executive coaching effectiveness
Authors: Bozer Gil , C. Sarros James , C. Santora Joseph 
Published: October 2014

Purpose– Little empirical research has examined the role of coach characteristics in coaching success. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in the literature by identifying and testing the relationships between a coach's academic background in psychology and credibility with executive coaching effectiveness as reflected in greater levels of individual outcomes.Design/methodology/approach– These factors were examined through a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. Participants were drawn from the client bases of four Israeli executive coaching agencies.Findings– A coach's academic background in psychology was positively related to executive coaching effectiveness as reflected in greater improvement in coachee self-awareness and job performance as reported by the direct supervisor. Further, coach credibility was positively related to executive coaching effectiveness as reflected in higher mean scores in coachee self-reported job performance.Originality/value– Findings should assist businesses and educators in improving the formal preparation of coaches and in better identifying and selecting competent coaches. This may lead to better executive coaching design, implementation, and outcomes. Recommendations for future research are provided.
Alopecia areata. How not to miss Satoyoshi syndrome?
Authors: Rudnicka Lidia , Kwiatkowska Małgorzata , Rakowska Adriana , Czuwara Joanna , Olszewska Małgorzata 
Published: October 2014

AbstractSatoyoshi syndrome is a multisystem disorder of suspected autoimmune etiology, characterized predominantly by alopecia, muscle spasms and diarrhea. Antinuclear antibodies are present in 60% of patients. The syndrome primarily affects girls and young women. Trichoscopy shows regularly distributed yellow dots, indistinguishable from typical alopecia areata. The condition may be easily misdiagnosed and treated as alopecia areata. On the basis of an in‐depth analysis of all published cases we developed diagnostic criteria for Satoyoshi syndrome. We also suggest that two subtypes of the disorder should be distinguished, the ANA‐positive Satoyoshi syndrome with generally good response to systemic glucocorticosteroid therapy and the ANA‐negative Satoyoshi with less favorable prognosis. In our opinion all patients will alopecia areata (in particular alopecia totalis) should be inquired about muscle spasms and diarrhea and tested for antinuclear antibodies to decrease the risk of missing Satoyoshi syndrome.
The consequences of demand‐driven seed provisioning for sexual differences in reproductive investment inThalictrum occidentale(Ranunculaceae)
Authors: Ida Takashi Y. , Harder Lawrence D. , Kudo Gaku 
Published: October 2014

SummaryMany iteroparous angiosperms may benefit from flexible annual resource allocation in response to variable reproductive opportunities induced by external conditions. If maximal reproductive investment is fixed, lack of reproductive sinks would cause resource redistribution to other sinks. Alternatively, reproductive investment may vary depending on the demand of reproductive sinks, changing source–sink relations. In particular, differential responses by males and females to the demands of flower and seed production may cause sexual dimorphism.We assess the occurrence of demand‐driven seed allocation by females and its implications for sexual differences in reproductive investment, including the dynamics of mass and carbon allocation and the physiological cost of reproduction, for a dioecious, perennial herb,Thalictrum occidentale. We specifically quantified allocation responses to partial defoliation, which reduced current resource supply, and partial flower/fruit removal, which reduced the aggregate demand of reproductive sinks.During flowering, males preferentially invested carbon and mass in flowers at the expense of vegetative organs, whereas females allocated less mass to flowers and invested more in new rhizome production for future performance than males. In contrast, during early fruiting, both sexes had new rhizomes of similar size and a doubling of reproductive mass by females after flowering resulted in similar total reproductive investment for both sexes. Manipulation of the source–sink balance did not influence carbon allocation, except that partial fruit removal increased new rhizome mass compared with intact plants.Females with many fertilized ovules invested proportionally more in seed number and mass per seed than females with few fertilized ovules, indicating both demand‐driven seed maturation and its elimination of seed size‐number trade‐off. Furthermore, males consistently exhibited size‐dependent flower production, whereas females exhibited size‐dependent flower production only if they had not reproduced during the previous year.Synthesis. This study demonstrates that sexual differences in policies of reproductive investment and the timing of the physiological costs of reproduction impose contrasting allocation schedules. Males invested in reproduction proportionally with their size, whereas females invested flexibly in seeds in response to the demand of developing embryos. Thus, the contrasting certainty and timing of reproductive resource requirements between the sexes contribute to sexual dimorphism.
Health‐related quality of life and depression in a sample of Latin American adults with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Senra Hugo , Rogers Heather , Leibach Gillian , Altamar Marvín L. P. , Plaza Silvia L. O. , Perrin Paul , Durán Maria A. S. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractObjectiveTo compare the health related quality of life (HRQoL) and depression of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to healthy controls in Colombia, as well as to examine the connections between these two variables in individuals with RA.MethodOne hundred and three individuals with RA were recruited from ambulatory centers in Colombia. Seventy‐three control participants were recruited from the local community. Both groups differed with respect to age, gender and marital status (P < 0.001), while education and socio‐economic levels were similar. HRQoL was assessed using the Short Form‐36 (SF‐36) and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9).ResultsA multivariate analysis of covariance found that RA patients reported substantially higher depressive symptoms and lower HRQoL than healthy controls (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). The effect sizes of the differences between patients and controls in HRQoL and depressive symptoms were all large. All SF‐36 HRQoL variables were significantly correlated with depressive symptoms in patients and controls (P < 0.05). Social functioning and vitality were uniquely associated with depressive symptoms in the RA group (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively), whereas education and social functioning were uniquely associated with depressive symptoms in controls (P < 0.05 and P < 0.005, respectively).ConclusionsResearch indicates that individuals with RA have deteriorated HRQoL, and this study extends these findings to a Colombian sample and highlights the importance of the independent relationship between depressive symptoms and vitality in this group of Colombians with RA.
Amelioration of oxidative stress in the joint tissue may be the basis for the antiarthritic activity of Terminalia arjuna bark extract
Authors: Tyagi Pravesh , Khan Haider A. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractAimIn this study we have evaluated the antioxidant and antiarthritic activity of Terminalia arjuna bark extract (TABE) in collagen‐induced arthritis (CIA) in rats.MethodsArthritis was induced in rats by intradermal injection of the collagen‐complete Freund's adjuvant emulsion. Right hind paw thickness was measured as a primary marker for severity of arthritis. Biochemical parameters such as tissue levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, reduced glutathione (GSH), nitrites and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were measured to determine the effect of treatment on antioxidant defenses. Articular elastase (ELA) level in the arthritic tissue was measured as a marker for neutrophil infiltration.ResultTerminalia arjuna bark extract administration significantly inhibited the increase in paw thickness induced by immunization with collagen as compared to CIA‐control animals. Further, it attenuated the fall in tissue SOD and GSH levels and mitigated the increase in tissue nitrites and TBARS levels as compared to CIA‐control animals. Tissue ELA levels, which were significantly increased in the CIA‐control animals as compared to normal animals were also significantly reduced by TABE administration.ConclusionResults of our study demonstrate the antioxidant and antiarthritic activity of TABE in CIA in rats. We believe that TABE could find clinical application in the management of rheumatoid arthritis and associated disorders.
Peripheral immature B cells: modulators of autoimmunity
Authors: Lee Jisoo , Sim Ji‐Hyun , Kim In‐Je 
Published: October 2014

AbstractB cells play an essential role in humoral immunity by producing antigen‐specific antibodies. However, B cells also participate in cellular immune responses by presenting antigens, providing costimulation, and producing cytokines to activate and expand effectors and memory T cell populations. Recent identification of antibody‐independent functions of B cells has reawakened interest in the many roles of B cells in normal immune responses as well as in autoimmune diseases. B cells interact with other immunocompetent cells during a tightly regulated immune activation process, acting as both effector and regulator. If this balance between effector and regulatory B cell functions is disrupted, harmful effects of immune activation such as autoimmunity can occur. In this review, we will discuss the role of human peripheral immature B cells in normal immune responses as a modulator of autoimmunity. We will also discuss abnormalities of these cells in pathogenesis of systemic autoimmunity with particular focus on systemic lupus erythematosus pathogenesis.