bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Seasonal and cyclical behaviour of farm gate milk prices
Authors: Bergmann Dennis , O’Connor Declan , Thümmel Andreas 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the German, Irish and average EU farm gate milk prices have changed after the common agricultural policy (CAP) reform in 2003. In addition the dynamics of these prices are compared to a US farm gate price.

Design/methodology/approach
– These milk price time series are divided into two time periods, pre and post the CAP 2003 reform, and decomposed into their trend, seasonal and cyclical components. For the decomposition a state space model is used following the approach of Harvey (1989).

Findings
– The results show that the dynamics of the EU, German and Irish series converged after the CAP 2003 reform were implemented and that a three-year cycle is underlying the European milk prices which is comparable with the cycle length of the US milk price. In addition it is shown that most of the observed price variation in recent times is attributed to the cyclical component.

Research limitations/implications
– The division of the milk price time series into periods pre and post the CAP 2003 reform is somewhat subjective because not all measures were immediately applied after the reform. It is also possible that other factors may have contributed to the changed dynamics which have been observed. In addition this leads to a short data sample.

Practical implications
– The results show that policy makers should consider counter cyclical policy measures given the importance of the cyclical component. Also most models used to evaluate policies do not account for cycles which may lead to wrong conclusions. In addition farmer should be aware of the cyclical nature of milk prices as they budget and plan for the future.

Originality/value
– No previous decomposition studies of European milk prices exist.
Environmental impacts of food supply and obesogenic severity worldwide
Authors: Abbade Eduardo Botti 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the severity of obesogenic societies is associated with more significant environmental impacts, and whether these impacts are associated with the production, supply, and consumption of animal foods more so than with plant foods.

Design/methodology/approach
– This ecological study was based on analyses of available data regarding populations of countries throughout the world. The study analyzed indicators related to food production, food supply, the anthropometric traits of malnutrition, and ecological impacts. Data were analyzed via scatter plots and Pearson’s correlation.

Findings
– Food supply, when compared with food production, is more significantly associated with environmental impacts. Also, the supply of meats, when compared with the supply of cereals, has a stronger association with environmental impacts and obesogenic severity. Meat supply is strongly associated with the ecological footprint (r=0.782, p
<
0.001), with CO2 emissions (r=0.602, p
<
0.001), and with the water footprint (r=0.503, p
<
0.001). Thus, the average body mass index (BMI) of populations worldwide is strongly associated with environmental impacts considering the ecological footprint (r=0.559, p
<
0.001), and the CO2 emissions (r=0.460, p
<
0.001).

Practical implications
– Actions that are better aligned with worldwide urgencies related to obesogenic problems, food supply/consumption, and environmental issues are needed. This study provides a better understanding about environmental and obesogenic impacts associated with food supply.

Originality/value
– The originality is focussed on important evidence regarding environmental and obesogenic severity strongly associated with meat supply.
The coastal community awareness towards the climate change in Malaysia
Authors: Mohamed Shaffril Hayrol Azril , D'Silva Jeffrey Lawrence , Kamaruddin Nurani , Omar Siti Zobidah , Bolong Jusang 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The present paper attempts to investigate the awareness of coastal community towards climate change in Malaysia and to explore the factors associated with their awareness toward the climate change.

Design/methodology/approach
– This is a quantitative study where a set of questionnaires was developed based on reviews of literature and series of instrument development meeting. Through a multi-stage cluster sampling, a total of 210 respondents from three coastal villages in Peninsular Malaysia were selected.

Findings
– The coastal community are shown to record a high mean score on their awareness toward changes relating to the sea, temperatures and the coast. Surprisingly, fishermen are found to be less aware toward climate change compared to other groups, such as housewives/retirees and students. Further analysis confirms that there are significant differences regarding coastal community awareness to changes relating to the sea, temperatures and the coast.

Research limitations/implications
– This study represented the answers of 210 respondents who were randomly selected from three coastal villages in Peninsular Malaysia, and the results might be enriched if the number of respondents is increased and respondents from other villages are included. A future study should be conducted to gather information on the possible effects, rather than focusing on the respondents’ awareness. Additionally, because of the nature of the topic, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and officers from environment-related agencies should cooperate during the research.

Practical implications
– It is recommended that information management activities with regard to the climate change should be actively conducted by NGOs, universities and related parties.

Originality/value
– Most of the related studies are scientific in nature, leading to a gap relating to the social aspects of climate change, particularly in terms of communities’ awareness toward the climate change. Moreover, a number of local studies have produced inconsistencies in term of their results regarding the awareness of the climate change among the community. In response to this, the current study aims to fill this gap.
Cross-cultural adjustment and fundamental interpersonal relations orientation behaviour (FIRO-B)
Authors: Ditchburn Graeme , Brook Elizabeth R 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– Expatriate workforces are growing as a result of globalisation and the considerable cost associated with expatriation is a strong incentive to identify which employees are most likely to adjust to the host nation. One area relevant to cross-cultural adjustment is interpersonal needs. The theory of fundamental interpersonal relations orientation as measured by the fundamental interpersonal relations orientation-behaviour (FIRO-B) may offer insights as to the relationship between interpersonal needs and cross-cultural adjustment. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– In total, 180 paper and pencil measures of the FIRO-B and expatriate adjustment scales (general, work, and interaction) were distributed via informed international associates and convenience and snowball sampling. In total, 112 expatriates from the UK (44 percent), South Africa (22 percent), India (20 percent), and other nations (14 percent) returned completed questionnaires.

Findings
– Expatriates with higher levels of wanted affection were higher on all subscales of cross-cultural adjustment. Those who wanted and expressed the need for inclusion were significantly higher in interaction adjustment while those who expressed and wanted control were less adjusted to work.

Research limitations/implications
– The cross-sectional design limits the extent to which these findings can be interpreted as causal and the small sample size may limit the generalisability of the findings and common method via self-report may also inflate inter-relationship. However, the underlying theoretical premise would strongly support the hypothesised directional relationships in the normal population. A number of factors beyond the scope of this study may play a fundamental role including cultural similarity.

Practical implications
– Whilst not predictive, and acknowledging that environmental factors may vary, these results give an indication that interpersonal needs are related to successful adjustment in expatriates. As such these findings could be used to help inform the recruitment and training of expatriates in areas of interpersonal interaction taking into consideration intrapersonal needs.

Originality/value
– No study to date has explored the inter-relationship between the interpersonal needs and expatriate adjustment. This is the first paper to do so and identify that there is a significant association between expatriate’s motives for interaction and their level of cross-cultural adjustment.
Information uncertainties and asset pricing puzzles: risk or mispricing?
Authors: Li Keming , Uddin Mohammad Riaz , Diltz J. David 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– Prior research has documented the role of information uncertainty in the cross-sectional variation in stock returns. Miller (1977) hypothesizes that if information uncertainty is caused by differences of opinion, prices will reflect only the positive beliefs due to short-sale constraints. These anomalous stock price behaviors may result from mispricing. In contrast, Merton (1974) asserts that default risk is a function of the uncertainty in the asset value process. Information uncertainty may be subsumed by credit or default risk. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors employ various sorting techniques and Fama-MacBeth Regressions to test the hypotheses.

Findings
– The authors provide empirical evidence consistent with Merton’s (1974) default risk hypothesis and inconsistent with Miller’s (1977) mispricing hypothesis.

Research limitations/implications
– Risk aversion and not misplacing is the primary factor driving information-related anomalies in equities markets.

Practical implications
– It would be quite difficult to find arbitrage opportunities in equities markets because there appears to be little, if any, mis-pricing due to information uncertainties.

Originality/value
– This study provides important information about the primary underlying information-related source of certain empirical anomalies in the cross-section of stock returns.
Income diversification and bank efficiency in an emerging market
Authors: Alhassan Abdul Latif 
Published: November 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the non-linear relationship between income diversification and efficiency of Ghanaian banks within the universal banking era.Design/methodology/approach– The stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) technique is employed on annual data of 26 Ghanaian banks from 2003 to 2011 to estimate cost and profit efficiency scores. In the second stage analysis, a tobit regression model is estimated to examine the empirical effect of diversification into non-interest generating activities on estimated cost and profit efficiency scores while controlling for other bank specific characteristics.Findings– The findings of the SFA reveal high levels of efficiency in cost compared with profit to reflect high inefficiencies on the revenue side. An analysis of efficiency scores by two categories of bank size suggests that large banks have high cost and profit efficiency compared to small banks. A non-linear relationship is found between income diversification and efficiency while size was also found to be important in enabling banks exploit the potential benefits of income diversification.Research limitations/implications– This study focuses on one banking market in Africa. A comparative analysis in a cross-section of banking markets in Africa will be useful to bring robustness to the findings of this study.Practical implications– The findings of this study provides useful insights for management on the best corporate model in ensuring that diversification activities are efficiency-enhancing.Originality/value– This study presents the first empirical evidence on the non-linear relationship between efficiency and income diversification in emerging banking markets in Africa.
Past tree influence and prescribed fire mediate biotic interactions and community reassembly in a grassland‐restoration experiment
Authors: Halpern Charles B. , Antos Joseph A. , McKenzie Donald , Olson Annette M. 
Published: November 2015

Summary

Woody plant encroachment of grasslands is occurring globally, with profound ecological consequences. Attempts to restore herbaceous dominance may fail if the woody state is resilient or if intervention leads to an alternate, undesirable state. Restoration outcomes often hinge on biotic interactions – particularly on priority effects that inhibit or promote community reassembly.

Following experimental tree removal from conifer‐invaded grasslands, we documented substantial variation in community reassembly associated with the changing abundance of the native clonal sedge Carex inops L.H. Bailey subsp. inops. We explored possible mechanisms for this variation, focusing on the nature and timing of interactions between the meadow community and Carex and on how past tree influence and prescribed fire mediate the outcomes of these interactions.

Meadow species increased after tree removal, but less so in burned than in unburned plots. Carex expanded dramatically after fire, particularly where past tree influence had been greater.

Meadow species and Carex developed an increasingly negative association over time; pre‐emption was reciprocal, but offset in time and space. Meadow species inhibited Carex through vegetative recovery in areas of limited or recent tree influence, irrespective of fire. Carex inhibited meadow reassembly in areas of greater tree influence, but only with burning.

Synthesis and applications. Tree removal and fire imposed across a range of altered meadow states yielded varying outcomes, reflecting biotic interactions and species' regenerative traits that inhibited or promoted reassembly. Fire tended to destabilize the remnant meadow community and, in areas more degraded by encroachment, stimulated release of Carex, which inhibited reassembly. Knowledge of the context dependence of biotic interactions can enhance the effectiveness of restoration by establishing the bounds within which treatments produce desirable or undesirable outcomes.
Correcting the overestimate of forest biomass carbon on the national scale
Authors: Zhou Xiaolu , Lei Xiangdong , Peng Changhui , Wang Weifeng , Zhou Carl , Liu Caixia , Liu Zhenggang 
Published: November 2015

SummaryFor decades, researchers have thought it was difficult to remove the uncertainty from the estimates of forest carbon storage and its changes on national sales. This is not only because of stochasticity in the data but also the bias to overcome in the computations. Most studies of the estimation, however, ignore quantitative analyses for the latter uncertainty. This bias primarily results from the widely used volume‐biomass method via scaling up forest biomass from limited sample plots to large areas. This paper addresses (i) the mechanism of scaling‐up error occurrence, and (ii) the quantitative effects of the statistical factors on the error.The error compensators were derived, and expressed by ternary functions with three variables: expectation, variance and the power in the volume‐biomass equation. This is based on analysing the effect of power‐law function convexity on scaling‐up error by solving the difference of both sides of the weighted Jensen inequality. The simulated data and the national forest inventory of China were used for algorithm testing and application, respectively.Scaling‐up error occurrence stems primarily from an effect of the distribution heterogeneity of volume density on the total biomass amount, and secondarily from the extent of function nonlinearities. In our experiments, on average 94·2% of scaling‐up error can be reduced for the statistical populations of forest stands in a region. China's forest biomass carbon was estimated as approximately 6·0 PgC or less at the beginning of the 2010s after on average 1·1% error compensation.The results of both the simulated data experiment and national‐scale estimation suggest that the biomass is overestimated for young forests more than others. It implies a necessity to compensate scaling‐up error, especially for the areas going through extensive afforestation and reforestation in past decades.This study highlights the importance of understanding how both the function nonlinearity and the statistics of the variables quantitatively affect the scaling‐up error. Generally, the presented methods will help to translate fine‐scale ecological relationships to estimate coarser scale ecosystem properties by correcting aggregation errors.
Withdrawal from Chronic Alcohol Induces a Unique CCL2 mRNA Increase in Adolescent But Not Adult Brain—Relationship to Blood Alcohol Levels and Seizures
Authors: Harper Kathryn M. , Knapp Darin J. , Breese George R. 
Published: November 2015

BackgroundThe role of neuroimmune activation in withdrawal from chronic alcohol (ethanol) has been established in both adolescent and adult models, but direct comparisons across age are sparse. Studies need to elucidate age‐dependent neuroimmune effects of alcohol and to focus research attention on age‐dependent mechanisms and outcomes.MethodsAdult and adolescent rats from 2 commonly used strains, Wistar and Sprague Dawley (SD), were maintained on continuous 7%, 5.35%, 4.5% alcohol diet (CAD) or cycled 7% w/v alcohol diet for 15 days. Cortical tissue was collected at 0, 8, 16, and 24 hours postwithdrawal followed by measurement of chemokine (C‐C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interleukin 1 beta mRNA with quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction.ResultsBoth age groups and strains showed a strong cytokine mRNA response at 7% CAD. Further, a greater increase in CCL2 mRNA was observed in the cortex of adolescents at 7% CAD, which correlated with higher blood alcohol levels (BALs). Adolescents exposed to 5.35% CAD exhibited similar blood levels and cytokine responses as adults exposed to 7% CAD. Substantial variability in CCL2 mRNA responses was found only in adolescent rats exposed to 7% CAD. In this group, data could be segregated into high‐responding and low‐responding groups. Moreover, the data from the high‐responding group were associated with seizures.ConclusionsRelative to other cytokine mRNAs, CCL2 exhibits a unique response profile during withdrawal from CAD. This profile is shown in adolescents, where CCL2 is uniquely influenced by the effects of seizures. Additionally, this profile is shown by the fact that only CCL2 expression correlated with BAL that transcended age groups. These data emphasize the importance of BALs and treatment regimen on developmental neuroimmune responses and suggest that select components of the neuroimmune system are more responsive to CAD withdrawal and that neurobiological mechanisms differentiating these responses should be further explored.
Elephant‐induced damage drives spatial isolation of the dioecious palmBorassus aethiopumMart. (Arecaceae) in the Pendjari National Park, Benin
Authors: Salako Valère K. , Azihou Akomian F. , Assogbadjo Achille E. , Houéhanou Thierry D. , Kassa Barthélémy D. , Glèlè Kakaï Romain L. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractSpatial patterns (SP) of treefall by elephants is known to be clustered across landscapes as a result of food selection and group foraging. Yet, few studies have explicitly elucidated how elephant pressure (EP) altersSPand tree‐to‐tree distance of tree species especially for dioecious plant species, at stand scale. Using the pair‐correlation function and distance to the nearest neighbour on spatial data from five plots of 1–1.5 ha, this article comparedSPof damaged and undamaged individuals and tree‐to‐tree distance of the dioecious palmBorassus aethiopumMart. in stands of low versus highEPin the Pendjari National Park. We tested the hypothesis that highEPwould modifySPand results into isolated adults. NestedANOVAs were used to compare distances. The overallSPof individuals did not vary, but distance among living adults was twofold extended in stands of highEP. The Janzen–Connell escape hypothesis is supported by our data for ungrazed saplings. The study concluded that increasingEPreduces density and induces spatial isolation of adults that may increase pollination failure and threat persistence ofB. aethiopum.
Characterization of genetic variation in TLR8 in relation to allergic rhinitis
Authors: Henmyr V. , Lind‐Halldén C. , Carlberg D. , Halldén C. , Melén E. , Wickman M. , Bergström A. , Säll T. , Cardell L. O. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractBackgroundA previous investigation of all 10 TLR genes for associations with allergic rhinitis (AR) detected a number of significant SNPs in the TLR8 locus. The associations indicated that an accumulation of rare variants could explain the signal. This study therefore searches for rare variants in the TLR8 region and also investigates the reproducibility of previous SNP associations.MethodsThe TLR8 gene was resequenced in 288 AR patients from Malmö and the data were compared with publically available data. Seven previously AR‐associated SNPs from TLR8 were analyzed for AR associations in 422 AR patients and 859 controls from the BAMSE cohort. The associations detected in present and previous studies were compared.ResultsSequencing detected 13 polymorphisms (three promotor and 10 coding) among 288 AR patients. Four of the coding polymorphisms were rare (MAF < 1%) and three of those were novel. Two coding polymorphisms were benign missense mutations and the rest were synonymous. Comparison with 1000Genomes and Exome Aggregation Consortium data revealed no accumulation of rare variants in the AR cases. The AR association tests made using the BAMSE cohort yielded five P‐values <0.05. Tests of IgE levels yielded four significant SNP associations to birch pollen. Comparing results between different populations revealed opposing risk alleles, different gender effects, and response to different allergens in the different populations.ConclusionsRare variants in TLR8 are not associated with AR. Comparison of present and previous association studies reveals contradictory results for common variants. Thus, no associations exist between genetic variation in TLR8 and AR.
Intrapartum Synthetic Oxytocin and Its Effects on Maternal Well‐Being at 2 Months Postpartum
Authors: Gu Vivian , Feeley Nancy , Gold Ian , Hayton Barbara , Robins Stephanie , Mackinnon Anna , Samuel Simcha , Carter C. Sue , Zelkowitz Phyllis 
Published: November 2015

AbstractBackgroundSynthetic oxytocin (synOT) is commonly used in labor management to induce and augment labor, and to prevent postpartum hemorrhage. However, its long‐term consequences for maternal health and behavior are largely understudied. We examined the relationship between synOT and maternal oxytocin levels, breastfeeding, and maternal mental health at 2 months postpartum.MethodsWomen were recruited during pregnancy or within 48 hours of giving birth through obstetric practices and hospitals. A total of 386 women were visited in their homes at 2 months postpartum, where they completed questionnaires assessing breastfeeding, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and somatization. Oxytocin levels were obtained from blood samples and synOT dosage information was gathered from hospital charts.ResultsIntrapartum synOT dose was positively correlated with endogenous oxytocin levels at 2 months postpartum. Women who were exclusively breastfeeding at 2 months postpartum had received significantly less synOT compared with their nonexclusively breastfeeding counterparts. Higher synOT dose was associated with greater depressive, anxious, and somatization symptoms. SynOT dose was not associated with perinatal posttraumatic stress.ConclusionsThe widespread use of synOT in managed labor warrants caution, as the influence of synOT on a new mother's well‐being is evident at 2 months postpartum.