Mast fruiting of large ectomycorrhizal African rain forest trees: importance of dry season intensity, and the resource limitation hypothesis

Mast fruiting is a distinctive reproductive trait in trees. This rain forest study, at a nutrient-poor site with a seasonal climate in tropical Africa, provides new insights into the causes of this mode of phenological patterning. •  At Korup, Cameroon, 150 trees of the large, ectomycorrhizal caesalp, Microberlinia bisulcata, were recorded almost monthly for leafing, flowering and fruiting during 1995–2000. The series was extended to 1988–2004 with less detailed data. Individual transitions in phenology were analysed. •  Masting occurred when the dry season before fruiting was drier, and the one before that was wetter, than average. Intervals between events were usually 2 or 3 yr. Masting was associated with early leaf exchange, followed by mass flowering, and was highly synchronous in the population. Trees at higher elevation showed more fruiting. Output declined between 1995 and 2000. •  Mast fruiting in M. bisulcata appears to be driven by climate variation and is regulated by internal tree processes. The resource-limitation hypothesis was supported. An ‘alternative bearing’ system seems to underlie masting. That ectomycorrhizal habit facilitates masting in trees is strongly implied.

Linked services for M2M communication with Enterprise IT systems

Linking the physical world to the Internet, also known as the Internet of Things, has increased available information and services in everyday life and in the Enterprise world. In Enterprise IT an increasing number of communication is done between IT backend systems and small IoT devices, for example sensor networks or RFID readers. This introduces some challenges in terms of complexity and integration. We are working on the integration of IoT devices into Enterprise IT by leveraging SOA techniques and Semantic Web technologies. We present a SOA based integration platform for connecting WSNs and large enterprise business processes. For ensuring interoperability our platform is based on Linked Services. These are thoroughly described, machine-readable, machine-reasonable service descriptions.

Explaining Variations in Client Extra Costs between Software Projects Offshored to India

Gaining economic benefits from substantially lower labor costs has been reported as a major reason for offshoring labor-intensive information systems services to low-wage countries. However, if wage differences are so high, why is there such a high level of variation in the economic success between offshored IS projects? This study argues that offshore outsourcing involves a number of extra costs for the ^his paper was recommended for acceptance by Associate Guest Editor Erran Carmel. client organization that account for the economic failure of offshore projects. The objective is to disaggregate these extra costs into their constituent parts and to explain why they differ between offshored software projects. The focus is on software development and maintenance projects that are offshored to Indian vendors. A theoretical framework is developed a priori based on transaction cost economics (TCE) and the knowledge-based view of the firm, comple mented by factors that acknowledge the specific offshore context The framework is empirically explored using a multiple case study design including six offshored software projects in a large German financial service institution. The results of our analysis indicate that the client incurs post contractual extra costs for four types of activities: (1) re quirements specification and design, (2) knowledge transfer, (3) control, and (4) coordination. In projects that require a high level of client-specific knowledge about idiosyncratic business processes and software systems, these extra costs were found to be substantially higher than in projects where more general knowledge was needed. Notably, these costs most often arose independently from the threat of oppor tunistic behavior, challenging the predominant TCE logic of market failure. Rather, the client extra costs were parti cularly high in client-specific projects because the effort for managing the consequences of the knowledge asymmetries between client and vendor was particularly high in these projects. Prior experiences of the vendor with related client projects were found to reduce the level of extra costs but could not fully offset the increase in extra costs in highly client-specific projects. Moreover, cultural and geographic distance between client and vendor as well as personnel turnover were found to increase client extra costs. Slight evidence was found, however, that the cost-increasing impact of these factors was also leveraged in projects with a high level of required client-specific knowledge (moderator effect).

Coercive, Normative, and Mimetic Influences on the Assimilation of BCM in Outsourcing Relationships

Today many business processes are based on IT systems. These systems are exposed to different threats, which may lead to failures of critical business pro-cesses. Thus, enterprises prepare themselves against threats and failures of critical IT systems by means of Business Continuity Management (BCM). The phe-nomenon of outsourcing introduces a new dimension to BCM. In an outsourcing relationship the client organization is still responsible for the continuity of its processes but does not have full control over the implemented business continuity measures. In this paper we build a research model based on institutional and assimilation theories to describe and explain how and why BCM is assimilated in outsourcing relationships. In our case studies we found evidence that primarily coercive and normative pressures influence the assimilation of BCM in outsourcing relationships and support the explanation of variation across enterprises. Mimetic pressures seem to influence the assimilation but do not explain variations.

Are suicide attempters wired differently?

Objective: Limited research exists on internal risk processes in suicide attempters and factors that distinguish them from non-suicidal, depressive individuals. In this qualitative study, we investigated Plans, motives, and underlying self-regulatory processes of the two groups and conducted a comparative analysis. Methods: We analyzed narrative interviews of 17 suicide attempters and intake interviews of 17 non-suicidal, depressive patients using Plan Analysis. Then, we developed a prototypical Plan structure for both groups. Results: Suicidal behavior serves various Plans only found in suicide attempters. Plans of this group are especially related to social perfectionism and withdrawal in order to protect their self-esteem. Depressive patients employ several interpersonal control and coping strategies, which might help prevent suicidal behavior. Conclusion: The prototypical Plan structure of suicide attempters may be a valuable tool for clinicians to detect critical Plans and motives in their interaction with patients, which are related to suicide risk.

The impact of associational life on trust in local institutions: a comparison of 57 Swiss municipalities

In this paper, we evaluate the impact of associational life on individual political trust in 57 Swiss municipalities. Our hierarchical regression models show that individual political trust is not only affected by individual associational membership but also by the exchange between associations and local political authorities in a community. In other words, if political authorities and associations are linked at the community level, citizens will place more trust in their local institutions. Furthermore, we find clear evidence for the rainmaker hypothesis: our results show that the positive effect of a vibrant connection between associational life and local politics on political trust is not solely confined to the associational members themselves, but rather indicate that the structure of the local civic culture fosters political trust among members and non-members at the same time. However, the internal democratic processes of associations have no effect on individuals’ trust in local political institutions.

Chromium uptake and adsorption in marine phytoplankton - Implications for the marine chromium cycle

Using the radioisotope 51Cr, we investigated the controls of cellular Cr accumulation in an array of marine phytoplankton grown in environmentally relevant Cr concentrations (1–10 nM). Given the affinity of Cr(III) for amorphous Fe-hydroxide mineral surfaces, and the formation of these mineral phases on the outside of phytoplankton cells, extracellular Cr was monitored in a model diatom species (Thalassiosira weissflogii) as extracellular Fe concentrations varied. Extracellular Cr in T. weissflogii increased with increasing extracellular Fe, demonstrating that Cr may be removed from seawater via extracellular adsorption to phytoplankton. Short-term Cr(VI) and Cr(III) uptake experiments performed with T. weissflogii demonstrated that Cr(III) was the primary oxidation state adsorbing to cells and being internalized by them. Cellular Cr:C ratios (<0.5 μmol Cr mol C−1) of the eight phytoplankton species surveyed were significantly lower than previously reported Cr:C ratios in marine particles with a high biogenic component (10–300 μmol Cr mol C−1). This indicates that Cr(III) likely accumulates in marine particles due to uptake and/or adsorption. Mass balance calculations demonstrate that surface water Cr deficits can be explained via loss of Cr(III) to exported particles, thereby providing a mechanism to account for the nutrient depth profile for Cr in modern seawater. Given the large fractionation of stable Cr isotopes during Cr(VI) reduction, Cr(III) associated with exported organic carbon is likely enriched in lighter isotopes. Most sedimentary Cr isotope studies have thus far neglected internal fractionating processes in the marine Cr cycle, but our data indicate that loss of Cr to exported particles may be traced in the sedimentary d53Cr record.

In search of the internal structure of the processes underlying interval timing in the sub-second and the second range: A confirmatory factor analysis approach

One of the earliest accounts of duration perception by Karl von Vierordt implied a common process underlying the timing of intervals in the sub-second and the second range. To date, there are two major explanatory approaches for the timing of brief intervals: the Common Timing Hypothesis and the Distinct Timing Hypothesis. While the common timing hypothesis also proceeds from a unitary timing process, the distinct timing hypothesis suggests two dissociable, independent mechanisms for the timing of intervals in the sub-second and the second range, respectively. In the present paper, we introduce confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to elucidate the internal structure of interval timing in the sub-second and the second range. Our results indicate that the assumption of two mechanisms underlying the processing of intervals in the second and the sub-second range might be more appropriate than the assumption of a unitary timing mechanism. In contrast to the basic assumption of the distinct timing hypothesis, however, these two timing mechanisms are closely associated with each other and share 77% of common variance. This finding suggests either a strong functional relationship between the two timing mechanisms or a hierarchically organized internal structure. Findings are discussed in the light of existing psychophysical and neurophysiological data.

Time-referenced effects of an internal vs. external focus of attention on muscular activity and compensatory variability

The paralysis-by-analysis phenomenon, i.e., attending to the execution of one's movement impairs performance, has gathered a lot of attention over recent years (see Wulf, 2007, for a review). Explanations of this phenomenon, e.g., the hypotheses of constrained action (Wulf et al., 2001) or of step-by-step execution (Masters, 1992; Beilock et al., 2002), however, do not refer to the level of underlying mechanisms on the level of sensorimotor control. For this purpose, a “nodal-point hypothesis” is presented here with the core assumption that skilled motor behavior is internally based on sensorimotor chains of nodal points, that attending to intermediate nodal points leads to a muscular re-freezing of the motor system at exactly and exclusively these points in time, and that this re-freezing is accompanied by the disruption of compensatory processes, resulting in an overall decrease of motor performance. Two experiments, on lever sequencing and basketball free throws, respectively, are reported that successfully tested these time-referenced predictions, i.e., showing that muscular activity is selectively increased and compensatory variability selectively decreased at movement-related nodal points if these points are in the focus of attention.

"It was hard to come to mutual understanding..." - Multidimensionality of social learning processes in natural resource use in India, Africa and Latin America

Sustainable natural resource use requires that multiple actors reassess their situation in a systemic perspective. This can be conceptualised as a social learning process between actors from rural communities and the experts from outside organisations. A specifically designed workshop oriented towards a systemic view of natural resource use and the enhancement of mutual learning between local and external actors, provided the background for evaluating the potentials and constraints of intensified social learning processes. Case studies in rural communities in India, Bolivia, Peru and Mali showed that changes in the narratives of the participants of the workshop followed a similar temporal sequence relatively independently from their specific contexts. Social learning processes were found to be more likely to be successful if they 1) opened new space for communicative action, allowing for an intersubjective re-definition of the present situation, 2) contributed to rebalance the relationships between social capital and social, emotional and cognitive competencies within and between local and external actors.

The German business and information technologies project

The Business and Information Technologies (BIT) project strives to reveal new insights into how modern IT impacts organizational structures and business practices using empirical methods. Due to its international scope, it allows for inter-country comparison of empirical results. Germany — represented by the European School of Management and Technologies (ESMT) and the Institute of Information Systems at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin — joined the BIT project in 2006. This report presents the result of the first survey conducted in Germany during November–December 2006. The key results are as follows: • The most widely adopted technologies and systems in Germany are websites, wireless hardware and software, groupware/productivity tools, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The biggest potential for growth exists for collaboration and portal tools, content management systems, business process modelling, and business intelligence applications. A number of technological solutions have not yet been adopted by many organizations but also bear some potential, in particular identity management solutions, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biometrics, and third-party authentication and verification. • IT security remains on the top of the agenda for most enterprises: budget spending was increasing in the last 3 years. • The workplace and work requirements are changing. IT is used to monitor employees' performance in Germany, but less heavily compared to the United States (Karmarkar and Mangal, 2007).1 The demand for IT skills is increasing at all corporate levels. Executives are asking for more and better structured information and this, in turn, triggers the appearance of new decision-making tools and online technologies on the market. • The internal organization of companies in Germany is underway: organizations are becoming flatter, even though the trend is not as pronounced as in the United States (Karmarkar and Mangal, 2007), and the geographical scope of their operations is increasing. Modern IT plays an important role in enabling this development, e.g. telecommuting, teleconferencing, and other web-based collaboration formats are becoming increasingly popular in the corporate context. • The degree to which outsourcing is being pursued is quite limited with little change expected. IT services, payroll, and market research are the most widely outsourced business functions. This corresponds to the results from other countries. • Up to now, the adoption of e-business technologies has had a rather limited effect on marketing functions. Companies tend to extract synergies from traditional printed media and on-line advertising. • The adoption of e-business has not had a major impact on marketing capabilities and strategy yet. Traditional methods of customer segmentation are still dominating. The corporate identity of most organizations does not change significantly when going online. • Online sales channel are mainly viewed as a complement to the traditional distribution means. • Technology adoption has caused production and organizational costs to decrease. However, the costs of technology acquisition and maintenance as well as consultancy and internal communication costs have increased.

Business as Usual? : An Appraisal of the Implementation of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity into EU’s Media Law and Policies

Irrespective of the diverse stances taken on the effect of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity in the external relations context, since its wording is fairly open-ended, it is clear to all observers that the Convention’s impact will largely depend on how it is implemented domestically. The discussion on the national implementation of the Convention, both in the policy and in the academic discourses, is only just emerging. The implementation model of the EU could set an important example for the international community and for the other State Parties that have ratified the UNESCO Convention, as both the EU and its Member States acting individually, have played a critical role in the adoption of the Convention, as well as in the longer process of promoting cultural concerns on the international scene. Against this backdrop, this article analyses the extent to which the EU internal law and policies, in particular in the key area of media, take into account the spirit and the letter of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity. The article seeks to critically evaluate the present state of affairs and make some recommendations for calibration of future policies.

Business as Usual? : The Implementation of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity and EU Media Law and Policies

Irrespective of the diverse stances taken on the effect of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity in the external relations context, since its wording is fairly open-ended, it is clear to all observers that the Convention’s impact will largely depend on how it is implemented domestically. The discussion on the national implementation of the Convention, both in the policy and in the academic discourses, is only just emerging, although six years the Convention’s entry into force have passed. The implementation model of the EU can set an important example for the international community and for the other State Parties that have ratified the UNESCO Convention, as both the EU and its Member States acting individually, have played a critical role in the adoption of the Convention, as well as in the longer process of promoting cultural concerns on the international scene. Against this backdrop, this article analyses the extent to which the EU internal law and policies, in particular in the key area of media, take into account the spirit and the letter of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity. Next to an assessment of the EU’s implementation of the Convention, the article also offers remarks of normative character – in the sense of what should be done to actually attain the objective of protecting and promoting cultural diversity. The article seeks to critically evaluate the present state of affairs and make some recommendations for calibration of future policies.

The impact of retrieval processes, age, general achievement level, and test scoring scheme for children's metacognitive monitoring and controlling

This multi-phase study examined the influence of retrieval processes on children’s metacognitive processes in relation to and in interaction with achievement level and age. First, N = 150 9/10- and 11/12-year old high and low achievers watched an educational film and predicted their test performance. Children then solved a cloze test regarding the film content including answerable and unanswerable items and gave confidence judgments to every answer. Finally, children withdrew answers that they believed to be incorrect. All children showed adequate metacognitive processes before and during test taking with 11/12- year-olds outperforming 9/10-year-olds when considering characteristics of on-going retrieval processes. As to the influence of achievement level, high compared to low achievers proved to be more accurate in their metacognitive monitoring and controlling. Results suggest that both cognitive resources (operationalized through achievement level) and mnemonic experience (assessed through age) fuel metacognitive development. Nevertheless, when facing higher demands regarding retrieval processes, experience seems to play the more important role.