bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nanoparticle dose enhancement of synchrotron radiation in PRESAGE dosimeters
Authors: Gagliardi Frank M. , Franich Rick D. , Geso Moshi
Published: October 2020

The physical absorbed dose enhancement by the inclusion of gold and bismuth nanoparticles fabricated into water-equivalent PRESAGE dosimeters was investigated. Nanoparticle-loaded water-equivalent PRESAGE dosimeters were irradiated with superficial, synchrotron and megavoltage X-ray beams. The change in optical density of the dosimeters was measured using UV–Vis spectrophotometry pre- and post-irradiation using a wavelength of 630 nm. Dose enhancement was measured for 5 nm and 50 nm monodispersed gold nanoparticles, 5–50 nm polydispersed bismuth nanoparticles, and 80 nm monodispersed bismuth nanoparticles at concentrations from 0.25 mM to 2 mM. The dose enhancement was highest for the 95.3 keV mean energy synchrotron beam (16–32%) followed by the 150 kVp superficial beam (12–21%) then the 6 MV beam (2–5%). The bismuth nanoparticle-loaded dosimeters produced a larger dose enhancement than the gold nanoparticle-loaded dosimeters in the synchrotron beam for the same concentration. For the superficial and megavoltage beams the dose enhancement was similar for both species of nanoparticles. The dose enhancement increased with nanoparticle concentration in the dosimeters; however, there was no observed nanoparticle size dependence on the dose enhancement.
Accounting for control of Italian culture in the Fascist Ethical State: the Alla Scala Opera House
Authors: Bigoni Michele , Funnell Warwick , Deidda Gagliardo Enrico , Pierotti Mariarita
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The study focusses on the complex interaction between ideological beliefs, culture and accounting by identifying during Benito Mussolini's time in power the contributions of accounting to the Italian Fascist repertoire of power in the cultural domain. It emphasises the importance of accounting in making the Alla Scala Opera House in Milan a vital institution in the creation of a Fascist national culture and identity which was meant to define the Fascist “Ethical State”.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts the Foucauldian concept of discourse in analysing the accounting practices of the Alla Scala Opera House.

Findings

Financial statements and related commentaries prepared by the Alla Scala Opera House were not primarily for ensuring good management and the minimisation of public funding in contrast to the practices and expectations of accounting in liberal States. Instead, the dominant Fascist discourse shaped the content and use of accounting and ensured that accounting practices could be a means to construct the Opera House as a “moral individual” that was to serve wider national interests consistent with the priorities of the Fascist Ethical State.

Research limitations/implications

The study identifies how accounting can be mobilised for ideological purposes in different ways which are not limited to supporting discourses inspired by logics of efficiency and profit. The paper also draws attention to the contributions of accounting discourses in shaping the identity of an organisation consistent with the priorities of those who hold the supreme authority in a society.

Social implications

The analysis of how the Fascist State sought to reinforce its power by making cultural institutions a critical part of this process provides the means to understand and unmask the taken-for-granted way in which discourses are created to promote power relations and related interests such as in the rise of far-right movements, most especially in weaker and more vulnerable countries at present.

Originality/value

Unlike most of the work on the relationship between culture and accounting which has emphasised liberal States, this study considers a non-liberal State and documents a use of accounting in the cultural domain which was not limited to promoting efficiency consistent with the priorities now recognised more recently of the New Public Management. It presents a micro-perspective on accounting as an ideological discourse by investigating the role of accounting in the exploitation of a cultural institution for political purposes.
“This wine is dead!”: unravelling the effect of word-of-mouth and its moderators in price-based wine quality perceptions
Authors: Aqueveque Claudio , Rodrigo Pablo
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose is to evaluate the effect of positive and negative traditional word-of-mouth (PWOM and NWOM) on price-based quality perceptions of middle-range wine (price comprised between US$4 and US$12), considering the moderator role of type of relationship between source and receiver –in terms of the strength-of-tie – and the wine expertise of the source.

Design/methodology/approach

A between-subjects experimental design was employed to test the hypotheses. The dependent variable, perceived quality, was analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent samples t-tests.

Findings

(1) WOM significantly affects price-based wine quality perceptions only when the source is perceived as expert, and independently on the type of relationship between source and receiver. (2) WOM has no “additive effect” on price-based quality perceptions for all but one condition (PWOM about high-priced wine from a close and expert source). (3) WOM results more useful than price to assess quality mainly in “contradictory” situations.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is related to the fact that is an experiment, specifically the manipulation of strength-of-tie and source expertise. Although manipulation checks show good results for the procedure, future research should try to design better ways to manipulate these variables, or different procedures to capture similar data.

Practical implications

Managerial efforts aimed to the encouragement of PWOM will be more efficient in markets with a high proportion of experts. Also, the marketing strategy of stimulating PWOM would be more effective for wines in the low-price category.

Originality/value

This study contributes to understand the impact of WOM on wine quality perceptions by examining if WOM affects priors price-based quality perceptions. In particular, we determine if price-based quality perceptions are able to be modified by PWOM and NWOM, a “competing” approach that is novel within the wine literature in which price is usually the most used cue to elaborate quality perceptions.
Exploring the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance: the mediating effect of strategic entrepreneurship
Authors: Ziyae Babak , Sadeghi Hossein
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Strategic entrepreneurship rejuvenates firms to achieve a competitive advantage in current markets. It is effective in forming corporate entrepreneurship and involves the simultaneous opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviors of firms. The aim of this paper is to investigate the mediating effect of strategic entrepreneurship in the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance through the resource-based view.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a quantitative research method and structural equation modeling technique, structural models were developed to test the research hypotheses. To this end, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 103 financial technology companies in Iran.

Findings

The results support the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate that corporate entrepreneurship and strategic entrepreneurship are positively related to firm performance. They also reveal the mediating effect of strategic entrepreneurship in the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance. In the developing context of Iran, financial technology companies are more likely to employ corporate entrepreneurship and strategic entrepreneurship to achieve firm performance.

Originality/value

The current study contributes to the literature on strategic entrepreneurship by employing a resource-based view and exploring the relationship between firm capabilities (i.e. strategic entrepreneurship) and firm performance. Applying a resource-based view leads to a better understanding of strategic entrepreneurship. Finally, this study singles out and discusses the various features that characterize the implementation of strategic entrepreneurship by Iranian financial technology companies to reach a competitive advantage.
Price decline, land rental markets and grain production in the North China Plain
Authors: Wang Qian , Li Fan , Yu Jin , Fleskens Luuk , Ritsema Coen J.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study examines the heterogeneous correlations between rural farmers' land renting behavior and their grain production when they experienced a significant price decline.

Design/methodology/approach

We used well-timed panel data obtained from a two-round survey held in 2013 and 2017 among 621 households in the North China Plain. The empirical analyses were conducted by using the pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed effects models.

Findings

Rural tenants were having heterogeneous responses in land renting behavior and agricultural production when there was a price decline. A group of optimistic tenants (as professional farmers) were more likely to enlarge the farm scale for grain production through land rental markets but decrease variable investment levels (and subsequently decreased productivity) to cope with price decline. In contrast, nonprofessional farmers (the other rural tenants) were rather pessimistic about market performance, and they significantly decreased their grain production area to cope the price decline, but there was no decrease in grain productivity through reducing variable inputs.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the extant literature on the relationship between farmers' land renting-in behavior and agricultural production. By dividing the tenants into professional and nonprofessional farmers, we argue that there is a significant heterogeneous correlation between rural tenants' land renting behavior and grain production when farmers experience a price decline.
TrCSVM: a novel approach for the classification of melanoma skin cancer using transfer learning
Authors: Singh Lokesh , Janghel Rekh Ram , Sahu Satya Prakash
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The study aims to cope with the problems confronted in the skin lesion datasets with less training data toward the classification of melanoma. The vital, challenging issue is the insufficiency of training data that occurred while classifying the lesions as melanoma and non-melanoma.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, a transfer learning (TL) framework Transfer Constituent Support Vector Machine (TrCSVM) is designed for melanoma classification based on feature-based domain adaptation (FBDA) leveraging the support vector machine (SVM) and Transfer AdaBoost (TrAdaBoost). The working of the framework is twofold: at first, SVM is utilized for domain adaptation for learning much transferrable representation between source and target domain. In the first phase, for homogeneous domain adaptation, it augments features by transforming the data from source and target (different but related) domains in a shared-subspace. In the second phase, for heterogeneous domain adaptation, it leverages knowledge by augmenting features from source to target (different and not related) domains to a shared-subspace. Second, TrAdaBoost is utilized to adjust the weights of wrongly classified data in the newly generated source and target datasets.

Findings

The experimental results empirically prove the superiority of TrCSVM than the state-of-the-art TL methods on less-sized datasets with an accuracy of 98.82%.

Originality/value

Experiments are conducted on six skin lesion datasets and performance is compared based on accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity. The effectiveness of TrCSVM is evaluated on ten other datasets towards testing its generalizing behavior. Its performance is also compared with two existing TL frameworks (TrResampling, TrAdaBoost) for the classification of melanoma.
Numerical analysis of the flow and heat transfer characteristics in serpentine microchannel with variable bend amplitude
Authors: Zhang Hui , Liu Xianfei
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study aims to propose the increase of heat dissipation requirements of modern electronic equipment and the fast development of micro-scale manufacturing technologies. The heat transfer mechanism is studied in-depth, especially for its pattern of secondary flow caused by the repeated inversion of centrifugal force. Effects ofηon the frictional pressure drop and average Nusselt number are studied and the performance of such microchannel heat sink with various bend amplitudes is comprehensively evaluated. These results can provide important insight into the optimal design of this novel design configuration for microelectronics cooling.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-dimensional model based on the finite volume approach and SIMPLEC algorithm is performed to test an innovative serpentine microchannel, which behaves differently from conventional serpentine microchannel due to the significant effect of centrifugal force inversion.

Findings

The effect of centrifugal force significantly influences the flow and thermal fields which are responsible for the enhancement in heat transfer coefficient. The number, size and intensity of vortices increase with increasing Re, and the vortices are reformed at every change of the geometry in a periodic fashion. The serpentine microchannel studies more effectively at larger bend amplitude. Pressure fluctuations and temperature variation are greater with increasing bend amplitude.

Practical implications

Several techniques have been developed to augment single-phase convective heat transfer in channels. One technique is to use a serpentine channel that enhances the heat transfer due to flow mixing and periodic interruption of thermal boundary layers. This technique has been applied to micro-heat exchangers, thermal regenerators and mini/microreactors.

Social implications

The optimal design of this novel design configuration for microelectronics cooling can be attained. It will become an effective cooling technology for solving the increasing of heat dissipation requirements of modern electronic equipment.

Originality/value

The flow and heat transfer characteristics are first presented for the circular serpentine microchannel made up of alternate U-bends without interposed straight segments. The present study first examines the effect of such centrifugal force inversion on velocity contour, pressure distribution and temperature distribution. The patterns of secondary flow along the flow passage caused by the repeated inversion of centrifugal force are further studied in depth. The effect of bend amplitude on the flow and heat transfer is explored and the performance of such microchannel heat sink has been comprehensively evaluated.
Rise of the machines: towards a conceptual service-robot research framework for the hospitality and tourism industry
Authors: McCartney Glenn , McCartney Andrew
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study aims to introduce a conceptual framework for service robot (SR) acceptance by customers, employees and policymakers – a framework to help determine corporate decision-making on SR workplace integration.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviews SR adoption literature within the tourism and hospitality industry. These SRs may have some level of artificial intelligence capability and possibly anthropomorphic (e.g. humanoid) or zoomorphic (e.g. animal-like) features, contingent on task and design choices. The study then identifies factors that potentially influence employee and consumer acceptance and experiences of SR, as well as policy and compliance factors and all elements of the corporate decision-making process concerning SR adoption in the hospitality setting.

Findings

This paper reviews the obstacles and benefits of SR adoption in the hospitality industry based on employee, consumer and public policy considerations.

Research limitations/implications

SRs are increasingly deployed within hospitality and tourism settings. Future studies should further explore the value-adding functions of SRs implemented in existing hospitality operations.

Practical implications

Hospitality and tourism industry practitioners should integrate the dimensions in the conceptual framework to make fully informed decisions on SR adoption.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to provide a holistic SR adoption framework offering theoretical and practical implications for ongoing SR research and implementation.
Cyberchondria: a systematic review
Authors: Zheng Han , Sin Sei-Ching Joanna , Kim Hye Kyung , Theng Yin-Leng
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Cyberchondria describes excessive or repeated online health-related information seeking associated with an increased level of health anxiety. Given the nascent nature of the concept of cyberchondria, this systematic review attempts to summarize the current landscape of cyberchondria research.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a comprehensive search and systematic filtering process, 40 articles were included in the final sample.

Findings

Characteristics of these articles, measures of cyberchondria and factors related to cyberchondria were reported. This review found that the measures of cyberchondria are still in the developmental stages and thus require further validation in future studies. In addition, while studies have examined various factors associated with cyberchondria, the detailed processes involved in the development of cyberchondria require further conceptualization.

Originality/value

The contributions of this review are threefold: first, it presented a comprehensive overview of studies on cyberchondria by addressing their key characteristics such as country of study, sample size and research method. Second, this review analyzed major assessment tools of cyberchondria to offer useful guidance on future investigations on cyberchondria. Third, it identified important antecedents and consequences of cyberchondria in previous research, which contributes to theoretical understanding of how cyberchondria develops.
Grounded theory and the PhD – notes for novice researchers
Authors: Thurlow Lisa
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to consider the realities and problematics of applying a grounded theory (GT) approach to research, as a novice, within a mixed methods study during post graduate research. Its intention is to provide the novice user with a framework of considerations and greater awareness of the issues that GT can expose during research activity.

Design/methodology/approach

Using empirical evidence and a comparative approach, the paper compares the efficacy of both the classic Glaserian and Straussian models. It observes the effects of a positivist academic environment upon the choice of approach and its application. This study was specific to design education; however, its reliance upon a social science epistemology results in findings beneficial to research novices across broader disciplines.

Findings

GT presents the novice researcher with several potential pitfalls. Most problematic were the immutable, positivist institutional requirements, researchera prioriknowledge, the reliance upon literature for the research proposal and structure of the proposal itself. These include suspension of the notion that the purist use of either model can be applied in the current academic environment, the need for a close relationship with the data and toleration of a non-linear process with unexpected results.

Originality/value

The practicalities of GT research are often reflected upon by the academy, but use by novice researchers is little considered. The findings from this study provide a novel set of guidelines for use by those embarking on GT research and particularly where the requirements of formal education may cause a conflict.
Essence of partnership management in project-based learning: insights from a university’s global project programme
Authors: Pan Gary , Seow Poh-Sun , Shankararaman Venky , Koh Kevin
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Although it is clear that there are many benefits of academic–industry partnership through project-based learning (PBL) courses offered by universities, however, there are challenges in establishing such partnerships that if not addressed, may result in either failure of such collaboration or an unpleasant experience for parties involved. Accordingly, this study aims to address this knowledge gap in the PBL literature by identifying the essence of partnership management and offering insights to managing such partnerships effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

This study aims to develop a framework that highlights the essence of partnership management in a PBL setting and validate the framework by conducting a focus group study on a university in Singapore (UNIS)’s PBL programmes called UNIS-X and UNIS-XO.

Findings

The results suggest that the key features of partnership management include a value proposition, depth of collaboration, knowledge creation and exchange and continuous feedback. In addition, the findings offer useful insights to managing effective partnerships when engaging industry partners in a PBL programme.

Originality/value

For researchers, this paper contributes to the PBL literature by identifying and validating the key features of effective partnerships in PBL. This serves as one of the first exploratory and validation studies in examining key features of partnership in the PBL literature. For educators, this study offers useful insights to understanding effective partnership management when engaging industry partners in a PBL course. With the knowledge, educators can devise useful actions to ensure these features of a partnership are established and maintained throughout the project.
A tale of two leaders: employees’ work–family experiences in the context of dual leadership
Authors: Litano Michael L. , Morganson Valerie J.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Despite the prevalence and potential benefits of multiauthority organizational structures (i.e. matrix organizations), research is lacking on the resulting impact on employees’ work–family conflict (WFC). The purpose of this article is to use leader–member exchange (LMX) as a framework to examine how employees who report to two leaders experience WFC.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 111 engineers and researchers nested within 33 branches and 21 project teams completed an online questionnaire containing measures of LMX and WFC. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to test the study’s hypotheses.

Findings

LMX with one's immediate supervisor (branch manager, LMX–BM) and project manager ( LMX–PM) each contributed unique variance in predicting WFC. LMX–PM moderated the negative relationship between LMX–BM and WFC, such that the negative relationship was stronger in magnitude at higher levels of LMX–PM quality.

Research limitations/implications

While most research studies have focused upon the impact of a single leader, modern organizations often involve dual reporting. Thus, results expand the extant literature to be more applicable to modern organizational realities. Findings provide evidence that future longitudinal research is worthwhile.

Practical implications

Results indicate that LMX theory is relevant beyond one's immediate supervisor. As a result, all managers should communicate with one another to seek better alignment. Particularly in a matrix organization where positional power is limited, leaders stand to reap the many benefits of high LMX relationships.

Originality/value

This study is the first among its type to examine LMX in a dual reporting context, and it is also the first to examine the impacts of dual reporting on WFC.
Education during the pandemic: the case of Kuwait
Authors: Alhouti Ibrahim
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This paper analyses the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education's (MOE’s) response during the pandemic by exploring the situation of public schooling in Kuwait and the reasons behind the failure of the MOE to provide education during the global COVID-19 crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This study explores the policymaking process and the policy decisions by analysing how the MOE managed education during the crisis, by analysing the MOE's press announcements.

Findings

This article identifies opportunities the MOE missed over the past 18 years to implement online learning, and how by pausing all learning during this pandemic these resulted in the challenges the MOE is facing today. The main reasons behind this failure are not related to financial resources, but attributable to the professional capacity of the MOE's leaders to handle the education sector during this crisis. This included hesitation about making decisions and the lack of readiness of the school infrastructure. The paper concludes by offering recommendations that could inform future policy planning.

Originality/value

This paper offers insights into the educational policymaking process in Kuwait, especially during times of crisis.
Predicting pro-environmental behaviours: the role of environmental values, attitudes and knowledge
Authors: Tamar Muhammad , Wirawan Hillman , Arfah Triani , Putri Retno Pratiwi Sutopo
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effect of prosocial values on pro-environmental behaviours via attitudes in which environmental knowledge and proself values moderate the relationship. This study also examines the application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Cognitive Dissonance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a quantitative method to examine potential positive or negative moderating effects of environmental knowledge and proself values on environmental attitudes and behaviour. Participants were undergraduate students recruited from a state university in the eastern part of Indonesia. The online survey link was randomly sent to 500 students in 14 different Faculties with a response rate of 57% (285) participants (80% female). Data were analysed using a moderated-mediation regression technique.

Findings

The results suggested that only biospheric value positively affected pro-environmental behaviours. Environmental knowledge negatively moderated the relationship between prosocial values and environmental attitudes. Similarly, high egoistic value potentially reduced the effect of environmental attitude on pro-environmental behaviours. Environmental knowledge could impede the positive impacts of prosocial values while egoistic value negates the effect of attitude on pro-environmental attitude.

Research limitations/implications

Although the findings supported most hypotheses, this study did not control the effect of some demographic variables such as education and social-economic status. Participants tended to share some similar characteristics, which potentially influenced the results.

Originality/value

This study challenged some common antecedents of pro-environmental behaviours and offered some alternative explanations. This study has offered a new insight in understanding unique interactions among values, knowledge and attitude.
Supporting higher education with social networks: trust and privacy vs perceived effectiveness
Authors: Wang Wenyang , Lam Ernest Tak Hei , Chiu Dickson K.W. , Lung Mavis Man-wai , Ho Kevin K.W.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Social networks provide convenient communication and connection among people, and they have become essential in college students' lives. However, problems also come along with increasing concern about trust and privacy issues. This research attempts to investigate the trust and privacy perceptions of university students when using social networks for learning purposes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper investigated the differences in trust and privacy perceptions between undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students through an online survey with 96 subjects in Hong Kong. The authors used the Mann–Whitney U test to compare the differences between the responses provided by UG and PG subjects.

Findings

The authors found that both PG and UG students were generally satisfied with the use of social networking sites (SNSs) for learning. However, PG subjects used SNSs more for learning and were more willing to exchange with classmates than UG and PG perceived higher value of SNSs than UG students. The authors also found a relative lack of privacy awareness of UG students.

Practical implications

Based on the study’s findings, the authors made some recommendations about the application of SNSs for learning purposes. The authors also suggest universities provide more guidance and training to students on the privacy issues of SNSs.

Originality/value

Even though some previous studies have focused on studying privacy and trust issues on SNSs, studies that aim at university students in the context of Asia–Pacific are rather limited, especially university students' own trust and privacy perceptions on using SNSs for learning purposes.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2020-0042
Online academic learning beliefs and strategies: a comparison of preservice and in-service early childhood teachers
Authors: Mou Tsai-Yun , Kao Chia-Pin
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study explored preservice and in-service early childhood teachers' online academic learning beliefs and strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

Two hundred preservice and in-service teachers respectively from Taiwan participated in this research. A focus group discussion was carried out concerning the development of the questionnaires. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed good construct validity and reliabilities of the survey.

Findings

The survey results showed that in-service teachers generally held more sophisticated learning beliefs than the preservice teachers in all scales. Also, in-service teachers responded with a higher level of online academic learning strategies than the preservice teachers did. Regarding their online experiences, preservice teachers who spent an appropriate amount of time online had more positive beliefs than those with excessive online experiences. However, preservice teachers did not reveal employment of their ICT literacy in their online academic learning strategies. It was found that those in-service teachers with more online learning experience also showed higher levels of online academic learning beliefs. They used more deep strategies in their online academic learning.

Practical implications

The findings of this study could provide insights for the development of online academic learning ability in preschool teacher training programs.

Originality/value

(1) In-service teachers generally held more sophisticated learning beliefs than the preservice teachers. (2) Preservice teachers who spent an appropriate amount of time online had more positive beliefs than those with excessive online experiences. (3) Preservice teachers did not reveal employment of their ICT literacy in their online academic learning strategies. (4) In-service teachers with more online learning experience also showed higher levels of online academic learning beliefs. They used more deep strategies in their online academic learning.
Service charge management at the dawning of the age of the professional statement
Authors: Eccles Timothy Stephen
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The paper provides a snapshot analysis on the state of service charge management at the point in which its regulatory framework by RICS changed from a voluntary code of practice to a mandatory professional statement.

Design/methodology/approach

The data consist of a unique eight-year longitudinal study of service charge statements and practice (2010–2017). Because of the confidential nature of such business-sensitive information, this is a priceless study of real-world practice over such a long period and is able to illustrate both annual compliance and the year-on-year changes. Given this, it is recognised that data are skewed in favour of compliance because they are derived from an actively managed portfolio.

Findings

The results continue to illustrate long-running problems of non-compliance with “required” metrics. Given the inherent bias in the data, this is especially difficult to excuse. The paper also analyses the results in the light of the new RICS professional statement, which requires mandatory compliance. Whilst some of the metrics are advisory, there remain questions over how RICS might realistically enforce so many practitioners to change their existing performance and how willing the institution might be to actually prosecute failure. It also revisits the issue of institutionalised benchmarking of standards. Intriguingly, there are islands of almost perfect compliance, which offers an interesting contrast and raises further research questions on why some practitioners provide such exemplary work.

Research limitations/implications

The data are derived from the clients of a UK property management consultancy. This does preclude any randomness to the sampling. However, the richness of the data and the methodology adopted provide valid data.

Originality/value

This work offers both unique data and an eight-year longitudinal analysis, but also a timely comparison with the requirements within a new RICS professional statement. This shift in regulatory regime reinforces the value of the work.
Self-concept content and structure: motivation and performance implications
Authors: Pomerance Marne H. , Converse Patrick D. , Moon Nicholas A.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Substantial research has examined the self-concept, but little work has investigated the contents and structure of the self-concept in combination within performance settings, particularly from a within-person perspective. Thus, this research developed and examined a conceptual framework based on Greenwald et al. (2002) to understand how core self-evaluations (CSE) and self-concept clarity (SCC) interact to influence motivational orientation with implications for performance dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Full-time employees (N = 138) completed daily measures of CSE, SCC, motivational orientation, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) over the course of three weeks.

Findings

Multilevel modeling indicated CSE influences motivational orientation, SCC can moderate these relationships and motivational orientation relates to OCBs and counterproductive work behaviors.

Originality/value

This work contributes to this research area by developing and examining an integrative conceptual framework involving aspects of self-concept, motivation and performance from a within-person perspective.
Social exchange and psychological ownership as complementary pathways from psychological contract fulfillment to organizational citizenship behaviors
Authors: Gardner Donald G. , Pierce Jon L. , Peng He
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Social comparison and job-based psychological ownership (JPO) are compared and contrasted as explanations for relationships between organization relational psychological contract fulfillment (ORPCF) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from 241 employees and 82 of their managers at an information services company. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test for hypothesized and exploratory indirect relationships.

Findings

Consistent results were found for sequential mediation from ORPCF to employee investment of the self into the job, to JPO, to supervisor-rated helping and voice OCBs. Employees' perception of their relational psychological contract fulfillment (social exchange) did not simultaneously mediate the relationships between ORPCF and employees' OCBs.

Research limitations/implications

Psychological ownership presents a complement to social exchange to explain effects of relational psychological contract fulfillment on employee outcomes. Because of the cross-sectional nature of the data conclusions about causality are quite limited.

Practical implications

Organizations and managers should emphasize that fulfillment of relational psychological contract obligations represent a significant investment in employees, who reciprocate by investing themselves into their work. This in turn bolsters JPO and its positive employee outcomes.

Originality/value

This is the first study to directly compare social exchange and psychological ownership explanations for effects of psychological contract fulfillment on employees.
Policy implications of an expanded chronic wasting disease universe
Authors: Mysterud Atle , Benestad Sylvie L. , Rolandsen Christer M. , Våge Jørn
Published: October 2020

International policy for the management of wildlife disease(s) plays an important role for concerted action, and changes to policy should be evidence‐based and updated as new evidence accumulates. Management of chronic wasting disease (CWD), the prion disease affecting cervids, is based on its highly contagious nature relative to most other prion diseases. These management actions are particularly invasive, with considerable biological and economic consequences.

A novel type of CWD has been discovered in moose Alces alces and red deer Cervus elaphus, with prions restricted to the central nervous system (CNS). Prions in tissue outside the CNS are an indication of the contagiousness of a prion disease. As such, for this novel type of CWD, there is a lower likelihood of horizontal transmission under natural conditions. Furthermore, infected individuals were older (mean 15 years), and cases appeared with limited clustering in space and time; hence, with no indication of an epidemic outbreak.

Policy implications. The annual harvest of approximately 4 million cervids in Europe each year generates considerable cultural and economic value. ‘Stamping out’ policies would be inefficient and inappropriate to control diseases with no horizontal transmission among live animals, and banning the export of meat from a region after detection of a positively tested animal would make little sense in the case of sporadic disease. The novel type of chronic wasting disease (CWD) with epidemiological characteristics clearly different from ‘classical’ and contagious CWD calls for differentiated management strategies to avoid unnecessarily invasive actions.
An overview of chemical contaminants and other undesirable chemicals in alcoholic beverages and strategies for analysis
Authors: He Nancy Xiaohe , Bayen Stéphane
Published: October 2020

The presence of chemical contaminant in alcoholic beverages is a widespread and notable problem with potential implications for human health. With the complexity and wide variation in the raw materials, production processes, and contact materials involved, there are a multitude of opportunities for a diverse host of undesirable compounds to make their way into the final product—some of which may currently remain unidentified and undetected. This review provides an overview of the notable contaminants (including pesticides, environmental contaminants, mycotoxins, process‐induced contaminants, residues of food contact material [FCM], and illegal additives) that have been detected in alcoholic products thus far based on prior reviews and findings in the literature, and will additionally consider the potential sources for contamination, and finally discuss and identify gaps in current analytical strategies. The findings of this review highlight a need for further investigation into unwanted substances in alcoholic beverages, particularly concerning chemical migrants from FCMs, as well as a need for comprehensive nontargeted analytical techniques capable of determining unanticipated contaminants.
Beretta barrel fired bullet validation study
Authors: Smith Jaimie A.
Published: October 2020

A report published in 2016 by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) criticized studies that have been published regarding the discipline of firearm identification. This study was designed to answer some of these criticisms and involved 30 consecutively manufactured Beretta brand 9 mm Luger caliber barrels. This study had an “open set” design to help the discipline of firearm identification establish “Foundational Validity” which is outlined in the PCAST report. Seventy‐two qualified firearm examiners completed and submitted answers for this study that included 15 knowns and 20 unknowns. There were an additional 5 firearms with similar characteristics as the Beretta barrels that were also included as unknowns which provided “known non‐match” comparisons. Test sets were created using the random function in Microsoft Excel. Collaborative Testing Services (CTS) funded, facilitated, distributed the tests, and collected the answers from qualified firearm examiners throughout the United States and the world. Firearm examiners were able to complete the test of fired bullets with a low error rate. The error rate for the corrected data was 0.08% (1 in 1250) with the lower confidence interval as low as 0.01% (1 in 10,000) and the upper confidence interval being as high as 0.4% (1 in 250).
Identifying gross post‐mortem organ images using a pre‐trained convolutional neural network
Authors: Garland Jack , Hu Mindy , Kesha Kilak , Glenn Charley , Morrow Paul , Stables Simon , Ondruschka Benjamin , Tse Rexson
Published: October 2020

Identifying organs/tissue and pathology on radiological and microscopic images can be performed using convolutional neural networks (CNN). However, there are scant studies on applying CNN to post‐mortem gross images of visceral organs. This proof‐of‐concept study used 537 gross post‐mortem images of dissected brain, heart, lung, liver, spleen, and kidney, which were randomly divided into a training and teaching datasets for the pre‐trained CNN Xception. The CNN was trained using the training dataset and subsequently tested on the testing dataset. The overall accuracies were >95% percent for both training and testing datasets and have an F1 score of >0.95 for all dissected organs. This study showed that small datasets of post‐mortem images can be classified with a very high accuracy using a pre‐trained CNN. This novel area has the potential for future application in data mining, education and teaching, case review, research, quality assurance, auditing purposes, and identifying pathology.
A role of PSMA PET/CT in multimodality imaging approach in adenoid cystic carcinoma
Authors: Dhiantravan Nattakorn , Ravi Kumar Aravind S , Cavanagh Karda , McDowell Lachlan
Published: October 2020

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a rare disease and characterised by slow but unrelenting local progression and risk of haematogenous metastases. We present a case of locally unresectable disease where PSMA PET/CT provided complementary staging and early treatment response assessment.
CR reprograms acetyl‐CoA metabolism and induces long‐chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase and CrAT expression
Authors: Mezhnina Volha , Pearce Ryan , Poe Allan , Velingkaar Nikkhil , Astafev Artem , Ebeigbe Oghogho P. , Makwana Kuldeep , Sandlers Yana , Kondratov Roman V.
Published: October 2020

Calorie restriction (CR), an age delaying diet, affects fat oxidation through poorly understood mechanisms. We investigated the effect of CR on fat metabolism gene expression and intermediate metabolites of fatty acid oxidation in the liver. We found that CR changed the liver acylcarnitine profile: acetylcarnitine, short‐chain acylcarnitines, and long‐chain 3‐hydroxy‐acylcarnitines increased, and several long‐chain acylcarnitines decreased. Acetyl‐CoA and short‐chain acyl‐CoAs were also increased in CR. CR did not affect the expression of CPT1 and upregulated the expression of long‐chain and very‐long‐chain Acyl‐CoA dehydrogenases (LCAD and VLCAD, respectively). The expression of downstream enzymes such as mitochondrial trifunctional protein and enzymes in medium‐ and short‐chain acyl‐CoAs oxidation was not affected in CR. CR shifted the balance of fatty acid oxidation enzymes and fatty acid metabolites in the liver. Acetyl‐CoA generated through beta‐oxidation can be used for ketogenesis or energy production. In agreement, blood ketone bodies increased under CR in a time of the day‐dependent manner. Carnitine acetyltransferase (CrAT) is a bidirectional enzyme that interconverts short‐chain acyl‐CoAs and their corresponding acylcarnitines. CrAT expression was induced in CR liver supporting the increased acetylcarnitine and short‐chain acylcarnitine production. Acetylcarnitine can freely travel between cellular sub‐compartments. Supporting this CR increased protein acetylation in the mitochondria, cytoplasm, and nucleus. We hypothesize that changes in acyl‐CoA and acylcarnitine levels help to control energy metabolism and contribute to metabolic flexibility under CR.
All for one? The production of black burnished pottery and state formation in the early Korean polity of Baekje
Authors: Blackmore H. , Cho D. , Lee H.‐W.
Published: October 2020

This paper tests whether the distinctive black burnished pottery from the early Korean state of Baekje (c.250–660 ce) was, as is commonly assumed, under the control of a centralized authority. We employ an integrated approach, combining typological, petrographic and elemental composition data, to reconstruct the organization of production for this prestige ware. Clear heterogeneity in both clay sources and technical styles indicates a decentralized production pattern. The Baekje polity may thus have emerged as a distributed network rather than a centralized entity, with local communities choosing to engage with the political centre and not be subservient to it.
Large herbivores regulate the spatial recruitment of a hyperdominant Neotropical palm
Authors: Valverde Javier , Carvalho Carolina da Silva , Jordano Pedro , Galetti Mauro
Published: October 2020

Large mammalian herbivores play an important role in shaping the diversity of tropical forests by affecting the survival of seedlings and saplings beneath parent plants. The white‐lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) accounts for the largest herbivore biomass that controls seed and seedling survival in Neotropical ecosystems. However, hunting and habitat loss has driven peccaries to local extinction for most of their original distribution, so it is likely that their absence will affect plant recruitment dynamics. We tested the effects of peccary local extinction on the density and spatial distribution of the hyperdominant palm Euterpe edulis by performing a fine‐scale characterization of its spatial recruitment in six forest sites in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. We compared the age structure and the spatial patterns of seedlings, saplings, and adults as well as the relationship between them. We found that while under the presence of peccaries there was a decrease in recruitment rates under adults, the local extinction of these large mammals led to a more clumped process of spatial recruitment. Despite such contrasting spatial patterns of recruitment dynamics, neither age structure nor the random spatial distribution of adults was affected by the presence or absence of peccaries, indicating that their early effects on these palm populations are mitigated as recruitment advances. Our findings highlight the role of large‐bodied forest‐dwelling herbivores in regulating the fine‐scale spatial recruitment of plants and advance our understanding on the effects of defaunation in tropical forests.

Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.