bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FDM 3D printing method utility assessment in small RC aircraft design
Authors: Skawiński Igor , Goetzendorf-Grabowski Tomasz
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of manufacturing fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printed structures such as wings or fuselages for small remote control (RC) air craft and mini unmaned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Design/methodology/approach

Material tests, design assumptions and calculations were verified by designing and manufacturing a small radio-controlled motor-glider using as many printed parts as possible and performing test flights.

Findings

It is possible to create an aircraft with good flight characteristics using FDM 3D printed parts. Current level of technology allows for reasonably fast manufacturing of 3D printed aircraft with good reliability and high success ratio of prints; however, only some of the materials are suitable for printing thin wall structures such as wings.

Practical implications

The paper proves that apart from currently popular small RC aircraft structural materials such as composites, wood and foam, there is also printed plastic. Moreover, 3D printing is highly competitive in some aspects such as first unit production time or production cost.

Originality/value

The presented manufacturing technique can be useful for quick and cost-effective creating scale prototypes of the aircraft for performing test flights.
The approximation method in the problem on a flow of viscous fluid around a thin plate
Authors: Berdnik Yanina , Beskopylny Alexey
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The paper aims to obtain an effective solution to the problem on a flow of viscous fluid around a thin plate using a new approximation method based on the exact Navier–Stokes equations. Also, correction factors are proposed to improve the obtained solution at high Reynolds numbers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has opted for a method that is based on an approximation scheme for certain perturbations concerning the velocity of the oncoming unperturbed flow behind a leading edge of the plate as a zero approximation step. The perturbations are assumed to be small, far from the plate when compared to the basic flow to justify the linearization. Numerical methods are used for the integral equations at each approximation step.

Findings

This paper provides the friction force coefficient compared with the classical Blasius solution and the ANSYS results. Also, some diagrams of the velocity distribution in the flow are presented. The first and second approximation steps provide a sufficiently high degree of accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the results may lack accuracy for low and average Reynolds numbers. Thus, researchers are encouraged to improve the proposed method further.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the development of an aircraft design or a wind turbine design considering a wing as a thin plate at the first approximation.

Originality/value

This paper provides a new approximation method based on the exact Navier–Stokes equations, in contrast to the known solutions.
Perceived inequality and modes of political participation in South Korea
Authors: Lee Hyun Kyung , Kwon Hyeok Yong
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the individual perceptions on income inequality and the inequality of opportunities affect two different modes of political participation, institutional and non-institutional, in South Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the Korean General Social Survey 2009 and 2014 and estimates logit and OLS models.

Findings

The authors find that neither the perceived inequality of income distribution nor the perceived inequality of opportunities affects the likelihood of individuals’ vote participation. The authors, however, find that the perceptions of inequality, both in terms of outcomes and opportunities affect citizens’ engagement in non-institutional forms of political participation.

Originality/value

This study provides a new discussion point about the political consequences of inequality in Korea. This paper distinguishes and analyzes the relative importance of perceived inequality of the outcomes and opportunities in democratic engagements. By considering various types of participation, institutional and non-institutional, this study contributes to deepen our understanding of the factors that drive citizens’ democratic political engagements.
Corporate entrepreneurship as a strategic approach for internal innovation performance
Authors: Tseng Cheng , Tseng Chien-Chi
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore corporate entrepreneurship and the relationship between intrapreneurship and the proposed strategic models through a literature review. This paper reviews the strategic approach for increasing internal innovation performance at corporations.

Design/methodology/approach

Key words were identified to use in the literature search: corporate entrepreneurship, innovation performance and entrepreneurial environment. Then, all of the several electronic databases available in the university’s electronic library, including Harvard Business Review and The University of Chicago Press, as well as journals, books, Google Scholar and other institutional resources.

Findings

The six innovative outcomes are motivating individuals to engage in innovative behavior, concentrating entrepreneurial ventures through a newly minted organization within a corporation, helping innovative-minded people to reach their full potential, rewarding a corporate entrepreneur, encouraging people to look at the organization from a broad perspective and educating employees about corporate entrepreneurship.

Research limitations/implications

The study was exploratory, based on a literature review. Further studies are needed using empirical research to examine why corporate entrepreneurship was attributed to be the strategic approach for internal innovation performance.

Practical implications

By implementing the strategic approaches, corporate management professionals can realize their entrepreneurial intentions for the firm and maintain their responsibility to shareholders in terms of other business and development goals.

Originality/value

The research constructs an input-process-output framework that minimizes external mergers and acquisitions and maximizes internal innovation performance. Value was created when corporate entrepreneurship was identified as a strategic approach for internal innovation performance.
What makes fashion consumers “click”? Generation of eWoM engagement in social media
Authors: Ananda Artha Sejati , Hernández-García Ángel , Acquila-Natale Emiliano , Lamberti Lucio
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceived exposure of fashion consumers to different types of fashion brands’ social media marketing (SMM) actions in social media, and its relationship with the intention to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM) behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study uses a survey conducted on a stratified random sample of 241 Indonesian members of fashion social media brand communities (SMBCs). The research design includes 19 types of SMM actions and 3 types of eWoM engagement behaviors, and investigates their relationship using point-biserial correlation.

Findings

Generation of intention to engage in “pass-on” and “endorsement” eWoM has different drivers and serves different purposes. The findings suggest that endorsement engagement is contingent on the consumer’s perceived exposure to marketing action stimuli, while pass-on engagement is driven by cognitive-inducing actions.

Research limitations/implications

This study extends current theory on SMM strategy and its relationship with eWoM engagement with a theoretically grounded conceptualization of eWoM engagement behaviors through the use of one-click social plug-ins.

Practical implications

The study offers guidelines for fashion brands to effectively design their SMM strategies by identifying specific drivers of consumers’ intention to engage in eWoM.

Originality/value

This study identifies sources of generation of eWoM engagement behavioral intention from a fine-grained analysis of marketing actions across various fashion SMBCs. Besides, it extends the applicability of the “mere exposure” effect to the SMM context. The research pioneers the study on fashion consumers’ eWoM engagement behaviors in Indonesia, a country with one of the largest social media populations.
The dimensionality of corporate communication management (CCM)
Authors: Mohamad Bahtiar , Nguyen Bang , Melewar TC , Gambetti Rossella
Published: March 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the conceptualisation of corporate communication management (CCM) and its dimensionality from the practitioners’ perspectives. It proposes to validate an operational definition and dimensions of the CCM construct, which have not been identified in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The initial concepts are based on academic literature and followed by 12 face-to-face interviews with corporate communication practitioners and consultants from Malaysia to confirm the practicality of each dimension. QSR Nvivo Version 9.0 software is used to analyse the qualitative data. Then, the data are classified through deductive content analysis based on key words or themes.

Findings

The diverse perspectives are shown from the practitioners and consultants on the dimensionality of CCM. Most of the interviewees suggest that CCM dimensions include corporate advertising, corporate affairs, investor relations and employee communication within the corporate communication and other departments. They also found the public relations and media relations are clearly under corporate communications manager’s supervision. This research confirms the concept of CCM and its dimensionality to operationalise the CCM construct. The CCM dimensions also offer opportunities for further research to develop the measurement scales.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the clarification on the subject matter by developing clear concepts of the CCM and by offering insights about the role of the CCM dimensions, which help managers to more successfully incorporate the CCM dimension into the corporate management strategy. This paper also examines the concept of CCM and confirms its dimensionality, which helps in developing the CCM measurement for further quantitative research.
Mathematical modelling and analysis of voltage super-lift power dc-dc converter for enhanced dynamic characteristics in CCM
Authors: R. Durga Devi , S. Nageswari
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a mathematical model for voltage super-lift dc-dc power converter in continuous conduction mode (CCM). Using the presented mathematical model, the analysis of dynamics of power stage for voltage super-lift dc-dc power converter can be performed.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed method is based on the average state space model using the state equations of the dc-dc power converter. In the proposed method, the converter is represented as a set of differential equations derived for each switching state of the power switch in terms of inductor current and capacitor voltage. The proposed method describes the dynamic behaviour of the system. The controller is designed to meet performance requirement of the system such as to maintain the dynamics such as stability, steady-state accuracy and the speed of response of the system. Using the obtained model, the analysis of dynamic response of the voltage super-lift dc-dc power converter can be performed.

Findings

The converter is modelled and verified using conventional circuit analysis method employing state-space averaging technique, and their corresponding transfer function is also derived. The dynamics of the converter is investigated using frequency response characteristics obtained using MATLAB programming environment. In addition, to improve the stability of the converter, proportional-integral controller is designed using Ziegler–Nichols tuning rules, and the effect of the compensator in the plant is also investigated.

Originality/value

The proposed method can be used for analysing the dynamics of power stage for voltage super-lift DC-DC power converter.
User centric facility maintenance model for public housing
Authors: S. Gopikrishnan , Kumar Virendra
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a user-centric facility maintenance model through user satisfaction index linked intervention strategies for public housing.

Design/methodology/approach

User requirements are standardized by ISO 6241-1984(E), building performance attributes (BPAs) influencing those user requirements are identified. Selected BPAs are amplified as sub attributes characterizing BPAs. Grouping of BPAs are done to suit established hierarchy of government facility maintenance (FM) agencies. Post validation of BPAs/sub attributes for adequacy, they are ranked and weights assigned through expert survey. Questionnaire designed to garner user feedback based on BPAs and sub attributes to develop a user satisfaction index (USI) that can enable quantification of user feedback. A theoretical framework for interventions is designed which can be enmeshed in existing hierarchy of FM agencies.

Findings

84 per cent of expert survey group comprising architects/planners/engineers/facility managers/consultants agreed on adequacy of attributes and 78 per cent endorsed necessity for amplification of BPAs through sub attributes. USI shall facilitate comparison of pre- and post-implementation of interventions. A theoretical framework for FM agencies is developed for interventions.

Research limitations/implications

The FM model presently is limited to application only in public housing. For wider application to other built facilities, choice of BPAs need to made accordingly. As the implementation of interventions and its comparison is likely to take at least a financial year, the theoretical framework can be validated subsequently as a future scope of research.

Practical implications

The biggest implication of this FM model is that the most important stakeholder, that is, end user/occupant gets to register feedback on building performance. This model establishes accountability of government FM agencies and also validates the methods and processes adopted for maintenance of built facilities.

Social implications

A section of the feedback comprises issues not directly related building envelope but societal issues. This feedback in the long run can become a repertoire of data for administrative agencies to map changing aspirations of government employees with respect to authorization/entitlements.

Originality/value

Quantification of user satisfaction is an inevitable necessity in spite of being a qualitative aspect. This study makes a unique attempt to provide a framework to establish accountability of government FM agencies which is presently non-existent.
Women in senior management positions at South African universities
Authors: Ramohai Juliet
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present reasons for the mobility of women in senior management positions in South African higher education. Against the backdrop of women underrepresentation and retention challenges in institution of higher learning in this country, it is pertinent to share the experiences of senior women, with the aim of understanding institutional structures and cultures that make it difficult for women to survive in senior positions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used a qualitative approach. The focus of this paper was on the women who had held or were still holding senior management positions in higher education in South Africa. The requirement for this paper was that these women should have moved out or across institutions while at a senior management position. This paper drew from five women from different institutions and involved them in in-depth interviews. The women who fitted the category of senior management in this paper included deputy vice chancellor, deans and heads of departments.

Findings

The findings indicated that the decisions to opt out of senior management positions for the women ranged from personal to institutional. The personal reasons that emerged from this paper pointed mainly to issues of salaries. The women opted to move out of their positions for better salaries which they believed they would get in the private sectors or in other institutions. Professional development also led women to move to more promising spaces that could afford them an opportunity to grow. Apart from these personal reasons, hostile institutional cultures were cited by all women as the most serious contributory factor to their turnover. Of these, they cited patriarchal practices that led to oppression and dominance, which made it difficult for them to cope in the senior positions they held.

Originality/value

This paper aimed to respond to a gap in research on senior management women’s mobility in higher education, specifically in South Africa. According to Samuel and Chipunza (2013), there is a serious concern that pertains to retention of senior management within African higher education. However, most studies do not provide a focused attention on women but offer a general interpretation of senior management turnover. There seems to be lack of research that aims at understanding the contextual reasons that lead to turnover of women senior management in South African higher education. Against the backdrop of low representation of women in senior positions in specifically South African higher education and calls for equity, the study looked at the reasons why higher education institutions at times fail to retain this most sought after group (women) in these positions of power. Understanding issues around this matter has the potential to contribute towards improved practices while adding a voice to discourses around gender equity and equality.
Employer branding: perceived organisational support and employee retention – the mediating role of organisational commitment
Authors: Arasanmi Christopher N. , Krishna Aiswarya
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employer branding attribute of organisational support and employee retention in a government agency in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is cross-sectional in design, and an online survey method was used to collect data from 134 research participants. Research participants were recruited from a local council in New Zealand. The Process Macro Regression method was employed to analyse the collected data.

Findings

The main findings from this study are: first, the study shows that perceived organisational support (POS) as an employer branding technique affects employee retention. Second, POS significantly influenced employees’ organisational commitment (OC) as a predictor of employee retention. Third, the relationship between organisational support and employee retention was mediated by OC in this study.

Research limitations/implications

This study examined POS as an employer branding strategy; the findings have a number of valuable implications for organisations. This study suggests that organisations should develop adequate organisational support mechanisms as a way of acquiring the status of a better employer among different stakeholders.

Practical implications

Precisely, the findings imply that organisations should focus on increasing organisational support to attract, maintain and retain employees because employees desire conducive and favourable work environments.

Social implications

A well-crafted and efficiently implemented organisational supportive strategies may enhance the reputational status of the organisation as an employer brand among its future job applicants.

Originality/value

This study tested POS as an employer branding attribute in the New Zealand context; research on POS as an employer branding strategy is scarce. The results suggest that organisations that embrace organisational support mechanisms as employer branding strategy succeed in maintaining and retaining their talents for a longer time.
Prevalence and correlates of low self-reported physical health status among prisoners in New South Wales, Australia
Authors: Ross Joanne , Field Courtney , Kaye Sharlene , Bowman Julia
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence and predictors of low self-reported physical health status among NSW prison inmates.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross-sectional random sample of 1,098 adult male and female prisoners, interviewed as part of the 2015 Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network Patient Health Survey.

Findings

Almost a quarter of participants had “low self-reported physical health status”. Independent predictors of “low health status” were having been in out of home care before the age of 16 years, being illiterate, smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day, not eating more than one serve of fruit a day, not being physically active in the 12 months before incarceration, higher body mass index score and low self-reported mental health status. Many of these predictors are modifiable risk factors for chronic disease, which could be targeted during incarceration.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the utility of a using a single item measure of self-reported physical health status among Australian prisoners, and helps to characterise those prisoners in greatest need of intervention for issues relating to their health.
Sustainable development and Buddhist economics in Thailand
Authors: Speece Mark W.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine “(Buddhist economics)” in urban reform Buddhism in Thailand. In the West, Buddhist economics is often perceived as a specific economic system, but understanding the sustainable development debate in Buddhist countries requires recognition that there are many versions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors organize the discussion about Buddhist economics into a framework used in the sustainability debate. Current literature, largely from Thai writers, is analyzed to understand their positions on economy and environment.

Findings

Four representative movements are discussed which show substantial differences. Status quo Wat Dhammakaya feels that Buddhist economics is mainly about improving individual moral behavior within the current capitalist system, and needs little systemic change. Santi Asoke is explicitly anti-capitalist, and its most serious adherents live simple lifestyles in collectivist agricultural communities. “(Reform-from-within)” seeks a mixed economy containing both capitalist and socialist elements. Kuan Im is also between the extremes, largely small business capitalist and wanting some restraints on perceived predatory big business.

Originality/value

Buddhist perspectives are just beginning to enter mainstream western discussion on sustainability. The most common understanding of Buddhist economics in the west is incomplete, assuming only one form of Buddhist economics. In fact, Buddhist societies, represented here by Thailand, cover the whole range of thinking on sustainability.
Consumer personality, attitudes and preferences in out-of-home contexts
Authors: Capitello Roberta , Bazzani Claudia , Begalli Diego
Published: March 2019

Purpose

This study aims to focus on consumers’ preferences towards rosé wine and explore whether and how the consumption context may influence consumers’ choices.

Design/methodology/approach

Using social networks platform, the authors conducted a choice experiment, to evaluate Italian consumers’ preferences for a glass of rosé in two consumption contexts, restaurant and wine bar. Characteristics of the rosé wine also included price, origin and type of wine. The authors applied a latent class analysis to define rosé wine consumers’ segments and incorporated personality traits in the model.

Findings

The results define three rosé wine drinkers’ profiles: “Wine bar visitors”, “The unenthusiastic” and “Restaurant visitors”. Socio-demographic characteristics and personality traits significantly affect consumers’ membership to the different segments. Who prefers to drink a rosé glass at the wine bar is younger, more opened to new experiences and, therefore, more inclined towards more sophisticated choices. Consumers at the restaurants tend to be more extrovert and sensitive to price.

Practical implications

This study offers insight for practitioners of both wine and hospitality industries in the development of strategies for new products market placement and, at the same time, for academics who are interested in the understanding of behavioural reasoning of consumers’ wine purchase choices.

Originality/value

This research investigates the effect of consumption context on individuals’ preference formation for a less familiar wine, such as rosé in Italy. To the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies explored how personality traits may affect consumers’ wine consumption context choices.
A concept analysis of poor care using Rodgers’ evolutionary cycle
Authors: Shanahan Denise
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine and explicate the concept of poor care by exploring what it is and what contributes to its occurrence in practice with a particular focus on the care of older people.

Design/methodology/approach

The results of systematically searched published literature were analysed using an inductive, descriptive, thematic approach as part of Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis method.

Findings

The concept of poor care is understood in the context of the antecedents of vulnerability, use of healthcare services and interaction with healthcare personnel. Its defining characteristics involve individual’s personal traits, interpersonal dynamics, an endangered self, misconceptions or organisational constraints.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is needed to explore the recognition of poor care and reporting thresholds. In addition, the role of the “zone of tolerance” of expectations in the delivery and receipt of interpersonal care and attention for older people needs to be better understood.

Originality/value

Understanding the continuum and mapping the structures of poor care in contemporary UK healthcare practice can help sensitise practitioners to the widespread range and potential for instances of poor care. This concept analysis uniquely demonstrates consequences not only for the patient but also for healthcare staff and other individuals.
Contributions and constraints to continuity in Mexican-American family firms
Authors: Cater John James , Young Marilyn , Alderson Keanon
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contributions of both successors and incumbent leaders to family firm continuity, using insights from the family business succession literature and cultural dimensions theory.

Design/methodology/approach

In a qualitative study, the succession practices of 19 Mexican-American family firms were examined.

Findings

The findings are encapsulated by seven propositions and a model of Mexican-American family firm generational contributions and constraints to family business continuity.

Originality/value

In-depth interviews with immigrant and second generation family firm leaders revealed both traditional family firm succession patterns and atypical succession patterns, including generational inversion and equals across generations.
Revealing instruction opportunities: a framework-based rubric for syllabus analysis
Authors: Beuoy Melissa , Boss Katherine
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to develop a rubric based on the ACRL framework to analyze departmental syllabi for opportunities to scaffold information literacy instruction. The rubric provided a replicable method of gathering and analyzing data using course syllabi to enable instruction librarians to strategically embed information literacy instruction within a disciplinary curriculum.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examined 231 syllabi from three departments at a large American university. The authors developed and normed a rubric based on ACRL’s 2015 Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and coded the syllabi for the presence of these six themes using a three-indicator scale: not present, implied or explicitly stated. Cohen’s kappa calculations for interrater reliability was 0.92, which indicates that the raters had a high level of agreement and that the rubric could be a reliable instrument to replicate this sort of study.

Findings

The analysis revealed numerous opportunities for targeted, curriculum-integrated instruction in each department at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It also offered disciplinary insights on the Framework within and across each program. Thesedata can be used to inform conversations with program administrators about scaffolding information literacy interventions across a curriculum.

Originality/value

This study contributes a new instrument with which to analyze syllabi for information literacy outcomes to develop curricular maps and conduct strategic instructional outreach. The data demonstrated that the rubric is reliable and could be used to replicate this study in a variety of programs or institutions. Authors have presented at Library Instruction West, July 2018.
The emergence of social entrepreneurship in Russia
Authors: Blagov Yury E. , Aray Yulia N.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build a typology of social entrepreneurship in Russian Federation and describe the related models based on a deep understanding of the current institutional context and the positioning of social entrepreneurship in the arena of market and non-market activities.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on secondary data sources including legal documents, annual reports and websites of the social entrepreneurship-related organizations.

Findings

This paper finds that social entrepreneurship in Russia is located between civil society, the State and the market and it is the State that became a main driving force behind social entrepreneurship development.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to perceive the social entrepreneurship in modern Russia as a phenomenon with “semi-official” status. The original models and the very typology of social entrepreneurship are based on the newly introduced concept of “social-entrepreneurial mission”.
Chinese civic education being globalised
Authors: Shi Yudan , Chong Eric King Man , Li Baihe
Published: March 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the curriculum developments of civic education in three emerging Chinese societies: China and two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, which are increasingly under the impacts of globalisation in this information world.

Design/methodology/approach

The analytical method is used and the following are identified: active and global civic education-related learning units and key themes and main contents in official curriculum guidelines and updated textbooks related to civic education.

Findings

A major finding is that elements of both active and global citizenship, such as participation in the community and understanding about the world and thus forming multiple identities, can be found alongside their emphasis on enhancing national citizenship. Thus, ideas of global citizenship and multiple levels of citizenship from local, national to global start to develop in these three Chinese societies.

Social implications

The implications of such findings of both active and global citizenship, as well as multiple identities, found in these three Chinese societies could be huge for informing civic literature and sociological point of views, in particular, pointing to the next generations receiving a broadened and transcended notion of multiple levels of citizenship, apart from local and national citizenship.

Originality/value

The significance of this paper is that it argues that ideas of active citizenship in terms of community participation and global citizenship have been found in China, Hong Kong and Macao civic education curriculum and textbooks because of the expectations placed on students to compete in a globalized world, though national citizenship and patriotic concerns have been primary concerns. Globalisation makes the world society by impacting on these three Chinese societies for active and global citizenship, though they still retain their particular curricular focusses.
Multifunctionality of an arthropod predator’s body coloration
Authors: Liao Hsien‐Chun , Liao Chen‐Pan , Blamires Sean J. , Tso I‐Min
Published: March 2019

Animal body colours can be shaped by many factors, including the need to attract mates, avoid predators and lure prey. In some contexts, these needs might compete. A number of studies have recently demonstrated that the silver, white, yellow or red bodies of spiders attract mates, lure prey or startle predators. Nevertheless, when spider bodies display different colours, little is known about the multifunctionality of the colours and whether they interact. The Australasian coin spider, Herrenia multipuncta, displays unconventional body coloration, with orange, black and grey regions across its body.

We hypothesized that its coloration serves a multifunctional role, with the dorsal orange bands on its prosoma attracting prey and its orange ventrum deterring predators. We tested our hypothesis with field and laboratory experiments using dummies and real spiders, and modelling the visibility of the various colours to different predators and prey.

Our field experiment showed significant prey attraction towards the orange‐grey dorsal pattern during the day and night, while our laboratory experiment showed that the lizard Japalura swinhonis stared at spiders and hesitated before attacking spiders when the orange abdominal region was uncovered. Our various visual models confirmed our experimental results by showing that the orange and grey body parts were always visible when contrasted against their natural backgrounds.

Combined, our analyses provide evidence to conclude that the orange body colour of H. multipuncta is multifunctional, serving in both prey attraction and predator avoidance.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Introduction: The ethical constitution of energy dilemmas
Authors: High Mette M. , Smith Jessica M.
Published: March 2019

Growing anthropological research on energy provides critical explorations into the cross‐cultural ways in which people perceive and use this fundamental resource. We argue that two dominant frameworks animate that literature: a critique of corporate and state power, and advocacy for energy transitions to less carbon‐intensive futures. These frameworks have narrowed the ethical questions and perspectives that the discipline has considered in relation to energy. This is because they are animated by judgements that can implicitly shape research agendas or sometimes result in strong accusations that obscure how our interlocutors themselves may consider the rightness and wrongness of energy resources and the societal infrastructures of which they form a part. We propose a more capacious approach to studying energy ethics that opens up energy dilemmas to ethnographic inquiry. As such, we show how energy dilemmas constitute important sites for the generation of anthropological knowledge, encouraging more insightful and inclusive discussions of the place of energy in human and more‐than‐human lives.
The ordinary ethics of charcoal in northern Madagascar
Authors: Walsh Andrew
Published: March 2019

Charcoal producers are among the most frequently maligned entrepreneurs in Madagascar, often singled out in conservation reports and targeted in conservation measures as enemies of the island's threatened forests and ecosystems. And yet charcoal remains an important cooking fuel and thus a primary energy commodity for many people on the island. This essay addresses the ordinary ethics of charcoal production and consumption in northern Madagascar, focusing especially on how these processes are fundamental to an ‘artisanal’ energy system that involves people and engages them with one another in distinctive ways.
Fuel of fear and force: gasoline's energetic power and its entanglement in composite ethics
Authors: Penfield Amy
Published: March 2019

Energy is far more than a resource exploited by states and corporations. Yet, at the level of consumption it is generally thought to be a difficult phenomenon to examine because it is so familiar that we barely notice its role in our lives; or at the very least, its production becomes obscured by this pragmatic daily engagement. The other side to the story – the one in which energy is a provision distributed to and experienced by people in intimate and unanticipated ways — is distinctly perceptible in locales like the Amazon rain forest where conventional energy provisions are absent. This essay explores how everyday encounters with gasoline offer insights into ethical judgements among the Sanema of Venezuelan Amazonia. The fuel is so pervasive that it is increasingly present in numerous facets of daily life, including gold mining, dilemmas of kinship, the animist world of vengeful spirit masters, and ethically infused rumours of disaster. Being a volatile substance – simultaneously vaporous, explosive, narcotic, and caustic – gasoline is also a vital entity that holds a particularly intriguing place in the Sanema's understanding of personhood and ethics. Indeed, its mysterious and unsettling qualities cause it to become entangled within a composite form of ethics that defines Sanema social worlds.
Financial Reporting and Credit Ratings: On the Effects of Competition in the Rating Industry and Rating Agencies' Gatekeeper Role
Authors: LEE KYUNGHA (KARI) , SCHANTL STEFAN F.
Published: March 2019

This paper studies firms' financial reporting incentives in the presence of strategic credit rating agencies and how these incentives are affected by the level of competition in the rating industry and by rating agencies' role as gatekeepers to debt markets. We develop a model featuring an entrepreneur who seeks project financing from a perfectly competitive debt market. After publicly disclosing a financial report, the entrepreneur can purchase credit ratings from rating agencies that strategically choose their rating fees and rating inflation. We derive the following core results: (1) More rating industry competition leads to stronger corporate misreporting incentives if ratings are sufficiently precise or if rating agencies assume a gatekeeper role. Under imperfect rating industry competition, (2) agencies' gatekeeper role primarily weakens firms' misreporting incentives, which then influences rating agencies' strategies, and (3) firms' misreporting and rating agencies' rating inflation can be strategic complements when agencies assume a gatekeeper role. (4) Regulatory initiatives aimed at increasing rating industry competition or at weakening rating agencies' gatekeeper role improve investment efficiency as long as corporate misreporting incentives are not significantly strengthened.
Quantitative Statistics and Identification of Tool‐Marks
Authors: Yang Min , Mou Li , Fu Yi‐Ming , Wang Yu , Wang Jiang‐feng
Published: March 2019

This study was designed to establish a feature identification method of tool‐mark 2D data. A uniform local binary pattern histogram operator was developed to extract the tool‐mark features, and the random forest algorithm was adopted to identify these. The presented method was used to conduct five groups of experiments with a 2D dataset of known matched and nonmatched tool‐marks made by bolt clippers, cutting pliers, and screwdrivers. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieved a high rate of identification of the tool‐mark samples generated under identical conditions. The proposed method effectively overcomes the disadvantage of unstable illumination of 2D tool‐mark image data and avoids the difficulty in mark inspection caused by manually preset parameters in the existing methods, thus reducing the uncertainty of inspected results.
Purification and Characterization of Superoxide Dismutases from Sea Buckthorn and Chestnut Rose
Authors: Hou Zhiqiang , Zhao Liang , Wang Yongtao , Liao Xiaojun
Published: March 2019

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) were purified from sea buckthorn and chestnut rose by ammonium sulfate precipitation and anion‐exchange chromatography, and the detection methods of water‐soluble tetrazolium‐1 (WST‐1), nitrobluetetrazolium (NBT) and pyrogallol autoxidation (PA) for SOD activity were compared. WST‐1 method was selected due to its coefficient of variation (CV) <6% in this study. Two SODs exhibited similar characteristics. Their molecular mass and isoelectric point were about 30 kDa and 4.8 to 5.0 estimated by electrophoresis, and the Km was 0.05 to 0.08 mmol/L, respectively. Dynamic light scattering analysis suggested their hydrodynamic radius distributes from 60 to 1500 nm. The activity of two SODs was unchanged at <80 °C or pH 2 to 9 or in simulated human gastric fluid. Their circular dichroism spectra suggested a main β‐sheet structure, the fluorescence spectra reflected that the tryptophan residues of two SODs is partially exposed, these structures were rather stable at pH 2 to 9 or 50 to 90 °C.

Practical Application

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important antioxidant enzyme. SODs from sea buckthorn and chestnut rose were stable at high temperature or low pH or simulated gastric fluid. This result can provide a new approach for the potential application of SOD in the food and pharmaceutical fields.
Accelerated genome engineering of Pseudomonas putida by I‐SceI―mediated recombination and CRISPR‐Cas9 counterselection
Authors: Wirth Nicolas T. , Kozaeva Ekaterina , Nikel Pablo I.
Published: March 2019

Pseudomonas species have become reliable platforms for bioproduction due to their capability to tolerate harsh conditions imposed by large‐scale bioprocesses and their remarkable resistance to diverse physicochemical stresses. The last few years have brought forth a variety of synthetic biology tools for the genetic manipulation of pseudomonads, but most of them are either applicable only to obtain certain types of mutations, lack efficiency, or are not easily accessible to be used in different Pseudomonas species (e.g. natural isolates). In this work, we describe a versatile, robust and user‐friendly procedure that facilitates virtually any kind of genomic manipulation in Pseudomonas species in 3–5 days. The protocol presented here is based on DNA recombination forced by double‐stranded DNA cuts (through the activity of the I‐SceI homing meganuclease from yeast) followed by highly efficient counterselection of mutants (aided by a synthetic CRISPR‐Cas9 device). The individual parts of the genome engineering toolbox, tailored for knocking genes in and out, have been standardized to enable portability and easy exchange of functional gene modules as needed. The applicability of the procedure is illustrated both by eliminating selected genomic regions in the platform strain P. putida KT2440 (including difficult‐to‐delete genes) and by integrating different reporter genes (comprising novel variants of fluorescent proteins) into a defined landing site in the target chromosome.
Runoff Storage Potential of Drained Upland Depressions on the Des Moines Lobe of Iowa
Authors: Green David I.S. , McDeid Samuel M. , Crumpton William G.
Published: March 2019

We present estimates of the volumetric storage capacities of currently drained upland depressions and catchment depressional specific storage and runoff storage indices for the Des Moines Lobe of Iowa (DML‐IA) subregion of the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. Storage capacities were determined using hydrologically enforced Light Detection and Ranging‐derived digital elevation models, and a unique geoprocessing algorithm. Depressional specific storage was estimated for each 12‐digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC12) watershed in the region from total catchment‐specific depressional storage volume and catchment area. Runoff storage indices were calculated using catchment depressional specific storage values and estimates of the amount of rainfall likely to fall within each watershed during sub‐annual and 1‐, 2‐, 5‐, and 10‐year 24‐h events. The 173,171 identified drained depressions in the DML‐IA can store up to 903.5 Mm3 of runoff. Most of this capacity is in depressions located in the north of the region. Specific storage varies from nearly 109 mm in the younger landscapes to <10 mm in older more eroded areas. For 95% of the HUC12 watersheds comprising the region, depressional storage will likely be exhausted by rainfall‐derived runoff in excess of a 1‐year 24‐h event. Rainfall amounts greater than a 5‐year 24‐h event will exceed all available depressional storage. Therefore, the capacity of drained depressions in the DML‐IA to mitigate flooding resulting from infrequent, but large, storm events is limited.
A New Fossil Erinaceidae from the Shajingyi Area in the Lanzhou Basin, China
Authors: LI Zhichao , LI Yongxiang , XUE Xiangxu , LI Wenhou , ZHANG Yunxiang , YANG Fu
Published: March 2019

Here, we describe a new primitive Erinaceidae species, Oligoechinus lanzhouensis n. gen. n. sp., based on a specimen from late Oligocene strata of the Lanzhou Basin, Gansu Province. Its characteristics are as follows: the M1 width is longer than the length, the metastyle extends far disto‐labially, the posterior margin has strong curve and a distinct metaconule that is connected to the protocone by a postprotocrista is located in the centre of the tooth. The posterior arm of the metaconule is poorly developed. In the P4, the pterion of the metastyle is less developed and the metacone is carinate. In addition, O. lanzhouensis has a premolar larger than the canine tooth (P2 > C) and P3 had no molarisation, characters also possessed by Erinaceus. Overall, O. lanzhouensis was similar to Mioechinus based on architectural tooth features, demonstrating a closed genetic relationship. Fossil Erinaceidae are relatively rare before the Miocene. The discovery of O. lanzhouensis provides an important insight into the origin of Mioechinus in China and the early evolution of the Erinaceidae. Our analysis shows that a relatively recent ancestor of Mioechinus had probably existed in the early Oligocene and that O. Lanzhouensis was likely an ancestral type of Mioechinus gobiensis, and its systematic position should be located at a transitional position between Amphechinus and Mioechinus.