bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vorticity, defects and correlations in active turbulence
Authors: Thampi Sumesh P. , Golestanian Ramin , Yeomans Julia M.
Published: October 2014

We describe a numerical investigation of a continuum model of an active nematic, concentrating on the regime of active turbulence. Results are presented for the effect of three parameters, activity, elastic constant and rotational diffusion constant, on the order parameter and flow fields. Defects and distortions in the director field act as sources of vorticity, and thus vorticity is strongly correlated to the director field. In particular, the characteristic length of decay of vorticity and order parameter correlations is controlled by the defect density. By contrast, the decay of velocity correlations is determined by a balance between activity and dissipation. We highlight the role of microscopic flow generation mechanisms in determining the flow patterns and characteristic scales of active turbulence and contrast the behaviour of extensile and contractile active nematics.
Perspectives in active liquid crystals
Authors: Majumdar Apala , Cristina Marchetti M. , Virga Epifanio G.
Published: October 2014

Active soft matter is a young, growing field, with potential applications to a wide variety of systems. This Theme Issue explores this emerging new field by highlighting active liquid crystals. The collected contributions bridge theory to experiment, mathematical theories of passive and active nematics, spontaneous flows to defect dynamics, microscopic to continuum levels of description, spontaneous activity to biological activation. While the perspectives offered here only span a small part of this rapidly evolving field, we trust that they might provide the interested reader with a taste for this new class of non-equilibrium systems and their rich behaviour.
Tunable dynamics of microtubule-based active isotropic gels
Authors: Henkin Gil , DeCamp Stephen J. , Chen Daniel T. N. , Sanchez Tim , Dogic Zvonimir
Published: October 2014

We investigate the dynamics of an active gel of bundled microtubules (MTs) that is driven by clusters of kinesin molecular motors. Upon the addition of ATP, the coordinated action of thousands of molecular motors drives the gel to a highly dynamical turbulent-like state that persists for hours and is only limited by the stability of constituent proteins and the availability of the chemical fuel. We characterize how enhanced transport and emergent macroscopic flows of active gels depend on relevant molecular parameters, including ATP, kinesin motor and depletant concentrations, MT volume fraction, as well as the stoichiometry of the constituent motor clusters. Our results show that the dynamical and structural properties of MT-based active gels are highly tunable. They also indicate existence of an optimal concentration of molecular motors that maximize far-from-equilibrium activity of active isotropic MT gels.
Allosalinactinospora lopnorensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of the family Nocardiopsaceae isolated from soil
Authors: Guo Lin , Tuo Li , Habden Xugela , Zhang Yuqin , Liu Jiameng , Jiang Zhongke , Liu Shaowei , Dilbar Tohty , Sun Chenghang
Published: October 2014

A novel actinomycete, designated strain CA15-2T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from the rhizosphere of tamarisk in the Lop Nor region, Xinjiang, China, and was characterized by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Optimal growth occurred at 37 °C and pH 7.5–8.0 and with 5 % (w/v) NaCl. Strain CA15-2T formed white to pale-yellow branched substrate mycelium without fragmentation and sparse aerial mycelium with wavelike curves. Whole-cell hydrolysates of the isolate contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid of the cell wall but no diagnostic sugars. The polar lipids comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified glycolipid, one unidentified phospholipid and other unidentified lipids. MK-9(H8), MK-10(H8) and MK-10(H6) were the predominant menaquinones. The major fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0 and C16 : 0. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 69.6 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain CA15-2T formed a distinct subclade in the family

Nocardiopsaceae

, with less than 95 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to all known members of the family

Nocardiopsaceae

. On the basis of the evidence from our polyphasic study, a novel genus, Allosalinactinospora gen. nov., is proposed, with the type species Allosalinactinospora lopnorensis gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of Allosalinactinospora lopnorensis is strain CA15-2T ( = DSM 45697T = CGMCC 4.7074T).
Evaluation of a stool antigen test using a mAb for native catalase for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in children and adults
Authors: Okuda Masumi , Osaki Takako , Kikuchi Shogo , Ueda Junko , Lin Yingsong , Yonezawa Hideo , Maekawa Kohei , Hojo Fuhito , Kamiya Shigeru , Fukuda Yoshihiro
Published: October 2014

Non-invasive diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection is important not only for screening of infection but also for epidemiological studies. Stool antigen tests are non-invasive and are convenient to identify H. pylori infection, particularly in children. We evaluated the stool antigen test, which uses a mAb for native catalase of H. pylori developed in Japan. A total of 151 stool samples were collected from participants (52 children and 99 adults) of the Sasayama Cohort Study and stored between −30 and −80 °C. The stool antigen test used was Testmate pylori antigen (TPAg), and was performed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Furthermore, we conducted a quantitative real-time PCR test and compared the PCR results with those of the TPAg test. When compared with the results in real-time PCR, the sensitivity of TPAg was 89.5 % overall, 82.7 % for children and 92.4 % for adults, and the specificity was 100 %. The accuracy was 93.4 % overall, 90.4 % for children and 94.9 % for adults, and there was no significant difference in the accuracy of TPAg between children and adults. Five of 28 children (18 %) and five of 38 adults (13 %) were PCR positive with negative TPAg results. Four of five children with positive PCR and negative TPAg results were given a 13C-urea breath test and all four children tested negative. No significant correlation was observed between the TPAg results and DNA numbers of H. pylori in faeces among children or adults. A stool antigen test (TPAg) using a mAb for native catalase is useful for diagnosis of H. pylori in children and adults. Additionally, this test has particularly high specificity.
Effect sizes and standardization in neighborhood models of forest stands
Authors: Stoll Peter , Murrell David J , Newbery David M
Published: October 2014

Effects of conspecific neighbors on growth and survival of trees have been found to be related to species abundance. Both positive and negative relationships may explain observed abundance patterns. Surprisingly, it is rarely tested whether such relationships could be biased or even spurious due to influences of spatial aggregation, distance decay of neighbor effects and standardization of effect sizes. To investigate potential biases, we simulated communities of 20 identical species with log-series abundances but without species-specific interactions. We expected no relationship of conspecific neighbor effects with species abundance. Growth of individual trees was simulated in random and aggregated spatial patterns using no, linear, or squared distance decay. Regression coefficients of statistical neighborhood models were unbiased and unrelated to species abundance. However, variation in the number of conspecific neighbors was positively or negatively related to species abundance depending on spatial pattern and type of distance decay. Consequently, effect sizes and standardized regression coefficients were also positively or negatively related to species abundance depending on spatial pattern and distance decay. We argue that tests using randomized tree positions and identities provide the best bench marks by which to critically evaluate relationships of effect sizes or standardized regression coefficients with tree species abundance.
High-field Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Vocalization Processing in Marmosets
Authors: Sadagopan Srivatsun , Temiz Nesibe Z. , Voss Henning U.
Published: October 2014

Vocalizations are behaviorally critical sounds, and this behavioral importance is reflected in the ascending auditory system, where conspecific vocalizations are increasingly over-represented at higher processing stages. Recent evidence suggests that, in macaques, this increasing selectivity for vocalizations might culminate in a cortical region that is densely populated by vocalization-preferring neurons. Such a region might be a critical node in the representation of vocal communication sounds, underlying the recognition of vocalization type, caller and social context. These results raise the questions of whether cortical specializations for vocalization processing exist in other species, their cortical location, and their relationship to the auditory processing hierarchy. To explore cortical specializations for vocalizations in another species, we performed high-field fMRI of the auditory cortex of a vocal New World primate, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Using a sparse imaging paradigm, we discovered a caudal-rostral gradient for the processing of conspecific vocalizations in marmoset auditory cortex, with regions of the anterior temporal lobe close to the temporal pole exhibiting the highest preference for vocalizations. These results demonstrate similar cortical specializations for vocalization processing in macaques and marmosets, suggesting that cortical specializations for vocal processing might have evolved before the lineages of these species diverged.
Molecular self-assembly of nylon-12 nanorods cylindrically confined to nanoporous alumina
Authors: Cao Yan , Wu Hui , Higaki Yuji , Jinnai Hiroshi , Takahara Atsushi
Published: October 2014

Molecular self-assembly of nylon-12 rods in self-organized nanoporous alumina cylinders with two different diameters (65 and 300 nm) is studied with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) in symmetrical reflection mode. In a rod with a 300 nm diameter, the tendency of the hydrogen-bonding direction of a γ-form crystal parallel to the long axis of the rod is not clear because of weak two-dimensional confinement. In a rod with a diameter of 65 nm, the tendency of the hydrogen-bonding direction of a γ-form crystal parallel to the long axis of the rod is more distinct because of strong two-dimensional confinement. For the first time, selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) is applied in a transmission electron microscope to a polymer nanorod in order to determine the hydrogen-bond sheet and lamellar orientations. Results of TEM–SAED and WAXD showed that the crystals within the rod possess the γ-form of nylon-12 and that thebaxis (stem axis) of the γ-form crystals is perpendicular to the long axis of the rod. These results revealed that only lamellae with 〈h0l〉 directions are able to grow inside the nanopores and the growth of lamellae with 〈hkl〉 (k≠ 0) directions is stopped owing to impingements against the cylinder walls. The dominant crystal growth direction of the 65 nm rod in stronger two-dimensional confinement is in between the [−201] and [001] directions due to the development of a hydrogen-bonded sheet restricted along the long axis of the rod.
Investigating increasingly complex macromolecular systems with small-angle X-ray scattering
Authors: Vestergaard Bente , Sayers Zehra
Published: October 2014

The biological solution small-angle X-ray scattering (BioSAXS) field has undergone tremendous development over recent decades. This means that increasingly complex biological questions can be addressed by the method. An intricate synergy between advances in hardware and software development, data collection and evaluation strategies and implementations that readily allow integration with complementary techniques result in significant results and a rapidly growing user community with ever increasing ambitions. Here, a review of these developments, by including a selection of novel BioSAXS methodologies and recent results, is given.
The impact of work engagement and workaholism on well-being
Authors: Caesens Gaëtane , Stinglhamber Florence , Luypaert Gaylord
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper are twofold. First, the authors examined the effects of two types of working hard (i.e. work engagement, workaholism) on employees’ well-being (i.e. job satisfaction, perceived stress, and sleep problems). Second, the authors tested the extent to which both types of working hard mediate the relationship between three types of work-related social support (i.e. perceived organizational support, perceived supervisor support, and perceived coworker support) and employees’ well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

– An online questionnaire was administered to 343 PhD students.

Findings

– Results revealed that work engagement mediates the relationships between perceived organizational support and job satisfaction and perceived stress. Perceived organizational support has also a direct positive impact on job satisfaction and a direct negative impact on perceived stress and sleep problems. Furthermore, work engagement mediates the influence of perceived supervisor support on job satisfaction and perceived stress. Finally, workaholism was found to mediate the relationships between perceived coworker support, and job satisfaction, perceived stress, and sleep problems.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest that managers should promote practices in order to foster work engagement and prevent workaholism. In line with this, the findings indicated that the most powerful source of support that fosters work engagement is perceived supervisor support. Organizations should, therefore, train their supervisors to be supportive in their role of directing, evaluating and coaching subordinates or encourage supervisors to have regular meetings with their subordinates. Additionally, the results showed that perceived coworker support is the only source of work-related social support that has a negative influence on workaholism. Managers should foster coworker support, for instance by encouraging informal mentoring among employees in order to build a strong social network.

Originality/value

– Because scholars argued that each type of work-related social support might have different consequences and might vary in terms of strength of associations with their outcomes, the study aimed to examine the concomitant effects of three forms of work-related social support on two types of working hard which, in turn, influence employees’ well-being.
The impact of placements on students’ self-efficacy
Authors: Edwards Matt
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between work placements and employability, through an analysis of the impact of a work placement on students’ self-efficacy.

Design/methodology/approach

– The basis of this paper is a large-scale work-based learning module at the University of Birmingham, the “Professional Development Module”. Students completed questionnaires both before and after they undertaken their placements and the results from the questionnaires were compared. These results were then combined with the results of semi-structured interviews undertaken with students.

Findings

– The paper's findings support the view that a work placement has a positive impact on students’ self-efficacy, especially in relation to their confidence in making applications and/or attending interviews, and in articulating their skills and strengths.

Research limitations/implications

– While the relatively small sample size means that the paper's conclusions must remain provisional, it highlights the need for careers practitioners to encourage students to engage in critical self-reflection. The paper suggests that it is important for careers practitioners and researchers to engage in more collaborative projects in order for a fully rounded picture of the relationship between placements and employability to emerge. The paper shows that more research is needed into the relative impact of short- and long-term placements.

Originality/value

– The paper demonstrates the value of assessing students’ views both before and after their work placements so that these views can be compared directly.
Lessons from Covey: win-win principles for university-employer engagement
Authors: Tudor Sarah , Mendez Richard
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– In the UK, universities are coming under increasing pressure from government to strengthen university-employer co-operation and engagement in areas such as student placements, graduate internships, knowledge exchange, enterprise and work-based learning. Both the Higher Education (HE) White Paper (BIS, 2011) and the Wilson Review (BIS, 2012) encourage universities to focus on this agenda, putting businesses at the heart of the system alongside students to maximise innovation, promote growth and “ensure students come out of universities equipped to excel in the workforce”. (BIS, 2011, p. 39). The need for universities to engage with employers and build strong relationships to maximise mutual partnership value is integral to this work. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper examines the application of win-win principles (Covey, 1989) to employer engagement activities in HE via two case studies. Following an analysis of the results in each case study, they show that the adoption of such approaches has enhanced employer engagement, consolidated existing employer relationships and led to tangible outcomes such as new student placement opportunities.

Findings

– The paper suggests that HE employer engagement activities grounded in Covey's win-win principles are likely to enhance results and relationships with employers than those that omit such principles. The paper concludes by encouraging the utilisation of such principles across the spectrum of HE employer engagement activities.

Originality value

– The authors believe this is the first time this method of analysis has been applied to university-employer relationships.
The influence of spatial design characteristics on low-rise residential neighbourhoods in Basra city
Authors: Alahmed Hani , Alaghbari Wa’el , Ibrahim Rahinah , Salim Azizah
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate the ways that could enhance residents’ social interaction in low-rise residential building neighbourhoods of Basra city in Iraq. The lack of social interaction among residents of Basra city prompted the authors to frame a strategy for this case study.

Design/methodology/approach

– The spatial design characteristics of low-rise residential building neighbourhoods implicated to support the residents in terms of social interactions in comparison to those exhibited by a single home and traditional neighbourhoods. The statistical data demonstrated that by using this strategy, several unique features of secured, collective, responsive and supportive spaces could enhance the residents’ social interaction.

Findings

– This study found that all collective space factors have a significant influence on social interaction. “Fostering proper proximity and accessibility” factor was ranked first and the most significant factor with an influence on social interaction. Secured spaces (hierarchical spatial structure, physical security supports and construct) have a significant influence on social interaction. The most interesting finding in this study is that all factors of the supportive spaces construct have a significant influence on social interaction. Finally, this study showed that two factors of the responsive spaces construct, increasing variety and increasing legibility, have an insignificant influence on social interaction.

Originality/value

– The design of low-rise residential building neighbourhoods in Basra city may be used to develop social interaction as the contributing factor for maintaining values of traditional neighbourhood communities. This study highlights certain recommendations for architects, especially urban designers, to reinforce residents’ social interaction in low-rise residential building neighbourhoods in Basra city.
Producing hedonic price indices for developing markets
Authors: Owusu-Ansah Anthony , Talinbe Abdulai Raymond
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to test the accuracy of the explicit time variable (ETV) and the strictly cross-sectional (SCS) hedonic models when constructing house price indices in developing markets using Ghana as a case study.

Design/methodology/approach

– The quantitative research methodology is adopted where the accuracy of the two hedonic models used in the construction of house price indices is examined using the mean squared error (MSE) and out-of-sample technique. Yearly indices are constructed for each of the models using 60 per cent of the sample data and 40 per cent is used to forecast house prices for each observations based on which the MSEs are calculated.

Findings

– The two models produce similar house price trend but the SCS model is more volatile. The ETV model produces the lower MSE, suggesting that it is better to pool data together and includes time dummies (ETV) to estimate indices rather than running separate regressions (SCS) to estimate the index. Using the Morgan–Granger–Newbold test, it is found that indeed the difference between the forecast errors of the two models are statistically significant on a 1 per cent level confirming the accuracy of the ETV model over the SCS model.

Practical implications

– This paper has produced convincing results recommending the use of the ETV hedonic model to construct house price indices which is of use to practitioners and academics.

Originality/value

– The introduction of financial products like the property derivatives and home equity insurances to the financial market calls for accurate and robust property price indices and the hedonic method is mostly used to construct these indices. While there have been a lot of test conducted as to which variant of the hedonic method to use in developed markets, little is known about the developing markets. This paper contributes to fill these gaps.
The Government’s role in private partnerships for urban poor housing in India
Authors: Parashar Dipti
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of the paper is to primarily understand the changing role of the government in Housing delivery and envisaged role through public-private-partnerships (PPPs) in Housing. An increased emphasis has been laid on the private sector and particularly on PPPs for delivery of Housing to the urban poor ever since the government changed its role from being a “provider” to “enabler” of housing supply.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper analyses the various projects of Partnership models that have emerged in various parts of the country for Housing the poor and investigates the role of the Government that emerges within the same.

Findings

– The enablement and partnership approaches primarily aimed for increasing housing supply have so far seen the government play a backhand role rather than a forthcoming one, not keeping with the spirit of a PPP. The current models of PPPs backed with incentives, cross subsidies and waivers of charges are inadequate and not holistic in approach resulting in a “zero-cost” policymaking stand of the government within the same. The government needs to be in the forefront, devising appropriate PPP innovative approaches and appropriate urban poor housing models to achieve the impact that the policies desire. An enhanced role of the government is crucial along with models along with clear institutional support to meet the desired demand.

Research limitations/implications

– Research is limited to cases of PPP that are currently existing in the country.

Originality/value

– With policy emphasis in the recent times for PPP in housing, the topic is of utmost importance for research.
Determinants of housing demand in the Erzurum province, Turkey
Authors: Oktay Erkan , Karaaslan Abdulkerim , Alkan Ömer , Kemal Çelik Ali
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The main aim of this study is to determine the factors that influence the housing demand of households in Erzurum, northeastern Turkey. Housing demand is generally affected by several factors including housing prices, individuals’ income, expectations and choices and so on, as a means of its demographic and socio-psychological contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

– A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was carried out, in which the outcome variable had binary responses such as whether to invest in housing or not. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the underlying data.

Findings

– The questionnaire was conducted in 2,927 households living in Erzurum city center, and 47 per cent of the respondents claimed that they would consider investing in housing in the future. The estimation results reveal that demographic or socio-economic factors that may possibly influence housing demand of the respondents are as follows: household head’s and spouse’s occupation, monthly income, the number of individuals in the family and car ownership.

Originality/value

– This paper involves the most comprehensive survey addressing the housing demand in the East Anatolian Region, Turkey. Additionally, this paper aims to contribute to the existing housing literature through establishing the statistical analysis of housing demand in an unstudied territory of the world.
Modal shift for greener logistics − exploring the role of the contract
Authors: Eng-Larsson Fredrik , Norrman Andreas
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate contracts of the intermodal transport market and the incentives they create for a modal shift and thus the financial and environmental efficiency of freight transport.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research used a mixed-methods approach where qualitative case interviews and quantitative modeling was combined. Two cases of contractual relationships between a service provider and its intermodal train operator on a specific lane were investigated. The case findings were then consolidated and used as input for a model of the contractual relation. Findings were sought through an extensive numerical study.

Findings

– The cases reported that intermodal rail operators had a strong production focus, transferring the capacity risk (i.e. the risk of unused capacity) to the service provider, which the service providers argued limited the shift from truck to intermodal transportation. The paper shows that, due to the market structure, it is rational for the operator to transfer the capacity risk but not the profit. Consequently, a modal shift is only likely to occur when there is strong shipper pressure or low capacity risk. We present a risk-sharing contract that could release this dead lock.

Research limitations/implications

– The conclusions are modeling outcomes subject to assumptions based on the cases. For further validation, large-scale quantitative studies are necessary.

Practical implications

– The paper shows that a three-part tariff in which the capacity risk is shared may lead to increased modal shift and hence assumed improved environmental performance.

Social implications

– Instead of arguing for operators to be more customer-focussed, policy makers and other stakeholders may have more to gain by having both actors being more cooperation focussed.

Originality/value

– The paper is the first attempt to quantify how the contractual relations on the freight transport market affect the modal mix and thus the financial and environmental efficiency of freight transport.
Inventory record inaccuracy in supply chains: the role of workers’ behavior
Authors: Bruccoleri Manfredi , Cannella Salvatore , La Porta Giulia
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of inventory record inaccuracy due to behavioral aspects of workers on the order and inventory variance amplification.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors adopt a continuous-time analytical approach to describe the effect of inbound throughput on the inventory and order variance amplification due to the workload pressure and arousal of workers. The model is numerically solved through simulation and results are analyzed with statistical general linear model.

Findings

– Inventory management policies that usually dampen variance amplification are not effective when inaccuracy is generated due to workers’ behavioral aspects. Specifically, the psychological sensitivity and stability of workers to deal with a given range of operational conditions have a combined and multiplying effect over the amplification of order and inventory variance generated by her/his errors.

Research limitations/implications

– The main limitation of the research is that the authors model workers’ behavior by inheriting a well-known theory from psychology that assumes a U-shaped relationship between stress and errors. The authors do not validate this relationship in the specific context of inventory operations.

Practical implications

– The paper gives suggestions for managers who are responsible for designing order and inventory policies on how to take into account workers’ behavioral reaction to work pressure.

Originality/value

– The logistics management literature does not lack of research works on behavioral decision-making causes of order and inventory variance amplification. Contrarily, this paper investigates a new kind of behavioral issue, namely, the impact of psycho-behavioral aspects of workers on variance amplification.
Logistics principles vs. legal principles: frictions and challenges
Authors: Norrman Andreas , Henkow Oskar
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– Logisticians propose changes to improve supply chains, and legal practitioners do likewise, but from a different perspective. Proposals from one domain increasingly have an impact on the other due to e.g. globalization – but cross-disciplinary knowledge often seems limited. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate interaction between the domains by increasing the level of joint understanding of the principles used in each domain, and to look at the potential frictions and challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

– Management principles for efficient logistics and supply chain management as well as key principles governing the legal systems are summarized on both a paradigmatic and an action level. Illustrations from practice are presented. These have been obtained by a cross-functional team which has interviewed both logisticians and lawyers. Findings are based on cross-functional comparative analysis of principles and illustrations.

Findings

– Frictions between operational principles were found to exist in each domain, with some principles harder to reconcile than others. There are also challenges between the two paradigms of logistics and law that influence the operational principles.

Research limitations/implications

– One implication is that the knowledge gap, challenges and frictions between the professions and domains, both in practice and academia, would benefit from more research.

Practical implications

– Although it may seem trivial, logisticians and lawyers need to cooperate better. The research shows on a fundamental level, with practical examples, the challenges and frictions that occur.

Originality/value

– The cross-functional approach with law, and the discussion and comparison of principles.
Board structure and supplementary commentary on the primary financial statements
Authors: Tauringana Venancio , Mangena Musa
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the extent and focus of supplementary narrative commentary (SNC) on amounts reported in the primary financial statements and board structure variables.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses the disclosure index methodology to measure the extent of SNC in annual reports of 167 FTSE 250 companies. Ordinary least squares regression analysis is employed to examine the association between the extent and focus of SNC and board structure variables.

Findings

– The findings show that the extent of SNC on amounts reported in the primary financial statements is about 30 per cent, suggesting that companies provide commentary on a small number of amounts reported in the financial statements. In terms of focus of SNC, companies provide greater SNC on amounts in the income statement relative to the balance sheet. The regression results indicate that the extent of SNC is negatively associated with board size, and positively associated with audit committee (AC) independence and financial expertise. Focus of SNC is negatively related to AC independence and finance expertise.

Originality/value

– The research contributes to both the voluntary disclosure and impression management literature streams. The findings provide evidence of the extent and focus of SNC on amounts in the financial statements. They also demonstrate that board structure variables are related to the extent and focus of SNC on amounts in primary financial statements. These findings have implications for policy makers who have responsibilities for ensuring that users of annual reports receive adequate information to make decisions.
The life cycle of initial public offering companies in China
Authors: Liu Jia , Li Dairui
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify the extent to which the company's post- initial public offering (IPO) outcome varies, along with the determinants of the post-IPO outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors use Cox proportional hazards models to examine what determines the company's post-IPO transition to one of the classified outcomes, delisting, acquisition due to strong performance, and acquisition due to weak performance. The authors develop models taking in a range of information concerning pre-IPO characteristics, offering characteristics, financial indicators, company specifics, industry features, and corporate ownership and governance.

Findings

– Delisting is predominantly influenced by the company’ pre-IPO operating performance, as well as financial indicators and governance structure at the time of the IPO. Sound governance structure and good financial standing of the company aid it to achieve its goal. Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of both forms are distinguished most significantly by ownership structure and industry features, which is consonant with the position that M&As are majorly motivated by social concerns and corporate control considerations. Centrally, corporate evolution is jointly shaped by market force and state control.

Practical implications

– The findings can inform public policy decisions. There is a case for gradual introduction of institutional changes which facilitate, regulate, and monitor orderly market operations in line with the market mechanism and sound corporate governance.

Originality/value

– The study is among the first efforts to examine what determines the company's transition to one of the post-IPO states following the IPO in China's stock market.
Capital market pressures and the format of intellectual capital disclosure in intellectual capital intensive firms
Authors: Li Jing , Mangena Musa
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– A number of studies have examined firms’ intellectual capital (IC) disclosure practices. However, the presentation format of IC disclosure (text, numerical and graphs/pictures) is yet to be examined. In addition, there is little evidence on the impact of capital market pressures on IC disclosure. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between presentation format of IC disclosures and three market factors (market-to-book ratio, share price volatility and multiple listing (ML)).

Design/methodology/approach

– Using content analysis, the authors examine the level of IC disclosure provided in the annual reports of 100 IC-intensive listed UK firms. A 61-IC-item research instrument is used to measure IC disclosure and regression analysis is employed to examine the relation between disclosure and the market factors, controlling for corporate governance and firm-specific variables.

Findings

– Text is the most commonly used format for IC disclosure, whilst the use of graphs/pictures is very low. The findings of the relation between market factors and IC disclosure are mixed. Market-to-book ratio is significantly related to disclosure in text and numerical, but not to graphs/pictures. Share price volatility is only associated with graphs/pictures, whilst ML is only related to text.

Originality/value

– The authors findings suggest that the impact of capital market pressures on IC disclosure might differ with presentation format. In this context, the study makes a significant contribution to the IC disclosure literature.
War and peace among Kalahari San
Authors: Guenther Mathias
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explain the discrepancy between ethnohistorical accounts on north-western Kalahari San of the nineteenth to early twentieth century and recent ethnographic accounts, the former depicting the San as intensely warlike, the latter as basically peaceable.

Design/methodology/approach

– Review of historical, ethnohistorical and ethnographic source material (reports, journal articles, monographs).

Findings

– The warlike ways of the nineteenth-century Kalahari San were reactions to settler intrusion, domination and encapsulation. This was met with resistance, a process that led to the rapid politicization and militarization, socially and ideationally, of San groups in the orbit of the intruders (especially the “tribal zone” they created). It culminated in internecine warfare, specifically raiding and feuding, amongst San bands and tribal groupings.

Research limitations/implications

– While the nineteenth-century Kalahari San were indeed warlike and aggressive, toward both intruders and one another, this fact does not warrant the conclusion that these “simple” hunter-gatherer people have an agonistic predisposition. Instead, of being integral to their sociality, bellicosity is historically contingent. In the absence of the historical circumstances that fuel San aggression and warfare, as was the case after and before the people's exposure and resistance to hegemonic intruders, San society and ethos, in conformity with the social structure and value orientation of simple, egalitarian band societies, is basically peaceful.

Originality/value

– A setting-the-record-straight corrective on current misunderstandings and misinformation on hunter-gatherer warfare.
War, peace and Northwest Coast complex hunter-gatherers
Authors: H. Daly Richard
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to question the assumptions behind the aggressive competitive image of Northwest Coast (NWC) forager societies, given that their most reflective descendants emphasize sharing and paying back as constant peacemaking actions through history. Also to seek data that help ascertain whether this contemporary view might predate today's sensibilities colored by life as post-foragers encapsulated in nation states.

Design/methodology/approach

– Historical, ethnographic and ethnohistorical documentary sources are studied, together with regional archeological findings. These are considered against the author's own ethnographic work among various foragers on the edge of, but integrated with higher profile coastal peoples. Some historical context for regional war and peace is provided.

Findings

– The archeology indicates that evidence for violent warlike activity appears clearly about three times in 10,000 years, the most extensive being contiguous with Europe's economic and political influence on the continent in the past half millennium. Even in this latter period, extended family foragers managed and sought to control aggression/competition by social sharing and cooperation between like units and by upholding established peacemaking processes and protocols.

Research limitations/implications

– Since the region and its literature are vast, this theme requires extensive long-term investigation. Findings given here from a limited number of locations are tentative and require detail from other parts of the region; however, they do suggest an existing ethic of sharing and peacemaking reflected back in time through oral history and archeology.

Practical implications

– The literature of the NWC's bellicosity, its slavery, war-making and agonistic giving is based on events reported from a very short span of contact history. If these conditions had been endemic over time, there would have been insufficient peace to allow these foragers to hunt, gather, fish, barter and prepare foods and goods with which to survive between annual growing and spawning seasons.

Social implications

– Instead of finding ways to cooperate with each other to seek better living conditions, some NWC post-foragers now assume competition and aggression to be endemic features of their relations with each other. Such persons, perhaps from a sense of inferiority engendered by history, cite the bellicose literature and the glories of the fur trade period as more typical of their heritage than the wisdom and peaceful teachings of their own elders about the past, the future, human relations and the natural world.

Originality/value

– The findings from the NWC suggest analogies in the emphasis on sharing as a mechanism for making and maintaining peace in the broader comparative context of hunter-gatherer studies. Sharing remains central whether one examines complex hunter-gathers or their more egalitarian colleagues.
Myths about hunter-gatherers redux: nomadic forager war and peace
Authors: P. Fry Douglas , Söderberg Patrik
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to critique several studies that claim to show that nomadic foragers engage in high levels of inter-group aggression. This is done through exploring four myths: nomadic foragers are warlike; there was a high rate of war mortality in the Pleistocene; the nomadic forager data support the “chimpanzee model” of lethal raiding psychology; and contact and state influence inevitably decrease aggression in nomadic forager societies.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using exact criteria, a sample of 21 nomadic forager societies is derived from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. This sampling method minimizes the chance of sampling bias, a shortcoming that has plagued previous studies. Only the highest quality ethnographic data, those classified as Primary Authority Sources, are used, which results in data on 148 cases of lethal aggression. The specifics of the lethal aggression cases are then discussedvis-à-visthe four myths to demonstrate the disjuncture between the data and the myths.

Findings

– All four myths are found to be out of step with actual data on nomadic forager war and peace. Overall, the default interaction pattern of nomadic foragers is to get along with neighbors rather than make war against them. The findings contradict both assertions that there was a high level of war mortality among nomadic foragers of the Pleistocene and the chimpanzee model's proposal that human males have a tendency or predisposition to form coalitions and make lethal attacks on members of neighboring groups.

Research limitations/implications

– Consideration of nomadic forager war and peace should be contextualized in terms of social organization, contact history (including ethnocide, displacement, and other factors), and the current situation faced by extant forager populations. As in other contexts, the introduction of alcohol at contact or subsequently has increased nomadic forager aggression.

Practical implications

– Propositions as to the aggressiveness of nomadic foragers should be viewed with skepticism because they are contradicted by data and a contextual view of nomadic forager social organization and ethnohistory.

Social implications

– The debate over nomadic forager war and peace is connected to larger debates in modern society about the nature of human nature and has real-world implications regarding foreign policy and political approaches toward war and peace.

Originality/value

– A critique of sampling, methodology, and theory is provided in this area.
Succeeding at new businesses: a matrix to measure flexibility
Authors: J. Burns David
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– This purpose of this paper is to suggest and develop an alternative model, the Opportunity Assessment Matrix, to address some of the primary strategic issues in the business environment of today. Changes in the business environment are increasing the need for strategic planning, but it has also diminished the value of some of the classic tools used in strategy formation in the past, such as portfolio models.

Design/methodology/approach

– The shortcomings in applying portfolio models from the past to today’s business environment are discussed, providing a basis for the developing the Opportunity Assessment Matrix.

Findings

– The Opportunity Assessment Matrix is introduced as a means to evaluate the ability of an organization to successfully undertake and exploit new business opportunities. The proposed model is based on two dimensions – operational flexibility and market potential.

Originality/value

– The Opportunity Assessment Matrix facilitates an assessment of new business and product opportunities. With today’s ever-changing customer needs, the identification and exploitation of new product and business opportunities have become critical for the ongoing success of many firms. Most attempts by business firms to exploit new opportunities, however, are not successful, often due to a lack of an understanding of the market potential realization or an inadequate consideration of possible internal constraints. The Opportunity Assessment Matrix addresses both of these issues by examining the match between potential market opportunities and a firm’s ability to exploit them.
Clicks or commitment: activism in the age of social media
Authors: Buell Hirsch Peter
Published: October 2014

Purpose

– The paper aims to discuss recent attempts at creating metrics on this issue and examine some historical precedents. What kinds of social activism in the social media generate real commitment or behavior change and which simply pile up likes and shares? This essay discusses recent attempts at creating metrics on this issue and examines some historical precedents.

Design/methodology/approach

– We compare modern activism with such historical figures as prohibitionist Carrie Nation and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger.

Findings

– Our analysis suggests that identifying what makes a social campaign successful in changing behavior may be more difficult than it, at first, appears.

Originality/value

– The essay suggests some new approaches to what makes social media activism successful.