bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The syntax and semantics of inchoatives as directed motion: The case of Korean
Authors: Lim Dongsik , Zubizarreta Maria‐Luisa
Published: September 2012

This chapter investigates Korean aspectual auxiliary -eci “become” in terms of the directed motion construction. First it discusses cases where -eci combines with adjectives and derives deadjectival inchoatives, and claim that -eci deadjectival inchoatives contain semantic components of comparatives. This chapter argues that -eci is a spellout of the verbal head v of the directed motion construction, which takes a gradable adjective with a component of comparative as its path argument. This chapter shows that our analysis can account for various characteristics of -eci deadjectival inchoatives, including their parallel behaviour with directed motion constructions headed by -ka/-o ‘come/go’, and their variable telicity. This chapter extends our analysis to cases in which -eci combines with verbal predicates, thus proposing an unified analysis of -eci in terms of directed motion. Finally, the chapter discusses recent analysis of Spanish inchoative se as a case of directed motion, compare it to Korean inchoative -eci, and point to some cross-linguistic differences that still remain to be elucidated.
Part I: The origin and archetypes of music making
Authors: Stumpf Carl
Published: September 2012

This chapter presents Part I of Carl Stumpf's The Origins of Music, which explores the topic of music's origination. It discusses the recent hypotheses concerning the origins of music; the origin and archetypes of singing; primitive instruments and their influence; polyphony, rhythm, and intoned speech; and paths of development.
Part II: Songs of primitive peoples
Authors: Stumpf Carl
Published: September 2012

This chapter presents Part II of Carl Stumpf's The Origins of Music, which analyses of melodies from non-European cultures to demonstrate the psychological principles of tonal organization. It includes an Appendix with images of primitive instruments.
Carl Stumpf: A Self-Portrait (1924)
Authors: Stumpf Carl
Published: September 2012

This chapter presents an autobiographical survey of Carl Stumpf's life and work. It was written shortly after he retired from all lecturing at Berlin University in 1923. The first part is autobiographical, the second is a summary of the different threads — from academic philosophy to mathematics and the natural sciences — that are interwoven in his various publications to form the dense wood of his interdisciplinary legacy. The text is given here in a new translation as a short introduction to the author's scientific convictions, and to his motivation for investigating music as a means of understanding the psychological functions of our intellect.
Carl Stumpf’s publications
Authors: Wolfradt Uwe , Trippett David
Published: September 2012

This chapter presents a bibliography of Carl Stumpf's publications on philosophy (epistemology, philosophy of music, mathematics); psychology (theoretical psychology, studies in the psychology of music and tone as well as the psychology of emotions); musicology (studies in comparative musicology and acoustics); biographical sketches, and collaborative writings.
Narrative Spaces in the Representation and Understanding of Evolution
Authors: Matuk Camillia , Uttal David
Published: September 2012

Experts familiar with both their content and representational system use cladograms to reason about species’ phylogenies. But for novices, these diagrams rather tend to cue folk narrative beliefs of evolution. This chapter offers a cognitive semiotic account of common misinterpretations of cladograms. Interview excerpts show how undergraduates map narrative structures of their folk beliefs as metaphors onto the spatial structures of the diagram; how folk beliefs, as well as knowledge of representational systems from other domains, create contexts for mistaken interpretations; and how specific manipulations of the diagram’s presentation (e.g., animation) reveal these interpretations to be flexible. Based on our findings, we describe the design and pedagogical affordances of an interactive diagram to address novices’ narrative intuitions.
Why Don't Americans Accept Evolution as Much as People in Peer Nations Do? A Theory (Reinforced Theistic Manifest Destiny) and Some Pertinent Evidence
Authors: Ranney Michael Andrew
Published: September 2012

Prior speculations about why Americans don't embrace evolution — as much as comparable nations’ residents do — are generally dated and not well assessed. Reinforced Theistic Manifest Destiny (RTMD), introduced in this chapter, represents a more obviously predictive theory that focuses on spiritually-linked feedback regarding the U.S.’s military (and industrial) prowess. RTMD joins analyses of (a) individuals’ motivations, emotions, and epistemologies, with (b) intra- and inter-national historical narratives. Many of RTMD’s empirical hypotheses are discussed and from the U.S. and Canada. The North American findings largely cohere with the relevant set of RTMD’s predictions, given the variety of associations observed among beliefs regarding afterlife, theism, nationalism, global warming, and the origins of species. These encouraging experimental and survey studies offer further implications regarding how evolution might be better conveyed in both formal and informal settings — and why we should teach evolution in the first place (e.g., preserving Earth’s biosphere).
Challenges and Opportunities for Teaching and Designing Effective K–12 Evolution Curricula
Authors: Beardsley Paul M. , Bloom Mark V. , Wise Sarah B.
Published: September 2012

This chapter summarizes studies (up to 2009) on approaches to teaching evolution that provide evidence of effectiveness for teaching about evolution. Few studies exist at the elementary and middle school levels. At high school and undergraduate levels, a wide variety of results were reported. The lack of standard assessments and the variation in quality of assessments used limits comparisons among studies. Additionally, evolution education would benefit from more studies with rigorous experimental designs. With these limitations in mind, the review showed no support for lecture-based approaches, whereas inquiry-based and conceptual change approaches showed some evidence for support, especially when an appropriate amount of time was allotted. More research on the effect of making evolution relevant remains to be completed.
An Intentional Approach to Teaching Evolution
Authors: Southerland Sherry A. , Nadelson Louis S.
Published: September 2012

Evolution education has been hampered by two conditions. The first is the perception that there is no need to understand anything beyond the short-term processes of evolution (microevolution) to be a functional citizen. The second is the overwhelming focus on microevolution in the biology curriculum — if evolution is taught, typically only microevolution is addressed. This chapter begins our chapter by building a case for the importance of student understanding of both micro- and macroevolution. Following this discussion, the chapter offers a description of a course designed using the findings of a wide body of research (cognitive science, nature of science, evolution education) that employs an intentional conceptual change approach to the learning of both micro and macroevolutionary concepts.
Walking Whales and Singing Flies
Authors: Diamond Judy , Evans E. Margaret , Spiegel Amy N.
Published: September 2012

This chapter describes Explore Evolution, an influential exhibit developed for university museums in Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas with support from the National Science Foundation. Researchers intensively studied the exhibit’s impacts on visitor reasoning about evolution, and they gained new insight into how exhibits can influence visitor understanding of complex ideas. The research uncovered a significant finding: a single visit to the Explore Evolution exhibit improved visitors' ability to explain evolutionary problems. This significant, if incremental, change was seen across the participants, regardless of age, differing religious beliefs or prior knowledge. Moreover, visitors realized that evolution occurred regardless of the nature of the organism. Explore Evolution’s inclusion of diverse organisms helped visitors recognize that evolution occurs in all living things.
Introduction: Saddling the Drunken Mule
Authors: Barker David C. , Carman Christopher Jan
Published: September 2012

Should the leaders you elect simply do what you tell them, even if it means compromising some of their deeply held beliefs? Or should they doggedly stand on principle, even if it means neglecting some of your demands for change? This chapter introduces our argument, namely that individuals have (latent) preferences for how they think political representation should work and that these preferences have very real consequences for the way representation does, in fact, work. After defining the basic concept of representation, and specifically the classic trustee/delegate model, this chapter specifies the hypotheses that will be addressed in subsequent chapters.
Mapping the Cultural and Partisan Divide in Representation Preferences
Authors: Barker David C. , Carman Christopher Jan
Published: September 2012

This chapter uses data from the 2006–2009 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) to test our expectation that cultural traditionalists (and especially evangelical Christians) tend to prefer trustee-style representation more instinctively than do other types of Americans. The chapter describes the results from a series of multiple regression analyses, each one predicting preferences for either instructed delegates or trustees from, in turn, measures of the value orientations which were described in Chapter 3, measures of traditionalistic Christian religiosity, which we have argued bring these value priorities together, and party identification. This chapter finds that the values of liberal popular democracy predict citizen preferences for instructed delegate-style representation, whereas Christian traditionalism predicts preferences for trustee-style representation. All of this ultimately translates into Democrats preferring the instructed delegate style more consistently than Republicans do.
Whose Justice?
Authors: Philpott Daniel
Published: September 2012

This chapter confronts the “problem of pluralism”: How can an ethic of political reconciliation be applied in settings characterized by multiple religious and philosophical worldviews? The chapter sets forth two central tasks of the ethic. The first is to explicate justice. The second is to show how the ethic can become the object of an overlapping consensus among diverse traditions. The chapter focuses on the second task, proposing an approach it calls “rooted reason”-an approach that allows members of traditions to endorse the ethic on the basis of reasons internal to their tradition rather than subjecting their reasons to a “filter” such as secular language. The chapter discusses strategies and dilemmas for achieving an overlapping consensus.
The Basic Standards of Justice
Authors: Philpott Daniel
Published: September 2012

This chapter sets forth moral standards that are basic and foundational to the ethic, defining those political injustices with which reconciliation concerns itself as well as the essential features of justice in a restored political community. While it is an essential argument of this book that justice involves far more than human rights and the laws of war, it encompasses these standards. Because of the foundational status of these standards, a closer look at them is a good place to begin the defense of the ethic.
The Wounds of Political Injustice
Authors: Philpott Daniel
Published: September 2012

This chapter defines wounds of political injustice. It explains the difference between primary and secondary wounds. It also describes six primary wounds of political injustice: 1) the violation of the victim's basic human rights, 2) harms to the victim's person, 3) victims' ignorance of the source and circumstances of political injustices, 4) the lack of acknowledgment of the suffering of victims, 5) the standing victory of the wrongdoer's political injustice, and 6) harm to the person of the wrongdoer.
Is Reconciliation Fit for Politics?
Authors: Philpott Daniel
Published: September 2012

This chapter considers criticisms of the reconciliation from two perspectives. The first is that of power, consisting of the realist school of international relations thought as well as analogous explanations for domestic politics. The second is that of skeptical versions of liberalism, which view reconciliation as interfering unjustly with personal autonomy. After seeking to answer both kinds of criticism, the chapter critiques liberal consequentialism.
Conclusion
Authors: Philpott Daniel
Published: September 2012

The conclusion sets forth five reasons why the ethic of political reconciliation matters. First, it matters because justice matters intrinsically. Second, it matters because justice motivates the actual players in the politics of dealing with the past. Third, the ethic contains implications for action, including criteria for judging actions and guidance into making choices about actions. Fourth, the ethic is distinct from other leading paradigms for peacebuilding. Fifth, the ethic makes a place for the contribution of religious traditions to the ethics of peacebuilding and brings them into conversation with secular thinking.
From Practicality to a New Messianism
Authors: Firestone Reuven
Published: September 2012

By the third decade of the twentieth century secular Labor Zionism dominated the Zionist Movement and actively engaged in redefining Jewish identity in non-religious, secular nationalist terms. At the very same time, an independent thinker and charismatic rabbi named Abraham Isaac Kook became the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandate Palestine. Kook was not typical of any of the camps, whether pro- or anti-Zionist, but attracted a following of idealistic and mystical Orthodox Jews to his atypical approach to living in and settling the Land of Israel. His obscure and mystical writings became virtually sacred texts among some, and exerted a profound influence on a small cadre of talented religious Zionists. Among his innovative ideas was a modern mystical view that war has a progressive role in the divine scheme. Kook was the first prominent thinker to discuss divinely authorized war outside of the parameters of the traditional rabbinic worldview.
1948 to 1967
Authors: Firestone Reuven
Published: September 2012

The War of Independence was considered by virtually all Jews everywhere as a war of defence against Arab armies and irregulars who attempted to destroy the nascent Jewish state. Its success after the horrors of the Holocaust spawned an upsurge in messianic expectations that soon subsided under the pressure of building a state apparatus where none had existed previously. Much of the ideological fervour that drove the revolutionary movement of Zionism subsided in the face of the need for institution building and the absorption of masses of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and Muslim lands in the Middle East and North Africa. The old ethos of avoiding war at all costs broke down during this period as well as punitive and pre-emptive military acts were carried out by Israeli forces against Arab militaries and civilian populations. Under the auspices of the military rabbinate, the Orthodox Jewish community begins to consider the sanctity of various portions of the traditional Land of Israel.
The 1980s
Authors: Firestone Reuven
Published: September 2012

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook symbolized and crystallized a trend that was developing organically in religious Zionism. He was uncompromising on the essentials of a messianic form of Zionism and popularized a combination of ultra-Orthodox absolutism with an ideology of human activism inherent in modern nationalist movements. This equation produced a militant nationalist messianism (or messianic nationalism). Kook considered the Three Vows to have been cancelled and taught that with God's sanction, the Jewish nation is on the final and inexorable path to divine redemption through building up the Land of Israel – all of the Land of Israel. God not only sanctions this redemptive moment of history but decrees it. Any compromise is a renunciation of the divine plan and a violation of God’s will. The movement that crystallized around Rabbi Kook actually carried the previously moderated and often unspoken messianic ideals of Religious Zionism to their logical conclusion, which resulted in a new contextualization and modern articulation of Jewish holy war.
SECRECY, SETTLEMENTS, AND MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LITIGATION
Authors: Helland Eric , Lee Gia
Published: September 2012

This chapter provides an empirical analysis of the impact of secrecy in civil litigation on settlement values and subsequent claims. The analysis focuses on the disclosure of medical malpractice data on websites in seventeen states. These states take two fundamentally different approaches to disclosure: some report all settlements on websites; others require trial and arbitration judgments to become public, but not private settlements. The study calls into question the claim that confidential settlement bans are unworkable or would overwhelm the civil justice system. It suggests that, at least in the medical malpractice context, average settlement values would decline. It points to two reasons for such decline that are not mutually exclusive. It suggests that some defendants value secrecy and currently pay a premium to ensure settlement secrecy. In mandatory disclosure regimes, litigants will be unwilling to pay the secrecy premium, and settlement values will decline. It further suggests that mandatory disclosure will generate additional lower value litigation.
TRANSPARENCY FOR CIVIL SETTLEMENTS: NASDAQ FOR LAWSUITS?
Authors: Yeazell Stephen
Published: September 2012

This chapter discusses transparency in the real world of civil litigation. It first lays out the case for seeing civil claims settlement as a market, followed by an explanation of how little we know about how bad our pricing information is. After a brief look at how our preoccupation with other, “flashier” forms of opacity in civil settlements has diverted attention from the real problem, it proposes a way to obtain accurate pricing information and reviews some obstacles that lie between here and the realization of that solution.
THE FUTURE OF COURT SYSTEM TRANSPARENCY
Authors: LoPucki Lynn M.
Published: September 2012

This chapter argues that existing technology is capable of rendering the court system almost completely transparent at nominal cost. “Transparent” means that the public would have online access not only to the documents in court files, but also to the answers to millions of the most important questions regarding the system's performance. The chapter summarizes a larger project in which the author sought to project the consequences of elimination of the two most important remaining barriers to federal court system transparency: the current charge of eight cents per page for obtaining court documents through PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) and the need for human intervention to extract data from the PDF forms posted on PACER. It begins by describing the technological challenge of converting PACER data into useful views of the court system. It then turns to the substantial benefits that would flow from providing those views. Lastly, it lists and responds to the objections that have been, and will be, made to the federal courts' efforts to render their operations transparent.
TRANSPARENCY THROUGH INSURANCE: MANDATES DOMINATE DISCRETION
Authors: Baker Tom
Published: September 2012

This chapter describes how liability insurance has contributed to the transparency of the civil justice system. It makes three main points. First, much of what we know about the empirics of the civil justice system comes from access to liability insurance data and personnel. Second, as long as access to liability insurance data and personnel depends on the discretion of liability insurance organizations, this knowledge will be incomplete and, most likely, biased in favor of the public policy agenda of the organizations providing discretionary access to the data. Third, although mandatory disclosure of liability insurance data would improve transparency, a reasonably complete understanding of the empirics of the civil justice system also requires mandatory disclosure of the payments and defense expenditures that are not covered by alternative risk transfer arrangements. The first part of the chapter describes existing approaches to transparency through liability insurance in the United States. The second part analyzes the role of liability insurance in promoting transparency in several discrete civil justice arenas—auto, medical, and products liability—and, for comparison purposes, workers' compensation. The concluding section addresses objectives to expanding mandatory claims reporting and links the discussion in this chapter to the literature on the relationship between liability and insurance more generally.
First Report of Pratylenchus neglectus on Winter Wheat in China
Authors: Wu H. Y. , Jia Z. Z. , Liu J. , Luo J. , Peng D. L.
Published: September 2012

Root-lesion nematodes are major pathogens of wheat and have been reported in the United States, Mexico, India, Australia, Egypt, Canary Islands, South Africa, Iran, Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and Yugoslavia (1). They can also cause injury in a large number of crops, including grasses, cereal grains, and vegetables. In 2009 and 2010, a survey was conducted for nematodes in winter wheat fields near Taian city, Shandong, northern China. Root tissues were stained via the acid fuchsin tissue stain technique, and nematode numbers were recorded under a stereo microscope. Sixty-eight root samples were collected during the winter wheat growing season, and root lesion nematode was found in all samples. The highest average lesion nematode populations in fresh roots were 154.3 nematodes/g in 2009 and 236.7 nematodes/g in 2010. Nematodes were collected from infested wheat roots by a modified Baermann funnel method. Dimensions of the nematodes were: length, 0.42 to 0.54 mm; a, 18.8 to 24.2; b, 4.4 to 5.7; c, 19.8 to 25.4; V, 80.4 to 84.8; and spear, 17.1 to 18.9 μm. DNA was extracted from individual nematodes using liquid nitrogen. Amplification of rDNA-internal transcribed spacer region using the forward primers 5′-CGTAACAAGGTAGCTGTAG-3′ and the reverse primer 5′-TTTCACTCGCCGTTACTAAGG-3′ yielded a PCR fragment of approximately 900 bp. PCR products were purified using Universal Plant DNA Purification Kit (Tiangen, China) and ligated to the pMD18-T vector system (TaKaRa Bio, Japan) and transformed to E. coli strain DH5α. Plasmid DNA carrying the insert was extracted and used as the template for DNA sequencing. DNA sequencing was carried out in an ABI 3730, compared and aligned using MEGA 5.0. Sequences showed 96% sequence identity with those of Pratylenchus neglectus (GenBank Accession No. FR692291.1). The sequence was submitted to the GenBank database (JX228136). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. neglectus infesting winter wheat in China. P. neglectus has been reported as causing economically significant damage to wheat production of up to 70% yield loss in the Pacific Northwest. Damage from lesion nematode may therefore be potentially significant to wheat production in Shandong Province, and further information should be obtained on its prevalence.

References: (1) P. A. A. Loof. The family Pratylenchidae Thorne, 1949. W. R. Nickle, ed., Manual of Agricultural Nematol. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, 1991. (2) R. W. Smiley et al. J. Nematol. 37:45, 2005.
Pathogenicity and Host–Parasite Relationships of Heterodera cruciferae in Cabbage
Authors: Sasanelli N. , Vovlas N. , Trisciuzzi N. , Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C. , Palomares-Rius J. E. , Castillo P.
Published: September 2012

Stunted cabbage (‘Lupini’) associated with severe soil infestations by a cyst-forming nematode were observed in large patches of open fields in Castellaneta, province of Taranto, southern Italy. Morphological traits based on mature cysts, males, and second-stage juveniles (J2s) and molecular analysis of ribosomal DNA (D2 to D3 expansion segments of 28S and internal transcribed spacer [ITS]1 region) were used to identify the species. ITS1 sequence information supported the identity of Heterodera cruciferae, also showing a high degree of similarity to other species of the Heterodera Goettingiana group, including H. goettingiana, H. carotae, and H. urticae. Nematodes successfully established permanent feeding sites in cabbage roots which caused cellular alterations in the root cortex, endodermis, pericycle, and vascular cylinder by inducing typical multinucleate syncytia. Syncytial cytoplasm was granular and dense, with variously sized vacuoles and hypertrophied nuclei with nucleoli. Cabbage plant growth was also reduced in pathogenicity tests. The relationship between the initial nematode population density in soil and shoot plant weight was well described by the Seinhorst's equation. Tolerance limits with respect to shoot plant weight of cabbage to H. cruciferae was estimated as 1.50 units of eggs plus J2s/cm3 of soil. The minimum relative value (m) for plant height was 0.71 at an initial nematode population density of (Pi) ≥ 64 units of eggs plus J2s/cm3 of soil. The maximum nematode reproduction rate (Pf/Pi) was 4.6 times that of the initial population density of 8 units of eggs plus J2s/cm3 of soil.
A Novel Approach to Dissect the Abscission Process in Arabidopsis
Authors: González-Carranza Zinnia Haydee , Shahid Ahmad Ali , Zhang Li , Liu Yang , Ninsuwan Unchalee , Roberts Jeremy Alan
Published: September 2012

Abscission is the consequence of a specialized layer of cells undergoing a complex series of molecular and biochemical events. Analysis of the specific molecular changes associated with abscission is hampered by contamination from neighboring nonseparating tissues. Moreover, studies of abscission frequently involve the examination of events that take place in isolated segments of tissue exposed to nonphysiological concentrations of ethylene or indole-3-acetic acid for protracted periods (more than 24 h) of time. To resolve these problems, we have adopted the use of a transgenic line of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) where the promoter of an abscission-specific polygalacturonase gene (At2g41850/ARABIDOPSIS DEHISCENCE ZONE POLYGALACTURONASE2) has been fused to a green fluorescent protein reporter. RNA was extracted from green fluorescent protein-tagged cells, released from abscising floral organs, and used to generate a complementary DNA library. This library was used to probe a microarray, and a population of abscission-related transcripts was studied in detail. Seven novel abscission-related genes were identified, four of which encode proteins of unknown function. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses and promoter fusions to the β-glucuronidase reporter gene confirmed the expression of these genes in the abscission zone and revealed other places of expression during seedling development. Three of these genes were studied further by crossing reporter lines to the abscission mutants inflorescence deficient in abscission (ida) and blade-on-petiole1 (bop1)/bop2 and an IDA-overexpressing line. Phenotypic analysis of an At3g14380 transfer DNA insertion line indicates that this gene plays a functional role in floral organ shedding. This strategy has enabled us to uncover new genes involved in abscission, and their possible contribution to the process is discussed.
Optimization method of fixture layout for aeronautical thin‐walled structures with automated riveting
Authors: Cheng Hui , Li Yuan , Zhang Kai‐Fu , Luan Chao , Xu Yan‐Wu , Li Ming‐Hui
Published: September 2012

Purpose

An appropriate fixture layout can decrease the assembly variation of Aeronautical Thin‐Walled Structure (ATWS) substantially. The purpose of this paper is to develop a fixture layout method to minimize variation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses genetic algorithm and ants algorithm (GAAA) to optimize the fixture layout by first, analyzing the “N‐2‐1” positioning principle of ATWS riveting, and then developing a hierarchical fixture layout model to represent the base points and locating points of ATWS. Second, information of base points and locating points is coded as gene and chromosome, according to a special coding rule and the fixture layout model. The fitness is also defined by the assembly variation of key characteristic points (KCPs). Third, the genetic and ants manipulations are discussed individually, and the two parts are connected by threshold value of the probability for chromosome in the genetic manipulation.

Findings

The method can solve the fixture layout problem of ATWS with automated riveting efficiently, which is shown as an example in this paper.

Practical implications

The assembly variation is decreased by using the method presented in this paper according to the variation comparison.

Originality/value

The hierarchical fixture layout model is proposed for the first time in this paper and base points and locating points are optimized successfully by the GAAA.
Co‐creation of meaning as a prerequisite for market‐focused strategic flexibility
Authors: Gylling Catharina , Elliott Richard , Toivonen Marja
Published: September 2012

Purpose

In this paper the authors aim to introduce the perspective of shared meanings as a prerequisite for the formation of market‐focused strategic flexibility.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors apply the ideas of co‐creation of meaning, which derive from research into the narrative process of strategy and the practice turn of strategy. The authors' view is illustrated with a case example from a Finnish property rental company. Using action research methodology, data were collected through interviews and workshops from the company, from its clients and from its subcontractors.

Findings

The case presented here shows that the lack of common understanding may lead to poor service quality even though the provider aims at meeting clients' needs. On the other hand, the results confirm that developing a shared understanding is possible in business practice. A common lexicon and the conscious use of human narrative capability facilitate the achievement of this goal.

Research limitations/implications

Since the empirical results are based on one case, the possibility for generalisations is limited. However, the study highlights important aspects of strategic flexibility that are worthy of further research.

Practical implications

The study shows that flexible market orientation needs shared meanings between all the relevant actors in a service chain. The study also suggests some ideas on how the co‐creation of meaning can be promoted in practice.

Originality/value

Linking the perspectives of co‐creation of meaning and market‐focused strategic flexibility is a new approach. The paper illustrates these topics in a subcontracting chain, whereas earlier studies have usually focused on companies.
An empirical analysis of Iran's banking performance
Authors: Arjomandi Amir , Harvie Charles , Valadkhani Abbas
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficiency and productivity growth of the Iranian banking industry between 2003 and 2008, encompassing pre‐ and post‐2005‐reform years.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a new decomposition of the Hicks‐Moorsteen total factor productivity index developed by O'Donnell to analyse efficiency and productivity changes in a banking context. The advantage of this approach over the popular constant‐returns‐to‐scale Malmquist productivity index is that it is free from any assumptions concerning firms' optimising behaviour, the structure of markets, or returns to scale. The paper assumes that the production technology exhibits variable returns to scale.

Findings

The banking industry's technical efficiency level – which had improved between 2003 and 2006 – deteriorated after regulatory changes were introduced in Iran. The results obtained also show that during 2006‐2007, the industry's total factor productivity increased by 32 per cent. However, the industry experienced its highest negative scale efficiency rate of 38 per cent (ΔROSE=0.62) and its highest negative efficiency growth of 43 per cent (ΔEff=0.57) during this period. The industry also witnessed a strong drop in productivity in 2007‐2008. Overall, changes in the production possibility set and scale‐efficiency changes exerted dominant effects on productivity changes.

Originality/value

This study is the first to use a comprehensive decomposition of the Hicks‐Moorsteen TFP index to analyse efficiency and productivity changes in a banking context.
Obtaining desired surface roughness of castings produced using ZCast direct metal casting process through Taguchi's experimental approach
Authors: Chhabra Munish , Singh Rupinder
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate experimentally the effect of volume of casting, pouring temperature of different materials and shell mould wall thickness on the surface roughness of the castings obtained by using ZCast direct metal casting process.

Design/methodology/approach

Taguchi's design of experiment approach was used for this investigation. An L9 orthogonal array (OA) of Taguchi design which involves nine experiments for three factors with three levels was used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was then performed on S/N (signal‐to‐noise) ratios to determine the statistical significance and contribution of each factor on the surface roughness of the castings. The castings were obtained using the shell moulds fabricated with the ZCast process and the surface roughness of castings was measured by using the surface roughness tester.

Findings

Taguchi's analysis results showed that pouring temperature of materials was the most significant factor in deciding the surface roughness of the castings and the shell mould wall thickness was the next most significant factor, whereas volume of casting was found insignificant. Confirmation test was also carried out using the optimal values of factor levels to confirm the effectiveness of this approach. The predicted optimal value of surface roughness of castings produced by ZCast process was 6.47 microns.

Originality/value

The paper presents experimentally investigated data regarding the influence of various control factors on the surface roughness of castings produced by using ZCast process. The data may help to enhance the application of ZCast process in traditional foundry practice.
Accuracy and density optimization in directly fabricating customized orthodontic production by selective laser melting
Authors: Yang Yongqiang , Lu Jian‐bin , Luo Zhi‐Yi , Wang Di
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the research approach to optimize shape accuracy, dimensional accuracy and density of customized orthodontic production fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM).

Design/methodology/approach

A series of process experiments were applied to fabricating customized brackets directly by SLM, using 316L stainless steel. Shape accuracy can be optimized through the study on fabricating characteristics of non‐support overhanging structure. A scanning strategy combining contour scanning with orthogonal scanning, which differ in scanning speed and spot compensations, was proposed to improve dimensional accuracy. Scanning laser surface re‐melting was added to enhance the SLM density.

Findings

Optimized SLM parameters lead to high shape precision of customized brackets, and the average size error of bracket slot is less than 10 μm. The customized brackets density is more than 99 per cent, and the surface quality and mechanical properties meet the requirements.

Originality/value

The paper presents the state of the art in SLM of customized production (especially medical appliances) by optimizing part properties. It is the first time that SLM is employed in the manufacturing of customized orthodontic products. It shows the original research on overhanging structure and compound scanning strategy, approach to optimize SLM part accuracy. An improved laser surface re‐melting is employed in the density optimization.
Suitability of PLA/TCP for fused deposition modeling
Authors: Drummer Dietmar , Cifuentes‐Cuéllar Sandra , Rietzel Dominik
Published: September 2012

Purpose

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a layer by layer technology with the potential to create complex and individual parts from thermoplastic materials such as ABS. The use of Polylactic acid (PLA) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) as resorbable composite is state of the art in tissue engineering and maxillofacial surgery. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the processing conditions and the performance of parts (e.g. mechanical properties) manufactured with a FDM machine.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the general suitability of PLA for the processing with FDM is evaluated and material specific effects (e.g. crystallization and shrinkage) are shown. Therefore, the characterization of the semi‐crystalline biodegradable material by thermal, mechanical and microscopic analysis is carried out.

Findings

Facts, which affect the functional properties of the samples, are analyzed. Among them, the processing temperature and sample size significantly affect the morphology of the final components. Components from PLA/TCP with sufficient mechanical properties for their potential use as scaffolds are obtained.

Originality/value

Thus, the paper shows that by thermal analysis it is possible to identify major influences on processing and part properties.
The sustainability and stabilization of tag vocabulary in CiteULike
Authors: Ma Jin
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the growth patterns of tag vocabulary in collaborative tagging systems to verify the sustainability and stabilization of tag distributions. Both sustainability and stabilization are essential to the mining and categorization of information driven by tagging behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was based on time series data of CiteULike from November 2004 to April 2010. Power law distributions were detected to reveal statistical regularities and tagging patterns. Logistic regression analysis with time‐dependent covariates was conducted to identify the factors affecting the growth of distinct tags for articles. The significance of the effects and the time taken for a given article to reach its tagging maturity were also explored.

Findings

Time series plots and trend analysis illustrated the continuous growth of the tagging system. Exploratory analysis of power law distribution fittings indicated a sign of system stability known as scale invariance. Logistic regression results demonstrated that for a particular article, the number of users who tagged the article, the initial date when the article was tagged, and the life span of the article are statistically significant to the ratio of the distinct tag number to the total tag number for a given article. These results confirmed that the distinct tag ratio of an article gives rise to a stable pattern.

Originality/value

Though extensive work has been done on the patterns of tag vocabulary, it is not clear how the growth of distinctive tags behaves in relation to the total number of tag applications, considering time‐dependent covariates such as the number of users, and the longevity of an article. This paper sets to complement the literature on the existing methodology and investigate this property in detail.
Predicting intention to purchase on group buying website in Taiwan
Authors: Cheng Shu‐Yun , Tsai Ming‐Tien , Cheng Nai‐Chang , Chen Kun‐Shiang
Published: September 2012

Purpose

This study proposes integrating the perceived risk and social influence literatures on online group buying (OGB) intentions with the basic TAM variables (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an empirical survey of 304 online adopters of OGB in Taiwan, the paper uses structural equation modeling to confirm the research model.

Findings

The results reveal that perceived critical mass had the largest total effect on intention to use group buying websites. The findings also indicate that perceived usefulness and a sense of virtual community (SOVC) have significant effect on OGB intention. In addition, both perceived ease of use and website quality influence perceived usefulness. As expected, perceived risk has negative effect on OGB intention.

Research limitations/implications

This study only considered buying intention with regard to foodstuffs, and it is unclear whether these analytical results can be generalized to other items. Further research could apply this model to examine group coupons (such as discount vouchers for restaurants).

Practical implications

To sustain a successful group buying website, attention must be paid to enhancing user's SOVC, enlarging the critical mass, and lowering the perceived risk. Practitioners can apply the findings of this study to focus on the determinants of success for their online shopping websites.

Originality/value

Theoretically, while drawing upon TRA studies, this paper provides a model that is capable of lending an understanding of the determinants of OGB intention. From a managerial perspective, the findings indicate that webmasters can improve or manage website members' buying intentions by increasing the sense of virtual community and critical mass.
How to reconcile business with sustainable development: an innovation approach
Authors: Bouglet Johan , Joffre Olivier , Simon Eric
Published: September 2012

Purpose

Sustainable development has first been perceived as a hindrance to economic growth. Today, the opposition between innovation and sustainable development is less evident. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential complementarities that could emerge between innovation strategies and sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach

As a conceptual paper, this article aims at developing propositions.

Findings

Sustainable development constitutes a new data of the macro‐environmental context, likely to modify the competing industries and systems in which companies evolve. In return, they represent many opportunities that companies can seize to model their strategies. Within the framework of such an approach, innovation and sustainable development constitute engines of development which can get connected and virtuously feed themselves.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the results lack generalisability. Therefore, academics are encouraged to further test the propositions developed in the article.

Practical implications

Strategies, and their translation at the organisational level, integrating SD, may provide both a source of competitive advantage for companies and an enhancement of their commitment to society.

Social implications

The practices described in the article are aiming at stimulating the innovation of collaborators, in order to integrate the principles of sustainable development within the company.

Originality/value

This paper fills a literature gap regarding the study of how managers can take sustainable development into account to build their strategies.
Conceptualising public‐private partnerships
Authors: Mouraviev Nikolai , Kakabadse Nada K.
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to survey various meanings attached to a public‐private partnership (PPP) and related aspects in Western literature, and identify commonalities and differences between them. Additionally, the article intends to critically assess conflicting and overlapping views on contractual and institutional PPPs, their forms and models, and draw insights for transitional economies.

Design/methodology/approach

The article contrasts and compares views on PPP meanings, forms and models within Western PPP literature, and also draws comparisons with understanding of partnership aspects in the Russian language sources. The article examines theories underpinning PPPs, builds connections to PPP advantages and drawbacks, and provides critical assessment of net benefits that PPPs may bring along to the society.

Findings

The article concludes that future PPP research in transitional countries such as Kazakhstan and Russia, particularly in the area of organisational and power arrangements in partnerships, may delineate new concepts such as government as a guarantor of a PPP project, social significance of a PPP project, and risk management in a country's contextual environment.

Practical implications

In transitional countries, in which PPPs are in their infancy, clarification of theoretical positions, and identification of commonalities and differences between meanings attached to the PPP terminology may enable better decisions by researchers and practitioners in their selection and further development of partnerships and related concepts.

Originality/value

Research in the field of PPPs in transitional countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan is in its infancy. The paper intends to contribute to the body of knowledge about PPPs by providing detailed account and categorisation of their principal meanings, forms, models, underpinning theories, and drawing insights for future research in transitional countries.
A maze of metaphors around glass ceilings
Authors: Smith Paul , Caputi Peter , Crittenden Nadia
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review many of the diverse metaphors and labels that are used to highlight insights into glass ceilings – the obstacles hindering women reaching the top levels of organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The development of metaphors and labels related to theories about the causes and consequences of glass ceilings are discussed. They are classified according to whether or not they infer women play a role in creating glass ceilings.

Findings

It is concluded that most metaphor‐linked explanations focus on discrimination and prejudice towards women seeking leadership positions. A small number of metaphors target characteristics of women as causes for the gender inequality in leadership and upper management.

Practical implications

Even though there is a plethora of metaphors highlighting obstacles and prejudice against women leaders and several metaphors have been part of the popular lexicon for at least three decades, metaphors do not appear to have greatly helped to quicken the dismantling of glass ceilings.

Originality/value

This is a unique approach to reviewing literature in this area.