bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Key issues and challenges in e‐government development
Authors: Zhao Fang , José Scavarda Annibal , Waxin Marie‐France
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and study the key issues and challenges facing e‐government development from an integrative perspective, and to provide strategies and policy recommendations to address them in a broad and holistic way.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the key issues in e‐government development, the authors took an integrative approach built on several existing theories and research. The authors conducted an empirical case study of Dubai. The data collection methods included documentary research; reviewing the major websites of Dubai government entities; and interviewing 22 e‐government stakeholders.

Findings

The authors have identified a variety of important issues and challenges facing e‐government development in Dubai. Of them, they focus on language issues on websites, e‐integration, uptake of e‐government services and the digital divide, and quality of Dubai e‐government websites and e‐services.

Practical implications

Given that Dubai was ranked the number one eCity in the Arab World and the eighteenth in the world in e‐government implementation, this insightful case study has wider implications. It contributes to a better understanding of the key issues in e‐government development in the Arab nations. The broad and holistic strategies developed through this study address the root causes of the issues, which could help governments not only in Dubai but also in other countries in their policy making.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first integrative and empirical study that explores the key issues and challenges in e‐government development through studying e‐government experiences of Dubai from both supply and demand perspectives.
Social media and the social movements in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Shirazi Farid
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of social media in communication discourse in the Islamic Middle East and North African (MENA) countries.

Design/methodology/approach

By applying the theory of social networks and a method known as critical discourse analysis (CDA) this study investigates the role of social media in the recent waves of popular unrest in the MENA region.

Findings

This study finds that social media not only played an important role in citizens’ participation in communication discourse and mobilization, but also that these media activities intensified in part because of the authorities’ failing rationales against protesters, as shown in the four‐part CDA validity test.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to a particular time frame covering the recent democratic discourse in the MENA region for the period 2009‐2011. While this research is limited to the case study of the MENA region, the author believes that lessons learned from this case study can be applied to other developing countries across the globe.

Practical implications

Social media tools available via the internet have provided web users across the globe effective tools and services to share and disseminate information by interactively collaborating with each other in digital communities through blogs, social networking and video sharing sites. In this context, social networks are considered to be effective media for communication discourse. The intensive use of social media networks among citizens’ of the MENA region indicate that the internet has the potential to be a multivocal platform through which silenced and marginalized groups can have their voices heard.

Originality/value

While the existing literature focuses largely on deploying Habermasian critical discourse analysis to media discourse within the context of democratic and well developed nations, this paper presents one of the few studies that extends the CDA method to non‐democratic countries. As such it contributes to the existing knowledge and understanding of the mobilizing effects of social media in communication discourse.
Students’ use of one to one laptops: a capability approach analysis
Authors: Hatakka Mathias , Andersson Annika , Grönlund Åke
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate effects of students’ 1:1 laptop use from a capability perspective by investigating increases and decreases of students’ opportunities and choices. The paper investigates changes that have taken place and how these changes enable or restrict students to do and be what they desire.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper undertakes an interpretive case study based on group interviews and questionnaires. Sen's capability approach is used as theoretical framework and has informed the data collection and the analysis.

Findings

1:1 laptops in schools have provided students with new opportunities and choices, but also restricted others. An evident opportunity is the equalization of access to computers. Other opportunities relate to schoolwork efficiency and increased access to information. Gains also include the use of different media for overcoming disabilities or to fit individual learning styles. Regarding students’ well‐being, a “fun” learning environment is mentioned. However, the “fun” is often about playing games or using social media – something which diverts the students’ attention from the learning. Students also find that they are less social, too computer dependent, and that they miss using pen and paper. Additionally, health issues such as back problems and headaches are reported, as well as an increased risk of being robbed.

Originality/value

Most research on 1:1 laptops in education focuses on easily quantifiable measures and reports from a teacher perspective. The paper takes a broader approach and investigates the impact 1:1 laptops have on students’ well‐being and agency.
Social network analysis for cluster‐based IP spam reputation
Authors: Sadan Zac , Schwartz David G.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

IP reputation systems, which filter e‐mail based on the sender's IP address, are located at the perimeter – before the messages reach the mail server's anti‐spam filters. To increase IP reputation system efficacy and overcome the shortcomings of individual IP‐based filtering, recent studies have suggested exploiting the properties of IP clusters, such as those of Autonomous Systems (AS). Cluster‐based techniques can enhance accuracy and reduce false negative rates. However, clusters generally contain enormous amounts of IP addresses, which hinder cluster‐based systems from reaching their full spam filtering potential. The purpose of this paper is exploitation of social network metrics to obtain a more granular, i.e. sub‐divided, view of cluster‐based reputation, and thus enhance spam filtering accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined the performance of various social network metrics, including nodal degree, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality and valued graphs, to find an optimal element that enhances IP reputation prediction in AS clusters.

Findings

It was found that all measures contributed to prediction, yet the best predictor of spam reputation was the out‐degree metric, which showed a strong positive correlation with spam reputation prediction. This implies that more granular information can increase the accuracy of IP reputation prediction in AS clusters.

Practical implications

Used in conjunction with other technologies, the granular cluster‐based reputation system can be a valuable addition to commercial and open‐source spam filtering systems, or to standalone DNS‐based blacklists.

Originality/value

The authors' approach can promote mitigation of larger spam volumes at the perimeter, save bandwidth, and conserve valuable system resources.
Health service employees and information security policies: an uneasy partnership?
Authors: Renaud Karen , Goucher Wendy
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees in a health board perceived and experienced information governance policies.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach was interpretive. A series of interviews was carried out and the transcripts were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach.

Findings

The authors discovered that staff often felt subjugated by policies, they experienced a lack of support, and experienced pressure to comply and to motivate the staff they managed to comply with policy directives. It was also obvious that all interviewees were highly motivated and concerned about information security. The authors conclude by proposing some mediation: a recognition and reward scheme to reward secure behaviour, the implementation of an incident response process, facilitated upward communication and development of a security culture in the organisation. Finally, the authors argue for the same rules to apply to all staff, so that procedures are fair, and seen to be so.

Practical implications

The authors make some recommendations for mediation, which should ensure that employees experience less pressure in complying with policy directives.

Social implications

If the authors' recommendations are followed, information security is bound to improve, which would be an outcome greatly to be desired.

Originality/value

This paper empirically confirms recommendations made by other researchers working in this area.
Can spending on information security be justified?
Authors: Stewart Andrew
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimality of various strategies for spending on information security. Being able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of spending strategies is useful to organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The author's analysis begins with a whole‐systems view of the security spending decision that encompasses people, technology, and economics and a taxonomy of justifications is presented for spending on information security. Each justification within the taxonomy is discussed, with that analysis used to examine the apparent rationality of a number of common spending strategies. A model is constructed that can be used in a practical manner to enable an organization to select a rational approach to spending on information security.

Findings

The author describes two spending strategies intended to be simple and straightforward for an organization to employ in a practical manner. These strategies account for a number of weaknesses in common justifications for spending on information security. They also take into consideration the observation that a number of pressures push companies towards inefficiency in their spending.

Originality/value

When faced with budgeting decisions, managers are bound by fiduciary duty to identify those investments that will maximize shareholder value. As such, decisions about spending must be carefully considered and evaluated in rational economic terms. This paper provides useful thinking on this important topic.
A method to calculate social networking hazard probability in definite time
Authors: Michalopoulos Dimitrios , Mavridis Ioannis
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate hazards for minor users while they are exposed to social networks. In particular, it provides the statistical relationship of these hazards with the exposure time as well as the amount of published personal information.

Design/methodology/approach

An experiment was conducted that has revealed a huge number of personal information exposed by users of social network applications. Moreover, a significant amount of suspicious activity against minors has been recorded. Experimental data led to the hypothesis that online hazards can be modeled with known statistical distributions. In order to examine this hypothesis, survival analysis techniques, which involve the estimation of certain functions that reflect the relation of a disastrous event with time, were applied.

Findings

The results show that the incoming hazards for minor female profiles follow the Logistic distribution, while the corresponding hazards for minor male profiles follow the Normal distribution.

Originality/value

The findings of this work are crucial for developing an effective system for automated grooming recognition in real time by optimizing the detection threshold as a function of time. Thus, the threshold sensitivity can be appropriately adjusted such that lower frequencies of occurrence lead to lower threshold sensitivities, and higher frequencies of occurrence lead to higher threshold sensitivities.
Psychosocial risks
Authors: Frangopoulos Evangelos D. , Eloff Mariki M. , Venter Lucas M.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relation of psychosocial risks to information security (IS). Although psychosocial risks at the workplace have been extensively researched from a managerial point of view, their effect on IS has not been formally studied to the extent required by the gravity of the topic.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on existing research on psychosocial risks, their potential effects on IS are examined.

Findings

It is shown that as psychosocial risks affect people at the workplace, they diminish their ability to defend IS.

Research limitations/implications

Psychosocial risks are identified as a factor in IS breakdown. Future research should be directed towards assessing the significance of the effects of various psychosocial risks on IS, creating an assessment methodology for the resulting IS posture of the organisation and devising mitigation methodologies.

Practical implications

The proposed approach will provide a significant part of the answer to the question of why IS fails when all prescribed measures and controls are in place and active. More effective controls for psychosocial risks at the workplace can be created as the incentive of upholding IS will be added to the equation of their mitigation.

Social implications

The organisational environment in which human beings are called upon to function in a secure manner will be redefined, along with what constitutes a “reasonable request” from human operators in the context of IS.

Originality/value

Bringing together psychosocial risks and IS in research will provide a better understanding of the shortcomings of human nature with respect to IS. Organisations and employees will benefit from the resulting psychosocial risk mitigation.
Proactive pedagogy
Authors: Fox Robert
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of instructional design and educational technology for libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper consists of a literature review followed by composition of concepts for column.

Findings

Instructional design can assist libraries in providing proactive services in many areas of instruction and embedded librarianship.

Originality/value

This column touches on an area that is not considered by library professionals, but is becoming increasingly important.
Digitization in university libraries of Pakistan
Authors: Rafiq Muhammad , Ameen Kanwal
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to analyze the prevailing digitization practices in university libraries of Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted quantitative research design and survey research method was used to conduct the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the subjects of the study.

Findings

Digitization practices were found at budding stage in university libraries of Pakistan. One‐third libraries were doing digitization. Three highest ranked digitization goals were to: provide access via web, increase access, and preservation. Theses and dissertations were found the top most priority for digitization in terms of types of material. The criteria for selection of material for digitization varied and social sciences was the most focused area for digitization.

Originality/value

This is the first ever study conducted in Pakistan on this topic. The findings are beneficial for university libraries, funding bodies and the higher education commission of Pakistan as well as other countries with similar social and economic conditions.
Perseverance strategies of enterprising individuals
Authors: van Gelderen Marco
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to arrive at a conceptual understanding of perseverance processes in the context of enterprising behavior and to outline readily employable perseverance strategies for situations characterized by obstacles, challenges and setbacks.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a process model of perseverance, drawing on elements of control theory and appraisal theory.

Findings

From this model, a variety of perseverance strategies within four broad categories is derived: strategies that affect adversity itself; strategies that change the way adversity is perceived; strategies that reframe the aim that adversity has made difficult to attain; and strategies that help to increase self‐regulatory strength. James Dyson's biography provides examples for the strategies.

Practical implications

The paper discusses a broad variety of strategies to help individuals persevere in reaching their enterprising goals.

Originality/value

Although it is a widely held perception that perseverance is needed to successfully start and run a venture, the perseverance process and perseverance strategies have received little research attention.
A cross‐cultural study of motivation for self‐employment
Authors: Wang Lei , Prieto Leonel , Hinrichs Kim T. , Aguirre Milling Homero
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative levels of multiple individual and environmental factors that influence self‐employment motivation in China, Mexico, and the USA and the effect of each factor on motivation for self‐employment in each country.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to 987 students at universities in the USA (n=535), Mexico (n=195), and China (n=257). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assure measurement model fit. Hypotheses were tested using ANOVA tests and regression analyses.

Findings

Results indicate that: the USA has the individual and environmental factors most favorable to self‐employment; Mexico has the highest level of motivation for self‐employment; independence and risk taking are the best predictors of motivation for self‐employment in all three countries; the predictive capability of independence, risk taking, and social networks appears similar for China and the USA; and the predictive capability of informal institutions, government support, and legal support appears similar for China and Mexico.

Originality/value

In spite of abundant research on factors involving motivation for self‐employment, little research has tested relationships among sizable sets of these factors in different countries. This paper examines the effects of multiple individual and environmental factors on self‐employment motivation in China, Mexico, and the USA.
Review of skill and the entrepreneurial process
Authors: Chell Elizabeth
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to address the fundamental nature of skill and identify how an examination of skill may be introduced into theoretical understanding of the entrepreneurial process.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper undertakes a fundamental review of skill.

Findings

Skill is an under‐researched construct. Skills once learnt are discounted, undervalued and largely ignored, excepting when they are not executed. Skills are multidimensional and continuous, and context‐related. They are not the same as competencies. Skills associated with the entrepreneurial process are primarily theoretical constructs and have been associated with opportunity recognition theory. The initiation of the process through alertness may be challenged and substituted with identification of a social/market valued need. Adopting different paradigmatic approaches to entrepreneurial behaviour yields different issues including problems of measurement and how skills are valued socially, politically and economically. Insufficient empirical research has been carried out to test theory, and identify critical skills.

Practical implications

Further empirical research is needed to test and build theory that resonates with practitioner – in particular of the entrepreneur – understanding. Education and training policies should reflect sound theory and practice and where appropriate fund further work on the nature and development of entrepreneurial skills.

Originality/value

A fundamental review of skill has not been carried out academically since 1990; this paper is timely as it not only addresses that gap, but develops the work by applying an understanding the issues of researching skill to the entrepreneurial process.
An overview of contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship studies: themes and relationships
Authors: Ma Zhenzhong , Zhao Shuzhen , Wang Tangting , Lee Yender
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The aim of this study is to explore the status of contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship studies in 1999‐2008 in order to map the intellectual structure of ethnic entrepreneurship research and to provide insights for future research in this field.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected citation data from SSCI, resulting in a data set of 403 journal articles and 18,656 cited references. Then using co‐citation analysis, this study identified the core research themes in the ethnic entrepreneurship literature in 1999‐2008.

Findings

The results showed that contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship studies clustered around a few key research themes and their research foci have shifted from research on enclave economies, ethnic enterprises, and social embeddedness to research on immigrant entrepreneurs, immigrant networks, and transnational entrepreneurs.

Research limitations/implications

With the qualification of citation and co‐citation analysis, this study profiles the changing paradigms of contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship studies and traces the development of ethnic entrepreneurship research, and thus provides important insights on future ethnic entrepreneurship research, including transnational entrepreneurs, theory refinement and theory development on ethnic entrepreneurship, as well as ethnic culture and entrepreneurship. Limitations of using SSCI data are also discussed.

Originality/value

The intellectual structure of ethnic entrepreneurship literature has received relatively little attention in spite that a large number of studies have been done in this field. This study provides researchers with a new way of profiling key themes and their relationships in ethnic entrepreneurship, which will help the academia and practitioners better understand contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship studies.
Transmission of family businesses in France
Authors: Gundolf Katherine , Meier Olivier , Missonier Audrey
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to show to what extent psychological, cultural and behavioural factors can influence on the succession process in the particular case of family‐run businesses?

Design/methodology/approach

Data on 12 directors of family‐run SME were grouped together on the basis of questions derived from the research question. To do this, the authors operated using a principle guided by cross referencing responses, that is, finding the incidence of elements that make it possible to justify substantively the existence of the category and the common existence of these elements within the cases studied.

Findings

The thematic analysis performed made it possible to highlight five main motives for cultural and psychological resistance in former directors: the loss of power and influence, the risk of deconstruction, the loss of professional and social legitimacy, the loss of references and meaning, and the refusal of old age and death.

Originality/value

The results show that transferors search for connections in the aim of identifying common points of anchor, affinities on to which they can project themselves as an element of continuity or an extension of their personality. The paper can in particular note the importance given to cultural proximity and to previous professional relations with the transferor. These criteria, unlike personal factors, are of the interpersonal type and thus deeply imprinted on the transferor's most intimate desires and motivations, including the main desire, which is to search for all that can make possible an extension of himself within his company and thus ensure the permanence of his values and his time at the organisation.
The effect of technology on learning during the acquisition and development of competencies in technology‐intensive small firms
Authors: Linton Jonathan , Walsh Steven
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the characteristics of a technology affect the type of learning mode used for acquiring abilities related to specific competencies. While technological competencies have a direct impact on firm performance for technology‐intensive start‐ups, few if any of these firms posses all the prerequisite competencies required for a given technology‐product‐market paradigm as the firm enters or remains over time in that market. Consequently, high tech entrepreneurial firms must learn, acquire and develop competencies initially and in response to the changing requirements of industry standard products.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper includes a study of all 35 high‐tech start‐ups in the semiconductor silicon industry using primary and secondary source data.

Findings

The characteristics of a technology affect which of ten different learning methods are chosen by a firm to acquire a competence. The study finds that risk, uncertainty, status, pervasiveness, observability, disruptiveness, and centrality are technological characteristics that influence the learning modes that are selected by a firm.

Originality/value

This is the first study to focus on the impact of technological characteristics on learning methods used. Practical and theoretical value in determining under what technological circumstances a learning method should be used to acquire and develop skills with a new technology.
Growing artificial entrepreneurs
Authors: Sunny Yang Shu‐Jung , Chandra Yanto
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to offer agent‐based modelling (ABM) as an alternative approach to advance research in entrepreneurship. It argues that ABM allows entrepreneurship researchers (i.e. the designers) to find better ways in generating entrepreneurial outcomes by understanding alternative histories and examining a plausible future.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper begins with an overview of ABM, and discusses the shared conceptual foundations of entrepreneurship and ABM as the motives for the adoption of ABM as an appropriate methodology to study entrepreneurship. It offers a roadmap in using ABM approach for entrepreneurship research and illustrates this using a contemporary research question in entrepreneurship: the study of success/failure in business venturing.

Findings

This paper suggests the shared foundations between ABM and entrepreneurship as the basis for bringing the methodology and research domain closer. It offers a roadmap for advancing entrepreneurship research using agent‐based simulation approach and explains the contribution of ABM to further advance entrepreneurship research.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the methodological gap in entrepreneurship research and develops the argument for a wider adoption of ABM simulation approach to study entrepreneurship. It bridges the gap by examining the possibility of formalizing entrepreneurship processes by grounding an agent‐based model on empirical facts and generally‐accepted foundations of entrepreneurship. It offers a contribution to the literature by showing that ABM is a useful and appropriate methodological approach for entrepreneurship research in addition to the conventional variance and process approach.
Entrepreneurial marketing within the French wine industry
Authors: Thomas Lisa C. , Painbéni Sandra , Barton Harry
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of the value and application of entrepreneurial marketing within the French wine industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Following an initial review of the literature describing the nature of entrepreneurial marketing and its potential application within the wine industry, a case study is presented of a small independent winery of the Côtes du Rhône in order to explore the theory and practice of entrepreneurial marketing in this commercially important French wine growing region.

Findings

The marketing approach adopted by the case company is found to contrast with the traditional adversarial approach to competition prevalent throughout the French wine industry. The case study illustrates how entrepreneurial marketing has allowed the leverage of superior knowledge of customer preferences, market intelligence and product knowledge in the process of delivering superior value to the customer through brand differentiation at firm level. Additionally, engaging in cooperative relationship development at regional and international level appears significant in creating opportunities for knowledge acquisition and innovation.

Originality/value

The research provides interesting insights into the potential value of the adoption of entrepreneurial marketing by small wineries in France.
The benefits of an adolescent psychiatric day service: the Harrow experience – a pilot study
Authors: Tovey Elizabeth , Perez‐Olaizola Juan , Annecke Paul , Tolmac Jovanka , Hodes Matthew
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of severely psychiatrically impaired adolescents requiring day hospital management and the effectiveness of the service using standardised outcome measures.

Design/methodology/approach

The data was collected on adolescents aged 13‐17 years in two London boroughs, attending the day service over a period of one year. Outcome measures were HoNOSCA, CGAS, SDQ and qualitative data from feedback forms from adolescents and parents.

Findings

The adolescents (n=22) had varied disorders, but mainly depression, (n=9) and psychosis (n=4). HoNOSCA score on admission was mean 18.14 (SD 3.78) but by discharge it had reduced to mean 15.39 (SD 7.31) (p=0.07), and CGAS reduced from initial mean score of 43.83 (SD 9.90) to 53.17 (SD 12.04) (p=0.003). Attendance for 19 (86 per cent) adolescents was for less than six months. Following discharge 14 (64 per cent) returned to education or employment. Adolescents and their carers reported high levels of satisfaction. The findings indicate substantial improvement and satisfaction with the service. The size of the improvement in outcome scores and the consistency across the HoNOSCA and CGAS associated with high service satisfaction also suggest that the data is reliable.

Research limitations/implications

The small size of the sample and loss of data made it difficult to extrapolate from the results to other groups of impaired adolescents. There was no control group in the study and therefore it was not possible to demonstrate whether the improvement was due to spontaneous changes over time, Tier 3 CAMHS input or the attendance at the day service. It is difficult to demonstrate what proportion of adolescents who were admitted to the day service would have required a Tier 4 in patient admission had the service not been available. A larger study using a more robust design involving randomisation to the day‐service or in‐patient service would provide important comparative data regarding the service benefits.

Originality/value

Currently there is little provision for severely psychiatrically impaired adolescents who require a day treatment programme. Day patient programmes appear to offer a useful and accessible treatment method. The service is much cheaper than an in‐patient service, and may also reduce the demands for or duration of inpatient admission. Unfortunately the service did not obtain continuation funding in view of NHS funding cuts, rather than dissatisfaction by local commissioners, and so needed to close. The data presented here can hopefully be used to support the case for child and adolescent psychiatric day programmes.
“It sounds good but … ”: Children's Centre managers' views of evidence‐based practice
Authors: Strelitz Jason
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to explore the understanding and interpretation of evidence‐based practice among Sure Start centre managers.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured interviews were carried out with Children's Centre managers from one London borough.

Findings

The interviews highlighted the varied and, for some limited, view of evidence‐based practice. For many managers their understanding was confined to evidence generated locally rather than perceiving a role for externally‐generated evidence to support effective practice. Managers also highlighted the constraints they face in taking what some perceive to be an evidence‐based approach.

Originality/value

Although Sure Start Children's Centres are one of the main sites for delivering evidence‐based interventions to improve outcomes for young children and families in the UK, and despite Government announcements promoting the use of evidence‐based practice in these settings, little is known about the knowledge and interpretation of managers on this issue or the difficulties of translating ideas into practice on the ground. Thus, there is a danger that some of the potential benefits of evidence‐based practice may be lost if this disconnect between policy and practice is not addressed.
Social capital as a mechanism for exploring the low educational achievements of looked after children
Authors: McClung Michele , Gayle Vernon
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to explore whether the concept of social capital is helpful in explaining the educational underachievement of looked after children.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis of data on educational achievement and social care in a cohort of 1,407 children over the age of 15 who left care in two Scottish local authorities between 2000 and 2005.

Findings

The educational attainments of children do reflect key factors in their backgrounds before entry to care but their characteristics also lead them to be placed in specific placements that have differing abilities for promoting social capital. An examination of evidence on bonding social capital, bridging social capital, and linking social capital and trust, shows that social capital theory helps to theoretically interpret the low educational achievements of looked after children.

Originality/value

The large and comprehensive data set permits a factor analysis of background and care variables, thus clarifying the significance of each in explaining children's educational attainments and assessing the value of a social capital perspective.
Mapping the implementation of Children's Trust arrangements
Authors: Devanney Carol , Wistow Richard
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to explore findings from the children's services mapping (CSM) policy monitoring exercise on the implementation of Children's Trust arrangements in England in 2008 and 2009. It outlines progress made in implementation in the context of debates on Children's Trusts and partnership working, considering where progress was being made and where implementation was less well developed. The future of partnership working in children's services and the role of the data collection in public service policy monitoring are discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

Responses are from a sub‐set of 74 local authorities to a self‐completion questionnaire on Children's Trust implementation in 2008 and 2009 as part of the CSM annual policy monitoring exercise.

Findings

Findings, presented within the context of Government policy on children's services reform and literature on partnership working, indicate increases in the number of Children's Trusts implementing joint and strategic working. However, not all agencies under a statutory duty were represented on the Board and joint commissioning arrangements had declined.

Research limitations/implications

The findings and discussion consider the limitations of the method of data collection.

Originality/value

This paper presents the most recent information on implementing Children's Trust arrangements, drawing on responses from 49 per cent of local authority areas. Data from two years of the CSM collection alongside earlier research findings indicate progress at the strategic level, but careful reading of the data and literature also suggests an increasingly challenging environment for establishing and maintaining partnership working within children's services.
Winners and losers: a meta‐analysis of functional determinants of fighting ability in arthropod contests
Authors: Vieira Marcos C. , Peixoto Paulo E. C.
Published: March 2013

Many game‐theoretical models assume that the outcome of agonistic interactions depends on morphological and physiological asymmetries between rivals (theRHP‐asymmetry hypothesis). However, some empirical studies fail at identifying traits linked to fighting capacity and are thus unable to support the role ofRHPin contest resolution. Perhaps the role ofRHPasymmetries in contest resolution is less general than previously thought.

IfRHPasymmetries are indeed important, then the actual suite of relevant traits should depend on how costs are accrued during disputes (the functional hypothesis). In species in which contests involve physical contact at some stage, strength‐related traits should be important, whereas in species in which disputes do not involve physical contact, persistence‐related traits should determine individual fighting ability.

We performed a meta‐analysis to investigate the generality of morphological and physiological asymmetries between winners and losers in arthropod contests. We also investigated whether the suite of traits determining fighting ability differs between disputes involving physical contact and disputes in which physical contact is absent.

We show thatRHPasymmetries are a general property of contest settlement among arthropods. However, strength‐related traits did not have a greater effect than persistence‐related traits in determining the settlement of disputes involving physical contact. Neither did persistence‐related traits have a greater role in disputes without physical contact than in those involving physical contact.

We provide the first quantitative assessment of the generality and magnitude ofRHPasymmetries in contest resolution among arthropods. As different suites of traits were important regardless of the type of dispute, we highlight the importance of considering functionally diverse morphological and physiological traits when trying to identify determinants of fighting ability in agonistic interactions, instead of focusing on a few functionally similar traits.

The assumption of fighting capacity differences among rivals in game‐theoretical models was supported by our data. Consequently, models predicting contest settlement based on uncorrelated asymmetries are incompatible with the observation that winners and losers consistently differ in certain attributes.
Rapid ontogenetic niche expansions in invasive Chinese tallow tree permit establishment in unfavourable but variable environments and can be exploited to streamline restoration
Authors: Gabler Christopher A. , Siemann Evan
Published: March 2013

Reinvasion pressure is the rate of new exotic recruitment following mature exotic removal and it can vary broadly among similarly invaded habitats. Reinvasion pressure drives restoration outcomes and costs but is difficult to predict and poorly understood. Chinese tallow tree Triadica sebifera is a major invader demonstrating broad variation in average reinvasion pressure. We hypothesize this variation arises from differences in moisture regimes among habitats, which drive differences in Triadica recruitment but are masked because Triadica exhibits ontogenetic niche expansions (increases in niche breadth during development) that enable dominance in habitats where average recruitment success is low.

We began testing this hypothesis by quantifying Triadica's capacity for ontogenetic moisture niche expansions. We performed greenhouse experiments examining how soil moisture affects germination likelihood and timing and how soil moisture and seedling age influenced seedling survival and performance, plus a field experiment quantifying survival and performance of differently aged seedlings within a restoration site that has exhibited low average reinvasion pressure.

Moisture requirements for germination were the most constrained of any life stage. No germination occurred in saturated or flooded soils despite high seedling survival in comparable conditions. Germination timing varied among suitable moisture treatments.

Seedling survival increased rapidly with age across moisture treatments and in the field. Above‐ground biomass increased with age; tissue‐specific performance metrics also increased but reflected seed provisioning, age‐specific carbon allocation preferences, or tissue shedding for survival. Crucial moisture*age interactions that signify ontogenetic niche expansions were significant for all survival metrics and all but one performance metric.

Survival and performance were generally highest in intermediate moistures, modestly reduced in saturated conditions and lowest in water‐limited conditions.

Synthesis and applications. Our results show Triadica exhibits rapid ontogenetic moisture niche expansions, which could decouple mature Triadica density and average reinvasion pressure. Therefore, density is an unreliable predictor of reinvasion but is commonly used to guide Triadica management, and cryptic opportunities exist for inexpensive and straightforward restorations. Reliable moisture niche‐based estimates of Triadica's average reinvasion pressure are feasible and may improve restoration efficacy and efficiency by informing site selection and optimal management strategies.
Effects of children's working memory capacity and processing speed on their sentence imitation performance
Authors: Poll Gerard H. , Miller Carol A. , Mainela‐Arnold Elina , Adams Katharine Donnelly , Misra Maya , Park Ji Sook
Published: March 2013

Background

More limited working memory capacity and slower processing for language and cognitive tasks are characteristics of many children with language difficulties. Individual differences in processing speed have not consistently been found to predict language ability or severity of language impairment. There are conflicting views on whether working memory and processing speed are integrated or separable abilities.

Aims

To evaluate four models for the relations of individual differences in children's processing speed and working memory capacity in sentence imitation. The models considered whether working memory and processing speed are integrated or separable, as well as the effect of the number of operations required per sentence. The role of working memory as a mediator of the effect of processing speed on sentence imitation was also evaluated.

Methods & Procedures

Forty‐six children with varied language and reading abilities imitated sentences. Working memory was measured with the Competing Language Processing Task (CLPT), and processing speed was measured with a composite of truth‐value judgment and rapid automatized naming tasks. Mixed‐effects ordinal regression models evaluated the CLPT and processing speed as predictors of sentence imitation item scores. A single mediator model evaluated working memory as a mediator of the effect of processing speed on sentence imitation total scores.

Outcomes & Results

Working memory was a reliable predictor of sentence imitation accuracy, but processing speed predicted sentence imitation only as a component of a processing speed by number of operations interaction. Processing speed predicted working memory capacity, and there was evidence that working memory acted as a mediator of the effect of processing speed on sentence imitation accuracy.

Conclusions & Implications

The findings support a refined view of working memory and processing speed as separable factors in children's sentence imitation performance. Processing speed does not independently explain sentence imitation accuracy for all sentence types, but contributes when the task requires more mental operations. Processing speed also has an indirect effect on sentence imitation by contributing to working memory capacity.
Towards sustainable tourism: The need to integrate conservation and development using the Buccoo Reef Marine Park, Tobago, West Indies
Authors: Hassanali Kahlil
Published: March 2013

In many countries of the Caribbean, tourism is a mainstay to economies. Semi‐autonomous Tobago's Buccoo Reef Marine Park (BRMP) was established as one of the island's premier tourist attractions. However, the increasing and poorly regulated activity in the coastal zone that is taking place to complement the burgeoning tourism industry, threatens the ecological integrity of the Buccoo Reef. This paper investigates the synergies between conservation, sustainable tourism and improving societal economic and social well‐being. Within a framework that recognises the strategic importance of a competitive tourism product, it examines how the Buccoo Reef impacts the livelihoods and ongoing development in Tobago. It explores the extent and probable causes for the Reef's decline. Proposed is how the Park can better achieve conservation of the reef ecosystem while encouraging economic and social growth on the island, with a goal of more effectively managing and sustainably exploiting the coral reef resources of Tobago.
Suicide Pacts: Six Cases and Literature Review
Authors: Prat Sebastien , Rérolle Camille , Saint‐Martin Pauline
Published: March 2013

A suicide pact is the decision of two or more people to die together. This event is rare. The majority of suicide pacts victims are married, socially isolated, with a serious physical illness in one or both partners. We performed a retrospective study of all cases of suicide pacts leading to death between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2010 referred to the Forensic Medicine Department of Tours (France). Six cases were recorded as suicide pacts. Firearms were the preferred means of death. Five suicide notes were discovered. For some cases, it was difficult to establish whether death was the result of a suicide pact or of a homicide–suicide without the consent of the victim. An objective element, such as a suicide note and motive, is required to prove that a suicide pact is involved. The prevalence of mental disorders is hard to assess. In France, psychological autopsies are not performed in such cases, as the investigation is usually very sparse after the death of both individuals.
Properties and Water Sorption Characteristics of Spaghetti Prepared Using Various Dies
Authors: Yoshino Masashi , Ogawa Takenobu , Adachi Shuji
Published: March 2013

Spaghetti was prepared using dies made of different materials. The surface was observed using digital and optical microscopes, and was rougher for the spaghettis prepared using the Teflon, polypropylene, polycarbonate, aluminum, and bronze dies in this order. The extrusion velocity when passing through the die was faster, the bulk density was higher, and the rupture strength was greater for the spaghetti having the smoother surface. The die material did not affect the gelatinization temperature. The water sorption curves in boiling water containing 0.5% (w/v) sodium chloride were also observed. The curves were expressed by an equation of the hyperbolic type except for the early stage of sorption in order to estimate the equilibrium amount of water sorbed based on the bone‐dry sample. The momentarily‐sorbed amount of water, which is a hypothetical quantity to characterize the initial water intake, was estimated by fitting the experimental points within 60 s. The amount was higher for the spaghetti having the rougher surface.