bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Corporate governance mechanisms and corporate investments: evidence from India
Authors: Suman Samridhi , Singh Shveta 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the influence of corporate governance variables relating to the board of directors, audit and ownership on the agency problems that inflict a firm's investments in capital and research and development (R&D) expenditures. This study posits that the R&D investments are inflicted by the agency problem of “quiet life” whereas “empire-building” agency problem affects capital expenditure decisions.Design/methodology/ approachThis study analyses the investment behaviour of non-financial and non-utility firms listed on NIFTY 200 from FY 2009 to FY 2018 using a static and dynamic model.FindingsThe results from the static model suggest that ownership concentration mitigates the agency problem of the “quiet life” that affects R&D expenditures. However, no corporate governance attribute has a significant impact on R&D investments under the assumption of the dynamic model. In respect of capital expenditures, the analysis of static model yields that audits by large auditor firms and usage of non-audit services ameliorate the agency problem of “empire-building”. The results from the dynamic model show that independent boards worsen it. They also continue to provide empirical evidence in favour of large auditors.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on the corporate governance-investment association by simultaneously examining the impact of multiple corporate governance attributes on the agency problems of “quiet life” and “empire-building” that affect R&D and capital expenditures, respectively, in a static and dynamic context for a sample of Indian firms.
Omni-channel capability and customer satisfaction: mediating roles of flexibility and operational logistics service quality
Authors: Sorkun Metehan Feridun , Yumurtacı Hüseyinoğlu Işık Özge , Börühan Gülmüş 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThis study aims to reveal how omni-channel capability leads to customer satisfaction by examining the mediating roles of flexibility and operational logistics service quality (LSQ).Design/methodology/approachConsumers who had previously shopped from any particular retailer's both online and physical stores were surveyed to collect data on research constructs. Structural equation modelling and bootstrapping were employed to test research hypotheses.FindingsThis study shows the double mediation of flexibility and operational LSQ in the effect of omni-channel capability on customer satisfaction. Despite this indirect effect, omni-channel capability does not directly affect customer satisfaction, implying the full mediations of flexibility and operational LSQ. However, these mediating effects could not be verified for certain types of retailers (e.g. electronic retailers).Originality/valueBy using the theoretical lens of capability–service quality–performance triad (C-SQ-P), this study shows how omni-channel capability and flexibility affect customer satisfaction through operational LSQ. Hence, an original finding is that developing omni-channel capability may not be sufficient for customer satisfaction and that it may need to be supported by flexibility and operational LSQ. It additionally reveals that the mediations of flexibility and operational LSQ hinge on the type of retailing industry examined. Thus, this study draws on the necessity of investigating the contingent roles of flexibility and operational LSQ in omni-channel retailing for customer satisfaction.
Efficiency analysis of viticulture systems in the Portuguese Douro region
Authors: Santos Micael Queiroga dos , Rodríguez Xosé A. , Marta-Costa Ana 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to estimate and analyse the technical efficiency (TE) component of productivity for a sample of winegrowers from the Douro Demarcated Region in Portugal.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through face-to-face surveys and includes a sample of 110 farmers’ vineyards with specific input-output information and other data about production systems during the year of 2017. The authors use a two-stage data envelopment analysis using bootstrap techniques to obtain TE scores in the farmers’ vineyards and to examine the determinants of its efficiency.FindingsThe results show that some farmers’ vineyards have a low efficiency level and that there are essential determinants of the production system, which can influence its efficiency. This suggests considerable opportunities for improvement of wine grape productivity through better use of available resources considering the state of technology.Originality/valueThis work has overcome the lack of data in the farmers’ vineyards, the lack of efficiency studies in the region and also allowed to evaluate the production systems and to assess their impact on efficiency.
RDF graph mining for cluster-based theme identification
Authors: Eddamiri Siham , Benghabrit Asmaa , Zemmouri Elmoukhtar 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a generic pipeline for Resource Description Framework (RDF) graph mining to provide a comprehensive review of each step in the knowledge discovery from data process. The authors also investigate different approaches and combinations to extract feature vectors from RDF graphs to apply the clustering and theme identification tasks.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed methodology comprises four steps. First, the authors generate several graph substructures (Walks, Set of Walks, Walks with backward and Set of Walks with backward). Second, the authors build neural language models to extract numerical vectors of the generated sequences by using word embedding techniques (Word2Vec and Doc2Vec) combined with term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF). Third, the authors use the well-known K-means algorithm to cluster the RDF graph. Finally, the authors extract the most relevant rdf:type from the grouped vertices to describe the semantics of each theme by generating the labels.FindingsThe experimental evaluation on the state of the art data sets (AIFB, BGS and Conference) shows that the combination of Set of Walks-with-backward with TF-IDF and Doc2vec techniques give excellent results. In fact, the clustering results reach more than 97% and 90% in terms of purity andF-measure, respectively. Concerning the theme identification, the results show that by using the same combination, the purity andF-measure criteria reach more than 90% for all the considered data sets.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in two aspects: first, a new machine learning pipeline for RDF data is presented; second, an efficient process to identify and extract relevant graph substructures from an RDF graph is proposed. The proposed techniques were combined with different neural language models to improve the accuracy and relevance of the obtained feature vectors that will be fed to the clustering mechanism.
Importance of meaningful co-operation in preventing and interdicting economically motivated crime and misconduct
Authors: Abeyagoonasekera Asanga 
Published: April 2020

Purpose
The purpose of this paper will attempt to depict the importance of meaningful co-operation in preventing and interdicting economically motivated crime and misconduct in Sri Lanka while exploring the challenges faced by the state, its bureaucracy, extremist threat, war on drugs and anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative and secondary data.

Findings
While mechanisms to introduce legislation and implement the national actions plan on combating bribery and corruption will add significant value to the entire system, Sri Lanka will need to improve co-operation among domestic and international agencies to overcome the challenges. For domestic co-operation educating the bureaucracy is essential in this regard who would take a central role in advising the policymakers.

Originality/value
Sri Lankan perspective has not been discussed on challenges faced by the state, its bureaucracy, extremist threat, war on drugs and AML/CFT mechanisms. Paper was presented at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime 2019.
Fuzzy model for assessing delays in Egyptian residential projects
Authors: El-Rasas Tarek , Marzouk Mohamed 
Published: April 2020

PurposeConstruction delays are a common problem in the Egyptian construction industry. Frequent delays in a project can lead to disputes and litigation. This paper aims to study and analyze the causes of construction delays.Design/methodology/approachThis research identifies delay causes in residential projects in Egypt and analyzes these causes with the relative importance index method. The feedback of construction experts was obtained through interviews. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was prepared. Fifty-six different delay causes were identified and categorized into eight categories based on a literature review and interviews with 36 experts from the construction industry who represent owners, consultants and contractors.FindingsAccording to the highest values of the relative importance index, the top ten delay causes of residential projects in Egypt are determined. Statistical analysis is carried out using the analysis of variance method to test delay causes obtained from the survey, which revealed a good correlation between residential projects parties with respect to most of the delay causes. A fuzzy logic model using MATLAB is developed for determining the probability of delay of residential projects, and the model was tested in a real case study and was found to be satisfactory.Originality/valueDelay causes in residential projects in Egypt were identified, and these causes were analyzed using the relative importance index method and fuzzy logic.
The market for socially responsible investing: a review of the developments
Authors: Camilleri Mark Anthony 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThis study aims to explain how socially responsible investing (SRI) has evolved in the past few decades and sheds light on its latest developments. It describes different forms of SRI in the financial markets, and deliberates on the rationale for the utilization of positive and negative screenings of listed businesses and public organizations.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review suggests that the providers of financial capital are increasingly allocating funds toward positive impact and sustainable investments. Therefore, this descriptive paper provides a factual summary of the proliferation of SRI products in financial markets. Afterwards, it presents the opportunities and challenges facing the stakeholders of SRI.FindingsThis research presents a historic overview on the growth of SRI products in the financial services industry. It clarifies that the market for responsible investing has recently led to an increase in a number of stakeholders, including contractors, non-governmental organizations and research firms who are involved in the scrutinization of the businesses’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) behaviors.Originality/valueThis discursive contribution raises awareness on the screenings of positive impact and sustainable investments. The researcher contends that today’s socially responsible investors are increasingly analyzing the businesses’ non-financial performance, including their ESG credentials. In conclusion, this paper puts forward future research avenues in this promising field of study.
Optimizing enrichment of deadwood for biodiversity by varying sun exposure and tree species: An experimental approach
Authors: Vogel Sebastian , Gossner Martin M. , Mergner Ulrich , Müller Jörg , Thorn Simon 
Published: April 2020

Abstract

The enrichment of deadwood is essential for the conservation of saproxylic biodiversity in managed forests. However, existing strategies focus on a cost‐intensive increase of deadwood amount, while largely neglecting increasing deadwood diversity.

Deadwood objects, that is logs and branches, from six tree species were experimentally sun exposed, canopy shaded and artificially shaded for 4 years, after which the alpha‐, beta‐ and gamma‐diversity of saproxylic beetles, wood‐inhabiting fungi and spiders were analysed. Analyses of beta‐diversity included the spatial distance between exposed deadwood objects. A random‐drawing procedure was used to identify the combination of tree species and sun exposure that yielded the highest gamma‐diversity at a minimum of exposed deadwood amount.

In sun‐exposed plots, species numbers in logs were higher than in shaded plots for all taxa, while in branches we observed the opposite for saproxylic beetles. Tree species affected the species numbers only of saproxylic beetles and wood‐inhabiting fungi. The beta‐diversity of saproxylic beetles and wood‐inhabiting fungi among logs was influenced by sun exposure and tree species, but beta‐diversity of spiders by sun exposure only. For all saproxylic taxa recorded in logs, differences between communities increased with increasing spatial distance.

A combination of canopy‐shaded Carpinus logs and sun‐exposed Populus logs resulted in the highest species numbers of all investigated saproxylic taxa among all possible combinations of tree species and sun‐exposure treatments.

Synthesis and applications. We recommend incorporating the enrichment of different tree species and particularly the variation in sun exposure into existing strategies of deadwood enrichment. Based on the results of our study, we suggest to combine the logs of softwood broadleaf tree species (e.g. Carpinus, Populus), hardwood broadleaf tree species (e.g. Quercus) and coniferous tree species (e.g. Pinus) under different conditions of sun exposure and distribute them spatially in a landscape to maximize the beneficial effects on overall diversity.
The Transboundary Nature of the Allende–Piedras Negras Aquifer Using a Numerical Model Approach
Authors: Rodriguez Laura , Sanchez Rosario , Zhan Hongbin , Knappett Peter S.K. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe Allende–Piedras Negras (APN) aquifer is located between the states of Texas (United States [U.S.]) and Coahuila (Mexico). The Rio Grande crosses the aquifer, acting as a natural and political divide between the countries. However, it remains unclear whether the APN aquifer can be considered a truly transboundary aquifer flow system, which would potentially require joint management by two different administrative jurisdictions. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the transboundary nature of this aquifer. This was achieved by developing a detailed hydrogeological model to analyze the direction of volumetric fluxes within the APN aquifer using Visual MODFLOW. The model simulated a spatially averaged cumulative drawdown of 0.76 m for the entire aquifer over an 18‐year modeling period (2000–2017). The flow convergence zone, previously located below the Rio Grande, has shifted to the U.S. side in most locations, driven by higher pumping rates of the wells located near the river. This shift of the convergence zone from one country to the other means that groundwater recharge from one side flows underneath the river to the other side. This qualifies the APN aquifer as a “transboundary groundwater flow system.” The procedure followed in this study may be applied to other aquifers that straddle the U.S.–Mexico border and may motivate future modeling studies on other poorly studied transboundary aquifers around the world and thereby enable bi‐national aquifer management.
Where should wild species be sampled? New method based on isolation‐by‐distance objectively gives the answer
Authors: Aoki Satoshi , Ito Motomi 
Published: April 2020

AbstractRandom sampling is an important statistical assumption, but virtually impossible when sampling a wild species as we cannot know where all the individuals exist. While interpopulation or intrataxa sampling methods have been developed, there are currently few intrataxon sampling methods to objectively decide where to sample wild taxa. We suggest a new sampling method which computes appropriate sampling locations from coordinates, assuming geographical autocorrelation of phylogeny within a taxon (isolation‐by‐distance). The computed locations encompass the highest genetic diversity, providing a genetically representative sample. In addition, it can utilize presence/absence information during sampling to reoptimize sampling scheme. Comparing to the single existing method of the similar purpose, the merits of ours is unnecessity of environmental data resulting in easy application, and is theoretically deduced. We tested this method using published phylogeographical data. The test result was generally encouraging, but the method failed where species showed uniform genetic structure or recent distribution expansion which violate the assumption of geographical autocorrelation of phylogeny. Though simple, our method constructs a methodological and statistical foundation for sampling wild species, and is applicable to revising taxonomic study and conservation biology.
Diagnostic yield of additional conventional transbronchial lung biopsy following radial endobronchial ultrasound lung biopsy for peripheral pulmonary lesions
Authors: Park Sojung , Yoon Hee‐Young , Han Yeji , Wang Kyung Sook , Park So Young , Ryu Yon Ju , Lee Jin Hwa , Chang Jung Hyun 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundRadial endobronchial ultrasound (R‐EBUS) transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) improves the diagnostic yield from peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs). However, the small specimens obtained using small forceps through a guide sheath (GS) may impede diagnosis and molecular analysis. Here, we investigated the diagnostic significance of additional conventional TBLB with standard forceps after R‐EBUS‐GS‐guided TBLB.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed data from 55 patients who underwent conventional TBLB after R‐EBUS‐GS‐guided TBLB for PPL diagnosis. Procedures were performed on single PPLs with no visible lesions on bronchoscopy. In cases with inconclusive pathologic confirmation, final diagnoses were made based on pathologic specimens or clinical observations.ResultsThe median size of the target lesions was 28 mm. The appearances on computed tomography images were solid (n = 45, 81.8%), part‐solid (n = 7, 12.7%), and cavitary nodules (n = 3, 5.5%). A computed tomography bronchus sign was present in 35 (63.6%) cases, and a radial probe was positioned within target lesion in 32 (58.2%) cases. R‐EBUS‐GS‐guided TBLB was diagnostic in 30 (54.5%) patients, and subsequent conventional TBLB yielded additional diagnostic information in 8 (14.5%) patients. Probe positioning within target lesions and the outer margin of PPLs more than 1 cm from pleura were significantly associated with enhanced diagnostic yield from the combined procedures. In conventional TBLB, probe positioning within target lesions (75.0% vs. 11.8%, P = 0.004) and characteristic of nonsolid nodules (83.3% vs. 15.8%, P = 0.006) were significantly associated with additional diagnostic utility.ConclusionsConventional TBLB following R‐EBUS‐GS‐guided TBLB could be a useful procedure for diagnosing PPLs, especially for nonsolid nodules.Key pointsSignificant findings of the study: Additional conventional TBLB with standard forceps after R‐EBUS‐GS‐guided TBLB yielded an additional 14.5% diagnostic utility for peripheral pulmonary lesions. For conventional TBLB, probe positioning within target lesions and nonsolid nodules were significantly associated with additional diagnostic utility.What this study adds: Conventional TBLB with standard forceps after R‐EBUS‐GS‐guided TBLB is an effective and economically accessible diagnostic tool for peripheral pulmonary lesions.
Coexistent Mediterranean woody species as a driving factor of Phytophthora cinnamomi infectivity and survival
Authors: Gómez Maria C. , González Mario , Gómez‐Aparicio Lorena , Serrano Maria S. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe long‐term conservation of Mediterranean mixed oak forests is seriously threatened by the massive mortality of Quercus suber caused by the exotic pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. This species frequently grows in mixed forests under natural conditions, but nothing is known about how its level of disease might be altered by the diversity and identity of coexisting neighbours varying in susceptibility to the exotic pathogen. Here we analysed the individual and combined effects of Q. suber and the main coexisting tree species (Quercus canariensis and Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. sylvestris) in mixed forests of southern Spain on the production of infective and survival spores of P. cinnamomi. Through in vitro experiments, it was demonstrated that mixtures of Q. suber and Q. canariensis highly stimulated the production of P. cinnamomi zoospores in comparison with both species in monocultures. Olea europaea did not stimulate zoospore production. Under controlled conditions, the initial and final densities of inoculum in soil planted with monocultures of O. europaea and Q. canariensis did not differ. However, inoculum densities significantly decreased along the experiment in Q. suber mixtures with O. europaea and Q. canariensis. Phytophthora cinnamomi was able to infect and cause root rot symptoms on all tree species, including O. europaea var. sylvestris. We concluded that mixed stands of Q. suber and Q. canariensis are able to stimulate P. cinnamomi infectivity and survival much more than monospecific stands, and consequently under favourable conditions for root disease development, the coexistence of Q. suber and Q. canariensis might exacerbate Mediterranean forests decline. This study also constitutes the first report of O. europaea var. sylvestris as host and inductor of P. cinnamomi sporulation under controlled conditions.
Highest reported visual acuity after electronic retinal implantation
Authors: Cehajic Kapetanovic Jasmina , Troelenberg Nicole , Edwards Thomas L. , Xue Kanmin , Ramsden James D. , Stett Alfred , Zrenner Eberhart , MacLaren Robert E. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractPurposeTo report the highest attained visual acuity with an electronic retinal implant for the treatment of advanced retinal degeneration following a novel intensive period of visual training.MethodsA case study as part of the prospective, international, multi‐centre, interventional clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02720640 and NCT01024803) of patients with the Retina Implant Alpha AMS (Retina Implant AG, Reutlingen, Germany) for advanced retinal degeneration. A patient with subretinal device implanted into worse‐seeing eye with no useful perception of light vision secondary to USH2A retinal degeneration underwent intensive period of visual training.ResultsThe device remains functional with no safety concerns at 3 years postsurgical implantation, and following visual training, the patient achieved the highest visual acuity so far with an electronic retinal device, with real, digitally unenhanced, reading vision of 0.04 decimal (equivalent to 1.39 LogMAR and 20/500 or 6/150 Snellen). In addition, perception as well as partial identification of obstacles and evaluation of distances was possible in both daylight and night‐time settings.ConclusionsRetinal implants are currently the only available therapy option for advanced retinal degeneration. Visual rehabilitation postimplantation has potential to maximize visual percepts. The novel concept of intensive visual training presented herein shows what is achievable with electronic retinal implants and has implications for other therapeutic options, such as optogenetics, that aim to stimulate remaining inner retinal cells in advanced retinal degeneration.