bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the significance of factors affecting the growth of women entrepreneurs: study based on experience categorization
Authors: Agarwal Sucheta , Ramadani Veland , Dana Leo-Paul , Agrawal Vivek , Dixit Jitendra Kumar 
Published: March 2021

Purpose
The ascent of women enterprising community (WEC) in a couple of decades draws the attention of various government and non-government bodies. Literature has mentioned various studies that focus on the factors affecting the success or failure of women entrepreneurs (WEs), but understanding of the ranking of the factors depending on the experiences of different WEs is needed. This study aims to identify the significant factors essential for the growth of WEC.

Design/methodology/approach
This study examines the factors through interview of 33 WEs having different entrepreneurial experiences (less than 1 year, more than 1 year but less than 10 years and more than 10 years of experiences) from different regions of Uttar Pradesh, India, and with the help of analytical hierarchical process, ranks the factors affecting the sustainable growth of WEs.

Findings
Through analysis, significant factors have been identified such as determination, education, entrepreneurial resilience, personal satisfaction and provide employment, and these factors have been analysed according to the different experiences of WEs. An investigation of ranking these factors of WEC, especially in the emerging nations, can assist policymakers in designing projects that improve the mindfulness associated with women enterprise and define the compelling methodologies.

Practical implications
The growth of the WEC is significantly affected by gender orientation ways of thinking as driven by entrepreneurship models.

Originality/value
This study gives a direction to policymakers by emphasizing on significant factors of various stages of enterprise development for the encouragement of WEs in the emerging economies.
The effect of competition in the product market and financial flexibility on business strategy
Authors: Rostami Vahab , Rezaei Leyla 
Published: March 2021

PurposeThis study aims to track product market competition and financial flexibility on firms’ business strategies.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, 187 listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange were selected by the systematic elimination for 2012–2018. The hypotheses were examined using the linear regression model. Ittner and Larcker’s (1997) model assesses the business strategy (dependent variable). The Herfindahl–Hirschman index is used to assess the product market competition (independent variable). Finally, the Frank and Goyal’s (2009) model investigates financial flexibility (independent variable).FindingsThe findings indicate that competition in the product market has significantly declined the resort of defensive and invasive business strategies and intensified opportunistic analytical and opportunistic strategies, benefiting from financial flexibility and facilitating defensive and opportunistic adaptation and decreased analytic and invasive strategies. Besides, the product market competition contributes to the firm’s financial flexibility and analytical, opportunistic, invasive and defensive strategies. Most of the studies in the field of business strategy analyzed some factors, such as performance (Zhang, 2016), tax avoidance (Higginset al., 2015) and share pricing risk (Habib and Hasan, 2017). There is no study to assess the effect of business strategy on product market competition and financial flexibility.Originality/valueThe present study’s findings provide some invaluable concepts for firm managers on the significance of competition in the product market and financial flexibility. Focusing on competition intensity and flexibility level can deal with the board’s ambiguities on market structure and competitive status. The use of profitably competitive investment opportunities leads to selecting the most beneficial strategies, leading to a more efficient allocation of scarce resources and, finally, the enhancement of organizational performance.
The impact of the Tunisian Revolution and internal governance mechanisms on the extent of voluntary information disclosure
Authors: Mekaoui Sameh , Brahem Emna , Moalla Hanen 
Published: March 2021

Purpose
This study aims to investigate, on the one hand, the impact of the Tunisian Revolution and internal governance mechanisms (especially, the ownership structure and the board of directors structure on the extent of voluntary information disclosure [VID]) and on the other hand, the moderating effect of the Tunisian Revolution on the relationship between the internal corporate governance mechanisms and the VID.

Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis of 362 annual reports is used for determining the level of VID. This study covers a 10-year period (2007-2016) which is divided into two sub-periods (before and after the Tunisian Revolution). The generalized least squares regression model was used to investigate the effect of the Tunisian Revolution, ownership structure and the board of directors structure on the VID.

Findings
The Tunisian companies disclose less voluntary information after the Tunisian Revolution because of a decrease in the disclosure of information related to results, intangible assets, non-financial information and management’s discussion and analysis. The authors’ findings highlight the importance of the moderating effect of the revolution. After the Tunisian Revolution, a positive relationship was found, on the one hand, between institutional ownership, board size and board independence, and the VID on the other hand. Besides, companies with dual structures and with a high level of foreign ownership are less reluctant to the VID. Moreover, different governance mechanisms are related to different types of information disclosed. These relationships were affected by the Tunisian Revolution.

Practical implications
This piece of research could be useful for managers, investors and different stakeholders. It can help managers in improving their VID and thus their companies’ transparency, mainly in developing countries and in times of crisis. Moreover, it could be helpful for investors and stakeholders for their decision-making, especially in crisis periods.

Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by investigating the VID in a developing country and in times of crisis. It widens knowledge by analyzing the types of voluntary information disclosed. It is one of the few pieces of research investigating this issue. Moreover, it is the first research analyzing the consequences on the VID of the revolutions in the Arab countries that have experienced an Arab Spring Revolution.
Legal aspects of ecotourism: towards creating an international legislative framework
Authors: Stanković Vera , Batrićević Ana , Joldžić Vladan 
Published: March 2021

Purpose
This study aims to highlight the most important preventive measures that should be proposed by policymakers and adopted by (inter)national legislative bodies by changing existing or adopting new legal documents. The implementation of these measures should be performed by state bodies responsible for ecotourism, natural and cultural resources protection and ecotourism services users.

Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical legal approach was applied, based on a systematic review of international legally binding and non-binding documents related to ecotourism, adopted by relevant international organizations. Analysis of norms for preventive protection of natural and cultural values was done and followed by law-reform research in the form of recommendations that should be adopted as binding.

Findings
International legal documents relevant to ecotourism analysed in this paper are divided into two groups. The first regulates exclusively ecotourism issues, whereas the second deals with sustainable development and indirectly refers to ecotourism, as one of its segments. Analysed international legal documents require unambiguous norms regulating preventive protective measures in ecotourism by prescribing actual obligations and prohibitions for relevant subjects. Given recommendations are grouped into five types according to the subjects they are addressing (ecotourism experts, policymakers, legislators, natural and cultural conservationists, local communities, educators).

Originality/value
This study is the first that points to the need to amending international legal documents related to ecotourism through recommendations regarding natural and cultural values’ preventive protection.
Longer days enable higher diurnal activity for migratory birds
Authors: Pokrovsky Ivan , Kölzsch Andrea , Sherub Sherub , Fiedler Wolfgang , Glazov Peter , Kulikova Olga , Wikelski Martin , Flack Andrea 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Seasonal geophysical cycles strongly influence the activity of life on Earth because they affect environmental conditions like temperature, precipitation and day length. An increase in daylight availability during summer is especially enhanced when animals migrate along a latitudinal gradient. Yet, the question of how day length (i.e. daylight availability) influences the activity patterns of long‐distance, latitudinal migrants is still unclear.

Here, we ask whether migration provides benefits to long‐distance migrants by enabling them to increase their diurnal movement activities due to an increase in daylight availability. To answer this question, we tested whether four vastly different species of long‐distance migratory birds—two arctic migrants and two mid‐latitude migrants—can capitalise on day length changes by adjusting their daily activity.

We quantified the relationship between daily activity (measured using accelerometer data) and day length, and estimated each species' daily activity patterns. In addition, we evaluated the role of day length as an ultimate driver of bird migration.

All four species exhibited longer activity periods during days with more daylight hours, showing a strong positive relationship between total daily activity and day length. The slope of this relationship varied between the different species, with activity increasing 1.5‐fold on average when migrating from wintering to breeding grounds. Underlying mechanisms of these relationships reveal two distinct patterns of daily activity. Flying foragers showed increasing activity patterns, that is, their daytime activities rose uniformly up to solar noon and decreased until dusk, thereby exhibiting a season‐specific activity slope. In contrast, ground foragers showed a constant activity pattern, whereby they immediately increased their activity to a certain level and maintained this level throughout the day.

Our study reveals that long days allow birds to prolong their activity and increase their total daily activity. These findings highlight that daylight availability could be an additional ultimate cause of bird migration and act as a selective agent for the evolution of migration.
Evidence of demographic buffering in an endangered great ape: Social buffering on immature survival and the role of refined sex‐age classes on population growth rate
Authors: Colchero Fernando , Eckardt Winnie , Stoinski Tara 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Theoretical and empirical research has shown that increased variability in demographic rates often results in a decline in the population growth rate. In order to reduce the adverse effects of increased variability, life‐history theory predicts that demographic rates that contribute disproportionately to population growth should be buffered against environmental variation. To date, evidence of demographic buffering is still equivocal and limited to analyses on a reduced number of age classes (e.g. juveniles and adults), and on single sex models.

Here we used Bayesian inference models for age‐specific survival and fecundity on a long‐term dataset of wild mountain gorillas. We used these estimates to parameterize two‐sex, age‐specific stochastic population projection models that accounted for the yearly covariation between demographic rates. We estimated the sensitivity of the long‐run stochastic population growth rate to reductions in survival and fecundity on ages belonging to nine sex‐age classes for survival and three age classes for female fecundity.

We found a statistically significant negative linear relationship between the sensitivities and variances of demographic rates, with strong demographic buffering on young adult female survival and low buffering on older female and silverback survival and female fecundity. We found moderate buffering on all immature stages and on prime‐age females.

Previous research on long‐lived slow species has found high buffering of prime‐age female survival and low buffering on immature survival and fecundity. Our results suggest that the moderate buffering of the immature stages can be partially due to the mountain gorilla social system and the relative stability of their environment.

Our results provide clear support for the demographic buffering hypothesis and its predicted effects on species at the slow end of the slow–fast life‐history continuum, but with the surprising outcome of moderate social buffering on the survival of immature stages. We also demonstrate how increasing the number of sex‐age classes can greatly improve the detection of demographic buffering in wild populations.
Phylogenetic structure of lichen metacommunities in Amazonian and Northeast Brazil
Authors: Nascimento Edvaneide Leandro de Lima , Maia Leonor Costa , Cáceres Marcela Eugenia da Silva , Lücking Robert 
Published: March 2021

AbstractAmazon, Atlantic forest, Brejos de Altitude, Caatinga, Carrasco, Cerradão and Restinga are major vegetation units in North and Northeast Brazil. Little is known about lichen metacommunity structure in these habitats. While species richness and composition generally depend on climatic factors, in azonal vegetation edaphic factors may have a filtering effect on tree bark structure and hence the composition of epiphytic lichen communities. We hypothesized that climatic stress and a tree bark filtering effect would result in reduced richness and phylogenetic clustering in Caatinga, Carrasco, Cerradão and Restinga, whereas high richness and phylogenetic overdispersion were predicted for Amazon and Atlantic Forest. To test this, we analyzed 2,090 lichenized species in the study area, with a supertree to assess phylogenetic metacommunity structure. Amazon and Atlantic forest exhibited high richness and phylogenetic diversity, with phylogenetic overdispersion only in the Amazon. The zonal Caatinga with drought stress and the extrazonal Brejos both exhibited phylogenetic clustering. Among the azonal, edaphic vegetation units, Cerradão exhibited phylogenetic overdispersion, whereas Restinga showed phylogenetic clustering. Nearest taxon phylogenetic distance indicated a close relationship between Amazon and Atlantic forest, Atlantic forest and Brejos and Atlantic forest and Caatinga. Carrasco was mostly closely related to Cerradão, and Restinga was distantly related to any other unit. These findings indicate more complex patterns in the phylogenetic structure of lichen metacommunities, partly reflecting those of plant metacommunities, as a result of concurrent macroecological evolutionary histories. Our data supported floristic evidence that Carrasco is part of the Cerrado complex and not related to Caatinga.
Sex allocation in aquatic ferns: The role of body size
Authors: Coelho Flávia F. , Basulto Sofía R. , Fávaro Ana , Demetrio Guilherme R. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPatterns of resource allocation reflect the plastic strategies that result from different selective pressures imposed by the environment. However, biomass allocation can be limited by architectural restrictions that change with the plant size. Our knowledge about sex allocation in heterosporous aquatic ferns remains scarce and studies on the reproductive strategies of these plants may yield valuable information regarding the evolutionary history of heterospory. Here, we investigate resources allocation, both in number and in biomass, to produce megasporangia and microsporangia among three species of Salvinia with different body sizes. Salvinia oblongifolia, S. auriculata and S. minima were collected in temporary ponds on the floodplain of the Pandeiros River in Brazil. We counted megasporangia and microsporangia, and measured their dry mass in each ramet. We also measured the total vegetative biomass and total reproductive biomass of each ramet in each species. Resource allocation to megasporangia production is associated with the specific body size of each species. However, the allocation for microsporangia production was higher in the species with intermediate size, which probably may be related to the drought event. The total reproductive biomass of each species was not dependent on the total vegetative biomass, but despite a similar reproductive effort, species differ on which sex is prioritized in the allocation process. Our results provide the first data about the processes underlying the sex allocation of Salvinia in the floodplains. The production of sori is size dependent in each Salvinia species and is shaped by drought, an intense selective pressure in temporary wet habitats.
STRUCTURING ARTISTIC CREATIVITY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A ‘CREATIVE CITY’: Urban Sculpture Planning in Shanghai
Authors: Zheng Jane 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThis article explores the relationship between institutional environments and individual artists’ artistic creativity to provide an understanding of the ‘creative city’, using urban sculpture planning in Shanghai as a case study. I argue that political censorship alone will not stifle artist's creativity: when authoritarian power interacts with elite social networks and permits a certain form of market economy, artistic creativity becomes concentrated on the technical aspects of artistic representation and can be channeled towards utilitarian projects in service of the community and the creative economy. A less open or tolerant institutional setting results in a type of ‘structured creativity’—this refers to novel ideas and artistic expressions that emerge in the process of seeking valuable alternative outlets when facing political constraints. ‘Structured creativity’ characterizes the ‘creative city’ in countries such as China. The implication is that such ‘structured creativity’ contributes to the economy in terms of traditional statistical indicators, but is problematic in other ways. Richard Florida's ‘creative city’ thesis simplified the relationship between social conditions, creativity and economy; similarly, the complexity of this relationship has been overlooked in the critical literature about this topic.
Sustainable development of water resources in marginalised semi‐arid regions of India: Case study of Dahod in Gujarat, India
Authors: Chinnasamy Pennan , Maske Ambadas B. , Honap Vaishnavi , Chaudhary Sunita , Agoramoorthy Govindasamy 
Published: March 2021

AbstractIncreased water demand and frequency of droughts, due to climate change in India, has led to water scarcity in the domestic and agricultural sectors. In such scenarios, small scale and decentralised water infrastructures, for example, check dams, have reduced water demand extremes and climate change impacts on water resources, especially for marginalised and low income farmers in semi‐arid regions. This study aims to quantify the impact of a network of check dams on increasing soil moisture (SM) and crop productivity (CP) in a semi‐arid Indian region. As a case study, 52 check dams were mapped, from 1990 to 2017, across the Dahod district of Gujarat state, and increases in SM and CP were quantified using remote sensing data‐based indicators, including Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI). Results indicate an overall increase in NDVI from −0.2 to 0.1, and NDWI from 0.03 to 0.3, indicating an increase in vegetation cover and water content, respectively. In addition, spatiotemporal analysis indicates that the locations near the check dam had rapid increase in both indicators, and less dependence on rainfall variability. The study showed that remote sensing based indicators have been useful in documenting the impact of water recharge structures, especially in ungauged basins. However, it is important to use remote sensing data along with observation data for better accuracy of assessments. Results also indicate that the check dams could have been important in increasing water resource availability, as impact of other water resources is yet unknown in the region. Increased water resources, through improved sustainable development of water infrastructure, have increased the vegetation and decreased the vulnerability to climate change extremes, and thereby increased the socio‐economic status of marginalised farmers in Dahod.
Modification of pea dietary fiber by ultrafine grinding and hypoglycemic effect in diabetes mellitus mice
Authors: Wang Meng , Chen Xuanhong , Dong Leichao , Nan Xijun , Ji Wei , Wang Sai , Sun Wanting , Zhou Quancheng 
Published: March 2021

AbstractThis study was designed to investigate the effects of ultrafine grinding on the physicochemical properties of pea dietary fiber (PDF) and the hypoglycemic effect of ultrafine grinding dietary fiber on diabetes mellitus (DM). So, the PDF was treated by ultrafine grinding technology, and its microstructure and physicochemical properties were determined. Then, the DM model was established, and the 4‐week ultrafine grinded pea dietary fiber (UGPDF) diet intervention was conducted by using gavage and feeding. During this period, the blood glucose and body weight of the mice were measured, and an oral glucose tolerance test was measured on the last day. The biochemical blood indexes of the mice were determined, and the pancreas was stained with HE after dissecting. The results showed that after ultrafine grinding, the structure fragmentation, specific surface area increased, and UGPDF showed higher swelling ability as well as water and oil holding capacities. Simultaneously, UGPDF had a significant effect on reducing blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in DM mice, improving the wasting state of mice and increasing the tolerance to glucose. Further, the results of the HE section showed that the pancreatic islet cells gradually returned to normal regular morphology. In biochemical blood indicators, UGPDF reduced TC and TG levels in the blood. This study provided a specific data basis for the following research on the hypoglycemic mechanism, and broadens the application field of PDF.Practical ApplicationThe physicochemical properties of pea dietary fiber were improved by ultrafine grinding technology. Because of this, the application of pea dietary fiber in the field of hypoglycemic had a better effect, laying a foundation for the next research on hypoglycemic mechanism.