bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On the road to consensus: key soft skills required for youth employment in the service sector
Authors: Singh Anjana , Jaykumar Prashanti 
Published: February 2019

PurposeTourism and hospitality is one of the fastest growing segments of the services industry in India, and there is tremendous need and opportunity for young, educated and qualified professionals. Academics and employers agree that there is an increasing gap between the soft skills that companies expect from their entry-level employees and the skills that these young people possess. To bridge this gap, industry leaders and researchers indicate the need for more soft skills training. The purpose of this paper is to identify soft skills competencies that are required for a diverse group of entry-level employees and then to identify gaps by exploring the hospitality programme and internships.Design/methodology/approachThe research is analytical in nature and draws on a literature review and a questionnaire as a survey tool for stakeholders. The research had separate questionnaires for employers, students and faculty members of the Vedatya Institute, educator for the service industry. The research is focused on entry-level employees – students who had graduated from Vedatya Institute in the past five years. The employers are primarily general managers and human resource managers of five-star hotels who have recruited and been part of campus interviews.FindingsThe research analysed soft or employability skills for the hospitality industry, and it provided valuable insights from employers and perceptions of graduates in attainment of those skills during their degree programme. The study highlighted the significant role of internship in developing soft skills.Practical implicationsThe paper recommends practical solutions for educators and organizations that can be applied. The research synthesized current thinking on required soft skills for young entry-level employees and explores the soft skills gap in the context of a growing soft skills training market with recommendation for stakeholders.Originality/valueThe research sought to address the real life problem impacting the hospitality industry in India using inputs from the literature, graduates and employers.
Is there evidence of insider trading in Australian water markets?
Authors: de Bonviller Simon , Zuo Alec , Wheeler Sarah Ann 
Published: February 2019

Insider trading is a much studied form of market manipulation in the financial market literature. However, studies addressing the issue of insider trading in resource markets, and in particular water markets, are rare. This study investigates the occurrence of insider trading practices around important water market allocation announcements in the Goulburn temporary water market trading zone in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, which is one of the largest and longest operating water market districts in the world. Nine years of daily water allocation volume and price transactions between 2008 and 2017 are modelled, with some evidence found of abnormal price movements in the 3 or 5 days preceding water allocation announcements, and especially before the introduction of insider trading rules in 2014. However, although the results do suggest some very weak statistically significant evidence that insider trading may still be present in Goulburn water markets post‐2014, it is just as feasible that our results may also reflect an increased sophistication of trader behaviour over time.
The Potential for Nitrogen Abatement Trading in Agriculture: A Hypothetical Market Experiment
Authors: Hansen Line B. , Termansen Mette , Hasler Berit 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe effectiveness of nitrogen abatement trading as a policy measure relies on both heterogeneity in costs and environmental effectiveness across landscapes. Cost‐efficient implementation may therefore critically depend on spatial distributions of farm and farmer characteristics in water catchments. We use a spatially specific hypothetical market experiment to analyse the likelihood of farmers’ enrolment into nitrogen abatement trading contracts, and derive demand and supply functions for farmers’ nitrogen abatement. We find that farm characteristics influence both the decision whether to supply or purchase nitrogen abatement, as well as the amounts being traded. The derived demand and supply functions for farmers’ N abatement, using hypothetical market experiment data, can be used to reveal the variability in costs of abatement within a market. This provides valuable information to test potential trading schemes ex ante, to evaluate potential economic gains from policy implementation.
Industry Concentration and U.S. REIT Returns
Authors: Zhang Ying , Hansz J. Andrew 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe real estate investment trusts (REITs) industry has been omitted from industry concentration studies because REITs are unique, regulated companies. We fill this research gap and investigate the relationship between REIT industry concentration and its returns. First, we demonstrate that changes in concentration drive future REIT returns, and this causality is significant and unilateral. Second, we find that changes in concentration can significantly and negatively predict future REIT returns. Third, we reveal that this predictive power is asymmetric, with stronger power on equity‐REIT than mortgage‐REIT returns. We contend that greater REIT industry concentration implies less risk leading to lower future returns and vice versa.
Nutritional and Nutraceutical Composition of Pansies (Viola × wittrockiana) During Flowering
Authors: Fernandes Luana , Ramalhosa Elsa , Baptista Paula , Pereira José A. , Saraiva Jorge A. , Casal Susana I.P. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractEdible flowers consumption and use are an increasing food trend worldwide, although information concerning their nutritional composition and nutraceutical value is still scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to contribute to the popularization of pansies (Viola × wittrockiana), through the analysis of the nutritional and nutraceutical features of pansies with different colors (white, yellow, and red) and flowering stages. Both flower type and flowering stage influenced the flower composition. When completely open, white and yellow pansies had the highest contents of protein (>2.00 g/100 g fresh weight), while red pansies had the highest content of carbohydrates (8.0 g/100 g fresh weight). Regarding the fatty acid profiles, linoleic acid was always predominant (ranging between 18.7 and 51.0 g/100 g fatty acids), followed by the palmitic and linolenic acids. During flowering, there was an increase in protein, fat, and linolenic acid contents in white and yellow pansies, whereas in red pansies the values did not change. Red pansies were characterized by the highest contents of total carotenoids (873 to 1300 µg β‐carotene/g dry weight) and monomeric anthocyanins (303 to 402 µg Cy‐3 glu/g dry weight); however, white and yellow pansies showed an increase in the values of total reducing capacity (total phenols), hydrolysable tannins, flavonoids, monomeric anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity from the bud to completely open flower stage. Our results underline the nutritional differences between pansies with different colors at distinct stages of development and their potential health benefits, suggesting that they can be used as ingredient to improve the nutritional properties of foods.Practical applicationThe market of edible flowers is increasing, although little information in nutritional view is available. So, the present study was conducted to contribute to the popularization of edible flowers as a new and prospective source for the food industry, as well as a promising product for human nutrition. The results of the present study underline the nutritional differences between pansies with different colors at distinct stages of development and their potential health benefits, suggesting that they can be used as ingredient to improve the nutritional properties of foods.
Effects of Soaking on the Functional Properties of Yellow‐Eyed Bean Flour and the Acceptability of Chocolate Brownies
Authors: English Marcia M. , Viana Lauren , McSweeney Mathew B. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractDried beans are an excellent source of protein, soluble fiber, and resistant starch. In spite of their beneficial properties, the presence of off‐flavors limits their use as alternate flour sources in food applications. Soaking and then masking with flavor compounds are effective methods to remove off‐flavors in pulses; however, these strategies are not often combined in a single‐food application. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of these combined strategies on the acceptability of brownies made with bean flour and whether soaking affected the functional properties of the flour samples. Yellow‐eyed (YE) beans were soaked for 24 hr, dried in an oven (treated), and then ground to form flour using a kitchen mill. The check‐all‐that‐apply scores revealed that brownies made with 100% YE flour had nutty and beany flavors. However, consumer liking of brownies made with 50:50 and 25:75 all‐purpose (AP):YE‐treated flour blends, respectively, were not significantly different from the control brownies made with AP flour. Starch content varied significantly among the treated (42.9 ± 3.2%, P < 0.05) and untreated YE bean flour samples (35.3 ± 1.9%). The treated YE flour showed the highest water absorption index, 3.69 ± 0.12. Overall, combining soaking and the use of chocolate were successful strategies to reduce off‐flavors in cake‐style brownies, which suggest that up to 50% treated YE flours may be used as a suitable partial replacer of AP flour in chocolate brownies.Practical ApplicationSoaking yellow‐eyed (YE) beans prior to milling, combined with the use of chocolate were successful strategies to mask off‐flavors in cake‐style brownies. The significance of the findings of this study lies in the fact that treated YE flours may be used as a suitable partial replacer of AP flour in chocolate brownies. The use of these strategies has the potential to increase the consumption of pulse flours in Canada.
Neighborhood deprivation and adverse perinatal outcomes in Sweden: A population‐based register study
Authors: Hesselman Susanne , Wikström Anna‐Karin , Skalkidou Alkistis , Sundström‐Poromaa Inger , Wikman Anna 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIntroductionNeighborhood deprivation has been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes but it is unclear to what extent maternal and social risk factors explain the association and how a stressful environment per se contributes.Material and methodsA population‐based register study including 218 030 deliveries in Sweden between January 2013 and July 2017 was conducted. Exposure was living in a deprived or severely deprived area defined by the National Operations Department of the Swedish Police Authority. Adverse perinatal outcomes included preterm births, small‐for‐gestational‐age births and stillbirths. A propensity score‐based method was used to control for individual baseline characteristics. Associations were investigated with logistic regression analyses and risk estimates are presented as crude (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI).ResultsLiving in a deprived neighborhood in Sweden was associated with extremely preterm births (deprived area OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.07‐2.11, severely deprived OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.40‐2.58), small‐for‐gestational‐age birth (deprived OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.31‐1.60, severely deprived OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.69‐2.03) and stillbirth (deprived OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.17‐2.26, severely deprived OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.11‐2.19). After accounting for individual maternal and social risk factors, the risk of small for gestational age in severely deprived areas remained (aOR 1.45, 95% CI, 1.19‐1.75).ConclusionsThe contextual effect of living in a deprived neighborhood on the risk of extremely preterm births, small‐for‐gestational‐age births and stillbirths was to a high extent explained by individual factors of women residing in exposed areas, yet remained for small‐for‐gestational‐age births in severely deprived areas after adjustment for maternal and social risk factors.
Strategies to improve selection of creative ideas: An experimental test of epistemic and social motivation in groups
Authors: Van Damme Michaël J.J.P.S. , Anseel Frederik , Duyck Wouter , Rietzschel Eric F. 
Published: February 2019

Pre‐implementation activities like idea selection play a crucial role in the innovation process. However, groups of people seem to perform rather poorly when it comes to selecting creative ideas for implementation. The Motivated Information Processing in Groups model (MIP‐G) provides an explanation as to why some groups outperform others when it comes to making group decisions. On the basis of the MIP‐G framework, we hypothesized that groups that are both epistemically and prosocially motivated would outperform other groups in selecting creative ideas. Contrary to our hypothesis, a 2 × 2 experiment in a field sample (N = 240 or 80 three‐person groups) showed that under conditions of high epistemic motivation, proself motivated groups selected significantly more creative and original ideas than prosocial groups. Proself motivated groups did not differ significantly from the prosocial motivated groups in selecting feasible ideas under conditions of high epistemic motivation. Our results suggest that the MIP‐G framework may need refinement to increase our future understanding of group idea selection. To this end, we propose three specific avenues for future research.
Harnessing the potential of integrated systematics for conservation of taxonomically complex, megadiverse plant groups
Authors: Nic Lughadha Eimear M. , Graziele Staggemeier Vanessa , Vasconcelos Thais N. C. , Walker Barnaby E. , Canteiro Cátia , Lucas Eve J. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractThe value of natural history collections for conservation science research is increasingly recognized, despite their well‐documented limitations in terms of taxonomic, geographic, and temporal coverage. Specimen‐based analyses are particularly important for tropical plant groups for which field observations are scarce and potentially unreliable due to high levels of diversity‐amplifying identification challenges. Specimen databases curated by specialists are rich sources of authoritatively identified, georeferenced occurrence data, and such data are urgently needed for large genera. We compared entries in a monographic database for the large Neotropical genus Myrcia in 2007 and 2017. We classified and quantified differences in specimen records over this decade and determined the potential impact of these changes on conservation assessments. We distinguished misidentifications from changes due to taxonomic remodeling and considered the effects of adding specimens and georeferences. We calculated the potential impact of each change on estimates of extent of occurrence (EOO), the most frequently used metric in extinction‐risk assessments of tropical plants. We examined whether particular specimen changes were associated with species for which changes in EOO over the decade were large enough to change their conservation category. Corrections to specimens previously misidentified or lacking georeferences were overrepresented in such species, whereas changes associated with taxonomic remodeling (lumping and splitting) were underrepresented. Among species present in both years, transitions to less threatened status outnumbered those to more threatened (8% vs 3%, respectively). Species previously deemed data deficient transitioned to threatened status more often than to not threatened (10% vs 7%, respectively). Conservation scientists risk reaching unreliable conclusions if they use specimen databases that are not actively curated to reflect changing knowledge.
The European trade ban on wild birds reduced invasion risks
Authors: Cardador Laura , Tella José L. , Anadón José D. , Abellán Pedro , Carrete Martina 
Published: February 2019

AbstractInternational wildlife trade is a major source of current biological invasions. However, the power of trade regulations to reduce invasion risks at large, continental scales has not been empirically assessed. The European wild bird trade ban was implemented in 2005 to counter the spread of the avian flu. We tested whether the ban reduced invasion risk in two European countries, where 398 nonnative bird species were introduced into the wild from 1912 to 2015. The number of newly introduced species per year increased exponentially until 2005 (in parallel with the volume of wild bird importations), and then sharply decreased in subsequent years. Interestingly, a rapid trade shift from wild‐caught birds to captive‐bred birds, which have lower invasive potential than wild‐caught birds, allowed the maintenance of bird availability in markets. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of a trade ban for preventing biological invasions without impacting the ability to meet societal demands.
Measuring executive function skills in young children in Kenya: Associations with school readiness
Authors: Willoughby Michael T. , Piper Benjamin , Oyanga Arbogast , Merseth King Katherine 
Published: February 2019

AbstractMost of what is known about the association between children’s executive function (EF) and school readiness skills is derived from research conducted in Western countries. We tested whether these associations were evident in a middle‐income country context. Participants were 1,480 children, aged 4–7 years old, who participated in an endline assessment of the Tayari program, an early childhood education (ECE) model that is being delivered by the Kenyan education system. High rates of task completion, low rates of floor effects, and high rates of assessor quality ratings supported the feasibility of large‐scale direct assessments of EF with young children. Assessor ratings of children’s attention‐related behaviors during testing were positively associated with their performance on EF tasks (rs = 0.12–0.27). An EF composite score was not related to demographic factors or to children’s exposure to the Tayari program. However, the EF composite score was uniquely associated with performance‐based measures of early literacy (β = 0.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.05, 0.31), early numeracy (β = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.07, 26), and social‐emotional competencies (β = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.20), even after adjustment for multiple covariates. These results are discussed with respect to the ways in which EF skills inform ongoing efforts to invest in ECE in low‐ and middle‐income countries.
Improved set‐size labeling mediates the effect of a counting intervention on children's understanding of cardinality
Authors: O'Rear Connor D. , McNeil Nicole M. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractHow does improving children's ability to label set sizes without counting affect the development of understanding of the cardinality principle? It may accelerate development by facilitating subsequent alignment and comparison of the cardinal label for a given set and the last word counted when counting that set (Mix et al., 2012). Alternatively, it may delay development by decreasing the need for a comprehensive abstract principle to understand and label exact numerosities (Piantadosi et al., 2012). In this study, preschoolers (N = 106, Mage = 4;8) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) count‐and‐label, wherein children spent 6 weeks both counting and labeling sets arranged in canonical patterns like pips on a die; (b) label‐first,wherein children spent the first 3 weeks learning to label the set sizes without counting before spending 3 weeks identical to the count‐and‐label condition; (c) print referencing control. Both counting conditions improved understanding of cardinality through increases in children's ability to label set sizes without counting. In addition to this indirect effect, there was a direct effect of the count‐and‐label condition on progress toward understanding of cardinality. Results highlight the roles of set labeling and equifinality in the development of children's understanding of number concepts.
Assessment of decreased left ventricular longitudinal deformation in asymptomatic patients with organic mitral regurgitation and preserved ejection fraction using tissue‐tracking mitral annular displacement by speckle‐tracking echocardiography
Authors: Teraguchi Ikuko , Hozumi Takeshi , Takemoto Kazushi , Ota Shingo , Kashiwagi Manabu , Shimamura Kunihiro , Shiono Yasutsugu , Kuroi Akio , Yamano Takashi , Yamaguchi Tomoyuki , Matsuo Yoshiki , Ino Yasushi , Kitabata Hironori , Kubo Takashi , Tanaka Atsushi , Akasaka Takashi 
Published: February 2019

BackgroundApplication of speckle‐tracking echocardiography (STE) provides rapid assessment of tissue‐tracking mitral annular displacement (TMAD). We investigated the value of TMAD for the assessment of decreased LV longitudinal deformation in asymptomatic patients with severe or moderate‐to‐severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and preserved LV ejection fraction (LVEF).MethodsWe retrospectively studied 50 patients with severe or moderate‐to‐severe organic MR and preserved LVEF (>60%) in whom global longitudinal strain (GLS) was successfully measured by STE. TMAD was quickly assessed in the apical four‐chamber view using STE. We calculated the percentage of TMAD to LV length from the midpoint of mitral annulus to the apex at end‐diastolic (%TMAD). The study population was divided into two groups: decreased GLS patients (>−20%; Group A) and preserved GLS patients (≤−20%; Group B). We examined whether %TMAD could be used as a diagnostic factor of decreased GLS.Results%TMAD was significantly lower in Group A than Group B (12.5 ± 0.5 vs 16.8 ± 2.2, P < 0.0001). By univariate logistic regression analysis, %TMAD was a diagnostic factor of decreased GLS. By multiple regression analysis, %TMAD remained an independent diagnostic factor of decreased GLS (Odds ratio [OR] = 4.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.34–28.94, P < 0.0001). A cutoff value of %TMAD <14.6 had a sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 94% for the presence of decreased GLS.ConclusionsTissue‐tracking mitral annular displacement is useful in the assessment of decreased LV longitudinal deformation in asymptomatic patients with severe or moderate‐to‐severe MR and preserved LVEF.
Churn prediction and social neighbour influences for different types of user groups in virtual worlds
Authors: Liu Duen‐Ren , Liao Hsiu‐Yu , Chen Kuan‐Yu , Chiu Yi‐Ling 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn virtual worlds (VWs), users have more VW games alternatives, whereas VW companies consequently suffer from high customer turnover rate and low customer loyalty. Therefore, building a churn prediction model to facilitate subsequent churn management and customer retention is important. The churn behaviours and the impact of social neighbour influences to customer churn may be different for different types of users. Accordingly, we segment users into stable, unstable, and solitary user groups according to their social contact behaviours in VWs. Novel segmentation‐based churn prediction approaches are proposed for churn prediction in VWs by building prediction models for each type of user groups and considering the effect of social neighbour influences for different user groups. The proposed approaches are evaluated by conducting experiments with a dataset collected from a VW platform. The experimental results show different churn prediction performances under different user groups. The segmentation‐based churn prediction approaches perform better than do general approaches without considering user groups. Moreover, the results also reveal that social neighbour influences have a positive impact on stable and unstable users. The proposed work contributes to investigating the social neighbour influences on churn prediction for different types of user groups in VWs.