bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Academic staff perspectives on first-year students’ academic competencies
Authors: Mah Dana-Kristin , Ifenthaler Dirk 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the expectations, perceptions and role understanding of academic staff using a model of academic competencies (i.e. time management, learning skills, technology proficiency, self-monitoring and research skills).

Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten members of academic staff at a German university. Participants’ responses to the open-ended questions were coded inductively, while responses concerning the proposed model of academic competencies were coded deductively using a priori categories.

Findings
Participating academic staff expected first-year students to be most competent in time management and in learning skills; they perceived students’ technology proficiency to be rather high but their research skills as low. Interviews indicated a mismatch between academic staff expectations and perceptions.

Practical implications
These findings may enable universities to provide support services for first-year students to help them to adjust to the demands of higher education. They may also serve as a platform to discuss how academic staff can support students to develop the required academic competencies, as well as a broader conversation about higher education pedagogy and competency assessment.

Originality/value
Little research has investigated the perspectives of academic staff concerning the academic competencies they expect of first-year students. Understanding their perspectives is crucial for improving the quality of institutions; their input into the design of effective support services is essential, as is a constructive dialogue to identify strategies to enhance student retention.
Critical dimensions for the effective design and use of simulation exercises for emergency management in higher education
Authors: Cooper Vanessa , Forino Giuseppe , Kanjanabootra Sittimont , von Meding Jason 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
There is a need to provide more effective learning experiences for higher education (HE) students in transdisciplinary contexts such as disasters and emergency management. While much has been written on the value of simulation exercises (SEs) for emergency management practitioners, research has focussed less on their value for HE students. The purpose of this paper is to identify how a practitioner-oriented framework for the design and use of SEs in emergency management is relevant to the HE context and how this framework may need to be adapted to support effective learning by HE students.

Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive approach based on a qualitative content analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with emergency management practitioners and educators is used to enable an in-depth understanding of the social phenomena to be obtained.

Findings
The paper highlights that a framework for the design and use of SEs for emergency management practitioners is potentially valuable in the HE context but should be applied in a nuanced way.

Research limitations/implications
The paper is based on a small number of interviews and future studies could usefully analyse a wider set of perspectives (e.g. students), using a variety of alternative methods (e.g. surveys), to further test and/or enrich the framework.

Practical implications
Insights from the paper can inform the design and use of SEs in the HE context with a view to supporting more effective learning that better prepares students to operate during disaster events when they enter the emergency management workforce.

Originality/value
This is the first paper that has investigated the value of a practitioner-oriented framework for the design and use of disaster SEs in the HE context. In so doing, the paper has highlighted how the dimensions of the framework apply in the HE context and has revealed other issues that need to be addressed to support effective learning by HE students.
Empirical evidence about ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 in Italian companies
Authors: Murmura Federica , Bravi Laura 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the experience of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 certified companies, examining their motivations to introduce the standard and their perceived benefits and barriers. In parallel, the research investigated the knowledge and perception of ISO 9004 guideline, analyzing if it could give an added value to certified companies.

Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was proposed by e-mail to 2,581 Italian ISO 9001 certified companies from January 18 to March 31, 2016; 522 companies participated to the survey.

Findings
Companies of different size have been driven by different motivations to certification, reaching different types of benefits, while both large and small ones perceived the greater bureaucratization as an obstacle. The ISO 9004 standard is little known and applied among Italian companies, but the ones which adopted it benefited from it.

Research limitations/implications
A limitation may be derived from the fact that the sample was composed only of Italian companies, although this effect was to understand perceptions and trends of these international standards in the Italian reality.

Practical implications
Analyzing perceived advantages and disadvantages of ISO 9001 and 9004 could be crucial for managers to understand if their joint use is the right strategy to gain competitiveness in the reference markets.

Originality/value
Compared to previous studies in which ISO 9001 was evaluated as a stand-alone standard, the research made a comparative evaluation with ISO 9004, as ISO considers them to be “consistent pair of standards,” covering the literature gap about the effectiveness of the joint use of them.
Business excellence in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment (BEVUCA)
Authors: Saleh Ayat , Watson Richard 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how companies can achieve business excellence in a highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. Within the literature about business excellence, there is a lack of understanding of the impact of today’s high VUCA on achieving business excellence. A new business concept, business excellence in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment (BEVUCA), will be illustrated so as to bridge this gap by considering the overall VUCA influence and the influences of each specific term individually.

Design/methodology/approach
The research incorporated a systematic literature review for three knowledge areas, namely: VUCA, business excellence and the management integration of quality and risk. The later knowledge area was reviewed because such diverse management thinking can help to achieve BEVUCA.

Findings
The research provided a definition for a new business concept and the systematic literature review identified 18 critical success factors so as to manage and excel under a high VUCA business environment. Finally a conceptual framework was developed for integrating quality management and risk management thinking so as to achieve BEVUCA.

Originality/value
BEVUCA can be used to close the current gap in the body of literature by providing a link between VUCA and business excellence, and hence advancing the discussion in these areas. Additionally, the BEVUCA conceptual framework can be used as guidance in integrating quality management and risk management to achieve the identified critical success factors.
Two phenological variants of Terminalia alata coexist in a dry dipterocarp forest
Authors: Ito Eriko , Chann Sophal , Tith Bora , Keth Samkol , Ly Chandararity , Op Phallaphearaoth , Furuya Naoyuki , Ohnuki Yasuhiro , Iida Shin’ichi , Shimizu Takanori , Tamai Koji , Kabeya Naoki , Yagi Takanobu , Shimizu Akira 
Published: August 2017

AbstractTwo morphological variants of Terminalia alata (Combretaceae) differed in leaf flushing phenology and spatial distribution in a Cambodian deciduous forest. The hairy‐type trees displayed leaf exchange behavior in the middle of the dry season. The glabrous type flushed new leaves 3 months after the wet season started. The leafless period of the hairy type was estimated to be <1 month, whereas that of the glabrous type lasted more than 5 months. The landscape‐scale leaf exchange behavior was similar to that of the hairy type. The two types showed clear spatial separation. The hairy type was limited to flat areas with deep soils. The dominance of the glabrous type in hilly areas with shallow soils suggests that it is adapted to water‐limited environments. The abundance of the glabrous type in hilly areas and its unique leaf phenology probably influence the carbon, energy and water balance at the landscape level.
Transmission of Penicillium aurantiogriseum partiti‐like virus 1 to a new fungal host (Cryphonectria parasitica) confers higher resistance to salinity and reveals adaptive genomic changes
Authors: Nerva Luca , Silvestri Alessandro , Ciuffo Marina , Palmano Sabrina , Varese Givanna Cristina , Turina Massimo 
Published: August 2017

SummaryWe attempted to transfect six recently characterized virus species to protoplasts of Penicillium janczewskii and Chryphonectria parasitica. None of the recovered P. janczewskii colonies was positive for the transfected viruses, but Penicillium aurantiogriseum partiti‐like virus 1 (PaPLV1) was detected in three distinct regenerated C. parasitica colonies. We screened the phenotype of the infected strains in up to 45 different conditions combining different media, salinity and temperatures: our results show that the infected strains grow slower than the virus‐ free in most of the tested conditions with the exception of halophilic stress in a specific nutrient combination media. We proceeded to characterize molecularly the population of distinct isolates of PaPLV1 infected C. parasitica through RNAseq: comparison to the viral population present in the original host – P. auratiogriseum – showed that two isolates accumulated non‐synonymous mutations suggesting adaptation to the new host. RNAseq analyses identified a second genomic RNA segment and northern blot of RNA extracted from purified virus suspensions allowed establishing that PaPLV1 is at least bipartite in nature and that it forms isometric virions of circa 36–38 nm in diameter. In light of these new acquisitions, we discuss the taxonomic placement of PaPLV1 inside the Partitiviridae.
Did bubbles migrate from the stock to the housing market in China between 2005 and 2010?
Authors: Deng Yongheng , Girardin Eric , Joyeux Roselyne , Shi Shuping 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe speculative nature of both stock and housing markets in China has attracted the attention of observers. However, while stock market data are easily available, the low frequency and low quality of publicly available housing price data hampers the study of the relationship between the two markets. We use original hedonic weekly resale housing prices of a major Chinese housing market and study them in conjunction with Shanghai's stock market index in the second half of the 2000s. The use of the Phillips et al. (2015 a,b) recursive explosive‐root test enables us to detect and date speculative episodes in both markets. We then implement the Greenaway‐McGrevy and Phillips (2016) methodology to detect the presence of migration between the two types of bubbles. We detect significant migration from the stock to the housing market bubble in 2009 and a temporary spillover in 2007.
Determination of some structural features of the nest paper materials ofDolichovespula SaxonicaFabricius, 1793 (Hymenoptera: Vespinae) in Turkey
Authors: Ertürk Ömer 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to identify the nest materials, some physical characteristics and the elemental composition of the nest ofDolichovespula saxonica(Fabricius, 1793). The nest surfaces were observed with a stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). In the inner surface of theD. saxonicanest the medium thickness of the fibers in the envelope and comb varied between 7.14 and 26.9 μm, respectively and averaged 16.4 μm. In the outer surface of the nest the medium thickness of the fibers in the envelope and comb were between 3.52 and 5.70 μm, respectively and averaged 4.63 μm. The nitrogen concentration of the nest ofD. saxonicawas 0.616% and the amount of protein was 3.08%. The percentages of the fibers, saliva, oil and the water absorption capacity were calculated as 67–70%, 23–30%, 12–18% and 110–140%, respectively. However, the amount of the element Cadmium (Cd) in the nest was found to have a value of 0.2 ppm. The major compounds of wasp nests are plant fibers, saliva and oil. However, the concentrations and ratios of the nest material compounds depend on the plant variety, place of origin, and time of harvest as well as on the processing and saliva conditions. The colors of the nest are beige, cream and grey with long dark brown lines. As a result of our study, we have found that the rates and quantities of physical characteristics, elemental composition and the fibers in the envelope and comb of the nest ofD. saxonicachange with environmental conditions.
Playing with Words While Yemen Burns: Managing Criticism of UK Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia
Authors: Stavrianakis Anna 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThis survey article examines the ways in which the UK government has attempted to manage criticism of its arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Hitting the headlines since 2015 due to widespread, credible allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Saudi‐led coalition in the war in Yemen, UK arms sales are now subject to unusual levels of parliamentary, media, NGO and legal scrutiny. The article outlines the government's strategies for managing criticism in order to both deal with domestic dissent and maintain good relations with the Saudi government. Paying attention to such strategies is an important means of analysing how arms transfers are justified and facilitated, and how governments manage the contradictory pressures to both promote and restrict arms exports.
Holocene glacial evolution of Mohnbukta in eastern Spitsbergen
Authors: Flink Anne E. , Hill Peter , Noormets Riko , Kirchner Nina 
Published: August 2017

Submarine geomorphology is one of the main tools for understanding past fluctuations of tidewater glaciers. In this study we investigate the glacial history of Mohnbukta, on the east coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, by combining multibeam‐bathymetric data, marine sediment cores and remote sensing data. Presently, three tidewater glaciers, Heuglinbreen, Königsbergbreen and Hayesbreen calve into Mohnbukta. Hayesbreen surged at the end of the Little Ice Age, between 1901 and 1910. The submarine landform assemblage in Mohnbukta contains two large transverse ridges, interpreted as terminal moraines, with debrisflow lobes on their distal slopes and sets of well‐preserved geometric networks of ridges, interpreted as crevasse‐squeeze ridges inshore of the moraines. The arrangement of crevasse‐squeeze ridges suggests that both landform sets were produced during surge‐type advances. The terminus position of the 1901–1910 Hayesbreen surge correlates with the inner (R.2) terminal moraine ridge suggesting that the R.1 ridge formed prior to 1901. Marine sediment cores display 14C ages between 5700–7700 cal. a BP derived from benthic foraminifera, from a clast‐rich mud unit. This unit represents pre‐surge unconsolidated Holocene sediments pushed in front of the glacier terminus and mixed up during the 1901 surge. An absence of retreat moraines in the deeper part of the inner basin and the observation of tabular icebergs calving off the glacier front during retreat suggest that the front of Hayesbreen was close to flotation, at least in the deeper parts of the basin. As the MOH15‐01 core does not penetrate into a subglacial till and the foraminifera in the samples were well preserved, the R.1 ridge is suggested to have formed prior to the deposition of the foraminifera. Based on these data we propose that a surge‐type advance occurred in Mohnbukta in the early Holocene, prior to 7700 cal. a BP, which in turn indicates that glaciers can switch to and from surge mode.
New immunoglobulin brand for Guillain–Barré syndrome
Authors: Koga Michiaki 
Published: August 2017

AbstractNomura et al. showed the efficacy and safety of freeze‐dried polyethylene glycol‐treated human immunoglobulin in a multicenter, open‐label and single‐arm trial for treatment of Guillain–Barré syndrome. Based on the results, a new source of immunoglobulin is indicated for Guillain–Barré syndrome in Japan.
Negotiating the boundaries of psychosis: A qualitative study of the service provider perspective on treatment delay in community mental health
Authors: Kvig Erling Inge , Moe Cathrine , Brinchmann Beate , Larsen Tor Ketil , Sørgaard Knut 
Published: August 2017

AimEvidence shows that many patients are detected and treated late in their course of illness, and that substantial delay occurs even after entry to mental health services. Although several studies have examined the service user and carer perspectives on treatment delay, few have explored the issue from the service provider perspective. The aim of this study was to broaden our understanding of treatment delay by exploring the service provider perspective on reasons for treatment delay in community mental health services.MethodsA qualitative study using data from focus group interviews with 33 healthcare professionals in community mental health care. Interview data were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a grounded theory approach.ResultsService providers perceived divergent or conflicting perspectives as the main challenge in early psychosis. Clinical negotiation was chosen as the main term describing the interactions between patients and healthcare professionals: This was observed in 3 overlapping areas: (1) Negotiating the patients status as help‐seeker; (2) Negotiating the place and conditions of treatment and (3) Negotiating the meaning of distressing experiences and the timing of treatment options.ConclusionsThis study suggests that delay in initiation of treatment for psychosis in community mental health is related to clinical challenges of early disengagement from services and diagnostic uncertainty. Service providers found negotiating the therapeutic relationship and patient‐centred flexibility more useful in ensuring engagement than an assertive outreach approach. Diagnostic uncertainty was resolved through watchful waiting using a distress‐overload conceptualization in assessing changes in mental state and service needs.
Is soil texture a major controlling factor of root:shoot ratio in cereals?
Authors: Poeplau C. , Kätterer T. 
Published: August 2017

SummaryEstimation of inputs of belowground carbon constitutes a major uncertainty in carbon (C) balance models. Fixed allocation coefficients are widely used although root:shoot ratio is known to respond to abiotic stressors. This pot experiment investigated the C allocation response of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare, L.) to soil texture and nutrient availability. Differences in nutrient availability, induced by a long‐term history of contrasting N and PK fertilizer application to the soil, did not affect root:shoot ratio. Soil texture had a significant effect; the smallest root:shoot ratio (0.10) occurred in a clay loam soil and the largest (0.22) was in a sandy soil. We hypothesized that this relation was related to hydraulic properties of the root–soil contact zone and were able to confirm this relation with existing datasets from the literature. The results obtained in this study could be useful for future estimates of root‐derived C inputs, for example in carbon turnover models, but thorough in situ validation with different plant species is required.Highlights
We tested soil texture and nutrient controls on root:shoot ratios of spring barley in a pot experiment.
Soil texture rather than nutrient availability was the most important factor affecting root growth
The largest root:shoot ratio in the sandy soil might be related to water availability
The texture effect proved to be significant in a meta‐analysis of data from literature
Selection Bias and the Underwriter Certification of the Largest Shareholders in Seasoned Equity Offerings
Authors: Lee Chin‐Chong , Poon Wai‐Ching , Sinnakkannu Jothee 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe largest shareholders of issuing firms in Hong Kong are eligible to underwrite rights issues and open offers. We hypothesize that the largest shareholders as underwriters who possess more information are better than investment banks in certifying firm value. Our analyses show that the largest shareholders self‐select into their preferred issuing firms, and a selection bias in the choice of underwriters arises. After controlling for firm and issue characteristics and addressing the selection bias, our findings support our hypothesis. We also find that investment banks with greater access to information through prior underwriting relationship provide better certification than investment banks without such relationship.
The gender gap in pensions in Latin America
Authors: Amarante Verónica , Colacce Maira , Manzi Pilar 
Published: August 2017

AbstractLower female lifetime labour market participation rates, greater interruptions during their working lives, and wage gaps contribute to create gender gaps in pensions at the time of retirement. The design of social security systems may reinforce or attenuate these gaps. This article provides new evidence on gender gaps in access to pensions and in pension income in four Southern Cone countries in Latin America and analyses their evolution between 2000 and 2013, showing significant improvements in both gaps, with differential patterns by countries. The decrease in the gender gap in pension income has been particularly significant in Argentina and Brazil. In both cases, the largest increases in pension values during the period correspond to the lowest income percentiles, where women are overrepresented. The application of redistributive policies in these countries, aimed at reducing poverty and inequality but not necessarily focused on gender equity, has had positive and probably unintended consequences in terms of reduction in gender gaps in pensions.
THE “NEGATIVE” AND “POSITIVE” ARGUMENTS OF MORAL MODERATES
Authors: Montague Philip 
Published: August 2017

Abstract:According to Shelly Kagan, “ordinary” or “moderate” moralists must establish the existence of “options.” Kagan considers a “negative” and a “positive” argument, which he regards as the most promising means by which moral moderates might establish their position. He offers objections to both, and he concludes that the moderate position is indefensible. I argue that Kagan fails in his attempt to discredit the negative argument. I also argue that the positive argument is so implausible that Kagan's elaborate criticism of it is unnecessary. The positive argument is interesting nevertheless, because of why it cannot serve the moderate's purposes.
KANT'S CONCEPTION OF MERIT
Authors: Johnson Robert N. 
Published: August 2017

Abstract:It is standard to attribute to Kant the view that actions from motives other than duty deserve no positive moral evaluation. I argue that the standard view is mistaken. Kant's account of merit in the Metaphysics of Morals shows that he believes actions not performed from duty can be meritorious. Moreover, the grounds for attributing merit to an action are different from those for attributing moral worth to it. This is significant because it shows both that his views are reasonably consistent with our ordinary views, and that he recognized a variety of purposes in evaluating actions, many of which are not furthered by determining whether they were motivated by duty.