bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Earnings management and goodwill impairment
Authors: Caruso Giuseppe Davide , Ferrari Elisa Rita , Pisano Vincenzo 
Published: December 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to understand whether managerial behavior in impairing goodwill arising from M & As has changed after the adoption of IAS/IFRS, searching for evidences of earnings management (EM) practices. Thus, our goal is to provide a response to the following research questions. Are goodwill impairments used by listed firms’ managers to manipulate earnings? If so, what kind of EM practice is mostly used?Design/methodology/approach– In this paper the authors tested the following hypothesis:H1. In the year of the deal’s closure and in the following four years, the management detects impairment of goodwill in difformity with the previous Italian regulations and related accounting practices. Moreover, the authors tried to determine, for each considered firms, potential symptoms of typical DEM practices widely debated in the financial accounting literature (income smoothing, income minimization, income minimization, or big bath accounting).Findings– Our analysis does not prove evidence of certain EM practices, but it highlights very clearly that, after the adoption of IAS/IFRS, managers’ behavior has deeply changed. Moreover, the analysis shows that there is no univocal choice in favor of a specific EM practice and that every firm pursues its own “strategy.”Originality/value– Considering the importance of the topic from both the perspectives of managerial (with regard to M & As valuation processes) and financial accounting (with regard to intangibles valuation fulfilled by applying the impairment test instead of the amortization), this work aims to provide a multi-dimensional contribution to the current debate.
Intangibles disclosure in Management Commentary regulation in Germany and Italy
Authors: Catalfo Pierluigi , Wulf Inge 
Published: December 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to understand whether Management Commentary (MC) can cover the information needs about underreported company intangibles in accounting traditionalist countries such as Germany and Italy. Furthermore, this work would like to contribute towards an improvement of the managerial culture on intangible resources disclosure and to stimulate the consciousness of the need for a new regulatory policy in accounting.Design/methodology/approach– Focusing on the current regulation on MC and taking into account its hard and soft components, both in Italy and in Germany, we have carried out a semantic analysis together with a manual content one so to find out and to compare specifications for intangibles related disclosure in MC. The authors have decided to follow a semantic approach because of the different languages of the analysed documents, that in any case need to be considered under a cultural perspective of provenience, trying to give more effectiveness to the cross comparison.Findings– The results have shown that just a part of the intangibles is covered by the regulations of MC and that Germany and Italy follow, mainly, the same approach to MC.Practical implications– The findings highlight the similarities and differences between what the authors need to report on intangibles according to specifications in Italy and Germany.Originality/value– The authors reveal the approach that a country with rather conservative accounting can follow balancing regulatory approach and needs to disclose information about intangibles without a specific report on that. The authors identify the need for a new policy that can enable the development of intangibles disclosure culture.
Money laundering and Greek banking payment and settlement systems
Authors: Repousis Spyridon 
Published: December 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to identify, categorize and describe the Greek banking payment and settlement systems and the way to SEPA. Also, the purpose is to describe authorities that supervise money laundering through Greek payment systems and identify major categories of suspicious transaction reports and amounts of criminal assets per each category.

Design/methodology/approach
– The Bank of Greece, central bank of Greece, has explicit tasks in the field of payment and settlement systems. In Greece, there are three payment and settlement systems: large-value payment system (TARGET2), retail payment systems and securities settlement systems.

Findings
– TARGET2 is based on a technically centralized platform (single shared platform – SSP), which is provided by the central banks of Germany, France and Italy, and it replaces the decentralized structure of the original TARGET system. Migration on TARGET2 took place in Greece on May 19, 2008. Ongoing cooperation between the European System of Central Banks and the banking community through extensive consultations facilitated the smooth migration to TARGET2. Retail payment systems consist of DIAS credit transfers, direct debits, check, ATM transactions and card payments. During the year 2013, DIAS cleared 144.13 million payment transactions with a total value of €184.1 billion. Most of the transactions were credit transfers SEPA compliant. Securities settlement systems operate on the delivery versus payment principle, whereby sales of securities and respective payments are affected simultaneously, as well as the principle of dual notice. Migration of Greek data systems toward SEPA through a regulatory framework will promote the use of common European standards and business practices for a fully automated and efficient processing of payment instruments. Bank of Greece and Greek Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Authority are responsible authorities to supervise illegal activity through bank payment systems. Data show that Greek bank payment systems were used during 2012 for tax evasion and for offences that result in imprisonment for over six months.

Practical implications
– Above findings are useful for information technology management, legislative and compliance authorities, investors and person that operate transactions with Greek banking payment and settlement systems.

Originality/value
– To the best of the author’s knowledge, it is the first study about Greek banking payment systems.
How do brand personality, identification, and relationship length drive loyalty in sports?
Authors: Karjaluoto Heikki , Munnukka Juha , Salmi Milja 
Published: December 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to extend brand identification theory to the sports team context by testing the direct and indirect effects of a sports team’s personality, sports fans’ identification with the team, and the effect of the length of fans’ relationship with a team on their loyalty to it.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors conducted a quantitative study among ice hockey fans of one Finnish hockey team before play-off games. Data came from an online questionnaire generating 1,166 responses.

Findings
– The authors find that: first, identification with a team mediates the effects of brand personality on attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty; second, brand personality is a stronger driver of identification among newer fans; and third, brand personality has a stronger influence on both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty among newer fans. These findings stress the importance of sports brand’s personality in driving fans’ identification with the team and their loyalty to it.

Originality/value
– The study develops and tests a new conceptual model on consumer loyalty in the sports team context. The authors shed light on how sports team personality affects its fans’ identification with the team and the formation of fan loyalty, from the perspective of fans’ relationship length.
Impact of initial trust, involvement, and mood on trusting belief
Authors: Chen Ying-Hueih , Wu Jyh-Jeng , Chien Shu-Hua 
Published: December 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to incorporate social exchange theory to elaborate on the antecedents that underlie consumers’ trust of innovative financial product providers. In particular, this study investigates the mediating role of positive moods in stimulating customer trust.

Design/methodology/approach
– The research model was tested using data collected from 440 elite customers from top-ten financial holding companies in Taiwan. Structure equation modeling was employed to verify and validate the research model.

Findings
– The findings suggest that initial trust and customer involvement significantly and positively impact customer moods. In addition, customer initial trust, involvement, and positive moods significantly influence customers’ trusting belief of service providers.

Research limitations/implications
– This study focussed on the financial services industry only. While this industry represents an ideal new product development context, future research is needed to test the theory in different industries.

Practical implications
– The research findings advance the understanding of how to successfully build customer trust for innovative products.

Originality/value
– Current research unfolds the impact of customer involvement on trust development and supplements existing trust study findings by examining the mediating effect of positive mood on trust development through quantitative research. The research findings increase the understanding of how customers develop trust with service provider.
Bioconversion of marine trash fish (MTF) to organic liquid fertilizer for effective solid waste management and its efficacy on Tomato growth
Authors: Aranganathan L , Rajasree S.R. Radhika 
Published: December 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to deal with utilization of marine trash fish (MTF) in the production of organic liquid fertilizer for effective solid waste management in urban locations.

Design/methodology/approach
– Chopped MTF was treated with molasses and allowed to bacterial degradation. Spectroscopic tools – FT-IR and GC-MS were employed to characterize the biomolecules were employed to characterize the biomolecules. Nutrient content in final organic liquid fertilizer was estimated by physico-chemical analysis. The liquid fertilizer was treated to soil and applied as a foliar spray on leaves of Tomato plants and growth parameters such as height of plants (cm), number of leaves and diameter of leaves (cm) were monitored.

Findings
– MTF was converted to organic liquid fertilizer using Bacillus subtilis. GC-MS analysis of the final product detected presence of fatty acids that could enrich organic carbon (OC) upon soil application. The final product possesses various organic nutrients to assist plant growth. Tomato plants treated with 5 and 10 per cent organic fertilizer showed highest height than plants treated with chemical fertilizer.

Originality/value
– Urban solid waste management is essentially required in developing countries to reduce its impact on the environment and this approach would be helpful for effective utilization of MTF in organic agriculture.
Evaluation of production and kinetics parameters of rare sugar (D-tagatose) using biocatalyst Arthrobacter globiformis
Authors: Jayaraman Jayamuthunagai , Gautam Pennathur 
Published: December 2015

Purpose
– Dulcitol (Galactitol) is a sugar alcohol which is produced by redox reaction of galactose. It has been reported that the D-tagatose can be produced from dulcitol (D-galactitol) via the oxidation reaction by the acetic acid bacteria such as Arthobacter globiformis, Gluconobacter oxydans. The D-tagatose sugar is a ketohexose monosaccharide sweetener, which is an isomer of D-galactose. D-tagatose is rarely found in nature and it can be utilized in many ways particular in prebiotic property. The purpose of this paper is to speak about the production and kinetics of D-tagatose from dulcitol using a wild strain of Arthobacter globiformis MTCC 944.

Design/methodology/approach
– The wild strain Arthobacter globiformis was procured from Microbial Type Culture Collection, Chandigarh and was grown in slants (Dulcitol of 2 percent (w/v)) by sub culturing for every two weeks until transferred to production medium containing 10 percent (w/v) of dulcitol operating aerobically at 25°C and 180 rpm. Biomass estimation was carried out taking samples periodically and measuring its OD value using spectronic-20D spectrophotometer at 600 nm. Kinetics of biomass was determined using Logistic growth kinetic model and that of D-tagatose production was estimated using Leudking-Piret model.

Findings
– The maximum production of D-tagatose (3.82 g/L) was obtained at the initial dulcitol concentration of 20 g/L and at a pH of 6.0 and temperature of 25°C. Effect of inoculum size on the fermentation of D-tagatose was studied. Threefold increases in yield of tagatose was achieved at the higher inoculum concentration of 24 percent v/v.

Originality/value
– The strain Arthrobacter globiformis, selected for the production of D-tagatose is not much investigated strain. Dulcitol, the substrate chosen for the study is less expensive when compare with galactose which is largely used by the investigators.
Compensation committees: independence and firm performance
Authors: Lee Sharon Kay , Bosworth William , Kudo Franklin 
Published: December 2015

Purpose– Recently all major stock exchanges issued a requirement that listed companies have 100 percent independence on audit committees of the board of directors but now the focus has turned to compensation committees. Does 100 percent independence on compensation committees make a difference in firm performance? The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– Only 1 percent of the S & P 1,500 firms are not in compliance with the new 100 percent independence requirement for compensation committees. This presents an opportunity to examine characteristics of these firms and if this noncompliance may harm firm performance. Industry-adjusted ROA and Tobin’sQmeasures are collected as well as firm size, debt ratios, and the presence of a classified board.Findings– Findings are as follows: S & P 500 firms with lower levels of debt, have classified board, but do not perform significantly worse than firms in compliance in the same industry; mid-cap firms with debt levels similar to complying firms, have classified boards, and perform significantly worse, and lastly, small-cap firms with lower levels of debt, have classified boards, and perform significantly worse.Research limitations/implications– Results imply that non-complying mid-cap and small-cap firms may be protecting under-performing management through maintaining classified boards, low levels of debt to avoid scrutiny of the debt markets, and less objectivity (i.e. overall and committee independence) on boards.Originality/value– Existing corporate governance literature provides evidence that overall board independence may promote shareholder wealth maximization. The latest focus regarding independence has recently been on compensation committees. Should independence on compensation committees matter to shareholders? It is appears that noncompliance should matter in the case of small- and mid-cap firms.
Employment changes in the sustainable energy sector in Scotland
Authors: McQuaid Ronald William , Bergmann Ariel 
Published: December 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to consider the development of “Green” jobs in one region of the European Union, Scotland, where the government has sought to develop renewable and sustainable energy industries and associated employment.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper analyses selected secondary data and policy documents and conceptualises issues concerning employment in the renewable energy sector.

Findings
– It analyses published data and projections on employment in renewable energy sectors, considering the reasons for the lower actual job creation. Many of the jobs in the renewable energy sector are likely to be high skilled, so there is need to support the development of low-skilled workers and job seekers so that they can enter and progress in the industry. Similarly there is a strong gender bias in the industry which may similarly reduce the entry and retention of the best staff and inhibit social equity.

Research limitations/implications
– The paper suggests that “Career first” recruitment and development policies are needed which emphasise improving both productivity and the “quality” and attractiveness of sustainable, long-term careers in the sector.

Practical implications
– In addition to relying on general labour attraction policies and separate industry-specific skills initiatives for those already in work, more attention needs to be given to developing sustainable employment with career progression for people moving into, or already in, the industry.

Originality/value
– The links between support for those moving into jobs and developing the skills of existing workers in sustainable industries have been under researched and this paper adds new conceptual developments, in terms of “Career” first approaches and empirical analysis of employment in renewable industries in Scotland.
Egyptian public’s concern for global warming
Authors: Mostafa Mohamed 
Published: December 2015

Purpose– Despite the growing scientific evidence regarding risks caused by global warming and climate change, virtually no studies have been conducted to investigate general public’s attitudes toward this phenomenon in a non-Western context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors influencing concern for global warming in a representative sample of 2,551 respondents in Egypt.Design/methodology/approach– The study uses logistic and Bayesian logistic regression modeling techniques to test the influence of post-materialistic tendencies, religiosity, political orientation and locus of control on concern for global warming in Egypt.Findings– Results contradict the post-materialist hypothesis and show that concern for global warming is driven by religiosity, political orientation and internal locus of control.Originality/value– The findings highlight the importance of investigating the specificity of global warming and environmental concern in a non-Western context.
Impacts of socio economic factors on perceptions of being safe while using Kuwaiti roads
Authors: AlSaeid Hana , Almutairi Talal , Matar Hamad , Al-Ajmi Faraj F. , Alrashidi Fawaz A. , Husain Mohammad A. E. , Saleh Wafaa 
Published: December 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate road users attitudes and preferences towards accidents and safety measures in Kuwait. The paper also quantifies impacts of user’s attitudes on the perception of being safe while using roads in Kuwait.Design/methodology/approach– In this paper, a review of relevant literature, has been carried out, then a questionnaire has been piloted and implemented to collect data. The main survey was carried out in 2013. A total of 700 distributed questionnaires resulted in the return of 427 completed questionnaires.Findings– Results show that socio economic, attitudes and work commitment factors, all contribute to the behaviour and attitudes of road users in Kuwait.Research limitations/implications– Data are limited due to time constraints.Originality/value– There is very little knowledge of modelling and analysing factors which affect drivers’ behaviour towards safety in Kuwait.
Neuroprotective effects of various doses of topiramate against methylphenidate induced oxidative stress and inflammation in rat isolated hippocampus
Authors: Motaghinejad Majid , Motevalian Manijeh , Shabab Behnaz 
Published: December 2015

SummaryMethylphenidate (MPH) abuse causes neurodegeneration. The neuroprotective effects of topiramate (TPM) have been reported but its putative mechanism remains unclear. The current study evaluates the role of various doses of TPM on protection of rat hippocampal cells from MPH‐induced oxidative stress and inflammation in vivo. Seventy adult male rats were divided into six groups. Group 1 received normal saline (0.7 mL/rat) and group 2 was injected with MPH (10 mg/kg) for 21 days. Groups 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 concurrently were treated by MPH (10 mg/kg) and TPM (10, 30, 50, 70 and 100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.)), respectively for 21 days. After drug administration, the open field test (OFT) was used to investigate motor activity. Oxidative, antioxidant and inflammatory factors were measured in isolated hippocampus. Also, the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level was measured by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and Western blotting. Cresyl violet staining of Dentate Gyrus (DG) and CA1 cell layers of the hippocampus were also performed. MPH significantly disturbs motor activity in OFT and TPM (70 and 100 mg/kg) decreased this disturbance. Also MPH significantly increased lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial reduced state of glutathione (GSH) level, interleukin (IL)‐1β and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and BDNF level in isolated hippocampal cells. Also superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase activity significantly decreased. Various doses of TPM attenuated these effects and significantly decreased MPH‐induced oxidative damage, inflammation and hippocampal cell loss and increased BDNF level. This study suggests that TPM has the potential to be used as a neuroprotective agent against oxidative stress and neuroinflammation induced by frequent use of MPH.
One Hundred and One Cases of Plastic Bag Suffocation in the Milan Area Between 1993 and 2013—Correlations, Circumstances, Pathological and Forensic Evidences and Literature Review
Authors: Crudele Graziano Domenico Luigi , Di Candia Domenico , Gentile Guendalina , Marchesi Matteo , Rancati Alessandra , Zoja Riccardo 
Published: December 2015

AbstractPlastic Bag Suffocation is a rare cause of death in developed countries and almost unknown in the rest of the world. This study aims to retrospectively evaluate cases of PBS _asphyxia in Milan's Department of Legal Medicine from 1993 to 2013. Cases were selected from the database of 21,472 autopsies performed in the considered timeframe. One hundred and one cases were considered to be cases of Plastic Bag Suffocation, comprised of 100 suicides, no accidental events and 1 homicide. The most relevant elements pertaining to this type of death were evaluated for both the corpses and the crime scenes. From this study the typical PBS victim is an adult male, aged 52.3 years on average, depressed or afflicted by chronic or terminal diseases, and found at home. In 42.6% of cases, the victims were found with the plastic bag still positioned over their head, fastened by tying. Also common among these cases are drugs, alcohol and chemical abuses. According to the collected data, it is impossible to outline a pathognomonic detrimental background that leads to this cause of death. Crime scene investigation is, therefore, the one and only technical resource for evaluating these cases.
Fast Source Camera Identification Using Content Adaptive Guided Image Filter
Authors: Zeng Hui , Kang Xiangui 
Published: December 2015

AbstractSource camera identification (SCI) is an important topic in image forensics. One of the most effective fingerprints for linking an image to its source camera is the sensor pattern noise, which is estimated as the difference between the content and its denoised version. It is widely believed that the performance of the sensor‐based SCI heavily relies on the denoising filter used. This study proposes a novel sensor‐based SCI method using content adaptive guided image filter (CAGIF). Thanks to the low complexity nature of the CAGIF, the proposed method is much faster than the state‐of‐the‐art methods, which is a big advantage considering the potential real‐time application of SCI. Despite the advantage of speed, experimental results also show that the proposed method can achieve comparable or better performance than the state‐of‐the‐art methods in terms of accuracy.