bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Competing in business-to-business sectors through pay-per-use services
Authors: Gebauer Heiko , Haldimann Mirella , Saul Caroline Jennings 
Published: September 2017

Purpose
Despite the opportunities provided by pay-per-use (PPU) services, product companies in business-to-business sectors often fail to compete systematically by using them. The purpose of this paper is to explain how companies can avoid failures when it comes to PPU services. The paper describes the “seizing” capabilities needed to achieve the strategic objectives of PPU services.

Design/methodology/approach
The research process is divided into a pilot and an in-depth study. Altogether, 17 companies participated in the study.

Findings
The findings reveal that the seizing capabilities depend on the strategic objectives of PPU services. To expand the market share with PPU services, companies need to broaden the customer portfolio for PPU services, to align individual services within the entire service portfolio and to balance profits made by PPU services and other business lines. For strategic objectives such as rapid sales growth early in the market development and new market creation other seizing capabilities are required.

Research limitations/implications
The findings are not generalizable, due to the use of a qualitative study. The study is restricted to product companies in the business-to-business sector.

Practical implications
Managers often believe that extending and modularizing the service portfolio is beneficial. When achieving sales growth during the market development phase, these capabilities are in fact sometimes counterproductive. Practitioners have to look into the costs and benefits of setting-up their own financing company and working with banks.

Social implications
PPU services contribute to a more sustainable consumption and make product design more resource-efficient.

Originality/value
The study is original by virtue of systematically studying PPU services, providing a microfoundation for seizing capabilities and developing testable propositions for future research.
Use of new technologies in libraries globally: a study
Authors: Sanjeev Sanjeev 
Published: September 2017

Purpose
The present paper aims to explore the applications of new technologies in library scenario.

Design/methodology/approach
Survey method was used.

Findings
With the influx of information technology, libraries have engaged major deal of works on computers, which has nothing to do with the mission and objectives of the libraries. In such a situation, cloud computing has a lot on offer.

Originality/value
The present paper explores the core competencies of cloud-based computing and discusses about the cloud models-based futuristic libraries.
“Through the looking glass: envisioning new library technologies” Adopting augmented reality: trends and updates
Authors: Fernandez Peter 
Published: September 2017

Purpose
This column aims to summarize developments in augmented reality and use those developments to help explain trends that influence the likelihood of mainstream adoption.

Design/methodology/approach
The idea of augmented reality also drives the development of many other related technologies, including wearables, haptic technologies and many others that have been featured in this column.

Findings
Developers invest in the future based on the idea that widespread use of augmented reality is just around the corner. Yet in many ways, it still appears to be a technology eternally on the cusp of mainstream adoption.

Originality/value
In 2014, this column looked at augmented reality as an important emerging technology. Nearly three years later, some libraries continue to use it in groundbreaking ways, and it has grown by leaps and bounds.
The determinants of internet risk disclosure: empirical study of Egyptian listed companies
Authors: Khalil Ali , Maghraby Mona 
Published: September 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing disclosure literature by examining the determinants of corporate risk disclosure (CRD) in the internet reporting for a sample of Egyptian listed companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX).Design/methodology/approachThis study depends on a sample of 76 Egyptian companies included in the EGX 100 in the period 2012-2014. The study applies a content analysis and uses a sentence-based method to measure CRD in the internet reporting. Ordinary least-squares regression analysis is used to examine the impact of firm and board characteristics on CRD in the internet reporting.FindingsThe empirical analysis shows that large Egyptian companies tend to disclose more risk information in their internet reporting. Moreover, the results indicate that there is a significant positive association between sector type and CRD in the internet reporting. The results show non-significant association between CRD and other firm characteristics (cross listing and level of risk). Finally, there are no significant associations between CRD and board characteristics variables (board size, board composition and CEO duality).Research limitations/implicationsThe study’s findings have practical implications. It aids in informing policy makers considering implementing new economic reform programs about the properties of Egyptian companies that disclose risk information in their internet reporting. It provides insights on CRD in Egyptian companies for standards setters and professional authorities to improve risk reporting practices to help stakeholders in making good decisions.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first studies to examine the determinants of CRD in the internet reporting for a sample of Egyptian companies.
An Islamic banking perspective on consumers’ perception in Pakistan
Authors: Riaz Umair , Khan Musafar , Khan Naimat 
Published: September 2017

Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine the perceptions of consumers on Islamic banking and finance in Pakistan. Islamic finance is an emerging phenomenon, and its survival depends on the availability, affordability and awareness. This paper attempts to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the perceptions of consumers and bankers in an attempt to gain insights so that the availability of products and awareness can be increased.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a regression model by using perception as a dependent variable and awareness, knowledge and religious motivation as independent variables. Primary data is collected using 150 questionnaires distributed amongst finance students in several universities and employees of Islamic banks in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province of Pakistan.

Findings
The findings reveal that overall consumers’ perception is positive about Islamic banking and finance in Pakistan. Statistical analysis shows that awareness, knowledge and religiosity level have a positive influence on the perception of consumers about Islamic financing products and services in Pakistan. To improve the awareness and understanding, Islamic banks could make better marketing strategies and could increase their presence by mosque visits and conferences. Cooperation between the industry and scholars could help in providing more innovative products to the consumers.

Research limitations/implications
There has been a limited amount of work carried out on the perceptions of consumers about Islamic banking in Pakistan. The present study represents the start of a larger context for examining Islamic banking practices in Pakistan. The findings of the study can be used as a reference in future research projects in the areas of perceptions and awareness.

Originality/value
Little research has been conducted to study this problem from the perspectives of consumers and Islamic banking employees. Most of the research associated with Islamic banks fails to pay attention to these stakeholder groups in one study.
How private meta-governance helps standard-setting partnerships deliver
Authors: Mundle Lili , Beisheim Marianne , Berger Lars 
Published: September 2017

Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the relevance of private meta-governance for multi-stakeholder partnerships. The authors assume that meta-governance, defined as higher level rules that shall guide partnerships’ governance activities, could build on and institutionalize lessons learned about partnerships’ success conditions and, in doing so, may render partnerships’ work more effective in the future.

Design/methodology/approach
The research paper investigates a case of non-state meta-governance in the standard-setting arena. It explores how actors assess the interaction of the meta-governance efforts of the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance (mainly in the form of their three Codes of Good Practice) and the Alliance for Water Stewardship’s efforts when setting and implementing their International Water Stewardship Standard. For this, a combination of research methods is applied: a literature review for deriving propositions on success conditions; document analysis, participatory observation and semi-structured interviews for gathering empirical evidence on the interaction between meta-governance and the partnership’s work.

Findings
Respondents praise the benefits of ISEAL’s enabling meta-governance measures to strengthen their standard, structures and processes, as well as from ensuring activities, as these also improve their internal governance system while simultaneously providing credibility. In this context, they confirm the relevance of three success factors mentioned in the literature on voluntary standards: an inclusive process, a locally adapted design of the standard and institutionalized compliance management.

Practical implications
Instead of reinventing the wheel with every new multi-stakeholder partnership, meta-governance frameworks should be used to enable partnership staff and members, policymakers and stakeholders to learn from experience.

Originality/value
The authors’ analysis generates unique insights into perceptions of partnerships’ staff and stakeholders regarding lessons learned and private meta-governance. The present study on these actors’ perspectives provides a starting-point for further research on how meta-governance could help institutionalize success factors to scale-up and improve the impact of standard-setting partnerships.
Using soil amendments and plant functional traits to select native tropical dry forest species for the restoration of degraded Vertisols
Authors: Werden Leland K. , Alvarado J. Pedro , Zarges Sebastian , Calderón M. Erick , Schilling Erik M. , Gutiérrez L. Milena , Powers Jennifer S. 
Published: September 2017

Abstract

Tropical dry forests (TDFs) are critically endangered, and their restoration is understudied. Large‐scale passive restoration efforts in north‐west (NW) Costa Rica have catalysed TDF regeneration but are not effective on degraded Vertisols, where active restoration is necessary due to high content of shrink–swell clays that impede regeneration following degradation.

We established a large‐scale restoration experiment in degraded former pastures in NW Costa Rica to determine (1) the restoration potential of native TDF tree species on Vertisols, (2) if plant functional traits elucidate mechanisms behind interspecific variability in species performance and (3) if affordable and readily available soil amendments increase seedling survivorship and growth. We planted 1,710 seedlings of 32 native species coupled with five amendments aimed at ameliorating root‐zone microclimatic conditions: sand, rice hulls, rice hull ash, hydrogel and unamended controls. For each species, we quantified a suite of resource‐acquisition and ecophysiological functional traits, and monitored survival and growth seasonally over 2 years.

Interspecific survivorship after 2 years ranged widely (0%–92.5%). Functional traits including wood density, photosynthetic parameters and upregulation of integrated water‐use efficiency, explained interspecific variation in survivorship and growth at distinct ontogenetic stages. Easily measured leaf traits, however, were not good predictors of restoration potential.

Hydrogel and sand amendments increased initial seedling survival, but after 2 years no differences among treatments were found.

Synthesis and applications. We have shown it is possible, albeit challenging, to restore tropical dry forest (TDF) on degraded Vertisols. Our results support the use of functional trait‐based screenings to select tree species for restoration projects as tree species with high survivorship and growth in this stressful environment have overlapping ecophysiological functional traits. Furthermore, practitioners should consider water‐use and photosynthetic traits when designing initial species mixes for TDF restorations.
Killing the Regional Leviathan? Deinstitutionalization and Stickiness of Regions
Authors: Zimmerbauer Kaj , Riukulehto Sulevi , Suutari Timo 
Published: September 2017

AbstractThis article focuses on the experiences of debordering and deinstitutionalization of regions. It approaches territories as processes and borders as multilayered social constructs. The article utilizes some key ideas on institutionalization and sees regions as ‘Leviathans’ that are entities ‘thick with things’, both human and nonhuman. Through 10 focus group discussions, the article discusses the sense of belonging and how a region ‘holds onto’ both human and nonhuman actants even after it loses its status in the legitimate regional structure. Due to this stickiness, it concludes that deinstitutionalization is never complete in a sense that all regional consciousness would disappear entirely. After their administrative status is removed, regions remain in a state of in betweenness: not quite fully existing, not quite fully extinct. This makes the concept of deinstitutionalization highly contested and one that eludes easy definitions. However, it is useful to understand deinstitutionalization as a process that turns regions into palimpsests or sets of assemblages that vary in time. Relatedly, regions that are officially deinstitutionalized can endure in ‘penumbral’ form, and can remain meaningful for their inhabitants for a long time.
Causal inference in studies of preterm babies: a simulation study
Authors: Snowden JM , Basso O 
Published: September 2017

ObjectiveUsing a simple simulation, we illustrate why associations estimated from studies restricted to preterm births cannot be interpreted causally.Design, setting and populationData simulation involving a hypothetical cohort of fetuses who may be healthy or have one or more of four pathological factors (termed A through D, increasing in severity) with known effects on gestational length and risk of mortality. We focus on babies born at ≤32 weeks of gestation.MethodsWe visually represent the simulated population and compare the association between A (which may represent pre‐eclampsia) and neonatal death. We then repeat the exercise with D (standing in for chorioamnionitis) as the exposure of interest.Main outcome measuresOdds ratios of neonatal death in the simulated data.ResultsIn most weeks, and for both A and D, the calculated odds ratios are substantially biased and underestimate the true risk of neonatal death associated with each pathology. For example, factor A has a true causal odds ratio of 1.50, yet it appears protective among births ≤32 weeks (estimated crude odds ratio 0.39; gestational age‐adjusted odds ratio 0.71).ConclusionsAmong very preterm births, virtually all babies are born with pathologies that increase the risk of adverse outcomes. Hence, babies exposed to one factor (e.g. pre‐eclampsia) are compared with babies who have a mix of other pathologies. Such selection bias affects studies carried out among very preterm births (e.g. where pre‐eclampsia appears to reduce risk of adverse neonatal outcomes).Tweetable abstractSelection bias affects studies of preterm births, complicating interpretation.
Assessing the joint behaviour of species traits as filtered by environment
Authors: Schliep Erin M. , Gelfand Alan E. , Mitchell Rachel M. , Aiello‐Lammens Matthew E. , Silander John A. 
Published: September 2017

Abstract

Understanding and predicting how species traits are shaped by prevailing environmental conditions is an important yet challenging task in ecology. Functional trait‐based approaches can replace potentially idiosyncratic species‐specific response models in learning about community behaviour across environmental gradients. Customarily, models for traits given environment consider only trait means to predict species and functional diversity, as intra‐taxon variability in traits is often thought to be negligible. A growing body of literature indicates that intra‐taxon trait variability is substantial and critical in structuring plant communities and assessing ecosystem function.

We propose flexible joint trait distribution models given environment and across species that incorporate intra‐taxon variability as well as inter‐site/plot variability. Using a Bayesian framework, our joint trait distribution models allow for mixed continuous, binary and ordinal trait variables and incorporate dependence among traits enabling both joint and conditional trait prediction at unobserved sites. The models can be used to inform about the well‐known fourth‐corner problem, which attempts to interpret trait‐by‐environment matrices.

We demonstrate the utility of our methodology through joint predictive trait distributions for individual species as well as joint community‐weighted trait distributions for environments while incorporating intra‐taxon trait variability. Explicit details on the probabilistic interpretations of the random trait‐by‐environment matrices obtained arising under our model are also provided to address the fourth‐corner problem. Finally, our joint trait distribution model is applied to simulated and real vegetation data collected from the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.

The proposed methodology places a fully model‐based foundation on explaining intra‐taxon trait variation given environment. It extends the utility and interpretability of commonly applied techniques for investigating community‐weighted traits and illuminates randomness in the fourth‐corner problem.
Social cognition in autism is associated with the neurodevelopment of the posterior superior temporal sulcus
Authors: Hotier S. , Leroy F. , Boisgontier J. , Laidi C. , Mangin J.‐F. , Delorme R. , Bolognani F. , Czech C. , Bouquet C. , Toledano E. , Bouvard M. , Petit J. , Mishchenko M. , d'Albis M.‐A. , Gras D. , Gaman A. , Scheid I. , Leboyer M. , Zalla T. , Houenou J. 
Published: September 2017

ObjectiveThe posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) plays a critical role in the ‘social brain’. Its neurodevelopment and relationship with the social impairment in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are not well understood. We explored the relationship between social cognition and the neurodevelopment of the pSTS in ASD.MethodWe included 44 adults with high‐functioning ASD and 36 controls. We assessed their performances on the ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ test (for 34 of 44 subjects with ASD and 30 of 36 controls), their fixation time on the eyes with eye tracking (for 35 of 44 subjects with ASD and 30 of 36 controls) and the morphology of the caudal branches of the pSTS (length and depth), markers of the neurodevelopment, with structural MRI.ResultsThe right anterior caudal ramus of the pSTS was significantly longer in patients with ASD compared with controls (52.6 mm vs. 38.3 mm; P = 1.4 × 10−3; Cohen's d = 0.76). Its length negatively correlated with fixation time on the eyes (P = 0.03) in the ASD group and with the ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ test scores in both groups (P = 0.03).ConclusionOur findings suggest that the neurodevelopment of the pSTS is related to the ASD social impairments.
A descriptive study on the efficacy and complications of the Capio (Boston Scientific) suturing device for sacrospinous ligament fixation
Authors: Mowat Alex , Wong Vivien , Goh Judith , Krause Hannah , Pelecanos Anita , Higgs Peta 
Published: September 2017

BackgroundSacrospinous colpopexy is an effective vaginal apical support operation. Due to morbidity associated with traditional approaches which require wide dissection, slim‐line suture delivery devices have been introduced in the hope of reducing morbidity without compromise to outcomes.AimThe aim of our series was to report outcomes and complications (particularly buttock pain and blood loss) of the sacrospinous colpopexy using the Capio suturing device and evaluate it against published results using the Miya hook.MethodsThis is a prospective, multi‐centre descriptive study. The primary outcome is objective success at 12 months. Secondary outcomes include subjective success at 12 months, patient‐reported outcomes at 12 months, operating time, estimated blood loss and post‐operative buttock pain.ResultsFifty‐one consenting patients undergoing sacrospinous colpopexy were recruited at four Queensland hospitals. Objective success at 12 months was 95% (41/43) and subjective success at 12 months was 92% (44/48). Eighty‐four percent of patients reported buttock pain at one week, reducing to 16% by six weeks, of which 7% required analgesia.ConclusionsAt a mean of 17 months follow up, we found that the sacrospinous colpopexy using the Capio suturing device provided excellent apical support with a low requirement for blood transfusion and an average operating time of seven minutes. We found a high rate of buttock pain immediately post‐operatively, but our rates became consistent with previous reports by six weeks post‐operation.
Regression Discontinuity Designs Based on Population Thresholds: Pitfalls and Solutions
Authors: Eggers Andrew C. , Freier Ronny , Grembi Veronica , Nannicini Tommaso 
Published: September 2017

AbstractIn many countries, important features of municipal government (such as the electoral system, mayors' salaries, and the number of councillors) depend on whether the municipality is above or below arbitrary population thresholds. Several papers have used a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to measure the effects of these threshold‐based policies on political and economic outcomes. Using evidence from France, Germany, and Italy, we highlight two common pitfalls that arise in exploiting population‐based policies (compound treatment and sorting), and we provide guidance for detecting and addressing these pitfalls. Even when these problems are present, population‐threshold RDD may be the best available research design for studying the effects of certain policies and political institutions.