bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benefits, barriers and prerequisites for Web 2.0 learning activities in the classroom
Authors: Palaigeorgiou George , Grammatikopoulou Athina 
Published: April 2016

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the learning benefits and the challenges of Web 2.0 educational activities when applied in typical learning settings and as perceived by pioneer educators with extensive Web 2.0 experience.Design/methodology/approachThe testimonies of 26 Greek primary and secondary education teachers were collected. All teachers had an extensive involvement with Web 2.0 in their classrooms. The interviews were semi-structured and focused on personal case studies, students' views of Web 2.0, problems and prerequisites and educational opportunities of Web 2.0.FindingsThe teachers indicated that Web 2.0 learning activities promote the learner to the center of the learning process, open the schools’ doors to society and help students learn how to cooperate and create digital content, while enabling them to reflect more on their thoughts, extend the time-space of the educational dialogue and promote trust between students and teachers. The participants had also to cope with challenges which concerned their colleagues’ attitude and the educational environment, the parents’ attitude, the amount of time and effort required, the unpredictable character of the activities, the limitations imposed by the curriculum, the overestimation of students’ skills and the lack of training opportunities.Practical implicationsThe findings can be transformed to a set of critical guidelines for policy makers and for educating the educators.Originality/valueThe set of findings are derived from teachers with a long-term, intensive, daily practice with Web 2.0 and offer an holistic systematic view of problems and opportunities.
The effect of the adoption of an alternative corporate governance system on firms’ performances
Authors: Bellavite Pellegrini Carlo , Sergi Bruno S. , Sironi Emiliano 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
– Alternative corporate governance systems (CGSs) have attracted a significant bulk of research recently. While the connection between the adoption of an alternative system (one tier board or two tier board system) and firms’ performances has not been fully analysed yet, the purpose of this paper is to analyse whether companies which have turned into an alternative board system have eventually improved their performance over time.

Design/methodology/approach
– Using a sample of more than 15,000 Italian unlisted joint stock companies, the authors compare performance outcomes in 2009 of firms adopting alternative systems with performances of firms that maintained the system in force before the 2003 Corporate Law Reform (defined as “traditional”). Because of the choice of an alternative system (one tier or two tier board) instead of a traditional one is not random, the authors reduce selection bias implementing matching methods and comparing firms that are close in terms of propensity score measured in 2003 (the year before the new CGSs have been introduced by a corporate law reform).

Findings
– The authors do not find evidence of a significant improvement of performances in 2009 concerning those firms that have adopted a one tier or two tier board systems with respect to those which maintained a traditional one.

Originality/value
– The novelty of the study concerns the application of propensity score matching for the evaluation of the impact of the change of the CGS that is possible in presence of two conditions that are all verified in our setting: first, to have a country where corporate law allows for choosing among different systems; in this case Italy is a good laboratory, because it allows for the choice among three different systems; and second, to have the opportunity to evaluate the effect of the change in light of a relatively recent “pre-treatment” condition; this is made possible by the fact that before the 2003 Reform of corporate law all the companies had a traditional system.
High-performance work systems, joint impact of transformational leadership, an empowerment climate and organizational ambidexterity
Authors: Chang Yi-Ying 
Published: April 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to test a multilevel model, supported by an ambidexterity perspective, to examine the process linking high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational ambidexterity using both unit- and firm-level analyses.Design/methodology/approach– The author collected multisource and multilevel data from 346 employees and 184 managers of 33 electronic engineering firms.Findings– The results revealed that unit HPWS were positively related to unit organizational ambidexterity. The author considers that the role of firm-level transformational leadership (TFL) is to create a climate of autonomy that can be delegated to promote organizational ambidexterity within units. Furthermore, a firm-level empowerment climate moderates the effect of unit-level HPWS on a unit’s organizational ambidexterity. The author contributes to the research on leadership and ambidexterity by revealing the impact of HPWS as experienced in the unit- and of firm-level TFL. The author also identify boundary conditions for pursuing unit organizational ambidexterity.Originality/value– Responding to the call for more research into the effects of the empowerment climate on employees’ behaviors and the behavioral outcomes of employees, this research reveals that not only is the macro perspective of HPWS at the organizational level useful to promote ambidextrous activities at lower levels, but also that the unit experience of HPWS more directly affects employees’ behaviors in engaging in the search for new opportunities for new products/services and refining current products simultaneously at the unit level. The broader implication is that the effectiveness of HPWS as an antecedent for organizational ambidexterity (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004; Kang and Snell, 2009) depends on the unit experience of HPWS being used to influence autonomous employees to actively undertake ambidextrous activities at the unit level.
Exploring antecedents and consequences of young consumers’ perceived global brand equity
Authors: Frank Phillip , Watchravesringkan Kittichai (Tu) 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
With the expansion of globalization, the increased competitive environment has led to the diffusion of brands across borders and cultures. Furthermore, young consumers represent an optimal segment for the proliferation of global consumer culture (GCC). This paper aims to examine the relationship between acculturation to global consumer culture (AGCC), perceived brand equity, attitudes toward the brand and brand resonance in the global sportswear brands context among young consumers in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach
A total of 394 undergraduate student participants ranging in age from 18 years to 24 years completed a multisectional structured survey. Model construct validity was tested using a confirmatory factor analysis. A structure equation model was used to test hypotheses and relationships.

Findings
Results showed that while cosmopolitan and self-identification with GCC dimensions of ACGG had a positive association with perceived brand equity, exposure to marketing activities of MNCs and global mass media exposure dimensions of AGCC had a negative association with perceived brand equity. Perceived brand equity also revealed a positive association with attitudes toward the brand, which in turn, affected brand resonance.

Research limitations/implications
The research used a sample of 18-24-year-old youth consumers. Future research could be extended to include younger (15-17-year old) sample to provide a broader sample of the youth market. In addition, future replication of findings should seek through cross-cultural investigation of multiple youth segments.

Practical implications
Findings suggest support multiple dimensions of the AGCC scale as holding significant influence on young consumers’ brand equity consisting of brand image and brand awareness. Managerially, the findings provide support on the youth consumer’s affinity toward self-identification with a GCC and cosmopolitan openness to foreign cultures as being positively related to the adoptions and retention of apparel brands.

Social implications
Theoretically, the results provide empirical evidence for the debate on the interrelationship between brand equity and attitudes toward brands. The theoretical model guiding the current study reflects the notion of an emerging acculturation process among a segment of the world’s population to a set of global consumer preferences and ideals that are increasingly being embodied in global brands.

Originality/value
This is among one of the first studies attempting to explore the applicability of Cleveland and Laroche’s (2007) AGCC concepts in predicting young consumers’ attitudes and behavioral responses toward global brands.
Country-of-origin versus brand: consumers’ dilemma when choosing between generic and branded drugs in emerging countries
Authors: Smaoui Fatma , Abdellah Kilani Fatma , Touzani Mourad 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
Taking an emerging country perspective, this paper aims to investigate consumers’ preferences for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, regarding three attributes: country-of-origin (COO), brand status (branded versus generic) and price. The second purpose is to test the effect of COO and brand status on consumers’ perceptions of quality, trust and purchasing intentions.

Design/methodology/approach
After a preliminary qualitative study, consumers answered a follow-up questionnaire to evaluate eight product combinations (COO/brand status/price) for three categories of OTC drugs. Conjoint analysis allowed assessing the importance of COO compared to brand status and price, while ANOVA was used to test the effect of COO and branding status on consumers’ responses.

Findings
Findings show that, in an emerging countries context, COO is less important than brand status in consumers’ preferences. COO and brand status have a greater effect on consumers’ perceptions of drug quality and trust than on purchasing intentions.

Research limitations/implications
The limited number of factors (brand status/COO/price) could have amplified their relative importance.

Practical implications
Pharmaceutical companies from industrialized countries, exporting generic drugs to emerging markets, can benefit from the favorably perceived COO of their drugs and thus help the acceptance of generic drugs in these markets.

Originality/value
The study has two major contributions. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior in the pharmaceutical field. It also transposes the framework on COO to the context of an emerging country: Tunisia.
Beyond rarity: the paths of luxury desire. How luxury brands grow yet remain desirable
Authors: Kapferer Jean-Noël , Valette-Florence Pierre 
Published: April 2016

PurposeLuxury is a growing sector worldwide. This creates a major managerial challenge: How can luxury brands prevent becoming a victim of their own success? Once objective rarity is lost, what other levers still sustain desire for these luxury brands, nurture their dream and, thus, prevent the dilution of desirability created by their growing penetration and sales?Design/methodology/approachBased on 1,286 actual luxury consumers interviewed about 12 highly known and successful luxury brands on 42 experiential and perceptual items, a PLS hierarchical fourth-order latent variables model unveils the paths of luxury dream building.FindingsThe authors have identified how, beyond mere physical rarity and very high quality, eight experiential and perceptual levers fuel luxury desirability through two structural paths: selection and seduction.Research limitations/implicationsThe concept of luxury is associated to rarity. But to grow, luxury brands need to abandon mere scarcity and selectivity (value created by limitation of production, highly selective distribution and selection of customers) and switch instead to an “abundant rarity”, where feelings of privilege are attached to the brand itself, seducing through its experiential facets, pricing, prestige and the world it symbolizes.Practical implicationsLuxury executives can use this paper as a compass to manage, sustain and monitor their brand desirability, all along the brand’s growth, as it moves away from being niche and rare.Social implicationsConsidering the growing social diffusion of the need for luxury in different strata of the population, this paper reveals the levers of the attractiveness of the mega-brands of luxury.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the main problem of the luxury industry: How to grow yet remain desirable. It is based on 1,286 actual luxury buyers and 12 actual brands. Thanks to PLS modelization, the structure of the levers of brand desirability is revealed.
The stable isotope ecology of mycalesine butterflies: implications for plant–insect co‐evolution
Authors: van Bergen Erik , Barlow Henry S. , Brattström Oskar , Griffiths Howard , Kodandaramaiah Ullasa , Osborne Colin P. , Brakefield Paul M. 
Published: April 2016

Summary

One of the most dramatic examples of biome shifts in the geological record is the rapid replacement of C3 vegetation by C4 grasses in (sub‐) tropical regions during the Late Miocene–Pliocene. Climate‐driven biome shifts of this magnitude are expected to have a major impact on diversification and ecological speciation, especially in grazing taxa. Mycalesine butterflies are excellent candidates to explore the evolutionary impact of these C3/C4 shifts on insect grazer communities.

Mycalesine butterflies feed on grasses as larvae, have radiated spectacularly and occur in almost all extant habitats across the Old World tropics. However, at present, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the larval ecology of these butterflies and this hampers investigations of co‐evolutionary patterns among the geographically parallel radiations of mycalesine butterflies and the remarkable evolutionary history of their host plants.

By conducting several experiments under defined environmental conditions, we demonstrate that the feeding history of mycalesine larvae on C3 and C4 grasses can be traced by analysing δ13C in the organic material of the adult exoskeleton, while values of δ18O in the adult reflect atmospheric humidity during larval development.

To show the power of these isotopic proxies for ecological studies, we analysed the isotopic composition of organic material obtained from adult butterflies sampled in two extensive longitudinal surveys.

We observed strong associations among the larval ecology, habitat preferences of the adult butterflies and patterns of seasonality, such that mycalesine species that inhabit open environments are more opportunistic in their host plant choice but utilize C3 grasses more frequently during the dry season. Crucially, the ability to process the less palatable C4 grasses appears to be phylogenetically clustered within mycalesine species, suggesting that novel feeding adaptations may have evolved in response to the ecological dominance of C4 grasses in open savanna habitats.

A lay summary is available for this article.
Prospective study of patient satisfaction and postoperative quality of life after laparoscopic colectomy in Japan
Authors: Matsumoto Sumio , Bito Seiji , Fujii Shoichi , Inomata Masashi , Saida Yoshihisa , Murata Kohei , Saito Shuji 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIntroductionThis prospective cohort study was designed to compare the short‐term and intermediate health‐related quality of life of Japanese patients after laparoscopic colectomy (LC) or open colectomy (OC) for colonic cancer.MethodsSeventeen hospitals participated, and 240 colonic cancer patients with T3 or T4 invasion that were estimated as curatively resected were enrolled. Three patients were excluded as ineligible, one patient died suddenly before operation, and one patient was not registered based on the doctor's decision. Therefore, analysis was done on 235 patients who underwent either LC (n = 165) or OC (n = 70) in accordance with their stated preference. The major outcome scale end‐point was health‐related quality of life as assessed by the 36‐item Short Form Health Survey (Japanese version 2.0). Accessory end‐points were feeling of satisfaction 1 month after operation and recovery time needed to perform normal activities after operation. Observations were performed on enrollment, postoperative day 3, postoperative day 7, discharge day or postoperative month 1, and postoperative month 6.ResultsDefecation condition, wound pain score, and abdominal pain score were better in the LC group than in the OC group on postoperative day 7 and in postoperative month 1. Recovery time to normal daily activity took 30 days in the LC group, whereas the OC group needed 44 days.ConclusionPatients' subjective responses indicated that LC was more beneficial than OC for patients with stage II or III colonic cancer. LC's superiority was seen particularly in the following indicators: (i) health‐related quality of life during early postoperative days; (ii) recovery to normal daily activities; and (iii) defecation after surgery.
Meat quality, fatty acid composition and sensory evaluation of Cherry Valley, Spent Layer and Crossbred ducks
Authors: Qiao Yan , Huang Jichao , Chen Yulian , Chen Haochun , Zhao Liang , Huang Ming , Zhou Guanghong 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThe aim of this research was to compare meat quality characteristics of Cherry Valley (CV), Spent Layer (SL) and Crossbred (CB) ducks. Meat quality, proximate and fatty acid composition were measured in breast and thigh muscles from CV, SL and CB, as well as sensory evaluation of duck soup made from three breeds. The results showed SL contained a highest percentage of protein but lowest moisture than those of CV and intermediate CB (P< 0.05). The L* and b* value of SL ducks were lowest among three breeds (P< 0.05). The breast of SL had higher water‐holding capacity compared to CV (P< 0.05), although CV was the most tender among the three breeds (P< 0.05). SL had lower contents of saturated fatty acid and higher contents of unsaturated fatty acids with a more acceptable P/S ratio of 0.57 and n‐6/n‐3 ratio of 1.52 (P< 0.05). Intramuscular fat and polyunsaturated fatty acids were involved in producing intense aroma and flavor of duck meats. Differences of color and tenderness in meats were attributed to values of L* and cooking loss of muscles. In conclusion, it would be suggested that SL was more suitable for producing duck soup among the three breeds.
Effect of ensiling process of total mixed ration on fermentation profile, nutrient loss and in situ ruminal degradation characteristics of diet
Authors: Miyaji Makoto , Matsuyama Hiroki , Nonaka Kazuhisa 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThis experiment aimed to determine the changes in chemical composition, fermentation profile, in situ disappearance characteristics, and nutrient losses of ensiled total mixed ration (TMR) containing steam‐flaked corn or brown rice (BR) during storage. TMRs for dairy cows, containing either steam‐flaked corn or BR at 31.9% with 15.2% rye silage, 40.5% alfalfa silage, 5.0% beet pulp and 7.0% soybean meal, were prepared (dry matter (DM) basis). Each TMR was placed in a plastic drum silo, stored at 23°C in an air‐conditioned room and sampled 0, 7, 14, 30, 90 and 210 days after preparation. In both grain sources, the fermentation products increased, while DM and starch storage losses increased and starch content greatly decreased during storage. The rapidly degradable fraction and effective ruminal degradability of DM, crude protein and starch increased during storage. These changes of dietary characteristics were large during 30 days of storage, but small after 90 days of storage. Replacing corn with BR led to increased fermentation products, starch loss and effective ruminal degradability of the ensiled TMR. These results indicate that the ensiling process of TMR changes the dietary characteristics and replacing corn with BR in TMR had a large impact on these dietary characteristics.
Factors associated with fertility of nulliparous dairy heifers following a 10‐day fixed‐time artificial insemination program with sex‐sorted and conventional semen
Authors: Noonan EJ , Kelly JC , Beggs DS 
Published: April 2016

ObjectiveTo examine factors associated with fertility on dairy farms that used a common fixed‐time artificial insemination (FTAI) program in yearling heifers.MethodsRecords were analysed from 954 yearling heifers on 10 south‐west Victorian dairy farms that used a common FTAI program, involving the insertion of a 1.9‐g progesterone‐releasing device for 10 days; 2 mg oestradiol benzoate at insertion; 500 µg cloprostenol on day 7; and FTAI 48 h after device removal. Weight, age, expression of oestrus, sire, semen type (frozen sex‐sorted or frozen conventional) and timing of insemination were examined for their relationship with first‐service conception rates.ResultsHeifers over 300 kg body weight were 1.18‐fold more likely to express oestrus during the FTAI program. For every extra 1 kg, there was a 1.5% increase in the likelihood of expressing oestrus. First‐service conception rates were 40.3% and 56.0% for sex‐sorted and conventional semen, respectively, and were significantly higher when oestrus was expressed. The difference was greater for sex‐sorted semen (3.4‐fold) compared with conventional semen (1.5‐fold). The interval from device removal to insemination varied between 47 and 51.4 h and had no significant effect on conception rates. However, there was a trend towards a higher conception rate for sex‐sorted semen when inseminations were performed >50 h after device removal.ConclusionsIncreased fertility was associated with larger heifers and heifers that expressed oestrus, particularly when sexed‐sorted semen was used. Variation in the timing of AI with respect to device removal between 47 and 51.4 h did not adversely affect conception rates.
A novel approach for custom three‐dimensional printing of a zirconia root analogue implant by digital light processing
Authors: Anssari Moin David , Hassan Bassam , Wismeijer Daniel 
Published: April 2016

AbstractObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the feasibility of fabrication of three‐dimensional (3D)‐printed zirconia root analogue implant (RAI) through digital light processing (DLP) technology.Material and methodsOne partially edentulous mandibular human cadaver was scanned with a cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) system. The scan volumes and data sets were used to create computer‐aided design (CAD) model of the RAI. A high‐end DLP 3D printing technology was used to fabricate the RAI from the CAD model. Within this approach, solid 3D objects are built using a DLP projector to translate voxel data so it is reproduced in liquid photopolymer dispersed with a commercial ceramic, thereby light polymerizing the resin to solid. Optical scanning technology was used to measure the tooth and 3D‐printed RAI. To validate the accuracy of the printed zirconia RAI, the optical surface model of the original tooth and CAD model were superimposed.ResultsThe differences between the optical scans of the RAI and original tooth are most noticeable towards the apical foramen, showing a disparity for the RAI with a maximum deviation of 0.86 mm. When setting a maximum threshold of 0.5 mm for the 3D‐printed RAI surface to be deviating from the original tooth model and CAD model, measurements show 1.55% and 4.86% of the surface areas are exceeding the threshold distance, respectively.ConclusionWith the use of currently available technology, it is well feasible to 3D print in zirconia a custom RAI.