bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bank competition and economic growth
Authors: Banya Roland Mwesigwa , Biekpe Nicholas 
Published: March 2017

Purpose
The degree and impact of competitiveness in the banking sector is of great importance as this has great impact on the financial system and the wider economy. A question of interest here is, does competition in the commercial banking sector boost or hamper economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that competitiveness in commercial banking is linked to economic growth.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the Boone (2008) indicator to estimate competitiveness of banking markets in ten frontier countries in Africa from 2005 to 2012. This model measures banking competitiveness by assessing the relationship between relative marginal costs and relative market share. Through a panel data model, the authors examine the effect banking sector competitiveness has on economic growth.

Findings
The results of Boone (2008) indicator suggest that, to a greater extent, banks in the countries studied have a competitive banking sector. The results of the panel data estimation support the hypothesis that banking sector competition impacts positively on economic growth.

Practical implications
The paper recommends for more policy geared towards enhancing bank competition. This is because competitive banking system will allocate resources more efficiently to improve economic growth.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to test the link between bank competition and economic growth in a cross-section of Frontier African countries.
Performance measurement scale for facilities management service in Lagos-Nigeria
Authors: Koleoso Hikmot Adunola , Omirin Modupe Moronke , Adewunmi Yewande Adetoro 
Published: March 2017

Purpose
Literature established that applicable parameters must be used in determining facilities management (FM) performance in any market; otherwise, findings could be confusing and misleading. This is particularly relevant to Nigeria where FM application is in its infancy and seriously constrained by particular socio-economic conditions which make it prone to crises situations such as frequent power outages and surges, abundance of fake and adulterated construction materials and equipment, heavy presence of unqualified artisans, poor transparency and terribly chaotic and unpredictable traffic to mention a few. Hence, this research aims to identify contextual parameters for evaluating performance of FM service in office buildings in Lagos, reflecting these peculiarities.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts survey design, using self-administered questionnaires that were served on building occupants. Means and standard deviation were used in the analyses. Factor analysis was used in identifying the important factors or constructs and to confirm the practical significance of the measures.

Findings
The study developed a multi-item scale of 41 measures for evaluating performance of facilities managers in offices in Lagos, Nigeria. The scale comprises three major dimensions, i.e. “financial”, “quality of service” and “crises response and management”. Using factor analysis, the study identified five important factors, two of which (comprising ten new measures) have not been featured in previous studies.

Practical implications
The developed performance measurement scales (PMS) can be applied to FM performance evaluation, management and control in the Nigerian context. The PMS and identified factors would also aid FM policy formulation, resource allocation and facilities review.

Originality/value
The research is considered the first to develop a PMS for FM in office facilities in Lagos, Nigeria. The new factors and measures that were uncovered in the study makes it possible to evaluate the Nigerian facility manager’s ability to manage the near-crises challenges imposed by the peculiar socio-economic context. Furthermore, the scale adopts simplistic financial success criteria, which makes it relevant and easy to use for the poor financial record disclosing and research-averse Nigerian audience. It is also more relevant to the less strategic and more operational task-based Nigerian FM context and by extension, to the context of other developing countries with similar socio-economic features.
Sexual appeal in print media advertising: effects on brand recall and fixation time
Authors: Fidelis Bruno Tomaselli , Oliveira Jorge Henrique Caldeira , Giraldi Janaina de Moura Engracia , Santos Renê Oliveira Joaquim 
Published: March 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of sexual appeal in print media on consumers’ brand recall. More specifically, the differences between the fixation time on the “image” and “logo” elements in advertisements, with and without sexual appeal, were verified.

Design/methodology/approach
The correct research is experimental in nature, and divided into three stages: choosing the print advertisements to be viewed by the participants with eye tracking, capturing participants’ eye movements using a special eye tracking equipment and completing the questionnaire for calculating the number of brands recalled by the participants.

Findings
The authors have identified that there are no statistically relevant differences between the number of brands recalled, whether the advertisement does or does not have any sexual appeal.

Practical implications
The use of sexual appeal in advertisements on print media must be made with caution, and several implications for the textile and apparel industry are expressed in the conclusions.

Originality/value
The study’s relevance is threefold: the authors present more recent results about the relationship between sexual appeal and brand recall, as the most recent research study of a similar type was published in the late 1990s; they adopt key concepts from the neuromarketing field in an attempt to connect memory with the capacity of different components of the advertisements, to attract the visual attention of consumers; and they present results for three different product categories (alcohol, apparel and perfume).
Harvesting biofuel grasslands has mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no effects on biocontrol services
Authors: Kim Tania N. , Fox Aaron F. , Wills Bill D. , Meehan Timothy D. , Landis Douglas A. , Gratton Claudio 
Published: March 2017

Summary

Perennial bioenergy systems, such as switchgrass and restored prairies, are alternatives to commonly used annual monocultures such as maize. Perennial systems require lower chemical input, provide greater ecosystem services such as carbon storage, greenhouse gas mitigation and support greater biodiversity of beneficial insects. However, biomass harvest will be necessary in managing these perennial systems for bioenergy production, and it is unclear how repeated harvesting might affect ecosystem services.

In this study, we examined how repeated production‐scale harvesting of diverse perennial grasslands influences vegetation structure, natural enemy communities (arthropod predators and parasitoids), and natural biocontrol services in two states (Wisconsin and Michigan, USA) over multiple years.

We found that repeated biomass harvest reduced litter biomass and increased bare ground cover. Some natural enemy groups, such as ground‐dwelling arthropods, decreased in abundance with harvest, whereas others such as foliar‐dwelling arthropods increased in abundance. The disparity in responses is likely due to how different taxonomic groups utilize vegetation and differences in dispersal abilities.

At the community level, biomass harvest altered community composition, increased total arthropod abundance and decreased evenness but did not influence species richness, diversity or biocontrol services. Harvest effects varied with time, diminishing in strength both within the season (for total abundance and evenness), across seasons (for evenness) or were consistent throughout the duration of the study (for community composition). Greater functional redundancy and compensatory responses of the different taxonomic groups may have buffered against the potentially negative effects of harvest on biocontrol services.

Synthesis and applications. Our results show that in the short‐term, repeated harvesting of perennial grasslands (when insect activity is low) consistently altered vegetation structure but had mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no discernible effects on biocontrol services. However, the long‐term effects of repeated harvesting on vegetation structure, natural enemies and other arthropod‐derived ecosystem services such as pollination and decomposition remain largely unknown.
Technical Efficiency among Smallholder Rice Farmers: A Comparative Analysis of Three Agro‐ecological Zones in Cameroon
Authors: Njikam Ousmanou , Alhadji Hamidou Azi 
Published: March 2017

AbstractRice production in Cameroon is characterized by smallholder type of production, disease‐plagued farms, huge inefficiency, and largely depends on agro‐ecological conditions. So, the country imports most of its domestic consumption needs of rice. Using survey data from 1,141 Cameroonian smallholder rice farmers, their scores of technical efficiency, determinants and the extent of their variability across three agro‐ecological zones are analyzed. The results suggest significant room for improvement in the farmers’ technical efficiency which varies largely across and within agro‐ecological zones. Correlates of technical efficiency differentials among the farmers differ across agro‐ecological zones, ranging from the age and experience of farmer and land ownership in the Sahel, age of farmer, land ownership and distance village‐farm in the western highland, to agricultural training in the bimodal humid rain forest zone.
Foreign Direct Investment, Democracy and Economic Growth in Southern Africa
Authors: Malikane Christopher , Chitambara Prosper 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThis paper investigates the link between foreign direct investment (FDI), democracy and economic growth on a panel of eight Southern African countries for 1980–2014 using the system generalized method‐of‐moment (GMM) estimator. We find that FDI has a direct positive effect on economic growth and that strong democratic institutions are a significant driver of economic growth in the sample countries. The impact of FDI on economic growth is dependent on the level of democracy in the host countries. This implies that countries with strong democratic institutions are better able to absorb the positive spillovers from FDI. In policy terms, Southern African countries should sustain the institutional reform policy agenda already in place in order to benefit more from the significant inflows of FDI.
Timing of antenatal corticosteroid administration and survival in extremely preterm infants: a national population‐based cohort study
Authors: Norberg H , Kowalski J , Maršál K , Norman M 
Published: March 2017

ObjectiveTo explore the association between administration‐to‐birth interval of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) and survival in extremely preterm infants.DesignPopulation‐based prospective cohort study.SettingAll obstetric and neonatal units in Sweden from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2007.PopulationAll live‐born infants (n = 707) born at 22–26 completed weeks of gestation.MethodsThe relationship between time from first administration of ACS to delivery and survival was investigated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.Main outcome measuresNeonatal (0–27 days) and infant (0–365 days) survival, and infant survival without major neonatal morbidity (intraventricular haemorrhage grade ≥ 3, retinopathy of prematurity stage ≥ 3, periventricular leukomalacia, necrotising enterocolitis, or severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia).ResultsFive‐hundred and ninety‐one (84%) infants were exposed to ACS. In the final adjusted model, infant survival was lower in infants unexposed to ACS [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.26; 95% confidence interval 0.15–0.43], in infants born <24 h [HR = 0.53 (0.33–0.87)] and >7 days after ACS [HR = 0.56 (0.32–0.97)], but not in infants born 24–47 h after ACS [HR = 1.60 (0.73–3.50)], as compared with infants born 48 h to 7 days after administration. The findings were similar for neonatal survival. Survival without major neonatal morbidity among live‐born infants was 14% in unexposed infants and 30–39% in steroid‐exposed groups, indicating that any ACS exposure was valuable.ConclusionsAdministration of ACS 24 h to 7 days before extremely preterm birth was associated with significantly higher survival than in unexposed infants and in infants exposed to ACS at shorter or longer administration‐to‐birth intervals.Tweetable abstractTiming of antenatal corticosteroids is important for extremely preterm infants’ survival.
Methodological considerations for detection of terrestrial small‐body salamander eDNA and implications for biodiversity conservation
Authors: Walker Donald M. , Leys Jacob E. , Dunham Kelly E. , Oliver Joshua C. , Schiller Emily E. , Stephenson Kelsey S. , Kimrey John T. , Wooten Jessica , Rogers Mark W. 
Published: March 2017

AbstractEnvironmental DNA (eDNA) can be used as an assessment tool to detect populations of threatened species and provide fine‐scale data required to make management decisions. The objectives of this project were to use quantitative PCR (qPCR) to: (i) detect spiked salamander DNA in soil, (ii) quantify eDNA degradation over time, (iii) determine detectability of salamander eDNA in a terrestrial environment using soil, faeces, and skin swabs, (iv) detect salamander eDNA in a mesocosm experiment. Salamander eDNA was positively detected in 100% of skin swabs and 66% of faecal samples and concentrations did not differ between the two sources. However, eDNA was not detected in soil samples collected from directly underneath wild‐caught living salamanders. Salamander genomic DNA (gDNA) was detected in all qPCR reactions when spiked into soil at 10.0, 5.0, and 1.0 ng/g soil and spike concentration had a significant effect on detected concentrations. Only 33% of samples showed recoverable eDNA when spiked with 0.25 ng/g soil, which was the low end of eDNA detection. To determine the rate of eDNA degradation, gDNA (1 ng/g soil) was spiked into soil and quantified over seven days. Salamander eDNA concentrations decreased across days, but eDNA was still amplifiable at day 7. Salamander eDNA was detected in two of 182 mesocosm soil samples over 12 weeks (n = 52 control samples; n = 65 presence samples; n = 65 eviction samples). The discrepancy in detection success between experiments indicates the potential challenges for this method to be used as a monitoring technique for small‐bodied wild terrestrial salamander populations.
Inhibitors of soluble epoxide hydrolase minimize ischemia‐reperfusion‐induced cardiac damage in normal, hypertensive, and diabetic rats
Authors: Islam Oliul , Patil Prashanth , Goswami Sumanta K. , Razdan Rema , Inamdar Mohammed N. , Rizwan Mohammed , Mathew Jubin , Inceoglu Bora , Stephen Lee Kin S. , Hwang Sung H. , Hammock Bruce D. 
Published: March 2017

SummaryAimWe designed a study to evaluate the cardioprotective effect of two soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitors, 1‐(1‐propanoylpiperidin‐4‐yl)‐3‐(4‐trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)urea (TPPU) and trans‐4‐{4‐[3‐(4‐trifluoromethoxyphenyl)‐ureido]cyclohexyloxy}benzoic acid (t‐TUCB), in ischemia‐reperfusion (IR) model.MethodsCardioprotective effects of the sEH inhibitors were evaluated against IR‐induced myocardial damage in hearts from normal, hypertensive, and diabetic rats using Langendorff's apparatus. In addition, the effect of sEH inhibitors on endothelial function was evaluated in vitro and ex vivo using isolated rat thoracic aorta.ResultsIschemia‐reperfusion (IR) increased the myocardial damage in hearts from normal rats. IR‐induced myocardial damage was augmented in hearts isolated from hypertensive and diabetic rats. Myocardial damage as evident from increase in the activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase‐MB (CK‐MB) in heart perfusate was associated with significant decrease in the heart rate and developed tension, and increase in the resting tension in isolated heart. Both sEH inhibitors protected the heart in normal, hypertensive, and diabetic rats subjected to IR injury. The sEH inhibitor t‐TUCB relaxed phenylephrine precontracted aorta from normal rats. Relaxant effect of acetylcholine (ACh) was reduced in aortas from diabetic and hypertensive rats compared to normal rats. Pretreatment of sEH inhibitors to diabetic and hypertensive rats increased relaxant effect of ACh on aortas isolated from these rats.ConclusionsProphylactic treatment with sEH inhibitors decreased myocardial damage due to IR, hypertension and diabetes, and decreased endothelial dysfunction created by diabetes and hypertension. Therefore, inhibitors of sEH are useful probes to study cardiovascular pathology, and inhibition of the sEH is a potential approach in the management of IR‐induced cardiac damage and endothelial dysfunction‐related cardiovascular disorders.
Evaluation of a flexible bronchoscope prototype designed for bronchoscopy during mechanical ventilation: a proof‐of‐concept study
Authors: Nay M.‐A. , Auvet A. , Mankikian J. , Herve V. , Dequin P.‐F. , Guillon A. 
Published: March 2017

SummaryBronchoscopy during mechanical ventilation of patients' lungs significantly affects ventilation because of partial obstruction of the tracheal tube, and may thus be omitted in the most severely ill patients. It has not previously been possible to reduce the external diameter of the bronchoscope without reducing the diameter of the suction channel, thus reducing the suctioning capacity of the device. We believed that a better‐designed bronchoscope could improve the safety of bronchoscopy in patients whose lungs were ventilated. We designed a flexible bronchoscope prototype with a drumstick‐shaped head consisting of a long, thin proximal portion; a short and large distal portion for camera docking; and a large suction channel throughout the length of the device. The aims of our study were to test the impact of our prototype on mechanical ventilation when inserted into the tracheal tube, and to assess suctioning capacity. We first tested the efficiency of the suction channel, and demonstrated that the suction flow of the prototype was similar to that of conventional adult bronchoscopes. We next evaluated the consequences of bronchoscopy when using the prototype on minute ventilation and intrathoracic pressures during mechanical ventilation: firstly, in vitro using a breathing simulator; and secondly, in vivo using a porcine model of pulmonary ventilation. The insertion of adult bronchoscopes into the tracheal tube immediately impaired the protective ventilation strategy employed, whereas the prototype preserved it. For the first time, we have developed an innovative flexible bronchoscope designed for bronchoscopy during invasive mechanical ventilation, that both preserved the protective ventilation strategy, and enabled efficient suction flow.
SOCIAL INVESTMENT IN SPAIN: HOW DO SOLIDARITY MUTUAL FUNDS DECIDE THE ALLOCATION OF SOLIDARITY FUNDING BETWEEN SOCIAL ECONOMY ORGANIZATIONS?
Authors: LÓPEZ‐ARCEIZ Francisco J. , BELLOSTAS Ana J. , RIVERA‐TORRES Pilar 
Published: March 2017

ABSTRACTSolidarity mutual funds (SMFs) are a financial product oriented toward funding social economy organizations (SEOs). The main characteristic of these mutual funds, known in other countries as social investment, is that part of their management fees is allocated to support SEOs. In Spain, the criteria used in the allocation process of these funds have not been studied. The aim of this paper is to analyze the decision model of SMFs. To this end, we developed a logit regression model. The obtained results show that the decision model of SMFs promotes the development of commercial activity and favors a specific ideology and values and an exclusive relationship with the main funders.
Determinants of adherence to lifestyle intervention in adults with obesity: a systematic review
Authors: Burgess E. , Hassmén P. , Pumpa K. L. 
Published: March 2017

SummaryLifestyle intervention programmes are efficacious in the management of obesity but often report poor attendance and adherence rates that hinder treatment effectiveness and health outcomes. The aim of this systematic review is to identify (i) barriers to behaviour change and (ii) predictors of adherence to lifestyle intervention programmes in adults with obesity. Studies were identified by systematically reviewing the literature within Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science from inception to August 2016. Barriers to behaviour change include poor motivation; environmental, societal and social pressures; lack of time; health and physical limitations; negative thoughts/moods; socioeconomic constraints; gaps in knowledge/awareness; and lack of enjoyment of exercise. The most prominent predictors of adherence include early weight loss success, lower baseline body mass index (BMI), better baseline mood, being male and older age. The findings within this review provide novel insight to clinicians working in obesity and have important implications for lifestyle intervention programme design. Barriers to behaviour change need to be addressed early in treatment, with lifestyle intervention individualized accordingly. Predictors of adherence should also be taken into careful consideration, with negative moods and unrealistic weight loss expectations discussed at the outset. If adherence is improved, treatment effectiveness, health outcomes and the ultimate burden of chronic diseases could also be improved.
How does obesity affect the endocrine system? A narrative review
Authors: Poddar M. , Chetty Y. , Chetty V. T. 
Published: March 2017

SummaryObesity is a chronic, relapsing medical condition that results from an imbalance of energy expenditure and consumption. It is a leading cause of preventable illness, disability and premature death. The causes of obesity are multifactorial and include behavioural, socioeconomic, genetic, environmental and psychosocial factors. Rarely are endocrine diseases, e.g., hypothyroidism or Cushing's syndrome, the cause of obesity. What is less understood is how obesity affects the endocrine system. In this review, we will discuss the impact of obesity on multiple endocrine systems, including the hypothalamic‐pituitary axis, changes in vitamin D homeostasis, gender steroids and thyroid hormones. We will also examine the renin angiotensin aldosterone system and insulin pathophysiology associated with obesity. We will provide a general overview of the biochemical changes that can be seen in patients with obesity, review possible aetiologies of these changes and briefly consider current guidelines on their management. This review will not discuss endocrine causes of obesity.