bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Carbon emission risks and management accounting: Australian evidence
Authors: Kumarasiri Jayanthi , Jubb Christine 
Published: July 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to apply regulatory mix theory as a framework for investigating the use of management accounting techniques by Australian large listed companies in constraining their carbon emissions.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews are conducted with senior managers involved with managing their companies’ carbon emission risks. Analysis of the interview data is undertaken with a view to provision of insight to the impact of the regulatory framework imposed to deal with carbon emissions.FindingsThe findings reveal that regulation impacting companies’ economic interests rather than requiring mere disclosure compliance is much more likely to be behind focusing top management and board attention and use of management accounting techniques to set targets, measure performance and incentivise emission mitigation. However, there remains much scope for increased use of accounting professionals and accounting techniques in working towards a carbon-constrained economy.Research limitations/implicationsThe usual limitations associated with interpretation of interview data are applicable.Practical implicationsUnder-use of management accounting techniques is likely to be associated with less than optimal constraint of carbon emissions.Social implicationsCarbon emissions are accepted as being involved in harmful climate change. To the extent effective techniques are under-utilised in constraining emissions, harmful consequences for society are likely to be heightened unnecessarily.Originality/valueThe topic and data collected are original and provide valuable insights into the dynamics of management accounting technique use in managing carbon emissions.
SEC publishes guidance on mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees
Authors: Adelfio Marco , Delligatti Paul J. , Monfort Jason F. 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
To explain the guidance published on January 6, 2016 by the SEC’s Division of Investment Management containing its views and recommendations relating to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees.

Design/methodology/approach
Explains the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations focus on “distribution in guise” payments, its 2013 “sweep exam,” an enforcement action against a fund’s adviser and affiliated distributor related to payments for distribution-related activities outside of a 12b-1 plan, lists SEC staff recommendations with respect to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees, summarizes the SEC’s guidance on board oversight of sub-accounting fees, provides indicia that a payment may be for distribution-related activities, and points to the need for mutual funds to have policies and procedures designed to prevent violations of Section 12(b) and Rule 12b-1.

Findings
The guidance is an outgrowth of the staff’s observations from a three-year “distribution in guise” sweep exam of mutual fund complexes, investment advisers, broker-dealers and transfer agents conducted by the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and other offices and divisions of the SEC to identify whether firms were using fund assets to directly or indirectly finance any activities primarily intended to result in the sale of fund shares outside of an approved Rule 12b-1 distribution plan.

Originality/value
Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.
The European market abuse regulation: MAR ado about everything
Authors: Green Jake , Torrens Emily 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
To provide a practical look at the European Union Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation EU No. 596/2014) (“MAR”) and some of its uncertainties, particularly the issue of its wide reaching jurisdictional scope.

Design/methodology/approach
The article takes a three pillar approach covering the following: a brief discursive overview of MAR, consideration of some of its uncertainties and key areas of controversy, and a detailed consideration of the jurisdictional scope of MAR.

Findings
Many questions and considerations about MAR remain, particularly those regarding how the investment recommendations requirements will be met in practice, most notably in respect of sales notes. Further, additional extensive record keeping obligations and prescriptive market soundings procedures are now expected of firms in order to show the legitimacy of their activities. In addition, the geographical scope of MAR is wide and all encompassing. Whilst its market manipulation, improper disclosure and insider dealing provisions must undoubtedly be adhered to worldwide, it remains to be seen how far the conduct requirements included in MAR will be implemented by non EU firms.

Originality/value
Consolidation and detailed consideration of the most common questions being asked in the market by market participants and issuers on The Market Abuse Regulation in the run up to its implementation. Practical guidance from experienced financial regulatory lawyers.
SEC’s division of investment management offers new guidance on “distribution in guise” payments
Authors: Delibert Arthur , Schneider Lori , Clement Megan , Shannon Shane 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
To explain the January 6, 2016 written guidance (the “New Guidance”) issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management on payments made by mutual funds to intermediaries for distribution and non-distribution-related services.

Design/methodology/approach
Explains the SEC’s earlier guidance in the 1998 “Supermarket Letter,” the provisions of Rule 12b-1, the practice termed “distribution in guise,” the emphasis in the “New Guidance” on the role of a fund board’s business judgment, how Rule 12b-1 compliance fits into Rule 38a-1 compliance programs, specific fund activities and arrangements with intermediaries that are of concern to the SEC staff, and the focus of the New Guidance on an adviser’s fiduciary duty to mitigate or eliminate conflicts of interest.

Findings
The New Guidance articulates clear expectations that fund boards will have a process to evaluate the nature of intermediary payments and that fund advisers will provide boards with information in the advisers’ possession that the boards need to carry out that evaluation. Another intent of the New Guidance is apparently to give the SEC a clearer basis to bring enforcement actions concerning the use of fund assets to pay intermediaries for distribution-related activities.

Originality/value
Practical guidance from experienced investment management lawyers.
The SEC turns up the heat on private equity expense allocations
Authors: Lieberman Samuel , Araneo John T. 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
To discuss the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) increasing focus on disclosure and conflict-of-interest problems arising from how private equity fund (“PE Fund”) managers allocate expenses between management and fund investors.

Design/methodology/approach
This article summarizes the background of this focus on expense allocations and, drawing from the recent SEC enforcement actions focused on this issue, and identifies the types of both expenses and disclosures that have caught SEC attention.

Findings
After spending the first two or three years post Dodd-Frank raising awareness of these issues, the SEC has begun to impose large fines over expense-allocation conflicts and disclosure issues.

Practical implications
It is imperative for PE Fund managers to retain counsel to review their fund offering documents, expense allocation practices, and compliance programs to ensure consistency with the SEC’s recent decisions on these issues.

Originality/value
Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.
Assessing the efficiency of secondary schools in Chile: a data envelopment analysis
Authors: Munoz David Andres , Queupil Juan Pablo 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficiency of secondary education schools in Chile. Since the early 1980s, several educational reforms have been passed with the main objective of improving the quality, equity and efficiency of the Chilean education system. This has initiated a debate about the efficient use of public educational resources. In response, this study provides insights into identifying the most efficient types of schools based on a set of different inputs and outputs.

Design/methodology/approach
This quantitative research study used data envelopment analysis (DEA), which estimates a single index of efficiency to identify schools performing at superior levels compared to other schools with similar characteristics. Two sets of models are created for evaluating efficiency. The first set of analyses provides a longitudinal efficiency comparison based on student performance on two national standardized tests as outputs, and the second model incorporates socioeconomic characteristics of students attending different schools as inputs in the efficiency estimation.

Findings
Based on the longitudinal models, it was found that private schools are more efficient and more consistent in maintaining their efficiency over time than other types of schools. In addition, when accounting for socioeconomic factors, publicly subsidized schools were more efficient than public schools.

Practical implications
The Chilean parliament is currently discussing new educational reforms that focus on more efficient use of educational resources to improve educational quality and equity. The results provided in this study generate useful evidence for policymakers and other stakeholders regarding school efficiency and the appropriate allocation of public resources to support diverse students served by different types of secondary educational institutions.

Social implications
Education is a key factor affecting social mobility and socioeconomic improvement of societies. Schools are called upon to improve their performance to promote these social goals. Accordingly, more novel forms of research on efficiency are necessary to assess how well schools are transforming their inputs into performance outputs.

Originality/value
This study provides a longitudinal analysis of educational efficiency using DEA with a national data set of Chilean schools to evaluate how consistent the schools are in maintaining their levels of efficiency over time. In addition, one DEA model accounts for a social “vulnerability” index at the student level to better understand how efficiently secondary schools use their resources. The insights gained provide data-driven answers to support more informed educational decision-making and policy processes in Chile.
SERVQUAL application and adaptation for educational service quality assessments in Russian higher education
Authors: Galeeva Railya B. 
Published: July 2016

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to demonstrate an adaptation of the SERVQUAL survey method for measuring the quality of higher educational services in a Russian university context. We use a new analysis and a graphical technique for presentation of results.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology of this research follows the classic SERVQUAL method in terms of data acquisition but provides a new approach for data analysis and presentation of findings. The technique is intended to improve upon the original method by including an importance-quality analysis grid and extending it with an innovative graphical tool for presenting results to decision-makers that is based on area-based ratios rather than difference scores.FindingsThe report includes survey results of two waves of research conducted in 2009 and 2014. Each wave consisted of 1,000 respondents from 20 branches of study and 11 higher education institutions, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsIt is argued that the SERVQUAL method can be improved significantly with the proposed technique. However, the validity and reliability of the importance, expectation and perception summary scores need to be further investigated. Also, alternative methods for quality assessment (SERVPERF/HEdPERF) should be tested and compared with the modified SERVQUAL method in Russian and other international education contexts.Practical implicationsEducational service quality assessments allow the management to acquire an image of the overall quality of an institution, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, thereby improving its strategic positioning to make improvements. It is hoped that the proposed improvement to the SERVQUAL technique will increase adoption of the method among academic institutions.Originality/valueThe improved SERVQUAL methodology demonstrated in this research replaces the widely criticised “difference scores” with an easily applied graphical display. The methodology also incorporates an importance-quality analysis providing a new perspective on the SERVQUAL data. The current findings provide valuable insights into the perceived quality of the Republic of Tatarstan’s higher education system in Russia, as given by its student customers.
Impact of quality management systems on teaching-learning processes
Authors: Fernández Cruz Francisco José , Egido Gálvez Inmaculada , Carballo Santaolalla Rafael 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
Quality management systems are being used more frequently in educational institutions, although their application has generated a certain amount of disagreement among education experts, who have at times questioned their suitability and usefulness for improving schools. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this discussion by providing additional knowledge on the effects in educational institutions of implementing quality management systems. Specifically, this study investigates teachers’ and managers’ perception of the impact that quality management systems have on one essential dimension of schools, the teaching–learning processes, with impact being understood as sustained medium- and long-term organisational change.

Design/methodology/approach
The responses were analysed and classified into a set of sub-dimensions linked to quality management processes in a total of 29 Spanish primary and secondary education schools that have used such systems for at least three years.

Findings
The results showed that, according to the respondents, the following sub-dimensions were improving as a result of implementing quality management plans: teaching and learning processes, the analysis of student results, tutoring, consideration of attitudes and values and assessment processes. Conversely, quality management systems did not seem to have a clear impact on the teaching methodologies used by teachers or on family involvement in student learning. In fact, the perceived impact in these sub-dimensions varied among teachers of public and private schools as well as when comparing different regional autonomous communities.

Originality/value
As the main objective of a school is to guarantee student learning, one of the essential purposes of school quality assurance systems is to perform all the activities aimed at ensuring high levels of student performance.
Intermetallic growth and shear strength of SAC305/EN-Boron
Authors: Kahar Hardinnawirda , Abd Malek Zetty Akhtar , Idris Siti Rabiatull Aisha , Ishak Mahadzir 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
This paper aims to study the effect of aging and cooling rate on the reliability of the solder joint using electroless nickel boron (EN-Boron) as a surface finish in the electronic packaging area.

Design/methodology/approach
EN-Boron was plated on a Cu substrate through electroless plating method. This process was followed by reflow soldering of Sn–3.0Ag–0.5Cu solder alloy on metallized Cu substrate to form a joining. Then, the specimens were cooled using different cooling mediums such as air (slow cooling) with 15.7 °C/min and water (fast cooling) with 110.5 °C/min. After that, the specimens were subjected to isothermal aging at 150°C for 0, 250 and 1,000 h. Finally, they went through a lap shear test following ASTM D1002. Optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy were used for intermetallic compound (IMC) characterization. The type of IMC formed was confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscope-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDX).

Findings
The results showed that the IMC type changed from the combination of Ni3Sn4 and (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 after reflow soldering into fully (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 when aged for 1,000 h. The formation of (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 and Cu3Sn underneath the IMC layer played a role in reducing the shear strength of joining. Overall, water cooling was reported to provide higher shear strength of solder joint compared to air cooling medium.

Originality/value
The shear strength when using EN-Boron as the surface finish is comparable to the surface finish conventionally used.
Direct bonding of silicon with solders type Sn-Ag-Ti
Authors: Kolenak Roman , Kostolný Igor , Sahul Martin 
Published: July 2016

Purpose
The work aims to study the direct bonding of silicon substrate with solders type Sn-Ag-Ti.

Design/methodology/approach
During the bonding process with ultrasound assistance, the active element (Ti,Ce,Mg) is distributed from the solder to interface with a silicon substrate, where it supports the bond formation.

Findings
Formation of a reaction layer, 1-2 μm in thickness, was observed. The new Si2Ti phases and Mg2Si phase were identified in the reaction layer.

Originality/value
The results of analysis suggest that the Si/Sn-Ag-Ti joint is of diffusion character. The highest average strength on silicon substrate (39 MPa) was achieved with Sn-Ag-Ti(Mg) solder.
Providing foraging resources for solitary bees on farmland: current schemes for pollinators benefit a limited suite of species
Authors: Wood Thomas J. , Holland John M. , Goulson Dave 
Published: July 2016

Summary

Changes in agricultural practice across Europe and North America have been associated with range contractions and a decline in the abundance of wild bees. Concerns at these declines have led to the development of flower‐rich agri‐environment schemes as a way to enhance bee diversity and abundance. Whilst the effect of these schemes on bumblebee species (Bombus spp.) has been well studied, their impact on the wider bee community is poorly understood.

We used direct observations of foraging bees and pollen load analysis to quantify the relative contribution that sown flowers (i.e. those included in agri‐environment scheme seed mixes) make to the pollen diets of wild solitary bees on Higher Level Stewardship farms (HLS) implementing pollinator‐focused schemes and on Entry Level Stewardship farms (ELS) without such schemes in southern England, UK.

HLS management significantly increased floral abundance, and as the abundance of sown flowers increased, these sown plants were utilized for pollen by a greater proportion of the solitary bee species present. However, the overall proportion of pollen collected from sown plants was low for both direct observations (27·0%) and pollen load analysis (23·3%).

At most only 25 of the 72 observed species of solitary bee (34·7%) were recorded utilizing sown plants to a meaningful degree. The majority of solitary bee species did not collect pollen from flower species sown for pollinators.

Total bee species richness was significantly associated with plant species richness, but there was no difference in the total species richness of either bee or flowering plant species between HLS and ELS farms.

Synthesis and applications. Our results show that the majority of solitary bee species present on farmland in the south‐east of England collect most of their pollen from plants that persist unaided in the wider environment, and not from those included in agri‐environment schemes focused on pollinators. If diverse bee communities are to be maintained on farmland, existing schemes should contain an increased number of flowering plant species and additional schemes that increase the diversity of flowering plants in complementary habitats should be studied and trialled.
Perspectives for microbial community composition in anaerobic digestion: from abundance and activity to connectivity
Authors: De Vrieze Jo , Verstraete Willy 
Published: July 2016

SummaryMicrobial management in anaerobic digestion is mainly focused on physically present and metabolically active species. Because of its complexity and operation near the thermodynamic equilibria, it is equally important to address functional regulation, based on spatial organisation and interspecies communication. Further establishment of the knowledge on microbial communication in anaerobic digestion through quorum sensing and nanowires is needed. Methods to detect centres of concentrated activity, related to the presence of highly active and well‐connected species that take a central role in the anaerobic digestion process, have to be optimized. Bioaugmentation could serve as a crucial tool to introduce keystone species that may create or sustain such centres. Functional stability can be maintained by keeping the microbial community active. This results in a clear trade‐off between functionally active and redundant microorganisms as primary basis for microbial community organization. Finally, a microbial community based prediction strategy for advanced process control is formulated.
Effects of diadenylate cyclase deficiency on synthesis of extracellular polysaccharide matrix of Streptococcus mutans revisit
Authors: Peng Xian , Michalek Suzanne , Wu Hui 
Published: July 2016

SummaryAn emerging secondary messenger c‐di‐AMP plays an important role in bacterial physiology. It was reported by Cheng et al. that inactivation of a gene coding for diadenylate cyclase (DAC), a c‐di‐AMP producing enzyme, resulted in enhanced synthesis of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) by a cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus mutans (Cheng et al., 2016). We constructed a similar mutant and observed a completely different effect, the DAC deficiency resulted in a decrease in the production of EPS. Our studies provided the following compelling evidence, (1) the DAC mutant we constructed can be readily complemented for the production of EPS, while the mutant from the Cheng group cannot; (2) Our mutant exhibits the regular pattern of key enzymes that produce EPS, glucosyltransferases (Gtfs), while Cheng et al. reported an irregular pattern, which was inconsistent with their earlier studies. (3) We demonstrated that the response of the DAC mutant to oxidative stress is independent of GtfB, the key enzyme producing EPS, while the Cheng report suggests that overproduction of EPS is a responsive mechanism for the DAC mutant to adapt to the oxidative stress. Therefore, the validity of the relationship between DAC and EPS reported by Cheng et al. warrants further investigation and clarification.
They Sell Skulls Online?! A Review of Internet Sales of Human Skulls on eBay and the Laws in Place to Restrict Sales
Authors: Halling Christine L. , Seidemann Ryan M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractInternet sales of human remains occur despite the existence of laws prohibiting such action in most jurisdictions. The most popular public platform for online sales, eBay, allows users to postskeletal material for sale, largely anonymously and without much fear of legal repercussions. This survey of skeletal sales was conducted 10 years after the first article published about online human remains sales. A review of current laws reveals that, while many states have laws that restrict any sale of human remains, those laws have questionable deterrent effect. Assessing the skeletal material posted for sale provides law enforcement agencies with a necessary starting point to curtail the sale of human remains through enforcement of existing laws. Ultimately, the goal is to stem the commodification of such items and to recover skeletal material, especially that which may be of archaeological or forensic significance, and provide the proper final disposition for such material.