bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) training provision for professionals in England
Authors: Wallis Samantha , Bloch Steven , Clarke Michael 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to document augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) training provision by clinical services in England.

Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was used to obtain the following information concerning AAC training provision; frequency, length, type, content and cost, trainee occupations and numbers, and future training priorities, and information concerning training providers – service type, geographical area.

Findings
In total, 98 clinical service training providers in England responded. Services commonly reported providing AAC training to speech and language therapists, teaching assistants and teachers. Training around “use of specific AAC products, systems and technology” and “introducing/awareness raising of AAC products” were rated as high priority for future training and were two of the three subject areas where services reported the highest percentage of training. Training was predominantly provided at a foundation (basic) level.

Originality/value
There is no consensus on the amount or content of AAC training which professionals in England must receive. Evidence suggests that AAC training for pre-qualification professionals is limited and this paper has identified variation in the amount and type of post-qualification AAC training. While knowledge concerning specific AAC systems is necessary, focussing training primarily on this area may not address critical gaps in knowledge. There is a need for specific recommendations regarding AAC training for professionals in this field, to ensure professionals can fully support people who use AAC.
Intellectual capital role in ambidexterity emergence
Authors: Fernández-Pérez de la Lastra Susana , García-Carbonell Natalia , Martín-Alcázar Fernando , Sánchez-Gardey Gonzalo 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
Considering the inconclusive results in the literature on the way organizations create ambidextrous organizational capabilities, the purpose of this paper is to present an alternative theoretical model of three different paths through which ambidexterity is built. From a multilevel perspective, the model describes how specific combinations of the facets of intellectual capital – human, social and organizational capital – can synergistically work to reach ambidexterity.

Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on main arguments from multilevel and intellectual capital literature. The multilevel approach allows the authors to consider a broader perspective to define three specific modes to create ambidextrous capabilities. Additionally, the intellectual capital literature completes the model, with the input (human capital), mechanisms (social capital) and the infrastructure (organizational capital) needed to develop ambidexterity. With the integration of both frameworks, the model explains how different types of ambidexterity are generated at diverse firm levels – individual, group and organizational, following different and complementary paths.

Findings
This research goes beyond the traditional arguments on how organizations develop simultaneously exploration and exploitation activities, proposing an integrative model of three complementary modes: path 1 (ambidexterity based on individual human capital); path 2 (ambidexterity through social capital) and path 3 (ambidexterity through organizational capital). These paths link organizational levels in organizations, showing the accumulative process of ambidexterity from a multilevel perspective.

Originality/value
The paper offers an alternative view expanding the ongoing discussion in the ambidexterity field. There is a lack of configurational models in the literature that describe, from a synergistic point of view, these complementary paths to achieving organizational ambidexterity. This approach contributes to explaining that not only individual ambidextrous human capital is needed to generate organizational ambidexterity, but also that specialist human capital could be a source of ambidexterity.
Variations in student perceptions of service quality of higher education institutions in Brazil
Authors: Campos Domingos Fernandes , Santos Guido Salvi dos , Castro Felipe Nalon 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine, through a longitudinal study, undergraduate student perceptions of service expectations, priorities and quality of the higher education institution that they attend, using an importance–performance rating matrix.

Design/methodology/approach
This research was carried out with students exposed to a new type of educational program that combines face-to-face encounters with distance learning experiences. Respondents belong to five graduate courses in management. Data collection was performed at five different time points, targeting all attending students as they continued their studies.

Findings
The findings showed that the students’ expectations of the set of factor-defined dimensions and attributes studied increased notably over time. Senior students tended to be more demanding than beginning students. Aside from the comfort levels of the classroom, the attributes rated as most important by the majority of students were directly linked to the professors, whether with respect to their practical experience, teaching methods, motivation or training received. This was the case at each stage of data collection.

Practical implications
The importance × performance gaps matrix offers managers at higher education institutions with information to support decisions, especially with regard to setting priorities. The information obtained enables managers to align actions with emerging areas of need, and effectively direct resources to ensure student satisfaction, retention and loyalty. Using importance ratings taken at different stages of student interaction with the institution was found to be useful at the institution investigated. Institutions could attract new student customers by meeting expectations with such trend data.

Originality/value
The current research captured students’ changes in expectations of their undergraduate coursework that combined classroom and distance learning approaches. In addition, the study documented variations over time in students’ perceptions on key service areas. The paper provides data on student-perceived priorities, quality gaps and criticality levels, seen both at a level of aggregate dimensions and at the level of individual service attributes.
Measurement of perceived service quality in higher education institutions
Authors: Silva Danilo Soares , Moraes Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de , Makiya Ieda Kanashiro , Cesar Francisco Ignácio Giocondo 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
This study aims to find evidence of the HEdPERF scale use for measuring the perceived service quality from the perspective of students in higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide.

Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the literature was conducted to find evidence of the scale use in articles published between January 2005 and May 2017, according to databases Emerald, SciELO, Scopus, Web of Science, and Wiley Online Library. The articles were searched on the databases on Jun 17, 2017 and at the end of the selection of articles, were kept 12 distinct documents.

Findings
The articles found pointed towards classic SERVQUAL and SERVPERF scales as being well substantiated for measuring perceived service quality. The HEdPERF scale was applied in articles about perceived service quality in HEI in studies in Brazil, China, Croatia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Originality/value
The paper attempts to gather some articles on the measurement of service quality in higher education institutions, by the HEdPERF scale use. This study indicates that SERVPERF scale can also be an appropriate model to measure service quality in HEI context, that is, it is not yet possible to defend a single instrument as a standard for this purpose.
Woodland Wellbeing: a pilot for people with dementia
Authors: Gibson Elanor , Ramsden Nicola , Tomlinson Rachel , Jones Charlie 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand whether a woodland-based intervention might offer something helpful and engaging for people affected by dementia. In total, 18 people came to Woodland Wellbeing groups over summer and autumn in 2016.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors made observations during the groups, kept some notes and conducted some interviews around three months after people had participated in Woodland Wellbeing.

Findings
Feedback from participants indicated themes around connection with nature and to one another; the joy in new learning and activities; and the inspirational impact of feeling part of nature.

Originality/value
This paper adds to the growing literature on natural approaches in supporting the wellbeing of people affected by dementia, and highlights the value of partnership working.
Facilitation by leguminous shrubs increases along a precipitation gradient
Authors: Zhang Hai‐Yang , Lü Xiao‐Tao , Knapp Alan K. , Hartmann Henrik , Bai Edith , Wang Xiao‐Bo , Wang Zheng‐Wen , Wang Xiao‐Guang , Yu Qiang , Han Xing‐Guo 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

Combining nutrient dynamics (plant nutrient uptake and soil fertility) can help uncover mechanisms of shrub–grass interactions and assess the validity of the stress‐gradient hypothesis, which predicts that facilitation between plants increases in stressful environments. However, how facilitation via shrub‐mediated nutrient increases varies with precipitation is poorly resolved.
We first synthesized a global dataset from 66 studies and evaluated how shrubs affected soil organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in grasslands along a precipitation gradient. We then made new measurements in a single‐grassland type encroached by leguminous shrubs from the same genus (Caragana) to constrain the variations caused by combining different grassland types and shrubs traits in the meta‐analysis. Specifically, we investigated how shrubs mediated N dynamics and how shrub–grass interactions varied along a precipitation gradient (147–342 mm) in a temperate steppe of China.
At the global scale, leguminous shrub‐mediated effects on soil nutrients increased with precipitation, while no relationship was found for non‐leguminous shrub. For the field experiment, greater N and lower δ15N in Caragana compared to non‐leguminous shrub (reference shrub, Salsola collina) suggested active N‐fixation in Caragana. We found that Caragana enhanced N concentration and leaf quality (low C:N ratio) in neighbouring plants more on mesic sites than on xeric sites. Thus, facilitation increased via higher soil N and with decreasing environmental stress, at least along this relatively arid precipitation gradient.
Our results highlight the importance of precipitation in determining the nutritional facilitation to neighbouring grasses from encroaching leguminous shrubs. Conceptual frameworks for plant facilitation may therefore need to include shrub characteristics (N‐fixers vs. non‐fixers) and positive effects of higher precipitation on this type of facilitation to characterize plant interactions along stress gradients.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Trait matching and phylogeny as predictors of predator–prey interactions involving ground beetles
Authors: Brousseau Pierre‐Marc , Gravel Dominique , Handa I. Tanya 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWith global change modifying species assemblages, our success in predicting ecosystem‐level consequences of these new communities will depend, in part, on our ability to understand biotic interactions. Current food web theory considers interactions between numerous species simultaneously, but descriptive models are unable to predict interactions between newly co‐occurring species. Incorporating proxies such as functional traits and phylogeny into models could help infer predator/prey interactions.Here, we used trait matching between predator feeding traits and prey vulnerability traits, along with phylogeny (used as a proxy for chemical defence and other traits difficult to document), to infer predatory interactions using ground beetles as model organisms.A feeding experiment was conducted involving 20 ground beetle and 115 prey species to determine which pair of species did or did not interact. Eight predator and four prey functional traits were measured directly on specimens. Then, using a modelling approach based on the matching‐centrality formalism, we evaluated 511 predictive ecological models that tested different combinations of all predator and prey functional traits, and phylogenetic information.The most parsimonious model accurately predicted 81% of the observed realized and unrealized interactions, using phylogenetic information and the trait‐matches predator biting force/prey cuticular toughness and predator/prey body size ratio. The best trait‐based models predicted correctly >80% which species interact (realized interactions), but predict <58% of which species did not interact (unrealized interactions). Adding a phylogenetic term representing the evolutionary distance within each trophic level increased the ability to predict which species did not interact to >75%.The matching of predator biting force and prey cuticular toughness demonstrated a better predictive power than the commonly used predator/prey body size ratio. Our novel model combining both functional traits and phylogeny extends beyond existing descriptive approaches and could represent a valuable tool to predict consumer/resource interactions of newly introduced species and to resolve cryptic food webs.Aplain language summaryis available for this article.
Hot dogs: High ambient temperatures impact reproductive success in a tropical carnivore
Authors: Woodroffe Rosie , Groom Rosemary , McNutt J. Weldon 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

Climate change imposes an urgent need to recognise and conserve the species likely to be worst affected. However, while ecologists have mostly explored indirect effects of rising ambient temperatures on temperate and polar species, physiologists have predicted direct impacts on tropical species.

The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), a tropical species, exhibits few of the traits typically used to predict climate change vulnerability. Nevertheless, we predicted that wild dog populations might be sensitive to weather conditions, because the species shows strongly seasonal reproduction across most of its geographical range.

We explored associations between weather conditions, reproductive costs, and reproductive success, drawing on long‐term wild dog monitoring data from sites in Botswana (20°S, 24 years), Kenya (0°N, 12 years), and Zimbabwe (20°S, 6 years).

High ambient temperatures were associated with reduced foraging time, especially during the energetically costly pup‐rearing period. Across all three sites, packs which reared pups at high ambient temperatures produced fewer recruits than did those rearing pups in cooler weather; at the non‐seasonal Kenya site such packs also had longer inter‐birth intervals. Over time, rising ambient temperatures at the (longest‐monitored) Botswana site coincided with falling wild dog recruitment.

Our findings suggest a direct impact of high ambient temperatures on African wild dog demography, indicating that this species, which is already globally endangered, may be highly vulnerable to climate change. This vulnerability would have been missed by simplistic trait‐based assessments, highlighting the limitations of such assessments. Seasonal reproduction, which is less common at low latitudes than at higher latitudes, might be a useful indicator of climate change vulnerability among tropical species.
Landscape greening and local creation of wildflower strips and hedgerows promote multiple ecosystem services
Authors: Sutter Louis , Albrecht Matthias , Jeanneret Philippe 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

The explicit and implicit aims of creating ecological focus areas (EFAs) and implementing greening measures in European agro‐ecosystems include the promotion of regulatory ecosystem services (ES) to sustain crop production in conventional cropping systems. However, the extent to which these goals are achieved with current policy measures remains poorly explored.

We measured insect‐mediated pollination and natural pest control service provisioning in 18 winter oilseed rape fields as a function of the independent and interactive effects of local EFA establishment─sown wildflower strips and hedgerows─and landscape‐scale greening measures within a 1 km radius around focal fields and quantified their contribution to crop yield.

Insect pollination potential and pest predation increased on average by 10% and 13%, respectively, when landscape‐scale greening measures share was increased from 6% to 26%. For pollination, the increase was stronger in fields adjoining an EFA (14%) than in fields without adjacent EFA (7%).

Agricultural management practices were the main drivers of crop yield. Neither insect pollination potential or natural pest control (pest predation and parasitism) nor adjacent EFAs and landscape‐scale greening significantly affected crop yield in addition to agricultural management.

Synthesis and applications. Local establishment of perennial, species‐rich wildflower strips and hedgerows, combined with landscape‐scale greening measures in agricultural landscapes, can promote multiple ecosystem services (ES) in conventional production systems. Benefits may be maximized when local and landscape measures are combined. However, enhanced pollination and natural pest regulation seem to contribute relatively little to final crop yield compared to local agricultural management practices in the high‐input conventional production system studied. Further research is needed to better understand how to improve the effectiveness of ecological focus areas and other greening measures in promoting regulatory ES. Potential improvements include minimising trade‐offs while promoting synergies between ES provision, food production and biodiversity conservation.
Exploiting mycorrhizas in broad daylight: Partial mycoheterotrophy is a common nutritional strategy in meadow orchids
Authors: Schiebold Julienne M.‐I. , Bidartondo Martin I. , Lenhard Florian , Makiola Andreas , Gebauer Gerhard 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

Partial mycoheterotrophy (PMH) is a nutritional mode in which plants utilize organic matter, i.e. carbon, both from photosynthesis and a fungal source. The latter reverses the direction of plant‐to‐fungus carbon flow as usually assumed in mycorrhizal mutualisms. Based on significant enrichment in the heavy isotope 13C, a growing number of PMH orchid species have been identified. These PMH orchids are mostly associated with fungi simultaneously forming ectomycorrhizas with forest trees. In contrast, the much more common orchids that associate with rhizoctonia fungi, which are decomposers, have stable isotope profiles most often characterized by high 15N enrichment and high nitrogen concentrations but either an insignificant 13C enrichment or depletion relative to autotrophic plants. Using hydrogen stable isotope abundances recent investigations showed PMH in rhizoctonia‐associated orchids growing under light‐limited conditions. Hydrogen isotope abundances can be used as substitute for carbon isotope abundances in cases where autotrophic and heterotrophic carbon sources are insufficiently distinctive to indicate PMH.

To determine whether rhizoctonia‐associated orchids growing in habitats with high irradiance feature PMH as a nutritional mode, we sampled 13 orchid species growing in montane meadows, four forest orchid species and 34 autotrophic reference species. We analysed δ2H, δ13C, δ15N and δ18O and determined nitrogen concentrations. Orchid mycorrhizal fungi were identified by DNA sequencing.

As expected, we found high enrichments in 2H, 13C, 15N and nitrogen concentrations in the ectomycorrhiza‐associated forest orchids, and the rhizoctonia‐associated Neottia cordata from a forest site was identified as PMH. Most orchids inhabiting sunny meadows lacked 13C enrichment or were even significantly depleted in 13C relative to autotrophic references. However, we infer PMH for the majority of these meadow orchids due to both significant 2H and 15N enrichment and high nitrogen concentrations. Pseudorchis albida was the sole autotrophic orchid in this study as it exhibited neither enrichment in any isotope nor a distinctive leaf nitrogen concentration.

Synthesis. Our findings demonstrate that partial mycoheterotrophy is a trophic continuum between the extreme endpoints of autotrophy and full mycoheterotrophy, ranging from marginal to pronounced. In rhizoctonia‐associated orchids, partial mycoheterotrophy plays a far greater role than previously assumed, even in full light conditions.
Is Anyone Paying Attention to Physician Report Cards? The Impact of Increased Availability on Consumers’ Awareness and Use of Physician Quality Information
Authors: Shi Yunfeng , Scanlon Dennis P. , Bhandari Neeraj , Christianson Jon B. 
Published: July 2017

ObjectiveTo determine if the release of health care report cards focused on physician practice quality measures leads to changes in consumers’ awareness and use of this information.Primary Data SourcesData from two rounds of a survey of the chronically ill adult population conducted in 14 regions across the United States, combined with longitudinal information from a public reporting tracking database. Both data were collected as part of the evaluation for Aligning Forces for Quality, a nationwide quality improvement initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.Study DesignUsing a longitudinal design and an individual‐level fixed effects modeling approach, we estimated the impact of community public reporting efforts, measured by the availability and applicability of physician quality reports, on consumers’ awareness and use of physician quality information (PQI).Principal FindingsThe baseline level of awareness was 12.6 percent in our study sample, drawn from the general population of chronically ill adults. Among those who were not aware of PQI at the baseline, when PQI became available in their communities for the first time, along with quality measures that are applicable to their specific chronic conditions, the likelihood of PQI awareness increased by 3.8 percentage points. For the same group, we also find similar increases in the uses of PQI linked to newly available physician report cards, although the magnitudes are smaller, between 2 and 3 percentage points.ConclusionsSpecific contents of physician report cards can be an important factor in consumers’ awareness and use of PQI. Policies to improve awareness and use of PQI may consider how to customize quality report cards and target specific groups of consumers in dissemination.