bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
“We love the Gong”: a marketing perspective
Authors: Kerr Greg , Dombkins Kate , Jelley Sarah 
Published: September 2012

PurposeA number of places have used the “I love” or “we love” tagline or slogan to promote their place, with the “I love New York” (using the heart symbol) possibly being the most familiar. Other places have used similar campaigns which can often be observed by the sale of merchandise from souvenir shops. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the “We love the Gong” campaign relative to the city of Wollongong, Australia.Design/methodology/approachAfter providing a background to the city of Wollongong and a brief explanation as to the meaning and use of slogans, an investigation of the campaign was undertaken by interviewing the person responsible for the campaign. Where appropriate, the explanations provided are supported by reference to local media reports and relevant literature.FindingsIt was found that the Wollongong campaign was more than a merchandising exercise. The campaign was a reaction to place identity and place image problems and was underpinned by research and a consequent marketing plan. The campaign was adequately resourced, professionally implemented, and research to monitor its effectiveness was undertaken.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the application of management and marketing principles to places by providing details of the campaign and lessons learnt from a review of its implementation.
A systemic risk management model for SMEs under financial crisis
Authors: Mihai Yiannaki Simona 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe “business‐risk” relationship across countries does not fit exactly into a “model” nor does it have a pure palliative effect. Following this idea, the purpose of this research is to reinforce a comparative study on small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) handling both risk and crisis management according to a new tailored model of a balance scorecard (BS). This new model of risk and crisis management aims at improving both SMEs' management adaptation and performance across all of crisis' stages, something not attempted so far in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThe application of such a BS comes from the author's experience as a banker financing various SMEs industries, as a bank consultant on risk management, yet primarily from the results of a survey performed on a set of Romanian and Cypriot SMEs, equal‐proportionally selected from the area of trading, manufacturing, and services. The data regard the period 12/2008‐06/2011 as representative for the latest global financial crisis affecting the entire European Union region, too.FindingsCoincidently or not, this study's results show a significant improvement of the financial performance of the SMEs who employed this model compared to those who did not.Originality/valueThis model's simplicity appeals to managers and regulators in understanding important business risks and crisis related phenomena. Backed by this idea, this research underpins a comparative study on SMEs handling risk and crisis management according to a new tailored model of a BS.
Importing international corporate governance codes in Greek publicly listed enterprises
Authors: Koutoupis Andreas G. 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThis study focuses on the evaluation of the introduction of international corporate governance codes such as Combined Code (UK) and King Report III (SA) in the Greek publicly listed enterprises. This research is based on a case study analysis of six publicly listed enterprises (three of them are traded in the high capitalization index and another three in the medium‐low capitalization index of the Athens Stock Exchange). The main purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of international corporate governance codes impact in the relevant local laws and regulations, as well as the adopted best practices.Design/methodology/approachQualitative research is carried out to address the research topic, using primary and secondary data. The primary source of this study is the professional experience of the author in the field of corporate governance within publicly listed enterprises, whereas secondary sources are the international corporate governance codes, Greek corporate governance laws, regulations and best practices, books, working papers and published articles.FindingsAlthough certain parts of international governance codes requirements have been applied by a number of Greek publicly listed enterprises, there is a long way to go to achieve best practice. The reason for this is the typical, however not substantial application of international governance codes requirements.Originality/valueResearch is proved to be very useful as it describes a gap analysis in the application of international governance codes in the areas of corporate governance, internal and external auditing, as well as the regulators therefore making it easier to identify potential areas for improvement.
Leeds College of Building: higher apprenticeships in construction and the built environment
Authors: Whitehead Derek 
Published: September 2012

PurposeLeeds College of Building has a long‐standing affinity with apprenticeships, offering a broad range of apprenticeships at Level 2 and Level 3. The purpose of this paper is to provide details of the development and potential impact of a Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship in Construction Management.Design/methodology/approachInformation presented in the paper is drawn from the organisation's own work in developing a higher apprenticeship (HA), building on its project plan as well as on‐going evaluation of the programme as it develops.FindingsThe College already supports a significant number of apprentices at Level 2 and level 3, therefore the development of a Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship in Construction and the Built Environment was a natural progression for the organisation. The key elements of the programme are detailed in the case study. With delivery planned to start in September 2012, plans have already been developed to extend the programme nationally.Originality/valueThe paper is based on the author's own experience and employer consultation. It presents a case study of an apprenticeship programme specific to the author's organisation.
Babington Business College
Authors: Carson Carole 
Published: September 2012

PurposeFollowing a number of recent developments in terms of skills in the Employer Related Services (ERS) sector the purpose of this paper is to contextualise the introduction of a higher apprenticeship (HA) for the ERS sector. The paper will showcase how the new HA is helping to formalise a skills framework and professionalize the sector.Design/methodology/approachInformation presented in the paper is drawn from the organisation's own work in developing an HA. It builds on information incorporated in the original bid and project plan, as well as ongoing evaluation of how the programme is progressing.FindingsThe skills landscape of the ERS sector is evolving and there is a strong desire amongst employers to professionalize the sector. An HA has recently been developed as part of the qualification framework for the sector. Rolling out the HA, a consortium of specialist providers is hoping to provide much needed skills and knowledge for future and existing employees. In examining these developments and current progress, the impact of the programme on professionalizing the sector is noted.Originality/valueThe paper is based on the author's own experience and presents a case study of an apprenticeship programme specific to the author's organisation.
Apprenticeship of new teachers during their induction year
Authors: Shanks Rachel , Robson Dean 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how the induction of new teachers might be regarded as a form of apprenticeship in which informal support (on‐the‐job learning) plays an important role alongside formal continuing professional learning (off‐the‐job learning). The sample teachers are part of the Teacher Induction Scheme in Scotland, which provides a reduced teaching workload during the induction year, so that new teachers have time to develop their practice through continuing professional learning and development activities.Design/methodology/approachA sequential mixed methods study was undertaken, with two online questionnaires sent to 167 new teachers and two sets of semi‐structured interviews with ten new teachers.FindingsThe findings highlight the importance of a reduction in teaching hours and the significance of informal learning for new teachers. Furthermore, while an induction scheme framework with reduced workload is important, new teachers need supportive colleagues to learn from and with during their first year of teaching.Research limitations/implicationsThis study only involved new teachers who had completed their initial teacher education at one Scottish university. Policy makers and school leaders could do more to recognise, value and encourage informal work‐based learning and collegiate support for new teachers.Originality/valueThe paper provides a deeper understanding of the nature of informal learning, often characteristic of the apprenticeship model, in the context of a formal induction scheme. It highlights that more than a formal induction scheme on its own is needed to support teachers in their transition from student teacher to qualified teacher. The paper draws attention to the need for policy makers, local authorities and schools to be more supportive and responsive to the learning and development needs of new teachers when implementing an induction scheme for new entrants.
Agrarian reforms and the African Green Revolution
Authors: Dare Kolawole Oluwatoyin 
Published: September 2012

Purpose
– Agricultural intensification is central to the Green Revolution (GR) programme. This initiative, which dates back to the early 1940s, revolves around the development of high-yielding and disease-resistant seed varieties that aims at bringing about efficient and secure food production. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief genesis and thrust of the GR. Focusing on Nigeria as a typical African case, the discourse addresses the political economy of the Nigerian agriculture, outlines the features of the Nigerian GR and highlights some crucial issues debated during the 2008 Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) conference for a uniquely African GR as a pro-poor development strategy.

Design/methodology/approach
– Using a critical discourse analysis and case study design, the paper analyses the political and bureaucratic lapses associated with the introduction and implementation of the reform.

Findings
– Although wary of some of the socio-political and environmental issues surrounding the production of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and high external inputs (HEIs) in the push for a new African GR, the paper reports the proceedings of the Salzburg conference as a likely platform for the formulation of new pro-poor policies in the context of the African GR. If sincerely and properly implemented, the paper argues that an African-oriented GR framework is conceived as a possible policy window to address the challenges of the continent
'
s poor majority.

Social implications
– The policy issues raised in the paper would serve as a pool of information from which policy conceptualisation, formulation and implementation could be derived for the good of the African agrarian economies and poor majority.

Originality/value
– Highlighted issues on the debates on a “uniquely” African GR during the SGS conference provide original insights to the implementation of agrarian reforms in Africa. The paper is valuable to policy makers and other stakeholders in re-shaping the agricultural sector in the continent.
Overnight heart rate variability in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea: A time and frequency domain study
Authors: Zhu Kaixian , Chemla Denis , Roisman Gabriel , Mao Wenyuan , Bazizi Samir , Lefevre Amaury , Escourrou Pierre 
Published: September 2012

Summary

Heightened sympathetic activity plays a role in the cardiovascular sequelae of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Cardiac autonomic function may be assessed non‐invasively by studying heart rate variability (HRV). The aim of the present study was to compare overnight HRV between a control group and a group of subjects with severe OSA. The potential confounding effects of age, sex, baseline autonomic status and sleep stage distribution were taken into account.

Our prospective Holter study compared overnight (0030–0530 hours) HRV in 23 controls (apnoea hypopnoea index (AHI) = 5 ± 3 /h) and 23 subjects with severe OSA (AHI = 65 ± 23 /h), matched for age and sex and with a similar percentage of rapid eye movement sleep.

The mean normal‐to‐normal RR interval (NN) was shorter in the OSA compared with control group (903 vs 1039 ms, respectively), whereas the other time‐domain indices of HRV, as well as the classic frequency‐domain indices, were similar. Essentially similar results were obtained hourly and when only subjects with high mean values of the standard deviation of all NN (≥ 90 ms) were evaluated. In the 0.01–0.06 Hz range corresponding to the typical OSA pattern of bradycardia–tachycardia termed cyclic variation of heart rate (CVHR), higher power was documented hourly in OSA, with a significant correlation between overnight power and both AHI and mean oxyhaemoglobin saturation. The percentage of NN > x ms different from the previous one (pNNx family) had no diagnostic value.

The results of the present study suggest that NN may be the best index to quantify the overnight sympathovagal balance in OSA and that a spectral band overlapping the apnoea‐related pattern of CVHR slightly improved the characterization of the apnoea‐related HRV patterns.
Cryptic diversity in flathead fishes (Scorpaeniformes: Platycephalidae) across the Indo‐West Pacific uncovered by DNA barcoding
Authors: Puckridge Melody , Andreakis Nikos , Appleyard Sharon A. , Ward Robert D. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractIdentification of taxonomical units underpins most biological endeavours ranging from accurate biodiversity estimates to the effective management of sustainably harvested, protected or endangered species. Successful species identification is now frequently based on a combination of approaches including morphometrics and DNA markers. Sequencing of the mitochondrial COI gene is an established methodology with an international campaign directed at barcoding all fishes. We employed COI sequencing alongside traditional taxonomic identification methods and uncovered instances of deep intraspecific genetic divergences among flathead species. Sixty‐five operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed across the Indo‐West Pacific from just 48 currently recognized species. The most comprehensively sampled taxon, Platycephalus indicus, exhibited the highest levels of genetic diversity with eight lineages separated by up to 16.37% genetic distance. Our results clearly indicate a thorough reappraisal of the current taxonomy of P. indicus (and its three junior synonyms) is warranted in conjunction with detailed taxonomic work on the other additional Platycephalidae OTUs detected by DNA barcoding.
Land snail diversity in post extraction secondary forest reserves in Edo State, Nigeria
Authors: Chris Oke 
Published: September 2012

AbstractKnowledge of the fauna of tropical lowland rainforest is urgently necessary because of the high rate of biodiversity loss and global extinction of species as a result of deforestation. We studied land molluscs species richness and diversity in four heavily degraded secondary forest reserves and one old‐growth forest reserve in Edo State, Nigeria using a combination of direct fixed‐time search and litter‐sieving techniques in twelve plots of 400 m2 each per reserve. A total of 43 species and 2570 individuals were collected from all the reserves. Local species richness ranged from 19 to 39 species while number of specimens from 203 to 971. Molluscan species richness and diversity is significantly higher in the old‐growth forest than in the disturbed forest reserves. Land molluscs family composition was similar in all the forests with respect to the common and wide‐ranging species while rare and narrow‐range species are restricted to the old‐growth forest in Okomu. The carnivorous streptaxids and detritivorous subulinids dominate species richness and abundance respectively in all the sites. Species turnover is moderately high within and between the forest reserves indicating the uniqueness of the faunal composition of each forest and the need for adequate protection.
Ursodeoxycholic acid suppresses eosinophilic airway inflammation by inhibiting the function of dendritic cells through the nuclear farnesoid X receptor
Authors: Willart M. A. M. , van Nimwegen M. , Grefhorst A. , Hammad H. , Moons L. , Hoogsteden H. C. , Lambrecht B. N. , KleinJan A. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractBackgroundUrsodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is the only known beneficial bile acid with immunomodulatory properties. Ursodeoxycholic acid prevents eosinophilic degranulation and reduces eosinophil counts in primary biliary cirrhosis. It is unknown whether UDCA would also modulate eosinophilic inflammation outside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, such as eosinophilic airway inflammation seen in asthma. The working mechanism for its immunomodulatory effect is unknown.MethodsThe immunosuppressive features of UDCA were studied in vivo, in mice, in an ovalbumin (OVA)‐driven eosinophilic airway inflammation model. To study the mechanism of action of UDCA, we analyzed the effect of UDCA on eosinophils, T cells, and dendritic cell (DCs). DC function was studied in greater detail, focussing on migration and T‐cell stimulatory strength in vivo and interaction with T cells in vitro as measured by time‐lapse image analysis. Finally, we studied the capacity of UDCA to influence DC/T cell interaction.ResultsUrsodeoxycholic acid treatment of OVA‐sensitized mice prior to OVA aerosol challenge significantly reduced eosinophilic airway inflammation compared with control animals. DCs expressed the farnesoid X receptor for UDCA. Ursodeoxycholic acid strongly promoted interleukin (IL)‐12 production and enhanced the migration in DCs. The time of interaction between DCs and T cells was sharply reduced in vitro by UDCA treatment of the DCs resulting in a remarkable T‐cell cytokine production. Ursodeoxycholic acid‐treated DCs have less capacity than saline‐treated DCs to induce eosinophilic inflammation in vivo in Balb/c mice.ConclusionUrsodeoxycholic acid has the potency to suppress eosinophilic inflammation outside the GI tract. This potential comprises to alter critical function of DCs, in essence, the effect of UDCA on DCs through the modulation of the DC/T cell interaction.
Obesity lowers the threshold of allergic sensitization and augments airway eosinophilia in a mouse model of asthma
Authors: Dietze J. , Böcking C. , Heverhagen J. T. , Voelker M. N. , Renz H. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractBackgroundClinical and epidemiological studies show a close association between obesity and the risk of asthma development. The underlying cause–effect relationship between metabolism, innate and adaptive immunity, and inflammation remains to be elucidated.MethodsWe developed an animal model to study the interaction between metabolic abnormalities and experimentally induced asthma. Obesity‐susceptible AKR mice were fed with high‐fat diet (HFD) or normal low‐fat diet (LFD) and subjected to a protocol of ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization and airway allergen challenges followed by assessment of inflammation and lung function.ResultsAKR mice developed obesity and a prestage of metabolic syndrome following HFD. This phenotype was associated with an increase in proinflammatory macrophages (CD11b+/CD11c+) together with higher serum levels of interleukin 6. Obese mice showed increased susceptibility to allergic sensitization as compared to LFD animals. Anti‐ovalbumin IgE antibody titers correlated positively and anti‐OVA IgG2a antibodies titers correlated negatively with body weight. Airway eosinophilia showed a positive correlation with body weight, whereas mucus production did not change with obesity.ConclusionsThis obesity model demonstrates that HFD‐induced obesity lowers the sensitization threshold in a model of asthma. This finding helps to understand why, particularly during childhood, obesity is a risk factor for the development of allergic asthma.
Health consequences of prophylactic exposure to antenatal corticosteroids among children born late preterm or term
Authors: ERIKSSON LENA , HAGLUND BENGT , EWALD UWE , ODLIND VIVECA , KIELER HELLE 
Published: September 2012

AbstractObjective. To investigate the duration of effects and health consequences of earlier antenatal corticosteroid exposure in infants born late preterm or term. Design. Observational cohort study. Setting. Children born after gestational week 34 in Sweden, 1976–1997, whose mothers were hospitalized for imminent preterm delivery. The children were followed to their 11th birthday. Sample. The cohort consisted of 11 873 infants, of whom 8620 were exposed. Methods. Exposure was estimated at hospital level. Infants born at a hospital practicing antenatal corticosteroid administration were classified as exposed. Estimation of hospital routines was based on questionnaire data, telephone interviews with physicians and pharmacy sales, validated in a random sample of medical records. Logistic regression was used to assess associations with adjustments for pregnancy length, birth year and hospital level. Main outcome measures. Rates and odds ratios of mortality, respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, childhood diabetes, birthweight, length and head circumference for all infants, and for preterm and term infants, respectively. Results. Exposed infants had reduced risks of respiratory distress syndrome (odds ratio 0.54, 95% confidence interval 0.35–0.83) and small head circumference (odds ratio 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.36–0.61), and an increased risk of low Apgar scores (odds ratio 1.40, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.94), most pronounced in infants born after gestational week 37. Conclusions. Infants born after gestational week 34 seem to benefit from earlier antenatal corticosteroid administration, with reduced risks of respiratory distress syndrome. However, the treatment was less beneficial for term infants, because they also had increased risk of low Apgar scores.