bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gender differences in locus of control and student performance in the South African context of accounting studies
Authors: Callaghan Chris , Papageorgiou Elmarie 
Published: August 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to test the theory that predicts differences in locus of control (LOC) by gender and the relationships between LOC and the performance of accounting students in a large South African university.

Design/methodology/approach
– Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to test the applicability of Spector’s (1988) LOC scales as a first-order construct in this context. An exploratory factor analysis was then performed to provide a more fine-grained analysis of subordinate constructs. Three component categories were found to emerge from a test of this widely used LOC questionnaire. These component categories were classified as beliefs about the effectiveness of agency, beliefs about chance and beliefs about networks in the contribution to the attainment of outcomes in working contexts.

Findings
– Further tests revealed that female accounting students demonstrate higher LOC in all the three categories. Females were therefore found to have significantly higher levels of both LOC and student performance; yet, the majority of tested items were not significant in their associations, and total LOC was not found to be associated with higher performance for female or male students. Certain individual items were, however, found to be associated with performance for male students. It is concluded that despite the predictions of seminal theory that predicts convergence around gender, or more egalitarian outcomes in high-skilled contexts over time, accounting student performance in this context might currently be dominated by females. This reflects a current general dominance of females in higher educational attainment and in employment numbers in educational contexts.

Research limitations/implications
– Limitations of the study include: first, the use of a single university; second, a sample of only first-year accounting students. It is not known whether these findings generalise beyond accounting students with similar university environments. This research is also not causal in nature. The statistical testing used in this study cannot indicate causality.

Originality/value
– It is recommended that further research investigate the more fine-grained dimensions of LOC that can contribute to accounting student performance and that further qualitative or causal research is performed to “surface” the causal mechanisms that underlie these findings. The value of this research is in the fact that it tests theory that predicts differences in LOC and the relationships between LOC and performance in an important formative context of accounting.
Fair value measurements of exchange-traded funds
Authors: Badenhorst Wessel Marthinus 
Published: August 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to investigate the extent to which different prices within the bid-ask spread are used for fair value measurements and evaluate the potential consequences thereof.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper investigates different Level 1 fair value measurements of exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) equity investments. Using descriptive methods, it compares actual and stated fair value measurement policies. In addition, comparative value relevance of these measurements is investigated in regression analysis.

Findings
– Most fair value measurements are based on closing prices, but stated accounting policies and actual measurements frequently differ. Results also show that the bid-close spread of underlying investments is value-relevant in determining the bid-close spreads of ETFs themselves.

Research limitations/implications
– Findings are specific to unleveraged ETFs, the sample country and sample period used and only apply to investments in listed equities. Conclusions from this study may assist in predicting market perceptions of the risk of listed equity portfolios.

Practical implications
– This paper sheds light on the practical impact of the recent change in fair value measurement guidance.

Originality/value
– This study provides evidence on the size of the bid-ask spread of actual investment portfolios and its potential impact. It shows that bid-close spreads of underlying investments are used to price the bid-close spreads of ETFs themselves and that stated and actual accounting policies often differ. Findings imply that standard-setters might be influenced by actual accounting practices.
The effect of national culture on the association between profitability and corporate social and environmental disclosure
Authors: khlif Hichem , Hussainey Khaled , Achek Imen 
Published: August 2015

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the moderating effect of cultural dimensions (masculinity, individualism and long-term orientation) on the association between profitability and corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED).Design/methodology/approach– The authors apply the meta-analysis technique developed by Hunteret al.(1982) and Hunter and Schmidt (2000) for a sample of 48 published studies over the period of the past 20 years.Findings– The authors find that masculinity, individualism and long-term orientation moderate the association between profitability and CSED. Given the weight of US studies on the overall sample, the authors conduct a sensitivity analysis to examine how this factor may affect the findings. After excluding these studies, only long-term orientation and individualism remain strong moderators of the association between profitability and CSED.Originality/value– This study provides further evidence on the impact of institutional frameworks on CSED. It has, also, policy implications for managers of multinational corporations.
Social sustainability in the supply chain: analysis of enablers
Authors: Mani V. , Agrawal Rajat , Sharma Vinay 
Published: August 2015

Purpose– This study aims to identify various enablers and the inter-relationships among them in adopting social sustainability measures in the supply chain. Social sustainability in the supply chain has received growing attention in the recent years, due to growing awareness on equity, health and safety, education, child and bonded labor and ethical practices in corporates.Design/methodology/approach– Various enablers and their contextual relationships were identified. The enablers were classified based on dependence and driving power (DP) with the help of MICMAC analysis. In addition to this, a structural model of the enablers to the social sustainability problem has been put forward using the interpretive structural modeling technique.Findings– In this study, 14 relevant enablers were identified from literature review and subsequent discussions with experts from academia and the industry. Competitive pressure leads at the bottom of the digraph with high DP, followed by customers ' requirements, financial liquidity and social concern. Social sustainability awareness was found to be at the last level with less DP.Research limitations/implications– Enablers were developed based on literature survey and expert opinions. Hence, the model is not statistically validated. This model also does not quantify the adverse effect of each of the variables on social sustainability practices in the supply chain.Practical implications– The development of a hierarchy not only helps the supply chain managers to understand the enablers better, based on their importance, but also helps in decision making in the supply chain, which in turn enables the corporations to be competitive.Social implications– Findings of this article will help the corporations to be more socially sustainable by understanding the various enablers and their contextual relationships in the supply chain.Originality/value– The structured social sustainability model helps supply chain managers and experts to understand interdependence of the enablers. This also helps in identifying different enablers with different degree of importance, which will be very much useful in adopting social sustainability measures in the supply chain.
Duelling ‘CyanoHABs’: unravelling the environmental drivers controlling dominance and succession among diazotrophic and non‐N2‐fixing harmful cyanobacteria
Authors: Paerl Hans W. , Otten Timothy G. 
Published: August 2015

SummaryEutrophication often manifests itself by increased frequencies and magnitudes of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) in freshwater systems. It is generally assumed that nitrogen‐fixing cyanobacteria will dominate when nitrogen (N) is limiting and non‐N2 fixers dominate when N is present in excess. However, this is rarely observed in temperate lakes, where N2 fixers often bloom when N is replete, and non‐fixers (e.g. Microcystis) dominate when N concentrations are lowest. This review integrates observations from previous studies with insights into the environmental factors that select for CyanoHAB groups. This information may be used to predict how nutrient reduction strategies targeting N, phosphorus (P) or both N and P may alter cyanobacterial community composition. One underexplored concern is that as N inputs are reduced, CyanoHABs may switch from non‐N2 fixing to diazotrophic taxa, with no net improvement in water quality. However, monitoring and experimental observations indicate that in eutrophic systems, minimizing both N and P loading will lead to the most significant reductions in total phytoplankton biomass without this shift occurring, because successional patterns appear to be strongly driven by physical factors, including temperature, irradiance and hydrology. Notably, water temperature is a primary driver of cyanobacterial community succession, with warming favouring non‐diazotrophic taxa.
Chest compression duration influences outcome between integrated load‐distributing band and manual CPR during cardiac arrest
Authors: Olsen J.‐A. , Lerner E. B. , Persse D. , Sterz F. , Lozano M. , Brouwer M. A. , Westfall M. , van Grunsven P. M. , Travis D. T. , Herken U. R. , Brunborg C. , Wik L. 
Published: August 2015

BackgroundThe Circulation Improving Resuscitation Care (CIRC) Trial found equivalent survival in adult out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients who received integrated load‐distributing band CPR (iA‐CPR) compared to manual CPR (M‐CPR). We hypothesized that as chest compression duration increased, iA‐CPR provided a survival benefit when compared to M‐CPR.MethodsA pre‐planned secondary analysis of OHCA of presumed cardiac etiology from the randomized CIRC trial. Chest compressions duration was defined as the total number of minutes spent on compressions during resuscitation and identified from transthoracic impedance and accelerometer data recorded by the EMS defibrillator. Logistic regression was used to model the interaction between treatment and duration of chest compressions and was covariate‐adjusted for trial site, patient age, witnessed arrest, and initial shockable rhythm. Primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge.ResultsWe enrolled 4231 subjects and of those, 2012 iA‐CPR and 2002 M‐CPR had complete outcome and duration of chest compressions data. While covariate‐adjusted odds ratio for survival to hospital discharge was 1.86 in favor of iA‐CPR (95% CI 1.16–3.0), there was an interaction between duration and study arm. When this was factored into the multivariate equation, the odds ratio for survival to hospital discharge showed a significant benefit for iA‐CPR vs. M‐CPR for chest compression duration greater than 16.5 min.ConclusionAfter adjusting for compression duration and duration–treatment interaction, iA‐CPR showed a significant benefit for survival to hospital discharge vs. M‐CPR in patients with OHCA if chest compression duration was longer than 16.5 min.
Impact of Ghana's agricultural mechanization services center program
Authors: Benin Samuel 
Published: August 2015

AbstractUse of mechanization in African agriculture has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food prices crisis. Many developing country governments—including Ghana, the case study of this article—have resumed support for agricultural mechanization, typically in the form of subsidies for tractor purchase and establishment of private‐sector‐run agricultural mechanization service centers (AMSECs). The aim of this article is to assess the impact of Ghana's AMSEC program on various farm household outcomes, using data from surveys that were conducted with 270 farm households. A two‐stage propensity score matching and difference‐in‐difference estimation procedure is used to estimate the impacts of the program, employing different definitions of treatment, model specifications, and matching algorithms to assess sensitivity of the estimator to different assumptions. The results indicate that the AMSEC program has had a mixed impact on different outcome indicators. For example, whereas the program has contributed to improving availability of mechanization services, reducing drudgery, and raising yield, it has had no impact on the change in the prices paid by farmers for the services used and the change in the amount of area plowed. Implications of the results on labor‐mechanization substitution and for raising and sustaining productivity further are drawn.
Bone marrow tryptase as a possible diagnostic criterion for adult systemic mastocytosis
Authors: Bulai Livideanu C. , Apoil P. A. , Lepage B. , Eischen M. , Laurent C. , Laharrague P. , Lamant L. , Tournier E. , Tavitian S. , Pouplard C. , Recher C. , Laroche M. , Mailhol C. , Dubreuil P. , Hermine O. , Blancher A. , Paul C. 
Published: August 2015

SummaryBackgroundMastocytosis is difficult to diagnose, especially when systemic mast cell activation symptoms are not present or involve only one extracutaneous organ.ObjectiveThe main objective was to evaluate the accuracy of the bone marrow tryptase level in the diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis in patients with a clinical suspicion of mastocytosis.MethodsWe included all adult patients evaluated in our centre between December 2009 and 2013 for suspected mastocytosis as part of a standardized procedure and who had a bone marrow and serum tryptase assay on the same day. The diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis was established on the basis of the World Health Organization criteria as the gold standard. The accuracy of the bone marrow tryptase level in the diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis was assessed by a receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. The different sensitivity and specificity values, corresponding to the set of possible bone marrow tryptase level cut‐off values, were estimated with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsSeventy‐three patients were included. The diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis was established in 43 patients (58.9%). The median bone marrow tryptase level was 423 μg/L [95% CI: 217–868] in the systemic mastocytosis group and 7.5 μg/L [95% CI: 4.6–17.1] in the non‐systemic mastocytosis group (P < 0.001). A cut‐off value of 50 μg/L for bone marrow tryptase identified systemic mastocytosis with a sensitivity of 93.0% [95% CI: 80.9–98.5%] and a specificity of 90.0% [95% CI: 73.5–97.9%].Conclusion and Clinical RelevanceThe bone marrow tryptase level appears to be a valuable diagnostic criterion for confirming systemic mastocytosis. If this diagnosis can reliably be excluded by evaluation of the bone marrow tryptase level, there would be no need to perform a bone marrow biopsy.
Slow recovery of tropical old‐field rainforest regrowth and the value and limitations of active restoration
Authors: Shoo Luke P. , Freebody Kylie , Kanowski John , Catterall Carla P. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThere is current debate about the potential for secondary regrowth to rescue tropical forests from an otherwise inevitable cascade of biodiversity loss due to land clearing and scant evidence to test how well active restoration may accelerate recovery. We used site chronosequences to compare developmental trajectories of vegetation between self‐organized (i.e., spontaneous) forest regrowth and biodiversity plantings (established for ecological restoration, with many locally native tree species at high density) in the Australian wet tropics uplands. Across 28 regrowth sites aged 1–59 years, some structural attributes reached reference rainforest levels within 40 years, whereas wood volume and most tested components of native plant species richness (classified by species’ origins, family, and ecological functions) reached less than 50% of reference rainforest values. Development of native tree and shrub richness was particularly slow among species that were wind dispersed or animal dispersed with large (>10 mm) seeds. Many species with animal‐dispersed seeds were from near‐basal evolutionary lineages that contribute to recognized World Heritage values of the study region. Faster recovery was recorded in 25 biodiversity plantings of 1–25 years in which wood volume developed more rapidly; native woody plant species richness reached values similar to reference rainforest and was better represented across all dispersal modes; and species from near‐basal plant families were better (although incompletely) represented. Plantings and regrowth showed slow recovery in species richness of vines and epiphytes and in overall resemblance to forest in species composition. Our results can inform decision making about when and where to invest in active restoration and provide strong evidence that protecting old‐growth forest is crucially important for sustaining tropical biodiversity.
Framing From Experience: Cognitive Processes and Predictions of Risky Choice
Authors: Gonzalez Cleotilde , Mehlhorn Katja 
Published: August 2015

AbstractA framing bias shows risk aversion in problems framed as “gains” and risk seeking in problems framed as “losses,” even when these are objectively equivalent and probabilities and outcomes values are explicitly provided. We test this framing bias in situations where decision makers rely on their own experience, sampling the problem's options (safe and risky) and seeing the outcomes before making a choice. In Experiment 1, we replicate the framing bias in description‐based decisions and find risk indifference in gains and losses in experience‐based decisions. Predictions of an Instance‐Based Learning model suggest that objective probabilities as well as the number of samples taken are factors that contribute to the lack of framing effect. We test these two factors in Experiment 2 and find no framing effect when a few samples are taken but when large samples are taken, the framing effect appears regardless of the objective probability values. Implications of behavioral results and cognitive modeling are discussed.
Fracture risk and mortality post‐kidney transplantation
Authors: Ferro Charles J. , Arnold Julia , Bagnall David , Ray Daniel , Sharif Adnan 
Published: August 2015

AbstractBackgroundFractures are associated with high morbidity and economic costs. There is a paucity of information on fractures after kidney transplantation outside the United States.MethodsData were obtained from the Hospital Episode Statistics database on kidney transplants performed in England between 2001 and 2013 and post‐transplant fracture‐related hospitalization. Mortality data were obtained from the Office for National Statistics.ResultsIn total, 21 769 first kidney transplant procedures were analyzed with 112 512 patient‐years follow‐up. Overall, 836 (3.8%) kidney allograft recipients developed a fracture requiring hospitalization. Event rate was 9.99 for any fracture and 1.54 for a hip fracture per 1000 patient‐years. Accounting for the competing risk of mortality, increasing age, female gender, white ethnicity, and a history of pre‐transplant diabetes mellitus or previous fracture were associated with increased fracture risk post‐kidney transplantation. Death occurred in 2407 (11.1%) kidney allograft recipients, with 173 deaths occurring post‐fracture. In an extended Cox model, hip fracture as a time‐varying factor was independently associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 3.288; 95% confidence intervals, 2.513–4.301; p < 0.001).ConclusionsFracture rates in English kidney transplant recipients are lower than previously reported in US cohorts. Sustaining a hip fracture is associated with an increased mortality risk. Our results can be used to power future fracture prevention trials.
Effect of vitamins C and E on insulin resistance in diabetes: a meta‐analysis study
Authors: Khodaeian Mehrnoosh , Tabatabaei‐Malazy Ozra , Qorbani Mostafa , Farzadfar Farshad , Amini Peyvand , Larijani Bagher 
Published: August 2015

AbstractBackgroundData regarding the effect of vitamin C (VC) and vitamin E (VE) supplementation on insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are controversial. We aimed to systematically review the current data on this topic.Materials and methodsAll randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted to assess the effect of VC and/or VE on insulin resistance in diabetes published in Google Scholar and PubMed web databases until January 2014 were included. Exclusion criteria were studies conducted in animal, type 1 DM, children or pregnant women. Main outcome measure was insulin resistance by homoeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index. According to degree of heterogeneity, fixed‐ or random‐effect model was employed by stata software (11.0).ResultsWe selected 14 RCTs involving 735 patients with T2DM. VE or mixture‐mode supplementation did not have any significant effect on HOMA with a standardized mean difference (SMD): 0·017, 95% CI: −0·376 to 0·411 (P = 0·932); and SMD: −0·035, 95% CI: −0·634 to 0·025 (P = 0·070), respectively, by random‐effect model. VC supplement alone did not improve insulin resistance with a SMD: −0·150, 95% CI: −0·494 to 0·194 (P = 0·391), by fixed‐effect model. Meta‐regression test demonstrated that HOMA index may have not been influenced by the year of publication, dosage or duration of treatment.ConclusionsThe sole intake of VC, VE or their combination with other antioxidants could not improve insulin resistance in diabetes.