bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
New thermal deblocking characterisation method of aqueous blocked polyurethane
Authors: Zhang Yanhua , Cao Jun , Tan Haiyan , Gu Jiyou 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The mechanisms of the deblocking reaction of the polyurethane with blocking agent were investigated in detail relatively using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This kind of method for polyurethane as the application of wood adhesives can provide the conditions of application and the main theoretical basis.

Design/methodology/approach
– The blocking rate and latex particle size distribution were determined using the titrimetric analysis and the laser particle analysis, respectively. TGA, FTIR, XPS and differential scanning calorimetry were used to investigate the deblocking temperature and time of the blocked isocyanate in detail.

Findings
– The results indicated that the blocking rate was approximately 97 per cent and the average particle size was 360 nm. The results of laser particle analysis have confirmed that the dispersivity of the blocked polyurethane emulsion was good. XPS results showed that the amount of –O = C-N-benzyl groups increased with an increasing deblocking temperature and subsequently reached equilibrium. In summary, the blocked isocyanate was deblocked at temperatures ranging from 50 to 90°C.

Research limitations/implications
– An important approach in future wood adhesive work would be to gain access to man-made board application data.

Practical implications
– The paper provided some useful information about deblocking mechanisms of blocked polyurethane that would be helpful to guide applied practical applications as wood adhesive.

Social implications
– To promote China’s wood processing technology progress and solve the problem of shortage of the natural quality of wood is of important practical significance.

Originality/value
– The paper is the first to use the XPS characterisation method to characterise deblocking polyurethane solution.
Esthetic development: a model for the undergraduate experience
Authors: Dary Erwin T. 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to refine and measure esthetic development.

Design/methodology/approach
– Three phrases of data collection were conducted utilizing four separate student samples (n = 120, 154, 241, and 343). In Phase I, an initial esthetic development stage model was tested with a constructed response test format using generalizability measurement theory. In Phase II, this conceptual model in esthetic development was refined with a modified constructed response format. In Phase III, a selective response test format was designed with five esthetic development stage scores, which were correlated with several artistic discipline-based and interdisciplinary courses.

Findings
– Higher esthetic development stages correlate with verbal ability and grades in interdisciplinary general education arts courses. Lower esthetic development stages were associated with lower verbal ability and grades in traditionally taught discipline-based arts courses.

Research limitations/implications
– What this study did not do is examine whether attendance at arts events and activities support or lead to higher esthetic development.

Social implications
– People at Stages Four and Five of this esthetic development model are able to compare artistic experience – whether visual or performing art – within a historical and cultural context or perspective. Individuals at these highest stages are able to communicate about the social significance and societal themes of the artistic experience to wider audiences.

Originality/value
– No accepted model or assessment method about the arts in higher education is available. Although the arts are commonly accepted as important in higher education, there is a paucity of research about esthetic development in the curriculum. This paper attempts to address this gap, in part, and to advance further study about quality of arts’ programs and activities in higher education.
Discovering inspiring teaching: immersive models of staff development
Authors: Hennessy Claire , Adams Gill , Mahon Elizabeth , Nixon Sarah , Pratt Andrea , Williams Louise 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to outline an innovative method of delivering staff development in an higher education (HE) setting. The paper evaluates the processes behind the “Focus on Inspiring Teaching” week and outlines its initial impact on staff.

Design/methodology/approach
– This is a descriptive case study which highlights how an immersive staff development event can be used to enable HE teaching practitioners to utilise more inspiring approaches to teaching and learning. The paper draws on questionnaire evaluations (n = 43).

Findings
– The paper highlights how staff development events can be used to foster communities of practice for teaching staff. For this to be successful, staff needs to be committed to reflecting on their own practice and be sufficiently engaged to partake actively of staff development events. By establishing these communities, inspiring practice in teaching can be developed with successful outcomes. The paper outlines a model for staff development which could be established in other HE settings.

Practical implications
– Immersive staff development events are effective in achieving sustainable impact. To achieve success effective leadership and a team of committed teaching staff are needed. Success was also fostered by not making sessions compulsory whereby the staff could opt in for sessions to fit around teaching schedules.

Originality/value
– This paper will be of interest to those working in staff development and training and academic managers. It indicates how immersive staff development can have a positive impact on staff practice to bring about improvements to the student experience.
“For Piketty” – a new Enlightenment that goes far beyond rewritingDas Kapital
Authors: Jardat Rémi 
Published: August 2014

Purpose– This critique of Piketty’sCapital in the Twenty-First Centurysummarizes and comments on the main tenets of the author’s principal theory. The author's aim is to point out the book’s contributions to a critical debate around social and economic issues, while giving special emphasis to its theoretical and epistemological relevance for management science.Design/methodology/approach– Based on a careful reading of the book, in the original French and English translation versions, the author explores Piketty’s arguments and proposals and attempts to place his “scholarly discourse” in relation to Marx’s “worldview” as well as the philosophy of the Enlightenment.Findings– The book’s potential impact over the long run is extremely high, ostensibly enough to make it as important as Marx’s work, but relying on a decidedly different method and philosophy. The author also considers the strong complementariness between this work and that of Pierre Rosanvallon in the field of political science. Some similarities with Fukuyama’s approach are also considered, but on a much lesser note.Research limitations/implications– The question of unemployment, which is given little attention in Piketty’s work, is not addressed here.Social implications– In contrast with Piketty’s book, this paper intends to find social application only within the microcosm of the scholarly community.Originality/value– The author hopes to draw a link between the book’s contribution to economic thinking and its philosophical underpinnings, that is by presenting a reading that is both a positivist assessment and an attempt to decipher underlying assumptions.
Information content of dividends: a case of an emerging financial market
Authors: H. Chowdhury Reza , Maung Min , Zhang Jenny 
Published: August 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the signaling and free cash flow hypotheses of dividends in the context of an emerging financial market.Design/methodology/approach– The authors use fundamental financial information of Chinese companies listed in the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges. They examine the impact of cash dividend payments on future profitability of individual firms with and without controlling for non-linearity in their earnings to test the signaling hypothesis. They also determine the characteristics of dividend paying firms to examine the free cash flow hypothesis.Findings– It was found that while dividend increases by publicly listed Chinese firms are followed by increases in earnings in two subsequent years, such relationship does not exist in the case of dividend decreases. However, under the assumption of non-linearity of earnings, it was found that neither dividend increases nor dividend decreases convey any valuable information about future changes in earnings of Chinese firms. Further, it was found that firms with high cash holdings, large profitability and high managerial efficiency are likely to pay dividends. The authors therefore conclude that announcements of cash dividend payments do not signal future performance but indicate good governance practices of publicly traded firms in China.Originality/value– This evidence is critical for potential foreign investors in their portfolio investment decisions and for regulators in determining an efficient measure of corporate disclosure in China.
Does hedging in futures market benefit Indian farmers?
Authors: Ranganathan Thiagu , Ananthakumar Usha 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to perform an analysis of potential benefits from usage of the futures markets for the farmers. The national commodity exchanges were established in India in the year 2003-2004. Though there has been a spectacular growth in trading volumes in these exchanges, participation of farmers in these markets has been very low. Efforts are being made to increase the awareness and participation of farmers in these markets. As such efforts are being made, it is critical to analyse the potential benefits from usage of the futures markets for the farmers. Our study performs such an analysis for soybean farmers in the Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh state in India.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors estimate the optimal hedge ratios in futures markets for farmers in different scenarios characterised by varying levels of different parameters relevant to the farmer. For these optimal hedge ratios, we then estimate the benefits from hedging defined as the change in certainty equivalent income (CEI) due to hedging.

Findings
– Results indicate that the CEI gain due to hedging is positively related to the farmer’s risk aversion and inversely related to farmer’s price expectations and transaction costs. Also, only when the risk aversion is high, the CEI gain is positively related to the natural hedge. Thus, for a farmer with high risk aversion, hedging acts as a substitute to the natural hedge.

Originality/value
– This is the first study that analyses the hedging for farmer in the Indian context by considering yield risk while doing so. Also, their study establishes a relationship between risk aversion, the natural hedge and benefits from hedging in futures markets for the farmer.
Social enterprises, health-care provision and ethical capital
Authors: Frith Lucy 
Published: August 2014

Purpose– The aim of this paper is to advance a conceptual understanding of the role of social enterprises in health care by developing the concept of ethical capital. Social enterprises have been an important part of both the coalition and the previous government’s vision for improving health-care delivery. One of the central arguments for increasing the role of social enterprises in health care is they can provide the benefits of a public service ethos with the efficiencies and innovatory strategies of a business. Social enterprises are well placed to promote the type of values that should underpin health care delivery.Design/methodology/approach– This paper explores the conceptual issues raised by using social enterprises to provide health-care services that were previously provided by the National Health Service (NHS) from an ethical perspective.Findings– It will be argued that conceptualising social enterprises as organisations that can and should produce ethical capital could be a useful way of developing the debate over social enterprises in health care.Practical implications– The paper provides suggestions on how ethical capital might be produced and monitored in social enterprises.Originality/value– This paper advances the debate over the use of the concept of ethical capital in social enterprises and explores the relationship between ethical and social capital – both under researched areas. It also contributes to the emerging discussions of social enterprises in current health policy and their role in the radically reformed English NHS.
Adding value and meaning to coheating tests
Authors: Stafford Anne , Johnston David , Miles-Shenton Dominic , Farmer David , Brooke-Peat Matthew , Gorse Chris 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The coheating test is the standard method of measuring the heat loss coefficient of a building, but to be useful the test requires careful and thoughtful execution. Testing should take place in the context of additional investigations in order to achieve a good understanding of the building and a qualitative and (if possible) quantitative understanding of the reasons for any performance shortfall. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– Leeds Metropolitan University has more than 20 years of experience in coheating testing. This experience is drawn upon to discuss practical factors which can affect the outcome, together with supporting tests and investigations which are often necessary in order to fully understand the results.

Findings
– If testing is approached using coheating as part of a suite of investigations, a much deeper understanding of the test building results. In some cases it is possible to identify and quantify the contributions of different factors which result in an overall performance shortfall.

Practical implications
– Although it is not practicable to use a fully investigative approach for large scale routine quality assurance, it is extremely useful for purposes such as validating other testing procedures, in-depth study of prototypes or detailed investigations where problems are known to exist.

Social implications
– Successful building performance testing is a vital tool to achieve energy saving targets.

Originality/value
– The approach discussed clarifies some of the technical pitfalls which may be encountered in the execution of coheating tests and points to ways in which the maximum value can be extracted from the test period, leading to a meaningful analysis of the building's overall thermal performance.
Evaluation and selection of curtain wall systems for medium-high rise building construction
Authors: Al-Hammad Abdul-Mohsen , A. Hassanain Mohammad , N. Juaim Mohammed 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic approach for the evaluation and selection of curtain wall systems for medium-high rise building construction.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors have identified the different types of curtain wall systems that are commonly used in the building construction industry in Saudi Arabia; examined the various performance as well as financial and non-financial criteria affecting the evaluation and selection of these systems; and subjected the identified different types of curtain wall systems to several filtering processes, namely feasibility ranking, evaluation by comparison and weighted evaluation to facilitate making a decision on the most suitable system to select.

Findings
– The analysis of the collected data indicated that the precast concrete curtain wall system is considered to be the first choice. The second choice is the prefabricated brick panel curtain wall system.

Originality/value
– Curtain walls are the most recognized elements of contemporary structures today. There exists ample variety of materials and designs that could be utilized for the development of these building elements. This paper is of practical value to project owners, architects and design professionals endeavoring on the process of selecting and specifying curtain wall systems in their projects.
Emerging trends regarding accessible accommodation in Dubai luxury hotels
Authors: Morris Stephanie , Kazi Scholah 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to determine how luxury hotel operators in Dubai interpret the current disability laws in the region, and further how they currently provide accessible accommodation to disabled tourists.

Design/methodology/approach
– This study draws on data collected using document analysis of UAE Federal Law 29 (English translation), Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing Hotel Classification Manual, some five star hotels’ internal guidelines and semi-structured interviews with 12 hotel representatives.

Findings
– The majority of participants were unaware of existing statutory law addressing the rights and needs of the disabled community in Dubai. Despite their perceived absence of a legal framework, tendency toward provision of accessible accommodations was prevalent. Uniformly, the participants focused exclusively on tourists with physical disabilities.

Practical implications
– There is a need for detailed and comprehensive legislation protecting the rights and needs of disabled tourists, particularly in view of Dubai’s successful bid to host Expo 2020. This need will, no doubt, be fulfilled in light of the recent announcement that Dubai will enact its own disability law intended to make the emirate fully accessible to persons with disabilities.

Originality/value
– Research into the rights and needs of the disabled community has been largely overlooked in the Middle East, an oversight which is due for correction by virtue of an anticipated increase in tourism numbers in Dubai. The opportunity exists for enactment of model legislation taking into account the needs of disabled tourists, expectations of local industry, realities of the marketplace and regional cultural influence.
A framework for accident reduction and risk identification and assessment in Saudi Arabia
Authors: M. Al-Atawi Attiyah , Kumar Ravindra , Saleh Wafaa 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework methodology for the assessment and improving accident data collection and analysis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Design/methodology/approach
– A proposed framework methodology for accident reduction by an integrated process which includes a risk identification, assessment and reduction process is proposed for Tabuk city in KSA.

Findings
– Tabuk city has a high accident rate. The proposed framework can improve the process of accident data collection and analysis and identify hot spot locations and accident severity.

Originality/value
– It has been estimated that the annual cost of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia exceeds six billion US dollars, in addition to other social, health and economic impacts, such as disability, rehabilitation and unemployment due to traffic accident injuries. There are not many studies, if any, in Tabuk in KSA on the investigation and development of a framework for accident reduction.
An econometric study of energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth in South Asia: 1972-2009
Authors: Vidyarthi Harishankar 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth for a panel of five South Asian economies namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal over the period 1972-2009 within multivariate framework.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study uses Pedroni cointegration and Granger causality test based on panel vector error correction model to examine long-run equilibrium relationship and direction of causation in short run and long run between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth in South Asia.

Findings
– Cointegration result indicates the long-run equilibrium relationship between economic growth, energy consumption and carbon emissions for panel. Causality results suggest that bidirectional causality exist between energy consumption-GDP, and unidirectional causality from carbon emissions to GDP and energy consumption in long run. However, energy consumption causes carbon emissions in short run.

Practical implications
– Implementing energy efficiency measures and reducing dependence on fossils fuels by scaling up carbon free energy resources like nuclear, renewables including hydropower in energy mix is necessary for sustainable and inclusive growth in the region.

Originality/value
– South Asia economies need to sacrifice economic growth for reducing the carbon emissions in long run if the region dependence on fossils fuels including coal, oil and natural gas in energy mix continues at same pace.
Self expression versus the environment: attitudes in conflict
Authors: Parker Lukas , Aleti Watne Torgeir , Brennan Linda , Trong Duong Hue , Nguyen Dang 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to present the findings of a survey into attitudes towards the environment and the pro-environmental behaviours of young adults in Vietnam.

Design/Methodology/Approach
– An online survey was administered to university students in Vietnam’s two most populous cities, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City (N = 391).

Findings
– The results suggest that environmental considerations are not taken into account in young Vietnamese adults’ purchase intentions. This is more evident in expressive purchases, but also, to some degree, in utilitarian purchases.

Practical implications
– For the marketers of environmentally friendly products, this represents at least two key challenges: first, to try to shift the attitudes of young adult consumers towards thinking of environmental friendliness as an attractive characteristic and status-filled activity for potential expressive purchases. Second, making environmentally friendly alternatives of expressive goods more visible and more widely available in Vietnam.

Social implications
– Non-government organisations and governments seeking to protect the environment need to consider this unique dynamic in social marketing campaigns to increase the desirability of pro-environmental product choices and other pro-environmental behaviours.

Originality/value
– This paper examines pro-environmental behaviours and intentions of young adults in Vietnam for the first time. The paper establishes that self-expression is more important than the environment, and it is also evident that these young consumers are still vulnerable to perceived social pressure when it comes to expressing themselves.