bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The status of entrepreneurship education in Australian universities
Authors: Maritz Alex , Jones Colin , Shwetzer Claudia 
Published: October 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical overview of the current state of entrepreneurship education (EE) in Australia; placing emphasis on programs, curricula and entrepreneurship ecosystems.Design/methodology/approach– The authors performed a contextual review of the literature by delineating entrepreneurship education programs, the entrepreneurial ecosystem and EE learning and teaching. The review was enhanced by a systematic collection of data from higher education institutions web sites, depicting the prevailing situation of entrepreneurship programs, courses, subjects and their ecosystems.Findings– A number of interesting findings emerged from this study. From a curricular perspective, Australian universities offer 584 subjects related to entrepreneurship. This includes dominance at undergraduate level, representing 24 minors/majors and specializations in entrepreneurship. In total, 135 entrepreneurship ecosystems were identified.Research limitations/implications– This paper presents findings from university web sites and as such requires introspection to validate individual university offerings.Practical implications– The study provides the status of EE in Australia, and may guide academic and policy decision makers to further develop entrepreneurship initiatives.Originality/value– This paper provides the first analytical overview of EE in Australia and paves the way for further evaluation.
DesUni: university entrepreneurship education through design thinking
Authors: Nielsen Suna Løwe , Stovang Pia 
Published: October 2015

Purpose– In recent years there has been growing focus on the innovative and profit generating value of design thinking in a businesses. This attention is also reflected in business education. The basic thesis is that design thinking is particular relavant to entrepreneurship education. The purpose of this paper is to propose a teaching model, named the DesUni model. The model suggests a novel design-oriented approach to entrepreneurship education.Design/methodology/approach– This paper relies on the interfaces between the literatures on entrepreneurship education and design thinking. From reviewing and synthesizing these literatures new insights are offered into how to develop entrepreneurship education through design thinking.Findings– The DesUni teaching model offers a significant shift in paradigm changing the traditional didactic assumptions of entrepreneurship education. It involves a change in curriculum, teaching methods, use of knowledge, teaching style, teacher-student relations, culture, habitat and assessment.Originality/value– The DesUni teaching model offers a unique way to form an entrepreneurship curriculum. This curriculum bridges the discovering of the present with what might be in the future along with that students are collaborating with different stakeholders.
Firm self-service technology readiness
Authors: Ramaseshan B. , Kingshott Russel Philip , Stein Alisha 
Published: October 2015

Purpose– Technological advances and new business models have contributed to the usage of self-service technology (SST) by firms. As SST continues to create organizational efficiencies, firms have jumped on the bandwagon without considering their own readiness to use SST. To date, there has been no systematic attempt to develop a valid scale of firm SST readiness and assess its influence on firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to present and validate a multidimensional firm SST readiness scale.Design/methodology/approach– A series of studies was conducted for the development and validation of the firm SST readiness scale. Study 1 included generating items from semi-structured interviews with managers and an extensive literature review. Study 2 comprised item reduction and identifying the dimensionality of the scale through exploratory factor analysis (n=177 participants from service organizations). The reliability and validity of the scale were tested in Study 3 by performing confirmatory factor analysis using data obtained from managers of service organizations in the USA (n=257). Study 4 measured the predictive validity of the firm SST readiness instrument using several structural models.Findings– This paper proposes a new multidimensional construct labelled “firm SST readiness”, consisting of four dimensions: managerial acquiescence, customer alignment, employee engagement, and channel integration. The predictive validity of the new scale on two key firm outcome variables: customer value and firm performance is also demonstrated.Originality/value– This is the first study to provide a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, and operationally valid measure of firm SST readiness.
Fog as a source of nitrogen for redwood trees: evidence from fluxes and stable isotopes
Authors: Templer Pamela H. , Weathers Kathleen C. , Ewing Holly A. , Dawson Todd E. , Mambelli Stefania , Lindsey Amanda M. , Webb Jeramy , Boukili Vanessa K. , Firestone Mary K. 
Published: October 2015

Summary

A defining feature of the redwood forest in coastal California is the presence of fog in the summer months, a time when there is typically little rainfall. Our goal was to determine the role of summer fog in canopy transformation of nitrogen, nitrogen uptake by trees and photosynthesis within a coastal redwood forest ecosystem.

We measured horizontal and vertical inputs of nitrogen, the isotopic composition of nitrogen in a variety of atmospheric sources (summer fog, winter rain and throughfall throughout the year), nitrogen pools (soil solution) and plant tissue (roots and foliage), as well as rates of photosynthesis and nitrogen uptake by trees.

Throughfall nitrogen fluxes were greater at the forest edge compared to the interior both within the canopy (sampled 10 m above‐ground) and onto the forest floor (sampled 1 m above‐ground; P < 0.05). Similarly, soil solution and total inorganic nitrogen were greater at the forest edge compared to the interior (P = 0.0014 and 0.009, respectively). Whereas natural abundance δ15NO3 values were not significantly different between winter rain (measured as bulk precipitation) and summer fog water (average δ15N = −1.2 ± 0.680/00), δ15NH4 values were significantly greater in fog water (11.4 ± 2.70/00) compared to rain (1.2 ± 0.90/00). We found no difference in δ15N in roots from forest edge trees compared to interior trees. In contrast, nitrogen concentrations and δ15N in foliage from forest edge trees were significantly greater compared to interior trees (P < 0.0001), suggesting that the leaves of forest edge trees may be obtaining a greater proportion of their nitrogen from fog compared to those of the interior trees. Natural abundance 13C of leaf sugars and rates of photosynthesis were significantly higher at the forest edge compared to the interior during the fog season (P < 0.05), but not different between locations in the rain season (P > 0.05). Nitrification in the forest floor, rather than the canopy, is the primary source of in these soils throughout the year.

Synthesis. Summer fog provides nitrogen directly and indirectly to redwood trees, especially those at the forest edge, and affects the physiologic function of redwood trees.
A deteriorating state of affairs: How endogenous and exogenous factors determine plant decay rates
Authors: Zanne Amy E. , Oberle Brad , Dunham Kevin M. , Milo Amy M. , Walton Maranda L. , Young Darcy F. 
Published: October 2015

Summary

Woody plants store large quantities of carbon (C) and nutrients. As plants senesce and decay, these stores transfer to the soil or other organisms or are released to the atmosphere.

Exogenous factors such as topographic position and microclimatic and edaphic conditions tied to locations affect decay rates; however, we know less about how exogenous relative to endogenous factors such as morphological, anatomical and chemical construction tied to plant species affect these rates, especially across different tissue types.

We monitored stem, fine branch and leaf decay over 1 year in ‘rot plots’ distributed across four watersheds in ridge top and valley bottom habitats in a temperate deciduous oak‐hickory forest at Tyson Research Center, MO, USA, in the Ozark Highlands for 21 species of woody plants that vary in their constructions.

We found poor coordination across tissues in construction and decay, which likely reflects how functional constraints on living tissues influence recalcitrance to decay. Additionally, for all three tissues, species membership and construction were better predictors of decay than was location. Of the construction traits, chemical composition including total fibre, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and concentrations of multiple microelements were the best predictors of decay, although the strength of these relationships differed among tissues.

Synthesis. We have long known that rates of biogeochemical cycling are influenced by exogenous factors, such as climatic and edaphic factors. Here, we show across plant tissues that endogenous factors, including species identity and tissue construction, can have stronger controls on rates of decay within our study system than do exogenous factors. However, it is likely that the relative strengths of these different controls change through time and among tissues. We predict that anatomical and morphological controls may be more important at early stages and exogenous factors may be more important at later stages of decay.
Pulmonary vascular dysfunction in refractory acute respiratory distress syndrome before veno‐venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Authors: Lazzeri C. , Cianchi G. , Bonizzoli M. , Batacchi S. , Terenzi P. , Bernardo P. , Valente S. , Gensini G. F. , Peris A. 
Published: October 2015

BackgroundPulmonary vascular dysfunction has been described in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Veno‐venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV‐ECMO) is a well‐established treatment for these patients. We hypothesized that severe pulmonary vascular dysfunction and cor pulmonale identified by echocardiography before cannulation in these patients were associated with worse survival.MethodsEchocardiography was used to identify pulmonary hypertension in 21 patients with refractory ARDS just before ECMO implantation. Survival was compared for those with and without cor pulmonale.ResultsIn our series, the overall mortality rate was 57.1% (12/21). Echocardiographic exams were transthoracic in 5 patients (23.8%), transesophageal in 4 patients (19%), and both (transthoracic and transesophageal) in the remaining 12 patients (57.1%). In our series, six patients (28.5%) showed LV dysfunction. Acute cor pulmonale was detectable in 2 patients (9.5%), while the remaining 19 patients showed moderate pulmonary dysfunction. Survivors had a higher pre‐cannulation LV ejection fraction (EF) (P = 0.02) and tricuspid annular plane excursion (P = 0.04), and lower peak systolic pulmonary artery pressures (P = 0.02).ConclusionsIn patients with refractory ARDS immediately before ECMO implantation, the prevalence of acute cor pulmonale is low (9.5%). Survival is associated with higher LVEF and lower systolic pulmonary arterial pressure. These findings support the idea that echocardiographic assessment of pulmonary artery pressure in patients with refractory ARDS before VV‐ECMO implantation may have value for risk‐stratification.
Corporate governance and private placement issuance in Australia
Authors: Xu Suichen , How Janice , Verhoeven Peter 
Published: October 2015

AbstractIn this study, we examine the effectiveness of corporate governance in mitigating dilution in the economic and voting interests of existing nonparticipating (retail) shareholders in private placements. Based on a sample of 2420 private placements in Australia from 2001 to 2012, we find support for this proposition through the influence of corporate governance on pricing negotiation and firms’ choice of issuing method in private placements. Specifically, firms with better corporate governance offer private placements with a smaller discount, and are more likely to include a share purchase plan, which protects nonparticipating shareholders from ownership dilution in the placement.
The lack of loan aversion among Canadian high school students
Authors: Johnson Cathleen , Montmarquette Claude 
Published: October 2015

AbstractEvidence is presented on the factors that influence take‐up for postsecondary education financing (loans or grants) for high school students. Results show several factors influence the students' decisions about taking loans or grants but the most prominent influence was the price of educational subsidy. A total of 1,248 high school students across Canada participated. Prices for the grants and loans overlapped substantially in order to more clearly distinguish the impact of loan aversion on the decision to take up financial assistance to pursue PSE. The study featured paid experimental decisions (ranging from $25 to $700 in cash and from $500 to $4,000 in education financing), a numeracy assessment, a student survey and a parental telephone survey. The targeted sample included at‐risk high school students: low SES levels, First Nations and first generation students. Participants were marginally sensitive to the form of financing (grant or loan), with no evidence of systematic loan aversion being detected.
Reducing Lateral Visual Biases in Displays
Authors: Huberman Inbar , Fattal Raanan 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe human visual system is composed of multiple physiological components that apply multiple mechanisms in order to cope with the rich visual content it encounters. The complexity of this system leads to non‐trivial relations between what we see and what we perceive, and in particular, between the raw intensities of an image that we display and the ones we perceive where various visual biases and illusions are introduced. In this paper, we describe a method for reducing a large class of biases related to the lateral inhibition mechanism in the human retina where neurons suppress the activity of neighbouring receptors. Among these biases are the well‐known Mach bands and halos that appear around smooth and sharp image gradients as well as the appearance of false contrasts between identical regions. The new method removes these visual biases by computing an image that contains counter biases such that when this laterally compensated image is viewed on a display, the inserted biases cancel the ones created in the retina. User study results confirm the usefulness of the new approach for displaying various classes of images, visualizing physical data more faithfully and improving the ability to perceive constancy in brightness.
Performance of three glomerular filtration rate estimation equations in a population of sub‐Saharan Africans with Type 2 diabetes
Authors: Agoons D. D. , Balti E. V. , Kaze F. F. , Azabji‐Kenfack M. , Ashuntantang G. , Kengne A. P. , Sobngwi E. , Mbanya J. C. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractAimWe evaluated the performance of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD‐EPI) and Cockcroft–Gault (CG) equations against creatinine clearance (CrCl) to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in 51 patients with Type 2 diabetes.MethodsThe CrCl value was obtained from the average of two consecutive 24‐h urine samples. Results were adjusted for body surface area using the Dubois formula. Serum creatinine was measured using the kinetic Jaffe method and was calibrated to standardized levels. Bland–Altman analysis and kappa statistic were used to examine agreement between measured and estimated GFR.ResultsEstimates of GFR from the CrCl, MDRD, CKD‐EPI and CG equations were similar (overall P = 0.298), and MDRD (r = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.36–0.74), CKD‐EPI (r = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.33–0.72) and CG (r = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.39–0.75) showed modest correlation with CrCl (all P < 0.001). Bias was −0.3 for MDRD, 1.7 for CKD‐EPI and −5.4 for CG. All three equations showed fair‐to‐moderate agreement with CrCl (kappa: 0.38–0.51). The c‐statistic for all three equations ranged between 0.75 and 0.77 with no significant difference (P = 0.639 for c‐statistic comparison).ConclusionsThe MDRD equation seems to have a modest advantage over CKD‐EPI and CG in estimating GFR and detecting impaired renal function in sub‐Saharan African patients with Type 2 diabetes. The overall relatively modest correlation with CrCl, however, suggests the need for context‐specific estimators of GFR or context adaptation of existing estimators.
A Genealogy of Grit: Education in the New Gilded Age
Authors: Stokas Ariana Gonzalez 
Published: October 2015

AbstractRecently, due in part to the research of Angela Duckworth, the cultivation of dispositions in education, grit in particular, has gained the attention of educational policymakers and the educational research community. While much of the research has focused on how to detect grit, there has been little discussion regarding how grit came to be valued as a noncognitive disposition and what its recent prominence might tell us about current social conditions. In this essay, Ariana Gonzalez Stokas attempts to illuminate grit as a concept that has undergone a number of conceptual transformations in American culture. She seeks to show how grit developed as a way to justify social and economic inequality and how this history is bound up in its conceptual structure. Through conducting a genealogical excavation, Stokas reveals the relationship of grit to a cluster of cultural events that occurred at the turn of the twentieth century in the confluence of boxing, cowboys, and Theodore Roosevelt, and aims to illuminate how grit has served as a tool for convincing society that achievement occurs through heroic individual effort despite inadequate social supports. This historical understanding of grit, Stokas concludes, may help us to recognize that the energy and resources currently spent on cultivating grit in children would be better spent on ameliorating the problems of social and economic inequality.
Climate‐driven changes to the spatio‐temporal distribution of the parasitic nematode, Haemonchus contortus, in sheep in Europe
Authors: Rose Hannah , Caminade Cyril , Bolajoko Muhammad Bashir , Phelan Paul , van Dijk Jan , Baylis Matthew , Williams Diana , Morgan Eric R. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractRecent climate change has resulted in changes to the phenology and distribution of invertebrates worldwide. Where invertebrates are associated with disease, climate variability and changes in climate may also affect the spatio‐temporal dynamics of disease. Due to its significant impact on sheep production and welfare, the recent increase in diagnoses of ovine haemonchosis caused by the nematode Haemonchus contortus in some temperate regions is particularly concerning. This study is the first to evaluate the impact of climate change on H. contortus at a continental scale. A model of the basic reproductive quotient of macroparasites, Q0, adapted to H. contortus and extended to incorporate environmental stochasticity and parasite behaviour, was used to simulate Pan‐European spatio‐temporal changes in H. contortus infection pressure under scenarios of climate change. Baseline Q0 simulations, using historic climate observations, reflected the current distribution of H. contortus in Europe. In northern Europe, the distribution of H. contortus is currently limited by temperatures falling below the development threshold during the winter months and within‐host arrested development is necessary for population persistence over winter. In southern Europe, H. contortus infection pressure is limited during the summer months by increased temperature and decreased moisture. Compared with this baseline, Q0 simulations driven by a climate model ensemble predicted an increase in H. contortus infection pressure by the 2080s. In northern Europe, a temporal range expansion was predicted as the mean period of transmission increased by 2–3 months. A bimodal seasonal pattern of infection pressure, similar to that currently observed in southern Europe, emerges in northern Europe due to increasing summer temperatures and decreasing moisture. The predicted patterns of change could alter the epidemiology of H. contortus in Europe, affect the future sustainability of contemporary control strategies, and potentially drive local adaptation to climate change in parasite populations.
Interpreting genotype‐by‐environment interaction for biomass production in hybrid poplars under short‐rotation coppice in Mediterranean environments
Authors: Sixto Hortensia , Gil Paula M. , Ciria Pilar , Camps Francesc , Cañellas Isabel , Voltas Jordi 
Published: October 2015

AbstractUnderstanding genotype × environment interaction (GEI) is crucial to optimize the deployment of clonal material to field conditions in short‐rotation coppice poplar plantations. Hybrid poplars are grown for biomass production under a wide range of climatic and edaphic conditions, but their adaptive performance in Mediterranean areas remains poorly characterized. In this work, site regression (SREG) and factorial regression mixed models are combined to gain insight into the nature and causes underlying GEI for biomass production of hybrid poplar clones. SREG addresses the issue of clonal recommendation in multi‐environment trials through a biplot representation that visually identifies superior genotypes. Factorial regression, alternatively, involves a description of clonal reaction to the environment in terms of physical variables that directly affect productivity. Initially, SREG aided in identifying cross‐over interactions that often involved hybrids of different taxonomic background. Factorial regression then selected latitude, mean temperature of the vegetative period (MTVP) and soil sand content as main site factors responsible for differential clonal adaptation. Genotypic responses depended strongly on taxonomic background: P. deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh. × P. nigra L. clones showed an overall positive sensitivity to increased MTVP and negative sensitivity to increased sand content, whereas the opposite occurred for P. trichocarpa Torr. & Gray × P. deltoides clones; the three‐cross hybrid [(P. deltoides × P. trichocarpa) × P. nigra] often displayed an intermediate performance. This information can contribute toward the identification and biological understanding of adaptive characteristics relevant for poplar breeding in Mediterranean conditions and facilitate clonal recommendation at eco‐regional level.
Allogeneic hand transplantation and rehabilitation of hand function: a 10‐year follow‐up study
Authors: Zhang Zhen‐Yu , Li Fu‐chun , Shao Ming , Yang Cao , Shang Jian , Bi Zheng‐Gang 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to present the long‐term outcomes of allogenic hand transplantations performed at our centre. Between January 2001 and October 2002, five allogeneic limb transplantations were performed in three patients (two bilateral forearm and one left hand transplantation). Donors and recipients were matched for blood types (ABO/Rh) and had at least two human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matches. A comprehensive rehabilitation plan integrating preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative management was developed for each patient. After 10 years, all transplantations were performed successfully without complications. As of 2014, all grafts were viable. The transplanted hands showed palmate morphology, perceived superficial pain and tactile sensations, and the static two‐point discrimination ranged from 2·5 to 4·0 mm. Chronic rejection at 4 years after surgery reduced hand function in case 2. Grip strength ranged from 3 kg (case 2) to 16–18 kg (case 1) to 41–43 kg for case 3. Lifting strength ranged from 3 kg (case 2) to 21–23 kg (case 1) to 47–51 kg for case 3. They lead a completely independent life. In summary, hand function following allogeneic limb transplantation allows the ability to perform tasks of daily living.