bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Heterogeneous generation of new cells in the adult echinoderm nervous system
Authors: Mashanov Vladimir S. , Zueva Olga R. , García-Arrarás José E. 
Published: July 2015

AbstractAdult neurogenesis, generation of new functional cells in the mature central nervous system (CNS), has been documented in a number of diverse organisms, ranging from humans to invertebrates. However, the origin and evolution of this phenomenon is still poorly understood for many of the key phylogenetic groups. Echinoderms are one such phylum, positioned as a sister group to chordates within the monophyletic clade Deuterostomia. They are well known for the ability of their adult organs, including the CNS, to completely regenerate after injury. Nothing is known, however, about production of new cells in the nervous tissue under normal physiological conditions in these animals. In this study, we show that new cells are continuously generated in the mature radial nerve cord (RNC) of the sea cucumberHolothuria glaberrima. Importantly, this neurogenic activity is not evenly distributed, but is significantly more extensive in the lateral regions of the RNC than along the midline. Some of the new cells generated in the apical region of the ectoneural neuroepithelium leave their place of origin and migrate basally to populate the neural parenchyma. Gene expression analysis showed that generation of new cells in the adult sea cucumber CNS is associated with transcriptional activity of genes known to be involved in regulation of various aspects of neurogenesis in other animals. Further analysis of one of those genes, the transcription factorMycshowed that it is expressed, in some, but not all radial glial cells, suggesting heterogeneity of this CNS progenitor cell population in echinoderms.
Reporting on sustainability by Australian councils – a communication perspective
Authors: Williams Belinda Rachael 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the role of communication in the sustainability reporting process within Australian local councils. The study focuses on three areas; understanding and awareness levels of local councils towards sustainability, sustainability reporting methods and the importance of community engagement.

Design/methodology/approach
– A qualitative semi-structured interview approach was adopted for this investigation. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers across 13 local councils.

Findings
– Findings indicate that sustainability reporting is very much an emerging field in local government in Australia with varying levels of understanding and awareness of sustainability amongst councils. A lack of consistency in the current communication message being produced was found along with a lack of community engagement by most councils in the reporting process. Without clarity in the communication process, sustainability reporting in the local government context will continue to falter without a clear focus.

Practical implications
– The paper suggests the need for the local government sector to carefully consider the role of communication in an effort to provide direction on how best to discharge their sustainability accountabilities.

Originality/value
– Little attention has been given to the role of communication in accounting. The findings contribute to an understanding surrounding communication process issues in an effort to advance the sustainability reporting agenda within local government.
High performance HRM and establishment performance in Pakistan: an empirical analysis
Authors: Ahmad Mansoor , Allen Matthew 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– Despite a growing literature on human resource management (HRM) in emerging economies, evidence from Pakistan is limited. There is scant information on both the human resource (HR) practices that indigenous workplaces adopt and their associations with HR-related outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to fill that gap by examining whether universalistic assumptions about the applicability of “high-performance” HR practices are valid in Pakistan, a country with religious values and organizational traditions that differ to those in the west.Design/methodology/approach– This study draws on the, to date, most comprehensive survey of indigenous establishments in Pakistan. The authors use logistic regressions to analyze the data.Findings– Workplaces, in general, adopt several “high-performance” HR practices, such as extensive training, career breaks, rigorous pre-employment candidate assessment, and the sharing of strategic information with employees. Attitude surveys and the provision of training in a variety of jobs to non-managerial employees are consistently associated with better HR-related outcomes (absenteeism, quit rates, and labour productivity). Overall, the paper finds some limited support for the applicability and efficacy of high-performance HRM practices in Pakistan. Such practices conform to Islamic principles. The results also indicate, however, that cultural traits play a role in how those practices are implemented.Social implications– Increased adoption of certain HR practices by establishments in Pakistan may help to improve the working conditions and employment prospects of employees and may also ameliorate the country’s sluggish economic growth rates.Originality/value– HRM in Pakistani establishments has received relatively scant attention. Existing research either focuses on a relatively small number of firms, assesses HR in MNC subsidiaries, or examines a limited range of HR practices. Understanding the HR practices that are (and are not) adopted and their associations with performance outcomes will not just enhance the knowledge of HR in emerging economies, but will also provide insights into how to improve establishment performance and economic growth rates.
Mental health, permanent housing, and peer support through community living in the Fairweather Lodge: implementation through collaboration
Authors: Bermingham Charles , Manlick Christopher F. , Liu William Ming 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explain the history of the Fairweather Lodge Program, its utility, the development of one program in a small Midwestern city, the role of psychology, and the importance of disseminating information about the program to combat homelessness.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper takes a short case study approach to describing the evolution of a peer support-based housing program for individuals with serious mental illness and a history of homelessness.

Findings
– The Fairweather Lodge facilitates peer support, community engagement, stable housing, and work engagement in those struggling with mental illness and homelessness.

Originality/value
– The Fairweather Lodge Program is a program intended to support the mental health and employment needs of individuals with severe mental illness who are at increased risk of homelessness. Housing alone often does not address the complex needs of chronically homeless individuals.
What do adults with ASD desire in their residence?
Authors: Selcer Anne , Karlsen Megan , Mitchell Jordan , Decker Phillip J , Durand Roger 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– Currently, approximately one in 100 Americans meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Males are four-to-five times more likely to be diagnosed than females. Because the demand for ADS community-based services outweigh available resources, applicants are placed on a waiting list until services are available. Some wait for years; many adults with an ASD continue to live with their parents who also often serve as de facto case managers. When the decision of which facility to place a resident comes, most families are unprepared to make the decision. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– Community-based participatory research theory was used in designing interviews of family members facing residential facility placement decisions. Ten interviews were conducted with families.

Findings
– Participant answers were categorized within the topic areas of: physical site, staff, transportation, community, diet, behavior, medical, and faith.

Research limitations/implications
– Individuals with ASD and their families have varied answers as to what they desire in a residential facility. The most important factor, however, is that the questions be asked, that they be listened to and be given choices on what residence fits their own particular needs.

Originality/value
– This study determined what is important to the families of and individuals with intellectual and mental disabilities and autism when looking for community-based placement.
The association between corporate governance and firm performance – a meta-analysis
Authors: Siddiqui Sayla Sowat 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance by conducting a meta-analysis of 25 previous studies. The analysis has three specific concerns, i.e. the moderating effects of legal systems (common law or civil law), governance mechanisms (external or both external and internal governance together) and performance measures (accounting or market value).Design/methodology/approach– The methodology used is the meta-analysis technique developed by Hunteret al.(1982).Findings– The findings show that the external governance mechanisms measured by anti-takeover provisions and market value of firm performance measured by Tobin’s Q and market to book value are the key moderators of this relationship.Practical implications– This paper has important implications for regulators and directors by proposing external governance to be an influential factor of firm performance. This paper is also of interest to the investors and companies by highlighting the significant relationship between corporate governance and market value of the firm.Originality/value– As the author finds that the external governance mechanism (anti-takeover provisions) exerts more influential effect on firm performance than both external and internal governance together, this research confirms the imperative for external governance to increase the firm value.
National institutional factors and IFRS Implementation in Europe
Authors: Fearnley Nicholas , Gray Sid 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate, following the adoption and implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the European Union (EU), whether accounting choices continue to be significantly influenced by national institutional factors with particular reference to cultural values, legal systems and equity market development.

Design/methodology/approach
– The focus of the paper is on the measurement options available under IFRS with respect to investment property, and a study of factors influencing the accounting choices by 66 European investment property companies as disclosed in their annual reports over the period 2005-2010 is conducted.

Findings
– National institutional factors and, most importantly, cultural values remain persistently important in explaining accounting measurement choices relating to investment property following the implementation of IFRS in the EU.

Research limitations/implications
– The study is limited to investment property companies in the EU. Future studies could be carried out to compare the explanatory power and causal factors involved in different industry contexts and across more countries. Alternative measures of culture may also provide alternative insights.

Originality/value
– The paper demonstrates that a nation’s culture and accounting tradition likely has a continuing and significant impact on firms’ measurement decisions. Thus, institutional factors are clearly important in explaining accounting measurement choices and indicate the persistence of international accounting differences even in the context of a globally standardized accounting regime.
Information search volume as a predictor of information explanatory power
Authors: Xu Bixia , Huang Zhulin 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine whether information search frequency of accounting information is related to the explanatory power of accounting information for firm market value. It also examines whether information content and state of nature can have an impact on this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper is an empirical study using Web search volume data collected from Google Trends and financial and market data collected from Compustat.

Findings
– This paper finds that investors use Web search engines as an alternative way to search for information they need, search frequency of accounting information is positively related to the explanatory power of accounting information for firm market value, the relationship is found differential between statements and categories within a statement depending on the information content and the relationship is found stronger during economic upturns.

Research limitations/implications
– This paper examines 59 accounting items that are cross-firm commonly reported and that have data availability in Compustat. The external validity might be an issue.

Practical implications
– This paper is of interest to standard setters, corporate management and academics who wish to understand and improve the value of accounting information in the capital market.

Originality/value
– This paper is the first study which provides a comprehensive examination of the impact of investors’ information search volumes on the explanatory power of accounting information. It is also the first paper that intrudes Google Trends search volume data into accounting research.
Post-conflict reconstruction – a case study in Kosovo
Authors: Earnest James 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– Rehabilitation and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure in a post-conflict environment are complex, long-debated issues in development cooperation. In addition to war creating large-scale human suffering, generating refugees, displacing populations, engendering psychological distress, obliterating infrastructure and transforming the economy, in post-conflict situations, deepening chaos and disorder can be found at the highest social, economic and political levels; serious developmental challenges remain insufficiently addressed. Repairing war-damaged infrastructure in order to reactivate the local economy is a challenge for all post-conflict countries. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– The study was designed to examine planning and execution of post-conflict reconstruction (PCR). The use of a mixed-method research approach combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection was used to explore planning and implementation of PCR infrastructure projects in Kosovo. The data collection in the field was undertaken for a period of eight weeks, from July to September 2008. A total of 420 respondents were involved in the study process, as follows: key informants (four), pilot test (12), semi-structured interviews (36), project manager/engineers survey (231), chief of mission/country director survey (117), and focus group (20). To meet the needs of the society and recognise the required functional components of project management, the overall contexts of managing projects in a post-conflict environment have been discussed in the study.Findings– Planning and implementing reconstruction projects in areas affected by conflict have proven to be far more challenging than expected and responses by practitioners, aid agencies, and government regarded as inadequate. The changing political, economic, and social factors in Kosovo after the war in 1999 have had a significant influence on the limited adoption of a project management methodology in development and reconstruction projects. The findings from the exploratory study were aimed at improving understanding of the planning, pre-designing, and implementation of infrastructure projects. The findings indicated a need to promote a better understanding of how projects are undertaken at all levels of the organisation, and to describe processes, procedures, and tools used for the actual application of projects. The findings of the study identified a poor quality of planning and implementation of reconstruction projects in an environment of complexity, change, and uncertainty. The study also raised some very significant findings for a broader approach to community involvement in project identification, planning, and implementation. Infrastructure projects implemented in Kosovo were used to develop a conceptual framework for designing projects and programmes more likely to yield positive outcomes for post-conflict society.Originality/value– The study was done by the researcher in Kosovo.
Shaping the societal impact of emergencies: striking a balance between control and cooperation
Authors: Treurniet Willem , Messemaker Manne , Wolbers Jeroen , Boersma F. Kees 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to contribute an analysis of how crisis communication can make a difference in terms of the impact of an emergency on society.Design/methodology/approach– The attitude of the response organisations with respect to communities is reflected in the planning model they adopt. Two ideal-typical planning models are distinguished in the literature. In order to analyse what role both planning models play in the dynamics of crisis communications, the authors selected two Dutch cases for a comparative case analysis on message contents and media responses to the crisis communication.Findings– The content analysis revealed different crisis communication styles used by the emergency response organisation. The crisis communication in the first case focused primarily on denotative meaning-making while the crisis communication in the second case focused primarily on connotative meaning-making.Practical implications– The authors argue that, in crisis communication, more attention should be paid to the way in which a response organisation approaches the situation, and to the dynamics of the interaction with the affected community.Social implications– More attention should be paid to the fact that emergency response and the affected community mutually shape each other; large-scale operations need to be moved out of their exclusivity and integrated into society.Originality/value– Crises have a significant societal impact and do not occur in isolation from the broader social environment. The way in which people within society interpret the information from the authorities is important for the emergency response organisation in order that it can adapt to ongoing developments and match its communication more effectively to the affected communities.
Climate change and supply-chain vulnerability
Authors: Andreoni Valeria , Miola Apollonia 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The increasing complexity of the present economic system and the strong interdependencies existing between production activities taking place in different world areas make modern societies vulnerable to crisis. The global supply chain is a paradigmatic example of economic structures on which the impacts of unexpected events propagate rapidly through the system. Climate change, which affects societies all over the world, is one of the most important factors influencing the efficiency of the present economic networks. During the last decades a large set of studies have been oriented to investigate the direct impacts generated on specific geographical areas or productions. However, a smaller number of analyses have been oriented to quantify the cascading and indirect economic effects generated all over the world. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the main studies, methodologies and databases used to investigate the climate vulnerability of the global supply chain.

Findings
– The great complexity of the global economic system, coupled with methodological and data gaps, makes it difficult to estimate the domino effects of unexpected events. A clear understanding of the possible consequences generated all over the world is, however, a fundamental step to build socio-economic resilience and to plan effective adaptation strategies.

Originality/value
– The information provided in this paper can be useful to support further studies, to build consistent quantification methodologies and to fill the possible data gap.
Assuring organisational resilience with lean scenario-driven exercises
Authors: Hills Mils 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to draw on the author’s background testing resilience in “no fail” organisations at the heart of UK government. The paper outlines a lean approach to high-impact training for strategic leaders, achieved in the form of low-cost exercises and harnessed to build resilience by surfacing risks, engaging with options and modelling decision outcomes. Repeated rehearsal of crisis and risk management responses grows organisational resilience and human capacity and reduces reputational, legal, operational and other costs.

Design/methodology/approach
– The methodology employed scenario-driven exercises (SDEs) is described for the first time in the open literature.

Findings
– Approaches such as SDEs build strategic resilience through effective training and learning, focusing on the fundamental priorities of strategic delivery, reputation and crisis management through avoiding and reacting to challenging circumstances.

Practical implications
– By being targeted at probing and gaming participants’ taking of decisions and logic of analysing available information, the use of frugal SDEs can provide substantial value in organisations where robust testing is welcomed and its findings implemented.

Originality/value
– SDEs are described for the first time in the open literature.
Analysis of interrelationships among excavator productivity modifying factors
Authors: Holt Gary D. , Edwards David 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– Excavator productivity calculations embrace myriad variables, which in turn, can be modelled in several ways. A key productivity variable is operator competence (O

c
) because this can impact on so many of the other variables. Earlier research has studied excavator productivity, but little has attempted to simultaneously model productivity variables in relation to O

c
. The purpose of this paper is to address the void in extant literature.

Design/methodology/approach
– A numeric, theoretical analysis is undertaken using the Caterpillar® hydraulic excavator productivity model to estimate excavator production, given: first, variance in modifying factors based on derived maximum and minimum values; and second, variance resulting from linear calculations based on excavator operator competence.

Findings
– Excavator productivity resulting from incremental variance of modifying factors in isolation is shown to be linear except, in the case of bucket payload. Simultaneous application of modifying variables results in a greater, curvilinear productivity trend; while it is demonstrated that quantification of key modifying factors can to a significant extent be related to operator competence.

Research limitations/implications
– Findings add to productivity literature generally and to that of plant and equipment more specifically. Results will help productivity estimation of excavation in a practical sense while informing subsequent design of an empirical academic research of this problem.

Originality/value
– Originality relates principally to determining modifying factor ranges and their analysis of simultaneous effect on each other, especially, as influenced on assumptions of operator competence.