bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effect of crop insurance in Ecuadorian rice farming: a technical efficiency approach
Authors: Castro Marcelo , Reyes Duarte Alvaro , Villegas Andrés , Chanci Luis 
Published: April 2023

PurposeThe aim of this study is to estimate the technical efficiency of the massive and economically important crop of rice in Ecuador, and then conduct a comparison between groups of farmers with and without insurance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an input-oriented data envelopment analysis approach (DEA) to estimate technical efficiency scores. The DEA is combined with the double bootstrap approach in Simar and Wilson (2007) to study factors that may affect technical efficiency. This method overcomes the traditional two-stage DEA approach frequently used in the efficiency literature. The authors thus research the role of insurance on rice efficiency production using this technique and sizeable field-level survey data from 376 rice farmers distributed in five provinces during the 2019 winter cycle in Ecuador.FindingsMost uninsured rice farmers operate with increasing returns to scale, which means that farms improve their resource use efficiency by increasing their size. However, since scale efficiencies are relatively high, it appears that inefficiencies are explained by inadequate input use. Also, the authors find evidence that insured farmers have a negative relationship with technical efficiency in rice production. In other results, when exploring the influence of additional variables on efficiency, the authors find that parameters related to transplanting, high education, farm size and some locations are positive and statistically significant.Social implicationsThe results of this work are relevant for policymakers interested in evaluating technology performance, risk management instruments and farm efficiency in an industry in a developing country such as rice production in Ecuador.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt to estimate farm-level technical efficiency employing the double bootstrap approach to assess the efficiency and its determinants of Ecuadorian rice producers.
An emotional perspective of music festival experience evaluation: a new model of emotional analysis
Authors: Oliva Jordi 
Published: April 2023

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to test a new proposal of a model to analyze emotional outcomes in relation to the key factors constituting the experience of a music festival.Design/methodology/approachThis article first examines how emotions and intangible impacts are conceptualized and analyzed by different disciplines; secondly, this article exposes the relevance of musical emotions and the contextual elements in the generation of the music festival experience; the article then proposes a new model to assess the emotional impacts of music festivals, named the Emotional Impact of Music Festivals (EIMF). Finally, this article shows the test of the model through quantitative and qualitative analysis.FindingsThe findings reveal that perceived emotions in the music festival context should be based on the definition of musical emotions. At the same time, the model combines the different sources of emotions taken from validated tools in multiple academic disciplines. The new proposal enables the emotional outcome of the music festival experience to be identified and helps to understand the weight of the experience's main elements.Practical implicationsThe new proposed model facilitates the research on music festivals and illuminates the key role of music when organizing festivals to enhance attendee experience. Finally, this model reveals the main elements required to obtain an intense emotional outcome in these types of events.Originality/valueThe study expands the different scales and model proposals in live events and combines existent musical emotion models from the psychological perspective with theoretical models from the intangible impact evaluation. This study shows a genuine test for a theoretical model that can be further developed. Finally, this study shows how the new tool EIMF can help music festival organizers to understand the weight of the constituting factors of festival experience and the results in applied studies.
Lean and action learning: towards an integrated theory?
Authors: Saabye Henrik , Powell Daryl John , Coughlan Paul 
Published: April 2023

PurposeBeing acquainted with both lean and action learning in theory and in practice, this study finds that the theoretical complementarity of these two research streams has traditionally been underexploited. In this conceptual paper, this study aims to advance the theoretical understanding of lean by exploring the complementarity of lean thinking and action learning leading to a proposed integrated theory of these two research streams. Target audience is the operations management research community.Design/methodology/approachBy deliberately adopting a process of theorising, this paper explores, reflects upon and combines individual experiences of researching, teaching and engaging in lean and action learning as operations management scholars.FindingsHaving taken a gemba walk through the literature and practices of lean and action learning, this study views and notices a systematic and complementary relationship between the two domains. The overlapping theoretical and practical complementarities of lean and action learning suggest that these two research streams are ripe for synthesis into an integrated theory. This finding provides an opportunity to (1) progress towards an integrative design of interventions leading to more sustainable lean system adoptions and (2) add new depth to our theoretical explanation of the success and failures of lean system adoptions.Originality/valueThis paper contributes an original integrated theory perspective on lean and action learning.
Assessing the relationship between feedback strategies and learning improvement from a distance learning perspective
Authors: Attiogbe Esther Julia Korkor , Oheneba-Sakyi Yaw , Kwapong O.A.T.F. , Boateng John 
Published: April 2023

PurposeFeedback is crucial in a learning process, particularly in an online interaction where both learners and instructors are distantly located. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the association between feedback strategies, embedded course syllabus and learning improvement in the Sakai Learning Management System.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a survey design to collect cross-sectional data from adult distance learning students. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and a standard multiple regression model in Stata.FindingsThe results show that feedback strategies (timing, mode, quality and quantity) and embedded course syllabus have a significant relationship with learning improvement. However, the feedback strategy – target – is not significantly related to learning improvement though it is the highest feedback strategy.Originality/valueThis paper has contributed to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence to support the constructivism theory of learning from a distance learning perspective in a developing country. The study has shown that if the feedback strategies are well managed and applied, they would make a considerable impact on distance education students' academic pursuits. Hence, the paper provides a pedagogical foundation for short and long-term distance learning policy.
Numerical simulation of a fire resistance test and prediction of the flue gas leakage using CFD/FEM coupling
Authors: Prieler Rene , Pletzer Simon , Thusmer Stefan , Schwabegger Günther , Hochenauer Christoph 
Published: April 2023

PurposeIn fire resistance tests (FRTs) of building materials, a crucial criterion to pass the test procedure is to avoid the leakage of the hot flue gases caused by gaps and cracks occurring due to the thermal exposure. The present study's aim is to calculate the deformation of a steel door, which is embedded within a wall made of bricks, and qualitatively determine the flue gas leakage.Design/methodology/approachA computational fluid dynamics/finite element method (CFD/FEM) coupling was introduced representing an intermediate approach between a one-way and a full two-way coupling methodology, leading to a simplified two-way coupling (STWC). In contrast to a full two way-coupling, the heat transfer through the steel door was simulated based on a one-way approach. Subsequently, the predicted temperatures at the door from the one-way simulation were used in the following CFD/FEM simulation, where the fluid flow inside and outside the furnace as well as the deformation of the door were calculated simultaneously.FindingsThe simulation showed large gaps and flue gas leakage above the door lock and at the upper edge of the door, which was in close accordance to the experiment. Furthermore, it was found that STWC predicted similar deformations compared to the one-way coupling.Originality/valueSince two-way coupling approaches for fluid/structure interaction in fire research are computationally demanding, the number of studies is low. Only a few are dealing with the flue gas exit from rooms due to destruction of solid components. Thus, the present study is the first two-way approach dealing with flue gas leakage due to gap formation.
Application research of autoregressive and moving average power spectrum in mine ground‐penetrating radar structure detection data analysis
Authors: Fan Cui , Ran Wang , Baiping Chen , Lingfeng Zeng , Yi Chen 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe mine roadway built in the same thick rock stratum will not change the lithologic medium in front of the roadway under the influence of the small structure of the mine, which makes the mine radar face many difficulties in structural interpretation. In the coal measure strata in southwest China, the coal seam roof is the weak aquifer of the Kayitou (T1k) group. The mine structure is the excellent drainage boundary of an aquifer, resulting in the water content of the structural belt being different from that of the surrounding rock. This paper proposes a method to identify hidden structures in mine roadways using the autoregressive and moving average power spectrum energy enveloping medium water content inversion technique. Based on the actual water content of strata in the study area, 48 roadway models are constructed. The finite‐difference time‐domain algorithm was used to obtain the forward data and calculate the volumetric water content of the model. The structure of the roadway model is accurately identified by the water content difference. In the numerical simulation study, the segmentation frequency of high‐frequency and low‐frequency envelope of the autoregressive and moving average spectrum of 100‐MHz radar antenna is determined to be 155 MHz, and the value range of water content calculation regulation parameter k is determined. The high‐ and low‐frequency envelope inversion characteristics of the autoregressive and moving average spectrum of different tunnel media models are summarized and analysed. To solve the calculation problem of energy envelope selection of autoregressive and moving average power spectrum of engineering data, the k‐nearest neighbour machine learning algorithm was used to learn and classify the power spectrum features of different tunnel models. The detection application is analysed through the whole‐rock medium and coal and rock medium roadway in the study area. The results show that the method can effectively identify the location and strike characteristics of the hidden structures in front of the roadway.
Ecosystem size filters life‐history strategies to shape community assembly in lakes
Authors: Rypel Andrew L. 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Enhancing understanding of community assembly rules hinges on shared conceptualizations that operate across scales and levels of ecological organization. Knowledge of the biogeography of life‐history strategies is especially limited but crucial for building fundamental information on the relationships between trait diversity and species richness.

The goals of this study were to (i) demonstrate how life histories can be classified using a previously identified triangular continuum of evolutionary trade‐offs; (ii) test whether spatial and temporal heterogeneity in species abundances is linked to life‐history strategy; (iii) compare species‐area relationships across the primary life‐history strategist groups and (iv) explore how species life‐history niche spaces are shaped by ecosystem size and landscape architecture.

Fish communities were sampled in 40 lakes that varied widely in volume; 11 lakes were sampled annually for 28 or 42 years. Seventy‐one species were classified as equilibrium, periodic or opportunistic strategists, and species‐area curves were quantified and compared among strategy types.

As predicted by life‐history theory, relative abundances of opportunistic strategists were extremely variable over space and time, whereas abundances of equilibrium and periodic strategists were more stable. Small lakes were often dominated by only one species, usually an opportunistic strategist. Species richness increased with ecosystem size, but larger ecosystems were increasingly inhabited by equilibrium, and then, periodic strategists. Richness of periodic species increased with ecosystem size at a faster rate compared with opportunistic species showing that colonization‐extinction points fundamentally vary by strategy. Similarly, life‐history niche space increased with ecosystem size in accord with species‐area relationships but showed saturation behaviour. Niche space became increasingly crowded in large lakes, particularly in lakes with higher hydrologic connectance.

Ecosystem size mediates the assembly of communities through effects on environmental stability, hydrology and life‐history filtering. This finding provides novel insights into community assembly at multiple scales and has broad conservation applications. Because ecosystem size filters towards orthogonal and inverse life histories, conservation actions (e.g. fish stockings) that do not consider life‐history and community filtering rules will probably fail.
Revealing the extent of sea otter impacts on bivalve prey through multi‐trophic monitoring and mechanistic models
Authors: Leach Clinton B. , Weitzman Benjamin P. , Bodkin James L. , Esler Daniel , Esslinger George G. , Kloecker Kimberly A. , Monson Daniel H. , Womble Jamie N. , Hooten Mevin B. 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Sea otters are apex predators that can exert considerable influence over the nearshore communities they occupy. Since facing near extinction in the early 1900s, sea otters are making a remarkable recovery in Southeast Alaska, particularly in Glacier Bay, the largest protected tidewater glacier fjord in the world. The expansion of sea otters across Glacier Bay offers both a challenge to monitoring and stewardship and an unprecedented opportunity to study the top‐down effect of a novel apex predator across a diverse and productive ecosystem.

Our goal was to integrate monitoring data across trophic levels, space, and time to quantify and map the predator–prey interaction between sea otters and butter clams Saxidomus gigantea, one of the dominant large bivalves in Glacier Bay and a favoured prey of sea otters.

We developed a spatially‐referenced mechanistic differential equation model of butter clam dynamics that combined both environmental drivers of local population growth and estimates of otter abundance from aerial survey data. We embedded this model in a Bayesian statistical framework and fit it to clam survey data from 43 intertidal and subtidal sites across Glacier Bay.

Prior to substantial sea otter expansion, we found that butter clam density was structured by an environmental gradient driven by distance from glacier (represented by latitude) and a quadratic effect of current speed. Estimates of sea otter attack rate revealed spatial heterogeneity in sea otter impacts and a negative relationship with local shoreline complexity.

Sea otter exploitation of productive butter clam habitat substantially reduced the abundance and altered the distribution of butter clams across Glacier Bay, with potential cascading consequences for nearshore community structure and function. Spatial variation in estimated sea otter predation processes further suggests that community context and local environmental conditions mediate the top‐down influence of sea otters on a given prey. Overall, our framework provides high‐resolution insights about the interaction among components of this food web and could be applied to a variety of other systems involving invasive species, epidemiology or migration.
The OBR and the March 2023 Budget: The Travails of UK Economic Growth and the Politics of Technocratic Fiscal Governance
Authors: Clift Ben 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThis article places the Office for Budget Responsibility's commentary on the March 2023 UK Budget in political context. It explores how increased independent expert input has transformed the UK economic policy regime, focussing on the complex relationship between rules‐based economic governance, independent oversight and fiscal discipline. The technocratic veneer that enshrines the UK fiscal watchdog obscures the inevitable politics of rules‐based fiscal governance. The recent budget revealed OBR scepticism about how far budget measures can address the UK economy's long‐term structural weaknesses. This underlined the key role for judgment inherent within technocratic fiscal oversight.
A systematic review on the flavor of soy‐based fermented foods: Core fermentation microbiome, multisensory flavor substances, key enzymes, and metabolic pathways
Authors: An Feiyu , Wu Junrui , Feng Yunzi , Pan Guoyang , Ma Yuanyuan , Jiang Jinhui , Yang Xuemeng , Xue Ruixia , Wu Rina , Zhao Mouming 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe characteristic flavor of fermented foods has an important impact on the purchasing decisions of consumers, and its production mechanisms are a concern for scientists worldwide. The perception of food flavor is a complex process involving olfaction, taste, vision, and oral touch, with various senses contributing to specific properties of the flavor. Soy‐based fermented products are popular because of their unique flavors, especially in Asian countries, where they occupy an important place in the dietary structure. Microorganisms, known as the souls of fermented foods, can influence the sensory properties of soy‐based fermented foods through various metabolic pathways, and are closely related to the formation of multisensory properties. Therefore, this review systematically summarizes the core microbiome and its interactions that play an active role in representative soy‐based fermented foods, such as fermented soymilk, soy sauce, soybean paste, sufu, and douchi. The mechanism of action of the core microbial community on multisensory flavor quality is revealed here. Revealing the fermentation core microbiome and related enzymes provides important guidance for the development of flavor‐enhancement strategies and related genetically engineered bacteria.
Investigating aerial diversity of non‐fungal eukaryotes across a 40° latitudinal transect using DNA metabarcoding
Authors: Câmara Paulo Eduardo Aguiar Saraiva , Lopes Fabyano Alvares Cardoso , Bones Fábio Leal Viana , Rodrigues Luiz Antonio Costa , Carvalho‐Silva Micheline , Stech Michael , Convey Peter , Rosa Luiz Henrique 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe high number of bipolar and widespread bryophyte and microbial taxa in the Antarctic flora suggests the effective Long‐Distance Dispersal (LDD) of spores and other propagules from lower latitudes and even the Northern Hemisphere to Antarctica and the sub‐Antarctic regions. However, few studies have attempted to document the transfer mechanisms by which potential newcomers may arrive in Antarctica. Commonly suggested or assumed mechanisms include transport in air currents, adventitious transfer with migrating or vagrant birds, and with human assistance. In this study, we investigated the biodiversity present in the air along a 40° latitudinal transect, from the port city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (ca. 22°S) to Comandante Ferraz Station on King George Island (South Shetland Islands, ca. 62°S), maritime Antarctica, to shed light on the potential role of LDD in species distribution. Air samples were collected in October 2021 on the Brazilian polar support vessel Ary Rongel using air filters with membranes of 0.22 μm. Total DNA was extracted from the filters and the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS2) DNA sequence was used for metabarcoding. A total of 53 non‐fungal taxa representing three kingdoms (most abundantly Viridiplantae) and six phyla (most abundantly Bryophyta and Magnoliophyta) were assigned from the sequences found. Aerial biodiversity was greater closer to the coast and generally decreased with increasing latitude, although a small increase was apparent in the South Shetland Islands. The taxa assigned are generally present in coastal biomes, although a small proportion of the assignments represented taxa of more distant origin, supporting the occurrence of LDD in the air column.
Climate as a determinant of dung beetle response to native forest replacement by cattle pastures in South America
Authors: Guerra Alonso Celeste B. , Filloy Julieta , Zurita Gustavo A. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractAnthropogenic disturbance in natural ecosystems reduces the number of species in biological communities and homogenizes their composition across different regions. Climate is one of the main abiotic determinants of species distributions and different factors were proposed as the main climatic drivers. Here we explored the role of regional climate on the local response of dung beetle assemblages to the replacement of native forest by cattle pastures in South America by simultaneously contrasting three climatic hypotheses: energy, seasonality and heterogeneity. We compiled a database by searching published studies comparing dung beetle richness and composition between both native forests and cattle pastures. We calculated the proportional difference in species richness and composition between habitat types. As explanatory variables, we used seven abiotic variables grouped into the three climatic hypotheses. Energy/Productivity: mean annual temperature (°C/year) and total annual precipitation (mm/year). Seasonality: annual thermal amplitude (°C/year), the average coefficient of variation of monthly precipitation and the coefficient of average monthly variation in temperature. Heterogeneity: coefficient of variation of mean annual temperature, coefficient of variation of mean annual precipitation. Using regression analyses and a model selection procedure, we found differences in species richness between native forests and cattle pastures were explained by the coefficient of variation of mean annual precipitation, whereas changes in species composition were explained by total annual precipitation and the coefficient of variation of mean annual precipitation. The response of dung beetle assemblages to livestock grazing in South American forests was associated with precipitation variation. The heterogeneity hypothesis better explained changes in species richness following forest replacement by cattle pastures, while both energy/productivity and heterogeneity hypotheses explained the changes in species composition.