bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Credit risks, national governance and profitability in microfinancing sector: evidence from some emerging economies of world importance
Authors: Singh Kuldeep 
Published: September 2023

PurposeThe world order is experiencing unremitting changes. With this, the national governance of emerging economies is also becoming robust. Therefore, the current study examines the efficacy of national governance in the context of emerging economies by investigating its effects on the profitability of the microfinancing sector. Further, the study inspects if national governance mitigates the impact of credit risks to protect profitability.Design/methodology/approachThe study considers panel data from 224 microfinancing institutions from five economies of world importance: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). The study uses dynamic panel data modeling, particularly the generalized method of moments, alongside multiple univariate and multivariate techniques.FindingsThe findings indicate that credit risks negatively impact profitability. In addition, the study documents a significant positive linkage between national governance and profitability. However, national governance fails to restrict the adverse effects of credit risks. National governance is found to be effective in reducing internal agency problems; the monitoring effects successfully limit the moral hazards due to managers' actions. Conversely, the national governance in these economies misses the mark in regulating the moral hazards due to borrowers' behavior.Originality/valueThe current study provides fresh perspectives on the efficacy of national governance in microfinancing in the setting of emerging economies.
Going home to the gangsters: a preliminary study on the potential link between reintegration support and recidivism amongst female offenders
Authors: Thornton Jessica Leigh 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
As the subject of female criminology in South Africa has only recently been dealt with in a qualitative manner, this paper aims to explore if there is a potential link between rehabilitation, reintegration support and recidivism as females are often placed back into the environment which prompted their criminal behaviour, further excluding them from rehabilitative reform, which might lead them to recidivate.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a qualitative approach using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with six participants that were chosen purposively.

Findings
The paper notes a potential link between rehabilitation, reintegration support and recidivism as the female prisoners are imprinted with criminal dispositions since rehabilitation within the correctional facility has no implementation process to ensure that restoration can continue after they have been released.

Research limitations/implications
Due to the limited number of the incarcerated female population and the scope of the preliminary study, the sample comprised of only six female offenders. As such, it contributes to the larger discourse of female criminality, but does not offer any recommendations.

Practical implications
Provides an understanding of the conditions in which the females are released. Allows for the inclusion of the female’s voice on, and reflection of, rehabilitation and recidivism. Notes a link between rehabilitation, reintegration and recidivism. Creates a pathway for further research in the exploration of a gendered reform approach.

Originality/value
While the subject of female criminology in South Africa has only recently been dealt with in a qualitative manner, this study offers an insight into how females who offend are often placed back into the environment which prompted their criminal behaviour.
Choosing annuities for a home reversion: the case of the French viager market
Authors: Coulomb Jean-Baptiste , Larceneux Fabrice , Simon Arnaud 
Published: September 2023

PurposeThe authors analyzed annuitization preferences when retired people extract cash from their homes. Based on 2,608 viager (home reversion) transactions, the authors study the relations between annuitization, negotiation, cash extraction, age, gender and marital status.Design/methodology/approachA database comprising 2,608 transactions is used. The three-stage least squares (3SLS) and moderation models are implemented, with a focus on potential adverse selection issues.FindingsThe authors found that difficulties in selling a property generally result in increased annuitization. The single men's group endures gender inequality, suffering from limitations in their possibility to extract wealth and annuitize, as well as an additional price discount during negotiation. Young single men, as compared to young single women and young couples, must consent to a substantial price reduction if they prefer a high down payment and limited price reductions if they prefer annuities. Elderly single men, as compared to young single men, have less capacity to negotiate, a concern that is reinforced when they prefer annuities.Originality/valueAmong the home equity conversion products, the academic real estate literature has intensely analyzed the reverse mortgage. The viager is distinct from a mortgage in that it consists of the true sale of a property without bank involvement. This product deserves reinforced attention in an aging continental Europe. It exists in numerous countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc.).
The effect of economic complexities and green economy on financial statements fraud
Authors: Ahmadi Zainab , Salehi Mahdi , Rahmani Mahmoud 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
This study aims to address the relationship between economic complexities (EC) and the green economy (GE) with fraud in the listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange. The authors study whether EC and GE increase the detection of financial statement fraud.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a multiple regression model based on the panel data method and fixed effect model to test hypotheses. The sample includes 1,351 companies listed on the Iranian stock exchange from 2014 to 2021.

Findings
The results show a negative and significant relationship between EC and GE with financial statement fraud.

Originality/value
Since this research is the first to address the mentioned topic in emerging markets, it provides helpful insights for financial statement users, analysts and legal entities. The study fills the literature gap and promotes knowledge regarding its relevant literature.
Multi-level analysis on determinants of sustainability disclosure: a survey of academic literature
Authors: Ali Waris , Wilson Jeffrey 
Published: September 2023

PurposeThis study uses a multi-level framework to systematically summarize and synthesize the empirical literature on determinants of sustainability disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThis review study is based on 159 empirical studies examining determinants of sustainability disclosure and published in Charted Association of Business Schools (CABS) ranked journals over the last 40 years.FindingsCompanies are experiencing multi-level pressures for sustainability disclosure. Macro-level variables include political, legal, social-cultural and international pressures. Meso-level factors include customers' concerns, shareholders’ and investors' demands, industry-level variables and media coverage. Micro-level factors include the firm-level governance mechanisms, executives' reporting attitude and role of sustainability promoting institutions. Unlike in developed markets, companies in developing markets feel minimal public pressure for sustainability disclosure but rather are influenced by international NGOs, the media and international buyers. Multi-level and multitude of pressures for sustainability disclosure explains the widely observed differences between studies.Originality/valueThis research presents the most extensive systematic review of the extant sustainability disclosure literature and is the first study to group determinants into micro-, meso- and macro-level components using multi-level analysis.
…And (epistemic) justice for all: a cautionary tale of knowledge inequality in participatory research
Authors: Fletcher Andrew 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
Significant funding has been made available in the UK for social, behavioural and design research that aims to improve health and wellbeing for older adults. The growing importance and use of participatory and co-creative approaches in this field not only reflects a general turn in social research but also seeks to redress power imbalances between researchers and researched. This paper aims to use Miranda Fricker’s concept of “epistemic injustice” as a lens to describe the author’s experience with one such project, and highlight the cautions and considerations that must be made when navigating, handling and amalgamating “other people’s knowledge”.

Design/methodology/approach
Personal and theoretical reflection. Primary data for this paper consists of first-hand insider observations on how different forms of knowledge were treated in an interdisciplinary, intersectoral participatory research context.

Findings
Some participatory studies are hampered by insufficient consideration for a range of ways of thinking, including between researchers and participants, younger and older adults, different academic disciplines or academia and industry. This can harm project integrity and outcomes, potentially eroding trust in academic research.

Originality/value
By reflecting on a recent participatory study in healthy ageing, this paper outlines a theoretical basis to increase the benefits of working with different stakeholders across health and care, design, business and academia. It concludes by suggesting ways that researchers might address epistemic injustice, and so recognise and properly value the range of knowledge types encountered in participatory research.
Path analytic investigation of the intention to adopt open government data in Qatar (TAM revisited)
Authors: El-Kassem Rima Charbaji , Al-Kubaisi Ali 
Published: September 2023

Purpose
This study aims to examine the factors that influence end users’ intention to adopt open government data (OGD) portals, envisioning this relationship through a path causal model.

Design/methodology/approach
The study surveyed 696 Qataris and 730 white-collar expatriates using a questionnaire. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sample adequacy and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were used to determine the questionnaire’s construct validity.

Findings
The multiple regression analysis revealed that previous experience in using OGD portals, perceived usefulness and ease of use of OGD portals, marital status, age and attitude toward using OGD portals significantly predicted the intention to adopt OGD portals. Moreover, age and marital status significantly affected the intention to adopt OGD portals. The outcomes of the path causal model show that the direct effects of each explanatory variable are enhanced by the effects of the other independent variables in the causal model.

Practical implications
The study pioneers the application of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to analyze motivating factors for Qatari residents to adopt OGD portals. Using this framework can help policymakers build strategies to boost the use of OGD portals in Qatar.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the TAM has never been examined in the Qatari setting to analyze the adoption of OGD portals. The present study fills knowledge gaps about and offers a clearer understanding of the elements influencing the adoption of OGD portals.
Podoplanin‐positive cells located in the basal layer of Bowen disease include tumor cells with cancer stem cell properties
Authors: Murao Kazutoshi , Kubo Yoshiaki 
Published: September 2023

AbstractPodoplanin (PDPN) is widely used as a marker of lymphatic endothelial cells. PDPN is also involved in tumor progression, and upregulated PDPN expression is often found in various cancers. In this study, we first immunohistochemically examined PDPN expression in 87 cases of Bowen disease. Positive expression was detected in 64.4% of Bowen disease specimens, and the positive cells were exclusively located in the basal layer and corresponded to palisaded basal cells (PBCs). PBCs have been considered to be residual normal keratinocytes so far, but PDPN expression in cancers is generally associated with poor clinical outcomes. We also examined PDPN expression in 27 cases of Bowen carcinoma. Diffuse and strong PDPN expression was detected in 22.2% of Bowen carcinoma specimens, and another 22.2% showed PDPN expression at the leading edges of tumor nests. These results prompted us to determine whether PDPN‐positive cells are more tumorigenic than PDPN‐negative cells. We cultured Bowen disease cells using a three‐dimensional (3D) cell culture system and examined PDPN expression. In the cultured Bowen disease tissue, PDPN expression was again detected in the basal layer. Then, we isolated 1.2 × 105 PDPN‐positive and ‐negative cells from the 3D organotypic culture of Bowen disease by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting analysis and compared their tumorigenicity using 3D culture. The PDPN‐positive tumor cells were able to regenerate Bowen disease tissue, but the PDPN‐negative tumor cells were not. In addition, the regenerated Bowen disease tissue derived from the PDPN‐positive cells exhibited PDPN expression in its basal layer, as the parental Bowen disease tissue did. These results indicate that PDPN‐positive cells include tumor cells with cancer stem cell properties. Although the precise mechanism through which PDPN expression is involved in the pathogenesis of Bowen disease needs to be determined, PDPN may be a novel druggable target for Bowen disease.
‘CandidatusTisiphia’ is a widespread Rickettsiaceae symbiont in the mosquito Anopheles plumbeus (Diptera: Culicidae)
Authors: Davison Helen R. , Crozier Jessica , Pirro Stacy , Kampen Helge , Werner Doreen , Hurst Gregory D. D. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractSymbiotic bacteria can alter host biology by providing protection from natural enemies, or alter reproduction or vectoral competence. Symbiont‐linked control of vector‐borne disease in Anopheles has been hampered by a lack of symbioses that can establish stable vertical transmission in the host. Previous screening found the symbiont ‘Candidatus Tisiphia’ in Anopheles plumbeus, an aggressive biter and potential secondary vector of malaria parasites and West Nile virus. We screened samples collected over 10‐years across Germany and used climate databases to assess environmental influence on incidence. We observed a 95% infection rate, and that the frequency of infection did not fluctuate with broad environmental factors. Maternal inheritance is indicated by presence in the ovaries through FISH microscopy. Finally, we assembled a high‐quality 1.6 Mbp draft genome of ‘Ca. Tisiphia’ to explore its phylogeny and potential metabolic competence. The infection is closely related to strains found in Culicoides biting midges and shows similar patterns of metabolism, providing no evidence of the capacity to synthesize B‐vitamins. This infection offers avenues for onward research in anopheline mosquito symbioses. Additionally, it provides future opportunity to study the impact of ‘Ca. Tisiphia’ on natural and transinfected hosts, especially in relation to reproductive fitness and vectorial competence and capacity.
Ecology theory disentangles microbial dichotomies
Authors: Couso Luciana L. , Soler‐Bistué Alfonso , Aptekmann Ariel A. , Sánchez Ignacio E. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractMicrobes are often discussed in terms of dichotomies such as copiotrophic/oligotrophic and fast/slow‐growing microbes, defined using the characterisation of microbial growth in isolated cultures. The dichotomies are usually qualitative and/or study‐specific, sometimes precluding clear‐cut results interpretation. We can unravel microbial dichotomies as life history strategies by combining ecology theory with Monod curves, a laboratory mathematical tool of bacterial physiology that relates the specific growth rate of a microbe with the concentration of a limiting nutrient. Fitting of Monod curves provides quantities that directly correspond to key parameters in ecological theories addressing species coexistence and diversity, such as r/K selection theory, resource competition and community structure theory and the CSR triangle of life strategies. The resulting model allows us to reconcile the copiotrophic/oligotrophic and fast/slow‐growing dichotomies as different subsamples of a life history strategy triangle that also includes r/K strategists. We also used the number of known carbon sources together with community structure theory to partially explain the diversity of heterotrophic microbes observed in metagenomics experiments. In sum, we propose a theoretical framework for the study of natural microbial communities that unifies several existing proposals. Its application would require the integration of metagenomics, metametabolomics, Monod curves and carbon source data.
The Story of Miss C.’s Seduction of Young Women. A Methodological Quest into Female Same‐Sex Relations at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Authors: Andreassen Rikke 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThis article explores a series of newspaper articles from 1908, describing Miss C. – a Copenhagen woman who, apparently, hosted carnal orgies in which she ‘converted’ young women into sapphism. While most historical sources only hint at female same‐sex relationships or describe women's romantic (platonic) feelings for one another, these articles are explicit in their descriptions of lust and carnal sex. For this reason, they add nuance to our historical perceptions of (Western) female same‐sex relations during the turn of the twentieth century. Methodologically, I use my renovation of a Copenhagen flat as an entry point into the articles. I see both projects (the renovation and the analysis) through the lens of a palimpsest, understanding the surface to hide deeper layers of meaning. Thus, the renovation serves as an allegory of my search for knowledge about Miss C. and her lovers, which I attempt to uncover by engaging in reparative readings. As I develop the analysis, I reflect upon my longing to find historical characters who mirror my own identity, as well as the challenge faced by historians researching sexuality in their attempts to write about the past in ways that respect subjects without castrating them or depriving them of agency.
GEOGRAPHIES OF EXCLUSION: Reproducing Dispossession and Erasure within a Waste Picker Organization in Mumbai
Authors: Sharma Sneha 
Published: September 2023

AbstractA rich seam of waste scholarship already addresses the exclusion faced by informal waste workers as cities in the global South undergo spatial transformations to become ‘world class’. However, less attention has been paid to how state practices have reproduced inequalities within and across waste picker communities. Drawing upon eleven months of ethnographic research at Mumbai's Deonar dump site, this article maps the practices through which waste workers have responded to their exclusion following a massive fire in 2016. It demonstrates that social exclusion is experienced differently by different members of the community and calls for a greater focus on heterogeneity amongst waste workers. Multi‐dimensional vulnerabilities manifest through these workers’ deal‐making strategies, while simultaneously mirroring the conditions of marginality produced by the state. The article contributes to debates on marginality by employing the lens of erasure to show how exclusion relies on the optics of visibility and invisibility. By unpicking the hierarchical structure within one waste worker organization, the article argues that the state‐led mandate for garbage‐free cities in India disproportionately affects those located at the margins of marginalized groups.
The most consistent finding in forensic science is inconsistency
Authors: Dror Itiel E. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe most consistent finding in many forensic science domains is inconsistency (i.e., lack of reliability, reproducibility, repeatability, and replicability). The lack of consistency is a major problem, both from a scientific and a criminal justice point of view. Examining forensic conclusion data, from across many forensic domains, highlights the underlying cognitive issues and offers a better understanding of the issues and challenges. Such insights enable the development of ways to minimize these inconsistencies and move forward. The aim is to highlight the problem, so that it can be minimized and the reliability of forensic science evidence can be improved.
Correlation of fruit tree rhizosphere soils with entomopathogenic fungi
Authors: Kim Seulki , Hwang Dong Young , Shin Tae Young , Kwak Jin‐Hyeob 
Published: September 2023

AbstractEntomopathogenic fungi are microorganisms that control the density of host insects in nature; they are being studied as environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical insecticides for controlling insect pests. The main habitat of entomopathogenic fungi is soil, and the correlation between the distribution of entomopathogenic fungi and the physicochemical characteristics of soils planted with different trees, including vine (outdoor, greenhouse, and greenhouse shine musket), apple, peach, and pear, were analyzed. The entomopathogenic fungi of the generaBeauveria,Metarhizium, andPurpureocilliuminvestigated in this study were all found in soil samples from vine‐greenhouse, apple, and peach trees.PurpureocilliumandBeauveriaabundances were positively correlated with soil properties; however,Metarhiziumabundances were not correlated with soil properties. TheMetarhiziumisolates discovered in this study showed pathogenicity to cotton aphids (an agricultural pest) and can be employed as sources for biological studies in the future. This study provides data on the diversity and abundance of entomopathogenic fungi related with soil properties, as well as the molecular, biological, and insecticidal characteristics ofMetarhiziumisolates.