Paleoecological studies of an archeological site in Sudan (Musawarat ElSufra)

Author(s):  
Amel Hassan Abdallah ◽  
Dafaala Ali Ibrahim

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the environmental changes, which took place in the study area Musawarat ElSufra and the authors try to find the causes of these changes and establish a comparison of the present and past vegetation of the area. Design/methodology/approach – Present vegetation was investigated using fresh plant materials for pollen analysis. Fossils were taken from the hafir (basin) to study the fossil pollen grains at different soil depths. Soil surface samples were taken to analyze the chemical and physical properties of the soil. Findings – The pollen analysis of the samples taken from the hafir (basin) of Musawarat reveals that there are 21 species belonging to 16 families. The dominant families were Cyperaceae, Commelinaceae, Mimosaceae and Amaranthaceae. Originality/value – Comparison of past and present vegetation reveal the causes of environmental change and insure sustainable development in arid region.

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Beams ◽  
Yun-Chia Yan

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effect that the recent financial crisis had on auditor conservatism in the form of increased going-concern opinions. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a sample of US’ distressed firms from 2005 to 2011 to test the change in going-concern opinions issued. This paper uses a logistic regression model to control for other predictors of going-concern opinions to determine when the financial crisis led to an increase in auditor conservatism. Findings – The authors find that auditors became more conservative in the form of issuing higher levels of going-concern opinions even after controlling for other predictors of going-concern opinions. This increased conservatism was present in both Big 4 and non-Big 4 accounting firms. The increased conservatism quickly returned to normal levels when the financial crisis eased. Originality/value – These findings add to the literature on the effects of environmental changes on audit opinions. Additionally, this study finds a difference in the timing of the reaction by large and small accounting firms, but, overall, it finds consistency in that both increased conservatism during the crisis and quickly returned to normal afterward.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Gölgeci ◽  
Ahmad Arslan ◽  
Desislava Dikova ◽  
David M. Gligor

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the interplay between resilience and agility in explicating the concept of resilient agility and discuss institutional and organizational antecedents of resilient agility in volatile economies. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a conceptual framework that offers an original account of underlying means of ambidextrous capabilities for organizational change and behaviors in volatile economies and how firms stay both resilient and agile in such contexts. Findings The authors suggest that resilient agility, an ambidextrous capability of sensing and acting on environmental changes nimbly while withstanding unfavorable disruptions, can explain entrepreneurial firms’ survival and prosperity. The authors then address institutional (instability and estrangement) and organizational (entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and bricolage) antecedents of resilient agility in volatile economies. Originality/value The authors highlight that unfavorable conditions in volatile economies might have bright sides for firms that can leverage them as entrepreneurial opportunities and propose that firms can achieve increased resilient agility when high levels of institutional instability and estrangement are matched with high levels of EO and bricolage.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hernando Baggio Filho ◽  
Mariana de Oliveira Freitas ◽  
Thalita Siqueira de Meneses ◽  
Thiago Martins Da Costa

Esta breve comunicação, tem como proposta apresentar aos leitores, um dos mais importantes sítios arqueológicos a céu aberto ao longo do Vale do São Francisco o Sítio Arqueológico Cemitério Caixa d’Água, localizado no município de Buritizeiro, norte do Estado de Minas Gerais. O projeto de pesquisa é financiado pela Fundação de Amaparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG, e tem como objetivo principal entender o padrão de aldeamento pré-histórico do sítio arqueológico. Foi montado uma malha superfial de amostragens, o material coletado será submetido a análises físico-químicas, químicas e mineralógica (classificação dos solos, fracionamento, cor dos solos, mineralogia, entre outras); químicas (pH, Zn, Cu, Ca, Cr, P, Pb e C orgânico Total ), além disso, a caracterização do ambiente físico. Os resultados obtidos poderão elucidar alguns dos principais enigmas arqueológicos do sítio, como por exemplo, os vários momentos de ocupação pré-histórica que ocorreram no sítio arqueológico Cemitério Caixa d’Água.Palavras-chave: Sítio arqueológico, FAPEMIG, solos, geoquímica ABSTRACT: THE CAIXA D’ÁGUA CEMETERY SITE GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL ASPECTS: SÃO FRANCISCO VALLEY- MINAS GERAIS/BRAZIL. This brief communication, has a proposal to present to readers, one of the most important archaeological sites in the open along the São Francisco Valley Cemetery the archaeological site Caixa d’ água, located in the municipality of Buritizeiro, north of Minas Gerais. The research project is funded by the Fundação de Amaparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG, and has as main objective to understand the pattern of village's prehistoric archaeological site. Will be mounted, a mesh surface samples (geocoding, geoprocessing, soil, surface geochemistry, etc.). The collected material will be subjected to physical and chemical analyzes (soil classification, division, color of soil and others); chemical (pH, Zn, Cu, Ca, Cr, P, Pb, and total organic carbon), mineralogical analysis of soils, in addition, the characterization of the physical environment. The results may explain some of the major puzzles of the archaeological site, for example, the various moments of prehistoric archaeological site that occurred in the Caixa d’ água cemetery.Keywords: Archeological site, FAPEMIG, soil, geochemistry


Author(s):  
Seyed Sajad Sajadi ◽  
Saeed Reza Ostadzadeh ◽  
Seyed Hossein Hesamedin Sadeghi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the simultaneous effects of ionization and dispersion of soil on the impulse behavior of grounding electrodes under first and subsequent stroke currents. Design/methodology/approach A recently introduced technique called improved multi-conductor transmission line (MTL) is simplified for grounding electrodes buried in both-affected soils. Findings The simulation results show that including the two effects simultaneously in highly resistive soils under high-valued subsequent stroke current is recommended. Otherwise, simultaneous effects can be disregard. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no research on sensitivity analyses for the simultaneous inclusion of the two effects on the effective length and the induced voltage on the soil surface. To this end, the simplified MTL is applied to the grounding electrodes. The simulation results show that the computational efficiency in comparison with previous methods is, first, considerably increased. Second, the simultaneous effects result in decreasing the soil surface voltage with respect to situations where either ionization or dispersion is taken into account (single-affected soils). In other words, the performance of grounding systems is improved. Third, the effective length in both-affected soil is has a middle value with respect to the single-affected soil. Such findings practically and financially are of importance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-326
Author(s):  
Giuliana Giardina

Purpose The purpose of this study is to know about the recent environmental changes that have impacted society worldwide have led to increased interest in and attention to the topic of sustainability. A good example of this new trend is provided by the Expo 2020, which is focussing on sustainability as one of the key sub-themes of the event. Design/methodology/approach This study explores guests’ and employees’ perspectives on the deployment of sustainable practices in hotels. Particular attention is placed on the identification of challenges and drivers of sustainable practices in luxury hotel properties in Dubai. Findings The discoveries made during the study hold meaningful implications for industry professionals and provide insightful recommendations for the upcoming Expo 2020, which can be leveraged as a tool to increase awareness and drive education on effective sustainable practices. Originality/value With 35 different nationalities contributing to the data collection, the present study provides a diverse sample, enabling the researcher to shed light on the previously identified literature contradictions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (16) ◽  
pp. 5666-5671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Schulz ◽  
Anika Friese ◽  
Sylvia Klees ◽  
Bernd A. Tenhagen ◽  
Alexandra Fetsch ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDuring 1 year, samples were taken on 4 days, one sample in each season, from pigs, the floor, and the air inside pig barns and from the ambient air and soil at different distances outside six commercial livestock-associated methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(LA-MRSA)-positive pig barns in the north and east of Germany. LA-MRSA was isolated from animals, floor, and air samples in the barn, showing a range of airborne LA-MRSA between 6 and 3,619 CFU/m3(median, 151 CFU/m3). Downwind of the barns, LA-MRSA was detected in low concentrations (11 to 14 CFU/m3) at distances of 50 and 150 m; all upwind air samples were negative. In contrast, LA-MRSA was found on soil surfaces at distances of 50, 150, and 300 m downwind from all barns, but no statistical differences could be observed between the proportions of positive soil surface samples at the three different distances. Upwind of the barns, positive soil surface samples were found only sporadically. Significantly more positive LA-MRSA samples were found in summer than in the other seasons both in air and soil samples upwind and downwind of the pig barns.spatyping was used to confirm the identity of LA-MRSA types found inside and outside the barns. The results show that there is regular airborne LA-MRSA transmission and deposition, which are strongly influenced by wind direction and season, of up to at least 300 m around positive pig barns. The described boot sampling method seems suitable to characterize the contamination of the vicinity of LA-MRSA-positive pig barns by the airborne route.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Ian Cummins

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN) report on the role of the appropriate adult. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the NAAN report and a review of relevant policy and research literature. Findings There to Help 2 highlights that there are still significant gaps in the provision of appropriate adult schemes across England and Wales. These gaps potentially place vulnerable adults at increased risk. Originality/value This paper is a review of recent research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hennekam ◽  
Subramaniam Ananthram ◽  
Steve McKenna

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individuals perceive and react to the involuntary demotion of a co-worker in their organisation. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews (23 dyads) with co-workers of demoted individuals. Findings The findings suggest that an individual’s observation of the demotion of a co-worker has three stages: their perception of fairness, their emotional reaction and their behavioural reaction. The perception of fairness concerned issues of distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice. The emotional responses identified were feelings of disappointment/disillusion, uncertainty, vulnerability and anger. Finally, the behavioural reactions triggered by their emotional responses included expressions of voice, loyalty, exit and adaptation. Originality/value Perceptions of (in)justice perpetrated on others stimulate emotional and behavioural responses, which impacts organisational functioning. Managers should therefore pay attention to the way a demotion is perceived, not only by those directly concerned, but also by co-workers as observers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas ◽  
Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas ◽  
Ekaterina Zabelina ◽  
Andrés Palacio-Fierro ◽  
Margarita Velín-Fárez ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.


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