Analyst's evaluation of KPI usefulness, standardisation and assurance

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine analysts’ evaluations of usefulness of KPIs disclosed by UK corporates. The disclosure of KPIs, both financial and non-financial is driven by legislation in the form of the Companies Act 2006. The paper considers two of the key concerns raised with KPI disclosure: a lack of standardisation (leading to inconsistency of calculation) and a lack of external assurance. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was prepared which was used as the basis for semi-structured interviews with senior professional equity analysts. Questions were designed to cover aspects of usefulness and desirability of standardisation to improve consistency and comparability as well as the incremental value of audit firms providing assurance of KPIs. Findings: KPIs are indeed a useful supplement to the financial statements in developing a corporate narrative. Analysts highlighted that a significant amount of this information is released to the market in advance of the Annual Report which performs a confirmatory role. Whilst analysts highlight inconsistencies in calculation methods of KPIs they did not feel that a standard calculation should be prescribed. Further they did not feel that assurance over the calculation would be valuable as they perceived that this would remove the flexibility of companies to select the most appropriate measures. Research limitations/implications: The paper contributes to the body of research on disclosure by focussing on how the KPI disclosure is used by the intended audience and whether and how the disclosure mechanism may be strengthened. Practical implications: The findings provide an interface between theory and practice adding to the body of knowledge on disclosure theory and in particular KPI disclosure and how it is used. This will in turn help the standard setters in ensuring that disclosures enhance usefulness. Originality/value: Insight into the actual usefulness of these measures is important to inform this debate on presentation of the corporate “narrative”. This goes some way to addressing the unanswered questions in Healy and Palepu (2001) and the calls for further qualitative research in the area (Watson et al., 2002)

The Variations in Religious and Legal Understandings on Halal Slaughter

Purpose: This paper attempts to provide an overview of different understandings regarding the concept of "what constitutes halal" and "who determines this concept?" In practice, this equates to contemporary legal understandings versus religious understandings. The paper further aims to provide an overview of competing Muslim understandings regarding the concept of "What does or does not constitute halal slaughter?" In practice, this equates to evaluating the application of no stunning at all upon an animal (unanimous acceptance) versus the application of reversible stunning upon an animal (contested). Design: The study includes a review of priori literature and considers the current scenario of the halal poultry trade and raises important questions regarding Islamic dietary practices, halal food integrity, religious and animal welfare understandings. Three key questions were raised: "To what extent does stunning impact halal slaughter?’, ‘Who determines what is halal slaughter?’ and ‘What are the variations and tensions between legal and religious understandings of halal slaughter?’ Findings: The examination of such requirements and concomitant consumer and provider expectations is underpinned by a study of an operational framework, i.e. industry practices with poultry (hand slaughter, stunning, mechanical slaughter, etc.), ethical values and market forces to appraise whether there is a point of convergence for these that can be beneficial for both seller and consumer concerns. This paper has considered different perspectives on the religious slaughter and provided an overview of competing understandings regarding the above concepts. Originality/value – This study although academic and philosophical in nature, raises questions on route to suggesting future research directions. It provides real value in stimulating more research in the area of halal food production and contributes to the understanding of different slaughter requirements for religious slaughter and the meat industry. It further sheds light on not only the religious and secular legal frameworks on animal slaughter and welfare but also the variations in understanding between them and provides examples of attempts to bridge any gap. The paper highlights the importance of halal food based on religious values and its implications for wider society

Skills in the green economy: recycling promises in the UK e-waste management sector

In advanced economies the ‘greening’ of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job creation and upskilling, alongside its other benefits. In popular and policy rhetoric, the growing importance of ‘green skills’ is asserted frequently. This paper critically examines these claims within the context of the electronic waste management sector in the UK. Drawing on the cases of a non profit organisation and a small private enterprise in North West England, we observe that despite government support for developing skills in e-waste, both the development and utilisation of skills remain minimal. Critically, the relatively more skill-intensive process of reuse is substantially less profitable than recycling and resource capture. The paper concludes by noting that the expectations from the green economy for high quality jobs need to be assessed within the context of similar, misplaced celebrations of previous transformations of work in order to avoid recycling the same promises

Fundamental spray and combustion measurements of soy methyl-ester biodiesel

Although biodiesel has begun to penetrate the fuel market, its effect on injection processes, combustion and emission formation under diesel engine conditions remains somewhat unclear. Typical exhaust measurements from engines running biodiesel indicate that particulate matter, carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons are decreased, whereas nitrogen oxide emissions tend to be increased. However, these observations are the result of complex interactions between physical and chemical processes occurring in the combustion chamber, for which understanding is still needed. To characterize and decouple the physical and chemical influences of biodiesel on spray mixing, ignition, combustion and soot formation, a soy methyl-ester (SME) biodiesel is injected into a constant-volume combustion facility under diesel-like operating conditions. A range of optical diagnostics is performed, comparing biodiesel to a conventional #2 diesel at the same injection and ambient conditions. Schlieren high-speed imaging shows virtually the same vapour-phase penetration for the two fuels, while simultaneous Mie-scatter imaging shows that the maximum liquid-phase penetration of biodiesel is higher than diesel. Differences in the liquid-phase penetration are expected because of the different boiling-point temperatures of the two fuels. However, the different liquid-phase penetration does not affect overall mixing rate and downstream vapour-phase penetration because each fuel spray has similar momentum and spreading angle. For the biodiesel and diesel samples used in this study, the ignition delay and lift-off length are only slightly less for biodiesel compared to diesel, consistent with the fuel cetane number (51 for biodiesel, 46 for diesel). Because of the similarity in lift-off length, the differences in equivalence ratio distribution at the lift-off length are mainly affected by the oxygen content of the fuels. For biodiesel, the equivalence ratio is reduced, which, along with the fuel molecular structure and oxygen content, significantly affects soot formation downstream. Spatially resolved soot volume fraction measurements obtained by combining line-of-sight laser extinction measurements with planar laser-induced incandescence imaging show that the soot concentration can be reduced by an order of magnitude for biodiesel. These integrated measurements of spray mixing, combustion and quantitative soot concentration provide new validation data for the development of computational fluid dynamics spray, combustion and soot formation models suitable for the latest biofuels.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for Jean-Guillaume Nerva's visiting research, through the OPTICOMB project [TRA2007-67961-C03-01].Nerva, J.; Genzale, CL.; Kook, S.; García Oliver, JM.; Pickett, LM. (2013). Fundamental spray and combustion measurements of soy methyl-ester biodiesel. International Journal of Engine Research. 14(4):373-390. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087412456688S373390144(2009). World Energy Outlook 2009. World Energy Outlook. doi:10.1787/weo-2009-enMonyem, A., & H. Van Gerpen, J. (2001). The effect of biodiesel oxidation on engine performance and emissions. Biomass and Bioenergy, 20(4), 317-325. doi:10.1016/s0961-9534(00)00095-7LAPUERTA, M., ARMAS, O., & RODRIGUEZFERNANDEZ, J. (2008). Effect of biodiesel fuels on diesel engine emissions. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 34(2), 198-223. doi:10.1016/j.pecs.2007.07.001Fisher, B. T., Knothe, G., & Mueller, C. J. (2010). Liquid-Phase Penetration under Unsteady In-Cylinder Conditions: Soy- and Cuphea-Derived Biodiesel Fuels Versus Conventional Diesel. Energy & Fuels, 24(9), 5163-5180. doi:10.1021/ef100594pFang, T., Lin, Y.-C., Foong, T. M., & Lee, C. (2009). Biodiesel combustion in an optical HSDI diesel engine under low load premixed combustion conditions. Fuel, 88(11), 2154-2162. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2009.02.033Pastor, J. V., García-Oliver, J. M., Nerva, J.-G., & Giménez, B. (2011). Fuel effect on the liquid-phase penetration of an evaporating spray under transient diesel-like conditions. Fuel, 90(11), 3369-3381. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.05.006Fisher, B. T., & Mueller, C. J. (2010). Liquid penetration length of heptamethylnonane and trimethylpentane under unsteady in-cylinder conditions. Fuel, 89(10), 2673-2696. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2010.04.024Kim, H. J., Park, S. H., Suh, H. K., & Lee, C. S. (2009). Atomization and Evaporation Characteristics of Biodiesel and Dimethyl Ether Compared to Diesel Fuel in a High-Pressure Injection System. Energy & Fuels, 23(3), 1734-1742. doi:10.1021/ef800811gSuh, H. K., Roh, H. G., & Lee, C. S. (2008). Spray and Combustion Characteristics of Biodiesel∕Diesel Blended Fuel in a Direct Injection Common-Rail Diesel Engine. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 130(3). doi:10.1115/1.2835354Pickett, L. M., & Siebers, D. L. (2006). Soot Formation in Diesel Fuel Jets Near the Lift-Off Length. International Journal of Engine Research, 7(2), 103-130. doi:10.1243/146808705x57793Pickett, L. M., Kook, S., Persson, H., & Andersson, Ö. (2009). Diesel fuel jet lift-off stabilization in the presence of laser-induced plasma ignition. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 32(2), 2793-2800. doi:10.1016/j.proci.2008.06.082Yoo, C. S., Richardson, E. S., Sankaran, R., & Chen, J. H. (2011). A DNS study on the stabilization mechanism of a turbulent lifted ethylene jet flame in highly-heated coflow. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 33(1), 1619-1627. doi:10.1016/j.proci.2010.06.147Pastor, J. V., Payri, R., Gimeno, J., & Nerva, J. G. (2009). Experimental Study on RME Blends: Liquid-Phase Fuel Penetration, Chemiluminescence, and Soot Luminosity in Diesel-Like Conditions. Energy & Fuels, 23(12), 5899-5915. doi:10.1021/ef9007328Benajes, J., Molina, S., Novella, R., & Amorim, R. (2010). Study on Low Temperature Combustion for Light-Duty Diesel Engines. Energy & Fuels, 24(1), 355-364. doi:10.1021/ef900832cPickett, L. M., & Siebers, D. L. (2002). An investigation of diesel soot formation processes using micro-orifices. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 29(1), 655-662. doi:10.1016/s1540-7489(02)80084-0Siebers, D. L., & Pickett, L. M. (2004). Injection Pressure and Orifice Diameter Effects on Soot in DI Diesel Fuel Jets. Thermo- and Fluid Dynamic Processes in Diesel Engines 2, 109-132. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-10502-3_7Pickett, L. M., & Siebers, D. L. (2004). Soot in diesel fuel jets: effects of ambient temperature, ambient density, and injection pressure. Combustion and Flame, 138(1-2), 114-135. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2004.04.006Cheng, A. S., Upatnieks, A., & Mueller, C. J. (2006). Investigation of the impact of biodiesel fuelling on NOx emissions using an optical direct injection diesel engine. International Journal of Engine Research, 7(4), 297-318. doi:10.1243/14680874jer05005Cheng, A. S. (Ed), Upatnieks, A., & Mueller, C. J. (2007). Investigation of Fuel Effects on Dilute, Mixing-Controlled Combustion in an Optical Direct-Injection Diesel Engine. Energy & Fuels, 21(4), 1989-2002. doi:10.1021/ef0606456Klein-Douwel, R. J. H., Donkerbroek, A. J., van Vliet, A. P., Boot, M. D., Somers, L. M. T., Baert, R. S. G., … ter Meulen, J. J. (2009). Soot and chemiluminescence in diesel combustion of bio-derived, oxygenated and reference fuels. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 32(2), 2817-2825. doi:10.1016/j.proci.2008.06.140Fang, T., & Lee, C. F. (2009). Bio-diesel effects on combustion processes in an HSDI diesel engine using advanced injection strategies. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 32(2), 2785-2792. doi:10.1016/j.proci.2008.07.031Payri, F., Pastor, J. V., Nerva, J.-G., & Garcia-Oliver, J. M. (2011). Lift-Off Length and KL Extinction Measurements of Biodiesel and Fischer-Tropsch Fuels under Quasi-Steady Diesel Engine Conditions. SAE International Journal of Engines, 4(2), 2278-2297. doi:10.4271/2011-24-0037Kook, S., & Pickett, L. M. (2012). Liquid length and vapor penetration of conventional, Fischer–Tropsch, coal-derived, and surrogate fuel sprays at high-temperature and high-pressure ambient conditions. Fuel, 93, 539-548. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.10.004Settles, G. S. (2001). Schlieren and Shadowgraph Techniques. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-56640-0Pickett, L. M., Manin, J., Genzale, C. L., Siebers, D. L., Musculus, M. P. B., & Idicheria, C. A. (2011). Relationship Between Diesel Fuel Spray Vapor Penetration/Dispersion and Local Fuel Mixture Fraction. SAE International Journal of Engines, 4(1), 764-799. doi:10.4271/2011-01-0686MUSCULUS, M., & PICKETT, L. (2005). Diagnostic considerations for optical laser-extinction measurements of soot in high-pressure transient combustion environments. Combustion and Flame, 141(4), 371-391. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2005.01.013Williams, T. C., Shaddix, C. R., Jensen, K. A., & Suo-Anttila, J. M. (2007). Measurement of the dimensionless extinction coefficient of soot within laminar diffusion flames. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 50(7-8), 1616-1630. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2006.08.024Kook, S., & Pickett, L. M. (2011). Soot volume fraction and morphology of conventional and surrogate jet fuel sprays at 1000-K and 6.7-MPa ambient conditions. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 33(2), 2911-2918. doi:10.1016/j.proci.2010.05.073De Francqueville, L., Bruneaux, G., & Thirouard, B. (2010). Soot Volume Fraction Measurements in a Gasoline Direct Injection Engine by Combined Laser Induced Incandescence and Laser Extinction Method. SAE International Journal of Engines, 3(1), 163-182. doi:10.4271/2010-01-0346Musculus, M. P. B., & Kattke, K. (2009). Entrainment Waves in Diesel Jets. SAE International Journal of Engines, 2(1), 1170-1193. doi:10.4271/2009-01-1355Desantes, J. M., Pastor, J. V., García-Oliver, J. M., & Pastor, J. M. (2009). A 1D model for the description of mixing-controlled reacting diesel sprays. Combustion and Flame, 156(1), 234-249. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2008.10.008Idicheria, C. A., & Pickett, L. M. (2011). Ignition, soot formation, and end-of-combustion transients in diesel combustion under high-EGR conditions. International Journal of Engine Research, 12(4), 376-392. doi:10.1177/1468087411399505Aizawa, T., & Kosaka, H. (2008). Investigation of early soot formation process in a diesel spray flame via excitation—emission matrix using a multi-wavelength laser source. International Journal of Engine Research, 9(1), 79-97. doi:10.1243/14680874jer01407Bruneaux, G. (2008). Combustion structure of free and wall-impinging diesel jets by simultaneous laser-induced fluorescence of formaldehyde, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, and hydroxides. 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Improved behavioral indices of welfare in continuous compared to intermittent pair-housing in adult female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Limiting opportunities for captive non-human primates (NHPs) to express species-specific social behaviors may disrupt the adaptive drive for social companionship and may lead to increases in coping behaviors and inactivity. While captive NHPs show improved welfare when moving to pair-housing from single-housing, the impact of daily separation of pair-mates, as is implemented in intermittent pair-housing, is not fully understood. We compared behavioral indices of welfare exhibited by adult female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in two conditions: (1) intermittent pair-housing, involving daily overnight separation of pair-mates, and (2) continuous pair-housing, involving little separation of pair-mates. A within-subjects study design tested two groups of females experiencing both pairing conditions in an alternate order, switching either from continuous to intermittent pair-housing, or from intermittent to continuous pair-housing. Behavioral observations, recording activity state, self-directed, abnormal, and social behaviors, were conducted at midday when all females were paired, and in the afternoon when intermittent pairs were separated. Females exhibited higher levels of inactivity and self-directed behavior when separated due to intermittent pair-housing in comparison to continuous pair-housing. In addition, intermittently paired females showed higher levels of grooming and other types of affiliation when paired, than during the same time frame when they were continuously paired. These results suggest that females in the continuous presence of a social partner experience improved levels of activity and do not need to elevate levels of behavioral coping mechanisms (e.g., self-scratching, increased affiliation) as they receive the benefits associated with social companionship consistently throughout the day. Overall, this study provides the first evidence that continuous pair-housing affords better welfare than intermittent pair-housing in adult female rhesus macaques. Pair-housing options, such as continuous pairing, that reduce reliance on behavioral coping mechanisms and promote adaptive social behavior throughout the entirety of the day should be prioritized over husbandry care scheduled for convenience

The effectiveness of conventional trickling filter treatment plants at reducing concentrations of copper in wastewaters

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Science of the Total Environment. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2009 Elsevier B.V.Eight different sewage treatment works were sampled in the North West of England. The effectiveness of the conventional treatment processes (primary sedimentation and biological trickling filters) as well as various tertiary treatment units in terms of both total and dissolved copper removal was evaluated. The removal of total copper across primary sedimentation averaged 53% and were relatively consistent at all sites, however, at three sites the removal of dissolved copper also occurred at this stage of treatment. Removal of total copper by the biological trickling filters averaged 49%, however, substantial dissolution of copper occurred at two sites, which highlighted the unpredictability of this treatment process in the removal of dissolved copper. Copper removal during tertiary treatment varied considerably even for the same treatment processes installed at different sites, primarily due to the variability of insoluble copper removal, with little effect on copper in the dissolved form being observed. The proportion of dissolved copper increased significantly during treatment, from an average of 22% in crude sewages to 55% in the final effluents. There may be the potential to optimise existing, conventional treatment processes (primary or biological treatment) to enhance dissolved copper removal, possibly reducing the requirement for installing any tertiary processes specifically for the removal of copper.United Utilities PL

Environmental noise control during its transmission phase to protect buildings. Design model for acoustic barriers based on arrays of isolated scatterers

A new generation of acoustic barriers is being introduced into the noise control market. These barriers, based on arrays of isolated scatterers, present interesting properties to be used in cities to reduce the transmitted transport noise affecting buildings. Among them, both aesthetic and continuity factors of the urban landscape may be mentioned. This new kind of barrier is technologically advanced and acoustically competitive with respect to the current ones formed by continuous rigid materials. To design these barriers whilst taking into account their inherent acoustic complexity, we present an overlapping numerical model here that enables us to split the real three-dimensional problem into two twodimensional ones, allowing both the reduction of the computational cost and the separate analysis of each one of the noise control mechanisms involved. We analyse different cases, checking the numerical simulations with accurate experimental results.This work is supported by MEC (Spanish Government) under grant No. MTM2012-36740-C02-02.Castiñeira Ibáñez, S.; Rubio Michavila, C.; Sánchez Pérez, JV. (2015). Environmental noise control during its transmission phase to protect buildings. Design model for acoustic barriers based on arrays of isolated scatterers. Building and Environment. 93:179-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.07.002S1791859

High-pressure processing of Manuka honey: brown pigment formation, improvement of antibacterial activity and hydroxymethylfurfural content

This work was undertaken to assess the effects of high-pressure processing on brown pigment formation, antibacterial activity and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content in Manuka honey. The honey was subjected to different pressures (200–600 MPa) at ambient temperatures (25–33 °C) and with moderate temperatures (53–74 °C) for holding times (10–30 min). The brown pigment formation in high-pressuretreated sample showed a significant increase (0.16–0.17, P 0.05). Thus, high-pressure processing has no adverse effect on the honey quality because it can control HMF concentration during process. Increasing brown pigment formation is associated with the enhancement of antibacterial activity

Challenges in the assessment of medical devices: the MedtecHTA project

Assessing medical devices (MDs) raises challenges which require us to reflect on whether current methods are adequate. Major features of devices are: (i) device–operator interaction can generate learning curve effects; (ii) incremental nature of innovation needs to be addressed by careful identification of the alternatives for comparative and incremental costeffectiveness analysis; and (iii) broader organizational impact in terms of training and infrastructure, coupled with dynamic pricing, requires a more flexible approach to costing. The objective of the MedtecHTA project was to investigate improvements in HTA methods to allow for more comprehensive evaluation of MDs. It consisted of several work packages concerning (i) the available evidence on the currently adopted approaches for regulation and HTA of medical devices; (ii) the geographical variation in access to MDs; (iii) the development of methodological frameworks for conducting comparative effectiveness research and economic evaluation of MDs; and (iv) the organizational impact of MDs. This introductory paper summarizes the main results of the project and draws out the main overarching themes. This supplement represents a comprehensive report of all the main findings of the MedtecHTA project, and it is intended to be the main source for researchers and policy makers wanting information on the project