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Animal liquid manure contains large amounts of phosphorus (P), which is susceptible to runoff losses when manure is surface-applied on farms as a soil amendment. Even very small quantities of P can have a large impact on waterways and lead to eutrophication. Previous studies have shown that flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, a coal combustion by-product, can reduce P losses from runoff in soils. Therefore, the authors hypothesize that FGD gypsum could reduce nutrients in liquid manure prior to field applications. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of FGD gypsum to reduce P and suspended solids (SS) concentrations in liquid manure, also determining its proper rate(s) and minimum time of reaction.

The experimental design was completely randomized with three replicates. Each plot was constituted by a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) column (1 m height and 0.15 m diameter). Dairy liquid manure and FGD gypsum rates (0, 0.62, 1.25 and 2.5 mgl⁻¹) were added to the PVC columns and manually shaken for two minutes. Sampling was performed at 0.35, 0.65 and 0.95 m depths after 0 (immediately after shaking), 4, 8, 16 and 24 hours. Amount of phosphorus was determined by a colorimetric method and solids concentration by mass difference.

FGD gypsum reduced P concentrations in the liquid manure after four hours of reaction. The most effective rate was 0.62 mgl⁻¹at a 0.35 m depth. FGD gypsum increased SS concentrations in depth in all treatments.

There are growing concerns regarding the fate of nutrients, especially phosphorus, from land application of animal waste. The results indicated that treating liquid manure in the settling tanks with FGD gypsum before field application can be particularly useful on farms where surface-manure is applied, reducing potential losses of P following manure applications, and consequently the eutrophication risk to waterways.

Informed by multiple disciplines, theories, and methods, higher education scholars have developed a robust and diverse literature in many countries. Yet, some important (organizational) sociological perspectives, both more established and more recent, are insufficiently linked. In particular, we identify two theoretical strands – institutional and relational – that, when joined, help to explain contemporary developments in global higher education and yield new organizational insights. We review relevant literature from each perspective, both in their general formulations and with specific reference to contemporary higher education research. Within the broad institutional strand, we highlight strategic action fields, organizational actorhood, and associational memberships. Within the relational strand, we focus on ties and relationships that are especially crucial as science has entered an age of (inter)national research collaboration. Across these theories, we discuss linkages between concepts, objects, and levels of analysis. We explore the methodological approach of social network analysis as it offers great potential to connect these strands and, thus, to advance contemporary higher education research in a collaborative era.

Rankings are widely regarded as particularly well-suited for capturing the public eye, which is considered a reason why they have become ubiquitous. However, we know little about how rankings direct media attention, as well as how media in turn shape and help sustain careers of specific rankings in the public over longer periods of time. To advance our understanding of the discursive dynamics at the intersection of rankings and the press, this study examines the media career of the Global Slavery Index (GSI) by analyzing 361 newspaper and magazine articles, published between the release of index’s inaugural edition in 2013 and until the end of 2019. To interpret the media coverage, the study draws attention to GSI’s universality, highly rationalized character, and a pledge to spotlight violation of the global moral order. The examination of the media coverage points to the following properties of the index as having shaped and helped sustain its career in the public: (1) repeated publication; (2) broad conceptualization of modern slavery; and (3) the construction thereof as a measurable global burden. The study finds that, throughout the period, the media were remarkably consistent in amplifying the most dramatic elements of the index. Over time, however, the index was increasingly more invoked for other purposes, usually either to lend credibility to a story or as a way of embedding local and situational concerns into global narratives.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the influence of SOEs on institutions. The authors argue that in some cases there are differences in institutional shape between the shape that is actually demanded by an institution’s institutional environment and the shape that the institution itself believes is demanded of its institutional framework. The authors observed a behavior specific to institutions that change their institutional shape in response to demands, irrespective of whether these demands are legitimate, and this behavior was primarily in response to demands from governments and SOEs. The authors call this situation institutional dysmorphia and contrast it with institutional isomorphism.

This study is characterized by the qualitative approach and descriptive form. It is also a documentary study employing the systematic review technique and critical appreciation in a research group. The case of the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) is analyzed to examine the different relationships between Brazilian SOEs and BNDES. It used secondary data provided by reports, papers and relevant magazines. The authors compare them with the conceptual purpose originated in the Medicine field.

The study is illustrated by the case of the BNDES and the various different relationships between Brazilian SOEs and BNDES are examined. This is a qualitative and descriptive documentary study, employing the systematic review technique. Specific behavior is observed in institutions that change their institutional shape in response to demands, irrespective of whether these demands are legitimate, and these demands mainly come from the government and from SOEs.

The authors use of secondary data from only one country that was used to present these arguments. The focus was restricted to the institutional framework comprising one institution and SOEs. Private firms were not considered in this institutional framework, but they must be included in a macro-environment. Institutional pressures are dynamic and asymmetric. The dynamism of institutional change was not evaluated, and neither was the evolution of the relationships between government, SOEs and institutions. Finally, researchers need to understand not only top-down models of institutional effects but also the institutional process that incorporates both institutional influence and firm responses.

The term institutional dysmorphia is proposed through the contrast with concepts such institutional isomorphism, with reference to the institutional logics and institutional complexity of these institutions’ and SOEs’ environment. The situation described institutional dysmorphia happening in emerging countries context and might open new avenues for research.

This review scopes evidence on the use of social robots for older adults with depressive symptoms, in the scenario of smart cities, analyzing the age-related depression specificities, investigated contexts and intervention protocols' features.

Studies retrieved from two major databases were selected against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were included if used social robots, included older adults over 60, and reported depressive symptoms measurements, with any type of research design. Papers not published in English, published as an abstract or study protocol, or not peer-reviewed were excluded.

28 relevant studies were included, in which PARO was the most used robot. Most studies included very older adults with neurocognitive disorders living in long-term care facilities. The intervention protocols were heterogeneous regarding the duration, session duration and frequency. Only 35.6% of the studies had a control group. Finally, only 32.1% of the studies showed a significant improvement in depression symptoms.

Despite the potential for using social robots in mental health interventions, in the scenario of smart cities, this review showed that their usefulness and effects in improving depressive symptoms in older adults have low internal and external validity. Future studies should consider factors as planning the intervention based on well-established supported therapies, characteristics and needs of the subjects, and the context in which the subjects are inserted.

This paper aims to present a literature review of the most recent optimisation methods applied to Credit Scoring Models (CSMs).

The research methodology employed technical procedures based on bibliographic and exploratory analyses. A traditional investigation was carried out using the Scopus, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases. The papers selection and classification took place in three steps considering only studies in English language and published in electronic journals (from 2008 to 2022). The investigation led up to the selection of 46 publications (10 presenting literature reviews and 36 proposing CSMs).

The findings showed that CSMs are usually formulated using Financial Analysis, Machine Learning, Statistical Techniques, Operational Research and Data Mining Algorithms. The main databases used by the researchers were banks and the University of California, Irvine. The analyses identified 48 methods used by CSMs, the main ones being: Logistic Regression (13%), Naive Bayes (10%) and Artificial Neural Networks (7%). The authors conclude that advances in credit score studies will require new hybrid approaches capable of integrating Big Data and Deep Learning algorithms into CSMs. These algorithms should have practical issues considered consider practical issues for improving the level of adaptation and performance demanded for the CSMs.

The results of this study might provide considerable practical implications for the application of CSMs. As it was aimed to demonstrate the application of optimisation methods, it is highly considerable that legal and ethical issues should be better adapted to CSMs. It is also suggested improvement of studies focused on micro and small companies for sales in instalment plans and commercial credit through the improvement or new CSMs.

The economic reality surrounding credit granting has made risk management a complex decision-making issue increasingly supported by CSMs. Therefore, this paper satisfies an important gap in the literature to present an analysis of recent advances in optimisation methods applied to CSMs. The main contribution of this paper consists of presenting the evolution of the state of the art and future trends in studies aimed at proposing better CSMs.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of length of service and ethical ideologies on cognitive moral development (CMD) and ethical behavioral intentions among public sector tax auditors in Brazil.

The research data were collected via survey questionnaires from a sample of 625 auditors who work for the Brazilian tax authority. Participants voluntarily complete an online instrument which included three scenarios with context-specific moral dilemmas, questions about the specific scenarios and an ethics position questionnaire. Multinomial logistic and ordinary least squares regressions were used to analyze the data.

The findings reveal that public sector tax auditors with shorter length of service are more likely to be at higher stages of moral development; relativistic ideology among public sector auditors is positively associated with more lenient ethical behavioral intention; idealistic ideology among public sector auditors is positively associated with stricter ethical behavioral intention; public sector auditors classified as absolutists are stricter in their ethical behavioral intentions; and public sector auditors classified as absolutists with length of service between 5 and 15 years are more likely to be at higher stages of moral development when compared to public sector tax auditors with longer length of service.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is one of the first studies that attempt to understand the effects of length of service and ethical ideology on CMD and ethical behavioral intention among public sector auditors. Additionally, it examines these issues in the context of Latin America.