Manchester Metropolitan University

About: Manchester Metropolitan University is a education organization based out in Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 5435 authors who have published 16202 publications receiving 442561 citations. The organization is also known as: Manchester Polytechnic & MMU.

Iron minerals in marine sediments record chemical environments

Abstract: Post-depositional chemical reactions involving iron are important in shallow-marine sediments. They play a significant role in governing the types of minerals that precipitate in such settings. The level of iron supply to marine sediments creates contrasting chemical pathways, each producing distinctive mineral assemblages. An understanding of these processes not only offers insights into past sedimentary environments on Earth but also a greater appreciation of the nature of mineral–water–bacteria interactions throughout the shallow-marine realm.

Islamic governance, national governance, and bank risk management and disclosure in MENA countries

Abstract: We examine the relationships among religious governance, especially Islamic governance quality (IGQ), national governance quality (NGQ), and risk management and disclosure practices (RDPs), and consequently ascertain whether NGQ has a moderating influence on the IGQ-RDPs nexus. Using one of the largest datasets relating to Islamic banks from 10 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries from 2006 to 2013, our findings are three-fold. First, we find that RDPs are higher in banks with higher IGQ. Second, we find that RDPs are higher in banks from countries with higher NGQ. Finally, we find that NGQ has a moderating effect on the IGQ-RDPs nexus. Our findings are robust to alternative RDPs measures and estimation techniques. These results imply that the quality of disclosure depends on the nature of the macro-social level factors, such as religion that have remained largely unexplored in business and society research, and therefore have important implications for policy-makers.

Shipping emissions: from cooling to warming of climate—and reducing impacts on health

Abstract: International shipping has been a fast growing sector of the global economy and its share of total anthropogenic emissions is significant, having effects on climate, air quality, and human health. The nature of the contribution to climate change is complex: In addition to warming by CO2 emissions, ship emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) cause cooling through effects on atmospheric particles and clouds, while nitrogen oxides (NOx) increase the levels of the greenhouse gas (GHG) ozone (O3) and reduce the GHG methane (CH4), causing warming and cooling, respectively. The result is a net global mean radiative forcing (RF) from the shipping sector that is strongly negative, leading to a global cooling effect today. However, new regulations of SO2 and NOx, while reducing air pollution and its harmful effects on health and water/soil acidification, will reduce this sector’s cooling effects. Given these reductions, shipping will, relative to present-day impacts, impart a “double warming” effect: one from CO2, and one from the reduction of SO2. Therefore, after some decades the net climate effect of shipping will shift from cooling to warming.

Software process improvement success factors for small and medium Web companies: A qualitative study

Abstract: Context: The context of this research is software process improvement (SPI) in small and medium Web companies. Objective: The primary objective of this paper is to identify software process improvement (SPI) success factors for small and medium Web companies. Method: To achieve this goal, we conducted semi-structured, open-ended interviews with 21 participants representing 11 different companies in Pakistan, and analyzed the data qualitatively using the Glaserian strand of grounded theory research procedures. The key steps of these procedures that were employed in this research included open coding, focused coding, theoretical coding, theoretical sampling, constant comparison, and scaling up. Results: An initial framework of key SPI success factors for small and medium Web companies was proposed, which can be of use for small and medium Web companies engaged in SPI. The paper also differentiates between small and medium Web companies and analyzes crucial SPI requirements for companies operating in the Web development domain. Conclusion: The results of this work, in particular the use of qualitative techniques - allowed us to obtain rich insight into SPI success factors for small and medium Web companies. Future work comprises the validation of the SPI success factors with small and medium Web companies.

The Application of Roller Rigs to Railway Vehicle Dynamics

Abstract: Roller rigs have been built world-wide to research into the dynamics of railway vehicles and they have particularly been applied to the development of high-speed trains. This survey takes into consideration both full scale as well as small scale model roller rigs. Besides performance, most important experimental work and the emphasis of application, the scaling strategies of model test rigs and the differences involved in roller rig experiments are treated. Suggestions for potential future uses and developments are also given for this tool which is useful for demonstration and analysis of railway vehicle dynamic behaviour.