bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of technology lock-in on enterprise innovation performance
Authors: Zhao Li , Sun Jianxin , Zhang Ling , He Pengfei , Yi Qiulu
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This study explores the effects of different types of technology lock-in on enterprise innovation performance. On this basis, the authors aim to provide technological innovation suggestions for the long-term development of Chinese enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 211 high-tech enterprises in China were taken as the research sample. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys and secondhand data. Linear and nonlinear regression models were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Different types of technology lock-in had different effects on enterprise innovation performance. Initiative lock-in and passive lock-in showed an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation performance. Economies of scale were positively correlated with innovation performance, while self-lock-in was negatively correlated with it.

Practical implications

This research can help enterprises reconceptualize technology lock-in. It can also help enterprises in different stages of development carry out targeted technological innovation and management strategies.

Originality/value

This research enriches our understanding of technology lock-in. By breaking with previous conceptualizations of a simple linear relationship between technology lock-in and innovation performance, this study proposes and confirms different technology lock-in has different relationships with enterprise innovation performance. This study is important for enterprises to reassess their technology lock-in state and carry out targeted technological innovation strategies. This research enriches the theory of path dependence and its combination with other theories. And this study also reveals the current research on technology lock-in is insufficient.
International entrepreneurship education for pre-service teachers: a longitudinal study
Authors: Arruti Arantza , Paños-Castro Jessica
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether participating in an entrepreneurship education programme with short-term international placements can help pre-service teachers to identifying the characteristics of entrepreneurial competence from a wide definition of entrepreneurship (Lackéus, 2015) rather than from a business centred definition, to be developed by entrepreneur teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-year longitudinal qualitative study was carried out. In-depth interviews were conducted using open-ended questions with 17 pre-service teachers from the University of Deusto (Spain). They were participating in a European project with short-term international placements at five different European higher education institutions.

Findings

There is no consensual definition of the term entrepreneurship, which varies depending on the context. Entrepreneurship could be considered to be both a mindset and a lifestyle. The characteristics of entrepreneurs that were mentioned the most included: being creative, team players, open-minded, innovative, passionate, motivated, hard-working and risk-takers; being able to overcome challenges; having initiative; being proactive, organised and persevering; having leadership skills, communication skills, the ability to adapt; having a positive attitude and, being decision-makers. Short-term placements contribute to personal development, improved foreign language competence, increased awareness and understanding of other cultures, and acquiring entrepreneurship competence.

Originality/value

Research on the characteristics of teacherpreneurs is still in its early stages. The vast majority of studies focus on entrepreneurs and teachers of entrepreneurship education programmes aimed at those who wish to start up new businesses. This study contributes to a better understanding of the term entrepreneurship, to identifying the current characteristics of teacherpreneurs, and to outline certain variables that could be considered during pre-service teachers training plans. It also proposes further research into in-service teacherpreneur education.
Build back better concepts for resilient recovery: a case study of India’s 2018 flood recovery
Authors: Neeraj Shankar , Mannakkara Sandeeka , Wilkinson Suzanne
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to understand the recovery process after the 2018 floods in Kerala, India, and it determines whether the recovery efforts were aligned with Build Back Better (BBB) concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was adopted to collect the data from the officials of Government and NGOs involved in Kerala recovery. The participants were interviewed on the challenges faced during the recovery process and the actions taken by them to overcome it.

Findings

The study identified that the Kerala Government was proactive at making the community resilient from future disasters by – encouraging owner-driven reconstruction among flood-affected households; supporting locals to rejuvenate their business; and by creating a local-level recovery authority. Further, this paper identifies the areas that Kerala was lacking in terms of BBB and where resilience-based plans and actions are needed for the future.

Research limitations/implications

The participants were employees of Government and NGOs at a state level as they were the primary decision-makers to implement any recovery actions. Researchers believe that the authorities at district and village level could have had a different perspective towards implementing the recovery actions.

Practical implications

The best practices presented in this paper for effective BBB will assist the government to build/improve resilience in the community.

Originality/value

The implementation of BBB concepts in the areas of disaster risk reduction, community recovery and effective implementation was never studied extensively. The research provides valuable information on what extent Kerala’s post-disaster recovery and reconstruction activities were in-line with BBB practices.
Coopetition and sales performance: evidence from non-mainstream sporting clubs
Authors: Crick James M. , Crick Dave
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Small sports clubs are the life-blood of particular communities, even though many are under-resourced and have difficulties in operating under an individualistic business model. Although coopetition (simultaneous cooperation and competition) has been recognised as a positive driver of performance, the complexities of this association remain under-researched. Consequently, grounded in resource-based theory and the relational view, the purpose of this current study is to examine the moderating roles of inter-firm conflict and competitive intensity in the coopetition–sales performance relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

After undertaking 25 field interviews, survey data were collected from 151 non-mainstream sporting clubs in New Zealand. This setting was ideal, since it hosts high-degrees of cooperativeness and competitiveness. After assessing the statistical data for all major robustness checks (including common method variance and endogeneity bias), the hypothesised and control paths were tested through a hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

Coopetition had a positive relationship with sales performance, but inter-firm conflict yielded a negative interaction effect. Surprisingly, this link was positively moderated by competitive intensity.

Practical implications

Under-resourced entrepreneurs (like those in many small sports clubs) should consider cooperating with their competitors, as these strategies can assist them to improve their sales performance. However, they should be careful when engaging in such activities due to the considerable risk that rival firms could behave opportunistically, which might harm their performance. That being said, owner-managers are advantaged if they operate in sectors where there are lots of competitors because there is increased scope to collaborate with “complementary” and trustworthy rivals that can help them to achieve mutually-beneficial outcomes. Indeed, sporting governing bodies (including those that operate on a non-profit basis) should encourage their members to engage in coopetition due to these positive financial consequences.

Originality/value

This investigation contributes to the extant literature by evaluating the competitive forces affecting the link between coopetition and sales performance. Specifically, new evidence emerges on the circumstances where coopetition is (and is not) a performance-enhancing entrepreneurial strategy. Further, this investigation provides unique insights regarding coopetition among non-mainstream sporting clubs, adding new knowledge to the sports entrepreneurship literature. Moreover, by infusing resource-based theory with the relational view, stronger arguments feature how owner-managers can navigate the paradoxical forces that drive coopetition activities. This study ends with several practitioner implications, alongside a series of limitations and avenues for future research.
Developing a researcher identity of relevance for remote Indigenous language education
Authors: Parfa Koskinen Katarina
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The study is an elaboration on how a graduate student discursively navigates a research identity through lived experiences as an Indigenous Sámi and writings on Indigenous, as well as other suitable research paradigms informing research on digital technologies in education. The guiding question is how a strategy of inquiry to be used in a PhD study on remote 1–9 Sámi language education can be informed by an Indigenous research paradigm. What philosophical guidelines are needed in navigating a sensitive field of investigation shaped by historical atrocities, discrimination and racist assumptions towards the Sámi people and other Indigenous, marginalised groups?

Design/methodology/approach

A dialogical approach has been used between readings of mainly Indigenous scholars' writings on the topic and anecdotes illustrating personal experiences from a lived life as Sámi.

Findings

Through this process, a researcher identity has developed, informed by the views from an Indigenous research paradigm that humans are ontologically equal to other entities, and epistemologically knowledge constitutes of relationships between different entities. This makes relationality a central feature of an Indigenous epistemology –not only between people but also including, for example, ideas, history, ancestors, future, artefacts and spirituality – which links epistemology to ontology. The axiological issue of accountability works holistically as “glue”.

Originality/value

Elucidating underlying arguments and motives behind both an Indigenous research paradigm and the development of researcher identity when designing and planning research is rarely done, which provides the originality of the present contribution.
Informal street vending: a comparative literature review
Authors: Recchi Sara
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Informal street vending is traditionally widespread and studied concerning developing countries. Nevertheless, recently, interest in the study of this practice has also increased regarding specific developed countries. The aim of the article is to contribute to overcoming the tendency to investigate this informal economy sector with different analytical lenses between the global South and global North and to highlight the usefulness of analyzing the phenomenon from a comparative perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Therefore, the article represents a comparative review of the existing literature on informal street vending considering both the global South and global North.

Findings

The analysis revealed similarities and differences in the characteristics the phenomenon assumes in the two areas of the world while at the same time, showing how there are aspects mainly explored in the literature of southern countries and little explored in the literature of northern countries and vice-versa.

Research limitations/implications

This analytical attempt allows us to highlight any gaps present in the literature, which may represent the basis for future comparative research on the topic. Comparative research will improve both theoretical and empirical knowledge of the phenomenon.

Originality/value

On the one hand, the article represents an innovative literature review attempt, as it explicitly compares the street vending between developing and developed countries. On the other hand, it represents the first academic contribution to review street vending in the global North.
Security-as-a-service: a literature review
Authors: Wang Wenyuan , Yongchareon Sira
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This study aims to identify the level of security from existing work, analyze categories of security as a service (SECaaS) and classify them into a meaningful set of groups. Further, the report will advise commercial applications and advice of SECaaS as an extended context to help firms make decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper compares the SECaaS categories in Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) with the security clauses in ISO/IEC 27002:2013 to give a comprehensive analysis of those SECaaS categories. Reviewed from a number of related literature, this paper analyzes and categorizes SECaaS into three major groups including protective, detective and reactive based on security control perspectives. This study has discussed the three groups and their interplay to identify the key characteristics and problems that they aim to address.

Findings

This paper also adds new evidence to support a better understanding of the current and future challenges and directions for SECaaS. Also, the study reveals both the positive and negative aspects of SECaaS along with business cases. It advises on various sizes and domains of organizations to consider SECaaS as one of their potential security approaches.

Originality/value

SECaaS has been demonstrated to be one of the increasingly popular ways to address security problems in Cloud computing. As a new concept, SECaaS could be treated as integrated security means and delivered as a service module in the Cloud. However, it is still in infancy and not very widely investigated. Recent studies suggest that SECaaS is an efficient solution for Cloud and real industries. However, shortcomings of SECaaS have not been well-studied and documented. Moreover, reviewing the existing research, researchers did not classify the SECaaS-related categories.
A dual-factor theory of WTs adoption in aged care service operations – a cross-country analysis
Authors: Khaksar Seyed Mohammad Sadegh , Jahanshahi Asghar Afshar , Slade Bret , Asian Sobhan
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This study focuses on the adoption of wearable technologies in a context where care-providing organizations can offer, in collaboration with caregivers, better care. Drawing on dual-factor theory and from the caregiver perspective, this study identifies and examines factors of technology adoption in four developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was undertaken using a quantitative approach. A survey was distributed among 1,013 caregivers in four developing countries in Asia including Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq and collected quantitative data for model validation and hypotheses analysis. Building on the technology adoption literature, we identified six constructs that impact the behavioral intention of caregivers to use wearable technologies in aged care-providing organizations.

Findings

Our dual-factor model was successfully validated, and all hypotheses were supported. However, different results were found in the selected countries within the cross-country analysis.

Originality/value

This study has significant implications for the study of emerging technologies in aged care service operations. It provides a theoretical framework that may be adapted for future research, enabling practitioners in aged care to better understand the crucial role of technology adoption in service operations. Less attention was paid to the adoption of wearable technologies in aged care, particularly in developing countries, where healthcare services in aged care impose heavy costs on care providers.
New product performance implications of ambidexterity in strategic marketing foci: a case of emerging market firms
Authors: Khan Huda , Freeman Susan , Lee Richard
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Ambidexterity’s effects on exploration and exploitation have been widely studied in the innovation literature. However, to date, no studies have determined how combining or balancing the two strategic marketing foci may improve new product performance outcomes. This is an important issue in emerging markets, which have considerable potential to introduce new products, given the rising affordability and intense competition between Western and local firms. These challenges compel managers to offer new products and solutions in these markets. However, firms may adopt different strategic marketing foci for new product development. Using Pakistan as an emerging-market context, this paper aims to provide novel insights into how managers can choose the right balance of a customer-driving versus customer-driven strategy to optimise new-product performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-industry approach surveyed senior strategy managers (N = 106) of Pakistani businesses.

Findings

Using polynomial regression and surface test analyses, the findings showed that balancing the two strategies influenced new-product performance more than either strategy alone. Surprisingly, the imbalance of greater customer-driving over customer-driven strategy or vice versa did not improve new-product performance. Moreover, new-product performance was greater when the level of balance was higher compared to when it was lower.

Originality/value

Grounded in behavioural and strategic adaptation theory, this study extends ambidexterity’s theoretical foundations in marketing by empirically determining the optimal balance of an orientation and performance implication model. The findings can assist emerging market managers in choosing the right balance and combination of the two strategies for better performance of new products.
Managing environmental turbulence through innovation speed and operational flexibility in B2B service organizations
Authors: Ojha Divesh , Struckell Elisabeth , Acharya Chandan , Patel Pankaj C.
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The research first and uniquely explores the antecedent relationship among three highly studied environmental forces – competitive intensity (CI), market turbulence (MT) and technological turbulence (TT) – in a service context. Next, given the importance of services to the USA and global gross domestic product (GDP) and the unique characteristics of services versus product firms, the research examines the impact of environmental forces on innovation speed capability, a less studied but critical enabler of service innovation. Finally, this study aims to suggest the importance of the sequential relationship between two dynamic capabilities – innovation speed and operational flexibility – to realize advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveyed 264 US service firms in a business to business context and tested this research model using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results yielded three major conclusions: in a service context when examining the relationship among the three environmental forces, CI appears to have the driving influence on MT and TT, MT, however, was the only environmental force that this study found to bare positive and significant direct influence on innovation speed. Looking at the zero-order effect of MT and TT on innovation speed this study found each to be positive and significant suggesting a negative suppression effect and innovation speed’s influence on performance relative to competitors is fully mediated by operational flexibility.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to context, as service firms represent the majority of the USA and global GDP. This study extends the literature on the highly studied environmental forces (MT, TT and CI) by examining how they influence each other in an antecedent role and in service context. This study extends service literature by going beyond the influence of environmental forces on innovation to examine the dynamic capability of innovation speed, suggested as uniquely important to service context and distinct from the more highly studied innovation construct. The study also extends prior research in the manufacturing (product) context that suggests the importance of sequential congruence between two critical dynamic capabilities – innovation speed and operational flexibility – necessary to deliver competitive advantage.
Resiliency and mental health of school teachers in Okinawa
Authors: Ratanasiripong Paul , China Takashi , Ratanasiripong Nop T , Toyama Shiho
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the mental health issues among teachers globally and to investigate the significant factors that specifically impact the mental health of school teachers in Okinawa, Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional study examined depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem and resiliency among 174 teachers from seven schools in Okinawa, Japan. The study questionnaire consisted of four parts, including demographic data, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-42), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), and Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale (CD-RISC). Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of mental health variables.

Findings

Of the 174 teachers, 111 were females (64%) and 60 were males (35%). Average age of participants was 41.65 (SD = 10.07). Average number of years being a teacher was 15.50 (SD = 9.88). There was a significant gender difference in the level of self-esteem. Significant differences in anxiety were found among varying grade levels taught. Regression analyses indicated that resiliency and self-esteem significantly predicted depression, anxiety and stress among school teachers in Okinawa.

Originality/value

This is the first study among school teachers in Okinawa that examined the impact of resiliency and self-esteem on their mental health. To reduce psychological distress common within the teaching profession, social and environmental support should be provided within the school to better foster the successful promotion of teacher resiliency and self-esteem.
Decentralization, resource splitting and budgetary process: an empirical study
Authors: Alam A B M Mahbub , Alam Manzurul
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This study examines how resource dependency affects municipal budgetary process; specifically, it investigates how politically aligned resource sharing between different levels of government along with clientelism interferes with the budgetary process of municipal organizations in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a qualitative approach to study two municipal organizations in Bangladesh. The qualitative data are collected from semi-structured interviews with key organizational members. Besides, the study also relies on various publicly available documents and the Local Government Acts to complement the interview data.

Findings

The findings of the study divulge dependence on partisan aligned nonprogrammable government funds poses significant problems for municipal organizations in carrying out their budgetary process. Clientelism and informal negotiations of incumbent political leaders are found to play a vital role in such resource sharing decisions. The consequent uncertainties in getting funds have the potentials of interrupting the budgetary process at the organizational level. In some cases, budgets do not appear to be useful as a management tool for guiding organizational activities.

Research limitations/implications

Like other qualitative studies, the results of these case studies are not generalizable because their interpretations are highly dependent on the context of the research sites.

Practical implications

Despite the limitation of a case study research, the results of this study are useful to deepen our understanding of how uncertainty in resource sharing creates clientele behavior and interferes with the organizational budget. Such an understanding helps practitioners and policymakers devise a sound resource sharing mechanism for effective delivery of municipal services on a sustainable basis.

Originality/value

This study provides insight into how precarious central government transfers and clientelism interfere with local governments' budgetary process.
Effect of interactive marketing channels on service customer acquisition
Authors: Majid Kashef A.
Published: September 2020

Purpose

The cost of customer acquisition is one of the largest expenses that service firms incur due to loss-generating quotes/proposals. This paper aims to connect interactive marketing communications channels with increased customer acquisition and non-interactive marketing communications channels with decreased customer acquisition by service firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Two field studies using hazard models were used to assess the probability of acquiring a new customer after the prospect first contacts the firm. Multiple discrete hazard models were used to compare channels against each other.

Findings

Three interactive marketing communications channels (word-of-mouth, online review forum, search engine optimization) increased the rate of acquiring a customer over time. I also compared non-interactive channels (billboard/signage, direct mail), but the analysis did not reveal any significant impact on acquisition rate by the non-interactive marketing communications channels.

Originality/value

The present study illustrates why the cost of acquisition is so high in the service sector and takes the unique step of linking interactive marketing communications channels with higher customer acquisition rates over time in a services context. Specifically, interactive marketing channels enable customers to find firms that offer the attributes that they seek, thereby increasing acquisition probabilities and decreasing acquisition costs.
Creating highly reliable health care organisations through reverse exchanges
Authors: Kumar Manisha , Rich Nicholas , Kumar Maneesh , Liu Ying
Published: September 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to explore patient to care provider reverse exchanges to improve the care processes and service supply chain using an online feedback platform. This paper demonstrates how a better understanding of timely and unsolicited feedback (“voice of the patient as a customer”) stimulates local interventions to improve service delivery and enact the essential characteristics of highly reliable organisations (HRO).

Design/methodology/approach

A realist approach involving an exploratory hospital case study using user feedback from an IT patient feedback platform. The methodology included interviews, secondary data and access to thousands of patient feedback narratives.

Findings

The findings show that a systems approach to the supply chain, using real-time feedback to enact process improvement is beneficial and a fruitful source of innovation for professional services staff. The setting of the improvement focusses on a true “voice of the customer” rather than attempting to improve arbitrarily internal process efficiency has major benefits for staff and their engagement with the right interventions to support higher performance.

Practical implications

The findings show major positive benefits for the adaptation and constant reflection of staff on the service provided to patients. The approach provides a means of reflecting as to whether the current supply chain and service provision are fit for purpose, as well as reliable, efficient and of value to the consumer.

Originality/value

This study is one of a few that adopt the consumer orientation needed to fully exploit the concepts of patient-centric improvement by including dynamic feedback in the supply chain and systems approach to care.
Improving automated crisis detection via an improved understanding of crisis language: Linguistic categories in social media crises
Authors: Borden Jonathan , Zhang Xiaochen Angela , Hwang Jooyun
Published: September 2020

By applying the Linguistic Category Model (LCM) in crisis communication, this study explores the potential of verb tracking on social media to examine how linguistic categories can elucidate the intentional and/or unintentional communication of crisis attribution frames. Through a content analysis, linguistic categories used in both media posts reporting three clusters of crisis and public comments on Facebook were examined. Results indicated that linguistic abstraction in both media post and public comments describing the crisis varied based on crisis cluster, suggesting that the level of linguistic abstraction reflected perceived attribution of responsibility through stability, locus and controllability. Language used to describe preventable crisis tend to be more abstract than those used to describe accidental and victim crisis. Findings of this study empirically tested the integration of LCM in crisis communication and implied potential application of LCM in building automated environmental scanning and crisis prediction systems.
Participatory Bayesian modelling for sustainable and efficient river restoration projects: Feedback from the case study of the Gave de Pau River, Hautes‐Pyrénées, France
Authors: Yassine Rabab , Pérès François , Frysou Olivier , Roux Hélène , Cassan Ludovic
Published: September 2020

Through the diversity of criteria and stakes, the uncertain nature of the entailed phenomena and the multi‐scale aspects to be taken into account, a river restoration project can be considered as a complex problem. Integrative approaches and modelling tools are thus needed to help river managers make predictions on the evolution of hydromorphological, socio‐economic, safety and ecological issues. Such approach can provide valuable information for handling long‐term management plans that consider the interaction and the balance of stakeholders interests and river system functioning. In this paper, we present a probabilistic participatory modelling (PM) method that assesses the effects of given restoration actions, knowing the hydromorphological modifications that they may induce on the safety, ecological and socio‐economic aspects with the help of local stakeholders through several workshops. To support this strategy, we used Bayesian networks (BNs) as modelling tools as their causal graphs can combine multidimensional knowledge and data from diverse natures. We introduce the causal graphs elaborated with the help of the stakeholders and convert it into BNs that can assist restoration decisions by considering the available decision and utility functions to provide guidance to decision‐makers. This was applied to the “Lac des Gaves” reach in the Hautes‐Pyrénées, France, a reach that has gone through severe sediment extractions for over 50 years. Each network represents possible restoration decisions linked to one of the observed issues. The paper demonstrates how BNs used as a decision support system (DSS) can help to assess the influence of given management strategies on the river system with the consideration of stakeholders’ knowledge and integration in all the modelling process.
Bruise dating using deep learning
Authors: Tirado Jhonatan , Mauricio David
Published: September 2020

The bruise dating can have important medicolegal implications in family violence and violence against women cases. However, studies show that the medical specialist has 50% accuracy in classifying a bruise by age, mainly due to the variability of the images and the color of the bruise. This research proposes a model, based on deep convolutional neural networks, for bruise dating using only images, by age ranges, ranging from 0–2 days to 17–30 days, and images of healthy skin. A 2140 experimental bruise photograph dataset was constructed, for which a data capture protocol and a preprocessing procedure are proposed. Similarly, 20 classification models were trained with the Inception V3, Resnet50, MobileNet, and MnasNet architectures, where combinations of learning transfer, cross‐validation, and data augmentation were used. Numerical experiments show that classification models based on MnasNet have better results, reaching 97.00% precision and sensitivity, and 99.50% specificity, exceeding 40% precision reported in the literature. Also, it was observed that the precision of the model decreases with the age of the bruise.
Blame the Algorithm?
Authors: Olhede Sofia , Wolfe Patrick J.
Published: September 2020

Algorithms are tools for decision-making. England's A-level results fiasco shows what happens when our tools are ill-suited or ill-designed and their workings poorly explained. By Sofia Olhede and Patrick J. Wolfe
Relationship between preoperative dental anxiety and short‐term inflammatory response following oral surgery
Authors: Le SH , Tonami K , Umemori S , Nguyen LT‐B , Ngo LT‐Q , Araki K , Nitta H
Published: September 2020

Background

The relationship between dental anxiety and mucosal wound healing, especially the inflammatory response, has not been well studied. This study aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety prior to dental treatment and short‐term inflammation following impacted mandibular third molar (IMTM) surgery.

Methods

Fifty‐nine patients who required IMTM surgery were recruited for this study. Sample demographics (gender, age) and surgical extent (Pederson classification, duration) were collected. Psychological stress towards surgery was assessed by the Dental Fear Survey (DFS). All surgeries were conducted according to an identical surgical protocol and all patients were given the same medical prescription. Correlations between short‐term inflammation (swelling and trismus after 2 days) and DFS, demographics and surgical extent were statistically analysed.

Results

The results showed that patients with a higher DFS score demonstrated more severe swelling (β = 0.36, P = 0.016) and trismus (β = 0.37, P = 0.008) 2 days after surgery. In addition, more severe trismus occurred following more difficult surgery (β = 0.29, P = 0.016) or that with a longer duration (β = 0.21, P = 0.081). Neither gender nor age showed any significant relationship with swelling or trismus.

Conclusion

Short‐term inflammatory response following IMTM surgery correlated with the preoperative dental anxiety and this correlation was independent of gender and surgical extent.
Coping with ageing in rural Australia
Authors: Anderson Emily M. , Larkins Sarah , Beaney Sarah , Ray Robin A.
Published: September 2020

Objective

Ageing is a time of change that might involve financial, health and social losses. To maintain well‐being, older people need to engage a range of resources to cope with these losses. However, national policies mainly focus on financial resources. This study used Folkman and Lazarus’s transactional theory to identify coping methods engaged by older adults living in three rural communities.

Design

A qualitative research design was undertaken using an ethnographic case study approach.

Setting

Three rural communities within northern Australia.

Participants

Older Australians aged 65 or over, living in their own homes.

Main outcome measures

Exploration of techniques that older adults use to cope with ageing (including both problem‐focused and emotion‐focused strategies).

Results

People in rural areas planned their ageing journey using both problem‐focused and emotion‐focused coping strategies, to deal with the uncertainties of ageing. When participants could control the event, problem‐focused coping strategies were mainly such as used seeking social support and planful problem‐solving. Conversely, emotion‐focused strategies were used to deal with uncertainty and emotive issues such as health decline, and the possibility of needing future care.

Conclusion

There is a need for health community workers to encourage older people to consider initiating a discussion of future care needs with their social network. This is of particular importance in rural areas, which have larger numbers of older residents and limited resources to support ageing in place.
Business Owner‐Employees Contagion of Work‐Related Affect and Employees’ Innovative Behavior in Small Firms
Authors: Laguna Mariola , Mielniczuk Emilia , Gorgievski Marjan J.
Published: September 2020

The aim of this study was to explore cross‐level mechanisms stimulating employees’ innovative behavior in small firms, specifically emotional contagion between small business owners and their employees. Using data from three European countries and applying a multilevel approach, we tested how small business owners’ work‐related affect—enthusiasm and comfort—relate to their employees’ work‐related affect and innovative work behavior. The sample consisted of 85 small business owners and 711 employees from firms operating in the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. Controlling for country, the results of multilevel modeling showed that small business owners’ work‐related affect was positively related to their employees’ work‐related affect. The hypothesized contagion of work‐related affect in small firms was, thus, supported. Employees’ work‐related affect, in turn, was positively associated with their innovative behavior. Employees’ work‐related affect mediated the relationship between small business owners’ work‐related affect and employees’ innovative behavior. The results also showed cross‐country differences in the strength of some of the relationships. The study is a step forward in understanding innovation in small firms, extending the insights gained from single‐level investigations.
Forest patch size predicts seed bank composition in urban areas
Authors: Doroski Danica A. , Duguid Marlyse C. , Ashton Mark S.
Published: September 2020

Questions

As urban areas expand around the world, understanding how to restore and maintain forests within the urban environment becomes increasingly important. Given that a comprehensive understanding of regeneration dynamics is critical to designating appropriate management interventions we ask the following: how does regeneration, vis‐à‐vis the buried seed bank, vary in heterogenous urban forests? And, can forest patch size be used to predict regeneration and consequent management interventions?

Location

Vacant lots and public parks throughout New Haven, CT, USA.

Methods

We sampled buried seed banks in 131 plots distributed across three forest patch sizes ranging from large intact parks (95–126 ha), to small parks (1–19 ha), and vacant lots (0.05–0.65 ha). We collected soil samples from the surface mineral soil and stratified them over sand in a greenhouse over a period of five months to record germination.

Results

By examining seed bank floristics in a range of forest patch sizes we found that species composition, nativity, and dominance of specific functional groups shifted with patch size representing a spectrum of urbanization within just one city. Seed bank floristics in large parks more closely resembled results from seed bank studies in rural forests with over 85% native germinants on average. In contrast, vacant lots were dominated by non‐native germinants and more ruderal species indicative of earlier successional stages. Seed banks in small parks were variable and in some cases were more similar to large parks or vacant lots.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that large parks in urban areas may be largely self‐sustaining whereas smaller parks may require more intensive management for site rehabilitation, especially in early states of succession. Furthermore, our results confirm the highly heterogenous nature of urban forest patches and call for more systematic sampling of urban areas to capture this variation and improve management prescriptions and outcomes.
A novel risk assessment model of contrast‐induced nephropathy after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with diabetes
Authors: Yao Zhi‐Feng , Shen Hong , Tang Min‐Na , Yan Yan , Ge Jun‐Bo
Published: September 2020

The purpose of our study was to develop a simple clinical pre‐procedure risk model based on clinical characteristics for the prediction of contrast‐induced nephropathy (CIN) and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with diabetes. A total of 1113 patients with diabetes who underwent PCI with contrast exposure were randomized into a development group (n = 742) and a validation group (n = 371) in a 2:1 ratio. CIN was defined as an increase of either 25% or 0.5 mg/dL (44.2 μmol/L) in serum creatinine within 72 hours after contrast infusion. A simple CIN risk score based on independent predictors was established. Four variables were identified for our risk score model: LVEF < 40%, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), eGFR < 60, and contrast volume > 300 mL. Based on this new CIN risk score, the incidence of CIN had a significant trend with increased predicting score values of 5.9%, 32.9% and 60.0%, corresponding to low‐, moderate‐ and high‐risk groups, respectively. The novel risk assessment exhibited moderate discrimination ability for predicting CIN, with an AUC of 0.759 [95% CI 0.668‐0.852, P = .001] in the validation cohort. It also had similar prognostic values for one‐year follow‐up MACE (C‐statistic: 0.705 and 0.606 for new risk score and Mehran score, respectively). This novel risk prediction model could be effective for preventing nephropathy in diabetic patients receiving contrast media during surgical procedures.
Human umbilical cord blood serum attenuates gentamicin‐induced liver toxicity by restoring peripheral oxidative damage and inflammation in rats
Authors: Mirazi Naser , Baharvand Fatemeh , Moghadasali Reza , Nourian Alireza , Hosseini Abdolkarim
Published: September 2020

Gentamicin (GM) is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that despite its antibacterial effects, its use is restricted due to numerous side effects. The umbilical cord serum contains various biomolecules that have protective impacts on the damaged tissues. The aim of this study was to gauge the protective effect of human umbilical cord blood serum (hUCBS) on GM‐induced hepatotoxicity. In this experimental study, 28 male Wistar rats, weighing 220 ± 20 g, were randomly categorized into 4 groups including control, GM (100 mg/kg), hUCBS at doses of 1 and 2% along with GM (100 mg/kg) for 10 days, intraperitoneally. Twenty‐four hours after the last injection, direct blood sampling was taken from the heart to obtain blood serum and liver enzymes, inflammatory cytokines and liver tissue were examined for histology. GM causes necrosis and inflammation in liver tissue. Liver enzyme and inflammatory cytokine levels were significantly increased in the GM group. Human umbilical cord blood serum significantly decreased liver enzyme and inflammatory cytokines levels in the experimental groups compared to the GM group. GM causes liver damage such as the inflammation and necrosis in liver tissue. Treating the animals with hUCBS reduced the toxic effects of GM in the liver.
Design of online intelligent English teaching platform based on artificial intelligence techniques
Authors: Sun Zhuomin , Anbarasan M. , Praveen Kumar D.
Published: September 2020

Artificial intelligence education (AIEd) is defined in the field of education as the utilization of artificial intelligence. There are currently many AIEd‐driven applications in schools and universities. This paper applies an artificial intelligence module combined with the knowledge recommendation to the system and develops an online English teaching system in comparison with the common teaching auxiliary system. The method of English teaching is useful in investigating the potential internal connections between evaluation outcomes and various factors. This article develops deep learning‐assisted online intelligent English teaching system that utilizes to create a modern tool platform to help students improve their English language teaching efficiency in line with their mastery of knowledge and personality. The decision tree algorithm and neural networks have been used and to generate an English teaching assessment implementation model based on decision tree technologies. It provides valuable data from extensive information, summarizes rules and data, and helps teachers to improve their education and the English scores of students. This system reflects the thinking of the artificial intelligence expert system. Test application demonstrates that the system can help students improve their learning efficiency and will make learning content more relevant. Besides, the system provides an example model with similar methods and has a referential definition.
Research on group behavior model based on neural network computing
Authors: Wei Jinfeng , Tian Yuan , Geng Jingui
Published: September 2020

Compute is a term coined from the etymology of French and Latin words computer and computare respectively, so is computing. This field of computing has grown enormously over the years. From the simple, traditional Turing machine invented in 1936 by Alan Turing to the current neural network (NN) computing. NNs, a field of artificial intelligence (AI) was exhilarated from the structure and inner workings of the brain. Just as the brain is, that is, an interconnection of neurons, so is the NN which is an interconnection of basic structures known as the perceptron. They do not differ much in structure. Their only difference is that one is artificial while the other is entirely biological. The hierarchical intricacies of the NN can be represented in three layers: the perceptron, artificial NN (ANN), and deep NN (DNN). With the influx of mental and behavioral disorders, basic surveillance, and the urgency to improve the mental health of people, studying the behavioral dynamics of people is requisite. CCTV and street cameras can only do so much, thus the need to employ the field of NN which makes use of supervised learning in training the models to perfect and automate surveillance. The results of this retrospective research indicate that the use of the NN model surpasses those of traditional methods in terms of efficiency and reliability.