bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Cross-Sectional Online Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices about Tuberculosis among Homoeopathy Practitioners and Students in India
Authors: Mittal Renu , Taneja Divya , Khurana Anil
Published: May 2022

Background Homoeopathy is the second most popular healthcare system in our country with 0.3 million practitioners. Among healthcare providers, homeopathic practitioners (HPs) are also the first contact care providers and often see tuberculosis (TB) patients. To align these practitioners with the National Strategic Plan 2017 to 2025, it is essential that their knowledge and skills about TB is assessed.

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of HPs and students in India about TB.

Methods An online cross-sectional survey conducted from 3rd to 17th May 2020 identified socio-demographic data, KAP. Descriptive and inferential statistics was performed to analyse differences based on socio-demographic variables.

Results Out of 1,784 responses received, 72% were practitioners and 28% were students pursuing homoeopathy course. Eighty per cent respondents were aware of suspected case of TB, miliary, extensive drug-resistant TB and Directly Observed Treatment Short plus regimen for multidrug resistance TB. Knowledge scores significantly differed with qualification, type and years of practice (p = 0.001). Significant differences in attitude of government and private practitioners were noted on issues related to diagnosis and treatment management of TB patients (78.9 vs. 69.3%; p = 0.02).

Conclusion The findings could be considered as baseline indicators in relation to the current KAP on TB among HPs. Specific training programmes can be developed for their active involvement in TB diagnosis and management so that TB prevention and care can be improved.
Individual differences in the decline of the Deontic nci construction
Authors: Noël Dirk
Published: May 2022

This paper addresses the question of the (speaker-level) ‘cognitive how’ of (language-level) constructional attrition, defined as a systemic decrease in the occurrence of a construction in the history of a language. Presenting and analysing data from an historical idiolectal corpus on the frequency development in individual speakers’ use of a partially schematic construction instantiated by such types as be obliged to and be permitted to, it offers a first attempt to measure whether a general decline in the frequency of this construction can also be observed to be an internal development during a speaker’s lifespan. The results confirm this to be the case in a sizeable group of speakers and the paper provides an initial insight into how this may contribute to a genuinely cognitive account of the speaker-external development.
The feel of a recurrent gesture
Authors: Harrison Simon
Published: May 2022

The inner workings of recurrent gestures can now be distilled from almost three decades’ worth of fine-grained
studies into gesture form variants, kinesic organization with speech, core semantic themes, and discourse-interactive functions.
Yet several questions about this gesture category have remained in the background. How do such gestures relate to the behavioral
activities within which they occur, their wider embodied and intercorporeal context, and the relations between the people
performing them? These questions are addressed by adopting an enactive approach to human relating and by analysing how the Vertical
Palm gesture form materializes during an episode of gift-giving between two friends in China, where the practice involves
elaborate embodied maneuvers resulting in a visibly affective ‘seesaw battle’. Treating gift-giving as a situation for
participatory sense-making spun from a complex web of sensorimotor schemes, this seesaw battle provides a natural ecology for
exploring understudied dimensions of the Vertical Palm recurrent gesture as embodied, embedded, and enacted during a practice with
culturally-specific dimensions.
Conducting Patient Oriented Research (POR) in a Forensic Psychiatric Facility: A Case Study of Patient Involvement
Authors: Dell C. A. , Williamson L. , McKenzie H. , Mela M. , Akca D. , Cruz M. , Ramsum T. , Sultana S. , Camacho Soto N. , Kamal A. H. M.
Published: May 2022

Patient oriented research (POR) is new to the healthcare research landscape in Canada and has not yet been applied to the forensic field. This review begins by introducing POR, the POR Level of Engagement Tool, and complimentary approaches used in research with forensic patients. Next, the potential key challenges, paradoxes, and benefits of applying POR to a forensic mental health setting are presented. Drawing on this understanding, a review of our team’s experiences applying the POR Level of Engagement Tool at the Regional Psychiatric Center, a Canadian forensic psychiatric facility, is presented as a case study. The research question supported by our patient advisors and addressed with patients and facility staff was: “What topics do you think we need to know more about to benefit patients at the Regional Psychiatric Center?” We conclude this review article with recommendations on how to meaningfully, and practically, involve forensic psychiatric patients diagnosed with mental disorders in POR when initiating a project. Forensic psychiatric patients can provide insightful knowledge based on their experiences of mental illness to improve the prison health care system and practices.
Experimental study on gas production and solution composition during the interaction of femtosecond laser pulse and liquid
Authors: Wang Yichun , Wu Han , Lu Wenkang , Li Meng , Tao Ling , Ma Xiuquan
Published: May 2022

The process of ionizing normal saline induced by femtosecond laser is studied from the perspective of gas production rate and composition. When the repetition rate is less than 1000 Hz, each laser pulse independently generates ionization gas. At the same time, we discovered the inhibitory effect of meglumini diatrizoici on the ionization process and explained the reasons for this inhibition. Finally, the gas composition proved that the primary gas production mechanism of the femtosecond laser is the decomposition of water molecular, and the composition of the solution after the reaction proved the decomposition effect of the laser on meglumine.
Improved functional–weight approach to oscillatory patterns in excitable networks
Authors: Li Tao , Yan Lin , Zheng Zhigang
Published: May 2022

Studies of sustained oscillations on complex networks with excitable node dynamics received much interest in recent years. Although an individual unit is non-oscillatory, they may organize to form various collective oscillatory patterns through networked connections. An excitable network usually possesses a number of oscillatory modes dominated by different Winfree loops and numerous spatiotemporal patterns organized by different propagation path distributions. The traditional approach of the so-called dominant phase-advanced drive method has been well applied to the study of stationary oscillation patterns on a network. In this paper, we develop the functional–weight approach that has been successfully used in studies of sustained oscillations in gene-regulated networks by an extension to the high-dimensional node dynamics. This approach can be well applied to the study of sustained oscillations in coupled excitable units. We tested this scheme for different networks, such as homogeneous random networks, small-world networks, and scale-free networks and found it can accurately dig out the oscillation source and the propagation path. The present approach is believed to have the potential in studies competitive non-stationary dynamics.
Scalable control systems for vertex detector utilizing single photon counting readout
Authors: Koziol A.
Published: May 2022

I present the design of two vertex detector systems for proton particle trajectory tracking based on multiple layers of single photon counting hybrid pixel area detectors. The detector used in both systems is UFXC, which is a matrix of 128 × 256 pixels with silicon sensor. The first system enables proton transition registration with the speed of up to 50 kfps. The second system is a portable device with large detection area.
Radioactive source strength effect on gamma radiation monitoring with a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector
Authors: Yeboah E. , Yakovlev G.A. , Smirnov S.V. , Yakovleva V.S.
Published: May 2022

The accurate monitoring of gamma radiation doses in the
environment has become essential due to its effect on human
health. In this study, the temperature dependence of NaI (Tl)
scintillation detectors based on the daily/annually measured dose
rate in the environment as well as the importance of selecting the
appropriate radioactive source strength when calibrating NaI (Tl)
detectors for gamma radiation monitoring were investigated. The
temperature correction coefficients discovered during the
calibration of the BDKG-03 detector by Atomtex were verified, and
whether the time duration of the measurement interval has an effect
on readings of gamma radiation was also investigated in the city of
Tomsk. NaI (Tl) scintillation detectors were used to monitor the
gamma background radiation in the environment. The detectors were
calibrated with both high and low radioactive sources to obtain a
temperature correction coefficient in order to stabilize the
influence of temperature change on the detector at different time
intervals. This was used to study the correlation between the daily
and annual dose rates of low gamma background radiation. The results
showed that there was a shift in the spectrum of the daily and
annual dose rates calculated using the algorithm obtained when the
detector was calibrated with a highly radioactive source to the
position of the constant coefficient for low-level dose. However,
the ones obtained when the detector was calibrated with a low
radioactive source and that of the constant coefficient for a
low-level dose overlapped each other. This demonstrated that the
type of radioactive source used in detector calibration during
manufacture has an effect on the temperature correction coefficient,
which in turn has an effect on the accuracy of the ambient dose rate
when used to monitor gamma radiation. The duration of the time
interval for measurement was found to be very important since it has
an effect on dose rate readings.
Design study for large acceptance muon beamlines by using beam splitting methods
Authors: Zhou L-P. , Hong Y. , Tang J-Y. , Yuan Y. , Vassilopoulos N. , Wu Y-W. , Pan Z-W.
Published: May 2022

A muon beamline scheme is designed for the Phase-I of the
Experimental Muon Source (EMuS), which is a standalone facility by
sharing the proton beam extracted from the Rapid Cycling Synchrotron
(RCS) of China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). The proton beam for
EMuS has a beam power of 20–25 kW and kinetic energy of 1.6 GeV
with a low repetition rate of 1.25–2.5 Hz. Different from
traditional muon beamline design, a sophisticated beam splitting
system using combined spatial and time splitting methods has been
developed for the EMuS beamline. In order to profit a graphite
target of long effective length, the beamline is designed to have a
large horizontal acceptance of 6000π·mm·mrad. A
special electrostatic deflector with two channels splits the beam
spatially into two branch beamlines, so that the reduced horizontal
emittance of the split beams becomes utilizable for
applications. Since the muon beam has a time structure of two
bunches per pulse that inherits from the proton beam and a single
bunch is required for μSR applications, a fast kicker magnet
is used to separate two bunches into two endstations. All these make
simultaneous muon beams in four endstations that are basically for
μSR applications. Surface muons with an intensity order of
105/s and different spot sizes are available for all the four
endstations. The contaminated positrons are carefully treated to
reduce the background by combining the use of the electrostatic
deflector and a dedicated Wien filter.
A minimally designed soft crawling robot for robust locomotion in unstructured pipes
Authors: Yu Wenkai , Li Xin , Chen Dunyu , Liu Jingyi , Su Jiaji , Liu Ju , Cao Changyong , Yuan Hongyan
Published: May 2022

Soft robots have attracted increasing attention due to their excellent versatility and broad applications. In this article, we present a minimally designed soft crawling robot (SCR) capable of robust locomotion in unstructured pipes with various geometric/material properties and surface topology. In particular, the SCR can squeeze through narrow pipes smaller than its cross section and propel robustly in spiked pipes. The gait pattern and locomotion mechanism of this robot are experimentally investigated and analysed by the finite element analysis, revealing that the resultant forward frictional force is generated due to the asymmetric mechanical properties along the length direction of the robot. The proposed simple yet working SCR could inspire novel designs and applications of soft robots in unstructured narrow canals such as large intestines or industrial pipelines.
Time and band limiting operator and Bethe ansatz
Authors: Bernard Pierre-Antoine , Crampé Nicolas , Vinet Luc
Published: May 2022

The time and band limiting operator is introduced to optimize the reconstruction of a signal from only a partial part of its spectrum. In the discrete case, this operator commutes with the so-called algebraic Heun operator which appears in the context of the quantum integrable systems. The construction of both operators and the proof of their commutativity is recalled. A direct connection between their spectra is obtained. Then, the Bethe ansatz, a well-known method to diagonalize integrable quantum Hamiltonians, is used to diagonalize the Heun operator and to obtain insights on the spectrum of the time and band limiting operator.
Newly identified genetic variants associated with idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury
Authors: Stolz Andrew
Published: May 2022

Purpose of review

Datasets of well characterized drug or herbal and dietary supplement-associated liver injury has provided a rich resource to identify genetic variants associated with hepatic injury that further supports the role of immune activation in drug-induced liver injury (DILI).

Recent findings

Using DNA microarrays, whole genome sequencing, HLA-restricted DNA sequencing with appropriate ethnically matched population controls have identified HLA-specific genetic variants for drugs or botanical compounds with the same HLA variant associated with different agents. In addition to HLAs, two genes involved with immune signaling were also identified: a functional PTPN22 variant associated with increased DILI risk to any agent or clinical presentation and a variant in ERAP2 hepatic gene expression that trims peptide in preparation for presentation in the HLA cleft increased the risk for DILI in amoxicillin–clavulanate DILI when present with known HLA risk alleles.

Variants in HLA and other genes involved in immune regulations further supports immune system activation in DILI. In the future, identifying these variants before exposure may minimize the risk for DILI events, help with assessment of drug causality for causing DILI and with greater understanding of DILI mechanisms, has important implication for future drug development.
Exploring research impact; why it matters?
Authors: Bhabra Mandeep , Sparks Freya
Published: May 2022

Purpose of review

Making research impactful is becoming a vital part of research proposal development. Funding bodies now require evidence of clear dissemination strategies that demonstrate achievable broad impact from proposed studies. This review addresses what impact means in practice and how to achieve it.

Recent findings

Research impact is defined as making real change in the real world. The review explores different kinds of impact, why it is important, the challenges faced, and planning for impact. Creative ways in which impact may be achieved, specifically through storytelling, utilizing infographics and animations are explored. The impact of social media platforms to maximize reach of potential research, alongside measuring impact is discussed.

Researchers may need to develop new skills, to create impactful research outputs for global dissemination across several social media platforms. By utilizing methods that maximize engagement with target audiences, translating and implementing quality evidence into clinical practice may be achieved more rapidly.
Thrombotic events in critically ill children with coronavirus disease 2019 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children
Authors: Dain Aleksandra S. , Raffini Leslie , Whitworth Hilary
Published: May 2022

Purpose of review

To provide an update regarding what is known about thrombotic events and thromboprophylaxis in critically ill children with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Recent findings

Pediatric patients with SARS-CoV-2 generally have mild illness; however, intensive care is required in about 20–30% of hospitalized children with COVID-19 and an even higher proportion in those with MIS-C. Increased rates of thrombosis have been observed in adults hospitalized with COVID-19, and clinical trials have attempted to optimize thromboprophylaxis. There is significant variability in the estimated incidence of thrombosis in pediatric patients (0–27%) because of variation in patient populations and study design. Multiple studies demonstrate an increased rate of thrombosis compared with baseline in hospitalized pediatric patients. Few studies have evaluated risk factors for thrombosis, but critical illness, older age, and other known thrombosis risk factors appear to increase the risk. Thromboprophylaxis strategies are inconsistent, with little evidence of efficacy but few reports of major bleeding.

Critically ill children with SARS-CoV-2-related illnesses are at increased risk of thrombosis. Thromboprophylaxis should be considered in select patients with COVID-19 or MIS-C, though the optimal strategy is not yet known. More data is required to guide practice to prevent thrombosis in this population.
Edible marijuana products and potential risks for pediatric populations
Authors: Lin Allison , O’Connor Mary , Behnam Reta , Hatef Claudia , Milanaik Ruth
Published: May 2022

Purpose of review

In recent years, an increasing number of states have legalized marijuana, also known as cannabis, for recreational use. As marijuana becomes more accessible, adolescent use and accidental pediatric exposures are likely to become broad public health concerns. Edible marijuana products, which are consumable foods or beverages that contain cannabis extract, are particularly enticing to youth, as they come in appealing forms such as candies, cookies, and drinks. The purpose of this review is to provide pediatricians with an overview of the different types and potential dangers associated with edible marijuana products.

Recent findings

Edible marijuana products are often indistinguishable in appearance from normal food items and lack the smell and visible smoke associated with inhaled marijuana. Because they are inconspicuous, palatable, and easily accessible, they are increasingly popular among adolescents. Additionally, the packaging of edible baked goods, candies, and drinks is often purposefully very similar to that of mainstream foods, increasing the risk of accidental ingestion by children. An edible marijuana product must be digested before Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol can enter the bloodstream, so there is a delayed onset of effects when consuming edibles compared with inhaling marijuana. This also predisposes users to accidental overconsumption.

Greater knowledge of edible marijuana product consumption by pediatric populations will allow pediatricians to more effectively help patients and advise caregivers in cases of overconsumption, dependence, or accidental ingestion. It is important for parents, guardians, and educators to be able to successfully identify edible marijuana products and recognize signs of cannabis use.
Seeing and Extrapolating motion trajectories share common informative activation patterns in primary visual cortex
Authors: Agostino Camila Silveira , Merkel Christian , Ball Felix , Vavra Peter , Hinrichs Hermann , Noesselt Toemme
Published: May 2022

The natural environment is dynamic and moving objects become constantly occluded, engaging the brain in a challenging completion process to estimate where and when the object might reappear. Although motion extrapolation is critical in daily life – imagine crossing the street while an approaching car is occluded by a larger standing vehicle – its neural underpinnings are still not well understood. While the engagement of low-level visual cortex during dynamic occlusion has been postulated, most of the previous group-level fMRI-studies failed to find evidence for an involvement of low-level visual areas during occlusion. In this fMRI-study, we therefore used individually-defined retinotopic maps and multivariate pattern analysis to characterize the neural basis of visible and occluded motion in humans. To this end, participants learned velocity-direction pairings (slow motion-upwards; fast motion-downwards or vice versa) during a training phase without occlusion and judged the stimulus direction, based on its velocity, during a following test phase with occlusion. We find that occluded motion direction can be predicted from the activity patterns during visible motion within low-level visual areas, supporting the notion of a mental representation of motion trajectory in these regions during occlusion.

Highlights

* Dynamically occluded information is processed in low-level visual cortex

* Specific regions inside low-level visual areas encode visible and dynamically occluded information

* Overlap of visible and occluded informative activity patterns in the visual field suggest shared computational circuits in primary visual cortex
Use of Packed Red Blood Cell Mechanical Fragility to Indicate Transfusion Outcomes
Authors: Tarasev M. , Chakraborty S. , Alfano K. , Muchnik M. , Gao X. , Davenport R.
Published: May 2022

The hypothesis for this study was that RBC mechanical fragility (MF) could be an aggregatein vitroproperty predictive of transfused RBC performancein vivo. Various MF values were obtained via MF profiling, based on several variations of testing parameters, using both a “legacy” approach (with a commercial, cam-based vertical bead mill and a spectrophotometer) and a more proprietary approach (with a custom-developed, electromagnetic horizontal bead mill combined with proprietary optics and analysis). A total of 52 transfusion events in 32 different patients recruited from the University of Michigan were included in this study. Results were assessed using mixed effects and linear regression models. RBC MF was shown to predict about 15% of transfusion-associated changes in patient hemoglobin concentration, but not of secondary hemolysis-associated metrics (serum hemoglobin, HAP, and LDH). This result was affected by several factors that were not fully accounted for, including variability in post-transfusion blood collection time and variability in each blood unit volumes. Inclusion of the number of units transfused showed the potential to improve predictive capability, thus highlighting the potential importance of underlying patient condition necessitating the second unit transfusion. Certain ways of applying the bead-induced mechanical stress showed MF results more suitable for predicting transfusion outcomes than others indicating potential significance of flow stress type for assessing storage-induced RBC membrane damage. That highlights an opportunity for improvement of the potential for use of MF metrics, through identification of optimal stress application parameters (possibly by further varying parameters used here, as well as others) for assessing contribution of storage-lesion-associated RBC damage on transfused RBC performance.
Amyloid-β seeding effects are dependent on the presence of knock-in genes in the AppNL-G-F mice
Authors: Lacoursiere Sean G. , Safar Jiri , Westaway David , Mohajerani Majid H. , Sutherland Robert J.
Published: May 2022

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the prion-like propagation of amyloid-β (Aβ). However, the role of Aβ in cognitive impairment is still unclear. To determine the causal role of Aβ in AD, we intracerebrally seeded the entorhinal cortex of two-month-old AppNL-G-F mouse model with an Aβ peptide derived from patients who died from rapidly progressing AD. When the mice were three and six months of age, or one- and four-months following seeding, respectively, spatial learning and memory were tested using the Morris water task. Immunohistochemical labeling showed seeding with the Aβ seed increased plaque size one month following seeding, but reduced plaque counts four months following injection compared to the control seeded mice. A significant increase in microgliosis was found. However, we found no correlation between pathology and spatial performance. The results of the present study show that seeding human tissue with or without Aβ alters learning and memory ability, Aβ plaque deposition, plaque size, and microgliosis in the AppNL-G-F knock-in model, and these effects are dependent on the presence of a humanized App gene and the presence of Aβ in the seed. But these pathological changes were not initially causal in memory impairment.
An Investigation of the YidC-Mediated Membrane Insertion of Pf3 Coat Protein Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Authors: Polasa Adithya , Hettige Jeevapani , Immadisetty Kalyan , Moradi Mahmoud
Published: May 2022

YidC is a membrane protein that facilitates the insertion of newly synthesized proteins into lipid membranes. Through YidC, proteins are inserted into the lipid bilayer via the SecYEG-dependent complex. Additionally, YidC functions as a chaperone in protein folding processes. Several studies have provided evidence of its independent insertion mechanism. However, the mechanistic details of the YidC independent protein insertion mechanism remain elusive at the molecular level. This study elucidates the insertion mechanism of YidC at an atomic level through a combination of equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Different docking models of YidC-Pf3 in the lipid bilayer were built in this study to better understand the insertion mechanism. To conduct a complete investigation of the conformational difference between the two docking models developed, we used classical molecular dynamics simulations supplemented with a non-equilibrium technique. Our findings indicate that the YidC transmembrane (TM) groove is essential for this high-affinity interaction and that the hydrophilic nature of the YidC groove plays an important role in protein transport across the cytoplasmic membrane bilayer to the periplasmic side. At different stages of the insertion process, conformational changes in YidC’s TM domain and membrane core have a mechanistic effect on the Pf3 coat. Furthermore, during the insertion phase, the hydration and dehydration of the YidC’s hydrophilic groove are critical. These demonstrate that Pf3 interactions with the membrane and YidC vary in different conformational states during the insertion process. Finally, this extensive study directly confirms that YidC functions as an independent insertase.
Phenotypic stasis with genetic divergence
Authors: Mallard François , Noble Luke , Guzella Thiago , Afonso Bruno , Baer Charles F. , Teotónio Henrique
Published: May 2022

1

Whether or not genetic divergence on the short-term of tens to hundreds of generations is compatible with phenotypic stasis remains a relatively unexplored problem. We evolved predominantly outcrossing, genetically diverse populations of the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegansunder a constant and homogeneous environment for 240 generations, and followed individual locomotion behavior. Although founders of lab populations show highly diverse locomotion behavior, during lab evolution the component traits of locomotion behavior – defined as the transition rates in activity and direction – did not show divergence from the ancestral population. In contrast, transition rates’ genetic (co)variance structure showed a marked divergence from the ancestral state and differentiation among replicate populations during the final 100 generations and after most adaptation had been achieved. We observe that genetic differentiation is a transient pattern during the loss of genetic variance along phenotypic dimensions under drift during the last 100 generations of lab evolution. These results suggest that short-term stasis of locomotion behavior is maintained because of stabilizing selection, while the genetic structuring of component traits is contingent upon drift history.
Gcm: a novel anti-inflammatory transcriptional cascade conserved from flies to humans
Authors: Pavlidaki Alexia , Panic Radmila , Monticelli Sara , Riet Céline , Yuasa Yoshihiro , Cattenoz Pierre B. , Nait-Oumesmar Brahim , Giangrande Angela
Published: May 2022

Innate immunity is an ancestral process that can induce pro- and anti-inflammatory states. A major challenge is to characterise the transcriptional cascades that modulate the response to chronic and acute inflammatory challenges. TheDrosophila melanogasterGcm transcription factor represents an interesting candidate for its potential anti-inflammatory role. Here we explore its evolutionary conservation and its mode of action. We found that the murine orthologGcm2(mGcm2) is expressed upon aging, which is considered as a state of chronic inflammation. mGcm2 is found in a subpopulation of microglia, the innate immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Its expression is also induced by a lyso-phosphatidylcholine (LPC)-induced CNS demyelination (acute inflammation) andmGcm2conditional knock out mice show an increased inflammatory phenotype upon aging or LPC injection. In agreement with the role of this transcriptional cascade in inflammation, the human orthologhGCM2is expressed in active demyelinating lesions of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. Finally,Drosophila gcmexpression is induced upon aging as well as during an acute inflammatory response and its overexpression decreases the inflammatory phenotype. Altogether, our data show that the inducible Gcm pathway is highly conserved from flies up to humans and represents a potential therapeutic anti-inflammatory target in the control of the inflammatory response.
Scientometric review of construction conflict from 1991 to 2020
Authors: Liu Nan , Zhou Rui , Jin Ruoyu , Xiao Qing , Hu Zhipeng
Published: May 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the research of construction conflict from 1991 to 2020 and propose research directions for future scholarly work. During the recent decades, it is widely accepted that construction conflict is inevitable, and conflict management has become an important component of project management. However, few works were done to map the global study in this field, there is limited review that evaluates the current stage of construction conflict research.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a holistic literature review approach that incorporates bibliometric search and scientometric analysis. A total of 698 bibliographic records from the Web of Science core collection database were collected for the scientometric analysis. CiteSpace5.7 was adopted for the science mapping purpose in this study.

Findings

Through co-authorship analysis, co-word analysis and co-citation analysis, influential scholars and journals are identified. Several research trends are highlighted according to the scientometric analyses of the construction conflict topics. For example, the application of simulation and algorithms to the study of construction conflict management systems.

Practical implications

Construction is a resource-intensive, multi-participant and multi-targeted industry. Conflicts always exist in the whole life cycle of construction projects, it is important for industry practitioners to be updated of the latest movement and progress of the academic research.

Originality/value

This study contributed to the body of knowledge in construction conflict and bridge the research gap in the thorough review of previous research work.
The impact of social and organisational capital on service innovation capability during COVID-19: the mediating role of strategic environmental scanning
Authors: Blaique Lama , Abu-Salim Taghreed , Asad Mir Farzana , Omahony Barry
Published: May 2022

Purpose

This purpose of this study was to examine the impact of social and organisational capital on service innovation capability among service firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the proposed research model, data were collected using a cross-sectional questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 188 private and public service sector managers in the UAE. Partial least square-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the research model's validity and reliability and to test the research hypothesis.

Findings

The empirical evidence indicates that during this pandemic the relationship between social capital and service innovation capability was fully mediated by strategic environmental scanning, while partially mediating the relationship between organisational capital and service innovation capability.

Practical implications

Managers in service organisations must be proactive during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, they should emphasise effective environmental scanning and the tracking of customer preferences to provide customised services that are valued and meet the emerging requirements of their customers. Prioritising investment in organisational capital to enhance innovation capacity is also recommended.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine strategic environmental scanning as a mediator between social and organisational capital and service innovation capacity during a pandemic. There were significant differences between the findings of our study and previous studies: the authors found that, during crises, management priorities change, and businesses become more reliant on organisational capital to develop service innovation capability.
Multi-hazard risk assessment of typhoon, typhoon-rainfall and post-typhoon-rainfall in the Mid-Central Coastal region of Vietnam
Authors: Thuc Tran , Thanh Thuy Tran , Huong Huynh Thi Lan
Published: May 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a multi-hazard risk assessment method based on probability theory and a set of economic, social and environmental indicators, which considers the increase in hazards when they occur concurrently or consecutively.

Design/methodology/approach

Disaster risk assessment generally considers the impact and vulnerability of a single hazard to the affected location/object without considering the combination of multiple hazards occurring concurrently or consecutively. However, disasters are often closely related, occurring in combination or at the same time. Probability theory was used to assess multi-hazard, and a matrix method was used to assess the interaction of hazard vulnerabilities.

Findings

The results of the case study for the Mid-Central Coastal Region show that the proportions of districts at a very high class of multi-hazard, multi-vulnerabilities and multi-hazard risk are 81%, 89% and 82%, respectively. Multi-hazard risk level tends to decrease from North to South and from East to West. A total of 100% of coastal districts are at high to very high multi-hazard risk classes. The research results could assist in the development of disaster risk reduction programs towards sustainable development and support the management to reduce risks caused by multi-hazard.

Originality/value

The multi-risk assessment method developed in this study is based on published literature, allowing to compare quantitatively multiple risk caused by multi-hazard occurring concurrently or consecutively, in which, a relative increase in hazard and vulnerability is considered. The method includes the assessment of three components of disaster risk including multi-hazard, exposure and multi-vulnerability. Probability and Copula theories were used to assess multi-hazard, and a matrix method was used to assess the interaction intensity of multi-vulnerabilities in the system.
Reformulating the empowerment process through women entrepreneurship in a collective context
Authors: Ng Poh Yen , Wood Bronwyn P. , Bastian Bettina Lynda
Published: May 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop an empirically informed framework to analyze women empowerment and entrepreneurship, contextualized within a collective society.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs located in the United Arab Emirates to understand their entrepreneurial experiences and how they were empowered.

Findings

Findings suggest that the three aspects of power characterized as “positive” from within Rowlands’ distinctions (“power to”, “power with” and “power within”) dominate, as opposed to those emphasized in the literature (“power to” and “power over”). Findings include empowerment of the “me” (individual) also synergistically contributes to empowerment of the “we” (society), when considering empowerment within a collective society.

Originality/value

A psychology model was used as a basis to develop a Collective Empowerment Process Framework. This framework provides a fresh look at empowerment, allowing for explanations of how women in specific contexts experience empowerment and social change.
Mentoring roles in an afterschool STEM mentoring program: an investigation of why mentors enact different roles
Authors: Rangel Virginia Snodgrass , Henderson Jerrod A. , Doan Victoria , Greer Rick , Manuel Mariam
Published: May 2022

Purpose

The purposes of this study were to describe the roles mentors enacted as part of an afterschool science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program and how those roles varied across three sites and to explain those differences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a comparative case study design and collected data primarily from interviews with program mentors and observations of the sessions.

Findings

The authors found that the mentors played four roles, depending on the school site: teachers, friends, support and role models. Mentors interpreted cues from the environment in light of their own identities, which ultimately led them to construct a plausible understanding of their roles as mentors.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identify four mentoring roles that are somewhat consistent with prior research and demonstrate that the roles mentors enact can vary systematically across sites, and these variations can be explained by sensemaking. This study also contributes to research on mentoring roles by elaborating each identified role and offering a framework to explain variability in mentor role enactment.

Practical implications

The authors recommend that mentoring program directors discuss the roles that mentors may enact with mentors as part of their training and that they engage mentors in identity work and also recommend that program managers create unstructured time for mentors to socialize outside STEM activities with their mentees.

Originality/value

This study contributes to mentoring research by using sensemaking theory to highlight how and why mentoring roles differ across school sites.
Portfolio weights concentration: optimal strategies and equilibrium implications
Authors: Glabadanidis Paskalis
Published: May 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to help investors build less-concentrated portfolios as well as to construct optimal return-concentration portfolios.

Design/methodology/approach

An alternative portfolio objective is proposed where investors care about the level of concentration of their portfolio weights. Minimizing the concentration of portfolio weights leads to the well-known equal-weight portfolio as the optimal choice. Maximizing the trade-off between the portfolio's expected return and the weight concentration produces a novel portfolio with weights proportional to the expected return of each security.

Findings

An empirical application with 30 industry portfolios and 1,000 individual stocks finds that both proposed strategies perform well out-of-sample both in terms of the proposed concentration measure but also in terms of more traditional risk-based measures like Sharpe ratios, abnormal returns and market betas.

Originality/value

The optimal risk-concentration portfolio proposed in this paper is a novel result. The portfolio generalizes prior practitioner intuition on focusing on securities with the highest expected returns and the concept of diversification.
An integrated model of consumers' intention to buy second-hand clothing
Authors: Koay Kian Yeik , Cheah Chee Wei , Lom Hui Shan
Published: May 2022

Purpose

The demand for second-hand clothing has risen rapidly in the past few years. Yet, the understanding of the motivations of consumers buying second-hand clothing is very limited. The purpose of this study is to propose and empirically test an integrated model of the theory of planned behaviour and the theory of consumption values to explain consumers' intention to buy second-hand clothing.

Design/methodology/approach

Data (n = 290) are collected from consumers in Malaysia and analysed by partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

Results of this study show that attitudes towards second-hand clothing, injunctive norms, descriptive norms, moral norms, and perceived behavioural control have a significant positive influence on consumers' intention to buy second-hand clothing. Furthermore, emotional value and environmental value are found to have a significant positive influence on attitudes. However, no support is found for the positive influence of social value and epistemic value on attitudes.

Originality/value

The study confirms that the integrated model is useful in explaining consumers' intention to buy second-hand clothing. Furthermore, this study also provides some valuable suggestions to practitioners.
Exploring core knowledge in business intelligence research
Authors: Shiau Wen-Lung , Chen Hao , Wang Zhenhao , Dwivedi Yogesh K.
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Although knowledge based on business intelligence (BI) is crucial, few studies have explored the core of BI knowledge; this study explores this topic.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected 1,306 articles and 54,020 references from the Web of Science (WoS) database and performed co-citation analysis to explore the core knowledge of BI; 52 highly cited articles were identified. The authors also performed factor and cluster analyses to organize this core knowledge and compared the results of these analyses.

Findings

The factor analysis based on the co-citation matrix revealed seven key factors of the core knowledge of BI: big data analytics, BI benefits and success, organizational capabilities and performance, information technology (IT) acceptance and measurement, information and business analytics, social media text analytics, and the development of BI. The cluster analysis revealed six categories: IT acceptance and measurement, BI success and measurement, organizational capabilities and performance, big data-enabled business value, social media text analytics, and BI system (BIS) and analytics. These results suggest that numerous research topics related to big data are emerging.

Research limitations/implications

The core knowledge of BI revealed in this study can help researchers understand BI, save time, and explore new problems. The study has three limitations that researchers should consider: the time lag of co-citation analysis, the difference between two analytical methods, and the changing nature of research over time. Researchers should consider these limitations in future studies.

Originality/value

This study systematically explores the extent to which scholars of business have researched and understand BI. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to outline the core knowledge of BI and identify emerging opportunities for research in the field.
Audit quality and abolition of mandated joint-audits: evidence from Kuwait
Authors: Van der Zahn Mitchell , Tebourbi Imen
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Statistical analysis is based on annual data collected from 132 Boursa Kuwait listed firms from 2016 to 2019 (i.e. yielding 528 firm-year observations). During the observation window (i.e. 2016 to 2019) 116 firms switched from joint-to solo-audits. Level and change models test if audit quality (proxied by abnormal accruals) is impacted by joint-/solo-audit switching. Therefore this paper explores the audit quality following abolition of mandated joint-audits in Kuwait.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper investigates the impact on audit quality following abolition of mandated joint-audit requirements in 2016 in Kuwait. The study is differentiated from prior analysis by focusing on an emerging economy setting, and by considering a more expansive set of joint-audit pairings, solo-audit types and switching options.

Findings

Abolition of mandated joint-audit requirements prompted a majority of Boursa Kuwait listed firms to switch to solo-audits. Analysis indicates that switch does not significantly decrease audit quality. Also, audit quality changes are not dependent on the specific joint-audit pairing/solo-audit type switch.

Research limitations/implications

Analysis is based on a single national setting comprising a small set of firms. Nonetheless, results imply the impact of joint-/solo-audit switching following abolition of mandated requirements is more universal with generalizability to different economic settings.

Practical implications

Results indicate that following elimination of mandated joint-audit requirements, firms have a propensity to favor solo-audits. Irrespective of the joint-audit pairing and solo-audit type, findings show a joint-/solo-audit switch does not compromise audit quality.

Originality/value

Analysis is the first to investigate the impact of joint/solo-audit switches on audit quality in an emerging economy with tests considering more joint-audit pairings than assessed previously.