bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Differentiated neuroblastoma cells remain epigenetically poised for de-differentiation to an immature state
Authors: Guyer Richard A. , Picard Nicole , Mueller Jessica L. , Murphy Andrew J. , Cornejo Kristine M. , Hotta Ryo , Goldstein Allan M.
Published: July 2022

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood and accounts for a significant share of childhood cancer deaths. Prior studies utilizing RNA sequencing of bulk tumor populations showed two predominant cell states characterized by high and low expression of neuronal genes. Although cells respond to treatment by altering their gene expression, it is unclear whether this reflects shifting balances of distinct subpopulations or plasticity of individual cells. Using neuroblastoma cell lines lacking MYCN amplification, we show that the antigen CD49b distinguishes these subpopulations. CD49b expression marks proliferative cells with an immature gene expression program, while CD49b-negative cells express differentiated neuronal marker genes and are quiescent. Sorted populations spontaneously switch between CD49b expression states in culture, and CD49b-negative cells can generate rapidly growing, CD49b-positive tumors in mice. We profiled H3K27ac to identify enhancers and super enhancers that are specifically active in each population and find that CD49b-negative cells maintain the priming H3K4me1 mark at elements that are active in CD49b-high cells. Improper maintenance of primed enhancer elements thus may underlie cellular plasticity in neuroblastoma, representing potential therapeutic targets for this lethal tumor.

Summary Statement

This study demonstrates that neuroblastoma cells can interconvert between a state characterized by expression of neuronal genes and a de-differentiated state.
Taxane chemotherapy leads to breast cancer dormancy escape by stromal injury mediated IL-6/MAP2K signaling
Authors: Ganesan Ramya , Bhasin Swati S. , Krishnan Upaasana , Cheemarla Nagarjuna R. , Thomas Beena E. , Bhasin Manoj K. , Sukhatme Vikas P.
Published: July 2022

A major cause of cancer recurrence following chemotherapy is cancer dormancy escape. Taxane-based chemotherapy is standard of care in breast cancer treatment aimed at killing proliferating cancer cells. Here, we demonstrate that docetaxel injures stromal cells, which release protumor cytokines, IL-6 and G-CSF, that in turn invoke dormant cancer outgrowth both in vitro and in vivo. Single-cell transcriptomics shows a reprogramming of awakened cancer cells including several survival cues such as stemness, chemoresistance, as well as an altered tumor microenvironment with augmented pro-tumor immune signaling. IL-6 plays a role in cancer cell proliferation, whereas G-CSF mediates tumor immunosuppression. Pathways and differential expression analyses confirmed MEK as the key regulatory molecule in cancer cell outgrowth and survival. Antibody targeting of protumor cytokines (IL-6, G-CSF) or inhibition of cytokine signaling via MEK/ERK pathway using selumetinib prior to docetaxel treatment prevented cancer dormancy outgrowth suggesting a novel therapeutic strategy to prevent cancer recurrence.
Study of citrate gold plating by different pulse modes with and without vibration
Authors: Dai Yue , Wang Qing , Zhang Yongbin , Liu Guangmin , Zhang Lin , Wang Feng
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the optimum average current density and pulse width for electrodeposition of gold in citrate electrolyte, and it is verified that the uniformity of film thickness can be effectively improved by periodic pulse reverse electroplating.

Design/methodology/approach

Apply forward pulse current, forward group pulse current and periodic pulse reverse current to the electrolyte and compare the film quality. High-frequency group pulses are used in both forward and reverse directions of the periodic pulse reverse current.

Findings

It is verified by experiments that periodic pulse reverse plating is superior to forward pulse plating and forward group pulse plating in terms of particle size, compactness, impurity content and thickness uniformity of the film. Add low-frequency vibration to the cathode under the same pulse electrical parameters as a comparative experiment to prove the beneficial effect of vibration on the allowable limiting current density and plating rate.

Originality/value

Gold film is often used as the sealing layer of precision parts. Increasing the thickness uniformity and improving the compactness of gold film will help to reduce the size error, improve the subsequent assembly accuracy and increase the service life of wear-resistant layer. Citrate gold plating electrolyte combines the advantages of cyanide electrolyte and cyanide-free electrolyte. Hence, this research focuses on the characteristics of periodic pulse reverse plating in terms of particle size, compactness, impurity content and thickness uniformity of the film and compare it with forward pulse plating and forward group pulse plating.
Industry 4.0 in food processing: drivers, challenges and outcomes
Authors: Romanello Rubina , Veglio Valerio
Published: July 2022

Purpose

In the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0 can increase the productivity and competitiveness of companies in the international marketplace. The purpose of this article is to investigate the drivers for and outcomes of the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in the case of a food processing company located in Italy.

Design/methodology/approach

The present work adopted a case study approach by investigating an Italian food processing company to investigate the drivers, challenges and outcomes of Industry 4.0 adoption in the agri-food sector.

Findings

This research highlighted drivers and challenges related to the adoption of different Industry 4.0 technologies. Secondly, it underlined the impacts of Industry 4.0 in terms of firm performance, operations management, human resource management and strategy.

Originality/value

Industry 4.0 technologies remain underexplored from the strategic perspective in the agri-food sector. This article provides preliminary evidence on the digital transformation of food processing companies, with a focus on Industry 4.0. Practical implications for managers, CEOs and entrepreneurs are discussed.
Modeling brand color emotions, perceived brand creativity, perceived value, and brand loyalty in the context of theme parks
Authors: Milman Ady , Tasci Asli D.A.
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of perceived brand color emotions on perceived brand creativity, assess the influence of perceived brand creativity on utilitarian and hedonic values, measure the impact of hedonic and utilitarian values on brand loyalty and evaluate the role of different theme park color schemes in influencing these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The study modeled the proposed relationships by analyzing data from an online survey using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Respondents were presented with different color schemes to induce certain emotions before answering questions.

Findings

The results showed that the valence and arousal of emotions incited by various colors lead to a perception of creativity for theme park products, which then influence both utilitarian and hedonic values and thus brand loyalty. When the model was compared for seven different color schemes for a theme park brand, differences seem sporadic rather than systematic.

Research limitations/implications

The online nature and timing of the study may have prohibited authentic reactions from consumers as the US theme park industry is currently in its recovery mode.

Practical implications

While the results did not identify a specific preferred color scheme, theme park executives should continue using a variety of color combinations to generate visitor perceptions of novelty and creativity that would impact their perceived hedonistic and utilitarian values.

Originality/value

The study empirically tests color influences on a brand’s perceived creativity and its consequences on a brand’s utilitarian and hedonic values and brand loyalty.
Social interactions at work: why interactive work should be an analytical category in its own right
Authors: Doerflinger Nadja
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to make a conceptual argument for considering interactive work – i.e. work made up of micro-level exchanges or social interactions with third parties such as customers, patients or citizens – as a distinct analytical category in employment-related research. The argument is underpinned by the core role played by interactive work in valorisation.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper, with its argument based on key findings from the debates on symbolic interactionism, service work and interaction work. These are merged and combined with a valorisation perspective.

Findings

“Social interactions” and “work” have mostly been considered separately by theoretical sociology and the sociology of work. The author contends however that the two concepts should be viewed together, as social interactions at work are a constitutive feature of many occupations, jobs and tasks. This implies studying both exchange and social relationships between the different parties and their embeddedness in specific (multi-level) contexts. Moreover, there are two reasons why interactive work relates to specific working conditions: first, it involves customers or similar groups as third parties; second, it is key to valorisation. To systematically study interactive work, context-sensitive approaches spanning multiple (analytical) levels are recommended.

Originality/value

The article contributes to advancing the understanding of interactive work as a distinct form of work as yet under-theorised but deserving to be considered as a separate analytical category.
Impact of COVID-19 on corporate social responsibility in India – a mixed methods approach
Authors: Vinod M.S. Sai , Umesh Pranav , Sivakumar N.
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Prior research studies have discussed the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) during crisis situations in increasing the resilience and sustainability of the companies. There are two basic models of crisis management – reactive and proactive. When a crisis occurs, suddenly firms tend to act reactively and progressively take proactive steps to manage the crisis. CSR can also be reactive and proactive during crisis situations. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore whether CSR during the COVID-19 pandemic moved from a reactive to a proactive stance, with specific focus on CSR legislation, corporate CSR response and corporate thinking about CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a mixed methods approach, using both qualitative and quantitative research designs. This study draws upon both primary and secondary data.

Findings

The results highlighted the change in the CSR approach from being reactive to being proactive as the pandemic progressed. This was observed through the increase in frequency of CSR legislation, and the shift in the intent of CSR legislation from “prompting to donate” to “prompting to volunteer.” Similarly, the shift in reactive to proactive CSR corporate response was observed through the increased spending on CSR and improved COVID-related CSR reporting.

Practical implications

This study recommends companies to manage crises by becoming more proactive. CSR activities need to be closely aligned with national developmental objectives, and collaborate with various stakeholders to achieve the intended outcomes of the activities.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research paper is one of the few to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on CSR in India at a time when India went through three waves of the pandemic. This study corroborates with other studies in terms of managing crisis.
Critical realist multilevel research in business marketing: a laminated conceptualization of resilience
Authors: Vanharanta Markus , Wong Phoebe
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to ease the methodological application of critical realist multilevel research in business marketing. Although there has been plenty of theoretical contributions in this field, it is not always clear how critical realism can be best applied in business marketing settings. Accordingly, this paper addresses this gap in literature. Also, this paper addresses the calls for a multilevel conceptualization for resilience, based on the critical realist laminated systems.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper, which uses pre-existing literature to develop a critical realist methodological approach for the purposes of multilevel business marketing research. The contribution is based on literature by combining pre-existing ideas in a new way in the context of business marketing.

Findings

This paper makes a methodological contribution by introducing the critical realist “laminated systems” to business marketing as a multilevel research approach. Furthermore, the authors conceptualize a specific laminated model, the Laminated Interactional Model (LIM), that is designed for the purpose of business marketing research. The LIM is a methodological tool that conceptualizes business marketing based on six levels of analysis, easing the methodological application of critical realism in business marketing settings. In addition, to provide an example, the authors apply the LIM to the literature on resilience, providing a multilevel conceptualization. This is a timely contribution, as resilience has emerged as a central concept addressing interorganizational survival during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

This paper makes three main contributions to business marketing. First, this paper provides a methodological contribution by introducing the critical realist notion of “laminated systems” to business marketing. Second, this paper conceptualizes a specific laminated model for business marketing, namely, the LIM. Third, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper will apply critical realism and the LIM to the notion of resilience, addressing the calls for multilevel conceptualizations.
Integrated thinking on integrated reporting practice: evidence from public listed companies in Sri Lanka
Authors: Abeywardana N.L.E. , Azam S. M. Ferdous , Kevin Low L.T.
Published: July 2022

Purpose

This study aims to offer empirical evidence on how integrated thinking affects the integrated reporting (IR) practice and how integrated thinking originates from board and management involvement, cross-functional integration and integral link between capitals and strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is cross-sectional and uses a mixed-method approach. The empirical data for the quantitative approach were collected from the 129 public companies listed on Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. The personale responsible for preparing the annual report are selected as the respondents of this study. This study used partial least square modelling to test the hypotheses. The quantitative approach results are triangulated across a qualitative research approach in semi-structural interviews with ten responsible officers of integrated reporting practices.

Findings

The central finding of this study is the significant positive relationship between integrated thinking and integrated reporting practice. The qualitative results supported the quantitative findings and show that board and management involvement, cross-functional integration and integral link between capital and strategy enhance the integrated reporting practice. Top management and board management have positive beliefs about the integrated reporting practice; they initiate, encourage, influence, involve and support it. Furthermore, all company departments are involved with the integrated reporting led by the finance department and practice good coordination, communication and collaboration between departments. Moreover, it also evidenced their concern about the linkage between capital and strategy and how they do it in their organisation when practising integrated reporting.

Research limitations/implications

The firms which intend to practice or enhance integrated reporting will be benefited from this study. Hence, this research assists in constructing IT through the direct role of the board and senior leadership, breaking down silos to diffuse IR throughout structures and processes, and concentrating on strategies while managing their capitals and relationships over the long term.

Originality/value

This study provides the initial quantitative empirical evidence on the impact of integrated thinking on integrated reporting practice. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to operationalise both integrated thinking and integrated reporting based on a questionnaire that developed and tested both constructs as higher-order reflective formative and on the relationship between integrated thinking and integrated reporting. The mixed-method approach to examine the relationship between integrated thinking and integrated reporting provides additional insights into the existing literature.
Spousal support and working woman’s career progression: a qualitative study of woman academicians in the University of Kashmir
Authors: Wani Ambreen Khursheed
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of spousal support toward a working woman’s career progression. As women continue to bear the brunt of shouldering more domestic responsibilities than men, this research focuses on their extensive need for spousal support. The work attempts to examine how working women perceive the roles their spouses play in sharing home and childcare responsibilities vis-à-vis supporting them in pursuing a career. The compartmentalization of gender roles and how it influences division of labor between husband and wife have also been explored.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative approach based on analysis of multiple cases regarding women academicians. In-depth narratives based on rich interview data presented an inquiry into spousal support working women received. The impact of spousal support on the career trajectories of women was also explored.

Findings

Results show that spousal support is an important dimension toward the success of a woman’s career. Findings also suggest that gender role is an essential dynamic that determines the pattern of dominance between couples. Gender role ideology between the husband and wife was a key determinant of husbands’ support toward his working wife.

Originality/value

The present research, unlike previous studies, explores how women perceive the presence/absence of a husband’s support in a little studied group of female workers.
How leadership competences foster innovation and high performance: evidence from tourism industry in Vietnam
Authors: Mai Ngoc Khuong , Do Thanh Tung , Tran Phuong Mai
Published: July 2022

Purpose

This study investigates how to foster innovation and high performance through leadership competences (result-oriented, cognitive, interpersonal) in the context of tourism firms in Vietnam during COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative approach and survey questionnaire were applied to collect data from managerial executives working at different tourism establishments in Vietnam. A total of 638 responses were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique.

Findings

The findings revealed that all three leadership competencies affected almost all factors of business innovation. However, leaders' interpersonal competence was not related to process innovation and leaders' result-oriented competence was not associated with organizational innovation. Furthermore, leaders' result-oriented competence, product innovation, and process innovation were found to directly enhance organizational performance.

Practical implications

This study proposed some suggestions for tourism leaders in exhibiting appropriate leadership competences and fostering business innovation to drive their firms towards superior performance.

Originality/value

Achieving high performance is always a priority goal of many firms; therefore, several attempted have been made to address several factors affecting organizational performance. This study provides a more nuanced picture of the relationships between the leadership competences, business innovation, and high performance of tourism firms.
Development and testing of an image transformer for explainable autonomous driving systems
Authors: Dong Jiqian , Chen Sikai , Miralinaghi Mohammad , Chen Tiantian , Labi Samuel
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Perception has been identified as the main cause underlying most autonomous vehicle related accidents. As the key technology in perception, deep learning (DL) based computer vision models are generally considered to be black boxes due to poor interpretability. These have exacerbated user distrust and further forestalled their widespread deployment in practical usage. This paper aims to develop explainable DL models for autonomous driving by jointly predicting potential driving actions with corresponding explanations. The explainable DL models can not only boost user trust in autonomy but also serve as a diagnostic approach to identify any model deficiencies or limitations during the system development phase.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes an explainable end-to-end autonomous driving system based on “Transformer,” a state-of-the-art self-attention (SA) based model. The model maps visual features from images collected by onboard cameras to guide potential driving actions with corresponding explanations, and aims to achieve soft attention over the image’s global features.

Findings

The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed model as it exhibits superior performance (in terms of correct prediction of actions and explanations) compared to the benchmark model by a significant margin with much lower computational cost on a public data set (BDD-OIA). From the ablation studies, the proposed SA module also outperforms other attention mechanisms in feature fusion and can generate meaningful representations for downstream prediction.

Originality/value

In the contexts of situational awareness and driver assistance, the proposed model can perform as a driving alarm system for both human-driven vehicles and autonomous vehicles because it is capable of quickly understanding/characterizing the environment and identifying any infeasible driving actions. In addition, the extra explanation head of the proposed model provides an extra channel for sanity checks to guarantee that the model learns the ideal causal relationships. This provision is critical in the development of autonomous systems.
Exploring the relationship between intellectual capital and maqasid sharia-based performance: the moderating role of sharia governance
Authors: Prasojo Prasojo , Yadiati Winwin , Fitrijanti Tettet , Sueb Memed
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between intellectual capital, sharia governance and Islamic bank performance based on the maqasid sharia index, as well as the moderating effect of sharia governance on the relationship between intellectual capital and maqasid sharia index.

Design/methodology/approach

Dynamic panel regression is used with the two-step generalised method of moments with data from the Bankscope database for 2014–2018.

Findings

The results show that higher intellectual capital efficiency improves Islamic bank performance based on maqasid sharia. Larger board sizes are also found to improve Islamic bank performance. By contrast, higher sharia supervisory board quality and larger independent boards can reduce Islamic bank performance. In the moderating relationship, sharia governance is proven to moderate the relationship between intellectual capital and Islamic bank performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study used a sample that is restricted to Islamic bank and only used value-added intellectual coefficient to measure intellectual capital. Thirdly, the quality of the sharia supervisory board only involves the presence, size, expertise and doctoral qualification of the sharia supervisory board.

Originality/value

This research: analyses the relationship between intellectual capital, sharia governance and Islamic bank performance in one research framework; uses maqasid sharia index-based Islamic bank performance benchmarks; and examines the moderating effect of sharia governance on the relationship between intellectual capital and maqasid sharia index.
Implementing the HEART score in an NHS emergency department: can identity leadership combined with quality improvement promote racial equality?
Authors: Handagala Rangani , Indrasena Buddhike Sri Harsha , Subedi Prakash , Nizam Mohammed Shihaam , Aylott Jill
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the dynamics of “identity leadership” with a quality improvement project undertaken by an International Medical Graduate (IMG) from Sri Lanka, on a two year Medical Training Initiative (MTI) placement in the National Health Service (NHS) [Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), 2017]. A combined MTI rotation with an integrated Fellowship in Quality Improvement (Subedi et al., 2019) provided the driver to implement the HEART score (HS) in an NHS Emergency Department (ED) in the UK. The project was undertaken across ED, Acute Medicine and Cardiology at the hospital, with stakeholders emphasizing different and conflicting priorities to improve the pathway for chest pain patients.

Design/methodology/approach

A social identity approach to leadership provided a framework to understand the insider/outsider approach to leadership which helped RH to negotiate and navigate the conflicting priorities from each departments’ perspective. A staff survey tool was undertaken to identify reasons for the lack of implementation of a clinical protocol for chest pain patients, specifically with reference to the use of the HS. A consensus was reached to develop and implement the pathway for multi-disciplinary use of the HS and a quality improvement methodology (with the use of plan do study act (PDSA) cycles) was used over a period of nine months.

Findings

The results demonstrated significant improvements in the reduction (60%) of waiting time by chronic chest pain patients in the ED. The use of the HS as a stratified risk assessment tool resulted in a more efficient and safe way to manage patients. There are specific leadership challenges faced by an MTI doctor when they arrive in the NHS, as the MTI doctor is considered an outsider to the NHS, with reduced influence. Drawing upon the Social Identity Theory of Leadership, NHS Trusts can introduce inclusion strategies to enable greater alignment in social identity with doctors from overseas.

Research limitations/implications

More than one third of doctors (40%) in the English NHS are IMGs and identify as black and minority ethnic (GMC, 2019a) a trend that sees no sign of abating as the NHS continues its international medical workforce recruitment strategy for its survival (NHS England, 2019; Beech et al., 2019). IMGs can provide significant value to improving the NHS using skills developed from their own health-care system. This paper recommends a need for reciprocal learning from low to medium income countries by UK doctors to encourage the development of an inclusive global medical social identity.

Originality/value

This quality improvement research combined with identity leadership provides new insights into how overseas doctors can successfully lead sustainable improvement across different departments within one hospital in the NHS.
An exploratory study of South Asian women’s experiences of mental health services in England: a thematic analysis of cultural sensitivity
Authors: Phillips Lorna , Andriopoulou Panoraia
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Despite government and national health service demands for equality within mental health (MH) services, racial inequalities remain. South Asian (SA) women underutilise MH services, yet research regarding their experiences and the cultural sensitivity (CS) of services is sparse. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of SA women who have used MH services and the cultural sensitivity of the latter.

Design/methodology/approach

Thematic analysis was used for data analysis of semi-structured interviews carried out with 16 SA women.

Findings

Analysis yielded an overarching theme of “degree of understanding” and three main themes: “shared background and understanding” “humanity” and “cultural factors” and their subsequent subthemes. Results demonstrated mixed experiences, illustrating varied levels of CS and the impacts of this upon experiences. Cultural understanding underpins CS: participants’ experiences demonstrated the benefit of significant understanding and the detriment of limited understanding.

Research limitations/implications

All participants were well educated, English-speaking and from psychology, health or research backgrounds. SA culture is nuanced; thus, the demographic of “South Asian” could be too broad. However, because current understanding is limited, this research provides fundamental empirical knowledge.

Practical implications

Clear recommendations were co-produced with participants, highlighting strong impacts for service development and best practice.

Social implications

The research provides valuable insight into SA women’s experiences of MH services and wider understanding of CS. This raises cultural awareness in a field lacking understanding. Findings and recommendations can, therefore, provide foundational knowledge for broader societal issues experienced by people from this demographic and challenge preconceptions.

Originality/value

This research offers unique recommendations for more culturally sensitive practice, co-produced with participants.
Age diversity, firm performance and managerial ability
Authors: Xu Qiao , Fernando Guy Dinesh , Schneible Richard A.
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the age diversity of the top management team (TMT) on firm performance and on the managerial ability of the TMT. Furthermore, this study investigates how the relationship between age diversity and firm performance is mediated by managerial ability and the contextual nature of the relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an empirical study which uses regression analyses and mediation analyses to evaluate the hypotheses.

Findings

The authors observe a negative relationship between age diversity and firm performance and also between age diversity and managerial ability of the TMT. Further, the authors find that that the negative relationship between age diversity and firm performance is mediated by managerial ability. The authors also find that the relation between performance and age diversity is context specific – the negative relationship between age diversity and firm performance is ameliorated during times of financial crisis.

Social implications

In an environment where diversity is beginning to be valued, insights into the impact of different types of diversity on performance become important. Age diversity is a critical component of diversity. Therefore, insights into the impact of age diversity on performance will be of interest to managers, academics and even regulators.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate the impact of age diversity on the market perception of firm performance of US firms using a large, comprehensive, multi-year data set. Furthermore, this is the only study to evaluate the impact of age diversity on managerial ability and show the mediating effect of managerial ability on the relationship between age diversity and firm performance.
Appearance or substance of Stewardship and ESG reporting? The challenges of translating ‘commitment’ into tangible outcomes
Authors: Tilba Anna
Published: July 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the stewardship practices of BlackRock, one of the world’s biggest index managers, to highlight a tension and contradictions associated with demonstrating sustainability leadership and its actual substance.

Design/methodology/approach

To support its argument, this paper draws on the author’s long-standing industry and academic experience, existing academic evidence and documentary analysis.

Findings

This paper reveals conflicting data, highlighting a tension between BlackRock’s commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) in its public statements and translating this commitment into tangible outcomes through voting, ESG investments and stewardship reporting, which seem to be more assumed than demonstrated.

Research limitations/implications

This viewpoint is based on a review of existing evidence. It offers some critique on current stewardship reporting practices, which has implications for management and policymakers. It identifies areas for future research in the area of stewardship and ESG reporting.

Practical implications

This paper highlights the need for a more critical interrogation of investor stewardship and ESG reporting and a more joined-up policy and regulatory approach to stewardship and sustainability reporting.

Social implications

Improving stewardship practices of asset managers will help enhance the social value created by the financial services sector.

Originality/value

In drawing on personal experience and existing literature, the originality lies in the combination of arguments brought together to highlight the challenges of making sense of the conflicting ESG reporting data to see how this may impact policies, regulation and future practices in the area of sustainability and ESG reporting.
Investigating the antecedents of luxury brand loyalty for Gen Z consumers in India: a PLS-SEM approach
Authors: Ghosh Kaustav , Bhattacharya Subhajit
Published: July 2022

Purpose

This study aims to explore the antecedents related to luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. It obtains the connection between luxury brand attachment, luxury brand trust and luxury brand loyalty. The study also envisages how luxury brand trust plays a mediation role in strengthening the relationship between luxury brand attachment and luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical investigation is based on the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. Data was acquired with the help of a structured questionnaire, following convenience and snowball sampling techniques. A total of 230 primary responses was used for the statistical analysis of the present research. The analysis was carried out with the help of SmartPLS software to validate a proposed model and corresponding hypotheses.

Findings

The research findings demonstrate that two major branding outcomes support luxury brand loyalty behavior in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment: luxury brand attachment and luxury brand trust. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) attributes and sustainability attributes, luxury product attributes, luxury brand attributes and social media attributes positively influence luxury brand attachment in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. CSR attributes and sustainability attributes have negligible contribution toward positively influencing luxury brand trust towards the same. However, when luxury brand trust is combined with luxury brand attachment, then luxury brand trust plays a significant role in enhancing luxury brand loyalty among the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. Then, luxury brand attributes, product attributes and social media attribute positively impact luxury brand trust in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. The study also identifies that luxury brand trust plays a significant mediation role in consolidating the relationship between attachment and loyalty.

Originality/value

The proposed model in the research is an integrated framework comprising maximum potential variables that can positively influence luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. The analysis in the research shows the mediation role of luxury brand trust between luxury brand attachment and luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. This study has also identified the vital role of luxury brands’ CSR attributes and sustainability attributes to support luxury brand loyalty.
Effects of temperature on mating behaviour and mating success: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Pilakouta Natalie , Baillet Anaїs
Published: July 2022

In light of global climate change, there is a pressing need to understand how populations will respond to rising temperatures. Understanding the effects of temperature changes on mating behaviour is particularly important, given its implications for population viability.

To this end, we performed a meta‐analysis of 53 studies to examine how temperature changes influence mating latency, choosiness and mating success. We hypothesized that if higher temperatures make mate searching and mate assessment more costly due to an elevated metabolism, this may lead to a reduction in mating latency and choosiness, thereby increasing overall mating success.

We found no evidence for an overall effect of temperature on mating latency, choosiness, or mating success. There was an increase in mating success when animals were exposed to higher temperatures during mating trials but not when they were exposed before mating trials.

In addition, in a subset of studies that measured both mating latency and mating success, there was a strong negative relationship between the effect sizes for these traits. This suggests that a decrease in mating latency at higher temperatures was associated with an increase in mating success and vice versa.

In sum, our meta‐analysis provides new insights into the effects of temperature on mating patterns. The absence of a consistent directional effect of temperature on mating behaviours and mating success suggests it may be difficult to predict changes in the strength of sexual selection in natural populations in a warming world. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that (a) higher temperatures during mating may lead to an increase in mating success and that (b) an increase in mating success is associated with a decrease in mating latency.
How Seriously Should we Take Universal Basic Income?
Authors: Szreter Simon
Published: July 2022

Is universal basic income (UBI) a policy idea whose time has come? Recent historical scholarship now enables us to comprehend the twentieth century evolution of this and similar ideas. UBI is intriguing in having vociferous backers drawn both from the libertarian right—such as, notably, Milton Friedman in the form of his negative income tax proposal—but also from the emancipation‐embracing left—such as Michel Foucault and Phillipe Van Parijs. In this review, scepticism is expressed about whether UBI can seriously help to address issues of inequality, as opposed to preventing the poverty that liberal market economies tend insistently to generate.
Parliament, the Pandemic, and Constitutional Principle in the United Kingdom: A Study of the Coronavirus Act 2020
Authors: Grez Hidalgo Pablo , de Londras Fiona , Lock Daniella
Published: July 2022

Constitutions come under pressure during emergencies and, as is increasingly clear, during pandemics. Taking the legislative and post‐legislative debates in Westminster and the Devolved Legislatures on the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CVA) as its focus, this paper explores the robustness of parliamentary accountability during the pandemic, and finds it lacking. It suggests that this is attributable not to the situation of emergency per se, but to (a) executive decisions that have limited Parliament's capacity to scrutinise; (b) MPs’ failure to maximise the opportunities for scrutiny that did exist; and (c) the limited nature of Legislative Consent Motions (LCMs) as a mode of holding the central government to account. While at first glance the CVA appears to confirm the view that in emergencies law empowers the executive and reduces its accountability, rendering legal constraints near‐futile, our analysis suggests that this ought to be understood as a product, to a significant extent, of constitutional actors’ mindset vis‐à‐vis accountability.
Crowdsourcing forensics: Creating a curated catalog of digital forensic artifacts
Authors: Casey Eoghan , Nguyen Lam , Mates Jeffrey , Lalliss Scott
Published: July 2022

The increasing volume, variety, velocity, distribution, structural intricacy, and complexity of use of digital evidence can make it difficult for practitioners to find and understand the most forensically useful information (Casey E. Digital evidence and computer crime: Forensic science, computers, and the Internet. Academic Press; 2011. p. 31; Pollitt M. The hermeneutics of the hard drive: Using narratology, natural language processing, and knowledge management to improve the effectiveness of the digital forensic process [PhD dissertation]. University of Central Florida; 2011). Digital forensic practitioners currently search for information and solutions in an ad hoc manner, leading to results that are unstructured, unverified, and sometimes incomplete. As a result, certain digital evidence is being missed or misinterpreted. To mitigate risks of knowledge gaps, there is a pressing need for a systematic mechanism that practitioners can use to codify and combine their collective knowledge. This work presents the design and development of a solution that catalogs crowdsourced knowledge of digital forensic artifacts in a well‐structured, easily searchable form to support efficient and automated extraction of pertinent information, improving availability and reliability of interpretation of artifacts (general acceptance). Technical implementation and artifact curation are discussed with illustrative examples and recommendations for future work.
Women’s Empowerment Without Power: Strategic v. Practical Interests in SDGs and the Voluntary National Reviews
Authors: Kim Nancy Y. , Bang Yoorim , Kim Eun Mee
Published: July 2022

This study examines country's voluntary national reviews (VNRs) to assess global commitment to gender equality in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the SDGs promise realisation of gender equality, progress data indicate that gender equality will not be achieved in the next century, let alone by the SDGs target date of 2030. This study posits two explanations for slow progress on gender equality: (i) countries selectively pursue gender equality, as evidenced by our finding that country VNRs demonstrated commitment to achieving only 31% of extant gender equality gaps;and (ii) countries are more committed to achieving gender equality on ‘practical’ dimensions (i.e., relating to basic needs, such as maternal health and education) than ‘strategic’ dimensions which seek to challenge unequal power relations and women's subordinate position within society (e.g., income, land, political power). Whether via refinements to the SDG/VNR process, or through well‐established gender platforms such as the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index and Equal Measures 2030 SDG Gender Index, gender equality advocates must push for pursuit of the entirety of the holistic gender equality agenda as hard‐fought for and agreed by the seminal Beijing Platform for Action. Without greater attention to strategic dimensions, women will be stuck in a vicious cycle of ‘empowerment without power’ and gender equality will elude women for yet another century.
Comprehensive genetic analysis of histological components of combined small cell carcinoma
Authors: Iida Yuko , Nakanishi Yoko , Shimizu Tetsuo , Nomoto Masayuki , Nakagawa Yoshiko , Ito Reiko , Takahashi Noriaki , Masuda Shinobu , Gon Yasuhiro
Published: July 2022

Background

Combined small‐cell lung cancer (cSCLC) is a rare type of small‐cell lung cancer (SCLC) that includes both SCLC and non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The molecular biological mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity of histological types in combined or metachronously transformed SCLC (mtSCLC) remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between genetic alterations and each histological component heterogeneously detected in cSCLC and mtSCLC.

Methods

This study included four cSCLC cases and one mtSCLC case. Formalin‐fixed and paraffin‐embedded sections of each histological component of these tumors were subjected to next‐generation sequencing (NGS) and quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction to investigate the genetic mutations and expression levels of neuroendocrine cell‐specific transcription factors (achaete‐scute homolog‐1 [ASCL1], brain‐2 [BRN2] also known as POU domain class 3 transcription factor 2, nuclear factor 1 B [NF1B], insulinoma‐associated protein 1 [INSM1], and thyroid transcription factor‐1 [TTF‐1]).

Results

NGS analysis revealed that SCLC and NSCLC components share the same somatic mutations detected most frequently in TP53, and also in RB1 and EGFR. Gene expression analysis showed ASCL1 expression was significantly lower in the NSCLC component than in the SCLC component.

Conclusion

We conclude that the morphological evolution of heterogeneous histological components in cSCLC may be associated with differences in ASCL1 expression levels, but not in acquired somatic gene mutations.
Curtailment as a successful method for reducing bat mortality at a southern Australian wind farm
Authors: Bennett Emma M. , Florent Stevie Nicole , Venosta Mark , Gibson Matthew , Jackson Alex , Stark Elizabeth
Published: July 2022

Wind energy is a rapidly expanding renewable technology with massive global investments; however, operating turbines are associated with bat strikes globally, and evidence suggests that without intervention, wind farm collisions could drive some common species to extinction. One widely regarded method for reducing strike mortality is operational mitigation, or curtailment, where turbine operation is restricted at low wind speeds. Despite an increasing number of studies in the Northern Hemisphere demonstrating curtailment effectiveness, no empirical studies have yet been conducted in Australia. This paper reports the findings of a curtailment study implemented at the Cape Nelson North wind farm in southwest Victoria, Australia. Conservation detection dog teams conducted mortality surveys between January and April in 2018 (before; pre‐curtailment) and 2019 (after; during curtailment). Results were consistent with similar studies in the USA and Europe, as curtailment significantly reduced pooled species mortality by 54%. Bat calls did not decline during the study period, and thus were not an explanation for the reduction in fatalities. This study demonstrates that curtailment is a valid method for reducing bat turbine collision in south‐eastern Australia. Consideration should be given to curtailment as a means to reduce bat turbine impacts in Australia, particularly at sites with known endangered and threatened populations, as we act to reduce anthropogenic climate change and its time‐sensitive negative consequences.