bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How heterogeneous thymic output and homeostatic proliferation shape naive T cell receptor clone abundance distributions
Authors: Dessalles Renaud , D’Orsogna Maria R. , Chou Tom
Published: June 2019

The set of T cells that express the same T cell receptor (TCR) sequence represent a T cell clone. The number of different naive T cell clones in an organism reflects the number of different T cell receptors (TCRs) arising from recombination of the V(D)J gene segments during T cell development in the thymus. TCR diversity and more specifically, the clone abundance distribution is an important factor in immune function. Specific recombination patterns occur more frequently than others while subsequent interactions between TCRs and self-antigens are known to trigger proliferation and sustain naive T cell survival. These processes are TCR-dependent, leading to clone-dependent thymic export and naive T cell proliferation rates. Using a mean-field approximation to the solution of a regulated birth-death-immigration model, we systematically quantify how TCR-dependent heterogeneities in immigration and proliferation rates affect the shape of clone abundance distributions (the number of different clones that are represented by a specific number of cells). By comparing predicted clone abundances derived from our heterogeneous birth-death-immigration model with experimentally sampled clone abundances, we quantify the heterogeneity necessary to generate the observed abundances. Our findings indicate that heterogeneity in proliferation rates is more likely the mechanism underlying the observed clone abundance distributions than heterogeneity in immigration rates.

Author Summary

The abundance distribution of different T cell receptors (TCRs) expressed on naive T cells depends on their rates of thymic output, homeostatic proliferation, and death. However, measured TCR count distributions do not match, even qualitatively, those predicted from a multiclone birth death-immigration process when constant birth, death, and immigration rates are used (a neutral model). We show how non-neutrality in the birth-death-immigration process, where naive T cells with different TCRs are produced and proliferate with a distribution of rates shape the predicted sampled clone abundance distributions (the clone counts). Using physiological parameters, we find that heterogeneity in proliferation rates, and not in thymic output rates, is the main determinant in generating the observed clone counts. These findings are consistent with proliferation-driven maintenance of the T cell population in humans.
The late blooming amphipods: global change promoted post-Jurassic ecological radiation despite Palaeozoic origin
Authors: Copilaş-Ciocianu Denis , Borko Špela , Fišer Cene
Published: June 2019

The ecological radiation of amphipods is striking among crustaceans. Despite high diversity, global distribution and key roles in all aquatic environments, little is known about their ecological transitions, evolutionary timescale and phylogenetic relationships. It has been proposed that the amphipod ecological diversification began in the Late Palaeozoic. By contrast, due to their affinity for cold/oxygenated water and absence of pre-Cenozoic fossils, we hypothesized that the ecological divergence of amphipods arose throughout the cool Late Mesozoic/Cenozoic. We tested our hypothesis by inferring a large-scale, time-calibrated, multilocus phylogeny, and reconstructed evolutionary patterns for major ecological traits. Although our results reveal a Late Palaeozoic amphipod origin, diversification and ecological divergence ensued only in the Late Mesozoic, overcoming a protracted stasis in marine littoral habitats. Multiple independent post-Jurassic radiations took place in deep-sea, freshwater, terrestrial, pelagic and symbiotic environments, usually postdating deep-sea faunal extinctions, and corresponding with significant climatic cooling, tectonic reconfiguration, continental flooding, and increased oceanic oxygenation. We conclude that the profound Late Mesozoic global changes triggered a tipping point in amphipod evolution by unlocking ecological opportunities that promoted radiation into many new niches. Our study also provides a solid, time-calibrated, evolutionary framework to accelerate research on this overlooked, yet globally important taxon.
ShinyLearner: A containerized benchmarking tool for machine-learning classification of tabular data
Authors: Piccolo Stephen R. , Lee Terry J. , Suh Erica , Hill Kimball
Published: June 2019

Classification algorithms assign observations to groups based on patterns in data. The machine-learning community have developed myriad classification algorithms, which are employed in diverse life-science research domains. When applying such algorithms, researchers face the challenge of deciding which algorithm(s) to apply in a given research domain. Algorithm choice can affect classification accuracy dramatically, so it is crucial that researchers optimize these choices based on empirical evidence rather than hearsay or anecdotal experience. In benchmark studies, multiple algorithms are applied to multiple datasets, and the researcher examines overall trends. In addition, the researcher may evaluate multiple hyperparameter combinations for each algorithm and use feature selection to reduce data dimensionality. Although software implementations of classification algorithms are widely available, robust benchmark comparisons are difficult to perform when researchers wish to compare algorithms that span multiple software packages.

Programming interfaces, data formats, and evaluation procedures differ across software packages; and dependency conflicts may arise during installation. To address these challenges, we created ShinyLearner, an open-source project for integrating machine-learning packages into software containers. ShinyLearner provides a uniform interface for performing classification, irrespective of the library that implements each algorithm, thus facilitating benchmark comparisons. In addition, ShinyLearner enables researchers to optimize hyperparameters and select features via nested cross validation; it tracks all nested operations and generates output files that make these steps transparent. ShinyLearner includes a Web interface to help users more easily construct the commands necessary to perform benchmark comparisons. ShinyLearner is freely available at https://github.com/srp33/ShinyLearner.
Identification of antibodies targeting the H3N2 hemagglutinin receptor binding site following vaccination of humans
Authors: Zost Seth J. , Lee Juhye , Gumina Megan E. , Parkhouse Kaela , Henry Carole , Wilson Patrick C. , Bloom Jesse D. , Hensley Scott E.
Published: June 2019

Antibodies targeting the receptor binding site (RBS) of the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein are usually not broadly-reactive because their footprints are typically large and extend to nearby variable HA residues. Here, we identified several human H3N2 HA RBS-targeting monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that were sensitive to substitutions in conventional antigenic sites and were not broadly-reactive. However, we also identified one H3N2 HA RBS-targeting mAb that was exceptionally broadly reactive despite being sensitive to substitutions in residues outside of the RBS. We determined that similar antibodies are present at measurable levels in the sera of some individuals but that they are inefficiently elicited by conventional vaccines. Our data indicate that some HA RBS-targeting antibodies can be surprisingly effective against variable viral strains even if they are somewhat sensitive to substitutions in HA residues adjacent to the RBS.
Multidimensional Associations between Cognition and Connectome Organization in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Authors: Rodríguez-Cruces Raúl , Bernhardt Boris C. , Concha Luis
Published: June 2019

Abstract

Objective

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is known to affect large-scale structural networks and cognitive function in multiple domains. The study of complex relations between structural network organization and cognition requires comprehensive analytical methods and a shift towards multivariate techniques. The current work sought to identify multidimensional associations between cognitive performance and structural network topology in TLE.

Methods

We studied 34 drug-resistant TLE patients and 25 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All participants underwent a comprehensive neurocognitive battery and multimodal MRI, allowing for large-scale connectomics, and morphological evaluation of subcortical and neocortical regions. Using canonical correlation analysis, we identified a multivariate mode that links cognitive performance to a brain structural network. Our approach was complemented by bootstrap-based clustering to derive cognitive subtypes and associated patterns of macroscale connectome anomalies.

Results

Both methodologies provided converging evidence for a close coupling between cognitive impairments across multiple domains and large-scale structural network compromise. Cognitive classes presented with an increasing gradient of abnormalities (increasing cortical and subcortical atrophy and less efficient white matter connectome organization in patients with increasing degrees of cognitive impairments). Notably, network topology characterized better the cognitive performance than morphometric measures. Thus, connectome characteristics featured as important markers of network reorganization and loss of inter-regional connectivity.

Conclusions

The multivariate approach emphasized the close interplay between cognitive impairment and large-scale network anomalies in TLE. Our findings contribute to understand the complexity of structural connectivity regulating the heterogeneous cognitive deficits found in epilepsy
The Molecular and Microbial Microenvironments in Chronically Diseased Lungs
Authors: Melnik Alexey V. , Vázquez-Baeza Yoshiki , Aksenov Alexander A. , Hyde Embriette , McAvoy Andrew C , Wang Mingxun , da Silva Ricardo R. , Protsyuk Ivan , Wu Jason V. , Bouslimani Amina , Lim Yan Wei , Luzzatto-Knaan Tal , Comstock William , Quinn Robert A. , Wong Richard , Humphrey Greg , Ackermann Gail , Spivey Timothy , Brouha Sharon S. , Bandeira Nuno , Lin Grace Y. , Rohwer Forest , Conrad Douglas J. , Alexandrov Theodore , Knight Rob , Dorrestein Pieter C. , Garg Neha
Published: June 2019

To visualize the personalized distributions of pathogens, chemical environments including microbial metabolites, pharmaceuticals, and their metabolic products within and between human lungs afflicted with cystic fibrosis, we generated 3D microbiome and metabolome maps of six explanted lungs from three cystic fibrosis patients. These 3D spatial maps revealed that the chemical environments are variable between patients and within the lungs of each patient. Although the patients’ microbial ecosystems were defined by the dominant pathogen, their chemical diversity was not. Additionally, the chemical diversity between locales in lungs of the same individual sometimes exceeded inter-individual variation. Thus, the chemistry and microbiome of the explanted lungs appear to be not only personalized but also regiospecific. Previously undescribed analogs of microbial quinolones and antibiotic metabolites were also detected. Furthermore, mapping the chemical and microbial distributions allowed visualization of microbial community interactions, such as increased production of quorum sensing quinolones in locations where Pseudomonas was in contact with Staphylococcus and Granulicatella, consistent with in vitro observations of bacteria isolated from these patients. Visualization of microbe-metabolite associations within a host organ in early-stage CF disease in animal models will help elucidate a complex interplay between the presence of a given microbial structure, antibiotics, metabolism of antibiotics, microbial virulence factors, and host responses.

Importance

Microbial infections are now recognized to be polymicrobial and personalized in nature. A comprehensive analysis and understanding of the factors underlying the polymicrobial and personalized nature of infections remains limited, especially in the context of the host. By visualizing microbiomes and metabolomes of diseased human lungs, we describe how different the chemical environments are between hosts that are dominated by the same pathogen and how community interactions shape the chemical environment, or vice versa. We highlight that three-dimensional organ mapping are hypothesis building tools that allow us to design mechanistic studies aimed at addressing microbial responses to other microbes, the host, and pharmaceutical drugs.
Genomes of Leishmania parasites directly sequenced from patients with visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian subcontinent
Authors: Domagalska Malgorzata A. , Imamura Hideo , Sanders Mandy , Van den Broeck Frederik , Raj Bhattarai Narayan , Vanaerschot Manu , Maes Ilse , D’Haenens Erika , Rai Keshav , Rijal Suman , Berriman Matthew , Cotton James A. , Dujardin Jean-Claude
Published: June 2019

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly used for molecular diagnosis and epidemiology of infectious diseases. Current Leishmania genomic studies rely on DNA extracted from cultured parasites, which might introduce sampling and biological biases into the subsequent analyses. Up to now, direct analysis of Leishmania genome in clinical samples is hampered by high levels of human DNA and large variation in parasite load in patient samples. Here, we present a method, based on target enrichment of Leishmania donovani DNA with Agilent SureSelect technology, that allows the analysis of Leishmania genomes directly in clinical samples. We validated our protocol with a set of artificially mixed samples, followed by the analysis of 63 clinical samples (bone marrow or spleen aspirates) from visceral leishmaniasis patients in Nepal. We were able to identify genotypes using a set of diagnostic SNPs in almost all of these samples (97%) and access comprehensive genome-wide information in most (83%). This allowed us to perform phylogenomic analysis, assess chromosome copy number and identify large copy number variants (CNVs). Pairwise comparisons between the parasite genomes in clinical samples and derived in vitro cultured promastigotes showed a lower aneuploidy in amastigotes as well as genomic differences, suggesting polyclonal infections in patients. Altogether our results underline the need for sequencing parasite genomes directly in the host samples.

Author summary

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by parasitic protozoa of the Leishmania donovani complex and is lethal in the absence of treatment. Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of L. donovani clinical isolates revealed hitherto cryptic population structure in the Indian Sub-Continent and provided insights into the epidemiology and potential mechanisms of drug resistance. However, several biases are likely introduced during the culture step. We report here the development of a method that allows determination of parasite genomes directly in clinical samples, and validate it on bone marrow and splenic aspirates of VL patients in Nepal. Our study sheds a new light on the biology of Leishmania in the human host: we found that intracellular parasites of the patients had very low levels of aneuploidy, in sharp contrast to the situation in cultivated isolates. Moreover, the observed differences in genomes between intracellular amastigotes of the patient and the derived cultured parasites suggests polyclonality of infections, with different clones dominating in clinical samples and in culture, likely due to fitness differences. We believe this method is most suitable for clinical studies and for molecular tracking in the context of elimination programs.
Can corporate philanthropy change consumers’ perceptions of Japanese multinationals and reduce animosity toward them?
Authors: Han C. Min , Kim Kyung Ae , Nam Hyojin
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how corporate philanthropy (CP) can affect consumer perceptions of Japanese multinationals, for which there exists strong animosity in Asia, and how this animosity can be attenuated.

Design/methodology/approach

The study first examines Japanese firms in China (Study 1) and then Japanese, European and local firms in Korea (Study 2).

Findings

The results suggest that CP activities can have a positive effect on the consumer recognition of company localness and they can also attenuate company animosity for foreign multinationals. In addition, the findings suggest that Japanese multinationals can benefit greatly from CP activities in Asia than for domestic and other foreign firms.

Research limitations/implications

The study found that consumers do not have ethnocentric attribution biases in evaluations of CP activities by foreign multinationals, as suggested by attribution theory (Hewstone, 1990; Nisbett, 1971).

Originality/value

There is limited evidence supporting the effects of CP activities by foreign multinationals from a country of origin for which there exists strong animosity.
Conceptualising innovative price models: the RITE framework
Authors: Cöster Mathias , Iveroth Einar , Olve Nils-Göran , Petri Carl-Johan , Westelius Alf
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to lay a current, research-based foundation for investigation of the concept of innovative price models and its connection to business models.

Design/methodology/approach

The design is composed of a structured literature review of articles on price models published in 22 journals during 42 years. This then serves as a base for a subsequent conceptual discussion about the foundation of innovative price models.

Findings

The literature review yields only very few results that are loosely scattered across various areas and mostly without any kind of deeper exploration of the concept of price models. The paper therefore goes on to conceptually explore some fundamental conditions that might influence or even determine price models. The final outcome of this exploration is the relation, intention, technology and environment (RITE) framework that is a meta-model for conceptualising innovative price models.

Research limitations/implications

The literature review could include additional journals and areas, and empirical testing of the RITE framework as yet has been limited.

Practical implications

The RITE framework can be used by practitioners as a tool for investigating the potential and usefulness of developing the capability to handle innovative price models.

Originality/value

The RITE framework provides fundamental conditions, which influence, or even determine, how innovative price models are developed and applied.
How real are virtual experiences?
Authors: Trabelsi-Zoghlami Amira , Touzani Mourad
Published: June 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the virtual experience to understand its components and its effects on consumers’ real world.

Design/methodology/approach

Our approach relies on a rarely used projective method: “Album-on-Line” (AOL). This technique allows identifying consumers’ representations of their experience. It uses images to immerse participants in a virtual experience and to lead an individual reflection, then a group reflection.

Findings

Virtual experiences have utilitarian, hedonic, psychological and social dimensions. When immersing in virtual experiences, consumers’ perception and consumption of products and services change. A projection occurs leading to an identification to virtual characters. This projection also leads to a consumption aiming at finding back the excitement and challenge lived during virtual experiences.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this research relates with the fuzzy distinction between the virtual and the electronic in consumers’ minds and even in the literature. Future work should propose a multidisciplinary definition of the virtual experience, considering its specificities and components.

Practical implications

This research offers companies a better understanding of consumers’ motivations to live virtual experiences. It may bring insights on how to provide a more customized offering and a more adapted communication.

Originality/value

Compared to previous work, the present research offers a better understanding of the components of online and offline virtual experiences by considering the virtual in its broadest meaning. The use of the AOL technique enabled a closer look at the specificities of the virtual experience as perceived by consumers. It was also possible to explore the “post-experience” stage by understanding the effect of virtual experiences on consumers’ perceptions and consumptions.
A framework to manage business-to-business branding strategies
Authors: Cassia Fabio , Magno Francesca
Published: June 2019

Purpose

In the past decades, a growing body of studies has assessed the importance of brands in business-to-business (B2B) markets. However, until date, a comprehensive understanding of B2B branding strategies is lacking. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to select and manage B2B branding strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study’s arguments are developed in line with MacInnis’s (2011) guidelines on conceptual contributions in marketing.

Findings

As a result of the arguments of this study, a framework is developed to identify the relationships between the types of B2B contexts and effective B2B branding strategies.

Research limitations/implications

Despite deriving from an extensive analysis of the literature, the framework requires future empirical validation. Moreover, the relationship linking a supplier to its customer is unique, and hence, each supplier should carefully select a branding strategy depending on the specific situation.

Practical implications

The suggested framework provides actionable insights to inform managers’ decisions about the most effective B2B strategy for their firm, based on the relational complexity (number of customers, intensity of co-production and co-creation, and dyadic vs multiple-actor view).

Originality/value

This is the first study to provide a comprehensive model of B2B branding strategies. Therefore, it contributes to both advance theoretical knowledge and managerial practice.
Investigation of the flight behavior of a flare-stabilized projectile using 6DoF simulations coupled with CFD
Authors: Klatt Daniel , Proff Michael , Hruschka Robert
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The present work aims to investigate the capabilities of accurately predicting the six-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) trajectory and the flight behavior of a flare-stabilized projectile using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and rigid body dynamics (RBD) methods.

Design/methodology/approach

Two different approaches are compared for calculating the trajectory. First, the complete matrix of static and dynamic aerodynamic coefficients for the projectile is determined using static and dynamic CFD methods. This discrete database and the data extracted from free-flight experiments are used to simulate flight trajectories with an in-house developed 6DoF solver. Second, the trajectories are simulated solving the 6DoF motion equations directly coupled with time resolved CFD methods.

Findings

Virtual fly-out simulations using RBD/CFD coupled simulation methods well reproduce the motion behavior shown by the experimental free-flight data. However, using the discrete database of aerodynamic coefficients derived from CFD simulations shows a slightly different flight behavior.

Originality/value

A discrepancy between CFD 6DoF/RBD simulations and results obtained by the MATLAB 6DoF-solver based on discrete CFD data matrices is shown. It is assumed that not all dynamic effects on the aerodynamics of the projectile are captured by the determination of the force and moment coefficients with CFD simulations based on the classical aerodynamic coefficient decomposition.
Numerical and experimental investigations of buffet on a diamond airfoil designed for space launcher applications
Authors: Dumon Jéromine , Bury Yannick , Gourdain Nicolas , Michel Laurent
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The development of reusable space launchers requires a comprehensive knowledge of transonic flow effects on the launcher structure, such as buffet. Indeed, the mechanical integrity of the launcher can be compromised by shock wave/boundary layer interactions, that induce lateral forces responsible for plunging and pitching moments.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to report numerical and experimental investigations on the aerodynamic and aeroelastic behavior of a diamond airfoil, designed for microsatellite-dedicated launchers, with a particular interest for the fluid/structure interaction during buffeting. Experimental investigations based on Schlieren visualizations are conducted in a transonic wind tunnel and are then compared with numerical predictions based on unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes and large eddy simulation (LES) approaches. The effect of buffeting on the structure is finally studied by solving the equation of the dynamics.

Findings

Buffeting is both experimentally and numerically revealed. Experiments highlight 3D oscillations of the shock wave in the manner of a wind-flapping flag. LES computations identify a lambda-shaped shock wave foot width oscillations, which noticeably impact aerodynamic loads. At last, the experiments highlight the chaotic behavior of the shock wave as it shifts from an oscillatory periodic to an erratic 3D flapping state. Fluid structure computations show that the aerodynamic response of the airfoil tends to damp the structural vibrations and to mitigate the effect of buffeting.

Originality/value

While buffeting has been extensively studied for classical supercritical profiles, this study focuses on diamond airfoils. Moreover, a fluid structure computation has been conducted to point out the effect of buffeting.
Unsteady separated stagnation-point flow and heat transfer past a stretching/shrinking sheet in a copper-water nanofluid
Authors: Roşca Natalia C. , Roşca Alin V. , Pop Ioan
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically investigate the unsteady separated stagnation-point flow and heat transfer past an impermeable stretching/shrinking sheet in a copper (Cu)-water nanofluid using the mathematical nanofluid model proposed by Tiwari and Das.

Design/methodology/approach

A similarity transformation is used to reduce the governing partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary (similarity) differential equations which are then solved numerically using the function bvp4c from Matlab for different values of the governing parameters.

Findings

It is found that the solution is unique for stretching case; however, multiple (dual) solutions exist for the shrinking case.

Originality/value

The authors believe that all numerical results are new and original, and have not been published elsewhere.
Exploration of particle shape effect on Cu-H2O nanoparticles over a moving plate
Authors: K. Ganesh Kumar , Ali J. Chamkha , B.C. Prasannakumara , A.M. Jyothi
Published: June 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to explore particle shape effect on Cu-H2O nanoparticles over a moving plate in the presence of nonlinear thermal radiation. To characterize the effect, particle shape and viscous dissipation are considered. Convergent solutions for the resulting nonlinear systems are derived and the effects of embedded parameters of interest on velocity and temperature field are examined.

Design/methodology/approach

The Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg fourth-fifth order method along with shooting technique is used to solve the governing equations (6) and (7) with boundary conditions (8). A suitable finite value of η∞ is considered in such a way that the boundary conditions are satisfied asymptotically.

Findings

The results show an increase in both the heat transfer and thermodynamic performance of the system. However, among the three nanoparticle shapes, disk shape exhibited better heat transfer characteristics and heat transfer rate. On the other hand, the velocity profile enhances with increasing values of ϕ in the first solution, but the opposite trend was found in the second solution.

Originality/value

The present paper deals with an exploration of particle shape effect on Cu-H2O nanoparticles over a moving plate in the presence of nonlinear thermal radiation. To characterize the effect, particle shape and viscous dissipation are considered. Convergent solutions for the resulting nonlinear systems are derived and the effects of embedded parameters of interest on velocity and temperature field are examined. The skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number are numerically tabulated and discussed. The results show an increase in both heat transfer and thermodynamic performance of the system. However, among the three nanoparticle shapes, disk shape exhibited better heat-transfer characteristics and heat-transfer rate. On the other hand, the velocity profile enhances with increasing values of ϕ in the first solution, but the opposite trend was found in the second solution.
Significance of activation energy in stratified flow of tangent hyperbolic fluid
Authors: Jabeen Sumaira , Hayat Tasawar , Qayyum Sumaira , Alsaedi Ahmed
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address double stratification and activation energy in flow of tangent hyperbolic fluid. Flow is induced by non-linear stretching sheet of variable thickness. Heat flux by Cattaneo–Christov theory is implemented.

Design/methodology/approach

Non-linear system is computed for the convergent solutions. Attention is particularly focused to the velocity, temperature and concentration.

Findings

It is found that temperature and thermal layer thickness are decreased for larger stratification.

Originality/value

In view of aforementioned communication, the aim of the present study is fourfold: First, to inspect stagnation point flow of tangent hyperbolic liquid by a stretched sheet; second, to discuss effect of non-Fourier heat flux and double stratification; third, to investigate activation energy; and fourth, to examine variable thickness effect.
Reconsidering the “what is beautiful is good” effect
Authors: Chaouali Walid , Ben Yahia Imene , Lunardo Renaud , Triki Abdelfattah
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Applying the stimulus–organism–response model, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of design aesthetics (stimulus) on adoption and recommendation intentions (response) of mobile banking applications through the mediating role of perceived usefulness and trust (organism). Importantly, this research further examines the moderating effect of persuasion knowledge, which attenuates the effects of design aesthetics on perceived usefulness and trust.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey is conducted with the help of panellist among a sample of 213 bank customers who are not yet users of mobile banking. Data are analysed using the PROCESS macro.

Findings

The results show that design aesthetics positively influence perceived usefulness and trust. These variables, in turn, positively affect adoption and recommendation intentions of mobile banking applications. Interestingly, the findings also demonstrate that persuasion knowledge moderates the effects of design aesthetics on perceived usefulness and trust, as well as their mediating effect.

Originality/value

Because the results demonstrate that persuasion knowledge weakens the effects of design aesthetics on perceived usefulness and trust, the originality of this research rests upon its reconsideration of the “what is beautiful is good” effect and the questioning of the supremacy of this effect. These results provide insights for academics to better explain and increase adoption and recommendation intentions. Moreover, the results can help banking practitioners to improve their policies and strategies pertaining to mobile banking applications.
Pharmaceutical industry in export marketing: a closer look at competitiveness
Authors: Mohammadzadeh Mehdi , Bakhtiari Nima , Safarey Reza , Ghari Tayebeh
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Competition is tremendously increasing in all business areas, among which the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most profitable fields. Accordingly, an important research effort is to examine whether competitiveness in pharmaceutical markets follows the same rules. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate competitive strategies in this industry and present a proper framework.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, a conceptual model of competitive strategies including cost leadership, quality and differentiation was designed based on previously proposed models in the literature. More precisely, the framework was established with the consideration of the pharmaceutical’s specific requirements. For testing the practicality the model, a questionnaire was designed and 80 generic pharmaceutical companies in Iran were selected as the statistical sample and effects of each strategy on export performance was evaluated. The questionnaires were distributed to senior managers and filled through in-person interviews. The collected data were analyzed using binomial, partial least square, confirmatory factor analysis and Friedman tests.

Findings

Among the strategies under investigation, cost leadership strategy had the strongest effects, while quality ranked second. The proposed framework can also be used for the evaluation of pharmaceutical companies’ export readiness. The results demonstrated that export readiness of the pharmaceutical companies was not desirable.

Originality/value

The ideas in this paper, which have untold value for pharmaceutical industries, are unique to competitive strategies in export marketing.
Why do Indonesian Muslims donate through mosques?
Authors: Kasri Rahmatina Awaliah , Ramli Untung Handayani
Published: June 2019

Purpose

This study aims to determine the factors that influence the decisions of Muslims in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country and recently acknowledged as the world’s most generous country (CAF, 2017), to donate money through mosques.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the extended theory of planned behaviour to determine the above-mentioned factors. Primary data were obtained via a survey that generated 235 responses from respondents in Depok City, Indonesia. The primary data were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling.

Findings

The findings suggest that stronger religious beliefs, a greater trust in mosques, ease of making donations, the influence of significant others and good past experiences of donating to mosques influence donations to mosques in Depok. Thus, most of the hypotheses tested are accepted. However, the relationships between attitude and intention and moral norms and intention are found to be insignificant, which the authors presume to be related to the collective culture of Muslims in Indonesia.

Practical implications

The managements of mosques need to build, maintain and increase the trust of their congregations in the institution. They also need to improve the services they provide to their congregations and endorse charitable activities through influential persons such asulamaand celebrities. Together with the other stakeholders, such as the government and Muslim communities, they should also improve access to donate and increase the impacts of the donations.

Originality/value

This study offers fresh and current insights into voluntary giving behaviour to a specific religious institution/channel in the world’s largest Muslim country, which has also recently been acknowledged as the world’s most generous country.
“It’s a new game out there”: e-commerce in internationalising retail SMEs
Authors: Hånell Sara Melén , Rovira Nordman Emilia , Tolstoy Daniel , Özbek Nurgül
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how market factors (pertaining to institutions, competition and resources) shape the international strategies of an online retailer.

Design/methodology/approach

A single qualitative case study research design is employed to conduct in-depth analyses of a Swedish internationalising small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the retail business.

Findings

The findings show that online retailers can use partnerships to tackle industry dynamics and break into foreign markets. This type of “piggy-back internationalisation” can be an effective strategy of handling foreign market dynamics in the entry phase: that is to say, the short term. Reliance upon relationships, however, may paradoxically inhibit retailers’ abilities to stay competitive in the post-entry phase (i.e. the long term) since they become cut-off from the first-hand market learning.

Research limitations/implications

The authors provide propositions based upon the findings to support further research in the international marketing and international retailing literature.

Practical implications

The findings enhance the understanding of how electronic commerce affects SME internationalisation. They also generate new insights into the use of possible international expansion strategies for managers in retail SMEs.

Originality/value

This study introduces a new theoretical perspective to build upon international retail research and contributes to the international retail literature with relevant insights into both advantages and disadvantages of using partnerships to overcome challenges related to international online retailing.
Collaborative technology and motivations: utilization, value and gamification
Authors: Adornes Gustavo Scheffel , Muniz Raquel Janissek
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Instigated by the trend of collaborative economics, taking into consideration the particularities pointed out by Simis (2015), such as a new social, economic and technological scenario, this paper aims to identify which factors serve as motivators for collaboration among the technologies of this scenario.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors analyzed Waze, an application that works based on traffic information made available by the users of the platform. For the development of this qualitative work, aspects that served as the basis for the interview script applied were classified into three different categories: utilization, personal values and gamification; the latter being an important aspect for collaboration in the application in question. Two distinct groups were interviewed; one of regular users of Waze, and the other of advanced users, who also work voluntarily in the maintenance of the app.

Findings

The results indicate that personal values are determinant factors for both groups; however, there are distinct incentives for the different users interviewed, like reciprocity, altruism and empathy. The first one is an important aspect to share information by the regular users, while the other ones are characteristics advanced users.

Research limitations/implications

The study presents some limitations in terms of the restricted group and focus on only one of the many collaborative technological social, as well as lacking on-site analysis of the use of Waze.

Practical implications

This is a valid research when taking into consideration studies that approach the app Waze, as the issues explored in this paper are new in the academic studies considering previous app’s analyses that are related to functionality.

Social implications

The results presented in this study help to understand the current relationship between sharing economy and the technology provided to those who use these platforms.

Originality/value

This research opens the horizon for future studies applied on other collaborative technological user platforms, to see if the results would be similar and construct a user journey in relation to information sharing through experimental monitoring.
Accounting for disasters
Authors: Agyenim-Boateng Cletus , Oduro-Boateng Kofi
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate disaster accountability process, and it seeks to advocate for involvement of victims as salient stakeholders in the accountability process.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopt a case study of the 3rd June, 2015 flood disaster and fire that occurred in Accra, Ghana and draw mainly on interviews, as well as observations and a review of publicly available documents.

Findings

Several actors are involved in disaster management in Ghana. These actors play several roles as part of the disaster management process. Coordination is observed among some governmental actors. However, there is a little collaboration among these actors. There are, therefore, no clear accountability relationships between the actors. Moreover, the forms of accountability process are largely upward and internal. So, although we find the victims as salient stakeholders, their perspectives are not prioritised as part of the accountability process.

Research limitations/implications

As a result of less engagement with victims in the accountability process, a central accountability concern, outcomes, namely, benefits for victims in terms of changes in their knowledge, status, attitudes, values, skills, behaviours or conditions were not promoted. Downward accountability should be encouraged to promote better outcomes.

Originality/value

Although some studies on accounting for disasters have been undertaken, there is none in our local context, and also this study has been able to uncover under-representation of victims in the accountability process using adaptive accountability lens.
Is online fraud just fraud? Examining the efficacy of the digital divide
Authors: Cross Cassandra
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Fraud is not a new offence. However, the recent evolution and proliferation of technologies (predominantly the internet) has seen offenders increasingly use virtual environments to target and defraud victims worldwide. Several studies have examined the ways that fraud is perpetrated with a clear demarcation between terrestrial and cyber offences. However, with moves towards the notion of a “digital society” and recognition that technology is increasingly embedded across all aspects of our lives, it is important to consider if there is any advantage in categorising fraud against the type of environment it is perpetrated in. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the perceived utility of differentiating online and offline fraud offences. It is based upon the insights of thirty-one professionals who work within the “fraud justice network” across London, UK and Toronto, Canada.

Findings

It highlights both the realities faced by professionals in seeking to ether maintain or collapse such a differentiation in their everyday jobs and the potential benefits and challenges that result.

Practical implications

Overall, the paper argues that the majority of professionals did not feel a distinction was necessary and instead felt that an arbitrary divide was instead a hindrance to their activities. However, while not useful on a practical front, there was perceived benefit regarding government, funding and the media. The implications of this moving forward are considered.

Originality/value

This paper provides new insights into how fraud justice network professionals understand the distinction between fraud offences perpetrated across both online and offline environments.
Strategic collaboration and sustainable supply chain management
Authors: Mehdikhani Rasoul , Valmohammadi Changiz
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of strategic collaboration (SC) on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), considering the mediating role of internal knowledge sharing (IKS) and external knowledge sharing (EKS).

Design/methodology/approach

The study population consisted of experts associated with the supply chain in the automotive, food, clothing, pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries. After reviewing the literature, a conceptual framework was developed and applied using a structural equation modeling approach. In this study, samples with 271 observations were collected from manufacturing and servicing companies in Iran.

Findings

The results showed that SC in the supply chain has a positive impact on the IKS and EKS and SSCM. IKS and EKS have a positive impact on SSCM. Also, the results showed that IKS and EKS fully mediate in the relationship between SC and SSCM.

Research limitations/implications

This study has been done in the context of Iran, so caution should be taken to generalize the results.

Originality/value

The findings of the study contribute to the knowledge of the managers and policy makers in achieving SSCM. The results provide the important environmental and social concepts regarding the sustainability of supply chain using SC and IKS and EKS.
How hyped media and misleading editorials can influence impressions about Beall’s lists of “predatory” publications
Authors: Teixeira da Silva Jaime A. , Tsigaris Panagiotis
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The issue of “predatory” publishing and the scholarly value of journals that claim to operate within an academic framework, namely, by using peer review and editorial quality control, but do not, while attempting to extract open access (OA) or other publication-related fees, is an extremely important topic that affects academics around the globe. Until 2017, global academia relied on two now-defunct Jeffrey Beall “predatory” OA publishing blacklists to select their choice of publishing venue. This paper aims to explore how media has played a role in spinning public impressions about this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors focus on a 2017New York Timesarticle by Gina Kolata, on a selected number of peer reviewed published papers on the topic of “predatory” publications and on an editorial by the Editor-in-Chief ofREM, a SciELO- and Scopus-indexed OA journal.

Findings

The Kolata article offers biased, inaccurate and potentially misleading information about the state of “predatory” publishing: it relies heavily on the assumption that the now-defunct Beall blacklists were accurate when in fact they are not; it relies on a paper published in a non-predatory (i.e., non-Beall-listed) non-OA journal that claimed incorrectly the existence of financial rewards by faculty members of a Canadian business school from “predatory” publications; it praised a sting operation that used methods of deception and falsification to achieve its conclusions. The authors show how misleading information by theNew York Timeswas transposed downstream via theREMeditorial.

Originality/value

Education of academics.
Exceptionalisms in the ethics of humans, animals and machines
Authors: Klein Wilhelm E.J.
Published: June 2019

Purpose

This paper aims to examine exceptionalisms in ethics in general and in the fields of animal and technology ethics in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews five sample works in animal/technology ethics it considers representative for particularly popular forms of “exceptionalism”.

Findings

The shared feature of the exceptionalisms exhibited by the chosen samples appears to be born out of the cultural and biological history, which provides powerful intuitions regarding the on “specialness”.

Research limitations/implications

As this paper is mostly a critique of existing approaches, it contains only a limited amount of counter-proposed alternative approaches.

Practical implications

This is a discussion worth having because arguments based on (human or biological) exceptionalism have more chance of resulting in significantly altered theoretical conclusions and practical suggestions for normative guidance than non-exceptionalist perspectives.

Social implications

The approaches critiqued in this paper have a significant effect on the way the authors approach animals, machines/technologies and each other.

Originality/value

The paper identifies intuitive notions of exceptionalism and argues in favour of a reformist, ethical expansionist stance, which views humanity as residing (and other biological organisms) on the same plane of ethical significance as any other entity regardless of its material composition.