bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financial sustainability in Italian farms: an analysis of the FADN sample
Authors: Dono Gabriele , Buttinelli Rebecca , Cortignani Raffaele
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The paper examines the factors that influence the production of cash flows in a sample of Italian farm accountancy data network (FADN) farms to generate information useful for calibrating policies to support farmers' investments.

Design/methodology/approach

An econometric analysis on the sample estimates the influence of structural, economic, commercial and financial variables on CAFFE, i.e. the cash flow that includes the payments to the farmer's resources and the free cash flow on equity (FCFE). The econometric problem of endogeneity is treated by adopting the Hausman test to choose between fixed and random effects models. The results for Italian agriculture and its types of farming (TFs) are examined based on the FCFE/capital depreciation ratio, where FCFE subtracts from CAFFE the opportunity cost payments to the farmer's resources. This ratio identifies TFs with problems of sustainability of the production system.

Findings

The results show that increasing the productive dimension, in particular the endowment of farmland and working capital, is still essential to stimulate the production of cash flows of Italian agriculture. Without this growth, increasing the depreciable capital base is ineffective. FCFE does not compensate for depreciation in several TFs, which in various cases could also improve by improving economic efficiency and commercial position.

Research limitations/implications

Assessing the factors that most influence cash flows can help to better calibrate rural development measures to the territories and farming types that most need public support. Our analysis procedure can be applied to all production systems equipped with farm accounting networks; however, the criteria for rewarding farmer resources and calculating the replacement value of agricultural capital need to be better discussed.

Originality/value

The specification of rural development policies rarely takes into account the financial sustainability conditions of farms, as well as the factors that determine them, in defining the support parameters and the selection criteria for funding. Our approach, based on the analysis of FADN data, considers these aspects and provides ideas for better calibrating public support for investments among agricultural territories, sectors and types of farms.
“Big results require big ambitions”: big data, data analytics and accounting in masters courses
Authors: Mcbride Karen , Philippou Christina
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Accounting education is re-inventing itself as technology impacts the practical aspects of accounting in the real world and education tries to keep up. Big Data and data analytics have begun to influence elements of accounting including audit, accounting preparation, forensic accounting and general accountancy consulting. The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively analyse the current skills provision in accounting Masters courses linked to data analytics compared to academic and professional expectations of the same.

Design/methodology/approach

The academic expectations and requirements of the profession, related to the impact of Big Data and data analytics on accounting education were reviewed and compared to the current provisions of this accounting education in the form of Masters programmes. The research uses an exploratory, qualitative approach with thematic analysis.

Findings

Four themes were identified of the skills required for the effective use of Big Data and data analytics. These were: questioning and scepticism; critical thinking skills; understanding and ability to analyse and communicating results. Questioning and scepticism, as well as understanding and ability to analyse, were frequently cited explicitly as elements for assessment in various forms of accounting education in the Masters courses. However, critical thinking and communication skills were less explicitly cited in these accounting education programmes.

Research limitations/implications

The research reviewed and compared current academic literature and the requirements of the professional accounting bodies with Masters programmes in accounting and data analytics. The research identified key themes relevant to the accounting profession that should be explicitly developed and assessed within accounting education for Big Data and data analytics at both university and professional levels. Further analysis of the in-depth curricula, as opposed to the explicitly stated topic coverage, could add to this body of research.

Practical implications

This paper considers the potential combined role of professional qualification examinations and master’s degrees in skills provision for future practitioners in accounting and data analysis. This can be used to identify the areas in which accounting education can be further enhanced by focus or explicit mention of skills that are both developed and assessed within these programmes.

Social implications

The paper considers the interaction between academic and professional practice in the areas of accounting education, highlighting skills and areas for development for students currently considering accounting education and data analytics.

Originality/value

While current literature focusses on integrating data analysis into existing accounting and finance curricula, this paper considers the role of professional qualification examinations with Masters degrees as skills provision for future practitioners in accounting and data analysis.
Development of risk assessment tool using damaging energy and argumentation theory for evaluating construction occupational safety and health risks
Authors: Abas Nor Haslinda , Blismas Nick , Lingard Helen
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a risk assessment model to assess the occupational safety and health (OSH) risks presented by different construction approaches, namely traditional and industrialised building system (IBS). The development process applies the concept of argumentation theory, which helps construction designers integrate the management of OSH risk into the design process. In addition, an energy damage model is used as an underpinning framework for developing the model.

Design/methodology/approach

Development of the model was achieved through two phases. Phase I involved collection of data on the activities involved in the construction process and their associated OSH risks, derived from five different case studies, field observation and interviews. Knowledge of design aspects that have the potential to impact on OSH was obtained from document analysis. Using the knowledge obtained in phase I, a model was developed in the form of argument trees (Phase II), which represent a reasoning template with regard to options available to designers when they make judgements about aspects of their designs. Inferences from these aspects eventually determined the magnitude of the damaging energies for every activity involved. Finally, the model was validated by panels of experts, and revisions and amendments were made to the model accordingly.

Findings

The risk assessment model development revealed that the concept of argumentation theory and energy damage model is suitable to represent design safety risk knowledge and effectively address the designer's role in making decisions in their designs and further illuminate the level of OSH risk their designs pose.

Practical implications

The developed model provides best-practice reasoning support for construction designers, which help them to understand the impact of their designs decisions on worker's safety and health, and thereby assist them to further mitigate the risk to an acceptable level.

Originality/value

This study departs from the existing tool in that the model was developed based upon the combination of argumentation theory and energy damage model. The significance of the model is discussed.
Student perspectives on multimodal composing in the L2 classroom: tensions with audience, media, learning and sharing
Authors: Hellmich Emily , Castek Jill , Smith Blaine E. , Floyd Rachel , Wen Wen
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Multimodal composing is often romanticized as a flexible approach suitable for all learners. There is a lack of research that critically examines students’ perspectives and the constraints of multimodal composing across academic contexts. This study aims to address this need by exploring high school learners’ perspectives and experiences enacting multimodal learning in an L2 classroom. More specifically, this study presents key tensions between students’ experiences of multimodal composing and teacher/researchers’ use of multimodal composition in an L2 classroom setting.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focuses on two multimodal composing projects developed within a design-based implementation research approach and implemented in a high school French class. Multiple data sources were used: observations; interviews; written reflections; and multimodal compositions. Data were analyzed using the critical incident technique (CIT). A critical incident is one that is unplanned and that stimulates reflection on teaching and learning. Methodologically, CIT was enacted through iterative coding to identify critical incidents and collaborative analysis.

Findings

Using illustrative examples from multiple data sources, this study discusses four tensions between students’ experiences of multimodal composing and teacher/researchers’ use of multimodal composition in a classroom setting: the primary audience of student projects, the media leveraged in student projects, expectations of learning in school and the role of a public viewing of student work.

Originality/value

This paper problematizes basic assumptions and benefits of multimodal composing and offers ideas on how to re-center multimodal composing on student voices.
Taking a break is for accomplishing a longer journey: hospitality industry in Macao under the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Liu Matthew Tingchi , Wang Shaoshan , McCartney Glenn , Wong IpKin Anthony
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze how a real-time COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Macao’s hospitality industry, and illustrates why lessons from COVID-19 are an opportunity for further development for the city.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study highlights local government and hospitality industry responses to a real-time crisis. Academic studies, media news and reports have been collected to illustrate why the Macao’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic could be taken as a city case study example. Previous crisis experience provided guidance to Macao’s success in this pandemic.

Findings

Macao has succeeded in managing the adverse effects of COVID-19, illustrating the coexistence of challenges and opportunities from experiencing the epidemic. With no COVID-19 cases in the city, cross-border tourism with China resumed in September. Macao is undeniably over reliant on the gambling industry to provide tax income and employment, creating an unbalanced industrial structure. However, the Chinese and Macao Governments, the hospitality industry and other stakeholders, have presented high levels of engagement, unity and rational courses of action during the pandemic. This paper examines Macao’s two orientations – intra and post-coronavirus – which are shown to be instrumental in the city’s future tourism development.

Practical implications

As the paper is Macao-specific, some generalization may not be applicable. The lessons and strategies proposed in the paper may only be theoretically and temporarily workable in this real-time situation. However, as COVID-19 will remain for some time globally, the efficacy of the findings justifies further ongoing analysis and application beyond Macao.

Originality/value

The case offers a first-hand analysis on the governance of Macao to negate the impacts of COVID-19, enabling a comprehensive review on the practices and policies that were effective during the virus outbreak. There is reference for researchers and practitioners in the public policy domain, and particularly in the area of crisis management and destination resilience. The result is worthy of future exploration on how the mechanism of centralized government facilitates risk management, and the rebuilding of a tourism economy in a crisis context, comparing this to other national systems.
Speaking up at work: personality’s influence on employee voice behavior
Authors: Tedone Archana Manapragada , Bruk-Lee Valentina
Published: February 2021

Purpose

To boost efficiency and productivity, organizations are increasingly depending upon employees to speak up about workplace concerns and disagreements. This change-oriented bottom-up communication, termed employee voice behavior, brings attention to workplace issues that could otherwise go undetected by management. This study examined the relationships between personality characteristics, job attitudes, and employee voice behavior, and investigated the moderating role of extraversion on the relationships between job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions) and voice.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study design was used, with data collected through an online survey from a sample of 284 individuals working in the US. Hypotheses were tested using correlation, regression and moderation analyzes.

Findings

Job satisfaction and turnover intentions were found to be positively and negatively-related, respectively, to employee voice behavior. Extraversion was found to be predictive of employee voice behavior and moderate the relationships between job attitudes and voice behavior. Interestingly, results suggest that the job attitudes of individuals high in extraversion do not influence their likelihood of speaking up. Rather, voice behaviors of only those with low or moderate levels of extraversion are impacted by their job attitudes.

Originality/value

This study builds upon prior research identifying the importance of extraversion in predicting voice behavior by testing its incremental validity and relative weight, compared to the other Big Five personality characteristics. Furthermore, this research contributes to the theoretical understanding of instances in which employee voice behavior occurs by examining the moderating effect of extraversion on the relationship between job attitudes and employee voice behavior.
Inflation forecasting in an emerging economy: selecting variables with machine learning algorithms
Authors: Özgür Önder , Akkoç Uğur
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to forecast inflation rates in the case of the Turkish economy with shrinkage methods of machine learning algorithms.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper compares the predictive ability of a set of machine learning techniques (ridge, lasso, ada lasso and elastic net) and a group of benchmark specifications (autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and multivariate vector autoregression (VAR) models) on the extensive dataset.

Findings

Results suggest that shrinkage methods perform better for variable selection. It is also seen that lasso and elastic net algorithms outperform conventional econometric methods in the case of Turkish inflation. These algorithms choose the energy production variables, construction-sector measure, reel effective exchange rate and money market indicators as the most relevant variables for inflation forecasting.

Originality/value

Turkish economy that is a typical emerging country has experienced two digit and high volatile inflation regime starting with the year 2017. This study contributes to the literature by introducing the machine learning techniques to forecast inflation in the Turkish economy. The study also compares the relative performance of machine learning techniques and different conventional methods to predict inflation in the Turkish economy and provide the empirical methodology offering the best predictive performance among their counterparts.
Do sukuk spur infrastructure development?
Authors: Smaoui Houcem , Mimouni Karim , Ben Salah Ines
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effect do Sukuk Spur Infrastructure Development of Sukuk market expansion on infrastructure development for a sample of 15 emerging countries over the period 1997–2018. The paper also compares the role of Sukuk in infrastructure development to that of the size of the banking system, bond market development and stock market development.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel index of infrastructure development is constructed via principal component analysis. This index is regressed on Sukuk market development and other macroeconomic and institutional variables. To tackle the problems of heteroscedasticity and the existence of serial correlation in the residuals, the panel model is estimated using the generalized least squares (GLS) procedure with random effects and robust standard errors.

Findings

The evidence shows that a well-developed Sukuk market contributes to the expansion of the country’s infrastructure, whereas a larger banking system and a better capitalized stock market do not have any significant effect on infrastructure development. Surprisingly, well-developed bond markets jeopardize infrastructure expansion, thereby pointing to a potential crowding-out effect between Sukuk and bonds in financing infrastructure investments. Additionally, per capita GDP and education are positively related to infrastructure development, whereas inflation has a negative effect on the country’s proliferation of infrastructure.

Originality/value

This study uses a novel infrastructure index via principal component analysis and shows that Sukuk markets fill an important gap in the financing of large-scale and long-term projects. This result is novel and has not been documented in previous research.
Citizen engagement in co-creation of e-government services: a process theory view from a meta-synthesis approach
Authors: Khan Anupriya , Krishnan Satish
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of the overall process of facilitating co-creation of e-government services, focusing on the government's role in fostering citizen engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies encompassing analyses on a case-specific level followed by syntheses on a cross-study level.

Findings

Through meta-synthesis, the study developed an integrated framework, the process theory view of enabling co-creation of e-government services, illustrating how co-creation could be initiated and facilitated by the government.

Research limitations/implications

By providing critical insights into co-creation steps, the process theory view offers a holistic theoretical understanding of enabling co-creation by identifying factors driving and motivating governments to initiate co-creation activities, interpreting the prerequisites for co-creation and the importance of impact assessment.

Practical implications

This study offers important implications for public authorities, administrators and policymakers by helping them enhance their knowledge base on the co-creation process to facilitate a higher level of collaboration between citizens and government for effective and efficient public service delivery through e-government.

Originality/value

While it is widely acknowledged that citizen engagement is crucial for improving and transforming the development and delivery of e-government services, it is equally recognized as a challenging and complex task. Through a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies, this study is one of the first to develop a process theory view for offering a holistic understanding and crucial insights for addressing the concerns over the co-creation of e-government services.
Prescribing originality: investigating the impact of original knowledge on patent quality in the pharmaceutical sector
Authors: Briggs Kristie
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper examines the relationship between the originality of a pharmaceutical innovation and its patent quality. Greater patent quality has been shown in the extant literature to enhance market value, which better enables firms to recoup research and development (R&D) expenditures incurred during the innovation process. Understanding how originality improves patent quality can assist policymakers, when determining the optimal length of pharmaceutical patent protection and/or market exclusivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The relationship between originality and patent quality is empirically investigated using a tobit, as well as a zero-inflated negative binomial, estimation approach to account for prevalence of patents receiving zero forward citations. Moderating effects of joint innovation, innovation by a university researcher and innovation by an established innovator on originality are also considered.

Findings

There is a robust and positive relationship between patent originality and quality in the pharmaceutical sector. This relationship is positively moderated by joint patent ownership with a university. As such, innovators that target originality in new drug development (especially those collaborating with universities) should, according to extant literature, see greater increases in their market value.

Originality/value

Policymakers can use information on the originality of a new drug to discern the optimal length of market exclusivity needed to enable the innovator to recoup expenditures related to R&D. Better predictions of the timing for which firms can recoup R&D expenditures will equip policymakers with knowledge about the appropriate timing to introduce competition into the market, which is critical to reducing the price of pharmaceuticals to consumers.
Impact of family succession on financial performance: empirical evidence from Bangladesh
Authors: Sunon Kamrul Hassan , Islam Muzhtaba Tawkeer , Kabir M. Adnan
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Academic research on the transgenerational performance differences among family firms in Bangladesh is still in its infancy. This paper delves into this issue to answer whether the financial performance of family firms run by second-generation family members is different from their predecessors and nonfamily firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs panel data analysis that attempts to conceptualize the performance difference, quantified in terms of profitability and return, between founder- and second-generation-run public companies in Bangladesh. Moreover, cross-sectional regressions extend the research paradigm to investigate and validate whether heir-controlled family firms perform differently than nonfamily firms or firms that are yet to experience ownership succession within a family.

Findings

The study indicates that family firms perform better when founding family members are in control compared to second-generation-run family firms. Moreover, further analysis suggests that heir-controlled family firms do not show a significant difference in performance compared to firms that never had a family succession in its managerial positions. The implications are that there could be nonfinancial family-centric motivations for family business ownership transition.

Practical implications

Family succession of firm ownership is venerated without necessarily a validation of its financial merit. In Bangladesh, this is too often ade factotransfer of leadership within family firms. This study can act as a reference point to understand that family succession of firm ownership in Bangladesh may not necessarily be in the best financial interest of a firm.

Originality/value

The literature on family firms propounds a plethora of vacillating conclusions and opinions. This paper adds this body of empirical literature into an exercise of formal logic. Such an empirical investigation into the financial performance of Bangladeshi family firms, visualized through the lens of leadership transfer to a second-generation family member, has not been extensively studied in contemporary literature.
Enhancing training effectiveness for organizations through blockchain-enabled training effectiveness measurement (BETEM)
Authors: Jain Geetika , Sharma Naman , Shrivastava Archana
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Due to technology advancement or transparency in system, there is a constant inflow and outflow of technology in the business for transparency and efficiency. To seize a competitive advantage, companies have emerged new technological solutions to respond to the change in the organization environment. There is a surge in the requirement of learning opportunities and effective training programs in the organization. The current study has been an effort to understand the potential of blockchain technology that can create better training evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

The electronic-Delphi (e-Delphi) method has been conducted by recording the final consensus and to find a balance for implementation of blockchain technology and measuring training effectiveness. The current research is one of its new types where blockchain-enabled training effectiveness measurement (BETEM) model has been formulated using a qualitative approach.

Findings

The study has considered human resource (HR) professionals as the experts and based on their responses, the formulation of theoretical network model has been structured using e-Delphi–BETEM (e-DLH–BETEM) approach. By critically examining the experts’ responses and comments, the study formulated the four major themes and 11 subthemes for the smooth functioning of the BETEM for an organization.

Research limitations/implications

The research aims to aid innovations in BETEMs model for training evaluation. The model will contribute incrementally toward the complete transformation of the training development programs of employees. The goal of BETEMs is to ensure that organizations, specifically HR personals can prepare themselves to have competitive advantage by using blockchain technology.

Originality/value

The application of blockchain technology in measuring the training effectiveness is an addition to existing literature as majority of existing studies have studied the use of technology for measuring training effectiveness.
Towards a circumplex typology of customer service experience management practices: a dyadic perspective
Authors: Sahhar Yasin , Loohuis Raymond , Henseler Jörg
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the practices used by service providers to manage the customer service experience (CSE) across multiple phases of the customer journey in a business-to-business (B2B) setting.

Design/methodology/approach

This study comprises an ethnography that investigates in real time, from a dyadic perspective, and the CSE management practices at two service providers operating in knowledge-intensive service industries over a period of eight months. Analytically, the study concentrates on critical events that occurred in phases of the customer journey that in some way alter CSE, thus making it necessary for service providers to act to keep their customers satisfied.

Findings

The study uncovers four types of service provider practices that vary based on the mode of organization (ad hoc or regular) and the mode of engagement (reactive or proactive) and based on whether they restore or bolster CSE, including the recurrence of these practices in the customer journey. These practices are conveniently presented in a circumplex typology of CSE management across five phases in the customer journey.

Research limitations/implications

This paper advances the research in CSE management throughout the customer journey in the B2B context by showing that CSE management is dynamic, recurrent and multifaceted in the sense that it requires different modes of organization and engagement, notably during interaction with customers, in different phases of the customer journey.

Practical implications

The circumplex typology acts as a tool for service providers, helping them to redesign their CSE management practices in ongoing service and dialogical processes to keep their customers more engaged and satisfied.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to infuse a dyadic stance into the ongoing discussion of CSE management practices in B2B, in which studies to date have deployed only provider or customer perspectives. In proposing a microlevel view, the study identifies service providers' CSE management practices in multiple customer journey phases, especially when the situation becomes critical.
Addressing the silver tsunami in the accounting industry
Authors: Dorr Brian M. , Feuerhelm Shannon L.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

As Baby Boomers continue to retire, organizations should have plans in place that successfully execute this transition. Some industries, such as accounting, are unique in that there is specialized knowledge required by employees, including education and work experience. This study examines what accounting organizations are doing to manage this transition. The research question posed is as follows: How are organizations in the accounting industry addressing anticipated retirements?.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a qualitative study that is interpretive. In order to answer the research question, six managers who are involved in the hiring process at accounting organizations of varying sizes were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and coded using the software program, Dedoose, in order to develop themes that addressed the research question.

Findings

By conducting semi-structured interviews that focused on efforts related to this issue, it was found that accounting organizations are focusing on three aspects related to the research question: Accounting firms are focusing on (1) culture, (2) knowledge and (3) transition as they lead their organizations through this time.

Practical implications

This research project provides insight into how some accounting organizations are managing issues related to increasing retirements. By knowing how other organizations are handling these issues, accounting organizations can use this knowledge to prepare, themselves, for anticipated retirements. This knowledge is also valuable in other fields that provide professional services (e.g., medical and legal).

Originality/value

This topic has not been fully explored in the accounting industry. The findings of this study are useful to accounting firms, world-wide, as well as to organizations in other professional services fields, world-wide. This research could be further explored in other professional services organizations, such as the health and legal fields.
The impact of internal and external reinsurance on insurers' performance and price
Authors: Park Jin , Choi Byeongyong Paul , Ho Chia-Ling
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study is designed to investigate how the use of reinsurance affects the primary insurers' profitability and pricing on their insurance products.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the impact of reinsurance on the insurers’ profitability using a two stage least square to control the endogeneity problem with a reinsurance variable. The study analyzes 11,894 firm-year observations between 2001 and 2009.

Findings

The study finds that the use of reinsurance in general has a negative impact on property/casualty insurers' performance. However, reinsurance obtained from affiliated firms has a positive impact on profitability, which supports the existence of internal capital markets in the insurance industry.

Research limitations/implications

The finding of study implies that reinsurance transactions are used among affiliated insurers for not only managing underwriting risk and increasing underwriting capacity but also subsidizing capital through internal capital markets. In term of limitation, due to the availability of price data, this study uses only one insurance cycle of 9 years, albeit not weakening the findings.

Practical implications

Especially for non-affiliated insurers, the finding suggests that they need to find an alternative way to transfer underwriting risk without having to use costly reinsurance.

Originality/value

This paper directly investigates the impact of reinsurance utilization on insurers' profitability and pricing.
A numerical investigation on the impacts of voids combinations on natural ventilation of high-rise residential building
Authors: Laloui Hamza , Abdul Majid Noor Hanita , Sanusi Aliyah Nur Zafirah
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the impacts of introducing voids combinations on natural ventilation performance in high-rise residential building living unit.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was carried out through field measurement and computational fluid dynamics methods. The parameters of the study are void types and sizes, and a wind angle was used to formulate case studies.

Findings

The results indicate that the provision of a single-sided horizontal void larger by 50% increase the indoor air velocity performance up to 322.37% to 0.471 m/s in the living unit and achieves the required velocity for thermal comfort.

Originality/value

Passive design features are the most desirable techniques to enhance natural ventilation performance in the high-rise residential apartments for thermal comfort and indoor air quality purposes.
Artificial intelligence-based automatic visual inspection system for built heritage
Authors: Mansuri Lukman E. , Patel D.A.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Heritage is the latent part of a sustainable built environment. Conservation and preservation of heritage is one of the United Nations' (UN) sustainable development goals. Many social and natural factors seriously threaten heritage structures by deteriorating and damaging the original. Therefore, regular visual inspection of heritage structures is necessary for their conservation and preservation. Conventional inspection practice relies on manual inspection, which takes more time and human resources. The inspection system seeks an innovative approach that should be cheaper, faster, safer and less prone to human error than manual inspection. Therefore, this study aims to develop an automatic system of visual inspection for the built heritage.

Design/methodology/approach

The artificial intelligence-based automatic defect detection system is developed using the faster R-CNN (faster region-based convolutional neural network) model of object detection to build an automatic visual inspection system. From the English and Dutch cemeteries of Surat (India), images of heritage structures were captured by digital camera to prepare the image data set. This image data set was used for training, validation and testing to develop the automatic defect detection model. While validating this model, its optimum detection accuracy is recorded as 91.58% to detect three types of defects: “spalling,” “exposed bricks” and “cracks.”

Findings

This study develops the model of automatic web-based visual inspection systems for the heritage structures using the faster R-CNN. Then it demonstrates detection of defects of spalling, exposed bricks and cracks existing in the heritage structures. Comparison of conventional (manual) and developed automatic inspection systems reveals that the developed automatic system requires less time and staff. Therefore, the routine inspection can be faster, cheaper, safer and more accurate than the conventional inspection method.

Practical implications

The study presented here can improve inspecting the built heritages by reducing inspection time and cost, eliminating chances of human errors and accidents and having accurate and consistent information. This study attempts to ensure the sustainability of the built heritage.

Originality/value

For ensuring the sustainability of built heritage, this study presents the artificial intelligence-based methodology for the development of an automatic visual inspection system. The automatic web-based visual inspection system for the built heritage has not been reported in previous studies so far.
Radical futures? Exploring the policy relevance of social innovation
Authors: De Pieri Benedetta , Teasdale Simon
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to unpack the sets of policy ideas underpinning the use of social innovation, thus permeating the allegedly politically neutral language of the concept.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on Daigneualt (2014), this paper adapts a four-dimensional approach to investigate the sets of ideas underpinning different conceptualisations of social innovation, particularly in relation to who the actors driving social change are, the nature of the problems addressed, the objectives pursued and the means used to achieve these objectives.

Findings

Applying the four-dimensional approach to a corpus of literature, this paper found evidence of two different perspectives along each dimension, namely, a radical empowerment approach and an incremental market-oriented one.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of the study is the focus on academic literature, whereas a broader focus on policy discourse may give further insights. However, this paper argues that this study can be the ground for future research to investigate whether and how the two approaches identified have been adopted in different institutional and policy contexts.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the development of social innovation research by boosting and encouraging further investigation on how different sets of ideas underpin social innovation discourse and its use as a policy concept.
Error analysis and optimal design of reduction relay lens for field of view stitching applications
Authors: Zhang Xinjie , Kong Fansen , Gu Zhiyuan , Shen Xiao
Published: February 2021

Purpose

FOV splicing optical remote sensing instruments have a strict requirement for the focal length consistency of the lens. In conventional optical-mechanical structure design, each optical element is equally distributed with high accuracy and everyone must have a high machining and assembly accuracy. For optical remote sensors with a large number of optical elements, this design brings great difficulties to lens manufacture and alignment.

Design/methodology/approach

Taking the relay lens in an optical remote sensing instrument with the field of view splicing as an example, errors of the system are redistributed to optical elements. Two optical elements, which have the greatest influence on modulation transfer function (MTF) of the system are mounted with high accuracy centering and the other elements are fixed by gland ring with common machining accuracy. The reduction ratio consistency difference among lenses is compensated by adjusting the optical spacing between the two elements.

Findings

Based on optical system simulation analysis, the optimized structure can compensate for the difference of reduction ratio among lens by grinding the washer thickness in the range of ±0.37 mm. The test data for the image quality of the lens show that the MTF value declined 0.043 within ±0.4 mm of space change between two barrels. The results indicate that the reduction ratio can be corrected by adjusting the washer thickness and the image quality will not obviously decline.

Originality/value

This paper confirms that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. In this paper, the optimum structural design of the reduction relay lens for the field of view stitching applications is reported. The method of adjusting washer thickness is applied to compensate for the reduction ratio consistency difference of lenses. The optimized structure also greatly reduces the difficulty of lenses manufacture, alignment and improves the efficiency of assembly.
Suppression of motion noise based on a linear‐homomorphic filtering algorithm in airborne electromagnetic survey
Authors: Zhu Kaiguang , Peng Cong , Jing Chunyang , Fan Tianjiao , Yang Yang
Published: February 2021

The movement of the receiver coil in a magnetic field produces motion noise in the airborne electromagnetic field. With an amplitude that is several orders of magnitude higher than that of other noise sources, this motion noise is one of the main low‐frequency (<1 kHz) noise sources. Especially in the late decay period, the residual motion noise produces false anomalous information, which is a key problem of low‐base‐frequency airborne electromagnetic surveys. In this paper, a method for calculating the motion noise is proposed. This method takes into account both the earth's magnetic field and the active secondary magnetic field and introduces additive and multiplicative motion noise. Then, a linear‐homomorphic filtering algorithm is proposed to handle the additive and multiplicative motion noises. In the linear filtering part of our algorithm, the minimum noise fraction transform is applied to suppress additive motion noise. It provides sets of components ordered by the signal‐to‐noise ratio by deriving the eigenvalues and eigenvectors for the signal and uncorrelated noise covariance matrices. In the homomorphic filtering part, the multiplicative motion noise is removed. To do this, the adaptive‐width smoothing algorithm is applied to the logarithm of the filtered with the linear filtering process profile data. The results of synthetic and field data demonstrate that the linear filtering process based on the minimum noise fraction transform is effective for very low signal‐to‐noise ratios of the late‐time data, and the homomorphic filtering process can help distinguish small anomalies of these channels.
User‐friendly bioinformatics pipeline gDAT (graphical downstream analysis tool) for analysing rDNA sequences
Authors: Vasar Martti , Davison John , Neuenkamp Lena , Sepp Siim‐Kaarel , Young J. Peter W. , Moora Mari , Öpik Maarja
Published: February 2021

High‐throughput sequencing (HTS) of multiple organisms in parallel (metabarcoding) has become a routine and cost‐effective method for the analysis of microbial communities in environmental samples. However, careful data treatment is required to identify potential errors in HTS data, and the large volume of data generated by HTS requires in‐house experience with command line tools for downstream analysis. This paper introduces a pipeline that incorporates the most common command line tools into an easy‐to‐use graphical interface—gDAT. By using the Python scripting language, the pipeline is compatible with the latest Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems. The pipeline supports analysis of Sanger, 454, IonTorrent, Illumina and PacBio sequences, allows custom modification of quality filtering steps, and implements both open and closed‐reference operational taxonomic unit‐picking for sequence identification. Predefined parameters are optimized for analysis of small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene amplicons from arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, but the pipeline is widely applicable to metabarcoding studies targeting a broad range of organisms. The pipeline was additionally tested with data using general eukaryotic primers from the SSU gene region and fungal primers from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) marker region. We describe the pipeline design and evaluate its performance and speed by conducting analysis of example data sets using different marker regions sequenced on Illumina platforms. The graphical interface, with the option to use the command line if needed, provides an accessible tool for rapid data analysis with repeatability and logging capabilities. Keeping the software open‐source maximizes code accessibility, allowing scrutiny and bug fixes by the community.
Concordance rate in cattle and sheep between genotypes differing in Illumina GenCall quality score
Authors: Berry D. P. , Dunne F. L. , Evans R. D. , McDermott K. , O'Brien A. C.
Published: February 2021

Proper quality control of data prior to downstream analyses is fundamental to ensure integrity of results; quality control of genomic data is no exception. While many metrics of quality control of genomic data exist, the objective of the present study was to quantify the genotype and allele concordance rate between called single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes differing in GenCall (GC) score; the GC score is a confidence measure assigned to each Illumina genotype call. This objective was achieved using Illumina beadchip genotype data from 771 cattle (12 428 767 genotypes in total post‐editing) and 80 sheep (1 557 360 SNPs genotypes in total post‐editing) each genotyped in duplicate. The called genotype with the lowest associated GC score was compared to the genotype called for the same SNP in the same duplicated animal sample but with a GC score of >0.90 (assumed to represent the true genotype). The mean genotype concordance rate for a GC score of <0.300, 0.300–0.549, and ≥0.550 in the cattle (sheep in parenthesis) was 0.9467 (0.9864), 0.9707 (0.9953), and 0.9994 (0.99997) respectively; the respective allele concordance rate was 0.9730 (0.9930), 0.9849 (0.9976), and 0.9997 (0.99998). Hence, concordance eroded as the GC score of the called genotype reduced, albeit the impact was not dramatic and was not very noticeable until a GC score of <0.55. Moreover, the impact was greater and more consistent in the cattle population than in the sheep population. Furthermore, an impact of GC score on genotype concordance rate existed even for the same SNP GenTrain value; the GenTrain value is a statistical score that depicts the shape of the genotype clusters and the relative distance between the called genotype clusters.
Dysregulation of mitophagy and mitochondrial homeostasis in cancer stem cells: Novel mechanism for anti‐cancer stem cell‐targeted cancer therapy
Authors: Praharaj Prakash Priyadarshi , Patro Birija Sankar , Bhutia Sujit Kumar
Published: February 2021

Despite the potential of cancer medicine, cancer stem cells (CSCs) associated with chemoresistance and disease recurrence are the significant challenges currently opposing the efficacy of available cancer treatment options. Mitochondrial dynamics involving the fission–fusion cycle and mitophagy are the major contributing factors to better adaptation, enabling CSCs to survive and grow better under tumour micro‐environment‐associated stress. Moreover, mitophagy is balanced with mitochondrial biogenesis to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis in CSCs, which are necessary for the growth and maintenance of CSCs and regulate metabolic switching from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation. In this review, we discuss different aspects of mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy, and mitochondrial homeostasis and their effects on modulating CSCs behaviour during cancer development. Moreover, the efficacy of pharmacological targeting of these cellular processes using anti‐CSC drugs in combination with currently available chemotherapeutic drugs improves the patient's survival of aggressive cancer types.