bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mitotically heritable, RNA polymerase II-independent H3K4 dimethylation stimulates INO1 transcriptional memory
Authors: Sump Bethany , Brickner Donna Garvey , D’Urso Agustina , Kim Seo Hyun , Brickner Jason H.
Published: February 2022

For some inducible genes, the rate and molecular mechanism of transcriptional activation depends on the prior experiences of the cell. This phenomenon, called epigenetic transcriptional memory, accelerates reactivation and requires both changes in chromatin structure and recruitment of poised RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) to the promoter. Memory of inositol starvation in budding yeast involves a positive feedback loop between transcription factor-dependent interaction with the nuclear pore complex and histone H3 lysine 4 dimethylation (H3K4me2). While H3K4me2 is essential for recruitment of RNAPII and faster reactivation, RNAPII is not required for H3K4me2. Unlike RNAPII-dependent H3K4me2 associated with transcription, RNAPII-independent H3K4me2 requires Nup100, SET3C, the Leo1 subunit of the Paf1 complex and, upon degradation of an essential transcription factor, is inherited through multiple cell cycles. The writer of this mark (COMPASS) physically interacts with the potential reader (SET3C), suggesting a molecular mechanism for the spreading and re-incorporation of H3K4me2 following DNA replication.
Vagal involvement in non-dipping phenotype of Hsd11b2 knockout rats
Authors: Mullins Linda J , Koutraki Yolanda G S , Bailey Matthew A , Mullins John J
Published: February 2022

The Syndrome of Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess (SAME) is a hypertensive disorder caused by deficiency of 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2. Blood pressure is directly influenced by dietary salt intake, but the causes of salt-sensitivity are not fully resolved. We modelled SAME in Fischer 344 rats, using zinc finger nuclease targeting of the Hsd11b2 gene. The F344 genetic background showed modest salt sensitivity: blood pressure increased by ∼6mmHg when diet was switched from control (0.3% Na) to high salt (3% Na) diet. Homozygous knockout (Hsd2-/-) rats exhibited severe hypertension on control diet (mean arterial blood pressure of ∼180 mmHg compared to ∼115 mmHg in wild-types) and displayed no dipping in blood pressure in the inactive/sleep phase. They also displayed reduced heart rate (339 bpm versus 384 bpm in F344 controls). Low salt diet (0.03% Na) caused a dramatic fall in Hsd2-/- blood pressure (to ∼141mmHg), restoration of robust circadian variation in blood pressure, and an increase in heart rate (to 364bpm). This was mirrored by a restoration of circadian variation in the Poincare plot descriptor, SD1, suggesting involvement of parasympathetic dysfunction in the non-dipping phenotype. Alpha adrenoceptor blockade with prazosin treatment resulted in a further decrease in blood pressure (to ∼124mmHg), which blunted circadian rhythm, together with an increase in heart rate (to ∼394bpm). This rat model of human hypertension reveals clear links between dietary salt, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and the non-dipping blood pressure phenotype.
Rearing environment persistently modulates the phenotype of mice
Authors: Jaric Ivana , Voelkl Bernhard , Clerc Melanie , Schmid Marc W. , Novak Janja , Rosso Marianna , Rufener Reto , von Kortzfleisch Vanessa Tabea , Richter S. Helene , Buettner Manuela , Bleich André , Amrein Irmgard , Wolfer David P. , Touma Chadi , Sunagawa Shinichi , Würbel Hanno
Published: February 2022

The phenotype of an organism results from its genotype and the influence of the environment throughout development. Even when using animals of the same genotype, independent studies may test animals of different phenotypes, resulting in poor replicability due to genotype-by-environment interactions1–4. Thus, genetically defined strains of mice may respond differently to experimental treatments depending on their rearing environment5. However, the extent of such phenotypic plasticity and its implications for the replicability of research findings have remained unknown. Here, we examined the extent to which common environmental differences between rearing facilities modulate the phenotype of genetically homogeneous (inbred) mice. We conducted a comprehensive multi-center study, where inbred mice from the same breeding stock were reared in five different facilities throughout early life and adolescence, before being transported to a single test laboratory. We found persistent effects of rearing facility on the composition and heterogeneity of the gut microbial community. These effects were paralleled by persistent differences in body weight and in the behavioural phenotype of the mice. Furthermore, we show that common variation among rearing facilities is strong enough to influence epigenetic patterns in neurons at the level of chromatin organization. We detected changes in chromatin organization in the regulatory regions of genes involved in nucleosome assembly, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity and regulation of behavior. Our findings demonstrate that common environmental differences between rearing facilities may produce facility-specific phenotypes, from the molecular to the behavioural level. We expect our findings to stimulate further research into the mechanisms and drivers of these epigenetic changes mediated by the laboratory environment. Furthermore, they highlight an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies and a need to account for the animals’ environmental background in study design to produce robust and replicable findings.
Tumor elimination by clustered microRNAs miR-306 and miR-79 via non-canonical activation of JNK signaling
Authors: Wang Zhaowei , Xia Xiaoling , Igaki Tatsushi
Published: February 2022

JNK signaling plays a critical role in both tumor promotion and tumor suppression. Here, we identified clustered microRNAs (miRNAs) miR-306 and miR-79 as novel tumor-suppressor miRNAs that specifically eliminate JNK-activated tumors in Drosophila. While showing no significant effect on normal tissue growth, miR-306 and miR-79 strongly suppressed growth of multiple tumor models including malignant tumors caused by Ras activation and cell polarity defects. Mechanistically, these miRNAs commonly target the mRNA of an E3 ubiquitin ligase Drosophila ring finger protein 146 (dRNF146). We found that DRNF146 promotes degradation of tankyrase (Tnks), an ADP-ribose polymerase that promotes JNK activation in a non-canonical manner. Thus, downregulation of dRNF146 by miR-306 and miR-79 leads to hyper-enhancement of JNK activation. Our data show that, while JNK activity is essential for tumor growth, elevation of miR-306 or miR-79 overactivate JNK signaling to the lethal level via non-canonical JNK pathway and thus eliminate tumors, providing a new miRNA-based strategy against cancer.
Interaction of Fungal lipase with potential phytotherapeutics
Authors: Naz Farheen , Khan Imran , Islam Asimul , Khan Luqman A
Published: February 2022

Interaction of thymol, carvacrol and linalool with fungal lipase and Human Serum Albumin (HSA) have been investigated employing UV-Vis, Fluorescence and Circular dichroism spectroscopy along with docking studies. Thymol, carvacrol and linalool displayed approximately 50% inhibition at 1.5 mmol/litre concentrations using para-nitrophenyl palmitate. UV-Vis spectroscopy give evidence of the formation of lipase-linalool, lipasecarvacrol and lipase-thymol complex at the ground state. Three molecules also showed complex formation with HSA at the ground state. Fluorescence spectroscopy shows strong binding of lipase to thymol (Ka of 2.6 x 109 M-1) as compared to carvacrol (4.66 x 107 M-1) and linalool (5.3 x 103 M-1). Number of binding sites showing stoichiometry of association process on lipase is found to be 2.52 (thymol) compared to 2.04 (carvacrol) and 1.12 (linalool). Secondary structure analysis by CD spectra results, following 24 hours incubation at 25°C, with thymol, carvacrol and linalool revealed decrease in negative ellipticity for lipase indicating loss in helical structure as compared with the native protein. The lowering in negative ellipticity was in the order of thymol > carvacrol > linalool.

Results of Fluorescence and CD spectroscopy taken together suggests that thymol and carvacrol are profound disrupter of lipase structure.

Fluorescence spectra following binding of all three molecules with HSA caused blue shift which suggests the compaction of the HSA structure. Association constant of thymol and HSA is 9.6 x 108 M-1 which along with ‘n’ value of 2.41 suggests strong association and stable complex formation, association constant for carvacrol and linalool was in range of 107 and 103 respectively.

Docking results give further insight into strong binding of thymol, carvacrol and linalool with lipase having free energy of binding as -7.1 kcal/mol, -5.0 kcal/mol and -5.2 kcal/mol respectively.

To conclude, fungal lipases can be attractive target for controlling their growth and pathogenicity. Employing UV-Vis, Fluorescence and Circular dichroism spectroscopy we have shown that thymol, carvacrol and linalool strongly bind and disrupt structure of fungal lipase, these three phytochemicals also bind well with HSA. Best anti-lipase molecules based on disruption of lipase structure and HSA structure conservation is thymol.
Voluntary adoption of integrated reporting, effective legal system and the cost of equity
Authors: Zaro Elise , Flores Eduardo , Fasan Marco , Murcia Fernando Dal-Ri , Zaro Claudio Soerger
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Integrated reporting (IR) provides integrated financial and nonfinancial information about companies based on the integrated thinking principle. This study aims to investigate how the cost of equity relates to IR disclosure and the impact of an effective legal system on this relationship. Effective legal system (“enforcement”) represents the strength of the legal system of a country. Although voluntary initiatives are essentially not based on regulations, the authors expect that the effective legal system will influence the implementation of such.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the study’s hypotheses, linear regressions were applied using the Thomson Reuters database to analyze 20,463 firm-year observations between 2010 and 2017. The treatment group comprised companies that adopted IR; using propensity score matching, the authors defined the control group. The authors adopted a research design based on difference-in-differences to compare the cost of the capital of treatment with the control group for the periods before and after the IR adoption.

Findings

The results indicate that IR disclosure is negatively related to the cost of equity, and this negative effect is more prevalent for companies operating in high-enforcement environments.

Research limitations/implications

Cost of equity is not a directly observable variable, implying that the results are sensitive to changes in the parameters that are used to compute this term. The results can help companies looking for evidence of potential effective gains of adopting IR. They also help understand that discussions related to environment, social, and governance information are somehow incorporated by analysts and investors, and reflected in the cost of raising funds.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates how IR relates to the cost of equity considering a global sample of voluntary adopters. It also analyzes the impact of institutional factors on this relationship by using a robust method of analysis. The results support the argument that companies in a strong legal system are more likely to behave sustainably and to disclose this attitude. Additionally, they are pressured to implement proposals rather than just adopting an initiative as a label.
Building world-class enterprises though mixed-ownership reform: explaining performance differences in minority and majority state-owned enterprises
Authors: Liao Hongwei , Li Mingyue , Van Assche Ari , Zheng Jiaojiao , Yang Liangping
Published: February 2022

Purpose

In the context of China’s efforts to build world-class enterprises through mixed-ownership reform, this study aims to build an agency theory framework to analyze the differential relation between ownership structure and firm performance in majority versus minority state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It also evaluates the differential influence that political connectedness has on firm performance in the two types of SOEs.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a panel data set of Chinese state-controlled mixed-ownership enterprises covering the period 2010–2019, this paper uses ordinary least squares, random-effects, fixed-effects and three stage least squares regression analysis to study the differential impact of ownership structure and political connectedness on firm performance in majority versus minority SOEs.

Findings

In minority SOEs, firm performance is positively related to the ownership share of the largest private shareholder and state ownership positively moderates this relation. Furthermore, minority SOEs with a politically connected chairman perform worse than those with a politically connected chairman. In majority SOEs, there is no relation between the ownership share of the largest private shareholder and firm performance. In addition, majority SOEs with a politically connected chairman perform similar to those without a politically connected chairman.

Originality/value

The theoretical framework demonstrates that agency problems are substantially different in minority versus majority SOEs and that this influences how changes in ownership structure and in the type of chairman that is assigned affect firm performance. The empirical analysis confirms these predictions.
Modular framework for similarity-based dataset discovery using external knowledge
Authors: Nečaský Martin , Škoda Petr , Bernhauer David , Klímek Jakub , Skopal Tomáš
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Semantic retrieval and discovery of datasets published as open data remains a challenging task. The datasets inherently originate in the globally distributed web jungle, lacking the luxury of centralized database administration, database schemes, shared attributes, vocabulary, structure and semantics. The existing dataset catalogs provide basic search functionality relying on keyword search in brief, incomplete or misleading textual metadata attached to the datasets. The search results are thus often insufficient. However, there exist many ways of improving the dataset discovery by employing content-based retrieval, machine learning tools, third-party (external) knowledge bases, countless feature extraction methods and description models and so forth.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors propose a modular framework for rapid experimentation with methods for similarity-based dataset discovery. The framework consists of an extensible catalog of components prepared to form custom pipelines for dataset representation and discovery.

Findings

The study proposes several proof-of-concept pipelines including experimental evaluation, which showcase the usage of the framework.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, there is no similar formal framework for experimentation with various similarity methods in the context of dataset discovery. The framework has the ambition to establish a platform for reproducible and comparable research in the area of dataset discovery. The prototype implementation of the framework is available on GitHub.
Text mining the mission statements of the most ethical companies
Authors: Bayrak Tuncay
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This paper explores and examines the mission statements of the most ethical companies across the globe in terms of their main purposes, values, goals, and objective, and what they say about their vision and goals.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on the data published by the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. Having compiled the mission statements into a text file, the authors conducted text mining using a commercially available text mining tool SAS Enterprise Miner to survey if the most ethical companies have valued the same vision and mission such as social responsibility and ethics.

Findings

A review of their mission statements indicated that some of the most ethical companies surveyed in this study such as 3M and Voya strive to be “socially responsible and ethical,” support their “societies” and respect and protect the “nature,” “planet” and “environment.” The world's most ethical companies that stress these weighted terms in their mission statements may do so to show their commitment by being socially responsible and ethical, and delivering sustainable business solutions to their customers.

Originality/value

This study provides a systematic and comprehensive exploration of mission statements of the most ethical companies in an attempt to identify patterns of differences and similarities within these statements.
Case study research in HRD: a review of trends and call for advancement
Authors: Tkachenko Oleksandr , Seo Jaekyo , Ardichvili Alexandre
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This study aims to examine how case study research has been applied in the field of human resource development (HRD).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined HRD case study research by analyzing 118 refereed, empirical case study articles published between 2000 and 2020 in three Academy of HRD-sponsored journals.

Findings

Findings suggest that case studies have an established place in HRD research. The disciplinary convention has been exploratory case studies, which, to a greater extent, draw on single-case research designs. When examining the proportion of case study articles in relation to all empirical, peer-refereed publications in the journals, the authors found a slight decline in case study research publications in recent years. The results of our post hoc exploratory analysis indicate that HRD case study research that contributes to theory development by eliciting concepts and their relationships is likely to receive more scholarly attention than case studies that provide rich descriptions of the phenomenon. The results also suggest that it is rather case study’s contribution to theory than selected features of case study that attracts scholars’ attention.

Originality/value

The study identified several approaches to conducting case study research that have received less attention by HRD researchers. The authors encourage HRD researchers to expand their repertoire of case study approaches. The authors also provide recommendations addressing the issues of methodological self-awareness, rigor and transparency in case study research.
Procurement of facilities management services designated for office buildings of airline corporate organisations in Asia
Authors: Moktar Noorzaini , Myeda Nik Elyna
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to enhance decision-making process for the procurement of facilities management (FM) services within aviation corporate organisation, where the FM services functions to support the business operation. It builds on considering the fundamental elements comprising the FM procurement process from the aviation perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates the characteristics of the different types of sourcing approaches and the underpinning factors affecting its selection for the procurement of FM services within the aviation industry. The decision-making framework for the procurement of FM services is developed based on the qualitative case study by interview and focus group discussion with the custodian department that is directly involved in the procurement of FM services.

Findings

The degree of outsourcing is increasing due to corporate organisation’s persona. Procurement of FM services is a complex process required detailed review, efforts and time in choosing the right sourcing approach. Off the shelf guidelines for the procurement of FM services suits property professional which directly involved with the procurement of FM services. However, decision-making process for the procurement of FM services specifically for aeronautical and non-aeronautical corporate organisation are rarely found. The case study findings signify that the respondents are familiar with the in-sourcing, outsourcing and right sourcing approaches. The underpinning factors affecting sourcing approaches were categorised according to the main reasons for the procurement of FM services, considerable factors during the procurement stage and value-adding criteria. The use of strategic management tools is not widely imposed, and intelligent client guideline is not available. Hence, the decision-making framework has been developed to fill the gap in this study.

Research limitations/implications

The research is based on a study of aviation or airline corporate organisation, which limits the possibility of holistic view to the FM industry as a whole but highlights the research gap of FM procurement which is scarce within the case study of airline companies. The focus area is also bounded within the procurement of FM services designated for the office buildings.

Originality/value

The paper provides initial guideline for the airline company in sourcing the procurement of FM services that were developed based on established guidelines from accrediting bodies and scholars, as well as from the sampling feedback analysis. It is also among the firsts that examine the procurement of FM services in the context of aviation or airline industry. The outcome of this paper is a decision-making framework for the procurement of FM services that is specially designed for the airlines corporate organisations, which fills the gap that exists in the industry.
Mindfulness and stereotype threat in social media: unexpected effects for women’s leadership aspirations
Authors: Walsh Megan M. , Carleton Erica L. , Hancock Amanda J. , Arnold Kara A.
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper were to investigate whether gendered social media images reduce women’s leadership aspirations (via reduced leadership self-efficacy) and whether state mindfulness buffers the effect of stereotype threat on women’s leadership self-efficacy, and in turn, leadership aspirations.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 (n = 53) was a pilot study designed to test materials intended to induce stereotype threat via social media. Study 2 (n = 144) was an experimental study in which participants were randomly assigned to stereotype threat or control conditions. Stereotype threat was implicitly induced via a fictional Facebook timeline that incorporated gendered images.

Findings

Stereotype threat induced via social media predicted lower leadership aspirations for women, which was mediated by reduced leadership self-efficacy, as expected. State mindfulness moderated this mediated relationship in an unexpected way; stereotype threat effects on leadership self-efficacy and leadership aspirations were stronger for women higher in state mindfulness.

Originality/value

It is important to investigate stereotype threat induced via social media to understand the potential damage gendered images may have on women’s leadership aspirations in a modern advertising context. This research shows that indeed gendered images in social media advertising decrease women’s leadership self-efficacy and leadership aspirations. Interestingly, this study also found that mindfulness had a negative effect in relation to stereotype threat. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Numerical analysis for thermal management of data center with phase change material
Authors: F. Oztop Hakan , Özgül Rıdvan , Selimefendigil Fatih
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the performance of a data center and thermal management by using phase change material (PCM). Numerical studies were conducted for two dimensional model of data center and installation of PCM at different locations.

Design/methodology/approach

Finite volume method was used for the unsteady problem, while impacts of air velocity and PCM location on the flow field, thermal pattern variations and phase change dynamics were evaluated. Three different locations of the PCM were considered while air velocity was also varied during the simulation. Thermal field variations and cooling performance of the system for different PCM location scenarios were compared.

Findings

It was observed that the installation of the PCM has significant impacts on the vortex formation, thermal field variation within the system and its performance. The left, right and top wall installation of the PCM changed the thermal patterns near the heat cell of the data centre. The phase change process is fast for the upper wall installation of the PCM, while the discrepancy of the melt fraction dynamics between different air flow at this position is minimum. The case where PCM placed in the upper wall at the highest air velocity is the best configuration in terms of heat storage. The utilization of PCM and changing its locations provide an excellent tool for thermal management and cooling performance of data centre.

Originality/value

Results of this study can be used for initial design and optimization of cooling systems for thermal management of data centers while the importance of the high-performance computing becomes very crucial for the advanced simulations in different technological applications.
Construction and validation of an instrument to measure workplace bullying
Authors: Na-Nan Khahan , Virakul Busaya , Piriyakul Montree , Russ-Eft Darlene Fern
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to develop and test an instrument to measure workplace bullying in the Thai context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research has three phases. Phase 1 involved the development of an instrument and constructs/items as well as testing of content validity and reliability. Phase 2 used exploratory factor analysis to identify the appropriate constructs and items to be included in the instrument. Phase 3 consisted of confirmatory factor analyses to confirm that the measurement instrument built in this research is effective for measuring workplace bullying. Data were collected through interviews of experts and stakeholders in human resource (HR), and through online questionnaires completed by 340 HR employees in Thailand.

Findings

Results revealed that workplace bullying can be classified into three types: work-related bullying, personal-related bullying and physical-related bullying. Findings confirmed the constructs using theoretical concepts and empirical evidence with values of χ2 = 120.473, df = 98, p = 0.061, χ2/df = 1.229, goodness of fit index = 0.961, adjusted goodness of fit index = 0.938, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.992, comparative fit index = 0.994 and root mean square error of approximation = 0.026.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study add further knowledge to the field of organizational behaviour and could be valuable for developing management theories regarding building an effective work climate. The three types of workplace bullying (work-related, personal-related and physical-related bullying) can be studied as independent, dependent or mediating variables that can both influence and mediate. Results can be used to explain behavioural aspects of workplace bullying in clear and accurate terms.

Practical implications

The developed instrument can accurately measure levels of workplace bullying behaviours of employees in different organizations with high levels of validity and reliability. Results can be used to develop interventions and guidelines for managing or reducing workplace bullying of employees. The instrument can also be used as a research tool for further studies of bullying behaviour.

Social implications

Diversity, equality and sustainability are characteristics of organizations that have developed an effective and happy work culture. Allowing workplace bullying to occur can negatively affect such a productive organizational climate. Therefore, the research findings have social implications in terms of their ability to monitor workplace, as well as community bullying.

Originality/value

The instrument to measure workplace bullying was developed and improved by blending Western concepts with interview data about workplace bullying behaviours experienced by HR employees in Thailand. The instrument can facilitate the measurement of employee bullying levels in companies and can contribute to future studies of bullying behaviours in organizations or workplaces.
A distributed quality of service-enabled load balancing approach for cloud environment
Authors: Sharma Minakshi , Kumar Rajneesh , Jain Anurag
Published: February 2022

Purpose

During high demand for the virtualized resources in cloud environment, efficient task scheduling achieves the desired performance criteria by balancing the load in the system.

Design/methodology/approach

It is a task scheduling approach used for load balancing in cloud environment. Task scheduling in such an environment is used for the task execution on a suitable resource by considering some parameters and constraints to achieve performance.

Findings

The presented mechanism is an extension of the previous proposed work quality of service (QoS)-enabled join minimum loaded queue (JMLQ) (Sharma et al., 2019c). The proposed approach has been tested in the CloudSim simulator, and the results show that the proposed approach achieves better results in comparison to QoS-enabled JMLQ and its other variants in the cloud environment.

Originality/value

90%
Consumer preferences for innovative and traditional last-mile parcel delivery
Authors: Merkert Rico , Bliemer Michiel C.J. , Fayyaz Muhammad
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to reveal consumer preferences towards innovative last-mile parcel delivery and more specifically unmanned aerial delivery drones, in comparison to traditional postal delivery (postie) and the recent rise of parcel lockers in Australia. The authors investigate competitive priorities and willingness to pay for key attributes of parcel delivery (mode, speed, method and time window), the role of contextual moderators such as parcel value and security and opportunities for logistics service providers in the growing e-commerce market.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey involving stated choice experiments has been conducted among 709 respondents in urban Australia. The authors estimated panel error component logit models, derived consumer priorities and deployed 576 Monte Carlo simulations to forecast potential delivery mode market shares.

Findings

The study results suggest that people prefer postie over drone delivery, all else equal, but that drone deliveries become competitive with large market shares if they live up to the premise that they can deliver faster and cheaper. Both drone and postie become less attractive relative to parcel lockers when there is no safe place to leave a parcel at a residence, highlighting the importance of situational context and infrastructure at the receiving end of last-mile delivery. The authors identified opportunities for chargeable add-on services, such as signature for postie and 2-h parcel deliveries for drones.

Originality/value

The authors offer timely and novel insights into consumers preferences towards aerial drone parcel deliveries compared to postie and lockers. Going beyond the extant engineering/operations research literature, the authors provide a starting point and add new dimensions/moderators for last-mile parcel delivery choice analysis and empirical evidence of market potential and competitive attributes of innovative versus traditional parcel delivery alternatives.
A cascaded CNN-based method for monocular vision robotic grasping
Authors: Wu Xiaojun , Li Peng , Zhou Jinghui , Liu Yunhui
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Scattered parts are laid randomly during the manufacturing process and have difficulty to recognize and manipulate. This study aims to complete the grasp of the scattered parts by a manipulator with a camera and learning method.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a cascaded convolutional neural network (CNN) method for robotic grasping based on monocular vision and small data set of scattered parts is proposed. This method can be divided into three steps: object detection, monocular depth estimation and keypoint estimation. In the first stage, an object detection network is improved to effectively locate the candidate parts. Then, it contains a neural network structure and corresponding training method to learn and reason high-resolution input images to obtain depth estimation. The keypoint estimation in the third step is expressed as a cumulative form of multi-scale prediction from a network to use an red green blue depth (RGBD) map that is acquired from the object detection and depth map estimation. Finally, a grasping strategy is studied to achieve successful and continuous grasping. In the experiments, different workpieces are used to validate the proposed method. The best grasping success rate is more than 80%.

Findings

By using the CNN-based method to extract the key points of the scattered parts and calculating the possibility of grasp, the successful rate is increased.

Practical implications

This method and robotic systems can be used in picking and placing of most industrial automatic manufacturing or assembly processes.

Originality/value

Unlike standard parts, scattered parts are randomly laid and have difficulty recognizing and grasping for the robot. This study uses a cascaded CNN network to extract the keypoints of the scattered parts, which are also labeled with the possibility of successful grasping. Experiments are conducted to demonstrate the grasping of those scattered parts.
The impact of transformational leadership on teachers' job burnout: the mediating role of social-emotional competence and student-teacher relationship
Authors: Tian Jin , Zhang Wanying , Mao Yaqing , Gurr David
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Principal leadership is an important external environmental factor that affects and alleviates teachers' job burnout. The purpose of this paper is to explore the deep internal mechanisms of the influence of principal transformational leadership on teacher job burnout in the context of Chinese teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

A cluster sampling method was used to conduct a questionnaire survey on 990 elementary school teachers in 14 primary schools in Beijing. This study uses a structural equation model to analyze the chain intermediary effect of social-emotional competence and the student-teacher relationship between transformational leadership and teachers' job burnout.

Findings

The results reveal that transformational leadership has a significant negative predictive effect on teachers' job burnout; this kind of leadership affects teachers' job burnout through a chain intermediary effect of social and emotional competence and student-teacher relationship.

Originality/value

This research has discovered that teacher burnout is the result of the interaction of external environmental and individual internal factors. Transformational leadership, as an external environmental factor, positively predicts the internal social-emotional competence of the teacher, and then the teacher's internal social-emotional competence positively predicts the external student-teacher relationship. Finally, the teacher-student relationship of the external environment negatively predicts the job burnout of internal individual teachers.
Identifying the entrepreneurial environmental challenges in developing countries context: a study of public universities in Kurdistan Region – Iraq
Authors: Aldawod Alvin
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This study aims to indicate the most significant entrepreneurial environmental challenges that motivate universities of Kurdistan to become more entrepreneurial.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study of 24 in-depth semi-structured interviews with deans and heads of department in the universities of Kurdistan Region deals with what is meant by being an entrepreneurial university and what challenges motivate universities toward adopting the entrepreneurial university model. Interviews were organized, coded and grouped using template analysis approach.

Findings

The results showed that most significant entrepreneurial environmental challenges that push universities in Kurdistan Region to becoming more entrepreneurial are university funding, having collaborations, contributing to the regional development, developing entrepreneurial competencies, globalization challenges, the need for innovation and the emergence of the opposition forces.

Research limitations/implications

This study examines only the entrepreneurial environmental challenges that have been identified by Gibb et al. (2013). Also, it does not consider the role of leadership in dealing with these challenges.

Originality/value

This study extends the framework of Gibb et al. (2013) of the entrepreneurial environmental challenges that push universities to become more entrepreneurial by considering the challenges that universities in developing countries face. Then, this study adds greater clarity to the challenges that motivate universities to become more entrepreneurial in developing countries.
Benchmarking analysis in the health sector: the case of the Community of Madrid 2016–2018
Authors: De Jorge-Moreno Justo , Martín Meana Fernando
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This study provides new results on the efficiency on health centers in Madrid (Spain).

Design/methodology/approach

The objective of this study was to analyze the efficiency of primary care centers in the Community of Madrid in the period 2016–2018. Special attention has been paid to the detailed study of the best practices carried out. Likewise, the factors affecting efficiency have been analyzed. The methodologies used were nonparametric DEA radial, nonradial and bootstrap, for the estimation of efficiency. The main results reveal that, despite the differences in the techniques used, fundamentally the radial versus non-radial criterion, the results dynamically show the deterioration of the efficiency of the health Centers of the Community of Madrid, when compared by subperiods 2017/18–2016/17. The benchmark analysis identified the best practices of the health centers in the period analyzed. The application of cluster analysis, through kernel distributions (Azzalini and Menardi, 2014), segments the sample in two, and shows the top 20% of health Centers in resource management, in the case of radial DEA. Subsequently, a detailed analysis using pairwise comparison and their presence in the formation of the production frontier captures the benchmark health Centers, as they are present in the three years analyzed in the formation of the production frontier. The analysis of the second stage reports that the explanatory factors of efficiency are centered on the inverse relationship between the population assigned to the health Centers and positively with teaching versus those that do not. It also confirms the extent to which the pressure of care compromises the efficiency of the health Centers.

Findings

A methodological approach based on three efficiency analysis methodologies (radial, non-radial and bootstrap) is applied. Likewise, a cluster analysis criterion is used (Azzalini and Menardi, 2014), little explored in the field of Healthcare.

Originality/value

The Benchmark analysis applied in this study could contribute to decision making for managers, professionals, and policy makers in the health sector. The provision of a greater quantity and quality of public health resources is an important challenge that must be met in order to maintain levels of excellence.
The “public body” enquiry in WTO disputes: implications for partial privatization
Authors: Tan Xiaowen
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to question the “conventional” privatization of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and to propose the neutral position adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to reconcile the divergent views within the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.

Design/methodology/approach

China’s partially privatized SOEs have raised numerous attention in WTO disputes regarding whether China's way of social and economic reform is consistent with its accession commitments and with WTO rules, in particular subsidy rules. Instead of providing a definite legal standard applicable to the “public body” enquiry, the DSB adopts the neutral position to reconcile the divergent views between developed and developing countries on whether not fully privatized SOEs constitute “public body.”

Findings

Albeit with interpretative vagueness, the value of DSB’s neutral position lies in its adequacy: first, the adequacy to address the complexity of SOE privatizations in developing countries; second, the adequacy to engage relevant parties to maintain the multilateral trading system; and third, not to impose specific impact on justification of countervailing duties.

Originality/value

This paper captures the recent developments in “public body” enquiry and calls for a compromised approach to maintain the WTO-like multilateral trade regime and to allow for more policy spaces for developing countries that best fit their unique circumstances and needs. It sees new and significant information, in the sense that the paper aims to present why China’s partial privatization benefits from the WTO “neutrality” on the subject.
Gamifying an assessment method: what signals are organizations sending to applicants?
Authors: Georgiou Konstantina , Lievens Filip
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The paper aims to expand the authors' knowledge on gamification and the signals sent on behalf of the organization when gamified assessments are used. The authors examine the mechanisms through which the use of gamification into an assessment method may increase the attractiveness of an organization as a prospective employer.

Design/methodology/approach

The first study examines, following a longitudinal design, the signals that an organization sends to applicants about the organization's symbolic traits (e.g. innovativeness), through the characteristics of a gamified assessment, in terms of enjoyment and flow and impact on organizational attractiveness. Upon clarifying this mechanism, the second study uses an experimental design to provide evidence that people's perceived enjoyment and flow is enhanced when a gamified version of a situational judgment test (SJT) is used, leading to more positive perceptions of organizational characteristics and attractiveness.

Findings

Positive perceptions of the characteristics of a gamified assessment influenced the attractiveness of the organization via the symbolic organizational traits.

Practical implications

Organizations should be aware of the signals sent to applicants when different assessment formats (such as gamified assessments) are used.

Originality/value

The authors' findings contribute to gamification and signaling theory by testing a signaling mechanism in a novel and timely assessment context.
Strategies for risk management in adopting Industry 4.0 concept in manufacturing industries
Authors: Pasi Bhaveshkumar Nandanram , Mahajan Subhash K. , Rane Santosh B.
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to concentrate on classifying and analyzing the risks associated with the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept in manufacturing industries and developing strategies for managing risks.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research paper, risks categories and their sub-components associated with the I4.0 concept are identified by performing a systematic literature survey of peer-reviewed journal articles and taking inputs from industry experts and academicians. Then, the importance of the identified risks and causal relations among risks are analyzed by using decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Finally, the strategies are developed to mitigate the identified risks.

Findings

From the literature survey, 6 risk categories and their 19 sub-components associated with the I4.0 concept are identified. The DEMATEL method resulted in economic risks and technical risks as the top two risk categories in the I4.0 concept. Ecological risks and legal and political risks are relatively low-ranked risk categories.

Research limitations/implications

Causal relations and ranking among risk categories and their sub-components are obtained by analyzing responses received through questionnaires. There are other methods also available for risk analysis, which are beyond this study.

Practical implications

This research paper will help the industrialists to effectively manage the risks involved in adopting I4.0 concept in manufacturing industries by adopting strategies.

Originality/value

This research paper gives an idea about risks associated with the implementation of the I4.0 concept in manufacturing industries. Also, this paper uses the DEMATEL method for ranking the identified risk categories and their sub-components.
Environmentally responsible behaviour in outdoor recreation: the moderating impact of COVID-19 related risk perception
Authors: Chi Nguyen Thi Khanh
Published: February 2022

Purpose

This study examines the mediating role of motivation on outdoor recreation on the attitude–behavior and social marketing–behavior linkages. The paper scrutinizes the moderating impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk perception in transforming individual motivation on nature-based outdoor recreation into environmentally responsible behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected and conducted in Vietnamese National Parks. The dataset consists of 900 valid responses by domestic travelers. The research was operationalized using empirical data and employed structural equation modeling (SEM) and SPSS PROCESS analysis.

Findings

First, this study confirms that outdoor recreation activities and business's marketing on social networks tend to transform into support for individual behavior in terms of protecting environment and having responsibility for environment. Second, the current paper also represents the academic efforts to contribute to outdoor recreation literature by explaining the current global problem that has caused serious upheaval in global society as well as individual life. The findings not only confirmed the mediating role of nature-based outdoor recreation motivation between attitude and behavior, but also examined the moderating effect of COVID-19 risk perception in the relationship between motivation and behavior.

Originality/value

The findings indicate the significant association of social marketing, environment attitudes, outdoor recreation motivation and environmentally responsible behavior. The findings not only confirmed the mediating role of nature-based outdoor recreation motivation between attitude and behavior, but also examined the moderating effect of COVID-19 risk perception in the relationship between motivation and behavior. These results provide key insights about examining visitors' behavior for environment protection during future infectious disease outbreaks.