bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Barriers to the use of sustainable materials in Australian building projects
Authors: Gounder Sheetal , Hasan Abid , Shrestha Asheem , Elmualim Abbas
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Although the adverse effects of construction activities on the environment and the need for sustainable construction practices are recognised in both research and practice, any significant shift in the selection and use of construction materials from the sustainability perspective has not taken place in many building projects. Still, conventional construction materials are widely used in building projects in both developed and developing countries. This study attempts to identify the main barriers to the use of sustainable materials in building projects in an advanced economy such as Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a questionnaire survey approach to examine the main reasons behind the low usage of sustainable materials in building projects. Based on the relative importance index, exploratory factor analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis, the study examined the main barrier measures and barrier factors to the use of sustainable materials in building projects.

Findings

The findings reveal that critical barriers to the use of sustainable materials are related to cost and profit considerations, the unwillingness of the key stakeholders to incorporate these materials into building projects, lack of incentives and government policies. The factor analysis reduced the critical barrier measures into three factors: techno-economic considerations, cost and delay concerns and resistance to use. Furthermore, multinomial regression analysis based on the extracted factors identified techno-economic considerations as the main barrier factor to the use of sustainable materials in building projects.

Practical implications

The empirical results of this research can inform construction practitioners, organisations and policymakers on how to increase the use of sustainable building materials in the construction industry.

Originality/value

Identification of barriers to the use of sustainable building materials is a prerequisite to improve their uptake and use in the construction industry. The study fills a gap in the existing research on the use of sustainable materials in building projects in Australia.
Assuring enhanced privacy violation detection model for social networks
Authors: Altalbe Ali , Kateb Faris
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Virtually unlimited amounts of data collection by cybersecurity systems put people at risk of having their privacy violated. Social networks like Facebook on the Internet provide an overplus of knowledge concerning their users. Although users relish exchanging data online, only some data are meant to be interpreted by those who see value in it. It is now essential for online social network (OSN) to regulate the privacy of their users on the Internet. This paper aims to propose an efficient privacy violation detection model (EPVDM) for OSN.

Design/methodology/approach

In recent months, the prominent position of both industry and academia has been dominated by privateness, its breaches and strategies to dodge privacy violations. Corporations around the world have become aware of the effects of violating privacy and its effect on them and other stakeholders. Once privacy violations are detected, they must be reported to those affected and it's supposed to be mandatory to make them to take the next action. Although there are different approaches to detecting breaches of privacy, most strategies do not have a functioning tool that can show the values of its subject heading. An EPVDM for Facebook, based on a deep neural network, is proposed in this research paper.

Findings

The main aim of EPVDM is to identify and avoid potential privacy breaches on Facebook in the future. Experimental analyses in comparison with major intrusion detection system (IDS) to detect privacy violation show that the proposed methodology is robust, precise and scalable. The chances of breaches or possibilities of privacy violations can be identified very accurately.

Originality/value

All the resultant is compared with well popular methodologies like adaboost (AB), decision tree (DT), linear regression (LR), random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM). It's been identified from the analysis that the proposed model outperformed the existing techniques in terms of accuracy (94%), precision (99.1%), recall (92.43%), f-score (95.43%) and violation detection rate (>98.5%).
The development trend and academic patent technology network of laser and optical technologies
Authors: Chang Shu-Hao
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The application of laser and optical technologies in the industry is wide and extensive; the development and application of laser and optical technologies have become a promising research domain. However, most existing studies have focused on the technical aspects or the application aspects; these studies have not highlighted the technology distribution and application development of laser and optical technologies from the big picture. Additionally, the manner in which the research and development (R&D) results of universities correspond to the needs of enterprises and industry has become a topic of concern for the public. Therefore, this study aims to adopt the academic patents as the basis for analysis and to construct a laser and optical technology network.

Design/methodology/approach

Therefore, in the current study, the researchers have analyzed relevant academic patent technology networks, using academic patents of laser and optical technologies as a basis of analysis.

Findings

The study results indicated that the key technologies mainly lie in nanostructures, metal-working, material analysis and semiconductor devices. Additionally, these technologies are mainly applied in industries, such as optics, medical technology, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and organic fine chemistry; this indicated that a large proportion of academia’s R&D outcomes are applied in these industries.

Originality/value

In this study, the researchers have constructed a technology network model to explore the technical development direction of laser and optical technologies; the results of the current study could serve as a reference for universities and industry for allocation of R&D resources.
Evaluating recovery strategies for the disruptions in liner shipping networks: a resilience approach
Authors: Wan Chengpeng , Tao Jiale , Yang Zaili , Zhang Di
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Since the start of the current century, the world at large has experienced uncertainties as a result of climate change, terrorism threats and increasing economic upheaval. These uncertainties create non-classical risks for global seaborne container trade and liner shipping networks (LSNs). The purpose of this paper is to establish a novel risk-based resilience framework to measure the effectiveness of different recovery strategies for the disruptions in LSNs in a quantitative manner.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a resilience loss triangle model, an indicator of resilience–cost ratio is designed to measure the performance of LSNs during recovery. Four recovery strategies are proposed to test the rationality and feasibility of the developed indicator in aiding decision-making of LSNs from a resilience perspective.

Findings

The analysis results reveal that the superiorities of different recovery strategies vary depending on both the structures of LSNs and the specific requirements during recovery. Moreover, optimizing the sequence of ports being recovered will improve the overall recovery efficiency of the investigated LSN.

Research limitations/implications

As an exploratory research trying to enrich the risk-based resilience evaluation of LSNs from a complex network perspective, only two attributes (e.g. port scare and economy) are considered at the current stage when estimating the time needed to fully recover the whole LSN. In future research, more attributes from the industry may be identified and incorporated into the proposed model to further extend its ability and application scopes.

Practical implications

The findings will help to improve managerial understandings of recovery strategies to build more resilient LSNs. The proposed model has the capability to be tailored to tackle different types of risks in addition to the storm disaster condition.

Originality/value

The risk-based resilience framework and the resilience–cost ratio indicator are newly developed in this research. They can consider LSNs' structural resilience and the total costs that a recovery strategy needs to restore the whole system simultaneously.
Antecedents of professionals’ self-efficacy in professional service firms: effects of external source credibility and content quality
Authors: Cassia Fabio , Magno Francesca
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Professional service firm (PSF) performance depends on the accumulation and application of specialist knowledge to find customised solutions to customer problems. However, available research has not examined whether knowledge acquired from external sources affects PSF outcomes by strengthening professionals’ beliefs rather than only by increasing technical competency. Drawing on self-efficacy theory, this study tests a model that links the quality of content acquired from external sources and the credibility of those sources to professionals’ self-efficacy and, in turn, to PSF outcomes (solution quality and firm performance). In particular, this paper aims to consider the case of professional content exchanged through professional social media.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional research design was applied. Data were collected from a sample of 208 accountants, auditors and lawyers who used professional social media and were analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling.

Findings

When accessing professional content from external sources, source credibility and content quality are significant antecedents of professionals’ self-efficacy, which, in turn, has positive effects on PSF outcomes (solution quality and PSF performance).

Research limitations/implications

Self-efficacy plays a key role in the link between knowledge acquired from external sources (professional content) and PSF outcomes.

Practical implications

This study provides recommendations and actionable insights for PSFs, professionals and other actors who create and exchange professional content. Professional associations may also take an active role by contributing and sharing credible and high-quality content, using, for example, professional social media.

Originality/value

This paper advances the current understanding of the effects of professionals’ access to content from external sources on PSF outcomes. It provides an explanation of these effects based on the enhancement of professionals’ beliefs instead of their technical competencies, as indicated in previous research. In addition, it is the first research effort to consider professional social media as a communication channel to exchange content that affects the self-efficacy of PSF professionals.
Flamenco experience in Córdoba, Spain: estimating tourist profiles by multilayer perceptron's artificial neural networks
Authors: García-García Lucía , Solano-Sanchez Miguel Ángel , Muñoz-Fernández Guzmán A. , Moral-Cuadra Salvador
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This research aims to demonstrate the possible link between the sociodemographic profile of visitors motivated by the visit to flamenco shows and the city of Córdoba (Spain), and the preferences and sensations regarding these experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used (multilayer perceptron) is based on the development of an artificial neural network.

Findings

The results show that the variables age and educational level are determining factors in the profile of the visitor. Also, as the level of income increases, so does the interest in flamenco, a fact that can be useful to determine the target audience for this type of shows.

Originality/value

Flamenco is an art that originated in the Andalusian region that arouses the interest of the visitor due to its music, way of singing and dance. Flamenco is a popular art that excites and awakens the senses of those who attend this dance, song and guitar show. Its recognition as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2010, makes it a tourist product that motivates visitors to travel to the city of Córdoba (Spain), being also one of flamenco's places of origin. Córdoba has this art in its tourist offer so that the identity of the city has two aspects: patrimonial and immaterial, among the flamenco highlighted.
An efficient hybrid tunicate swarm algorithm and radial basis function searching technique for maximum power point tracking in wind energy conversion system
Authors: Rajesh Paulthurai , Shajin Francis H. , Cherukupalli Kumar
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to track the maximal power of wind energy conversion system (WECS) and enhance the search capability for WECS maximum power point tracking (MPPT).

Design/methodology/approach

The hybrid technique is the combination of tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA) and radial basis function neural network.

Findings

TSA gets input parameters from the rectifier outputs such as rectifier direct current (DC) voltage, DC current and time. From the input parameters, it enhances the reduced fault power of rectifier and generates training data set based on the MPPT conditions. The training data set is used in radial basis function. During the execution time, it produces the rectifier reference DC side voltage that is converted to control pulses of inverter switches.

Originality/value

Finally, the proposed method is executed in MATLAB/Simulink site, and the performance is compared with different existing methods like particle swarm optimization algorithm and hill climb searching technique. Then the output illustrates the performance of the proposed method and confirms its capability to solve issues.
The coordination effect of B2B digital process capabilities on competitive performance: balancing or complementing
Authors: Zhu Zhen , Lin Shuaifu , Jiang Yi , Liu Qi
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consequences of two strategies of coordinating the online procurement capability and the online channel management capability on competitive performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A research model is presented to examine the performance impacts of these two coordination strategies, namely the balancing strategy (achieving a close match relationship) and the complementing strategy (maintaining the synergy effect), and tested using firm-level data collected from 196 manufacturing firms in China. Garen's two-stage econometric technique was used to identify the impacts of two coordination strategies on competitive performance.

Findings

Our study discusses and compares two different coordination strategies of mitigating the operational tensions across processes and deploying resource configurations for improving competitive performance. Our results show that while the balancing strategy can mitigate the risks resulted, the complementing strategy does not create synergistic effects on the focal firms' competitive performance.

Originality/value

The results extend our understanding of the nature of B2B digital process coordination both in IS management and supply chain operations.
Market discipline in the behavioral finance perspective: a case of Sharia mutual funds in Indonesia
Authors: Widyastuti Umi , Febrian Erie , Sutisna Sutisna , Fitrijanti Tettet
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This study aims to determine antecedents of market discipline. A model was constructed by extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore the cognitive, psychological and social factors that influence the market discipline in the form of withdrawal behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied a quantitative approach by surveying 181 Indonesian retail investors in Sharia mutual funds, which were represented by civil servants. The samples were collected using the purposive sampling technique. This study used the partial least square–structural equation model to analyze the data.

Findings

The results revealed that the Islamic financial literacy, the attitudes toward withdrawal, the subjective norms and the perceived behavioral control had a positive significant effect on the withdrawal intention, whereas financial risk tolerance had an insignificant impact. Then, all the exogenous variables and intention to withdraw had a significant contribution in explaining market discipline. Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, the attitude toward withdrawal had a negative impact on market discipline. The structural model indicated that the TPB could be extended by adding some exogenous variables (i.e. Islamic financial literacy and financial risk tolerance) in determining the intention to withdraw and withdrawal behavior, which indicated the market discipline in Sharia mutual funds.

Research limitations/implications

This study was limited to individual investors who work as civil servants. This study did not accommodate different demographic factors such as age and gender, which influence fund withdrawal behavior.

Practical implications

The government must focus on the inclusion of market discipline in Sharia mutual funds’ regulation to encourage the risk management disclosure, specifically that related to Sharia compliance.

Originality/value

Previous studies applied a traditional finance theory to predict market discipline, but this study contributes to filling the theoretical gap by explaining the market discipline from a behavioral finance perspective that was found in Sharia mutual funds.
The roots of “volunteer” employees’ engagement: The silent role of intellectual capital in knowledge-sharing intentions
Authors: Fait Monica , Cillo Valentina , Papa Armando , Meissner Dirk , Scorrano Paola
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that “volunteer” employees’ perception of dimensions of intellectual capital (IC) – human, structural and relation capital – creates a motivational environment to enhance knowledge-sharing intention (KSI) and stimulates “volunteer” employee engagement (VEE). The model is applied on the non-profit organizations (NPOs) sector that base their path on sharing values with volunteers and employees in relation to which they have to implement engagement strategies that are beneficial to both developing and deploying individual and organizational human capital.

Design/methodology/approach

To verify the existence of relationships between the constructs of IC, KSI and VEE a partial least squares structural equation model on a sample of 300 “volunteer” employees of NPOs was tested to verify the research hypotheses, as this could explain the causal relationships.

Findings

The results confirm that KSI is positively and directly influenced by the favourable environment resulting from the motivations below the dimensions of IC. The improvement of KSI, determined by IC, has a positive effect on VEE.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the limitation created by the peculiarities of NPOs and the role of volunteers, this paper suggests a strategic approach that the management could implement to create an environment based on the exchange of knowledge and to increase engagement in the value co-creation process.

Originality/value

The ability of a company to adopt sharing strategies depends on the existence of an environment in which individuals are willing to exchange knowledge realizing mutual benefits. The work broadens this perspective by providing governance with a behavioural model that creates a direct relationship between IC, KSI and VEE.
Islamic banking and customer satisfaction in Pakistan: evidence from internal and external customers
Authors: Jawaid Syed Tehseen , Siddiqui Aamir Hussain , Kanwal Rabia , Fatima Hareem
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This study aims to find the determinants of internal and external customer satisfaction of Islamic banks of Pakistan through service quality indicators that are assurance, reliance, empathy, tangibility, responsiveness. Compliance has also been added as a determinant of customer satisfaction. In this study, customers are divided into two groups, internal customers are those who are an employee in the Islamic bank and also an account holder. While external customers are account holders only in Islamic banks of Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, a quantitative research approach is used for analyzing the behavior of internal and external customers of Islamic banks in Pakistan. The instrument which is used to analyze the study’s data, is a structured five-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The structural model was analyzed with the help of the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach.

Findings

This study concluded that internal customers of Islamic banking are well aware and have full information and their level of satisfaction is positive toward the bank’s services. While external customers feel satisfied while using the Islamic banking services in Pakistan. Service quality indicators are positively and significantly related to customer satisfaction in the external customer model. On the other hand, some of the indicators are not showing a significant impact on the internal customer multi-group analysis shows a difference of coefficients are insignificant between internal and external customers.

Practical implications

This study helps policymakers, to understand the behavior of internal and external customers of Islamic banking in Pakistan for creating favorable policies for an interest-free banking service.

Originality/value

This research study provides an analysis of the customer satisfaction of Islamic banks in Pakistan by dividing Islamic bank customers into two groups (internal and external customers). The purpose for dividing Islamic bank customers into two groups is that this study wants to highlight that external customer’s perception is the same as internal customers or not? Before this study, it is difficult to find single research on this topic, whereas only one study is find-out on the factors that affect internet banking adoption among internal and external customers.
Supplier centrality, innovation value and supplier acquisition: evidence from US high-tech manufacturing firms
Authors: Kim Dong-Young , Fortado Bruce
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The importance of supply chain network centrality has been widely recognized in the manufacturing literature. This study extends this literature by investigating the relationship between network centrality and innovation value. “Innovation value” refers to an innovation's impact, quality and potential future contribution to technological development in a business community. This study also aims to examine whether the relationship between supplier centrality and innovation value is contingent upon supplier acquisition.

Design/methodology/approach

The study hypotheses are tested with archival data collected from US high-tech manufacturing industries over the 17-year period. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The authors found that supplier centrality has a significant positive relationship with innovation value. Moreover, an increase in supplier acquisition activities makes the relationship between supplier centrality and innovation value more positive.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the manufacturing and technology management research by exploring the impact of supplier centrality on innovation value. The results of this study shed light on the importance of a firm's central network position in enhancing the impact and quality of innovation. This study uncovers contingencies that help realize the potential benefits of holding a central network position.
Service inclusion: the role of disability identity in retail
Authors: Dodds Sarah , Palakshappa Nitha
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore the role of identity for consumers with disabilities in a retail context. Understanding disability identity is critical to ensuring inclusion in service environments. Despite the growing call to understand the role of identity in consumer services, research on disability identity and the impacts of identity on service inclusion remains minimal.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology generated data through personal narratives from people with disabilities revealing deep insights into the complexity of identity in a fashion retail context.

Findings

Emergent themes detail five consumer disability identities – authentic unique self, integrated self, community self, expressive self and practical self – seen when viewing service experiences from the perspective of people with lived experience of disability. Individual and collective agency also emerged as key themes that enable people with disabilities to feel a sense of inclusion.

Originality/value

This research explores the service experiences of people with disabilities in a retail context through a disability identity lens. The authors contribute to service literature by identifying five consumer disability identities that people with a disability adopt through their service experience and present a typology that demonstrates how each identity impacts on agency, with implications for service inclusion.
A folksonomy-based collaborative filtering method for crowdsourcing knowledge-sharing communities
Authors: Zhou Kangqu , Yang Chen , Li Lvcheng , Miao Cong , Song Lijun , Jiang Peng , Su Jiafu
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This paper proposes a recommendation method that mines the semantic relationship between resources and combine it with collaborative filtering (CF) algorithm for crowdsourcing knowledge-sharing communities.

Design/methodology/approach

First, structured tag trees are constructed based on tag co-occurrence to overcome the tags' lack of semantic structure. Then, the semantic similarity between tags is determined based on tag co-occurrence and the tag-tree structure, and the semantic similarity between resources is calculated based on the semantic similarity of the tags. Finally, the user-resource evaluation matrix is filled based on the resource semantic similarity, and the user-based CF is used to predict the user's evaluation of the resources.

Findings

Folksonomy is a knowledge classification method that is suitable for crowdsourcing knowledge-sharing communities. The semantic similarity between resources can be obtained according to the tags in the folksonomy system, which can be used to alleviate the data sparsity and cold-start problems of CF. Experimental results show that compared with other algorithms, the algorithm in this paper performs better in mean absolute error (MAE) and F1, which indicates that the proposed algorithm yields better performance.

Originality/value

The proposed folksonomy-based CF method can help users in crowdsourcing knowledge-sharing communities to better find the resources they need.
Synergistic networks of COVID-19’s top papers
Authors: Riahinia Nosrat , Danesh Farshid , GhaviDel Somayeh
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Synergy indicators and social network analysis (SNA), as practical tools, provide the possibility of explaining the pattern of scientific collaboration and visualization of network relations. Recognition of scientific capacities is the basis of synergy. The present study aims to measure and discover the synergistic networks of COVID-19’s top papers at the level of co-authorship, countries, journals, bibliographic couples and titles.

Design/methodology/approach

The synergy indicator, co-authorship co-citation network analysis methods were applied. The research population comprises COVID-19’s top papers indexed in Essential Science Indicator and Web of Science Core Collection 2020 and 2021. Excel 2016, UCINET 6.528.0.0 2017, NetDraw, Ravar Matrix, VOSviewer version 1.6.14 and Python 3.9.5 were applied to analyze the data and visualize the networks.

Findings

The findings indicate that considering the three possible possibilities for authors, countries and journals, more redundancy and information are created and potential for further cooperation is observed. The synergy of scientific collaboration has revealed that “Wang, Y,” “USA” and “Science of the Total Environment” have the most effective capabilities and results. “Guan (2020b)” and “Zhou (2020)” are bibliographic couplings that have received the most citations. The keywords “CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19)” were the most frequent in article titles.

Originality/value

In a circumstance that the world is suffering from a COVID-19 pandemic and all scientists are conducting various researches to discover vaccines, medicines and new treatment methods, scientometric studies, and analysis of social networks of COVID-19 publications to be able to specify the synergy rate and the scientific collaboration networks, are not only innovative and original but also of great importance and priority; SNA tools along with the synergy indicator is capable of visualizing the complicated and multifaceted pattern of scientific collaboration in COVID-19. As a result, analyses can help identify existing capacities and define a new space for using COVID-19 researchers’ capabilities.
The effect of workplace bullying on burnout: the mediating role of affective well-being
Authors: Ribeiro Neuza , Semedo Ana Suzete , Gomes Daniel , Bernardino Rita , Singh Sharda
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of workplace bullying on employees’ burnout by investigating the mediating effect of affective well-being (AWB).

Design/methodology/approach

Data of 532 employees from diverse organizations in Portugal were collected. These data were collected using anonymously completed structured questionnaires available online.

Findings

The results support the research hypotheses proposed, confirming that workplace bullying is related to both AWB and burnout. Moreover, affective workplace bullying partially mediates the relationship between workplace bullying and burnout, indicating that the victims have their AWB reduced, and, consequently, increase their burnout levels.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that organizations can foster employees’ AWB and reduce the level of burnout by encouraging organizations to develop preventive policies and practices to safeguard against bullying at work.

Originality/value

To this date, only a few studies have examined mediating and moderating variables (Nielsen and Einersen, 2018) and none include AWB as a mediator of the relationship between workplace bullying and burnout. This study answers the call for further empirical research from those who have argued that more information is needed to understand the workplace bullying phenomenon and contributes to the growing debate on this topic and its effects on employees.
Fabrication of temperature-regulating functional fabric based on n-octadecane/SWCNTs composite phase change material
Authors: Zhang Wei , Weng Jiali , Hao Shang , Xie Yuan , Li Yonggui
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Fabrics with photothermal conversion functions were developed based on the introduction of shape stable composite phase change materials (CPCMs).

Design/methodology/approach

Acidified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were selected as support material to prepare CPCMs with n-octadecane to improve the thermal conductivity and shape stability. The CPCMs were finished onto the surface of cotton fabric through the coating and screen-printing method. The chemical properties of CPCMs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, XRD and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The shape stability and thermal conductivity were also evaluated. In addition, the photothermal conversion and temperature-regulating performance of the finished fabrics were analyzed.

Findings

When the addition amount of acidified SWCNTs are 14% to the mass of n-octadecane, the best shape stability of CPCMs is obtained. DSC analysis shows that the latent heat energy storage of CPCMs is as high as 183.1 J/g. The thermal conductivity is increased by 84.4% compared with that of n-octadecane. The temperature-regulating fabrics coated with CPCMs have good photothermal conversion properties.

Research limitations/implications

CPCMs with high latent heat properties are applied to the fabric surface through screen printing technology, which not only gives the fabric the photothermal conversion performance but also reflects the design of personalized patterns.

Practical implications

CPCMs and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are mixed to make printing paste and printed cotton fabric with temperature-regulating functional is developed.

Originality/value

SWCNTs and n-octadecane are composited to prepare CPCMs with excellent thermal properties, which can be mixed with PDMS to make printing paste without adding other pastes. The fabric is screen-printed to obtain a personalized pattern and can be given a thermoregulatory function.
New coating formulation based on synthesized benzodiazepine derivatives as double function additives for industrial application
Authors: Mostafa Saleh Nashwa , Elsawy Maha Mohammed , Abd El-Wahab Hamada , Salem Salem Salah , Abd El-Sattar Nour El-Din
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a new protective coating formulation for industrial use, using benzodiazepine derivatives as double function additives.

Design/methodology/approach

Benzodiazepine’s derivatives of types (3–5) were prepared and confirmed by infrared, Mass, 1H-Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and 13C NMR spectra. The synthesized compound was physically incorporated in the alkyd paint formulation by pebble mill grinding until all particulates are smaller than 20 ums. The prepared coatings were applied by air spray on steel panels. The physical, mechanical characteristics, corrosion resistance and antimicrobial test of the prepared coatings were studied to evaluate the prepared compounds drawbacks.

Findings

The results of the mechanical and physical properties of the paint formulation revealed that the paint formulation incorporating benzodiazepines derivatives 3–5 performed best and improved corrosion-resistance and antibacterial activity tests.

Research limitations/implications

In alkyd paint, heterocyclic compounds are the most used antibacterial additives. Other functionalities of these compounds, such as corrosion inhibitors, might be studied to see if they are suited for these applications.

Practical implications

Because of the activity of various benzodiazepine derivatives, which may be attributable to the presence of some function groups such as sulfonamide aromatic amino NH2 group, and elements such as Sulphur, Nitrogen, Chlorine, in its chemical structure. As a result, paint compositions including these compounds as additives can be used as dual-purpose paint and for a variety of industrial applications.

Originality/value

The research demonstrates how a low-cost paint composition based on synthesized benzodiazepine derivatives 3–5 may be used as a dual-function paint for industrial use.
Technical efficiency and its determinants in the Indian textile garments industry
Authors: Abdulla  , Kumar Shiv
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to examine technical efficiency and its determinants in Indian textile garments industry in post-agreement on textiles and clothing regime and evaluate the technical efficiency among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses unbalanced panel data for the period 2005–2010 to 2015–2016. The stochastic frontier function is used to estimate technical efficiency and its determinants.

Findings

The results show that the overall ecosystem of textile garments’ value chains could be improved to enhance the technical efficiency thereof. The result also reveals that small-scale firms have the highest technical efficiency scores, and medium-scale firms have the least technical efficiency score among all the categories of MSMEs.

Research limitations/implications

The textile garments industry needs to define its innovation strategies, as these strategies lead to different results that can be achieved only through the management of resources dedicated to the generation and implementation of innovations.

Practical implications

This study has shown that to offset India’s cost disadvantage in the international markets, there is a need to develop an ecosystem of textile manufacturing and value chains, eliminate the inverted duty structure (where inputs are taxed at a higher rate than the final product) and switch over from shuttle looms toward shuttle-less looms. This would unleash the potential of textile and garments industry and make it globally competitive and technically efficient. Further, there will be an alignment with the ease of doing business with an appropriate mix of policy, technology, institution, infrastructure, information and services.

Originality/value

Using frontier production function takes stochastic context into account for the dynamic character of technical efficiency and its components. Most of the past studies have assessed technical efficiency at the aggregate level using three-digit National Industrial Classification (NIC) or four-digit NIC code. An analysis at higher levels of aggregation masks the variation in technical efficiency. This study used five-digit NIC data to measure the firm-specific technical efficiency of the textile industry. According to the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in the Indian textile industry using stochastic frontier approach and panel data. Further, it also looks at the contribution of different determinants in technical efficiency to the firms.
Strategic CSR practices, strategic orientation and business value creation among multinational subsidiaries in Ghana
Authors: Anlesinya Alex , Abugre James B.
Published: October 2021

Purpose

This study aims to examine the direct influence of strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on business value creation while accounting for the moderating and mediating roles of strategic orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

It used data from 118 CSR-intensive multinational subsidiaries operating in five major different industries in Ghana and applied hierarchical regression and bootstrapping via Hayes’ PROCESS Macro for the analyses.

Findings

The results showed that strategic CSR practices comprising of strategic CSR planning, strategic CSR implementation and strategic CSR positioning contribute positively and significantly to business value creation of multinational subsidiaries. Moreover, it found that strategic orientation has directly predicted business value creation significantly and further mediated the nexus between business value creation and the three strategic CSR practices. However, it did not moderate the influence of strategic CSR practices on business value creation.

Originality/value

The study validates and adds to the knowledge on strategic CSR and business value creation theory by demonstrating that strategic CSR practices of multinational corporation (MNCs) are parallel to their subsidiaries’ commitment to shared growth in host countries. Similarly, it provides a better understanding of the dual roles of MNCs’ strategic orientation on strategic CSR practices and business value creation, thereby offering valuable information about the underlying economic process and context that can affect the strategic business value of firms’ strategic CSR practices.
Interspecific wood trait variation predicts decreased carbon residence time in changing forests
Authors: Perez Sierra B. , Fraterrigo Jennifer M. , Dalling James W.
Published: October 2021

Increasing disturbance will result in a significant flux in above‐ground carbon (C) from live trees to deadwood, concurrent with shifts in forest composition. While interspecific decay variation is widely reported, the implications of compositional change on ecosystem‐level deadwood decay and consequently the future of a globally significant C pool have not been previously explored.

Leveraging a 25‐year treefall record for two eastern hardwood forests in central Illinois, USA, we used a chronosequence approach to estimate downed deadwood decay rates for eight common tree taxa. We hypothesized that the increasing dominance of Acer spp. in eastern forests, due to disturbance regime changes, is driving an increase in the mean species‐weighted deadwood decay rate, decreasing the total C storage capacity of regional forests.

We observed significantly greater interspecific variation in deadwood decay rates than short‐term studies, with a nearly 12‐fold difference in half‐lives between Aesculus glabra (T1/2 = 6.2 years) and Quercus spp. (T1/2 = 71.1) logs. The canopy‐dominant Acer saccharum (T1/2 = 19.1) decayed significantly faster than other historically dominant eastern taxa, Quercus spp. and Fraxinus spp. (T1/2 = 41.4). Wood traits, notably taxon initial wood C:N ratio, pH and Mn concentration, outweighed local environmental factors in explaining variation in decay rates. Taken together, our findings suggest that at multi‐decadal time‐scales, species traits are the dominant controls of wood decay rates.

Our findings corroborate previous studies showing species with slow‐decaying wood tend to have higher C:N ratios. Our species‐specific decay estimates highlight the importance of longer term studies for accurately assessing the decay of high C:N ratio species, as shorter term decay studies are prone to underestimating their decay rates. Our results suggest that ongoing forest compositional changes, where fast‐growing species with less‐dense wood are becoming increasingly abundant, have substantially diminished the deadwood C pool over the last century (species abundance‐weighted mean T1/2 in 1922 = 16.9; T1/2 2020 = 10.5).

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Distinguishing within‐ from between‐individual effects: How to use the within‐individual centring method for quadratic patterns
Authors: Fay Rémi , Martin Julien , Plard Floriane
Published: October 2021

Any average pattern observed at the population level (cross‐sectional analysis) may confound two different types of processes: some processes that occur among individuals and others that occur within individuals. Separating within‐ from among‐individual processes is critical for our understanding of ecological and evolutionary dynamics.

The within‐individual centring method allows distinguishing within‐ from among‐individual processes and this method has been widely used in ecology to investigate both linear and quadratic patterns. Here we show that two alternative equations could be used for the investigation of quadratic within‐individual patterns. We explain the different assumptions and constraints of both equations. Reviewing the literature, we found that mainly one of these two equations has been used in studies investigating quadratic patterns. Yet this equation might not be the most appropriate in all circumstances leading to bias and imprecision.

We show that these two alternative equations make different assumptions about the shape of the within‐individual pattern. One equation assumes that the within‐individual effect is related to an absolute process whereas the other assumes the effect arises from an individual relative process. The choice of using one equation instead of the other should depend upon the biological process investigated.

Using simulations, we showed that a mismatch between the assumptions made by the equation used to analyse the data and the biological process investigated might led to flawed inference affecting output of model selection and accuracy of estimates. We stress that the equation used should be chosen carefully. We provide step by step guidelines for choosing an equation when studying quadratic pattern with the within‐individual centring approach. We encourage the use of the within‐individual centring method, promoting its relevant application for nonlinear relationships.
Incorporating thermodynamics in predator–prey games predicts the diel foraging patterns of poikilothermic predators
Authors: Ito Koichi , Higginson Andrew D. , Ruxton Graeme D. , Papastamatiou Yannis P.
Published: October 2021

Models of foraging behaviour typically assume that prey do not adapt to temporal variation in predation risk, such as by avoiding foraging at certain times of the day. When this behavioural plasticity is considered—such as in predator–prey games—the role of abiotic factors is usually ignored.

An abiotic factor that exerts strong influence on the physiology and behaviour of many animals is ambient temperature, although it is often ignored from game models as it is implicitly assumed that both predators and prey are homothermic. However, poikilotherms' performance may be reduced in cold conditions due to reduced muscle function, limiting the prey‐capture ability of predators and the predator‐avoidance and foraging abilities of prey.

Here, we use a game‐theoretic predator–prey model in which diel temperature changes influence foraging gains and costs to predict the evolutionarily stable diel activity of predators.

Our model predicts the range of patterns observed in nature, including nocturnal, diurnal, crepuscular and a previously unexplained post‐sunset crepuscular pattern observed in some sharks. In general, smaller predators are predicted to be more diurnal than larger ones. The safety of prey when not foraging is critical, explaining why predators in coral reef systems (with safe refuges) may often have different foraging patterns to pelagic predators.

We make a range of testable predictions that will enable the further evaluation of this theoretical framework for understanding diel foraging patterns in poikilotherms.
Microbial diversity in tropical marine sediments assessed using culture‐dependent and culture‐independent techniques
Authors: Demko Alyssa M. , Patin Nastassia V. , Jensen Paul R.
Published: October 2021

The microbial communities associated with marine sediments are critical for ecosystem function yet remain poorly characterized. While culture‐independent (CI) techniques capture the broadest perspective on community composition, culture‐dependent (CD) methods can select for low abundance taxa that are missed using CI approaches. This study aimed to assess microbial diversity in tropical marine sediments at five shallow‐water sites in Belize using both CD and CI techniques. The CD methods captured approximately 3% of the >800 genera detected across all sites using the CI approach. Additionally, 39 genera were only detected in culture, revealing rare taxa that were missed with the CI approach. Significantly different communities were detected across sites, with rare taxa playing an important role in distinguishing among communities. This study provides important baseline data describing shallow‐water sediment microbial communities, evidence that standard cultivation techniques may be more effective than previously recognized, and the first steps towards identifying new taxa that are amenable to agar plate cultivation.