bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROTOCOL: The reporting standards of Randomised Clinical Trials in leading medical journals between 2019-2020
Authors: McErlean Mairead , Samways Jack , Godolphin Peter , Chen Yang
Published: July 2020

This is a systematic review protocol which outlines the basis and methodology for our intended review which at the time of writing is in the study screening phase. Our aim is to answer the fundamental questions:

To systematically identify RCTs published in the four leading medical journals between January 1st 2019 to May 31st 2020.

To assess the quality of reporting of such RCTs using the CONSORT 2010 statement.

To identify any association with medical specialty or size or type of RCT and the rate of adherence to the CONSORT 2010 statement.
HPV cervical infections and serological status in vaccinated and unvaccinated women
Authors: Murall Carmen Lia , Reyné Bastien , Selinger Christian , Bernat Claire , Boué Vanina , Grasset Sophie , Groc Soraya , Rahmoun Massilva , Bender Noemi , Bonneau Marine , Foulongne Vincent , Graf Christelle , Picot Eric , Picot Marie-Christine , Tribout Vincent , Waterboer Tim , Bravo Ignacio G , Reynes Jacques , Segondy Michel , Boulle Nathalie , Alizon Samuel
Published: July 2020

Understanding genital infections by Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) remains a major public health issue, especially in countries where vaccine uptake is low. We investigate HPV prevalence and antibody status in 150 women (ages 18 to 25) in Montpellier, France. At inclusion and one month later, cervical swabs, blood samples and questionnaires (for demographics and behavioural variables) were collected. Oncogenic, non-vaccine genotypes HPV51, HPV66, HPV53, and HPV52 were the most frequently detected viral genotypes overall. Vaccination status, which was well-balanced in the cohort, showed the strongest (protective) effect against HPV infections, with an associated odds ratio for alphapapillomavirus detection of 0.45 (95% confidence interval: [0.22;0.58]). We also identified significant effects of age, number of partners, body mass index, and contraception status on HPV detection and on coinfections. Type-specific IgG serological status was also largely explained by the vaccination status. IgM seropositivity was best explained by HPV detection at inclusion only. Finally, we identify a strong significant effect of vaccination on genotype prevalence, with a striking under-representation of HPV51 in vaccinated women. Variations in HPV prevalence correlate with key demographic and behavioural variables. The cross-protective effect of the vaccine against HPV51 merits further investigation.
Mental health, substance use and viral load suppression in adolescents receiving ART at a large paediatric HIV clinic in South Africa
Authors: Haas Andreas D. , Technau Karl-Günter , Pahad Shenaaz , Braithwaite Kate , Madzivhandila Mampho , Sorour Gillian , Sawry Shobna , Maxwell Nicola , Groote Per von , Tlali Mpho , Davies Mary-Ann , Egger Matthias ,   for the IeDEA Southern Africa Collaboration
Published: July 2020

Introduction

There are few data on the prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries and the evidence on associations between mental health problems and viral load suppression is inconsistent. We assessed the prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at a large paediatric HIV clinic in South Africa and examined associations between mental health problems and viral load suppression.

Methods

We implemented routine mental health screening at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg. Adolescents aged 10-19 years were offered screening for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]), suicide (Adolescent Innovations Project [AIP]-handbook), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-7 [GAD-7]), trauma (Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 [PC-PTSD-5]), and substance use (CAGE Adapted to Include Drugs [CAGE-AID]) at each routine HIV care visits. We assessed screening outcomes between February 1, 2018, and January 1, 2020 and calculated odds ratios for associations between positive screening outcomes and unsuppressed viral load (>400 HIV-RNA copies/ml).

Results

Out of 1,203 adolescents who attended the clinic, 1,088 (90.4%) were screened at a median age of 13 years (IQR 10-15). In total, 97 (8.9%) screened positive: 48 (4.4%) for depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10), 29 (2.8%) for suicidal concern, 24 (2.2%) for anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10), 38 (3.2%) for trauma (PC-PTSD-5 ≥ 3), and 18 (1.7%) for substance use (CAGE-AID ≥ 2). Positive screening for depression (aOR 2.39, 95% CI 1.02-5.62), trauma (aOR 3.18, 95% CI 1.11-9.07), substance use (aOR 7.13, 95% CI 1.60-31.86), or any mental health condition (aOR 2.17, 95% CI 1.17-4.02) were strongly associated with unsuppressed viral load.

Conclusions

HIV-positive adolescents who are affected by mental health or substance use problems are a highly vulnerable population, who merit specific clinical attention. Strategies for screening and management of mental health and substance use problems in adolescents on ART in low- and middle-income countries need to be developed and evaluated.
Are men dying more than women by COVID-19?
Authors: de Melo Thaise Pinto , Silva Delvan Alves , Barbosa Alexandre Naime
Published: July 2020

We aimed to clarify if the infection and death rate by COVID-19 differ among gender in the top 50 countries with the highest death rates. Also, we investigated if secondary variables such as HDI, number of hospital beds, average age, temperature, percentage of elderly, smoker and obesity are contributing to the variability observed among countries. Meta-analyses and meta-regressions approaches were applied to official public data reported by the Word Health Organization and governments until May, 2020. A random effect model was used for the meta-analysis and heterogeneity was calculated by I2 statistic. There was not significative difference between men and women to be infected by COVID-19 (P = 0.42), though a significative difference was observed for death rate (P < 0.0001). High heterogeneity was observed among countries. For both infection and death rates this variability was mainly explained by the HDI (42.3% and 54.2%), average age (40.9% and 40.3%) and temperature (30.1% and 39.3%). Man are dying more than women around the word by COVID-19. Countries with highest HDI present less difference between sexes. These results reinforce that public politics promoting social isolation, health care and general well-being of the population are key factors in combating COVID-19.
Human chromosomal-scale length variation and severity of COVID-19 infection using the UK Biobank dataset
Authors: Toh Chris , Brody James P.
Published: July 2020

Introduction

The course of COVID-19 varies from asymptomatic to severe (acute respiratory distress, cytokine storms, and death) in patients. The basis for this range in symptoms is unknown. One possibility is that genetic variation is responsible for the highly variable response to infection. We evaluated how well a genetic risk score based on chromosome-scale length variation and machine learning classification algorithms could predict severity of response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods

We compared 981 patients from the UK Biobank dataset who had a severe reaction to SARS-COV-2 infection before 27 April 2020 to a similar number of age matched patients drawn for the general UK Biobank population. For each patient, we built a profile of 88 numbers characterizing the chromosome-scale length variability of their germ line DNA. Each number represented one quarter of the 22 autosomes. We used the machine learning algorithm XGBoost to build a classifier that could predict whether a person would have a severe reaction to Covid-19 based only on their 88-number classification.

Results

We found that the XGBoost classifier could differentiate between the two classes at a significant level p = 2 · 10 as measured against a randomized control and p = 3 · 10 measured against the expected value of a random guessing algorithm (AUC=0.5). However, we found that the AUC of the classifier was only 0.51, too low for a clinically useful test.

Conclusion
Projections and early-warning signals of a second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Illinois
Authors: Weiner Zachary J. , Wong George N. , Elbanna Ahmed , Tkachenko Alexei V. , Maslov Sergei , Goldenfeld Nigel
Published: July 2020

We present two different scenarios for a second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Illinois and simulate them using our previously described age-of-infection model, calibrated to real-time hospital and deaths data. In the first scenario we assume that the parameters of the second wave in Illinois would be similar to those currently observed in other states such as Arizona, Florida, and Texas. We estimate doubling times of hospitalizations and test positivity in all states with relevant publicly available data and calculate the corresponding effective reproduction numbers for Illinois. These parameters are remarkably consistent in states with rapidly growing epidemics. We conjecture that the emergence of the second wave of the epidemic in these states can be attributed to superspreading events at large parties, crowded bars, and indoor dining. In our second, more optimistic scenario we assume changes in Illinois state policy would result in successful mitigation of superspreading events and thus would lower the effective reproduction number to the value observed in late June 2020. In this case our calculations show effective suppression of the second wave in Illinois. Our analysis also suggests that the logarithmic time derivatives of COVID-19 hospitalizations and case positivity can serve as a simple but strong early-warning signal of the onset of a second wave.
Chest X-Ray Has Poor Sensitivity and Prognostic Significance in COVID-19: A Propensity Matched Database Study
Authors: Borakati Aditya , Perera Adrian , Johnson James , Sood Tara
Published: July 2020

Objectives

To identify the diagnostic accuracy of common imaging modalities, chest X-ray (CXR) and computed tomography (CT) for diagnosis of COVID-19 in the general emergency population in the UK and to find the association between imaging features and outcomes in these patients.

Design

Retrospective analysis of electronic patient records

Setting

Tertiary academic health science centre and designated centre for high consequence infectious diseases in London, UK.

Participants

1,198 patients who attended the emergency department with paired RT-PCR swabs for SARS-CoV 2 and CXR between 16th March and 16th April 2020

Main outcome measures

Sensitivity and specificity of CXR and CT for diagnosis of COVID-19 using the British Society of Thoracic Imaging reporting templates. Reference standard was any reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive naso-oropharyngeal swab within 30 days of attendance. Odds ratios of CXR in association with vital signs, laboratory values and 30-day outcomes were calculated.

Results

Sensitivity and specificity of CXR for COVID-19 diagnosis were 0.56 (95% CI 0.51-0.60) and 0.60 (95% CI 0.54-0.65), respectively. For CT scans these were 0.85 (95% CI 0.79-0.90) and 0.50 (95% CI 0.41-0.60), respectively. This gave a statistically significant mean increase in sensitivity with CT compared with CXR, of 29% (95% CI 19%-38%, p<0.0001). Specificity was not significantly different between the two modalities.

Chest X-ray findings were not statistically significantly or clinical meaningfully associated with vital signs, laboratory parameters or 30-day outcomes.

Conclusions

Computed tomography has substantially improved diagnostic performance over CXR in COVID-19. CT should be strongly considered in the initial assessment for suspected COVID-19. This gives potential for increased sensitivity and considerably faster turnaround time, where capacity allows and balanced against excess radiation exposure risk.
Developing a deep learning system to drive the work of the critical care outreach team
Authors: Kennedy Georgina , Rihari-Thomas John , Dras Mark , Gallego Blanca
Published: July 2020

Background

Care of patients at risk of deterioration on acute medical and surgical wards requires timely identification, increased monitoring and robust escalation procedures. The critical care outreach role brings specialist-trained critical care nurses and physicians into acute wards to facilitate these processes. Performing this role is challenging, as the breadth of information synthesis required is both high and rapidly updating.

We propose a novel automated ‘watch-list’ to identify patients at high risk of deterioration, to help prioritise the work of the outreach team.

Results

This system takes data from the electronic medical record in real-time and creates a discrete tokenized trajectory, which is fed into a recurrent neural network model. These models achieve an AUROC of 0.928 for inpatient death and 0.778 for unplanned ICU admission (within 24 hours), which compares favourably with existing early warning scores and is comparable with proof of concept deep learning systems requiring significantly more input data.

Conclusions

Based on these results, we can conclude that it is technically feasible to build a set of predictive models that meet the needs of the critical care outreach role, based on a limited set of real-time clinical data.
A bid generation problem for combinatorial transportation auctions considering in-vehicle consolidations
Authors: Yan Fang , Chen Kai , Xu Manjing
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This paper studied a bid generation problem in combinatorial transportation auctions that considered in-vehicle consolidations. The purpose of this paper seeks to establish mixed integer programming to the most profitable transportation task packages.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors proposes a mathematical model to identify the most profitable transportation task packages under vehicle capacity, flow balance and in-vehicle consolidation operational constraints, after which a two-phase heuristic algorithm was designed to solve the proposed model. In the first phase, a method was defined to compute bundle synergy, which was then combined with particle swarm optimization (PSO) to determine a satisfactory task package, and in the second phase, the PSO was adopted to program vehicle routings that considered in-vehicle consolidation.

Findings

Three numerical examples were given to analyze the effects of the proposed model and method, with the first two small-scale examples coming from the same data base and the third being a larger scale example. The results showed that: (1) the proposed model was able to find a satisfactory solution for the three numerical examples; (2) the computation time was significantly shorter than the accurate algorithm and (3) considering in-vehicle consolidations operations could increase the carrier profits.

Originality/value

The highlights of this paper are summarized as following: (1) it considers in-vehicle consolidation when generating bids to maximize profits; (2) it simultaneously identifies the most valuable lane packages and reconstructs vehicle routes and (3) proposes a simple but effective synergy-based method to solve the model.
A feature-centric spam email detection model using diverse supervised machine learning algorithms
Authors: Zamir Ammara , Khan Hikmat Ullah , Mehmood Waqar , Iqbal Tassawar , Akram Abubakker Usman
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This research study proposes a feature-centric spam email detection model (FSEDM) based on content, sentiment, semantic, user and spam-lexicon features set. The purpose of this study is to exploit the role of sentiment features along with other proposed features to evaluate the classification accuracy of machine learning algorithms for spam email detection.

Design/methodology/approach

Existing studies primarily exploits content-based feature engineering approach; however, a limited number of features is considered. In this regard, this research study proposed a feature-centric framework (FSEDM) based on existing and novel features of email data set, which are extracted after pre-processing. Afterwards, diverse supervised learning techniques are applied on the proposed features in conjunction with feature selection techniques such as information gain, gain ratio and Relief-F to rank most prominent features and classify the emails into spam or ham (not spam).

Findings

Analysis and experimental results indicated that the proposed model with sentiment analysis is competitive approach for spam email detection. Using the proposed model, deep neural network applied with sentiment features outperformed other classifiers in terms of classification accuracy up to 97.2%.

Originality/value

This research is novel in this regard that no previous research focuses on sentiment analysis in conjunction with other email features for detection of spam emails.
Use of mobile technologies for care of internal medicine clients in Nigeria’s premier teaching hospital
Authors: Nwagwu Williams Ezinwa , Areo Henry Abolade
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine how cost, network and technology factors affect the use of mobile technologies for clients’ care in internal medicine department in Nigeria’s premier teaching hospital, the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a survey design covering a cross-section of medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses and medical laboratory technologists in the Department of Internal Medicine. A questionnaire guided data collection.

Findings

There is a high level of consciousness and use of mobile technologies for meeting healthcare needs of internal medicine clients in the University College Hospital, Ibadan and medical practitioners are deploying the technology most. However, there is no similar evidence of consciousness and use of wearable health-care technologies and solutions. The hospital makes some provision for mobile technology support for relevant medical staff and purposes. However, about three in 10 of the respondents reported that they use their own funds to recharge hospital-provided mobile phones means.

Research limitations/implications

The study focusses only on one institution but the result reflects the situation in other hospitals, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria being the major supplier of health and medical human resources in the country.

Practical implications

The hospital requires undertaking institutional assessment of mobile service need and consumption for clients’ care and thereafter make adequate provision to match the need. Furthermore, the institution could work out various forms of collaboration with mobile technology operators in the country to subsidise the cost of the use of telephones for clients’ care as part of their corporate social responsibility.

Social implications

The institution could work out collaboration with mobile technology operators in the country to subsidise cost of mobile client care as part of the philanthropic and corporate social responsibility of telecom companies.

Originality/value

This study focusses mainly on internal medicine and has implication for a more proper understanding of adult deployment of mobile phones for client care.
Computer-aided design of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric
Authors: Liang Jialu , Cong Honglian , Gao Zhe , Zhang Aijun , Dong Zhijia
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric has the characteristics of complicated design principle and hard technical design. The purpose of this paper is to realize the computer-aided design of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric, and provide a certain reference for the development of this type of fabric.

Design/methodology/approach

The weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric is divided into weft-knitted two-side similar pattern jacquard fabric and weft-knitted two-side independent pattern jacquard fabric. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, firstly, the structural characteristic of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric is analyzed. Then, the design principle of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric is studied. Next, the technical model of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric is established. Finally, the CAD flow chart of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric is proposed to realize the rapid product development.

Findings

Based on the above method, through the development example of weft two-side similar pattern jacquard fabric and weft two-side independent pattern jacquard fabric, the computer-aided design of the weft two-side jacquard fabric is verified.

Research limitations/implications

Because of limited research studies, three-dimensional computer-aided design of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric loop structure will be studied in the further research, and the technical design speed needs to be improved to meet the needs of large patterns and positioning patterns.

Practical implications

The computer-aided design of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric will offer a certain reference for product development, technical principles, performance research and computer simulation for the in-depth study of the fabric.

Social implications

The computer-aided design of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric will simplify the fabric design process and improve the efficiency of new fabric development, and provide the industries a time-saving and cost-saving approach for new fabrics development.

Originality/value

The author analyzes the structural characteristic of the fabric by the physical fabric, summarizes design principle of the fabric through production process, uses mathematical methods to establish a three-dimensional technical model of the fabric, and proposes the CAD flow chart of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric, which has good theoretical significance and practice of weft-knitted two-side jacquard fabric.
Exploring the embodied narrations of the city
Authors: Satama Suvi , Räikkönen Juulia
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This study aims to explore how people bodily narrate and use collective memory to clarify their embodied experiences regarding a city which they memorise.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on 1,359 short stories collected by the online travel portal Visit Turku about ‘How the city feels’, the fine-grained embodied experiences of people are represented through descriptions of their feelings towards the city of Turku.

Findings

Based on the analysis, two aspects through which the respondents narrated their embodied experiences of cities have been identified: (1) the sociomaterial entanglements with the city and (2) the humane relationship with the city.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to short stories acquired online, raising questions of anonymity and representativeness. Thus, these narrations are constructions which have to be interpreted as told by specific people in a certain time and place.

Practical implications

Tourist agencies should pay attention to the value of looking at written stories as bodily materialisations of people’s experiences of city destinations. Understanding this would strengthen the cities’ competitiveness.

Originality/value

By empirically highlighting how people memorise a city through narrations, the study offers novel viewpoints on the embodied experiences in cities as well as the cultural constructs these narrations are based on, thus broadening our understanding of how cities become bodily entangled with us.
Mobile sensors' patrol path planning in unobservable border region
Authors: Pawgasame Wichai , Wipusitwarakun Komwut
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The border control becomes challenging when a protected region is large and there is a limited number of border patrols. This research paper proposes a novel heuristic-based patrol path planning scheme in order to efficiently patrol with resource scarcity.

Design/methodology/approach

The trespasser influencing score, which is determined from the environmental characteristics and trespassing statistic of the region, is used as a heuristic for measuring a chance of approaching a trespasser. The patrol plan is occasionally updated with a new trespassing statistic during a border operation. The performance of the proposed patrol path planning scheme was evaluated and compared with other patrol path planning schemes by the empirical experiment under different scenarios.

Findings

The result from the experiment indicates that the proposed patrol planning outperforms other patrol path planning schemes in terms of the trespasser detection rate, when more environment-aware trespassers are in the region.

Research limitations/implications

The experiment was conducted through simulated agents in simulated environment, which were assumed to mimic real behavior and environment.

Originality/value

This research paper contributes a heuristic-based patrol path planning scheme that applies the environmental characteristics and dynamic statistic of the region, as well as a border surveillance problem model that would be useful for mobile sensor planning in a border surveillance application.
A review of Islamic stock market, growth and real-estate finance literature
Authors: Hassan M. Kabir , Aliyu Sirajo , Saiti Buerhan , Abdul Halim Zairihan
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This paper reviews economic and finance research on Islamic investments. In the course of our review, we focus on the following issues: the performance of Islamic stock indexes, Islamic finance–growth nexus and Islamic real-estate investment trust market.

Design/methodology/approach

This literature survey consists of two stages such as random and systematic. It begins with a random search of articles with the intention to explore the three different areas of Islamic banking and finance. In order to maintain some level of quality of the literature review, we explored inside citations of articles based on relevant and recent articles from SCOPUS and Web of Science.

Findings

This paper represents an attempt to organise current research on Islamic stock markets, Islamic finance-growth nexus and Islamic real-estate finance: (1) the first prevailing finding is that Islamic stock indices are less volatile than conventional stock indices; (2) most empirical studies regarding Islamic finance–growth nexus focus on the impacts of banking sectors on growth and neglect other segments of the Islamic financial market; (3) based on our review of existing studies, there is no unanimous model for Islamic home financing in Islamic banks.

Practical implications

The mixed findings in this area hinder the understanding of Islamic investment and prevent identifying trends that support decision-making. Our review provides suggestions for prospective research directions. Most empirical studies regarding Islamic finance–growth nexus focus on the impacts of banking sectors on growth and neglect other segments of the Islamic financial market.

Originality/value

There is no literature review on Islamic finance-growth nexus and Islamic real-estate literature. Therefore, we are going to fill this gap to review these three different aspects of Islamic banking and finance.
Understanding consumers' showrooming behaviour: a stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) perspective
Authors: Arora Sourabh , Parida Rashmi Ranjan , Sahney Sangeeta
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The present piece of research aims at enhancing our understanding of situational and intentional showrooming behaviour. The study further tests and validates a model based on the stimulus–organism–response framework to draw richer insights.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a two-phased approach to discover the consumers' rationale behind showrooming. In the first phase, a narrative-based examination followed by an inductive thematic analysis was employed. In the second phase, the stimulus–organism–response model was validated through structural equation modelling method.

Findings

The results of the study highlighted the factors that contribute to intentional and situational showrooming behaviour. Results show that consumers also showroom on account of situational circumstances such as assortment issues, poor sales-staff assistance and long payment queues at offline stores. However, intentional showroomers are primarily driven by perceived showrooming value which emerges as a combination of in-store search value and online purchase value. Past showrooming experience also plays a role in stimulating consumers to showroom. The results also revealed the moderating impact of product involvement and perceived product type, barring time pressure. The impact of showrooming self-efficacy was also observed.

Research limitations/implications

The study majorly validates the factors stimulating intentional showrooming conduct intertwined with product-related factors, time pressure and showrooming self-efficacy. Hence, the future scope of the study lies in quantitatively validating the findings concerning situational showroomers as this would help draw richer insights.

Practical implications

The findings of the study can be utilized by both offline and online retailers for managing showroomers.

Originality/value

The study offers rich insights on showrooming which has been identified as a major challenge being faced by offline retailers nowadays.
On the unexplained causes of the gender gap in the labour market
Authors: Castellano Rosalia , Rocca Antonella
Published: July 2020

Purpose

This paper investigates the causes of the gender gap in the labour market that cannot be explained by classical human capital theory.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, the authors integrate the Gender Gap in the Labour Market Index (GGLMI), a composite index developed in previous research, with further information on some social aspects that could affect the female work commitment, directly or indirectly. In particular, the authors want to verify if family care and home duties, still strongly unbalanced against women, and the welfare system play a significant role in the gender gap.

Findings

Results highlight a very complex scenario, characterized by the persistence of gender inequalities everywhere, even if at different degrees, with very strong imbalances in the time spent at work in response to the family commitments.

Research limitations/implications

The actual determinants of gender disparities in the labour market are very difficult to identify because of the lack of adequate data and the difficulties in measuring some factors determining female behaviour. The additional information used in this research can only partially accomplish this task.

Originality/value

However, for the first time, this paper uses information on different aspects and causes of the gender gap, including proxies of mainly unobservable aspects, in order to achieve at least partial measurement of this phenomenon.
Understanding the morphing of focal nets in the solution business: a triad management perspective
Authors: Cova Bernard , Spencer Robert , Ferreira Fabiana , Proença João
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Solutions are here approached from the focal net point of view i.e. the collaborative arrangements through which firms combine their individual offerings into a coherent, customer-facing solution. Focal nets are seen as an effective way to organize for value-system and solution development. However, a precise understanding as to how inter-firm dynamics support the morphing of a focal net to develop a customer’s solution is still not clear. This paper aims to provide an improved understanding of the dynamics at play between firms for providing a solution.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative and exploratory research approach is adopted, exploring the relationships at play within a focal net dedicated to providing a solution in the aerospace industry: a total of four triads are selected and analyzed, all of them involving the same buyer (the aircraft manufacturer) the same buyer’s customer (the airline) and a different service provider. Interviews with top managers in each company forming the triads have been carried out, with subsequent analysis, on the relational dynamics at play at the level of each triad and in-between triads within the focal net.

Findings

The study shows the handling by a solution provider of the transition from a program focal net to a customer-specific solution focal net. The four triads presented, taken individually, highlight four different component devices each of which contributes toward handling this transition. The four triads taken together along with their interactions (inter-triad) denote the capability of the solution provider to manage the morphing of the focal net.

Originality/value

The paper mobilizes a focal net perspective for the understanding of solution provision while combining this with a triadic perspective to demonstrate the inter-firm dynamics at play.
Knowledge-sharing restrictions in the life sciences: personal and context-specific factors in academia–industry knowledge transfer
Authors: Gerbin Ani , Drnovsek Mateja
Published: July 2020

Purpose

Knowledge sharing in research communities has been considered indispensable to progress in science. The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanisms restricting knowledge sharing in science. It considers three categories of academia–industry knowledge transfer and a range of individual and contextual variables as possible predictors of knowledge-sharing restrictions.

Design/methodology/approach

A unique empirical data sample was collected based on a survey among 212 life science researchers affiliated with universities and other non-profit research institutions. A rich descriptive analysis was followed by binominal regression analysis, including relevant checks for the robustness of the results.

Findings

Researchers in academia who actively collaborate with industry are more likely to omit relevant content from publications in co-authorship with other academic researchers; delay their co-authored publications, exclude relevant content during public presentations; and deny requests for access to their unpublished and published knowledge.

Practical implications

This study informs policymakers that different types of knowledge-sharing restrictions are predicted by different individual and contextual factors, which suggests that policies concerning academia–industry knowledge and technology transfer should be tailored to contextual specificities.

Originality/value

This study contributes new predictors of knowledge-sharing restrictions to the literature on academia–industry interactions, including outcome expectations, trust and sharing climate. This study augments the knowledge management literature by separately considering the roles of various academic knowledge-transfer activities in instigating different types of knowledge-sharing restrictions in scientific research.
Nurturing customer service culture in an experience economy: employees' assessment of the UWI, Mona Library service model
Authors: Harris Sasekea , Folkes Cheryl , Tyrell Karen , Brown David
Published: July 2020

Purpose

In an experience economy, the alternative options for higher education are varied; resulting in competition and a deliberate focus on student experience to create competitive advantage. In this regard, the various constituents of the university, including the library, are required to transform the organisational culture, specifically, the service culture, to engage students in a way that creates a memorable experience. In response, The UWI, Mona Library re-launched its Customer Service programme: using an in-house inspired 10 element service model, with initiatives aimed at realising each element, the library purposed to build a service culture. This paper seeks to assess employees' perception of the impact of the initiatives of this model.

Design/methodology/approach

This survey research employed individual interviews to assess employees' perception of the impact of the initiatives of the service model, with the objective of refining the model, where needed, for continued use in the Mona Library, and for use in libraries desirous of implementing the model.

Findings

The initiatives of the service model are creating the desired customer service culture and aspects have been identified for refinement.

Research limitations/implications

The model is based on the needs, experiences, history, culture and strategic priorities of one Caribbean university library. It centres on the employees and their perception. As such, it focuses less on the product, space and the external customer; but it is hoped that by focusing on the employees (specifically creating a service culture amongst them) that this will ultimately impact product, space and the overall customer experience.

Practical implications

Provides the top priorities and considerations for a practicing Caribbean / developing country academic library manger, with an interest in a model for nurturing service culture amongst the employees.

Originality/value

This paper is of value as it centres on creating a service culture, rather than on the usual customer service satisfaction survey, offers a service model and adds to the literature on customer service in academic libraries.
The effect of information privacy concern on users' social shopping intention
Authors: Zhou Tao
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of information privacy concern on users' social shopping intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the 340 valid responses collected from a survey, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the research model.

Findings

The results indicated that while disposition to privacy positively affects privacy concern, both reputation and laws negatively affect privacy concern, which in turn decreases social shopping intention. In addition, trust partially mediates the effect of privacy concern on social shopping intention.

Research limitations/implications

The results imply that social commerce companies need to mitigate users' privacy concern in order to facilitate their shopping behavior.

Originality/value

This research disclosed that privacy concern receives a tripartite influence from users (disposition to privacy), platforms (reputation) and governments (laws). The results help us gain a complete understanding of information privacy concern mitigation in social shopping.
Disparities in perceived disciplinary knowledge among new doctoral students
Authors: Flaster Allyson , Glasener Kristen M. , Gonzalez John A.
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there are differences in beginning doctoral students’ perceptions of the disciplinary knowledge required to be successful in doctoral education and identify pre-doctoral characteristics and experiences that explain these differences.

Design/methodology/approach

This study relied on survey data of first-year PhD students enrolled at a large, research-intensive university. Survey responses were matched to institutional information, missing data were imputed and responses were weighted to account for groups’ differential probabilities of being included in the analytical sample. The authors used regression analysis to examine the relationship between students’ background characteristics, anticipatory socialization experiences, academic performance and perceived levels of disciplinary knowledge.

Findings

The study findings indicated significant differences in doctoral students’ perceived levels of disciplinary knowledge. Students who identify as female or URM had significantly lower levels of perceived disciplinary knowledge than students who identify as male or non-URM. Moreover, several anticipatory socialization experiences were significantly and positively related to perceived disciplinary knowledge.

Originality/value

While there is evidence that doctoral students start graduate school with varying identities and experiences, little is known about how students perceive their abilities and knowledge. This study reported that students differ in their self-assessment of disciplinary knowledge as they embark on doctoral work with implications for academic identity development and student success.
Domestic growth based on international acquisition – a case study of Fosun tourism group
Authors: Zhao Kuan , Zhang Shuai
Published: July 2020

Purpose

In recent years, with the steady growth of China’s economy and world’s vacation market, and powered by the growing and significant large demands of Chinese overseas travel, an emergent trend of international development by major Chinese tourism groups has attracted notice by scholars and practitioners and this is obvious especially in the private sector. With this as the background, this paper aims to explore how China’s leading tourism companies expand their business internationally through a case study approach.
Two‐year outcomes following naloxone administration by police officers or emergency medical services personnel
Authors: Lowder Evan M. , Lawson Spencer G. , O'Donnell Daniel , Sightes Emily , Ray Bradley R.
Published: July 2020

Research Summary

We conducted a retrospective, quasi‐experimental study of a police naloxone program to examine individual outcomes following nonfatal overdose where either police (n = 111) or emergency medical services (n = 1,229) provided a first response and administered naloxone. Individuals who received a police response were more likely to be arrested immediately following initial dispatch and had more instances of repeat nonfatal overdose two years following dispatch; there were no differences in rearrest or death rates. Findings suggest police naloxone programs may increase short‐term incarceration risk, but we found little evidence overall of long‐term adverse effects.

Policy Implications

Naloxone is a tool to reduce fatal opioid‐involved overdose. Its provision alone does not constitute a comprehensive agency response to the opioid epidemic. Findings support the need for standardized policies and procedures to guide emergency responses to nonfatal overdose events and ensure consistency across agencies.
Subsurface carbon monoxide oxidation capacity revealed through genome‐resolved metagenomics of a carboxydotroph
Authors: Mu Andre , Thomas Brian C. , Banfield Jillian F. , Moreau John W.
Published: July 2020

Microbial communities play important roles in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in the Earth's deep subsurface. Previously, we demonstrated changes to the microbial community structure of a deep aquifer (1.4 km) receiving 150 tons of injected supercritical CO2 (scCO2) in a geosequestration experiment. The observed changes support a key role in the aquifer microbiome for the thermophilic CO‐utilizing anaerobe Carboxydocella, which decreased in relative abundance post‐scCO2 injection. Here, we present results from more detailed metagenomic profiling of this experiment, with genome resolution of the native carboxydotrophic Carboxydocella. We demonstrate a switch in CO‐oxidation potential by Carboxydocella through analysis of its carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) gene before and after the geosequestration experiment. We discuss the potential impacts of scCO2 on subsurface flow of carbon and electrons from oxidation of the metabolic intermediate carbon monoxide (CO).
Myosin heavy chains in extraocular muscle fibres: Distribution, regulation and function
Authors: Hoh Joseph F. Y.
Published: July 2020

This review examines kinetic properties and distribution of the 11 isoforms of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expressed in extraocular muscle (EOM) fibre types and the regulation and function of these MyHCs. Although recruitment and discharge characteristics of ocular motoneurons during fixation and eye movements are well documented, work directly linking these properties with motor unit contractile speed and MyHC composition is lacking. Recruitment of motor units according to Henneman's size principle has some support in EOMs but needs consolidation. Both neurogenic and myogenic mechanisms regulate MyHC expression as in other muscle allotypes. Developmentally, multiply‐innervated (MIFs) and singly‐innervated fibres (SIFs) are derived presumably from distinct myoblast lineages, ending up expressing MyHCs in the slow and fast ends of the kinetic spectrum respectively. They modulate the synaptic inputs of their motoneurons through different retrogradely transported neurotrophins, thereby specifying their tonic and phasic impulse patterns. Immunohistochemical analyses of EOMs regenerating in situ and in limb muscle beds suggest that the very impulse patterns driving various ocular movements equip effectors with appropriate MyHC compositions and speeds to accomplish their tasks. These experiments also suggest that satellite cells of SIFs and MIFs are distinct lineages expressing different MyHCs during regeneration. MyHC compositions and functional characteristics of orbital fibres show longitudinal variations that facilitate linear ocular rotation during saccades. Palisade endings on global MIFs are postulated to respond to active and passive tensions by triggering axon reflexes that play important roles during fixation, saccades and vergence. How EOMs implement Listings law during ocular rotation is discussed.
Voriconazole therapeutic drug monitoring in critically ill patients improves efficacy and safety of antifungal therapy
Authors: Li Hao , Li Mo , Yan Jinqi , Gao Lan , Zhou Linjing , Wang Yang , Li Qi , Wang Jin , Chen Tianjun , Wang Taotao , Zheng Jie , Qiang Wei , Zhang Yongjian , Shi Qindong
Published: July 2020

Since voriconazole plasma trough concentration (VPC) is related to its efficacy and adverse events, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is recommended to perform. However, there is no report about the data of voriconazole TDM in critically ill patients in China. This retrospective study was performed to determine whether voriconazole TDM was associated with treatment response and/or voriconazole adverse events in critically ill patients, and to identify the potential risk factors associated with VPC. A total of 216 critically ill patients were included. Patients were divided into two groups: those underwent voriconazole TDM (TDM group, n = 125) or did not undergo TDM (non‐TDM group, n = 91). The clinical response and adverse events were recorded and compared. Furthermore, in TDM group, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the possible risk factors resulting in the variability in initial VPC. The complete response in the TDM group was significantly higher than that in the non‐TDM group (P = .012). The incidence of adverse events strongly associated with voriconazole in the non‐TDM group was significantly higher than that in the TDM group (19.8% vs 9.6%; P = .033). The factors, including age (OR 0.934, 95% CI: 0.906‐0.964), male (OR 5.929, 95% CI: 1.524‐23.062), serum albumin level (OR 1.122, 95% CI: 1.020‐1.234), diarrhoea (OR 4.953, 95% CI: 1.495‐16.411) and non‐intravenous administration (OR 4.763, 95% CI: 1.576‐14.39), exerted the greatest effects on subtherapeutic VPC (VPC < 1.5 mg/L) in multivariate analysis. Intravenous administration (OR 7.657, 95% CI: 1.957‐29.968) was a significant predictor of supratherapeutic VPC (VPC > 4.0 mg/L). TDM can result in a favourable clinical efficacy and a lower incidence of adverse events strongly associated with voriconazole in critically ill patients. Subtherapeutic VPC was closely related to younger age, male, hyperalbuminaemia, diarrhoea and non‐intravenous administration, and intravenous administration was a significant predictor of supratherapeutic VPC.