bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrating distribution, sales and services in manufacturing: a comparative case study
Authors: Andersen Torben Juul , Bering Søren
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The aim of this study is to gain important insights on integration oriented servitization identifying essential dimensions of effective structures, coordination approaches and management controls adopted by manufacturing firms that integrate forward towards distribution, sales and services.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a theory-guided qualitative abductive methodology to conduct a comparative case-study of two manufacturing firms in the same industry integrating forward to enhance servitization but with significantly different performance outcomes. The findings are uncovered from a broad spectrum of primary and secondary data spanning two decades.

Findings

The consistently high-performing firm puts equal emphasis on production and downstream distribution, sales and services and motivate individuals to engage in entrepreneurial efforts to develop combined product-services offerings that are valued by customers. The underperforming firm prioritizes operating efficiency driven by engineering prowess and managed through planning, standardization, authority and central controls.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on two representative firms operating in a specific industry context, which has ramifications for the generalizability of results and calls for replication studies to substantiate and extend findings.

Practical implications

Forward integration from manufacturing into distribution, sales and services represents a specific servitization strategy that needs structure and particular coordination approaches to be effective in complex dynamic product-markets. The characteristics of the outperforming case company provide useful insights on effective integrated servitization efforts.

Social implications

Forward integration is a commonly adopted strategy among manufacturing firms that constitute the backbone of modern economies and effective governance of these integration oriented servitization efforts has important implications for societal value creation.

Originality/value

This study builds on rationales from management science including economic theory, corporate strategy and different micro-foundational lenses and thereby hone recent calls for broader theoretical foundations to enlighten studies of the servitization puzzle.
Customer involvement and servitization in hybrid offerings: moderating role of digitalization and co-creation
Authors: Behl Abhishek , Kamboj Shampy , Sarmah Bijoylaxmi , Pereira Vijay , Sharma Kirti , Rammal Hussain Gulzar , Arrigo Elisa
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This study examines the impact of customer involvement (CI), technology strategy, firm internationalization and servitization on product and service innovation performance (SIP) in hybrid offerings. In addition, it investigates the moderating role of digitization and co-creation in the relationship mentioned above.

Design/methodology/approach

A research framework was developed through the lens of service-dominant (S-D) logic theory, and the proposed research hypotheses were empirically tested. Primary data were collected via the survey method, and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Findings

Findings of this study suggest that the S-D logic theory effectively explains CI and servitization in hybrid offerings. Furthermore, digitization is a crucial driver of SIP. Additionally, this paper finds that co-creation moderates between servitization and innovation performance of hybrid offerings.

Practical implications

Besides theoretical contributions, this study presents valuable insights to manage service networks during servitization.

Originality/value

First, this work proposes a comprehensive framework of hybrid offerings' driving factors (i.e. CI, firm internationalization, technology strategy and servitization) and their impact on product and SIP. Second, it tests the moderating effects of digitalization and co-creation in the context of hybrid offerings.
Institutional isomorphism under the test of Non-financial Reporting Directive. Evidence from Italy and Spain
Authors: Posadas Stefanía Carolina , Ruiz-Blanco Silvia , Fernandez-Feijoo Belen , Tarquinio Lara
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the impact of the European Union (EU) Directive on the quality of sustainability reporting under the institutional theory lens. Specifically, the authors evaluate what kind of institutional pressure has the highest impact on the quality of corporate disclosure on sustainability issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors build a quality index based on the content analysis of sustainability information disclosed, before and after the transposition of the Directive, by Italian and Spanish companies belonging to different industries. The authors use an OLS regression model to analyse the effect of coercive, normative and mimetic forces on the quality of the sustainability reports.

Findings

The results highlight that normative and mimetic mechanisms positively affect the quality of sustainability reporting, whereas there is no evidence regarding coercive mechanisms, indicating that the new requirements do not provide a significant contribution to the development of better reporting practices, at least in the two analysed countries.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the few studies assessing the quality of sustainability reporting through an analysis involving the period before and after the implementation of the EU Directive. It enriches the literature on institutional theory by analysing how the different dimensions of isomorphism affect the quality of information disclosed by companies according to the EU requirements. It contributes to a better understanding of the impact of the non-financial information Directive, and the results of this paper can be relevant for regulators, practitioners and academia, especially in view of the adoption of the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive proposal.
Facile ligand-exchange strategy to promote low-temperature nano-sintering of oleylamine-capped Ag nanoparticles
Authors: Li Liyun , Zhang Yu , Xia Shiyu , Sun Zhefei , Yuan Junjie , Su Dongchuan , Cao Hunjun , Chai Xiaoming , Wang Qingtian , Li Jintang , Zhang Zhihao
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This study aims to develop a facile ligand-exchange strategy to promote nano-sintering of oleylamine (OAM)-capped silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). By using ligand exchange process with NH4OH to remove OAM from the surface of AgNP, this study reports effectively reducing the sintering temperature of AgNPs to achieve low-temperature nano-sintering. Compared with untreated AgNPs of OAM-capped, NH4OH-treated AgNPs possess superior sintering performance that could be applied to a fractional generator device as conductor and in favour of the fabrication of flexible circuit modules.

Design/methodology/approach

First, oleylamine is used as reductant to synthesize monodisperse AgNPs by a simple one-step method. Then ligand exchange is used with NH4OH at different treating times to remove OAM, and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and contact angle test are applied to clear the mechanism and structure characteristics of these processes. Finally, NH4OH-treated AgNPs sediment sintering is used at different temperatures to test electrical resistivity and use ex situ scanning electron microscopy combined with in situ X-ray diffraction to study changes in microstructure in the whole nano-sintering process.

Findings

The AgNPs are always capped by organic ligands to prevent nanoparticles agglomeration. And oleylamine used as reductant could synthesize desirable size distributions of 8–32 nm with monodisperse globular shapes, but the low-temperature nano-sintering seemed not to be achieved by the oleylamine-capped AgNPs because OAM is an organic with long C-chain. The ligand exchange approach was enabled to replace the original organic ligands capped on AgNPs with organic ligands of low thermal stability which could promote nano-sintering. After ligand exchange treated AgNPs could be sintered on photo paper, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyethylene terephthalate flexible substrates at low temperature.

Originality/value

In this research, the method ligand exchange is used to change the ligand of AgNPs. During ligand exchange, NH4OH was used to treat AgNPs. Through the treatment of NH4OH, the change of hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties of AgNPs was successfully realized. The sintering temperature of AgNPs can also be reduced and the properties can be improved. Finally, the applicability of the AgNPs sediment with this nano-sintering process at low temperature for obtaining conductive patterns was evaluated using PDMS as substrates.
Influence of COVID-19 on online shopping behaviour, leisure and socialisation
Authors: Borges Ana Pinto , Vieira Elvira , Rodrigues Paula , Sousa Ana
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of health risk perceptions on the degree of decisiveness of a person towards e-commerce (e-commerce acceptance), self-awareness towards leisure and self-awareness towards socialisation in pandemic contexts. The identified gap was related to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the development of studies inherent to this context is becoming urgent. Thus, it was necessary to understand how the health risks perceived by individuals influenced their choice regarding online shopping and, simultaneously, socialising and leisure activities.

Design/methodology/approach

To reach this goal, a conceptual model was developed based on the self-determination theory, and data were collected from two countries (Portugal and Croatia). The model was estimated using the structural equation modelling (SEM).

Findings

The results showed that the perceptions regarding health risks have a positive effect on the degree of decisiveness of a person towards e-commerce acceptance and self-awareness towards socialisation. In turn, the perceptions of health risks have a positive effect on self-awareness towards leisure, not supporting the model conceptualisation.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to fill a gap in literature by analysing the simultaneous effect of individuals’ e-commerce motivations for leisure and socialising activities within a pandemic context. These results have significant managerial implications for several stakeholders that must communicate to the specific public regarding this type of events.
Service innovation in government: evidence from the UAE
Authors: Alosani Mohammed Saleh , Al-Dhaafri Hassan Saleh
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that public bodies need to develop their services in an innovative way. However, as a result of numerous difficulties and barriers, employees in such agencies are hesitant to innovate. Knowledge sharing and an innovative culture are factors that can help raise innovation. However, empirical evidence is inadequate to demonstrate this claim, especially in the government sector. Thus, the aim of this study is to conduct an empirical analysis to study the impact of knowledge sharing and innovative culture on the service innovation of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE's) government agencies.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were obtained from government institutions in the UAE. The analyses were based on 193 responses retrieved from a survey questionnaire sent to 221 government agencies. The authors used structural equation modelling (SEM) and statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) to test the proposed hypotheses and do a preliminary study analysis.

Findings

The findings indicate that knowledge sharing has a significant and positive effect on service innovation. The innovative culture also moderates the relationship between knowledge sharing and service innovation.

Research limitations/implications

These results provide information that is useful to decision-makers and managers in government agencies by emphasising the importance of effective knowledge sharing and innovative culture in improving service innovation in these entities. These relationships amongst knowledge sharing, innovative culture and service innovation may provide a clue regarding how government agencies can promote knowledge sharing and innovative culture to sustain their innovation performance.

Originality/value

Private-sector organisations are concerned about factors that enhance innovative activities as one of the factors of development, improvement and enhancement of competitive advantage. However, in government, especially in the UAE, research into the role played by innovation remains uncommon, particularly in the role of knowledge sharing and innovative culture in building service innovation. Because of this, it was important to do research on this topic to close the gap and provide evidence to back it up.
COVID-19 vaccination in Brazilian public security agents: are human values good predictors?
Authors: Torres Claudio V. , Longo Clerismar Aparecido , Macedo Francisco Guilherme L. , Faiad Cristiane
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The authors investigated the effect of basic human values in the prediction of COVID-19 vaccination behavior amongst public security agents in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 15,313 Brazilian public security agents responded to the portrait values questionnaire and a COVID vaccination behavior measure. Multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) was used to observe the order of the predicted by the theory. For hypotheses, the authors ran a series of Structural equation modeling (SEM) with direct effects between values and vaccination rate.

Findings

Results suggest that the values of conservation and self-transcendence positively predicted vaccination. A nonsignificative negative prediction was obtained for openness to change and self-enhancement values on vaccination behavior.

Research limitations/implications

Data were collected using self-report questionnaires.

Practical implications

Institutional management should encourage capacitation campaigns aimed at public security agents, enabling a significant increase in vaccine protection for the public security institutions.

Social implications

The reinforcement of conservation and self-transcendence values lead to the perception of the vaccine as a measure of caring for people in general and for the members of the ingroup, hence motivating the vaccination behavior.

Originality/value

The findings confirm that values encourage individuals to be vaccinated, due to their intrinsic motivation. This relationship did not appear to be clearly tested by previous empirical studies.
Social sustainability under threat: a case of two collapsed buildings in Lagos, Nigeria
Authors: Ebekozien Andrew , Aigbavboa Clinton , Samsurijan Mohamad Shaharudin
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Housing provision and the neighbourhood's safety are significant social sustainability concerns. If structural issues are not well checked, housing provision and the neighbourhood's safety may become threatened, especially in Lagos State, Nigeria. Thus, this study aims to investigate the perceived root cause of collapsed buildings at the construction stage using two case studies, its effect on social sustainability aspects and suggested measures to mitigate future happening and enhance achieving social sustainability aspects goals.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers collected data from Nigeria's built environment experts and eyewitnesses/employees of selected cases of collapsed buildings. The study adopted a phenomenology type of qualitative research design and analysed collated data via thematic analysis and achieved saturation. The analysed data created three themes.

Findings

Results reveal that inadequate heavy equipment and personnel incapacitated relevant government agencies are responsible for handling emergency and rescue during building projects collapse. Preliminary findings show developers' greed and systematic failures as the root cause of Nigeria's building project collapse (BPC). It categorised the root causes into three groups (developer's related-cause, design team related-cause and government entities related-cause). The study suggested measures to mitigate future happening. The emerged measures were grouped into a penalty, regulatory, byelaw act, technical and safety measures.

Originality/value

This study contributes to curbing the threat to social sustainability of housing provision in cities. It reveals the underlying perceived root cause of collapsed buildings in Nigeria's building industry. Also, it suggested feasible measures to mitigate BPC. These measures may be modified and adopted by other developing countries facing similar challenges.
Support from service agency and resilience of ethnic minorities: the case of Nepalese communities in Hong Kong in COVID-19
Authors: Lee Helen Yin-Kwan , Ka-ki Ho Lawrence , Hung Fredie Pak-Cheung
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This study aims to explore the community strengths/ weaknesses and the opportunities/ threats of the Nepalese communities in Hong Kong that have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The infection of COVID-19 among the ethnic minorities (EM) population in western democracies was reported higher, and it was wondered whether it was due to structural discrimination of the underprivileged.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is situated in Hong Kong during the peak of pandemic in 2020–2021. The authors followed the work of an EM service agency and interacted with their Nepalese clients to explore their reactions in coping with the sudden physical and economic adversities and examined their capacity amid the pandemic.

Findings

The authors noticed their effective self-mobilization that was strategically facilitated by veteran social workers and thus have strong resilience compared to other EM clusters in the territories.

Originality/value

The ways of their interactions offer useful insights for the authors to examine the prevailing strategy for achieving the mission of social inclusion in Hong Kong with 8% of the EM population.
Mapping knowledge-sharing behavior through emotional intelligence and team culture toward optimized team performance
Authors: Jamshed Samia , Majeed Nauman
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Research unveiled that interdisciplinary health-care teams are often found to be ineffective because of deprived team mechanisms. Considering effective team functioning, a leader’s non-cognitive abilities, knowledge-sharing behavior and the role of culture remain central concerns of health-care teams. This study aims to investigate how a leader’s emotional intelligence (EI) in a prevailing team culture can nurture the sharing of knowledge and enhance team EI that influences team performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used multisource data representing a sample of 195 teams (735 respondents) to examine the hypothesized relationships by using the analytic strategy of partial least squares-structural equation modeling. This study bridged the methodological gap by using the repeated indicator approach that includes the reflective-formative second-order hierarchical latent variable model.

Findings

The results revealed a standpoint that leaders practicing the ability of EI influences team performance by understanding each other emotions in the leader–member relationship. Further, culture adds value and maps knowledge-sharing behavior which is tailored and beneficial for effective team outcomes.

Practical implications

This study provides valuable inputs by articulating uniquely modeled variables for health-care teams confronting high work demands. This study highlights that leaders' EI can enhance understanding of the emotions of the team and can exchange information by harnessing knowledge-sharing behavior amongst professionals.

Originality/value

This study provides a novel contribution by integrating leaders’ EI, knowledge-sharing behavior, the role of culture and team performance in a single framework. The integrated theoretical model sheds light on team working in the health-care setting and advances the understanding of a leader’s EI and team culture through mapping knowledge sharing particularly being central to enhancing team performance.
Cutaneous manifestations of COVID‐19 and COVID‐19 vaccination
Authors: Nakashima Chisa , Kato Maiko , Otsuka Atsushi
Published: January 2023

In December 2019, a new infectious pathogen named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) was identified in Wuhan, China. Transmitted through respiratory droplets, SARS‐CoV‐2 is the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Although this new COVID‐19 infection is known to cause primarily interstitial pneumonia and respiratory failure, it is often associated with cutaneous manifestations as well. These manifestations with COVID‐19 can be classified into seven categories: (i) chilblain‐like skin eruption (e.g., COVID toes), (ii) urticaria‐like skin eruption, (iii) maculopapular lesions, (iv) vesicular eruptions, (v) purpura, (vi) livedo reticularis and necrotic lesions, (vii) urticarial vasculitis, and others such as alopecia and herpes zoster. The pathogenesis of skin eruptions can be broadly divided into vasculitic and inflammatory skin eruptions. Various cutaneous adverse reactions have also been observed after COVID‐19 mRNA vaccination. The major cutaneous adverse reactions are type I hypersensitivity (urticaria and anaphylaxis) and type IV hypersensitivity (COVID arm and erythema multiform). Autoimmune‐mediated reactions including bullous pemphigus, vasculitis, vitiligo, and alopecia areata have also been reported. Several cases with chilblain‐like lesions and herpes zoster after COVID‐19 mRNA vaccination have been published. Various skin diseases associated with COVID‐19 and COVID‐19 vaccination have been reported, and the mechanism has been partly elucidated. In the process, for example, some papers have reported that it is not related to COVID‐19 infection, although it was initially called COVID‐toe and considered a COVID‐19‐associated cutaneous eruption. In fact, some COVID‐19‐associated skin reactions are indistinguishable from drug eruptions. In the future, the mechanisms of COVID‐19‐ or COVID‐19 vaccine‐associated skin reactions need to be elucidated and verification of causal relationships is required.
Lab cognition going wild: Implementing a new portable touchscreen system in vervet monkeys
Authors: Harrison Rachel A. , Mohr Tecla , van de Waal Erica
Published: January 2023

Touchscreen technology has provided researchers with opportunities to conduct well‐controlled cognitive tests with captive animals, allowing researchers to isolate individuals, select participants based on specific traits, and control aspects of the environment.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential utility of touchscreen technology for the study of cognition in wild vervet monkeys. We assessed the viability of touchscreen testing by comparing rates of participation between wild and sanctuary‐housed vervets. Additionally, we compared performance on a simple associative learning task in order to verify that wild participants are able to engage meaningfully with a touchscreen task presented in their natural environment.

We presented eight groups of vervet monkeys (four wild and four sanctuary groups, totalling 240 individuals) with a portable touchscreen device. The touchscreen displayed tasks in which food rewards could be gained by touching a stimulus displayed on the screen. We assessed individuals' likelihood of interacting with the touchscreen, their frequency of participation, and their performance on a simple associative learning task.

We found that sanctuary‐housed monkeys were more likely to interact with the touchscreen. Participation in wild vervet monkeys was influenced by sex and age. However, monkeys in the two contexts (sanctuary vs. wild) did not differ in their performance on a simple associative learning task.

This study demonstrates that touchscreen technology can be successfully deployed in a population of wild primates. This gives us a starting point to test animal cognition under natural conditions that include varying group composition, environmental challenges and ongoing activities such as foraging, which are challenging to recreate in captivity. While rates of participation were lower than those found in captivity, reasonable sample sizes can be achieved, and wild primates can successfully learn touchscreen tasks in a manner comparable to their captive counterparts.
Population connectivity patterns of genetic diversity, immune responses and exposure to infectious pneumonia in a metapopulation of desert bighorn sheep
Authors: Dugovich Brian S. , Beechler Brianna R. , Dolan Brian P. , Crowhurst Rachel S. , Gonzales Ben J. , Powers Jenny G. , Hughson Debra L. , Vu Regina K. , Epps Clinton W. , Jolles Anna E.
Published: January 2023

Habitat fragmentation is an important driver of biodiversity loss and can be remediated through management actions aimed at maintenance of natural connectivity in metapopulations. Connectivity may protect populations from infectious diseases by preserving immunogenetic diversity and disease resistance. However, connectivity could exacerbate the risk of infectious disease spread across vulnerable populations.

We tracked the spread of a novel strain of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in a metapopulation of desert bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis nelsoni in the Mojave Desert to investigate how variation in connectivity among populations influenced disease outcomes.

M. ovipneumoniae was detected throughout the metapopulation, indicating that the relative isolation of many of these populations did not protect them from pathogen invasion. However, we show that connectivity among bighorn sheep populations was correlated with higher immunogenetic diversity, a protective immune response and lower disease prevalence. Variation in protective immunity predicted infection risk in individual bighorn sheep and was associated with heterozygosity at genetic loci linked to adaptive and innate immune signalling.

Together, these findings may indicate that population connectivity maintains immunogenetic diversity in bighorn sheep populations in this system and has direct effects on immune responses in individual bighorn sheep and their susceptibility to infection by a deadly pathogen.

Our study suggests that the genetic benefits of population connectivity could outweigh the risk of infectious disease spread and supports conservation management that maintains natural connectivity in metapopulations.
Institutions, parties and the evolution of electoral preferences
Authors: WLEZIEN CHRISTOPHER , JENNINGS WILL
Published: January 2023

Political institutions and parties define the set of choices faced by voters, and structure the evolution of electoral preferences over the election cycle. While previous research examines the characteristics of institutions, here we consider the influence of political parties. We theorize ways in which they matter to the formation of electoral preferences over the election timeline, and also how these relate to institutional features. Our analysis simultaneously assesses the influence of different system‐ and party‐level variables on the dynamic structure of voters’ preferences in legislative elections using a dataset of 27,357 vote intention polls in 26 countries since 1942, covering 231 discrete electoral cycles and encompassing 208 political parties. The results indicate that electoral institutions and parties are both important, but the characteristics of parties matter most of all, and effectively mediate institutional influences. These results have implications for the effects of election campaigns, the prediction of election outcomes, and party behavior itself.
Improving the catalytic activity of a detergent‐compatible serine protease by rational design
Authors: Wang Xiao , Qin Xing , Tong Lige , Zheng Jie , Dong Tao , Wang Xiaolu , Wang Yuan , Huang Huoqing , Yao Bin , Zhang Honglian , Luo Huiying
Published: January 2023

Serine proteases are among the most important biological additives in various industries such as detergents, leather, animal feed and food. A serine protease gene,Fgapt4, fromFusarium graminearum2697 was identified, cloned and expressed inPichia pastoris. The optimal pH and temperature ofFgAPT4 were 8.5 and 40°C, respectively. The relative activity was >30% even at 10°C. It had a wide range of pH stability (4.0–12.0) and detergent compatibility. To improve the catalytic activity, a strategy combining molecular docking and evolutionary analysis was adopted. Twelve amino acid residue sites and three loops (A, B and C) were selected as potential hot spots that might play critical roles in the enzyme's functional properties. Twenty‐eight mutants targeting changes in individual sites or loops were designed, and mutations with good performance were combined. The best mutant wasFgAPT4‐M3 (Q70N/D142S/A143S/loop C). The specific activity and catalytic efficiency ofFgAPT4‐M3 increased by 1.6 (1008.5 vs. 385.9 U/mg) and 2.2‐fold (3565.1 vs. 1106.3/s/mM), respectively. Computational analyses showed that the greater flexibility of the substrate pocket may be responsible for the increased catalytic activity. In addition, its application in detergents indicated thatFgAPT4‐M3 has great potential in washing.
Daily variation in physical activity during mechanical ventilation and stay in the intensive care unit
Authors: Lehmkuhl Lene , Olsen Hanne Tanghus , Brønd Jan Christian , Rothmann Mette Juel , Dreyer Pia , Jespersen Eva
Published: January 2023

Background

Early mobilisation of mechanically ventilated patients during their stay at an intensive care unit (ICU) can improve physical recovery. Yet, an objective and specified description of physical activities while in the ICU is lacking. Therefore, our aim was to describe the objectively assessed type, quantity, and daily variation of physical activity among mechanically ventilated patients while in the ICU.

Method

In an observational study in two mixed medical/surgical ICUs, we measured body posture in 39 patients on mechanical ventilation using a thigh‐ and chest‐worn accelerometer while in the ICU. The accelerometer describes time spent lying, sitting, moving, in‐bed cycling, standing and walking. Descriptive analysis of physical activity and daily variation was done using STATA.

Results

We found that mechanically ventilated patients spend 20/24 h lying in bed, 3 h sitting and only 1 h standing, moving, walking or bicycling while in the ICU. Intervals of non‐lying time appeared from 9.00 to 12.00 and again from 18.00 to 21.30, with peaks at the hours of 9.00 and 18.00.

Conclusion

ICU patients on mechanical ventilation were primarily sedentary. Physical activity of mechanically ventilated patients seems to be related to nurse‐ and/or physiotherapy‐initiated activities. There is a need to create an awareness of improving clinical routines, towards active mobilisation throughout the day, for this vulnerable patient population during their stay in the ICU.
Drought shocks and price adjustments in local food markets in Chile: Do product quality and marketing channel matter?
Authors: Salazar César , Acuña‐Duarte Andrés , Gil José Maria
Published: January 2023

Lately, economies have been facing an increase in the frequency and magnitude of droughts, which come with potential consequences on food prices. This article aims to analyze how drought disturbances affect price differences in local food markets. Special attention is paid to differences in product quality and marketing channels. To study the mechanism behind price differences, our analysis is framed within the food market integration theory. Our methodology follows a dyadic regression approach, which allows us to exploit the panel data structure of our market price data. We use monthly Asterix potato and long shelf‐life tomato market prices from traditional markets and supermarkets in Chile. To measure drought intensity, we use remote sensing data to construct a drought index. Results show that drought shocks reduce market price differentials around harvesting and commercialization periods, which is supported by the existence of market integration. We also find that prices of high‐quality products, less perishable products, and those taken from traditional markets respond more intensively to droughts and take more time to be transmitted. A direct link between droughts and crop quality, as well as supermarkets’ larger capacity for buffer stock, may be behind these interpretations. Product differentiation and retail price rigidity arguments are also discussed.
Feeling the (post)colonial
Authors: Stead Victoria
Published: January 2023

The Kokoda Track, which spans Papua New Guinea's Oro and Central Provinces, has become a site of profound Australian national feeling. Each year, thousands of Australian trekkers travel to Papua New Guinea to “do” the 96‐km hiking trail, in remembrance of the battle waged along it during the Second World War. For Oro Province people, meanwhile, Kokoda—denoting both the track and the place where the track commences—is also a site of intense feeling, albeit in ways that are both less mythologized and less amenable to mythologization. Attending to these divergent affective experiences highlights affect as a domain of postcolonial encounter. Affect works to reproduce colonial relations and animate ongoing regimes of territorialization. It does so while deflecting Australians’ attention away from the very colonial contexts within which affect is implicated. At the same time, uneven geographies of affect index complexities of Papua New Guinean feeling that exceed those sanctioned within the confines of the trekking industry itself.
“I randomize, therefore I think”
Authors: Wilf Eitan
Published: January 2023

Scholars have theorized the use of chance processes in modern art in general, and in computer‐based art in particular, as the expression of an aesthetics of nonintention and authorial abnegation. Although writers of computer‐generated poetry in the United States make extensive use of computer‐based randomization, their creative adventures with computational indeterminacy do not lead them to endorse an aesthetics of nonintention or authorial abnegation. Rather, they cultivate different forms of authorial intentionality and pursue different and often‐conflicting goals. These tensions result from computational indeterminacy's affordances in relation to the different and often‐conflicting cultural currents that inform contemporary US liberal subjectivity. These currents include calls to advance social justice and inclusivity; an emphasis on self‐determination; a willingness to approach technology as an inscrutable, autonomous, and self‐determining form of creative agency; and the celebration of rarefied aesthetic abstraction and experimentation as a form of expressive freedom.
Liver intensive care for the general intensivist
Authors: Van Eldere A. , Pirani T.
Published: January 2023

Liver injury or failure is observed in up to 20% of patients admitted to the intensive care unit and is associated with poor prognosis. Timely recognition and initiation of appropriate management are the most important steps in minimising adverse outcome for patients. Distinguishing between primary or secondary liver failure, and between acute or chronic liver disease aids appropriate management. This can be challenging in cases of limited history and delayed or protracted presentation. Liver failure should be considered as a multisystem disease, with numerous systemic manifestations that must be considered to optimise supportive intensive care unit care. In this narrative review, we summarise an approach to patients with deranged liver biochemistry admitted to a general intensive care unit. We focus on interpretation of patterns of deranged liver biochemistry and the necessary investigations required to identify the related aetiologies. We also propose an evidence‐based approach to the management of liver failure and its extrahepatic manifestations. This review, in addition, clarifies when to seek expert advice or refer patients to a tertiary centre.
Same day discharge for robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy: a prospective cohort study documenting an Australian approach
Authors: Mulholland Clancy , Soliman Christopher , Furrer Marc A. , Sathianathen Niranjan , Corcoran Niall M. , Schramm Belinda , Mertens Evie , Peters Justin , Costello Anthony , Lawrentschuk Nathan , Dundee Philip , Thomas Benjamin
Published: January 2023

Background

The introduction of robotic surgical systems has significantly impacted urological surgery, arguably more so than other surgical disciplines. The focus of our study was length of hospital stay ‐ patients have traditionally been discharged day 1 post‐robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), however, during the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic and consequential resource limitations, our centre has facilitated a cohort of same‐day discharges with initial success.

Methods

We conducted a prospective tertiary single‐centre cohort study of a series of all patients (n = 28) – undergoing RARP between January and April 2021. All patients were considered for a day zero discharge pathway which consisted of strict inclusion criteria. At follow‐up, each patient's perspective on their experience was assessed using a validated post‐operative satisfaction questionnaire. Data were reviewed retrospectively for all those undergoing RARP over the study period, with day zero patients compared to overnight patients.

Results

Overall, 28 patients 20 (71%) fulfilled the objective criteria for day zero discharge. Eleven patients (55%) agreed pre‐operatively to day zero discharge and all were successfully discharged on the same day as their procedure. There was no statistically significant difference in age, BMI, ASA, Charlson score or disease volume. All patients indicated a high level of satisfaction with their procedure. Median time from completion of surgery to discharge was 426 min (7.1 h) in the day zero discharge cohort.

Conclusion

Day zero discharge for RARP appears to deliver high satisfaction, oncological and safety outcomes. Therefore, our study demonstrates early success with unsupported same‐day discharge in carefully selected and pre‐counselled patients.
Recalibrating South Korea's role and regional network in the Indo‐Pacific: An analysis from a network‐centered approach
Authors: Chung Kuyoun
Published: January 2023

Despite China, Russia, and North Korea's attempts to change the status quo in East Asia, South Korea has remained disconnected from the network of regional countries working together to cope with these revisionists. This article adopts a network‐centered approach to reveal how South Korea's regional network has narrowly focused on the bilateral ROK–US alliance to counter the North Korean threat. Although South Korea has expanded its role from junior partner to balancer and has often forged regional networks to respond to the changing balance of power, South Korea has ultimately utilized this role and network as leverage against North Korea to improve inter‐Korean relations. Now, the Yoon Suk‐yeol administration is attempting to reconfigure both its self‐identified role, describing itself as a “global pivotal state,” and its regional strategy in the Indo‐Pacific beyond the Korean Peninsula to align itself with the United States and other like‐minded countries.
A framework for evaluation of on‐farm mastitis diagnostics in Australia
Authors: Zadoks RN , Scholz E , Rowe SM , Norris JM , Pooley HB , House J
Published: January 2023

Numerous culture‐based diagnostics are available on the Australian and international markets for on‐farm detection of bacterial pathogens in milk. Use of such diagnostics may provide an opportunity to improve the prudent use of antimicrobials in udder health management. Farms are low‐resource settings in terms of diagnostic microbiology capacity. The World Health Organisation has identified criteria for the evaluation of diagnostic tests in low resource settings based on Accuracy, Sensitivity, Specificity, User‐friendliness, being Rapid or Robust, Equipment‐free and being Deliverable (ASSURED). Here, we review how those criteria can be interpreted in the context of microbiological diagnosis of mastitis pathogens, and how on‐farm diagnostics that are currently available in Australia perform relative to ASSURED criteria. This evaluation identifies multiple trade‐offs, both with regard to scientific criteria and with regards to convenience criteria. More importantly, the purpose of testing may differ between farms, and test performance should be evaluated relative to its intended use. The ability of on‐farm mastitis diagnostics to inform mastitis treatment decision‐making in a timely and cost‐effective manner depends not just on test characteristics but also on farm‐specific pathogen prevalence, and on the farm enterprise's priorities and the farm manager's potential courses of action. With most assay evaluations to date conducted in professional laboratories, there is a surprising dearth of information on how well any of the diagnostic tests perform on‐farm and, indeed, of the on‐farm decision‐making processes that they aim to inform.
The P2X7 receptor contributes to seizures and inflammation‐driven long‐lasting brain hyperexcitability following hypoxia in neonatal mice
Authors: Smith Jonathon , Menéndez Méndez Aida , Alves Mariana , Parras Alberto , Conte Giorgia , Bhattacharya Anindya , Ceusters Marc , Nicke Annette , Henshall David C. , Jimenez‐Mateos Eva M. , Engel Tobias
Published: January 2023

Background and Purpose

Neonatal seizures represent a clinical emergency. However, current anti‐seizure medications fail to resolve seizures in ~50% of infants. The P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is an important driver of inflammation, and evidence suggests that P2X7R contributes to seizures and epilepsy in adults. However, no genetic proof has yet been provided to determine what contribution P2X7R makes to neonatal seizures, its effects on inflammatory signalling during neonatal seizures, and the therapeutic potential of P2X7R‐based treatments on long‐lasting brain excitability.

Experimental Approach

Neonatal seizures were induced by global hypoxia in 7‐day‐old mouse pups (P7). The role of P2X7Rs during seizures was analysed in P2X7R‐overexpressing and knockout mice. Treatment of wild‐type mice after hypoxia with the P2X7R antagonist JNJ‐47965567 was used to determine the effects of the P2X7R on long‐lasting brain hyperexcitability. Cell type‐specific P2X7R expression was analysed in P2X7R‐EGFP reporter mice. RNA sequencing was used to monitor P2X7R‐dependent hippocampal downstream signalling.

Key Results

P2X7R deletion reduced seizure severity, whereas P2X7R overexpression exacerbated seizure severity and reduced responsiveness to anti‐seizure medication. P2X7R deficiency led to an anti‐inflammatory phenotype in microglia, and treatment of mice with a P2X7R antagonist reduced long‐lasting brain hyperexcitability. RNA sequencing identified several pathways altered in P2X7R knockout mice after neonatal hypoxia, including a down‐regulation of genes implicated in inflammation and glutamatergic signalling.

Conclusion and Implications

Treatments based on targeting the P2X7R may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for neonatal seizures with P2X7Rs contributing to the generation of neonatal seizures, driving inflammatory processes and long‐term hyperexcitability states.
First you get the money, then you get the power: Comparing the cost and power of monitoring programs to detect changes in occupancy of a threatened marsupial predator
Authors: Moore Harry A. , Dunlop Judy A. , Geyle Hayley M. , Greenwood Leanne , Nimmo Dale G.
Published: January 2023

Ecological monitoring is crucial for tracking changes in the status of species over time. However, ensuring that monitoring programs possess adequate statistical power—capacity to detect changes in populations with a high level of confidence—remains a challenge for many wildlife managers globally. While new monitoring technologies potentially offer cost effective solutions to this problem, transitioning to these methods requires careful calibration with existing techniques, such that differences in power and cost can be measured and assessed accurately. Here, we compare new (camera traps) and conventional (live trapping) survey methods in terms of cost and statistical power in tracking occupancy declines in an endangered marsupial predator, the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus). We show that camera trap monitoring designs can detect northern quoll occupancy declines of 30%, 50%, and 80% at reduced cost when compared to live trap designs, without compromising statistical power. Overall, we find support for the cost‐effectiveness of camera traps for species monitoring and its potential to replace existing live trap sampling of species when measuring changes in occupancy. Additionally, we offer a robust framework to compare new monitoring techniques against pre‐existing methods on the basis of statistical power.
Detection of hypoxia in the pulmonary tissues of Xenopus laevis over repeated dives
Authors: Fujiyama Shingo , Okui Takehito , Kato Takashi
Published: January 2023

The oxygen environment in African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) continuously changes during their development, which involves a rapid increase in the body size, metamorphosis, and transition to adulthood. Nevertheless, there are limited reports on experimental models that are available for studying fluctuations in the oxygen environment in X. laevis. Thus, this study aimed to develop an experimental model on intermittent hypoxia in X. laevis and evaluate hypoxia and oxidative stress in the same. X. laevis were submerged in water with a dissolved oxygen concentration of 2 mg/L for 30 min; they were then removed from the water and allowed to freely absorb oxygen for 5 min. Immunostaining of pimonidazole‐containing frozen tissue sections of the lung and liver using anti‐pimonidazole antibodies as the hypoxia probes revealed that more than 95% of the submerged X. laevis cells were pimonidazole positive, providing direct evidence of tissue hypoxia. When the amount of oxidative stress in the lungs and liver was evaluated in terms of the amount of lipid peroxides, the diving group showed a 2.08‐fold and 3.20‐fold increase over the normal group, respectively. Following hypoxia exposure, the dry‐to‐wet weight ratios of the lung tissues was 1.27 times higher (p < .05), while the liver tissues was 1.06 times higher (although not significant). Thus, the degree of damage depended on the tissues affected. In the future, we believe that this model will be a promising option for analyzing the physiological responses of X. laevis to hypoxia and oxidative stress.